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Blu-ray Review: Rashomon
November 11, 2012 November 11, 2012 ~ Lincoln Spector
As I watched Criterion’s beautiful new Blu-ray edition of Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, I noticed how patterns of three ripple through this masterpiece. You have, of course, the love triangle (well, more like a lust and violence triangle) that centers the story. But you also have the three men under the Rashomon gate. And the three intertwined locations where the complex story is told.
I’ve written about Rashomon before, specifically in Kurosawa Diary, Part 7: Rashomon. There, I wrote about where it stood in relation to Kurosawa’s films before and after it. This time, I’ll concentrate on the film itself.
In medieval Japan, a notorious bandit waylays a high-born couple in the woods, ties up the husband, and rapes the wife. The husband is killed, but who killed him and how? This story is told in flashbacks, and in flashbacks within flashbacks. They contradict each other.
Kurosawa, a director known for long and expensive epics, made Rashomon as a chamber piece. It runs less than 90 minutes, contains only eight actors, and was shot entirely out of doors during daylight hours. Not a frame is wasted.
The entire story is told within three locations, cutting back and forth between them. When the film moves to a different location, it also moves to a different time. Or more precisely, to a flashback.
The framing story is set under the large Rashomon gate, already a crumbling ruin when the story is set. Three men take refuge there from a rainstorm. They talk about a police investigation. Two of them gave testimony as witnesses, and they’re shocked by the contradictory stories and the larger implications of such contradictions. The third man, a cynic, enjoys listening to their stories and mocks them for their concern.
The second setting, also a framing story, appears to be a police yard. All we see is the ground, a wall, and people talking to an unheard, off-screen presence–presumably an investigator. Even the dead man, speaking through a medium, tells his version of what happened in the forest.
That forest is the third setting, and shows the incidents that fuel what everyone says in the others. Once again, it concentrates on three people–the no-love triangle that fuels the story. The husband shows utter contempt for everyone, including his wife (especially after she’s been raped). The bandit, motivated by a lust he confuses with love, wants to marry the woman whose life he has just ruined. And the wife, with no possible choices within the framework of her strict society, manipulates both men for ends she’s not entirely sure of.
The film also contains what I believe are Kurosawa’s first two swordfights–or, more accurately, two very different versions of the same swordfight. From the winner’s point of view, the duel is as romantic and exciting as anything with Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone. But from the point of view of a third party, comic ineptitude reigns, at least until the fight becomes, in its own clumsy way, frighteningly deadly.
Here, finally in high-def, is one of the best films by the world’s greatest filmmaker. You can’t possibly expect me to be objective.
This single disc package comes in a slightly thicker-than-usual clear plastic case. The front cover sports a color illustration of star Toshiro Mifune by Eric Skillman.
In addition to the disc, the case includes a 44-page booklet, which includes the film’s cast and credits, two essays (by Stephen Prince and Kurosawa himself, excerpted from his autobiography), the two short stories that the screenplay was based on, and "About the Transfer." The book also contains additional Skillman illustrations.
How it looks
Rashomon is a movie of textures. Dappled light coming through the leaves. Bright sunlight and flickering shade. Torrential rain. Human skin, wet and beaded with sweat. Photographed by the great Kazuo Miyagawa, it’s one of the most beautifully photographed black and white films ever shot.
Unfortunately, time has not been good to Rashomon‘s original source material. The camera negative and the prints made from it are warped, torn, and in poor condition. Fortunately, the film was painstakingly restored in 2008, and while the restoration didn’t quite bring it up to the original sparkling quality, it got close.
This Blu-ray is one major beneficiary of that restoration. I can’t call it consistent, but much of it glistens with the light, shadow, and wetness of Kurosawa’s and Miyagawa’s images. And even at it’s weak points, the transfer is still passible.
Except for one odd error. About 25 minutes into the movie, something really strange happens in one of those Kurosawa-patented wipes. As the wipe moves from left to right, replacing one shot with another, an extra bit of new shot appears on the left. I’ve never seen this problem before, and it’s certainly not on the older DVD.
How It Sounds
As usual, Criterion provides us with the original mix as an uncompressed PCM soundtrack. The audio strains a bit in loud scenes, but that’s the limits of 1950 Japanese sound recording, not of the disc. This is certainly as good, and probably better, than what Kurosawa originally signed off on.
The disc also comes with a Dolby Digital, laughably-bad, dubbed English-language track. Here, the actors all speak English with fake Japanese accents.
And the Exras
By Criterion standards, the offerings aren’t extraordinary. Most of them came with Criterion’s original DVD release. All of the video extras look like standard definition.
Commentary by Donald Richie. His voice is a little dull, but what he says is usually interesting. He talks about composition, character, editing, and plenty more.
Robert Altman on Rashomon: 7 minutes. Not that interesting.
The World of Kazuo Miyagawa: 13 minutes . Excerpt from a Japanese TV documentary about the cinematographer. Really fascinating.
NEW: A Testimony as an Image: 68 minutes. Rashomon script supervisor Teruuyo Nogami interviews people she worked with while making the film. Badly shot and edited, but be patient and you’ll get to some good stories.
NEW: Interview with Takashi Shimura: 16 minutes. Audio, only. A 1961 radio interview with the actor by Gideon Bachmann, with Donald Richie translating.
Original trailer:
Beautiful, exciting, depressing, existential, and in its final moments inspiring, Rashomon belongs on any list of great motion pictures. At least, that’s how I remember it.
Posted in Blu-ray Review, Uncategorized kurosawa
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15 Dec 2016 19:02:12 UTC
<a href="http://archive.today/L4Z6n"> <img style="width:300px;height:200px;background-color:white" src="https://archive.fo/L4Z6n/faed86bc9aa97dcec7e739eddeaf4a8f942c9166/scr.png"><br> Norway - Wikipedia<br> archived 15 Dec 2016 19:02:12 UTC </a>
{{cite web | title = Norway - Wikipedia | url = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway#Politics_and_government | date = 2016-12-15 | archiveurl = http://archive.today/L4Z6n | archivedate = 2016-12-15 }}
This article is about the European country. For other uses, see Norway (disambiguation).
"Noruega" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Noriega.
‹ The template below (Infobox country) is being considered for merging. See templates for discussion to help reach a consensus.›
Kingdom of Norway
Kongeriket Norge (Norwegian Bokmål)
Kongeriket Noreg (Norwegian Nynorsk)
Flag Coat of arms
Ja, vi elsker dette landet (de facto)
Yes, we love this country
Royal anthem: Kongesangen
The King's Song
Location of the Kingdom of Norway (dark green)
in Europe (dark grey)
Location of the Kingdom of Norway and its integral overseas areas and dependencies: Svalbard, Jan Mayen, Bouvet Island, Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land
and largest city Oslo
(Bokmål / Nynorsk)
Sami[show]
Lule Sami
Southern Sami
(Official in 9 municipalities)
Recognised regional languages
Kven ·
Tavringer ·
Romani ·
Latin (Dano-Norwegian alphabet)
83.7%[1] Norwegians
16.3%[2] Immigrants
Other without official statistics:
Indigenous:
Minorities:
Jews ·
Travellers ·
Forest Finns ·
Kvens ·
Church of Norway[3][4][5][6][7]
Demonym
Norwegian: Nordmann
Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Monarch Harald V
• Prime Minister Erna Solberg
• President of the Storting Olaf Michael Thommessen
• Chief Justice Toril Marie Øie
Storting
• Establishment prior unification 872
• Norwegian Empire (Greatest indep. extent) 1263
• Kalmar Union 1397
• Denmark-Norway 1524
• Self-proclaimed independent 25 February 1814
• Constitution 17 May 1814
• Sweden-Norway 4 November 1814
• Dissolution of Sweden-Norway 7 June 1905
• German occupation 9 April 1940
• Reichskommissariat Norwegen 24 April 1940
• Quisling regime 1 February 1942
• Restoration from German occupation 8 May 1945
• Total 385,178[8] km2 (61sta)
148,718 sq mi
• Water (%) 5.2b
• 1 October 2016 estimate 5,252,166[9]
• 2015 census 5,214,890[10]
• Density 15.5/km2 (213th)
35/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2016 estimate
• Total $364.685 billion[11] (46th)
• Per capita $69,296[11] (4th)
GDP (nominal) 2016 estimate
• Total $376.268 billion[11] (22nd)
• Per capita $71,497[11] (3rd)
Gini (2014) 23.5[12]
low · 1st
HDI (2014) 0.944[13]
very high · 1st
• Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Drives on the
Calling code
Internet TLD
.noc
a. Includes Svalbard and Jan Mayen. (Without these two areas, the area of Norway is 323,802 km2, placing it 67th in the world.[14])
b. This percentage is for the mainland, Svalbard, and Jan Mayen. This percentage counts glaciers as "land". It's calculated as 19,940.14/(365,246.17+19,940.14).[8]
c. Two more TLDs have been assigned, but are not used: .sj for Svalbard and Jan Mayen; .bv for Bouvet Island.
Norway ( i/ˈnɔːrweɪ/ NAWR-way; Norwegian: Norge (Bokmål) or Noreg (Nynorsk)), officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a sovereign and unitary monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula plus the island Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard.[note 1] The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land. Until 1814, the Kingdom included the Faroe Islands (since 1035), Greenland (1261), and Iceland (1262). It also included Shetland and Orkney until 1468. It also included the following provinces, now in Sweden: Jämtland, Härjedalen, Särna-Idre and Bohuslän.
Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres (148,747 sq mi) and a population of 5,213,985 (May 2016).[16] The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden (1,619 km or 1,006 mi long). Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, and the Skagerrak Strait to the south, with Denmark on the other side. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea.
King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway. Erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet, and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution. The Kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872 the Kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, and the list of Norwegian monarchs includes over sixty kings and earls.
Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels: counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have a certain amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament and the Finnmark Act. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States. Norway is a founding member of the United Nations, NATO, the Council of Europe, the Antarctic Treaty and the Nordic Council; a member of the European Economic Area, the WTO and the OECD; and is also a part of the Schengen Area.
The country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, fresh water, and hydropower. The petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).[17] On a per-capita basis, Norway is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas outside the Middle East.[18][19]
The country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists.[20] On the CIA's GDP (PPP) per capita list (2015 estimate) which includes territories and some regions, Norway ranks as number eleven.[21] From 2001 to 2006,[22] and then again from 2009 to 2015, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world.[13][23][24][25] Norway has topped the Legatum Prosperity Index for seven years in a row as of 2015[update].[26] Norway also ranks first on the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity, and the Democracy Index.[27]
2.1 Prehistory
2.2 Bronze Age
2.3 Iron Age
2.4 Migration period
2.5 Viking Age
2.6 Kalmar Union
2.7 Union with Denmark
2.8 Union with Sweden
2.9 Dissolution of the union
2.10 First and Second World Wars
2.11 Post-World War II history
3.2 Biodiversity
4 Politics and government
4.1 Administrative divisions
4.2 Judicial system and law enforcement
4.3 Foreign relations
4.4 Military
6.1 Resources
6.1.1 Oil fields
7.1.1 Emigration
7.1.2 Immigration
7.3 Largest cities of Norway
7.4 Education
8.1 Human rights
8.3 Cinema
8.4 Music
8.5 Literature
8.7 Architecture
8.9 Cuisine
8.10 Sports
9 International rankings
13 Bibliography
Etymology[edit]
Opening of Ohthere's Old English account, translated: "Ohthere told his lord Ælfrede king that he lived northmost of all Norwegians ... "
Norway has two official names: Noreg in Nynorsk (Old Norse: Noregr) and Norge in Bokmål (Old Norse: Noregi, dative of Noregr).
The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg(r) mentioned in 880, meaning "northern way" or "way leading to the north", which the Anglo-Saxon named the coastline of atlantic Norway.[28][29] In contrasting with suðrvegar "southern way" for Germany, and austrvegr "eastern way" for the Baltic.[citation needed] The Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land.[28][29]
Philology professor Michael Schulte, also earlier by Magnus Olsen mentioned that the Old Norse names Nuruiak, Nuriki (Nur- :narrow, -riki :kingdom) and later Noregr (Nore- :narrow -gr :way), given by the innhabitats of Norway themselves, refers to the inner-archipelago sailing route of southwestern Norway.[28][29] This was the home area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and that because of him, the name was extended to the entire country.[citation needed] The newer interpretation of the syllable is Norvegr, where nor(ve)- means narrow (Nynorsk: norve) and -(ve)gr (Nynorsk: veg) means way that refers to the sailing routes through the straits of Norway.[28][29] The old meaning of the word is interpreted as "The narrow way through the strait".[28][29] Nore is still used in placenames like example the village of Nore and lake Norefjorden in Buskerud county, and has still the same meaning.[28][29]
In a Latin manuscript of 849, the name Northuagia is mentioned, while a French chronicle of c. 900 uses the names Northwegia and Norwegia.[30] When Ohthere of Hålogaland visited King Alfred the Great in England in the end of the 9th century, the land was called Norðwegr (lit. Northway) and norðmanna land (lit. Northmen's land).[30]
Old Norse norðmaðr was Latinized as Nortmannus in the 9th century to mean "Norseman" and also "Viking", giving rise to the name of the Normans.[31] After Norway had become Christian, Noregr and Noregi had become the most common forms, but during the 15th century the newer forms Noreg(h) and Norg(h)e, found in medieval Icelandic manuscripts,[citation needed] took over and have survived until modern day.
The Old Norse name Noregr (narrow strait) was borrowed into Old English, and was according to language student and activist Klaus Johan Myrvoll, first revealed by philologist Niels Halvorsen Trønnes in 1847, as misinterpreted for Norðweg and Norweg (northern way), giving rise to modern Norway by regular development via Middle English Norwei and Norwey.[28][29] The letter ð was not used in any Old Norse spellings of the name Norway, and was wrongly added into the English word, changing the meaning to North (Old English: Norðr, Norwegian: Nord), who also influenced the old Latin names as Nortwegia and Northmannia with the same spelling mistake.[28][29]
The adjective Norwegian, on the other hand, recorded from c. 1600, is derived from the latinisation of the name as Norwegia.[citation needed] In the adjective Norwegian, the Old English spelling '-weg' has survived.
Main articles: History of Norway and History of Scandinavia
Prehistory[edit]
Nordic Bronze Age rock carvings at Steinkjer, Central Norway
Main article: Scandinavian prehistory
The first inhabitants were the Ahrensburg culture (11th to 10th millennia BC), which was a late Upper Paleolithic culture during the Younger Dryas, the last period of cold at the end of the Weichsel glaciation. The culture is named after the village of Ahrensburg, 25 km (15.53 mi) north-east of Hamburg in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, where wooden arrow shafts and clubs have been excavated.[32] The earliest traces of human occupation in Norway are found along the coast, where the huge ice shelf of the last ice age first melted between 11,000 and 8,000 BC. The oldest finds are stone tools dating from 9,500 to 6,000 BC, discovered in Finnmark (Komsa culture) in the north and Rogaland (Fosna culture) in the south-west. However, theories about two altogether different cultures (the Komsa culture north of the Arctic Circle being one and the Fosna culture from Trøndelag to Oslo Fjord being the other) were rendered obsolete in the 1970s.
Approximate extent of the Corded Ware culture
More recent finds along the entire coast revealed to archaeologists that the difference between the two can simply be ascribed to different types of tools and not to different cultures. Coastal fauna provided a means of livelihood for fishermen and hunters, who may have made their way along the southern coast about 10,000 BC when the interior was still covered with ice. It is now thought that these so-called "Arctic" peoples came from the south and followed the coast northward considerably later.
In the southern part of the country are dwelling sites dating from about 5,000 BC. Finds from these sites give a clearer idea of the life of the hunting and fishing peoples. The implements vary in shape and mostly are made of different kinds of stone; those of later periods are more skilfully made. Rock carvings (i.e. petroglyphs) have been found, usually near hunting and fishing grounds. They represent game such as deer, reindeer, elk, bears, birds, seals, whales, and fish (especially salmon and halibut), all of which were vital to the way of life of the coastal peoples. The carvings at Alta in Finnmark, the largest in Scandinavia, were made at sea level from 4,200 to 500 BC and mark the progression of the land as the sea rose after the last ice age ended (Rock carvings at Alta).
Bronze Age[edit]
Locations of the Germanic tribes described by Jordanes in Norway
Main article: Nordic Bronze Age
Between 3000 and 2500 BC new settlers (Corded Ware culture) arrived in eastern Norway. They were Indo-European farmers who grew grain and kept cows and sheep. The hunting-fishing population of the west coast was also gradually replaced by farmers, though hunting and fishing remained useful secondary means of livelihood.
From about 1500 BC bronze was gradually introduced, but the use of stone implements continued; Norway had few riches to barter for bronze goods, and the few finds consist mostly of elaborate weapons and brooches that only chieftains could afford. Huge burial cairns built close to the sea as far north as Harstad and also inland in the south are characteristic of this period. The motifs of the rock carvings differ from those typical of the Stone Age. Representations of the Sun, animals, trees, weapons, ships, and people are all strongly stylised.
Thousands of rock carvings from this period depict ships, and the large stone burial monuments known as stone ships, suggest that ships and seafaring played an important role in the culture at large. The depicted ships, most likely represent sewn plank built canoes used for warfare, fishing and trade. These ship types may have their origin as far back as the neolithic period and they continue into the Pre-Roman Iron Age, as exemplified by the Hjortspring boat.[33]
Iron Age[edit]
Main article: Iron Age Scandinavia
Little has been found dating from the early Iron Age (the last 500 years BC). The dead were cremated, and their graves contain few burial goods. During the first four centuries AD the people of Norway were in contact with Roman-occupied Gaul. About 70 Roman bronze cauldrons, often used as burial urns, have been found. Contact with the civilised countries farther south brought a knowledge of runes; the oldest known Norwegian runic inscription dates from the 3rd century. At this time the amount of settled area in the country increased, a development that can be traced by coordinated studies of topography, archaeology, and place-names. The oldest root names, such as nes, vik, and bø ("cape," "bay," and "farm"), are of great antiquity, dating perhaps from the Bronze Age, whereas the earliest of the groups of compound names with the suffixes vin ("meadow") or heim ("settlement"), as in Bjorgvin (Bergen) or Saeheim (Seim), usually date from the 1st century AD.
Archaeologists first made the decision to divide the Iron Age of Northern Europe into distinct pre-Roman and Roman Iron Ages after Emil Vedel unearthed a number of Iron Age artefacts in 1866 on the island of Bornholm.[34] They did not exhibit the same permeating Roman influence seen in most other artefacts from the early centuries AD, indicating that parts of northern Europe had not yet come into contact with the Romans at the beginning of the Iron Age.
Migration period[edit]
Viking swords found in Norway, preserved at Bergen Museum
Main article: Migration period
See also: Petty kingdoms of Norway
The destruction of the Western Roman Empire by the Germanic peoples in the 5th century is characterised by rich finds, including tribal chiefs' graves containing magnificent weapons and gold objects.[citation needed] Hill forts were built on precipitous rocks for defence. Excavation has revealed stone foundations of farmhouses 18 to 27 metres (59 to 89 ft) long—one even 46 metres (151 feet) long—the roofs of which were supported on wooden posts. These houses were family homesteads where several generations lived together, with people and cattle under one roof.[citation needed]
These states were based on either clans or tribes (e.g., the Horder of Hordaland in western Norway). By the 9th century, each of these small states had things (local or regional assemblies),[citation needed] for negotiating and settling disputes. The thing meeting places, each eventually with a hörgr (open-air sanctuary) or a heathen hof (temple; literally "hill"), were usually situated on the oldest and best farms, which belonged to the chieftains and wealthiest farmers. The regional things united to form even larger units: assemblies of deputy yeomen from several regions. In this way, the lagting (assemblies for negotiations and lawmaking) developed. The Gulating had its meeting place by Sognefjord and may have been the centre of an aristocratic confederation[citation needed] along the western fjords and islands called the Gulatingslag. The Frostating was the assembly for the leaders in the Trondheimsfjord area; the Earls of Lade, near Trondheim, seem to have enlarged the Frostatingslag by adding the coastland from Romsdalsfjord to Lofoten.[citation needed]
Viking Age[edit]
Main article: Viking Age
See also: Unification of Norway and Hereditary Kingdom of Norway
Viking helmet found at Gjermundbu in Buskerud, is the only complete Viking Age helmet that has been found
The Gokstad ship at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway
From the 8th to the 10th century, the wider Scandinavian region was the source of Vikings. The looting of the monastery at Lindisfarne in Northeast England in 793 by Norse people has long been regarded as the event which marked the beginning of the Viking Age.[35] This age was characterised by expansion and emigration by Viking seafarers. They colonised, raided, and traded in all parts of Europe. Norwegian Viking explorers first discovered Iceland by accident in the 9th century when heading for the Faroe Islands, and eventually came across Vinland, known today as Newfoundland, in Canada. The Vikings from Norway were most active in the northern and western British Isles and eastern North America isles.
According to tradition, Harald Fairhair unified them into one in 872 after the Battle of Hafrsfjord in Stavanger, thus becoming the first king of a united Norway.[36] Harald's realm was mainly a South Norwegian coastal state. Fairhair ruled with a strong hand and according to the sagas, many Norwegians left the country to live in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and parts of Britain and Ireland. The modern-day Irish cities of Dublin, Limerick and Waterford were founded by Norwegian settlers.[37]
Norwegian, Danish and Swedish expansion during the Viking age between 800–1050
Norse traditions were slowly replaced by Christian ones in the late 10th and early 11th centuries.One of the most important sources for the history of the 11th century Vikings is the treaty between the Icelanders and Olaf Haraldsson, king of Norway circa 1015 to 1028.[38] This is largely attributed to the missionary kings Olav Tryggvasson and St. Olav. Haakon the Good was Norway's first Christian king, in the mid-10th century, though his attempt to introduce the religion was rejected. Born sometime in between 963–969, Olav Tryggvasson set off raiding in England with 390 ships. He attacked London during this raiding. Arriving back in Norway in 995, Olav landed in Moster. There he built a church which became the first Christian church ever built in Norway. From Moster, Olav sailed north to Trondheim where he was proclaimed King of Norway by the Eyrathing in 995.[39]
Feudalism never really developed in Norway or Sweden, as it did in the rest of Europe. However, the administration of government took on a very conservative feudal character. The Hanseatic League forced the royalty to cede to them greater and greater concessions over foreign trade and the economy. The League had this hold over the royalty because of the loans the Hansa had made to the royalty and the large debt the kings were carrying. The League's monopolistic control over the economy of Norway put pressure on all classes, especially the peasantry, to the degree that no real burgher class existed in Norway.[40]
Kalmar Union[edit]
Main article: Kalmar Union
See also: Norwegian Empire
Norwegian Kingdom at its greatest extent, c. 1265
Upon the death of Haakon V, King of Norway, in 1319, Magnus Erikson, at just three years old, inherited the throne as King Magnus VII of Norway. At the same time a movement to make Magnus King of Sweden proved successful. (At this time both the kings of Sweden and of Denmark were elected to the throne by their respective nobles.) Thus, with his election to the throne of Sweden, both Sweden and Norway were united under King Magnus VII.[41]
In 1349, the Black Death radically altered Norway, killing between 50% and 60% of its population[42] and leaving it in a period of social and economic decline.[43] The plague left Norway very poor. Although the death rate was comparable with the rest of Europe, economic recovery took much longer because of the small, scattered population.[43] Before the plague, the population was only about 500,000 people.[44] After the plague, many farms lay idle while the population slowly increased.[43] However, the few surviving farms' tenants found their bargaining positions with their landlords greatly strengthened.[43]
Kalmar Union c. 1400 AD
King Magnus VII ruled Norway until 1350, when his son, Haakon, was placed on the throne as Haakon VI.[45] In 1363, Haakon VI married Margaret, the daughter of King Valdemar IV of Denmark.[43] Upon the death of Haakon VI, in 1379, his son, Olaf IV, was only 10 years old.[43] Olaf had already been elected to the throne of Denmark on 3 May 1376.[43] Thus, upon Olaf's accession to the throne of Norway, Denmark and Norway entered personal union.[46] Olaf's mother and Haakon's widow, Queen Margaret, managed the foreign affairs of Denmark and Norway during the minority of Olaf IV.[43]
Margaret was working toward a union of Sweden with Denmark and Norway by having Olaf elected to the Swedish throne. She was on the verge of achieving this goal when Olaf IV suddenly died.[43] However, Denmark made Margaret temporary ruler upon the death of Olaf. On 2 February 1388 Norway followed suit and crowned Margaret.[43] Queen Margaret knew that her power would be more secure if she were able to find a king to rule in her place. She settled on Eric of Pomerania, grandson of her sister. Thus at an all-Scandinavian meeting held at Kalmar, Erik of Pomerania was crowned king of all three Scandinavian countries. Thus, royal politics resulted in personal unions between the Nordic countries, eventually bringing the thrones of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden under the control of Queen Margaret when the country entered into the Kalmar Union.
Union with Denmark[edit]
Main article: Denmark–Norway
See also: Greater Norway
The Battle of the Sound between an allied Dano-Norwegian–Dutch fleet and the Swedish navy, 8 November 1658 (29 October O.S.)
After Sweden broke out of the Kalmar Union in 1521, Norway tried to follow suit,[citation needed] but the ensuing rebellion was defeated, and Norway remained in a union with Denmark until 1814, a total of 434 years. During the national romanticism of the 19th century, this period was by some referred to as the "400-Year Night", since all of the kingdom's royal, intellectual, and administrative power was centred in Copenhagen in Denmark. In fact, it was a period of great prosperity and progress for Norway, especially in terms of shipping and foreign trade, and it also secured the country's revival from the demographic catastrophe it suffered in the Black Death. Based on the respective natural resources, Denmark–Norway was in fact a very good match, since Denmark supported Norway's needs for grain and food supplies, and Norway supplied Denmark with timber, metal, and fish.
With the introduction of Protestantism in 1536, the archbishopric in Trondheim was dissolved, and Norway lost its independence, and effectually became a colony of Denmark. The Church's incomes and possessions were instead redirected to the court in Copenhagen. Norway lost the steady stream of pilgrims to the relics of St. Olav at the Nidaros shrine, and with them, much of the contact with cultural and economic life in the rest of Europe.
Eventually restored as a kingdom (albeit in legislative union with Denmark) in 1661, Norway saw its land area decrease in the 17th century with the loss of the provinces Båhuslen, Jemtland, and Herjedalen to Sweden, as the result of a number of disastrous wars with Sweden. In the north, however, its territory was increased by the acquisition of the northern provinces of Troms and Finnmark, at the expense of Sweden and Russia.
The famine of 1695–96 killed roughly 10% of Norway's population.[47] The harvest failed in Scandinavia at least nine times between 1740 and 1800, with great loss of life.[48]
Union with Sweden[edit]
Main article: United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway
See also: Norwegian protectorate and Norwegian romantic nationalism
The 1814 constitutional assembly, painted by Oscar Wergeland
After Denmark–Norway was attacked by the United Kingdom at the Battle of Copenhagen, it entered into an alliance with Napoleon, with the war leading to dire conditions and mass starvation in 1812. As the Danish kingdom found itself on the losing side in 1814, it was forced, under terms of the Treaty of Kiel, to cede Norway to the king of Sweden, while the old Norwegian provinces of Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands remained with the Danish crown.[49]
Norway took this opportunity to declare independence, adopted a constitution based on American and French models, and elected the Crown Prince of Denmark and Norway, Christian Frederick, as king on 17 May 1814. This is the famous Syttende Mai (Seventeenth of May) holiday celebrated by Norwegians and Norwegian-Americans alike. Syttende Mai is also called Norwegian Constitution Day.
Norwegian opposition to the great powers' decision to link Norway with Sweden caused the Norwegian-Swedish War to break out as Sweden tried to subdue Norway by military means. As Sweden's military was not strong enough to defeat the Norwegian forces outright and Norway's treasury was not large enough to support a protracted war, and as British and Russian navies blockaded the Norwegian coast,[50] the belligerents were forced to negotiate the Convention of Moss. According to the terms of the convention, Christian Frederik abdicated the Norwegian throne and authorised the Parliament of Norway to make the necessary constitutional amendments to allow for the personal union that Norway was forced to accept. On 4 November 1814 the Parliament (Storting) elected Charles XIII of Sweden as king of Norway, thereby establishing the union with Sweden.[51] Under this arrangement, Norway kept its liberal constitution and its own independent institutions, except for the foreign service. Following the recession caused by the Napoleonic Wars, economic development of Norway remained slow until economic growth began around 1830.[52]
Harvesting of oats in Jølster around 1890
This period also saw the rise of the Norwegian romantic nationalism, as Norwegians sought to define and express a distinct national character. The movement covered all branches of culture, including literature (Henrik Wergeland [1808–1845], Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson [1832–1910], Peter Christen Asbjørnsen [1812–1845], Jørgen Moe [1813–1882]), painting (Hans Gude [1825–1903], Adolph Tidemand [1814–1876]), music (Edvard Grieg [1843–1907]), and even language policy, where attempts to define a native written language for Norway led to today's two official written forms for Norwegian: Bokmål and Nynorsk.
King Charles III John, who came to the throne of Norway and Sweden in 1818, was the second king following Norway's break from Denmark and the union with Sweden. Charles John was a complex man whose long reign extended to 1844. He protected the constitution and liberties of Norway and Sweden during the age of Metternich. As such, he was regarded as a liberal monarch for that age. However, he was ruthless in his use of paid informers, the secret police and restrictions on the freedom of the press to put down public movements for reform—especially the Norwegian national independence movement.[53]
The Romantic Era that followed the reign of King Charles III John brought some significant social and political reforms. In 1854, women won the right to inherit property in their own right just like men. In 1863, the last trace of keeping unmarried women in the status of minors was removed. Furthermore, women were then eligible for different occupations, particularly the common school teacher.[54] However, by mid-century, Norway was still far from a "democracy". Voting was limited to officials, property owners, leaseholders, and burghers of incorporated towns.[55] There was some dissatisfaction with this system.[citation needed]
A Sami family in Norway around 1900
Still Norway remained a conservative society. Life in Norway (especially economic life) was "dominated by the aristocracy of professional men who filled most of the important posts in the central government."[56] There was no strong bourgeosie class in Norway to demand a breakdown of this aristocratic control of the economy.[57] Thus, even while revolution swept over most of the countries of Europe in 1848, Norway was largely unaffected by revolts that year.[57]
Marcus Thrane was a Utopian socialist. He made his appeal to the labouring classes urging a change of social structure "from below upwards." In 1848, he organised a labour society in Drammen. In just a few months this society had a membership of 500 and was publishing its own newspaper. Within two years 300 societies had been organised all over Norway with a total membership of 20,000 persons. The membership was drawn from the lower classes of both urban and rural areas; for the first time these two groups felt they had a common cause.[58] In the end, the revolt was easily crushed; Thrane was captured and in 1855, after four years in jail, was sentenced to three additional years for crimes against the safety of the state. Upon his release, Marcus Thrane attempted unsuccessfully to revitalise his movement but, after the death of his wife, migrated to the United States.[59]
In 1898, all men were granted universal suffrage, followed by all women in 1913.
A bride from Hardanger in national costume about 1900's.
Dissolution of the union[edit]
Main articles: Union dissolution referendum and Dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden
Christian Michelsen, a shipping magnate and statesman, and Prime Minister of Norway from 1905 to 1907, played a central role in the peaceful separation of Norway from Sweden on 7 June 1905. A national referendum confirmed the people's preference for a monarchy over a republic. No Norwegian could legitimately claim the throne because none was able to prove relationship to medieval royalty and in European tradition royal or "blue" blood is a precondition for laying claim to the throne.
The government offered the throne of Norway to a prince of the German royal house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Prince Carl of Denmark was unanimously elected king by the Norwegian Parliament, the first king of a fully independent Norway in 508 years (1397: Kalmar Union); he took the name Haakon VII. In 1905, the country welcomed the prince from neighbouring Denmark, his wife Maud of Wales and their young son to re-establish Norway's royal house. Following centuries of close ties between Norway and Denmark, a prince from the latter was the obvious choice for a European prince who could best relate to the Norwegian people.
First and Second World Wars[edit]
See also: German occupation of Norway, Reichskommissariat Norwegen, Quisling regime, and Free Norwegian Forces
Scenes from the Norwegian Campaign in 1940
Throughout the First World War, Norway was in principle a neutral country. In reality, however, Norway had been pressured by the British to hand over increasingly large parts of its large merchant fleet to the British at low rates, as well as to join the trade blockade against Germany. Norwegian merchant marine ships, often with Norwegian sailors still on board, were then sailing under the British flag and at risk of being sunk by German submarines. Thus, many Norwegian sailors and ships were lost. Thereafter, the world ranking of the Norwegian merchant navy fell from fourth place to sixth in the world.[60]
Norway also proclaimed its neutrality during the Second World War, but despite this it was invaded by German forces on 9 April 1940. Although Norway was unprepared for the German surprise attack (see: Battle of Drøbak Sound, Norwegian Campaign, and Invasion of Norway), military and naval resistance lasted for two months. Norwegian armed forces in the north launched an offensive against the German forces in the Battles of Narvik, until they were forced to surrender on 10 June after losing British support which had been diverted to France during the German invasion of France.
King Haakon and the Norwegian government escaped to Rotherhithe in London. Throughout the war they sent inspirational radio speeches and supported clandestine military actions in Norway against the Germans. On the day of the invasion, the leader of the small National-Socialist party Nasjonal Samling, Vidkun Quisling, tried to seize power but was forced by the German occupiers to step aside. Real power was wielded by the leader of the German occupation authority, Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. Quisling, as minister president, later formed a collaborationist government under German control. Up to 15,000 Norwegians volunteered to fight in German units, including the Waffen-SS.[61]
Norwegian fighter pilots in the United Kingdom during World War II
The fraction of the Norwegian population that supported Germany was traditionally smaller than in Sweden but greater than is generally appreciated today.[citation needed] It included a number of prominent personalities such as Knut Hamsun. The concept of a "Germanic Union" of member states fit well into their thoroughly nationalist-patriotic ideology.
Many Norwegians and persons of Norwegian descent joined the Allied forces as well as the Free Norwegian Forces. In June 1940 a small group had left Norway following their king to Britain. This group included 13 ships, five aircraft, and 500 men from the Royal Norwegian Navy. By the end of the war, the force had grown to 58 ships and 7,500 men in service in the Royal Norwegian Navy, 5 squadrons of aircraft (including Spitfires, Sunderland flying boats and Mosquitos) in the newly formed Norwegian Air Force, and land forces including the Norwegian Independent Company 1 and 5 Troop as well as No. 10 Commandos.
During the five years of German occupation, Norwegians built a resistance movement which fought the German occupation forces with both civil disobedience and armed resistance including the destruction of Norsk Hydro's heavy water plant and stockpile of heavy water at Vemork, which crippled the German nuclear programme (see: Norwegian heavy water sabotage). More important to the Allied war effort, however, was the role of the Norwegian Merchant Marine. At the time of the invasion, Norway had the 4th largest merchant marine fleet in the world. It was led by the Norwegian shipping company Nortraship under the Allies throughout the war and took part in every war operation from the evacuation of Dunkirk to the Normandy landings. Each December Norway gives a Christmas tree to the United Kingdom as thanks for the British assistance during the Second World War. A ceremony takes place to erect the tree in London's Trafalgar Square.[62]
Post-World War II history[edit]
From 1945 to 1962, the Labour Party held an absolute majority in the parliament. The government, led by prime minister Einar Gerhardsen, embarked on a programme inspired by Keynesian economics, emphasising state financed industrialisation and co-operation between trade unions and employers' organisations. Many measures of state control of the economy imposed during the war were continued, although the rationing of dairy products was lifted in 1949, while price control and rationing of housing and cars continued as long as until 1960.
Since the 1980s oil production has helped to expand the Norwegian economy and finance the Norwegian state.
The wartime alliance with the United Kingdom and the United States was continued in the post-war years. Although pursuing the goal of a socialist economy, the Labour Party distanced itself from the Communists (especially after the Communists' seizure of power in Czechoslovakia in 1948), and strengthened its foreign policy and defence policy ties with the US. Norway received Marshall Plan aid from the United States starting in 1947, joined the OEEC one year later, and became a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949.
In 1969, the Phillips Petroleum Company discovered petroleum resources at the Ekofisk field west of Norway. In 1973, the Norwegian government founded the State oil company, Statoil. Oil production did not provide net income until the early 1980s because of the large capital investment that was required to establish the country's petroleum industry. Around 1975, both the proportion and absolute number of workers in industry peaked. Since then labour-intensive industries and services like factory mass production and shipping have largely been outsourced.
Norway was a founding member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Two referendums on joining the European Union failed by narrow margins in 1972 and 1994.[63]
Town Hall Square in Oslo filled with people with roses mourning the victims of the Utøya massacre, 22 July 2011
In 1981, a Conservative government led by Kåre Willoch replaced the Labour Party with a policy of stimulating the stagflated economy with tax cuts, economic liberalisation, deregulation of markets, and measures to curb record-high inflation (13.6% in 1981).
Norway's first female prime minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland of the Labour party, continued many of the reforms of her conservative predecessor, while backing traditional Labour concerns such as social security, high taxes, the industrialisation of nature, and feminism. By the late 1990s, Norway had paid off its foreign debt and had started accumulating a sovereign wealth fund. Since the 1990s, a divisive question in politics has been how much of the income from petroleum production the government should spend, and how much it should save.
In 2011, Norway suffered two terrorist attacks on the same day conducted by Anders Behring Breivik which struck the government quarter in Oslo and a summer camp of the Labour party's youth movement at Utøya island, resulting in 77 deaths and 319 wounded.
The 2013 Norwegian parliamentary election brought a more conservative government to power with the Conservative Party and the Progress Party, winning 43% of the electorate's votes.
Main articles: Geography of Norway and Geology of Norway
A satellite image of continental Norway in winter
The tallest vertical rock face in Europe, Trollveggen and Trollryggen over the river Rauma in Romsdalen valley.
Norway comprises the western part of Scandinavia in Northern Europe. The rugged coastline, broken by huge fjords and thousands of islands, stretches 25,000 kilometres (16,000 mi) and 83,000 kilometres (52,000 mi). Norway shares a 1,619-kilometre (1,006 mi) land border with Sweden, 727 kilometres (452 mi) with Finland, and 196 kilometres (122 mi) with Russia to the east. To the north, west and south, Norway is bordered by the Barents Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea, and Skagerrak.[64] The Scandinavian Mountains form much of the border with Sweden.
Norwegian lowland landscape near the Gaulosen branch of Trondheimsfjord
Reine in Lofoten, Northern Norway
At 385,252 square kilometres (148,747 sq mi) (including Svalbard and Jan Mayen) (and 323,802 square kilometres (125,021 sq mi) without), much of the country is dominated by mountainous or high terrain, with a great variety of natural features caused by prehistoric glaciers and varied topography. The most noticeable of these are the fjords: deep grooves cut into the land flooded by the sea following the end of the Ice Age. Sognefjorden is the world's second deepest fjord, and the world's longest at 204 kilometres (127 mi). Hornindalsvatnet is the deepest lake in all Europe.[65] Permafrost can be found all year in the higher mountain areas and in the interior of Finnmark county. Numerous glaciers are found in Norway.
Norway lies between latitudes 57° and 81° N, and longitudes 4° and 32° E.
The land is mostly made of hard granite and gneiss rock, but slate, sandstone, and limestone are also common, and the lowest elevations contain marine deposits. Because of the Gulf Stream and prevailing westerlies, Norway experiences higher temperatures and more precipitation than expected at such northern latitudes, especially along the coast. The mainland experiences four distinct seasons, with colder winters and less precipitation inland. The northernmost part has a mostly maritime Subarctic climate, while Svalbard has an Arctic tundra climate.
Because of the large latitudinal range of the country and the varied topography and climate, Norway has a larger number of different habitats than almost any other European country. There are approximately 60,000 species in Norway and adjacent waters (excluding bacteria and virus). The Norwegian Shelf large marine ecosystem is considered highly productive.[66]
The southern and western parts of Norway, fully exposed to Atlantic storm fronts, experience more precipitation and have milder winters than the eastern and far northern parts. Areas to the east of the coastal mountains are in a rain shadow, and have lower rain and snow totals than the west. The lowlands around Oslo have the warmest and sunniest summers, but also cold weather and snow in wintertime.[citation needed]
Because of Norway's high latitude, there are large seasonal variations in daylight. From late May to late July, the sun never completely descends beneath the horizon in areas north of the Arctic Circle (hence Norway's description as the "Land of the Midnight Sun"), and the rest of the country experiences up to 20 hours of daylight per day. Conversely, from late November to late January, the sun never rises above the horizon in the north, and daylight hours are very short in the rest of the country.
The coastal climate of Norway is exceptionally mild compared with areas on similar latitudes elsewhere in the world, with the Gulf Stream passing directly offshore the northern areas of the Atlantic coast, continuously warming the region in the winter. Temperature anomalies found in coastal locations are exceptional, with Røst and Værøy lacking a meteorological winter in spite of being north of the Arctic Circle. The Gulf Stream has this effect only on the northern parts of Norway, not in the south, despite what is commonly believed. The northern coast of Norway would thus be ice-covered if not for the Gulf Stream.[67] As a side-effect, the Scandinavian Mountains prevent continental winds from reaching the coastline, causing very cool summers throughout Atlantic Norway. Oslo has more of a continental climate, similar to Sweden's. The mountain ranges have subarctic and tundra climates. There is also very high rainfall in areas exposed to the Atlantic, such as Bergen. Oslo, in comparison, is dry, being in a rain shadow. Skjåk in Oppland county is also in the rain shadow and is one of the driest places with 278 millimetres (10.9 inches) precipitation annually. Finnmarksvidda and the interior valleys of Troms and Nordland also receive less than 300 millimetres (12 inches) annually. Longyearbyen is the driest place in Norway with 190 millimetres (7.5 inches).[68]
Parts of southeastern Norway including parts of Mjøsa have warm-summer humid continental climates (Köppen Dfb), while the more southern and western coasts are mostly of the oceanic climate (Cfb). Further inland in (southeastern and northern Norway, subarctic climate (Dfc) dominates; this is especially true for areas in the rain shadow of the Scandinavian Mountains. Some of the inner valleys of Oppland get so little precipitation annually, thanks to the rain shadow effect, that they meet the requirements for dry-summer subarctic climates (Dsc). In higher altitudes, close to the coasts of southern and western Norway, one can find the rare subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc). This climate is also common in Northern Norway but there usually in lower altitudes, all the way down to sea level. A small part of the northernmost coast of Norway has the tundra/alpine/polar climate (ET). Large parts of Norway are covered by mountains and high altitude plateaus, many of which also exhibit the tundra/alpine/polar climate (ET).[citation needed]
[hide]Climate data for Oslo-Blindern (Köppen Dfb) (1961–1990), Norway
Record high °C (°F)
Average high °C (°F)
(31.1) 9.57
Daily mean °C (°F)
Average low °C (°F)
Record low °C (°F)
−24.3
(−11.7) −24.9
(−4.4) −9.8
(18.7) −16.0
(3.2) −20.8
(−5.4) −24.9
(−12.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches)
(1.93) 36
(3.5) 90
(2.17) 763
Average precipitation days
6 4 6 5 5 7 7 8 7 8 8 6 77
Mean monthly sunshine hours
40 76 126 178 220 250 246 216 144 86 51 35 1,668
Source #1: Norwegian Meteorological Institute eklima.met.no
Source #2: Met.no[69] (precipitation > 3 mm)
[hide]Climate data for Bergen (Köppen Cfb), 1961–1990
(32) −5.5
(14) −13.0
(5.2) 148
(11.14) 271
(10.2) 235
(9.25) 2,250
Average rainy days (≥ 1 mm)
20 15 17 13 14 11 15 17 20 22 17 21 202
Average relative humidity (%)
19 56 94 147 186 189 167 144 86 60 27 12 1,187
Source #1: http://sharki.oslo.dnmi.no/pls/portal/BATCH_ORDER.PORTLET_UTIL.Download_BLob?p_BatchId=666089&p_IntervalId=1351224(eklima.no) (high and low temperatures),[70] NOAA (all else, except extremes)[71]
Source #2: Voodoo Skies for extremes[72]
[hide]Climate data for Brønnøysund (Köppen Cfc), 1960-1990
Source: Meteorologisk Institutt[69]
[hide]Climate data for Rena-Haugedalen (Köppen Dfc) (1961–1990), Norway
(5.7) −9.6
(7.9) −3.48
Source: [73]
Biodiversity[edit]
The Arctic fox has its habitat in high elevation ranges on the mainland as well as on Svalbard.
The total number of species include 16,000 species of insects (probably 4,000 more species yet to be described), 20,000 species of algae, 1,800 species of lichen, 1,050 species of mosses, 2,800 species of vascular plants, up to 7,000 species of fungi, 450 species of birds (250 species nesting in Norway), 90 species of mammals, 45 fresh-water species of fish, 150 salt-water species of fish, 1,000 species of fresh-water invertebrates, and 3,500 species of salt-water invertebrates.[74] About 40,000 of these species have been described by science. The red list of 2010 encompasses 4,599 species.[75]
Cold-water coral reefs in Skagerak off of the southern coast of Norway.
Seventeen species are listed mainly because they are endangered on a global scale, such as the European beaver, even if the population in Norway is not seen as endangered. The number of threatened and near-threatened species equals to 3,682; it includes 418 fungi species, many of which are closely associated with the small remaining areas of old-growth forests,[76] 36 bird species, and 16 species of mammals. In 2010, 2,398 species were listed as endangered or vulnerable; of these were 1250 listed as vulnerable (VU), 871 as endangered (EN), and 276 species as critically endangered (CR), among which were the grey wolf, the Arctic fox (healthy population on Svalbard) and the pool frog.[75]
The largest predator in Norwegian waters is the sperm whale, and the largest fish is the basking shark. The largest predator on land is the polar bear, while the brown bear is the largest predator on the Norwegian mainland. The largest land animal on the mainland is the elk (American English: moose). The elk is in Norway known for its size and strength and is often called skogens konge, "king of the forest".
Stunning and dramatic scenery and landscape is found throughout Norway.[77] The west coast of southern Norway and the coast of northern Norway present some of the most visually impressive coastal sceneries in the world. National Geographic has listed the Norwegian fjords as the world's top tourist attraction.[78] The 2014 Environmental Performance Index put Norway in tenth place, based on the environmental performance of the country's policies.
A summer evening view from Sande over Lovatnet in Stryn, Sogn og Fjordane in 2013
Politics and government[edit]
Main articles: Politics of Norway and Law of Norway
See also: Norwegian parliamentary election, 2013
The Royal Palace in Oslo.
King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, reigning since 1991.
The Storting is the Parliament of Norway.
Erna Solberg, the Prime Minister of Norway since 2013.
Norway is considered to be one of the most developed democracies and states of justice in the world. From 1814, c. 45% of men (25 years and older) had the right to vote, whereas the United Kingdom had c. 20% (1832), Sweden c. 5% (1866), and Belgium c. 1.15% (1840). Since 2010, Norway has been classified as the world's most democratic country by the Democracy Index.[79][80][81]
According to the Constitution of Norway, which was adopted on 17 May 1814[82] and inspired by the United States Declaration of Independence and French Revolution of 1776 and 1789, respectively, Norway is a unitary constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government, wherein the King of Norway is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. Power is separated among the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, as defined by the Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document.
The Monarch officially retains executive power. However, following the introduction of a parliamentary system of government, the duties of the Monarch have since become strictly representative and ceremonial,[83] such as the formal appointment and dismissal of the Prime Minister and other ministers in the executive government. Accordingly, the Monarch is commander-in-chief of the Norwegian Armed Forces, and serves as chief diplomatic official abroad and as a symbol of unity. Harald V of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg was crowned King of Norway in 1991, the first since the 14th century who has been born in the country.[84] Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway, is the legal and rightful heir to the throne and the Kingdom.
In practice, the Prime Minister exercises the executive powers. Constitutionally, legislative power is vested with both the government and the Parliament of Norway, but the latter is the supreme legislature and a unicameral body.[85] Norway is fundamentally structured as a representative democracy. The Parliament can pass a law by simple majority of the 169 representatives, who are elected on the basis of proportional representation from 19 constituencies for four-year terms.
150 are elected directly from the 19 constituencies, and an additional 19 seats ("levelling seats") are allocated on a nationwide basis to make the representation in parliament correspond better with the popular vote for the political parties. A 4% election threshold is required for a party to gain levelling seats in Parliament.[86] There are a total of 169 Members of Parliament.
The Parliament of Norway, called the Stortinget (meaning Grand Assembly), ratifies national treaties developed by the executive branch. It can impeach members of the government if their acts are declared unconstitutional. If an indicted suspect is impeached, Parliament has the power to remove the person from office.
The position of Prime Minister, Norway's head of government, is allocated to the Member of Parliament who can obtain the confidence of a majority in Parliament, usually the current leader of the largest political party or, more effectively, through a coalition of parties. A single party generally does not have sufficient political power in terms of the number of seats to form a government on its own. Norway has often been ruled by minority governments.
The Prime Minister nominates the Cabinet, traditionally drawn from members of the same political party or parties in the Storting, making up the government. The PM organises the executive government and exercises its power as vested by the Constitution.[87] Reflecting its monarchical past, Norway was established under the Lutheran Church of Norway, and was the state church until 2012. Formerly the PM had to have more than half the members of Cabinet be members of the Church of Norway, meaning at least ten out of the 19 ministries. This rule was however removed in 2012. The issue of separation of church and state in Norway has been increasingly controversial, as many people believe it is time to change this, to reflect the growing diversity in the population. A part of this is the evolution of the public school subject Christianity, a required subject since 1739. Even the state's loss in a battle at the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg[88] in 2007 did not settle the matter.
Through the Council of State, a privy council presided over by the Monarch, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet meet at the Royal Palace and formally consult the Monarch. All government bills need the formal approval by the Monarch before and after introduction to Parliament. The Council reviews and approves all of the Monarch's actions as head of state. Although all government and parliamentary acts are decided beforehand, the privy council is an example of symbolic gesture the King retains.[84]
Members of the Storting are directly elected from party-lists proportional representation in nineteen plural-member constituencies in a national multi-party system.[89] Historically, both the Norwegian Labour Party and Conservative Party have played leading political roles. In the early 21st century, the Labour Party has been in power since the 2005 election, in a Red-Green Coalition with the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party.[90]
Since 2005, both the Conservative Party and the Progress Party have won numerous seats in the Parliament, but not sufficient in the 2009 general election to overthrow the coalition. Commentators have pointed to the poor co-operation between the opposition parties, including the Liberals and the Christian Democrats. Jens Stoltenberg, the leader of the Labour Party, continues to have the necessary majority through his multi-party alliance to continue as PM.[91]
In national elections in September 2013, voters ended eight years of Labor rule. Two political parties, Høyre and Fremskrittspartiet, elected on promises of tax cuts, more spending on infrastructure and education, better services and stricter rules on immigration, formed a government. Coming at a time when Norway's economy is in good condition with low unemployment, the rise of the right appeared to be based on other issues. Erna Solberg became prime minister, the second female prime minister after Brundtland and the first conservative prime minister since Syse. Solberg said her win was "a historic election victory for the right-wing parties".[92]
Administrative divisions[edit]
Main articles: Administrative divisions of Norway, Counties of Norway, Municipalities of Norway, List of towns and cities in Norway, and Dependencies of Norway
See also: Sápmi (area)
Norway, a unitary state, is divided into nineteen first-level administrative counties (fylke). The counties are administrated through directly elected county assemblies who elect the County Governor. Additionally, the King and government are represented in every county by a fylkesmann, who effectively acts as a Governor.[93] As such, the Government is directly represented at a local level through the County Governors' offices. The counties are then sub-divided into 430 second-level municipalities (kommunar), which in turn are administrated by directly elected municipal council, headed by a mayor and a small executive cabinet. The capital of Oslo is considered both a county and a municipality.
Norway has two integral overseas territories: Jan Mayen and Svalbard, the only developed island in the archipelago of the same name, located miles away to the north. There are three Antarctic and Subantarctic dependencies: Bouvet Island, Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. On most maps there had been an unclaimed area between Queen Maud Land and the South Pole until June 12, 2015 when Norway formally annexed that area.[94]
A geopolitical map of Norway, showing the 19 fylker, the Svalbard (Spitsbergen) and Jan Mayen islands, which are part of the Norwegian kingdom
96 settlements have city status in Norway. In most cases, the city borders are coterminous with the borders of their respective municipalities. Often, Norwegian city municipalities include large areas that are not developed; for example, Oslo municipality contains large forests, located north and south-east of the city, and over half of Bergen municipality consists of mountainous areas.
Norway and its overseas administrative divisions
The counties of Norway are:
County (fylke)
Administrative centre
Most populous municipality
Østfold Sarpsborg Fredrikstad Eastern Norway
Akershus Oslo Bærum Eastern Norway
Oslo City of Oslo Oslo Eastern Norway
Hedmark Hamar Ringsaker Eastern Norway
Oppland Lillehammer Gjøvik Eastern Norway
Buskerud Drammen Drammen Eastern Norway
Vestfold Tønsberg Sandefjord Eastern Norway
Telemark Skien Skien Eastern Norway
Aust-Agder Arendal Arendal Southern Norway
Vest-Agder Kristiansand Kristiansand Southern Norway
Rogaland Stavanger Stavanger Western Norway
Hordaland Bergen Bergen Western Norway
Sogn og Fjordane Leikanger Førde Western Norway
Møre og Romsdal Molde Ålesund Western Norway
Sør-Trøndelag Trondheim Trondheim Trøndelag
Nord-Trøndelag Steinkjer Stjørdal Trøndelag
Nordland Bodø Bodø Northern Norway
Troms Tromsø Tromsø Northern Norway
Finnmark Vadsø Alta Northern Norway
Svalbard (unincorporated area) Longyearbyen Longyearbyen Northern Norway
Judicial system and law enforcement[edit]
Main article: Judiciary of Norway
Norway uses a civil law system where laws are created and amended in Parliament and the system regulated through the Courts of justice of Norway. It consists of the Supreme Court of 19 permanent judges and a Chief Justice, appellate courts, city and district courts, and conciliation councils.[95] The judiciary is independent of executive and legislative branches. While the Prime Minister nominates Supreme Court Justices for office, their nomination must be approved by Parliament and formally confirmed by the Monarch in the Council of State. Usually, judges attached to regular courts are formally appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister.
The Courts' strict and formal mission is to regulate the Norwegian judicial system, interpret the Constitution, and as such implement the legislation adopted by Parliament. In its judicial reviews, it monitors the legislative and executive branches to ensure that they comply with provisions of enacted legislation.[95]
The law is enforced in Norway by the Norwegian Police Service. It is a Unified National Police Service made up of 27 Police Districts and several specialist agencies, such as Norwegian National Authority for the Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime, known as Økokrim; and the National Criminal Investigation Service, each headed by a chief of police. The Police Service is headed by the National Police Directorate, which reports to the Ministry of Justice and the Police. The Police Directorate is headed by a National Police Commissioner. The only exception is the Norwegian Police Security Agency, whose head answers directly to the Ministry of Justice and the Police.
Norway abolished the death penalty for regular criminal acts in 1902. The legislature abolished the death penalty for high treason in war and war-crimes in 1979. Reporters Without Borders, in its 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index, ranked Norway at a shared first place (along with Iceland) out of 169 countries.[96]
In general, the legal and institutional framework in Norway is characterised by a high degree of transparency, accountability and integrity, and the perception and the occurrence of corruption are very low.[97] Norway has ratified all relevant international anti-corruption conventions, and its standards of implementation and enforcement of anti-corruption legislation are considered very high by many international anti-corruption working groups such as the OECD Anti-Bribery Working Group. However, there are some isolated cases showing that some municipalities have abused their position in public procurement processes.
Norwegian prisons are humane rather than tough with emphasis on rehabilitation. At 20% Norway's reconviction rate is among the lowest in the world.[98]
Foreign relations[edit]
Main article: Foreign relations of Norway
See also: Norway and the European Union and Whaling in Norway
Royal Norwegian Navy Fridtjof Nansen class frigate
Norway maintains embassies in 86 countries.[99] 60 countries maintain an embassy in Norway, all of them in the capital, Oslo.
Norway is a founding member of the United Nations (UN), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Council of Europe and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Norway issued applications for accession to the European Union (EU) and its predecessors in 1962, 1967 and 1992, respectively. While Denmark, Sweden and Finland obtained membership, the Norwegian electorate rejected the treaties of accession in referenda in 1972 and 1994.
After the 1994 referendum, Norway maintained its membership in the European Economic Area (EEA), an arrangement granting the country access to the internal market of the Union, on the condition that Norway implements the Union's pieces of legislation which are deemed relevant (of which there were approximately seven thousand by 2010)[100] Successive Norwegian governments have, since 1994, requested participation in parts of the EU's co-operation that go beyond the provisions of the EEA agreement. Non-voting participation by Norway has been granted in, for instance, the Union's Common Security and Defence Policy, the Schengen Agreement, and the European Defence Agency, as well as 19 separate programmes.[101]
Norway contributes to international development. In addition, it participated in the 1990s brokering of the Oslo Accords, an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. These were unsuccessful.
Main article: Norwegian Armed Forces
Norwegian Leopard tanks in the snow in Målselv
The Norwegian Armed Forces numbers about 25,000 personnel, including civilian employees. According to 2009 mobilisation plans, full mobilisation produces approximately 83,000 combatant personnel. Norway has conscription (including 6–12 months of training);[102] in 2013, the country became the first in Europe and NATO to draft women as well as men. However, due to less need for conscripts after the Cold War ended with the break-up of the Soviet Union, few people have to serve if they are not motivated.[103] The Armed Forces are subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of Defence. The Commander-in-Chief is King Harald V. The military of Norway is divided into the following branches: the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, the Royal Norwegian Air Force, the Norwegian Cyber Force and the Home Guard.
In response to its being overrun by Germany in 1940, the country was one of the founding nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on 4 April 1949. At present, Norway contributes in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.[104] Additionally, Norway has contributed in several missions in contexts of the United Nations, NATO, and the Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union.
Main article: Health in Norway
Norway was awarded first place according to the UN's Human Development Index (HDI) for 2013.[105] Poverty and communicable diseases dominated in Norway together with famines, and epidemics in the 1800s. From the 1900s improvements in public health occurred as a result of development in several areas such as social and living conditions, changes in disease and medical outbreaks, establishment of the health care system and emphasis on public health matters. Vaccination and increased treatment opportunities with antibiotics resulted in great improvements within the Norwegian population. Improved hygiene and better nutrition were factors that contributed to improved health.
The disease pattern in Norway changed from communicable diseases to non-communicable diseases and chronic diseases as cardiovascular disease. Inequalities and social differences are still present in public health in Norway today.[106]
In 2013 the infant mortality rate was 2.5 per 1 000 live births among children under the age of one. For girls it was 2.7 and for boys 2.3, which is the lowest infant mortality rate for boys ever recorded in Norway.[107]
Main articles: Economy of Norway, Energy in Norway, European Economic Area, and Exclusive economic zone § Norway
Graphical depiction of Norway's product exports in 28 colour-coded categories.
GDP and GDP growth
Norwegians enjoy the second-highest GDP per-capita among European countries (after Luxembourg), and the sixth-highest GDP (PPP) per-capita in the world. Today, Norway ranks as the second-wealthiest country in the world in monetary value, with the largest capital reserve per capita of any nation.[108] According to the CIA World Factbook, Norway is a net external creditor of debt.[64] Norway maintained first place in the world in the UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) for six consecutive years (2001–2006),[13] and then reclaimed this position in 2009, through 2015.[23] The standard of living in Norway is among the highest in the world. Foreign Policy Magazine ranks Norway last in its Failed States Index for 2009, judging Norway to be the world's most well-functioning and stable country. The OECD ranks Norway fourth in the 2013 equalised Better Life Index and third in intergenerational earnings elasticity.[109][110]
Norway's exclusive economic zones
The Norwegian economy is an example of a mixed economy, a prosperous capitalist welfare state and social democracy country featuring a combination of free market activity and large state ownership in certain key sectors. Public health care in Norway is free (after an annual charge of around $230 for those over 16), and parents have 46 weeks paid[111] parental leave. The state income derived from natural resources includes a significant contribution from petroleum production. Norway has a very low unemployment rate, currently 2.6%.[112] 69% of the population aged 15–74 are employed.[113] People in the labour force are either employed or looking for work.[114] 9.5% of the population aged 18–66 receive a disability pension[115] and 30% of the labour force are employed by the government, the highest in the OECD.[116] The hourly productivity levels, as well as average hourly wages in Norway, are among the highest in the world.[117][118]
The egalitarian values of Norwegian society have kept the wage difference between the lowest paid worker and the CEO of most companies as much less than in comparable western economies.[119] This is also evident in Norway's low Gini coefficient.
The state has large ownership positions in key industrial sectors, such as the strategic petroleum sector (Statoil), hydroelectric energy production (Statkraft), aluminium production (Norsk Hydro), the largest Norwegian bank (DNB), and telecommunication provider (Telenor). Through these big companies, the government controls approximately 30% of the stock values at the Oslo Stock Exchange. When non-listed companies are included, the state has even higher share in ownership (mainly from direct oil licence ownership). Norway is a major shipping nation and has the world's 6th largest merchant fleet, with 1,412 Norwegian-owned merchant vessels.
By referendums in 1972 and 1994, Norwegians rejected proposals to join the European Union (EU). However, Norway, together with Iceland and Liechtenstein, participates in the European Union's single market through the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement. The EEA Treaty between the European Union countries and the EFTA countries– transposed into Norwegian law via "EØS-loven"[120]– describes the procedures for implementing European Union rules in Norway and the other EFTA countries. Norway is a highly integrated member of most sectors of the EU internal market. Some sectors, such as agriculture, oil and fish, are not wholly covered by the EEA Treaty. Norway has also acceded to the Schengen Agreement and several other intergovernmental agreements among the EU member states.
The country is richly endowed with natural resources including petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals. Large reserves of petroleum and natural gas were discovered in the 1960s, which led to a boom in the economy. Norway has obtained one of the highest standards of living in the world in part by having a large amount of natural resources compared to the size of the population. In 2011, 28% of state revenues were generated from the petroleum industry.[121]
Norway is the first country which banned cutting of trees (deforestation), in order to prevent rain forests from vanishing. The country declared its intention at the UN Climate Summit in 2014, alongside Great Britain and Germany. Crops, that are typically linked to forests' destruction are timber, soy, palm oil and beef. Now Norway has to find new way to provide these essential products without exerting negative influence on its environment.[122]
Agriculture is a significant sector, in spite of the mountainous landscape (Flakstad)
Oil production has been central to the Norwegian economy since the 1970s, with a dominating state ownership (Statfjord oil field)
Stockfish has been exported from Lofoten in Norway for at least 1,000 years
Export revenues from oil and gas have risen to almost 50% of total exports and constitute more than 20% of the GDP.[123] Norway is the fifth-largest oil exporter and third-largest gas exporter in the world, but it is not a member of OPEC. In 1995 the Norwegian government established the sovereign wealth fund ("Government Pension Fund — Global"), which would be funded with oil revenues, including taxes, dividends, sales revenues and licensing fees. This was intended to reduce overheating in the economy from oil revenues, minimise uncertainty from volatility in oil price, and provide a cushion to compensate for expenses associated with the ageing of the population.
The government controls its petroleum resources through a combination of state ownership in major operators in the oil fields (with approximately 62% ownership in Statoil in 2007) and the fully state-owned Petoro, which has a market value of about twice Statoil, and SDFI. Finally, the government controls licensing of exploration and production of fields. The fund invests in developed financial markets outside Norway. The budgetary rule (Handlingsregelen) is to spend no more than 4% of the fund each year (assumed to be the normal yield from the fund).
In August 2014, the Government Pension Fund controlled assets were valued at approximately US$884 billion (equal to US$173,000 per capita) which is about 174% of Norway's current GDP. It is the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world.[124] The fund controls about 1.3% of all listed shares in Europe and more than 1% of all the publicly traded shares in the world. The Norwegian Central Bank operates investment offices in London, New York and Shanghai. Guidelines implemented in 2007 allow the fund to invest up to 60% of the capital in shares (maximum of 40% prior), while the rest may be placed in bonds and real-estate. As the stock markets tumbled in September 2008, the fund was able to buy more shares at low prices. In this way, the losses incurred by the market turmoil was recuperated by November 2009.[citation needed]
Other nations with economies based on natural resources, such as Russia, are trying to learn from Norway by establishing similar funds. The investment choices of the Norwegian fund are directed by ethical guidelines; for example, the fund is not allowed to invest in companies that produce parts for nuclear weapons. Norway's highly transparent investment scheme is lauded by the international community.[citation needed] The future size of the fund is closely linked to the price of oil and to developments in international financial markets.
In 2000, the government sold one-third of the state-owned oil company Statoil in an IPO. The next year, the main telecom supplier, Telenor, was listed on Oslo Stock Exchange. The state also owns significant shares of Norway's largest bank, DnB NOR and the airline SAS. Since 2000, economic growth has been rapid, pushing unemployment down to levels not seen since the early 1980s (unemployment in 2007: 1.3%). The international financial crisis has primarily affected the industrial sector, but unemployment has remained low and was at 3.3% (86,000 people) in August 2011. In contrast to Norway, Sweden had substantially higher actual and projected unemployment numbers as a result of the recession. Thousands of mainly young Swedes migrated to Norway for work during these years, which is easy as the labour market and social security systems overlap in the Nordic Countries. In the 1st quarter of 2009, the GNP of Norway surpassed Sweden's for the first time in history, although its population is half the size.
Norway contains significant mineral resources and in 2013 its mineral production was valued at US$1.5 billion (Norwegian Geological Survey data). The most valuable minerals are calcium carbonate (limestone), building stone, nepheline syenite, olivine, iron, titanium, and nickel.[125]
Norway is also the world's 2nd-largest exporter of fish (in value, after China).[126][127] Hydroelectric plants generate roughly 98–99% of Norway's electric power, more than any other country in the world.[128]
Oil fields[edit]
External image
Decreasing oil production
Between 1966 and 2013, Norwegian companies drilled 5085 oil wells, mostly in the North Sea.[129] 3672 are utviklingsbrønner (regular production);[129] 1413 are letebrønner (exploration); and 1405 of these have been terminated (avsluttet).[129]
Oil fields not yet in production phase include: Wisting Central—calculated size in 2013, 65–156 million barrels of oil and 10 to 40 billion cubic feet (0.28 to 1.13 billion cubic metres), (utvinnbar) of gas.[130] and the Castberg Oil Field (Castberg-feltet[130])—calculated size 540 million barrels of oil, and 2 to 7 billion cubic feet (57 to 198 million cubic metres) (utvinnbar) of gas.[131] Both oil fields are located in the Barents Sea.
Transport[edit]
Main articles: Transport in Norway, Rail transport in Norway, and List of airports in Norway
Due to the low population density, narrow shape and long coastlines of Norway, its public transport is less developed than in many European countries, especially outside the major cities. The country has longstanding water transport traditions, but the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications has in recent years implemented rail, road and air transport through numerous subsidiaries to develop the country's infrastructure.[132] Under discussion is development of a new high-speed rail system between the nation's largest cities.[133][134]
E6 highway at Brattlikollen outskirts of Oslo
Norway's main railway network consists of 4,114 kilometres (2,556 mi) of standard gauge lines, of which 242 kilometres (150 mi) is double track and 64 kilometres (40 mi) high-speed rail (210 km/h) while 62% is electrified at 15 kV 16 2⁄3 Hz AC. The railways transported 56,827,000 passengers 2,956 million passenger-kilometres and 24,783,000 tonnes of cargo 3,414 million tonne-kilometres.[135] The entire network is owned by the Norwegian National Rail Administration.[136] All domestic passenger trains except the Airport Express Train are operated by Norges Statsbaner (NSB).[137] Several companies operate freight trains.[138] Investment in new infrastructure and maintenance is financed through the state budget,[136] and subsidies are provided for passenger train operations.[139] NSB operates long-haul trains, including night trains, regional services and four commuter train systems, around Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger.[140]
Norwegian Air Shuttle and Scandinavian Airlines aircraft at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. Shows the startup of the expansion and renovation set to complete in 2017.[visualisation]
Norway has approximately 92,946 kilometres (57,754 mi) of road network, of which 72,033 kilometres (44,759 mi) are paved and 664 kilometres (413 mi) are motorway.[64] The four tiers of road routes are national, county, municipal and private, with national and primary county roads numbered en route. The most important national routes are part of the European route scheme. The two most prominent are the E6 going north-south through the entire country, and the E39, which follows the West Coast. National and county roads are managed by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.[141]
Norway has the world's largest registered stock of plug-in electric vehicles per capita, with Oslo recognised as the EV capital of the world.[142][143][144] In March 2014, Norway became the first country where over 1 in every 100 passenger cars on the roads is a plug-in electric.[145] The plug-in electric segment market share of new car sales is also the highest in the world.[146] According to a report by Dagens Næringsliv in June 2016, the country would like to ban all gasoline and diesel powered vehicles as early as 2025.[147]
Of the 97 airports in Norway,[64] 52 are public,[148] and 46 are operated by the state-owned Avinor.[149] Seven airports have more than one million passengers annually.[148] 41,089,675 passengers passed through Norwegian airports in 2007, of which 13,397,458 were international.[148]
The central gateway to Norway by air is Oslo Airport, Gardermoen.[148] Located about 35 kilometres (22 mi) northeast of Oslo, it is hub for the two major Norwegian airlines: Scandinavian Airlines[150] and Norwegian Air Shuttle,[151] and for regional aircraft from Western Norway.[152] There are departures to most European countries and some intercontinental destinations.[153][154] A direct high-speed train connects to Oslo Central Station every 10 minutes for a 20 min ride.
Main article: Demographics of Norway
Ethnic woman in Norwegian local geographic environment at Voss near Gudvangen in 1959
Demographics in Norway
140,000 —
1,490,047 +0.97%
(projected)
Source: Statistics Norway.[155][156]
Norway's population was 5,096,300 people in October 2013. Norwegians are an ethnic North Germanic people. Since the late 20th century, Norway has attracted immigrants from southern and central Europe, the Mideast, Africa, Asia and beyond.
In 2012, an official study showed that 86%[157] of the total population have at least one parent who was born in Norway. More than 710,000 individuals (14%)[158] are immigrants and their descendants; there are 117,000 children of immigrants, born in Norway.
Of these 710,000 immigrants and their descendants:
323,000 (39%)[158] have a Western background (Australia, North America, elsewhere in Europe)
505,000 (61%)[158] have a non-Western background (primarily Morocco, Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, Iran).
In 2013, the Norwegian government said that 14% of the Norwegian population were immigrants or children of two immigrant parents. About 6% of the immigrant population come from EU, North America and Australia, and about 8.1% come from Asia, Africa and Latin America.[159]
In 2012, of the total 660,000 with immigrant background, 407,262 had Norwegian citizenship (62.2%).[160]
Immigrants have settled in all Norwegian municipalities. The cities or municipalities with the highest share of immigrants in 2012 were Oslo (32%) and Drammen (27%).[161] The share in Stavanger was 16%.[161] According to Reuters, Oslo is the "fastest growing city in Europe because of increased immigration".[162] In recent years, immigration has accounted for most of Norway's population growth. In 2011 16% of newborn children were of immigrant background.
The Sami people are indigenous to the Far North and have traditionally inhabited central and northern parts of Norway and Sweden, as well as areas in northern Finland and in Russia on the Kola Peninsula. Another national minority are the Kven people, descendants of Finnish-speaking people who migrated to northern Norway from the 18th up to the 20th century. From the 19th century up to the 1970s, the Norwegian government tried to assimilate both the Sami and the Kven, encouraging them to adopt the majority language, culture and religion.[163] Because of this "Norwegianization process", many families of Sami or Kven ancestry now identify as ethnic Norwegian.[164]
Migration[edit]
Minneapolis–Saint Paul has the largest concentration of ethnic Norwegians outside Norway, at 470,000.
Emigration[edit]
Main articles: Norwegian diaspora and Norwegian Americans
Particularly in the 19th century, when economic conditions were difficult in Norway, tens of thousands of people migrated to the United States and Canada, where they could work and buy land in frontier areas. Many went to the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. In 2006, according to the US Census Bureau, almost 4.7 million persons identified as Norwegian Americans, which was larger than the population of ethnic Norwegians in Norway itself. In the 2011 Canadian census, 452,705 Canadian citizens identified as having Norwegian ancestry.[165]
Immigration[edit]
Main article: Immigration to Norway
On 1 January 2013[update], the number of immigrants or children of two immigrants residing in Norway was 710,465, or 14.1% of the total population,[159] up from 183,000 in 1992. Yearly immigration has increased since 2005. While yearly net immigration in 2001–5 was on average 13,613, it increased to 37,541 between 2006 and 2010, and in 2011 net immigration reached 47,032.[166] This is mostly because of increased immigration by residents of the EU, in particular from Poland.[167]
In 2012, the immigrant community (which includes immigrants and children born in Norway of immigrant parents) grew by 55,300, a record high.[159] Net immigration from abroad reached 47,300 (300 higher than in 2011), while immigration accounted for 72% of Norway's population growth.[168] 17% of newborn children were born to immigrant parents.[159] Children of Pakistani, Somali and Vietnamese parents made up the largest groups of all Norwegians born to immigrant parents.[169]
Pakistani Norwegians are the largest non-European minority group in Norway. Most of their 32,700 members live in and around Oslo. The Iraqi and Somali immigrant populations have increased significantly in recent years. After the enlargement of the EU in 2004, a wave of immigrants has arrived from Central and Northern Europe, particularly Poland, Sweden and Lithuania. The fastest growing immigrant groups in 2011 in absolute numbers were from Poland, Lithuania and Sweden.[170] The policies of immigration and integration have been the subject of much debate in Norway.
Largest immigrant groups (1st and 2nd generation):[171]
National background
Poland 91,179
Sweden 38,414
Somalia 35,912
Lithuania 35,546
Pakistan 34,447
Iraq 30,144
Germany 26,683
Vietnam 21,721
Denmark 20,897
Philippines 19,886
Main article: Religion in Norway
Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim
Heddal stave church, Notodden, the largest stave church in Norway
Bait-un-Nasr mosque on the outskirts of Oslo, the largest mosque in Scandinavia[172]
Most Norwegians are registered at baptism as members of the Church of Norway which used to be the official state religion. The constitution still requires that the reigning monarch must be Lutheran and that the country's values are based on its Christian and humanist heritage. Many remain in the church to participate in the community and practices such as baptism, confirmation, marriage and burial rites. About 74.3% of Norwegians were members of the Church of Norway in 2015. In 2014, about 59.3% of all newborns were baptised and about 62.9% of all 15-year-old persons were confirmed in the church.[173]
In the early 1990s, studies estimated that between 4.7% and 5.3% of Norwegians attended church on a weekly basis.[174] This figure has dropped to about 2%.[175][176]
In 2010, 10% of the population was religiously unaffiliated, while another 9%, were members of religious communities outside the Church of Norway.[177] Other Christian denominations total about 4.9%[177] of the population, the largest of which is the Roman Catholic Church, with 83,000 members, according to 2009 government statistics.[178] An article in the newspaper Aftenposten in October 2012 noted there were about 115,234 registered Roman Catholics in Norway; the reporter estimated that the total number of people with a Roman Catholic background may be 170,000–200,000 or higher.[179]
Others include Pentecostals (39,600),[178] the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church of Norway (19,600),[178] Methodists (11,000),[178] Baptists (9,900),[178] Eastern Orthodox (9,900),[178] Brunstad Christian Church (6,800),[178] Seventh-day Adventists (5,100),[178] Assyrians and Chaldeans, and others. The Swedish, Finnish and Icelandic Lutheran congregations in Norway have about 27,500 members in total.[178] Other Christian denominations comprise less than 1% each, including 4,000 members in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and 12,000 Jehovah's Witnesses.[178]
Among non-Christian religions, Islam is the largest, with 132,135 registered members (2014), and probably fewer than 200,000 in total.[180] It is practised mainly by Somali, Arab, Bosniak, Albanian and Turkish immigrants, as well as Norwegians of Pakistani descent.
Other religions comprise less than 1% each, including 819 adherents of Judaism.[181] Indian immigrants introduced Hinduism to Norway, which in 2011 has slightly more than 5,900 adherents, or 1% of non-Lutheran Norwegians.[181] Sikhism has approximately 3,000 adherents, with most living in Oslo, which has two gurdwaras. Sikhs first came to Norway in the early 1970s. The troubles in Punjab after Operation Blue Star and riots committed against Sikhs in India after the assassination of Indira Gandhi led to an increase in Sikh refugees moving to Norway. Drammen also has a sizeable population of Sikhs; the largest gurdwara in north Europe was built in Lier. There are eleven Buddhist organisations, grouped under the Buddhistforbundet organisation, with slightly over 14,000 members,[181] which make up 0.2% of the population. The Baha'i religion has slightly more than 1,000 adherents.[181] Around 1.7% (84,500) of Norwegians belong to the secular Norwegian Humanist Association.
From 2006 to 2011, the fastest-growing religious faith in Norway was Orthodox Christianity, which grew in membership by 80%; however, its share of the total population remains small, at 0.2%. It is associated with the huge immigration from Eritrea and Ethiopia, and to a lesser extent from Central and Eastern European and Middle Eastern countries. Other fast-growing religions were the Roman Catholic Church (78.7%), Hinduism (59.6%), Islam (48.1%), and Buddhism (46.7%).[182]
As in other Scandinavian countries, the ancient Norse followed a form of native Germanic paganism known as Norse paganism. By the end of the 11th century, when Norway had been Christianised, the indigenous Norse religion and practices were prohibited. Remnants of the native religion and beliefs of Norway survive today in the form of names, referential names of cities and locations, the days of the week, and other parts of everyday language. Modern interest in the old ways has led to a revival of pagan religious practices in the form of Åsatru. The Norwegian Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost formed in 1996; in 2011, the fellowship had about 300 members. Foreningen Forn Sed was formed in 1999 and has been recognised by the Norwegian government.
The Sami minority retained their shamanistic religion well into the 18th century, when most converted to Christianity under the influence of Dano-Norwegian Lutheran missionaries. Some retained their ancient religion.[citation needed] Today there is a renewed appreciation for the Sami traditional way of life, which has led to a revival of Noaidevuohta.[183] Some Norwegian and Sami celebrities are reported to visit shamans for guidance.[184][185]
According to the Eurobarometer Poll 2010, 22% of Norwegian citizens responded that "they believe there is a god".[186] A study conducted three years previously by Gustafsson and Pettersson (2002), similarly found that 72% of Norwegians did not believe in a 'personal God.'[187]
Largest cities of Norway[edit]
Largest cities or towns in Norway
According to Statistics Norway
Bergen 1 Oslo Oslo 925,228 11 Moss Østfold 44,449
Stavanger/Sandnes
2 Bergen Hordaland 247,731 12 Sandefjord Vestfold 41,934
3 Stavanger/Sandnes Rogaland 203,771 13 Arendal Aust-Agder 40,703
4 Trondheim Sør-Trøndelag 169,972 14 Haugesund Rogaland 40,152
5 Drammen Buskerud 110,503 15 Bodø Nordland 38,973
6 Fredrikstad/Sarpsborg Østfold 106,758 16 Tromsø Troms 32,774
7 Porsgrunn/Skien Telemark 90,621 17 Hamar Hedmark 26,004
8 Kristiansand Vest-Agder 58,662 18 Halden Østfold 24,410
9 Tønsberg Vestfold 49,735 19 Larvik Vestfold 23,523
10 Ålesund Møre og Romsdal 49,528 20 Askøy Hordaland 21,438
Main article: Education in Norway
The main building of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim
Higher education in Norway is offered by a range of seven universities, five specialised colleges, 25 university colleges as well as a range of private colleges. Education follows the Bologna Process involving Bachelor (3 years), Master (2 years) and PhD (3 years) degrees.[188] Acceptance is offered after finishing upper secondary school with general study competence.
Public education is virtually free, regardless of nationality.[189] The academic year has two semesters, from August to December and from January to June. The ultimate responsibility for the education lies with the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.
Main article: Languages of Norway
See also: Norwegian language and Sami languages
Distribution of Norwegian dialect groups: North Norwegian (yellow), Trøndelag Norwegian (navy blue), West Norwegian (orange) and East Norwegian (pale blue).
The North Germanic Norwegian language has two official written forms, Bokmål and Nynorsk. Both of them are recognised as official languages, and both are used in public administration, schools, churches, and media. Bokmål is the written language used by a large majority of about 80–85%. An alternative to Bokmål, Riksmål, is slightly more similar to Danish. Around 95% of the population speak Norwegian as their first or native language, although many speak dialects that may differ significantly from the written languages. All Norwegian dialects are mutually intelligible, although listeners with limited exposure to dialects other than their own may struggle to understand certain phrases and pronunciations in some other dialects.
Several Uralic Sami languages are spoken and written throughout the country, especially in the north, by some members of the Sami people. (Estimates suggest that about one third of the Norwegian Sami speak a Sami language.[190]) Speakers have a right to be educated and to receive communication from the government in their own language in a special forvaltningsområde (administrative area) for Sami languages.[191][192] The Kven minority historically spoke the Uralic Kven language (considered a separate language in Norway, but generally perceived as a Finnish dialect in Finland). Today the majority of ethnic Kven have little or no knowledge of the language. According to the Kainun institutti, "The typical modern Kven is a Norwegian-speaking Norwegian who knows his genealogy."[193] As Norway has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) the Kven language together with Romani and Scandoromani language has become officially recognised minority languages.[194][195]
Some supporters have also advocated making Norwegian Sign Language an official language of the country.[196][197]
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Norwegian language was subject to strong political and cultural controversies. This led to the development of Nynorsk in the 19th century and to the formation of alternative spelling standards in the 20th century.
Norwegian is similar to the other languages in Scandinavia: Swedish and Danish. All three languages are to a degree, mutually intelligible and can be, and commonly are, employed in communication among inhabitants of the Scandinavian countries. As a result of the co-operation within the Nordic Council, inhabitants of all Nordic countries, including Iceland and Finland, have the right to communicate with Norwegian authorities in their own language.[citation needed]
Students who are children of immigrant parents are encouraged to learn the Norwegian language. The Norwegian government offers language instructional courses for immigrants wishing to obtain Norwegian citizenship. With increasing concern about assimilating immigrants, since 1 September 2008, the government has required that an applicant for Norwegian citizenship give evidence of proficiency in either Norwegian or in one of the Sami languages, or give proof of having attended classes in Norwegian for 300 hours, or meet the language requirements for university studies in Norway (that is, by being proficient in one of the Scandinavian languages).
The primary foreign language taught in Norwegian schools is English, considered an international language since the post-WWII era. The majority of the population is fairly fluent in English, especially those born after World War II. German, French and Spanish are also commonly taught as second or, more often, third languages. Russian, Japanese, Italian, Latin, and rarely Chinese (Mandarin) are offered in some schools, mostly in the cities. Traditionally, English, German and French were considered the main foreign languages in Norway. These languages, for instance, were used on Norwegian passports until the 1990s, and university students have a general right to use these languages when submitting their theses.
Culture[edit]
Main article: Culture of Norway
Bryggen in Bergen is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites
The Norwegian farm culture continues to play a role in contemporary Norwegian culture. In the 19th century, it inspired a strong romantic nationalistic movement, which is still visible in the Norwegian language and media. Norwegian culture blossomed with nationalist efforts to achieve an independent identity in the areas of literature, art and music. This continues today in the performing arts and as a result of government support for exhibitions, cultural projects and artwork.[198]
Traditional Norwegian farmer's costumes, known as folkedrakt, and modern costumes inspired by those costumes, known as bunad, are widely used on special occasions.
Human rights[edit]
Norway has been a progressive country, which has adopted legislation and policies to support women's rights, minority rights, and LGBT rights. As early as 1884, 171 of the leading figures, among them five Prime Ministers for the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party, co-founded the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights.[199] They successfully campaigned for women's right to education, women's suffrage, the right to work and other gender equality policies. From the 1970s, gender equality also came high on the state agenda with the establishment of a public body to promote gender equality, which evolved into the Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud. Civil society organisations also continue to play an important role, and the women's rights organisations are today organised in the Norwegian Women's Lobby umbrella organisation.
In 1990 the Norwegian constitution was amended to grant absolute primogeniture to the Norwegian throne, meaning that the eldest child, regardless of gender, takes precedence in the line of succession. As it was not retroactive, the current successor to the throne is the eldest son of the King, rather than his eldest child. The Norwegian constitution Article 6 states that "For those born before the year 1990 it shall...be the case that a male shall take precedence over a female."[200]
The Sami people have for centuries been the subject of discrimination and abuse by the dominant cultures in Scandinavia and Russia, those countries claiming possession of Sami lands.[201] The Sami people have never been a single community in a single region of Lapland.[202] Norway has been greatly criticised by the international community for the politics of Norwegianization of and discrimination against the indigenous population of the country.[203] Nevertheless, Norway was, in 1990, the first country to recognise ILO-convention 169 on indigenous people recommended by the UN.
In regard to LGBT rights, Norway was the first country in the world to enact an anti-discrimination law protecting the rights of gays and lesbians. In 1993 Norway became the second country to legalise civil union partnerships for same-sex couples, and on 1 January 2009 Norway became the sixth country to grant full marriage equality to same-sex couples. As a promoter of human rights, Norway has held the annual Oslo Freedom Forum conference, a gathering described by The Economist as "on its way to becoming a human-rights equivalent of the Davos economic forum."[204]
Separation of church and state happened significantly later in Norway than in most of Europe and is not yet complete. In 2012, the Norwegian parliament voted to grant the Church of Norway greater autonomy,[205] a decision which was confirmed in a constitutional amendment on 21 May 2012. Until 2012 parliamentary officials were required to be members of the Lutheran Church and at least half of all ministers had to be a member of the Christian State Church. As the Church of Norway is the state church, its clergy are state employees, and the central and regional church administrations are part of the state administration. The members of the Royal family are required to be members of the Lutheran church.
Cinema[edit]
Main article: Cinema of Norway
The Norwegian cinema has received international recognition. The documentary film Kon-Tiki (1950) of the expedition won an American Oscar Academy Award. In 1959, Arne Skouen's Nine Lives was nominated, but failed to win. Another notable film is Flåklypa Grand Prix (English: Pinchcliffe Grand Prix), an animated feature film directed by Ivo Caprino. The film was released in 1975 and is based on characters from Norwegian cartoonist Kjell Aukrust. It is the most widely seen Norwegian film of all time.
Nils Gaup's Pathfinder (1987), the story of the Sami, was nominated for an Oscar. Berit Nesheim's The Other Side of Sunday was nominated for an Oscar in 1997.
Since the 1990s, the film industry has thrived, producing up to 20 feature films each year. Particular successes were Kristin Lavransdatter, based on a novel by a Nobel Prize winner; The Telegraphist and Gurin with the Foxtail. Knut Erik Jensen was among the more successful new directors, together with Erik Skjoldbjærg, who is remembered for Insomnia.[206]
The country has also been used as filming location for several Hollywood and other international productions, including The Empire Strikes Back (1980), for which the producers used Hardangerjøkulen glacier as a filming location for scenes of the ice planet Hoth. It included a memorable battle in the snow. The films Die Another Day, The Golden Compass, Spies Like Us and Heroes of Telemark, as well as the TV series Lilyhammer and Vikings also had scenes set in Norway.[207] A short film, The Spirit of Norway was featured at Maelstrom at Norway Pavilion at Epcot located within Walt Disney World Resort in Florida in the United States. The attraction and the film ceased their operations on 5 October 2014.
Main article: Music of Norway
Edvard Grieg, composer and pianist
The classical music of the romantic composers Edvard Grieg, Rikard Nordraak and Johan Svendsen is internationally known as is the modern music of Arne Nordheim. Norway's classical performers include Leif Ove Andsnes, one of the world's more famous pianists; Truls Mørk, an outstanding cellist; and the great Wagnerian soprano Kirsten Flagstad.
Norwegian black metal has been an influence in world music since the late 20th century. Since the 1990s, Norway's export of black metal, a lo-fi, dark and raw form of heavy metal, has been developed by such bands as Emperor, Darkthrone, Gorgoroth, Mayhem, Burzum, and Immortal. More recently bands such as Enslaved, Kvelertak, Dimmu Borgir and Satyricon have evolved the genre into the present day while still garnering worldwide fans. Controversial events associated with the black metal movement in the early 1990s included several church burnings and two prominent murder cases.
The jazz scene in Norway is thriving. Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Mari Boine, Arild Andersen, and Bugge Wesseltoft are internationally recognised while Paal Nilssen-Love, Supersilent, Jaga Jazzist and Wibutee are becoming world-class artists of the younger generation.[208]
Hardingfele, the "Hardanger fiddle", a Norwegian instrument
Norway has a strong folk music tradition which remains popular to this day.[209] Among the most prominent folk musicians are Hardanger fiddlers Andrea Een, Olav Jørgen Hegge and Annbjørg Lien, and the vocalists Agnes Buen Garnås, Kirsten Bråten Berg and Odd Nordstoga.
Other internationally recognised bands are A-ha, Röyksopp, Ylvis and Maria Mena.[210] A-ha initially rose to global fame during the mid-1980s. In the 1990s and 2000s the group maintained its popularity domestically, and has remained successful outside Norway, especially in Germany, Switzerland, France and Brazil.
In recent years, various Norwegian songwriters and production teams have contributed to the music of other international artists. The Norwegian production team Stargate has produced songs for Rihanna, Beyoncé, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez and Lionel Richie, among others. Espen Lind has written and produced songs for Beyoncé, Lionel Richie and Leona Lewis, among others. Lene Marlin has written songs for Rihanna and Lovebugs.
Norway enjoys many music festivals throughout the year, all over the country. Norway is the host of one of the world's biggest extreme sport festivals with music, Ekstremsportveko—a festival held annually in Voss. Oslo is the host of many festivals, such as Øyafestivalen and by:Larm. Oslo used to have a summer parade similar to the German Love Parade. In 1992 the city of Oslo wanted to adopt the French music festival Fête de la Musique. Fredrik Carl Størmer established the festival. Even in its first year, "Musikkens Dag" gathered thousands of people and artists in the streets of Oslo. "Musikkens Dag" is now renamed Musikkfest Oslo.
Literature[edit]
Main article: Norwegian literature
See also: List of Norwegian writers
Knut Hamsun, author
The history of Norwegian literature starts with the pagan Eddaic poems and skaldic verse of the 9th and 10th centuries, with poets such as Bragi Boddason and Eyvindr skáldaspillir. The arrival of Christianity around the year 1000 brought Norway into contact with European mediaeval learning, hagiography and history writing. Merged with native oral tradition and Icelandic influence, this influenced the literature written in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. Major works of that period include Historia Norwegiæ, Þiðrekssaga and Konungs skuggsjá.
Little Norwegian literature came out of the period of the Scandinavian Union and the subsequent Dano-Norwegian union (1387–1814), with some notable exceptions such as Petter Dass and Ludvig Holberg. In his play Peer Gynt, Ibsen characterised this period as "Twice two hundred years of darkness/brooded o'er the race of monkeys." The first line of this couplet is frequently quoted. During the union with Denmark, the government imposed using only written Danish, which decreased the writing of Norwegian literature.
Two major events precipitated a major resurgence in Norwegian literature: in 1811 a Norwegian university was established in Christiania. Secondly, seized by the spirit of revolution following the American and French revolutions, the Norwegians created their first Constitution in 1814. Strong authors were inspired who became recognised first in Scandinavia, and then worldwide; among them were Henrik Wergeland, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Jørgen Moe and Camilla Collett.
By the late 19th century, in the Golden Age of Norwegian literature, the so-called "Great Four" emerged: Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Alexander Kielland, and Jonas Lie. Bjørnson's "peasant novels", such as Ein glad gut (A Happy Boy) and Synnøve Solbakken, are typical of the Norwegian romantic nationalism of their day. Kielland's novels and short stories are mostly naturalistic. Although an important contributor to early romantic nationalism, (especially Peer Gynt), Henrik Ibsen is better known for his pioneering realistic dramas such as The Wild Duck and A Doll's House. They caused an uproar because of his candid portrayals of the middle classes, complete with infidelity, unhappy marriages, and corrupt businessmen.
In the 20th century, three Norwegian novelists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson in 1903, Knut Hamsun for the book Markens grøde ("Growth of the Soil") in 1920, and Sigrid Undset (known for Kristinlavransdatter) in 1928. Writers such as the following also made important contributions: Dag Solstad, Jon Fosse, Cora Sandel, Olav Duun, Olav H. Hauge, Gunvor Hofmo, Stein Mehren, Kjell Askildsen, Hans Herbjørnsrud, Aksel Sandemose, Bergljot Hobæk Haff, Jostein Gaarder, Erik Fosnes Hansen, Jens Bjørneboe, Kjartan Fløgstad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Johan Borgen, Herbjørg Wassmo, Jan Erik Vold, Rolf Jacobsen, Olaf Bull, Jan Kjærstad, Georg Johannesen, Tarjei Vesaas, Sigurd Hoel, Arnulf Øverland and Johan Falkberget.
Research[edit]
Internationally recognised Norwegian scientists include the mathematicians Niels Henrik Abel, Sophus Lie and Atle Selberg, physical chemist Lars Onsager, physicist Ivar Giaever, chemists Odd Hassel, Peter Waage, and Cato Maximilian Guldberg.
In the 20th century, Norwegian academics have been pioneering in many social sciences, including criminology, sociology and peace and conflict studies. Prominent academics include Arne Næss, a philosopher and founder of deep ecology; Johan Galtung, the founder of peace studies; Nils Christie and Thomas Mathiesen, criminologists; Fredrik Barth, a social anthropologist; Vilhelm Aubert, Harriet Holter and Erik Grønseth, sociologists; Tove Stang Dahl, a pioneer of women's law; Stein Rokkan, a political scientist; and economists Ragnar Frisch, Trygve Haavelmo, and Finn E. Kydland.
In 2014, the two Norwegian scientists May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with John O'Keefe. They won the prize for their groundbreaking work identifying the cells that make up a positioning system in the human brain, our "in-built GPS".[211]
Architecture[edit]
Main article: Architecture of Norway
The Urnes Stave Church has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
With expansive forests, Norway has long had a tradition of building in wood. Many of today's most interesting new buildings are made of wood, reflecting the strong appeal that this material continues to hold for Norwegian designers and builders.[212]
Dalen Hotel in Telemark built in dragestil ("Dragon Style"), a style of design and architecture that originated during the period of Norwegian romantic nationalism.
With Norway's conversion to Christianity some 1,000 years ago, churches were built. Stonework architecture was introduced from Europe for the most important structures, beginning with the construction of Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. In the early Middle Ages, wooden stave churches were constructed throughout Norway. Some of them have survived; they represent Norway's most unusual contribution to architectural history. A fine example, Urnes Stave Church in inner Sognefjord, is on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Another notable example of wooden architecture is the buildings at Bryggen Wharf in Bergen, also on the list for World Cultural Heritage sites, consisting of a row of tall, narrow wooden structures along the quayside.
The 17th-century town of Røros, designated in 1980 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has the narrow streets and wooden houses of the period.
In the 17th century, under the Danish monarchy, cities and villages such as Kongsberg and Røros were established. The city[which?] had a church built in the Baroque style. Traditional wooden buildings that were constructed in Røros have survived.
After Norway's union with Denmark was dissolved in 1814, Oslo became the capital. The architect Christian H. Grosch designed the earliest parts of the University of Oslo, the Oslo Stock Exchange, and many other buildings and churches constructed in that early national period.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Ålesund was rebuilt in the Art Nouveau style, influenced by styles of France. The 1930s, when functionalism dominated, became a strong period for Norwegian architecture. It is only since the late 20th century that Norwegian architects have achieved international renown. One of the most striking modern buildings in Norway is the Sami Parliament in Kárášjohka, designed by Stein Halvorson and Christian Sundby. Its debating chamber, in timber, is an abstract version of a lavvo, the traditional tent used by the nomadic Sami people.[213]
Main article: Norwegian art
Brudeferd i Hardanger by Adolph Tidemand og Hans Gude, 1848
For an extended period, the Norwegian art scene was dominated by artwork from Germany and Holland as well as by the influence of Copenhagen. It was in the 19th century that a truly Norwegian era began, first with portraits, later with impressive landscapes. Johan Christian Dahl (1788–1857), originally from the Dresden school, eventually returned to paint the landscapes of western Norway, defining Norwegian painting for the first time."[214]
Norway's newly found independence from Denmark encouraged painters to develop their Norwegian identity, especially with landscape painting by artists such as Kitty Kielland, a female painter who studied under Hans Gude, and Harriet Backer, another pioneer among female artists, influenced by impressionism. Frits Thaulow, an impressionist, was influenced by the art scene in Paris as was Christian Krohg, a realist painter, famous for his paintings of prostitutes.[215]
Of particular note is Edvard Munch, a symbolist/expressionist painter who became world-famous for The Scream which is said to represent the anxiety of modern man.
Other artists of note include Harald Sohlberg, a neo-romantic painter remembered for his paintings of Røros, and Odd Nerdrum, a figurative painter who maintains that his work is not art but kitsch.
Cuisine[edit]
Main article: Norwegian cuisine
Norway's culinary traditions show the influence of long seafaring and farming traditions with salmon (fresh and cured), herring (pickled or marinated), trout, codfish and other seafood balanced by cheeses, dairy products and breads (predominantly dark/darker).
Lefse is a Norwegian potato flatbread, usually topped with large amounts of butter and sugar, most common around Christmas. Some traditional Norwegian dishes include lutefisk, smalahove, pinnekjøtt, raspeball and fårikål.[216]
Biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen from Norway is the most successful Winter Olympian of all time, with 13 medals
Sports are a central part of Norwegian culture, and popular sports include Association football, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ski jumping and, to a lesser degree, ice hockey and handball. Norway is the most successful country in the Winter Olympics of all time.
Association football is the most popular sport in Norway in terms of active membership. In 2014–15 polling, football ranked far behind biathlon and cross-country skiing in terms of popularity as spectator sports.[217] Ice hockey is the biggest indoor sport.[218] The women's handball national team has won several titles, including two Summer Olympics championships (2008, 2012), three World Championships (1999, 2011, 2015) and six European Championship (1998, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014).
The Norwegian national football team has participated three times in the FIFA World Cup (1938, 1994, 1998), and once in the European Championship (2000). The highest FIFA ranking Norway has achieved is 2nd, a position it has held twice, in 1993 and in 1995.[219]
Chess is also gaining popularity in Norway. Magnus Carlsen is the current world champion.[220] There are about 10 Grandmasters and 29 International Masters in Norway.
Norway first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, and has sent athletes to compete in every Games since then, except for the sparsely attended 1904 Games and the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow when they participated in the American-led boycott. Famous Norwegian winter sport athletes are, for instance, biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen and cross country skiers Marit Bjørgen and Bjørn Dæhlie.
Norway has hosted the Games on two occasions:
1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo
1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer
International rankings[edit]
The following are international rankings of Norway, including those measuring life quality, health care quality, stability, press freedom, and income.
Countries reviewed
Human Development Index 2015 1 187
Inequality adjusted Human Development Index 2015 1 150
OECD Better Life Index 2016 1 38
Legatum Prosperity Index 2015[221] 1 142
Index of Public Integrity 2016[222] 1 105
Democracy Index 2015 1 167
Freedom House ranking of political rights 2016[223] 1 195
Freedom House ranking of civil liberties 2016[223] 1 195
Save the Children State of the World's Mothers report 2015[224] 1 179
Total health expenditure per capita 2013 1 188
Fragile States Index 2016[222] 2 178
Gallup gross median household income 2013 2 131
Median equivalent adult income 2009–2014 2 35
International Property Rights Index 2015 2 129
Net international investment position of creditor nations per capita 2013 2 17
Euro health consumer index 2015[225] 3 35
Press Freedom Index 2016 3 180
Global Gender Gap Report 2015 3 144
World Happiness Report 2016 4 157
EF English Proficiency Index 2015[226] 4 70
Corruption Perceptions Index 2015 5 175
Networked Readiness Index 2014[227] 5 144
Household final consumption expenditure per capita 2013 5 163
Ease of doing business index 2016 9 185
Global Peace Index 2016 17 163
Globalization Index 2015 18 207
Logistics Performance Index 2016[223] 22 160
Index of Economic Freedom 2015 27 167
Norway portal
Aristocracy of Norway
Outline of Norway
Jump up ^ The Spitsbergen Treaty (also known as the Svalbard Treaty) of 9 February 1920 recognises Norway's full and absolute sovereignty over the arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen (now called Svalbard).[15]
Jump up ^ "Population". ssb.no.
Jump up ^ "Nearly 10 000 Syrian immigrants in Norway". ssb.no.
Jump up ^ Løsere bånd, men fortsatt statskirke, ABC Nyheter
Jump up ^ Staten skal ikke lenger ansette biskoper, NRK
Jump up ^ Forbund, Human-Etisk. "Ingen avskaffelse: / Slik blir den nye statskirkeordningen". fritanke.no.
Jump up ^ I dag avvikles statskirken (State church will be abolished today), Dagbladet, published 14 May 2012, accessed online 24 October 2015.
Jump up ^ State church in Norway?, Church of Norway, published, 6 March 2015, accessed 24 October 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b Data is accessible by following "Create tables and diagrams" link on the following site, and then using table 09280 "Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" for "The whole country" in year 2013 and summing up entries "Land area" and "Freshwater": "Area of land and fresh water, 1 January 2013". Statistics Norway. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013. Svalbard and Jan Mayen are included.
Jump up ^ "Population, Q3 2016, estimated". Statistics Norway. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
Jump up ^ "Population, 1 January 2015". Statistics Norway. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b c d "Norway". International Monetary Fund. 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
Jump up ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income (source: SILC)". Eurostat Data Explorer. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b
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<a href="http://archive.today/mkbTJ"> <img style="width:300px;height:200px;background-color:white" src="https://archive.fo/mkbTJ/1f43c1cd57988b2145ca6dda0350ef1c825b2b12/scr.png"><br> Protofeminism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<br> archived 21 May 2015 22:00:04 UTC </a>
{{cite web | title = Protofeminism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia | url = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protofeminism | date = 2015-05-21 | archiveurl = http://archive.today/mkbTJ | archivedate = 2015-05-21 }}
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The term protofeminist is sometimes applied to a woman in a philosophical tradition anticipating modern feminist concepts, who lived in an era when the term "feminist" was unknown,[1] that is, prior to the 20th century.[2][3] The precise use of the term is disputed, 18th-century feminism and 19th-century feminism being also subsumed under "feminism" proper.
1.1 Ancient Greece
1.3 Middle Ages
1.4 Women's role in the Peasants' Revolt
1.6 Seventeenth century: nonconformism, protectorate and restoration
See also: History of feminism
The utility of the term protofeminist is rejected by some modern scholars[4] as some do postfeminist.
Ancient Greece[edit]
Book five of Plato's The Republic discusses the role of women:
Are dogs divided into hes and shes, or do they both share equally in hunting and in keeping watch and in the other duties of dogs? or do we entrust to the males the entire and exclusive care of the flocks, while we leave the females at home, under the idea that the bearing and suckling their puppies is labour enough for them?
The Republic states that women in Plato's ideal state should work alongside men, receive equal education and share equally in all aspects of the state. The sole exception involved women working in capacities which required less physical strength.[5]
Middle East[edit]
See also: Women in the Bible, Women in Judaism, Islamic feminism and Women in Islam
In the Middle East during the Middle Ages, an early effort to improve the status of women occurred during the early reforms under Islam, which granted women greater rights in marriage, divorce and inheritance.[6] Women were not accorded with such legal status in other cultures, including the West, until centuries later.[7] The Oxford Dictionary of Islam states that the general improvement of the status of Arab women included prohibition of female infanticide and recognizing women's full personhood.[8] "The dowry, previously regarded as a bride-price paid to the father, became a nuptial gift retained by the wife as part of her personal property."[6][9] Under Islamic law, marriage was no longer viewed as a "status" but rather as a "contract", in which the woman's consent was imperative.[6][8][9] "Women were given inheritance rights in a patriarchal society that had previously restricted inheritance to male relatives."[6] Annemarie Schimmel states that "compared to the pre-Islamic position of women, Islamic legislation meant an enormous progress; the woman has the right, at least according to the letter of the law, to administer the wealth she has brought into the family or has earned by her own work."[10]
Though there have been some who have claimed that is evidence of matrilineality in pre-Islamic Arabia, from the Amirites of Yemen to the Nabateans in Northern Arabia.[11] Some have speculated that Mohammed's had a motivation that was precisely to remove matrilineality and install a purely patriarchal system to which they attribute to being witness today. Shulamith Shahar believed that his wife Khadijah was the last successful businesswoman one could find in Arabia. And that there was evidence that Khadijah was the norm, not the exception, before Mohammed's rule over Arabia. That after Muhammed's revolution, the Arabian businesswoman disappears. She believes that it is likely that Muhammed specifically targeted the matrilineal system and replaced it with what she believes as the most a strictest patrilineal system ever witnessed. Far from being a "proto-feminist", Muhammed would therefore instead be the one who removed rights that at time where widely available to women both in Europe and in Asia.[12]
As for sexism, the common law long denied married women any property rights or indeed legal personality apart from their husbands. When the British applied their law to Muslims in place of Shariah, as they did in some colonies, the result was to strip married women of the property that Islamic law had always granted them — hardly progress toward equality of the sexes.[13]
Whilst in the pre-modern period there was not a formal feminist movement, nevertheless there were a number of important figures who argued for improving women's rights and autonomy. These range from the medieval mystic and philosopher Ibn Arabi, who argued that women could achieve spiritual stations as equally high as men [14] to Nana Asma’u, daughter of eighteenth-century reformer Usman Dan Fodio, who pushed for literacy and education of Muslim women.[15]
Women played an important role in the foundations of many Islamic educational institutions, such as Fatima al-Fihri's founding of the University of Al Karaouine in 859. This continued through to the Ayyubid dynasty in the 12th and 13th centuries, when 160 mosques and madrasahs were established in Damascus, 26 of which were funded by women through the Waqf (charitable trust or trust law) system. Half of all the royal patrons for these institutions were also women.[16] As a result, opportunities for female education arose in the medieval Islamic world. In the 12th century, the Sunni scholar Ibn Asakir wrote that women could study, earn ijazahs (academic degrees), and qualify as scholars and teachers. This was especially the case for learned and scholarly families, who wanted to ensure the highest possible education for both their sons and daughters.[17] Ibn Asakir was in support of female education and had himself studied under eighty different female teachers in his time. Female education in the Islamic world was said to be inspired by Muhammad's wives: Khadijah, a successful businesswoman, and Aisha, a renowned hadith scholar and military leader. According to a hadith attributed to Muhammad, he praised the women of Medina because of their desire for religious knowledge.[18] While there were no legal restrictions on female education, some men did not approve of this practice, such as Muhammad ibn al-Hajj (d. 1336) who was appalled at the behaviour of some women who informally audited lectures in his time:[19]
[Consider] what some women do when people gather with a shaykh to hear [the recitation of] books. At that point women come, too, to hear the readings; the men sit in one place, the women facing them. It even happens at such times that some of the women are carried away by the situation; one will stand up, and sit down, and shout in a loud voice. [Moreover,] her 'awra will appear; in her house, their exposure would be forbidden — how can it be allowed in a mosque, in the presence of men?
The labor force in the Caliphate were employed from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds, while both men and women were involved in diverse occupations and economic activities.[20] Women were employed in a wide range of commercial activities and diverse occupations[21] in the primary sector (as farmers for example), secondary sector (as construction workers, dyers, spinners, etc.) and tertiary sector (as investors, doctors, nurses, presidents of guilds, brokers, peddlers, lenders, scholars, etc.).[22] Muslim women also held a monopoly over certain branches of the textile industry,[21] the largest and most specialized and market-oriented industry at the time, in occupations such as spinning, dyeing, and embroidery. In comparison, female property rights and wage labour were relatively uncommon in Europe until the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries.[23]
In the 12th century, the famous Islamic philosopher and qadi (judge) Ibn Rushd, known to the West as Averroes, claimed that women were equal to men in all respects and possessed equal capacities to shine in peace and in war, citing examples of female warriors among the Arabs, Greeks and Africans to support his case.[24] In early Muslim history, examples of notable female Muslims who fought during the Muslim conquests and Fitna (civil wars) as soldiers or generals included Nusaybah Bint k’ab Al Maziniyyah,[25] Aisha,[26] Kahula and Wafeira,[27] and Um Umarah.
Middle Ages[edit]
Protofeminists from the Middle Ages recognized as important participants in the development of feminism include Marie de France, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Bettisia Gozzadini, Nicola de la Haye, Christine de Pizan, Jadwiga of Poland, Laura Cereta, and La Malinche.[28]
Women's role in the Peasants' Revolt[edit]
The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 was a rebellion of the late Middle Ages against British serfdom, and many women played prominent roles in it. June 14, 1381 Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury Simon of Sudbury was dragged from the Tower of London and beheaded. The leader of the group was Johanna Ferrour who ordered this violent action due to Sudbury's harsh poll taxes.[29] Ferrour also ordered the beheading of the Lord High Treasurer, Sir Robert Hales, for his role in the poll tax.[30] In addition to leading these rebels, Ferrour burned down the Savoy Palace and stole a duke’s chest of gold. The Chief Justice John Cavendish was beheaded by Katherine Gamen, another female leader.[30]
According to an Associate Professor of English at Bates College, Sylvia Federico, women often had the strongest desire to participate in revolts, especially this one in particular. These women did everything that the men did; they were just as violent, if not more in their actions in order to rebel against the government. Johanna Ferrour is not the only female who was a leader within this revolt, there were quite a few more involved—one woman was indicted for encouraging an attack against a prison at Maidstone in Kent, while another female leader was responsible for the robbing of a multitude of mansions, which frightened servants so much that they did not feel safe enough to return afterwards. Although there were not many female leaders within this rebellion, there was a surprisingly large amount of women who were merely a part of the crowd. For instance, there were seventy female rebels in Suffolk.[31]
The women who were involved in this rebellion had valid reasons for desiring to participate, and in some instances, to take on the role of leader. The poll tax of 1380 was much tougher on married women and because of this ridiculousness it is not the least bit surprising that women were as violent as men, if not more, in regards to their involvement in the peasants’ revolt. The various extreme acts of violence displayed by these women exhibit their mounting hatred towards the government.[31]
European Renaissance[edit]
Christine de Pizan lecturing to a group of men.
Simone de Beauvoir wrote that "the first time we see a woman take up her pen in defense of her sex" was when Christine de Pizan wrote Йpоtre au Dieu d'Amour (Epistle to the God of Love) and The Book of the City of Ladies, at the turn of the 15th century.[32] Catherine of Aragon, the first official female Ambassador in European history, commissioned a book by Juan Luis Vives arguing that women had a right to an education, and encouraged and popularized education for women in England during her time as Henry VIII's wife.
Renaissance humanists such as Vives and Agricola argued that aristocratic women at least required education; Roger Ascham educated Elizabeth I, who read Latin and Greek and wrote occasional poems, such as On Monsieur's Departure, that are still anthologized. Queen Elizabeth I was described as having talent without a woman's weakness, industry with a man's perseverance, and the body of a weak and feeble woman, but with the heart and stomach of a king.[33] The only way she could be seen as a good ruler was for her to be described with manly qualities. Being a powerful and successful woman during the Renaissance, like Queen Elizabeth I meant in some ways being male, a perception that gravely limited women's potential as women.[33]
Women's sole role and social value was reproduction.[34] This gender role defined a woman's main identity and purpose in life. Socrates, a well-known exemplar of the love of wisdom to the Renaissance humanists, said that he tolerated his first wife Xanthippe, because she bore him sons, in the same way one tolerated the noise of geese because they produce eggs and chicks.[35] This analogy perpetuated the claim that a woman's sole role was reproduction.
Marriage during the Renaissance defined a woman. She was who she married. An unmarried woman was the property of her father, and once married, she became the property of her husband. She had few rights, except for privileges granted by her husband or father. Married women were required to obey their husbands and were expected to be chaste, obedient, pleasant, gentle, submissive, and, unless sweet-spoken, silent.[36] In William Shakespeare's 1593 play, The Taming of the Shrew, Katherina is considered unmarriageable due to her headstrong and outspoken nature, in contrast to her mild-mannered sister Bianca. Katherina is seen as a wayward woman – a shrew – who needs to be tamed into submission. When Petruchio tames her, she readily goes to him when he summons her, almost like a dog. Her submissiveness is applauded, and the crowds at the party accept her as a proper woman since she is now "conformable to other household Kates".[37]
Education was an element celebrated by society. Men were encouraged to attend college to acquire knowledge in many subjects, but the education of women–who were expected to become obedient wives – was almost unheard of. A woman named Margherita, living during the Renaissance, learned to read and write at the age of about 30 so there would be no mediator for the letters exchanged between her and her husband.[38] Although Margherita did defy gender roles, she became literate not in order to become a more enlightened person, but because she wanted to be a better wife by gaining the ability to communicate with her husband directly. When a woman did involve herself in learning, it was certainly not the norm. In a letter to Lady Baptista Maletesta of Montefeltro in 1424, the humanist Leonardo Bruni wrote: "While you live in these times when learning has so far decayed that it is regarded as positively miraculous to meet a learned man, let alone a woman".[39]
Bruni thought that women had no need of an education because they were not engaged in the social forums in which educated discourse is required. In the same letter he wrote,
For why should the subtleties of...a thousand...rhetorical conundra consume the powers of a woman, who never sees the forum? The contests of the forum, like those of warfare and battle, are the sphere of men. Hers is not the task of learning to speak for and against witnesses, for and against torture, for and against reputation.... She will, in a word, leave the rough-and-tumble of the forum entirely to men."[39]
The famous Renaissance salons that held intelligent debate and lectures were not welcoming to women. This denial of access to public forums led to problems for educated women and contributed to the unlikelihood that a woman would obtain an education in the first place.
During the 16th century, the Venetian author Modesta di Pozzo di Forzi wrote about the superiority of women,[40] and Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa wrote The Superior Excellence of Women Over Men.[41]
Seventeenth century: nonconformism, protectorate and restoration[edit]
Marie de Gournay (1565–1645), the last love of Michel de Montaigne, edited the third edition of Montaigne's Essays after his death. She also wrote two feminist essays, The Equality of Men and Women (1622) and The Ladies' Grievance (1626). In 1673, Franзois Poullain de la Barre wrote De l'йgalitй des deux sexes (On the equality of the two sexes).[41]
The 17th century saw the development of many nonconformist sects, such as the Quakers, which allowed more freedom of expression to women than the established religions. Noted feminist writers on religion and spirituality included Rachel Speght, Katherine Evans, Sarah Chevers, Margaret Fell, a founding member of the Quakers, and Sarah Blackborow[42][43][44] In general, though, women who preached or expressed opinions on religion were in danger of being suspected of lunacy or witchcraft, and many, like Anne Askew, who was burned at the stake for heresy,[45] died "for their implicit or explicit challenge to the patriarchal order".[46]
Burning of witches
In France and England, feminist ideas were attributes of heterodoxy, such as the Waldensians and Catharists, rather than orthodoxy. Religious egalitarianism, such as that embraced by the Levellers, carried over into gender equality, and therefore had political implications. Leveller women mounted large-scale public demonstrations and petitions for equal rights, although dismissed by the authorities of the day.[47]
The 17th century also saw more women writers emerging, such as Anne Bradstreet, Bathsua Makin, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, Lady Mary Wroth,[48][49] and Mary Astell, who depicted women's changing roles and made pleas for their education. However, they encountered considerable hostility, as exemplified by the experiences of Cavendish, and Wroth whose work was not published till the 20th century.
Seventeenth-century France also saw the rise of salons, cultural gathering places of the upper-class intelligentsia, which were run by women and in which they participated as artists.[50] But while women were granted salon membership, they stayed in the background, writing "but not for [publication]".[51] Despite the limited role played by women in the salons, Jean-Jacques Rousseau thought them a "threat to the 'natural' dominance of men".[52]
Mary Astell is frequently described as the first feminist writer. However, this depiction fails to recognise the intellectual debt she owed to Anna Maria van Schurman, Bathsua Makin and other women who preceded her. She was certainly one of the earliest feminist writers in English, whose analyses are as relevant today as in her own time, and moved beyond earlier writers by instituting educational institutions for women.[53][54] Astell and Aphra Behn together laid the groundwork for feminist theory in the seventeenth century. No woman would speak out as strongly again, for another century. In historical accounts Astell is often overshadowed by her younger and more colourful friend and correspondent Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.
The liberalisation of social values and secularisation of the English Restoration provided new opportunities for women in the arts, an opportunity that women used to advance their cause. However, female playwrights encountered similar hostility. These included Catherine Trotter, Mary Manley and Mary Pix. The most influential of all[54][55][56] was Aphra Behn, the first Englishwoman to achieve the status of a professional writer.[57] She was a novelist, playwright, and political propagandist.[58] Although successful during her lifetime, Behn was often vilified as "unwomanly" by 18th-century writers like Henry Fielding and Samuel Richardson.[58] Likewise, the 19th century critic Julia Kavanagh said that "instead of raising man to woman's moral standards [Behn] sank to the level of man's courseness".[59] In the 20th century, Behn gained a wider readership and critical acceptance. Virginia Woolf praised her career and wrote, "All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the grave of Aphra Behn...for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds".[60]
In continental Europe, important feminist writers included Marguerite de Navarre, Marie de Gournay, and Anna Maria van Schurman who mounted attacks on misogyny and promoted the education of women. In the New World the Mexican nun, Juana Ines de la Cruz (1651–1695), advanced the education of women particularly in her essay "Reply to Sor Philotea".[61] By the end of the seventeenth century women's voices were becoming increasingly heard at least by educated women. The literature of the last decades of the century was sometimes referred to as the "Battle of the Sexes",[62] and was often surprisingly polemic, such as Hannah Woolley's "The Gentlewoman's Companion".[63] However, women received mixed messages, for they also heard a strident backlash, and even self-deprecation by women writers in response.[citation needed] They were also subjected to conflicting social pressures, one of which was fewer opportunities for work outside the home, and education which sometimes reinforced the social order as much as inspired independent thinking.
Christine de Pizan
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^ Jump up to: a b Maya Shatzmiller (1994), Labour in the Medieval Islamic World, Brill Publishers, ISBN 90-04-09896-8, pp. 400–1
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^ Jump up to: a b Hogenboom, Melissa. Peasants' Revolt: The time when women took up arms.” BBC News. BBC News Magazine, 14 June 2012. Web. 7 March 2013.
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^ Jump up to: a b [Bridenthal, Renate, Susan Mosher Stuard, and Mary E. Wiesner, eds. Becoming Visible: Women in European History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. 167.]
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^ Jump up to: a b [Bruni, Leonardo. "Study of Literature to Lady Baptista Maletesta of Montefeltro," 1494.]
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^ Jump up to: a b Schneir, Miram, 1972 (1994), Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings, Vintage Books, p. xiv, ISBN 0-679-75381-8
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HBO will let you watch the ‘Game of Thrones’ premiere online for free
April 21st, 2016 at 12:44 PM
After months of speculation about Jon Snow’s fate, Game of Thrones will return to HBO this weekend to tell us what happened. Millions of people will tune in to see the first episode of season six on Sunday, and millions of others will probably stream pirated copies of it in the following hours.
But there’s an easy and legal way to see the first episode of season six free of charge.
DON’T MISS: This tiny device might be every iPhone owner’s new best friend
All you have to do is become an HBO Now subscriber and enjoy a free month of service. You’ll see quite a few Game of Thrones episodes free of charge during that time – after that, HBO Now costs $15 per month.
In addition to that, HBO Now will be available for free to non-subscribers starting on Friday night and all the way through Sunday night. As per The Wrap, that means you’ll be able to see the first episode of the new season without paying extra for cable this weekend. On top of that, a special Beyoncé event is also airing on HBO this weekend.
There are other reasons to try HBO free of charge this weekend, including the TV premiere of Jurassic World on Saturday night. Furthermore, Cinemax access is also included in the promotion, so get ready for free HBO binge watching this weekend.
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Tags: Game of Thrones, HBO, HBO Now
Google’s VR monster movie will make you wish every movie was filmed in VR
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There’s a huge iPhone bug in the latest iOS 13 beta that you really need to know about
By Zach Epstein 1 day ago
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Finance & Development, September 1990
Providing economic opportunities for the poor and building up their capacity to take advantage of those opportunities can help reduce poverty and ensure sustainable growth
Combating Poverty: Experience and Prospects
Policies for Reducing Poverty
Foreign Aid and Poverty Reduction
Aiming for “High Quality Growth”
Poverty Concerns in Fund-Supported Programs
Adjustment and the Poor
Tackling the Social Dimensions of Adjustment in Africa
Increase in Fund Quotas Approved
Mexico’s Experience with Adjustment
Mexico’s Commercial Bank Financing Package
Whither Comecon?
Heading for Currency Convertibility
International Currencies: The Rise of the Deutsche Mark
Adjustment in Major Oil Exporting Countries
Oil and a Changing OPEC
Agroforestry in Sub-Saharan Africa
Prospects for the Automotive Industry in LDCs
World Bank Launches New Computer Software Line
Financial environment
Adjustment efforts
Where the MOECs stand
Fluctuations in oil prices Since 1973
MOEC balance of payments in a shifting financial environment
Changing fiscal balances in the MOECs
The sharp oil price increases in the 1970s appeared to free the major oil exporting countries (MOECs) from the familiar development dilemma posed by the need to choose between immediate consumption and mobilizing savings to foster economic growth. Given the ample wealth that they were able to accumulate rapidly as a result of the more than threefold rise in oil prices in 1973-74, both consumption and investment could be increased at the same time. But as oil revenues and sales volumes began to decline in the 1980s—first gradually, then sharply in 1986—with only a partial recovery in subsequent years, these countries had to implement major policy adjustments in an effort to sustain real economic growth.
In all of these countries—Algeria, Indonesia, Iraq, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kuwait, the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela—oil exports play a dominant role, and in most cases, account for over 80 percent of total exports. Since oil is an exhaustible resource, they must either hold the oil in the ground or sell it and acquire other real or financial assets. Moreover, in view of the volatility of the international oil market and the limited diversification of their economies, prudence dictates that they maintain a relatively high level of foreign exchange reserves.
For them, the policy challenge is quite clear. During times of rising oil export receipts, they must take steps to ensure sustainable real economic growth, rather than a mere rise in current consumption. In addition, an enduring—as against an episodic—increase in real income requires a reduction in the economy’s dependence on the volatile world demand for oil. In assessing how well the MOECs have adjusted to their shifting financial situation over the past two decades (and what remains to be done), therefore, we should evaluate whether changes in real output have been accompanied by progress toward economic diversification, a reasonable stability in domestic prices, and a viable external payments position. While data limitations preclude a detailed analysis, indications so far point to a qualified success for the group as a whole, with some having performed better than others, because of considerable variations structurally as well as geographically.
Producer restraints on output have at times played a major role in both spurring a rise and in stemming a decline in world oil prices. However, the nominal export price, the import purchasing power, and the export volume of oil have been influenced primarily by outside forces, both economic and noneconomic. In general, oil prices have risen during extraordinary times of wars and political disruptions, and fallen as the higher prices have stimulated new oil discoveries and promoted conservation.
The nominal price of oil in US dollars fluctuated narrowly around a relatively low level during the century prior to the sharp rises and subsequent falls that began in October 1973. In the wake of disruptions in the Middle East and subsequent restraints on supply by producers, the average oil export price for the MOECs jumped from about $3.20 per barrel in 1972 to $10.50 in 1974, followed by an average annual increase of about 5 percent during 1975-78 (see Chart 1). Then in 1979-80, following the panic buying surrounding the Iranian revolution, oil prices surged once again, reaching an unprecedented $33.70 in 1981.
Chart 1Fluctuations in oil prices Since 1973
Sources: Official sources, and IMF staff estimates.
On the demand side, these price increases stimulated substitutions of non-oil fuels and adoption of energy-saving devices in industry, along with improvements in home insulation and a switch to more energy-efficient automobiles, particularly in the major industrial economies that are the main importers. On the supply side, they also facilitated exploitation of the higher cost oil fields in the North Sea and Alaska North Slope, as well as in Mexico and other developing countries. These developments gradually brought oil prices down by about 6 percent per year during 1982-85, before the plunge of over 50 percent in 1986. A subsequent marked recovery in 1987 was rolled back partially in 1988, although by the end of 1989, prices were again above the 1987 level. In general, inflation abroad substantially eroded the real price, or the import purchasing power, of oil for the MOECs. Indeed, 1973-74 and 1979-80 were the only years when the nominal price surged sharply ahead of inflation.
Oil revenues for the MOECs were also adversely affected by production developments. While world oil output increased from about 56 million barrels per day (b/d) during 1973-75 to a record 66 million b/d in 1979, oil production of the MOECs declined marginally during the period as they kept more of the oil in the ground in an effort to support prices. This falloff in output intensified during the 1980-87 period. World oil consumption was on the decline, and the MOECs wanted to continue to support prices by maintaining production restraint as an offset to the substantial increase in production that was taking place in other oil producing countries. As a result, their combined current account—which had been in surplus virtually throughout the 1970s, topping $110 billion in 1980—swung into a deficit in 1982, where it remained, with one exception, through 1988 (see Chart 2). The financial latitude of the 1970s was gone, succeeded by a re-emergence of foreign exchange as a constraint on development.
Chart 2MOEC balance of payments in a shifting financial environment
Throughout these turbulent years, the MOECs turned to fiscal policy as the main instrument of adjustment, a reflection of the fact that their governments (not the private sector) are both the recipients and disbursers of oil export receipts, the economic mainstay. During the 1970s, the sharp rise in oil revenues enabled them to substantially boost expenditures, although the shift to fiscal expansion in 1979-81 was less pronounced than that following the 1973-74 oil price increases. The expansionary policies brought about a rapid development of the economic infrastructure, as well as a more diversified production structure and improvements in the welfare of their populations. Newly built port, road, and airport facilities eliminated physical bottlenecks that had been inhibiting growth in both imports and domestic output. Public investments in oil-and gas-based industries, such as fertilizers and petrochemicals, were increased. Subsidies were extended to encourage private investments in agriculture and a wide range of industries—notably food processing, building materials, and downstream products such as plastics. Moreover, a rapid expansion of schools, hospitals, and utilities improved services for the population (including the growing expatriate labor force), effectively redistributing income toward the lower-income groups. In addition, a number of these countries shifted some of the oil income to other developing countries through a liberal employment of expatriates and substantial foreign aid.
This rapid buildup of economic and social infrastructure was seen in all of the MOECs, although the impact on fiscal positions varied widely. The countries in what we will call Group I—Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—were able to substantially improve their infrastructure, as well as maintain a budgetary surplus and increase reserves. This was in large part thanks to relatively small populations and the sharp rise in oil revenues. By contrast, the more densely populated Group II countries—Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, and Venezuela—found their budgetary positions turn into deficits after 1975 (see Chart 3). The perception that oil price increases were permanent also led to borrowings against anticipated future earnings, thus in many cases leading to a buildup in debt.
Chart 3Changing fiscal balances in the MOECs
1 Includes Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
2 Includes Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, and Venezuela.
With the fall in oil income in the 1980s, however, fiscal restraint became essential for all MOECs. In most cases, the adjustment effort was far-reaching, although only a few adopted deliberate financial programs within an explicit macroeconomic framework. The initial spending cuts involved mainly a stretching out of the development effort through cancellation of low priority schemes, postponement of completion targets, and limits on new undertakings. This slowdown was in part a natural sequel to the preceding rapid expansion, as the bulk of the large infrastructural projects had been already completed. In addition, all MOECs introduced stricter controls on current expenditures. A number of countries moved forcefully to reduce budgetary transfers and cut subsidies through increased prices of controlled commodities, including basic consumer goods; employment and wage policies were also revised. Saudi Arabia’s total budgetary spending, for instance, was reduced substantially between 1981 and 1988. On the revenue side, discretionary increases in non-oil taxes, energy prices, and administrative fees were generally implemented, but these measures played a relatively small role, especially in the Group I countries, given the dominance of oil receipts.
Once again, the impact on fiscal positions varied from country to country, but in general, the less populated and wealthier countries in Group I managed larger and speedier reductions. Oil being their only significant source of income, they had to act quickly as revenues fell off sharply. Saudi Arabia, for instance, took a relatively large cut in oil production in an effort to support prices. Then, too, for some, fiscal restraint was made easier by an ability to shift at least a part of the adjustment onto the expatriate labor force. The countries in Group II, however, had relatively less room to maneuver, especially as they were now faced with heavy debt burdens to service. In the case of Iran and Iraq, there was the overriding consideration of a costly war.
What did these measures mean, however, for the efforts begun in the 1970s in these countries to ensure real economic growth?
Diversification. The generally restrictive fiscal stance of the 1980s notwithstanding, the MOECs remained committed to diversifying the domestic production base. Financial incentives (such as direct subsidies) were decreased, but indirect subsidization continued. Besides infrastructural support, domestic non-oil production received such encouragements as preferred treatment for local enterprises in awarding government contracts, selective bans on participation by foreign contractors, and meeting the private sector’s credit needs on concessional terms through specialized banks. In addition, exchange rate policy—notably, depreciation in such countries as Venezuela, Indonesia, and Nigeria—has been used to curb imports and encourage non-oil production.
As a result, the real non-oil output of MOECs has managed to register increases during most of the decade and a half since October 1973, although the rate of increase has fallen back sharply in line with the more restrictive fiscal stances. Over 1974-80, the average annual growth rate of non-oil output was around 13 percent, but this dropped to only 2 percent during 1981-88, reflecting mainly the falloff in budgetary spending and the effects of the Iran-Iraq war. The slowdown was most pronounced in construction, which diminished in importance following completion of most major infrastructural projects. Growth also slowed in the non-oil industrial sector, which was dominated in several cases by production of building materials.
Thanks to the diversification efforts, non-oil exports—including oil- and gas-based products—rose sharply in US dollar terms from a relatively low level, by an annual average of 21 percent over 1974-80. This rate then decelerated to some 6 percent for most of the 1980s—reflecting in part the effects of the Iran-Iraq war and a reduction of subsidy-dependent exports. However, the importance of non-oil exports for various countries has also varied greatly. In Group II countries, with their large non-oil resources, non-oil exports have accounted for as much as 25 percent of total exports. This contrasts with the thinly populated Group I countries, where the figure has at times been less than 15 percent. The latter group has relatively few non-oil resources, and has pursued international portfolio and equity investments. In Kuwait, for example, investment income from abroad has exceeded oil as the most important source of foreign exchange earnings in recent years.
Price stability. Concern about a flare-up of inflationary pressures has abated, as most MOECs have made a smooth transition from the high growth rates of the mid-1970s to the lower growth rates of the 1980s. Inflation, once running at an estimated annual average of some 13 percent (1974-80) has gradually subsided to around half that rate since 1981. This has occurred in large part due to the elimination of most of the physical bottlenecks that were holding up imports in the early 1970s, a general avoidance of administrative limitations on trade and current payments, and the global slowdown of inflation during most of the past decade and a half. Moreover, fiscal, credit, and exchange rate policies have helped keep domestic demand under restraint in most MOECs.
External payments developments. Faced with falling oil receipts, the MOECs sharply cut back imports through fiscal restraint, occasional exchange rate depreciation, and in a few cases, quantitative restrictions. As a result, average annual import payments declined during most of the 1980s, after growing by 30 percent in 1974-80. The lower level of economic activity also reversed the upward trend in payments abroad for services and led to a drop in workers’ remittances from these economies. The overall balance in the current account was further aided by the emergence of investment income as a major positive element, particularly for the countries in Group I. Thus, although the surpluses of the 1970s turned into deficits in the 1980s, the MOECs succeeded in limiting the deterioration.
While the timing and details of policy responses have varied widely, the MOECs as a group have managed to exercise fiscal restraint—doing so in a selective manner that has enabled non-oil output to continue to grow, albeit at a considerably slower pace. Inflationary pressures have abated, a deterioration in the balance of payments has been contained, and the economies have been further diversified, although they are still heavily dependent on oil. Besides large untapped reserves of oil and gas, most of these countries now have a modern economic infrastructure as well as a sizable industrial base. While the financial difficulties confronting a number of these countries, particularly in Group II, have been severe at times, the MOECs on the whole have remained stronger than most other developing countries.
All the same, the adjustment effort is still far from complete, and perseverance is imperative, despite the recently improved outlook for oil prices. Reductions in fiscal outlays have generally failed to keep pace with revenue declines, and while subsidies have been cut, they still weigh heavily—directly and indirectly—by way of, for instance, low energy prices and public utility rates. Moreover, much remains to be done to improve the efficiency of the public enterprises, which are frequently dependent on budgetary subsidies. Also, a greater effort is called for in all of these countries to expand and diversify the tax base so as to lower dependence on the volatile receipts from oil.
The need to continue with the diversification effort under a more restrained fiscal stance underscores the importance of mobilizing domestic savings and channeling these into productive investments. The widespread practice of maintaining interest rates at levels below those prevailing abroad, in particular, must be reviewed, if savings are to be stimulated, and capital flight, discouraged. Then, too, the persistence in some cases with price controls, as well as substantially overvalued exchange rates, has impeded the growth of efficient and competitive industries under private initiative. Finally, the adjustment effort needs to phase out the instances of tariffs, subsidies, and other more indirect shelters that have encouraged the emergence of uncompetitive industries.
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Russell Speidel (1936-2013)
During the blog’s hiatus this summer, I learned that Russell J. Speidel, who owned Duttenhofer’s Book Treasures when I lived in Cincinnati, died July 16, at the age of 77. I had wanted to forgo posting a tribute to him here until after a memorial service. However, I learned this week that his husband has decided there will not be a memorial service–neither he nor Russ wanted one.
When I was finally flush enough to afford a Clifton Heights apartment, proximity to Duttenhofer’s Book Treasures (and, I admit, to the bars) was my primary consideration. I had fallen in love with Duttenhofer’s the first time I visited it in the mid-1980s, when I was living in a rented room above a Dairy Barn in Hartwell and working too few hours at Feicke Web. Russ was behind the glass counter, very helpful and knowledgeable about anything in print, and the store looked much more pleasant than the intimidating Acres of Books on Main St. I learned later that he had been an attorney and a judge in Clermont County, and when he left the legal profession, he took a job as a cashier for Stanley Duttenhofer, the store’s founder and original owner, and bought the store when Stan decided to retire.
He knew me as a customer until I moved to a small apartment above the Christian Science Reading Room on W. McMillan St. in 1990. I saw them then almost daily, stopping in to buy the newspaper, chat with him, browse, and occasionally buy, books. The mailbox in my apartment vestibule was small, so I put a tag on its door: CARRIER: Leave packages @ Duttenhofer’s! When my job situation was precarious, and I was too poor to afford a phone, he let me use the store’s number on job applications.
(I must admit I abused this last favor a little. When I came in to buy the newspaper one morning, he crossly passed along a message: “Joe says he can’t meet you at Murphy’s Pub until 11:30,” and pointedly informed me that the store was not my answering service. Phone service was the first thing I bought when I received my first paycheck from the U.S. Postal Service in May 1992!)
Duttenhofer’s Book Treasures, June 2013. Photo by Stephanie Mesler.
I often told people (and I think Russell would have agreed with me) that we had somewhat of a Dennis the Menace-Mr. Wilson relationship. “Don’t you have a home?” was his greeting to me on more than one occasion. (“Yes I do. It’s on West McMillan, and it has lots of books in it,” I’d reply.) Nevertheless, he often bought books from me that had no value or interest, just so I would have some pocket money when payday was still a week in the future. He gave me an autographed copy of Lawrence Welk’s autobiography, Wunnerful! Wunnerful! because of his intense dislike of Lawrence Welk. I also inherited much of his true crime books, after a leaking urinal dripped down on that section and ruined most of them.
I paid back in any way I could. During my last years in Cincinnati, he often forgot to return the discount book cart to the inside of the store when he locked up for the night. This was the cart that featured books he was selling for $.50 to $1. There were no Gutenberg Bibles or First Folio Shakespeare volumes on the cart, but I knew that he would not want them stolen–otherwise they would have been in the FREE box. I would roll the cart into the vestibule of my building, where it would not be so publicly displayed.
I also remember alerting him to some young scam artists in our neighborhood. These were two little boys, whom I often saw out running the streets as late as 10 p.m. on school nights. I was helping Russ out one Sunday morning, selling newspapers to pedestrians and drivers, wearing my black New York Times apron. A man told me there were two little boys who had tried to sell him The Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Sunday paper for a dollar. When he pointed them out to me, I shadowed them for a few blocks, and found that they were putting $1.50 in a vend box and taking out the entire stack of papers and reselling them. I told Russ, but he would never tell me if he told the police or not.
(These same kids worked another scam. One night I was coming out of Subway, and they offered to sell me, for $.50, a catalog of night school classes, courses on everything from flirting to bookbinding to bartending. The kid’s finger was covering the word FREE in the upper right-hand corner of the page.)
The highest praise he ever gave me was when I visited Cincinnati several years after my move to Columbus. Since that time, he had discontinued his Sunday hours, but I was not aware of this. I went to the store, and the door was unlocked. The lights were all out, except the emergency lights in the back of the room. That was when I saw the sign in the window saying “Closed Sunday.”
I went to the nearest pay phone and called him at home. I told him his store’s front door was wide open. “You’re kidding!” he whispered, sounding totally stunned. I reassured him that I was dead serious–I was using a pay phone where I could keep an eye on the store. He said he had left his cigarettes there the night before, and had gone back to get them, and must have forgotten to re-lock the door.
I told him I would stay at the store until he could come to lock it. “Paul,” he said, “What would I do without you?”
Rest in peace, Russell Speidel.
An interior shot of Duttenhofer’s Book Treasures, taken by me in 2012.
Posted on September 14, 2013 September 8, 2014 by aspergerspoet 1 Comment
Now, Let’s Get This Goddamn Plane Airborne
My traveling by plane happens about as often as seeing a kid from Weinland Park with his pants pulled up, but so I could maximize the time I spend with Susie in Florida this weekend, I will, in a little over an hour, be a passenger on AirTran, and at 2:32 p.m., I will be landing in the Sunshine State. I’m taking advantage of Port Columbus’ free Wi-Fi to type this entry before boarding begins.
This will be my second time in Florida. Until Susie began spending her summers (and eventually moved there permanently this past summer), the only places in Florida I had any desire to visit were Fort Jefferson (on the Dry Tortugas) and Key West, particularly Ernest Hemingway’s house and Sloppy Joe’s, the bar he made famous. (It depresses me to see fraternity and sorority folk coming back from spring break wearing Sloppy Joe’s T-shirts displaying Hemingway’s face.)
There is, although remote, a Merritt Island connection to the title of this post. Merritt Island is the home town of White House photographer Cecil Stoughton, who took this picture aboard Air Force One on November 22, 1963, as Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office as the 36th President of the United States, two hours after John Kennedy was assassinated in downtown Dallas. As soon as LBJ ended the oath with, “So help me God,” he turned to his aide and issued his first Presidential order, which is the title of this post. (I think everyone was glad that someone had shut off the Dictaphone recording the audio before he said this!)
Merritt Island native Cecil Stoughton took this picture of Lyndon B. Johnson taking the oath of office aboard Air Force One at Love Field in Dallas, Texas. A Dictaphone captured the audio. (The microphone is visible in front of Judge Sarah Hughes.)
Merritt Island’s other famous resident was Zora Neal Hurston, the author of Their Eyes Were Watching God. (I have to admit I have never read that, or any of her works, although it seems that high school kids have it on their reading lists more often than when I was in school.)
I think that my neighbors and co-workers think Susie and I have joined the ranks of the jet-setters. In February and June, respectively, Susie traveled to Costa Rica and Romania. I have been to Washington this year (for the Forward on Climate Change march), and I was in St. Louis last weekend. My most-traveled year, however, is undisputably 1983. I was living in Boston, during the time I was typesetting The Harvard Crimson, and made several trips back to Ohio, and at least two to Washington, D.C. My furthest trip that year was a Greyhound trip from Boston to Los Angeles. I was going to the 1983 Continental Conference of Liberal Religious Youth (LRY) at de Benneville Pines, in the San Bernardino Mountains. (It’s located at a dot on the map called Angelus Oaks.) The trip was over 2900 miles.
I remember when Susie sounded most boastful of her journey. This spring, she was walking barefoot in the hallway on the second floor of our place. (All the floors are hardwood, since the previous tenants’ dog had ruined all the carpeting by doing his business all over them.) I was getting ready for work when I heard Susie cry out in pain. She had a splinter in the sole of her foot. It did not look like something easily removable by tweezers, so I took her to an urgent care in Victorian Village. We were the first ones in after they opened, which meant no wait. As the nurse was taking down Susie’s information, one of the questions was, “Have you traveled out of the country in the last six months?” Susie sounded very proud to say, “Costa Rica.” Steph took her to the doctor before school started in Florida, and I’m sure the question arose again. Now Susie can say, “Costa Rica and Romania.” She may even include Poland and Finland, since that was where she changed planes en route.
Speaking of planes, my cell phone calendar (which has now become my appointment diary and address book) just beeped, so I will be heading to AirTran’s gate to await the boarding.
Posted on September 6, 2013 September 8, 2014 by aspergerspoet Leave a comment
Back in Familiar Surrounding
I’m back in my study in Olde North Columbus. The laptop is on my desk, and I’m typing this while I blare the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Jazz: Red, Hot and Cool. After the weekend working at the bookstore, and then making the very roundabout journey to St. Louis and back, it felt even more odd to walk into work this morning than it usually does after a three-day weekend.
I was home by 5 p.m. yesterday afternoon. I wasn’t exhausted, because I had managed to sleep for most of the Chicago-to-Columbus leg of the trip, but I was quite frustrated, an emotion that I have never handled well. The Wi-Fi worked less than 90 minutes of the entire journey, and the driver home stopped the bus once or twice because of strange noises he claims he heard the engine make.
The icing on the cake was when we came back to Columbus. I planned to get off the bus at the OSU Student Union, which is closer to my house than the stop by Nationwide Insurance downtown. The driver did not know where to drop us off, so we circled the block while some students gave the guy directions.
I cannot say I ate healthily on the trip. The first rest stop was in St. Paul, Indiana, at Love’s Travel Stop. (Considering the odd routes on Megabus, it wouldn’t have been impossible for a trip to St. Louis from Columbus to go by way of St. Paul, Minnesota!) From Chicago to St. Louis, we stopped at the Dixie Travel Plaza in McLean, Ill.
I can say with pride that I managed to do everything on my St. Louis to-do list. For the first time since 1993, I took the tram to the top of the Gateway Arch, and took some pictures, both to the east (toward Illinois) and the west (at St. Louis itself). I am glad that I made a reservation online beforehand. Since this was the last “summer vacation” weekend, the Arch was packed.
The Gateway Arch, photographed from the end of Market St.
I would not recommend a visit to the Arch for anyone with claustrophobic or acrophobic tendencies (acrophobia is the fear of heights). The claustrophobia would kick in while riding the tram to the observation deck. The cars in the tram are quite tiny, not much bigger than the handicapped stall in a restroom. They seat five passengers. The tram’s actual motion is not bad; the car adjusts itself so that you are never upside down or tilted sideways, much like the seats on a Ferris wheel.
And why would it bother a person with acrophobia? Being 320 feet in the air does that to a person, I suppose. (I am not really afraid of heights. If I have a secure foothold, I can stay in an elevated place indefinitely. Whenever I get on a ladder to change a light bulb, however, I can’t get down quickly enough!)
I reunited with my friend Alex for the first time in 30+ years. He travels quite frequently for his job (both in the U.S. and overseas), so it was fortunate that he was in St. Louis at the same time I was, and that we were able to see John. We had a good visit, reminiscing about common friends in various Unitarian youth groups, mostly in the Midwest.
My literary needs were neglected on the first leg of the trip, from Columbus to Chicago, since the little personal lights on the bus didn’t work, so I was unable to read. (I am rereading Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song, plus I also brought along two or three Hard Case Crime novels my friend Robert Nedelkoff gave me.)
I made up for not having access to the printed word after my visit with John and Alex at John’s extended-care facility. I saw my friend, author Mike Nevins (who publishes as Francis M. Nevins, Jr.), for the first time in over a year. I met Mike at an Old-Time Radio and Nostalgia Convention in Cincinnati several years ago, and immediately won him over when I told him (truthfully) that I had read Cornell Woolrich: First You Dream, Then You Die, the only biography that will ever be written of Cornell Woolrich, the author of “Rear Window” and The Bride Wore Black, among many other works. Mike accomplished the impossible: writing the life story of a man who had no life. (After the collapse of his brief and unconsummated marriage, Woolrich was an agoraphobe living in a Harlem residential hotel with his mother.)
Mike and I had dinner at Mi Ranchito, a Mexican restaurant he likes, and I ate quite well. We had an interesting discussion when I mentioned Elliott Roosevelt, FDR’s son, had been the commanding officer of Robert Lowry, the novelist from Cincinnati whom I befriended in the early 1990s. I said that I found it ironic that Elliott Roosevelt had also been a novelist after World War II, writing a series of mystery novels starring Eleanor, his First Lady mother. Mike scoffed at this, telling me that Elliott Roosevelt used a stable of ghost writers. (Many people have claimed the same thing about Margaret Truman. On the short list of suspects was Marietta native William Harrington, best known for Which the Justice, Which the Thief.)
A pilgrimage to Vintage Vinyl proved fruitful, as it always does, but I was quite fortunate this time. In the $2.99 bin, I found a record, The Voices of the 20th Century (Coral CRL-57308), narrated by Henry Fonda. My dad found this album for me at a yard sale when I was a teenager, and it disappeared when I left Athens in 1989. The record was quite a find. It featured a recording of Edwin Booth reading from Act I of Othello, some test records made by Thomas Edison, and even P.T. Barnum. Even when I learned of GEMM and 991.com, I could not search for this, because I had forgotten the title, even though I knew the cover. So I felt very happy to see it in the cheap bin.
Alex was quite amused when John and I told him about our hitchhiking journey to Washington, DC from Marietta in the spring of 1982. (I retired from hitchhiking after I left Athens. In high school, I received all kinds of dire predictions from my peers: “Paul, you’re gonna get your head blown off,” and “Paul, someone’s gonna do that Deliverance thing to you and then cut your throat.”) We also described our trip into Illinois Caverns near Waterloo, where they let us in despite not having hard hats or heavy boots. The ranger told us to “Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures, kill nothing but time.”
We did bring a compass into the cavern, which was a total waste. The rocks were so ferrous that the needle was swinging all over the place, not pointing north at all. John’s friend, who guided this expedition, said that he had taken walkie-talkies down on an earlier trip, but the rock and the depth of the cavern rendered them useless.
I will leave you with this view from the Arch of downtown St. Louis.
With the Old Courthouse in the center, here is a westward-looking view from the observation deck of the Gateway Arch. This is downtown St. Louis.
The bus made a stop at a Love’s/McDonald’s/Subway in St. Paul, Ind. (As odd as Megabus’ routes are, it is not inconceivable to think I’d be going to St. Louis by way of St. Paul, Minn.). I’m sated (Quarter Pounder with cheese and two apple pies) and, unfortunately, wide awake. Still no personal lights on the bus, and dawn is two hours away, so I’m blogging again. I was quite proud of the fact that I managed to post my entry at 11:59, so I did manage to post an August entry in here.
Currently en route to Indianapolis. The Cincinnati leg of the journey included two stops in the city itself. One was at the corner of Fourth and Race, and the other was on W. University Ave. on the University of Cincinnati campus. It was quite fascinating to pass through Over the Rhine, the neighborhood just north of downtown Cincinnati, which was an impoverished, crime-ridden ghetto during the late 1980s to mid-1990s, when I was living and working in the Queen City.
Now the word is gentrification. I am all for making the neighborhood safer, and for making it attractive for people who work downtown to want to live there, especially if they can save some fuel money by walking to work. The question remains: Will this come at too high a cost for longtime residents to be able to afford to live there?
Many of the landmarks I recognized during the time I lived in Cincinnati are gone. This means quite a few of the actual buildings are gone, many of them now serve different purposes. As the bus went north on Vine St., I saw the building that housed a dive bar called the Bank Café is now a restaurant. During my many journeys northbound on Vine St., I passed (but never entered) a store named Glossinger’s. Its Pepsi sign, hanging over the sidewalk, advertised:
GLOSSINGER’S
WINE BEER CIGARS
Also gone were many of the storefront churches that clustered, sometimes several to a block, in Over the Rhine. I particularly noticed the absence of one such place, where a wooden folding chair always sat in the front window. Above the chair was a sign that said, “This seat reserved for you!”, above an arrow pointing to the sign.
A sad commentary was a little store at Vine and Liberty that had a Realtor’s sign in its window, but it was too obvious that the place was closed, and had been for some time. A sign reading THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE still hung above the door. When I had lived in Cincinnati, it was a place to buy money orders, cash checks, and send or receive Western Union funds.
For personal reasons, I grieved the loss of the St. Francis Bookshop, across Vine St. from St. Francis Seraph Church. The Saint Anthony Messenger paid me $35 for a poem I mailed them in 1996. It was called “I Want to Live Above the Catholic Bookstore,” and I had written it on the spur of the moment, when I walked past the St. Francis Bookshop one day and saw a FOR RENT sign in the window above the store. (Sadly, now there is one in the store window itself.) I took out my small pocket diary and ballpoint pen, and wrote the whole poem in less than five minutes, right there on Vine St., using a newspaper vending box for a desk. It took me another year and a half–by which time I had moved to Columbus–to type up the poem and mail it to The Saint Anthony Messenger.
As the bus reached the top of the hill at Calhoun St., I saw the outline of St. George’s Church, and I still need to remind myself that both steeples are gone forever. Above is a video clip from WLWT-TV, Channel 5, showing the 2008 fire that destroyed both steeples.
At this very moment (4:38 a.m.), we are sitting in downtown Indianapolis, discharging and taking on passengers. The only prominent landmark I could see was the headquarters of Eli Lilly and Company. The only businesses that seem to be open are bail bond offices. Haven’t seen an all-night diner, or even a convenience store.
There were more nightclubs and late-night restaurants open in downtown Cincinnati than I remembered during the years I lived there. They seemed to be full, and many people were walking from club to club. (I saw two young women in dresses who were carrying what looked like very uncomfortable dress shoes, walking barefoot up W. 4th St. and crossing Race.)
We are now heading out of downtown Indianapolis. Still no sign of life other than the bail bondsmen, many of whose offices are brilliantly lit and staffed. I guess there are enough people being arrested that it is worth staying open 24/7.
Posted on September 1, 2013 by aspergerspoet Leave a comment
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Business, Not-For-Profit Fraud is a Persistent Problem, New Study Confirms
Posted by Concannon Miller on Thu, May 19, 2016
For 20 years, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) has been publishing studies every two years to raise awareness of occupational fraud, and the role strong internal controls can play in limiting these schemes. The 2016 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse covers more than 2,400 cases of white collar crime, occurring in more than 100 countries. About 1,000 of these cases involved U.S. organizations.
The findings from the latest report remain consistent from prior years. This goes to show that, despite our best efforts to combat white collar crime, dishonest people continue to find novel ways, often exploiting technology, to steal from businesses and not-for-profit organizations.
Consistent with the previous biennial study, the 2016 report estimates that the typical organization loses 5% of its revenues each year to fraud. Based on the latest Commerce Department estimate of 2015 U.S. gross domestic product ($17.9 trillion), U.S. organizations lost about $895 billion to fraud last year.
In other words, for every $1 million of revenues your business earned last year, a baseline estimate for how much you might have lost to occupational fraud is $50,000 (or 5% of $1 million) in the same period. That calculation can be sobering for many small business owners who think they're immune to fraud — it happens to organizations of all sizes and in all types of industries.
The ACFE study exposes only the tip of the iceberg, however. Many frauds go undetected or unmeasured. Plus, some losses are indirect, including lost productivity, reputational damage and the related future loss of business. Fraud investigations also can be costly, so some organizations opt to cut their losses by simply terminating — but not fully prosecuting — white collar criminals. Many of these losses are never fully recovered.
READ MORE: Don’t Wait Until You Suspect Employee Theft – Take These Steps to Prevent Fraud
The Fight against Fraud
The threat of being caught is a powerful deterrent of fraudulent behavior, because it eliminates the perceived opportunity for wrongdoing. But some detection methods are more effective and affordable than others. To get the most from your antifraud spending, consider these detection measures, which the ACFE's study associated with the shortest durations and lowest losses:
Surveillance/monitoring
IT controls
Conversely, detection-by-chance — for example, through a notification by police — tends to reveal longer, more costly fraud schemes. Strong internal control systems may require significant time and money to implement, but they can be resources well spent if fraud occurs at your organization.
A formal code of conduct is an example of a simple, but effective, internal control mechanism that any organization can implement to fight fraud. Although the vast majority of employees will never commit fraud, those who are tempted can be put off by a code of conduct that clearly outlines a zero-tolerance policy on unethical behaviors. It should contain clear illustrations and information about behavior that would violate the code, as well as instructions on how to confidentially report suspicious behavior that could be fraud.
Surprisingly, the ACFE study reports that background checks aren't a particularly effective method of detecting fraud. That's because most frauds are committed by individuals without a criminal record who have worked for their organizations for many years.
This finding doesn't necessarily mean that the company was the fraudster's first victim, however. It's possible that his or her attempts to steal from former employers went undetected. Or maybe the individual wasn't prosecuted by a former employer to preserve the organization's resources and reputation.
Prosecuting white collar criminals is important for several reasons. It helps recoup fraud losses, sets an example for other would-be fraudsters in your organization and protects future employers from becoming the next fraud victim.
READ MORE: Concannon Miller's Forensic Accounting and Fraud Prevention Services
Honest employees are an organization's first line of defense against white collar crime. Here are some ways you can encourage employees to join in the fight against fraud:
Invest in training: Educate staff on the red flags associated with fraud from within and outside the company. This helps detect and prevent fraud. It also sends a powerful message about your company's intention to fight fraud no matter where it originates. Employees must perceive a high probability that fraudulent activity will be detected. The perception of detection is often sufficient enough to dissuade anyone inclined toward unethical behavior.
Engage management in the fight: Managers must be seen and heard reviewing controls and urgently correcting weaknesses that might be detected. If your organization's managers are perceived to be unwilling or unable to take the time to review the controls, they may inadvertently be sending a message that it's safe to commit fraud.
Set up a hotline: Anonymous fraud reporting hotlines can be an effective method of obtaining tips about unethical behaviors. Unfortunately, many small businesses shy away from this option, because they see it as too expensive and difficult to administer. A number of providers offer hotlines designed explicitly with small businesses in mind. The cost per employee is minimal in relation to the fraud it can help to uncover and the losses avoided.
The 2016 study found that employers were much more likely to be tipped off if they offer reporting hotlines. ACFE reports that tips led to the detection of fraud in 47% of the cases involving organizations with reporting hotlines, but only 28% of the cases involving organizations without hotlines.
The fact that more than half of all tips involved parties other than confirmed employees emphasizes the importance of cultivating tips from various sources. So it's also advantageous to educate vendors, customers and owners on how to report suspicions of fraud.
Another interesting finding that's new for 2016 is that more than half of complaints were submitted via the Internet. This suggests that companies with telephone-only reporting hotlines should consider adding more channels for reporting fraud.
Best Practices in Internal Controls
Weak internal controls often provide dishonest people with the opportunity to steal assets or cook the books. In the 2016 study, a lack of internal controls and the ability to override internal controls were cited as the leading factors that contributed to fraud. Together, these factors were present in nearly half of the fraud cases in the latest study.
We can help reinforce your internal controls and investigate if you suspect fraud. Doing so can potentially save your company thousands, if not millions, of dollars in losses and put everyone on alert that fraud will not be tolerated and the consequences will be severe.
For more information on our services, check out our Forensic Accounting page.
Topics: Fraud
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Tag: jay asher
Jay Asher, Author of ’13 Reasons Why’, Files Defamation Lawsuit Over Sexual Harassment Claims
According to the New York Times, Jay Asher, author of the book and now hugely successful albeit controversial Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why, has filed a defamation lawsuit against the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), as he claims there was little or no investigation into allegagtions made against him during the #MeToo movement, which resulted SCBWI annoucing that Asher “had violated the professional organization’s anti-harassment policy. “Asher is seeking a jury trial and unspecified financial damages” from the the Society.
The allegations made against Asher date back to April 2017, when executive director of SCBWI, Lin Oliver, was contacted by seven women who claimed that “Asher had used the group’s conferences to prey on women sexually, then threatened them to intimidate them into silence, making them ‘feel unsafe to attend SCBWI events.'”
Asher has stated that the women were colleagues of his, and that while he had conducted extramarital affairs with them, these were consensual, apart from his relationship with one woman, who, he claims, coerced him into sex and proceeded to engage in harassing him relentlessly over. the subsequent decade.
The New York Times notes that the lawsuit asserts that Oliver “made false and defamatory statements about him that torpedoed his career, and caused financial harm and intentional emotional distress,” and goes on to list the effects that SCBWI’s actions have had on Asher and his career, saying his “literary agency dropped him, speaking engagements and book signings evaporated, and some bookstores removed his novels from their shelves.”
Asher also claims that Oliver ignored contrary evidence due to personal grievances relating to Asher’s success and that one woman had even admitted her accusations to be false.
Featured Image Via Amazon and thegameofnerds
5 Books That Almost Had Wildly Different Endings
So it may be that ‘all’s well that ends well,’ but some of these books nearly didn’t! The secret alternate endings of these five popular novels are different from the endings that made it to our bookshelves. (That’s ‘different’ as a synonym for completely bizarre.) Some endings changed the tone of the story in ways the author decided against. Some endings changed other important things, like whether or not anyone would buy the book.
1. The Fault in Our Stars
It’s hard to imagine John Green changing one thing about his devastating hit The Fault in our Stars (besides the title, which would work just as well as Buckets of Our Tears). Actually, Augustus’ death was almost the second most tragic thing about the novel. In a twist that Green himself describes as “epically terrible,” the novel initially ended with Hazel Grace and author Van Houten attempting to murder a drug dealer in order to honor Augustus’ life… knowing that they will likely die (just relatable teenager things). This ending supposedly lasted only forty pages, which begs the question—what? It gets worse. Green also considered using the ending of the novel to explore the Trolley Problem—which, to sum it up, asks whether it’s more morally heinous to let a trolley crush five people or to personally divert the train to crush only one person. His editor admitted later that she “[couldn’t] tell whether or not it [was] a joke.” It wasn’t.
2. The Dream Thieves
Maggie Stiefvater‘s Raven Cycle series stands as one of the most positively critically reviewed YA series of all time. Its second book, The Dream Thieves, is particularly rife with the dark (best friends replaced with subservient clones) and the delightful (every possible use of ‘Dick’ as a nickname for Richard). In one earlier draft, troubled protagonist Ronan enters into a magical drag race with distinctly-more-troubled antagonist Kavinsky—which, contextually, is not as strange as it sounds. The two subsequently have their magic race up the side of a mountain, and in a reckless but astoundingly unsurprising move, Kavinsky drives his car off the edge of a cliff. Stiefvater herself summarizes the whole plot as: “Fireball! Death!” This is also an excellent description of the novel’s actual ending. However, this earlier draft lacks the redemptive elements and positive LGBT representation of the rewrite—especially since the rewrite is also full of cars and danger.
One of the most chilling lines in the Harry Potter universe reads: neither can live while the other survives. It would then logically follow that… to use J.K.’s own words… neither can live while the other survives. So it doesn’t exactly add up that J.K. Rowling almost concluded her series with Voldemort AND Harry surviving. In one strange version of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ending, the spirits of Voldemort’s dead parents appear during their showdown to comfort Harry and turn Voldemort into a child. When Voldy tries to zap Harry with his final curse, it rebounds, freezing him as a living statue. If you’re wondering how the rebounded spell doesn’t kill him, you can keep on wondering—there is no real explanation. Fortunately, we have the original standoff between Harry and Voldemort, as well as all the powerful scenes and lines that come with it.
4. Thirteen Reasons Why
Especially after its TV debut, Thirteen Reasons Why is almost universally recognizable as a story of the tragic suicide of a high school student and the following series of upsetting confessional tapes detailing fellow students’ contributions to her death. But what if Hannah didn’t die? According to author Jay Asher, that’s exactly what almost happened. As the near-suicide of a close relative inspired Asher’s work, he considered that Hannah might also live. In the end, he decided against it. He felt that Hannah’s survival meant fewer consequences for the students who tormented her, as well as lower stakes surrounding the issue. Asher explained: “it felt false for this particular story and for the seriousness of the issue. If someone goes through with a suicide, there are no second chances for anyone involved.”
We all recognize George Orwell‘s 1984 as the classic behind the phrase “Big Brother is watching.” Fewer people know that this grim tale once had an alternate ending—one that made the ending tonally more optimistic (not an easy feat, given how depressing this story gets). Free-thinking Winston undergoes torture in order to destroy any part of him that might rebel against the novel’s totalitarian government. But just before the end, he has a brief nervous break and thinks to himself: 2 + 2 = 5. This signifies the extent to which Winston, wholly indoctrinated, now accepts Big Brother’s lies. However, Orwell’s first edition tells a different story. There, the sentence ends with 2 +2 = (without the number 5), implying that Winston manages to hold onto some sense of self and that resistance is real. One letter subtly but unmistakably changes the meaning of the entire novel… and makes it a whole lot sadder.
Featured Image Via The-toast.com. All In-Text Images Via Amazon.com
by Krisdee Dishmon
GeorgeOrwell
Jay Asher, James Dashner and the #MeToo Movement in Children’s Publishing
As the #MeToo movement gained momentum, YA author Anne Ursu wondered why the stories of harassment within the publishing industry, about which she had been hearing for years, were not resurfacing. She told Bustle, “one day I realized, ‘Well, I guess it has to be me.'” So she created an anonymous survey in order find out the extent to which sexual harassment has affected those working in the children and YA publishing industry. Soon after, in the comments underneath an article on the extreme prevalence of the problem, names began to be named—big names, such as Thirteen Reasons Why author Jay Asher, and author of The Maze Runner, James Dashner. Many of the commenters identified themselves (while remaining anonymous) as contributors to Ursu’s survey, but this time, they were not withholding the names of their alleged harassers.
Anne Ursu | Image Via YouTube
Jay Asher has recently been expelled from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators over the allegations, but he has denied them and is said to be seeking legal counsel. He has stated that he voluntarily left the Society and has said, “It’s very scary when you know people are just not going to believe you once you open your mouth. I feel very conflicted about it just because of what’s going on in the culture and who’s supposed to be believed and who’s not.”
Meanwhile, James Dashner, who has been dropped by Random House, released the following statement on Twitter.
A message from me to you… pic.twitter.com/xowMvWpyac
— James Dashner (@jamesdashner) February 15, 2018
Ursu’s survey yielded a wealth of stories regarding unpleasant experiences suffered by people, mainly, though not all, women, working in YA and children’s publishing. According to the Medium article in which Ursu examines the responses, the following are some examples:
An author wrote, “An editor who was considering my work commented very thoroughly on my body type as a possible personal advantage of working with me.” For her now, “it makes submissions feel like a minefield.” For an author/illustrator, it was at a book party with a famous illustrator; “I introduce myself to him,” she writes, “and he makes a crack about my breasts.” After enough incidents like these she’s “completely stopped socializing in this business because each time it becomes another abuse story.”
Asked by Bustle if she believes publishers and organizations cutting ties with Dashner and Asher is the correct response, Ursu said, “I do think if you harass and abuse women, you don’t get to write for kids and teens. This is a privilege and an honor.”
Featured Image Via Digital Spy
’13 Reasons Why’ Star Katherine Langford Receives Golden Globe Nomination
The 2018 Golden Globe nominations have been revealed, and congratulations goes out to Katherine Langford, who has received a nomination for Best Television Actress in a Drama for her role as Hannah Baker in the Netflix adaptation of Jay Asher’s 13 Reasons Why. The list of names congratulating the actress is long and established, including costars and Selena Gomez, who produced the show as a “passion project.”
AND to this gorgeous, kind hearted lady. You endured this character with such strength and softness. @katherinelangford I am so proud you are being acknowledged for doing just that! GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEE!!! Ladies are shining!
A post shared by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) on Dec 11, 2017 at 10:43am PST
Following the news, the nomination has become slightly controversial for a number of reasons. Critics and fans were surprised to see the actress and show nominated due to the nature of the show itself, which both discusses suicide and showed Langford act out a graphic suicide scene. Other critics wonder why Langford was nominated over a variety of other actresses in incredible roles, including Mandy Moore (This Is Us) and Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder). Despite the controversy, the young Australian actress took a risk tackling such sensitive issues on screen, bringing light to a controversial topic that should not be swept under the rug. Whether or not her acting was up to par to win a Golden Globe is up to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to decide.
Langford was nominated alongside The Crown‘s Claire Foy, Outlander‘s Caitriona Balfe, The Handmaid’s Tale‘s Elisabeth Moss, and The Deuce‘s Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Featured Image Via the Herald Sun.
by Hilary Schuhmacher
Check Out This Bookstore-Themed Mall in China!
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2/13/17 – Bill Walton and overcoming Brain Type
by admin2 | Feb 13, 2017 | Articles - BEIR, Insider Blog | 0 comments
At times we are asked, “Can’t Brain Typing be used as a crutch?” That is, once one discovers one’s inborn design, an excuse can be developed to limit self as far as what can and cannot be accomplished. Such an excuse is exaggerated, especially as it pertains to every day life, as opposed to sports. In sports, you wouldn’t tell 18-year old Johnny who is 5 foot 5 that he could be a star center in the NBA. In the same way, we wouldn’t tell a #12 BCAL 18-year old Johnny that he could be a star quarterback in the NFL. So in that sense, yes, there are limits, but those limits are greatly restricted.
When it comes to everyday life, on the other hand, there are few things any Brain Type cannot accomplish. Take former NBA star and current NBA commentator Bill Walton, a #6 BEIR, and what he had to share recently. I’m a stutterer. I never spoke to anybody. I lived most of my life by myself. But as soon as I got on the court I was fine. But in life, being so self conscious, red hair, big nose, freckles and goofy, nerdy looking face and can’t talk at all. I was incredibly shy and never said a word. Then, when I was 28 I learned how to speak. It’s become my greatest accomplishment of my life and everybody else’s biggest nightmare.
The #6 BEIR is rarely an accomplished orator, and Walton is no exception. (The #6‘s main brain locale is Q2, the most laconic region of the brain; Q1 and Q3 do the talking and Q4 supplies the appropriate words.) Coupled with a 7-foot lanky frame and looks that could intimidate, Walton had every reason to cast himself into the shadows of his Back brain introversion. After all, that is the way he was designed, right? No, rather, Walton pushed himself not only to become a great basketball player, but
an accomplished spokesman on national television and “everybody else’s biggest nightmare.”
lol, too funny. Though Bill dropped his inferior speech, he certainly didn’t drop his #6 inner thoughts which have finally gone public.
(click for source)
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Back to live videos
Cover Critique #2 with Jake Clark
August 9, 2016 - - Leave your thoughts
Jake Clark
One of Reedsy’s most popular cover designers, Jake is a versatile artist with an eclectic visual taste that adapts to any genre. Plus, he’s a really great guy!
We're back with another edition of Reedsy Live Chats. This time it's a cover critique with U.S. based designer Jake Clark. As always, we've brought you a small recap but to get the full experience of Jake's informative session, just watch the video above!
Comments and advice
The Eyes That Moved — Rachelle M.N. Shaw
Kendra Merrick has a knack for spotting unusual trinkets and treasures, and she isn’t afraid of using unconventional—or illegal—methods to obtain them. When she meets Adam, a fellow sleuth and collector, they embark on their biggest adventure yet: the Whitson house. The house is a marvel, and its secrets are even stranger than Kendra imagined.
Kendra stumbles upon the find of a lifetime. But she may have signed on for more than she bargained. There’s a darkness in the house that wasn’t there before, a pair of eyes in every corner, watching, waiting. And Adam isn’t at all who he claimed to be.
"Instantly comes across as creepy. The choice of image is good and makes you feel uneasy. It avoids the trope of excessive gore in horror which is good. The text can be read easily, but the author name can be a little bigger. It's a second in a series of books designed using repetitive elements, which helps establish a brand. It's also good practice in black and white covers to push the highlights and darken the shadows. Use of eyes is very common in covers but it's done well here."
Secret Destiny — Kathy Kulig
Desperate and on the verge of financial disaster, Destiny Noir accepts the job at Dark Odyssey. The hedonistic club in a mansion along the South Florida coast caters to the rich and powerful, providing a particular service that satisfies their clients’ sinful requests. Performing kinky sex shows at private parties with her lover Darius Logan should be easy for two lovers. The risk to her professional reputation is high, but the money and scorching sex is too good to refuse. This club is just what the couple is looking for. But there are always consequences, especially when their fun and well-paying side job spins out of control.
"This immediately tells you that it is a romance/erotica novel. The title font is nice but a little small, and there are too many curls. The three images are competing with each other. The diagonal is forcing the viewer into one corner. There are two ways to go about a cover, either follow the tropes of your genre or go against them. The benefit of following tropes is the reader gets a sense of the story immediately, but it's very easy to be overlooked as a new author. 50 Shades of Grey is an excellent example of this, as it's not a typical romance cover."
Long in the Sleuth — Carol Novis
From the author: "Here is a prospective cover for my cozy mystery, about old ladies in a Jewish retirement home who solve murders. I would be very interested in your opinion."
The use of bright colors is great, it immediately communicates that it's a lighthearted book. There could be some more clouds added on top to reduce the negative space. The graphic of the grandma is nice but perhaps doesn't work for the book. It would be great to see the dog in the same flat style illustration. The diagonal slant of the subtitle doesn't work, and the author title is getting a little lost.
The Healer's Curse — J.P. Doyle
From the author: "My main character, Alex, is able to heal others by touching them. Unfortunately, Alex finds out that his healing comes at a terrible cost to himself and others around him. For the cover, I wanted to have Alex break the fourth wall and reach out to heal the reader. The four colors on his palm represent two sets of effects when Alex touches someone else: The removal of damage: trauma (red) and disease (green), and the restoration of health: healing (white) and revitalization (blue)."
"The cover works quite well overall. It might be a better idea to stick to lesser colors for the hand. The hand reaching out is really nice. Text can be read clearly which is great, though author title can be a little smaller. It would be great to see more particles and atmospheric work around the hand. The hand reaching out even more would be great."
The Mask of Deception — Marisol Pareja
The Mask of Deception reveals the history of idol worshiping and how Voodoo now hides in a well-known religion by masking its true identity. This unique and compelling book is a result of Marisol Pareja’s escape from organized religion, and the 40-year journey she endured to share her experiences with you.
Will it give you the courage and conviction to stand up and fight for your very soul?
"First impression was that the novel was a thriller, but after reading the title and synopsis, it's more to do with voodoo and religion and the cover works perfectly well for that too. The dark borders focus the viewer on the central portion of the cathedral which works well. There's way too much text, and all in upper case, some of the extra text should be turned to lower case for some relief. While the color of the title works great with the central image, the font is a bit dated and a bit too distressed."
The Devil in the Bottle — Carol Buchanan
After Vigilantes ended a criminal conspiracy in Alder Gulch during the winter of 1863-1864, they founded a “People’s Court” to administer justice. At the same time, Joseph (aka Jack) Slade has settled near Alder Gulch with his wife and adopted son. As a manager with the Overland Stage Co., he ruled 600 hostile miles by intimidation. While he worked for the Overland, passengers and the mail traveled on time, in safety. But Slade’s drinking ended his career.
Early in March 1864, while on a spree, Slade threatens the People’s Court judge at gunpoint and tells the Vigilantes they are “all played out.” Dan and the other Vigilantes face a horrible choice. By yielding to Slade, they expose honest people to the criminals’ rise. Yet Slade, despite his murderous reputation, has committed no capital crime to justify hanging him. Will the devil in the bottle get Jack Slade?
"Always keep in mind that covers look much darker in print. The use of eyes here doesn't work too well as it doesn't pop out in the darkness. Since it's the third book in a series, it might be worth it to mention that somewhere in there. Even if they are stand alone novels, it's great to have readers know that there's more to the story."
Chubber — Heather Little
Remember when you were a kid in middle school and the most important things were trying to fit in, trying to belong and just wanting to be liked? Then puberty comes along and gives you the smackdown. Toss in mean girls, bullies and not to mention: discovering boys. . . Whoa! How does a girl cope? Well with best friends, of course.
Join Lucy as she encounters life full-on, learns how to accept herself and discovers the true meaning of self-worth and friendship.
"The cover does manage to communicate what the story might be about. You can guess it's a coming of age story, involving teenagers and school life. While it does let you know that, there are more effective ways of doing that. There's a lot of imagery from schools and classrooms that can be used to communicate a similar feel. Right there's too little happening."
The Unseen — Guyanne Lillie
Lilly and her friends, Hannah and Erin encounter the Spirit realm. Consequently, worlds collide.
Spiritual warfare becomes a reality when an unseen enemy stalks and attacks determined to steal their destinies and ultimately destroy them.
Through adversity and trial, warriors ablaze sealed with the fire of God are born.
"The cover is really sharp and well done. The author name is sized perfectly. The title could be a little bigger. The title could also use some texture as it's too flat right now and looks digital. There's a very nice vertical flow with the glowy eyes at the bottom. The background could use a little more atmospheric particles to make it pop out more."
Threat — Horton Prather
Jake Grayson returns to Honduras to pursue his relationship with Amélia Ramirez. A psychotic killer is on the loose, seeking revenge, and she’s stalking Jake and Amélia!
They don’t know the killer’s identity, but they must flee to avoid the threat. What do they do when she follows, pretending to be a friend?
"The title pops out a lot better on screen. There's a bit too much going on with about seven elements playing with each other. While all the elements might have some significance in the story, it begins to feel a little bit like a collage. It's best to stick with two or three images."
Strange Fruit — Tyran Saffold Jr
Ehhis is young man who moves from a small, racist town in Idlewild, Texas to Harlem, NY in 1921. He has aspirations of presenting an unheard of form of art to the citizens of Harlem, Spoken-Word. But his dreams of becoming an entertainer are quickly interrupted when he witnesses a murder within the first few months of his move to Harlem.
"The microphone graphic is great, even though it's a bit busy. It reminds you of noir images. It tells you that the story is probably about some sort of murder of crime involving a musician. The reflection of the man could be a lot bigger. Even though title and author name doesn't need to dominate the cover, you should be able to read it clearly. Right now, the text gets lost. There are great ideas in this cover, but it needs to be executed a little better."
Super useful cover design tips from Jake Clark
Did you agree with Jake's opinions on the designs you saw here? Was there something he said that you want to apply to your book? Feel free to leave any questions you might have for Jake in the comments below.
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First study finds MRSA in U.S. pigs and farmers; U.K reports 3 patients sickened with the bacterium from eating pork only.
By andrew_schneider on June 4, 2008 at 4:45 PM
An effective way to say there isn’t a problem is never to look. That seems to be precisely what most U.S. government food-safety agencies are doing when it comes to determining whether the livestock in our food supply is contaminated with MRSA and if so, whether the often-fatal bacterium is being passed on to consumers who buy and consume that meat.
We know that some strains of MRSA – methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – are extremely dangerous. Dr. Monina Klevens, of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, examined the cases of the disease reported in hospitals, schools and prisons in one year and extrapolated that “94,360 invasive MRSA infections occurred in the United States in 2005; these infections were associated with death in 18,650 cases.”
Earlier his year, Dr. Scott Weese, from the Department of Pathobiology at the Ontario Veterinary College told those attending the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases at the CDC that there was a problem. He and his colleagues had found MRSA in 10 percent of 212 samples of pork chops and ground pork bought in four Canadian provinces.
“I think it is very likely that the situation is the same in the U.S.,” he told me in a phone interview.
“We’ve proven MRSA is in pigs and the marketed pork in Canada, and we know that it’s also in U.S. pigs. It’s inconceivable that it wouldn’t also be found in the pork products from those pigs.”
This raised a bunch of obvious questions, such as, who exactly is checking to see if antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria is in the 762 million pounds of Canadian pork that’s imported into the U.S. each year?
The answer appears to be no one.
It should be the USDA. Dr. David Goldman is in charge of the agency’s four laboratories that examine imported food.
“Any pathogen or hazard that’s transmitted through the foods we regulate is a potential issue for us, and so you know, certainly we are aware of the study (Weese) did,” Goldman told me during an interview at a recent food-safety meeting in Seattle.
“There is no indication MRSA has been identified in swine going into the retail market. Not in this country. Not in swine or other livestock being sold for food in this country,” the doctor added.
But, none of the USDA labs that he runs are checking for MRSA in imported meat.
“We just don’t have a test for it,” Goldman said.
So, do we have MRSA in our American grown pigs?
The Food and Drug Administration says it doesn’t know.
Mike Herndon, an agency spokesman, said FDA scientists have been “following the emergence of MRSA from humans and animals in Central Europe and Canada and are monitoring the situation very closely.”
The FDA is aware of Weese’s study, but “we do not yet have similar data with regards to the MRSA situation among food animals and retail meats,” Herndon said.
There is no indication that FDA has tested meat for MRSA.
But the FDA and USDA eagerly pointed to a group called the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System as the protector of food and humans from foodborne bacteria. The coalition of scientists from several federal agencies primarily target salmonella, campylobacter and E. coli.
But the group does not currently screen for MRSA.
The National Pork Producers Council in Washington is sure there’s no problem. They told me “there is nothing to worry about; MRSA (in pigs) has not been found this side of the border” and “USDA and CDC has given our pigs a clean bill of health.”
A CDC spokeswoman told me that she could find “no indication we made that statement.”
Interestingly, the pork lobbyists have said their industry would oppose any attempt to test all livestock for MRSA, calling the testing “unnecessary to protect public health.”
Whereas our government apparently doesn’t see the need nor have the ability to see if pigs in the U.S. are carrying MRSA, Tara Smith, an assistant professor for the University of Iowa department of epidemiology, and her graduate researchers have done what is apparently is the first testing of swine for MRSA in the U.S.
Dr. Tara Smith
They swabbed the noses of 209 pigs from 10 farms in Iowa and Illinois and found MRSA in 70 percent of the porkers.
Today, in Boston, at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Abby Harper, one of Smith’s graduate assistants, presented the results of a study that she and Michael Male did on 20 workers at the Iowa swine farms. Harper reported that 45 percent of the workers carried the same MRSA bacterium as the pigs.
Smith told me last night that she will be working with collaborators in Minnesota, Ohio, North Carolina and perhaps other areas to examine more swine farms.
“We’re going to be looking at conventional, free-range and organic or antibiotic-free pigs,” Smith said.
“We will be paying special attention to the antibiotics that are being used because there are indications that the tetracycline used in swine farming may be the cause of the spread of MRSA,” she explained.
All of Smith’s important work raises the question that Weese raised in Canada: Is MRSA-contaminated meat being sold in the U.S. market?
It is believed that proper cooking will kill the MRSA bacterium. The health threat for butchers and cooks alike, if there is one, will come from improperly handled meat.
“If people wash their hands after handling raw pork and prevent cross-contamination, risks should be very low,” Weese said from Canada.
“The main possible concern is that people could get MRSA on their hands from raw pork, then touch their nose. The nose is the prime site for MRSA to live,” he told me.
Some public-heath experts worry that butchers and professional and home cooks may be infected if MRSA bacteria on their hands entered a cut or a wound.
An understanding of the risk from MRSA in meat becomes more urgent in view of a report yesterday from the United Kingdom.
Scientists reported that three patients in separate hospitals in Scotland were infected with the ST398 strain of MRSA, the same strain that Smith and her researchers found in Midwest farms. And it’s the same strain that FDA’s Herndon says is of particular concern in the veterinary medicine and food safety arenas.
What makes this particularly important is that doctors reported that none of the patients worked on a farm nor had a close association with farm animals, raising the possibility that the superbug has entered the food chain in the U.K., according to an article by Martin Hickman in The Independent, a U.K. publication.
And, as you mull over this all-too-long post, be advised that Weese warns that MRSA could also be in beef, chicken and lamb, but no one is checking.
Andrew Schneider
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WATCH: Andy Cohen’s 7 best moments of 2017
Andy Cohen consistently delivers some of the funniest and most entertaining interviews, approaching each one with a sense of fearlessness. He’s never afraid to “go there.” Whether it’s challenging Caitlyn Jenner on her political views, or getting Louis Tomlinson to divulge the details of his now-defunct feud with Zayn Malik, the SiriusXM host always asks exactly what everyone wants to know.
As 2017 comes to a close, we’re taking a look back at seven of the year’s best moments on Andy Cohen Live. Watch below:
1. Caitlyn Jenner blasts Kris Jenner
Caitlyn Jenner was invited by Cohen to promote her first book, which gave him an opportunity to address the very public rift the book had caused between Caitlyn and her equally famous family, the Kardashians.
2. How Goldie Hawn fell in love with Kurt Russell
Cohen’s interview with Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer took a beautifully emotional turn when Hawn told the story of how she fell in love with Kurt Russell. “If somebody could love my children the way I do, my life would be perfect. And it worked out,” she told Cohen.
3. Ricky Martin reveals how he met his husband
In the 21st century, it’s perfectly common for people to meet the love of their life on the internet. Ricky Martin is no exception.
4. Donald Trump ignites the return of Will & Grace
It’s almost hard to believe that the ’90s hit sitcom Will & Grace is back on NBC. It’s even harder to believe that the 45th President of the United States is the reason for its return, but it’s true.
5. Colton Haynes opens up about his sexuality
Actor Colton Haynes has had an interesting relationship with the public in terms of his sexuality. After a few cryptic social media posts throughout the years, the 29-year-old actor set the record straight with Cohen.
6. Meghan McCain’s views on abortion
Political commentator Meghan McCain usually isn’t one to shy away from controversial politics. However, when it comes to the topic of abortion, the daughter of Sen. John McCain has one rule.
7. Louis Tomlinson discusses feud with Zayn Malik
One Direction is unequivocally one of the biggest boy bands to break through the music scene since the days of NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. While the five young lads are all still close friends, they have gone through some rough patches. Band member Louis Tomlinson gave Cohen the scoop.
BONUS: Hoda Kotb interviews Andy Cohen
We’ve been working hard over at SiriusXM to get Hoda and Andy together for an interview and it finally happened in December during a taping of The Hoda Show for SiriusXM’s Today Show Radio (Ch. 108). Just in time for the New Year, Andy told Hoda how he ended up agreeing to join his friend Anderson Cooper to ring in the new year on CNN.
Don’t miss the Radio Andy Rewind, airing on Dec. 30 and Dec. 31. All of your favorite Radio Andy hosts will be taking a look back at some of their favorite moments of 2017.
Also, at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Day, Andy will be taking you through 50 of his biggest interviews of the year.
Listen to Andy Cohen Live every Monday and Wednesday from 10 am-12 pm on Ch. 102.
The Highway takes you backstage during Academy of Country Music Awards rehearsals
Entertainment, Hip-Hop/R&B, Music, Pop Culture
Nipsey Hussle, Grammy-nominated rapper and activist, dead at 33
NFL, Sports
Jerry Rice talks about NFL’s G.O.A.T. & Antonio Brown trade rumors
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Angelina Jolie wants to become a politician?
It is no secret that in addition to a career in film, Angelina Jolie actively involved in the life of his native country, which is home. Jolie is a goodwill Ambassador for the UN, so knows a lot about political activities. The journalists People spoke with the star and learned that the actress wants to become a politician?
Jolie replied vaguely: “Never say never!”. That is, work in the political sphere, the actress thought, and perhaps in the future will embody conceived in a reality. The actress also said that while he sees the role of leaders of other people.
We will remind, 43-year-old Angelina Jolie attended the meeting of the General Assembly of the world organization dedicated to peace operations in the world. It was very Patriotic and inspiring.
“This is the third such meeting in which I participate. And the first one on my own land. I’m proud to be here as an American. I am a patriot, love my country and want to see it prosperous”.
“I’m sure that the more women involved in the work of the UN, the higher will be the efficiency of the organization’s missions. Women around the world in leadership positions, take destiny in their own hands, but at the same time, the majority of victims of armed conflicts are still women. Among the refugees and victims of violence most women. We need to ensure that anyone who commits crimes against women, without exception, brought to court and punished,” — says Jolie.
On the personal front, the actress it’s not so Sunny. Jolie still can’t divorce from brad pitt. Two and a half years Angelina and brad just can’t finish the trial! Long time married couple fought for custody of the children, but that not all the differences that began on the path of divorce. A protracted trial was already tired by the stars, so they’re more likely to settle and become free.
Angelina and brad want to ask the judge about bifurcation – splitting the trial into two parts to make it possible adjudication of marital status without consideration of all aspects of business. Thus they will be able to get rid of their status, while other questions about guardianship, etc. will be addressed further. “They both will be considered divorced and lonely, but they still have to negotiate about the final decision of the court, including division of property and custody… They don’t want to be together husband and wife should move on,” – said the press insider.
Kim Kardashian about waiting for the fourth child and the new collection points
Who received a fee three times more than Sophie Turner?
Canelino.com Celebrity News
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A couple weeks ago, at the PokerStars Championship Barcelona, I had the chance to chat with Liv Boeree. During the first part of our time together, we spoke about her passion for effective altruism. I could not let my opportunity to speak with Liv Boeree go by, however, without asking her for her thoughts about women in poker. It made me uncomfortable to do so because the mere question implies that she is something “less” than what she really is — a phenomenal poker player with an impressive resume by any standard.
However, given the reality of the world we live in, I thought it important to get the perspective of one of the games top female players. I had a few specific questions to ask, but the mere mention of the topic was enough for Liv to share some of the shockingly misogynistic things that she has seen with equal parts brutal honestly and incredible poise. She basically covered everything I was going to ask her on her own, without much prompting from me.
Below, she shares a story of an incident that had just happened to her in the days before our interview, and gives her perspective on the reason why the percentage of female poker players is so small compared to the overall population. She also made some suggestions with regard to what the poker industry’s goal should be when it comes to gender parity.
What are your general thoughts on being a woman in poker?
I always start off with the same thing, which is that I’ve never been a man in poker, so I have no real point of comparison. And I think if you want to make any strong statement about something you need to be able to know what the other side is like. That said, it has its advantages and it has its disadvantages.
READ: Why Don’t More Women Play Poker Leading Ladies Unite for Change
The advantages are you will stand out more, and that can create economic opportunity. The disadvantage is that you stand out more, and you get treated very differently than male players. And that is a thing that some male players will not be able to conceptualize.
For example, just even yesterday I was involved in a hand with a perfectly nice French guy and won the pot. Afterwards I gave him a fist-bump and then he points at his cheek — obviously asking for a kiss on the cheek. At that point, I’m thinking “On what planet is this OK?” You wouldn’t ask me to do that if I was a man; I’m not going to kiss you on the cheek. It’s a bit demeaning. I appreciate that it may be a cultural thing, but it’s one thing to greet someone and [that situation] is another thing.
And then he says sorry, and I’m like “no problem.” But then some other guy pipes up and says “you Brits have no fucking sense of humor.” And I was like, what? Excuse me? Why treat me differently? He starts arguing that “well, you know, men have urges, of course we’re going to treat women differently.” I asked him if that justifies harassment, and he responded that that wasn’t what he was saying.
And I tried to explain to him, look you have to understand if this was a one off incident to be asked to kiss someone on the cheek after a hand I wouldn’t care. But it happens almost daily when I play in a tournament.
That’s so depressing to me…
This is just my personal experience. I can’t speak for every woman, but most of my female friends have these kinds of things happen. It’s maybe not every day, but no matter how conservative I dress you’re going to get looked at. And that’s part of life, but the point is that it’s always there because you’re an anomaly. So that’s just part of the experience.
It’s a double edged sword, basically. There are a lot of benefits that can come from it. If you use it well, then it can add extra value, but there are also downsides where you’re treated differently.
Is it getting any better?
It is getting better. The trend is still very very positive. For the most part, as a woman in poker I’m treated with respect and I’m not treated that much differently most of the time. But there are still pretty much daily occurrences where you are reminded of the fact that you are a woman.
What International Women’s Day is about (to me, at least): #IWD2017 pic.twitter.com/oojpcACrZZ
— Liv Boeree (@Liv_Boeree) March 8, 2017
Do you have any thoughts on how to get more women into poker?
I think ultimately, it’s difficult. You can’t do double blind tests to get to the nitty gritty of why it is. I think there is just always going to be a subset of women who just aren’t interested. They just don’t enjoy the competitive angle of the game, and whether it’s a matter of nature or nurture that made a subset of women less likely to play such a hyper-competitive game as poker, I don’t know. But there’s probably always going to be a nature part that we can’t do anything about.
But that said, companies like PokerStars do really make it as, not female friendly per se, but gender neutral. Which is what it’s got to be about — this is a gender neutral game; it doesn’t matter who you are. PokerStars is really good at promoting that, and I think that is the sort of thing we just need to continue doing.
But we’re never going to get it to parity because I just think that actually it is that degree of nature where poker is just not as appealing, on average, to women as it is to men. But that said, there are a lot of women out there who are like me, who do enjoy competitive games and I think that with time we will appeal to more and more of them.
Cool Factsheet on female poker player statistics to celebrate International Women’s Day @PokerStarsWomen pic.twitter.com/cxjHMvLKhl
Interview with Liv Boeree: Where Altruism and Poker Collide
Liv Boeree is far more than just a successful poker player and sponsored PokerStars Pro. Her academic brilliance shines forth through her actions, namely her…
My 10 Poker and Poker Blog Goals for 2015
As many successful poker players set goals for themselves at the start of each year, I, too, believe that doing so helps me focus on…
Why Don't More Women Play Poker? Leading Poker Ladies Unite for Change
Ever wonder why there are so few women playing live poker? Poker fans would love to see the game boom again and there are tens…
Interview with Maria Ho
Maria Ho's star has continued climbing in poker. Each year she gets more and more visible as a wonderful ambassador for the game, and she's…
Liv Boeree Stays Hot, Wins $150,000 in PokerStars Sunday Warm Up
Does anyone out there know why Great Britain is called “Great”? Well, this poker blogger can think of one reason: it’s the homeland of poker…
The 10 Best Beards in Poker
Think this one's a chin scratcher? Certainly! We had a tough time picking just 10 poker people for inclusion on our list of the 10…
Assessing My Top 10 Poker and Poker Blog Goals for 2014
At the outset of 2014, for the first time ever, I set 10 poker and poker blog goals for myself. While I've achieved some of…
5 different types of poker where you only face one opponent
A friend recently challended me on my poker knowledge and thought he could get the better of me when he asked if I could name…
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Liv Boereepoker interviewsPokerStars Championship Barcelonawomen in poker
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July 8, 2019 Reimbursement / Regulatory
To paraphrase Bum Phillips, “There’s two kinds of doctors, them that’s been sued and them that’s gonna be sued.”
I’ve been sued more than once but they were all “non-suited” except one. When I was on the medical school faculty, the University paid a settlement on my behalf against my protestations (and the protestations of the 10 other doctors named in the suit). A septic diabetic with necrotizing fasciitis developed a pressure ulcer while he was hypotensive in the critical care unit. He sued the doctors who saved his life because he got a pressure ulcer. I can’t take any credit for saving this ungrateful patient’s life, because I never met him. The judge allowed me to be named in the suit after the statute of limitations had passed and despite the fact he wasn’t my patient. However, because I was the Medical Director of the Outpatient Wound Center, the plaintiff’s attorney argued that I was responsible for preventing pressure ulcers throughout the entire hospital and the judge went along. It seemed to me that the legal implications were terrifying if doctors who had no doctor-patient relationship could still be sued for malpractice. I believed my situation to be an anomaly. It wasn’t.
Recently, the state Supreme court of Minnesota ruled that a doctor can be sued for malpractice in the absence of a traditional physician-patient relationship, a decision which greatly expands physician liability. Allegations are that a physician refused to admit a patient to the hospital after a 10 minute phone call with the nurse practitioner caring for the patient, and a few days later, the patient died of sepsis. The family sued the physician who refused to admit the patient based on a phone call, the details of which are in dispute.
What if you could be sued for malpractice over a “curbside” consultation in which you simply gave advice to a colleague? Hopefully that won’t happen because the Supreme court stated in its written decision that their ruling did not refer to “informal advice from one medical professional to another,” but to “formal medical decision making.”
However, that makes me wonder there is liability for the medical directors of insurance plans? Could they be sued for denying coverage hyperbaric oxygen therapy to a patient if the outcome was bad? By the way, this is why, when the payer denies something, they always tell you, “we aren’t saying you can’t provide the treatment, only that we won’t PAY for it.”
Bum Phillips was right – this is about them that’s been sued, and them that is about to be.
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Saint of the Day – 26 June – Blessed Andrea Giacinto Longhin
The Memorial of Blessed Andrea Giacinto Longhin
Blessed Andrea Giacinto Longhin is the Patron Saint of Diocese of Treviso
Blessed Andrea Giacinto Longhin Date of Birth, Country of Birth, Profession, Place of Work, Date of Death, Place of Death, Feast Day, Beatification Date, Canonization Date
Blessed Andrea Giacinto Longhin brief life History
Bishop of Treviso
Treviso, Italy
By Pope John Paul II on 20 October 2002 at Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City
Diocese of Treviso
Blessed Andrea Giacinto Longhin Short life History
Blessed Andrea Giacinto Longhin is also known as
• Andrea of Fiumicello
• Andrew Longhin
• Andrew of Campodarsego
• Bishop of the Catechism
• Hyacinth Bonaventure Longhin
• He was the only son of Matthew and Judith Marin, poor and pious tenant farmers.
• He felt a call to the priesthood early.
• Against the wishes of his father, he became a Capuchin novice, taking the name Andrew of Campodarsego at Bassano del Grappa, Venice on 27 August 1879 at age 16.
• He studied at Padua and Venice in Italy, made his solemn profession on 4 October 1883, and was ordained on 19 June 1886.
• He was spiritual director for young religious for 18 years.
• He taught at the Capuchin seminary at Udine, Italy.
• He was the Director of Capuchin teachers at Padua in 1889 and Director of theology students in Venice in 1891.
• He was also Capuchin Provincial Minister at Venice on 18 April 1902 where he came to the attention of the future Pope Saint Pius X.
• He became Bishop of Treviso, Italy, consecrated in Rome, Italy on 17 April 1904, a see he would hold for 32 years.
• He entered the see with reform in mind, and spent five years travelling from parish to parish, preaching and becoming close to his parishioners and clergy, many of whom resisted his reforming efforts.
• He reformed the diocesan seminary, improving the quality of teaching and spiritual formation.
• He promoted spiritual retreats for the clergy, and worked with lay groups, especially those involved in the Catholic social movement, supporting the right for workers to organize.
• He encouraged religious orders to work in his diocese; male institutes went from 7 to 12, women's from 10 to 24 during his bishopric, and these included houses of Franciscans, Passionists, Salesians, Carmelites, Somaschi Fathers, Camillians, and Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Friend of Saint Leopold Mandic.
• During the air and ground attacks that destroyed Treviso in World War I, Bishop Andrew stayed at his post, and told his priests that they could leave if they were ministering to refugees.
• Andrew became the center of work in the community, organizing help for soldiers, the wounded, the sick and the poor.
• Because he refused to ally himself with any of the war parties, he was convicted of defeatism, and was imprisoned with several of his priests. Upon his release, he resumed his work of ministering in his diocese, and rebuilding the city and the 47 parishes that had been destroyed, and was eventually awarded the Cross of Merit war decoration.
• During the post-war years, Bishop Andrew worked with many lay groups to help keep the Catholic social movement as Catholic as possible.
• He insisted on non-violence and loyalty to the Church, which put him at odds with the growing Fascist movement.
• In 1920 he supported Leghe Bianche, a Christian union movement.
• Pope Pius X chose him as Apostolic Visitor to Padua in 1923 and then Udine in 1927 to 1928 in order to return unity between the priests and bishops of those dioceses.
Blessed Andrea Giacinto Longhin was born on 22 November 1863 in Fiumicello di Campodarsego, province and diocese of Padua, Italy as Hyacinth Bonaventure Longhin and died on Friday 26 June 1936 in Treviso, Italy of natural causes following an eight-month illness. His remains were interred in the cathedral of Treviso
Saint of the day 26 June
Saint of the Day – June 26 – Saint Anthelm of Belley
Saint of the Day – 26 June – Blessed Khalīl al-Haddād
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NESTLED IN THE GATEWAY TO THE BARRIER REEF
Address: 2 St Martins Rd, Airlie Beach QLD, 4802 | Email: res@bushvillage.com.au
Call Us On: (07) 4946 6177
Airlie Beach is the gateway to the 74 magical Whitsunday Islands. The town itself is only small and will take you about one hour leisurely stroll to get from one end to the other. Within this strip there are many bars, clothing stores, souvenir shops, outdoor eateries, clubs and our very own Airlie Lagoon.
The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is 348, 000 square kilometres in area (an area bigger that the United Kingdom, Holland and Switzerland combined). It is the largest World Heritage Area and marine protected area in the world.
The reef contains over 2,900 reefs which includes 760 fringing reefs, and 300 coral cays.
You can experience one of the Seven Wonders of the World with a day trip to one of the pontoons with underwater viewing platforms with optional diving and snorkelling or you can experience the reef and islands on a sailing and diving charter boat (highly recommended)
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest and most complex expanse of living corals reefs supporting varied forms of marine life. As the world's largest coral reef eco system, the Great Barrier Reef is home to over 1500 species of fish, about 400 species of corals, 4,000 species of molluscs, 215 species of birds, 6 species of sea turtles and a host of sponges, anemones, worms, crustaceans, shells, sea stars, urchins. Scuba diving and snorkelling are the most popular ways to experience the unique and beautiful underwater world of the Great Barrier Reef.
MOST COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS
REEF FACTS AND FIGURES
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was established in 1975, and it is the world's largest marine protected area in the world. It is approximately 348,000 square kilometres in area and approximately 2,300 kilometres long, running from just north of Bundaberg to the tip of the Cape York Peninsula. The reef contains over 2,900 reefs which includes 760 fringing reefs, and 300 coral cays. There are also 618 continental islands, which were once part of the mainland. As the world's largest coral reef ecosystem the Great Barrier Reef is home to approximately 1,500 species of fish, 400 species of corals, 4,000 species of molluscs, 500 species of seaweed, 215 species of birds, 16 species of sea snakes, 6 species of sea turtles, and some of the largest populations of dugong in the world.
WHAT FISH IS THAT?
With over 1500 species of fish on the reef the answer to this question is not an easy one. The use of identification books and underwater cards can be useful in identifying commonly encountered species. Body and mouth shape are often the best key features in identifying the type of fish. The reef fish section of the marine biology manual will outline the features of the most commonly encountered families of fish. Aim to learn the name of just one fish every time you visit the reef, and you will quickly recognise the most commonly encountered species.
ARE WE GOING TO SEE ANY SHARKS?
If you see a shark while visiting the reef, consider yourself very lucky as sharks are not frequently encountered by visitors. Of those which are seen the most commonly encountered are the White Tip Reef and Black Tip Reef sharks. Easily identified by the white markings on the tips of the dorsal fins, they are often found resting upon the sea floor. Like most sharks White Tip's are extremely timid and won't stay long around divers. Most sharks found on the reef are fish eaters and therefore pose no threat to visitors. Do not harass or block off a shark's exit as they may attack out of fear.
WHAT ABOUT STINGERS?
The box jellyfish is found in the coastal waters of North Queensland during summer months (October to March). Visitors wishing to swim during this period should only do so in protective swimming enclosures or wear protective clothing. The Box Jellyfish is a coastal species and is not found out on the reef, but they can sometimes be found around the islands close to the mainland. Other stingers that are sometimes encountered on the reef include the Irukandji and Blue Bottle. Both can cause a nasty sting. Vinegar can be used on both Box Jellyfish and Irukandji stings but not on Blue Bottle stings. For Blue Bottles use cold water and ice.
WHY ISN'T CORAL VERY COLOURFUL?
Most visitors to the reef comment that the coral isn't very colourful as they are used to seeing brightly coloured images in books and on television. Natural white light is made up of all the colours of the rainbow. Underwater, these colours are filtered at different depths with red and yellow disappearing first. This gives the reef a predominantly blue/green appearance. Photographs and video are taken using lights to show the true colours of the reef. So the colours are there, it's just that you need white light to see them. This is why night diving on the reef is so spectacular.
WHAT ARE CORAL?
Coral are made up of a thin layer of living animals called Polyps, which secrete a chalky, limestone skeleton as they grow. Coral colonies grow as the polyps divide and multiply in a process known as budding. In addition to catching planktonic prey with their tentacles, corals also derive nourishment from simple single-celled algae called Zooxanthellae (pronounced zoo-zan-thelly), living within their tissues. Like all plants, Zooxanthellae photosynthesize, producing nutrients from the suns' energy which are used by the polyp for its own nutrition. Corals with Zooxanthellae are able to lay down limestone skeletons up to three times faster than those corals without.
WHAT TYPE OF CORAL IS THAT ?
Trying to identify particular species of coral is very difficult. What makes it so difficult is that one type of coral may appear as a branching form in calm water and look like a plate coral in another area. In many cases it is the environmental conditions, such as wave action, light levels and the amount of sediment in the water, that influence coral colony shape. The easiest way to identify corals is by their appearance.
WHAT ABOUT CORAL SPAWNING?
Every year over one-third of the reef's 350 species of coral reproduce sexually during a mass spawning event. The majority of inner reefs spawn around November with the outer reefs spawning later in December. Spawning always takes place at night, and follows any time up to six days after the full moon. Eggs and sperm are released into the water where they eventually combine to form a free swimming planktonic larval stage.
WHY IS THE REEF SO FAR OFFSHORE?
Most of the Great Barrier Reef is located off the mainland of Queensland. Corals need clear water which are low in nutrients. They cannot tolerate freshwater or nutrients carried in the water run-off from the mainland. That is why the most diverse and abundant corals grow offshore where the environmental conditions are more suitable.
WHAT IS THE WATER CLARITY GOING TO BE LIKE?
The clarity of water on the reef is determined by a combination of the amount of sediment and the amount of phytoplankton in the water. Sediment becomes suspended due to increased water motion caused by tide changes, high winds and storms. Phytoplankton are the microscopic plants that drift around in the water. They are more numerous in areas where the nutrient levels of the water are higher, particularly around coastal reefs which receive nutrient rich runoff from the land.
ARE WE GOING TO SEE ANY WHALES?
Whales are normally encountered during the winter months when they migrate up to the reef from Antarctic waters to mate and give birth. One of the most spectacular visitors during this period is the Humpback Whale. They are seen in the shallow coastal waters of the Great Barrier Reef ranging from Hervey Bay to Port Douglas. Whale watching is conducted by a number of tourist operators through these areas. The Minke is another species of whale seen during winter, particularly around the Ribbon Reef area. The smallest whales, the dolphins can be seen all year round in most parts of the reef.
WHAT ABOUT CROWN OF THORNS STARFISH?
The cause of Crown of Thorn Starfish outbreaks is still the focus of a lot of research and debate. Increased nutrients from the mainland and effects due to El Nino are all being investigated as is the possibility that it is a naturally occurring event. Crown of Thorns starfish may actually serve to maintain coral diversity on the reef by feeding on the fast growing species, that if left unchecked, could dominate the reef.
WHERE CAN WE GO FISHING ON THE REEF ?
Fishing is not allowed in green national park zones or pink preservation and orange scientific zones. In other zones fishing is allowed subject to Queensland Fisheries restrictions. Legal sizes, closed seasons and catch quotas also apply to a variety of fish and shellfish. The following animals are totally protected: whales, porpoises, dolphins, dugong and turtles, clam, trumpet and helmet shells, female crabs all grouper and cod over 1.2 metres.
WHAT ABOUT THE WEATHER?
In general the average passenger is not so much concerned with the weather as they are with how it will influence their day at the reef. Therefore an answer should be given in reference to their concerns e.g. seasickness, water clarity, and the colour of the reef.
WHAT'S THAT SLICK?
When good growth conditions exist, blooms of a simple floating algae called Trichodesmium are often confused with oil and coral spawn slicks. Blooms can be easily identified by their rusty brown colour as they occur in wind rows along the surface of the water. Slicks of coral spawn generally do not last more than two days after coral spawning. Any oil spill should be immediately reported to the local maritime authority.
Bush Village Budget Cabins offer affordable Airlie Beach accommodation with a range of self- contained cabins to suit all budgets. Our holiday park of home-style cabins is situated away from the hustle and bustle of Main Street but conveniently located near supermarkets, retail stores, banks and the Abel Point Marina.
Address: 2 St Martins Rd, Airlie Beach QLD, 4802
Email: res@bushvillage.com.au
Bush Village Budget Cabins rated "excellent" by 87 travellers
© 2019 Bush Village Budget Cabins
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Located near I26, Route 29 and Route 66, Centreville, Virginia is located in Fairfax County and is a suburb of Washington D.C. Located 20 miles west of Washington D.C, Centreville is a great commuter location for those working in the capital. Centreville has a diverse racial makeup and a young population, with almost half of its residents being in the 18-24 age bracket. Today, Centreville is a modernized city, densely populated.
Centreville dates back to the colonial period, around 1760, during which it was known as Newgate. During the civil war, the area was heavily fortified, and was the site of the first railroad ever built exclusively for military use – the Centreville Military Railroad. In the late 1990’s Centreville grew exponentially, as a result of the influx of businesses to the area. Today Centreville, Virginia is a densely populated area.
The town got its name when local landowners petitioned the Virginia General Assembly to establish the area as the center point between many of the other more established towns in both Virginia and Washington D.C. Today, Centreville sits in the center of Alexandria, Colchester, Dumfries, Middleburg, Georgetown, Warrenton and Leesburg.
The Old Stone Church is a site of great historic significance for the people of Centreville. Originally built by the members of the Centreville Methodist Episcopal Church in 1854, the Old Stone Church would soon play a pivotal part in the civil war. By the start of the war, the church had become the first designated Union Army surgical hospital. During the war, this would-be hospital saw a number of casualties during the Battle of Blackburns Ford, as well as during the first and second Battle of Manassas.
As the civil war waged on, the church would change hands between the confederate and union forces stationed in Virginia a number of times. After the war, the church remained unoccupied for a number of years, until the Centreville Methodist Church took possession of it in 1939. In the 1940’s, servicemen who had returned from World War II constructed the Parish Hall, which still remains a part of the Old Stone Church to this day.
Today, the Old Stone Church is known as The Church of The Ascension, having been purchased in 1973 by the Anglican Catholic Church.
Bull Run Regional Park
Bull Run Regional Park is a popular spot for residents of Centreville for picnics, camping and special events. The park is comprised of over 1,500 acres of woodlands and natural space, with miles of trails for hiking. During the spring, wildflowers bloom along the park, alongside a nearby stream. From Memorial day through Labor Day, a selection of outdoor pools is also open to the public.
Located alongside the park, Atlantis Waterpark features pools, a giant dumping bucket, waterslides and activities for all ages to enjoy. The waterpark also features a snack bar for hungry families. No matter what kind of outdoor activity you’re looking for, there’s fun to be had the Bull Run.
The park hosts a number of events throughout the year, including the Bull Run Festival of Lights. Disc golf is also available to visitors year round, as is the Bull Run Regional Park Shooting Center. The Bull Run Shooting Center offers 5 different shotgun games for shooters of all ages and skill levels, as well as a learn-to-shoot class for new shooters. Certified trainers are also available for experienced shooters looking to hone their skills. Rental guns are available, and there is a pro shop located on the grounds as well.
Samson Properties
14526 Lee Road Suite 100
Paul Gunning
© Copyright 2019 Samson Properties. All Rights Reserved.
Prefer a call? Call us at 703-606-6068
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CAFNR News
Jared Decker, a beef geneticist and extension specialist with the University of Missouri, has received a grant for $2 million from the USDA to address a global food security issue dealing with breeding and genomics of crops and livestock for local adaptation.
Jared Decker, a beef geneticist and extension specialist… Expand ▸
Tackling A Challenge
Jared Decker has received a grant for $2 million to study to cattle genetics
Written by Logan Jackson · Photography by Logan Jackson · May 5, 2016
As a beef geneticist and extension specialist, Jared Decker spends a lot of time discussing issues and challenges with Missouri producers, farmers and ranchers.
One of those challenges is finding the right cattle for different environments. Cattle that are poorly adapted to their environment don’t perform as well as those that are comfortable with their surroundings.
“We’re trying to create genetic and genomic predictions that will allow producers, farmers and ranchers to identify the cattle that are going to perform the best in their environment,” said Decker, who is also an assistant professor with the University of Missouri Division of Animal Sciences. “If an animal is better adapted to its environment, it’s going to do a better job of efficiently using those resources. If an animal is coping with stress better, its welfare is going to be better.
“Beef producers sometimes just want to select the animal based on how it looked or how much it weighed at a certain time. The problem with that approach is now you have genetics and environment mixed together. Just using our eyes, we can’t tell if the animal is great because of its genetics or if the animal is great because of its environment. For the last 40 years, we’ve had tools, called EPDs and indexes, which separate the genetics and the environment. The selection decisions we make need to be based on the genetics.”
While Decker was developing his projects for 2015, the United States Department of Agriculture put out a call for proposals to address a global food security issue. That issues dealt with breeding and genomics of crops and livestock for local adaptation.
Decker will analyze data from nearly 170,000 cows for his new project.
Decker’s project seemed to be the perfect fit.
“As our ideas about how we would approach some of these challenges were being developed, the USDA released a call for proposals asking for something similar to what we were already thinking about doing,” Decker said. “The USDA wanted to use breeding and genomic approaches to identify stresses, mainly region-specific stresses, for agricultural production. They were looking at how we can use breeding and genomics to overcome some of those stressors.”
Decker applied for the grant in June 2015 with his project, “Identifying Local Adaptation and Creating Region-Specific Genomic Predictions in Beef Cattle.” He learned that he would be receiving a grant worth $2 million in October.
“To be honest, the three days or so after I found out I received the grant I was basically walking around in a stupor,” he said. “I was completely shocked. It was very humbling and made me realize that we’ve now been trusted with this resource. We have to go and deliver now. We have to make good on the things we said we would do.”
Fescue toxicosis
Decker’s project really gathered legs when he talked to beef producers, farmers and ranchers about fescue toxicosis. Nearly the entire state of Missouri is in the fescue belt, which also includes Tennessee, Kentucky and parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.
“The fescue grass that we have here in Missouri has an endophyte, meaning it has a fungus that grows inside of it,” Decker said. “This fungus provides the plant greater resiliency against drought and other stresses that the plant faces. The drawback of this is that some strains of that fungus also produce a toxin. This toxin decreases the amount of food the animals eat. It decreases their appetite. It can decrease blood flow. Their hooves can get sore. Their tail switches can fall out. It decreases their performance, their growth, those type of things.”
Decker wanted to approach the fescue toxicosis problem from the cattle side. He said work has been done already on the crop side.
“All of these negatives of fescue, which is the predominant grass in Missouri, are concerning to beef producers,” Decker said. “They want their animals to be as efficient and profitable as possible. That got me thinking about what we could do from a beef cattle genetics standpoint to tackle this problem. The problem is already being tackled from a forage production standpoint. Instead of having toxic fescue, they can put in a novel fescue that isn’t toxic.”
Decker’s approach changed, too, as he started to think more about the project. Finding the right cattle to handle the fescue environment is where Decker began. He thought they could take a much broader approach, however. He wanted to find cattle well adapted to other environments – and figure out why that was so.
“The methods we would use to try to identify animals that were well adapted to a fescue environment, we could apply those same approaches to animals that are in the Gulf Coast, animals at high elevations, animals in humid climates, and so on,” Decker said. “That’s where the ideas for this project came from.”
Finding the right environment
Decker will analyze nearly 170,000 cows with nearly 15 million high-accuracy imputed SNPs.
“We’re partnering with several different breed associations,” Decker said. “Most of the data we’re analyzing is data that the farmers and ranchers that are part of those breed associations have been collecting over the last 30 years. The DNA data has been collected over the last six years or so. We’re excited to be partnering with them because hopefully that will allow us to take this research and have an impact in the industry sooner rather than later.
“I like to analyze data that is already existing. I want to find a new way to analyze it and find an answer to a different question.
All of the cattle at the Thompson Research Center in Spickard, Mo., will also be part of the project.
“As part of the project, we’ll genotype all of the cows at Thompson with a GGP-F250 chip,” Decker said. “What makes this chip different from previous SNP chips is usually we take the DNA markers and we evenly space them along the cattle chromosomes – kind of like mile markers along a highway. What we’ve done with this new F250 chip is we’ve said let’s put DNA markers in genes. Let’s put the DNA variants where we think there’s something functional happening in the DNA. Instead of these 250,000 DNA variances evenly spaced, they’re going to be concentrated into regions that we think are important.”
Beef geneticists analyze numerous pieces of data during their research. Decker’s group takes population genetics, or the history of populations, and uses genomic technology to better understand those histories.
Cows from the Thompson Research Center will be featured in Decker’s project.
“As a herd of cattle is under selection, that selection leaves a mark, leaves a signature on the DNA of that population,” Decker said. “What we do as population geneticists is we go in and analyze the DNA and we look for those signatures of selection, those marks of selection.
“In this project, we’ll take all of the cattle in the fescue belt, for example. We’ll analyze a big pile of data from those animals and look for those signatures of selection. We’ll do the same things for animals in the Gulf Coast, animals at high altitudes, animals in very cold environments, etc. We’ll look for those signatures of selection that aren’t the selection that the entire breed is putting on the population. We’ll just look for those signatures of selection that unique to that stressful environment.”
Decker also looks at gene-by-environment interactions. Decker said when they look at gene-by-environment effects, a certain gene may have a very small effect in one environment but that same gene may have a very large effect in a different environment.
“The consequence that these gene-by-environment interactions lead to is that if we go into a region and we rank those animals based on their genetic merit, we’ll get a ranking from one to 100, or something similar,” Decker said. “If we take those same animals and put them in a different environment, if there’s no gene-by-environment interactions, the rankings will be the same. If there are gene-by-environment interactions, now those animals will rank differently.
“The artificial insemination sire that you would use in the Gulf Coast may not be the same artificial insemination sire that you would want to use in the Upper Plains.”
The project also will include an educational component. Decker said he would like to be able to provide beef producers with statistics and information that will make it easier for them to make solid decisions.
“We want to help farmers and ranchers, especially the next generation, understand and ultimately trust these practices and new technologies,” he said. “We want them to be able to use them to make better decisions, identify cattle that are going to work better for them, and be more profitable.
“We’re trying to put information out there to help farmers and ranchers make the best decisions possible.”
Decker added that he is hoping to have internship opportunities for students within the project. He would like to develop a curriculum for youth as well.
For producers, farmers and ranchers, Decker is mainly focused on just helping them out, especially with ever-changing technology.
Decker’s project will also include an educational component. He wants to give beef producers, … Expand ▸Decker’s project will also include an educational component. He wants to give beef producers, farmers and ranchers as much information as possible when they make decisions about cattle.
“Researchers who get involved with agriculture – they do so because they want to make a difference,” Decker said. “They want to do something to help producers, farmers and ranchers feed their neighbors and feed the world.
“At the end of the day, someone doesn’t have to understand how the technology works. Ultimately, they need know that the technology does work. If someone wanted me to explain how my cell phone worked, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. However, I know my cell phone does work because when I call my mom in New Mexico, I can hear her.”
Decker will collaborate with a handful of others on the project as well. Anna Ball, CAFNR associate professor and department chair of agricultural education and leadership, and Kristi Cammack, from the University of Wyoming, will work on the educational side of the project. Christopher Seabury, Texas A&M, will provide research help to Decker.
Decker said they are also putting an emphasis on being sustainable with the project.
“Sustainability has become a buzz word in the beef industry,” Decker said. “Different groups define it different ways. To me, sustainability is economic viability or profit; doing things efficiently in an environmentally responsible manner; and doing things in a socially accepted way, such as raising beef in a way that is acceptable to consumers. With this project, we’ll actually be able to tackle some of those areas of sustainability.”
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These scores are provided together with the results online, and the classification of sources . The list of the countries or territories together with their Kapil Sethi, Kenny Rao, Damien Bolton, Oneel Patel and Joseph Ischia, for Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer: Is It Still Applicable in the Era of. Jamie Durie is international horticulturalist and landscape designer born on 3rd June He even got engaged to Teresa Livingstone and Siobhan Way. After his relationship with Christie, he went on to date Anjali Rao. Date of birth, 3 June Manly. Country of citizenship. Australia. Occupation. landscape architect. Partner. Anjali Rao. Award received.
Further, based on the lessons learned from the clinical trials, we make suggestions that could be implemented in future clinical trial design to overcome the hurdles faced. There is very limited information available regarding the epidemiology and treatment strategies of pancreatic cancer in Central Europe.
The purpose of the study was to prospectively collect and analyze data of pancreatic cancer in the Hungarian population. Altogether patients were enrolled from 14 Hungarian centers. Chronic pancreatitis was present in 3. Family history for pancreatic cancer was positive in 4. The most frequent presenting symptoms included pain The reported frequency of smoking and alcohol consumption was lower than expected The majority of patients The histological diagnosis was ductal adenocarcinoma in Biliary stent implantation was performed in patients, Primary tumor resection was performed in 60 Enteral or biliary bypass was done in 35 and 49 patients, respectively.
At Dubaishe upset in round two 4th seed and reigning US Open champion to reach the second round of Wimbledon Championshipswhere she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in a tight three setter. In August, she reached the third round at the Acura Classicfalling to Morigami.
She also reached the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters and the third round of the Acura Classicfalling to Patty Schnyder and Elena Dementievarespectively. In September, she reached the semifinals of the Sunfeast Openlosing to eventual champion and top seed Martina Hingis. She also won the doubles title there partnering Huber. She also fell in the second round at the Wimbledon Championships to Nadia Petrova.
Mirza had the best results of her career during the summer hardcourt season, finishing eighth in the U.
Category:Jamie Durie - Wikimedia Commons
Open Series standings and reaching her highest singles ranking of world No. She reached the quarterfinals in San Diegothe semifinals at Cincinnatiand made it to the final at Stanford.
She also won the doubles event in Cincinnati with Shahar Pe'er. At the US Openshe reached the third round before losing to Anna Chakvetadze for the third time in recent weeks. She fared much better in the doubles, reaching the quarterfinals in mixed with her partner Mahesh Bhupathi and the quarterfinals in the women's doubles with Bethanie Mattekincluding a win over number two seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur.
She won four doubles titles in She lost to Flavia Pennetta in three sets.
She reached the third round at the Australian Open as No. She reached round four at Indian Wells as the No. At Wimbledon Championshipsas the No.
Category:Jamie Durie
Who is Jamie Durie? Wiki: Family, Married, Nationality, Wedding, Parents
Mirza represented India at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. For doubles, she got a walkover through the first round with Sunitha Raobut lost in the second round to Russia. ThroughoutMirza was plagued by a slew of wrist injuries, requiring her to withdraw from several matches including those of the French Open and US Open Grand Slams. Mirza started her year by playing at the doubles event of the Moorilla Hobart International. Partnering Francesca Schiavone, they reached the quarterfinals.
At Australian Openshe won her first round match against Marta Domachowskabut she fell against 10th seed Nadia Petrova in round two.
In doubles she lost in first round partnering Vania King. She then entered the Pattaya Women's Open Tournament where she reached the finals after a string of good performances. She lost the finals to Vera Zvonareva. She made the semis in doubles in the same tournament.
She then participated in the Miami Masters and lost to Mathilde Johansson in the first round. Mirza and her doubles partner Chuang Chia-jung made the semifinals of the doubles event. She also lost in the first round at French OpenGalina Voskoboeva. She then fell to No.
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She then lost in the second round of the doubles with Chuang and mixed doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi. Mirza's next two tournaments were in Canada, where she had mixed results.
Playing in the US Open, she defeated Olga Govortsova in the first round, but was double-bagled by 10th seed Flavia Pennetta in the second. She also lost in the second round of the doubles event partnering Francesca Schiavone to Shahar Pe'er and Gisela Dulko.
Mirza moved on to the semifinal, where she lost to Francesca Schiavone. Mirza then suffered two first-round losses at the Moorilla Hobart International and the Australian Open.
This injury also caused her to pull out of the French Open. She returned at the Aegon Classicwhere she lost in the second round to Tamarine Tanasugarn in three sets. Mirza then fell in the qualifying at Eastbourne and also lost in the first round of Wimbledon; however, she did manage to finish runner-up at the Aegon GB Pro-Series Wrexham.
Her bad form continued, as she lost in the second round of the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open and qualifying rounds of both the Cincinnati Masters and the Rogers Cup. Mirza won her first round match against Michelle Larcher de Brito at the US Openbut she went down against 20th seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round.
In September, Mirza competed in the Guangzhou International Open where she made her first quarterfinal of the season. In October, she represented India at the Commonwealth Games as the 2nd seed. Mirza and Chakravarthi compatriots Poojashree Venkatesha and Nirupama Sanjeev to win the bronze medal. In November, she represented India at the Asian Games. The unseeded Indian defeated Chan Wing-yau in first round. Next she defeated 6th seed Zhang Shuai in straight sets to enter into quarterfinal.
In quarterfinal Mirza won against 2nd seed Tamarine Tanasugarn to move in semi final, where she was defeated by 3rd seed Akgul Amanmuradova and won Bronze Medal in singles. Mirza at the French Openwhere she reached the finals in Doubles alongside Vesnina Mirza lost in the early rounds of the Australia Open and its warm-up tournaments. Following that, she received wildcards to play in the Dubai Open and the Qatar Open.
She also was the quarterfinalist in doubles at both, with Elena Vesnina. At the Premier Mandatory events in March, Mirza made the second rounds in both.
Jamie Durie's ex-fiance furious over TV star's new relationship
In singles, she made her first Premier quarterfinal since San Diego in August In doubles, Mirza won the title with Vesnina: Next, she also competed at the Mutua Madrid Openlosing in the first round against doubles partner Elena Vesnina.
In doubles, with Vesnina, she managed to go up to the third round. Mirza breezed through the first round of the French Open where she beat Kristina Barrois in straight sets. In singles she lost in the first round to Virginie Razzano in a close three-setter. Sania Mirza during her first round match with Virginie Razzano at Wimbledon She then could not cross the first round hurdles in her next five attempts in singles including the US Open where she lost yet another tight three setter to Israel's 23rd seed Shahar Pe'er.
Torah Bright attends Derby Day with friends but is seen arm-in-arm with Jamie Durie
She however continued her good run in doubles competition as she won the title at D. Partnering Vesnina, Mirza entered Southern California Open but the duo had to withdraw from their first round match against Elena Bovina and Zheng Jie while leading 5—2 in the first set.
Playing at Rogers Cup the pair lost to the future world No. After playing on the singles circuit regularly throughout the year Mirza also re-entered the top 60 in singles ranking in She lost a first qualifying match against Coco Vandeweghe. Her next tournament was in Sydney where she played doubles only alongside Roberta Vinci, but lost in round one. For the mixed doubles eventMirza played alongside compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and reached her 4th Grand Slam semifinal.
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Joseph Saveri Law Firm, Inc.
1 National Ranking & 2 Metro Rankings | Website
Firm Size & History
The Joseph Saveri Law Firm, Inc. specializes in antitrust law and complex civil and class action litigation and business disputes in federal and state courts throughout the United States, and in cases across the globe. The Firm was founded in 2012 by Joseph Saveri. Since that time, Mr. Saveri and his growing staff of experienced attorneys have been fighting on behalf of individuals and businesses against anticompetitive business practices, serving as lead and co-counsel on a variety of cases involving price-fixing, illegal reverse-payment agreements, agreements regarding hiring and recruiting, and antitrust cases involving sports leagues and other industries.
The Firm has quickly developed a track record of success in prosecuting cases and performing the highest quality legal work. Among other honors, it has been selected by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers in 2013-2019 for inclusion in the area of antitrust litigation in their annual joint Best Law Firms publication and was ranked by the California Daily Journal in 2018 and 2016 as one of the "Top Boutique Firms in California." And it was selected as an Honoree for the American Antitrust Institute's 2017 Antitrust Enforcement Awards for Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice. To date, the Firm's attorneys have generated over $3 billion in settlements and successful resolution for their clients.
With 30 years of civil litigation experience, Mr. Saveri has handled cases involving numerous industries, including banking and financial services, insurance, energy, pharmaceuticals, agricultural products, computer hardware, computer software, manufacturing inputs, travel and transportation, paper products, cosmetics, and consumer electronics. He has established himself as one of the country's top litigators in the antitrust field.
Mr. Saveri has investigated, prosecuted, and successfully resolved numerous antitrust class actions and other complex cases. He has served both as a court-appointed leader of such efforts and as a valued member of the teams operating under the leadership of others. As lead or co-lead counsel in many of these cases, he has taken a personal leadership role in organizing litigation, setting strategy, establishing and directing teams of lawyers, and assigning specific tasks to teams of attorneys in a way that ensures the efficient use of resources and maximizes the talents of the litigation team. Throughout these cases, he has displayed the energy, vision, and commitment that leadership requires, combined with the ability to listen, share, and work cooperatively so that the litigation team operates equitably, efficiently, and without friction. He serves or has served as lead counsel in many cases, including most recently the In re Capacitors Antitrust Litigation, In re Titanium Dioxide Antitrust Litigation, In re High-Tech Employees Antitrust Litigation, and California Cipro litigation.
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Joseph Saveri Law Firm, Inc. is nationally ranked in 1 practice area and regionally ranked in 2 practice areas. The U.S. News - Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms" rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process.
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Corinne Lang
clang@bestlawyers.com
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paula jane's: best in romantic comedies
Posts Tagged Hammer dance
17 Again
May 18, 2010 at 12:00 am · Filed under For teens too, high school, Messes with the space-time continuum, Paula's favourites ·Tagged Hammer dance, Leslie Mann, Matthew Perry, review, Thomas Lennon, Zac Efron
DVD (2009) Written by Jason Filardi / Directed by Burr Steers
Mann and Efron in “17 Again” (image: New Line Cinema)
A 37-year-old is thrust into the body of a 17-year-old. No, no, that’s not a description of the photo above — it’s the plot of 17 Again, one of my favourite movies from last year. Many of you probably haven’t seen the movie because you think it’s for kids, but it’s not. Nor is it a tale of cougar angst, or a lame vehicle for Disney-grown prettyboy Zac Efron. 17 Again is very much a story for adults (and older teens), and it’s so much fun from start to finish. If you can accept that Zac Efron is going to look like Chandler Bing in 20 years, then you’ve got nothing to worry about.
Matthew Perry plays 37-year-old Mike O’Donnell. He works at a dead-end job, he’s just weeks away from finalizing his divorce, and his teenaged kids want nothing to do with him. Life is terrible, but with a little help from a mystical high-school janitor, Mike is given the chance to re-do the last 20 years of his life. He arrives back in 1989 — not to the year, but to the body he inhabited during his senior year in high school. The grumpy and tired Matt Perry turns into the delish and energetic Zac Efron, and once again Mike O’Donnell has life by the tail. Within a day, he’s back as the star of the basketball team and just a scout visit away from a full college scholarship. Plus he can Hammer Dance like there’s no tomorrow. Mike soon realizes, however, that he’s been sent back to high school not to salvage a lost basketball career, but for a greater purpose, and he sets out to save his kids and his marriage to his high school sweetheart Scarlett (Leslie Mann).
This movie contains shades of everything from Big, Freaky Friday, Peggy Sue Got Married, and even Back to the Future. It’s not really a new idea, but what sets this one apart is Efron’s performance. He channels a 37-year-old man with such authenticity and a lot of the film’s humour is built on this. Efron is a true multi-talent, and in 17 Again he proves he can act, do comedy, and probably also steal away some of our moms if he tried. There is a courtroom scene where he reads a letter to Scarlett, and it’s so well done and so sweet that we suspend all disbelief and feel for this lonely body-transformed man-child who wants so desperately to have a second chance with his wife.
Lovely moments like that aside, 17 Again is a great date movie and it’s both male and female friendly. I imagine there are a lot of you out there who would rather have Jack Bauer cut a cellphone memory card from your stomach than watch a movie starring one of the High School Musical cast members. I urge you not to dismiss this movie because you think you’re too good for Zac Efron (you’re not). If for no other reason, watch this movie for Thomas Lennon, who plays Mike O’Donnell’s best friend and faux-father. He’s hilarious plus his house of sci-fi memorabilia will keep you drooling for the duration.
Sweet extras A bit of trivia: at one point in the film, Thomas Lennon claims to be speaking “Elf”, implying it is Elvish, the language created by J.R.R. Tolkien. What Lennon is actually speaking is a form of Gaelic — Elvish is a registered trademark of the Tolkien family and you aren’t allowed to use it without special permission.
Good for who? I recommend this for 14+ teens and adults. This is definitely not appropriate for little kids (and would probably make the baptist minister’s wife a little uncomfortable). You can find a detailed content description of 17 Again at Screenit.com, a site I highly recommend for parents with movie-loving kids. I let my 12-year-old daughter watch 17 Again because I liked the movie’s message and because I knew she could handle the content — it was nothing I hadn’t already discussed with her for the most part.
Loved this movie? Live this movie! Hammertime
Did MC Hammer ever stop to think that maybe we don’t WANT to touch this? In case, however, you’ve got the godforsaken urge to bust a move after watching 17 Again, you can review the dance steps in the basketball court cheerleading scene near the beginning of the movie. In a special feature outtake included on the DVD, you can watch Zac Efron learn to Hammer Dance as well as do The Running Man, The Prep, and The Roger Rabbit (“What IS that?” he asks, after watching the choreographer demonstrate).
If you just can’t wait to rent your DVD before having your own ’80s-dance refresher, watch my favourite description of the Hammer Dance from Howcast.com and get started right now! The video says Hammer pants are optional, but I think we both know they’re a necessity!
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Tag: Celebrates
Yeshiva University Celebrates at 78th Commencement Exercises
Press Release May 19, 2009 yunews 0 Comments
Madison Square Garden’s WaMu Theater was alive with energy, excitement and emotion at Yeshiva University’s 78th Commencement Ceremony on Thursday, May 14. President Richard M. Joel conferred honorary degrees upon Rabbi Dr. Jacob Haberman, founder of real estate ownership and management company Haberman & Haberman; Sylvia Axelrod Herskowitz, former director of the YU Museum; Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld of Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills, NY; and Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator and star of the Broadway hit In the Heights. Dr. David Shatz, the highly popular professor of philosophy at YU’s Stern College for Women gave the commencement address and was awarded the Presidential Medallion, the highest honor bestowed on a member of the faculty or administration for excellent service.
Yeshiva University High Schools Annual Dinner Celebrates Year of Growth and Accomplishments
Press Release June 27, 2008 yunews 0 Comments
Students, parents, alumni, faculty and administration celebrated nearly 100 years of commitment to Jewish values and education at the Yeshiva University High Schools (YUHS) annual dinner of tribute at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square on Monday, June 23. Dr. Edward Berliner of West Orange, NJ was honored as Faculty Member of the Year by YUHS, which is comprised of Yeshiva University High School for Boys / The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (YUHSB) and the Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls (YUHSG).
YU Celebrates Ensemble-in-Residence Program with Inaugural Concert at the Center For Jewish History, April 2
Press Release March 25, 2008 yunews 0 Comments
Concert to Feature World Premiere of David Glaser’s /Kinesis/ and Momenta Quartet’s Performance of Works by Renowned Jewish Composers
Penultimate Lecture Celebrates Stern College Jubilee on Human Freedom and Responsibility
Press Release November 4, 2004 yunews 0 Comments
“Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself: Confronting Contemporary Challenges,” the sixth in a seven-part lecture series commemorating the 50th anniversary of Stern College for Women of Yeshiva University, will be held on Sunday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 pm at the home of Anita and Richard Grossman in West Hempstead, Long Island. Mrs. Grossman is a 1989 graduate of Stern College.
Gala Dinner at YU Museum Celebrates Opening of Exhibition on 50 Years of Stern College for Women
Most Recent News October 22, 2004 yunews 0 Comments
Yeshiva University President Richard M. Joel and Chancellor Norman Lamm joined leaders of the university’s Board of Trustees and Stern College for Women’s Board of Directors at an October 21 gala dinner at the Yeshiva University Museum to celebrate the opening of “Five Decades. One Dream,” a museum exhibit that traces Stern College’s history through photos and artifacts.
Yeshiva College Celebrates its 75th Anniversary
Until the founding of Yeshiva College, observant Jews who planned to pursue undergraduate studies had two choices: suffer the slings and arrows of unfriendly academia—a world that openly disdained Jewish traditions and mores—or forego college altogether. Read the entire article.
Stern Celebrates Rich Legacy in Museum Exhibit
As Stern College for Women celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, the Yeshiva University Museum (YUM) is marking the school’s milestone with an exhibit that highlights its growth and achievements. “Five Decades. One Dream,” the history of YU’s undergraduate women’s college through photos and artifacts, opens October 21 and will run at YUM until January 9, 2005.
75th Anniversary Event Celebrates Rich Tradition
Most Recent News June 16, 2004 yunews 0 Comments
Some of Yeshiva College’s oldest, and youngest, alumni joined more than 300 friends and well-wishers in downtown Brooklyn last night to celebrate 75 years of quality Jewish higher education and pledge support toward future success.
Special Evening Celebrates 350 Years of Jewish History
Most Recent News April 21, 2004 yunews 0 Comments
A tailor from Czechoslovakia arrives in America before World War I, leaving his wife and five children behind until he finds work.
YU Celebrates 350 Years of American Jewish History
Most Recent News March 31, 2004 yunews 0 Comments
Yeshiva University students, alumni, and faculty will mark 350 years of Jewish life in America at a celebration April 20 that features historical and literary readings.
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Justin Bieber Bio, Height, Net worth and Dating
Justin Bieber (full name: Justin Drew Bieber) is an acclaimed singer from Canada who is in his early twenties. According to Justin Bieber bio, he was born in 1st March 1994 to parents Jeremy Jack Bieber and Patricia “Pattie” Mallette. Jeremy and Patricia were not married. He has an English, Irish, French-Canadian and German ethnicity. Jazmyn (2009) and Jaxon (2010) are his siblings from the side of his father. His mother had to do trivial works in order to support the living. Life as a single mother was very much difficult for her. Justin completed his elementary school level education from the Jeanne Sauvé Catholic School and joined St. Michael Catholic Secondary School from where he successfully passed out in 2012. Credit goes to his mother for the popularity that Bieber achieved from singing. It is because she was the one who uploaded Justin Bieber singing videos in youtube which contributed a lot in increasing the popularity of Justin as one lucky day, Scooter Braun accidentally found out his youtube video and established contact with Mallette so that Bieber started singing for him.Justin Bieber net worth is USD150 million. He earns around USD 300 thousand from one concert. He has his house in Los Angeles, New York and Calabasas.
EP, My World is the first album from Justin that was released in 2009. The album became instant hit making him the very first singer to have seven songs from a debut album listed in Billboard Hot Hundred. He had successively secured his place in Forbes Top10 Most powerful celebrities in the World from 2011 till 2013. He has also got an opportunity of singing for Mr. Barack Obama. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never is a movie starring Justin which was released in February of 2011. The movie was able to accumulated huge earnings as it hit box offices of most of the top countries.
He is included as Highest Paid Celebrities under 30 by Forbes 2011 edition. Although huge part of Justin Bieber earning per year comes from musical tour, he has also invested in multiple companies like Shots and Spotify. He has endorsed world’s leading brands like Adidas and Calvin Klein. He has also got his own brand of fragrances.
Justin Bieber is follows Christianity as a religion. Bieber currently lives in USA. Coming to Justin Bieber dating and relationship history, Justin and Selena Gomez were dating each other back in 2010. But they had break up. So, if you are wondering who is Justin Bieber dating now? We have found out that Justin is currently single.
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Your Search: (SUBJECT=Geological Survey U.S.)
1 Activities of the Alaska District, Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, 1984 1984
4 Activities of the U.S. Geological Survey : status of Idaho projects, fiscal year 1986 / 1986
5 Activities of the Water Resources Division, California District, fiscal year 1992 / 1993
6 An environmental evaluation of potential petroleum development on the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska / 1979
7 Analytical methods used in geochemical exploration by the U.S. Geological Survey / 1963
8 Bibliography of Oklahoma hydrology reports prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey and principal cooperating agencies, 1901-88 / 1989
10 Bibliography of reports by members of the U.S. Geological Survey on the water resources of Alaska, 1870 through 1976 1977
11 Bibliography of reports resulting from U. S. Geological Survey participation in the United States technical assistance program, 1940-65. 1965
12 Bibliography of U.S. Geological Survey studies of lakes and reservoirs--the first 100 years 1982
13 Coal resource classification system of the U.S. Geological Survey / 1983
14 Duplicative federal computer-mapping programs : a growing problem : report 1982
15 Evaluation of the U.S. Geological Survey Laboratory, Denver, Colorado / 1978
16 Facing tomorrow's challenges : U.S. Geological Survey science in the decade 2007-2017 / 2007
17 Geographic research in the U.S. Geological Survey bibliography, 1966-1980 / 1982
18 Geologic mapping of Kentucky a history and evaluation of the Kentucky Geological Survey-U.S. Geological Survey mapping program, 1960-1978 / 1981
19 Geological Survey research 1960, 1960
20 Goals of the U.S. Geological Survey. 1986
21 Guide to obtaining USGS information 1986
22 Guide to USGS publications 1997
23 Hazardous materials in the hydrologic environment : the role of research by the U. S. Geological Survey / 1996
24 Hydrologic and geologic aspects of waste management and disposal : a bibliography of publications by U.S. Geological Survey authors, 1950-81 / 1983
25 List of U.S. Geological Survey geologic and water-supply reports and maps for Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 1988
26 Map projections used by the U.S. Geological Survey 1983
27 Methods for collection and processing of surface-water and bed-material samples for physical and chemical analyses / 1990
28 Methods for determination of inorganic substances in water and fluvial sediments / 1989
29 Methods of analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory : preparation procedure for aquatic biological material determined for trace metals / 1996
30 Minerals, lands, and geology for the common defence and general welfare : a history of public lands, Federal science and mapping policy, and development of mineral resources in the United States / 1979
31 National Research Program of the Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, fiscal year 1991 1991
32 National Streamflow Information Program : implementation plan and progress report / 2001
33 New publications of the Geological Survey 1907
34 Oklahoma : a summary of activities of the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, in fiscal years 1988-90 / 1991
35 Oklahoma a summary of activities of the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division in fiscal years 1986-87 / 1988
36 Oversight of the U.S. Geological Survey : hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, One Hundred Fourteenth Congress, second session, April 7, 2016. 2018
37 Publications of the Geological Survey, 1879-1961. 1964
39 Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey, 1971-1981. 1986
40 Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey, 1985. 1986
42 Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey, 1987 1988
43 Quality-assurance plan for water-use program activities of the Caribbean District 1998
44 Quiet revolution in mapping. 1987
45 Reports and maps of the Geological Survey released only in the open files, 1962 1963
46 Resources for the 21st century : summary and conclusions of the International Centennial Symposium of the U.S. Geological Survey 1981
47 River science at the U.S. Geological Survey / 2007
48 Simulation of solute transport in variably saturated porous media with supplemental information on modifications to the U.S. Geological Survey's computer program VS2D 1990
49 Status of ground-water modeling in the U.S. Geological Survey 1976
50 Status of surface-water modeling in the U.S. Geological Survey 1979
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Remembering Richard Avedon
Friday 10/15/2004
One of the most influential photographers of the 20th century, Richard Avedon revolutionized fashion photography and elevated it to an art form in Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. He was a guest several times on the show.
Art and design Media
October 2004 July 2000 November 1999 November 1999 November 1999 November 1999 January 1996 January 1996 November 1995 November 1995
Remembering Christopher Reeve; Remembering...
Entertainment, Science, Art and design, Media
We remember actor and activist Christopher Reeve; the life of influential photographer Richard Avedon. 53:18
Kate Betts
Entertainment, Media
Katherine Betts, the new editor in chief of Harper's Bazaar, elaborates on her plans for the fashion magazine. 16:40
Annie Leibovitz; Richard Avedon
Annie Leibovitz on her new book of portraits, "Women," which includes an essay by Susan Sontag; Richard Avedon on fashion photography. 53:38
Elizabeth Tilberis
Elizabeth Tilberis, editor in chief of Harper's Bazaar, on turning the 125-year-old magazine around. 24:48
Littleton Shooting; Lavrov; Greenstock;...
Politics, Society, Health
An examination of the Littleton, CO school shooting; Sergey Lavrov; Jeremy Greenstock; Elizabeth Tilberis. 53:16
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Home » Analysis » Analysis: Libertarians get dream ticket, but will voters take them seriously?
Analysis: Libertarians get dream ticket, but will voters take them seriously?
Johnson and Weld will need to overcome some of their party’s more colorful positions
(CFP) –The Libertarian Party met over Memorial Day weekend in Orlando, deciding to invest its fortunes with two former Republican governors, Gary Johnson of New Mexico and William Weld of Massachusetts.
For a third party in America, that’s an unusually high-powered pedigree. And given the deep unpopularity of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Libertarians left Florida with high hopes of a breakthrough in 2016, particularly if their ticket can get into the fall debates.
But the height of the hurdle that Johnson and Weld face became apparent during the party’s presidential debate, when the candidates were asked if states should be able to issue driver’s licenses.
One after another, the candidates emphatically said no—except Johnson, who pointed out that it might not be such a bad idea for the government to make sure that people roaming around on the roadways have been vetted for basic competency.
Johnson was booed.
Here are some other statements made during the debate: Crystal meth should be as legal as tomatoes. Public education should be abolished. The Pentagon should be funded with bake sales. The second-place finisher in the presidential race, Austin Peterson, even opined that in the future, he hoped that gay people will not only be able to marry but to defend their marijuana fields with assault rifles.
And the vice presidential votes were being tabulated, a candidate for the party chairmanship took the stage, turned on some music and stripped down to his skivvies. That’s probably something we won’t see this summer in Philadelphia or Cleveland.
It was all rather entertaining, and, unlike in the Democratic and Republican contests, there was a marked absence of personal attacks between the candidates. Good for them. The question, however, is whether these positions can advance a run for the White House. Or is rigid ideological consistency the hobgoblin of electoral success?
The key to victory for any political party is to cobble together enough broad constituency groups to reach critical mass. But the Libertarians’ mishmash of unusual positions is likely to subtract from their coalition, not add to it.
For instance, religious conservatives, particularly in the South, aren’t going to cotton to their support for legalizing drugs or the fact that Johnson quit his job as head of a cannabis company to run for president. National security conservatives are going to find it difficult to get behind a militantly non-interventionist foreign policy and a drastically downsized military.
Likewise, Bernie Sanders supporters turned off by Clinton will be wary of a party that wants to eliminate virtually all social programs, turning instead to voluntary charity to take care of the old, the sick and the poor. They’re also going to have problems with a party that is as zealous in defending gun rights as the NRA.
Johnson and Weld, with their political pedigrees, may be able to transcend some of this baggage. Indeed, during the debate, Johnson often seemed to be the voice of reason, as when he said he would have signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (for which he was also booed.)
Certainly, Johnson can’t be held responsible for all the wild things Libertarians say, just as Republicans can’t all be held responsible for some of Trump’s more incendiary utterances. But if he and Weld distance themselves from some of the more outlandish positions of their party, they are going to draw ire from their own partisans, who proved in Orlando that they take a rather dim view of apostasy.
The Libertarians’ fondest hope is that Johnson can get to 15 percent in the polls, getting him into the debates. Then, the American public will see him as a viable alternative to Trump and Clinton, and he will catch fire, propelling Libertarians, if not to the White House, then at least to major party status.
But this presupposes that voters’ dislike of the major party nominees will be strong enough to overshadow what it is that the Libertarian Party actually believes. And Johnson has another hurdle—convincing voters he can run the country without a single member of his party in Congress. He would be forced to make an unending series of compromises with Republicans and Democrats, and compromise is something to which his party seems particularly allergic.
Of course, we have come to expect the unexpected during this topsy-turvy 2016 campaign, in which a socialist and a reality TV star are two of the last three major party candidates standing. So maybe, just maybe, Johnson and Weld can pull of the miracle. But if they do, it will be in spite of the Libertarians’ colorful positions, rather than because of them.
Tags: Donald Trump, Gary Johnson, Hillary Clinton, Libertarian Party, White House 2016, William Weld
By shumater in Analysis, White House 2016 on May 30, 2016 .
← Libertarians choose Johnson-Weld ticket in Orlando North Carolina voters bounce Renee Ellmers from Congress →
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Few things worry China’s elite more than getting their kids into Harvard
China’s Silicon Valley is transforming China, but not yet the world
Cheerleaders and police usher in a new era of trash-sorting
Protesters expose a fractured Hong Kong, but China’s grip only tightens
China’s maritime expansion reflects a curious mix of ambition and paranoia
China is waging war on Western names for buildings and places
Xi Jinping sees protests in Hong Kong as a threat to the party
Xi Jinping wants China’s armed forces to be “world-class” by 2050
A fly-on-the-wall account of what China tells American bigwigs
A policy U-turn puts Hong Kong’s leader in a precarious position
Rare earths give China leverage in the trade war, at a cost
Debating contests teach Chinese students an argument has two sides
Once again, China’s richest region is pulling ahead of the others
A belt-and-road court dreams of rivalling the West’s tribunals
Hong Kong wants to build massive artificial islands
Many Chinese know little about the bloodshed in Beijing 30 years ago
China is getting tough on those who fail to pay their debts
Amid trade tensions with America, China is showing old war films
African swine fever hits China, home of half the world’s pigs
China is a nation of tea-drinkers, but coffee is taking off
CCC works with business, government, and educational institutions worldwide. Its intercultural training and consulting focus on relationship building, conflict management, and traditional as well as virtual teamwork.
Organizations CCC has worked with include Siemens, Bosch, Shell, KLM Air France, L’Oréal, Asurion, Vectronix, Hexion, UTC Fire & Security, EuroControl, Holland Gateway Schiphol, STC Group, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Lingu Worldwide, Nyenrode Business University, TiasNimbas Business School, and Leiden University.
CCC involves its associates to leverage expertise in various geographic areas, managerial disciplines, and industries worldwide.
CCC is also a member of the Global Training Alliance (GTA).
Tao Yue, Managing Director and Principal Trainer
Expertise: intercultural communication and leadership, education
Tao Yue founded China Cultural Consultancy in 2006. She has delivered training in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, the US, and China for such clients as Shell, Siemens, Bosch, KLM Air France, L’Oréal, and EuroControl.
Tao is currently also Managing Editor at the Rotterdam School of Management’s Case Development Centre, working closely with academia and business to develop case studies and other educational material. Previously She worked as a journalist with Bridge News (acquired by Dow Jones) and Agence France Presse in Shanghai and as an International Programmes Manager at Leiden University.
Tao took her BA in English language and literature at Fudan University (1998) and MA in social sciences (cum laude) at the University of Amsterdam (2002). She publishes regularly in Chinese and English. Her debut novel Hong Xishuai was published in China in 2012 and came out in Dutch (Schemering boven Shanghai) and English (Shanghai Blue) translation in 2015.
Ursula Brinkmann, Associate
Expertise: post-merger integration, teambuilding, intercultural assessment
Ursula Brinkmann is an expert intercultural trainer and consultant based in the Netherlands. Together with CCC she gave trainings for European multinationals like Siemens and Vectronix on how to work with Chinese business counterparts.
Ursula's focus is communication, teambuilding, and effective management of intercultural cooperation in post-merger integration. Together with Oscar van Weerdenburg she developed the Intercultural Readiness Check (IRC) -- a self-assessment tool measuring intercultural aptitude and enabling in-depth personal feedback on intercultural communication and leadership competence.
Born and raised in Germany, Ursula has a degree in psychology from Heidelberg University and a PhD in social sciences from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics at the University of Nijmegen. She regularly publishes research articles and presents papers at international conferences.
Roy Graff, Associate
Expertise: market entry, digital marketing, luxury retail, travel, and hospitality
Based in China and the UK, Roy Graff is a strategic consultant on China market entry issues for luxury retail, travel, hospitality, and internet firms.
Combining consultation on China's booming consumer market with travel and hospitality technology projects in Asia, Roy conceived and produced the flagship forum China – The Future of Travel at the World Travel Market in London from 2006 to 2008. He also published the China Outbound Travel Handbook, a comprehensive primer on China’s outbound tourism sector. His advisory and training clients include national and city tourist boards, upscale hotel chains, luxury retail, and media and event services.
Roy has lived and traveled extensively in China, holds a BA in Chinese and economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and speaks business-level Mandarin Chinese fluently.
Yan Liu, Associate
Expertise: social entrepreneurship, social media, startups
Based in Shanghai, Yan Liu founded Xindanwei, the first and largest multidisciplinary grass-roots creative center in China. Named a Young Global Leader by the BMW foundation and a top female innovator by Girl 2.0, Yan wrote Co-working Manual – an App that helps entrepreneurs set up co-working communities – and is the chief organizer of Startup Weekend Shanghai.
Before returning to China, Yan was an independent consultant and lecturer in the Netherlands. She advised on cultural entrepreneurship for the city of Utrecht and organized the Creative Cross China & Europe conference for PICNIC, Amsterdam’s leading international event for creativity and innovation.
Yan has an MA in art and media management from the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Utrecht and participates in THNK, the Amsterdam School of Creative Leadership program.
Eric Ni, Associate
Expertise: foreign direct investment, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures
Eric Ni is Director of the Business Development Department of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone United Development Co., Ltd., the largest Free Trade Zone developer in China. With over 15 years of experience in foreign direct investment projects, he has helped more than 300 foreign clients (mostly multinational corporations) with customs, taxation, business establishment, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and divestment.
Eric has a BA in law from Shanghai International Studies University and an MBA from Hong Kong University.
Bei Wang, Associate
Expertise: government and public relations, CSR, NGOs
Based in the Netherlands, Bei Wang is Chief Editor of the China Desk at Radio Netherlands Worldwide, working closely with Chinese media and opinion leaders.
Before joining Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Bei worked for Greenpeace International where she was an advisor to environmental groups in China and organized actions for Avaaz, a global pro-democracy NGO.
Born in Nanjing, China, Bei has a BA in English literature from Fudan University in Shanghai and an MA in European Studies from the University of Amsterdam.
Mark Greeven, Associate
Expertise: innovation, creativity, R&D, entrepreneurship
Mark Greeven is an expert on workplace innovation and entrepreneurship. He researches best practices in innovation, cross cultural management and R&D in China for more than 10 years.
Mark has extensive experience in leading business innovation workshops at large corporates such as Bosch, Honeywell, DSM and Philips and institutions such as the Rotterdam School of Management (Erasmus University) in The Netherlands, and Zhejiang University, Hult Business School, and CEIBS (China Europe International Business School) in China.
Born and raised in The Netherlands, Mark has a a PhD in Business Management from the Rotterdam School of Management. He is now an associate professor at Zhejiang University, China.
Annie Yang, Associate
Expertise: e-commerce, information management
Based in the Netherlands, Annie Yang is a researcher and practitioner in e-commerce and information management. Understanding IT not only as computer science but also as human communication, Annie helps European and Chinese firms develop smooth-running IT infrastructure to facilitate daily work and strategic intervention.
Annie came to the Netherlands from Shanghai when she was 18. She has a BA in international business management and an MSc in business information management from the Rotterdam School of Management, where she is now a PhD candidate. She does empirical research on e-commerce and information science and has published several articles comparing Chinese and Western electronic markets.
GlobalSourcing.Org, Associate
Expertise: sourcing, outsourcing, offshoring
Global Sourcing is a UK based group that undertake independent, rigorous, objective research, education, and advice on the trends and practices in global sourcing of IT and business services. The group has been given Global Sourcing workshops since 2007 which has become an annual gathering of academics researching the global sourcing phenomenon. It works with an outstanding network of researchers from leading schools in Europe and the USA, and also collaborate extensively with media and industrial partners including those in China.
GLOBAL TRAINING ALLIANCE (GTA)
CCC is a member of the Global Training Alliance (GTA) of intercultural training firms around the world.
Other GTA members include:
Aadhini Learning Solutions – Pune, India
Multicultural Communication Consulting - Sao Paulo, Brazil
Bert Vercamer – Brussels, Belgium and Johannesburg, South Africa
Intercultural Communication B.V. – Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Global Communication Competence – Freiburg, Germany
Together GTA members:
Speak 23 languages
Cover in 133 countries
Train in 45 management topics
Design and deliver training for over 950 corporate, governmental, nongovernmental, and educational organizations worldwide
Writing and Translation
Copyright © 2012 China Cultural Consultancy. All rights reserved.
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How to Check Certified Mail
By Victor Fonseca ; Updated September 29, 2017
••• Image courtesy of Wikipedia
United States 15-cent certified mail stamp from 1955.
Certified mail allows the sender to obtain proof the addressee has received the letter or parcel. Only first class and priority mail can qualify for certification. The United States Postal Service is required to obtain a signature of receipt from the addressee. The signature, time and date of the signing can all be used in a court of law as evidence if necessary. The postal service has made it very easy to check the status of certified mail online.
Find your receipt. When you certify a letter, the postal service provides you with a receipt. The receipt will have a tracking number.
Go online to the postal service's website (see Resources).
On the homepage, click the "Track & Confirm" link at the top of the page.
You will be prompted to enter your receipt number. Do so and click the "Go" button to the left of the field.
The status of your certified letter will be displayed. If you opted to have a copy of the signature logged by the postal service, it will also be displayed.
Victor Fonseca started writing professionally in 1998. His specialties are history, popular culture, and information technology. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Southern Methodist University and spent a year studying at the American University of Rome.
How to Find Out if Someone Has Received a Letter I Mailed
How to Track APO Packages
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↪ Title 31. Insurance and Securities.
↪ Chapter 3. Annual Audited Financial Reports.
Chapter 2A. Unauthorized Entities.
Chapter 4. Business Transacted with Producer Controlled Insurer.
Chapter 3. Annual Audited Financial Reports.
§ 31–301. Definitions.
§ 31–302. General requirements for filing audited financial reports and audit committee appointments; extensions.
§ 31–303. Contents of annual audited financial report.
§ 31–304. Designation of independent certified public accountant.
§ 31–305. Qualifications of independent certified public accountant.
§ 31–306. Consolidated or combined audits.
§ 31–307. Scope of audit and report of independent certified public accountant.
§ 31–308. Notification of adverse financial condition.
§ 31–309. Communication of internal control related matters noted in audit.
§ 31–310. Accountant’s letter of qualifications.
§ 31–311. Definition, availability, and maintenance of independent certified public accountant workpapers.
§ 31–311.01. Requirements for audit committees.
§ 31–311.01a. Internal audit function requirements.
§ 31–311.02. Conduct of insurer in connection with the preparation of required reports and documents.
§ 31–311.03. Management’s report of internal control over financial reporting.
§ 31–312. Exemptions and effective dates.
§ 31–313. Canadian and British companies.
§ 31–314. Applicability.
For the purposes of this chapter, the term:
(1) “Accountant” or “independent certified public accountant” means an independent certified public accountant or accounting firm in good standing with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and in all states in which they are licensed to practice; for Canadian and British companies, it means a Canadian-chartered or British-chartered accountant.
(1A) “Affiliate” or “affiliated person” means an individual or entity that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, the individual or entity.
(1B) “Audit committee” means a committee established by the board of directors of an entity for the purpose of overseeing the accounting and financial reporting processes of an insurer or group of insurers, the internal audit function of an insurer or group of insurers if applicable, and external audits of financial statements of the insurer or group of insurers. The audit committee of any entity that controls a group of insurers may be deemed to be the audit committee for one or more of the controlled insurers for the purposes of this chapter at the election of the controlling person pursuant to § 31-311.01(e). If an audit committee is not designated by the insurer, the insurer’s entire board of directors shall constitute the audit committee.
(2) “Audited financial report” means and includes those items specified in § 31-303.
(2A) “Indemnification” means an agreement of indemnity or a release from liability if the intent or effect is to shift or limit in any manner the potential liability of the person or firm for failure to adhere to applicable auditing or professional standards, whether or not resulting in part from knowing of other misrepresentations made by the insurer or its representatives.
(3) “Insurer” means a licensed insurer or authorized company which has authority from the Mayor [now Commissioner] to do business in the District of Columbia as provided under §§ 31-2502.02 and 31-4304.
(3A) “Group of insurers” means those licensed insurers included in the reporting requirements of subchapter I of Chapter 7 of this title [§ 31-701 et seq.], or a set of insurers as identified by management for the purpose of assessing the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting.
(3B) "Internal audit function" means a person or persons that provide independent, objective, and reasonable assurance designed to add value and improve an organization's operations and accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes.
(3C) “Internal control over financial reporting” means a process effected by an entity’s board of directors, management, and other personnel designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of the financial statements, including compliance with § 31-303(2) through (7), and includes such other policies and procedures that:
(A) Pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the acquisition and disposition of assets;
(B) Provide reasonable assurance that:
(i) Transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of the financial statements; or
(ii) Receipts and expenditures are made only in accordance with management and director authorization; and
(C) Provide reasonable assurance regarding:
(i) Prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisitions; or
(ii) The use or disposition of assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
(4) “NAIC” means the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
(5) “SEC” means the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
(6) “Section 404” means § 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, approved July 30, 2002 (116 Stat. 745; 15 U.S.C. § 7201 et seq.), and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
(7) “Section 404 Report” means management’s report on internal control over financial reporting as defined by the SEC and the related attestation report of the independent certified public accountant.
(8) “SOX Compliant Entity” means an entity that is required to be compliant with or is voluntarily compliant with:
(A) Section 10A(h) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, approved June 6, 1934 (105 Stat. 762; 15 U.S.C. § 78j-l(h)) (preapproval requirements);
(B) Section 10A(m)(3) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, approved December 22, 1995 (109 Stat. 762; 15 U.S.C. § 78j-l(m)(3)) (audit committee independence requirements); and
(C) The internal control over financial reporting requirements of Section 404 and 17 C.F.R. § 229.308 (Item 308 of SEC Regulation S-K).
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 2, 40 DCR 6102; Mar. 12, 2011, D.C. Law 18-317, § 2(a), 57 DCR 12418; Apr. 11, 2019, D.C. Law 22-292, § 301(a), 66 DCR 1691.)
Section References
This section is referenced in § 31-314 and § 31-3931.13.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 18-317 added pars. (1A), (1B), (2A), (3A), (3B), and (5) to (8).
Section 401 of D.C. Law 22-292 provided that the changes made to this section by D.C. Law 22-292 shall apply to all insurance policies issued or renewed in the District 90 days after April 11, 2019.
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(a) of Annual Financing Reporting Modernization Emergency Amendment Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-665, December 28, 2010, 58 DCR 80).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(a) of Annual Financial Reporting Modernization Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-30, March 15, 2011, 58 DCR 2591).
Mayor authorized to issue rules: Section 16 of D.C. Law 10-48 provided that the Mayor shall, pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 15 of Title 1 [subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2, 2001 Ed.], issue rules to implement the provisions of this chapter.
Delegation of authority pursuant to D.C. Law 10-48, the Annual Audited Financial Reports Act of 1993, see Mayor’s Order 94-54, March 7, 1994 ( 41 DCR 1433).
(a) All insurers shall have an annual audit prepared by an independent certified public accountant and shall file an audited financial report with the Mayor on or before June 1st for the year ended December 31st immediately preceding. The Mayor may require an insurer to file an audited financial report earlier than June 1st with 90 days advance notice to the insurer.
(b) Extensions of the June 1st filing date may be granted by the Mayor for 30-day periods upon showing by the insurer and its independent certified public accountant the reasons for requesting the extension and determination by the Mayor of good cause for an extension. The request for extension must be submitted in writing not less than 10 days prior to the due date in sufficient detail to permit the Mayor to make an informed decision with respect to the requested extension.
(c) If an extension is granted in accordance with the provisions in subsection (b) of this section, an extension for the same 30-day period shall be granted for the filing of a management’s report of internal control over financial reporting.
(d) An insurer required to file an annual audited financial report pursuant to this chapter shall establish an audit committee. If the insurer is controlled by a controlling person or entity, the audit committee of the controlling entity, in compliance with § 31-311.01(e), may serve as the audit committee for the subject insurer for purposes of this chapter.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 3, 40 DCR 6102; Mar. 12, 2011, D.C. Law 18-317, § 2(b), 57 DCR 12418.)
This section is referenced in § 31-313 and § 31-314.
D.C. Law 18-317 rewrote the section heading, which had read as follows: “Filing and extensions for filing of annual audited financial reports.”; and added subsecs. (c) and (d).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(b) of Annual Financing Reporting Modernization Emergency Amendment Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-665, December 28, 2010, 58 DCR 80).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(b) of Annual Financial Reporting Modernization Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-30, March 15, 2011, 58 DCR 2591).
The annual audited financial report shall report the financial position of the insurer as of the end of the most recent calendar year and the results of its operations, cash flow, and changes in capital and surplus for the year then ended in conformity with statutory accounting practices prescribed, or otherwise permitted, by the jurisdiction where it is domiciled. The annual audited financial report shall include the following:
(1) Report of an independent certified public accountant;
(2) Balance sheet reporting admitted assets, liabilities, capital, and surplus;
(3) Statement of operations;
(4) Statement of cash flows;
(5) Statement of changes in capital and surplus;
(6) Notes to the financial statements, which shall:
(A) Be those required by the appropriate NAIC annual statement instructions and the NAIC Accounting Practices and Procedures Manual; and
(B) Include a reconciliation of differences, if any, between the audited statutory financial statement and the annual statement filed pursuant to Chapter 19 of this title [§ 31-1901 et seq.], and a written description of the nature of these differences; and
(7) The financial statements included in the audited financial report shall be prepared in a form and using language and groupings substantially the same as the relevant sections of the annual statement of the insurer filed with the Mayor, and the financial statement shall be comparative, presenting the amounts as of December 31st of the current year and the amounts as of the immediately preceding December 31st. However, in the first year in which an insurer is required to file an audited financial report, the comparative data may be omitted.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 4, 40 DCR 6102; Feb. 27, 1996, D.C. Law 11-90, § 5(a), 42 DCR 7155; Mar. 27, 2003, D.C. Law 14-255, § 2, 50 DCR 236; Mar. 12, 2011, D.C. Law 18-317, § 2(c), 57 DCR 12418.)
D.C. Law 14-255 rewrote par. (6) which had read:
“(6) Notes to financial statements, including notes required by the appropriate NAIC annual statement instructions and any other notes required by generally accepted accounting principles. The notes shall also include:
“(A) A reconciliation of differences, if any, between the audited statements to be filed with the Mayor and the NAIC annual statement filed pursuant to the insurance laws of the District of Columbia; and
“(B) A summary of ownership and relationships of the insurer and all affiliated companies; and”
D.C. Law 18-317, in the lead-in text, substituted “jurisdiction where it is domiciled” for “Mayor”; and rewrote par. (6), which formerly read:
“(6) Notes to the financial statements, including notes required by the appropriate NAIC’s annual statement instructions, shall include a reconciliation of differences, if any, between the audited financial report and the annual financial statement filed on March 1st with the Mayor, with a written description of the nature of the differences; and”
For temporary amendment of section, see § 6(a) of the Insurance Omnibus Emergency Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-48, May 15, 1995, 42 DCR 2544) and § 5(a) of the Insurance Omnibus Congressional Recess Emergency Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-97, July 19, 1995, 42 DCR 3844).
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 5(a) of Insurance Omnibus Temporary Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Law 11-36, September 8, 1995, law notification 42 DCR 5305).
(a) Each insurer required by this chapter to file an annual audited financial report, within 60 days after becoming subject to the requirement, shall register in writing with the Mayor the name and address of the independent certified public accountant or accounting firm retained to conduct the required annual audit. Insurers not retaining an independent certified public accountant on October 21, 1993, shall register the name and address of their retained certified public accountant not less than 6 months before the date when the first audited financial report is to be filed.
(b) The insurer shall obtain a letter from the accountant, and file a copy with the Mayor, stating that the accountant is aware of the provisions of the insurance laws and rules of the District of Columbia that relate to accounting and financial matters, and affirming that he or she will express his or her opinion on the financial statements in terms of their conformity to the statutory accounting practices prescribed or otherwise permitted by the jurisdiction where it is domiciled, specifying any exceptions he or she believes appropriate.
(c) If an accountant who was the accountant for the immediately preceding filed audited financial report is dismissed or resigns, the insurer shall, within 5 business days, notify the Mayor of this event. The insurer shall, within 10 business days of the above notification, also furnish the Mayor with a separate letter stating whether in the 24 months preceding the event there were any disagreements with the former accountant on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure, which disagreements, if not resolved to the satisfaction of the former accountant, would have caused him or her to make reference to the subject matter of the disagreement in connection with his or her opinion. The disagreements required to be reported in response to this subsection include both those resolved to the former accountant’s satisfaction and those not resolved to the former accountant’s satisfaction. Disagreements contemplated by this section are those that occur at the decision-making level, that is between personnel of the insurer responsible for presentation of its financial statements and personnel of the accounting firm responsible for rendering its report. The insurer shall also request in writing that the former accountant furnish a letter addressed to the insurer stating whether the accountant agrees with the statements contained in the insurer’s letter, and, if not, stating the reasons that he does not agree. The insurer shall furnish the responsive letter from the former accountant to the Mayor together with its own.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 5, 40 DCR 6102; Mar. 12, 2011, D.C. Law 18-317, § 2(d), 57 DCR 12418.)
This section is referenced in § 31-313.
D.C. Law 18-317, in subsec. (b), substituted “by the jurisdiction where it is domiciled” for “by the Mayor”.
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(d) of Annual Financing Reporting Modernization Emergency Amendment Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-665, December 28, 2010, 58 DCR 80).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(d) of Annual Financial Reporting Modernization Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-30, March 15, 2011, 58 DCR 2591).
(a) The Mayor shall not recognize a person or firm as a qualified independent certified public accountant if the person or firm:
(1)(A) Is not in good standing with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in all jurisdictions in which the accountant is licensed to practice; or
(B) For a Canadian or British company, is not a chartered accountant; or
(2) Has either directly or indirectly entered into an agreement of indemnity or release from liability with respect to the audit of the insurer.
(b) Except as otherwise provided herein, an independent certified public accountant shall be recognized as qualified as long as he or she conforms to the standards of his or her profession, as contained in the Code of Professional Ethics of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Chapter 15 [repealed] of Title 3, and rules promulgated by the District of Columbia Board of Accountancy.
(b-1) A qualified independent certified public accountant may enter into an agreement with an insurer to have disputes relating to an audit resolved by mediation or arbitration; provided, that in the event of a delinquency proceeding commenced against the insurer under Chapter 13 of this title [§ 31-1301 et seq.], the mediation or arbitration provision shall operate at the option of the statutory successor.
(c)(1) The lead or coordinating audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit shall not act in that capacity for more than 5 consecutive years. A lead or coordinating auditor shall be disqualified from acting in that or a similar capacity for the same company or its insurance subsidiaries or affiliates for a period of 5 consecutive years. An insurer may make application to the Mayor for relief from the above rotation requirement on the basis of unusual circumstances. Any application shall be made at least 30 days before the end of the calendar year. The Mayor may consider the following factors in determining if the relief should be granted:
(A) The number of partners, the expertise of the partners, or the number of insurance clients in the currently registered firm;
(B) The premium volume of the insurer: or
(C) The number of jurisdictions in which the insurer transacts business.
(2) The insurer shall file, with its annual statement filing, the approval for relief from subsection (c)(1) of this section with the jurisdictions in which it holds a license or does business and the NAIC. If a nondomestic jurisdiction accepts electronic filing with the NAIC, the insurer shall file the approval in an electronic format acceptable to the NAIC.
(d) The Mayor shall not recognize as a qualified independent certified public accountant, nor accept any annual audited financial report prepared, in whole or in part, by any natural person who:
(1) Has been convicted of fraud, bribery, a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, approved October 15, 1970 (84 Stat. 941; 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et seq.), or any dishonest conduct or practices under federal or state law;
(2) Has been found to have violated the insurance laws of the District of Columbia with respect to any previous reports submitted under this chapter; or
(3) Has demonstrated a pattern or practice of failing to detect or disclose material information in previous reports filed under this chapter.
(e) The Mayor, as provided in §§ 31-2502.03 and 31-4305, may hold a hearing to determine whether an independent public accountant is qualified and, considering the evidence presented, may rule that the accountant is not qualified for purposes of expressing his or her opinion on the financial statements in the annual audited financial report made pursuant to this chapter and require the insurer to replace the accountant with another whose relationship with the insurer is qualified within the meaning of this chapter.
(f)(1) The Mayor shall not recognize as a qualified independent certified public accountant, or accept an annual audited financial report, prepared in whole or in part by an independent certified public accountant, who provides to an insurer, contemporaneously with the audit, the following non-audit services:
(A) Bookkeeping or other services related to the accounting records or financial statements of the insurer;
(B) Financial information systems design and implementation;
(C) Appraisal or valuation services, fairness opinions, or contribution-in-kind reports;
(D)(i) Actuarially-oriented advisory services involving the determination of amounts recorded in the financial statements.
(ii) The accountant may assist an insurer in understanding the methods, assumptions, and inputs used in the determination of amounts recorded in the financial statement only if it is reasonable to conclude that the services provided will not be subject to audit procedures during an audit of the insurer’s financial statements. An accountant’s actuary may also issue an actuarial opinion or certification of an insurer’s reserves if the following conditions have been met:
(I) The accountant or the accountant’s actuary has not performed any management functions or made any management decisions;
(II) The insurer has competent personnel or engages a third-party actuary to estimate the reserves for which management takes responsibility; and
(III) The accountant’s actuary tests the reasonableness of the reserves after the insurer’s management has determined the amount of the reserves;
(E) Internal audit outsourcing services;
(F) Management functions or human resources;
(G) Broker or dealer, investment adviser, or investment banking services;
(H) Legal services or expert services unrelated to the audit; or
(I) Any other services that the Mayor determines, by rule, are impermissible.
(2) The principles of independence with respect to services provided by the qualified independent certified public accountant are predicated on 3 basic principles: the accountant cannot function in the role of management; the accountant cannot audit its own work; and the accountant cannot serve in an advocacy role for the insurer. A violation of one or more of these principles shall impair the accountant’s independence.
(g) An insurer having direct written and assumed premiums of less than $100 million in any calendar year may request an exemption from subsection (f)(1) of this section. The insurer shall file with the Mayor a written statement explaining why the insurer should be exempt. If the Mayor finds, upon review of the statement, that compliance with subsection (f)(1) of this section would constitute a financial or organizational hardship on the insurer, an exemption may be granted.
(h) A qualified independent certified public accountant who performs the audit may engage in other non-audit services, including tax services, that are not described in or do not conflict with subsection (f) of this section, if the audit committee provides advance approval in accordance with subsection (i) of this section.
(i) All auditing services and non-audit services provided to an insurer by a qualified independent certified public accountant shall be preapproved by the audit committee. The preapproval requirement shall be waived with respect to non-audit services if:
(1) The insurer is a SOX Compliant Entity or a direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of a SOX Compliant Entity; or
(2)(A) The aggregate amount of all such non-audit services provided to the insurer constitutes no more than 5% of the total amount of fees paid by the insurer to its qualified independent certified public accountant during the fiscal year in which the non-audit services are provided;
(B) The services were not recognized by the insurer at the time of the engagement to be non-audit services; and
(C) The provision of services is promptly brought to the attention of the audit committee and approved prior to the completion of the audit by the audit committee or by one or more members of the audit committee who are the members of the board of directors to whom authority to grant such approvals has been delegated by the audit committee.
(j) The audit committee may delegate to one or more designated members of the audit committee the authority to grant the preapproval required by subsection (i) of this section. Any decision by a member or members to whom authority has been delegated to preapprove certain audit and non-audit services shall be formally presented to the full audit committee at its next regularly scheduled meeting.
(k)(1) The Mayor shall not recognize an independent certified public accountant as qualified for a particular insurer if a member of the board, president, chief executive officer, controller, chief financial officer, chief accounting officer, or any person serving in an equivalent position for that insurer was employed by the independent certified public accountant and participated in the audit of the insurer during the one-year period preceding the date the most current statutory opinion is due. This paragraph shall apply only to partners and senior managers involved in the audit. An insurer may make application to the Mayor for relief from the requirement of this paragraph on the basis of good cause.
(2) The insurer shall file, with its annual statement filing, any approval for relief obtained pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection with the jurisdictions in which it holds a license or does business and with the NAIC. If a nondomestic jurisdiction accepts electronic filing with the NAIC, the insurer shall file the approval in an electronic format acceptable to the NAIC.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 6, 40 DCR 6102; Feb. 27, 1996, D.C. Law 11-90, §§ 5(b), 5(c), 42 DCR 7155; Mar. 12, 2011, D.C. Law 18-317, § 2(e), 57 DCR 12418; Sept. 26, 2012, D.C. Law 19-171, § 84, 59 DCR 6190.)
D.C. Law 18-317 rewrote subsecs. (a) and (c); in subsec. (e), substituted “an independent public accountant” for “a certified public accountant”; and added subsecs. (f) to (k).
The 2012 amendment by D.C. Law 19-171 deleted “that” preceding “is not” in (a)(1)(B).
For temporary amendment of section, see § 6(b) and (c) of the Insurance Omnibus Emergency Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-48, May 15, 1995, 42 DCR 2544) and § 5(b) and (c) of the Insurance Omnibus Congressional Recess Emergency Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-97, July 19, 1995, 42 DCR 3844).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(e) of Annual Financing Reporting Modernization Emergency Amendment Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-665, December 28, 2010, 58 DCR 80).
For temporary (90 day) addition of section, see § 3 of Annual Financing Reporting Modernization Emergency Amendment Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-665, December 28, 2010, 58 DCR 80).
For temporary (90 day) addition of section, see § 3 of Annual Financial Reporting Modernization Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-30, March 15, 2011, 58 DCR 2591).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(e) of Annual Financial Reporting Modernization Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-30, March 15, 2011, 58 DCR 2591).
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 5(b), (c) of Insurance Omnibus Temporary Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Law 11-36, September 8, 1995, law notification 42 DCR 5305).
Section 3 of D.C. Law 18-317 provided: “Sec. 3. Applicability. Section 2(e)(3) shall apply to audits of the year beginning January 1, 2010, and thereafter.”
An insurer may make written application to the Mayor for approval to file audited consolidated or combined financial statements in lieu of separate annual audited financial statements if the insurer is part of a group of insurance companies which utilizes a pooling or 100% reinsurance agreement that affects the solvency and integrity of the insurer’s reserves and the insurer cedes all of its direct and assumed business to the pool. In these cases, a column consolidating or combining worksheet shall be filed with the report, as follows:
(1) Amounts shown on the consolidated or combined audited financial report shall be shown on the worksheet.
(2) Amounts for each insurer subject to this section shall be stated separately.
(3) Noninsurance operations may be shown on the worksheet on a combined or individual basis.
(4) Explanations of consolidating and eliminating entries shall be included.
(5) A reconciliation shall be included of any differences between the amounts shown in the individual insurer columns of the worksheet and comparable amounts shown on the annual statements of the insurers.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 7, 40 DCR 6102.)
Financial statements furnished pursuant to § 31-303 shall be examined by an independent certified public accountant. In accordance with AU section 319 of the Professional Standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Consideration of Internal Control in a Financial Statement Audit, the independent certified public accountant shall obtain a sufficient understanding of the insurer’s internal controls to ensure that the audit plan is effective. To the extent required by AU section 319, for those insurers required to file a management’s report of internal control over financial reporting pursuant to § 31-311.03, the independent certified public accountant shall consider the most recently available management reports in planning and performing the audit of the statutory financial statements. The audit of the insurer’s financial statements shall be conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. Consideration shall also be given to such other procedures illustrated in the Financial Condition Examiner’s Handbook promulgated by the NAIC as the independent certified public accountant deems necessary.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 8, 40 DCR 6102; Feb. 27, 1996, D.C. Law 11-90, § 5(d), 42 DCR 7155; Mar. 12, 2011, D.C. Law 18-317, § 2(f), 57 DCR 12418.)
D.C. Law 18-317 substituted “audit” for “examination”; added the second and third sentences; and substituted “consideration shall” for “consideration should”.
For temporary amendment of section, see § 6(d) of the Insurance Omnibus Emergency Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-48, May 15, 1995, 42 DCR 2544) and § 5(d) of the Insurance Omnibus Congressional Recess Emergency Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-97, July 19, 1995, 42 DCR 3844).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(f) of Annual Financing Reporting Modernization Emergency Amendment Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-665, December 28, 2010, 58 DCR 80).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(f) of Annual Financial Reporting Modernization Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-30, March 15, 2011, 58 DCR 2591).
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 5(d) of Insurance Omnibus Temporary Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Law 11-36, September 8, 1995, law notification 42 DCR 5305).
(a)(1) The insurer required to furnish the annual audited financial report shall require the independent certified public accountant to report, in writing, within 5 business days to the board of directors or its audit committee any determination by the independent certified public accountant that, as of the balance sheet date currently under audit, the insurer:
(A) Has materially misstated its financial condition as reported to the Mayor;
(B) Does not meet the minimum capital and surplus requirement pursuant to § 31-2502.13 and § 31-4408; or
(C) Does not meet the minimum net worth requirements of § 31-3412.
(2) An insurer who has received a report pursuant to this subsection shall forward a copy of the report to the Mayor within 5 business days of receipt of the report and shall provide the independent certified public accountant making the report with evidence of the report being furnished to the Mayor. If the independent certified public accountant fails to receive the evidence within the required 5-business-day period, the independent certified public accountant shall furnish to the Mayor a copy of its report within the next 5 business days.
(b) No independent certified public accountant shall be liable in any manner to any person for any statement made in connection with subsection (a) of this section if the statement is made in good faith in compliance with subsection (a) of this section.
(c) If the accountant, subsequent to the date of the audited financial report filed pursuant to this chapter, becomes aware of facts which might have affected his report, the accountant shall take action prescribed in Volume 1, Section AU 561 of the Professional Standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 9, 40 DCR 6102; Feb. 27, 1996, D.C. Law 11-90, § 5(e), 42 DCR 7155; Mar. 12, 2011, D.C. Law 18-317, § 2(g), 57 DCR 12418.)
D.C. Law 18-317 rewrote subsec. (a); and, in subsec. (b), substituted “independent certified public” for “independent public”. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: “(a) The insurer required to furnish the annual audited financial report shall require the independent certified public accountant to report, in writing, within 5 business days to the board of directors or its audit committee any determination by the independent certified public accountant that the insurer has materially misstated its financial condition as reported to the Mayor as of the balance sheet date currently under examination, or that the insurer does not meet the minimum capital and surplus requirement pursuant to §§ 31-2502.13 and 31-4408, as of that date. An insurer who has received a report pursuant to this subsection shall forward a copy of the report to the Mayor within 5 business days of receipt of the report and shall provide the independent certified public accountant making the report with evidence of the report being furnished to the Mayor. If the independent certified public accountant fails to receive the evidence within the required 5-business-day period, the independent certified public accountant shall furnish to the Mayor a copy of its report within the next 5 business days.”
For temporary amendment of section, see § 6(e) of the Insurance Omnibus Emergency Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-48, May 15, 1995, 42 DCR 2544) and § 5(e) of the Insurance Omnibus Congressional Recess Emergency Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-97, July 19, 1995, 42 DCR 3844).
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 5(e) of Insurance Omnibus Temporary Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Law 11-36, September 8, 1995, law notification 42 DCR 5305).
(a) In addition to the annual audited financial report, an insurer shall furnish the Mayor with a written communication regarding any unremediated material weaknesses in its internal controls over financial reporting noted during the audit. If no unremediated material weaknesses were noted during the audit, the insurer shall submit a written communication stating this fact to the Mayor. The communication shall be prepared by the independent certified public accountant within 60 days after the filing of the annual audited financial report and shall contain a description of any unremediated material weakness, as of December 31 immediately preceding, in the insurer’s internal control over financial reporting noted by the accountant during the course of their audit of the financial statements.
(b) The insurer shall provide a description of the remedial actions taken or those being proposed to correct unremediated material weaknesses if the actions are not described in the independent certified public accountant’s communication to the insurer.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 10, 40 DCR 6102; Mar. 12, 2011, D.C. Law 18-317, § 2(h), 57 DCR 12418.)
This section is referenced in § 31-311.03 and § 31-314.
D.C. Law 18-317 rewrote the section, which formerly read:
“In addition to the annual audited financial statements, each insurer shall furnish the Mayor with a written report prepared by the accountant describing significant deficiencies in the insurer’s internal control structure noted by the accountant during the audit. SAS No. 60, Communication of Internal Control Structure Matters Noted in an Audit (AU section 325 of the Professional Standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) requires an accountant to communicate significant deficiencies, known as reportable conditions, noted during a financial statement audit to the appropriate parties within an entity. No report shall be issued if the accountant does not identify significant deficiencies. If significant deficiencies are noted, the written report shall be filed annually by the insurer with the Mayor within 60 days after the filing of the annual audited financial statements. The insurer is required to provide a description of remedial actions taken or proposed to correct significant deficiencies, if the actions are not described in the accountant’s report.”
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(h) of Annual Financing Reporting Modernization Emergency Amendment Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-665, December 28, 2010, 58 DCR 80).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(h) of Annual Financial Reporting Modernization Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-30, March 15, 2011, 58 DCR 2591).
The accountant shall furnish the insurer in connection with, and for inclusion in, the filing of the annual audited financial report, a letter stating that:
(1) The accountant is independent with respect to the insurer and conforms to the standards of his or her profession as contained in the Code of Professional Ethics and pronouncements of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the rules of the District of Columbia Board of Accountancy.
(2) The background and experience of the accountant in general is listed, and the experience in audits of insurers of the staff assigned to the engagement and whether each is an independent certified public accountant. Nothing within this chapter shall be construed as prohibiting the accountant from utilizing the staff he or she deems appropriate where use is consistent with the standards prescribed by generally accepted auditing standards.
(3) The accountant understands the annual audited financial report and his or her opinion thereon will be filed in compliance with this chapter and that the Mayor will be relying on this information in the monitoring and regulation of the financial position of insurers.
(4) The accountant consents to the requirements of § 31-311 and that the accountant consents and agrees to make available for review by the Mayor, his or her designee or his or her appointed agent, the workpapers, as defined in § 31-311.
(5) The accountant is properly licensed by an appropriate state licensing authority and is a member in good standing in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
(6) The accountant is in compliance with the requirements of § 31-305.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 11, 40 DCR 6102; Feb. 27, 1996, D.C. Law 11-90, § 5(f), 42 DCR 7155.)
For temporary amendment of section, see § 6(f) of the Insurance Omnibus Emergency Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-48, May 15, 1995, 42 DCR 2544) and § 5(f) of the Insurance Omnibus Congressional Recess Emergency Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-97, July 19, 1995, 42 DCR 3844).
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 5(f) of Insurance Omnibus Temporary Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Law 11-36, September 8, 1995, law notification 42 DCR 5305).
(a) For purposes of this section, the term “workpapers” are the records kept by the independent certified public accountant of the procedures followed, the tests performed, the information obtained, and the conclusions reached pertinent to his or her audit of the financial statements of an insurer. Workpapers, accordingly, may include audit planning documentation, work programs, analyses, memoranda, letters of confirmation and representation, abstracts of company documents, and schedules or commentaries prepared or obtained by the independent certified public accountant in the course of his or her audit of the financial statements of an insurer and which support his or her opinion thereof.
(b) Every insurer required to file an audited financial report pursuant to this chapter shall require the accountant to make available for review by the Mayor’s examiners all workpapers prepared in the conduct of his or her audit and any communications related to the audit between the accountant and the insurer, at the offices of the insurer, or at any other reasonable place designated by the Mayor. The insurer shall require that the accountant retain the audit workpapers and communications until the Mayor has filed a report on examination covering the period of the audit but no longer than 7 years from the date of the audit report.
(c) The Mayor may make and retain photocopies of pertinent audit workpapers. The review by the Mayor’s examiners shall be considered investigations and all working papers and communications obtained during the course of the investigations shall be afforded the same confidentiality as other examination workpapers generated by the Mayor.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 12, 40 DCR 6102; Mar. 12, 2011, D.C. Law 18-317, § 2(i), 57 DCR 12418.)
D.C. Law 18-317, in the section heading, substituted “independent certified” for “certified”; in subsec. (a), substituted “For the purposes of this section, the term” for “For the purposes of this chapter, the term”; and, in subsec. (a) and the second sentence of subsec. (b), substituted “audit” for “examination”.
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(i) of Annual Financing Reporting Modernization Emergency Amendment Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-665, December 28, 2010, 58 DCR 80).
For temporary (90 day) addition of sections, see § 2(j) of Annual Financing Reporting Modernization Emergency Amendment Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-665, December 28, 2010, 58 DCR 80).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(i) of Annual Financial Reporting Modernization Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-30, March 15, 2011, 58 DCR 2591).
For temporary (90 day) addition of sections, see § 2(j) of Annual Financial Reporting Modernization Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-30, March 15, 2011, 58 DCR 2591).
(a) The audit committee shall be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation, and oversight of any accountant, including the resolution of disagreements between management and the accountant regarding annual financial reporting required by this chapter. Each accountant shall report directly to the audit committee.
(b) Each member of the audit committee shall be a member of the board of directors of the insurer or a member of the board of directors of an entity elected pursuant to subsection (e) of this section.
(b-1) The audit committee of an insurer or group of insurers shall be responsible for overseeing the insurer's internal audit function and granting the person or persons performing the function suitable authority and resources to fulfill their responsibilities if required by § 31-311.01a.
(c) To be considered independent for purposes of this section, a member of the audit committee shall not, except in his or her capacity as a member of the audit committee, the board of directors, or any other board committee, accept any consulting, advisory, or other compensatory fee from the entity, or be an affiliated person of the entity or any subsidiary thereof; provided, that if board participation by otherwise non-independent members is legally required, such members may participate on the audit committee and be designated as independent for audit committee purposes unless they are an officer or employee of the insurer or one of its affiliates.
(d) If a member of the audit committee ceases to be independent for reasons outside the member’s reasonable control, the member, upon notice to the Mayor, may remain an audit committee member until the earlier of the next annual meeting or one year from the occurrence of the event causing the member to be no longer independent.
(e) Prior to exercising the election of designating an audit committee pursuant to this chapter, the ultimate controlling person shall provide written notice to the Mayor. The written notice shall be made timely prior to the issuance of the statutory audit report and include a description of the basis for the election. An insurer may change its election by providing written notice to the Mayor with a description of the basis for the change. The election shall remain in effect until rescinded.
(f)(1) The audit committee shall require the accountant performing an audit pursuant to this chapter to report timely to the audit committee, in accordance with the requirements of SAS 61, Communication with Audit Committees, or its successor, the following:
(A) All significant accounting policies and material permitted practices;
(B) All material alternative treatments of financial information within statutory accounting principles that have been discussed with management of the insurer, the ramifications of the use of the alternative disclosures, and the treatment preferred by the accountant; and
(C) Any other material written communication between the accountant and the management of the insurer, including any management letter or schedule of unadjusted differences.
(2) If an insurer is a member of an insurance holding company system, the reports required by paragraph (1) of this subsection may be provided to the audit committee on an aggregate basis for the insurers in the holding company system; provided, that any substantial differences among insurers in the system are identified to the audit committee.
(g) The following criteria shall apply for determining the required proportion of independent audit committee members:
(1) If, during the prior calendar year, direct written and assumed premiums do not exceed $300 million, there shall be no minimum requirement.
(2) If, during the prior calendar year, direct written and assumed premiums exceed $300 million, but do not exceed $500 million, 50% or more of members shall be independent.
(3) If, during the prior calendar year, direct written and assumed premiums exceed $500 million, 75% or more of its members shall be independent.
(h) An insurer with direct written and assumed premiums of less than $500 million, excluding premiums reinsured with the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and Federal Flood Program, may make application to the Mayor for an exemption from this section based on hardship. An insurer that has been granted an exemption pursuant to this section shall file such approval, together with its annual statement filing, with the states in which it holds a license or does business and the NAIC. If the nondomestic state accepts electronic filing with the NAIC, the insurer shall file the approval in an electronic format acceptable to the NAIC.
(i) Prior calendar year direct written and assumed premiums shall be the combined total of direct premiums and assumed premiums from non-affiliates for the reporting entities.
(j) This section shall not apply to:
(1) Foreign or alien insurers licensed in the District; or
(2) An insurer that is a SOX Compliant Entity or a direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of a SOX Compliant Entity.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 12a; as added Mar. 12, 2011, D.C. Law 18-317, § 2(j), 57 DCR 12418; Apr. 11, 2019, D.C. Law 22-292, § 301(b), 66 DCR 1691.)
This section is referenced in § 31-301, § 31-302, and § 31-312.
(a) An insurer shall be exempt from the requirements of this section if:
(1) The insurer has annual direct written and unaffiliated assumed premium, including international direct and assumed premium but excluding premium reinsured with the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and Federal Flood Program, less than $500 million; and
(2) If the insurer is a member of a group of insurers, the group has annual direct written and unaffiliated assumed premium including international direct and assumed premium, but excluding premium reinsured with the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and Federal Flood Program, less than $1 billion.
(b) The insurer or group of insurers shall establish an internal audit function providing independent, objective, and reasonable assurance to the audit committee and insurer management regarding the insurer's governance, risk management, and internal controls. This assurance shall be provided by performing general and specific audits, reviews, and tests and by employing other techniques considered necessary to protect assets, evaluate control effectiveness and efficiency, and evaluate compliance with policies and regulations.
(c)(1) To ensure that internal auditors remain objective, the internal audit function shall be organizationally independent. The internal audit function will not defer ultimate judgment on audit matters to others and shall appoint an individual to head the Internal audit function who will have direct and unrestricted access to the board of directors.
(2) Organizational independence shall not preclude dual-reporting relationships.
(d) The head of the internal audit function shall report to the audit committee regularly, but no less than annually, on the periodic audit plan, factors that may adversely impact the Internal audit function's independence or effectiveness, material findings from completed audits, and the appropriateness of corrective actions implemented by management as a result of audit findings.
(e) If an insurer is a member of an insurance holding company system or included in a group of insurers, the insurer may satisfy the Internal audit function requirements set forth in this section at the ultimate controlling parent level, an intermediate holding company level, or the individual legal entity level.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 12a-1; as added Apr. 11, 2019, D.C. Law 22-292, § 301(c), 66 DCR 1691.)
Section 401 of D.C. Law 22-292 provided that this section, as created by D.C. Law 22-292, shall apply to all insurance policies issued or renewed in the District 90 days after April 11, 2019.
(a) A director or officer of an insurer shall not, in connection with any audit, review, or communication required under this chapter, directly or indirectly:
(1) Make, or cause to be made, a materially false or misleading statements [sic] to an accountant; or
(2) Omit to state, or cause another person to omit to state, any material fact necessary to make a statement made to an accountant, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
(b)(1) A director or officer of an insurer, or any other person acting under the direction thereof, shall not, directly or indirectly, take any action to coerce, manipulate, mislead, or fraudulently influence any accountant engaged in the performance of an audit pursuant to this chapter if the person knew or should have known that the action, if successful, could result in rendering the insurer’s financial statements materially misleading.
(2) For the purposes of this subsection, actions that could result in rendering the insurer’s financial statements materially misleading include actions causing the accountant to:
(A) Issue or reissue a report on an insurer’s financial statements that is not warranted under the circumstances due to material violations of statutory accounting principles, generally accepted auditing standards, or other professional or regulatory standards;
(B) Not perform audit, review, or other procedures required by generally accepted auditing standards or other professional standards;
(C) Not withdraw an issued report; or
(D) Not communicate matters to an insurer’s audit committee.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 12b; as added Mar. 12, 2011, D.C. Law 18-317, § 2(j), 57 DCR 12418.)
(a) An insurer required to file an audited financial report pursuant to this chapter that has annual direct written and assumed premiums of at least $500 million, excluding premiums reinsured with the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and Federal Flood Program, shall prepare a management’s report of the insurer’s or group of insurers’ internal control over financial reporting. The report shall be filed with the Mayor along with the communication of internal control related matters noted in an audit described in § 31-309. A management’s report of internal control over financial reporting shall be made as of December 31 immediately preceding the date of the report.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, the Mayor may require an insurer to file a management’s report of internal control over financial reporting if the insurer:
(1) Is in any RBC level event as provided in Chapter 20 of this title [§ 31-2001 et seq.], and Chapter 34A of this title [§ 31-3451.01 et seq.]; or
(2) Meets one or more of the standards of an insurer deemed to be in hazardous financial condition as provided in Chapter 21 of this title [§ 31-2101 et seq.].
(c)(1) An insurer or a group of insurers that is (A) directly subject to Section 404; (B) part of a holding company system whose parent is directly subject to Section 404; (C) not directly subject to Section 404, but is a SOX Compliant Entity; or (D) a member of a holding company system whose parent is not directly subject to Section 404 but is a SOX Compliant Entity, may file its, or its parent’s, Section 404 Report and an addendum that complies with the requirements of this section; provided, that those internal controls of the insurer or group of insurers having a material impact on the preparation of the insurer’s or group of insurers’ audited statutory financial statements were included in the scope of the Section 404 Report.
(2) An addendum filed with a Section 404 Report shall be an affirmative statement by management that no material processes were excluded in the scope of the Section 404 Report. If there are internal controls of the insurer or group of insurers that have a material impact on the preparation of the insurer’s or group of insurers’ audited statutory financial statements that were not included in the scope of the Section 404 Report, the insurer or group of insurers shall file:
(A) A report pursuant to this section; or
(B) A Section 404 Report and a report pursuant to this section that addresses those internal controls not covered by the Section 404 Report.
(d) A management’s report of internal control over financial reporting shall include:
(1) A statement that management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting;
(2) A statement that management has established internal control over financial reporting and an assertion as to whether, to the best of management’s knowledge and belief, after diligent inquiry, the internal control over financial reporting is effective to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial statements prepared in accordance with statutory accounting principles;
(3) A statement describing the framework or processes by which management evaluates the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting;
(4) A statement describing the scope of work that is included and whether any internal controls were excluded;
(5)(A) Disclosure of any unremediated material weaknesses in the internal control over financial reporting identified by management as of December 31 immediately preceding the date of the report.
(B) Management shall not be permitted to conclude that the internal control over financial reporting is effective if there is one or more unremediated material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting;
(6) A statement regarding the inherent limitations of internal control systems; and
(7) Signatures of the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer, or the equivalents thereof.
(e) Management shall document and make available during the course of any financial condition examination the basis upon which its assertions offered pursuant to this section are made. Management may base its assertions, in part, on its review, monitoring, and testing of internal controls undertaken in the normal course of its activities.
(f) Management shall have discretion as to the nature of the internal control framework used, and the nature and extent of documentation, to make its assertions in a cost effective manner and, as such, may include assembly of or reference to existing documentation.
(g) A management’s report on internal control over financial reporting filed with the Mayor pursuant to this section, including any supporting documentation submitted in support thereof, shall be kept confidential.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 12c; as added Mar. 12, 2011, D.C. Law 18-317, § 2(j), 57 DCR 12418.)
(a) Upon written application of any insurer, the Mayor may grant an exemption from compliance with this chapter if the Mayor finds, upon review of the application, that compliance with this chapter would constitute a financial or organizational hardship upon the insurer and the public interest would not be unduly compromised by the exemption. An exemption may be granted at any time, and from time to time for a specified period or periods. Within 10 days from a denial of an insurer’s written request for an exemption from this chapter, the insurer may request in writing a hearing on its application for an exemption. The hearing shall be held in accordance with those rules pertaining to administrative hearing procedures as the Mayor may prescribe.
(b) Domestic insurers retaining a certified public accountant on October 21, 1993 who qualify as independent shall comply with this chapter for the year ending December 31, 1993, and each year thereafter, unless the Mayor permits otherwise.
(c) Domestic insurers not retaining a certified public accountant, who qualifies as independent, on October 21, 1993, shall meet the following schedule for compliance unless the Mayor permits otherwise:
(1) As of December 31, 2009, file with the Mayor:
(A) Report of independent certified public accountant;
(B) Audited balance sheet; and
(C) Notes to audited balance sheet.
(2) For the year ending December 31, 1993, and each year thereafter, these insurers shall file with the Mayor all reports and communications required by this chapter.
(d) Foreign insurers shall comply with this chapter for the year ending December 31, 1993, and each year thereafter, unless the Mayor permits otherwise.
(e) Section 31-311.01 shall apply as of January 1, 2010. An insurer or group of insurers that was not required to have independent audit committee members or only a majority of independent audit committee members because their total written and assumed premiums were below the stated threshold levels provided in § 31-311.01(g) for a given year shall have one calendar year to comply with the independence requirements following the year the threshold is exceeded. An insurer that becomes subject to the independence requirements of this chapter as a result of a business combination shall have one calendar year following the date of acquisition or combination to comply with the independence requirements.
(f) Section 31-305(g) through (k) and 31-311.03 shall apply as of the reporting period ending December 31, 2010, and each year thereafter. An insurer or group of insurers that is not required to file a report pursuant to § 31-311.03, but subsequently becomes subject to the reporting requirements, shall have 2 calendar years following the year the threshold is exceeded to file a report. An insurer acquired in a business combination shall have 2 calendar years following the date of acquisition or combination to comply with the reporting requirements.
(g) An insurer or group of insurers that was exempt from § 31-311.01a but no longer qualifies for the exemption shall have one year from the reporting year the threshold is exceeded to comply with this chapter.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 13, 40 DCR 6102; Mar. 12, 2011, D.C. Law 18-317, § 2(k), 57 DCR 12418; Apr. 11, 2019, D.C. Law 22-292, § 301(d), 66 DCR 1691.)
D.C. Law 18-317, in subsec. (c)(1), substituted “December 31, 2009” for “December 31, 1993”; in subsec. (c)(2), substituted “reports and communications required” for “reports required”; and added subsecs. (e) and (f).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(k) of Annual Financing Reporting Modernization Emergency Amendment Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-665, December 28, 2010, 58 DCR 80).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(k) of Annual Financial Reporting Modernization Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-30, March 15, 2011, 58 DCR 2591).
(a) In the case of Canadian and British insurers, the annual audited financial report shall be defined as the annual statement of total business on the form filed by these companies with their domiciliary supervision authority duly audited by an independent chartered accountant.
(b) For Canadian and British insurers, the letter required in § 31-304 shall state that the accountant is aware of the requirements relating to the annual audited statement filed with the Mayor pursuant to § 31-302 and shall affirm that the opinion expressed is in conformity with these requirements.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 14, 40 DCR 6102; May 16, 1995, D.C. Law 10-255, § 31, 41 DCR 5193.)
(a) Every insurer, as defined in § 31-301, shall be subject to this chapter. Insurers having direct premiums written in the District of Columbia of less than $1,000,000 in any calendar year and having less than 1,000 policyholders or certificateholders of directly written policies nationwide at the end of any calendar year shall be exempt from this chapter for that year, unless the Mayor makes a specific finding that compliance is necessary for the Mayor to carry out statutory responsibilities, except that insurers having assumed premiums pursuant to contracts or treaties of reinsurance of $1,000,000 or more will not be so exempt.
(b) Foreign or alien insurers filing audited financial reports in another state pursuant to the other state’s requirement of audited financial reports which has been found by the Mayor to be substantially similar to the requirements of this chapter are exempt from this chapter if:
(1) A copy of the audited financial report, report on significant deficiencies in internal controls, and the accountant’s letter of qualifications which are filed with the other states are filed with the Mayor in accordance with the filing dates specified in §§ 31-302, 31-309, and 31-310, respectively. Canadian insurers may submit accounts’ reports as filed with the Canadian Dominion Department of Insurance.
(2) A copy of any notification of adverse financial condition report filed with the other states is filed with the Mayor within the time specified in § 31-308.
(c) This chapter shall not prohibit, preclude, or in any way limit the Mayor from ordering, conducting, or performing examinations of insurers under the rules and the practices and procedures of the District of Columbia.
(Oct. 21, 1993, D.C. Law 10-48, § 15, 40 DCR 6102.)
This section is referenced in § 31-3931.13.
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Kaizer Chiefs news: Amakhosi linked with Stellenbosch FC defender
Kaizer Chiefs are reportedly interested in Stellenbosch FC defender Sibusiso Mthethwa
Kaizer Chiefs are looking to bolster their defence ahead of the new season, and Stellenbosch FC’s Sibusiso Mthethea is said to be on the club’s radar, according to KickOff.
The Glamour Boys have been hampered by injuries throughout the 2018/19 campaign, particularly at the back, where they are looking to strengthen in order toto improve for the next season.
The publication reports that coach Ernst Middendorp recently travelled to Cape Town for a closer look at the 28-year-old.
This is according to an unnamed source, who revealed that the Soweto giants sent the German mentor down to the Mother City to watch Stellenbosch’s recent clash against TS Galaxy.
“Sibusiso Mthethwa from Stellenbosch, Chiefs is monitoring him,” the source told KickOff.
“They even sent Middendorp to look at him. He even travelled to Cape Town.”
However, according to Mthethwa’s coach Steven Barker, Middendorp’s presence may have more to do with Amakhosi looming clash against TS Galaxy.
“I think he came to watch TS Galaxy,” Barker is quoted by the publication.
“They are playing them in the Nedbank Cup final. I don’t think he was there to look at any players.”
Steven Barker
Kaizer Chiefs are seventh on the league table, having managed just 38 points in 27 matches.
They travel to Polokwane on Saturday for a clash against Bloemfontein Celtic, which has been moved from the host’s hometown, following crowd violence that ensued in their last home fixture.
Despite being out of the PSL title race, Amakhosi still have a chance to finish the season on a high, should they emerge victorious against TS Galaxy, whom they meet on Saturday, May at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Stellenbosch, on the other hand, appear to be prime candidates for automatic promotion into the top flight, as they top the first-division table with just two games left to play.
Previous Super Rugby LIVE scoring: Stormers vs Bulls – follow it here!
Next Cheetahs vs Kings – get Pro14 updates here
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Here’s Every Remaining Candidate’s Position On Common Core
Reuters/Joe Skipper
Blake Neff Reporter
March 27, 2016 8:56 AM ET
Common Core hasn’t turned out to be the big-time 2016 issue some predicted, but the issue keeps popping up at the state level, and with another wave of standardized test boycotts possibly on the way, it could still influence some primary and general election votes.
Here’s how the five remaining presidential candidates stack up on Common Core.
Cruz has been a vocal opponent of Common Core ever since he entered the Senate in 2013, and he’s frequently denounced it on the campaign trail as well. He’s said that as president he would “repeal every word” of Common Core, and during the March 10 GOP debate he said he would order the Department of Education to end Common Core the very first day he took office.
It’s not clear whether Cruz’s pledge actually makes sense. Common Core cannot be “repealed,” because it is not a product of federal legislation (it was created through the combined efforts of several states). At one point, the Obama administration encouraged its adoption with federal funds, but that program has since stopped. There is nothing technically for Cruz to order the Department of Education to end. (RELATED: Cruz, Trump Double Down On Baffling Common Core Promises)
He could potentially use the Department of Education to discourage Common Core and push states towards adopting something else. If Cruz did so, he would be engaging in the exact kind of executive meddling with state education for which he faults the Obama administration. Also, using the Department of Education to do anything may be difficult for Cruz, since he also said he wants to eliminate the Department entirely.
Trump, like Cruz, has loudly and frequently denounced Common Core, describing it as a “disaster” that he would “repeal” as president. And like with Cruz, it’s not clear how Trump actually will eliminate Common Core, short of trying to ban it, which would go flatly against Trump’s position that education should be locally controlled.
Other than sundry comments, though, Trump hasn’t really fleshed out his Common Core position. Education in general isn’t included on Trump’s campaign website, and his views have mostly just come out as side comments during speeches and press conferences.
Like many other Republican governors, Kasich supported Common Core when he became Ohio’s governor in 2011. Unlike many of those governors, though, and unlike Cruz and Trump, Kasich has sustained that support even on the campaign trail, despite the grassroots backlash against it among conservatives.
Although he has adjusted his rhetoric a bit to avoid alienating grassroots conservatives. Back before he began his presidential campaign, Kasich was often openly dismissive of Common Core critics. In January 2015, he accused other governors like Bobby Jindal of cynically turning against Common Core for political gain, and he even described attacks on it as a form of “hysteria.”
Now, Kasich hasn’t changed his position, but his tone is considerably less sharp. Kasich generally avoids mentioning Common Core by name (“I don’t know about the term,” he said in August), and he has emphasized his view that Common Core is not a form of federal control and gives local communities substantial leeway on what curriculum to use.
“All I’m in favor of in Ohio is high standards,” Kasich said at the March 10 GOP debate.
Clinton, like most establishment Democrats, has been solidly supportive of Common Core from the start. During one of her first campaign stops, at an Iowa college, Clinton gave the standards a strong endorsement, and she hasn’t backed off from that, even though some Democrats have started to show skepticism. Clinton has praised the Core as a “nonpartisan” endeavor and has characterized the backlash against it as “painful.”
That support isn’t surprising, because Clinton has in the past supported federal interventions in education far stronger than Common Core. In 2007, she introduced a bill that would have formed a national panel to create uniform math and science standards for the whole country, paving the way for national curricula and tests. This position makes education standards one of the few areas where Clinton seems to favor a bigger government than Bernie Sanders does.
Compared to other candidates, Common Core hasn’t been on Sanders’ radar at all. He has no explicitly stated position on it, and he doesn’t seem to have mentioned it on the campaign trail even once.
But while some on the left have joined the anti-Common Core bandwagon, Sanders doesn’t seem to be among them. A statement from his Senate website in 2011 regarding a failed education bill touted it for providing support to Common Core adopters. In early 2015, Sanders voted against an education bill amendment (which eventually passed anyway) that prohibited the federal government from coercing or encouraging states to adopt or keep Common Core, suggesting he is, at the least, not opposed to it.
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Tags : bernie sanders donald trump elections 2016 hillary clinton john kasich ted cruz
Blake Neff
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North Carolina Misclassification Crackdown Takes Effect
by Scott Braddock | January 10, 2018
Worker Misclassification
Payroll Fraud
The past year was a tough one when it comes to the issue of worker misclassification. For about a decade, there was some significant progress in state legislatures across the nation voting to crack down on the problem. It's an issue across industries and is particularly problematic in construction. With a few exceptions, 2017 did not see many new efforts to enforce the law.
Worker misclassification, as Construction Citizen readers are aware, is also known as "payroll fraud" and happens when employers pretend their workers are “independent contractors” when, by law, they should be classified as employees and compensated as such. Of course, there are many legitimate uses for contract labor.
The problem arises when employers intentionally use the designation of "contractor" to avoid payroll taxes and benefits, enabling those lawbreaking companies to underbid ethical firms. Everyone loses except the bad guys when those cheaters are awarded with work. The IRS has a test for determining which of your workers is an employee vs a contractor, which you can see here.
In North Carolina, the legislature voted last year to move forward with what lawmakers described as a “significant” crackdown on misclassification. The state’s new law, the North Carolina Employee Fair Classification Act (EFCA), took effect at the end of 2017.
The law is aimed at identifying "businesses that engage in activities of Employee Misclassification throughout the State of North Carolina and collaborate with State agencies to conduct independent investigations in order to determine if there has been violation of the respective agency operating statutes," per the state agency charged with enforcement.
State Sen. Andy Wells, a Republican, said cheaters should be stopped.
“It’s a fairly profitable thing to do, and it creates some problems in the market,” Sen. Wells said. “The businesses doing things the right way are completely out of luck. They’re at a competitive disadvantage. You could get to an extreme where the bad guys are the only ones in the market because they’ve driving out everyone else.”
Specifically, the law creates a new division of the North Carolina Industrial Commission called the Employee Classification Section (ECS).
“The ECS will investigate reports of worker misclassification and assist other North Carolina agencies, including the Industrial Commission, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Revenue, in recovering money owed as a result of misclassification,” according to a website called Compensation.BLR.com. “The ECS also will assist state agencies and district attorneys’ offices in prosecuting employers that fail to pay penalties assessed as a result of worker misclassification.”
The law keeps the definitions in place for “employee” and “independent contractor” – in line with the IRS definitions – and provides an enforcement mechanism. "The practical effect of the EFCA is that a single misclassification complaint could trigger a full-fledged, multiprong investigation into an employer’s classification of all workers,” the Compensation website reported.
“Also, the new law requires employers to post a workplace notice informing workers that they should be classified as employees unless they are independent contractors and stating that workers who believe they have been incorrectly classified have the right to report potential misclassification to the ECS.”
Scott Braddock's Bio >>
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You are here: Home / Government Contracting News / Three Navy officers charged in expanding bribery and fraud scheme
June 6, 2016 By cs
Three Navy officers charged in expanding bribery and fraud scheme
Three current and former Navy officers have been charged for their roles in a massive bribery and fraud scheme involving a Navy contractor.
Retired Navy Captain Michael Brooks, 57, of Fairfax Station, Virginia; Commander Bobby Pitts, 47, of Chesapeake, Virginia; and Lieutenant Commander Gentry Debord, 47, who is based in Singapore, were charged on May 25, 2016, in the Southern District of California.
Brooks and Debord were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
Pitts was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and two counts of obstruction of justice.
All of the charges relate to the defendants’ interactions with Leonard Francis, the former CEO of Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), a defense contracting firm based in Singapore.
Francis’ reputation for corruption and bribery in recent years has led him to be nicknamed “Fat Leonard.” (See The Washington Post article, “The Man Who Seduced the 7th Fleet,” here.)
Brooks and Pitts made their initial appearances on May 27, 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Debord appeared in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Brooks was allowed to post a $50,000 bond. Pitts was granted a $5,000 bond, ordered to be subject to electronic monitoring and to appear in the Southern District of California on June 10. Debord was granted a $40,000 bond secured by real property. Debord is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Bartick of the Southern District of California on June 9, 2016.
According to the indictment, from June 2006 to July 2008, Brooks served as the U.S. Naval Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. The indictment alleges that in exchange for travel and entertainment expenses, hotel rooms and the services of prostitutes, Brooks used his office to benefit GDMA and Francis, including:
Securing the quarterly diplomatic clearances for GDMA vessels, which allowed GDMA vessels to transit into and out of the Philippines under the diplomatic clearance of the U.S. Embassy,
Limiting the amount of custom fees and taxes that GDMA was required to pay in the Philippines, and
Enabling GDMA to avoid inspection of any quantity or type of cargo that it transported.
The indictment also alleges that Brooks provided Francis with sensitive Navy information, including billing information belonging to a GDMA competitor and Navy ship schedules.
According to the indictment, from August 2009 to May 2011, Pitts was the Officer in Charge of the Navy’s Fleet Industrial Supply Command (FISC), which was charged with meeting the logistical needs of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet. The indictment alleges that in exchange for entertainment, meals and the services of a prostitute, Pitts used his position with FISC to interfere with Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) investigations into GDMA. Pitts allegedly provided Francis with a hard copy of an NCIS report detailing an investigation into GDMA for contract fraud marked “for official use only.” According to the indictment, the report detailed NCIS’ investigative steps and witnesses that NCIS had interviewed. The indictment further alleges that in November 2010, Pitts forwarded to a GDMA employee an internal Navy email discussing details of FISC’s efforts to oversee GDMA’s contracts with the U.S. Navy.
According to the criminal complaint, from November 2007 to August 2013, Debord served in several logistical and supply positions in the Western Pacific. In exchange for cash, hotel stays and the services of prostitutes, Debord allegedly provided Francis with inside Navy information and documents, including information about competitors’ bids and information about an investigation into GDMA billing practices. In an attempt to conceal the true nature of his relationship with Francis, Debord allegedly referred to prostitutes as “cheesecake” or “bodyguards.” The complaint also alleges that Debord schemed with Francis to defraud the Navy through the submission and approval of inflated invoices.
Including those charged within the past week, a total of 13 individuals have been charged to date in connection with this scheme. Of those:
Nine have pleaded guilty, including U.S. Navy Captain (Select) Michael Misiewicz, U.S. Navy Capt. Daniel Dusek, Lieutenant Commander Todd Malaki, NCIS Special Agent John Beliveau, Commander Jose Luis Sanchez, and U.S. Navy Petty Officer First Class Dan Layug.
Former Department of Defense Senior Executive Paul Simpkins awaits trial.
On Jan. 21, 2016, Layug was sentenced to 27 months in prison and a $15,000 fine.
On Jan. 29, 2016, Malaki was sentenced to 40 months in prison and ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to the Navy and a $15,000 fine.
On March 18, 2016, Alex Wisidagama, a former GDMA employee, was sentenced to 63 months and to pay $34.8 million in restitution to the Navy.
On March 25, 2016, Dusek was sentenced to 46 months in prison and to pay $30,000 in restitution to the Navy and a $70,000 fine.
On April 29, 2016, Misiewicz was sentenced to 78 months in prison and to pay a fine of $100,000 and to forfeit $95,000 in proceeds for the scheme.
The NCIS, the Department of Defense’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) and the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) are conducting the ongoing investigation. Assistant Chief Brian R. Young of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark W. Pletcher of the Southern District of California are prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Those with information relating to fraud, corruption or waste in government contracting should contact the NCIS anonymous tip line at www.ncis.navy.mil or the DOD Hotline at www.dodig.mil/hotline, or call (800) 424-9098.
Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-navy-officers-charged-expanding-bribery-and-fraud-scheme
Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: abuse, acquisition workforce, bribery, corruption, DCAA, DCIS, DOJ, Fat Leonard, fraud, Justice Dept., Navy, NCIS, waste
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The Black Vote: African Americans As An Interest Group
3540 words - 14 pages
The African-American community is comprised of 34 million people, and makes up approximately 12.8 percent of the American population (Barker, Jones, Tate 1999: 3). As such, it is the largest minority group in the United States. Yet, politically, the black community has never been able to sufficiently capitalize on that status in order to receive the full benefits of life in America. Today, African-Americans, hold less than 2 percent of the total number of elected positions in this country (Tate, 1994: 3) and the number of members within the community that actually partake in voting continues to drop. In spite of these statistics, as of 1984, a telephone survey found that 70 percent of Black Americans polled "strongly felt that the Black vote could make a difference in who gets elected at both the local and national levels, including… president" (Tate, 1994: 6). The black population still believes that voter participation can effect change in the government, and 75 percent believe that whatever happens to the group affects them personally, and so it is necessary to have a government that is sympathetic to the state of African-Americans in the United States.
As a result of this perceived common interest, one could say that the American black community constitutes an interest group of sorts, -- a group of people that share the same interests and are working toward common goals -- at least to a certain extent. At the very least, they have the potential to be an interest group, because although the majority of blacks feel that their future is tied to that of the entire race, there is a growing divide between blacks of different social classes, as well as a lack of organization, which is a key factor to initiating change. The black community relies on the strength of their vote, but in order to capitalize on voting strength, and turn it into political power:
A group must be able to maximize voter registration and voter turnout, develop institutional structures for recruiting supportive candidates for public office and mobilize support for such candidates. Once… elected, the group must develop a system to hold the candidates responsible to the group. (Barker, Jones, Tate 1999: 73)
In effect, they must capitalize on their ability to come together as an interest group and to create some form of accountability for whoever they support politically. Until recently, the black community has not been able to do so often or consistently, because of their minority status (due to lack of size they must rely on strategic voting and the black community hasn't always been ideally located to capitalize on that), and intense party loyalties.
The Black Vote Historically
Ever since Lincoln's emancipation proclamation, African-Americans had been Republican. The GOP was the party of Lincoln, the party that had given them the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. The Republican Party supported...
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by tenpel October 29, 20174:13 pm May 12, 2018
Testimony from an Ogyen Kunzang Choling (OKC) Survivor
The following comment was posted by a Buddhist as a comment after having shared Ben’s powerpoint presentation “40 Years of Abuse in the Name of Dharma by ex-OKC born-kids” on Facebook.
Ben who stands behind this entire thing has a financial interest and is generally against Buddhism. The whole matter is already old and has been judicially negotiated for years. Ben’s goal is to close the center. But the center has nothing more to do with Robert Spatz and has been under the direction of Sechen monastery / Rabjam Rinpoche for years. Pictures of Robert Spatz, his long-life prayers, have long since been removed. Khenpo Tsethen is independent and what is said about him is out of thin air, simply a lie! Have you ever talked with Khenpo, Rabjam Rinpoche or were you in Nyima Dzong? As a monk, would you like to spread lies about Khenpo Tsethen without ever having spoken to him? Do you want to be part of the fact that people, monks lose their homes, and since they have devoted themselves entirely to the Dharma, they do not have a pension and end up in the middle of the age, or end up in the street? You can write about Robert Spatz, but PLEASE leave people out who have nothing to do with him. This article you have posted here contains untruths. Please check it!¹
Here is a response to that comment by a woman who was a child in the OKC.
Alittle history may help in understanding why this accusation is not only wrong but offensive and hurtful. For the sake of clarity, in this explanation when I speak of the “adults” of OKC I am talking about members who joined the community as adults, of their own free will. When I mention the “children” of OKC, I am referring to those of us who were either born into OKC or brought to the community by our parents when we were small. We are now adults of various ages ranging from the twenties to the forties and doing our best to piece ourselves together while coping with the devastating after-effects of our childhoods in the community. These effects range from trauma to pragmatic issues resulting from a lack of education (most of us were taken out of school at age 14), lack of parental guidance or financial support and difficulties integrating into ordinary society.
Robert Spatz (Lama Kunzang Dorje)
OKC was created in 1972 by Robert Spatz and a few others. Over the next few years it grew into a community with religious centers in several countries. These centers included shops, restaurants and yoga facilities located in cities such as Brussels and Athens and isolated communities such as Nyima-Dzong. At Nyima-Dzong, members lived an alternate lifestyle in isolation from the “outside world” in a group of ancient buildings nestled in a secluded valley in the French Alps. Initially, this was a community of adults, but in the late 70s several families joined the community with small children and the first OKC babies were born on site. Each family was assigned to live in a single room with virtually no furniture other than the ubiquitous little altar bearing a photo of Spatz. We slept on the floor and piled our few belongings in the corners. The community did not have electricity or running water during the early years. We shared communal outhouses and lined up with bowls three times a day for food doled out by the communal kitchen, where food was cooked over a wood-burning stove. For the most part, we ate what we could grow, which meant that most meals consisted of turnips, carrots, and nettles that we picked in the wild, usually boiled without spices or salt. Children took lessons in a one-room schoolhouse tended by one teacher with very limited supplies. We had very little time with our parents, less than when we lived “outside,” because of the rigorous work and prayer schedule that we all followed seven days a week. Meanwhile, Spatz lived in luxury in a huge mansion in Brussels, driving a jaguar from one center to another, and relaxing by drinking wine and listening to Wagner on his yacht. His own children lived in the mansion with him, and were educated in exclusive private schools.
In the early eighties, a new system was announced. Rather than living with their parents, the children would live in dorms. We were triaged into three groups, the “bigs,” who were aged 10-12, the “mediums” who were 5-10, and the “smalls,” who were 2-4. A supervisor was assigned to each group, and there was no need for the parents to interact with their children at all. In fact, parents were under pressure not to interact with their children. Parents were told that they were filled with toxic thoughts and emotions and they were poisoning their children by their presence. If they wanted their children to grow up pure and strong, and to have a chance at enlightenment, it was imperative for them to pull away. Some parents went so far as to turn their heads when encountering a group of children, to avoid crossing eyes with their own child. This burden of becoming the enlightened future of the community fell heavily upon our shoulders as well. As children, we were expected to need nothing, want nothing, to give up our most prized dreams and possessions without complaint, to have no wishes, ambitions, goals, loves or fears. We were supposed to diligently work, study and pray every day without experiencing any emotion or receiving any attention, recognition or approval. However, there were plenty of adults willing to help us get rid of our egos by criticizing, and belittling us, even bullying us and/or taking our possessions. They shut down any complaint with the retort that our egos were talking, always the big egos leading us into shallow and selfish behavior; we should stop with all the self-importance, learn some humility and spend our days praying instead of complaining.
Children at Château de Soleils (Nyima Dzong)
After separating families on site, it was only a small step for Spatz to start literally sending the parents away, usually off to the cities where they could make money for the community by staffing its shops and restaurants, where many of them worked seven days a week without pay. Also, the families already living in Brussels were pressured to send their kids off to live in France. In addition to religious pressure and shaming, Spatz also used tactics such as telling people they were free to leave the community immediately if they were not willing to part from their kids. These were people who had quit their jobs, sold their homes and belongings and severed ties with their families to join the community. They had donated everything they owned and had nowhere to go. One after another, parents made the heartbreaking choice to send their children away to be raised at Nyima-Dzong. Even tiny two and three-years olds fell victim to this forced separation. Parents were only allowed to visit their children at Spatz’s whim. Some parents were allowed to visit twice a year, others once a year, others even less than that. I heard from one girl that she didn’t see her mother for almost three years, so long that she forgot what she looked like and struggled to pick her out in a crowd.
In the 90’s, the number of children living at OKC swelled and the number of adults shrank to just a small group tasked with raising the children. These adults for the most part had no experience with childcare and some of them had mental problems that made them unfit to be trusted with children. These adults were on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no vacations or holidays, such that even the kindest ones among them were vulnerable to caving under the stress and mistreating children. Also, once Spatz had the parents safely out of the way, he advocated an increasingly harsh lifestyle for the children. The schedule became more rigid, the food sparse to the point where children would steal vegetables from the garden in the dead of night, sitting in the fresh dirt to gobble them down as soon as they pulled them from the ground. Punishments were increasingly harsh. Small children were locked overnight in a shoe closet infested with rats, deprived of food sometimes for multiple days, forced to run endless circles barefoot in the snow and hit with switches. A pedophile ran rampant among the little girls, showering naked with them and slipping his hand under their nightgowns when he put them to bed. Yet another deranged disciple preferred to bully the boys, calling them to his room at night after charging them with small crimes, or sometimes no crime at all, and holding them down after stuffing a dirty handkerchief in their mouth so they wouldn’t make too much noise while he beat them black and blue.
Scenes: Children at Château de Soleils (Nyima Dzong)
When the oldest kids in this group reached their teens and grew rebellious, Spatz separated them from the smaller children and sent them to live in a community in Portugal. In a new twist, he began to include alcohol in his religious ceremonies. Kids were not only invited, but forced to drink, so much that by the end of some prayer sessions there were children throwing up all over the temple and others passed out on the floor who were unceremoniously piled into a cart and dumped in their rooms to recover. These teenagers were taught to fight, and told that they were in training to fight for their lives in an upcoming war that would bring an end to the world as we know it. Around this time Spatz also went through a Gypsy phase, where he traveled cross country in caravans with select members of the community, including teenage girls, partying along the way.
Screenshot from the video: Anniversaire Robert Spatz 13avril2001.mp4
(The children in this image are of another generation than the author of this post.)
As for me, I am one of the older children in the group. My family joined this community in the late 70s, when I was a small child. I was taken out of school at 14 and for the next three years I was routinely sexually abused by Spatz. I want to be clear that this was not a relationship that had even the pretense of being consensual; Spatz procured my obedience with trickery, intimidation and outright threats of harm to both me and members of my family. As a child, I used to look up to Spatz and think of him as a kind, fatherly figure, but during those three years I learned to hate him, so much so that I would feel sick to my stomach at the sound of his car pulling up to the building. In the face of total parental abdication, I had no-one to turn to. Spatz had full control over my fate. For all practical purposes, I was a captive, forbidden to leave the community even for brief visits to family members outside.
In the end, my older brother is the one who offered me a means of escape, when I was 17. I am one of the fortunate few who had some financial support from my family after I got out. Although it wasn’t easy, I managed to go back to school and get a college degree. I wanted to forget what I lived through at Nyima-Dzong and I tried hard to do so, but I found out that something more than willpower is required to heal from such an experience. Also, I was always worried about the children I had left behind, especially the younger girls. I worried that by escaping I had left behind a void that Spatz would simply fill with the next youngest girl. As it turns out, I was only half right – Spatz had already moved on to a couple of the next youngest girls long before I left, after taking the precaution of having his disciples move me away from Nyima-Dzong to a different location, so that I wouldn’t notice what he was doing.
It took me years to break through the spell of secrecy and speak up about Spatz, but I finally brought criminal and civil complaints against him in 1998. I found out later that three other women had done the same. After making these complaints I received a call from a woman in the community that I had loved as a child and for a second I thought she had called to tell me that she was sad or upset to hear about what happened to me. But that wasn’t it at all. She wanted me to drop the charges against Spatz because she was afraid that he would be sent to prison and the community would be shut down. People would be put out on the street, with no money and nowhere to go. What happened to me was in the past, she said, so couldn’t I just let it go instead of moving forward with a lawsuit that might ruin the lives of many innocent people? When I asked about other girls, she glossed over the question. I hung up feeling hurt by her indifference, and also wondering for the first time if the huge secret that I thought I had guarded for years was actually not a secret at all. The thought crossed my mind that perhaps some of Spatz’s disciples didn’t mind offering up a girl to Spatz every now and then in exchange for his continued patronage and support of the community.
I stood firm, but other disciples approached my family with the same logic, asking them to stop me from wreaking havoc on the community, and they fell prey to guilt. My mother pressured me to stop. My brother, who had been my only ally for years, told me that he wished me the best but he could not support what I was doing because he was worried about the fate of friends and family members still in the community. I tried to tell them that this was just a story that the community was using to manipulate them. Personally, I thought it was a little sick for the adults to purchase their religious blessings and financial security at the cost of their children’s suffering. Plus, I never believed that Spatz would support these people in their old age, as they expected him to do. It was because of Spatz that these people were destitute – he was the one who convinced them to donate everything to him and live in poverty while he freely spent the money he gathered. But I realized over time that the two of them were ashamed of my actions and felt guilty by association. They came back from visits to the community acting surprised and grateful that people were willing to talk to them despite what I had done. Ridiculously, it became a situation where my family was persuaded that they needed to protect Spatz and OKC from me, rather than the other way around. My brother eventually succumbed to guilt and wrote a letter to the Belgian police in 1998 suggesting that they ought not believe my story. He didn’t have the courage to tell me about this betrayal – I found out about it at the trial last year when Spatz’s lawyers tried to use it as evidence to discredit me. I know that my mother and brother both love me and that, at the time, they acted out of confusion, and under the influence of religious manipulation. I love them as well, and aside from issues related to OKC they have been the best mother and brother I could wish for. The trial last year stirred up all these issues and precipitated some long discussions among us and I am grateful that they have come to understand the situation more clearly and support me in what I am doing. The point I want to make is not to criticize them, but to show how insidious religious brainwashing can be, to the extent of turning loving family members against each other.
I’m sharing this story not to talk about myself but because it echoes the experience of the other OKC children. This worn out theme has been trotted out over and over again for 20 years now: OKC is a charming community filled with good people who will be provided with financial support and loving care in their elder years – but this wondrous existence is on the brink of being ruined by the selfish headstrong children of OKC who think only about themselves. OKC used this story for years to stop the younger generation of OKC from speaking up. It’s an effective tactic to use on kids who were raised to disregard their own well-being and avoid selfishness like the plague. For the most part, the OKC children who decided to testify at trial went through a very difficult personal struggle because of these accusations, and some of them backed out (despite suffering horrific abuse) because they couldn’t handle the guilt trip or disapproval of their parents. And many of them have family members who fell victim to the same guilt trips as my own family, and made statements to the police or tribunal trying to discredit them. These are family members of abused children! Cousins, uncles, siblings, parents knowingly undermining these children in an effort to protect Spatz and OKC.
In truth, Spatz created a network of companies that manage all money, people and assets related to OKC. The Belgian tribunal found that these companies, even the ones styled as non-profits and religious organizations, actually operated for the financial benefit of Spatz, rather than the community or the disciples. Money has been laundered back and forth between these companies over the years to the detriment of the people that they are supposed to benefit. How does one man manage to control the finances of multiple organizations and the lives of multiple people? Through his closest, most loyal disciples, who I think of as his “lieutenants.” During the trial, some of the former OKC disciples tried to seize control of the Belgian OKC organization away from Spatz. They were successful in getting him to retire as officer of the company, but his lieutenants then intimidated the group into submitting to Spatz’s continued control. Spatz’s lieutenants are the officers of some of the other OKC-related organizations. They still live in his centers – I know of at least one who still lives at Nyima-Dzong.
Photo taken in Nyigma-Dzong, Buddhist Temple, in August 2017. Robert Spatz picture on the throne in the main temple alongside a statue of Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché & other Tibetan Buddhist statues
I don’t know anything about the Kenpo, but I assume he is financed by OKC Belgium or OKC France, both of which are still controlled by Spatz most loyal disciples. And, while OKC may have removed Spatz’ photo from their website, the photo still sits on its throne in the temple at Nyima-Dzong.
Circling back to the original accusation, I am troubled by the premise that the members of OKC should be protected because they have “nothing to do” with the wrongs perpetrated by Spatz. This is a fiction that lives on in part because, contrary to accusations, the OKC children are absurdly compassionate and forgiving. Most of the OKC disciples were complicit in one way or another in the abuse and neglect of the community’s children. Those that were not complicit are at the very least guilty of turning a blind eye in a situation where a compassionate human would ordinarily be expected to lend a hand. We (the OKC children) know that the adults were deceived and indoctrinated by Spatz and we know that he had a terrible way of twisting the truth and the religion, making acts of kindness seem like crimes, and crimes like acts of kindness. So we forgive the people who beat, neglected and mistreated us, or led us to his bedroom in the dead of night, choosing instead to focus on Spatz as the ultimate cause of the harm.
It is one thing to forgive the adults; it is quite another thing to engage in the pretense that they are innocent, and yet another thing entirely to attack the children who suffered a lifetime of abuse and accuse these children of selfishness! Make no mistake, some of these adults did terrible things. To give one example among many: one girl testified at trial that when she was 12 Spatz “gave” her as a girlfriend to a young man that he favored, and sent them off to travel with his gypsy caravan. One night, this older boy drank too much while partying with the adults and hauled the girl into his caravan, where he raped her. When he passed out she emerged from the caravan crying and went to sit by the campfire where she announced “I’ve just been raped, does anyone even care?” There was an awkward pause, and that’s the end of the story. No-one did a thing. This girl brought charges against Spatz for sexually assaulting her a year later, but insisted that she did not want to bring charges against the boy who raped her because she felt that he had been twisted and abused by Spatz as well and he had suffered enough. She also forgave the adults who allowed the boy to get drunk and haul her into a caravan, and who took no action after finding out about the rape – going so far as to refuse to disclose their names in order to protect them. Why? Because she feels pity for them, because she knows as we all do that Spatz hurt and controlled everyone. The boys chose to forgive the sick, twisted individual who came up with pretenses to beat them violently. And all the children have forgiven the parents who neglected and abandoned them.
Since there have also been accusations directly against Ben, I feel the need to point out that he is acting on behalf of a group of 25-30 former OKC kids, many of whom are still Buddhists themselves, and most of whom were plaintiffs in the trial against OKC. Any attack on Ben is, practically speaking, an attack on all of the OKC children. Speaking for the younger generation, right now what the children need is a little compassion and support from the world in light of the traumas that they have lived through and the life challenges that they currently face. To continue to attack them is simply cruel. Many of these kids have a parent who is still in OKC, or halfway in. And all of the kids are concerned about the financial well-being of the remaining members. No-one wants to see these people on the street! But most of these children believe, like I do, that Spatz has no intent to provide for his disciples in their old age. Spatz has sucked people dry over the years, to the point of half-starving children and depriving even terminally ill disciples of medical care. Anyone who believes that Spatz will generously take care of his disciples once they have nothing more to give him is sadly naïve. If Spatz was truly concerned, he could take action right now by setting up individual pensions for his disciples using the money he has hoarded for himself all of these years. Why focus the blame on the children instead of on Spatz, who has been found guilty of violating employment laws and appropriating the community’s money for his personal use?
In fact, the OKC children have had endless discussions about how to deal with the problem of elders aging in the community with no savings or accumulated social security. For this reason, we all supported the people trying to take OKC away from Spatz and hoped they would be successful. And if they had been successful and OKC was truly and irrevocably free from Spatz and his lieutenants, we would support OKC. I believe that most of us would like nothing more than to see Spatz’s disciples recreate a Buddhist community independent of Spatz and make it thrive. But we will not support an OKC that continues to dominate and mistreat people, and funnel money to Spatz.
Incidentally, the tribunal appeared to be concerned for the well-being of aging disciples as well. The court’s solution was to seize Spatz’s assets and create a fund to use as an alternative to social security for all of the adults who worked undeclared and without pay for OKC for most of their lives. That solution in my opinion is also better than letting things rock on as they are, which will result in financial hardship to everyone but Spatz and his most loyal lieutenants in the end. My only fear (which I believe is shared by some of the other children) is that there are adults so deeply entranced by Spatz that they will turn around and give the money right back to him.
The 20-year-old lawsuit against Spatz is not over. The case finally went to trial in 2016, and now it is on appeal, and we are all still holding our breath waiting for the final outcome. Nothing is over or resolved – not yet.
¹ Ben made clear that his goal is not to close the center. He is the spokes person of 23 civil parties, some of the older generations of youngsters (now adults) from OKC. There are now 170 charges against OKC by the Belgian Justice system. Eleven sexual abuse cases were presented in front of the court. In total there are 46 civil parties, some from the 1997 inquiry and all the others from the trial in 2016. A detailed clarification by Ben will be posted soon on this blog.
If you want to financially support the court case of the victims against Robert Spatz, you can donate via http://www.okcinfo.news/en/ (Archived: Aide aux victimes de Robert Spatz GoFundMe Campaign).
Abuse and Buddhism: Behind the Smiling Façade – Anna Sawerthal
Les dérives sectaires Dans les griffes du gourou – RTL TV I
How You Can Support a Victim of Clergy Sexual Misconduct – Lama Miller (Lion’s Roar)
Tagged with: abuse of power Château-de-Soleils at Castellane Lama Kunzang Dorje Nyima Dzong Ogyen Kunzang Choling OKC rape Robert Spatz sexual abuse testimony Tibetan Buddhism
matilda7 on October 30, 2017 at 2:43 am
Tenpel, that Guest Post you’ve placed at the top is confusing. Not sure why it needs to be given such prominence.
tenpel on October 30, 2017 at 6:57 am
What is confusing with it, Matilda?
Maybe it was not clear who says what or where the quote belongs to and who replied.
We changed that right now. Hopefully it is clearer now. Also the first sentence which directly addressed the FB quote moved to a later passage in the text during the editing and we didn’t recognise that. Also this has been changed.
Yes Tenpel, you’ve put the quote in context now, so it makes sense!
Testimony from an Ogyen Kunsang Choling (OKC) Survivor – #OKCinfo VS #OKCspatz #Buddhism ? or Spatzism cult ? on October 30, 2017 at 9:08 am
[…] Testimony from an Ogyen Kunsang Choling (OKC) Survivor – #OKCinfo VS #OKCspatz #Buddhism ? or … […]
Roy on October 30, 2017 at 3:37 pm
I was born and raised there, and I am also one of the civil parties.
It is painful to see people denying what we lived. As it is painful to have your own parent refusing to aknowledge it.
I think after 30/40/50 years of living in a lie, it is hard and painful (sometimes impossible) to admit you have been wronged all along.
I’m not surprised some people will accuse us of having financial interest, or any other arguments they feel would help them live in denial. But it’s not the reality we live in.
Our goals: to have the victims recognized as such and to stop Robert Spatz from abusing or even be in a position to abuse again.
Testimony from an Ogyen Kunzang Choling (OKC) Survivor on October 30, 2017 at 6:37 pm
[…] Testimony from an Ogyen Kunzang Choling (OKC) Survivor […]
Vincent on October 30, 2017 at 8:27 pm
Hi Tempel ,
I was also born and live all my childhood in okc.
First I can ensure you that okc is still Robert spatz. I still know people leaving in Nyima Dzong and one of them told me that one of the “lieutenant” of spatz ask them to keep the picture in the temple. What an offense for this place! How can he put a picture of a pedophile on a thrones surrounded by Buddha and other deities! They say : we have made a mistake by following a pedophile for several years, but now everything is beutiful and all this is past, please don’t mix okc with spatz and so on… You should have seen them on the tribe, last year. When I was there as a civil partie I was always asking me: are they really thinking spatz is a real Buddhist master or they are complice and want to protect him and themselves? They know us and knows what we have been through but they attacked us with punch of lies, deformation of realities and tons of money in expensive lawyers ! And now, as I can see, they continue this sick fight..
I lived my childhood in Nyima Dzong (2 to 16 years) and I can confirm the sad truth of what was says before.
All I dream is the recognition of our past (specially for my sexually abused friends) and the impossibility of Mr spatz to continue to manipulate people..
After that, I will live serenely.
PS: Sorry for my poor English.
tenpel on October 31, 2017 at 3:55 pm
Hi Vincent, Hi Roy,
I acknowledge your past, I acknowledge your pain and my heart goes out to you.
I am unbearable sorry for what you had to go through and how much it effects your live. I truly wished I could have protected you from all of this.
Thank you both for speaking up here. Everybody who speaks up breaks the silence. Speaking up can be also part of the long term healing process.
What they did to you is a total perversion of Buddhism, a total perversion of humanity and a total lack of compassion and true love (for your very wellbeing). Indoctrinated (or brainwashed) people, sadly, can become so compassionate-less and cruel … and kids are usually so fragile and their healthy growing up can so easily be disrupted … (I worked professionally for more than a decade with kids and teens aged 7–18)
I learned today that Spatz and his team sends a team of 7 lawyers while you, all of the OKC kids, have just one underpaid law firm. I hope people will donate money to the fundraising campaign.
I will also ask INFORM http://www.inform.ac if they can be called / emailed for connecting with psychologists, lawyers, and possibly even financial advisors or job placement consultants that might be willing to donate some time to helping you OKC survivors who have the greatest need.
It might be good in the long run to organise a meeting of survivors under a professional so that you can share and speak about your experiences and can confirm each other in your own perceptions and judgements. Finding like minded people who had same or similar experiences doesn’t only offer a good way to feel better understood, less alone, it can be an important part in the healing process.
BTW, Roy, your English is very good! No need to excuse! I understood everything 🙂
Very best wishes for your happiness and a beautiful, less painful, a joyful life with loving and caring friends and what ever you wish for yourself. Sincerely, t
Joanne on October 30, 2017 at 9:29 pm
I feel so very sad for all that you people have suffered. When I first read this, I was reminded of what they did in Scientology, separating families and over-working the parents. But this is much much worse, with the addition of sexual abuse. As a Buddhist, I feel the tragedy of this even more. May the lies, cover-ups, denials and abuse end so that OKC children can get on with their lives and their healing.
matilda7 on October 31, 2017 at 12:12 am
Perhaps some of us bystanders could do a joint letter to Rabjam Rinpoche, in the weeks to come.
Ben on October 31, 2017 at 8:51 am
We did some lobbying via Mathieu Ricard directly to RR, soon after his European tour got canceled but we have no formal proof or even just a short message from him, as a Spiritual Director of OKC, or as a concerned Tibetan Buddhist & representative of the Nyima lineage, we have nothing.
And it’s not the first time RR is directly approached with direct lobbying regarding OKC. The last time, 10+ years go, when he was approached by an ex OKC doctor, he simply dismissed the whole batch of documents from the French court case and then went on retreat for 10 years. Not only leaving his name to be used by OKC but also leaving the OKC members to swim around Spatz water, when he should have taken a much stronger stance already at the time. He didn’t. I think he is being used by Robert Spatz, it’s the only logical explanation I can find, or maybe he’s just waiting for Spatz mess & trial to go away so that he can return to Nyima Dzong and change it for good.. In my view this cannot happen without a full & formal acknowledgement of what enfolded inside OKC with the help, direct of indirectly, of their good name and reputation.
Yes Ben, it seems you’ve done as much as possible to compel him to be aware of the situation and the history of abuse, in the hope he would act or at least condemn the sad legacy. So that’s why i’m thinking that more people – outsiders who are Buddhist – could urge him to pay attention to the issues.
Ben on October 31, 2017 at 1:59 pm
I welcome all initiatives to try new approach & perhaps doing so in the public eye will help put some pressure. RR maybe more than Pema Wangyal could take a lead & clean up this mess, but up to now I feel it’s like in a family reunion : nobody wants to talk about the black sheep but everyone’s know the black sheep is still present at the family dinner and the more time goes on the harder it is to point the black sheep for what it is : not a sheep in this case, more of a wolf.
Yes, its like abuse in the family – including the silence. Sadly, Tibetans, as Asians, won’t take a pro active stance I fear. So its in our hands and responsibility to change things to the better. Public pressure might help – also journalists who directly ask and confront the spiritual leaders might contribute to a change. Therefore, a public letter or even petition (?) might be a good idea.
Expeldjor on October 31, 2017 at 10:32 am
Reading this article brought back painful memories to me. I consider myself also part of the victims of Spatz. My parents entered OKC in the late 70’s. At that time they were loving a stressful business life and the peaceful, loveful Buddhist atmosphere of the OKC community was like an oasis of tranquillity for them.
It took Spatz 3 years of brainwashing to convince my parents to leave everything, this is sell their house and apartment, empty their bank accounts and offer all the money to Spatz, the lama, the living buddha.
After that they worked in the community in Brussels and I was sent to the monastery in France, alone, 15 years old, I had to stop to study and had to work as an adult.
Years have past, after nearly 30 years I could finally leave the community, free myself from this mental cage created by Spatz and try to start to build my own life from scratch , with no job, no money and 40 years old.
During these 30 years my ex wife has been abused by Spatz, and my child beaten by his education staff. But we were so brainwashed that we were convinced all of this was part of the Vajrayana path Spatz teached us.
Unfortunately lots of actual OKC members are still with that vision. It is really difficult to erase 30, 40 or even 50 years of brainwashing.
As civil party I want the victims of abuses to be recognised as victims and the abuser to be condemned for his actions.
About the money: my mother gave all away to Spatz when she entered OKC and is now old and living from social care. Of course I would like Spatz to have to pay to all the victims so that they, canand have a decent life and forthe some of them recover from their fisical, mental and material traumas andof injuries, it’s only fair.
Oh Buddha. This makes me all speechless.
My or others’ Buddhist cult experiences could hardly be compared with your ordeals.
I also want the victims of abuses to be recognised as victims and the abuser to be condemned for his actions and that you all get at least a material compensation and a very very honest apology or an expression of sympathy and compassion by the high Tibetan lamas who support(ed) OKC – including Rabjam Rinpoche.
Ck on October 31, 2017 at 1:17 pm
Matilda7, that is a great idea! Perhaps RR would listen to concerned Buddhists outside of OKC with a completely different ear than the one he lends to us. In addition to the communications that Ben described above, two of the girls abused by Spatz wrote to him earlier this year and received no response. Disappointing.
In fairness, I should add to my last post that the most immediate goal of these letters was to ask RR to cancel his plans to lecture at OKC, which he did. Whether the cancellation was related to the letters or not, we don’t know since he didn’t acknowledge or respond to the writers. And, in addition to asking about the lecture, at least one of the letters asked him to formally withdraw any support of Spatz, recognize the harm done by him, and to send a message of support to the victims and their families. This request was ignored.
Thank you CK. We should write a letter or petition to him, urging him “to formally withdraw any support of Spatz, recognize the harm done by him, and to send a message of support to the victims and their families.” I think this is something he really could do and this would change things also to the better, draining the Spatz swamp.
Expeldjor, I am so sorry for what you have experienced. Really, we can’t say that the lamas who stood by while this was happening are not culpable. Dharma centers have to be safe. Coming to teach Dharma in an unsafe center is lacking authenticity whoever the teacher is.
I think it’s when the pressure builds that change happens. It’s easy to get discouraged with this stuff because lamas ignore and hope things will just go away, and years pass– but persistence and patience are the two necessary moves. So yes, I think a letter signed by concerned Buddhists would be very helpful. Of course, as a Buddhist with no community or lama, as an outcast from my last monastery, I don’t think my signature has any weight. It would be good to make sure we find some signatures with weight as well.
Overall, I think making public is the most effective approach to really moving things along, finding some media outlets, continue with testimonies such as this one etc.
tenpel on October 31, 2017 at 11:22 pm
We Tibetans are aware of some Western followers who believe that Tibetan lamas are enlightened buddhas and infallible gurus, despite their all-too-human deficiencies. It is disillusioned Westerners, who in the course of their lives have experienced the total collapse of their ideals, and who cling to the wishful image of a holy and healing Tibetan tradition. Wherever angst, insecurity, and despair are strong, there is a corresponding desire for something superior, and Westerners project fatherly power upon the lamas. A false understanding of Buddhist teachings, especially that of the Vajrayana, has impelled these projections. … After thirty years, we can now see that the positive aspects of the traditional image of Tibet have had rather negative consequences for the long-term propagation of Buddhism, while the negative aspects of this image, at the very least, have stimulated Tibetan lamas and their students to evaluate themselves critically and, in the end, fruitfully.
Written 21 years ago by Dagyab Kyabgoen Loden Sherab Rinpoche:
https://info-buddhism.com/Buddhism_in_the_West_and_Image_of_Tibet-Dagyab_Rinpoche.html
matilda7 on November 1, 2017 at 9:34 am
@Joanne. Don’t sell yourself short. YOu’re now a published Buddhist writer (if you weren’t before). Anyhow we’re all just ordinary people here i think, virtual nobodies if you like. Not sure how we’d go about getting “signatures with weight”. I suppose we could contact noted Buddhist teachers in the West, particularly the Western ones as they have less cultural inhibitions about taking a stand.
Having said that, in the interest of diversity and plurality, ideally it would be good if it wasn’t just from first world Buddhists. You know, aren’t we always telling others how to run things?
I guess i have to take some responsibility for putting the idea out there about getting a letter going but due to other writing tasks that are doing my head in, i wouldn’t have any time for a few weeks to make a start. So if others would like to initiate something, please do. How to communicate – should we share email addresses? I don’t mind putting this one out there as it’s not my main: hometruthz@fastmail.fm
In the letter I would like to cite the Australian Royal Commission into institutionalized child sexual abuse as an example of both the pervasiveness of such behaviour in religious contexts & to show how important it is to recognise what’s occurred and to let the survivors have a voice, at last. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Testimony from an Ogyen Kunzang Choling (OKC) Survivor #sexualabuse #buddhism #rape #meetoo on October 31, 2017 at 2:43 pm
[…] article was originaly published to the Buddhism & Controversy […]
tenpel on November 1, 2017 at 9:49 pm
Answering my request about what kind of support there might be for those born into the OKC, INFORM answered (quoted with Inform’s permission):
Regarding the OKC children –
You could suggest they get in touch with the Safe Passage Foundation – http://www.safepassagefoundation.org/ – they deal with the grown-up children of high-demand groups as well as the current minors in their framework.
ICSA has a number of resources for people in this situation (but of course these have a North American bias): http://www.icsahome.com/elibrary/studyguides/children
Some ICSA members will run a US-based workshop for 2nd generation former members in 2018, they say you can apply for financial assistance, but maybe if she contacted ICSA (mail@icsamail.com) they could also give some European contacts: http://www.icsahome.com/events/workshopsgas
Former OKC children might also find it helpful talking with former child-members of the Children of God, I think they’ve done the most in terms of trying to organize resources for those who grew up in the group (a significant number of which were also sexually abused): http://www.exfamily.org/resrc/
The former OKC children might also find it helpful to set up their own peer-support networks where they can share tips on getting the resources they need to integrate better into society. The Bruderholf, The Family, and your experience with the NKT-survivors might be models for this; I guess a private Facebook group is the way most people do this now, although it requires someone to take charge of it with all the emotional costs that entails.
I’d also encourage the former second-generation kids to be pro-active in assessing whatever free counselors they are offered – where they feel their counselor does not understand the context of their upbringing enough they can encourage the counselor to talk to Inform or another expert like yourself to understand the situation a bit better.
Ck on November 2, 2017 at 4:08 am
Wow, Tenzin, this looks like a great list of resources! I will definitely share this information with the other OKC kids and chase down some more information about ICSA. Thank you!
Matilda7, I don’t know if I’m the rigbt person to help get things started, but I’ll send you an email and maybe we can exchange ideas at least. Thank you for your offer to help!
And Joanne, I agree with Matilda, you have a meaningful voice, and you are not unimportant just because you aren’t following a lama at the moment. Besides, your one voice is worth far more than the voices of the mutitude of people who are choosing to stay silent.
Naïma on November 2, 2017 at 3:21 pm
Dear Tenpel, first of all, I’d like to thank you for this post.
Actualy, it’s rather important for us OKC and Spatz’ victimes to be understood and considered as real victims.
As an effective ex-member of the sect, entered by my mother in my very young age (I can’t barely remember exactly when ; 1, 2 or 3 years old?) I can only and sadly say that all what has been said previously is totally true. Despite not having been sexually abused by anyone, I can ensure you that the violence, the lack of empathy, the harsh punishments of any kind (wether physical or psychological) and above all the fact of being raised without our parents, a loving and cherishing family is still harming my everyday life. Yet, I have now this cherishing family plus a loving husband, a nice home and so on, but without the help of my psychotherapist I couldn’t make it. I still feel deep inside of me as someone not strong nor intelligent nor whatsoever, certainly because no-one has never taught me that.
I’m now 43, and it has been only since January 2016 and the trial in Belgium that I could make my “coming-out” to my friends and relatives about this sh**t childhood I had to go through.
I then fully support all my friends (they know it) and especially the sexually abused one, who have infinitely more sufferings to cope with than me. Your action, your position brings me hope and courage to go on, despite the blindness and lack of reaction of the Buddhist diaspora whom I personally tried to move from the inside. I must say the reactions of DKR and around Sogyal Rinpoche have had a pretty chilling effect on me, I almost wanted to let all this stuff go. But I shouldn’t and I’ll try to move forward. Thank you again !
Dear Naïma,
thank you for your comment and for sharing some of the experiences of your childhood and for approving the truthfulness of what has been said here so far.
It is hard for me to fully understand your and the ordeal of the other OKC survivors because I lack these experiences – I experienced brainwashing and highly manipulative Buddhist cults only as an adult. I know a little the devastating effects of a lack of love, affection, care and education for children, and also what it means not to have a caring family (I grew up in a Catholic orphanage) but all of this is not sufficient to really understand what you have gone through.
However, I wish to express my full sympathy and support, and also my deep respect for the struggles you have gone through!
And I send you my heartfelt wishes for a happy, joyful, satisfying life. I am happy to hear that you have a cherishing family, a loving husband and a nice home; and that you got also professional help from a psychotherapist. Wonderful!
If there is interest in a spiritual path, I also wish you and the other OKC survivors success and growth in that with excellent, warm hearted, kind and truly compassionate and wise spiritual friends.
May the force of love, affection and wisdom be with you.
Anna Sawerthal’s article was published in the Austria magazin Datum 11/2017. The online presentation can be seen here: https://datum.at/auch-du-buddha/ To read the full article in German it looks like you have to buy the magazine or order a free trial version of the magazine. I did the latter.
I am waiting for approval to put the English translation of the article online.
tenpel on November 11, 2017 at 9:19 am
Here is the English translation of the excellent and heart-wrenching article about abuse in the name of Buddhism or enlightenment by Tibetologist Anna Sawerthal. It includes the OKC case, Rigpa, Triratna and other cases. It basically focuses on the suffering of the survivors of abuse and goes straight into the core of the issues without miring people in jargon: Abuse and Buddhism: Behind the Smiling Façade
If you don't know the OKC-Spatz story here is 3 articles you should definitely read : Testimony from an Ogyen Kunzang Choling survivor. https://buddhism-controversy-blog.com/2017/10/29/testimony-from-an-ogyen-kunsang-choling-okc-survivor/ verdict: 4 on November 13, 2017 at 5:45 pm
[…] here is 3 articles you should definitely read : Testimony from an Ogyen Kunzang Choling survivor. https://buddhism-controversy-blog.com/2017/10/29/testimony-from-an-ogyen-kunsang-choling-okc-survivo… verdict: 4 years suspended sentence : […]
wandrag on November 26, 2017 at 10:31 pm
“Sadly, Tibetans, as Asians,” is clearly discriminative, reeks of racial or ethnic characterisation, if not an outrightly racist comment, Sir (to check the racist potential, replace by “Black” or “Arab” and see), and not your first, alas, but I hope the last one …
I’ ll kindly suggest to you, first to clean this fast, and next, to understand how you came to write such an intersting statement, to find out what lurks in your so progressive and open mind, and investigate about the purity of your intentions, so it won’t hopefully not happen again.
The Buddha was an Asian sir (and it seems to be a problem for you – superiority complex?- it’s very easy to abuse Tibetans, a small community in exile since almost 60 years … but be more careful with Asians, there’s an awful lot of them
tenpel on November 26, 2017 at 11:47 pm
It’s neither meant to be racist nor racist, IMO. Basically, what it relates to or why I used that phrase is to point to the fact that Asian societies deal differently than Western societies with certain problems. They have often different values in their societies. For instance, the welfare of the community (family, group, what their elders say etc) matters more than that of the individual. Its not so much individual focussed. Another thing is, that direct criticism is seen rather as impolite (especially to their elders). Harmony is rather seen of utmost importance etc. These cultural differences lead to a different way in dealing with topics like the abuse of power. I neither say that their way is inferior nor Western way superior (I don’t even think that way). I just hint to some differences important to understand. That’s not racism.
If you understand differences and acknowledge them this can help very much to be far less judgmental in thinking in good and bad categories or looking down on others.
tenpel on December 2, 2017 at 7:08 pm
Here is a new documentary in French. Ricardo Mendes wrote on Open Buddhism FB Group:
»For those who can understand French, this is a RTL documentary about cults (mostly around health issues exploitation) but the beginning and the end of the documentary is about OKC, I was interviewed about OKC inner working along with another civil party Sophie, she described the horror of Cancer non-treatment inside OKC because chemotherapy would impeach one to attain Buddhahood when dying (Spatz hypocondria) (yes that was the case not just for 1 but 4 cases of cancers) Sophie also described children’s mistreatments, harsh beatings, sexual abuses, food & alcohol “initiations” where Spatz would get all of us drunk to the point of ethilic coma. The clout of the document is when RTL TV crew hunt Spatz house in Marbella and end up by finding his palace and end up nose to nose with Yana, personal dakinis of Lama Kunzang aka Robert Spatz. Of course they are not welcome and mandated to leave the private condominium. We hope to make a bit of noise in the French media landscape with this and possibly accelerate the appeal in court. Unknown date.«
Friend on December 24, 2017 at 3:45 pm
Difficult to imagine that R.Spatz was promoted as their representative in Europe by Kangyur and Dudjom R. in the 70’s…
Very little clairevoyance indeed, big and harmful mistake ….:-(
Testimony from an Ogyen Kunzang Choling (OKC) Survivor – Tibetan Buddhism – Struggling With Diffi·Cult Issues on January 6, 2018 at 12:53 pm
[…] Testimony from an Ogyen Kunzang Choling (OKC) Survivor – Tibetan Buddhism – Struggling W… […]
Ck on May 25, 2018 at 2:33 pm
The lawsuit against Spatz and OKC is currently on appeal. If anyone is interested in reading updates or supporting the survivors crowdfunding camspign (of which the primary purpose is to pay their lawyers to defend the appeal), you can find that information here:
https://www.okcinfo.news/en/
We have been struggling to raise enough money for the costs of the appeal, and would be grateful for any assistance, small or large. _()_
tenpel on May 25, 2018 at 4:34 pm
Thank you for keeping us updated! I added the link to the link section.
Hopefully many people will donate.
Sadly, at the moment I don’t have any money and the defence against the Ole Nydahl / Diamond Way legal threats amounts already to almost 20.000€.
However, I my financial situation changes, I am happy to give some money.
matilda7 on May 27, 2018 at 4:03 am
Yes, i will make a small donation during the week, when time permits. My suggestion would be to please publicise the crowd-funding link as widely as possible – like on all the sympathetic Buddhist blogs and on the Open Buddhism fb page.
tenpel on May 27, 2018 at 7:53 am
I offered Ben to give my Twitter and Facebook profile for 7 days. He has a blue banner he wrote. So I wait for him sending it. Additionally, I could make a post or ask also Justin Whitaker to write a post. As far as I know Open Buddhism page closed.
Yes I wondered what happened to Open Buddhism, thought it was only me – though i couldn’t understand how i could have been bumped off given i was only a lurker. Did Facebook pull the plug following complaints or something?
As far as I know, Rob pulled the plug.
Ck on May 26, 2018 at 2:23 am
Tenzin, the help that you have given us by listening to us, helping us share our story and sort through our thoughts and feelings, is worth much more than any sum of money! I am very grateful to you, and I am not expecting or hoping for you to do anything more. You have your own battles to fight which are neither easy nor cheap! I wish you the best in your litigation and I hope that in the long run both of these lawsuits will have a positive outcome – not only for us but for others as well, in the thoughts and discussions that they precipitate in the community. Take care.
tenpel on May 26, 2018 at 10:51 am
Thank you very much CK for your kind reply, understanding, and appreciation.
I’ll keep you, Ben and the OKC survivors in mind and will be mindful if there is an opportunity to do more.
I wish you and all the survivors everything good, a successful fundraising and a successful, positive outcome at the court and also the fulfilment of all your spiritual wishes. Take care.
tenpel on June 6, 2018 at 12:23 am
Dear CK,
now I found out what Ben was writing about on FB Messanger (he spoke of a blue banner and didn’t reply when I asked for details so far – I totally misunderstood him, thinking I should post a blue banner on my profiles for some days.)
When I get it correctly, he meant to support this crowdfunding page https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/70050-justice-for-okc-cult-survivors
I just did that via my Twitter and FB account. Anybody else willing to help could also join to become a supporter. A supporter lend its profile on Twitter, or Facebook, or Tumblr to spread the fundraising on social media. The fundraising page will post a one-time message to the supporter’s account(s) on June 30 at 12:00PM CEST.
For details see the website.
cat on June 1, 2018 at 4:20 pm
Has a former OKC child, I just want to thank you for your support and care! Each person who don’t turn a blind eye on our past is already helping. Most of us have more support in the internet than in our own families so… It means a lot! Sharing is Caring ! or the other way around
Thank you cat for your feedback. It means also a lot to me.
Adamo on June 2, 2018 at 8:23 am
A friend plus me went “Collecting money” for the OKC victims. One € per person each, but we could tell roughly about 20 persons the sad story of OKC.
People (Non-Buddhists mainly) had been shocked and expressed compassion and sorrow for the victims.
matilda7 on June 2, 2018 at 10:06 am
Oh shit, this slipped my mind but will commit to later this week when i can make a more substantial donation than i can today.
matilda7 on June 7, 2018 at 12:11 pm
Done. A pity about the exchange rate! NOt sure the above link takes you to go fund me. Think you have to go here: https://www.okcinfo.news/
tenpel on June 11, 2018 at 11:16 am
Ah thank you! Europeans could do it by bank transfer: http://www.okcinfo.news/en/#crowdfunding
In the EU bank transfer from one to another country is free of charges. So no money gets lost.
ck on June 20, 2018 at 1:12 am
Thank you, Adamo and Matilda (and Adamo’s friends)! Since we have all been under attack for our decision to speak out (and even questionwd ourselves as explained in this article) it means soa lot to know that someone is listening and supporting our cause. Adamo, I’m glad to kmow the full story of the 20 euros you gathered. To me that means that each one of those euros is a well wish from a supporter, making the whole a very valuable 20 euros indeed!
Dennis Allgary on August 4, 2018 at 12:01 am
Verified account @sloumarsh Twitter
I wrote about sexual abuse in Shambhala International and have heard from other groups/ orders since then. If anyone wants to share a story about concerns of abuse within buddhist communities – email me sarah.marsh@theguardian.com
Kungyal on August 6, 2018 at 5:07 pm
Thank you for speaking out our story @adamo and thank you a lot for those 20 euro, very valuable indeed !
@Dennis thank you for this contact !
tenpel on September 18, 2018 at 3:48 pm
SO SAD; SO SAD.
OKC lost the battle at the Belgium court due to technicalities.
For details please see this Facebook post:
It’s another painful example how hard it is for survivors of abuse to get justice even if their case is clean clear as a cloudless sky.
It makes me really sad. I had so much hope for the survivors.
Adamo on June 16, 2019 at 4:50 pm
To whom it might be good to know: https://www.gofundme.com/okcinfo?viewupdates=1&rcid=r01-156068928133-cebdad556ee64368&utm_medium=email&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_email%2B1137-update-supporters-v5b
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Remember D.A.R.E.? South Burlington Police Talk About Program Updates
Jan 10, 2019 | News, Vermont
D.A.R.E. has changed since the 1990’s, but it still uses that red logo. The “brain on drugs” public service announcement is synonymous with D.A.R.E in the minds of many, but it’s from another group.
In the late 90s, federal agencies called into question the effectiveness of D.A.R.E., and the program lost funding before making a comeback in 2009 with the elementary school curriculum keepin’ it REAL.
South Burlington Police Department’s D.A.R.E. program:
Cpl. Kevin Grealis of the South Burlington Youth Services Unit of the South Burlington police, answered questions about what his D.A.R.E. unit teaches fifth-grade students. The program continues in the seventh grade.
Burlington Free Press: What is D.A.R.E. like now?
Grealis: It isn’t heavy on drug talk in the fifth grade. We define what a drug is, and we have a lesson on alcohol and tobacco. But most of the program is about decision making. The theme of drug use is looped into the lessons.
The officers meet with fifth grade classes at each of the three city elementary schools once a week for 10 weeks.
Rick Marcotte Central School D.A.R.E. Graduation shared by the South Burlington Police Department D.A.R.E program
BFP: What are some of the topics for the fifth grade?
Grealis: We give lessons on:
Risk and consequence.
Peer pressure.
Resistance strategies or how to get out of peer pressure-type situations.
Bullying and cyberbullying.
One of my favorite lesson is on stress. We define what stress is. We talk about how it makes us feel in our bodies. How it makes us act and what we do.
Then we figure out strategies to get rid of stress and identify positive activities kids might like to do.
BFP: What is the core idea in your teaching?
Grealis: It’s all about personal responsibility and problem solving, making safe, responsible decisions at home, school or in the community.
At the end of every lesson, situations are presented to the students and we use our decision-making model to figure out how best to resolve it.
BFP: What is something that comes of working closely with students?
Grealis: One of the biggest positives is we get to know the kids at a young age. They get to know police officers as people.
So, if they have other life issues they need to report or if they screwed up, or whatever, they are more comfortable coming to talk to us.
South Burlington’s student survey on drug use
Every year, students in middle and high schools across Vermont take a self-reported anonymous survey regarding their behaviors, including the use of tobacco, drugs and alcohol.
Students at South Burlington’s Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School in the 2017 survey when compared to their peers in Vermont were:
4 percent less likely to have ever used marijuana.
1 percent more likely to have used inhalants.
Were equal in their use of pain medication without a prescription.
1 percent less likely to have used a stimulant without a prescription.
3 percent less likely to have used tobacco products.
4 percent less likely to have used alcohol.
Questions about methamphetamine and heroin use were only asked of high school students. City kids were 2 percent less likely to have used heroin and 1 percent less likely to have used meth than their peers.
Use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs increased with the age of the cohort, but generally remained lower than the Vermont average.
Recorded from ‘Seeking Pathways Out of the Opioid Addiction Crisis in Vermont’ live forum
at Champlain College on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018.
Ryan Mercer, Free Press Staff Writer
More info on Vermont D.A.R.E.:
Other participating Vermont police departments include Colchester, Barre and Brandon. D.A.R.E. has free resources online to build family, community or school discussions on drug use, school safety and crime prevention.
Vermont Department of Education resources:
Know: Comprehensive, School-Based Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Prevention.
Learn: Opioid Use Impacts Families of Our Vermont School Children and Our Greater School Community.
Talk: Parent Up, guide to talk to your kids.
Get help: Local health offices in Vermont.
From Burlington Free Press
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Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Sue K. Embrey Interview
Narrator: Sue K. Embrey
Interviewer: Glen Kitayama
Location: University of California, Los Angeles
Densho ID: denshovh-esue-01
<Begin Segment 1>
GK: My name's Glen Kitayama, and today is Thursday, September 11, 1997, and I'm here talking with Sue Embrey at UCLA's Sunset Village conference room. So, Sue, how are you enjoying the conference so far?
SE: Well, I think I finally settled down, it was a long trip coming here. [Laughs] It took me -- there was nothing on the freeway that I could see, but it was like 15 miles an hour, you know, we were going stop and go. I'm glad it's over. Sometimes it's nice to be the first one on. Sometimes it's not so good, but...
GK: [Laughs] So you were able to get it over with at least.
SE: Yeah, yeah.
GK: We were talking earlier about some of your camp experiences, so can you tell us where you went to camp?
SE: I lived just around Little Tokyo, so all of us went from there directly to Manzanar. Part of the reason was because my older brother had volunteered and was already there. We were all scheduled to go to Santa Anita, but at the last minute they sent directions, or instructions from the U.S. army that people who had relatives in Manzanar could go there (as) additional barracks had been built. So, I think basically that almost all of Little Tokyo went there. And some of my friends ended up in Santa Anita. I'm glad I didn't go there, because they said it was just terrible, with the horse stalls, and the smell of hay, and all that. But (at) Manzanar (had) new barracks and everything. Things, I mean, everything wasn't finished, but it was at least better than the horse stalls.
GK: Did any one of your family have to go there to help construct or...
SE: Yeah, my brother volunteered. They asked for 1,000 volunteers in early March, and so my brother quit his job and told my mother, "Well, if we have to go, maybe it'd be better if one of us went ahead and tried to make things a little bit better." And then we were worried that we wouldn't get there, because they were talking about our going to Santa Anita. But when the instructions came out that they had some room for people at Manzanar, my mother insisted that... so not only my family, but my in-law -- my brother was married, and he had an in-law family, we all decided to register (under) the same address and go together. So there must have between sixteen and twenty of us, you know, in-laws, and cousins, and all that.
GK: What were the conditions like at Manzanar?
SE: Well, we got there by train. It must have been around an eight-hour ride, so it was quite dark when we got to the station in Lone Pine. They picked us up by bus and took us to Manzanar, so we didn't really know 'til the next morning where we were, actually. And it turned out to be a fairly nice day until breakfast, and then the sandstorm came up and we could not see anything. And we were told to go and collect our suitcases, 'cause they didn't unload them the night before when we came in. So we all went out into this great big firebreak, and they just dumped the suitcases off the trucks, went back to the station to pick up some more. And so it was almost impossible to find our way back because every barrack looked exactly the same. There were no numbers on them in the beginning. And I can't remembered how we did, but we managed to get there. And it blew all day. That was the first, the first day we were there, and we thought, "Oh my gosh, is this going to be like this all the time?" And it was not that cold, it was early May, so it was just beginning to warm up.
GK: What were the winters like?
SE: Very cold. First year, I think '42, it didn't snow, so they were short of water, and they asked everyone to conserve. But in '43, it snowed, I think, on Christmas Eve, but I was already gone by then, so I don't... but the nights got very, very cold. It was about 3,500 feet altitude, so as soon as the sun went down it would get cold. Of course, the summers were very hot, and we were given a salt tablet a day to take so we wouldn't get dehydrated, and told to drink lots of water.
GK: Wow.
SE: So it got very hot in summer and very cold in winter.
<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.
GK: About how old were you when you entered camp?
SE: I was, I had just reached eighteen in '41, I finished high school. So I guess by '42, I was nineteen when I went to camp. And I was, like I said, the sixth child in a family of eight, my mother was a widow and we all went with her.
GK: How did, how did camp affect your mother?
SE: Well, for one thing, I think she got... well, I'm not sure whether it was, it must have been arthritis, because her whole left side she was unable to move her arms, and we ordered dresses from the catalogs. You know, Montgomery Ward and Sears, (that) had buttons all the way down the front so we could get her dressed. And, but she used to walk a lot around camp, and she took part in, they had what they called utae, which is a capella singing, telling a story. She loved to sing, so she got involved with that. And later on she went to Red Cross classes where they rolled bandages for the army. And I think for her it was probably a good time, but she never talked about the fact that we lost our grocery store that she had bought after my father died. She always said it was better to be in business for yourself. And so here she was, left a widow with eight kids, and so she cashed in her insurance policy, and bought this little grocery store outside of Little Tokyo, and she really enjoyed being a businesswoman. And then when we lost that, it was a little over a year, year and a half maybe, after she bought it, that she lost it, she never mentioned it. But I think it really kind of killed her dream of becoming an independent woman. And we sold it to a young Mexican American couple, and they took care of it for a while. But she never really was able to get back into doing anything like that. I think that she probably was very disappointed about that, but she never, like I said, never mentioned it.
She got a lot of pressure during the time when everybody had to sign the loyalty oath. You know Question 27 -- "Are you, are you loyal to the United States, and would you serve in the armed forces?" And for the Issei, like my mother -- "Would you disavow your allegiance to the Emperor?" -- would have meant that she would have lost her citizenship. And so a lot of her neighbors and friends wanted her to sign and go to Japan. And she said, "But my kids won't go, so why should I go by myself?" And I think, you know -- and we told her we were all going to sign "yes" because we wanted to get out of there, and my brothers wanted to go into the service. So she was kind of in a quandary between her Issei neighbors saying, "Oh, you don't have the Yamato spirit. You're going to stay in America after they treated you so badly, and you're not going to Japan." So I think in the end she decided that she would stay in the United States, and so I guess she signed the loyalty oath the way she wanted to. But we had all told her we would sign "yes" on it. And she said, "After all, you're American citizens, so this is where you belong." And because she was alone, she felt she needed to be with us.
GK: What did she end up doing after the war?
SE: She refused to go to Chicago, where I had gone and my elder brother had gone, 'cause she said that, you know, it would be a strange place and she wanted to go back to Los Angeles. The other thing was that my sister had arrested TB and she came with us to Manzanar, but the dust and the bad food just wasn't conducive to her health so they sent her back to a sanitarium in Monrovia. And so we didn't see her for like three or four years. And my mother didn't want to go anyplace else. She said we would be abandoning her if we didn't come back to Los Angeles. So she stuck it out in camp until September, I think September of '45, and the camp was to close in November, and she, my younger sister finished Manzanar High School and came back to Los Angeles with a friend who had a hotel that she had leased out and she was going to get it back. So my younger sister then stayed with her, found a job and then my mother and my younger brother came out and settled in L.A. And she found a job, started working after she came out, but during the time she was in Manzanar, you know, my three brothers were in service, so it must have been pretty hard on her, but never complained. I think she was a pretty strong person inside. And once she decided she was going to stay here, and her kids were going to stay here, and sons were in the service, it was just, you know, just go on with life. She lived to be ninety-four.
SE: She went to the pilgrimages with me until she was ninety. So she went almost all of the pilgrimages from the -- not the first one, but all through the years. But she was a very strong Buddhist, so she felt that... the cemetery was there, she needed to go back and pay her respects to the people who had died in camp. But she never talked about any of the other stuff, about the bad food, or the terrible weather, or having her kids leaving her behind and resettling. I'm sure she talked about it with her friends when they sat around and reminisced about it, but, yeah. She always showed that she could do things, taking part in these a capella singing and doing other things.
GK: What did you do in camp?
SE: Well, the first couple of weeks we really didn't do anything. People were looking for things to do, and the Maryknoll sisters came in from the Los Angeles Maryknoll Center, and they asked the administration about setting up a school, because this is the middle of May and a lot of the kids had been taken out of school to come there. So they found a couple of barracks, and they asked for help. So my sister-in-law had been going to UCLA and wanted to teach, so she said, "Let's go down and see what we can do to help them." And so we took care of the little kids, we had them sing, and we took 'em out to play, and... we're not a very well-organized activity, 'cause we had no books, there were no chairs or tables, and the sisters were just getting started.
So we did that for a couple of weeks, and then the administration announced that the camouflage net factory had been completed, and American citizens who wanted to help in the war effort could come and work there. So I decided that was what I wanted to do. So we were making these huge nets, they were ten by twelve, they hang from the ceiling, there's a pattern on one side and a blank net on the (other), and you just weave these colored burlap strips, green, and dark green, brown and follow the pattern. And so that went on for a while, and then in June or July, the farmers in Utah, Idaho said that they were going to lose their sugar beet crop because they had no help on the farms, and they wanted the people in the camp to volunteer and go out, so my brother and my sister-in-law went out to work in Idaho. And some of the people in the Manzanar Free Press went out, the young men that were working there, so someone said, "Gee, you know, there's a couple of openings for reporters on the Free Press." (...) They said, "You know how you like to write, so why don't you go apply for a job?" And I did, and I got a job as a reporter. And so I enjoyed that, 'cause I got to walk around the camp, find out what things were going on. You know, one block, I think, Block 6, people had finished building a fish pond and a rock garden, so I reported on that. And I reported on things that were happening elsewhere. And we had a sports editor who wrote about all the sports activities.
So by the time, I guess June, July, things were beginning to settle down. People figured, "Well, we have to be here, so might as well go on with life." Then we had, they had set up a co-operative and the government asked these co-operative enterprises groups across the country to come in and set up co-ops, so the co-ops (were) like a beauty shop, shoe repair shop, a barber shop, and what we called the canteens, it was like a little grocery store. And it was kind of self-operating. People buy stuff, and then the money is kept within the business. The Manzanar Free Press was one that was also part of the co-op, and we got funding from them and also from advertising. Sears Roebuck and some of the big companies advertised so that they could send things back and forth by mail. So that was set up and people were able to get some services. So that was an interesting time for me in terms of being able to write and do a lot of reporting, and ended up as people went on out of camp, all of us young people, the youngest of the group, got (promoted) and became the editorial staff and I became the editor for a while.
GK: How long did you stay in camp?
SE: I was there -- let's see, I figured it out one day -- seventeen months and twenty-six days, so about a year and a half...
GK: So you left...
SE: I left in October of 1943. By that time, I guess by the beginning of '43, the WRA decided they really needed to get us all out of camp, because it was, first of all, costing the government too much money to feed us and to keep us there. And they were running ten different camps, so... they were encouraging people to go out -- women wanted to get married to soldiers, they would get their clearance and let them go out. And then students were going out to colleges back east, and with this temporary furlough thing going on with the farms, they thought might as well do it on a more permanent basis. So they set up this permanent relocation policy, so I applied to leave, and I got a job offer -- not a job offer -- an offer from the YWCA in Madison, Wisconsin to come and live there, and they would help me find a job. And I had already gotten letters from several friends who had moved to Madison, they were working, they were nurses working at the hospitals. And they said, "Oh, you know, it's so much nicer out here. Please come out." So I thought I'd do that. My brother, who had volunteered to come to Manzanar, was the first one of our family to leave also, he went to Chicago and he got a job there. So he kept writing to us and telling us, "So much better out here. There are plenty of jobs," so we should all come out. But we couldn't get my mother to leave, so I went out.
And in December '42 there was a riot in Manzanar, and most people didn't really, most of the people that lived in Manzanar didn't know that it was happening. It was just a group, a small group of maybe about 200 people, and it was over the lack of sugar, the disappearance of the sugar in the mess halls, and the mess hall (...) workers wanting to know what was going on. And then a JACL member had gotten beaten up because he had received permission to go out to a National JACL meeting, and everyone felt that the administration was playing favorites to JACLers because they were pro-administration. And so after he was beaten up, Harry Ueno was arrested on charges of being a suspect, the person who did it. And so they put him in prison in Independence, and the negotiating committee met to try to get him back to Manzanar and have some kind of hearing there. The crowd got unruly and went to the front entrance and (...) the MPs (were called out). And evidently, from what I've heard, they said somebody released a truck brake, and the truck headed toward the stone building, and the MPs got panicky and they shot at the crowd and two young boys were killed and several people were wounded. So after that things got really kind of uneasy for people, and I guess the government decided they needed to do something. So they started separating people and what they called troublemakers, people who wanted to go to Tule Lake and either go to Japan or just sit out the war, and people who had signed "no-no" to the loyalty oath.
I was -- they suspended the paper because it happened on December 6th, which was sort of an anniversary date for the attack on Pearl Harbor, and of course the newspapers made a big thing of it. But we decided to put out a Christmas edition and... so I was taking the copy, it had to be printed in Lone Pine or Bishop, because the printing presses were up there. So I was taking the packet to the Project Director's office, when I almost bumped into him, in fact, he threw open the door and I almost bumped into this military officer, and I looked up and he was my former high school teacher. He was now a captain of the MP, (the) group that they had sent in from Las Vegas after the riot. And so while we were talking, he said, "Have you made any arrangements to leave camp?" And I said, "Oh, they won't let us out now after the riot. They don't trust us anymore." "Oh, no," he said, "I've just been talking to Washington and I've talked to the Project Director. I told him 'I know these Nisei kids, and I've had them in my school, in classes. You must get them out of here.'" And he said he talked to Dillon Myer, and he said, "They're gonna go through with this project of getting everybody out," so he said, "I want you to make your application and try to get out of here. This is no place for you." So then he asked about some of the other people. I said, "Well, they're, most of them are in Heart Mountain," you know, because we got separated. But that was encouraging for me to hear that, so I decided I'm gonna apply and I got my clearance. But I didn't apply for a while because things were kind of uneasy, and so it was October of '43 before I actually left Manzanar, and there were about, I think, six of us were driven to Reno, and we caught the train at Reno, and went to Chicago.
GK: Did you have a choice to go anywhere you wanted?
SE: Yeah, uh-huh. Anywhere except back to California, or back to the military... I'm not sure that people were able to go to New York, I think a lot of them went to Chicago and maybe New Jersey and then they ended up, you know, after they'd been out a while go to New York. Because I think New York was also a military area. But I went to Madison, Wisconsin, first, and then I ended up in Chicago, 'cause my brothers were there. And then I was there until '48 when they, yeah, '48. Although the restrictions were lifted in '45, so you could back to California.
GK: What did you do after you came back from Chicago?
SE: Let's see, I came back to (Los Angeles), from Chicago in '48. I found my family living in a two-room, I would say it was a shack, but it was a medium house, I guess, there was only two rooms. But it had no running water, everybody had to use the faucet outside, I guess. There were about one, two, three, about three or four different living quarters, and there was a house in front. Now, people who lived in the house in front had to keep their bathroom open so we could all use it to take a bath or shower. And I thought, "Oh, this is awful," you know, here they've been back for two years. "Can't you find a place to live?" "No, we haven't been able to find anything." And my mother actually wanted to buy something 'cause she had some savings, but not really enough to make a down payment, so... as soon as I got back, I went around looking for a rental, anything. It was amazing, I found a lot of discrimination again. You know, I would get on, take money with me, go to a public phone, 'cause they weren't building, they weren't making telephones yet, because the war had just ended and all of the companies had gone into war work, so they were converting, and so we applied because my brother was a veteran, and they were giving preference to veterans. But we didn't have a telephone, so I would go into these public phone booths, and call all these numbers in the papers, you know, advertising rentals. And amazing, the minute I said my name, "Oh, we don't rent to Japanese, we don't rent to Asians." Orientals at that time. Had a hard time looking for something. And then I thought, "Well, maybe we could try buying something." So I called the real estate agencies, and they'd say the same thing: "We don't sell to," you know, "we don't sell to Japs, we don't sell to Orientals." So then I thought, "Well, my mother likes to go to the" -- she's a member of the Koyasan Buddhist Temple -- "maybe I could find something around Little Tokyo." And south of, south of Little Tokyo there were some small houses a lot of black families had moved into. And I came across a three-bedroom house for rent. And I thought, "Oh, this is great." And so we moved in there, and so my mother lived there for a while until my brother bought a house in the Crenshaw area, and she moved out there with him. But in the meantime, in 1948 I came back, I went to work for L.A. County Health Department, and I was a secretary to the County Health Officer until about '52. I got married in 1950. I think after that I went, I went to work as a legal secretary and put my husband through school. And then after he finished, then I went to school. [Laughs]
GK: And where did, where did both of you graduate?
SE: Let's see, he got his degree in, Master's Degree in Psychology. He went to work at West (Los Angeles), Community College and I got my Bachelor's in English at Cal State L.A., and then I went for my Master's at USC and got my teaching credential. So we both ended up as teachers.
GK: Oh.
SE: Uh-huh.
GK: Interesting.
SE: Yeah.
GK: I want to jump ahead to the 1960s and I remembered listening to you on the panel talking about the repeal of Title II movement. Was that your, were you involved in this, and...
SE: Yeah, I... (in) 1950 we moved to Echo Park, after we were married. And we got involved in the local Democratic politics and the mayor's race, and we were, you know, walking precincts and licking stamps and stuff like that. And I was not too much in touch with the Japanese community. There really wasn't anything going on, you know, the community centers hadn't been building up, and there was no JACL, so... I think there were, but they weren't very active. So, I had met Edison in, I can't remember, in one of these...
GK: Edison Uno?
SE: Uno, in one of these meetings and I was very impressed with him. You know, he was always thinking of things, issues that we needed to get involved in. And so I guess we contacted him, regarding trying to get Manzanar listed, you know, but that was not 'til '69. But around that time, I met Dr. Bob Suzuki, who was also active with JACL. He was a teacher, he was a professor at Cal Tech. He's an engineer by trade, I think, by experience. And he was involved in that Title II campaign also, and he got me involved in it. I'm not exactly sure how, unless some of my other friends called and asked me to get involved in it, or went to some meetings, and they said this was a very bad law and we wanted to get it removed. And I got, and I was with a small group of people that were working on it. And I remember that we wrote to Mike Masaoka about it and how we were going start this campaign, and he sent back this letter saying, "Don't do it." You know, "This is not the time to do it, we're gonna lose the section that will give citizenship to our parents, and we're gonna jeopardize the bill. We don't want anybody to do anything about it." But we went ahead and did it anyway, and Edison was really the major leader of the whole group.
GK: Was this the '60s?
SE: Yeah, this was the '60s, and I think prior to that there was a group of, there was a group of us, we formed the Nisei Progressives. This came out of the third party candidacy of Henry Wallace. Henry Wallace was rejected by (Roosevelt) to run for the next election, you know, as a team, and so he decided to form a third party and a friend of mine, who's very progressive person, wanted to start a group to support his candidacy, so we formed a group called Nisei for Wallace. And we were doing precinct work, and all. And he, the leader of the group, gave most of the impetus, because he had distributed petitions to sign us, to get on the ballot in California, and that was done. So he was very instrumental in talking about Title II being such a bad section of the law, we needed to get rid of it. And that the McCarran Walter Act was good because it gave citizenship to our parents, but then it also had this bill that would put people in camps, and he said we can't have that now. After all, we were just out of the camps. And so that's how, I think that was how I got involved. A friend of mine wanted me to get involved with the group. And I had admired Henry Wallace for his agricultural work. You know, he had done hybrid corn growing and done all kinds of experiments with crops in his, I think he's part of the Midwest. And so I thought, "Gee, I wonder, if he does something like that, maybe he'll be good as a president." So I went on, sort of on a personal level, but then I got involved in all these other things. And then when I went to UCLA to look for something, I ran into people like Kenyon Chan, who were active there, and he said they were putting on this pilgrimage in 1969, and would I be interested in going. I said, "When are you going?" And he said December. I said, "Oh, that's a terrible time to go. Gonna be so cold." But then he said, "No, we want people to feel that," you know. Well they did, it was a very cold day, it was the coldest day of the year in Owens Valley. And everybody was complaining that their cameras wouldn't work because it was so cold. And they didn't have warm clothing, and I think Jim Matsuoka and I were the only ones that wore long underwear, and bundled ourselves up.
GK: You and Jim probably being the, two of...
SE: Two older, yeah.
GK: ...the Nisei who were actually in camp. [Laughs]
SE: That's right, and probably I think we were the only few. I think Karl Yoneda came with his wife, but there weren't very many Nisei at that pilgrimage, it was the first one in '69. And I guess after that I sort of got involved. Warren wanted us to form a committee and start thinking about what we can do with Manzanar. So that's, gradually got more and more involved in that.
GK: That was Warren Furutani?
SE: Uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah. And let's see, who was organizing? Ron Wakabayashi was one, in the JACL, and then Bob Suzuki, of course, were all part of the group that decided the pilgrimage would be a good idea. That way people would get, you know, at least alert them to what's happening with Title II, and so that was the start. And I don't -- I think Title II didn't get repealed until about '71 or '72, something like that. Because I think you had to go through the Congress, and get a bill passed to repeal that, something like that.
GK: Right.
SE: So... but in the meantime I was still doing work on the local level. You know, I was part of the PTA, and I was part of the local clubs, and we were doing local elections mostly. Mayor's race, City Council race, things like that. Gradually got more and more involved with the Japanese community. As things developed, the clubs began to form, and ended up that way.
GK: Yeah. Did you end up working for, with George Takei's campaign for Mayor? Not Mayor, City Council.
SE: Yeah, I did. I really wanted him to be... yeah, I really wanted him to be elected. I went out and campaigned for him. And he was a really charismatic candidate, you know, he would have been good. But I guess, I don't know what it was that it ended up that he didn't win. Can't remember who was running against him.
GK: Cunningham?
SE: It was Cunningham, I guess, yeah. David Cunningham. But he turned out to be pretty good, but I was really disappointed that George didn't win. Yeah, it was kind of... I guess he's been active in other things.
GK: When did you, when did you more or less take over, and I say take over, but become the Chair of the Manzanar Committee?
SE: I think it was after the '73 dedication of the plaque. Warren said well, he wanted to go on to other things. And we had a lot more members, you know, a lot more people involved in it, but most of them were very active in Civil Rights movement, so after that kind of finished, they all kind of went their own ways. Some of them were still in school, and then so when Warren left, and when he left the JACL, we couldn't use their address anymore for the Manzanar Committee, so it ended up that, you know, everything was coming. I said, "Well, you can use mine," and ended up with everything coming to my address. And gradually, I guess... we didn't really work at it, things just happened, I guess, that way. People come and help us that were interested in doing the pilgrimage. They're not interested in coming to meetings the rest of the year or doing other kinds of things. Going out and doing presentations and things like that in classrooms. I get other people to do that, I get people like William Hohri, and people in the valley, San Fernando, I have two or three contacts, I call them up and say, "There's a school that wants someone to come and speak." And they all do it, they enjoy doing that. William does the one out by the beach, the South Bay area. So that way I could spread it out to different people.
GK: So the Manzanar Committee, does it run year-round?
SE: Yeah, yeah. In fact, you know, the Park Service put our address on the Internet, so I've gotten letters, I've gotten two letters from Germany, one from England, (from people who) want information. And I've helped a lot of students. They participate in a National History Day contest every year.
GK: Yes.
SE: And each year, there's a theme. The first one that I helped was several groups here in California. And then one of the winners was a Sansei gal in Hawaii, and she had written me and sent me a questionnaire, and I answered it and sent her a packet of information. Came out number one in the National History Day contest. She interviewed like sixty people over the phone.
GK: Oh, my gosh.
SE: And she interviewed her grandparents and her parents, and got all this information. Then... that was geography in history, how does geography affect history? And she did a really good job on that, the fact that we were all in desert areas or swamplands and how the climate affected people's thinking, and you know, she asked all these questions, and did a very good project. And a gal in Texas called me, and interviewed Norm Mineta and I sent her a packet of information, and she interviewed me over the phone, gave her some tips on how to do an oral history with her grandparents. I said, "Be sure and interview them. You want to know what your family history is." She came out number three in that state contest. She won the regional, local one. And then the last one was a gal in Florida, at a U.S. Naval Station and her mother called, and said, "She has no information, could you send her stuff?" So I sent her some information and talked to her on the phone. She won the state contest. I didn't really get to talk to her, but I left a message on her phone. I thought it was really wonderful. She went to Washington, I think, I don't know how that turned out. A number of these young students I've helped, and they're really bright kids, and it's really, you know makes me feel that it's, continuing that people do have an interest. And all of them want to buy all the books they can get a hold of. [Laughs] And I give 'em the Museum bookstore number, I said, "Call the Museum." And they said, "Wow, will they send it right away?" "Well, tell 'em to send it, you know, special delivery or whatever." "Oh, I've got to have it, I've got to have that book." And so it's been an interesting experience. It would be nice if we had an office where somebody could do all that, but all of it pretty much comes to me, and then I just send them out to people if I think other people can answer it better. You know, if they want to interview a veteran, I call my friends in veteran's group and have them contact the student, and that way they get more out of them. In fact, the gal from Texas, I told her to find some survivors of the "Lost Battalion," you know, the 36th Division from Texas. I said, "You know, that's a local story you really should talk about." So she said she'd try. But places like that where they don't have any (...) Japanese living around the area, it's important I think to get them as much information as possible.
GK: So, what would you say was the main contribution of the Manzanar Committee to the redress movement?
SE: Well, I think that annual event kept the issue alive, kept, at least made more and more people aware that that thing happened, because a lot of people didn't know it even happened. And when I went to Chicago to live, they had seen some headlines -- some of the people that I worked with -- but they didn't really know the whole story. And when I told them, you know, they sort of sit there and like, "It really can't be true that this happened." And, you know, you say, "It did happen, it happened to me." And so I think that the publicity that's generated from it, and also having the reunions, going back to the other camps. In the cafeteria line today, this guy was standing next to me, picking out his salad, said, "You know, you were at that Gila River reunion." I said, "Yeah, the pilgrimage." He said, "We made $65,000 for the monument." I said, "You did? That much money?" He said, "Yeah, everybody who had been at Gila River or had connections gave us a donation." I said, "That's amazing." I said, "I wish we could do that at Manzanar." We don't get that kind of money, very seldom. You know, $100 donation comes out of nowhere, maybe $50, people gives us sets of photographs, you know, that they take and things like that, but none of them... I don't know whether it's because we've been going so long, or they think we have money 'cause we do it every year, I don't know. But I think all of that, in a sense, educated the Nisei.
You know, we were only nineteen, eighteen, nineteen when we went to camp. We were very naive. Politically, we didn't know anything. And even though we read about the Constitution and studied about the Bill of Rights, we didn't think of putting it into force. You know, very naive. And that's why it took so long, I think. But I think that having these pilgrimages and then people could see things outside their personal experiences, that it was a constitutional issue, not just a personal one. And that there were things that we could have done, you know, to ask for relief and we didn't do it. And that was because we were very naive, I think. We didn't have leadership, I mean, we were only eighteen. [Laughs] Our parents were actually our leaders, you know, they were still in charge of the families, and they were all pulled off by the FBI, so there really was no leadership. And a lot of people, you know, they don't say that. A lot of people are opposed to the JACL. They, you know, people have said to me, "They sent us down the river. Mike Masaoka took us from independence to captivity. He's the leader of JACL. You know, that's what he did." And I've heard JACL people say that about him. And when they came up with the idea of redress, it was mostly individual payments, and they sure didn't want a community fund handled by JACL. That was the biggest issue. I mean, nobody's mentioned those things. I think we're too polite to each other, you know. I expected fireworks. [Laughs] But I don't think it now, because when I was talking to Don Nakanishi, he says, "Everyone's worried about everybody attacking them." Different groups, you know, but I don't see that. I mean, they have a few things they say about JACL, but it's not really that much, you know, that harsh of criticism. Although one of the workshops, they said they went after Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee.
SE: But that's not really part of the early years, you know.
GK: Even though JACL came up with the idea for... or at least they're the ones who passed the resolution for $25,000 to each internee back in 1978, would the community have followed the JACL had they gone through with this, this proposal?
SE: Maybe if it were the only organization doing it, I think they would have. But see, they had NCJAR and they set up NCRR, and they had the court cases. I think all of that combined, coming almost on top of each other, helped it more. I think that NCRR did the most in terms of the younger people, and JACL had to convince their older members. 'Cause a lot of them were opposed to it. They just thought it would be welfare. "We don't want to take that money from the government." And you have to explain to them, it's not welfare, it's what you're entitled to, you know, you can sue someone for that kind of wrong that's committed against you. You do it for an automobile accident, you do it for personal injuries, it's part of the American system, and there's no reason to think that it was welfare. And I know some of the people that testified at the commission hearings asked for a lot more, individually, they felt they lost more, and they wanted... one, I know one young man asked for a million dollars, 'cause he said he lost his younger sister, and that he suffered tremendous racism when they moved out to Idaho on the farms. He said he was, "I would rather have been working on the farm with my dad than going to school because it was such a terrible time for us."
And so I think if JACL had been the only group, they probably might have gotten more other kinds of leadership besides Mike Masaoka. Because a lot, I think, depended on his decision. And he was very much against redress in the beginning. And I don't know if people know that he was the one that cut out the sibling receiving the money -- brothers and sisters -- but only the children and the parents. Because he didn't want the people who went to Japan to get it, in case the families were separated and one brother got redress, and he died and he was gonna leave it to his other siblings who were in Japan, because Mike Masaoka thought they were all disloyal. He never considered that there was family reasons for people to go, or that people were really disillusioned with the United States because of what they did, and they were gonna go to Japan. It was not a matter of disloyalty. But he was not brought up in a Japanese community. In our workshop they kept talking about the cultural heritage of being, you know, reticent about talking about your experience, about complaining, about asking for redress. Mike Masaoka did not grow up in a Japanese community. He was a Mormon. He grew up in Utah among hakujin, you know? So I don't think he understood that family obligations sometimes mean a lot more to people, you know. And that he had no right to expect that, or to believe that every one of them who went to Japan was disloyal. Because I'm sure a great majority were not. You know, they went because their parents had to go. A lot of them came back -- and they were minors, too. But see, they lost out on the redress because of that.
<Begin Segment 10>
GK: What would you say were the contributions of the different organizations? Say, starting with NCJAR?
SE: Well, I think NCJAR's class-action suit was good because it, I think, made the Nisei believe that you could do something by law, through the legislative, I mean, through the judicial system. And that, even though it didn't win as it went along, they still got appeals, you know, they were able to get appeals through. And then when it got to the Supreme Court, I think it's kind of validated their feeling that they had some good reasons to ask for redress. That it was not just a frivolous lawsuit, that people were just asking for money. But that they really had suffered and they really deserved to get it. And I think that was good, and then having that followed by the coram nobis cases also helped. And when they set it aside, of course, that was even better. Because, I think a lot of them believed in the system, but they weren't quite sure it was going to work for them. And then on the other side, you had NCRR doing the lobbying, which most Nisei never did. And I think that was good, 'cause it made them realize that you can go to Washington, and you can fight City Hall on some issues. Although I think most of us never believed it would happen. You know, we really didn't think it would be possible. Because, first of all, mostly, you know, Republican Congress. Everything that happened to redress and Manzanar being a historic site, and some of the other things, all were done under a Republican Congress. And it was a Democrat, Franklin Roosevelt, who signed the Executive Order, you know? Ford did the American Promise, invalidating E.O. 9066, and Bush signed the redress letter, he also signed the Manzanar bill. And let's see, before that, what did we have?
GK: Does that, would you say that that says more about them, or does it say more about the community?
SE: Well, I think it's both, because the community really lobbied, they really lobbied in Congress, and that helped. All the letters that went out and the contacts people made, and we were also, in a better position with some of the -- because we had congresspeople in Congress. In '42 we didn't have anybody. We had no leaders at all, even in local offices. So that by the time the redress bill got to Congress, we had Mineta, we had Matsunaga, we had Dan Inouye, we had Norm Mineta, although Norm told us in a meeting years, in 1980, that no way we were gonna get redress. He said, "You should see all the hate letters I get from my constituents." He says there's no way that we're gonna get it. That's why they were so lukewarm on it in the beginning, 'cause they were afraid they were gonna get defeated, they wouldn't get elected again. You know, all of them felt that way. And I know Bob Matsui said at our Manzanar reunion in 1980, was it '88, yeah '88, said, "If you talked about redress or camp before 1980, you would never had heard me say anything. I wouldn't have come to (...) make a speech like that here." He says, only since 1980, he said, that we really got moving on it. So even though a lot of things were happening, they were sort of happening, sort of as a prelude to the big push later. And once JACL got in there, and NCJAR filed the class-action suit, and the NCRR formed nationally, I think it really helped to have all three of them. Although I'm sure there was a lot of competition, you know, a lot of criticism back and forth about JACL not helping, taking all the credit after everybody else did the work, and all that.
GK: Is that your sentiment?
SE: Yeah. People tell me JACL worked hard -- I'm sure they did. I supported them, I went to their fundraisings. They had the Legislative Education Committee going, and they raised a lot of money. But since I had been helping San Fernando, I knew that there were people that really worked on redress. But I think they felt the same way, that JACL always gets on the bandwagon later and takes the credit.
<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.
GK: What would you say is the legacy of the redress movement?
[Interruption]
SE: Well, I think the legacy is, for the Nisei, if they hadn't been aware of it before, that they can use, that they should use their rights as citizens to ask for relief. So, you might lose maybe, but at least you may take, you know, you have to take that chance. And it's like Henry said, that some of his non-Japanese friends kind of, didn't respect us because we weren't fighting for what we thought was right, and that we were being so quiet and taking all that, I guess, on the chin. And also, I think, for the future generations, gives them some feeling that, "Well, our parents did it. You know, they suffered, but they went back and they fought, they took a stand." And that was important, because I used to feel very lonesome in some of these political groups, because I was always the only Japanese American. You know, and I'd say -- and they would say to me, "How come some of your other friends aren't here?" And I'd say, "Well, they don't, you know, they're not interested in politics." "But it's so important, you know, it's so important to take a position," and, "Yeah, but you know." And that was, maybe one or two people I would see at some of the these fundraising events and other things, and I guess it wasn't until maybe the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations that I saw a lot of Asians. But before that it was like, you know, very lonesome, yeah. And I think part of it is because we were pretty naive in '42.
SE: We were young, we were not in any leadership position, and like Aiko said, we didn't know what hit us when it happened. And it took us a long time to really confront what had happened, and you don't like to say, "Oh, your government did this to you." When it's your only country, you don't like to say, "Oh, they did me wrong," and you don't like to admit that, so... I think part of that was the Nisei psyche, they're passing on a legacy to the third and fourth generation, and we did take a stand, we did ask for redress and we did get it, and maybe not as many Nisei as the Sansei and Yonsei, but there were some of us there. I think that's a legacy that's important. Maybe someday they'll put it in the textbooks. [Laughs] I still haven't seen much of that.
GK: I remember Bob Matsui once stating at a Day of Remembrance that "the challenge for the Japanese American community is to move beyond redress and into other issues." Do you think that since passage of the redress bill that the Japanese American community has done that?
SE: I think that some of them have. I'm not sure that the whole community, you know, has moved forward. I think it's important for them to take issues like on the immigrants' rights and the welfare reform, because it affects us. It's not something that's way over on the other side. It does affect our parents, and it affects people that have been here, especially the welfare reform bill. And there are other issues. Yesterday on, Jim, was it Jim Lehrer's News Hour, they talked about the Asian bashing, and they had several people they interviewed. And I guess this one gal, she used to work for the JACL in Washington, Karen? Her position was that there's a lot of Asian bashing as a result of this investigation into the Democratic National Committee campaign fundraising. On the other side, this lawyer said, "If people did something wrong, they need to pay for it, and then it's not Asian bashing because he happens to be Chinese." John Huang is who he's talking about. He says, "If you don't do things right, that's too bad, you have to pay for it, and you should not call it Asian bashing." But at the other side they're saying, you know, they can't tell us any different from people from foreign countries, and their racism is apparent here. And so you have the two views. But I hope that, I hope that the Sansei who did the lobbying, who got into the experience of writing letters, you know, will continue that, because I think there're lot of issues out there, and they need to be addressed. And it goes beyond redress, yeah.
GK: Is there anything else that you'd like to add before we have, before we run out of time? I think we have about five minutes?
SE: No, I don't think so. I think all of it, you know, a combination of everything brought this redress victory, and I always tell people that getting the Manzanar bill passed is like putting the maraschino cherry on top of the whipped cream. Because we got the redress bill, we got the commission hearings, we got the coram nobis, and the Hohri vs. U.S. went all the way to the Supreme Court, all those things combined really, sort of, not exactly make up for what happened in '42, but in a way makes it a level, kind of a level field. And I think we came out pretty good in spite of all the things that happened fifty years ago, fifty-five years ago.
GK: Okay. Thank you very much, Sue. It's been a pleasure interviewing you.
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China and Brexit at centre of EU March summit
On March 21st-22nd the leaders of 27 EU member states will meet for the spring European summit in Brussels.
The meeting comes just over a week after the European Commission launched a package of "ten concrete actions" to reshape bilateral relations between the EU and China. An EU-China summit is scheduled for April 9th.
In addition to EU competition policy, the political deadlock over Brexit in the UK will also feature prominently on the agenda of the meeting.
The extent to which EU leaders will be able to agree on an extension to the Article 50 window for Brexit will depend on how events unfold in the UK in the coming days.
The summit will also provide an opportunity for EU leaders to signal their stance on the Commission's mandate for EU-US trade talks.
The agenda for the March 21st-22nd EU summit includes traditional discussions on jobs, growth and competitiveness; climate change; and external relations. Brexit is set to dominate the meeting, as the UK has so far not been able to ratify the withdrawal agreement signed by the EU and the UK in November 2018. Discussions will also be dominated by the EU's shift towards a more protectionist stance towards Chinese investments. Possibly as a result of this full agenda, many of the EU reform proposals laid out in two manifestos issued earlier in March—first by Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and second by Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union party—will not be discussed.
Article 50 extension—Brexit saga continues to unfold
The debate is set to focus on the type of extension the EU is willing to grant the UK after the British parliament agreed on March 14th to request an extension of the two-year Article 50 window for negotiating Brexit. However, the lack of clarity in the UK's strategy is making any meaningful decision on this at the summit increasingly unlikely. Instead, unless the UK holds another vote on the withdrawal agreement by March 21st (which looks unlikely as things stand), discussions will be limited to the political terms and conditions of the potential extension, if its principle is agreed unanimously by all EU member states.
If the EU was to grant the UK a short extension of Article 50 (for instance until end-June), it is so far unclear how the British government hopes that the Brexit deal can be ratified by the parliament in this short time frame—all the more so as the EU is not open to renegotiating it. Assuming that the EU agrees to grant the UK a longer extension (of six to nine months), the British government could convene a second Brexit referendum to give the choice back to the electorate. However, there is no parliamentary majority in the UK for such a scenario at present. The three main potential options would be "no deal", "the prime minister's Brexit deal" or "no Brexit". The EU would probably back such a path, but it would make a no-deal Brexit a live option, thereby prolonging and heightening Brexit-related uncertainty for businesses.
Rebalancing EU-China relations
On March 12th the Commission published "ten concrete actions" on EU-China relations to be "discussed and endorsed" at the summit. The EU's reconsideration of its bilateral relations with China is not new. The debate has been building gradually for the past two years, but the latest communication represents a more hawkish tone from the Commission, which for the first time labelled China a "systemic rival".
The ten-proposal package adds to recent efforts taken by the Commission to revise its competition toolbox. On March 5th the Council adopted the new regulation establishing a framework for screening foreign direct investment, which is set to come into force in April 2019 and be applied fully from November 2020. According to the Commission, the framework provides "a powerful instrument to detect and raise awareness" of foreign investment in critical assets, technologies and infrastructure.
The latest proposals include the adoption of the 2016 revised International Procurement Instrument (IPI) before the end of 2019, and the creation of guidelines on the participation of foreign bidders in the EU procurement market that account for "high levels of labour and environmental standards". The new IPI will allow the Commission to impose fines—as high as an extra 20% of the tenders' price—on bids from countries that discriminate against EU firms, making those offers less competitive. Although the 2016 IPI represents a softer version than the one first drafted in 2012, which foresaw the total closure of EU markets for such bids, it still faces some political opposition, especially from north European countries. Nevertheless, Germany's recent shift towards a more protectionist position on competition means that the summit is likely to deliver progress in this area.
Trade—an illustration of transatlantic tensions
Finally, the Council will discuss the state of EU-US negotiations on a non-automotive industrial goods trade agreement. The US administration has expressed frustration about the lack of progress in this area, and the EU's refusal to include agriculture in negotiations for a free-trade agreement. The US is threatening to raise tariffs on imported European cars if talks do not move ahead. An escalation in US protectionism would hit the German economy particularly hard, given its dominant role in the European automotive industry and relative degree of openness (exports equate to almost 50% of Germany's GDP, compared with about 30% for France and the UK, 20% for China, 17% for Japan and just 12% for the US).
Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU trade commissioner, stated in late February that a trade deal could be reached before the end of 2019, as she is working on securing support for the draft negotiation plan presented by the Commission in January. On March 14th the European Parliament failed to approve a resolution that called on EU member states not to endorse the Commission's mandate. Although the resolution was non-binding, it leaves the European Council in a more comfortable position to take the final decision on this matter. A vote on the mandate is not scheduled to take place at the March 21st-22nd summit, but EU leaders could use it to signal their stance on negotiations. Germany appears to be comfortable with trade negotiations advancing as soon as possible, but France holds an opposing view, with Mr Macron calling for the mandate to be adopted only after the European Parliament elections, scheduled for May 26th‑27th.
A potential increase in tariffs from the US administration became a more likely scenario in mid-February, when the US Department of Commerce submitted its findings (publicly undisclosed) to Donald Trump, the US president, on whether imported cars posed a threat to national security. Mr Trump has until May 18th to decide whether to agree with the findings of the report. Nevertheless, strong domestic opposition from consumer groups and industry bodies in the US to such tariffs means that we do not expect Mr Trump to move ahead. Mr Trump will also be constrained by related economic pressure on investment and employment tied to tariff implementation before the election year in the US, scheduled for November 2020. Nevertheless, the traditionally protectionist tendencies of both the US president and his administration mean that there are significant risks to this forecast.
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Post Tagged with: "Miss Me More"
Kelsea Ballerini Releases “Miss Me More and “Lost in Japan” on Spotify Singles
by Jessica × on January 18, 2019 at 11:30 am ×
Black River Entertainment recording artist Kelsea Ballerini releases Spotify Singles including her current chart-rising hit, “Miss Me More” and a new take on Shawn Mendes’ pop smash, “Lost In Japan.” Recorded in Nashville, TN, at Sound Stage Studios, the Spotify Singles are available now – listen here. “When Shawn’s record came out, “Lost In Japan” immediately was my favorite,” […]
Kelsea Ballerini / New Music / New Music Videos
Kelsea Ballerini is Fierce in New Music Video for “Miss Me More”
by Jessica × on November 12, 2018 at 1:30 pm ×
The official music video for “Miss Me More” from Black River Entertainment artist Kelsea Ballerini is digitally available now. At Country radio now, the empowering new single intensifies as Ballerini fights an unlikely opponent during the “Miss Me More” music video. Pulling from a concept that Ballerini envisioned almost immediately […]
Kelsea Ballerini to Release Deluxe Edition of Unapologetically with Four New Tracks
by Jessica × on September 25, 2018 at 7:30 pm ×
Black River Entertainment’s Kelsea Ballerini is set to release a deluxe edition of her sophomore album, UNAPOLOGETICALLY, on October 26 and is announcing fan-favorite “Miss Me More” as her next single to Country radio on October 15. Produced by Forest Glen Whitehead and Jason Massey, Ballerini penned the up-tempo track […]
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New club serves community
There's a new club on campus that goes by the name of Circle K international. This club is all about communit...
Go full circle with Circle K
A club is being formed on campus that will focus solely on volunteerism. I am extremely excited about this opportunity, and hope others will soon feel the same. The Circle K International is a collegiate level organization, which does volunteer work on campus, in the community, and internationally. It is the next step after...
The student news site of Seward County Community College
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Bible, Calvin
‘Substance’? ‘Hypostasis’? But Those Words are Un-Biblical!
Studying church doctrine can be a challenging endeavor for many of us, even those of us with a deep knowledge of Scripture and a desire to grow deeper in the faith. One issue that comes up frequently for students of a more Biblicist bent is: why all of those goofy, non-biblical words?
I mean, if you’re not familiar with, say, trinitarian theology you end up with all kinds of Greek and Latin words like ‘substance’ or ‘hypostasis’, ‘persona’, and later on, ‘perichoresis’, and so forth. They start to make sense once you’ve read someone explain them about 20 times. Thing is, though, most of those words don’t show up in our translations of the Bible, and when they’re there, they seem to be used in different ways. Or, heck, the word ‘trinity’ doesn’t show up at all. Shouldn’t we be ‘biblical’ in the way that we speak and think of God? How can we do so with terminology taken from surrounding Greek and Latin philosophy and thought?
Calvin tells us that he wrote the Institutes partially so that he wouldn’t have to go into extended doctrinal discussions in his commentaries. Welp, that didn’t really slow him down from writing 4 or 5 pages on John 1:1, expositing the text and defending it from various heretics old (Sabellian, Arian), and new (Servetus.) In the middle of this fascinating discussion, he touches on the issue of non-biblical language.
Now, conservative Reformer that he is, not given to excess or speculation, you might think he would want to do away with all of this jargony mess. Thankfully, he was smarter than that:
I have already remarked that we ought to be sober in thinking, and modest in speaking, about such high mysteries. And yet the ancient writers of the Church were excusable, when, finding that they could not in any other way maintain sound and pure doctrine in opposition to the perplexed and ambiguous phraseology of the heretics, they were compelled to invent some words, which after all had no other meaning than what is taught in the Scriptures. They said that there are three Hypostases, or Subsistences, or Persons, in the one and simple essence of God. The word; ὑπόστασις (Hypostasis) occurs in this sense in Hebrews 1:3, to which corresponds the Latin word Substantia, (substance) as it is employed by Hilary. The Persons (τὰ πρόσωπα) were called by them distinct properties in God, which present themselves to the view of our minds; as Gregory Nazianzen says, “I cannot think of the One (God) without having the Three (Persons) shining around me.”
–Commentary on John 1:1
He points out what Fathers like Athanasius and Augustine had before him: heretics can use ‘Biblical’ language too and use it in ‘ambiguous’, ‘perplexed’, and non-Biblical ways. For that reason, the Fathers were compelled to take language and deploy new words in order to save the meaning of the Biblical record. These were new words used to say more clearly in a foggy and confused time, what Scripture was saying. They did not do this at random or haphazardly. Nor did were they careless to leave undefined, or distinguish the sense in which they used the term from other possible senses.
I think it was N.T. Wright who somewhere used Copernicus as an analogy: say Copernicus had never given a term to his system at which the sun was the center of the universe instead of the earth, and 200 years later someone came along and dubbed it ‘heliocentric.’ Have they misrepresented Copernicus by using that new term that he did not? By no means. They simply gave it a new name in order to keep it clear. In the same way, the Fathers of the Church, guided by the Spirit, in conformity with the Word, developed ways of speaking that preserve and protect the content of Scripture even when not directly drawn from it.
This is the truth that Calvin recognizes and calls us to appreciate here. For that, thoughtful students and spiritual descendants ought to be humbly grateful: both for the work of early teachers like the Fathers, as well as for faithful preservers of the tradition like Calvin.
For more similar thoughts check out:
B.B. Warfield on the ‘Unbiblical’ Doctrine of the Trinity
Vanhoozer and Calvin on the Creeds and Scripture
hypostasis
unbiblical language
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5 thoughts on “‘Substance’? ‘Hypostasis’? But Those Words are Un-Biblical!”
Matti says:
What is your view on the authority of creeds? You seem to hint that they are somehow especially authoritative by saying that the Fathers were guided by the Spirit when inventing new vocabulary.
I think that the creeds of the early church have unhelpfully muddied the waters for later generations f they look up them as infallible source of doctrine, especially in the case of doctrine of the Trinity. I for one cannot agree with everything in the Nicene creed, though I affirm the basic “one ousia, three hypostasis” -scheme.
I’m a Protestant so I think they have ministerial, not magisterial authority. That said, I think they’re binding as they truly communicate the truth of God as given to us in Scripture. I think they are helpful guides that we discard at our peril.
I would commend the post I linked at the bottom of this post on that very subject.
outin2thedeep says:
I’m with you there for sure. Peeps often want to disregard creeds and confessions on the basis that they are “man’s words and not God’s” and yet they ignore the simple reality that they are merely meant to be summaries (as with the terms like ‘Trinity’ etc. that you mention in this post) of the truths of Scripture for the additional purpose of guarding against heresies.
Thanks for heads up, somehow those links just escaped my attention. Vanhoozer’s proposal seems reasonable. The radical Reformator inside me had a knee-jerk reaction to the Spirit-language at first because I had recently read about Roman Catholic view on the role tradition and church. Check this out: http://vaticanfiles.org/2012/03/33-scripture-and-tradition-in-todays-roman-catholic-theology/
Oh, sure, I know the emphasis on the Spirit’s role in the formation of dogma can be put to that use, but yeah, that shouldn’t stop Protestants from denying it’s proper place. Whenever we say anything true of God’s Word, it is by the guidance and inspiration of the Spirit.
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Franchises, Articles with Wikipedia content, Disney franchises,
Winnie the Pooh (franchise)
by A. A. Milne
Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin
Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving
The Tigger Movie
The Book of Pooh: Stories from the Heart
Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year
Piglet's Big Movie
Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie
Pooh's Super Sleuth Christmas Movie
Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too
Super Duper Super Sleuths
My Friends Tigger & Pooh
Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood
Tigger's Honey Hunt
Piglet's Big Game
Winnie The Pooh's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure
Disney Friends
Ready for Math with Pooh
Pooh's Hunny Trouble
Winnie The Pooh's Home Run Derby
Winnie the Pooh is an American Walt Disney franchise, based on A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories. The Disney media franchise commenced in 1966 with the theatrical release of the short Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.
Disney's Pooh was originally voiced by Sterling Holloway in the three original Winnie the Pooh featurettes that were later used as segments to 1977 theatrical film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Hal Smith took over for the 1981 short film Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons, and would maintain the role until Jim Cummings began voicing Pooh in 1988 television The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988–1991). Cummings continues to voice Pooh (as well as Tigger) to this day.
In the midst of a 2003 battle where Disney stood to lose commercial rights to Winnie the Pooh, The Telegraph noted "Losing control of the Winnie the Pooh franchise would be a disaster for Disney. Analysts believe Pooh is worth $3 billion-$6 billion of Disney's total annual sales of $25 billion." According to a 2013 Variety article, Winnie the Pooh is the third best-selling franchise in the world, after Disney's own Disney Princess and Star Wars. The New York Times said: "The stakes are high for Disney. Global sales of Pooh merchandise — books, plush toys, T-shirts, potty chairs — have fallen 12% over the last five years, but still account for a staggering $5.5 billion," adding, "Pooh...remains Disney’s second best-selling character after Mickey Mouse." It noted "Branding experts say aging character franchises are among the most difficult to keep alive because they require continually walking a tightrope. 'With Winnie the Pooh, Disney is going to continue to struggle with the tension of remaining relevant to kids versus maintaining a love-mark brand that parents trust,' said Matt Britton, a founder of Mr. Youth, a New York marketing firm." In a 2014 overview of Disney's top franchises, CNN wrote: "Pooh may have been born in the 1920s in A.A. Milne's books. But the bear is still going strong via Disney movies and DVD's. Pooh Bear sells games, stuffed animals, clothing, and even iPhone and iPad apps. Pooh is also a favorite subject in books from Disney Publishing Worldwide, the world's largest publisher of children's books and magazines with more than 700 million products sold each year."
Sebastian Cabot narrates the adventures of jolly bear Winnie the Pooh as he seeks out and deals with complications from his search for honey, weathers a wind storm and subsequent flood, and endures the foibles of the hyperactive tiger Tigger. Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Eeyore, and Tigger round out the menagerie in the irresistible film adapted from A.A. Milne's series of children's books.
The film sees Tigger realize the implications of the fact that "the most wonderful thing about tiggers is" he's "the only one!" when the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood tire of his antics, and goes on a search for the tigger family tree.
Piglet becomes fed up after being excluded from a honey-thieving scheme, so strikes out on his own to do some thinking. When the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood discover he's missing, the only clue they have to go on is a scrapbook he left behind.
Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Roo search for a mysterious and fearsome creature that has entered the Hundred Acre Wood, but Roo discovers that the creature is not what it seems.
What bear could be more loveable than the honey-eating, huggably pudgy, sweet-hearted Winnie-the-Pooh? Certainly his owner, Christopher Robin, can't find one! Upon learning that Eeyore has lost his tail, the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood start a contest to see who can find a new one for the melancholy donkey — with a pot of honey going to the winner. Amid the goings-on, Owl mistakenly relates the news that Christopher Robin has been abducted. However, all ends well when Pooh finds a land of sweet delights.
Christopher Robin is now all grown up and has lost all sense of imagination. Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood re-enter Christopher's life to help him find it again.
Direct-to-video films
It's time for Christopher Robin to go to school, which means he's unable to keep regularly visiting with the charming bear Winnie the Pooh. But when Pooh misreads a letter from Robin, he thinks his playful friend has been snatched and taken to a faraway land by the mysterious "Skullasaurus". Along with Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, and Rabbit, Pooh journeys to the terrifying place to rescue their friend, meeting many frightening obstacles along the way as the group deals with their own insecurities in a coming of age story for all of them.
The feature-length tale is a set of several holiday stories; as Pooh Bear, Piglet, and Tigger set out to find the right ingredients for Winter, Rabbit learns how to manage a complicated Thanksgiving dinner; Piglet is forced to becoming the local Groundhog; and everyone gets a special visit from a old friend.
Join Winnie the Pooh as he and his beloved friends explore the world of Christopher Robin's stories and lessons, in an all-new style blending puppets and computer animation. A.A. Milne's classic characters have never come to life more vividly than in this delightful feature-length movie, with six heartwarming new songs.
After celebrating Christmas in the Hundred Acre Wood, the countdown to the New Year begins while Rabbit succumbs to a case of the winter blues. Seeing the change in their newly grumpy friend, the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood decide on some New Year's resolutions that result in drastic changes.
Roo gets excited about Easter, however, Rabbit instead declares the day "Spring Cleaning Day", hurt over when Tigger usurped him as leader of Easter the previous year.
On their first Halloween together, Roo and Lumpy gather the courage to search for the Gobloon, a creature that can grant wishes.
Darby, Pooh Bear, Tigger, and the rest of the gang are out to save Christmas when they find a reindeer caught in a web of jingle bells. How will Santa deliver all those presents when one of his key helpers is stuck in a mess like this, they wonder, and so they're determined to bring him back to the North Pole. But the journey to Santa's home isn't so easy, and they're soon in a bit of a pickle themselves. The spirit of Christmas is alive in this touching holiday adventure, where the gang discovers that friendship is the greatest gift of all.
Rabbit creates many new rules as the Mayor of the Hundred Acre Wood, leading Tigger to challenge him for mayorship and causing a Big White Line to be drawn, dividing the Wood.
This wonderfully animated adventure for children follows Pooh, Tigger, Darby, and the residents from the Hundred Acre Wood as they set off on a full-length adventure involving a shooting star that causes all of Rabbit's vegetables to become gigantic - and to grant superpowers to everyone who eats them.
Short films, specials, and featurettes
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
Winnie-the-Pooh, a overweight toy bear, attempts to raid a beehive in a tall tree. After failing, he goes to Rabbit's house and eats all of his honey, making him too bloated to leave when he gets into a very tight place.
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
Winnie the Pooh and his friends experience high winds, heavy rains, and a flood in Hundred Acre Wood.
Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!
Amusing Rabbit is tired of a rambunctious tiger Tigger always bouncing him, so he gets Pooh and Piglet together to come up with an idea to get the bounce out of Tigger. Then, Tigger and little Roo go out for a bounce and get caught in a tree.
Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons
Christopher Robin gives Winnie the Pooh a calendar, and Pooh uses it to learn about the seasons.
Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore
Eeyore, one of the children's resplendent literature characters, thinks everyone in the Hundred Acre Wood has forgotten his birthday. When Winnie the Pooh and his friends realize their oversight, they prepare a huge celebration with chocolate cake and a birthday game.
Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too
It's Christmas, but Winnie the Pooh and his friends are worried about Santa Claus, except Christopher Robin.
Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh
Piglet's fear of the spooky side of Halloween threatens to ruin the party he is attending with Pooh, Tigger, and their friends. Can Pooh help him to find the courage before Halloween becomes "Hallo-wasn't"?
A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving
It's Thanksgiving time in the Hundred Acre Wood and Winnie the Pooh and all his friends bring food for the big dinner. Piglet brings acorns, Pooh brings honey, Owl brings biscuits, Gopher brings lemonade, and Tigger brings ice cream. But then, Rabbit walks in and tells them their Thanksgiving dinner was unacceptable and informs them that a real Thanksgiving dinner includes turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie, so Pooh and his friends set out to find those very items.
Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You
Growing up presents some difficult challenges, and when Christopher Robin seems to be interested in a girl, Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, and their friends fear that their friend will abandon them. Convinced that a second bite from the love bug will cure him of his lovesickenss, the group sets out to explore the Hundred Acre Wood in search of the mysterious "Smitten."
Winnie the Pooh's very first live-action television series. The popular "Pooh Corner" consisted of a mix of full-body costumes and radio controlled 'puppetronics' that kept the mouths and eyes moving. For a cable series, the show was very popular during its 1983-1986 run on the Disney Channel.
Loyal toy bear Winnie the Pooh stars in this whimsical animated series adapted from A. A. Milne's classic children's books that depict the misadventures of Pooh and his friends. Each episode highlight the importance of cooperation and friendship as they solve the problems that come their way and embark on many epic adventures. This whimsical animated series is designed to simultaneously entertain and educate children.
Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and their beloved friends from the Hundred Acre Wood joins together in a delightful series that shows the children the value and importance of friendship, within a set of fun and exciting adventures.
Follow a 6-year-old girl named Darby and her puppy Buster, who join Pooh and Tigger on adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood. To help solve mysteries Pooh and Tigger wear homemade superhero costumes and become Super Sleuths. With their new beloved friend Darby they tackle some of the Hundred Acre Wood's wonders.
Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood (1986)
Tigger's Honey Hunt (2000)
Piglet's Big Game (2003)
Winnie The Pooh's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure (2005)
Disney Friends (2007)
Winnie The Pooh's Home Run Derby (2010)
Ownership controversy and drastic changes
During his lifetime, Milne was liberal with his grant of rights. At times he licensed the same exclusive rights to more than one entity.
In the United States, Dutton publishers acquired exclusive volume publication rights and Stephen Slesinger, Inc., acquired sole and exclusive rights to virtually all uses outside of the Dutton books as well as rights to any sorts of future uses. Beginning in 1930 Stephen Slesinger created all of the distinctive and colorful images of Pooh outside of the books. Under license from Slesinger, Pooh made his debuts in radio, film, animation, children's theatre, advertising and a host of consumer products and services protected by trademark. Outside of the U.S. and Canada, Milne retained most of his literary copyright rights which he left to four beneficiaries of his trust: The Garrick Club, Westminster School, The Royal Literary Fund and the A. A. Milne Family. By direction of Milne's will, the Pooh Properties Trust was formed. Mrs. Milne, trustee of the Milne Estate and Spencer Curtis Brown, Trustee, licensed certain exclusive film rights to Disney in 1961. Christopher Robin Milne sold his rights to the other copyright holders, in order to raise money to support his daughter, before his death in 1996.
Sometime around 2000, the Pooh Properties Trust licensed additional rights to Disney and accepted a buyout from of their claims to royalties as defined in a 1991 lawsuit brought by Stephen Slesinger, Inc. Although Slesinger's rights are arguably more valuable, the combined value paid by Disney to The Pooh Properties Trust is said to be approximately $300 million for Milne's portion of those rights.
To further minimize Disney's legal exposure to Slesinger, Disney paid money to the Pooh Properties attorneys and trusts to use the name of Clare Milne, daughter of Christopher Robin, in an attempt to terminate certain of the copyright rights of Stephen Slesinger Inc, in the wake of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. The district court found in favor of Stephen Slesinger, Inc., and as did the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On Monday, June 26, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case, thus sustaining the Appeals Court ruling.
In December 2005, Disney announced that Pooh's friend and owner Christopher Robin would be replaced by a six-year-old "tomboyish" red-haired girl named Darby for the Disney Channel animated television series, My Friends Tigger & Pooh. Christopher Robin appeared intermittently in the series.
Disney Movies Anywhere
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The article or pieces of the original article was at Winnie the Pooh (franchise). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Disney Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Start a Discussion Discussions about Winnie the Pooh (franchise)
Original broadcast of Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You on ABC
Blipsycat
I guess I was watching something else on TV, and didn't change the channel until after the Pooh special was over. 2019-01-12T07:49:16Z
JustMeJordanW
Oh. 2019-01-13T10:59:03Z
Who will be the Villain of this film ??
Ratigan6688
Unicorn22 wrote: Ratigan6688 wrote: Unicorn22 wrote: Ratigan6688 wrote: If there is, I think it will be Christopher Robin's work bo... 2018-08-30T16:40:19Z
Thomastankengine1
Winslow wants to be a Woozle. 2018-11-21T18:52:39Z
Retrieved from "https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Winnie_the_Pooh_(franchise)?oldid=3604818"
Disney franchises
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EEAS homepage > South Africa > Statement by the Spokesperson on human rights violations against and the illegal detention of Crimean Tatars by the Russian Federation
Statement by the Spokesperson on human rights violations against and the illegal detention of Crimean Tatars by the Russian Federation
Bruxelles, 30/03/2019 - 10:01, UNIQUE ID: 190330_2
A court in the Crimean peninsula, illegally annexed from Ukraine by Russia, has ruled that all 23 Crimean Tatars detained on 27 March and 28 March will be held in pre-trial detention until 15 May. They are accused of belonging to the organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia but not in Ukraine. The European Union does not recognise the enforcement of Russian legislation in Crimea and Sevastopol and expects all illegally detained Ukrainians to be released without delay.
The recent detentions, as well as the prior searches of their private property, constitute the latest targeting of Crimean Tatars, human rights defenders, and people who have spoken out peacefully against the illegal annexation by Russia of the Crimean peninsula. Such acts corroborate the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which states that “Crimean Tatars continue to be disproportionately affected by police raids and prosecuted under terrorism and extremism-related offences in proceedings falling short of human rights standards”. The European Union expects the Russian Federation to end these practices and to take all necessary steps to ensure that human rights and fundamental freedoms can be exercised by all in Crimea, without discrimination on any grounds.
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Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations
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Meraki means; to do something creative with soul, or love. To put a piece of yourself in your work. On this Debut Season of our podcast, I’ve gathered my mentors, friends, and experts in their field of work to share with us their superhuman secrets. That could be their habits, mindset, daily rituals and mantra to help them stay focused on their work. And what elements from themselves that they have added to their work that made them these unique individuals today.
Whether you’re a fan of success stories, humble beginnings, an aspiring artist, athlete, pursuer of potential or just need some background noise. Some of these people have taught me things that I’ve lived by to this day. And many give me hope, starting from nothing and succeeding in areas that I too hope to one day.
The beauty of this Podcast is that I’ll be talking to people that feel much closer to me and you. They’ve made what many of us might seem as unobtainable goals and lifestyles, a reality.
Saphira Nur Idayu Rahman
Episode 4 - Jan Sorensen, Our Corporate Zen Monk in Life.
Can you tell us a bit of your journey in becoming a corporate Zen Monk.
Was there a shift in lifestyle or your perspective in life that led you to where you are now?
What does an average day look like for you? Any morning routines, night routines? Daily eating and training habits? Daily mindfulness or reading/learning?
Have you met anyone who also carries the same set of views and values in the corporate world so far? Many people would argue that its a clash of lifestyles, what’s your take on that?
Why do you think finding balance is important to a lot of people nowadays?
What are somethings you do to help you get over obstacles in your life? Do you train, do meditation? Or anything to help you overcome mental barriers?
How do you find a balance between the corporate world a and all three? Your family, your career and spirituality? I can tell that your career requires you to travel a lot. How do you make sure that you don’t neglect the other two?
I saw that you’ve started a Facebook page called “Trying Something New”, would you mind sharing with us a bit on why you started it?
During your travels was there any major experiences that really changed your outlook on life?
Was there one thing you learn and you feel the most imperative one during the journey so far?
Was it like a big leap of faith or any adversities you faced that led you to this shift?
Bonus Materials
What's next? (Next Episode Mentor Reveal)
Meraki means; to do something creative with soul, or love. To put a piece of yourself in your work.
— Meraki
PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION
Jan: Absolutely, so, I moved, as an expat, to Asia, to Singapore specifically in 2012. And I was just fascinated about everything in Asia, the culture, the sports, the food and the way of lifestyle, mindfulness and so on. And I decided to dig deeper, into specifically Zen. So I started studying a lot, books around Zen and so forth, and then I liked the idea that I’m in a corporate career, I work in a blue chip company, and that’s very corporate, and sort of, my life on the side is a little bit like a Zen monk, I try to do things that balance the other… My job is all about finance, economy and leadership and stuff like that, then on the side I do Martial Arts and I study Zen, and I meditate and I do other things, I teach children, and so on. So and then that’s how I came up with the corporate Zen monk. So it’s been a long time in the making, in a way, because it went all the way back to when I, actually back to 2010 when I did an MBA. Where I started meditating and so on, but then it really changed it when I moved to Asia in 2012. And since then, yeah, it’s gradually, as I trained more and more martial arts and became a formal Zen student, I spend more and more time on these things in my spare time.
Saphira: So that considered, like, it was a shift in lifestyle, right? Did that, like, shift your perspective in life that leads you to where you are right now? Anyone major event, or a manifestation over time?
Jan: Uhmm, yah, yes and no… I think my change or my transformation in terms of thinking about health or thinking about spirituality and things like that happened slowly as I studied more books, I met more teachers, both on the Martial Arts side, I met some very inspirational people at Kali Majapahit here in Singapore. That helped me on my journey and I’ve met Zen teachers that have helped me on my spiritual journey, so that’s been progressive over time. But then I had, in 2015, out of nowhere I was diagnosed with cancer, throat cancer. And at least, for about six days, I thought I would have one or two years left to live, and that changed my perspective, mainly on time, and what time actually means for us as people, how we spend our time, how we balance life. So, I think I was on a journey already and then that happened in 2015 and really rocked my boat and changed the way I was thinking. So it was both, it was a progressive journey, and then a sudden event that really made it even more significant, you can say.
Saphira: So after that incident is there any sayings or ideologies you lived by, like, how often, and what situations do you remind yourself of these ideologies that you hold by?
Jan: So, one thing that I take very much to heart is the idea that I don’t think people stay the same, I think that people either improve in an area, or they get worse. So a lot of people, including myself, used to think that, like, let’s not do sports right now, because I’m okay, but I don’t really have the time. And the idea is that I stay at the same level, I stay at the same physical level, and I guy like me, in my early forties, if I don’t do sports, every day I get worse. I get in worse physical condition, I get less healthy and so on. And the same with diets, if people say, ‘look, I’ll start my diet after New Year’, or something like that, until then, it will be the same. But it will not. Every day you get more and more unhealthy, so either you are on an upward trend, improving yourself, or you’re actually on a downward trend. There’s nothing in the middle where it will be the same tomorrow. No, everything changes. So this is very important to me, so I know that I need to improve, in my sports, or in my family life, my balance, in my work, or whatever it is. And when I spend too much time, let’s say, at work, I wanna balance that. Like if I’ve been business traveling a lot, I want to balance that with my family, or I want to balance that egotistically, or selflessly a little bit, on my sports or on my hobbies. Cause I know that if I neglected that for a while, it’s actually going down, it’s not staying the same. So that’s one thing that I spend a lot of… I mean, really use as an ideology. Another thing that I believe very strongly in is that it’s very important to meet and spend time with people that are very different from you. I think it’s important to meet people from different cultures, from different age groups, from different careers and walks of life because that’s how you learn a lot about yourself and how you learn about others. The fun is actually that you find out how equal and how similar we all are in many ways. But at the same time you also find out what it is that maybe you’re missing in your balance, like, obviously I am a corporate person, working a corporate job and has a finance position, so I speak about money every day at work, so it’s very helpful for me to go an meet spiritual people and training with people in, let’s say, Martial Arts or Parkour or whatever it is I do. To stay healthy, to keep young, both at heart and in the body, and I really feel that it helps, and when I meet people like you, we are, well obviously I’m twice your age, but I feel like we spend time together, we have fun, training parkour, and then we can talk about your business and I can give you advice on that and you can give me advice on something and we all learn something from it, and we all have fun. And I think it’s an amazing way of spending time with each other, and we learn from that, and we grow from that.
Saphira: So I figured, like, you know, because your job requires you to travel a lot, during your travels was there any major experiences that really changed your outlook on life?
Jan: From my traveling, I think it’s been more, it’s been more the training and Zen, and more the training in Martial Arts. I have to say, I really, really… for the traveling part, have had some extremely, let’s say, awakening is probably too much, but, fascinating trips to Japan a lot, I think I’ve been there eleven or twelve times, and at least four to five times I was in Kyoto. And that’s been an amazingly spiritual experience for me, and the same also going to Cambodia, to Siem Reap and seeing the Temple of Ruins in Siem Reap, it’s just amazing. Angkor Wat, and then Bayon temples, it’s an amazing experience, so these places have for sure affected me, but I wouldn’t say that there was one incident where it really changes everything, but I do believe that by travelling, you get a lot more flavour to your life, if people stay in the same place for ten years, I think they’re missing out on life, I really think so.
Saphira: It’s like, so I also saw that you started this FaceBook page called “Trying Something New”, right? Would you mind sharing with us a bit what it’s all about and why started it in the beginning?
Jan: Yeah, so, while I was lying here in Singapore in my sick bed, in the hospital bed after my surgery I did, according to the doctor, record recovery of only four, five days, and then I actually went skiing after the cancer surgery. But I was lying there thinking, like, ‘How should I use this experience to change the way I live?’, and I made some ideas of what I wanted to change, and one of the things was that I wanted to learn new skills, I wanted to try something new, I wanted to visit new places, because I think I was starting to do that a little bit, but I wanted to do it even more. And then, to put a little bit of pressure on myself, I sort of made it public, or saying to my friends and on FaceBook that I would do one hundred and four things in one year, so two things every week, that was significant, new things, right? So I took up kite surfing, rail surfing, I learnt to juggle, I cut a stone in half with a karate chop and I trained for three or four months then I went in the ring and did a boxing fight in front of three or four hundred spectators, and things like that. So quite significant things that I had to do, and in all, I managed to do the one hundred and four, and then it sort of, after that, became… I made a blog on FaceBook and then I keep doing it now, I don’t do one hundred and four every year now, now I do maybe thirty a year, because it takes some energy, and it’s fun, but you cannot do it all the time, but I think it puts a lot of flavour to my life, and I think I learnt a lot from it, I meet intreresting people, I challenge myself to find something new to try, as much as possible, and I really like that. And the reason why I stopped with it, I have had so many private messages from people saying, ‘You are really inspirational’, and, you know, ‘by you doing this I want to try freediving’, or, ‘I want to try boxing now’, ‘I want to get in shape’, ‘I’m same age as you, I’m in the forties, and it looks like I can also do this’, or whatever it may be. And I think that’s great, I’m not there… I’m not showing off the one hundred and four to show off anything, I just think it’s great to inspire people to do something simliarly, they don’t need to do one hundred and four things a year! But if they do once a month, then I think it’s great, I think it’ll help make their life more interesting.
Saphira: So, like, I’m just going to go a bit deeper and you already mentioned about this, but, how do you find a balance between your family, your career, and spirituality? Because I can tell that your career requires you to travel a lot, like I mentioned before, but how do you make sure that you don’t neglect the other two?
Jan: So, yeah, I think that is difficult. I think for anyone, it’s difficult. If you have a real corporate career and you’re trying to advance the career ladder, I think you’d need to spend some time on work and I have done that for many years, I still do it. But, I think there’s many ways to do it, I see people travelling any time that’s sort of, like, there’s a request for travel as an example, for work. And people leaving, you know, Saturday night or something like that, I really try to strive now to travel so there’s a minimum interferance with my family and then say, every second or third time I travel, I really try to… Like this time I’m in Singapore for a weekend, just before I pay myself everything while I’m here, and I spend it on private sports, and meeting friends, and doing parkour, and Martial Arts and stuff like that. So that gives me some of the spiritual and some of the health part as well as the work part which will be the next two days for me. And then in my day to day life, I took a decision some years ago to say, ‘Okay, I’ve worked really hard for many years…’, and now I still work hard, ‘but I really want to get home, and say have dinner with my family.’, when I’m at home, right? So, when I’m not travelling, I try to make some rules that are pretty simple, and pretty easy to hold, and then I stick to them. Like I will literally put it in my calendar so people cannot book me for meetings there, so I’m not available basically, and things like that. So it’s more if you push it through your life, you can do these things, but I’d still say, having a perfect balance is hard work and I have not learned it myself but I’m getting much, much better than I was… Say, ten years ago.
Saphira: Yes, definitely. So, why do you think finding balance is so important to a lot of people nowadays? Because, like, you know, do you have many opportunities where you actually have to say ‘No’, or ‘I really can’t do it’, ‘I won’t do this’, why do you think it’s important?
Jan: No, but, I think having balance in life is what makes you joyful and happy and I think it has a much bigger chance that you won’t have regrets when you get older, if you had balance in life. I think that history is filled with people who have either became amazing sport athletes, or rockstars, or CEOs of big companies, but they ended up divorced, or unhappy, or maybe with lot of money or whatever, but they didn’t have the balance to see there’s a mental part of it, there’s a spiritual part of it, there’s a health part of life as well, and those things are really, really important. But if you neglect that part, and you just focus on your sport, or you just focus on your career, you won’t have joy in your life and I think you’ll end up with some regrets. So I think it’s very natural that as we progress as humans that we see more now, than say our parents did, because we have an opportunity, we have a possibilty to have balance more than we could, say, twenty, thirty, forty years ago. And I would advise anyone, if you can have balance in your life you can find… It’s so popular to say, you know, to say, ‘You should have a passion for what you do’, and I agree with that, but you could also have a period in your life where you work for five years, maybe it’s not the most biggest passion you have, but it makes good money, and then at the same time you spend your free time with all the stuff that you’re passionate about. Your sports, or your hobbies, or the friends that you want to spend time with.
Saphira: So it’s like, have you ever actually met anyone who also carries the same set of views and values in the corporate world so far? Many people would argue it’s a clash of lifestyles, but what’s your take on that?
Jan: In my earlier years, working in the corporate world, I didn’t see so many people that are living like I do today, but I think now it’s getting more and more popular to, you know, to have women and men doing yoga several times a week, you have people doing extreme sports, Iron Man, training for Iron Man and stuff like that. And I think it’s very similiar to my way of thinking, I just do it in Martial Arts and I study Zen, and Buddhism and so on. But they find the spiritual part, say, in yoga, or doing long solitude sports, like in Iron Man, or something, it takes extreme mental, spiritual and physical endurance to do something like that. So I think I see a lot more people like that and I also think that in order to get to the top, even today, it’s… Before the financial crisis you could be, you know, playing golf, and drinking every night and being the big boss, I don’t think you can do that anymore, that’s not how the business world works anymore. You need to be in good shape, you need to be aware of both yourself, and your teams, etc. So, yeah, I see a lot more people thinking in this way now, in the corporate world.
Saphira: So given, that being said, what are some things you do to get over obstacles in your life, do you train, do meditation? Or anything to help you overcome mental barriers especially?
Jan: Yeah, so I meditate every morning, I mean, sometimes I might skip for whatever reason, but I try to meditate at least fifteen minutes every morning, and it’s very dear to me. And it’s really changed my thought process, and the way that my mind fills up with thoughts, and the self-talk, we all have a voice in our head, who’s sort of warning us about something, or sometimes being negative about what could go wrong and things like that, and that voice has totally changed after I started meditating. It goes like six months, or something like that, then it disappears, or it becomes more of an encouraging voice in your head, so that’s been a big part of it. I think eating properly, getting enough sleep and doing physical training, whatever it may be, for me it’s Martial Arts, but it can be most sports as well. It’s making your body to be able to work at peak performance levels, and when you do meet stressful situations or obstacles I think you’re much more ready to counter them, and do something about it. So I think that’s the best way to do it. And then one way, if I’m really in a situation where things are really bad, or I think that this could go really wrong, I usually sit down, control my breath, and then think about what is the worst thing that could happen? I mean, can I survive if this goes in the worst direction ever? Right? And if I, after that, you know, maybe this will make me look bad, maybe this will make me look, you know, not the way I want to or maybe people will see me as a loser if this happens, or whatever, and then I think about, ‘Could I live with that?’ afterwards. And if I think, in most cases that’s the case, you think, like, okay, that will be a bad situation, but it’s not worse than that, then actually you can just move through it and you don’t even think about it afterwards. Of course if you’re doing a sport and you know that if you step to the right you will fall twenty meters and you’ll die then you’ll have to think a little bit different about it, and then that takes even more mental stress, and you need to be even more ready for that.
Saphira: Because I think most people they tend to, they worry so much about what people think and I think that’s a big… that’s the biggest mental barrier on top of that, because it just doesn’t work, you know? People…
Jan: But that’s back to the voice in the head…
Saphira: Yeah
Jan: …we all have that, and I think it doesn’t dissappear if you meditate, but you control it in a different way, and you’re not worried in the same way. But I also have to say that, you know, from being, without sounding like a very old man, I mean as a teenager I knew it, early twenties, you’re more aware of this, it’s just that part of your life where you really are thinking what does other people, especially maybe the opposite sex are thinking about you. And that’s important to you and that’s what life’s experience changes a bit. But I have to say, if you don’t get mentally strong, or if you don’t get spiritually, figuring out there are more things to life than material side of things, and whether or not you are attractive at a certian point in time, or whatever, then I think you will really never get over it. You can keep it way in to, you know, you’re retirement age, right? It is something that you can work with, and you can change.
Saphira: So you mentioned, you know, on top of that, that you do meditations in the mornings and stuff like… And I want to know a bit, what does an average day look like for you? Any, like again you said, morning routines, you do meditation. Night routines? Maybe daily eating and training habits, mindfulness or like, reading and learning? What does your average day look like?
Jan: Yeah, so, I don’t really because I travel quite a bit, and I do different pieces of training and stuff like that, so it’s hard for me to describe an ‘average’ day I guess, but I mean something would be like, trying to get quite early up in the morning, I’m a relatively morning person. I used to while I was in Singapore, I felt it was easier to get up really early, so sometimes I’ll get up really early, five? And spend the first few hours before I went to work, both meditating, training, and also writing let’s say… I still do that today, a journal. Which is not really a full journal, but I write down, every day, three things that I’m grateful for. So like today would probably be, one fo the things would be this PodCast, and it would be the time we spent together today doing parkour. And, so, it doesn’t become like every day it’s about, you know, I’m grateful for my kids and my family, and things like that, but it’s actually about that day I’m grateful for. Because then it becomes both a little bit of a journal, but at the same time it also reminds me of all the things we can actually be grateful for, on an every day Monday or Sunday, right? So, I do that every morning as well, I always get a solid, healthy breakfast, and I always do that with my family and my boys, I have two sons, and that’s important to me. And then I go to work, and I started doing it in Singapore, taking the MRT here, and where I live now I take the bus. And I actually have a company car, but I don’t drive it, my wife drives it, so I like that, and it makes me feel good that I use public transport as much as possible. And then I have a full work day with, you know, meetings, trying to spend as much time with my team as possible, to coach and mentor them, in making sure that we are moving in the right direction. And then I try to get out of the office five thirty (PM), about that, so I’m really, really pushing myself to put that as a limit, sometimes, I cannot. If there’s a meeting overrunning or something, but I really trying to get out of the office because I think it’s wasted time afterward, to just keep sitting there and doing work. Because in principle, my work never stops, so I could work forever if I wanted to, but that doesn’t really work, right? And then five thirty-ish I take the bus home, and I try to have dinner with the family, unless they’re doing sports, and then in the evening I would do either kick-boxing training or Kali (Majapahit) training, or almost always some Martial Arts, of course, not every day during the week, but three or four times a week, then some days, I also teach. So I teach up to six hours a week, children and adults, in Kali.
Saphira: Is there anything you’d say to really reach out to people to make people understand, you know, like, okay, if they really wanted to do something and they want to change something about their life, what is one thing you say… Let’s say, actually, I wouldn’t say like, ‘advise’, but you would share with people that they can do, and look forward to.
Jan: Yeah, so I think we’re back to my, you asked what kind of ideology or thinking that I felt was very important, I think this idea that you don’t stay the same is very important. Because I think people have this weird idea that they stay the same, but they don’t. They get worse. So if they don’t do anything they actually get worse. So if you have that starting point that you want to improve something in your life, and you want to be on an upward trend rather than a downward trend, then the most important thing you can do is a little at a time. So whether I train parkour, with you guys, or I do Martial Arts, you know, you don’t start as a white belt and start punching people in the face, right? I mean, it just doesn’t work like that, so, you take it easy, and you do a little step at a time, you get in better physical shape, you start becoming more flexible, and so on. And it’s really about deciding first, that you don’t want to be on the downward-ing trend, you don’t want to get worse tomorrow than you were today. Because that’s the fact, you are not as healthy tomorrow, as you are today if you don’t start eating healthy, and you don’t start using your body for something, right? So when you have that in your mind, then you start to do something, and then you just take it easy, because most people want to have… You know, they want to lose ten kilos in a week, they want to get a black belt in a year. And it doesn’t work like that, and it just doesn’t work, but that’s also fine, when you start the sports, seriously, you will find people who are similar to you, and you will like it and you will have fun, and maybe it becomes your passion, right? And then maybe it takes five to six years to get the black belt, but it’s so worth it, that’s Martial Arts. It could be something else, another sport, right? But to start where you are, and then take one step at a time, and make realistic goals, but just keep going. But would be my, you know, cause I think this idea that we totally over-estimate what we can do in a month. But we totally under-estimate what we can do in a year. If we have people training in Martial Arts after a year, they’re extremely fit, they’re extremely… They’re completely different people, right? And I started parkour almost in my forties, and I’m not good at it, but I’m so much better than I was a year or two ago, and I don’t even train every week, I just train from time to time when I have the possibility. But I take it slow, I don’t do something crazy, so I don’t go and break my leg the first time. So that’s how I think you can progress, yes, I’m never going to be the world champion, but I don’t have to be.
Saphira: So the important thing is, you start?
Jan: Yeah! So get started, then make realistic goals and then keep going, right? But I think again, what stops a lot of people from starting on Monday, is they have this idea that if they do nothing, they’re still in the same shape.
Jan: But that’s not true. But people can… If they really understood that, I think they’d get started tomorrow. And you really feel that. I mean, I have a lot of my friends and colleagues that say like, ‘Ya, I really feel now I’m in my forties and I really should get started with some sports’, right? And what they feel is actually in their thirties, their health, or at least their fitness levels has gone down. Because every day it goes down as you get older, but if you start training you either keep it straight or you even better, let’s say you train two, three times a week, you actually improve your health. And we all see that we have plenty of people who we meet who are in their fifties and they jump around like… They look like… Teenagers, right? And we know that, and we think it’s incredible, but the difference between them and us is that they train four, five times a week. But maybe we don’t need to do that, now I’m talking about myself, maybe I don’t need to train four to five times a week, maybe two or three times will be enough just to have me a nice upward strength in my health and fitness level.
Saphira: Because, yeah, at least you’re moving towards somewhere, rather than not doing anything.
Jan: Yeah, exactly, which will make me a completely different person, compared to the person who doesn’t do anything! The ones who use Netflix, and the sofa, and pizza…
Tom: I think something that was interesting, was that, like, the question asking, ‘Do you know anyone in your field who’s interested in the work-life balance?’, the , originally, when we wrote that one it was asking whether you meet anyone in the corporate world who’s interested in the Zen stuff, do you find any spiritual people in the corporate world?
Jan: No. Very few, yeah. Yeah, there’s very few. But when I saw that question, I really felt like I wanted to give a compliment to the people who… Because again, you have, for like every ten people you have at my age, you have two people, or something, who do yoga, and train for iron man or marathon running or something like that, and then you have seven people who don’t do anything. Right? And I wanted to actually reach out and say, those two or three people, without actually saying like that, they’re doing the right thing, but then you have the seven other people who still thinks like, ‘Yeah, I can start on Monday’, or, ‘I can start next year’, you know, we go to Mexico next year, and I want to look good in a bikini, so then I start running in six months, right? But it’s complete lunacy, right? I mean why wait six months? And then you just… You’re still going down, right? You might not be going down like this, but every day you’re getting more sick, in principle, it’s almost like the sickness, you get slowly sick.
Saphira: What about people who… They want to start, but they’re very fearful, and they do not know how to identify, you know, what they’re scared of, they just don’t know where to start, and then they say that ‘Oh, maybe I could start doing this’, and then they’re just scared. Some people are scared of, you know, they need like, validation, some people need permission when you really don’t clearly don’t need one, like what would you, like, you know…?
Jan: For me when I wanted to start a sport again in my late thirties, I utilized the fact that, you know, today you can get a free lesson, or a trial lesson, or at least for twenty dollars, or ten euros, or whatever. And tried a lot of different things to try to figure out, you know, should I do spinning? Should I go to the fitness centers? Should I go kayaking, or should I do marathon running? Or whatever, right? And, just, after testing a lot of different things, there were a few things I really liked, but the Martial Arts just hooked on me. And I think you just need to find… Some people need to try to do sports where they’re in a group, and they need that group pressure, other people like to be a little bit more individual, and like, fight against themselves, and the flexibility that they can do it five o’clock in the morning, by running in the morning or something like that. Then maybe, you should train to run ten kilometers first, or five and then later ten, and then later one day maybe you want to run a marathon! If you’re into running, right? But I actually wanted to run a marathon for a while, right? And I moved towards it, and I went up to run twenty-two kilometers - half a marathon - but then, I didn’t have the patience to keep running at the right pace so I ended up injuring myself. And that was sort of funny because it ended up being more dangerous for me to go through one marathon than to do Martial Arts! Because I mean, you have to do it in the stages that’s natural for your body, right? But you also have to find something that you like. I loved every four years of my time in Singapore, I loved walking from work and going for that lunch lesson three or four times a week at Kali Majapahit. And enjoying meeting friends, and training together and pushing myself, taking a shower and going back to work again. It was an amazing way to get fit, and having fun, and growing myself. And so that worked for me, but for other people maybe badminton is better, or maybe kitesurfing is better, right? If it has to be fun or adrenaline or whatever, we’re all different. But if you don’t do anything, that’s the problem, it doesn’t matter what it is that you get started.
Tom: It’s funny that you say that because, like, when we walked down, through that corporate area you see people with a big pint of beer sitting on their table for lunch and…
Saphira: Lunch! For lunch, yeah…
Jan: And I mean, it was a huge difference, right? Like, when I lived here, I mean, I was not expecting to do this, it was such a fantastic experience to suddenly find out that I could train Kali every lunch, you know, it was almost three or four times a week was training, right? So when I was not traveling in the rest of Asia, I went for those lunch training, and then sometimes I did on Saturdays, sometimes I did in the evenings, and later on, after I trained for three or four years, I started to be the assistant teacher, and stuff like that. So it was just amazing, it worked really well for me. But the fact that you’d do something like that, instead of… Because in Singapore, you have this saying in the corporate world, which is like, ‘Work hard, play hard’. Right? So you work until seven or eight o’clock, and then you go down and you drink a couple of beers and you do whatever, and then you go back to the family at nine o’clock in the evening. I think that’s the worst balance you can have, you work too long, you put crap in your body, and you stay away from your family, right? So it sounds good, or some people think it sound’s good, like, ‘work hard, play hard’, and I guess it does, but I don’t think it’s a healthy lifestyle.
Saphira: Because you know, what I think about, it’s also your capabilities of understanding where or how you would approach things, like, okay, ‘I know that today, I am going to do this’, like, yeah, okay, I’m gonna be good if I decided to pursue this habit or this hobby, you know? And some people just have bad judgment as to what they can do with themselves. Because if you’re not confident in what you’re doing, you just fail.
Jan: Yeah and that’s true, but then the point is, you gotta… I mean, have you asked me… I always found Martial Arts fascinating, but ten years ago I was also like, I’m probably not the kind of guy that’ll want to get punched in the face. And now, one of the things that I find most liberating is sparring, not heavy sparring with people just punching like crazy, but like, really good sparring a couple of times a week, I really enjoy it, and it really helps you get fit, right? But, it has to come gradually, again, you don’t start as a white belt doing something like that, right? You train, and then you make yourself ready for the next level again and again. And I think it is about trying different sports and find out where you’re hooked, and most people have something that they’ve always wanted to try, then why not try it? Go get a free trial in fencing or go try parkour, or trampoline, or kite surfing or whatever it is, you might actually like it a lot, and then do it once or twice a week, then get in shape, and have fun! Because you don’t need to start and be the best, but it goes back to your comment about, that people are worried about how they look, or what do other people think? And, yes, when you come the first time, yes, you’re not going to be the best. But I mean we have all… All instructors have tried, when you’re an instructor, let’s say, again, in Martial Arts, you know how it was to be a white belt, it’s only, what? Four or five years ago, I was a white belt. I know coming into the dojo, not knowing if I should bow or nod, or where I should stand, or what I should say. And, we know that. Everybody knows that the new person doesn’t know much, but we’ll take care of that person and train the person up and after a week nobody sees that person as a new person anymore. But it’s just being brave for a day or two, then afterward you’re gonna have a lot of fun.
Saphira: Hence, like remember what we were talking about, you know, being comfortable looking like an idiot…
Jan: For a few minutes! Right? And I think that’s what life is about, because nobody is naturally great at anything, like, nobody. So I think, years ago, there was a class between, let’s say, having a corporate career and, then, having a spiritual and healthy lifestyle on the side. But I think what I see today after the financial crisis is that you almost need to have a healthy balance, you need to have a healthy body, you need to be able to withstand, you know, a lot of business travel and stressful work and things like that. So, today I don’t necessarily think there is this clash, and you see a lot of leaders today actually spending, you know, quality time with their family, to re-energize themselves going on long vacations, trying to detox from social media or communication in general. And they spend time on staying fit, you have all these people doing Iron Man, and marathon running and stuff like that, right? So I think it’s less of a clash then… Let’s say it was ten years ago. But does that mean that everybody does this? No, that’s far from it, and I think if we look into the real spiritual side of it where I started to move into really becoming a Zen student and studying Buddhism than that’s quite far apart. I don’t meet so many of those kinds of people who are so interested in that, I think I don’t see it anymore as a clash of lifestyles necessarily, I think actually it can be really a perfect match to be a corporate leader and having a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
Tom: Because I think some people would… If you want to be Zen in a corporate world, then you’re not down to earth… You’re not like…
Jan: Well, true… I tend to agree with that but at the same, time this is something I spent a lot of time with my Zen teacher about is that, you can be Zen anywhere, right? Like it’s, you could… So his point, because one of my questions was, so, I have for many years worked really hard, and I created a relatively affluent lifestyle and I could buy a sports car if I wanted to, and maybe I actually will at some point, again. And then I said like, ‘Is that bad? Is that not Zen?’ and he said, ‘That’s nothing to do with it, I mean, Buddha was a prince, and he decided to move away from it-‘, but it’s like, he made this comparison, he said like, ‘You have to see your world as a…’, and it’s funny because we sit here, we could almost, also record this, but, ‘You have to see your life as a hotel room.’ And some people, they live and grow up in a one-star, and some people live and grow up in a five-star, but it’s how you use that, and how you… If you get attached to it… because one day it will not be there anymore, nothing else on the day you die, you cannot bring all this crap with us, right? So you should try to simplify your life as much as you can, but you should not feel bad about it if you happen to have a sixty-five inch flat screen and a Ferrari in the garage, it doesn’t make you a less Zen person, but if you’re attatched to it and you need that, in order to identify to you as “Jan”, and if you don’t drive your Ferrari, but you drive your taxi, you feel bad now because you’re not in your cool car, then you have a problem. Because “Jan” or “Tom” is not who you drive, we’re just “Jan” and “Tom”, right? We’re the same. Doesn’t matter. And I think thinking like that about your life and… because eventually, I mean, either you will find another thing to do, or you will make a lot of money on your film company, but hopefully won’t change really who you are, in reality, it will not change, but your ego inside your head will change. But that’s the one we need to fight because I feel sometimes, you know, I hate this idea that if I drive my company car and it’s a nice BMW, that you know, ‘Ugh, what a shit car’, right? I don’t think like that, but if I get just a little bit of that notion in my brain, I really tell myself, ‘That’s the ego talking, that’s not Jan talking.’ That’s the ego that wants to… We all want to-
Saphira: -we all want to be the best.
Jan: Also when we tie the black belt we feel good about ourselves, right? But, I mean, we’re still white belts in our mind in many ways. We still need to learn, there’s so much. I mean, when I train with Fred (Fred Evrard) or with Ben (Ben Boeglin) I can still see I’m so far away from being the best.
Saphira: The beginners' mindset!
Jan: It’s the beginners' mindset, right? And it's the same as, you know, if you do it for the right reasons, if you drive a nice car to have fun and you enjoy it, that’ fine. If you drive it because you want to be better than other people and want to feel more important, that’s bullshit and that’s definitely not Zen style.
Saphira: Shoshin (Beginner’s Mindset in Japanese)
Jan: Yeah, but what I… And this is directly from a Zen master, is like, it really doesn’t matter if you live in a five-star hotel or you live in a one star, you can be just as much a Zen monk like that. You don’t need to renounce everything and say, like, you live on a dime and eat rice every morning and that’s it, right? That’s not the only way to become awakened, or being a Bodhisattva, as I would call it, right? Actually, some of the stuff we’re doing now is being a Bodhisattva, right? It’s like, trying to inspire other people to be better people, that’s what the Bodhisattva Is all about, right? It’s to help other people try to see the light. There is another way to live. So for the corporate people out there, maybe there is another way to live.
For Soundcloud Users:
https://soundcloud.com/saphira-n-idayu/episode-5-jan-sorensen-our-corporate-zen-monk-in-life
For iTunes Users:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/project-meraki/id1334589255?mt=2
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/saphira-n-idayu/project-meraki?refid=stpr
For my friends who are out of SG, you can listen to them on Google Play Music as well!
Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Iz24sijh2s7fgupi27zhi3yncny?t=Project_Meraki
Twitter: @SaphiraElectus
Instagram: @SaphiraElectus
Have questions? You can DM me or drop it at creator@electusfilms.co
I'm cool if you just want to say hi too.
ELECTUS FILMS, Singapore, SG, Singapore+(61) 403724601director@electusfilms.co
An ELECTUS FILMS Company
ELECTUS FILMS | REGISTRATION NUMBER 53371455M | ADDRESS: 43 CARPENTER STREET #02-01,
GREATWOOD BUILDING | SINGAPORE 059922 | E-mail creator@electusfilms.co
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HomeTechnology NewsHuawei is a risk so Britain must change course on 5G, ex-MI6 spymaster says
Huawei is a risk so Britain must change course on 5G, ex-MI6 spymaster says
LONDON (Reuters) – China’s Huawei poses such a grave security risk to the United Kingdom that the government must reconsider its decision to give it a limited role in building 5G networks, a former head of Britain’s MI6 foreign spy service said on Thursday.
In what some have compared to the Cold War arms race, the United States is worried that 5G dominance would give any global competitor such as China an advantage Washington is not ready to accept.
The Trump administration, which hit Huawei with severe sanctions on Wednesday, has told allies not to use its technology because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has repeatedly denied this.
But British ministers have agreed to allow Huawei a restricted role in building parts of its 5G network. The final decision has not yet been published.
“I very much hope there is time for the UK government, and the probability as I write of a new prime minister, to reconsider the Huawei decision,” said Richard Dearlove, who was chief of the Secret Intelligence Service from 1996 to 2004.
“The ability to control communications and the data that flows through its channels will be the route to exercise power over societies and other nations,” Dearlove wrote in the foreword to a report on Huawei by the Henry Jackson Society.
Huawei, founded in 1987 by a former engineer in China’s People’s Liberation Army, denies it is spying for Beijing, says it complies with the law and that the United States is trying to smear it because Western companies are falling behind.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Britain on a visit this month that it needed to change its attitude towards China and Huawei, casting the world’s second largest economy as a threat to the West similar to that once posed by the Soviet Union.
Dearlove, who spent 38 years in British intelligence, said it was deeply worrying that the British government “appears to have decided to place the development of some its most sensitive critical infrastructure” in the hands of a Chinese company.
“No part of the Communist Chinese state is ultimately able to operate free of the control exercised by its Communist Party leadership,” said Dearlove.
“We should also not be influenced by the threat of the economic cost of either delaying 5G or having to settle for a less capable and more expensive provider,” he said.
Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Michael Holden and Andrew MacAskill
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Funds’ Offering Memorandum
HomeFunds’ Offering Memorandum
The Directors of the Company, whose names appear under the heading “Directors of the Company” on page 39, collectively and individually accept responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this Offering Memorandum. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the Directors (who have taken all reasonable care to ensure that such is the case) the information contained in this Offering Memorandum is true and accurate in all material respects and there are no other material facts, the omission of which would make misleading any statement contained in this document whether of fact or opinion.
OFFERING MEMORANDUM
DOMINION CAPITAL STRATEGIES FUNDS PCC LIMITED
(an authorised Class B open ended collective investment scheme incorporated as a protected cell company limited by shares under the laws of Guernsey with registration number 64515)
Dated 21 March 2018
Prospective investors should not treat the contents of this Offering Memorandum as advice relating to legal, taxation, investment or any other matters. Prospective investors should consult their own professional advisers concerning the consequences of their acquiring, holding or disposing of Shares.
This Offering Memorandum and the statements made herein are based on the laws and practice in force in Guernsey at the date of this document. Neither the delivery of this Offering Memorandum, nor the issue of Shares shall, under any circumstances, imply that there has been no change in the circumstances affecting any of the matters contained in this Offering Memorandum since that date. Copies of this Offering Memorandum are available on request from the Manager.
The Company has been authorised as a Class “B” Collective Investment Scheme by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (“GFSC”) under the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987, as amended (“POI Law”). In giving this authorisation, the GFSC does not vouch for the financial soundness of the Company or for the correctness of any of the statements made or opinions expressed with regard to it. Shareholders in the Company are not eligible for payment of any compensation under the Collective Investment Schemes (Compensation of Investors) Rules 1988 made under the POI Law.
This document constitutes the scheme particulars of the Company for the purposes of The Authorised Collective Investment Schemes (Class B) Rules, 2013 (“Rules”).
Distribution of this Offering Memorandum is not authorised in any jurisdiction after the date of publication of the Company’s first report and accounts unless the prospective investor is aware that the most recent annual report and accounts are available on request from the Manager.
No broker, dealer or other person has been authorised by the Company or by any of its agents to issue any advertisement or to give any information or to make any representations in connection with the offering or sale of Shares other than those contained in this Offering Memorandum and, if issued, given or made, such advertisement, information or representations must not be relied upon as having been authorised by the Company or any of its agents.
This Offering Memorandum does not constitute, and may not be used for the purposes of, an offer or solicitation to anyone in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is not authorised or to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation. The distribution of this Offering Memorandum and the offering of Shares in certain jurisdictions may be restricted and accordingly persons into whose possession such documents come are required to inform themselves about and to observe such restrictions. In particular, subject to certain exceptions, this document should not be distributed, forwarded to or transmitted in or into the United States.
The Company has not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 or the securities laws of any of the States of the United States of America, nor is such registration contemplated. The Shares may not be directly or indirectly offered or sold in the United States of America or to any United States person.
The Shares are subject to restrictions on transferability and resale and, subject to certain exceptions, may not be transferred or resold in the United States or to any U.S. Person. The Company reserves, and intends to exercise, the right at its sole discretion to compulsorily redeem or restrict the transfer of any Shares sold in contravention of these prohibitions or in the event that the transfer or continued ownership of any Shares could result in adverse legal, regulatory, pecuniary, tax or material administrative consequences for the Company or its Shareholders or, in particular, require the Company to register under the U.S. Investment Company Act.
Attention of prospective investors is drawn to the section entitled “Risk Warnings” on page 24 of this Offering Memorandum.
The following words shall have the meanings opposite them unless the context in which they appear requires otherwise:
“Administration Agreement” has the meaning set out on page 41 of this Offering Memorandum;
“Administration Fee” the fee to which the Administrator is entitled as described on page 18 of this Offering Memorandum;
“Administrator” Cannon Asset Management Limited, in its capacity as administrator of the Company, or such other person as the Company shall appoint from time to time to act as administrator and designated manager of the Company;
“Appendix” an appendix to this Offering Memorandum, and “Appendices” means more than one of them;
“Articles” the Articles of Incorporation of the Company, as amended, modified or replaced from time to time;
PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP;
“Bonds” fixed-income securities issued by any authorised bank, listed company or government, and issued for a fixed period at a fixed interest rate;
“Business Day” any day on which banks in Guernsey are open for normal banking business (excluding Saturdays and Sundays);
“Cash Instruments”
includes cash in any current account or on deposit with, or certificates of deposit issued by, any bank or building society, short-to-medium term Bonds, notes or other debt instruments issued by any bank, building society or national government or listed corporate bodies (whether or not a Dominion Associate), and all other assets which the Directors in their absolute discretion consider to be of a similar nature;
“Cellular Assets” the assets of the Company referable to a Fund, comprising assets represented by the proceeds of the issue of Shares of the Fund, reserves and all other assets referable to the Fund;
“Class” in respect of a Fund, a class of Shares that, pursuant to the Articles, the Directors may, from time to time, decide to issue, each being a separate class of Shares, the assets of which will be commonly invested but to which a specific sales or redemption charge structure, fee structure, minimum subscription amount, currency denomination or dividend and distribution policy may be applied or which are hedged against a particular currency;
“Collective Investment Schemes” and “CISs”
collective investment schemes which are domiciled, managed and regulated in jurisdictions approved by the Manager;
“Companies Law” The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008, as amended;
“Company” Dominion Capital Strategies Funds PCC Limited;
Cannon Asset Management Limited;
“Core” the Company, excluding the Funds;
“Core Assets” the assets of the Company referable to the Core;
“CRS” the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s “Common Reporting Standards”;
“Custodian” Peresec International Limited;
“Custodian Agreement” has the meaning set out on page 42 of this Offering Memorandum;
“Custodian Fee” the fee to which the Custodian is entitled as described on page 19 of this Offering Memorandum;
“Data Protection Law” has the meaning set out on page 33 of this Offering Memorandum;
“DCSF Application Form”
the application form for Shares which is available from the Registrar on request;
“DCSF Redemption Form” the redemption form for Shares which is available from the Registrar on request;
“Dealing Day” the Subscription Day and the Redemption Day where they fall on the same date;
“Directors” or the “Board” the directors of the Company for the time being, or, as the case may be, the Directors assembled as a board or as a committee of the board;
“Dominion Associate” any subsidiary or subsidiary undertaking of Dominion Group Limited;
“Dominion Funds” any current or future collective investment schemes, segregated accounts, investment products or arrangements for which the Manager or a Dominion Associate: (i) assisted with the establishment of; (ii) promotes; and/or (iii) is appointed manager, investment manager, investment adviser, investment sub-adviser or general partner;
“Duties and Charges”
all stamp and other duties, taxes, governmental charges, brokerage, bank charges, transfer fees, registration fees and other fees, duties and charges whether in connection with the original acquisition or increase of the assets of the Fund or the creation, issue, sale, exchange or purchase of Shares in the Fund or the acquisition or disposal of Investments for the account of a Fund or in respect of certificates or otherwise which may have become or may be payable in respect of or prior to or upon the occasion of the transaction or dealing in respect of which such duties and charges are payable but shall not include any commission charges or costs which may have been taken into account in ascertaining the Net Asset Value of the Fund;
“Equities” Global Equities and/or Emerging Market Equities (as the context requires);
“Emerging Markets” those countries listed from time to time by the International Monetary Fund as “emerging markets”, or such other countries as the Directors reasonably consider have similar characteristics;
“Emerging Markets Equities” shares in companies which are listed on any Recognised Investment Exchange in an Emerging Market, and other liquid securities equivalent to shares in such listed companies;
“ETFs” exchange-traded funds;
“FATCA” has the meaning set out on page 26 of this Offering Memorandum;
“FCA” United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority, the statutory regulator under FSMA responsible for the regulation of the United Kingdom financial services industry;
“FSMA” United Kingdom Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;
“Funds” each of the cells of the Company set out in the Appendices, being cells created by the Company for the purpose of segregating and protecting the Cellular Assets in the manner provided by the Companies Law;
“GFSC” The Guernsey Financial Services Commission;
“Global Custodian” The Bank of New York Mellon, London Branch, or such replacement custodian as may be appointed by the Custodian from time to time;
“Global Equities” shares in companies which are listed around the world on any Recognised Investment Exchange (excluding those listed in Emerging Markets) and other liquid securities equivalent to shares in such listed companies;
“Guernsey” the island of Guernsey and the islands of Alderney and Sark;
“Illiquid Assets” an Investment (or a pool of Investments) which is deemed by the Directors to be illiquid or the value of which is not readily or reliably ascertainable or realisable;
“Investee Fund” has the meaning set out on page 13 of this Offering Memorandum;
“Investee Manager” has the meaning set out on page 13 of this Offering Memorandum;
“Investment” an investment owned, or to be made, by the Company in accordance with the Investment Objective of each Fund, as described in the Appendices;
“Investment Adviser” Dominion Asset Management Limited, or such other person as the Manager shall appoint from time to time to act as the investment adviser to the Manager;
“Investment Objective” the investment objective of each of the Funds, as described in the relevant Appendix (referable to that Fund)
“Investment Policy” the investment policy of each of the Funds, as described in the relevant Appendix (referable to that Fund);
“Investment Restrictions” the investment restrictions applicable to each of the Funds, as described in the relevant Appendix (referable to that Fund)
“Key Advisers” the key advisers listed in the Corporate Directory on page 11;
“Leverage” the use of borrowings (from any source) by either the Company or any of the Funds;
“Management Agreement” has the meaning set out on page 40 of this Offering Memorandum;
“Management Fee” the management fee to which the Manager is entitled as set out on page 18 of this Offering Memorandum;
“Management Share” a management share in the capital of the Company of no par value and having the rights set out in the Articles, the proceeds of the issue of which shall be comprised in the Core Assets;
“Manager” Dominion Fund Management Limited or such other person as the Company shall appoint from time to time to act as manager;
“Memorandum” the Memorandum of Incorporation of the Company;
“Multilateral Agreement” the multilateral competent authority agreement relating to the CRS;
“Net Asset Value” the net asset value of the Company, a Fund, or a Share, as the context may require, as determined in accordance with the Articles and described in the heading “Calculation of Net Asset Value” on page 35 of this Offering Memorandum;
“Offering Memorandum” this document, as amended or replaced from time to time, which includes all Appendices;
“Ordinary Resolution” an ordinary resolution of the Shareholders of the Core or a Fund (as the case may be), passed as an ordinary resolution in accordance with the Companies Law by a simple majority of the votes of Shareholders entitled to vote and voting in person, by attorney or by proxy at a meeting or, if proposed as a written resolution, by a simple majority of the total voting rights of Shareholders eligible to vote on the date of circulation of the written resolution;
“POI Law” The Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987 as amended;
“Recognised Investment Exchange”
any stock or investment exchange, institution, index or screen-based or other electronic quotation or trading system providing dealing facilities or quotations for investments, approved from time to time by the Manager;
“Redemption Day” every Business Day in each week, or such other days as the Company may determine from time to time;
“Redemption Price” the price at which Shares are redeemed on a Redemption Day, as set out in the Articles and described on page 35 of this Offering Memorandum;
“Register” the register of Shareholders of the Company or the Register of Shareholders of a Fund, as the context permits;
“Registrar” Cannon Asset Management Limited, or such other person as the Company shall appoint from time to time to act as Registrar;
“Rules” The Authorised Collective Investment Schemes (Class B) Rules, 2013, as amended from time to time;
“Services Agreement” has the meaning set out on page 44 of this Offering Memorandum;
“Share” a non-voting participating redeemable share in the capital of the Company of no par value designated as a share of a Fund, the proceeds of issue of which shall be comprised in the Cellular Assets of the relevant Fund;
“Shareholder” a registered holder of a Management Share and/or a Share, as the context permits;
“Special Resolution” a special resolution of the Shareholders of the Core or a Fund (as the case may be), passed as a special resolution in accordance with the Companies Law by a majority of not less than seventy-five per cent of the votes of Shareholders entitled to vote and voting in person, by attorney or by proxy at a meeting or, if proposed as a written resolution, by a majority of not less than seventy-five per cent of the total voting rights of Shareholders eligible to vote on the date of circulation of the written resolution;
“Subscription Day” every Business Day in each week, or such other days as the Company may determine from time to time;
“Subscription Price”
the price at which Shares are issued on a Subscription Day, as set out in the Articles and described on page 35 of this Offering Memorandum;
“UK-Guernsey IGA” the intergovernmental agreement between Guernsey and the United Kingdom regarding foreign account tax compliance;
“U.S.-Guernsey IGA” the intergovernmental agreement between Guernsey and the United States regarding the implementation of FATCA;
“USD” and “$” US Dollar, the lawful currency of the United States of America; and
“Valuation Point” the time at which the Net Asset Value is determined, and which shall be 23.59 p.m. in Guernsey (or such other time as the Directors may determine from time to time) on the Business Day immediately preceding each Dealing Day.
Directors of the Company
James Greco
Matthew Wrigley
Kingsway House
Havilland Street
St Peter Port
GY1 2QE
Dominion Fund Management Limited
St Peters House
Le Bordage
GY1 1BR
Investment Adviser to the Manager
Dominion Asset Management Limited
20 Little Britain
EC1A 7DH
Administrator, Registrar and Company Secretary
Cannon Asset Management Limited
MJ Hudson
Hadsley House
Lefebvre Street
GY1 2JP
Auditors and Tax Adviser
PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP
Royal Bank Place
1 Glategny Esplanade
GY1 4ND
Global Custodian
The Bank of New York Mellon, London Branch
One Canada Square
E14 5AL
Guernsey Custodian
Peresec International Limited
Hirzel Court
Hirzel Street
GY1 2NN
THE COMPANY AND THE FUNDS
Dominion Capital Strategies Funds PCC Limited (the “Company”) is a Guernsey protected cell company limited by shares in accordance with the Companies Law with registration number 64515.
The Company has been authorised as a Class B collective investment scheme under the Authorised Collective Investment Schemes (Class B) Rules, 2013 (the “Rules”) by the GFSC.
The Company does not intend to list any of the Shares or Management Shares on any stock exchange.
Executive Summary – Investment Highlights
The Company’s objective is to create capital appreciation principally through investing in investment funds (“Investee Funds”) managed by third-party investment managers (“Investee Managers”) who employ a variety of traditional, long-only investment strategies, spread across Equities, Bonds and Cash Instruments (or a combination thereof).
Through the selection and ongoing monitoring of Investee Funds, the Company aims to achieve capital appreciation that is not disproportionately influenced by the performance of any single Investee Fund. In addition, by constructing a portfolio that is comprised of a number of Investee Funds, the Company seeks to achieve the desired capital appreciation with lower volatility than likely would be achieved by investing with most individual Investee Funds.
As at the date of this Offering Memorandum, the Company has created ten (10) cells (the “Funds” with each a “Fund”) as follows:
Global Equities Fund;
Global Bonds Fund;
Cautious Fund;
Balanced Fund;
Aggressive Fund;
Emerging Markets Equities Fund;
Commodities Fund;
New Technologies Fund;
Sustainable Growth Fund; and
Shares in the Funds will be issued and redeemed in USD.
Further terms and conditions specific to the Funds, including their Investment Objectives, Investment Policy and Investment Restrictions, are set out in the Appendices to this Offering Memorandum.
Additional Funds and Classes of Shares
Further cells and Classes of Shares may be created in the future. A separate Class of Share within a cell may have, by way of example, a specific sales or redemption charge structure, fee structure, minimum subscription amount, currency denomination or dividend and distribution policy. Details of any Classes created in respect of a cell will be set out in a revised Offering Memorandum.
Protected Cell Company and Recourse Arrangements
As a protected cell company, the Company consists of a Core and of separate and distinct, but not separately incorporated, cells. In accordance with the Companies Law and subject to any recourse agreements (described below) the assets and liabilities of any cell (including the Funds) are legally segregated and protected from those of the other cells. Similarly, the assets and liabilities of the Core are legally segregated and protected from those of the cells. In the absence of a recourse agreement, creditors of a cell of the Company only have recourse against the cellular assets attributable to that cell and those cellular assets are “absolutely protected” from the creditors of the Company who are not creditors in respect of that cell. Similarly, unless a recourse agreement stipulates otherwise, the Core Assets of the Company are only available to the creditors of the Core and are “absolutely protected” from any creditors of the Company who are not creditors of the Core. Liabilities of the Company not otherwise attributable to any of its cells must be discharged from the Core Assets. Any such assets, liabilities, income and expenses not attributable to a particular cell may be allocated between all cells at the discretion of the Manager on such basis as it considers fair. Unless excluded in writing, it is an implied term of every transaction to which the Company is party that no party shall make or attempt to make liable any “protected assets”. The Companies Law sets out recovery mechanisms in favour of the Company should any such party be successful in taking protected assets in satisfaction of liabilities.
The Company has not entered into any recourse agreements in connection with the Cellular Assets of the Funds or the Core Assets.
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, POLICY AND RESTRICTIONS
As at the date of this Offering Memorandum, the Company has created ten (10) cells, being the Funds.
Global Equities Fund
The Global Equities Fund will target investments in ETFs (listed globally) and CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to the Global Equities. The investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation.
Global Bonds Fund
The Global Bonds Fund will target investments in ETFs (listed globally) and CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to Bonds. The investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation.
Cautious Fund
The Cautious Fund will target investments in ETFs (listed globally) and CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to Global Equities and Bonds. The investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation. The Fund’s portfolio (based on the value of its assets) is targeted to be allocated between 10% and 30% to Investee Funds with exposure to Global Equities and between 70% and 90% to Investee Funds with exposure to Bonds.
The Balanced Fund will target investments in ETFs (listed globally) and CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to Global Equities and Bonds. The investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation. The Fund’s portfolio (based on the value of its assets) is targeted to be allocated between 50% and 70% to Investee Funds with exposure to Global Equities and between 30% and 50% to Investee Funds with exposure to Bonds.
Aggressive Fund
The Aggressive Fund will target investments in ETFs (listed globally) and CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to the global equities and bonds markets. The investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation. The Fund’s portfolio (based on the value of its assets) is targeted to be allocated between 70% and 90% to Investee Funds with exposure to Global Equities and between 10% and 30% to Investee Funds with exposure to Bonds.
Emerging Markets Equities Fund
The Emerging Markets Equities Fund will target investments in ETFs (listed globally) and CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to the Emerging Markets Equities. The investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation.
Commodities Fund
The Commodities Fund will target investments in ETFs (listed globally) and CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to the global commodities markets. The investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation.
New Technologies Fund
The New Technologies Fund will target investments in ETFs (listed globally) and CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to the technology sector. The investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation.
Sustainable Growth Fund
The Sustainable Growth Fund will target investments in ETFs (listed globally) and CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to the following themes: health, environment, demographics and sustainability. The investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation.
The Cash Fund will target investments in ETFs (listed globally) and CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to Cash Instruments. The investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation.
Each Fund’s Investment Objectives, Investment Policy and Investment Restrictions are set out in the corresponding Appendix.
A subscription for Shares in the Fund should be part of a medium term investment strategy implying an investment period of at least five years.
The Investment Adviser, a Dominion Associate, is responsible for the selection and allocation of the Company’s assets to various Investee Funds, subject to policies adopted by the Directors, and recommendation to the Manager of such allocation.
These Investee Funds will generally have investors other than the Company.
The Manager will allocate all assets of the Funds among the Investee Funds that, in its view, represent attractive investment opportunities. Allocation depends on the Manager’s assessment of the likely returns of various investment strategies that the Investee Funds utilize and the likely correlation among the investment strategies under consideration. The Manager generally seeks to invest in Investee Funds whose expected risk adjusted returns are deemed attractive, and provide long-term capital appreciation.
The Investment Adviser and its personnel use a wide range of resources, including its well-established network, to identify attractive Investee Funds and promising investment strategies for consideration in connection with investments by the various Funds. To narrow the set of Investee Funds and investment strategies initially identified for consideration, the Investment Adviser screens Investee Funds and investment strategies according to criteria that include both quantitative measures such as past performance and systematic risk exposures, to the extent that data is available, and qualitative factors such as the reputation, experience and training of the Investee Manager, and the ability of the Investee Manager to articulate a coherent investment philosophy and risk control process. Following the initial screening process, the Adviser conducts further review of the Investee Funds that it considers likely to generate superior, risk-adjusted returns consistent with the Adviser’s views at that time as to both the most attractive strategy types and the needs of the Funds’ existing portfolios. On an ongoing basis, the Investment Adviser conducts similar, periodic reviews with respect to Investee Funds in which the Funds have invested.
The Investment Adviser’s team has extensive experience and expertise with a range of investment strategies and have evaluated numerous Investee Funds representing many categories of alternative investments and utilising various investment strategies. Further, the Manager has extensive experience in directly managing a variety of investment strategies, including the Dominion Funds.
The Directors believes that this combination of evaluation expertise and direct investment experience enables the Investment Adviser and Manager (as the case may be) to understand the opportunities and risks associated with investing in Investee Funds.
Initial Charges
There are no charges when applying for Shares in a Fund, either initially, or upon any subsequent investment for Shares in the relevant Fund.
Redemption Charges
There are no charges for redeeming Shares in a Fund.
Establishment Costs
The fees and expenses incurred in connection with the establishment of the Company and the initial issue of Shares (including the costs of preparing and printing this Offering Memorandum and the fees and expenses of the Company’s professional and legal advisers) are approximately $150,000 (exclusive of VAT, if any), and will be payable by the Company. It is intended that these fees and expenses will be amortised for valuation purposes over the first five years of the Company.
The maximum permitted Management Fee is 2% per annum of the Net Asset Value of each Fund. The Management Fee will be calculated and accrued at each Subscription Day, and payable monthly in arrears within 15 days of the end of each calendar month.
Administrator’s and Registrar’s Fees
The Administrator is entitled to receive fees as follows (the “Administration Fee”):
An annual fee calculated according to the prevailing Net Asset Value of the Company, as follows:
Net Asset Value Fee payable[1]
$0 – $25 million 0.40%
$25 million – $50 million 0.35%
$75 million – $100 million 0.25%
$100 million – $200 million 0.20%
Greater than $300 million 0.10%
The Administrator is also entitled to be reimbursed out of the Company’s assets for a range of expenses properly payable by the Company in accordance with the Rules.
Custodian Fee
The Custodian is entitled to receive an annual fee (the “Custodian Fee”) of 0.07% of the Net Asset Value of each Cell (subject to a minimum fee of $80,000 per annum), calculated as at each Valuation Point and payable monthly in arrears.
Investment Adviser’s Fee
All fees payable to the Investment Adviser under the Services Agreement are included as part of the Management Fee, and no additional fees are payable to the Investment Adviser by the Shareholders over and above the Management Fee.
Other Operating Fees and Expenses
The Company will pay all other expenses related to its operation and administration including expenses related to the purchase, sale and management of Investments (to the extent not reimbursed), expenses of sub-custodians, prime brokers, meetings with Shareholders, the establishment and operational fees of the Company, the fees and expenses of outside counsel and independent accountants, the out-of-pocket expenses of the Manager, the Administrator, the Registrar, such other advisers, managers, research firms and other consultants as the Company may consider appropriate (subject always to each being retained at market rates).
Directors will each be entitled to an annual fee of up to $25,000 for acting as a director of the Company.
APPLICATIONS, REDEMPTIONS, CONVERSIONS AND VALUATION ARRANGEMENTS
Dealing arrangements
Shares in each Fund may be purchased on each Subscription Day or redeemed on each Redemption Day subject to the terms set out below. The price at which Shares can be purchased or redeemed will normally be determined as set out in the section entitled “Valuation” on page 35 of this Offering Memorandum.
The Directors may change the Subscription Day, Redemption Day or Valuation Point in respect of the Fund, or generally, in their absolute discretion although Shareholders will be given at least one month’s prior notice of any such change.
Applications for all subscriptions, together with cleared funds for the relevant subscription amount, must be received by the Registrar prior to 3:00 pm Guernsey time on the Business Day prior to the relevant Subscription Day, using the relevant DCSF Application Form. Requests received after this time will, unless the Manager otherwise agrees, be held over and dealt with on the following Subscription Day. The original DCSF Application Form, signed and dated by the prospective Shareholder, and all supporting customer due diligence documentation, should be returned to the Registrar.
In the case of joint applications all prospective Shareholders must sign the DCSF Application Form. Copies of the DCS Application Form are available from the Manager’s website or from the Registrar on request. The Registrar will hold monies received from a prospective Shareholder in separate client monies bank accounts. The Registrar reserves the right to carry over an application and any application monies pending clearance of an applicant’s telegraphic transfer.
The Registrar will also require verification of the identity of applicants and the source of funds and source of wealth as further described under the heading “Prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing” on page 33 of this Offering Memorandum. If satisfactory evidence is not produced, then the application may be rejected.
The Board has the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to reject an application or to accept any application in part only or to treat as valid any applications that do not fully comply with the terms and conditions of application.
If an application is not accepted or is cancelled for any reason, the amount paid on application will be returned by the Registrar, at the applicant’s risk, without interest, less any charges to the remitting bank, to the account of the remitter quoting the applicant’s name.
Minimum subscription and minimum holding amounts
The minimum initial subscription amount for Shares in a Fund that will be accepted is $10,000. Additional subscriptions for Shares in a Fund may be made in any amount, subject always to a minimum of $250.
The Manager (under delegated authority of the Directors) may, in its absolute discretion, waive or vary the above mentioned minimum amounts from time to time and generally or in any particular case.
Eligible investors
The Directors will only consider applications into the Fund from those applicants who meet certain criteria, and who represent and warrant to the Company that:
they are able to acquire and hold Shares without violating applicable laws;
they have a thorough understanding of the Fund/Funds into which they wish to invest and the risks inherent in making such investment(s); and
they have been introduced by an existing Shareholder or Director of the Company, or a senior employee of the Manager, a Dominion Associate or any of its business partners.
All applications which meet the above criteria will be considered by the Manager. However, the Manager, acting on behalf of the Company may, in its absolute discretion, reject any application or transfer and is not obliged to give reasons for so doing. Where a Shareholder redeems its Shares other than for the purposes of conversion between Funds, the Manager is not obliged to accept any subsequent application and may, in its absolute discretion, reject any application and is not obliged to give reasons for so doing.
Shares in the Company can only be held by a Shareholder who is over the age of 18. Shares may be held for beneficiaries under the age of 18 by a Shareholder who is over the age of 18
Without the Manager’s prior written approval (under delegation from the Directors), no Shareholder shall be permitted to acquire the Shares for the purposes of repackaging the Shares or developing or entering into any structured products that are referenced, linked or secured over the Shares, including but not limited to credit linked notes, total return swaps, indexed notes, indexed swaps, principal protected products or any other synthetic products.
Contract notes
Unless otherwise specified in this Offering Memorandum, a contract note will be sent to the applicant usually within two Business Days after the relevant Dealing Day, providing details of the transaction and a Shareholder number that should be quoted in any correspondence by the Shareholder with the Registrar. It is the responsibility of the Shareholder (and its agent where applicable) to check the information contained in the contract note is correct and to notify the Registrar of any discrepancy within five Business Days of receipt. Contract notes are sent at the Shareholder’s own risk.
Registered form
Unless the Directors otherwise agree, certificates will not be issued in respect of any Shares. Title to Shares will be evidenced by reference to entries in the register of the Shareholders maintained by the Registrar. The register of Shareholders may be inspected during normal business hours at the registered office of the Company, the address of which is stated in the Corporate Directory on page 11 of this Offering Memorandum. Any changes to a Shareholder’s personal details must be notified immediately to the Registrar in writing.
REDEMPTIONS
Redemption procedure
Shareholders will have the right to redeem the whole or part of their holdings of Shares on any Redemption Day.
A Shareholder who wishes to redeem all or any part of his holding must submit his request to the Registrar prior to 3.00 p.m. Guernsey time on the Business Day prior to the relevant Redemption Day. Requests received after this time will, unless the Manager or Registrar otherwise agrees, be held over and dealt with on the following Redemption Day.
Notice of redemption may be given using the DCS Redemption Form which is available upon request from the Registrar, or in writing in a form acceptable to the Registrar and specifying the details described in this Offering Memorandum. Such redemption requests must be signed and dated by the Shareholder and, in the case of joint Shareholders, all Shareholders must sign the DCS Redemption Form. A redemption request may only be withdrawn with the consent of the Registrar. The Manager and Registrar (as appropriate) are authorised to rely on a validly completed DCSF Redemption Form without further investigation.
Payment will be rounded down to the nearest unit of currency and the Fund will retain the benefit of any such rounding.
The Registrar may also require additional customer due diligence documentation in order to process a redemption request as described under the heading “Prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing” on page 33 of this Offering Memorandum. If satisfactory evidence is not produced by the Shareholder, redemption proceeds may be held by the Registrar in a separate bank account (designated as client money accounts) until all requested documentation has been received and is in order.
Provided that the DCSF Redemption Form has been validly completed and received by the Registrar in its original form, and all customer due diligence requirements have been satisfied in full, payment of the redemption proceeds will normally be made by telegraphic transfer within seven Business Days following the relevant Redemption Day (or as soon as the proceeds are received by the Fund from the sale of any Investments made to meet the redemption) to the bank account specified in the DCSF Redemption Form.
All redemption monies will be paid in USD. Unless otherwise agreed with the Registrar, the transfer of redemption monies is at the Shareholder(s) risk, and will be made without interest, less any bank charges, and must be paid to an account in the name of the Shareholder(s).
Monies received from the Fund in respect of redemptions will be held by the Registrar in separate bank accounts (designated as client money accounts) until payment of the redemption proceeds is made to the redeeming Shareholder.
Unless otherwise specified in this Offering Memorandum, a contract note will be sent to the Shareholder usually within two Business Days after the relevant Redemption Day, providing details of the redemption transaction. It is the responsibility of the Shareholder (and its agent where applicable) to check that the information contained in the contract note is correct and to notify the Registrar of any discrepancy within five Business Days of receipt. Contract notes are sent at the Shareholder’s own risk.
Deferral of redemptions and compulsory redemptions
If, on any Redemption Day, the Company:
has insufficient available liquid funds; or
in the reasonable opinion of the Directors, will be unable to liquidate sufficient positions in an orderly manner to provide such funds,
necessary to meet all Redemption Requests on the relevant Redemption Day, then the Directors shall determine the appropriate course of action, acting at all times in the best interests of Members including, but not limited to, reducing the number of Shares to be redeemed on such Redemption Day (to meet the available liquidity within the Company), or suspending redemptions entirely. The Directors will notify Shareholders immediately upon reaching such a determination.
If, at any time, the Net Asset Value of the Company (calculated as though for the purpose of computing Redemption Prices) on six consecutive Redemption Days shall be less than $5 million (or the equivalent in another currency) (or such other sum as the Directors may determine) the Company may, by not less than four weeks’ notice expiring on a Redemption Day to all holders of Shares given within eight weeks of the expiry of the sixth consecutive Redemption Day (as the case may be), redeem at the Redemption Price all (but not some) of the Shares in issue on that Redemption Day.
The Directors may redeem all Shares if, in their opinion, it has become uneconomic for the Company to continue. The Company shall give not less than four weeks’ notice of such redemption (expiring on a Redemption Day) to all holders of Shares.
RISK WARNINGS
Investment in a Fund involves certain risks. Prospective investors should give careful consideration to the following risk factors in evaluating the merits and suitability of an investment in any Fund. This is not an exhaustive list.
Business Risk: No guarantee or representation is made that the Manager’s investment programme will be successful and there can be no assurance that the Funds (or any of them) will achieve their Investment Objectives. The past performance of the Manager cannot be construed as an indication of the future results of an investment in any of the Funds. In certain circumstances, the Company may compulsorily redeem all of the Shares.
Change of Laws Risk: Changes in legal, tax and regulatory regimes may occur during the life of the Company and/or its Investee Funds, which may have an adverse effect on the Funds and their Investments.
The financial services industry generally, and certain investment activities of private investment funds similar to the Company, and their managers, in particular, have been subject to intense and increasing regulatory scrutiny. Market disruptions (including the global credit crisis of 2008), the dramatic increase in capital allocated to alternative investment strategies, and the growing concern about the lack of regulation of private investment funds have led to the proposal of various U.S. federal, state and local and non-U.S. laws and regulations regarding private investment funds and may in the future lead to additional proposals. Such scrutiny may increase the Company’s and the Manager’s exposure to potential liabilities and to legal, compliance and other related costs. Increased regulatory oversight, enhanced regulation and the adoption of new statutes, rules or regulations with respect to the investment activities of the Funds may also reduce the amount and availability of investment opportunities for the Funds. The reduction of such investment opportunities could have a material and adverse effect on the investment performance of the Funds. Such increased regulatory oversight and regulation may also impose additional administrative burdens on the Investee Managers, the Manager and/or the Company, and such regulatory proposals, or any future proposals, if adopted, could adversely affect the Funds, including the business, financial condition and prospects of the Funds, and could also require increased transparency as to the identity of the Shareholders. The financial crisis that began in 2008 has caused pervasive and fundamental disruptions in the global financial markets, leading to extensive governmental and regulatory intervention. Such intervention has, in certain cases, been implemented on an “emergency” basis, suddenly hindering or eliminating market participants’ ability to implement certain investment strategies or to manage the risk of their outstanding positions. In addition, these interventions have at times been, and may in the future be, unclear in scope and application, resulting in confusion and uncertainty that in turn have been, and may in the future be, materially detrimental to the efficient functioning of the markets as well as of previously successful investment strategies. It is impossible to predict what additional interim or permanent government and regulatory restrictions may be imposed on the markets and/or the effect of such restrictions on the Company. However, the Manager believes that there is a high likelihood of increased regulation of the financial markets and that such increased regulation could have an adverse effect on the Funds.
Competition Risk: The business of identifying and structuring investments of the types contemplated by the Company is competitive, and involves a high degree of uncertainty. The availability of investment opportunities generally is subject to market conditions as well as, in some cases, the prevailing regulatory or political climate. No assurance can be given that the Company will be able to identify and complete attractive investments in the future or that it will be able to invest fully its subscriptions. Similarly, identification of attractive investment opportunities by Investee Funds is difficult and involves a high degree of uncertainty. Even if an attractive investment opportunity is identified by an Investee Manager, an Investee Fund may not be permitted to take advantage of the opportunity to the fullest extent desired.
Conflicts of Interest Risk: As described under the heading “Conflicts of Interest” on page 46 of this Offering Memorandum, instances are expected to arise in which any of the Manager, a Dominion Associate or a Dominion Fund, will have potential or actual conflicts of interest with the Company and its Shareholders. There is a risk that such conflicts may have an adverse effect on the availability of Investments for the Fund or the returns from Investments of the Funds.
Control Risk: Investee Funds may take control positions in companies. The exercise of control over a company imposes additional risks of liability for environmental damage, product defects, failure to supervise and other types of liability related to business operations. In addition, the act of taking a control position, or seeking to take such a position, may itself subject an Investee Fund to litigation by parties interested in blocking it from taking that position. If those liabilities were to arise, or such litigation were to be resolved adverse to the Investee Funds, the investing Investee Funds likely would suffer losses on their investments.
Counterparty and Settlement Risk: The Company (for and on behalf of the Funds) will take a credit risk on parties with whom it trades and will also bear the risk of settlement default. Failure by a counterparty to make payments due under a derivative instrument will reduce a Fund’s income.
Currency Risk: The Fund is denominated in USD. Certain of the assets of the Funds may, however, be invested in Investee Funds which are denominated in different currencies to USD. Accordingly, the value of such Investments may be affected favourably or unfavourably by fluctuations in currency rates. Further, the Directors may decide to issue Classes of Shares in currencies other than USD. Such Classes may be exposed to possible adverse currency fluctuations between the USD and the currency in which such Shares are denominated. The Manager may seek to hedge the resulting foreign currency exposure of the Funds (as well as to prevent Classes profiting from currency gains). However, the Funds will necessarily be subject to foreign exchange risks and there can be no assurance that any hedging transactions will be successful in lessening the exchange rate exposure of the Funds or Classes, nor can there be any assurance that any such hedging transactions will not itself produce significant losses. In addition, prospective investors whose assets and liabilities are predominantly in other currencies should take into account the potential risk of loss arising from fluctuations in value between different currencies. The Manager is under no obligation to hedge any currency risks.
Custody Risk: There exists a risk of the loss of securities held in custody by virtue of the insolvency, negligence or fraudulent action of the Custodian or of a sub-custodian. Where any of the Fund’s Investments are held by a nominee, agent or sub-custodian outside of Guernsey or the United Kingdom, there may be different settlement, legal and regulatory requirements in that country and there may be different practices for separate identification of safe custody assets. Therefore, it may not be possible under the relevant laws of that country for the assets to be separately identifiable from the nominee, agent, sub-custodian or Custodian and, accordingly, there may be a greater risk of loss in the event of failure of any such agent, nominee or sub-custodian
FATCA Risk: The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) generally imposes, beginning 1 July 2014, a new U.S. withholding tax of 30% that will apply to a non-U.S. entity’s share of most payments received by the Company attributable to investments in the United States, including dividends, interest, and, beginning on 1 January 2017, gross proceeds of a disposition of stock, unless the Company has in effect a valid agreement with the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, or is subject to local law disclosure obligations enacted to give effect to the requirements under FATCA (such as those implemented in Guernsey), that obligates the Company to obtain and verify certain information from investors and comply with annual reporting requirements with respect to certain direct or indirect U.S. investors as well as satisfy other requirements.
Following the U.S. implementation of FATCA other jurisdictions are considering (and, in some cases are currently in the process of implementing, or, have implemented (such as in the case of the United Kingdom with certain jurisdictions such as Guernsey)), their own versions of FATCA. Such rules require the Company to disclose certain information about Shareholders, their ultimate beneficial owners and/or controllers, and their investment in and returns from the Company, to relevant tax authorities (for sharing with other relevant tax authorities).
Fraud Risk: The Manager, Registrar and Administrator (in their respective capacities) must comply with their respective obligations under Guernsey’s anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism law and regulations. From time to time portfolio managers may provide the Company, the Manager, Registrar, Administrator and/or the Custodian with information with respect to the Funds’ Investments. Although the Company, the Manager, the Registrar, the Administrator and the Custodian will take reasonable measures to ensure such parties provide them with complete and correct information, there can be no assurance that the Company, the Manager, the Registrar, the Administrator and/or the Custodian can verify that all information received from such parties are true, complete and correct. Such information may be fraudulent without the knowledge of the Company, the Manager, the Registrar, the Administrator and/or the Custodian. As such, fraud may not be detected immediately and this may affect the Funds.
Fund-of-Funds Risk: Although the Investment Adviser may periodically receive information from each Investee Fund regarding its investment performance and investment strategy, the Investment Adviser and Manager may have little or no means of independently verifying this information. An Investee Fund may use proprietary investment strategies that are not fully disclosed to the Manager, which may involve risks under some market conditions that are not anticipated by the Manager. In addition, the Company has no control over the Investee Funds’ investment management, brokerage, custodial arrangements or operations and must rely on the experience and competency of each Investee Manager in these areas. The performance of the Funds depends on the success of the Investment Adviser in selecting Investee Funds for recommendation by the Manager and the allocation and reallocation of Cellular Assets among those Funds.
Inability to Liquidate and Potential Delays in Payment of Redemption Proceeds Risk: In circumstances where the Manager is unable to liquidate Investments in an orderly manner to enable the Funds (or any of them) to pay redemption proceeds or where the Net Asset Values of a Fund cannot be determined, the Company may take longer than the time periods disclosed in this Offering Memorandum to effect settlements of redemptions until such time as the Manager is able to liquidate any such Investments in an orderly manner.
The Company may even defer or suspend redemptions (in whole or in part) of a Fund, establish a liquidating trust, special purpose vehicle or side pockets to hold Illiquid Assets from which redemptions may not be made until the Directors, in consultation with the Manager, determine such Investments are no longer Illiquid Assets. However, there will be no obligation whatsoever on the Manager to adopt any of these strategies. In addition, the Company may also withhold a portion or all of any proceeds of redemption if necessary to comply with applicable legal, tax or regulatory requirements. No interest or any other form of damage will accrue to or be payable to the Shareholders with regard to any such delays in the settlement of redemption proceeds.
Inadequate Return Risk: There can be no assurance that the returns on the Funds’ Investments will be commensurate with the risk of an investment in a Fund. Each prospective investor should have the ability to sustain the loss of its entire investment in a Fund.
Income Risk: Unless otherwise provided for in this Offering Memorandum, the Company does not presently intend to pay dividends in respect of any Fund. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund may not be suitable for investors seeking income returns for financial or tax planning purposes.
Indemnification Obligations of the Company/Fund’s Risk: The Company, on behalf of the Funds and out of the assets of the Funds, has agreed to indemnify the Directors and certain of its service providers under the agreements engaging such service providers.
Insider Risk: From time to time, the Company or its affiliates may come into possession of material, non-public information concerning an entity in which a Fund has invested, or proposes to invest. Possession of that information may limit the ability of the Fund to buy or sell securities of the entity.
Investment Adviser: The Manager has appointed the Investment Adviser to advise on the initial and on going composition of Investments and the risk management strategy that may be applied to the Investments of the Fund. The advice and recommendations of the Investment Adviser are not binding on the Manager, and no guarantee or representation is made that the Investment Adviser’s advice and/or recommendations will be accepted by the Manager.
Length of Investment Risk: Investments in the Funds should be considered as medium-to-long-term investments and prospective investors should not contemplate an investment term of less than five years.
Limited Role of the Directors: The Directors have ultimate authority over all of the Company’s operations. However, as substantially all of the Company’s operations consist (indirectly) of implementing specialised investment strategies, the ability of the Directors to control these operations is inherently limited. The Directors’ roles are non-executive and consist of oversight of, rather than active involvement in, the Company’s trading activities.
Limited Role of the Shareholders: The Shares do not entitle the holders thereof the right to vote at general meetings of the Company. Accordingly, holders of Shares shall not have the right to approve, amongst other things: (i) the appointment, removal or remuneration of the Directors, (ii) the appointment, removal or remuneration of the Manager and other service providers, (iii) the amendment of the Articles (unless such amendment is deemed to vary the class rights attached to Shares).
Liquidity and Valuation Risk: Except in certain circumstances, there will be no active market for the interests held by the Funds in the Investee Funds. Accurately valuing and realising the Investments, or closing out positions in such Investments at appropriate prices, may not always be possible. The Investee Managers may not permit holdings to be redeemed/surrendered as frequently as the Funds do, or at all. In the absence of published current redemption/surrender prices, the Directors may therefore have to determine valuations in respect of such Investments. Adequate information may not always be available to the Directors from the Investee Managers or other sources for that purpose and consequently such valuations may not accurately reflect the realisable value of each Fund’s holdings of the relevant Investee Fund. There may be delays in obtaining values for underlying Investments that may result in reliance on estimates in calculating the Net Asset Value.
Market Disruption Risk: The Funds may incur major losses in the event that disrupted markets and/or other extraordinary events affect markets in a way that is not consistent with historical pricing relationships. The risk of loss from the disconnection from historical prices during periods of market disruption is compounded by the fact that in disrupted markets many positions become illiquid, making it difficult or impossible to close out positions against which the markets are moving. In 1994, in 1998 and again in the “financial crisis” of 2007-2009, a sudden restriction of credit resulted in forced liquidations and major losses for a number of investment vehicles focused on credit-related investments. However, because market disruptions and losses in one sector can cause ripple effects in other sectors, many investment vehicles suffered heavy losses even though they were not heavily invested in credit-related investments.
In addition, the global financial markets may undergo further fundamental disruptions in the future, which could result in renewed governmental interventions which may be materially detrimental to the performance of the Funds. Furthermore, market disruptions caused by unexpected political, military and terrorist events may from time to time cause dramatic losses for the Funds (or any of them), and such events can result in otherwise historically low-risk strategies performing with unprecedented volatility and risk. A financial exchange may from time to time suspend or limit trading. Such a suspension could render it difficult or impossible for the Funds (or any of them) to liquidate affected positions and thereby expose it to losses. There is also no assurance that off-exchange markets will remain liquid enough for the Funds to close out positions.
Market Participant Risk: The institutions, including brokerage firms and banks, with which the Fund trades or invests (including any Investee Manager), may encounter financial difficulties that impair the operational capabilities or the capital position of the Funds (or any of them).
Public Disclosure Risk: Shares may be held by investors who are subject to public disclosure requirements. The amount of information about their investments that is required to be disclosed has increased in recent years, and that trend may continue. To the extent that the disclosure of confidential information relating to an Investment results from Shares being held by public investors, the Funds (or any of them) may be adversely affected.
Rebate Arrangements Risk: The Manager may agree with other parties that assist in the distribution and marketing of the Funds to rebate part of its fees payable to it with respect to such distribution and marketing of Shares.
Recognition of Protected Cell Company Structure Risk: Jurisdictions other than Guernsey may not be prepared to recognise the segregation of assets and liabilities between cells or between the Core and the cells (including the Funds). As a protected cell company, the Company consists of a Core and a separate and distinct, but not separately incorporated, cell. In accordance with the Companies Law, the assets and liabilities of any cells are legally segregated and protected from those of other cells. Similarly, the assets and liabilities of the Core are segregated and protected from those of the Funds. The principle is that where any liability arises which is attributable to a particular cell or to the Core only the cellular assets attributable to that cell or the Core Assets attributable to the Core should be used in satisfaction of the liability. Thus, when considering a liability attributable to any cell, the Core Assets and the assets attributable to any cell, other than the cell to which the relevant liability is attributable, are “protected assets”. The Directors are not aware of any case in which the mechanism by which assets and liabilities are segregated through a protected cell company has been considered by a foreign court. Where the assets of the Funds are held outside Guernsey, and an action is brought against that Fund (or indeed the Company) in the jurisdiction in which the assets are located, it is not known to what extent the foreign court will assume jurisdiction, or give primacy to Guernsey corporate law in evaluating whether or not those assets are free for the purposes of any enforcement action in that jurisdiction. There is a risk that the segregation of assets and liabilities between the cells or between the Core and the Funds may not be recognised or upheld within the courts in jurisdictions outside Guernsey. In relation to the Company, this could result in Shareholders in one cell (to the extent that there is more than one cell at any one time) bearing losses or liabilities in relation to another cell that could impact upon the value of assets held within the first cell. However, the Directors understand that, as a matter of comity, a court in a jurisdiction outside Guernsey would have to satisfy itself that it has jurisdiction (as a matter of conflict of laws), and then if it does assume jurisdiction, it would apply Guernsey law and should, therefore, recognise and uphold the manner in which assets can be segregated through the Companies Law.
The Court may order that any liability a Director has for failing to inform a third party that it is contracting with the Company, or failing to specify the cell in respect of which the third party is contracting, may be met from the cellular assets or Core Assets of the Company. The Company must inform any person with whom it transacts that it is a protected cell company, and must identify or specify the cell in respect of which that person is transacting or specify that the transaction is in respect of the Core (as appropriate). If the Company fails to provide the transacting party with this information then the Directors become personally liable to the counterparty to the contract although, unless they were fraudulent, reckless, negligent or acted in bad faith, they do have a right of indemnity against the Core Assets of the Company. Only the Court can relieve the Directors from this liability on certain grounds set out further in the Companies Law and, in doing so, may order that any liability may be met from the Cellular Assets or Core Assets of the Company. In relation to the Company, this could result in Shareholders in one cell bearing losses or liabilities in relation to another cell which could impact upon the value of assets held within the first cell. This would only apply to the extent that additional cells were to be created by the Company (beyond the Funds).
Solvency issues for one of the cells in the Company could in limited circumstances restrict the ability of other cells to make distributions (including the redemption of Shares). In accordance with the Companies Law, in order to effect a distribution or pay a dividend from a cell or the Core, the Directors must be satisfied that the Company will, immediately after payment of the distribution, be solvent. Therefore, the ability of a cell or the Core to make a distribution will be determined on the solvency of the Company as a whole rather than on the solvency of the relevant cell or Core alone. This may restrict the Company’s ability to effect distributions, pay a dividend or redeem Shares, although the Directors do not anticipate any situation where the Company would not satisfy the aforementioned “solvency test”. If the Company were to be restricted in its ability to effect distributions or pay a dividend in respect of the Shares this could result in the holders of the Shares not being able to receive a return on their investment.
Redemption Risks: Shareholders will only be able to redeem Shares by giving prior written notice. The risk of any decline in the Net Asset Value per Share during the period from the date of receipt by the Registrar of notice of redemption until the Redemption Day on which redemption is effected will be borne by the Shareholders.
Redemptions are subject to a number of limitations. In the event the Directors limit or suspend redemptions in the manner as described under the headings “Deferral of redemptions and compulsory redemption” and “Suspension of dealings and/or calculation of Net Asset Value” on pages 23 and 37 of this Offering Memorandum, respectively, it most likely will not be possible for the Fund to pay redeeming Shareholders all or any portion of their redemption amount. If the relevant Fund is required to meet redemption requests on any Redemption Day the Manager may have to sell or redeem shares in any underlying Investee Fund which may itself be subject to a limit on sale or redemptions. If this occurs, then the relevant Fund’s ability to meet its own redemption requests will be hindered by the inability to redeem sufficient underlying Investments to provide adequately for their own redemptions.
For the reasons described above and other circumstances, there can be no assurance that the Fund will have sufficient cash to pay for Shares that are being redeemed or that it will be able to liquidate Investments at favourable prices to pay for redeemed Shares. A Shareholder may not be able to redeem any or all of the Shares subject to that Shareholder’s redemption request on the Redemption Day originally specified by such Shareholder. Shareholders will bear any additional risk of any decline in the Net Asset Value per Share until the Redemption Day(s) on which the Shares are actually redeemed. In the event of a suspension of the calculation of the Net Asset Value and/or redemption of Shares, redemption requests will not be held over and at the end of a period of suspension holders of Shares will be required to submit a new redemption request if it is their intention to proceed with the redemption.
Regulatory Risk: The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union approved a directive (the “AIFM Directive”) on alternative investment fund managers (“AIFM”) on 11 November 2010.
As an entity with its registered office outside the EU, the Manager will be affected by the AIFM Directive only to the extent that the Manager conducts relevant management and marketing activities to professional investors within the EU. Accordingly, the Manager may not be subject to the provisions of the AIFM Directive in its management and marketing of the portfolio of the Company and the protections for investors provided for by the Directive may therefore not be available to investors in the Company.
Shareholders should note that the provisions of the AIFM Directive limit the ability of the Company, as an investment fund not established in the EU which is managed by a non-EU manager, to be marketed to professional investors within the EU. This may have the consequence of, amongst other things, the Company not benefitting from economies of scale that might otherwise have been achieved.
The Manager may consider utilising the national private placement rules in certain of the EU member states when marketing the Company for as long as they remain available and provided that Guernsey has a co-operation agreement in place between the GFSC and the regulator in the EU member state where marketing might be proposed to be undertaken. Guernsey also has a set of AIFM Directive-equivalent rules which the Manager may opt to use if it considers it suitable to do so in the future.
The AIFM Directive may, in the future, provide an option for the Manager to actively market Shares within the EU to professional investors by applying for a passport. Should the Manager decide to obtain such a passport, its ability to obtain such a passport will be subject to certain conditions. There is a risk that the Manager may not be able to fulfil the conditions required in order to obtain the relevant passport. In addition, in meeting conditions applicable under the AIFM Directive in order either to rely on the existing national private placement rules or to qualify for the marketing passport, the Company may be required to incur material additional costs. Such costs would have a negative impact on the net returns achieved for investors.
Reliance on the Manager Risk: The Funds’ Investments will be managed by the Manager on a discretionary basis. Investors will not make decisions with respect to the management, disposition or other realisation of any Investment, or other decisions regarding the Company’s business and affairs. Consequently, the success of the Funds’ Investments will depend, in large part, upon the skill and expertise of the Manager. Although the Manager believes that the success of the Funds’ Investments is not dependent upon any individual, there can be no assurance that any of the current officers and employees of the Manager will continue to serve in their current positions or continue to be employed by the Manager. Departures of such persons may have a materially adverse impact on the performance of the Funds.
Substantial Redemptions Risk: If there are substantial redemptions of Shares, it may be more difficult for the Funds to generate returns since it will be operating on a smaller asset base. In addition, if there are substantial redemption requests within a limited period of time, it may be difficult for the Manager to provide sufficient funds to meet such redemptions without the Funds liquidating positions prematurely at an inappropriate time or on unfavourable terms. In such circumstances, the Manager may suspend redemptions of Shares as described under the heading “Suspension of dealings and/or calculation of Net Asset Value” on page 37 of this Offering Memorandum.
Tax Risks: The tax consequences to investors of an investment in a Fund are complex. Prospective investors should inform themselves as to the legal requirements and tax consequences within the countries of their citizenship, residence, domicile and place of business with respect to the acquisition, holding or disposal of Shares, and any foreign exchange restrictions that may be relevant thereto.
Valuation Risk: Certain Investments may be difficult to value and may be subject to varying valuation interpretations by third party pricing agents. In particular, independent pricing information may not always be available with respect to certain Investments and the Manager may: (i) rely on estimated valuations provided by the Investments’ administrators, issuers or Investee Managers, or (ii) rely on valuation information provided by the Administrator. In such instances, the Manager will seek independent valuation, where practicable, since it may face a conflict of interest in giving investment advice in respect of or valuing Investments that lack a readily ascertainable market value, since any valuations or investment advice given with respect to the value of such Investments may be reflected in the Net Asset Value and as a consequence, the Funds’ reliance on such valuations or investment advice will impact the calculation basis for the fees due to the Manager and other service providers.
Further, given the uncertainty inherent in the valuation of Investments that lack a readily ascertainable market value, the reflection of the value of such Investments in the Net Asset Value may differ materially from the actual prices at which a Fund would be able to liquidate such Investments. As a consequence, the Net Asset Value, in relation to a relevant Dealing Day, may not necessarily reflect the actual aggregate value of the assets less the liabilities of the relevant Fund and, as a result, the Net Asset Value for the applicable Dealing Day may be affected negatively or positively if the information relied upon by the Company is updated, supplemented or restated at any time following publication of each Fund’s Net Asset Value in relation to the applicable Dealing Day.
Volatility Risk: The values of the Investments and, accordingly the Net Asset Value of the Funds may be volatile from week to week. The value of Shares may fall as well as rise and investors may not get back, on a redemption or otherwise, the amount originally invested.
The foregoing factors are not exhaustive and do not purport to be a complete explanation of all the risks and considerations involved in investing in a Fund. In particular, the Funds’ performance may be affected by changes in market or economic conditions and legal, regulatory and tax requirements. The Company (out of the Cellular Assets of the Funds) will be responsible for paying the fees, charges and expenses referred to in this document regardless of the level of profitability.
By agreeing to invest in a Fund, Shareholders acknowledge and accept that the Registrar and/or the Administrator (on behalf of the Company) may hold and process personal data to properly record the Shareholder’s interest in a Fund in accordance with the Data Protection (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2001 (the “Data Protection Law”) and relevant corporate laws and regulations and to advise the Shareholder of matters relative to its investment in the Funds, including current values and changes to the Funds or Company documentation and the Registrar/Administrator may, in order to fulfil its duties to the Company and to comply with regulatory requirements:
process an investor’s personal data (including sensitive personal data) as required by or in connection with its investment in the Fund including processing personal data in connection with credit and money laundering checks on the investor;
communicate with the investor as necessary in connection with its affairs and generally in connection with its investment in the Funds;
provide personal data to such third parties (including the Custodian) for processing or otherwise as the Registrar/Administrator may consider necessary in connection with the investor’s affairs and generally in connection with its investment in the Funds or as the Data Protection Law may require, including to third parties outside the Bailiwick of Guernsey or the European Economic Area;
transfer personal data to other companies within the same group as the Manager, (including to any such companies which are outside the Bailiwick of Guernsey or the European Economic Area) who wish to use such information for marketing purposes to promote their services to the Shareholders, including by means of electronic communications; and
process a Shareholder’s personal data for the Manager’s, Registrar’s and/or the Administrator’s internal administration.
References in this section to the Manager, Registrar and/or Administrator include references to any of their delegates.
Prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing
Due to requirements designed to combat money laundering and terrorist financing operating within various jurisdictions, including Guernsey, the United States and the United Kingdom, the Registrar is required to identify and take risk-based and adequate measures to verify the beneficial owners of all Shareholders. The application of this risk-based approach dictates that in certain circumstances the Registrar will be required to apply enhanced customer due diligence to certain investor types. Accordingly, the Registrar reserves the right to request, at the time of subscription, and at any time whilst the investor holds Shares, including at the time of redemption of such Shares, such information as may be necessary to verify the identity of Shareholders and any beneficial owner of Shares.
The Registrar’s customer due diligence procedures will require an individual to produce customer due diligence documentation in accordance with the GFSC’s regulations.
Typically the Registrar will require customer due diligence documentation prior to the investor’s first subscription for Shares. However, as a result of regulatory changes or in relation to a redemption or otherwise the Registrar may require ongoing due diligence to be carried out and, accordingly, the Registrar reserves the right to request any information at any time as may be necessary to verify the identity of a Shareholder or any beneficial owner of Shares.
In the event of delay or failure by the investor to produce any information required for verification purposes, subscription monies or redemption monies will be held by the Registrar in separate bank accounts (designated as client monies accounts) until all requested documentation has been received and is in order. In the event of failure to produce the required information in a form acceptable to the Registrar, the application for, or redemption of, Shares may be refused and the subscription monies returned to the bank account from which they were remitted or the redemption monies retained for the account of the Registrar in separate bank accounts (designated as client monies). No Shares will be issued to an investor or redeemed, and no re-registration will be registered, until the identity of the applicant or the transferee, as the case may be, has been verified to the satisfaction of the Registrar.
Net Asset Value, Subscription Prices and Redemption Prices
The Net Asset Value per Share of the Funds is calculated for each Dealing Day and the Subscription Price and the Redemption Price for the Funds is available on request from the Administrator. Shareholders can request from the Administrator a redemption value based on the latest available Redemption Price for the Shares held by them at any time.
Calculation of Subscription and Redemption Prices
Any allotment or redemption of Shares on any Subscription Day or Redemption Day will be made at the relevant Subscription Price or Redemption Price per Share of the Funds, determined by the Directors in accordance with the Articles being a sum ascertained by:
taking the Net Asset Value of the Company or the Funds (as the case may be) as at the Valuation Point;
in the case of a redemption of Shares, deducting therefrom such sum (if any) as the Directors may consider represents the appropriate allowance for Duties and Charges in relation to the realisation of all the Investments held by the Company as at the relevant Valuation Point on the assumption that such Investments had been realised at prices equal to their respective values as at that Valuation Point;
in the case of a subscription of Shares, adding such sum as the Directors may consider represents the appropriate provision for Duties and Charges which would have been incurred on the assumption that all the Investments held by the Company had been purchased at the relevant Valuation Point; and
dividing the resulting Net Asset Value by the number of Shares in the relevant Funds in issue or deemed to be in issue at the relevant Subscription Day or Redemption Day (as the case may be),
in each case rounding up or down (for subscriptions and redemptions respectively), the resultant figure to three decimal places.
Calculation of Net Asset Value
The Net Asset Value of each Fund and Net Asset Value per Share will be calculated by the Administrator on each Dealing Day as at the relevant Valuation Point. The Net Asset Value of the Funds is determined by deducting the value of the total liabilities of each Fund from the value of the total assets of that Fund.
Investments will be valued as follows:
the value of any collective investment scheme (“CIS”) shall be the price as notified to the Directors by the directors or administrator of the relevant CIS, or obtained from a recognised third party price vendor or from the relevant Investee Manager;
the value of any Investment which is quoted, listed or normally dealt in on a securities market will normally be based on the latest bid price for long positions and ask price for short positions for such security last available to the Directors at the relevant Valuation Point. Where such Investment is listed or dealt in on more than one securities market, the Directors may select any one of such markets for the foregoing purposes, which shall be the market which, in the opinion of the Directors, constitutes the main market in relation to such Investment or the market, which in relation to such Investment, the Directors in their absolute discretion consider most accurately reflects the true value of the Investment. Notwithstanding, the Directors may adjust the value of any such Investment if, having regard to currency exchange costs, marketability and/or such other considerations as they may deem relevant, they consider that such adjustment is required to reflect the probable realisation value of the Investment;
the value of any investment fund or security which is not listed or dealt in on a securities market, or which is normally listed or dealt in on a market but in respect of which no price is currently available, will be the latest available price as confirmed by the administrator of such investment fund or security, or will be valued on whatever basis that the Directors consider better reflects the fair value of that investment fund or security;
the value of any cash in hand or on deposit, prepaid expenses, cash dividends and interest declared or accrued as aforesaid and not yet received shall be deemed to be the face value thereof unless, in any case, the Directors are of the opinion that the same is unlikely to be paid or received in full, in which case the value thereof will be arrived at after making such adjustment as the Directors considers appropriate in order to reflect its true value;
the value of any demand notes, promissory notes and accounts receivable will be deemed to be the face value or full amount thereof after making such adjustment as the Directors considers appropriate to reflect the true current value thereof;
certificates of deposit, treasury bills, bank acceptances, trade bills and other negotiable instruments will each be marked to market as at the relevant calculation date;
if extraordinary circumstances render a valuation pursuant to the above principles impracticable or inadequate, the Directors will determine whether alternative methodologies should be adopted and, if so, decide what these alternative methodologies should be. The relevant assets would then be valued accordingly;
if in any case a particular value is not ascertainable in accordance with the above principles or if the Directors consider that some other method of valuation better reflects the fair value of the relevant investment, then in such circumstances the method of valuation of the relevant investment will be as the Directors, in their absolute discretion, determine; and
notwithstanding the above, where at the time of any valuation any asset has been realised or contracted to be realised, there will be included in the assets in place of such asset the net amount receivable by the Fund in respect thereof provided that, if such amount is not then known exactly, its value will be the net amount estimated by the Directors to be receivable by the Fund provided that if the net amount receivable is not payable until some future time after the time of any valuation the Directors will make such adjustment as it considers appropriate to reflect its true current value.
Notwithstanding all of the above, the Directors will be entitled, at their discretion, to apply a method of valuing any Investment different from that prescribed above if such method would in their opinion better reflect the fair value of any Investment and, in doing so, the Directors may rely upon opinions and estimates of any persons who appear to them to be competent to value investments of any type or designation by reason of any appropriate professional qualification or experience of the relevant market. In such cases, where the Directors, on advice from the Manager, have designated an asset as an Illiquid Investment, the Directors shall be entitled to value an Illiquid Investment with regard to its current realisable market value (assuming a secondary market sale), or lacking such value, with a nil valuation until the relevant instrument shall no longer be deemed to be an Illiquid Investment.
Suspension of dealings and/or calculation of Net Asset Value
The Directors may suspend the calculation of the Net Asset Value and/or the issue and/or redemption of Shares of a Fund in certain circumstances, including but not limited to, in the event that:
by reason of the closure of or the suspension of trading on any Recognised Investment Exchange it is not reasonably practicable to ascertain the value of the Investment of the relevant Fund;
in the opinion of the Directors, it is not reasonably practicable to fairly determine the Net Asset Value of the relevant Fund;
for any other reason circumstances exist as a result of which, in the opinion of the Manager, it is not reasonably practical or in the best interests of the holders of Shares for the Company to realise or to dispose of Investments comprised in the relevant Fund;
a breakdown occurs in the means of communication normally employed between the Company, the Custodian and the Manager;
a breakdown occurs in any system or infrastructure of the Company, the Custodian, the Administrator and/or the Manager to such an extent that the Net Asset Value for the relevant Fund cannot be calculated accurately;
any other breakdown occurs in any of the means normally employed by the Administrator in assessing the value of Investments; or
upon the passing of a Special Resolution to wind up the Company or a Fund, as the case may be, in accordance with the Companies Law and/or the Articles.
The Directors may also suspend the calculation of the Net Asset Value and/or the issue and/or redemption of Shares of a particular Class of Shares within a Fund in the aforementioned circumstances provided that the Directors determine such circumstances apply to or otherwise affect only the relevant Class of Shares and not the Fund as a whole.
Following a suspension, the re-calculation of the Net Asset Value, and/or Subscription Price and/or Redemption Price will commence at the Valuation Point for the Dealing Day immediately following the last day of the suspension period. The fees of the Manager, the Administrator and the Custodian will continue to accrue during the period of suspension and will be calculated by reference to: (i) the last valuation prior to the suspension coming into effect in the case of suspension of Net Asset Values; or (ii) the daily Net Asset Value in the case of suspension of Shareholder dealing. Redemption requests will not be held over and at the end of a period of suspension holders of Shares will be required to submit a new redemption request if it is their intention to proceed with the redemption.
During a period of suspension, the Manager and/or Administrator may issue an indicative Net Asset Value strictly for information purposes only. Shareholders are not entitled to rely on any such indicative valuation.
MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATION
The Directors of the Company are responsible for managing the business affairs of the Company in accordance with the Articles. The Directors have delegated certain management functions to the Manager. The Company shall be managed and its affairs supervised by the Directors whose details are set out below. The address of the Directors is Kingsway House, Havilland Street, St Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 2QE.
The Directors of the Company, all of whom are non-executive directors, are as follows:
Mr Timothy A. Nelson
Mr Nelson was appointed Director of the Dominion Group of companies in 2004 and was appointed Group CEO in February 2012. He also holds a number of directorships within the Group. Mr Nelson previously held senior positions within the Abbey National Group’s Long Term Savings division, including Scottish Mutual International and Scottish Provident International.
Mr Nelson is a Chartered Insurer and an Associate Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute.
Mr James I. P. Greco
Mr Greco was appointed as a Director of the Dominion Group of companies in 2004 and holds a number of directorships within the Group. He previously held a number of senior positions with Clerical Medical Investment Group Limited, J.M. Rothschild International Assurance, Scottish Amicable International Life and National Provident Institution.
Mr Greco holds a B.A. (Hons) from Portsmouth University.
Mr Richard J. Rogers
Mr Rogers is an experienced financial services professional whose career in the international fund management and insurance industries spans more than 30 years. Following a successful early career in the UK, Richard relocated to Hong Kong in 1987 to establish an Asia presence for MIM Britannia (subsequently acquired by Invesco) before joining Eagle Star Asia as a Director in 1993. He returned to the UK in 1997 to take responsibility for sales for Royal Skandia, later becoming Sales Director of Skandia International until 2011. Me Rogers is a Director of a number of Dominion Group companies.
Mr Matthew Wrigley
Mr Wrigley is a Partner with MJ Hudson in Guernsey, and has extensive experience in developing and managing international investment funds. A qualified lawyer, he was General Counsel and Global Head of Compliance for MacarthurCook Limited, a specialist fund management company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Following his expatriation to Singapore, he served as Chief Operating Officer of the Macarthur Cook Industrial REIT, a real estate investment trust listed on the Singapore Securities Exchange, which invested in industrial and logistics real estate assets throughout Asia. He joined AMP Capital Investors (Singapore) Pte Ltd in 2007 and held several roles, including Business Development Manager for the Asian funds management platform, and Fund Manager for the AMP Capital Vietnam Real Estate Opportunity Fund, a private equity real estate fund invested in hotel projects across Vietnam. Mr Wrigley returned to Australia in 2010, with global law firm Baker & McKenzie, where he was part of the market-leading Funds and Private Investment team.
Mr Wrigley holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from the University of Queensland, Australia and is a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland.
Other Directorships
A list of all directorships held by the Directors in the past five years is available for inspection at the Company’s registered office.
The Manager
By a management agreement dated on or around the date of this Offering Memorandum, as amended from time to time (the “Management Agreement”), Dominion Fund Management Limited was appointed by the Company to act as Manager in accordance with the terms of the Management Agreement.
The Manager was registered in Guernsey with limited liability on 6 December 2004 and its holding company is Dominion Group Limited (formerly Dominion Group (Guernsey) Limited), a company incorporated in Guernsey. The Manager is licensed by the GFSC under the POI Law as a manager, which includes authorisation to provide management services to collective investment schemes.
The directors of the Manager are as follows:
Please refer to page 39 for a summary of Mr Nelson’s experience.
Please refer to page 39 for a summary of Mr Greco’s experience.
Mr Arjen Los
Mr Los is Chief Investment Officer of the Dominion Group of companies. He was appointed as a Director of Dominion Fund Management Limited in March 2011 having acted as an investment consultant to Dominion Fund Management Limited since 2009 and Managing Director of Dominion Investment Analytics S.A. Mr Los previously held a number of senior positions with Merrill Lynch, Smith New Court, Schroder Securities and Pierson Heldring Pierson.
Mr Los holds an MSc in Monetary Economics from Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
The Manager has the primary responsibility for the management of the Company and the making of investments on its behalf under the overall supervision of the Directors.
The Manager may deal as principal in the Shares and is under no obligation to account to the Company or to Shareholders for any profits to which it thereby becomes entitled. The Manager is under no obligation to account to the Company or the Shareholders for any profit it makes on the issue of Shares or on the re-issue or cancellation of any such Shares that have been redeemed.
The Management Agreement may be terminated immediately if the Manager or the Company (a) commits a material breach of the Management Agreement that is not remedied within 30 Business Days of notice of the breach, (b) go into liquidation (save for the purpose of a previously approved winding up for the purpose of reconstruction or amalgamation); (c) has a receiver appointed; (d) are declared en désastre or some similar or analogous procedure has been taken or the Manager ceases to be qualified to act pursuant to the Articles or the POI Law.
The Manager is not liable for any losses, costs, expenses or damages suffered by the Company, the Fund or any Shareholder in connection with the Management Agreement howsoever arising unless such losses, costs, expenses or damages arise from the fraud, negligent act or omission, or wilful default of the Manager.
The Company shall indemnify the Manager against all actions, proceedings, claims and demands (including for costs and expenses incidental thereto) which may be made against, suffered or incurred by the Manager in respect of any loss or damage suffered or alleged to have been suffered by any party in connection with the performance by the Manager of its duties under the Management Agreement.
Subject to the Rules, the Management Agreement may be terminated by either party upon not less than 90 days’ notice to the other party or on shorter notice in certain, prescribed circumstances.
By an agreement dated on or around the date of this Offering Memorandum as amended from time to time (the “Administration Agreement”), the Company has appointed Cannon Asset Management Limited (the “Administrator”) to act as administrator, registrar and company secretary of the Company. The Administrator is licensed by the GFSC under the provisions of the POI Law to conduct certain restricted investment activities in relation to collective investment schemes. For the purposes of the Rules made under the POI Law, the Administrator is the “designated manager” of the Company.
The Administration Agreement provides for a fee to be payable by the Company to the Administrator in respect of providing these services, further details of which are set out in this Offering Memorandum.
The Administration Agreement is terminable by any party upon six months’ notice in writing. The Administrator will not in the absence of negligence, breach of the Administration Agreement, dishonesty, fraud, wilful neglect, wilful misconduct or bad faith be liable for any loss or damage which the Company or any Fund may suffer as a result of, or in the course of, the discharge by the Administrator of its duties thereunder. The Administration Agreement also contains provisions for the indemnification of the Administrator out of the assets of the Company and each relevant Fund (in respect of claims and demands relating to that Fund only) against all claims and demands by third parties made against the Administrator in connection with its services under the Administration Agreement except to the extent that the claim is due to negligence, breach of the Administration Agreement, dishonesty, fraud, wilful neglect, wilful misconduct or bad faith of the Administrator.
For the purposes of the POI Law and the Rules, and pursuant the terms of the Custodian Agreement, the Custodian acts as designated custodian of the Funds. In this capacity, the Custodian is responsible for appointing the Global Custodian to hold all instruments and securities purchased from time to time by each of the Funds.
The Custodian Agreement provides for the Custodian Fee to be payable by the Company to the Custodian in respect of providing these services. The Custodian will meet all costs of the Global Custodian from the Custodian Fee, and no additional fees and expenses are payable to the Global Custodian by the Company or the Shareholders over and above the Custodian Fee.
The Custodian Agreement is terminable by any party upon 90 days’ notice. The Custodian will not in the absence of wilful default, fraud or negligence be liable for any loss or damage which the Company may suffer as a result of, or in the course of, the discharge by the Custodian of its duties thereunder. The Custodian Agreement also contains provisions for the indemnification of the Custodian out of the assets of the applicable Fund against claims by third parties made against the Custodian in connection with its services under the Custodian Agreement except to the extent that the claim is due to wilful default, fraud or negligence of the Custodian.
Pursuant to the Custodian Agreement the Custodian may appoint one or more sub-custodians, agents or nominees (the “Sub-Custodians“) in respect of the custody of all or any of the assets of the Fund or any ancillary services thereto, including, but not limited to, the Global Custodian. The Custodian shall obtain the approval of the Directors (not to be unreasonably withheld) prior to the appointment of a Sub-Custodian, and shall act at all times with reasonable skill, care and diligence in the selection, appointment and monitoring of Sub-Custodians and shall be responsible during the duration of any sub-custodian agreement for satisfying itself as to the ongoing suitability of any such Sub-Custodians to provide custodial services to the Funds.
The Manager has engaged Dominion Asset Management Limited (the “Investment Adviser”) to provide investment advisory services in relation to its activities as Manager of the Company and the Funds, as well as to support it with risk management matters.
The Investment Adviser is regulated by the FCA (Reference. No. 582924) and is a Dominion Associate.
By a services agreement dated on or around the date of this Offering Memorandum (the “Services Agreement”) as amended from time to time, the Investment Adviser has been engaged to provide the Manager with investment advice, support, research and execution-only services in relation to the Funds. The Investment Adviser may also provide the Manager with other services, as agreed from time to time.
As the Investment Adviser is engaged by the Manager (and not the Company or any of the Funds), all fees and expenses payable to the Investment Adviser under the Services Agreement are payable by the Manager out of its Management Fee, and no additional fees and expenses are payable to the Investment Adviser by the Company or the Shareholders over and above the Management Fee.
The Services Agreement may be terminated by giving thirty days’ notice or, in extraordinary circumstances, with immediate effect.
PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP has been appointed as auditor to the Company.
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The discussion below describes certain actual and potential conflicts of interest, and describes a mechanism for resolving certain of these conflicts. In applying to subscribe for Shares, each Shareholder will be deemed to have acknowledged the existence of such actual and potential conflicts of interest and to have waived any claim with respect to any liability arising from the existence of any such conflict of interest or the resolution thereof as described herein.
The Manager, the Investment Adviser, the Administrator and the Custodian or their respective affiliates and associates, including the Dominion Associates (collectively, the “Interested Parties”) may from time to time act as managers, investment advisers, administrators, custodians, registrars, distributors or dealers in relation to, or otherwise be involved in, other funds or investment products (“Other Clients”) and may from time to time invest the Company’s assets in such Other Clients. In addition, the Interested Parties may deal as principal or agent with the Company and may engage in trading activities for their proprietary accounts irrespective of whether the same investments are held by the Company, and may have business relationships, including but not limited to lending, depository, risk management, investment advisory, security distribution or banking relationships with issuers of Investments and with counterparties to transactions entered into on behalf of the Company. In connection with these activities, the Interested Parties may receive information about those issuers or counterparties that cannot be divulged to the Company. It is therefore possible that the Interested Parties may, in the course of their business, have potential conflicts of interest with the Company. Each Interested Party will, at all times, have regard in such event to its obligations to the Company and will endeavour to ensure that such conflicts are resolved fairly.
Any Interested Party may:
become the owner of Shares and hold, dispose of or otherwise deal with those Shares as if such person were not in such a position with respect to the Company;
deal in property of any description on that person’s individual account notwithstanding the fact that property of that description is included in the assets of the Company; or
enter into any financial, banking or other transaction with one another or with any Shareholder or any company or body any of whose investments form part of the Company or have an interest in any such transaction,
each without that party having to account to any other such party, to the Shareholders or any of them for any profits or benefits made by or derived from or in connection with any such transaction.
The Manager may, for example, make investments for Other Clients or on its own behalf without making the same available to the Company. The Manager will, however, have regard in such event to its obligations under the Management Agreement and, in particular, to its obligations to act in the best interests of the Company so far as practicable, having regard to its obligations to Other Clients when undertaking any investment where potential conflicts of interest may arise.
Under the Articles, cash forming part of the assets of the Company may be placed by the Custodian in any current, deposit or loan account with itself or the Manager (if a bank) or with any associate of the Custodian (if a bank) so long as that bank pays interest thereon at a rate no lower than is, in accordance with normal banking practice, the commercial rate for deposits of the size of deposit in question negotiated at arm’s length.
Cash forming part of the assets of the Company may be invested in units in other collective investment schemes including collective investment schemes managed or operated by the Manager or by another body corporate in the same group as the Manager.
The Manager, the Custodian, the Administrator receive fees for their services based upon the Net Asset Values of the Funds and such fees would increase with increases in the Net Asset Values of the Funds or decrease with decreases in the Net Asset Values of the Funds. See “Calculation of Net Asset Value” on page 35 of this Offering Memorandum for information regarding the process for determining the Net Asset Value of the Fund and its assets, including the participation in such process of such entities.
Investment into Dominion Funds
If the Company (for the account of the Funds) invests in the units, shares or debt instruments of other collective investment schemes or investment products managed by a Dominion Associate (collectively, the “Dominion Funds”), the Company shall apply the following policy in respect of the Management Fee due to it and any subscription or other initial or disposal charges that the Dominion Associates may be entitled to in respect of such Investments.
The Manager shall procure that the relevant Dominion Associate shall not duplicate any subscription, initial or disposal charges that it is entitled to charge for its own account in relation to the acquisition or disposal of each such Investment. The Manager shall not charge any Management Fee in respect of that proportion of the Net Asset Value of a Fund that corresponds to the aggregate value of the Fund’s Investment, if any, in the Dominion Funds provided that: (i) if the Management Fee the Manager is entitled to in respect of the Fund is greater than the management fee a Dominion Associate is entitled to in respect of any Dominion Fund in which the Fund invests, then in respect of each such investment the Manager shall charge the difference between the Management Fee that it would otherwise be entitled to in respect of the Net Asset Value of the Fund that corresponds to the respective investment in the relevant Dominion Fund and the respective management fee due to the Dominion Associate in respect of the relevant Dominion Fund; and (ii) if the Management Fee the Manager is entitled to in respect of the Fund is lower than the management fee a Dominion Associate is entitled to in respect of any Dominion Fund in which the Fund invests, then in respect of each such investment the Dominion Associate shall be entitled to the full management fee due to it in respect of the relevant Dominion Fund (including in relation to the Fund’s Investment). Shareholders investing in the Funds acknowledge that this paragraph represents the Manager’s policy regarding fees at the date of this Offering Memorandum and that it may be amended, from time to time, without the Manager seeking Shareholders’ approval or otherwise notifying the Shareholders of such an amendment.
The Manager is prohibited from effecting transactions or arranging for the effecting of transactions through brokers with whom it has arrangements whereby the broker agrees to set aside a proportion of the commission earned on transactions and to use this to discharge the cost of certain permitted services related to the execution of transactions on behalf of customers and the provision of investment research received by the Manager.
Soft Commissions
Neither the Manager nor the Administrator have made, nor are permitted to make, any arrangement with any other person whereby that person will from time to time provide to, or procure for, the Manager or the Administrator services or benefits the nature of which are such that their provision results, or is designed to result, in an improvement of the Manager’s or the Administrator’s performance in providing their respective services and for which no direct payment is made but an undertaking given to place business with that person.
Diverse Membership
The investors in the Company may include taxable and tax-exempt entities and persons or entities from different jurisdictions. Such persons may have conflicting investment, tax and other interests with respect to their investment in the Company. The conflicting interests of different investors may relate to, or arise from, among other things, the nature of Investments made by the Company, the structuring of the acquisition of Investments and the timing of disposition of Investments. As a consequence, conflicts of interest may arise in connection with decisions made by the Company and the Manager that may be more beneficial for one investor than for another investor, especially with respect to investors’ individual tax situations, including with respect to the nature or structuring of investments. In selecting and structuring investments appropriate for the Company, the Manager will consider the investment and tax objectives of the Company and the investors as a whole, and not the investment, tax or other objectives of any one investor.
MJ Hudson as Guernsey counsel (“Fund Counsel”) may represent the Company from time to time in a variety of different matters. Fund Counsel does not represent any or all of the investors in the Company in connection with matters relating to the Company. Fund Counsel represents the Manager, including with respect to its role in relation to the Company, although the Company or the Manager may at any time select new counsel. Fund Counsel normally represents the interests of the Company and the Manager (and not the investors in the Company) in connection with the formation of the Company and the offering of Shares, and will not represent the interests of any investor in the organisation and operation of the Company. Accordingly, each investor is advised to consult with its own legal counsel before investing in the Company.
The following summary is based on the law and practice currently in force in Guernsey and applies to persons holding Shares as an investment in the Funds. The summary contains general information only; it is not exhaustive and does not constitute legal or tax advice and is based on taxation law and practice at the date of this Offering Memorandum. Prospective investors should be aware that tax law and interpretation, as well as the level and bases of taxation may change from those described and that changes may alter the benefits of investment in, holding or disposing of, Shares. Investors should consult their own professional advisers on the implications of making an investment in, holding or disposing of Shares under the laws of the countries in which they are liable to taxation.
Guernsey Tax Considerations
Taxation of the Company
The Company qualifies for exemption from liability to income tax in Guernsey and has applied to the States of Guernsey Income Tax Authority for such exemption for the current year. Exemption must be applied for annually and will be granted, subject to the payment of an annual fee that is currently fixed at £1,200, provided that the Company continues to qualify under the applicable legislation for exemption. It is the intention of the Directors to conduct the affairs of the Company so as to ensure that it continues to qualify. No capital gains or similar taxes are levied in Guernsey on realised or unrealised gains resulting from the Company’s investment activities.
As an exempt company, the Company will not be resident in Guernsey for the purposes of liability to Guernsey income tax. Under current law and practice in Guernsey, the Company will only be liable to tax in Guernsey on its Guernsey sourced income, other than bank deposit interest. The Directors do not expect the Company to have any Guernsey sourced income, other than bank deposit interest.
Guernsey completed a review of its corporate tax regime in December 2012. During the course of the review an announcement was made in relation to the removal of deemed distribution provisions. In addition, although the standard rate for corporate income tax will remain at zero per cent, the company intermediate income tax rate of 10 per cent, with effect from 1 January 2013 will be extended to licensed fiduciaries (in respect of regulated activities), licensed insurers (in respect of domestic business) and the business of licensed insurance intermediaries and licensed insurance managers.
Taxation of Shareholders
In the case of Shareholders who are not resident in Guernsey for tax purposes distributions can be paid to such Shareholders without giving rise to a liability to Guernsey income tax, nor will the Company be required to withhold Guernsey tax on such distributions.
Shareholders who are resident for tax purposes in Guernsey (which includes Alderney and Herm) will incur Guernsey income tax at the applicable rate on a distribution paid to them. The Company will be required to provide the Director of Income Tax in Guernsey such particulars relating to any distribution paid to Guernsey resident Shareholders as the Director of Income Tax may require, including the names and addresses of the Guernsey resident Shareholders, the gross amount of any distribution paid and the date of the payment. Provided the Company maintains its exempt status, there would currently be no requirement for the Company to withhold tax from the payment of a distribution to a Guernsey resident Shareholder. Guernsey currently does not levy taxes upon capital inheritances, capital gains or gifts, nor are there any sales taxes, value added taxes or estate duties (save for registration fees and ad valorem duty for the grant of probate).
No stamp duty is chargeable in Guernsey on the issue, transfer or redemption of Shares.
US-Guernsey Intergovernmental Agreement
On 13 December 2013, the Chief Minister of Guernsey signed an intergovernmental agreement with the United States. (“US-Guernsey IGA”) regarding the implementation of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”), under which certain disclosure requirements will be imposed in respect of certain Shareholders in the Company who are, or are entities that are controlled by one or more, residents or citizens of the United States. The US-Guernsey IGA is implemented through Guernsey’s domestic legislation, in accordance with guidance, which is currently published in draft form.
Under the US-Guernsey IGA as implemented in Guernsey, securities that are “regularly traded” on an established securities market are not considered financial accounts and are not subject to reporting. For these purposes, Shares will be considered “regularly traded” if there is a meaningful volume of trading with respect to the Shares on an ongoing basis. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Share will not be considered “regularly traded” and will be considered a financial account if the holder of the Shares (other than a financial institution acting as an intermediary) is registered as the holder of the Share on the Company’s share register. Such Shareholders will be required to provide information to the Company to allow the Company to satisfy its obligations under the reporting rules implemented in Guernsey.
Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for Automatic Exchange of Taxpayer Information
On 13 February 2014, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development released the “Common Reporting Standard” (“CRS”) designed to create a global standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information, similar to the information to be reported under FATCA. On 29 October 2014, fifty-one jurisdictions signed the multilateral competent authority agreement (“Multilateral Agreement”) that activates this automatic exchange of FATCA-like information in line with the CRS. Pursuant to the Multilateral Agreement, certain disclosure requirements may be imposed in respect of certain Shareholders in the Company who are, or are entities that are controlled by one or more, residents of any of the signatory jurisdictions. Both Guernsey and the UK have signed up to the Multilateral Agreement, but the US has not signed the Multilateral Agreement.
Potential investors should consult their own tax advisers regarding the reporting requirements referred to above. The Company may require a Shareholder to sell or transfer Shares if it fails to provide the Company with the information necessary to comply with the reporting requirements referred to above, or any similar reporting requirements that may be enacted. Potential investors should consult their own tax advisers regarding the reporting requirements referred to above.
Taxation in other Jurisdictions
It is beyond the scope of this document to provide any detailed advice or indication on the likely tax position of the Company with respect to the Investments. Prospective investors and Shareholders should be aware that the Company might incur withholding tax or capital gain tax with respect to certain types of investments in certain jurisdictions. However, the Manager will endeavour to ensure that, as far as reasonably practicable, both the withholding tax burden on the Company and liability to capital gains or similar taxes are mitigated to the extent practicable and consistent with the investment objectives of the Fund.
Prospective investors and Shareholders should familiarise themselves with and, where appropriate, take advice on the laws and regulations (such as those relating to taxation and exchange controls) applicable to the subscription for, and the holding and realisation of Shares in the places of their citizenship, residence and domicile. The tax consequences for each Shareholder of acquiring, holding, redeeming or disposing of the Shares will depend upon the relevant laws of any jurisdiction to which the Shareholder is subject.
Prospective investors should seek their own professional advice as to this, as well as to any relevant exchange control or other laws and regulations.
Incorporation and Capital
The Company was registered in Guernsey on 4 January 2018 with power for the Directors to issue an unlimited number of Management Shares of no par value and with power to issue an unlimited number of Shares of no par value. As at the date of this Offering Memorandum, one hundred Management Shares has been issued to the Manager. Save as disclosed above, no share or loan capital of the Company has been issued or agreed to be issued and no such capital of the Company is proposed to be issued or is under option or agreed conditionally or unconditionally to be put under option.
The Memorandum of the Company does not limit the objects of the Company.
The following is a summary of the principal provisions of the Articles of the Company in so far as they have not been described earlier in this Offering Memorandum.
Variation of Class Rights
Subject to the provisions of the Companies Law, all or any of the special rights for the time being attached to any class of shares for the time being issued may (unless otherwise provided by the terms of issue of the shares or the Articles) from time to time (whether or not the Company is being wound up) be altered or abrogated with the consent in writing of the holders of not less than three-quarters of the issued shares of that class or with the sanction of a Special Resolution passed at a separate general meeting of the holders of such shares. To any such separate general meeting all the provisions of the Articles as to general meetings of the Company shall mutatis mutandis apply, but so that the necessary quorum shall be, where there is one member of the class, that one member or, where there are two or more members, the quorum shall be two members holding or representing by proxy a total in aggregate of not less than one-third of the issued shares of the class (but so that if at any adjourned meeting of such holders a quorum as above defined is not present, those holders of shares of the class who are present shall be a quorum), that every holder of shares of the class shall be entitled on a poll to one vote for every such share held by him and that any holder of shares of the class present in person or by proxy may demand a poll. Notwithstanding the foregoing this paragraph shall not derogate from any power the Company would have had if this paragraph were omitted.
The rights conferred upon the holders of the shares of any class issued with preferred or other rights shall not (unless otherwise expressly provided by the terms of issue of the shares of that class) be deemed to be varied by: (a) the creation or issue of further shares ranking as regards participation in the profits or assets of the Core or the Fund to which such shares relate (as the case may be) in some or all respects pari passu therewith but in no respect in priority thereto, or (b) the purchase or redemption by the Company of any of its own shares.
Any variation of the class rights attaching to Management Shares shall be deemed to be a variation of the rights attaching to the Shares.
Issue of Shares
All shares in the Company for the time being unissued are at the disposal of the Directors who may allot them only in accordance with the terms of the Articles and as described in this Offering Memorandum. Shares do not carry any rights of pre-emption.
Management Shares
The Management Shares are issued at $1.00 per share and only to the Manager or a nominee of the Manager. The rights attaching to the Management Shares are as follows:-
Voting rights:
The Management Shares carry the right to receive notice of, attend and vote at general meetings of the Company.
Dividends and distribution of assets on a winding up:
The Management Shares do not carry any right to dividends or distributions and on a winding up the holders of Management Shares shall only be entitled to the return of capital paid up on them, after all Shareholders have been paid in full.
Redemption:
The Management Shares are not redeemable.
The rights attaching to the Shares are as follows:
The Shares carry the right to receive notice of and attend general meetings of the Company but do not carry the right to vote at such meetings. Holders of Shares shall be entitled to receive notice of, attend and vote at separate class meetings convened in accordance with the provisions under the heading “Variation of Class Rights” on page 52 of this Offering Memorandum. At such class meetings, on a show of hands every holder of Shares who is present in person or by proxy shall have one vote and on a poll every holder of Shares who is present in person or by proxy shall be entitled to one vote in respect of each whole Share held.
Dividends and distributions:
The Shares carry the rights to dividends and distributions on the terms set out in Articles.
Winding up:
Cellular Assets available for distribution among the Shareholders shall, after payment of all creditors, be paid to the holders of the Shares of the Fund in proportion to the number of Shares of the Fund held.
The Shares may be redeemed by Shareholders in the circumstances described on page 22.
Transfers of Shares
The instrument of transfer of a Share shall be in writing in the form provided by the Manager, or in the common form used in Guernsey for transfers of shares. The Manager may at its discretion decline to register the transfer of a Share including without limitation, if the transfer is in favour of a non-qualified holder (as defined in the Articles). In particular, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Manager will decline to register a transfer:
if the transfer would result in the transferor or the transferee being the holder of less than the minimum number of Shares of the Fund or minimum amount in value of a holding of Shares of the Fund specified in this Offering Memorandum; or
if the transferee fails or refuses to furnish the Manager and/or Registrar with such information or declarations as they may require.
The registration of transfers may be suspended at such times and for such periods as the Directors may from time to time determine, provided that such registration of transfers shall not be suspended for more than thirty days in any year.
Unless otherwise determined by the Company in general meeting the number of Directors shall be not less than two. The Directors shall not be required to hold any qualification shares.
The Directors may appoint a person who is willing to act to be a Director, either to fill a vacancy or as an additional Director in either case whether or not for a fixed term, provided that the appointment does not cause the number of Directors to exceed the number, if any, fixed by or in accordance with the Articles as the maximum number of Directors.
No person shall, unless recommended by the Directors, be eligible for election to the office of Director at any general meeting unless not less than seven nor more than forty two clear days before the date appointed for the meeting there shall have been left at the registered office of the Company notice in writing signed by that person of his willingness to be elected and a declaration that he is not ineligible to be a Director in accordance with the Companies Law.
The Directors and alternate Directors may be repaid all reasonable travelling, hotel and other expenses properly incurred by them in attending and returning from meetings of the Directors or any committee of the Directors or general meetings of the Company or in connection with the performance of their duties as directors of the Company. The Directors shall be entitled to be paid by way of remuneration for their services such sum as is stated under the heading “Other Operating Fees and Expenses” on page 19 of this Offering Memorandum or such other sum as may be voted to them by the Company in general meeting which shall be divided between them as they shall agree or failing agreement, equally. Such remuneration will accrue from day to day. The Directors may grant extra remuneration to any Director who is called on to perform any special or extra services for or at the request of the Company.
A Director may be a director, managing director, manager or other officer, employee or member of any company in which the Company may be interested, which may be promoted by the Company or with which the Company has entered into any transaction, arrangement or agreement and no such Director shall be accountable to the Company for any remuneration or other benefits received thereby.
Provided the nature and extent of any material interest of his is or has been declared to the other Directors, a Director notwithstanding his office:
may be a party to, or otherwise interested in, any transaction or arrangement with the Company (whether in respect of the Core or any cell), or in which the Company (whether in respect of the Core or any cell) is otherwise interested;
may act by himself or through his firm in a professional capacity for the Company (otherwise than as Auditor) and he or his firm shall be entitled to remuneration for professional services as if he were not a Director;
may be a Director or other officer of, or employed by, or a party to any transaction or arrangement with, a shareholder of or otherwise directly or indirectly interested in, any body corporate promoted by the Company or with which the Company (whether in respect of the Core or any cell) has entered into any transaction, arrangement or agreement or in which the Company (whether in respect of the Core or any cell) is otherwise interested; and
shall not by reason of his office, be accountable to the Company (whether in respect of the Core or any cell) for any benefit which he derives from any such office or employment or from any such transaction or arrangement or from any interest in any such body corporate and no such transaction or arrangement shall be liable to be avoided on the ground of any such interest or benefit.
A Director shall be counted in the quorum at any meeting in relation to any resolution in respect of which he has declared an interest and may vote thereon.
The office of a Director shall be vacated in any of the following events namely if:
he resigns his office by notice in writing signed by him and left at the registered office of the Company;
he becomes bankrupt or makes any arrangements or composition with his creditors generally;
he is absent from meetings of the board for a consecutive period of 12 months without leave, or without arrangement with the board of Directors on the affairs of the Company, expressed by a resolution of the Directors, and the Directors resolve that his office be vacated;
he ceases to be a Director by virtue of, or becomes prohibited from being a Director by reason of, an order made under the provisions of any law or enactment;
he becomes ineligible to be a Director in accordance with the Companies Law;
he dies;
he becomes resident in the United Kingdom for United Kingdom tax purposes subsequent to his appointment, and as a result thereof a majority of the Directors are resident in the United Kingdom for United Kingdom tax purposes;
he be requested by a majority of his co-Directors (not being less than two in number) to vacate office; or
he is removed from office by a Special Resolution.
A Director is not required to retire from office on attaining a particular age.
Dividends and distributions
It is not intended that the Company will make regular distributions or dividend payments to Shareholders. Subject to the Companies Law and as hereinafter set out, the Directors have the right to pay dividends and distributions in respect of the Fund in their absolute discretion, provided that dividends and distributions will be payable only to the extent that they are covered by funds of the Fund as may be lawfully distributed as dividends and distributions. The Directors may satisfy any dividend, in whole or in part, by distributing in specie any of the Cellular Assets of the Funds provided that no such distribution shall be made save with the consents required under Guernsey law. All unclaimed dividends and distributions may be invested or otherwise made use of by the Directors for the benefit of the relevant Fund until claimed. No dividend or distribution shall bear interest against the Company. Any dividend or distribution unclaimed after a period of six years from the date of declaration thereof will be forfeited and will revert to the Funds in respect of which it was declared and the payment by the Directors of any unclaimed dividend or other sum payable on or in respect of a Share into a separate account will not constitute the Company a trustee in respect thereof.
The Company may be voluntarily wound up at any time by Special Resolution. The Directors are bound to convene an extraordinary general meeting for the purpose of passing a Special Resolution for the winding up of the Company if the Company’s authorisation under the POI Law is revoked (unless the GFSC otherwise agrees) or if the Management Agreement is terminated other than for just cause pursuant to its terms (unless the Manager otherwise agrees).
A Fund may be wound up at any time by Special Resolution of the holders of Shares of the relevant Fund. Following the passing of such Special Resolution, the Shares referable to the Fund may be redeemed (but not at the option of the holder thereof) provided that such power of redemption is exercised for the purpose of distributing surplus assets to the Shareholders of the Fund in connection with such winding up and provided that any redemption of less than all of such Shares is applied pro rata to the holdings of all Shareholders of the Fund.
On a winding up the Company (or a Fund, as the case may be) a liquidator will be appointed firstly to pay the debts of the Company (or the Fund) in such manner and order as he thinks fit but at all times by reference to the Companies Law, and then to distribute its assets amongst Shareholders, according to the rights attached to their Shares. The cellular assets of one cell are not available to meet the liabilities of any other cell and Shareholders are only entitled to share in the surplus assets of the cell to which their Shares relate.
Directors’ and other interests
The Directors or their immediate families may have an interest in Shares of a Fund. Any such interests shall be disclosed in the annual reports and accounts.
Save for any interest already disclosed herein, no Director has, or has had, any material interest in any contract or arrangement which is significant in relation to the business of a Fund or the Company.
There are no outstanding loans by the Funds to any Director and no loans will ever be made to any Director.
The Company has agreed to indemnify the Directors out of the assets of the Company from and against all actions, costs, charges, losses, damages, expenses and liabilities arising out of any claims made against him or his heirs or executors in connection with the performance of his duties as a director of the Company. Further, the Company shall pay the reasonable legal and other expenses incurred by the Directors in defending any claim (whether in relation to civil or criminal proceedings or the making of any application for relief under the Companies Law) on an “as incurred” basis. Such indemnities will not apply to any liability incurred by the Directors in certain circumstances including, but not limited to, in connection with any negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust in relation to the Company or as a result of them knowingly acting beyond the scope of their authority.
A full list of the directorships held by each of the Directors is available on request from the Manager.
Regulatory consents
All consents, approvals, authorisations or other orders of all regulatory authorities (if any) required by the Company under the laws of Guernsey for the issue of Shares and for the Manager, the Administrator and the Custodian to undertake their respective obligations under their respective agreements referred to under the heading “Material contracts” on page 59 of this Offering Memorandum have been given.
The report and accounts will be prepared in accordance with applicable International Financial Reporting Standards practice.
Copies of the audited report and accounts of the Company and the Fund, which will be made up to 31 December each year, commencing 31 December 2018, (or such other date as the Manager shall determine from time to time having given notice to all Shareholders), will be published on the Manager’s website www.dominion-funds.com within six months of the end of the annual accounting period to which they relate.
The annual general meeting of the Company will be held in Guernsey. Other general meetings may be convened from time to time by the Directors or by Shareholders requisitioning such meetings in accordance with the Companies Law. Not less than 14 clear days’ notice of each general meeting will be sent to Shareholders at their correspondence addresses.
Electronic communications and language
The Company intends to communicate with Shareholders electronically where a Shareholder has so elected. By providing an email address the relevant Shareholder will no longer receive hard copies of shareholder communications. Instead, the Shareholder will receive an email that the relevant communication is available via the Manager’s website www.dominion-funds.com.
All communications (whether in hard copy or electronic form) in respect of the Company (for example, offering documentation, annual reports and other communications) will be prepared in English.
Material contracts
The following contracts (as may be amended from time to time) have been entered into and are (or may be) material to the Company:-
the Management Agreement;
the Custodian Agreement;
the Administration Agreement;
the Registrar Agreement,
(together, the “Material Contracts”).
Neither the Funds nor the Company has, since its incorporation been nor is it engaged in, any legal or arbitration proceedings. Nor are there any legal or arbitration proceedings pending or threatened against the Company which may have or have had a significant effect on the financial position of the Funds or the Company.
The Company is subject to the GFSC’s Finance Sector Code of Corporate Governance. The GFSC requires an assurance statement from the Company confirming that the Directors have considered the effectiveness of their corporate governance practices and are satisfied with their degree of compliance with the principles set out in the GFSC’s Finance Sector Code of Corporate Governance in the context of the nature, scale and complexity of the business.
At the date of this Offering Memorandum, the Company has no subsidiaries.
The Company does not have nor has it had any employees since its incorporation.
The principal place of business and registered office of the Company is at Kingsway House, Havilland Street, St Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 2QE.
This Offering Memorandum constitutes scheme particulars for the purposes of the Rules.
Documents available for inspection
Copies of the following documents may be inspected free of charge or purchased for a reasonable fee at the registered offices of the Company, the Manager and the Custodian during normal business hours on each Business Day:
the Memorandum and Articles;
the Material Contracts;
this Offering Memorandum and the latest annual reports and accounts; and
the POI Law, the Companies Law and the Rules.
Appendix 1: GLOBAL EQUITIES FUND
This is an Appendix to the Offering Memorandum of Dominion Capital Strategies Funds PCC Limited and relates only to the Global Equities Fund (in this Appendix 1, the “Fund”).
This Appendix must be read in conjunction with the Offering Memorandum and applications for Shares will be accepted only on that basis.
Words defined in the Offering Memorandum unless otherwise defined shall have the same meaning in this Appendix.
Fund Characteristics
The Fund has the following characteristics:
The Global Equities Fund is a cell of the Company, a Guernsey incorporated open-ended collective investment scheme established as a protected cell company in accordance with the Companies Law on 4 January 2018 and authorised by the GFSC as a Class B collective investment scheme under the POI Law.
The Fund has been designed for investors seeking to achieve long-term capital growth, by investing in a variety of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios comprise a variety of Global Equities investments, with managed volatility and risk under all market conditions.
The Fund has been designed to give the Manager considerable investment freedom and is not limited to any geographic region, currency, market sector or, subject to the Investment Restrictions (described below), type of Investment. The composition of the Investments of the Fund will be actively managed and will represent the Manager’s view at any given time of those Investee Funds most likely to provide growth opportunities from the prevailing economic and market conditions.
In accordance with the Rules, prior notice will be given to both the GFSC and Shareholders of any significant change to any of the Investment Objectives, Investment Policy or Investment Restrictions (each as defined below).
To achieve long-term capital growth under all market conditions through the active management of a portfolio of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios comprise investment in a range Global Equities investments, while seeking to reduce volatility and investment risk through the implementation of active risk management protocols (the “Investment Objective”).
The Fund will target investments in a range of Investee Funds, being: (i) CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to Global Equities; and (ii) ETFs (listed globally).
Subject to the Investment Restrictions (described below), the investment policy of the Fund will be to invest the net proceeds raised from subscriptions into the Fund in a diversified portfolio of Investee Funds, which represents the Manager’s view, at any given time, of those Investee Funds most likely to provide growth potential from the prevailing economic and market conditions or, depending on market conditions, contain defensive qualities (the “Investment Policy”).
The Fund may, from time to time, in order to attempt to reduce risk within its portfolio invest all or a high proportion of the Investments in Cash Instruments.
The Fund aims to achieve a highly liquid portfolio of Investments and be able to liquidate investment positions within one trading day on relevant financial markets with settlement taking place four days after the trade date.
While the Fund is denominated in USD, the Manager is free to make Investments in currencies other than USD.
Investment Restrictions
The following investment restrictions apply to the Fund:
It will not invest in Illiquid Assets, and the Manager will use its reasonable endeavours to avoid investing in assets that have a high risk of becoming illiquid for the period in which the Manager intends that the Fund will hold such assets;
It is prohibited from applying Leverage to any of its assets;
It will not invest 20% or more of the value of its total assets in any one Investee Fund; and
It may investment up to 100% of its assets in Cash Instruments at any time, and from time to time,
(the “Investment Restrictions”).
Appendix 2: GLOBAL BONDS FUND
This is an Appendix to the Offering Memorandum of Dominion Capital Strategies Funds PCC Limited and relates only to the Global Bonds Fund (in this Appendix 2, the “Fund”).
The Global Bonds Fund is a cell of the Company, a Guernsey incorporated open-ended collective investment scheme established as a protected cell company in accordance with the Companies Law on 4 January 2018 and authorised by the GFSC as a Class B collective investment scheme under the POI Law.
The Fund has been designed for investors seeking to achieve long-term capital growth, by investing in a variety of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios comprise investment in a range Bonds investments, with managed volatility and risk under all market conditions.
To achieve long-term capital growth under all market conditions through the active management of a portfolio of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios comprise a variety of Bonds investments, while seeking to reduce volatility and investment risk through the implementation of active risk management protocols (the “Investment Objective”).
The Fund will target investments in a range of Investee Funds, being: (i) CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to Bonds; and (ii) ETFs (listed globally).
The Fund aims to achieve a highly liquid portfolio of Investments and be able to liquidate investment positions within one trading day on relevant financial markets with settlement taking place four days after the trade date..
Appendix 3: CAUTIOUS FUND
This is an Appendix to the Offering Memorandum of Dominion Capital Strategies Funds PCC Limited and relates only to the Cautious Fund (in this Appendix 3, the “Fund”).
The Cautious Fund is a cell of the Company, a Guernsey incorporated open-ended collective investment scheme established as a protected cell company in accordance with the Companies Law on 4 January 2018 and authorised by the GFSC as a Class B collective investment scheme under the POI Law.
The Fund has been designed for investors seeking to achieve long-term capital growth, by investing in a variety of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios comprise investment in a range Global Equities and Bonds investments, with managed volatility and risk under all market conditions.
To achieve long-term capital growth under all market conditions through the active management of a portfolio of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios comprise a variety of Global Equities and Bonds investments, while seeking to reduce volatility and investment risk through the implementation of active risk management protocols (the “Investment Objective”).
The Fund will target investments in a range of Investee Funds, being: (i) CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to Global Equities and Bonds (as the case may be); and (ii) ETFs (listed globally).
The Fund’s portfolio (based on the value of its assets) is targeted to be allocated as follows:
Between 10% and 30% to Investee Funds with exposure to Global Equities; and
Between 70% and 90% to Investee Funds with exposure to Bonds.
Appendix 4: BALANCED FUND
This is an Appendix to the Offering Memorandum of Dominion Capital Strategies Funds PCC Limited and relates only to the Balanced Fund (in this Appendix 4, the “Fund”).
The Balanced Fund is a cell of the Company, a Guernsey incorporated open-ended collective investment scheme established as a protected cell company in accordance with the Companies Law on 4 January 2018 and authorised by the GFSC as a Class B collective investment scheme under the POI Law.
The Fund has been designed for investors seeking to achieve long-term capital growth, by investing in a variety of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios comprise a variety of Global Equities and Bonds investments, with managed volatility and risk under all market conditions.
Appendix 5: AGGRESSIVE FUND
This is an Appendix to the Offering Memorandum of Dominion Capital Strategies Funds PCC Limited and relates only to the Aggressive Fund (in this Appendix 5, the “Fund”).
The Aggressive Fund is a cell of the Company, a Guernsey incorporated open-ended collective investment scheme established as a protected cell company in accordance with the Companies Law on 4 January 2018 and authorised by the GFSC as a Class B collective investment scheme under the POI Law.
Appendix 6: EMERGING MARKETS EQUITIES FUND
This is an Appendix to the Offering Memorandum of Dominion Capital Strategies Funds PCC Limited and relates only to the Emerging Markets Equities Fund (in this Appendix 6, the “Fund”).
The Emerging Markets Equities Fund is a cell of the Company, a Guernsey incorporated open-ended collective investment scheme established as a protected cell company in accordance with the Companies Law on 4 January 2018 and authorised by the GFSC as a Class B collective investment scheme under the POI Law.
The Fund has been designed for investors seeking to achieve long-term capital growth, by investing in a variety of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios comprise investment in a range Emerging Markets Equities investments, with managed volatility and risk under all market conditions.
To achieve long-term capital growth under all market conditions through the active management of a portfolio of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios comprise a variety of Emerging Markets Equities investments, while seeking to reduce volatility and investment risk through the implementation of active risk management protocols (the “Investment Objective”).
The Fund will target investments in a range of Investee Funds, being: (i) CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to Emerging Markets Equities; and (ii) ETFs (listed globally).
Appendix 7: COMMODITIES FUND
This is an Appendix to the Offering Memorandum of Dominion Capital Strategies Funds PCC Limited and relates only to the Commodities Fund (in this Appendix 7, the “Fund”).
The Commodities Fund is a cell of the Company, a Guernsey incorporated open-ended collective investment scheme established as a protected cell company in accordance with the Companies Law on 4 January 2018 and authorised by the GFSC as a Class B collective investment scheme under the POI Law.
The Fund has been designed for investors seeking to achieve long-term capital growth, by investing in a variety of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios comprise investment in a range commodities investments, with managed volatility and risk under all market conditions. In this respect, “commodities investments” shall include Investee Funds which: (i) have direct holdings in commodities, or (ii) hold commodity-linked derivative instruments (e.g., forward contracts) in relation to commodities; or (iii) are invested in companies that are engaged in businesses that operate in commodity-related fields.
To achieve long-term capital growth under all market conditions through the active management of a portfolio of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios comprise a variety of commodities investments, while seeking to reduce volatility and investment risk through the implementation of active risk management protocols (the “Investment Objective”).
The Fund will target investments in a range of Investee Funds, being: (i) CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to commodities investments; and (ii) ETFs (listed globally).
Appendix 8: NEW TECHNOLOGIES FUND
This is an Appendix to the Offering Memorandum of Dominion Capital Strategies Funds PCC Limited and relates only to the New Technologies Fund (in this Appendix 8, the “Fund”).
The New Technologies Fund is a cell of the Company, a Guernsey incorporated open-ended collective investment scheme established as a protected cell company in accordance with the Companies Law on 4 January 2018 and authorised by the GFSC as a Class B collective investment scheme under the POI Law.
The Fund has been designed for investors seeking to achieve long-term capital growth, by investing in a variety of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios provide exposure to companies whose predominant economic activity is in the technology sector, with managed volatility and risk under all market conditions.
To achieve long-term capital growth under all market conditions through the active management of a portfolio of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios provide exposure to companies whose predominant economic activity is in the technology sector, while seeking to reduce volatility and investment risk through the implementation of active risk management protocols (the “Investment Objective”).
The Fund will target investments in a range of Investee Funds, being: (i) CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to companies whose predominant economic activity is in the technology sector; and (ii) ETFs (listed globally).
Appendix 9: SUSTAINABLE GROWTH FUND
This is an Appendix to the Offering Memorandum of Dominion Capital Strategies Funds PCC Limited and relates only to the Sustainable Growth Fund (in this Appendix 9, the “Fund”).
The Sustainable Growth Fund is a cell of the Company, a Guernsey incorporated open-ended collective investment scheme established as a protected cell company in accordance with the Companies Law on 4 January 2018 and authorised by the GFSC as a Class B collective investment scheme under the POI Law.
The Fund has been designed for investors seeking to achieve long-term capital growth, by investing in a variety of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios provide exposure to the following themes: health, environment, demographics and sustainability, with managed volatility and risk under all market conditions.
To achieve long-term capital growth under all market conditions through the active management of a portfolio of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios provide exposure to the following themes: health, environment, demographics and sustainability, while seeking to reduce volatility and investment risk through the implementation of active risk management protocols (the “Investment Objective”).
The Fund will target investments in a range of Investee Funds, being: (i) CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to the following themes: health, environment, demographics and sustainability; and (ii) ETFs (listed globally).
Appendix 10: CASH FUND
This is an Appendix to the Offering Memorandum of Dominion Capital Strategies Funds PCC Limited and relates only to the Cash Fund (in this Appendix 10, the “Fund”).
The Cash Fund is a cell of the Company, a Guernsey incorporated open-ended collective investment scheme established as a protected cell company in accordance with the Companies Law on 4 January 2018 and authorised by the GFSC as a Class B collective investment scheme under the POI Law.
The Fund has been designed for investors seeking to achieve long-term capital growth, by investing in a variety of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios provide exposure to Cash Instruments, with managed volatility and risk under all market conditions.
To achieve long-term capital growth under all market conditions through the active management of a portfolio of Investee Funds, whose individual portfolios provide exposure to Cash Instruments, while seeking to reduce volatility and investment risk through the implementation of active risk management protocols (the “Investment Objective”).
The Fund will target investments in a range of Investee Funds, being: (i) CISs domiciled in mature European markets providing exposure to Cash Instruments; and (ii) ETFs (listed globally).
It may investment up to 100% of its assets in Cash Instruments at any time, and from time to time, (the “Investment Restrictions”).
[1] Calculated as a percentage of the prevailing Net Asset Value at the relevant calculation point.
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Corpus Christi Officer Morton Norman
ExCop-Lawyer Uncategorized 42 USC 1983, Chief Floyd Simpson, Civil rights violation, Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi Texas, District attorney, Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Internal Affairs, Law Enforcement, Nueces County Texas, Officer Morton Norman, police, Police abuse, Police officer, Sheriff, Simpson, Texas 1 Comment
Earlier this year, Corpus Christi Police Sr. Officer Morton Norman was found in violation of department policies and recommended for termination by Internal Affairs and his chain of command. Police Chief Floyd Simpson did not agree and issued a two-week suspension, citing Norman’s record of service to the city.
Why don’t we look at the facts?
According to the video posted at Action 10 News, the victim, Roderick Hornsby was standing handcuffed, facing the wall as instructed when Norman took him down to the floor, placed his knees on Hornsby’s neck and back, and started to raise Hornsby’s arms up by the handcuffs. This last move has no legitimate control use, but strictly inflicts pain. In most officer self-defense tactics classes, instructors caution against this due to the potential for injury to the subject. In any event, when Morton went before Internal Affairs on the issue, they believed that he lied about the incident and that he falsified the report that he filed on the incident. The last matter is a felony in Texas. Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 37.10. They recommended that he be terminated.
Chief Simpson decided not to do that based on Morton’s good record. This good record includes a previous lawsuit for excessive force. Sosa v. City of Corpus Christi, No. C-06-149, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47318, 2006 WL 1967037 (S.D. Tex. 2006). In that case, Sosa accused Norman and Officer Silva of beating him with batons inside his home. While a portion of the case was dismissed because the statute of limitations had run, the § 1983 claims for excessive force against the officers remained. The city settled the case in December 2006.
Just a year before that, he was sued for *gasp* excessive force. Avalos v. City of Corpus Christi, No. 2:05-cv-00159, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14996, 2006 WL 696495 (S.D. Tex. 2006). In that case, the officers repeatedly took the plaintiffs to the ground, causing serious injuries. The officers won in a jury trial, but the point is that two lawsuits for excessive force, regardless of the outcome, should set off alarm bells.
The problem with Morton continuing on the police force is the allegation of lying. From this point forward, he is basically useless as a prosecution witness, as the Nueces County District Attorney would have to notify the defense attorney of that fact. Normally, a good prosecutor will not take a case involving that type of witness. Most police chiefs won’t tolerate lying for that very reason.
Although Morton had appealed his suspension, he decided to retire.
It still doesn’t say anything about Chief Simpson’s judgment.
Another Example of Police in Texas not Knowing the Law – Corpus Christi
ExCop-Lawyer Uncategorized Child Protective Services, Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi Police, Corpus Christi Texas, Disorderly Conduct, Failure to identify, Open carry, police, Police officer, Texa, Tim Brown, United States 2 Comments
Here we go again, with Texas cops not knowing the law. This time it is out of Corpus Christi and not only one, but two lieutenants are involved. Here are the four videos of the incident.
Here the user shows that he is videotaping from his own property and that he is openly carrying a holstered pistol. Texas is not an open carry state, but the statute that covers this is Unlawfully Carrying a Weapon, Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 46.02. This law states that: “A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries on or about his or her person a handgun, illegal knife, or club if the person is not on the person’s own premises or premises under the person’s control….” Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 46.02 (Vernon). At about 5:00 in part 1, the two officers approach and the user (Gloc361) advises them not to enter his property. The officers then try to tell him that he can’t openly carry a pistol (at 5:26). This is flat out incorrect. See Johnson v. State, 269 S.W.2d 406 (Tex. Crim. App. 1954) (“Appellant had the lawful right to carry a pistol on his own premises and this right extended to every part thereof.”); Mireles v. State, 192 S.W. 241, 243 (Tex. Crim. App. 1917) (“Clearly, under the law and evidence, he was not guilty of violating the law in carrying said [weapon] on either the forty acres of tillable land that he had rented from Mr. Roberts nor in Mr. Roberts’ pasture, where he kept his team, and had the right to go to get them as a part of his rented premises….”). A person can openly carry a handgun on his own property.
It appears that at about 1:00-05 in the second video that the officer makes a comment about notifying Child Protective Services, although the audio is not clear enough for me to be absolutely positive on this. If she did mention that, then it is wrong on so many levels. First, the lawful presence of firearms does not pose a danger to the child. Second, using CPS as a threat for compliance is just vile. At about 1:45 a third officer tries to tell him that he can wear the gun inside his house, but not outside. Case law clearly doesn’t support that. Mireles, 192 S.W. at 243. In addition, “premises” is not limited to inside of a building. See Tex. Atty. Gen. Op. No. H-185 (1973) (“The term ‘premises’ has attached to it various meanings, owing to the connection in which it is used, but, generally speaking, the term includes not only buildings, but the lot or land upon which the same are situated.”, citing Merch. & Mfgs.’ Lloyds’ Ins. Exch. et al. v. S. Trading Co. of Texas, 205 S.W. 352 (Tex. Civ. App.–Fort Worth, 1918)).
This is only 15 seconds, and really doesn’t cover much.
Here he talks to two different lieutenants. The individual asks the lieutenant if he is violating the law. The first lieutenant to talk to him will flat out not answer his question, but repeats what the other officer stated, that he could not be outside with a sidearm. When pressed, the lieutenant states that it just “looks odd.” Last time I checked, “looking odd” was not a violation of the penal statutes of the State of Texas.
At 3:52, Lt. Tim Brown walks up and states that the individual is creating a breach of the peace, causing alarm. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 46.02 Again, this is not correct according to case law in Texas. A recent case in Dallas addressed this very issue, stating:
Although the State maintains the fact that someone called the police is sufficient to show the gun was displayed in a way calculated to cause alarm, we cannot agree. The mere fact that the police were called is not evidence of the way in which the gun was displayed.
Grieve v. State, 05-07-00156-CR, 2008 WL 2152890 (Tex. App.—Dallas May 22, 2008, no pet.). See also Bedford v. State, 69 S.W. 158 (Tex. Crim. App. 1902) (if pistol was displayed in a threatening manner, calculated to alarm, it is an offense);Jones v. State, 01-98-00645-CR, 1999 WL 517135 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] July 22, 1999, no pet.) (when subject grabbed victim and held her for a time, told her she was his and that she belonged to him, then pulled a knife from his pocket and opened it, he displayed it in a manner calculated to alarm); Biggerstaff v. State, 2 S.W.2d 256 (Tex. Crim. App. 1927) (speaking of the exhibition of deadly weapons or the semblance thereof in an angry and threatening manner calculated to alarm).Lt. Brown, without some evidence of a threatening display of the pistol, you can not show the elements of Disorderly Conduct. Lt. Brown then compounds the error by demanding identification, and stating that he has the right to know who he is talking to on a police contact. In fact, he doesn’t. We discussed this in more depth at this post and this post, but unless he is arrested, he is under absolutely no obligation to identify himself to police.
The District is commanded by Capt. David Blackmon (DavidBl@cctexas.com) and the Chief is Chief Floyd Simpson (FloydS@cctexas.com). Note that Corpus Christi is one of the few police departments in Texas that have a union contract, and they also have a unique rank structure of Officer, Sr. Officer, Lieutenant, Captain, Commander, Asst. Chief, and Chief. There are no Sergeants.
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Ignore the skeptics. America can still grow.
Larry Kummer, Editor Economics, History 26 September 2016 26 September 2016
Summary: Can America no longer grow? Have we exhausted the potential for future technological progress? Let’s look at how far we have come and ask if the engines of progress that produced these wonders can no longer work for us.
“Innovation of new forms of society and technology. It is the key to our progress. It has allowed us to evolve from naked hunter-gatherers to the dominant species on this planet. This process is slow, normally taking hundreds or even thousands of years. But occasionally evolution leaps forward.”
— A slight tweak of Professor Xavier’s words from the title sequence of the movie “X-men
”. These events are called “singularities”.
Has humanity’s growth story ended?
The singularities in our past.
The singularities in our future
(1) Has humanity’s growth story ended?
“I wonder if and when the law of large numbers begins to be relevant to that growth in the same way it’s relevant to a company’s growth rate. Should we expect growth rates to decline as world GDP gets larger?”
— An important question by Jeff Harbaugh in a comment to a previous post.
One reason Trump’s campaign has surprisingly caught fire is his simple call to “Make America Great”. No matter how delusionally conceived, at least he appears to realize the importance of fighting the multi-decade long slowing of America’s economic growth. Upper middle class greens mutter about the wrongness of growth. America’s poor grow restive as they see their chances for social mobility fade away. Others just despair, believing that rapid growth lies in our past but not in our future.
(2) The singularities in our past.
Our world is the result of singularities in our past. Fire, pottery, agriculture, metals, writing — giant leaps forward in technology. Too see how far humanity has come, imagine how our society would appear to our stone-age ancestors of 40,000 years ago. For one answer see “Cro-Magnon Communication” by Brad Delong (Prof Economics, Berkeley).
“The Twelve-Year-Old is on strike. She refuses to write more than one paragraph of a letter detailing her day to our pre-Neolithic Revolution ancestors. She says the idea is stupid because it cannot be done — the Singularity is not in our future but in our past. Nevertheless it is quite a good first paragraph:
“I was jigging to my iPod when my friend Noelle rode up in the front passenger seat of her family’s minivan. ‘Will your parents let you come see “Wedding Crashers
“?’ she asked.”
“She has a point. ‘Jigging’ can be gotten across. And the East African Plains Ape social dynamics can be gotten across — friends, marriage, excessive parental control of the activities of adolescent females, et cetera (although not all of them: the idea of a “wedding crasher” is a very complicated concept to get across to a hunter-gatherer who has lived in a group of 40 or so her whole life).
“But the rest? Maybe I should have reversed the assignment: What kinds of science fiction would hunter-gatherers have written?”
For another perspective, shift forward in time to ~12,000 years ago, before the Neolithic singularity (e.g., the wheel, agriculture). Here is Pat Mathews’ entry in Brad Delong’s Early Holocene Epoch science fiction contest, with our distant ancestors describing a future unimaginable to them.
Shaman: I have foreseen a time when everybody can have all the meat, fat, and sweet stuff they can eat, and they all get fat.
Chief: You have had a vision of the Happy Hunting Grounds.
Shaman: It is considered a great and horrible problem! People go out of their way to eat leaves and grass and grains, and work very hard to look lean and brown.
Chief: You’ve been eating too many of those strange mushrooms, and are seeing everything backward.
Shift forward again to our most recent singularity — “the industrial revolution”. It ended in 1918. It was a singularity in ever sense, as explained in “The Singularity in Our Past Light-Cone” by Cosma Shalizi (asst prof of Statistics at Carnegie Mellon). To see its impact, consider life before it reshaped the world: in the late 14th century. Then the English pound was worth 4/5ths of a pound of silver, equivalent to roughly $175 today. When reading this, remember that the median household income in the US is now $52,000.
“What was 14th century money worth in today’s dollars? That’s tricky, because it depends on what you were buying. In the second half of the 14th century, a pound sterling would support the lifestyle of a single peasant laborer for half a year {$350/yr}, or that of a knight for a week {$9,100/yr}.
“Or it could buy three changes of clothing for a teenage page (underclothes not included), twelve pounds of sugar, a carthorse, two cows, an inexpensive bible, ten ordinary books, rent a craftsman’s townhouse for a year, or hire a servant for six months.
“It should be obvious from the above list that the conversion rate depends a great deal on what you buy. A husbandman or yeoman servant spent most of his budget on food and clothing, which have become relatively cheap since the industrial revolution. For that basket of goods, a pound sterling might buy $300 worth of goods today.
“On the other hand, a knight or noble might spend half of his income on servants, and much of the rest on handmade luxury goods, things that were relatively cheap then and expensive today. For that bundle of goods, a pound might buy $3,000 dollars worth of goods today.”
(3) The singularities in our future.
We have made great progress. But as Carl Sagan said, science is just a candle in the dark. We stand in a small circle of knowledge surrounded by the greater unknown. Expanding that circle can bring wonders to our descendants as amazing to us as our lives would be to our ancestors.
Although tech progress has slowed during the past few decades, there is no reason to assume that the tools which have brought us this far will fail us in the future. The good news is that a new industrial revolution might have already begun, based on breakthroughs in smart machines, new energy sources, genetic engineering, and new materials. These could produce improvements in living standards as large as those of past revolutions.
But history shows that technological breakthroughs are not natural. The ancient world had conditions similar to those of pre-modern Europe, yet nothing came of it. To restart growth and avoid a dead end like that of the ancient world, we must re-build our social engines of scientific and technological progress. Schools, universities, the patent office, the government’s R&D agencies — it’s a long list, most of which are neglected in modern America.
Too bad such things are ignored in campaign 2016. Instead we get a circus. But we can change that, if we have the will to do so.
Yes since we found out
Since we found out
That anything could happen
Anything could happen.
— A powerful insight in Ellie Goulding’s song “Anything Could Happen
If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See all posts about the singularity, about secular stagnation, about the new industrial revolution just starting, and especially these…
Has America grown old, and can no longer grow? Or are wonders like the singularity in our future? — About the different kinds of singularities.
Ben Bernanke sees the great slowdown in technological progress.
Do we face secular stagnation or a new industrial revolution?
Looking at technological singularities in our past & future.
Books about the new industrial revolution.
The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies
by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee.
Average Is Over: Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation
by Tyler Cowen.
Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future
(2015) by Martin Ford.
The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War
by Robert J. Gordon.
Published 26 September 2016 26 September 2016
Previous Post Before Trump, top economist Joseph Stiglitz warned about globalization
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Flash: PRESS RELEASE… COALITION OF NIGER STATE RELIGIOUS GROUPS
On behalf of 50 Religious Groups, we are pleased to notify the General Public that, the attached mentioned NGOs hereby endorse His Excellency Dr. Abubakar Sani Bello for another four (4) years tenure due to His excellent leadership and dedication to the service of humanity. We are passionately appealing to the Nigerlites to come out […]
Babalele Abdullahi with Atiku Abubakar The Economic Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Saturday arrested Babalele Abdullahi, finance director of group of companies owned by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar. In a statement by Mr Atiku’s statement, Paul Ibe, the arrest was aimed at making the PDP candidate concede victory […]
Atiku inaugurates legal team, says ‘stolen mandate must be retrieved’
Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has inaugurated a legal team to challenge the outcome of the February 23 presidential poll in court. Paul Ibe, his media adviser, revealed this in a statement on Saturday. The legal team is headed by Livy Uzoukwu, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN). President Muhammadu […]
Speaker for North Central – Ibraheem Dooba
If the struggle for the office of the senate president of 2015 and the subsequent power grab of Saraki is any indication, it is almost a done deal that the office has already been zoned to the Northeast. And the incumbent Senate Leader, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, will likely be the chosen- even though Senator Ali […]
BUHARI TO REWARD FASHOLA, AMAECHI WITH UNEMPLOYMENT!! PRESIDENT TO SEND FORMER GOVERNORS, OTHERS PACKING FROM CABINET- SEE WHY
President Buhari may have just been elected for a second term in office but he is not wasting time celebrating the win as all indications suggest that the President has swung back to work and it is believed that the President is looking to make major changes to his cabinet. Reports suggest that President Buhari […]
Family of 6 burnt to death in Kano
A family of six on Saturday lost their lives in a midnight inferno at Bawo Road in Kano metropolis. According to a Platinum Post report, the fire outbreak killed one Isaiah Jonathan, his wife, his three children including a newborn baby and the younger sister of his wife. A source said the fire incident started […]
PRESS RELEASE… IBB ON 2019 ELECTIONS
The 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections have come and gone. These elections have produced a new president elect and new elected members of the Senate and House of Representatives. I congratulate the Nigerian electorate who conducted themselves peacefully during the voting process; they were enthusiastic to exercise their democratic rights of electing candidates of […]
Leon Balogun returns to training
Super Eagles defender, Leon Balogun has resumed training for Brighton and Hove Albion, NationSport reports. The 30-year-old suffered a shoulder injury picked in training three weeks ago and, according to manager Chris Hughton, will miss out on a fourth consecutive match when the Seagulls host Huddersfield Town in a Premier League clash at the American […]
Maternal health: Kano wins $8.1m, emerges 2018 MNCHW North-West champion
Kano State has earned $8.1 million emerging the overall winner of the 2018 North-West Matenal, Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW) programme. The feat followed the commitment of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s administration in Saving one Milion lives Programme on the platform of offering low cost intervention to Pregnant Women and Children under the age […]
I’m committed to Sanwoolu’s victory, says Ambode
LAGOS State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has denied a newspaper report alleging that he was working with the agents of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the just concluded presidential election. Rather, he said, he is busy working for the election of the Lagos State governorship candidate of the All […]
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SMCP names new chief executive of Sandro
SMCP Group, owner of Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot, has appointed Isabelle Allouch as the new chief executive officer of the Sandro brand, effective April 8. Allouch, who was previously chief executive officer of the Claudie Pierlot brand, will be replaced at the contemporary French brand by Jean-Baptiste […]
Michael Kors steps away from Capri Holdings board
Dale Arden Chong
Fashion designer Michael Kors is stepping away from his role on the board of Capri Holdings, the company behind his eponymous brand. Along with staring Kors’s label, the company also recently acquired luxury brands Jimmy Choo and Versace. The fashion designer founded his namesake label in 1981. Formerly […]
Carine Roitfeld is named style adviser to Karl Largerfeld brand
Robyn Turk
Carine Roitfeld has joined the Karl Lagerfeld for a three-season contract. In her new role as a style adviser, the esteemed fashion editor will help extend the late designer's legacy through working alongside the brand's current design director, Hun Kim. Though Lagerfeld's passing on February 19 shocked […]
Mike McGuire named Head of Investor Relations at Macy’s
Marjorie van Elven
Thursday, March 28 2019
Macy’s Inc. has announced the appointment of Mike McGuire to the role of Head of Investor Relations, effective April 1, 2019. He will be responsible for leading the investor relations program, including managing relationships with the investment community, and report to Chief Financial Officer Paula […]
Theory Founder and CEO Andrew Rosen to Step Down in April
Andrew Rosen, the founder and chief executive officer of Theory will step down from his role as CEO effective April 1, as reported by WWD. Rosen will be replaced by the New York-based brand’s global chief operating officer, Dinesh Tandon. However, while Rosen is leaving his day-to-day duties as CEO, […]
C.P. company announces Lorenzo Osti as its new president
Lorenzo Osti has been appointed as President of Italian sportswear company C.P. Company, effective immediately. He will be reporting to CEO Peter Wang. Lorenzo Osti is the son of Massimo Osti, who founded the company as Chester Perry in 1971. The business changed its name to C.P. Company seven years […]
Glossier hires Elle editor as its first head of content
After earning 100 million dollars in Series D investment funding and bringing its valuation to 1.2 billion dollars last week, direct-to-consumer beauty brand Glossier is stepping up its content strategy. The five-year-old company has brought on Elle.com's Digital Director Leah Chernikoff as its first […]
Desigual parts ways with artistic director Jean-Paul Goude
Spanish fashion brand Desigual, best known for its colorful designs, has ended the collaboration with its first-ever artistic director, Jean-Paul Goude, who had been working for the company since August 2017. Desigual told Spanish fashion publication Moda.es that Goude’s functions will be taken over […]
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« Esteban Cortazar
Alexander McQueen »
Rick Owens is the fashion designer who is credited with bringing Gothic Minimalism to life. His moody, toned, draped and deconstructed designs, which include asymmetrical dresses and fitted jackets have drawn a lot of attention from the fashion community as well as earning him loyal fans like Courtney Love and Madonna.
After making a name for himself as an indie designer in Los Angeles for a number of years, Owens moved to Paris in 2003. There, he oversees his own namesake line, which is now manufactured out of Italy, and serves as Artistic Director of Revillon, the infamous luxury furrier that was founded in 1723. Despite his move across the pond, Owens’ own line remains true to his aesthetic: minimalist palettes and striking structure.
Though his designs are often labeled goth by the press, the designer deems himself more of a “drama queen.” He says, “My look is about an appreciation of teenage angst without actually having the angst.” Over the years his collections have been described as glamour-meets-grunge with fitted jackets and soft, slouchy knits (the only obvious hint that the designer is from Cali).
Though his more recent collections have been a little more structured, he still strays away from being conceptual staying true to his rock-and-roll roots.
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Example research essay topic: Gay And Lesbian Gays And Lesbians - 1,188 words
Is it right to tell a person or couple (who is a perfect candidate to be a parent) that they are not aloud to adopt because they have different sexual preferences than a majority of the world? Gay and lesbian couples should be aloud to adopt children; they are just as capable of being good parents as a heterosexual couple is. Thousands of children in this country are without permanent homes. These children suffer for months, to years, within state foster care systems that lack qualified foster parents and are frequently challenged with other problems.
Is it right to let these children suffer when there are suitable homes out there for them? We decided, as a society, that these homes are not suitable because we think it is wrong to be gay. A majority of the world believes that gay parents would hurt the future and growing of a child; these are only beliefs and assumptions that our society makes. Most states deny joint custody to gay and lesbian couples.
Currently Florida is the only state in the nation with a statute prohibiting gays and lesbians from adopting children (although two states, Mississippi and Utah, recently barred same sex couples from adopting. ) Yet, twenty-one states have granted second-parent adoptions to lesbian and gay couples and twenty-two states allow single gay and lesbians to adopt. Even the Department of Children and Families recognizes that gay and lesbians can make fine guardians for children and routinely places foster children in homosexual households. (Times p. 1) So, what really would be the difference if we let gay or lesbian couples adopt a child jointly? Right now, there is a critical shortage of adoptive parents in the US; resulting in leaving many children without homes, while others are forced to stay in and out of a series of substandard foster homes. It is estimated that there are currently 500, 000 children in foster care nationally. 100, 000 of those children have to be adopted (Petit p. 72), where in reality only about 20 % of them actually get adopted. (Rivers p. 1) Many of these children have traditionally been viewed as un adoptable because they are either not healthy, too old, or have another ethnic backgrounds than being Caucasian.
In order to find more and well-suited parents, adoption and foster care policies have become more and more inclusive over the past two decades; yet, gay and lesbian couples still are not given the right to adopt jointly. Our society as a whole rejects their rights as human beings, with the fact that they are not allowed the right to adopt children. The state already restricts gay and lesbians from other things heterosexual people are allowed; for example, telling them they cannot legally marry the person they love. Restricting someone from things like this because of their sexual orientation is unconscionable. Part of the American Dream is to fall in love, get married, and have a family.
Why would we deny this right to gay and lesbian couples, they are people too! We treat gays and lesbians like they are incompetent, negligent, unprepared and sickly, and that is why they should not be aloud to adopt children. Yet, we are wrong when we assume that gay and lesbian couples cannot take care of a child like a heterosexual parent can. It is not a proven fact that gay and lesbian parents are incapable or unfit to be parents. There is no evidence to prove or support gay and lesbian parents are less intelligent, have more problems, have fewer friends, or have lower self-esteem than heterosexual parents. It is proven though, that children of gay and lesbian parents grow up just as happy, healthy, and well adjusted as the children of heterosexual parents do. (1) Good parenting does not come from and is not influenced by a parents sexual orientation.
Rather, it comes from a parents ability to create a safe, loving and nurturing home for their child or children. There is also are no existing data to support the widely held belief that there are negative outcomes for children raised by gay parents. (Crary p. 1) Children who are born to or adopted by one member of a same sex couple deserve the security of two legally recognized parents. It only hurts the children more to deny these rights to gay and lesbian couples / parents . Some studies actually prove that gay parents have some more advantages than heterosexual parents do. For example, a recent study showed that in terms of aggression and play, sons of lesbian parents behaved in less traditionally masculine ways. They are likely to be more nurturing and affectionate than their counterparts in heterosexual families. (Carole p. 49) It is also proven in most cases that sexual orientation of parents has no impact on the sexual orientation of their children.
There is also some evidence that children of gay and lesbian parents are more tolerant to diversity, but this is certainly not a disadvantage. (1) Of course some children of homosexual parents will grow up to also be homosexual, but the same chance goes for children of heterosexual parents. In its first policy statement The American Academy of Pediatrics said studies showed that children raised by same sex couples had no greater risk of becoming confused about their gender identity. There are more similarities than differences in parenting styles and attitudes (among) gay and (h) eterosexual parents, the groups Dr. Ellen Perrin said in a report backing up the policy. (Reuters p. 1) It has also been proven in studies that gay fathers and lesbian mothers tend to be more involved in their childrens lives. Gay fathers tend to be stricter disciplinarians than heterosexual fathers; lesbian mothers tend to be more concerned with providing a male role model for their children as compared to divorced / single heterosexual mothers. Dr.
Perrin also wrote, In a study of 300 children with lesbian mothers, none showed evidence of gender identity confusion, or consistently engaged in cross-gender behavior. (Reuters p. 2) When the law recognizes co-parent adoption (gay and lesbian joint adoption) it will produce these benefits: It guarantees that the second parents custody rights and responsibilities will be protected if the first parent were to die or become incapable of being a parent. It protects the second parents right to custody and visitation if the couple decides to separate. It establishes the requirement for child support from both parents if they did decide to separate. It ensures the childs eligibility for health / medical benefits from both parents. It provides legal grounds for either parent to provide consent for medical care and to make education, healthcare, and other important decisions on behalf of the child. It creates the basis for financial security for the child / children in the event that either or both parents die. (Davis p. 1) Theres a lot at risk, Perrin says.
If the one legally recognized parent gets disabled or dies, the child is left out of luck. Legally and financially, its a very big issue. If there is a separation between the pare...
Free research essays on topics related to: lesbian couples, gay and lesbian, heterosexual parents, gays and lesbians, sexual orientation
Research essay sample on Gay And Lesbian Gays And Lesbians
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Dorothee Schmidt & Karoline Wedler
You are here: Home / History / Dorothee Schmidt & Karoline Wedler
On 12 April 1995, disaster struck: a major fire completely destroyed the „Auf der Au“ company premises. What many considered the end of the traditional company became a new start.
After a tough 15-month bridging period in which the company maintained operations with 75 employees in rented production and storage facilities, the new production facility „Auf der Michelswiese“ in Idar-Oberstein was inaugurated. It was the lasting merit of Dorothee Schmidt and Rüdiger Weiser, in the hour of the 1995 catastrophe, to have made the far-sighted decision to restart the company in the new plant and thus preserve jobs in Idar-Oberstein.
Dorothee Schmidt appointed Andreas Weyand as Managing Director and served on the company’s Advisory Board. Karoline Wedler, the daughter of Dorothee Schmidt, was in the seventh generation of the traditional company Gebrüder Schmidt. She is also a member of the advisory board.
With an average of 160 employees, GS Kunststofftechnik has become a full-service provider in the field of plastic injection moulding for well-known customers at home and abroad and has become a specialist for demanding surfaces. Full service includes all services, including project management, from product development, toolmaking and production to storage and worldwide dispatch.
True to the motto that only change is constant, the family business will continue to be open to new paths after 200 years in which it has rendered lasting services to the industrial development of its home region.
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Home › News › Date › Debate on sexualised violence, discrimination and abuse of power at KHM
Debate on sexualised violence, discrimination and abuse of power at KHM
To promote and contribute to transparency, the Rectorate would like to inform once again - and herewith publicly - about the various steps taken since April 2018 in the context of the debate on sexualised violence, discrimination and abuse of power at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne (KHM):
June 26, 2018: First Plenary Assembly following an invitation by KHM students addressed to all members of KHM.
July 2, 2018: Establishment of an external Ombudsperson's Office and confidential point of contact for cases of sexual harassment.
July 10, 2018: First Plenary Assembly with all members of KHM.
July 13, 2018: Senate resolution on 'Principles for the Prevention of Humiliation, Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Violence and Abuse of Power at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne' (published on the KHM homepage). Since autumn 2018, these principles are attached to all employment contracts and are part of the semester information for all students (link).
September 5, 2018: The Anti-Discrimination Working Group was established (following an invitation addressed to all members of KHM). An internal process was initiated in order to enable an open exchange about the debate on discrimination, abuse of power, humiliation, sexual harassment and mobbing.
September 7, 2018: The scope of responsibility of the Ombudsperson's Office was extended to include also cases of discrimination and abuse of power.
Beginning of October 2018: General information was made public via e-mail, flyer and the KHM website by the Office of Equal Opportunity to support and advise on discrimination, abuse of power, mobbing, sexual harassment and violence.
October 8, 2018: The Office of Equal Opportunity informed about the debate and explained the function of the external Ombudsperson's Office (during the opening week of the winter semester).
October 30, 2018: As a first step in the process mentioned above, all members of KHM were asked to report any act experienced as discrimination, abuse of power or sexual harassment.
October 31, 2018: Third Plenary Assembly.
November 28, 2018: Workshop offered by the Office of Equal Opportunity on the topic of 'Gender and Diversity in Film and TV' as part of the LaDOC conference 'MACHT STRUKTUREN' (power structures).
January 8, 2019: The 'Open Letter from the Rector and Chronological Report on the Issue of Sexual Harassment, Discrimination and Abuse of Power' was sent to all members of KHM.
February 1, 2019: The Ombudsperson's Office explained and gave advice (during a Senate meeting open to all members of KHM) how to deal with sexual harassment at the workplace.
April 12 and May 10, 2019: Workshop offered by the Office of Equal Opportunity on the topic of gender-sensitive story telling.
June 14, 2019: Senate resolution and statement on the issue of sexualised violence, sexual abuse and abuse of power (published on July 2, 2019 via the KHM intranet).
July 3, 2019: The Anti-Discrimination Working Group and the Rectorate met and discussed the notifications and comments and agreed on further steps (advice to the institution by a consulting agency; guidelines on anti-discrimination and abuse of power, to be drawn up by a working group convened by the Senate.
July 8, 2019: All members of KHM were informed by e-mail - in an anonymised and neutralized way - about the notifications and comments that the Anti-Discrimination Working Group has received and about further concrete steps agreed upon.
This list is not complete. In addition, there has been a range of further actions initiated by the students of KHM.
Apart from that, we would like to point out yet again that for legal reasons we cannot provide any information on other steps taken by the Rectorate directly involving the teaching staff of KHM, nor on steps that go beyond what has already been communicated to all members of KHM on other occasions.
The Rectorate, July 10, 2019.
Die Preisverleihung fand am 26.6.2019 statt
"In Search..." beim Deutschen Dokumentarfilmpreis 2019 ausgezeichnet
Beryl Magoko und Jule Katinka Cramer dürfen sich erneut über eine Auszeichnung für ihren Abschlussfilm an der KHM freuen.
Samstag, 13. Juli 2019, 14 bis 22 Uhr
Filmprogramm Rundgang 2019:
Samstag, 13. Juli, 14 bis 22 Uhr
Hier finden Sie das detaillierte Programm mit Kurztexten zu den Filmen des Tages.
Ausstellungseröffnung, 13. Juli 2019, 19 Uhr, bis 28. Juli
Practices of Approximation in der Temporary Gallery
Eine Kooperation von Aneta Rostkowska (Direktorin, Temporary Gallery), Mathias Antlfinger, Nieves de la Fuente Gutiérrez, Thomas Hawranke, Ute Hörner (Atelier Transmedialer Raum, KHM), Verena Friedrich und Karin Lingnau (exMedia Lab und experimentelle Informatik, KHM).
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The 1923 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United on 28 April 1923 at the original Wembley Stadium in London. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup), it was the first football match to be played at Wembley Stadium. King George V was in attendance to present the trophy to the winning team.
"Billie" the white horse,
the defining image of the day
1922–23 FA Cup
D. H. Asson (Birmingham)
126,047 (official)
up to 300,000 (estimate)
Each team had progressed through five rounds to reach the final. Bolton Wanderers won 1–0 in every round from the third onwards, and David Jack scored the lone goal each time. West Ham United faced opposition from the Second Division or lower in each round, the first time this had occurred since the introduction of multiple divisions in the Football League. West Ham took three attempts to defeat Southampton in the fourth round but then easily defeated Derby County in the semi-final, scoring five goals.
The final was preceded by chaotic scenes as vast crowds surged into the stadium, far exceeding its official capacity of approximately 125,000. A crowd estimated at up to 300,000 gained entrance and the terraces overflowed, with the result that spectators found their way into the area around the pitch and even onto the playing area itself. Mounted policemen, including one on a light-coloured horse which became the defining image of the day, had to be brought in to clear the crowds from the pitch and allow the match to take place. The match began 45 minutes late as crowds stood around the perimeter of the pitch. Although West Ham started strongly, Bolton proved the dominant team for most of the match and won 2–0. David Jack scored a goal two minutes after the start of the match and Jack Smith added a controversial second goal during the second half. The pre-match events prompted discussion in the House of Commons and led to the introduction of safety measures for future finals. The match is often referred to as the "White Horse Final" and is commemorated by the White Horse Bridge at the new Wembley Stadium.
Route to the finalEdit
See also: 1922–23 FA Cup
1st Norwich City (a) 2–0
2nd Leeds United (h) 3–1
3rd Huddersfield Town (a) 1–1
Huddersfield Town (h) 1–0
4th Charlton Athletic (a) 1–0
Semi-final Sheffield United (n) 1–0
Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United were playing in the First Division and Second Division respectively, and both entered the competition at the first round stage, under the tournament format in place at the time. Bolton had appeared in the final twice before, in 1894 and 1904, but West Ham, who had only joined The Football League in 1919, had never previously progressed further than the quarter finals.[1][2] In the first round, Bolton defeated Norwich City of the Third Division South,[3] in the process recording the club's first away win in the competition since a second round victory over Manchester City in the 1904–05 season.[4][5] After a home win over Leeds United in the second round,[6] Bolton faced one of the First Division's top teams, Huddersfield Town, in the third round. The initial match at Huddersfield's Leeds Road ground ended in a draw, necessitating a replay which Bolton won 1–0.[7][8] In the fourth round Bolton defeated Charlton Athletic by a single goal,[9] and in the semi-final beat Sheffield United by the same score in a match played at Old Trafford, home of Manchester United.[10] Although ticket prices were considered to be extremely high, a crowd of 72,000 attended the match, a new record for an FA Cup semi-final.[4] In every match from the third round onwards, Bolton's single goal was scored by David Jack, which gave him a reputation for having single-handedly steered his team into the final.[11]
1st Hull City (a) 3–2
2nd Brighton & Hove Albion (a) 1–1
Brighton & Hove Albion (h) 1–0
3rd Plymouth Argyle (h) 2–0
4th Southampton (a) 1–1
Southampton (h) 1–1
Southampton (n) 1–0
Semi-final Derby County (n) 5–2
In contrast to Bolton's defensive style, West Ham's cup run was characterised by fast-moving, attacking play, which won them many admirers.[11] The London-based club began the competition away to fellow Second Division team Hull City and won 3–2.[12] In the second round they were held to a draw by Brighton & Hove Albion of the Third Division South, but won the replay 1–0 at home.[13][14] The "Hammers" defeated another Third Division South team, Plymouth Argyle, in the third round,[15] but found the fourth round tough going against Southampton. The first match at West Ham's home, the Boleyn Ground, ended in a 1–1 draw, as did the replay at The Dell in Southampton.[16][17] A second replay was held at Villa Park in Birmingham, home of Aston Villa, and finally produced a winner, as West Ham won 1–0 with a goal from Billy Brown.[18] The goal came in the 70th minute, with a "clever free kick" past the "startled" Herbert Lock in the Saints' goal.[19] In the semi-finals, West Ham took on Derby County at Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea, and won 5–2.[20] Brown scored two more goals and Billy Moore also scored twice.[21] All five of the teams that West Ham defeated on their way to Wembley played in the Second Division or lower. This made West Ham the first team since the introduction of multiple divisions in The Football League to reach the FA Cup final without facing opposition from the top division.[22]
Build-upEdit
The crowd was so large that fans swarmed right up to, and even onto, the pitch.
The match was the first event of any kind to take place at Wembley Stadium, which had not been due to open until 1924 but was completed ahead of schedule.[23] After sub-capacity crowds had attended the first three finals after the First World War at Stamford Bridge,[23] The Football Association (The FA) was unconvinced that the match could fill the large capacity of the new stadium and undertook a major advertising campaign, for fans to attend.[24] Despite these fears, the new national stadium, which had been advertised as the greatest venue of its kind and had an unprecedented capacity of 125,000, proved to be a great lure and drew a large number of casual observers.[24] The fact that a London-based team was competing meant that many football fans from all parts of the city chose to attend.[25] The morning newspapers on the day of the match reported that around 5,000 fans were travelling from Bolton and that they were expected to be joined by "at least 115,000 enthusiasts from London and other parts of the country".[26] The easy accessibility of the stadium by public transport and the fine weather were also factors which contributed to the enormous crowd.[25]
Dad was very nonchalant about it. He said: 'Let's see if we can get in to see the match.' When we got out at Wembley Park we were in a huge wave of humanity all going in the same direction. It was just a solid mass of people, though I don't ever remember feeling scared because the crowd were so good-natured. There was a seething mass at the entrance. Dad said: 'Look, everybody's going over the turnstiles. Let's follow them.' They were locked. The staff had obviously just locked up and left. So we climbed over the fence and the turnstile and found ourselves inside the ground.
–Denis Higham, spectator.[27]
The gates were opened at 11:30 am as advertised,[26] three and a half hours before the match was due to begin, and until 1:00 pm the flow of people into the stadium was orderly. By 1:00 pm, however, a vast number of people were pouring into the stadium, and after an inspection by the stadium authorities, the decision was made to close the gates at 1:45 pm. Spectator William Rose said later that the route to the stadium was "seething with people" and that "the nearer I got to the stadium the worse it got, by the time I got there the turnstiles had been closed".[28] Although the information was relayed to various railway stations, thousands of people continued to arrive and mass outside the gates.[29] Organisation within the stadium was poor, and in his report on the match the correspondent for the Daily Mail described the stewarding as "useless" and stated that officials in and around the stadium "seemed to know nothing".[26] Fans were not directed to any specific area, and the tiers in the lower half of the stadium filled up much faster than those higher up.[29]
As my horse picked his way onto the field, I saw nothing but a sea of heads. I thought, "We can't do it. It's impossible." But I happened to see an opening near one of the goals and the horse was very good – easing them back with his nose and tail until we got a goal-line cleared. I told them in front to join hands and heave and they went back step by step until we reached the line. Then they sat down and we went on like that ... it was mainly due to the horse. Perhaps because he was white he commanded more attention. But more than that, he seemed to understand what was required of him. The other helpful thing was the good nature of the crowd.
–George Scorey in an interview with the BBC.[30]
As the crowds outside the stadium continued to grow, local police stations were mobilised, but by the time officers arrived the crowd was too large for them to take any effective form of action.[31] At 2:15 pm, the crowds outside the stadium rushed at the barriers and forced their way in. Spectators in the lower tiers had to climb the fences to escape the crush and overflowed onto the pitch itself.[29] Spectator Terry Hickey said later that "To put it mildly, the whole thing was a bloody shambles".[28] The crowd was officially reported as 126,047,[32] but estimates of the actual number of fans in attendance range from 150,000[33] to over 300,000.[25] The FA refunded 10% of the total gate money to fans who had pre-purchased tickets but were unable to reach their assigned seats.[24] The roads around the stadium were blocked and the Bolton players were forced to abandon their coach a mile from the stadium and make their way through the crowds.[31] The Times stated that at one point it seemed impossible that the match would ever be able to start, but that when King George V arrived, the mood of the crowd changed. After enthusiastically singing "God Save The King", the crowd began to assist the authorities in clearing the playing area.[25]
Fans flood the pitch
Eventually mounted policemen were brought in to try to clear the crowds from the pitch, including PC George Scorey, who was mounted on a horse named "Billie" (some sources spell the name "Billy"). PC Scorey had not actually been on duty that day but answered a call for emergency assistance as the throng of spectators in the stadium grew.[24] Billie the horse was actually grey, but appeared white in the primitive (high-contrast) black and white newsreel footage of the era.[34] Contrary to what is sometimes claimed, other horses were also involved, but the "white" horse, as the most visible in the news footage, became the defining image of the day.[24][34]
Eventually the police, assisted by appeals from the players for the crowd to calm, were able to manoeuvre the spectators to just beyond the touchline, and the game began approximately 45 minutes late, while fans stood around the perimeter of the pitch.[25]
MatchEdit
SummaryEdit
Dick Pym and two other Bolton players defend their goal.
Both teams employed the 2-3-5 formation typical of the era: two full-backs, three half-backs, comprising one centre-half and two wing-halves, and five forwards, comprising two outside-forwards, two inside-forwards and a centre-forward.[26] West Ham's game plan initially centred on the two fast-moving outside-forwards Dick Richards and Jimmy Ruffell, but Bolton set out from the start to keep the two players contained, rushing at them whenever they got the ball.[11] After just two minutes West Ham half-back Jack Tresadern became entangled in the crowd after taking a throw-in and was unable to return to the pitch immediately. This gave Bolton's David Jack the opportunity to shoot for goal. His shot beat West Ham goalkeeper Ted Hufton to give Bolton the lead, and hit a spectator who was standing pressed against the goal net, knocking him unconscious.[35] Three minutes later Vic Watson received the ball a few yards in front of the Bolton goal but his shot flew over the crossbar.[25] Eleven minutes into the game the crowd surged forward once again and a large number of fans encroached onto the pitch, leading to the suspension of play while the mounted police again cleared the playing area. A number of fans required first aid from members of the British Red Cross while the players looked on and awaited the resumption of play. Policemen patrolled the perimeter of the pitch to keep it clear for the linesmen, after play was resumed.[11]
Soon after play restarted, West Ham's Dick Richards eluded two Bolton defenders and shot for goal. Bolton goalkeeper Dick Pym fumbled the ball but managed to kick it clear before it crossed the goal-line.[11] Bolton continued to dominate the match, and were only prevented from scoring again by a strong performance from West Ham full-back Billy Henderson.[25] When West Ham attacked, however, Bolton were able to quickly switch to a strongly defensive formation, as players changed positions to form a line of five half-backs. This stifled West Ham's attacking style of play and ensured that the Bolton goal was not seriously threatened, and the score remained 1–0 to Bolton until half-time. Due to the crowds that surrounded the pitch, the players were unable to reach the dressing-rooms and instead remained on the pitch for five minutes before starting the second half.[11]
West Ham began the second half as the stronger team, and Vic Watson received the ball in a good goalscoring position but mis-hit his shot.[25] Eight minutes into the second half, Bolton added a second goal in controversial circumstances. Outside-forward Ted Vizard played the ball into a central position and Jack Smith hit the ball past Hufton. West Ham's players claimed that the ball had not entered the goal but rebounded into play from the goalpost, but referee D. H. Asson overruled them, stating that in his view the ball had entered the goal but then rebounded off a spectator. West Ham also claimed that Bolton had received an unfair advantage, as a Bolton fan at pitchside had kicked the ball towards Vizard, but Asson disregarded these claims as well and confirmed Bolton's second goal.[35] At this point the crowd began to sense that Bolton would emerge victorious and many began heading towards the exits.[25] Neither team had any more serious chances to score, and the remainder of the match was largely a stalemate with little inspired play.[11] Late in the game, West Ham captain George Kay attempted to persuade Asson to abandon the match, but Bolton captain Joe Smith reportedly replied "We're doing fine, ref, we'll play until dark to finish the match if necessary".[35] The score remained 2–0 to Bolton until the final whistle. The King presented the FA Cup trophy to Joe Smith and then left the stadium to cheers from the crowd.[25] West Ham trainer Charlie Paynter attributed his team's defeat to the damage the pitch had suffered before kick-off, saying "It was that white horse thumping its big feet into the pitch that made it hopeless. Our wingers were tumbling all over the place, tripping up in great ruts and holes".[23]
DetailsEdit
Ja. Smith
53' Report
Wembley Stadium, London[36]
Attendance: 126,047 (officially)[36]
Referee: D. H. Asson (Birmingham)[36]
Bolton Wanderers[36]
West Ham United[36]
Dick Pym
Bob Haworth
Alex Finney
Harry Nuttall
Jimmy Seddon
Billy Jennings
Billy Butler
David Jack
Joe Smith (c)
Ted Vizard
Charles Foweraker
Ted Hufton
Billy Henderson
Sid Bishop
George Kay (c)
Jack Tresadern
Dick Richards
Vic Watson
Billy Moore
Jimmy Ruffell
Syd King
No substitutes.
Although around 900 spectators were treated for slight injuries,[37] only 22 were taken to hospital and ten of those were quickly discharged. Two policemen were also injured during the match.[38] The chaotic scenes at the match prompted discussion in the House of Commons, where Home Secretary William Bridgeman paid tribute to the actions of the police and the general behaviour of the crowd. During the debate Oswald Mosley was chastised by the Speaker of the House for characterising the fans present at the stadium as hooligans.[39] Bridgeman was asked to consider opening a public inquiry,[40] but ultimately concluded that the police had dealt successfully with the incident, and that he was happy for the stadium authorities and the police to decide on a plan to prevent similar events from happening again.[38]
David Lloyd George gave the toast at the post-match dinner.
A committee examined the stadium a month after the match, and made several recommendations to the stadium authorities. Their proposals included the replacement of the turnstiles with more up-to-date models, the erection of extra gates and railings, and the division of the terraces into self-contained sections, each with its own entrance.[41] In addition, the pre-purchasing of tickets was made compulsory for all future finals, eliminating the possibility that excessive numbers of fans would arrive in the hope of being able to pay at the turnstile.[27][42] The gross gate money for the match was £27,776. After the deduction of the stadium authorities' costs, the Football Association and each of the two clubs took £6,365, although the refunds to fans unable to reach their assigned seats were deducted from the FA's share.[43][44]
After the match the players and officials attended a dinner at which former Prime Minister David Lloyd George proposed the toast. The Bolton players returned home by train and were greeted at Moses Gate railway station by the chairman of Farnworth District Council before going on to a reception hosted by the Mayor.[43] The club presented each of the victorious players with a gold watch.[45] The players from both teams received gold commemorative medals. In 2005 the medal presented to West Ham's George Kay was sold at auction for £4,560,[46] and tickets and programmes from the match have also been star lots at auctions.[47][48]
LegacyEdit
The image of Billie the white horse remains famous within English football lore, and the match is often referred to as "The White Horse Final".[24][34][48] Billie's rider, George Scorey, was rewarded by the Football Association with free tickets to subsequent finals, but he had no interest in football and did not attend.[23]
In 2005, a public poll chose that the new footbridge near the rebuilt Wembley Stadium would be named the White Horse Bridge.[49] The executive director of the London Development Agency, which organised the poll, stated that the choice of name was appropriate given that the bridge, like the horse, would improve safety for fans at Wembley.[50] In 2007 a play drawn from the reactions of a group of Bolton residents to the events of the final was staged at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton.[51]
^ "Bolton Wanderers". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
^ "West Ham United". The Football Club History Database. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
^ "English FA Cup Round 1". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 27 February 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
^ a b "1920–1939". Bolton Wanderers F.C. 7 June 2005. Archived from the original on 10 June 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
^ Soar, Phil; Martin Tyler (1983). Encyclopedia of British Football. Willow Books. p. 176. ISBN 0-00-218049-9.
^ "English FA Cup Round 3replay". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 27 February 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
^ "English FA Cup Round Semifinal". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 26 February 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
^ a b c d e f g Thraves, Andrew (1994). The History of the Wembley FA Cup Final. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. p. 2. ISBN 0-297-83407-X.
^ "English FA Cup Round 4 second replay". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 26 February 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
^ Bull, David; Bob Brunskell (2000). Match of the Millennium. Hagiology Publishing. pp. 42–43. ISBN 0-9534474-1-3.
^ "English FA Cup Semifinal". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 26 February 2005. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
^ Northcutt, John (2003). The Definitive West Ham United F.C. Soccerdata. p. 44. ISBN 1-899468-19-6.
^ Barnes, Stuart (2008). Nationwide Football Annual 2008–2009. SportsBooksLtd. p. 386. ISBN 978-1-899807-72-7.
^ a b c d Soar, Phil; Martin Tyler. Encyclopedia of British Football. p. 23.
^ a b c d e f Holt, Nick; Guy Lloyd (2006). Total British Football. Flame Tree. p. 514. ISBN 1-84451-403-X.
^ a b c d e f g h i j "The F.A. Cup – Bolton's Victory – Record Crowds". The Times. London. 30 May 1923. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
^ a b c d Thraves, Andrew. The History of the Wembley FA Cup Final. p. 1.
^ a b "Countdown to the FA Cup final: 1923 and all that". The Independent. 18 May 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
^ a b Graham Wellham, Paul Armstrong (Producers), Tony Pastor (Director) (1997). The Essential F.A. Cup Final (Television programme). BBC.
^ a b c "Cup Final Scenes – Gates Rushed By Late-Comers – Good-Humoured Crowds". The Times. London. 30 May 1923. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
^ Collett, Mike. The Complete Record of the FA Cup. pp. 34–35.
^ a b Collett, Mike (2003). The Complete Record of the FA Cup. Sports Books. p. 34. ISBN 1-899807-19-5.
^ Matthews, Tony (2006). Football Firsts. Capella. p. 16. ISBN 1-84193-451-8.
^ Bateson, Bill; Albert Sewell (1992). News of the World Football Annual 1992–93. Harper Collins. p. 219. ISBN 0-85543-188-1.
^ a b c David Ornstein (19 May 2007). "Billie's brethren bring back memories of the White Horse final". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
^ a b c "Bolton clinch the Cup". BBC. 1 October 2000. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
^ a b c d e Thraves, Andrew. The History of the Wembley FA Cup Final. pp. 1–4.
^ Thraves, Andrew. The History of the Wembley FA Cup Final. p. 3.
^ a b "Cup Final Crush". The Times. London. 3 May 1923.
^ "Home Secretary's Inquiries – Praise for Police". The Times. London. 1 May 1923. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
^ "Stadium Crush – Home Secretary's Action – Exhibition Statement". The Times. London. 1 May 1923. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
^ "Cup Final Crowd – F.A. Statement as to Repayments". The Times. London. 29 May 1923. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
^ Cox, Richard; Dave Russell, Wray Vamplew (2002). Encyclopedia of British Football. Routledge. p. 217. ISBN 0-7146-5249-0.
^ a b "Roaring 20s see a hat-trick of Bolton victories". Lancashire County Publications. 21 January 2005. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
^ Nicholas Spencer (23 May 2007). "Wembley's first Cup final achieved iconic status". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
^ "1923 FA Cup Final Medal Fetches £4,500". The Bolton News. 19 November 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
^ Edward Chadwick (31 October 2006). "Pieces of Whites' FA Cup history up for sale". Lancashire County Publications. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
^ a b "White Horse Final programmes up for auction". Lancashire County Publications. 22 November 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
^ "Wembley bridge named White Horse". BBC. 24 May 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
^ Mark Honigsbaum (25 May 2005). "Horse beats Hurst in Wembley bridge contest". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
^ "And Did Those Feet". BBC. 28 September 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
Belton, Brian (2006). The Lads of '23: Bolton Wanderers, West Ham United and the 1923 FA Cup Final. Soccerdata. ISBN 978-1-899468-91-1.
Pathé Newsreel report (requires Adobe Flash)
FA Cup Final line-ups
1922–23 Competition Results at rsssf.com
"Report at thefa.com". Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2006. CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
FA Cup Final kits 1920–1929
Wikimedia Commons has media related to FA Cup Final 1923.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1923_FA_Cup_Final&oldid=891474005"
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University of Music and Performing Arts Munich
(Redirected from Hochschule für Musik und Theater München)
The University's main building, in the Königsplatz, Munich
The Prinzregententheater, home of the theatre studies department
Facade of the Königsplatz building at the time of the Munich Agreement, in September 1938.
The University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (German: Hochschule für Musik und Theater München), also sometimes called the Academy of Music and Performing Arts, is one of the most respected traditional vocational universities in Germany, specialising in music and the performing arts. The main building it currently occupies is the former Führerbau of the NSDAP, located at Arcisstraße 12, on the eastern side of the Königsplatz, Munich. Teaching and other events also take place at Luisenstraße 37a, Gasteig, the Prinzregententheater (theatre studies), and in Wilhelmstraße (ballet). Since 2008, the Richard Strauss Conservatory (de), until then independent, has formed part of the University.
In 1846, a private institution called the Royal Conservatory of Music (Königliches Conservatorium für Musik) was founded, and in 1867, at the suggestion of Richard Wagner, this was transformed by King Ludwig II into the Royal Bavarian Music School (Königliche bayerische Musikschule), financed privately by Ludwig II until gaining the status of a state institution in 1874. It has since been renamed several times: to the Royal Academy of the Art of Music (Königliche Akademie der Tonkunst), the State Academy of Music (Staatliche Akademie der Tonkunst), the University for Music (Hochschule für Musik) and finally to the present name in 1998.
Its original location, the Odeonsgebäude, was destroyed in 1944. The current building was constructed for the Nazi party by Paul Troost and was called the Führerbau. Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler signed the Munich Agreement in this building in 1938. Hitler's office, on the second floor above the main entrance, is now a rehearsal room, but has been changed little since it was built.
In 1974, the Bavarian University Act placed the Munich college, as well as all other Bavarian music colleges, on an educational par with art colleges.
ProgrammesEdit
The University of Music and Performing Arts Munich offers study programmes in performing and teaching in all music subjects and ballet, as well as joint study programmes with the Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding covering operatic performance, acting, directing, musicals, make-up for the theatre and lighting design.
Former and present staffEdit
Main category: Academics of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
Josef Rheinberger
Max Reger composition from 1905 to 1906
Fritz Lehmann 1953–1956
Fritz Schieri chorus line, composition and music theory from 1959 to 1990
Ernst Haefliger 1971– voice
Wilhelm Killmayer 1973–1992 composition
Diethard Hellmann 1974 choral conducting, 1981–1988 director
Max Beckschäfer 1988–2001 composition theory
Margarita Höhenrieder piano since 1991
Rudi Spring since 1999 Lied interpretation
Miku Nishimoto-Neubert, piano accompaniment since 2002
Siegfried Mauser, Rektor 2003–2007; 2007–2014
Christoph Poppen since 2003 violin and chamber music
Bernd Redmann since 2005 Musiktheorie und Gehörbildung
Jan Müller-Wieland since 2007 composition
Bernhard Haas since 2013 organ
Marcus Bosch (from 2016), conducting
AlumniEdit
Main category: Hochschule für Musik und Theater München alumni
Valentina Babor
Jason Barry-Smith
Nélida Béjar
Martin Bernheimer
Winfried Bönig
Milana Chernyavska
Annette Dasch
Gabriel Dessauer
Christoph von Dohnányi
Claudia Eder
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Ricardo Gallen
Christian Gerhaher
Gerold Huber
Nicolaus A. Huber
Horst Laubenthal
Gerhard Merkl
Nils Mönkemeyer
Carl Orff
Helga Pogatschar
Bernd Purkrabek
Bernd Redmann
Pichu Sambamoorthi
Hanns-Martin Schneidt
Kirill Troussov
Jörg Widmann
Heinz Winbeck
Carl Valentin Wunderle
Karl Maria Zwißler
Honorary doctoratesEdit
Hans Werner Henze 2004
Nazi architecture
Music schools in Germany
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.
Official website ‹See Tfd›(in German)
Official website: courses ‹See Tfd›(in English)
University of Music and Performing Arts Munich at study-in-Bavaria.de
University of Music &Performing Arts Munich at muenchen.de
University of Music and Performing Arts Munich at Facebook.com
THE UNIVERSITY OF MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS MUNICH at wdc-award.org
Academy of Music and Performing Arts Munich at 4icu.org
University of Music and Performing Arts Munich at university-directory.eu
Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding
Effects of the Bologna Declaration on Professional Music Training in Europe
European Association of Conservatoires (AEC)
Coordinates: 48°08′46″N 11°34′04″E / 48.14611°N 11.56778°E / 48.14611; 11.56778
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=University_of_Music_and_Performing_Arts_Munich&oldid=897330522"
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Max Webster
Find sources: "Max Webster" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Max Webster was a Canadian hard rock band formed in 1973 in Toronto, Ontario.
The Grass Company, The Quotations, Big Al's Band, ZOOOM
Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Hard rock, progressive rock, heavy metal, pop rock
Anthem, Mercury, Capitol, Taurus
maxwebster.ca
Terry Watkinson
Dave Myles
Gary McCracken
Mike Tilka
Jim Chevalier
Steve McMurray
Pye Dubois
In the 1960s in Sarnia, the band went through names such as the Grass Company, the Quotations, Big Al's Band, and ZOOOM.[1] They settled on "Max Webster" in 1973.
The original members were guitarist and vocalist Kim Mitchell, keyboardist Terry Watkinson, bassist Mike Tilka and drummer Paul Kersey. Mitchell and lyricist Pye Dubois wrote the majority of their material. During his tenure with the band, Watkinson also wrote one to three songs per album.
Kersey left the band after their 1976 self-titled debut album, and was replaced by Gary McCracken. After recording and touring for their second album, High Class in Borrowed Shoes (1977), Tilka would follow suit and leave the band, being replaced by Dave Myles. Myles had played with Mitchell in a series of pre-Max Webster bands, all based in Mitchell's and Myles' hometown of Sarnia, Ontario.
Max Webster's third album, Mutiny Up My Sleeve (1978), was produced by the band and Terry Brown in collaboration with their ex-bassist Mike Tilka (who was then concentrating on a production career), and featured the Mitchell/Watkinson/McCracken/Myles line-up. This line-up would last through their fourth album, A Million Vacations, and a subsequent live album, Live Magnetic Air, both of which were issued in 1979.
Though their albums had become FM radio staples in Canada, A Million Vacations was the first Max Webster album to generate hit singles that appeared in the Canadian top 100. The group's first hit was "Let Go the Line," written and sung by Terry Watkinson, and peaked at No. 41 on the Canadian charts. Follow-up single "A Million Vacations" was written by McCracken/Dubois, sung by McCracken, and peaked at No. 80 in Canada. The album's third and final single, "Paradise Skies" was a Mitchell/Dubois composition sung by Mitchell, and was a minor hit in both Canada (number 21) and the UK Singles Chart (number 43).[2]
With some international recognition having arrived, Max Webster then toured Europe to fairly large crowds in 1979. However, their career momentum was stalled when the band's American label Capitol Records refused to finance a follow-up tour. By the time the band returned to Europe more than a year later, their single was no longer on the charts, and the tour had to be cancelled due to poor ticket sales due to a lack of promotion.
Prior to the recording of the band's fifth and final studio album, Universal Juveniles (1980), Watkinson exited. This left Max Webster a trio of Mitchell, McCracken and Myles (and left Mitchell as the band's sole original member). Universal Juveniles was recorded with the assistance of various session musicians; the song "Battle Scar" was recorded live with all three members of Rush playing alongside Max Webster.
Myles left the band almost immediately after the album was recorded. Max Webster toured for a little while longer with a revised 'caretaker' line-up before Kim Mitchell decided to dissolve the band one night after playing a gig supporting Rush in Memphis Tennessee in April 1981.
Legacy and reunionsEdit
Max Webster were close friends of fellow Canadian musicians Rush. In a 1979 interview, Rush bassist and vocalist Geddy Lee commented that he enjoyed their music, and the bands frequently toured together during the 1970s.
Although successful in Canada, Max Webster failed to achieve much success elsewhere. "Paradise Skies" was a minor U.K. hit, reaching No. 43 on the singles chart there. They also appeared on Top of the Pops in 1979, playing to a pre-recorded track that was recorded at Abbey Road Studios. Kim Mitchell's subsequent solo career, however, reached a much broader audience and he achieved popularity beyond Canada during the 1980s.
Among the highlights of the band's career were their New Year's Eve shows at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens. Geddy Lee joined the band onstage to sing and play his Rickenbacker bass guitar for "Battle Scar" on December 31, 1980, when the band headlined the show.
The band reunited in 1990 for a gig at the Toronto Music Awards, with the Mitchell/Watkinson/Tilka/McCracken line-up. Max Webster then continued to play shows on occasional basis throughout the 1990s, with longtime Mitchell collaborator Peter Fredette joining the band as bassist in place of Tilka.
Max Webster reunited for the Q107 30th Anniversary Concert and Live Radio Special on Thursday, May 24, 2007, at The Docks in Toronto. During the one-off gig, the band played a set of their hits ("Oh War!", "The Party", "Waterline", "Let Go The Line", "Toronto Tontos", "Diamonds Diamonds", "High Class In Borrowed Shoes", "A Million Vacations", "In Context Of The Moon", "Paradise Skies", Charmonium" and "Battle Scar", with "Hangover" as an encore). The classic Max Webster lineup was featured, from the High Class in Borrowed Shoes era: Kim Mitchell, Terry Watkinson, Mike Tilka and Gary McCracken (who sang "A Million Vacations", with drummer Robert Sibony on drums for the tune). Longtime Kim Mitchell bandmate Peter Fredette joined the band onstage to sing Geddy Lee's part on "Battle Scar."
From 2004 until August 2015, Kim Mitchell hosted the weekday afternoon drive slot (2 p.m.-6 p.m.) on Q107 (107.1) in Toronto, Ontario.[3]
In the 1990s Watkinson and Tilka formed the band The Antlers, playing Max Webster songs and classic rock covers. The band has continued on and off for more than 20 years, playing at various venues around southern Ontario.[4][5]
Gary McCracken teaches music in his hometown of Sarnia, Ontario.[6]
RockCandy Music Music in England has re-released the first three Max Webster albums.
In 2017 a box set package called The Party was released by Anthem Records on vinyl, compact disc and digital formats. The release featured remastered versions of all the band's releases, unreleased live and studio songs as well as Kim Mitchell's long out-of-print solo EP. The vinyl set includes a book, a poster and a sticker.
DiscographyEdit
Studio albumsEdit
1976 Max Webster 32 Gold
1977 High Class in Borrowed Shoes 44 Gold
1978 Mutiny Up My Sleeve 53 Gold
1979 A Million Vacations 13 Platinum
1980 Universal Juveniles 41 Gold
1981 Diamonds Diamonds 47
A United Kingdom only release known as "Magnetic Air" was released in 1979 by Capitol-EMI Records to showcase the band to a wider audience, it features live tracks from the Live Magnetic Air album as well as songs from the first two albums Max Webster and High Class in Borrowed Shoes.
Live albumsEdit
1979 Live Magnetic Air 17 Gold
Compilation albumsEdit
1989 The Best of Max Webster –
SinglesEdit
List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name
Peak chart positions
Label /
1976 "Blowing The Blues Away"
b/w "Hangover"
- - Taurus TR 006 Max Webster
(Taurus TR-101)
(rereleased on Anthem ANR-1-1006)
1977 "Words To Words"
b/w "In Context Of The Moon"
- - Anthem ANS-003 High Class In Borrowed Shoes
(Anthem ANR-1-1007)
1977 "Diamonds, Diamonds"
b/w "Rain Child"
1979 "Let Go The Line"
b/w "Moon Voices"
39 — Anthem ANS-012 A Million Vacations
"A Million Vacations"
b/w "Rascal Houdi"
(withdrawn)
- - Anthem ANS-013
(first pressing)
1979 "A Million Vacations"
b/w "Night Flights"
80 - Anthem ANS-013
(reissue)
1979 "Paradise Skies (live)"
b/w "Paradise Skies (studio)"
promo only
Live Magnetic Air
A Million Vacations
1980 "Paradise Skies (studio)"
b/w "In Context Of The Moon (live)"
47 43 Anthem ANS-014
"Blue River Liquor Shine (edit)"
b/w "Check"
98 - Anthem ANS-027 Universal Juveniles
1980 "Night Flight (live)"
b/w "Hangover (live)"
- - Anthem ANS -020 Live Magnetic Air
1981 "Hot Spots" (previously unreleased)
b/w "Battle Scar" (with Rush)
- - Anthem ANS-037 Diamonds Diamonds
Universal Juveniles
(Anthem ANR-!-1027)
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. Retrieved 2015-01-24. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) Max Webster
^ "Shows – Q107 Toronto".
^ kubrickrules (30 November 2010). "The Antlers featuring Terry Watkinson and Mike Tilka from Max Webster" – via YouTube.
^ Website for Gary McCracken Archived 2015-02-17 at the Wayback Machine
^ Peak positions for Max Webster's albums in Canada:
For "Max Webster" "Top Albums/CDs – Volume 25, No. 22, August 28, 1976". RPM. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
For "High Class in Borrowed Shoes" "Top Albums/CDs – Volume 27, No. 23, September 03 1977". RPM. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
For "Mutiny Up My Sleeve" "Top Albums/CDs – Volume 29, No. 18, July 29, 1978". RPM. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
For "A Million Vacations" "Top Albums/CDs – Volume 31, No. 18, July 28, 1979". RPM. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
For "Universal Juveniles" "Top Albums/CDs – Volume 34, No. 5, December 06 1980". RPM. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
For "Diamonds Diamonds" "Top Albums/CDs – Volume 35, No. 10, October 03 1981". RPM. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
^ a b "Gold/Platinum". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
^ "Top Albums/CDs – Volume 32, No. 18, January 26, 1980". RPM. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
Max Webster bio on CanadianBands.com
Max Webster at allmusic
Article about Live Magnetic Air, a book on Max Webster by Martin Popoff.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Max_Webster&oldid=906835289"
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(Redirected from Sand Creek Massacre)
The Sand Creek massacre (also known as the Chivington massacre, the battle of Sand Creek or the massacre of Cheyenne Indians) was a massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the U.S. Army in the American Indian Wars that occurred on November 29, 1864, when a 675-man force of Colorado U.S. Volunteer Cavalry[3] under the command of U.S. Army Colonel John Chivington attacked and destroyed a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho people in southeastern Colorado Territory,[4] killing and mutilating an estimated 70–500 Native Americans, about two-thirds of whom were women and children. The location has been designated the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site and is administered by the National Park Service. This was part of a series of events known as the Colorado War and was preceded by the Hungate massacre.[5]
Part of the Colorado War, American Indian Wars, American Civil War
A depiction of one scene at Sand Creek by witness Howling Wolf
Colorado Territory
Present-day Kiowa County, Colorado
United States Cheyenne
John M. Chivington Black Kettle
700[1] 70–200
24 killed, 52 wounded[2] 70–500 killed[2]
Native American losses include civilian casualties.
BackgroundEdit
By the terms of the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie between the United States and seven Indian nations, including the Cheyenne and Arapaho,[6] the United States recognized that the Cheyenne and Arapaho held a vast territory encompassing the lands between the North Platte River and the Arkansas River, and eastward from the Rocky Mountains to western Kansas. This area included present-day southeastern Wyoming, southwestern Nebraska, most of eastern Colorado, and the westernmost portions of Kansas.[7]
In November 1858, however, the discovery of gold in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado,[8] then part of the Kansas Territory,[9] brought on the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. Immigrants flooded across Cheyenne and Arapaho lands. They competed for resources, and some settlers tried to stay.[8] Colorado territorial officials pressured federal authorities to redefine the extent of Indian lands in the territory,[7] and in the fall of 1860, A.B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, arrived at Bent's New Fort, along the Arkansas River, to negotiate a new treaty.[8]
A delegation of Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Arapaho chiefs in Denver, Colorado on September 28, 1864. Black Kettle is second from left in the front row.
On February 18, 1861, six chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne and four of the Arapaho signed the Treaty of Fort Wise with the United States,[10] in which they ceded most of the lands designated to them by the Fort Laramie treaty.[7] The Cheyenne chiefs included Black Kettle, White Antelope (Vó'kaa'e Ohvó'komaestse),[11] Lean Bear, Little Wolf, and Tall Bear; the Arapaho chiefs included Little Raven, Storm, Shave-Head, Big Mouth, and Niwot, or Left Hand.[10]
The new reserve, less than 1/13th the size of the territory recognized in the 1851 treaty,[7] was located in eastern Colorado,[9] between the Arkansas River and Sand Creek.[7] Most bands of the Cheyenne, including the Dog Soldiers, a militaristic band of Cheyenne and Lakota that had originated in the late 1830s, were angry at the chiefs who had signed the treaty. They disavowed the treaty – which never received the blessing of the Council of 44, the supreme tribal authority – and refused to abide by its constraints.[12] They continued to live and hunt in the bison-rich lands of eastern Colorado and western Kansas, and became increasingly belligerent over the tide of white migration across their lands. Tensions were high, particularly in the Smoky Hill River country of Kansas, along which whites had opened a new trail to the gold fields.[13] Cheyenne who opposed the treaty said it had been signed by a small minority of the chiefs without the consent or approval of the rest of the tribe, that the signatories had not understood what they signed, and that they had been bribed to sign by a large distribution of gifts. Officials took the position that Indians who refused to abide by it were hostile and planning a war.[14]
The beginning of the American Civil War, in 1861, led to the organization of military forces in Colorado Territory. In March 1862, the Colorado volunteers defeated a Confederate Army from Texas in the Battle of Glorieta Pass, New Mexico by destroying their supply wagons, forcing them to retreat. The Confederates returned to Texas, and the First Regiment of Colorado Volunteers returned to Colorado Territory. They were then mounted as a home guard under the command of Colonel John Chivington. Chivington and Colorado territorial governor John Evans adopted a hard line against Indians, whom settlers accused of stealing livestock. Without any declaration of war, in April 1864, Colorado soldiers began attacking and destroying a number of Cheyenne camps, the largest of which included about 70 lodges, about 10% of the housing capacity of the entire Cheyenne nation.[15] On May 16, 1864, a detachment under Lieutenant George S. Eayre crossed into Kansas and encountered Cheyenne in their summer buffalo-hunting camp at Big Bushes, near the Smoky Hill River. Cheyenne chiefs Lean Bear and Star approached the soldiers to signal their peaceful intent, but they were shot down by Eayre's troops.[16] This incident touched off a war of retaliation by the Cheyenne in Kansas.[15]
Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! ... I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians. ... Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice.
— Col. John Milton Chivington[17][18]
As the conflict between the Indians and settlers and soldiers in Colorado continued, many of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, including bands under Cheyenne chiefs Black Kettle and White Antelope, were resigned to negotiating a peace, despite pressures from the soldiers and settlers. In July 1864, Colorado governor John Evans sent a circular to the Plains Indians, inviting those who were friendly to go to a place of safety at Fort Lyon on the eastern plains, where their people would be given provisions and protection by the United States troops.[19]
AttackEdit
U.S. Army Colonel John Chivington. Chivington was a Methodist preacher, Freemason, and opponent of slavery.
Some of the identifications of Natives are uncertain. Front row, kneeling, left to right: Major Edward W. Wynkoop, commander at Fort Lyon and later agent for the Cheyennes and Arapahoes; Captain Silas S. Soule, provost marshal, later murdered in Denver. Middle row, seated, left to right: White Antelope (or perhaps White Wolf), Bull Bear, Black Kettle, One Eye, Natame (Arapaho). Back row, standing, left to right: Colorado militiaman, unknown civilian, John H. Smith (interpreter), Heap of Buffalo (Arapaho), Neva (Arapaho), unknown civilian, sentry. Another identification states that Neva is seated on the left and the man next to Smith is White Wolf (Cheyenne).
Black Kettle, leading chief of around 163 mostly Southern Cheyenne, had led his band, joined by some Arapahos under Chief Niwot, to Fort Lyon in compliance with provisions of a peace parley held in Denver in September 1864.[20] After a while, the Native Americans were asked to relocate to Big Sandy Creek, less than 40 miles northwest of Fort Lyon, under the threat of their safety.[21] The Dog Soldiers, who had been responsible for many of the attacks and raids on whites, were not part of this encampment.
Most tribal warriors stood their ground, refusing to leave their home under the guise of a threat, leaving only about 75 men, plus all the women and children in the village. The men who remained were mostly too old or too young to hunt. Black Kettle flew a U.S. flag, with a white flag tied beneath it,[21] over his lodge, as the Fort Lyon commander had advised him. This was to show he was friendly and forestall any attack by the Colorado soldiers.[22]
Meanwhile, Chivington and 425 men of the 3rd Colorado Cavalry rode to Fort Lyon arriving on November 28, 1864. Once at the fort, Chivington took command of 250 men of the 1st Colorado Cavalry and maybe as many as 12 men of the 1st Regiment New Mexico Volunteer Infantry, then set out for Black Kettle's encampment. James Beckwourth, noted frontiersman, acted as guide for Chivington.[23] The following morning, Chivington gave the order to attack. Two officers, Captain Silas Soule and Lieutenant Joseph Cramer, commanding Company D and Company K of the First Colorado Cavalry, refused to obey and told their men to hold fire.[24]
However, the rest of Chivington's men immediately attacked the village. Ignoring the U.S. flag and a white flag that was run up shortly after the attack began, they murdered as many of the Indians as they could.
I saw the bodies of those lying there cut all to pieces, worse mutilated than any I ever saw before; the women cut all to pieces ... With knives; scalped; their brains knocked out; children two or three months old; all ages lying there, from sucking infants up to warriors ... By whom were they mutilated? By the United States troops ...
— John S. Smith, Congressional Testimony of Mr. John S. Smith, 1865[25]
I saw one squaw lying on the bank, whose leg had been broken. A soldier came up to her with a drawn sabre. She raised her arm to protect herself; he struck, breaking her arm. She rolled over, and raised her other arm; he struck, breaking that, and then left her with out killing her. I saw one squaw cut open, with an unborn child lying by her side.
— Robert Bent, New York Tribune, 1879[21]
There was one little child, probably three years old, just big enough to walk through the sand. The Indians had gone ahead, and this little child was behind, following after them. The little fellow was perfectly naked, travelling in the sand. I saw one man get off his horse at a distance of about seventy-five yards and draw up his rifle and fire. He missed the child. Another man came up and said, 'let me try the son of a b-. I can hit him.' He got down off his horse, kneeled down, and fired at the little child, but he missed him. A third man came up, and made a similar remark, and fired, and the little fellow dropped.
— Major Anthony, New York Tribune, 1879[26]
Fingers and ears were cut off the bodies for the jewelry they carried. The body of White Antelope, lying solitarily in the creek bed, was a prime target. Besides scalping him the soldiers cut off his nose, ears, and testicles-the last for a tobacco pouch ...
— Stan Hoig[27]
Jis' to think of that dog Chivington and his dirty hounds, up thar at Sand Creek. His men shot down squaws, and blew the brains out of little innocent children. You call sich soldiers Christians, do ye? And Indians savages? What der yer s'pose our Heavenly Father, who made both them and us, thinks of these things? I tell you what, I don't like a hostile red skin any more than you do. And when they are hostile, I've fought 'em, hard as any man. But I never yet drew a bead on a squaw or papoose, and I despise the man who would.
— Kit Carson to Col. James Rusling[28]
The natives, lacking artillery, could not make much resistance. Some of the natives cut horses from the camp's herd and fled up Sand Creek or to a nearby Cheyenne camp on the headwaters of the Smoky Hill River. Others, including trader George Bent, fled upstream and dug holes in the sand beneath the banks of the stream. They were pursued by the troops and fired on, but many survived.[29] Cheyenne warrior Morning Star said that most of the Indian dead were killed by cannon fire, especially those firing from the south bank of the river at the people retreating up the creek.[30]
In testimony before a Congressional committee investigating the massacre, Chivington claimed that as many as 500–600 Indian warriors were killed.[31] Historian Alan Brinkley wrote that 133 Indians were killed, 105 of whom were women and children.[32] White eye-witness John S. Smith reported that 70–80 Indians were killed, including 20–30 warriors,[2] which agrees with Brinkley's figure as to the number of men killed. George Bent, the son of the American William Bent and a Cheyenne mother, who was in the village when the attack came and was wounded by the soldiers, gave two different accounts of the natives' loss. On March 15, 1889, he wrote to Samuel F. Tappan that 137 people were killed: 28 men and 109 women and children.[33] However, on April 30, 1913, when he was very old, he wrote that "about 53 men" and "110 women and children" were killed and many people wounded.[34]
Although initial reports indicated 10 soldiers killed and 38 wounded, the final tally was 4 killed and 21 wounded in the 1st Colorado Cavalry and 20 killed or mortally wounded and 31 other wounded in the 3rd Colorado Cavalry; adding up to 24 killed and 52 wounded.[2] Dee Brown wrote that some of Chivington's men were drunk and that many of the soldiers' casualties were due to friendly fire,[35] but neither of these claims is supported by Gregory F. Michno[36] or Stan Hoig[37] in their books devoted to the massacre.
Before Chivington and his men left the area, they plundered the teepees and took the horses. After the smoke cleared, Chivington's men came back and killed many of the wounded. They also scalped many of the dead, regardless of whether they were women, children or infants. Chivington and his men dressed their weapons, hats and gear with scalps and other body parts, including human fetuses and male and female genitalia.[38] They also publicly displayed these battle trophies in Denver's Apollo Theater and area saloons. Three Indians who remained in the village are known to have survived the massacre: George Bent's brother Charlie Bent, and two Cheyenne women who were later turned over to William Bent.[39]
According to western author and historian Larry McMurtry, the son of Chivington's scout John Smith (by an Indian mother) was in the camp, survived the attack and was "executed" afterwards.[40]
Mochi, a Southern Cheyenne in Black Kettle's camp, became a warrior after her experiences at the Sand Creek massacre.
The Sand Creek Massacre resulted in a heavy loss of life, mostly among Cheyenne and Arapaho women and children. Hardest hit by the massacre were the Wutapai, Black Kettle's band. Perhaps half of the Hevhaitaniu were lost, including the chiefs Yellow Wolf and Big Man. The Oivimana, led by War Bonnet, lost about half their number. There were heavy losses to the Hisiometanio (Ridge Men) under White Antelope. Chief One Eye was also killed, along with many of his band. The Suhtai clan and the Heviqxnipahis clan under chief Sand Hill experienced relatively few losses. The Dog Soldiers and the Masikota, who by that time had allied, were not present at Sand Creek.[41] Of about ten lodges of Arapaho under Chief Left Hand, representing about fifty or sixty people, only a handful escaped with their lives.[42]
After hiding all day above the camp, in holes dug beneath the bank of Sand Creek, the survivors there, many of whom were wounded, moved up the stream and spent the night on the prairie. Trips were made to the site of the camp but very few survivors were found there. After a cold night without shelter, the survivors set out toward the Cheyenne camp on the headwaters of the Smoky Hill River. They soon met up with other survivors who had escaped with part of the horse herd, some returning from the Smoky Hill camp where they had fled during the attack. They then proceeded to the camp, where they received assistance.[43]
The massacre disrupted the traditional Cheyenne power structure, because of the deaths of eight members of the Council of Forty-Four. White Antelope, One Eye, Yellow Wolf, Big Man, Bear Man, War Bonnet, Spotted Crow, and Bear Robe were all killed, as were the headmen of some of the Cheyenne military societies.[44] Among the chiefs killed were most of those who had advocated peace with white settlers and the U.S. government.[45] The net effect of the murders and ensuing weakening of the peace faction exacerbated the developing social and political rift. Traditional council chiefs, mature men who sought consensus and looked to the future of their people, and their followers, were opposed by the younger and more militaristic Dog Soldiers.
Beginning in the 1830s, the Dog Soldiers had evolved from a Cheyenne military society of that name into a separate band of Cheyenne and Lakota warriors. They took as their territory the area around the headwaters of the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers in southern Nebraska, northern Kansas, and the northeastern Colorado Territory. By the 1860s, as conflict between Indians and encroaching whites intensified, the Dog Soldiers and military societies within other Cheyenne bands countered the influence of the traditional Council of Forty-Four chiefs who, as more mature men, took a larger view and were more likely to favor peace with the whites.[46] To the Dog Soldiers, the Sand Creek massacre illustrated the folly of the peace chiefs' policy of accommodating the whites through treaties such as the first Treaty of Fort Laramie and the Treaty of Fort Wise.[7] They believed their militant position toward the whites was justified by the massacre.[46]
The events at Sand Creek dealt a fatal blow to the traditional Cheyenne clan system and the authority of its Council of Chiefs. It had already been weakened by the numerous deaths due to the 1849 cholera epidemic, which killed perhaps half the Southern Cheyenne population, especially the Masikota and Oktoguna bands.[47] It was further weakened by the emergence of the separate Dog Soldiers band.[48]
RetaliationEdit
After the brutal slaughter of those who supported peace, many of the Cheyenne, including the great warrior Roman Nose, and many Arapaho joined the Dog Soldiers. They sought revenge on settlers throughout the Platte valley, including an 1865 attack on what became Fort Caspar, Wyoming.
Following the massacre, the survivors reached the camps of the Cheyenne on the Smokey Hill and Republican rivers. The war pipe was smoked and passed from camp to camp among the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors in the area. In January 1865, they planned and carried out an attack with 1,000 warriors on the stage station and fort, then called Camp Rankin, at present-day Julesburg, Colorado. This was followed by numerous raids along the South Platte both east and west of Julesburg, and a second raid on the town of Julesburg in early February. The associated bands captured much loot and killed many white settlers, including men, women and children. The bulk of the Indians then moved north into Nebraska on their way to the Black Hills and the Powder River Country.[49]
Black Kettle continued to speak for peace and did not join in the second raid or in the journey to the Powder River country. He left the camp and returned with 80 lodges to the Arkansas River to seek peace with the Coloradans.[50]
Official investigationsEdit
Despite threats against his life, Captain Silas Soule testified against Chivington.
Initially, the Sand Creek engagement was reported as a victory against a brave and numerous foe. Within weeks, however, witnesses and survivors began telling stories of a possible massacre. Several investigations were conducted – two by the military, and one by the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. The panel declared:[51]
As to Colonel Chivington, your committee can hardly find fitting terms to describe his conduct. Wearing the uniform of the United States, which should be the emblem of justice and humanity; holding the important position of commander of a military district, and therefore having the honor of the government to that extent in his keeping, he deliberately planned and executed a foul and dastardly massacre which would have disgraced the veriest savage among those who were the victims of his cruelty. Having full knowledge of their friendly character, having himself been instrumental to some extent in placing them in their position of fancied security, he took advantage of their in-apprehension and defenceless condition to gratify the worst passions that ever cursed the heart of man.
Whatever influence this may have had upon Colonel Chivington, the truth is that he surprised and murdered, in cold blood, the unsuspecting men, women, and children on Sand creek, who had every reason to believe they were under the protection of the United States authorities, and then returned to Denver and boasted of the brave deed he and the men under his command had performed.
In conclusion, your committee are of the opinion that for the purpose of vindicating the cause of justice and upholding the honor of the nation, prompt and energetic measures should be at once taken to remove from office those who have thus disgraced the government by whom they are employed, and to punish, as their crimes deserve, those who have been guilty of these brutal and cowardly acts.
Statements taken by Major Edward W. Wynkoop and his adjutant substantiated the later accounts of survivors. These statements were filed with his reports and can be found in the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, copies of which were submitted as evidence in the Joint Committee of the Conduct of the War and in separate hearings conducted by the military in Denver. Lieutenant James D. Cannon describes the mutilation of human genitalia by the soldiers, "men, women, and children's privates cut out. I heard one man say that he had cut a woman's private parts out and had them for exhibition on a stick. I heard of one instance of a child, a few months old, being thrown into the feed-box of a wagon, and after being carried some distance, left on the ground to perish; I also heard of numerous instances in which men had cut out the private parts of females and stretched them over their saddle-bows, and some of them over their hats."[52]
During these investigations, numerous witnesses came forward with damning testimony, almost all of which was corroborated by other witnesses. One witness, Captain Silas Soule, who had ordered the men under his command not to fire their weapons, was murdered in Denver just weeks after offering his testimony. However, despite the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the Wars' recommendation, no charges were brought against those who committed the massacre. Chivington was beyond the reach of army justice because he'd already resigned his commission. The closest thing to a punishment he suffered was the effective end of his political aspirations.
In his autobiographical Memories of a Lifetime in the Pike's Peak Region, Irving Howbert, an 18-year-old cavalryman who was later one of the founders of Colorado Springs, defended Chivington, having claimed instead that the Indian women and children were not attacked, though a few who did not leave the camp were killed once the fighting began. He insisted that the number of warriors in the village was equal to the force of the Colorado cavalry. Chivington, claimed Howbert, was retaliating for Indian attacks on wagon trains and settlements in Colorado and for the torture and the killings of citizens during the preceding three years. Howbert said the evidence of the previous Indian attacks on the settlers was shown by their confiscation of "more than a dozen scalps of white people, some of them from the heads of women and children."[53] Howbert claimed that the account of the battle to the United States Congress made by Lieutenant Col. Samuel F. Tappan was inaccurate, accusing Tappan of giving a false view of the battle because Tappan and Chivington had been military rivals.[53]
Sand Creek memorial plate in 1985
A monument installed on the Colorado State Capitol grounds in 1909 lists Sand Creek as one of the "battles and engagements" fought by Colorado troops in the American Civil War. In 2002, the Colorado Historical Society (now History Colorado), authorized by the Colorado General Assembly, added an additional plaque to the monument, which states that the original designers of the monument "mischaracterized" Sand Creek by calling it a battle.[54]
Little Arkansas TreatyEdit
After the actual details of the massacre became widely known, the United States federal government sent a blue ribbon commission whose members were respected by the Indians, and the Treaty of the Little Arkansas[55] was signed in 1865. It promised the Indians free access to the lands south of the Arkansas River, excluded them from the Arkansas River north to the Platte River, and promised land and cash reparations to the surviving descendants of Sand Creek victims.
However, the treaty was abrogated by Washington less than two years later, all major provisions ignored, and instead the Medicine Lodge Treaty reduced the reservation lands by 90%, located in much less desirable sites in Oklahoma. Later government actions further reduced the size of the reservations.
RemembranceEdit
The site, on Big Sandy Creek in Kiowa County, is now preserved by the National Park Service. The Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site was dedicated on April 28, 2007, almost 142 years after the massacre.[56]The American Battlefield Trust and its partners have preserved 640 acres of Sand Creek and deeded it to the national historic site.[57]
The Sand Creek Massacre Trail in Wyoming follows the paths of the Northern Arapaho and Cheyenne in the years after the massacre.[58] It traces them to their supposed wintering on the Wind River Indian Reservation near Riverton in central Wyoming, where the Arapaho remain today. The trail passes through Cheyenne, Laramie, Casper, and Riverton en route to Ethete in Fremont County on the reservation. In recent years, Arapaho youth have taken to running the length of the trail as endurance tests. Alexa Roberts, superintendent of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, has said that the trail represents a living portion of the history of the two tribes.
An exhibit about Sand Creek, titled Collision: The Sand Creek Massacre 1860s-Today, opened in 2012 with the new History Colorado Center in Denver. The exhibit immediately drew criticism from members of the Northern Cheyenne tribe. In April 2013, History Colorado agreed to close the exhibit to public view while consultations were made with the Northern Cheyenne.[59]
On December 3, 2014, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper formally apologized to descendants of Sand Creek massacre victims gathered in Denver to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the event. Hickenlooper stated, "We should not be afraid to criticize and condemn that which is inexcusable. ... On behalf of the State of Colorado, I want to apologize. We will not run from this history."[60][61]
In 2015, construction of a memorial to the Sand Creek Massacre victims began on the Colorado Capitol grounds.[62]
In Colorado Springs, Colorado, a District 49 high school carries the name "Sand Creek High School"
In popular cultureEdit
The Sand Creek massacre has been depicted or referenced in multiple works, spanning a variety of media.
ComicsEdit
The massacre was depicted in Nemesis the Warlock in 2000 AD #504 (1986).
FilmsEdit
The massacre has been portrayed in several western movies, including Tomahawk (1951); Massacre at Sand Creek (Playhouse 90) (1956); The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957); Soldier Blue (1970); The Last Warrior (1970); Young Guns (1988); Last of the Dogmen (1995); and The Last Samurai (2003). The massacre is referenced by Trevor Slattery in Iron Man 3 (2013).[63]
LiteratureEdit
The event has also been written about in such works of literature as Cheyenne Autumn (1953) by Mari Sandoz; The Massacre at Sand Creek (1995) by Bruce Cutler; A Very Small Remnant (1963) by Michael Straight; Young Sherlock Holmes: Fire Storm by Andrew Lane, 2011; Centennial (1974) by James Michener; From Sand Creek (1981) by Simon Ortiz; Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (1971) by Dee Brown; and Choke Creek (2009) by Lauren Small. Flight (2007) by Sherman Alexie depicts a fictionalized version of the event.
MusicEdit
Songs about Sand Creek include Gila's "Black Kettle's Ballad", Five Iron Frenzy's "Banner Year", Peter La Farge's song "The Crimson Parson", and Fabrizio De André's "Fiume Sand Creek".
The 1978 miniseries, Centennial, includes the Sand Creek massacre as part of Episode 5, "The Massacre".[64]
The 2005 miniseries, Into the West, includes the Sand Creek massacre as part of Episode 4, "Hell on Wheels".[65]
In the episode "Old Jake" (1957) of the ABC/Desilu series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Francis McDonald is cast as Jake Caster, a former buffalo hunter who kills a soldier who had been a participant in the massacre and who was responsible for the slaughter of Caster's Indian wife and son; Carol Thurston plays the soldier's distraught widow, who confronts Caster.[66]
List of battles fought in Colorado
^ Gwynne, S.C., Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History, Scribner, New York, 2010, p.220 ISBN 978-1-4165-9105-4
^ a b c d Michno, Battle at Sand Creek, p. 241
^ https://www.nps.gov/sand/learn/historyculture/massacre.htm
^ Smiley, B. "Sand Creek Massacre", Archeology magazine. Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
^ Campbell, Jeff. "Hungate Family Murdered". National Park Service. National Park Service. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
^ "Treaty of Fort Laramie with Sioux, Etc., 1851." 11 Stats. 749, Sept. 17, 1851.
^ a b c d e f Greene 2004, p. 27.
^ a b c Hoig 1980, p. 61.
^ a b Greene 2004, p. 12.
^ a b "Treaty with the Arapaho and Cheyenne, 1861" (Treaty of Fort Wise). 12 Stat. 1163, Feb. 15, 1861, p. 810.
^ "Sand Creek Massacre names". Cheyenne Language Web Site. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
^ Greene 2004, pp. 12–13.
^ Hoig 1980, p. 62.
^ Hyde 1968, p. 118.
^ a b Hoig 1980, p. 63.
^ Michno, Encyclopedia, p. 137.
^ Brown, Dee (2001) [1970]. "War Comes to the Cheyenne". Bury my heart at Wounded Knee. Macmillan. pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-0-8050-6634-0.
^ PBS, "Who is the Savage?", 2001 THE WEST FILM PROJECT and WETA.
^ Jackson, Helen (1994). A Century of Dishonor. United States: Indian Head Books. pp. 87, 343–358. ISBN 1-56619-167-X.
^ Cahill, Kevin. "Sand Creek Massacre Fall 1864 timeline". Sand Creek Massacre Historical Website. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
^ a b c Jackson, Helen (1994). A Century of Dishonor. United States: Indian Head Books. p. 344. ISBN 1-56619-167-X.
^ Brown 1970, pp. 87–88.
^ "Jim Beckwourth". National Park Service.
^ Gary L. Roberts and David Fridtjof Halaas, "Written in blood", Colorado Heritage, winter 2001, pp. 22–32.
^ PBS (March 14, 1865). "PBS – The West". Retrieved 2009-05-20.
^ Jackson, Helen (1994). A Century of Dishonor. United States: Indian Head Books. p. 345. ISBN 1-56619-167-X.
^ Hoig, Stan (2005) [1974]. The Sand Creek Massacre. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-8061-1147-6.
^ Sides, Hampton (2006). Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West. New York: Doubleday. p. 379. ISBN 978-0-385-50777-6. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
^ Hyde 1968, pp. 154–155
^ Michno, Battle at Sand Creek, p.235
^ "Testimony of Colonel J.M. Chivington, April 26, 1865" to the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. New Perspectives on the West: Documents on the Sand Creek Massacre. PBS.
^ Brinkley, Alan (1995). American History: a survey. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-912114-1. p. 469.
^ Berthrong, p. 220
^ Sand Creek Massacre National Historical Site quotes from his letter
^ Brown, 1970, p. 91.
^ Michno, Battle at Sand Creek
^ Hoig, The Sand Creek Massacre
^ United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, 1865 (testimonies and report)
^ Hyde 1968, pp. 156, 165
^ McMurtry, Larry Oh What a Slaughter!; Massacres in the American West 1846-1890, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2005 p. 103.
^ Hyde 1968, pp. 159, 162.
^ Greene 2004, p. 23.
^ Hyde 1968, pp. 96–97.
^ Page 188, The Fighting Cheyenne, George Bird Grinnell, University of Oklahoma Press (1956 original copyright 1915 Charles Scribner's Sons), hardcover, 454 pages
^ "United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, 1865 (testimonies and report)". University of Michigan Digital Library Production Service. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
^ United States Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, 1865, Appendix page 57 (testimonies and report)
^ a b Laura King Van Dusen, Historic Tales from Park County: Parked in the Past (Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2013), ISBN 978-1-62619-161-7, p. 33.
^ Calhoun, Patricia (March 27, 2013). "Sand Creek Massacre and John Chivington's explosive actions 151 years after Glorieta Pass". Westword. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
^ http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/ntreaty/apchar65.htm
^ "Secretary Kempthorne Creates Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site" (Press release). U.S. Department of the Interior. April 23, 2007. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
^ [1] Land Saved by the American Battlefield Trust, accessed May 18, 2018.
^ "Trail honors victims of massacre". Independent Record. Helena, MT. Associated Press. August 16, 2006. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
^ Calhoun, Patricia (April 25, 2013). "History Colorado could shutter its controversial Sand Creek Massacre exhibit". Westword. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
^ Hernandez, Elizabeth (December 3, 2014)."Gov. Hickenlooper apologizes to descendants of Sand Creek Massacre". The Denver Post. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
^ Verlee, Megan (December 15, 2014). "150 Years Later, A Formal Apology For The Sand Creek Massacre". NPR. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
^ Sand Creek Massacre Memorial website
^ "'Iron Man 3' Villain Invokes Sand Creek Massacre". Indian Country Today Media Network. 2013-05-07. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
^ "The Massacre, Centennial, November 11, 1978". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
^ "Hell on Wheels, Into the West, July 8, 2005". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
^ "Old Jake, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, April 9, 1957". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
Official Records of the War of the Rebellion.
Berthrong, Donald J. (1963). The Southern Cheyennes. Civilization of the American Indian. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-1199-5.
Brown, Dee (1970). Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. Owl Books. ISBN 978-0-8050-6669-2.
Greene, Jerome A. (2004). Washita, The Southern Cheyenne and the U.S. Army. Campaigns and Commanders, vol. 3. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3551-9.
Hatch, Thom (2004). Black Kettle: The Cheyenne Chief Who Sought Peace but Found War. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-471-44592-0.
Hoig, Stan (1977). The Sand Creek Massacre. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-1147-6.
Hoig, Stan (1980). The Peace Chiefs of the Cheyennes. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-1573-3.
Hyde, George E. (1968). Life of George Bent Written from His Letters. Ed. by Savoie Lottinville. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-1577-1.
Michno, Gregory F. (2004). Battle at Sand Creek. El Segundo, CA: Upton and Sons, Publishers. ISBN 978-0-912783-37-6.
Michno, Gregory F. (2003). Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes 1850–1890. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-87842-468-9.
"Treaty of Fort Laramie with Sioux, Etc., 1851." 11 Stats. 749, Sept. 17, 1851. In Charles J. Kappler, compiler and editor, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties – Vol. II: Treaties. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1904, pp. 594–596. Through Oklahoma State University Library, Electronic Publishing Center.
"Treaty with the Arapaho and Cheyenne, 1861" (Treaty of Fort Wise). 12 Stat. 1163, Feb. 15, 1861. Ratified Aug. 6, 1861; proclaimed Dec. 5, 1861. In Charles J. Kappler, compiler and editor, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties – Vol. II: Treaties. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1904, pp. 807–811. Through Oklahoma State University Library, Electronic Publishing Center.
United States Army. (1867). Courts of Inquiry, Sand Creek Massacre. Report of the Secretary of War Communicating, In Compliance With a Resolution of the Senate of February 4, 1867, a Copy of the Evidence Taken at Denver and Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, By a Military Commission, Ordered to Inquire into the Sand Creek Massacre, November, 1864. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Senate Executive Document 26, 39th Congress, Second Session. Reproduced in Wynkoop, Christopher H. (2004-08-13). "Inquiry into the Sand Creek Massacre, November, 1864." The Wynkoop Family Research Library. Rootsweb.com: Freepages. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
United States Congress. (1867). Condition of the Indian Tribes. Report of the Joint Special Committee Appointed Under Joint Resolution of March 3, 1865, with an Appendix. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
United States Senate. (1865). "Massacre of the Cheyenne Indians". Report of the Joint Committee on The Conduct of the War. (3 vols.) Senate Report No. 142, 38th Congress, Second Session. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. pp. I–VI, 3–108
West, Elliott (1998). The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1029-7.
Winger, Kevin (August 17, 2007). "Trail Helps Mark 1864 Massacre". Cheyenne Wyoming Tribune-Eagle.
Jackson, Helen. (1994). A Century of Dishonor. United States: Indian Head Books. ISBN 1-56619-167-X.
Kelman, Ari (2013). A Misplaced Massacre: Struggling Over the Memory of Sand Creek. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-04585-9.
Allen, Michael (24 November 2014). "A Massacre in the Family: My Great-Great-Grandfather and an American Indian Tragedy". Wall Street Journal.
Sand Creek Massacreat Wikipedia's sister projects
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Historic Documents from PBS, especially look up testimony from John S. Smith to Congress
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Sand Creek Massacre Documentary Film Project
National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary
1st Annual Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual "For the People" Healing Run, 2011 video
Treaty Of The Little Arkansas full text
Coordinates: 38°32′51.75″N 102°30′22.86″W / 38.5477083°N 102.5063500°W / 38.5477083; -102.5063500
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This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Puyol and the second or maternal family name is Saforcada.
Puyol playing for Barcelona in 2011
Carles Puyol Saforcada[1]
(1978-04-13) 13 April 1978 (age 41)
La Pobla de Segur, Spain
Pobla de Segur
Barcelona C
Barcelona B 89 (6)
Barcelona 392 (12)
Spain U18 3 (0)
Spain 100 (3)
Catalonia 6 (0)
Men's Football
Representing Spain
2000 Sydney
Winner 2008 Austria-Switzerland
Winner 2010 South Africa
Runner-up 2013 Brazil
Carles Puyol Saforcada (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈkaɾles puˈjɔl i safoɾˈkaða]; born 13 April 1978) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played his entire career for Barcelona. Mainly a central defender, he could also play on either flank, mostly as a right-back,[2] and is regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation.[3]
He was Barcelona's captain from August 2004 until his retirement in 2014, and appeared in 593 competitive matches for the club. He won 20 honours, including six La Liga trophies and three Champions League titles.
Puyol won 100 caps for Spain, and was part of the squads that won Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. In the latter competition's semi-final, he scored the only goal of the game against Germany.[4]
1 Club career
2 International career
3 Style of play
5.1 Club
5.3 International goals
6 Honours
6.3 Individual
6.4 Decorations
Club career[edit]
Born in La Pobla de Segur, Lleida, Catalonia, Puyol started playing football for his hometown club as a goalkeeper, but after injury problems with his shoulder he switched to forward. He said that in his youth, "My parents were skeptical about me becoming a footballer and encouraged me to study."[5] In 1995, he joined Barcelona's youth system at La Masia, switching positions again, to play as a defensive midfielder; two years later, he started playing for the club's B-team, occupying the position of right-back.
In 1998, Barcelona accepted an offer from Málaga to sell Puyol, who was behind Frank de Boer and Michael Reiziger in the pecking order. However, he refused to leave after seeing his best friend Xavi make his first-team debut.[3]
Louis van Gaal promoted Puyol to the first team the following year, and he made his La Liga debut on 2 October 1999 in a 2–0 away win against Real Valladolid. After that he successfully made another conversion, now to central defender. During the 2003 off-season, as Barcelona was immersed in a financial crisis, Manchester United showed interest in acquiring Puyol's services,[6] but no move ever materialised; two years later, the player extended his contract for a further five seasons.[7]
Puyol in a 2007 La Liga match against Getafe
Puyol was named club captain at the end of 2003–04, after the retirement of Luis Enrique. He continued to be a defensive cornerstone for Barça, being awarded the "Best European right-back" award by UEFA in 2002 (amongst other individual accolades), and helping the Catalans win two consecutive league titles. In 2005–06 he appeared in a total of 52 official games, including 12 in that season's UEFA Champions League which ended in victory against Arsenal, the club's second European Cup.
On 16 September 2008, Puyol made his 400th appearance in all competitions for Barcelona's first team in a Champions League group stage match against Sporting CP.[8] In the league season, despite injury problems, he contributed to the team by appearing in 28 matches and helped them win another league title. His only goal came against Real Madrid in El Clásico at the Santiago Bernabéu on 2 May 2009 which finished with a resounding 6–2 away win,[9] and he celebrated his goal by kissing his Catalan flag armband in front of the incensed Madrid fans.[10] He was essential to the team winning the 2009 UEFA Super Cup, the 2009 Champions League and the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup, appearing in nearly 100 official matches, and described the club as "the team who every Catalan child wants to play for... I am living the dream playing football for Barça and it is my dream to retire playing here."[5]
Puyol as Barcelona captain (wearing his Catalan armband) in 2008
On 13 November 2010, Puyol made his 500th appearance in all competitions for Barcelona's first team in a domestic league tie against Villarreal.[11] He struggled again with injuries during the campaign,[12][13][14] but still appeared in 28 competitive games while again winning the league and the Champions League; he played six minutes in the final of the latter competition, a 3–1 victory over Manchester United.[15]
Since the defeat to Inter Milan in the 2009–10 Champions League semi-final, Puyol went on to play 56 official matches for Barcelona without losing, a run that only ended on 11 January 2012 at Osasuna (2–3 loss).[16] Additionally, he scored two goals in the season's Copa del Rey, against Real Madrid (2–1 away win, 4–3 on aggregate) and Valencia (1–1 away, 3–1 aggregate).[17][18]
On 2 October 2012, in the late stages of a Champions League group stage encounter at Benfica, his first game upon recovering from a knee ligament injury suffered against Getafe, Puyol dislocated his elbow after landing awkwardly in a corner kick challenge. He was initially expected to be sidelined for two months[19] but fully recovered in one.[20] On 18 December Barcelona renewed his contract, extending it until 30 June 2016.[21] In June of the following year he again underwent surgery on his right knee, his sixth operation as a professional,[22] which led to thoughts of early retirement.[23]
Puyol’s jersey and boots in the FC Barcelona Museum
On 2 March 2014, Puyol surpassed Migueli to go second in Barça's all-time league appearances table, behind only Xavi, and scored the third goal in a 4–1 home win against Almería.[24] Two days later, although he still had two more years in his contract, he announced that he would leave Barcelona at the end of the season.[25][26] He said, "After my last two major operations, I find it is taking me a lot of effort to reach the level required here, even more than myself and the surgeons thought necessary. That's the reason I have reached this decision".[27]
Barcelona bid farewell to Puyol on 15 May 2014, after a fifteen-year career in the first team (ten as captain) that brought him 21 titles. At a packed Auditori 1899, his teammates, ex-teammates, presidents and coaches paid tribute to him, and he said, "I’ve lived the dream of so many young kids, doing what I most enjoy in life, playing football and training".[28] He announced his retirement shortly after at the age of 36 but stayed connected to his only club; he was immediately appointed director of football Andoni Zubizarreta's assistant.[29] He resigned in January 2015, shortly after Zubizarreta was fired.[30]
International career[edit]
Puyol playing for Catalonia in a 2009 friendly match against Argentina at Camp Nou.
Puyol won his first cap for Spain on 15 November 2000 against the Netherlands, and remained a regular fixture in the following years. He played for Spain at the 2000 Olympics, 2002 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2004,[31] 2006 World Cup, Euro 2008, 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup.
He started every game except one at Euro 2008, and Spain's defence only conceded two goals in his five games. Spain won the final against Germany, and Puyol was named in the Team of the Tournament alongside his defensive partner, Carlos Marchena of Valencia.[32] He started in three out of five matches at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, and acted as captain when Iker Casillas was rested for the last group stage match. They finished third, and Puyol was included in the Team of the Tournament with four of his teammates.[33]
Puyol (bottom left) in Spanish team celebrations with the World Cup trophy in 2010
In the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Puyol started every match and played almost every minute (he was replaced by Marchena in the 84th minute of the quarter-final against Paraguay).[34] He scored the only goal in the semi-final against Germany, his third international goal in 89 matches, a powerful header from a corner taken by Barcelona teammate Xavi, which sent the national team through to their first World Cup final.[35] In the final, he played the full 120 minutes as Spain defeated the Netherlands 1–0.[36]
On 1 August 2010, aged 32, Puyol announced that he would continue to play for the national team for at least another two years.[37] He missed Euro 2012 due to a knee injury sustained in a league game against RCD Espanyol in early May, which required surgery and five to six weeks' recuperation.[38]
Puyol played his 100th international on 6 February 2013, captaining Spain to a 3–1 friendly win over Uruguay in Doha, Qatar.[39][40]
Style of play[edit]
"Puyol is the key, not just because he is one of the best defenders in the world but because of his character. He never lets up."
—Xavi[41]
Puyol was known for his commanding presence in the air, his composure on the ball and his intense commitment and ruggedness. According to Barcelona's head doctor, he was "the strongest, who has the quickest reactions, and who has the most explosive strength."[3] Club fans referred to him as "The Wall".[42] Miguel Ángel Nadal, who played with him for a short period of time, said, "Carles plays with maturity, has great positional sense, and above all, has pride in his shirt."[3]
Puyol was also known for his leadership and work ethic. He often continued training alone after the end of a team practice session or on days off.[41] He said in 2010, "I don't have Romário's technique, [Marc] Overmars' pace or [Patrick] Kluivert's strength. But I work harder than the others. I'm like the student who is not as clever, but revises for his exams and does OK in the end."[3]
Fellow defender Gerard Piqué said: "He's someone who, even if you're winning 3–0 and there's a few seconds left in the game will shout at the top of his voice at you if he thinks your concentration is going."[43] A former team-mate said, "Even four goals down he thinks we can still win",[41] and another described him as "a pain in the arse" but added "that's exactly what we need".[41][44][45]
Personal life[edit]
Puyol in 2010
Puyol's long shaggy hair was a distinctive feature throughout his career. Barcelona manager Van Gaal suggested he get it cut when the player was 19, immediately after his first training session with the senior players: "What's your problem, can't you afford the money for a haircut?", Van Gaal asked him in his office. "I said nothing," Puyol remembered, "and to this day have kept my hair as is.[3][46]
In 2006, Puyol said that when not working, he leads "a very quiet life... I've not been to a nightclub in Barcelona for years either. When I go out, I stay in a restaurant with my friends."[5] He likes to warm up for games listening to Napalm Death.[47]
Puyol's father, Josep, died in a farming accident in late 2006 while Carles was on his way to play a match against Deportivo de La Coruña. He was informed of the news by coach Frank Rijkaard upon landing.[48] He said that this, combined with an injury led to a dark period, with Spanish national team physio Raúl Martínez eventually coming to Barcelona: in the player's words, "...[he] gave me a great telling off. He made me react, and I began to try to be more cheerful, and not overwhelmed by it all."[49]
In March 2009, Puyol told Goal.com: "I do not like to go out much, although it is good to disconnect and I like to read."[50] In September 2010, he started a relationship with model Malena Costa. In October of that year, he scored through a header in a 2–1 home win against Valencia CF and dedicated the goal to her by making a heart symbol with both hands. “I dedicate the goal to my girlfriend”, he said after the game.[51]
In 2011, Puyol paid €30,000 for specialist private treatment for Miki Roqué, a footballer from his home province who was suffering from pelvic cancer. However, the latter died in 2012.[52]
Puyol started a relationship with Vanessa Lorenzo in 2012. The couple have two daughters - Manuela (born 2014) and María (2016).[53][54]
Puyol was invited by Iranian television channel IRIB TV3 to provide commentary on the World Cup match between Iran and Spain on 20 June 2018 in a programme hosted by Adel Ferdosipour, but was not allowed in the studio. According to news website Entekhab, the former player said that he had been told by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting that he could not appear in the programme "because of his looks (long hair)"; the veteran channel director had been replaced by one closer to Iran's ultra-religious hardliners weeks before, and this incident ultimately led to some ridicule within Iran on Twitter.[55]
Career statistics[edit]
Club[edit]
Source:[56][57]
Barcelona B 1996–97 Segunda División 1 1 — 1 1
1997–98 Segunda División B 42 3 — 42 3
1998–99 Segunda División 38 2 — 38 2
1999–2000 Segunda División B 8 0 — 8 0
Barcelona 1999–2000 La Liga 24 0 5 0 8[a] 0 0 0 37 0
2000–01 17 0 2 0 5[b] 0 — 24 0
2001–02 35 2 1 0 15[a] 0 — 51 2
2003–04 27 0 4 0 7[c] 0 — 38 0
2004–05 36 0 1 0 8[a] 0 — 45 0
2005–06 35 1 3 0 12[a] 0 2[d] 0 52 1
2006–07 35 1 7 0 9[e] 1 4[f] 0 55 2
2009–10 32 1 2 0 10[g] 0 4[h] 0 48 1
2010–11 17 1 2 0 8[a] 0 0 0 27 1
2011–12 26 3 7 2 9[a] 0 2[i] 0 44 5
2013–14 5 1 6 1 1[a] 0 0 0 12 2
Career totals
^ a b c d e f g h i j k Appearances in UEFA Champions League
^ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Cup
^ Appearances in UEFA Cup
^ Appearances in Supercopa de España
^ One appearance in UEFA Super Cup, eight appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League
^ Two appearances in Supercopa de España, two appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
^ Appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
International[edit]
Source:[4]
International goals[edit]
1. 17 April 2002 Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland Northern Ireland 0–4 0–5 Friendly
2. 11 October 2008 A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia Estonia 0–3 0–3 2010 World Cup qualification
3. 7 July 2010 Moses Mabhida, Durban, South Africa Germany 0–1 0–1 2010 FIFA World Cup
Barcelona[58]
La Liga: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13
Copa del Rey: 2008–09, 2011–12
Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010
UEFA Champions League: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11
UEFA Super Cup: 2009
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009, 2011
Puyol at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final, alongside Gisele Bündchen
FIFA World Cup: 2010[58]
UEFA European Championship: 2008[58]
Summer Olympics: Silver medal 2000[59]
FIFA Confederations Cup: Third-place 2009[60]
Individual[edit]
La Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year: 2001
ESM Team of the Year: 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06
UEFA Team of the Year: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010
UEFA Club Best Defender: 2006[61]
FIFA/FIFPro World XI: 2007, 2008, 2010
UEFA Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament[62]
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Team of the Tournament
FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2010
BBVA Fair Play award: 2011–12
UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2015)[63]
World XI: Team of the 21st Century[64]
UEFA Euro All-time XI (published 2016)[65]
Golden Foot: 2016, as football legend[66]
One Club Man Award: 2018[67]
Prince of Asturias Awards: 2010
Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit: 2011[68]
List of footballers with 100 or more caps
List of one-club men
^ "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010: List of players" (PDF). FIFA. 4 June 2010. p. 29. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
^ "Carles Puyol". BBC Sport. 25 May 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
^ a b c d e f Lyttleton, Ben (9 July 2010). "Puyol anchors Spanish defense with combination of hard work, grit". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
^ a b c "Carles Puyol Saforcada – Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
^ a b c Mitten, Andy (14 May 2006). "Puyol's love of labour not lost on fans". The Independent. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
^ "Man Utd move for Puyol". BBC Sport. 10 August 2003. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
^ "Barca skipper Puyol pens new deal". BBC Sport. 22 September 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
^ "The captain makes it to 400 games". FC Barcelona. 16 September 2008. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
^ Lowe, Sid (2 May 2009). "Barcelona run riot at Real Madrid and put Chelsea on notice". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
^ "Real Madrid-Barcelona: Celebrations in enemy territory". Marca. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
^ "Carles Puyol: number 500". Total Barça. 13 November 2010. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014.
^ "Puyol injury shock". FC Barcelona. 1 September 2010. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
^ "Barcelona lose Puyol to groin injury". ESPN Soccernet. 30 December 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
^ "Knee surgery for Barca captain Puyol". ESPN Soccernet. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
^ McNulty, Phil (28 May 2011). "Barcelona 3–1 Man Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
^ "50 games straight without losing with Puyol on the pitch". FC Barcelona. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
^ "Barca fight back at the Bernabeu". ESPN Soccernet. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
^ "Valencia – FC Barcelona: Draw with some shine (1–1)". FC Barcelona. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
^ "Elbow injury sends Puyol back to Barça sidelines". UEFA. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
^ "Puyol recibe el alta seis semanas después de la luxación en el codo" [Puyol is released six weeks after elbow sprain]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 16 November 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
^ "Barça has renewed the contracts of Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernández and Leo Messi". FC Barcelona. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
^ Ortuño, Xavier (18 June 2013). "Carles Puyol, cuando el quirófano es el salón de casa" [Carles Puyol, when surgery room is the living room]. Sport (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 June 2013.
^ "Retirement on Puyol's mind after surgery". FIFA. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
^ "Puyol moves second in Barça league appearances list". Marca. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
^ "Carles Puyol announces he is leaving FC Barcelona at the end of the season". FC Barcelona. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
^ Jenson, Pete (4 March 2014). "Puyol is a brave leader who dismissed theories that strikers get all the glory, his career was nothing short of heroic". Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
^ "Puyol announces he is to leave Barcelona". UEFA. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
^ "Puyol: "I came here as a boy and I leave with a family"". FC Barcelona. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
^ Polo, Fernando; Poquí, Joan (31 May 2014). "Carles Puyol será el 'segundo' de Zubizarreta" [Carles Puyol to be Zubizarreta's 'second']. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 June 2014.
^ Adams, Tom (6 January 2015). "Carles Puyol resigns as Barcelona sack director of football Andoni Zubizarreta". Eurosport. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
^ "Sáez selects Spain squad". UEFA. 20 May 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
^ García, Óscar (30 June 2008). "Xavi, elegido jugador de la Eurocopa 2008" [Xavi, voted player of Euro 2008]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 February 2019.
^ "Puyol, Capdevila, Villa y Torres, en el once ideal de la web en la FIFA" [Puyol, Capdevila, Villa and Torres, in FIFA's web All-Star IX]. Marca (in Spanish). 30 June 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
^ "Villa saves Spain after penalty drama". ESPN Soccernet. 3 July 2010. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
^ "Puyol heads Spain into final". ESPN Soccernet. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
^ Fletcher, Paul (11 July 2010). "Netherlands 0–1 Spain (aet)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
^ "Puyol to keep playing for Spain". The New York Times. 2 August 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
^ "Puyol facing fitness fight". ESPN Soccernet. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
^ Aldunate, Ramiro (6 February 2013). "Campeón hasta en los simulacros" [Champions even in drills]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 February 2013.
^ Lara, Miguel Ángel (6 February 2013). "100 veces Puyol" [100 times Puyol]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 February 2013.
^ a b c d Lowe, Sid (29 April 2008). "Puyol returns to give Barcelona lift and leadership". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
^ Hughes, Rob (8 July 2010). "Puyol, a star on defense, wins it with offense". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
^ Hawkey, Ian (11 July 2010). "Defending the caveman". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
^ Jenson, Pete (4 March 2014). "Carlos Puyol announcement: No obvious successor for Barcelona legend and master of reinvention". The Independent. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
^ "Carles Puyol: The inspiring leader". ESPN FC. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
^ "Carles Puyol". FIFA. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
^ "Manchester United v Barcelona: Live". The Daily Telegraph. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
^ Visa, Lluís; Hermida, Xosé (4 November 2006). "Puyol es baja tras la muerte de su padre en un accidente" [Puyol out after his father died in accident]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 December 2010.
^ Martín, Luís (15 November 2010). "500 más y lo deja" [500 more and he's through]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 December 2010.
^ "Carles Puyol on life, leadership and trophies at Barcelona". Goal. 15 March 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
^ "Picture of the day: Celebrations". Total Barça. 18 October 2010. Archived from the original on 21 October 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
^ "Carles Puyol costeó el tratamiento de Miki Roqué" [Carles Puyol paid for Miki Roqué's treatment]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 25 June 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
^ "Carles Puyol's daughter Manuela is born". FC Barcelona. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
^ "Puyol anuncia el nacimiento de su hija María" [Puyol announces birth of his daughter María]. Sport (in Spanish). 7 January 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
^ Rannard, Georgina (23 June 2018). "World Cup 2018: Footballer's hair 'too wild' for Iranian TV". BBC News. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
^ "In-depth look at Carles Puyol's career". FC Barcelona. 3 April 2014. Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
^ "Puyol". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
^ a b c "Puyol – Trophies". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
^ "Carles Puyol Saforcada". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
^ "Spain wins wild bronze medal match". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 June 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
^ "UEFA Club Defender of the Year". UEFA. 1 May 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
^ "Spain dominate Team of the Tournament". UEFA. 30 June 2008. Archived from the original on 31 August 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
^ "Ultimate Team of the Year: The All-Time XI". UEFA. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
^ "World XI: Team of the 21st Century". Give Me Sport. 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
^ "Your All-time EURO 11 revealed". UEFA. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
^ "LEGENDS – GoldenFoot". Golden Foot. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
^ "Carles Puyol in Bilbao". Athletic Bilbao. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
^ Bruña, Manuel (5 January 2011). "Los campeones del mundo de fútbol ya tienen la Real Orden del Mérito Deportivo" [The football World Champions already have the Royal Order of Sporting Merit]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 December 2011.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carles Puyol.
FC Barcelona profile (fcbarcelona.com) at the Wayback Machine (archived 7 June 2013)
Carles Puyol at BDFutbol
Carles Puyol at National-Football-Teams.com
Carles Puyol – FIFA competition record
Carles Puyol – UEFA competition record
2010 FIFA World Cup profile (fifa.com) at the Wayback Machine (archived 7 December 2010)
Spain squads
Spain men's football squad – 2000 Summer Olympics – Silver Medalists
1 Aranzubia
2 Lacruz
5 Unai
7 Angulo
9 José Mari
11 Ferrón
12 Puyol
14 Amaya
15 Ismael
16 Velamazán
17 Tamudo
18 Felip
Coach: Sáez
Spain squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup
2 C. Torres
6 Hierro (c)
Coach: Camacho
Spain squad – UEFA Euro 2004
9 F. Torres
13 Aranzubia
11 L. García
12 A. López
15 Ramos
22 Ibáñez
Coach: Aragonés
Spain squad – UEFA Euro 2008 winners (2nd title)
1 Casillas (c)
2 Albiol
3 Navarro
6 Iniesta
7 Villa
11 Capdevila
12 Cazorla
13 Palop
16 García
17 Güiza
18 Arbeloa
22 De la Red
Spain squad – 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Third Place
3 Piqué
6 Pablo
12 Busquets
16 Llorente
18 Riera
Coach: Del Bosque
Spain squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup winners (1st title)
12 Valdés
20 Martínez
22 Navas
John Terry UEFA Champions League Best Defender
2010 FIFA World Cup Team of the Tournament
Vicente del Bosque
UEFA Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament
Edwin van der Sar
José Bosingwa
Carlos Marchena
Yuri Zhirkov
Hamit Altıntop
Marcos Senna
Konstantin Zyryanov
Roman Pavlyuchenko
2002 UEFA Team of the Year
GK: Reçber
RWB: Chivu
CB: Nesta
CB: Puyol
LWB: Roberto Carlos
MF: Seedorf
MF: Ballack
MF: Zidane
MF: Duff
FW: Henry
FW: Ronaldo
Coach: Güneş
GK: Čech
RB: Cafu
CB: Terry
LB: Maldini
MF: García
MF: Gerrard
MF: Ronaldinho
MF: Nedvěd
FW: Eto'o
FW: Shevchenko
Coach: Mourinho
GK: Buffon
RB: Zambrotta
CB: Cannavaro
LB: Lahm
MF: Kaká
MF: Fàbregas
Coach: Rijkaard
GK: Casillas
RB: Ramos
MF: C. Ronaldo
MF: Xavi
MF: Ribéry
FW: Messi
FW: Torres
Coach: Ferguson
RB: Alves
LB: Evra
MF: Iniesta
FW: Ibrahimović
Coach: Guardiola
RB: Maicon
CB: Piqué
LB: Cole
MF: Sneijder
FW: Villa
UEFA Club Football Awards
Best Goalkeeper
1997–98: Schmeichel
1998–99: Kahn
1999–2000: Kahn
2002–03: Buffon
2003–04: Baía
2004–05: Čech
2005–06: Lehmann
2008–09: Van der Sar
2009–10: Júlio César
2010–16: Not awarded
2017–18: Navas
Best Defender
1997–98: Hierro
1998–99: Stam
1999–2000: Stam
2000–01: Ayala
2001–02: Roberto Carlos
2003–04: Carvalho
2004–05: Terry
2005–06: Puyol
2006–07: Maldini
2009–10: Maicon
2016–17: Ramos
Best Midfielder
1997–98: Zidane
1998–99: Beckham
1999–2000: Mendieta
2000–01: Mendieta
2001–02: Ballack
2002–03: Nedvěd
2003–04: Deco
2004–05: Kaká
2006–07: Seedorf
2007–08: Lampard
2008–09: Xavi
2009–10: Sneijder
2016–17: Modrić
Best Forward
1997–98: Ronaldo
1998–99: Shevchenko
1999–2000: Raúl
2000–01: Raúl
2002–03: Van Nistelrooy
2003–04: Morientes
2004–05: Ronaldinho
2005–06: Eto'o
2007–08: C. Ronaldo
2008–09: Messi
2009–10: Milito
One Club Player Award
2015: Le Tissier
2016: Maldini
2017: Maier
2018: Puyol
2019: McNeill / Moström
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carles_Puyol&oldid=904825067"
People from Pallars Jussà
Spanish footballers
Catalan footballers
La Liga players
Segunda División players
Segunda División B players
Tercera División players
FC Barcelona C players
FC Barcelona B players
FC Barcelona players
Spain youth international footballers
Spain under-21 international footballers
Spain international footballers
2002 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 2004 players
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players
Olympic footballers of Spain
Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Olympic medalists in football
Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Olympic silver medalists for Spain
UEFA European Championship-winning players
FIFA World Cup-winning players
Catalonia international footballers
UEFA Champions League winning players
Use dmy dates from September 2012
Articles using Template:Medal with Winner
Articles using Template:Medal with Runner-up
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Fantasio (opera)
For the opera by Ethel Smyth, see Fantasio (Smyth).
For other uses, see Fantasio (disambiguation).
Stage works
L'alcôve (1847)
Pépito (1853)
Les deux aveugles (1855)
Le violoneux (1855)
Ba-ta-clan (1855)
Tromb-al-ca-zar (1856)
La rose de Saint-Flour (1856)
Le 66 (1856)
Le financier et le savetier (1856)
La bonne d'enfant (1856)
Croquefer, ou Le dernier des paladins (1857)
Vent du soir, ou L'horrible festin (1857)
Une demoiselle en loterie (1857)
Le mariage aux lanternes (1857)
Mesdames de la Halle (1858)
La chatte métamorphosée en femme (1858)
Orpheus in the Underworld (1858)
Un mari à la porte (1859)
Geneviève de Brabant (1859)
Daphnis et Chloé (1860)
Barkouf (1860)
La chanson de Fortunio (1861)
Le pont des soupirs (1861)
M. Choufleuri restera chez lui le . . . (1861)
Apothicaire et perruquier (1861)
Monsieur et Madame Denis (1862)
Les bavards (1862)
Il signor Fagotto (1863)
Lischen et Fritzchen (1863)
Die Rheinnixen (1864)
La belle Hélène (1864)
Les bergers (1865)
Barbe-bleue (1866)
La vie parisienne (1866)
La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867)
La permission de dix heures (1867)
Robinson Crusoé (1867)
L'île de Tulipatan (1868)
La Périchole (1868)
Vert-Vert (1869)
La princesse de Trébizonde (1869)
Les brigands (1869)
Le roi Carotte (1872)
Fantasio (1872)
Pomme d'api (1873)
Maître Péronilla (1873)
La jolie parfumeuse (1873)
Bagatelle (1874)
Madame l'archiduc (1874)
Whittington (1874)
Le voyage dans la lune (1875)
La créole (1875)
Pierrette et Jacquot (1876)
Le docteur Ox (1877)
Madame Favart (1878)
La fille du tambour-major (1879)
The Tales of Hoffmann (1881)
See also: List of operettas by Jacques Offenbach
Fantasio is an 1872 opéra comique in 3 acts, 4 tableaux with music by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto by Paul de Musset was closely based on the 1834 play of the same name by his brother Alfred de Musset.[1] The opera found little success in Offenbach's lifetime, was revived in the 1930s and performed in a critical edition in the 2000s.
2 Performance history
3 Roles
4.1 Act 1
5 Recording
Background[edit]
The Musset play was published in the Revue des deux Mondes in 1834 and first performed at the Comédie-Française, Paris in 1866 where it was seen 30 times.[2] Two "new" works were scheduled for the Salle Favart (Opéra-Comique) in 1872 as it regained momentum after the Franco–Prussian War and the Commune; Fantasio by Offenbach and les Noces de Figaro, Mozart's opera after Beaumarchais, which entered the Opéra Comique repertoire that February.[3]
The choice of Fantasio as an operatic subject was considered a bold one, as Alfred de Musset's comedy had not seen great success at the Comédie-Française as a play. Rehearsals for the opera had begun in early 1870, but the Franco–Prussian War and the aftermath of defeat had delayed production for two years. At first the distribution was intended to be Capoul as a tenor Fantasio, Couderc as the Prince, Potel as Marinoni, Gailhard as Spark, Mlle Dalti as Elsbeth and Moisset as the page. However, at the premiere, two years on, only Moisset and Potel remained in their roles; Galli-Marié took over the title role, now a mezzo-soprano, Ismaël took over as the Prince, Melchissédec Marinoni, and Marguérite Priola Elsbeth.[3]
Since his early successes in Paris, Offenbach had been the target of many vicious attacks in the press, and these had intensified during the Franco–Prussian War. Even Bizet was reduced to attacking the "infernal Offenbach", who had Boule de neige and Le roi Carotte premiered in the weeks prior to Fantasio.[4] With Fantasio the criticism of wanting to conquer the Opéra-Comique was added to previous attacks. Yon argues that Offenbach's sensitivity to criticism was also due to his identification with the title character of Fantasio – the bitter clown.[2]
Offenbach was heartbroken when the opera was taken off and wrote a letter of complaint to the director of the Opéra-Comique, Camille du Locle. He later re-used the chorus of students from the first act of Fantasio in The Tales of Hoffmann, where it becomes the student chorus at the end of that opera's first act, and the voice of Antonia's mother in act 3 of Hoffmann enters with a theme from the overture of Fantasio.[5]
The work is dedicated to Eduard Hanslick.[2]
Performance history[edit]
After its premiere at the Opéra-Comique (where it was only performed ten times before being dropped from the repertoire), Fantasio was produced at the Theater an der Wien on 21 February 1872, and also seen in Graz and Prague in October 1872, and Berlin in 1873. A revival in a new version was mounted in Magdeburg in June 1927 as Der Narr der Prinzessin.[6]
It was revived in October 2000 at the Opéra de Rennes [fr] in a version reassembled by Jean-Christophe Keck, conducted by Claude Schnitzler, in a production by Vincent Vittoz, and toured to Tours, Nantes and Angers. Martial Defontaine (tenor) was Fantasio and Iane Rouleau sang Elsbeth.[7] The opera was also performed at the summer festival of Opernbühne Bad Aibling in 2003, with Johann Winzer (tenor) as Fantasio and Uta Bodensohn as Elsbeth.[8] A Suite Orchestrale from the opera was performed at the Opéra-Comique in December 2009.[9]
Fantasio was performed in concert by Opera Rara with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by Sir Mark Elder, at the Royal Festival Hall, London on 15 December 2013, with Sarah Connolly (Fantasio), Brenda Rae (Elsbeth), Victoria Simmonds (Flamel), Russell Braun (Le Prince), Neal Davies (Sparck) and Brindley Sherratt (Le Roi)[10][11] and a recording with the same cast was published in 2014.[12]
Keck argues that one reason for the neglect of Fantasio was that it has been difficult to locate a performing edition; only a vocal score was published at the time of the premiere, along with a corrupt and re-orchestrated German version. Keck's researches have assembled many difficult to access manuscripts for a projected critical edition (Offenbach Edition Keck – OEK), leading to his claim that Fantasio is a rich and rounded masterpiece by the composer, and an important step towards his opera The Tales of Hoffmann.[13]
A new production of Fantasio by the Opéra-Comique was presented at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, in February 2017 with Marianne Crebassa in the title role, and will be seen in Rouen, Montpellier and Zagreb.[14]The production by the Orchestre National Montpellier was performed at the Opera Comedie, Montpellier in Dec 2018 and Jan 2019 with the title role played by Rihab Chaieb under the musical direction of Pierre Dumoussaud.
Roles[edit]
Voice type
Premiere cast, 18 January 1872
(Conductor: Adolphe Deloffre)
Fantasio, a student mezzo-soprano[15] Galli-Marié
The King of Bavaria bass Bernard
The princess Elsbeth, his daughter soprano Marguérite Priola
The Prince of Mantua baritone Ismaël
Marinoni, the prince's aide-de-camp tenor Potel
Flamel, page of Elsbeth mezzo-soprano Gabrielle Moisset
Spark, a student bass-baritone Léon Melchissédec
Facio, a student tenor Idrac
Max, a student tenor Mennesson
Hartmann, a student bass Julien
Chorus: Ladies and gentlemen of the court, citizens, students
Synopsis[edit]
Act 1[edit]
A public square at dusk; palace gates and a terrace on one side, on the other a tavern and a tailor's shop
Townspeople sing joyfully of the peace that will follow the imminent wedding of the prince of Mantua and the princess of Bavaria. Young people look forward to songs and dancing, and a group of prisoners released by the King celebrate. A group of impoverished students, Spark, Hartmann, Facio enter hoping also to share in some fun while contemptuous of the townspeople. The King and his guards emerge from the palace. The King announces the arrival of the prince of Mantua to wed his daughter Elsbeth and encourages the celebration. A courtier explains that Elsbeth is grieving on the death of the court jester of whom she was fond. Marinoni, the prince of Mantua's aide-de-camp enquires about the festivities and the princess, but is mocked by the students. Fantasio enters and sings a ballad to the moon. The page of Elsbeth enters to tell the students to keep their voices down as they will disturb the princess; they enter the tavern. Elsbeth sings of her wonder at the change in her life, but Fantasio enters unseen and asks her if she is really in love – with a complete stranger. Elsbeth, startled, leaves repeating Fantasio's words. When Spark joins his friend Fantasio talks extravagantly of his feelings. Soon the funeral cortege of court jester St Jean passes by and Fantasio has the idea to take the appearance of the jester to gain access to the princess, and he and Spark enter the nearby tailor's shop to get the costume. This will also help him avoid being arrested for his debts by the police. The fatuous prince of Mantua and his aide Marinoni enter, and the prince, wanting to discover the real thoughts and feelings of his future wife determines to dress as a servant to find out; he and Marinoni exit to exchange their clothes. The students come in singing and Fantasio re-appears dressed as the old jester. Two sentries mistakenly let him into the palace grounds and he looks forward to his adventure and to meeting Elsbeth again.
Palace gardens
Elsbeth, her page and the ladies of the court are walking in the palace grounds. She does not want to talk about her future marriage but of the poor jester whom she so admired. She sends the others away but then discovers Fantasio who amuses her with his banter about the flowers; she is intrigued by the unknown jester. The king, the prince and Marinoni (disguised as each other) enter. Elsbeth is not impressed by the aide-de-camp's song. When she and Fantasio are alone he casts more doubt in her mind about going ahead with the liaison with the prince, and she longs for a reason to delay the union. The court enter and while Marinoni (as the prince) sings her a pompous song in praise of beauty Fantasio climbs a tree and with a stick lifts the wig from the head of the false prince. The marriage of the Mantuan prince is immediately compromised but Fantasio is taken away.
1st tableau – a prison
Fantasio is delighted to have wrecked the wedding plans, but when Elsbeth visits him in his prison cell she says she must go ahead with the marriage to the prince of Mantua to avoid a diplomatic quarrel and help bring peace between the two kingdoms. Fantasio takes off all his disguise and sings his ballad from act 1. Hearing this romance she is moved, decides to help him elude the guards – who expect to see a hump-back jester, but not a young man – and gives him a key to the gardens.
2nd tableau – the courtyard in front of the king's palace
Back in his student clothes Fantasio calms his friends who were planning to get him out the palace prison and clamoring for revenge. Meanwhile the king and the prince are preparing to declare war. Fantasio challenges the prince of Mantua to a duel but the prince backs off, preferring to renounce marriage with Elsbeth and return to Mantua. Fantasio, whom the students have named "king of fools" pleads for peace, is pardoned by the king and Elsbeth names him prince for having avoided war. Fantasio offers her to return the key to the palace gardens she had given him, but she asks him to keep it.
Recording[edit]
With Sarah Connolly (Fantasio), Brenda Rae (Elsbeth), Brindley Sherrat (The King of Bavaria), Russell Braun (The Prince of Mantua), Robert Murray (Marinoni), Victoria Simmonds (Flamel), Neal Davies (Spark). Mark Elder conducts the Opera Rara Chorus and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Recorded December 2013, released 2014. CD Opera Rara Cat:ORC351.[16]
^ Lamb A., "Jacques Offenbach" (work list). In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.
^ a b c Yon, Jean-Claude. Jacques Offenbach. Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 2000.
^ a b Soubies A, Malherbe C. Histoire de l'opéra comique — La seconde salle Favart 1840–1887. Flammarion, Paris, 1893.
^ Curtiss M. Bizet and his world. Vienna House, New York, 1958.
^ Keck J.-C., "Guide d'Écoute" in: Avant-Scène Opéra 235, Les Contes d'Hoffmann. Paris, 2006.
^ Loewenberg A. Annals of Opera. London, John Calder, 1978.
^ "Les concerts d'Altamusica". www.altamusica.com.
^ Production details for Bad Aibling revival. ‹See Tfd›(in German) Retrieved 10 August 2013.
^ Rapport d'activite 2009 Opéra-Comique (Avril 2010). Programmation Artistique – Pièces orchestrales, p. 5.
^ Lamb, A. Review of Royal Festival Hall performance. Opera, February 2014, Vol. 65 No. 2, pp. 217–218.
^ Ashley, Tim. Disc of the Month – Fantasio, Offenbach. Opera, December 2014, Vol. 65, No. 12, pp. 1577–79.
^ "Jacques Offenbach (Jean-Christophe Jean-Christophe) - Fantasio (OEK critical edition)". www.boosey.com.
^ "Fantasio". Opéra Comique. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
^ Originally composed for a tenor and performed in that tessitura at the 2000 premiere of the Keck edition. In Vienna Geistlinger sang as a soprano.
^ "Offenbach: Fantasio". Presto Classical. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
French Wikisource has original text related to this article: Alfred de Musset: Fantasio, 1834 play
Photograph of Offenbach's autograph of the "Ballade à la lune" from act 1
Le papillon
Gaîté Parisienne (arranged Manuel Rosenthal)
Other stage works
Bouffonnerie musicale
Tromb-al-ca-zar, ou Les criminels dramatiques (1856)
Opérette bouffe
Opéra bouffe
Orphée aux enfers (1858)
M. Choufleuri restera chez lui le … (1861)
Bavard et bavarde (1862)
Le château à Toto (1868)
Opéra féerie
Le violoneux (légende bretonne) (1855)
Ba-ta-clan (chinoiserie musicale) (1855)
Lischen et Fritzchen (conversation alsacienne) (1863)
Incidental music
Le malade imaginaire (1851/2)
Le barbier de Séville ou La précaution inutile (1852)
La folle journée, ou Le mariage de Figaro (1852)
List of compositions by Jacques Offenbach
Category:Compositions by Jacques Offenbach
MusicBrainz work: dcb2789b-f3cb-40e3-9390-bea47c680905
Opera portal
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fantasio_(opera)&oldid=884556888"
Operas by Jacques Offenbach
French-language operas
Opéras comiques
1872 operas
Opera world premieres at the Opéra-Comique
Operas based on plays
Music with dedications
Interlanguage link template link number
Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers
This page was last edited on 22 February 2019, at 12:18 (UTC).
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Rapid strep test
Medical diagnostics
Rapid strep test kit
The rapid strep test (RST) is a rapid antigen detection test (RADT) that is widely used in clinics to assist in the diagnosis of bacterial pharyngitis caused by group A streptococci (GAS), sometimes termed strep throat. There are currently several types of rapid strep test in use, each employing a distinct technology. However, they all work by detecting the presence of GAS in the throat of a person by responding to GAS-specific antigens on a throat swab.
1 Medical use
2 Procedure
Medical use[edit]
A rapid strep test may assist a clinician in deciding whether to prescribe an antibiotic to a person with pharyngitis, a common infection of the throat.[1] Viral infections are responsible for the majority of pharyngitis, but a significant proportion (20% to 40% in children and 5% to 15% in adults) is caused by bacterial infection.[2] The symptoms of viral and bacterial infection may be indistinguishable, but only bacterial pharyngitis can be effectively treated by antibiotics. Since the major cause of bacterial pharyngitis is GAS, the presence of this organism in a person's throat may be seen as a necessary condition for prescribing antibiotics.[3] GAS pharyngitis is a self-limiting infection that will usually resolve within a week without medication. However, antibiotics may reduce the length and severity of the illness and reduce the risk of certain rare but serious complications.[2]
RSTs may also have a public health benefit. In addition to undesirable side-effects in the individual, inappropriate antibiotic use is thought to contribute to the development of drug-resistant strains of bacteria. By helping to identify bacterial infection, RSTs may help to limit the use of antibiotics in viral illnesses, where they are not beneficial.[3]
Some clinical guidelines recommend the use of RSTs in people with pharyngitis, but others do not. US guidelines are more consistently in favor of their use than their European equivalents. The use of RSTs may be most beneficial in the third world, where the complications of streptococcal infection are most prevalent, but their use in these regions has not been well studied.[2]
Microbial culture from a throat swab is a reliable and affordable alternative to an RST which has high sensitivity and specificity. However, a culture requires special facilities and usually takes 48 hours to give a result, whereas an RST can give a result within several minutes.[3]
Procedure[edit]
The person’s throat is first swabbed to collect a sample of mucus. In most RSTs, this mucus sample is then exposed to a reagent containing antibodies that will bind specifically to a GAS antigen. A positive result is signified by a certain visible reaction. There are three major types of RST: First, a latex fixation test, which was developed in the 1980s and is largely obsolete. It employs latex beads covered with antigens that will visibly agglutinate around GAS antibodies if these are present. Second, a lateral flow test, which is currently the most widely used RST. The sample is applied to a strip of nitrocellulose film and, if GAS antigens are present, these will migrate along the film to form a visible line of antigen bound to labeled antibodies. Third, optical immunoassay is the newest and more expensive test. It involves mixing the sample with labeled antibodies and then with a special substrate on a film which changes colour to signal the presence or absence of GAS antigen.[4]
Interpretation[edit]
The specificity of RSTs for the presence of GAS is at least 95%,[3] with some studies finding close to 100% specificity.[5] Therefore, if the test result is positive, the presence of GAS is highly likely. However, 5% to 20% of individuals carry GAS in their throats without symptomatic infection, so the presence of GAS in an individual with pharyngitis does not prove that this organism is responsible for the infection.[2] The sensitivity of lateral flow RSTs is somewhat lower at 65% to 80%.[2] Therefore, a negative result from such a test cannot be used to exclude GAS pharyngitis, a considerable disadvantage compared with microbial culture, which has a sensitivity of 90% to 95%.[3] However, newer optical immunoassay RSTs have been found to have a much higher sensitivity of 94%.[6]
Although an RST cannot distinguish GAS infection from asymptomatic carriage of the organism, most authorities recommend antibiotic treatment in the event of a positive RST result from a person with a sore throat.[4] US guidelines recommend following up a negative result with a microbial culture,[7] whereas European guidelines suggest relying on the negative RST.[8]
Screening (medicine)
^ Mersch, John (20 February 2015). "Rapid strep test". MedicineNet.com. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
^ a b c d e Matthys, J; De Meyere, M; van Driel, ML; De Sutter, A (Sep–Oct 2007). "Differences among international pharyngitis guidelines: not just academic". Annals of Family Medicine. 5 (5): 436–43. doi:10.1370/afm.741. PMC 2000301. PMID 17893386.
^ a b c d e Danchin, Margaret; Curtis, Nigel; Carapetis, Jonathan; Nolan, Terence (2002). "Treatment of sore throat in light of the Cochrane verdict: is the jury still out?". Medical Journal of Australia. 177 (9): 512–5. PMID 12405896.
^ a b Cohen, Jeremie; Cohen, Robert; Chalumeau, Martin (2013). "Rapid antigen detection test for group A streptococcus in children with pharyngitis". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 4. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD010502.
^ Cohen, JF; Cohen, R; Bidet, P; Levy, C; Deberdt, P; d'Humières, C; Liguori, S; Corrard, F; Thollot, F; Mariani-Kurkdjian, P; Chalumeau, M; Bingen, E (Jun 2013). "Rapid-antigen detection tests for group a streptococcal pharyngitis: revisiting false-positive results using polymerase chain reaction testing". The Journal of Pediatrics. 162 (6): 1282–4, 1284.e1. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.01.050. PMID 23465407.
^ Gerber, MA; Tanz, RR; Kabat, W; Dennis, E; Bell, GL; Kaplan, EL; Shulman, ST (Mar 19, 1997). "Optical immunoassay test for group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis. An office-based, multicenter investigation". JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. 277 (11): 899–903. doi:10.1001/jama.277.11.899. PMID 9062328.
^ Gerber, M; Baltimore, R; Eaton, C; Gewitz, M; Rowley, A; Shulman, S (2009). "Prevention of rheumatic fever and diagnosis and treatment of acute streptococcal pharyngitis: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis, and Kawasaki Disease Committee of the Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, the Interdisciplinary Council on Functional Genomics and Translational Biology, and the Interdisciplinary Council on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research: endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics". Circulation. 119 (11): 1541–51. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.191959. PMID 19246689.
^ Pelucci, C; Grigoryan, L; Galeone, C; Esposito, S; Huovinen, P; Little, P; Verheij, T (2012). "Guideline for the management of acute sore throat". Clinical Microbiology and Infection. 18 Suppl 1: 1–28. doi:10.1111/j.1469-0691.2012.03766.x. PMID 22432746.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rapid_strep_test&oldid=898407841"
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HomeFilm Review: WILDLIFE (USA 2018) *** Directed by Paul Dano
Film Review: WILDLIFE (USA 2018) *** Directed by Paul Dano
January 4, 2019 festreviews 2018 movies, movie, Movie Review, UncategorizedBill Camp, Carey Mulligan, film reviews, gilbert seah, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, WILDLIFE film
A teenage boy must deal with his mother’s complicated response after his father temporarily abandons them to take a menial and dangerous job.
Paul Dano (screenplay by), Zoe Kazan (screenplay by) | 1 more credit »
Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan, Bill Camp
Paul Dano, in his early 30’s is an excellent actor who has been seen in a diverse range of films from COWBOYS AND ALIENS to 12 YEARS A SLAVE. He has delivered outstanding performances in his films, the best of which is with Daniel Day Lewis, holding his own with the multiple Oscar Winner in P.T. Anderson’s THERE WILL BE BLOOD in which a troubled teen learns of life.
Having proven his active chops, Dano has now taken on directorial reins in a new film again centring on a troubled teen. Dano also co-wrote the script with his partner Zoe Kazan, this giving the film a female point of view. It is familiarity that Dano has dealt with and it is of no surprise that the actor he has chosen to play the 14-year old protagonist, Joe looks somewhat like a younger version of himself.
The film is set in 1960, Montana. Jeannette (Carey Mulligan) and Jerry Brinson (Jake Gyllenhaal) have recently moved to Great Falls, Montana with their teenage son Joe (Ed Oxenbould). Tensions build after Jerry is fired from a low esteemed job as a golf pro at a country club. He is offered his old job back but refuses out of pride, and instead of looking for work, he sleeps in his car and watches the local firefighting efforts against a forest fire raging in nearby mountains. To support the family as Jerry looks for a job, Jeannette takes a job as a swimming instructor, while Joe works at a local photography studio. One day, Jerry decides to take a low-paying job fighting the forest fire, which upsets Jeannette and worries Joe. Jeannette speaks openly about her strained marriage with Jerry to Joe, and the stress of the situation takes a minor toll on Joe’s school life.
While Jerry is away, Jeannette becomes romantically involved with one of her students, Warren Miller (Bill Camp), a rich older man who owns an automobile dealership. Fireworks begin when Jerry returns and Jeannette announces that she is moving out – all this inferno of and to Joe’s dismay.
WILDLIFE s a simply told family drama but one told with conviction. The mountains and icy landscape look stunning in the background, reflecting the loneliness of people in the vast surroundings. Dana connects the audience with both points of view, that of the mother and the father but it is the story of the young son. “I surprised myself and had a good time. Did you?” asks the mother to Joe and one point int he film, illustrating how the film looks from the woman’s point of view and then when there is no answer from the son, switches perspective back to the son.
The desperation of the mother is what propels the family woes. She tells Joe after Joe catches her making out with Miller. “He wants to make it better. Maybe you got a better plan. I wish I was dead.”
It is a common story of father leaving home to get a decent job while mother becomes restless. There is really nothing Joe can do. He wants to keep the family together, but all he can do is to say how each misses the other.
Dana keeps his film on track as Joe’s coming-of-age passage as he is forced to navigate the complex dynamics of adult relationships and figure out what to make of the woman who used to be just Mom. A well paced family drama with real characters from Paul Dana.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q77YXl_ujBM
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Carnival Boosts Star Power Strategy With Emeril Restaurant
Hannah Sampson
Skift March 7, 2019
Carnival Cruise Line’s upcoming megaship landed a big name in the food world.
Emeril Lagasse — New Orleans chef, restaurateur, and former Food Network host — is teaming up with the cruise operator to open his first restaurant at sea on Mardi Gras, which launches next year. The announcement is the latest marketing move by Carnival to partner with well-known personalities as a way to make a connection with travelers who are new to cruising or to the brand.
Carnival announced Wednesday that Emeril’s Bistro 1396 will be a 66-seat venue in the ship’s French Quarter area, one of six themed sections. It will serve New Orleans specialties such as gumbo, po’ boys, red beans and rice, and bananas foster. Named after the cruise line’s first ship in history, Mardi Gras will have capacity for more than 5,200 passengers at double occupancy, a record for Carnival.
“When we decided that we were going to name the ship Mardi Gras and going to include New Orleans as a featured neighborhood or zone on the ship, and began to talk about what that would look like, obviously when we got to the food, Emeril was the guy,” said Carnival President Christine Duffy. “We’re just really excited that he’s excited about doing this.”
At a lunch event Wednesday, Lagasse showed off some of the items that will be on the menu — his signature barbecue shrimp with rosemary biscuits, oysters Rockefeller, crab meat po’ boys — and inspired Duffy to ask for one item to be added, a king cake filled with caramelized banana jam.
The idea, Duffy said, is for the venue to be relaxed and casual rather than a fine dining experience. Each item will be priced individually, with prices ranging from $2 to $12, and the restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“I’m about bringing as great of food as I can to the table,” Lagasse said. “It doesn’t matter where that table is.”
He has some history with tables in unusual locations: Lagasse designed meals for NASA astronauts in 2006.
On Wednesday, he was considering cruise ships yet another frontier.
“It’s a great opportunity to do something that hasn’t been done,” he said. “I think it’s a fun project and I think it’s an exciting challenge to do great food at sea. That’s what we’re going to do.”
The First Wave
There was a time when Carnival Cruise Line avoided teaming up with other well-known brands, instead relying on its own brand as the Fun Ship line. Then came Guy Fieri.
As part of a 2011 initiative called Fun Ship 2.0, the cruise operator added a venue in partnership with the Food Network star called Guy’s Burger Joint, as well as games from Hasbro and comedy programming from George Lopez. By next year, Fieri’s burgers will be on every Carnival ship; a new concept, Guy’s Pig and Anchor Bar-B-Que Smokehouse, is on several ships and coming to more.
Children’s activities and areas with a Dr. Seuss theme followed Fun Ship 2.0, and last year retired basketball star Shaquille O’Neal signed on as CFO, or “chief fun officer.”
Carnival said late that year that O’Neal will bring a version of his Big Chicken restaurant to a cruise ship, Carnival Radiance, next year.
Like Guy Fieri’s restaurants, Duffy said she sees potential for Emeril’s Bistro to go beyond one ship.
“We think this is a great match, we think this is the start of a great relationship,” she said. “I’m really excited about this particular concept on this particular ship, but even beyond, where this can go.”
Subscribe to Skift newsletters covering the business of travel, restaurants, and wellness.
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Edited Transcript of AHT earnings conference call or presentation 1-Mar-19 4:00pm GMT
Q4 2018 Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc Earnings Call
DALLAS Mar 7, 2019 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc earnings conference call or presentation Friday, March 1, 2019 at 4:00:00pm GMT
* Deric S. Eubanks
Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. - CFO & Treasurer
* Douglas A. Kessler
Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. - President & CEO
* Jeremy J. Welter
Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. - COO
* Jordan Jennings
Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. - Manager of IR
* Arpine Kocharyan
UBS Investment Bank, Research Division - Director and Analyst
* Chris Jon Woronka
Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division - Research Analyst
* Michael Joseph Bellisario
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, Research Division - VP and Senior Research Analyst
* Tyler Anton Batory
Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, Research Division - VP of Travel, Lodging and Leisure
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Ashford Hospitality Trust Fourth Quarter 2018 Year-end Results Conference call. Today's conference is being recorded.
At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. Jordan Jennings, Investor Relations for Ashford Hospitality Trust. Please go ahead, sir.
Jordan Jennings, Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. - Manager of IR [2]
Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's conference call to review the results for Ashford Hospitality Trust for the fourth quarter and full year 2018 and to update you on recent developments.
On the call today will be Douglas Kessler, President and Chief Executive Officer; Deric Eubanks, Chief Financial Officer; Jeremy Welter, Chief Operating Officer. The results, as well as a notice of the accessibility of this conference call on a listen-only basis over the Internet, were distributed yesterday afternoon in a press release that has been covered by the financial media.
At this time, let me remind you that certain statements and assumptions in this conference call contain or are based upon forward-looking information that are being make made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities regulation. Such forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, uncertainties and known or unknown risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These factors are more fully discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The forward-looking statements included in this conference call are only made as of the date of this conference call and the company is not obligated to publicly update or revise them.
In addition, certain terms used in this call are non-GAAP financial measures, reconciliations of which are provided in the company's earnings release and accompanying tables or schedules, which have been filed on Form 8-K with the SEC on February 28, 2019 and may also be accessed through the company's website at www.ahtreit.com.
Each listener is encouraged to review those reconciliations provided in the earnings release together, with all other information provided in the release. Also, unless otherwise stated, all reported results discussed in this call compare the fourth quarter of 2018 with the fourth quarter of 2017.
I will now turn the call over to Douglas Kessler. Please go ahead, sir.
Douglas A. Kessler, Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. - President & CEO [3]
Good morning, and thank you for joining us to discuss Ashford Hospitality Trust's fourth quarter progress. I want to begin with providing an update on the success we're having with our ERP initiative with Ashford Inc., then I'll review our financial review results and other items.
Given our approximately 17% insider ownership of Ashford Trust, we believe we have tremendous alignment with our shareholders, which encourages us to think and act like owners. Our strategies throughout our 16-year history have consistently focused on ways to create shareholder value. Many of our diligent efforts have been economically transformational and successful over the years. We believe that ERP is one of these initiatives and will provide meaningful benefits to improve our competitive position as well as increased shareholder value.
As we've discussed previously pursuant to the ERP initiative, Ashford Inc. is committed to provide $50 million to the company on a programmatic basis, equating to approximately 10% of each new investment's acquisition price to be used for the purchase of FF&E and properties owned by the company. We believe the ERP program has the opportunity to significantly improve returns on hotel acquisitions and benefit us by effectively expanding cash available for future investment or other purposes. The attractiveness of the ERP is to make good deals, great deals. The existence of this program is also advantageous given the improvement in deal flow for properties that fit our focused investment criteria of upper upscale, full-service hotels. A very competitive bidding equity environment for acquisitions today, we see this program providing us with a significant advantage to win deals with accretive returns. We intend to be successful on our efforts as we balance expected returns, underwritten growth and our cost of capital. Since establishing the ERP, we have already completed $406 million of high-quality acquisitions that have utilized the program, which equates to approximately 80% committed utilization of the pledged $50 million of ERP funding.
To that end, in October, we completed the acquisition of the 157-room La Posada de Santa Fe in Santa Fe, New Mexico for $50 million. The purchase of La Posada was the company's second hotel acquisition to benefit from the ERP with Ashford Inc. committing to fund $5 million. The acquisition increases our ownership presence in a very attractive Santa Fe market. With its strong Marriott brand affiliation and high-quality amenities, La Posada is positioned as one of the leading properties in the lodging market with excellent demand and supply characteristics. The hotel performed exceptionally well during the fourth quarter with RevPAR index growth of 9.8% and 7.3%, respectively, since we acquired the property. Additionally, Remington Lodging, who also manages our Hilton in Santa Fe, took over management of the property upon completing the acquisition. And we expect to realize significant value-add operational synergies from Remington's management of both properties.
Our momentum carried into 2019, when, in January, we acquired the 310-room Embassy Suites by Hilton New York Midtown Manhattan for $195 million. In connection with this acquisition, Ashford Inc. has committed to provide Ashford Trust with approximately $19.5 million under the terms of the ERP. We expect this newly constructed 41-story hotel ideally located near Bryant Park and Times Square to benefit from being the only Embassy Suites in the dynamic Manhattan market. Additionally, as our direct hotel investment in New York City, we believe the recent positive changes in Manhattan's hotel metrics point to a favorable timing of this addition to our portfolio. Having recently opened in 2018, this property is still ramping up operations. We believe there are significant upside at the property, and we expect the ERP contribution to this investment will significantly increase the returns for our shareholders.
Additionally, this week, we purchased the Hilton Santa Cruz Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz, California, for $50 million. Our latest acquisition to take advantage of the ERP has an attractive location near the expanding tech market in San Jose and just minutes from Santa Cruz, one of Northern California's most desirable beach communities. This property also benefits from being the only full-service Hilton branded asset in the Santa Cruz market. The acquisition was partially funded by the issuance of approximately 1.5 million OP units. The OP units were issued at a price of $7 per unit, which reflects an approximate 31% premium to yesterday's stock price. We also assumed $25.3 million mortgage loan that bears interest at a fixed rate of 4.7% and matures in March of 2025. In conjunction with this transaction, Ashford Inc. has committed to provide us with $5 million as part of the ERP.
We believe these acquisitions are highly favorable investments on their own. However, with the ERP, the returns should be even greater. I can assure you that our underwriting efforts continue to be focused, diligent and with the same high standards to improve our portfolio with the best assets for the best value. We strongly believe that ERP provides us not only with a competitive advantage, but it is also structured to substantially enhance shareholder value.
Let me now turn to our fourth quarter and full year performance. Our actual RevPAR for all hotels for the full year increased 1%, while comparable RevPAR for all hotels during the fourth quarter decreased 0.6%. For the fourth quarter comparable RevPAR for hotels not under renovation increased 0.6%. For the fourth quarter, we reported AFFO per share of $0.18, and we reported adjusted EBITDAre of $89.8 million. For the full year, AFFO per share was $1.26, and adjusted EBITDAre was $411.5 million.
As for our balance sheet, we believe in the benefits of an appropriate amount of nonrecourse leverage to enhance equity returns. Over the past couple of years, we've been very active in refinancing majority of our existing loans, both to improve the spreads compared to the prior loan terms and to extend our maturities.
We also seek to maintain a high cash and cash equivalents balance between 25% to 35% of our equity market capitalization for financial flexibility. We note that this excess cash balance can provide a hedge during uncertain economic times as well as the requisite funds to capitalize on attractive investment opportunities as they arise.
As of the fourth quarter of 2018, our net working capital totaled $398 million equating to approximately $3.29 per share, representing a significant 61% of our current share price as of yesterday's close.
We continue to make progress on our investor outreach efforts, and during 2019, we intend to get out on the road to meet with investors to communicate our strategy and the attractiveness of an investment in Ashford Trust. We look forward to speaking with many of you during the upcoming events.
Looking ahead to 2019, we have a high-quality, well-diversified portfolio. And we remain focused on accretive transactions as well as proactive asset management initiatives. We're committed to maximizing value for our shareholders as we focus on generating solid operating performance, continuing to seek investment opportunities and efficiently managing our balance sheet.
I will now turn the call over to Deric to review our fourth quarter financial performance.
Deric S. Eubanks, Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. - CFO & Treasurer [4]
Thanks, Douglas. For the fourth quarter of 2018, we reported a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $65.4 million or $0.66 per diluted share. For the full year of 2018, we reported net loss attributable to common stockholders of $169.5 million, or $1.75 per diluted share.
For the quarter, we reported AFFO per diluted share of $0.18 and for the full year of 2018, we reported AFFO per diluted share of $1.26. Adjusted EBITDAre totaled $89.8 million for the quarter, while adjusted EBITDAre for the full year was $411.5 million.
At the end of the fourth quarter, we had $4 billion of mortgage loans with a blended average interest rate of 5.8%. Our loans were 9% fixed rate and 91% floating rate. All of our loans are nonrecourse, and we have a well laddered maturity schedule. Interest rate caps are in place for virtually all of our floating-rate loans. Including the market value of our equity investment in Ashford Inc., we ended the quarter with net working capital of $398 million.
As of December 31, 2018, our portfolio consisted of 119 hotels with 25,060 net rooms. Our share count at year-end stood at 121 million fully diluted shares outstanding, which is comprised of 101 million shares of common stock and 19.9 million OP units.
With regard to dividends, the Board of Directors declared a fourth quarter 2018 cash dividend of $0.12 per share or $0.48 on an annualized basis. Based on yesterday's stock price, this represents a 9% dividend yield, among the highest in the hotel REIT space.
On the capital markets front, during the quarter, we completed a $25 million property level mortgage financing for the La Posada de Santa Fe. The loan is a 2-year initial term with 3 1-year extension options subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions. The loan is interest only with a rate of LIBOR plus 2.55%. Subsequent to quarter-end, in January, in connection with the acquisition of Embassy Suites, Manhattan, we entered into a $145 million nonrecourse mortgage loan. The loan has a 3-year initial term with 2 1-year extension options, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions. The loan is interest only with a rate of LIBOR plus 3.9%.
In connection with the closing of the Hilton Santa Cruz Scotts Valley acquisition, we assumed an existing nonrecourse mortgage with the balance of approximately $23.5 million. The loan bears interest at a fixed rate of 4.7% and matures in March of 2025. We also issued approximately 1.5 million OP units to the sellers at a price of $7 per unit.
This concludes our financial review. I would now like to turn it over to Jeremy to discuss our asset management activities for the quarter.
Jeremy J. Welter, Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. - COO [5]
Thank you, Deric. Comparable RevPAR for our portfolio decreased 0.6% during the fourth quarter of 2018. However, this performance represented a 20 basis point gain relative to our hotel's competitors. Comparable RevPAR for hotels not under renovation grew 0.6% during the quarter. For the year, comparable RevPAR for the entire portfolio grew 0.1%.
Holiday shifts did not significantly impact results during the fourth quarter and the government shutdown led to minimal impact in December. However, our portfolio did experience a large downward year-over-year impact from the markets that experienced a boost last year from hurricane-related business, which were Houston, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Atlanta.
Before highlighting some of our results for the fourth quarter, I want to address the impacts felt from the government shutdown. While we do not see much impact during the fourth quarter, the government shutdown is certainly playing a more prominent role during the first quarter of 2019. We own 9 hotels in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia area, and Washington, D.C. area ranks first in terms number of rooms and hotel EBITDA in our portfolio. Currently, the estimated impact of the government shutdown is north of $1 million as comparable RevPAR for our Washington, D.C. area hotels during January decreased by 12.3%. Though negligibly affected by the government shutdown, our fourth quarter RevPAR was affected by the midterm elections and renovations at our 2 largest D.C. hotels, Marriott Gateway and Embassy Suites Crystal City. Excluding D.C., our entire portfolio's comparable RevPAR would have been positive for the quarter.
Throughout 2018, I've discussed the impact of renovations on our portfolio. I'm now excited to discuss a few of these transformational renovations and how they are positioning us for long-term success. Since I was just discussing Washington, D.C., I would like to turn to our largest D.C. area hotel, the Marriott Gateway in Arlington, Virginia. We're in the final stages of a major renovation completing the last remaining ballroom to Arlington ballroom, the pre-function space and the public restrooms. The remaining portions of the lobby have also been renovated. The ongoing final items are painting the exterior of the building and adding pavers and lining to the driveway and porte cochere. This major renovation at our largest property, in terms of the room count, will position us well going forward. With the announcement by Amazon that Crystal City will be their second headquarter location, we're even more enthusiastic about this hotel's future operations, given its proximity to Amazon's HQ2. Additionally, with 2 other sizable hotels in Crystal City, we have over 1,200 rooms in this dynamic and growing market.
Next, I would like to discuss the Renaissance Nashville, our largest hotel in terms of total hotel revenue. The first phase of the comprehensive first floor restaurant and lobby renovation was completed in September, including the successful opening of the new restaurant, Little Fib. During the fourth quarter, food and beverage revenue increased by $1.3 million, with food and beverage departmental profit increasing by $810,000 or 245%. The second phase of the lobby renovation was completed in January of this year, including the opening of the market, coffee bar and quick service food outlet. The final phase of the remaining space renovation in the former Nashville convention center space is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2019 and includes an additional 10,000 square feet within the new Fifth + Broadway development adjacent to the hotel. Additionally, the presidential suite renovation has been completed.
Performance during the fourth quarter and throughout 2018 has been impressive, given the ongoing renovation. During the fourth quarter comparable RevPAR grew 1.1%, representing growth of 120 -- 110 basis points relative to the hotel's competitors and the Nashville CBD upscale and above chains submarket, respectively. Hotel EBITDA grew $890,000 or 17.5% with hotel EBITDA flow-through of 54%. For the full year 2018, hotel EBITDA flow-through was 67%. We believe that with the Marriott Gateway and the Nashville Renaissance, our 2 largest hotels in terms of rooms and total hotel revenue, coming out of comprehensive renovations, they are well positioned for success within 2 of the country's top markets.
The last phase of renovation, I'd like to discuss is the Ritz-Carlton Atlanta downtown. The $18 million guestroom renovation commenced in February 2018, with a significant portion of the work completed by the end of the fourth quarter. Despite the ongoing renovation, during the year, comparable RevPAR grew 1.5%. The new rooms product has allowed us to drive rate, which increased 4.1% in the fourth quarter. This RevPAR growth represented a 570 basis point increase relative to the Atlanta luxury class market. This solid performance highlights our affiliate Premier Project Management's strategic approach to renovations and their project management program, which incentivizes the project managers to minimize RevPAR index impact during the renovation. All work at the property was finalized in January 2019, 10 days prior to the Super Bowl. Completion prior to the Super Bowl allowed guests to enjoy brand-new guestroom experience, while maximizing revenue for the property during this high-demand event.
During the roughly year long project, only about 2 floors or 45 rooms were out of order at any given time. Guestroom upgrades include new soft goods, case goods and shower conversions for the king rooms. We also expanded the club lounge by 320 square feet, increasing its seating capacity by 25. The initial response from our guests has been overwhelmingly positive. On another note, by the end of 2018, J&S Audio Visual was in 13 of our hotels, including 3, I just mentioned: Marriott Gateway, Renaissance Nashville and Ritz Carlton Atlanta. Results from integrating J&S into our hotels have been positive, with average revenue per group room night up 21% and average customer satisfaction scores up 15% since the transition occurred from the prior AV provider, highlighting J&S' incredible levels of services. We will continue to work to get J&S into more of our hotels.
During 2019, we will continue to invest in our portfolio to maintain our competitive position. In total, we estimate spending approximately $130 million to $145 million in capital expenditures during the year, which compares very favorably to last year. This will primarily be comprised of guestroom renovations at the Marriott DFW Airport, Fairfield Inn & Suites Kennesaw, Embassy Suites Crystal City, Hilton Garden Inn, BWI Airport, Hyatt Regency Coral Gables and Hampton Inn Buford.
Additionally, we are continuously identifying opportunities to create value throughout our portfolio such as adding 4 KEYS in Hilton Boston Back Bay, 2 KEYS at the Marriott Bridgewater as well as capitalizing on projects to reduce energy consumption.
That concludes our prepared remarks, and we will now open up the call for Q&A.
(Operator Instructions) We'll take our first question from Tyler Batory with Janney Capital Markets.
Tyler Anton Batory, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, Research Division - VP of Travel, Lodging and Leisure [2]
First, to start off, and Jeremy, I think, you touched on this in the opening remarks. But I'm just curious if you can provide a little bit more detail on this. When we look at your hotels, ex renovations for the quarter and the year, it looks like you lag some of your peers in the broader U.S. hotel market. So I'm just trying to understand what exactly is driving that. So can you talk a little bit more and expand on your RevPAR index, for both the year and the quarter? And I'm also just curious how RevPAR for the fourth quarter came in versus your internal expectations?
Sure. I can take that. For the year, we lost market share, about, call it, maybe 0.7%, and then, for the quarter, we were up 20 basis points. As for the fourth quarter, we actually outperformed our competitor sets, but for the year, we did lose share. And I can talk to you that a little bit, but as you know that the previous 4 years, for this portfolio, we gained market share. And so this is the first share loss that we had in the last 5 years. And one of those reasons is that we had a change in our team. The Head of our RO, Revenue Optimization, actually was promoted to oversee Remington, and so we had to backfill some of those positions. So we've got that team in place, and I can tell you that, we've got a lot of momentum heading into this year from a market share perspective. So I'm pretty optimistic that we should see some share gains on a go-forward basis. As it relates specifically to the fourth quarter, there are a lot of moving parts that I kind of want to walk through one of which is, D.C., we've got a large D.C. -- presence in D.C. Election years are always tough for D.C., as you know. So that did weigh in on the quarter. It wasn't the government shutdown, but it was just the impact of the midterm elections; plus we had some heavy renovation activity at Marriott Crystal City Gateway that displaced a lot of revenue because we had our ballroom out. Aside from that, you can look at the markets that were down. Miami was down quite a bit. It was down, call it, north of 15%. And when you look at the quarter of 2017 -- fourth quarter of 2017, it was up 16%. And so the comparable there is related to all the good business that we got associated with Hurricane Irma, which as you know, hit in the fourth quarter of 2017 -- I guess, the -- sorry, the third quarter of 2017, but created a lot of long-term good business associated with recovery efforts. And so we had a decent amount of pickup in markets like Miami, Houston, Atlanta as well as some other Florida markets. And specifically on Houston, we were down double digits in the fourth quarter of 2018, but when you wind back the clock to the fourth quarter of 2017 that market was up 20%. And so it's just some really difficult comps associated with some of those markets that benefited from the hurricanes. And obviously, Houston was a different hurricane than Irma, but there was a lot of good business that we had to pickup that we had in the fourth quarter associated with those -- with that business. Does that help?
Yes. No, it's very helpful. I appreciate all that color. And then second question I had just on the Embassy Suites, Manhattan. Can you talk a little bit more about the upside potential of that property? And certainly, we see the better New York City RevPAR trends, but it still seems like a tough market from an operations perspective. So can you speak to what your expectations are for labor and managing expenses in that market?
Sure, Tyler. It's Douglas. I'll start off and Jeremy will follow up. Look, we have -- we made this investment in New York, this was our first purchase of a direct hotel in New York City since we've been a public company. We looked at a lot of deals over the years, we've evaluated the timing to get into New York, and we really felt like this was an exceptionally good time to enter into the market, just from a macro level. RevPAR for New York, obviously, as you're well aware, increased 6.4% for upscale change in 2018, and overall, the market was up 3.4%. When you look at New York, this is a long-term growth market. Its CAGR since 1991 has been about 4% in terms of RevPAR and that compares to about 3.5%, I believe, to the other top 25 markets. So long term, it's a good market to be in. Picking your times to enter, I think, is what's key. And I think we nailed it in terms of the timing to enter into this market. After multiple years of increasing supply growth, according to Smith Travel, the number of new hotel rooms that opened decelerated by 32% compared to 2017. And then, moreover demand growth continues to outpace supply growth and that was the case in 2017 and in 2018, and that's really been the first time that's occurred since 2013. So year-to-date, the occupancy was really at all-time highs in that market. And so we look at that, and we realize the profitability is turning the corner for hotels in New York. We're very excited about all the room demand. It was eighth consecutive record-breaking year for room demand and in terms of visitors in New York. And obviously, there's many infrastructure enhancements that are taking place in the city, what is already a dynamic market, but obviously, the changes that are taking place at LaGuardia, the Hudson Yards development, which is the largest private real estate development in the U.S. in its history, that will increase demand. And so when we look at this opportunity it was as follows. We basically acquired a brand new, well located, near Times Square and Bryant Park hotel, that is the only Embassy Suites in Manhattan. It's a very efficient box. It has some very attractive amenities including some patio suite rooms, it's got a sky lawn, it's got a great fitness area, restaurant. It really is a great hotel asset for us. And it met our criteria on many levels. We felt that the financing that we got with this hotel was attractive, combined with the ERP capital. We have a view that while the asset opened up in 2018, it is ramping up exceptionally well. The property had a RevPAR, for the past 3 months through December of 2018 of $254 with a 92% occupancy and an ADR of 276 and continues to still ramp up. So we look at this on a per key basis with the inclusion of ERP just over $0.5 million, and we found that to be not only attractive purchase price, an attractive timing of the cycle, attractive financing, with operational upside, with Remington taking over management, and so all in, we're very upbeat and positive about this investment. Jeremy, you want to add anything?
I don't have a lot to add. And I think that we spend a ton of time on this from an underwriting perspective. And for New York, you're right, it has been a challenging market. Last 10 years, RevPAR has been down. We stayed on the sidelines. A lot of folks asked us to get into the market, and we've been very disciplined. We think this is the right time and with this hotel being brand new, the only Embassy Suites in the market and then its location within the market, I think, it makes it a very attractive investment. If you look at where the supply is coming around in New York, there's virtually none coming into Times Square as well as the adjacent tract that we're in as well, the supply is coming in within that tract on the west side, which is that Hudson development. So we think we're uniquely positioned, and we think our timing is right.
We'll take our next question from Michael Bellisario with Baird.
Michael Joseph Bellisario, Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, Research Division - VP and Senior Research Analyst [8]
On the acquisition front, can you maybe update us on kind of how you're balancing leverage today relative to your target, but also still trying to get the remaining ERFP capital out the door?
Sure. I'll talk about the ERP and kind of the transaction pipeline, and then Deric might want to chime in a little bit on the balance sheet. I think, since the announcement of the ERP, back in the summer of last year, certainly, under a lot of deals, but I think given the 4 deals that we acquired, the Hilton Alexandria, La Posada de Santa Fe, Embassy Suites New York and the Hilton Santa Cruz, it clearly demonstrates discipline in what we've acquired. All the assets have a materially higher RevPAR than our portfolio. All of them for our projections are forecasted 5-year IRRs inclusive of the ERP to be well into the 20-plus percent range, so very excited about that. We don't have an appetite to grow just for growth sake. And I think that as we've always said, our high insider ownership really aligns us with shareholders to make sure that we're just not growing to grow, we want to grow accretively. And when we think about growing from a transaction standpoint, we, obviously, have purchased quite a bit over the past 9 months or so, $406 million of assets, and that utilized approximately 81% of the ERP capital. So when you take into account, ERP is 10% of the purchase price, that's $40.6 million of committed ERP capital, leaving us with just over $9 million. So if you wanted to perfectly fit the puzzle pieces together, that would give us the opportunity to buy just over a $90 million asset to round out the ERFP initial tranche of the committed capital from Ashford Inc. Obviously, the agreement contemplates more potentially by mutual agreement, if both parties want to extend or expand the ERFP. But when we look at the transaction pipeline today, we've been very excited about what we've acquired. In terms of what's out there right now, I'd say that it's -- there are a decent number of deals, but in terms of relative to what we're looking for, we are stretched kind of then in terms of seeing some deals that really appeal to us. I think we hit the sweet spot from a timing standpoint in the rollout of the ERP. And when we look at what we consider, we, obviously, have to take into account our share price, we have to look at the cash on the balance sheet, we have to look at our leverage levels when we're considering additional acquisitions. And I think for right now, we are exercising even a little bit more patience given capital market situations, obviously, stock price taken into that account, particularly right now. And so maybe a little bit more prudence on the pace of the acquisition activity. Deric, do you want to make any comments on balance sheet?
Deric S. Eubanks, Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. - CFO & Treasurer [10]
Yes, sure. So Mike, it's Deric. And as we sit here today, we're slightly above our targeted leverage level. And I think, as Douglas mentioned, we were comfortable going above that because we saw some very attractive acquisition opportunities that we think will generate great returns for our shareholders. But also because of the attractive maturity schedule that we have, we've got very few near-term maturities. We've got a lot of cash on our balance sheet. So we were comfortable going a little bit above our target or the high end of our target for these acquisitions. But I'd say, in terms of where we go from here, I'd say, we're not really inclined to increase our leverage much from where we sit here today.
Michael Joseph Bellisario, Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, Research Division - VP and Senior Research Analyst [11]
Got it. And then just on those 3 of the 4 recent deals, excluding New York, any bigger or big CapEx plans in terms of PIPs or any renovations planned for this year or next year for those 3 assets?
Douglas A. Kessler, Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. - President & CEO [12]
None really to speak of that are significant, obviously, New York newly built and the Santa Cruz asset had recently got some CapEx, and so anything would be fairly minor with respect to the 3 properties.
Jeremy J. Welter, Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. - COO [13]
Yes. I think you can assume, actually for all, including Alexandria as well, and Santa Cruz, La Posada and New York that we should be able to spend within escrow for any other CapEx we need on a combined basis. So I think, we're in pretty good shape for the foreseeable future.
That's helpful. And just lastly maybe on the disposition front. Any updated thoughts on your select service assets that you own or any changes that you're seeing in the transaction market for your portfolio transactions versus one-off sales?
Well, I'll give you the macro view. Obviously, last year was a significant year from overall transaction volume standpoint. I think it was up about 50% over prior year, a lot of that had to do clearly with some significant portfolio trades that occurred. But even single asset transactions were up, both full-service and select service. So a fairly healthy year last year from a macro standpoint. And in addition, the deal volume being up, prices were up, just about 2% according to some third-party metrics. So when we take that all into consideration, I think, we're looking sort of holistically at our portfolio, not really focused on a select strategy here or a full-service strategy there other than our investment strategy, which is to focus predominantly on upper upscale full-service hotels. Having said that, we have conducted some broker opinions of value on our hotels, that's something that is fairly common for us to undertake. We've stated, I think, previously, that we're going to be opportunistic with respect to asset sales. In the past year, we sold $43 million of select service assets, that I think accomplished some themes generally, namely, selling lower RevPAR assets at what we believe to be attractive all-in cap rates once you take into consideration what the buyer would have to spend on CapEx following the acquisition. And we're also, as part of that analysis, evaluating the future CapEx spend on those assets relative to the EBITDA, looking at that ratio in conjunction with any sales proceeds and the relative debt payoff. So when I say a more holistic view, I think it's -- it is not undertaking a strategy just for strategic's sake. As I've said previously, it is about undertaking an economic strategy to maximize the value of our portfolio to the extent any reshaping is done by selling lower RevPAR assets to improve cash flow and balance sheet as well. So to the extent we have any sales of whether it's select service or full-service hotels in the future, we'll be doing so to achieve portfolio performance enhancement.
We'll take our next question from Chris Woronka with Deutsche Bank.
Chris Jon Woronka, Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division - Research Analyst [17]
Maybe to follow-up a little bit on the last question from Michael. I -- you guys have been a little bit different on strategy. You've acquired some 4-star kind of these upper upscale hotels, you haven't sold a lot of those hotels. A lot of your peers are walking away from that segment selectively to the extent maybe they have commodity hotel. What's your kind of outlook for the -- I guess, it's a broader question, but what's your outlook for that kind of 4-star upper upscale segment that maybe attracts you to it more than others?
Well, I think it's more of a -- an effort perhaps by our peers to buy RevPAR and buy the multiple story on that. I think that, for us, what we see is a balance. And we've said this, that the trade-off of RevPAR and initial yield that you're buying as well as value add, all sort of comes together for us I think in the segment combined with the fact that there is a greater number of transaction opportunities from which we can cherry-pick and select. And I think that when we look at achieving a high enough RevPAR and I think, these 4 acquisitions clearly indicate a movement and a higher RevPAR, but not necessarily chasing the highest RevPAR because we feel that the yields on those assets are not conducive to paying a dividend at the level that we have. And on top of it, we believe that many of the assets that we're looking at have more of an opportunity for us to put in place third-party management, namely our affiliate, Remington, to add value to the properties. So combine that with more of those transactions available to select from, we think that, that's smart from a transaction standpoint. Now from an overall utilization, is -- are 4-star hotels, less desirable? No, absolutely not. We're buying upper upscale full-service hotel. So I think that I'm not sure if that's what you're suggesting, but these are high-quality, high-demand hotels and the locations that we're in, I think are top locations given the demand generators that are near these properties. So we're very excited. As to why some of the other groups are selling, I can't really comment on their strategy much more than that.
Yes, that's great. And maybe just a quick supply question. I guess, if you kind of look back on 2018 or maybe even go back to '17 as well, are there any -- as the competitive supply around some of your maybe select service hotels, has that impact been more severe than maybe you initially thought or less severe? And what's your general outlook for supply in '19 and '20?
Yes. I can take that. I mean, we've had -- I think that's a general -- your general thesis on some of the select-service hotels. They're just -- they're more susceptible to new supply growth, and I think that holds true for us. If you look at over the last 12 months, we've absorbed within our markets close to about 2.8%, close to 3%, new supply coming into all of our hotels on a revenue-weighted basis, okay? Going forward that number is coming down closer to 2% over the next 2 years. So a lot of the -- I think we've kind of hit the, hopefully, the high point of some of the supply coming in. And then it varies by market. You can look at a market like Nashville that has had a ton of supply over the last several years, but the demand has always been pretty strong as well. So it's not only just select service, it's -- it is definitely location driven. But we've absorbed a decent amount of supply over the last couple of years, and we're starting to see that taper off just a little bit.
We'll take our next question from Robin Farley, UBS.
Arpine Kocharyan, UBS Investment Bank, Research Division - Director and Analyst [22]
This is Arpine up for Robin. Marriott just mentioned that within group their lower commissions earlier on might have impacted business. Did you see any impact from that at all? And then, just your general views on health of the group business for '19? And what is paced for growth -- pace of growth for this year?
Yes. This is Jeremy. I can take that question. I'll just give you our group pace for 2019. We're up about 300 basis point for our portfolio. So it -- we don't really see a big impact from the change in the commission structure, especially since most of the other major state brands have done the same initiative as well, that you're familiar with. We did see when they did announced that they were going to cut commissions, we saw an acceleration of some of the bookings when it was still under the 10%, but that has kind of normalized now. And so when you look at -- for 2019, we're up 300 basis points, 3% in group pace, and that's representing close to 70% of what we have on the books for the year. Fast forwarding to 2020, group pace is quite a bit stronger, but it's a much lower number in terms of what's on the book, so it becomes a lot less relevant at this point where we are right now.
That's really helpful. And then, one quick follow-up. You mentioned some cautiousness regarding transactions. Does that also mean that for now you will hold off upsizing with Ashford Inc. the returns program?
Well, we continue to look at transactions, it's just that, what we see out there right now doesn't come across as appealing as what we've recently acquired. I think, in terms of any additional tranches of ERP, let's just see, if we round out the remaining ERP, which is approximately another $90 million worth of deals before we engage in those discussions.
Ladies and gentlemen, this will conclude today's question-and-answer session. At this time, I'd like to turn the call back to management for any additional or closing remarks.
Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you next time on our next earnings call. Thank you. Have a good day.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's discussion. We appreciate your participation.
UnitedHealth raises full-year profit outlook after strong second quarter
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Edited Transcript of AMH earnings conference call or presentation 22-Feb-19 4:00pm GMT
Q4 2018 American Homes 4 Rent Earnings Call
AGOURA HILLS Mar 1, 2019 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of American Homes 4 Rent earnings conference call or presentation Friday, February 22, 2019 at 4:00:00pm GMT
* Christopher C. Lau
American Homes 4 Rent - CFO
* David P. Singelyn
American Homes 4 Rent - CEO & Trustee
* John E. Corrigan
American Homes 4 Rent - COO, CIO & Trustee
* Stephanie G. Heim
American Homes 4 Rent - Executive VP of Counsel & Assistant Secretary
* Buck Horne
Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division - SVP of Equity Research
* Douglas Michael Harter
Crédit Suisse AG, Research Division - Director
* Haendel Emmanuel St. Juste
Mizuho Securities USA LLC, Research Division - MD of Americas Research & Senior Equity Research Analyst
* Hardik Goel
Zelman & Associates LLC - VP of Research
* Jade Joseph Rahmani
Keefe, Bruyette, & Woods, Inc., Research Division - Director
* Jason Daniel Green
Evercore ISI Institutional Equities, Research Division - Analyst
* Jeffrey Alan Spector
BofA Merrill Lynch, Research Division - MD and Head of United States REITs
* John Joseph Pawlowski
Green Street Advisors, LLC, Research Division - Analyst
* Michael Bilerman
Citigroup Inc, Research Division - MD and Head of the US Real Estate and Lodging Research
* Nicholas Gregory Joseph
Citigroup Inc, Research Division - VP and Senior Analyst
* Ronald Kamdem
Morgan Stanley, Research Division - Research Associate
* Ryan Christopher Gilbert
BTIG, LLC, Research Division - Analyst
Greetings, and welcome to the American Homes 4 Rent Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Stephanie Heim. Please go ahead.
Stephanie G. Heim, American Homes 4 Rent - Executive VP of Counsel & Assistant Secretary [2]
Good morning. Thank you for joining us for our fourth quarter 2018 earnings conference call. I'm here today with Dave Singelyn, Chief Executive Officer; Jack Corrigan, Chief Operating Officer; and Chris Lau, Chief Financial Officer of American Homes 4 Rent.
At the outset, I need to advise you that this call may include forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this conference call are forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in those statements. These risks and other factors that could adversely affect our business and future results are described in our press releases and in our filings with the SEC.
All forward-looking statements speak only as of today, February 22, 2019. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
A reconciliation to GAAP of the non-GAAP financial measures we are providing on this call is included in our earnings press release. As a note, our operating and financial results, including GAAP and non-GAAP measures, are fully detailed in our earnings release and supplemental information package. You can find these documents as well as SEC reports and the audio webcast replay of this conference call on our webcast at www.americanhomes4rent.com.
With that, I will turn the call over to our CEO, David Singelyn.
David P. Singelyn, American Homes 4 Rent - CEO & Trustee [3]
Thank you, Stephanie. Good morning, and welcome to our fourth quarter 2018 earnings conference call. We started this business more than 7 years ago, with the goal of building the premier national operating platform or the single-family rental business. At the time, we saw a unique combination of factors to accretively grow a national portfolio, institute operational best practices and deliver quality housing to our residents.
Today, while much has changed, our focus remains consistent with our outlook remaining positive. Global uncertainties are a concern for many sectors, but for our business, the demand drivers remain strong and supportive. The overall economy is healthy, with underlying job growth within our markets increasing about 1/3 faster than the national average. Additionally, housing demand continues to outpace new supply in most markets, and renting remains the preferred housing option for many families.
Within this support of macro environment, we continued to refine and improve our world-class operating platform based on 4 cornerstones: operational excellence, consistent and accretive growth, financial flexibility and superior customer service.
Let me touch on each of these cornerstones, which continue to be the principles on which we operate. Firstly, regarding our ongoing optimization of the American Homes 4 Rent operating platform. Today, our platform is the most efficient in the industry, providing the best service at the lowest cost, but not just due to economies of scale. We have designed and implemented management and operational best practices to standardize processes and maximize efficiencies.
We have trained a best-in-class team and created a culture of innovation and success. We have invested in technology that fundamentally changes the way we do business from marketing and leasing, to resident and interaction, to maintenance, and to capital investment. Most importantly, we're not sitting still but engage constantly in the refinements and enhancements as we learn from our experiences in real time. Similar to prior efforts, including Let Yourself In technology, internalizing the deal management process and handling maintenance request with our own personnel, these functions have the impact of improving efficiencies and customer service.
Today as asset managers with the long-term view, we continue to expand our preventative maintenance programs. While this results in higher maintenance and capital expenditures, today it reduces maintenance-related expenditures over the long term compared to a program without a robust preventative maintenance program, while also improving resident satisfaction. Jack will elaborate more on this in a few moments.
Second, we will continue to grow and strengthen our portfolio through accretive investment and prudent asset management. Since our formation, we have grown through a variety of channels, taking advantage of the best market opportunities available at the time: REO and market listings, auctions, portfolio acquisitions and mergers. More recently, we've focused on capital on our National Builder and in-house development programs, as we believe these homes are the best risk-adjusted investment opportunity, while further strengthening our portfolio metrics in terms of age and average expenditures per home.
Our third cornerstone for excellence is our conservative and flexible balance sheet. Since our formation, we have maintained a long-term focus on our capital structure and steadily worked to expand our sources of capital and lower our average cost of capital. I am proud of our investment-grade rating, which earlier this year facilitated our raise of $400 million of unsecured debt with great execution. Today, our balance sheet has greater capacity and flexibility than ever, and we are positioned to take advantage of any opportunities that arise.
And finally, we will continue to focus on delivering a superior customer experience to our residents. The fact is that our homes are their homes, and our residents need to feel at home to enjoy a sense of comfort and connection in their community. In all of our resident interactions, we emphasize convenience and work to ensure successful solutions. Our training and operational strategies are designed to deliver responsive and efficient service. Our customer surveys and external ratings demonstrate our continued improvement in providing superior customer service, but we know we can always do better.
Before I turn the call over to Jack and Chris, I would like to mention that our board of trustees recently revised and updated our executive compensation plan. After a thorough review, the board replaced our legacy comp plan, which largely rewarded management with equity in place of the time of the IPO. At this point, given the maturation of the company, the board felt it was important to implement a more forward-looking structure with performance-based incentives. The full details of the new compensation program will be available when our proxy is filed in March. And Chris will provide details on the impact on G&A later on the call.
On a related note, we expect loans made by affiliates of the company in connection with stock acquired by certain executives prior to the IPO will need to be repaid this year, which may trigger related stock sales. However, management remains committed to alignment of interest with shareholders and expects to retain a substantial ownership stake going forward.
In closing, we are proud of our accomplishments and believe we are well positioned for continued success. Fundamentals remain robust, and our portfolio is highly occupied as we move into our strong leasing season. Our development initiatives are maturing and are a key driver of accretive growth going forward. Finally, our platform has been strengthened, our team is experienced, and we believe we are well positioned to continue to create long-term value for our shareholders.
And now I'll turn over the call to Jack.
John E. Corrigan, American Homes 4 Rent - COO, CIO & Trustee [4]
Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. I'll begin with revenue growth. For the same-home portfolio, during the fourth quarter, we achieved a 94.8% average occupied days percentage, up 80 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2017. And average monthly realized rent was up 3.4%, resulting in quarter-over-quarter same-home core revenues increasing 4.1%.
Full year 2018 same-home core revenues increased 3.9%. We saw sustained strong demand and maintains an average occupied days percentage of 95% during the year, up 40 basis points from the prior year. Average monthly realized rents were up 3.6%. And I am pleased to say that despite some of the leasing challenges that we faced in 2018, our blended rental rate growth was better during each quarter of 2018 than the same quarter in 2017.
As we look ahead to 2019, we believe there is still room for modest occupancy lift. And based on current levels of demand, we do not expect any material shift in our ability to sustain our rental rate growth. Chris will provide more details on our guidance later on the call.
Turning to operating expenses. For the full year 2018, same-home core property operating expenses were up 5.8%. Property taxes, which represents nearly 50% of total expenditures, were up 3.6% for the full year, reflecting the timing of reassessments and higher home values, partially offset by continued successful deals of assessed values.
Across the rest of our operating expense categories, consisting primarily of repair and maintenance, turnover cost and property management cost, we experienced an increase of 8.1% in 2018 over the prior year.
Cost to maintain our homes, consisting of repairs and maintenance, were up 11.2% in 2018. As we've previously discussed, the increases for the year were driven by a variety of factors, including inflation, higher available inventory coming into the year, some weather-related costs and the rollout of our preventative maintenance program.
Now I will provide additional color on our preventative maintenance program. Preventative maintenance has always been a focus for AMH to ensure asset quality and maximized customer satisfaction. However, as portions of our portfolio age, we recognize the need for a more robust preventative maintenance program to ensure long-term efficiency and predictability of expenditures.
Historically, we completed preventative maintenance on turns using third-party vendors. Following the pattern of internalizing operating functions to improve efficiencies, both in terms of cost and disruption to our residents, during 2018, we hired additional in-house technicians to internalize a portion of the preventative maintenance initiatives, most of which are focused on the exterior of our homes.
This new process allows for cataloging of exterior conditions and scheduling exterior maintenance in a more orderly manner. We expect that one of the benefits will be to speed up turn times, as the exterior work can more efficiently be performed on occupied homes.
Looking ahead to 2019, we expect our overall cost to maintain a home to increase by approximately 4% to 5% prior to the impact of our expanded preventative maintenance program. This reflects higher wage, labor and material inflation along with consideration for unknown weather-related events, offset by the benefit of favorable prior year comps.
Incorporating the impact of our expanded preventative maintenance programs, we expect total 2019 cost to maintain to increase between 5.5% and 6.5%, resulting in an average cost to maintain in the $2,200 to $2,300 range. While this program adds incremental costs in the near term, we believe a proactive approach is the right decision and will ultimately result in long-term savings.
On the staffing front, last year as we discussed, we incurred higher turnover at some of our experienced operating and leasing team members. Today, our staffing levels are back to normal. And while turnover may continue to confront us, given our best-in-class teams, we believe we have the depth across our platform, including mobile teams ready to assist in markets hit suddenly by turnover or other disruptions. Further, when not in the field on assignment, these teams will be available to provide training and support to our teams across the platform.
Turning to growth. As Dave mentioned, we are increasing our focus on our built-for-rent programs as the best risk-adjusted opportunity for accretive growth. This initiative adds newer assets that are more in demand and provides better, near- and long-term economics. During the fourth quarter 2018, we added 699 homes for an estimated total investment, including renovations, of a $188 million. 220 of these homes, totaling $59 million, were added through our built-for-rent programs.
For the full year, we added 2,237 homes for an estimated total investment of $583 million, including 663 homes for a $182 million through our built-for-rent programs. We were most active in Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte and Phoenix.
For 2019, our target is to take $300 million to $500 million of homes into inventory, with about 80% expected to be from our built-for-rent pipeline and the rest from our other channels. For the majority of these inventory additions, we expect the first half activity to be the slowest, with additions weighted toward the back half of the year. Further, we expect to invest an additional $200 million to $400 million into our development pipeline that we expect will deliver in future years.
Turning to dispositions. We continue to strategically prune our portfolio where it makes sense for operational reasons. During the fourth quarter, we sold 380 homes for net proceeds of $58 million, bringing the full year 2018 total dispositions to 691 homes for net proceeds of a $105 million.
For 2019, we have identified approximately 2,000 homes, which we intend to sell, both in bulk and on a single-asset basis when the homes are vacant. Our objective is to complete the majority of these sales over the next 24 months, and we anticipate generating approximately $400 million in proceeds, which we intend to recycle into our new investments.
In summary, we did a lot of heavy operational lifting in 2018 and we enter 2019 in a strong position to execute with year-end occupancy up 260 basis points higher than last year. We continue to strengthen our platform and improve efficiency to deliver superior customer service for our residents. So far, in 2019, we have seen positive absorption in the same-home pool and lower-than-anticipated turnover. For January, average occupied days were 95.1%, up 60 basis points from 2018.
Now I will turn the call over to Chris.
Christopher C. Lau, American Homes 4 Rent - CFO [5]
Thanks, Jack. In my comments today, I'll briefly touch on our fourth quarter operating results, update you on our balance sheet and then provide some additional color on the introduction of our 2019 guidance.
Starting off with the summary of our operating results. For the fourth quarter of 2018, we generated net income attributable to common shareholders of $17.6 million or $0.06 per diluted share. This compares to a net loss of $22 million or $0.08 loss per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2017.
Also, for the fourth quarter of 2018, core FFO was $98.5 million or $0.28 per FFO share and unit as compared to $89.4 million or $0.26 per FFO share and unit for the same quarter last year. The increase in core FFO is primarily attributable to continued growth in our net operating income from both our same-home pool of properties as well as cash flow contribution from our acquisition and development activity over the last 12 months.
Adjusted FFO was $86.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 as compared to $79.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2017. On a per share basis, adjusted FFO was $0.25 per FFO share and unit for the fourth quarter of 2018, up 8.7% from $0.23 per FFO share and unit for the fourth quarter of 2017.
Next, I'll provide a quick update on our balance sheet and recent capital markets activity. In November, we completed the previously announced repayment of our $115 million exchangeable senior notes at maturity for total cash consideration of $135.1 million. At year-end 2018, we had $2.8 billion of total debt with a weighted average interest rate of 4.2% and a weighted average term to maturity of 13.4 years. Our $800 million revolving credit facility had a $250 million balance, which was subsequently paid off in January of this year, which I'll discuss in a minute.
At year-end, our net debt-to-adjusted-EBITDA was 5.0x and debt plus preferred shares to adjusted EBITDA was 6.8x. Subsequent to year-end, in January, we completed our second unsecured bond offering, raising $400 million of 4.9% senior notes, which are due in 2029. As I just mentioned, the net proceeds were used in part to repay the $250 million outstanding balance on our revolving credit facility, leaving approximately $150 million of remaining net proceeds to fund a portion of our 2019 acquisitions and development program as well as general corporate purposes.
Going forward, we don't have any debt maturities other than regular principal amortization for the next 3 years, which combined with our strong and growing annual routine cash flow of approximately $250 million and our capital recycling program, we have a very solid foundation on which to grow our platform and portfolio.
Before I get into guidance, I'd like to make one quick note about 2019. Consistent with the rest of the real estate industry, beginning in 2019, we have adopted the new lease accounting standard, which results in a larger proportion of our internal leasing costs now being expensed and included within property management costs rather than capitalized.
If the new methodology had been in place for all of 2018, we would have expensed approximately $8 million more of leasing costs, approximately $6 million of which would have been included in same-home operations. For reference, this would have reduced our 2018 same-home NOI margins by nearly 100 basis points to the 63% range and lowered our 2018 core FFO by approximately $0.02 to $1.04 per FFO share and unit.
As a reminder, this represents merely a change in accounting financial statement line items and has no impact on actual cash expenditures, and importantly, no impact to AFFO. For ease of preference, however, we have provided a reconciliation table on Page 31 of the supplemental, showing what our 2018 FFO metrics would have looked like on a pro forma basis for the new lease accounting standard.
For 2019 NOI margins and core FFO, we expect the lease accounting standard impact to be similar to 2018, and we'll continue to provide you with conformed and comparable prior year metrics.
Finally, I would like to introduce our 2019 guidance, which I'm sure you all have noticed now includes guidance to core FFO, which for 2019 we expect full range from $1.06 to $1.14 per FFO share and unit. At the midpoint of $1.10 per FFO share and unit, this represents a 5.8% growth over our comparable 2018 metric conformed for the new lease accounting standard. Supporting our range are several assumptions that I'll provide you with more color on. For our same-home pool, which will now include about 41,000 properties in 2019, our core revenues growth is expected to be in the range of 3.2% to 4.2%, which has Jack already covered, is based on our expectation for a slight uptick in year-over-year average occupied days and similar year-over-year growth in average monthly realized rent.
Additionally, core property operating expense growth for the 2019 same-home pool is expected to be in the 3.5% to 4.5% range, driven by a 4% to 5% increase in property taxes and a 3% to 4% increase on all of the line items.
As a quick note on property taxes, we are expecting a slightly higher increase in 2019, as we have a larger proportion of multi-year revaluation states resetting property tax values this year, notably North Carolina, South Carolina and Colorado. As always, we plan to actively appeal property tax values where possible and have assumed a conservative level of success in our guidance range, but have less than perfect visibility at this point and will need to update you on this front as we progress throughout the year.
Tying things together, our revenue and expense expectations taken with our capital expenditures outlook, including the preventative maintenance program that Jack discussed, translates into an expectation for same-home core NOI after capital expenditures growth in the range of 2.6% to 3.6%.
Additionally, as Jack mentioned, we expect to invest between $600 million and $800 million of total capital this year and take into inventory between $300 million and $500 million of homes from both our acquisition and development programs, with the balance of this year's capital deployment representing investment into our 2020 pipeline of AMH-developed homes.
Also, from a timing perspective, it's important to note that this year's inventory additions are expected to be much more heavily weighted towards the second half of the year as our AMH Development program continues its ramp-up. We expect to fund to this year's growth through a combination of the remaining proceeds from this January's bond offering, reinvestment of retained cash flow, recycled capital from our disposition program and modest usage of our fully available revolving credit facility as necessary.
And finally, we expect 2019 general and administrative expenses to be in the range of $36.5 million to $38.5 million, reflecting the impact of our new executive compensation program that Dave discussed, along with a modest 1% to 2% increase on all other components of G&A.
And with that, that concludes our prepared remarks. And now we'll open the call to your questions. Operator?
(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Richard Hill with Morgan Stanley.
Ronald Kamdem, Morgan Stanley, Research Division - Research Associate [2]
This is Ron Kamdem on for Richard Hill. First question I have was just on the cost to maintain. I think you've provided some good color and transparency. Just try digging into that a little bit more, you said some of the drivers were higher wages, higher material costs and so forth. Just trying to understand how much is that? Is that a 2019 thing? And how should we think about that post? -- is number one. And then number two, are there opportunities down the line to see that line item potentially start to flatten or go down?
It's really a 2018-2019 extraordinary inflation in wages in general, I think. With unemployment down in the 4% range, it's -- people are having to pay more for their people and then they're going to charge us more. And same thing goes -- material is probably is not as much as the actual cost of the labor, but it's been at right around 5%. And expect in 2019, it'll be up another 5%. And in the future, whether that goes down, I think would also depend on where the economy is and where the unemployment rate and demand for labors are.
Great. And then my follow-up was just going to be going back to the margin. I think you mentioned that the lease accounting change was a 100 basis points headwind to 2018. What's that -- how should we think about margins for 2019 and beyond?
Yes. Ron, this is Chris. Good question. Your number is spot on. That adjusted for the lease accounting standard, our 64% margin range that we reported for 2018 on a comparable basis would be in the 63% range. For purposes of thinking about 2019, you can do the math on our revenue and expense ranges and see that we're thinking about margins in the context of 2019 kind of on a flattish basis in the 63% range or so.
Our next question comes from the line of Nick Joseph with Citi.
Nicholas Gregory Joseph, Citigroup Inc, Research Division - VP and Senior Analyst [7]
As you start to take delivery of newly constructive homes, are there any lessons learned or changes to the specs you're implementing for the next wave of homes that you're building?
Yes. Not a lot, but we have this -- doing things again to reduce maintenance. We make sure that the washer and dryers are on the bottom floor. And so any water damage caused by a wrong hookup is maintained to the bottom floor, same with water heaters. And we make the stairways a little wider, so they're not -- they're easier to move in and out of. And a lot of little things that we put regular doors on walk-in closets instead of the sliding doors, because the sliding doors are constantly having to be maintained. So it's just little things all over the houses.
And then bad debt was higher for the quarter in 2018. What's driving that? And have your leasing underwriting standards changed at all?
John E. Corrigan, American Homes 4 Rent - COO, CIO & Trustee [10]
No, the underwriting standards haven't changed. I think for the full year, and it -- sometimes it gets a little lumpy. But for the full year, we were right around just under 1%, which is kind of historically where we've been.
Christopher C. Lau, American Homes 4 Rent - CFO [11]
Yes. That's exactly right. And I think -- Nick, it's Chris. The way that we think about it is, to us, that bad debt in the range of 1% or less is about kind of what we're expecting. And to Jack's point, it does move around a little bit on a quarter-to-quarter basis. But when you look at the fourth quarter as a percent of rents and fees, we're right on 1%.
Our next question comes from the line of Ryan Gilbert with BTIG.
Ryan Christopher Gilbert, BTIG, LLC, Research Division - Analyst [13]
So just to clarify, the change in the accounting standard impacted 2018 -- or would have impacted 2018 core FFO per share by $0.02. Is it fair to use that $0.02 number for the 2019 guidance range as well? Or do you think the impact could be greater than that?
No. Ryan, it's Chris. As I mentioned, our expectation is that the 2018 impact is pretty representative of what we're expecting for 2019. And keep in mind, our guidance range contemplates or is on the new lease accounting standard basis, so that's already factored in there. And just as a reminder, really this is just accounting line item geography. There is no change to, obviously, actual cash dollars or economics going out the door and no impact to AFFO. So for us, as I'm sure you're aware, we've always taken leasing costs as a deduct to AFFO. And from a lease accounting change standpoint, it's essentially just moving those dollars up a few line items from an FFO perspective. So now it's going to be above the line in NOI and be reflected in core FFO. But again, there's no change to the ultimate bottom line of AFFO.
Okay, understood. And is the change reflected in the same-store expense guidance as well? Or are you going to be restating the 2018 same-store expense numbers?
No. It's all reflected in there. And keep in mind, it will impact dollars and margin. But from a growth percentage basis, so long as you're setting kind of apples-to-apples on both '18 and '19, it's not going to have much a penny of a difference in terms of percentage growth year-over-year. But specifically, it is contemplated in our guidance range. And as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, as we move throughout 2019, we'll make sure that we're providing conformed and comparable prior year metrics, so everyone can be comparing things on an apples-to-apples basis.
Okay, that's great. And then on turnover, I was a little surprised to see it flat on a year-over-year basis. Was -- is that number impacted by the hurricanes that we had in the fall at all? Or were there any markets where you saw an increase in move-outs to homeownership?
That quarter-over-quarter, I think, we were flat. But for the year, we were down in terms of turn. And so far in 2019, we're down as far as turns. So I think that was just -- I don't -- I'm not sure exactly why it flattened out for the quarter, but I expect it will be down again in 2019.
Our next question comes from the line of Jason Green with Evercore.
Jason Daniel Green, Evercore ISI Institutional Equities, Research Division - Analyst [20]
So last year, you had onetime expenses related to cosmetic expenses in the front half of the year to push occupancy as well as some onetime expenses related to inclement weather. So I guess, can you remind us what the dollar value was of each of those separate spends in 2018? And then what's included in the expense guidance for 2019?
Yes. Jason, its Chris. I'll start and trying to keep it just kind of at a slightly higher level. Ballpark numbers for last year, there's probably about, call it, again rounded here at $4 million or so, and of total, what we're kind of thinking is nonrecurring type of items. But keep in mind, probably a good half or so of that was related to weather type of events. We had the freeze at the beginning of last year. And then we had the 2 hurricanes towards the back part of the year. And as we were mentioning all throughout last year, as we're thinking about guidance coming into this year, we're taking a fulsome kind of comprehensive look at total expected kind of expenditures on the year, including some element of likelihood of nonrecurring type events that may occur this year again. So in our guidance ranges, we have contemplated the fact that we could potentially have additional kind of unforeseen weather-type events this year. So I would say the piece that's related to weather from last year, I wouldn't really view that as a favorable comp necessary from a 2018 actuals to 2019 guidance. In the event that we have a calm and mild year in terms of weather, then that's a great discussion that we'd love to be having at the end of the year. And that will turn into a favorable comp, but we don't want to count on it. And again, the objective here is to be comprehensive in our outlook for the year to minimize the number of kind of unforeseen events as we progress throughout the year.
Okay. And then on the real estate taxes and the increase in the multi-year tax states, I guess, can you give us a better sense for how -- a, how dramatic those increases can be? And I guess, b, what percentage of your portfolio is experiencing that? And what percentage experience is that next year if there is any?
Yes, sure. Good question. So again, just as a reminder, we are expecting 4% to 5% on property taxes for this year, 4.5% to the midpoint. In my prepared remarks, I mentioned that the primary drivers of those multi-year revaluation states are North Carolina, South Carolina and Colorado. Also pointed out that we are expecting slightly higher-than-normal increases in Houston this year. Last year on the back of Harvey, essentially there's kind of a relief type measure, Houston stayed flattish and we are expecting that there will be a catch-up there this year. And some of those increases can be pretty dramatic.
There are places in North Carolina that I know many people are aware of where values can be going up 15%-plus because they have not been revalued for several years. I think in one particular county, I don't think they've been revalued for 8 years. So there is kind of a large kind of multi-year catch-up. Thinking about 2020, for the jurisdictions that have multi-year resets going on right now, those will reset this year, and they will then stay constant next year unless the jurisdiction decides to do something with rate, which in off-cycle years is not too common. So there are some pretty meaningful increases in those specific areas that I've mentioned.
For some level of context, that 4.5% -- this is not an exact number, but just to give you some context here. That 4.5%, if you were to normalize it for North Carolina, South Carolina and Colorado, which represent 20% of the portfolio or so and then normalized for Houston, at 4.5% would be more like in the upper 3s, 3.7%, 3.8%, something in that ballpark. So pretty meaningful impact to this year. And then I would just reiterate that as everyone knows, we're very, very active on the appeal front and will do everything that we can to combat the revaluations where there is opportunity. And again, we've considered some level of kind of conservative estimate there in our guidance. But as I mentioned previously, we're going to have to keep everyone posted on that front as we progress throughout the year.
David P. Singelyn, American Homes 4 Rent - CEO & Trustee [24]
Jason, this is Dave. Just on that last point, as you know, the way property taxes work, we get assessments throughout the year. And so we've worked with consultants today to come to the best estimates. But that number is going to get refined as we go through the first half of the year for sure. And we have been very, very successful on appeals. And last year, I believe we came in about 3.5% on our increases overall. So again, it's not the most linear of functions just because of the way the jurisdictions assess, but we're pretty comfortable that we've got it all covered with our guidance this year.
Got it. And then last question from me on the same-store revenue front. You're coming into this year with higher occupancy than last year. You're talking about potentially increasing occupancy during the year. You're talking about average monthly realized rent prior being flat, maybe having some uptick. I guess, thinking about the range in that context, what's really the likelihood that you could possibly hit the bottom of that range? And then, I guess, what's the possibility you could come in above the range?
Well, this is Dave again. By definition, it's probably equal weighted. We think we have a lot of reasons that we can outperform the midpoint. But it's -- there's a lot of things that can happen over the next 12 months. Where we are -- sit today, we are very encouraged about all of the trends, whether it's the move outs being a little bit lower coming in to the quarter with higher occupancy or -- and even the [projectory] of what we've seen in rental rate increases over 2018 over 2017. Each quarter, the blended rates were higher than the prior year. And that trend, I expect, will continue. So there is a lot of encouragement that we could beat those numbers, but I would put equal weighting just because of the unknowns.
Our next question comes from the line of Haendel St. Juste with Mizuho.
Haendel Emmanuel St. Juste, Mizuho Securities USA LLC, Research Division - MD of Americas Research & Senior Equity Research Analyst [28]
So I want to ask an earlier question on margins, but maybe with a slightly different twist. Looking at expense growth, they outpaced revenue growth on an annualized basis last year for the first time ever in your brief 7-year history as a public company, and with same-store expenses looking like the last page revenue again this year and your margins looking flattish year-over-year, I'm curious if perhaps you and the sector entering a new stage in its life cycle and thinking decelerating margins going forward? And then maybe what measures beyond preventative maintenance are you also considering to support or enhance your margins going forward?
Well, this is Jack, Haendel. Yes, I wouldn't -- I think that revenues have been consistently up in the 3.5% to 4% range for the last several years. The expenses, we've had a couple of years of -- a year and plus an estimate of a year of 4% unemployment. And that has caused -- whether it's our labor that we internally have or the people that we hired to do the third-party work has just gone up, that goes down. We had 2 years before that where our expenses were either flat or down. So it's just kind of where the economy is. And the property values has continued to increase, and so that's going to be reflected at some point in the property taxes.
Yes. And I would say just a quick note on that. If you would to normalize property taxes for the -- for some of the numbers I just mentioned a minute ago, down to the higher 3% range, 3.7% to 3.8%, that alone by itself would actually flip margins into a slight expansion position year-over-year.
Okay. Any color on additional measures perhaps you're considering to support margins beyond the preventive maintenance that you've talked about?
Well, we expect to continue to get better at each of the functions. And hopefully, that will result in the expenses being improved. We don't currently plan any expansion of Phase 1 or Phase 2 of our in-house maintenance.
Okay. And then a follow-up here. In addition to this, when you outlined 2,000 homes you expect to fill over the next 24 months, you expect it to receive in the $400 million range. I guess, tactically, are you biased to selling them as the needs arise, serving as a -- maybe an ATM of sorts to fund your development? Or are you also open to selling them in bulk? And maybe as part of that, maybe some comment on what's out there today? Are there portfolio buyers? What type of pricing differential perhaps are you seeing between smaller, more bite-sized deals versus more chunky -- bidding on more chunky disposition or portfolio?
Yes. We're not selling to generate the cash. We're selling in kind of a less dynamic markets where we don't have a significant presence and we don't plan to ever grow there. So those markets, we're going out of them and we selectively -- our property management company comes to us and talks about certain properties that are either hard to lease or the cost to maintain is really highly. And one of the other areas that we tend to sell out of our -- or the comps on septic tanks. It's just we're not -- we don't have enough room to have a good system in place to manage it and the cost to maintain those are significantly higher than the ones on sewer.
But just want to be clear. Should there be a bid that did arise, you are open to selling a bit sooner than perhaps you...
Yes, we have 3 small bulk deals done in the fourth quarter. We're probably selling on average about 50% bulk and 50% as they vacate. And then we put them up on the MLS.
And that's actually a good point. Haendel, it's Chris. Just from a guidance perspective, we're expecting in the ballpark of about $200 million of sales this year. We could be off on that number. And as Jack pointed out, it's difficult to predict the timing of it and it could be lumpy. But for modeling purposes, we don't have an assumption better than just kind of evenly throughout the year. So again, we'll keep you updated on that front. But just to point out, that is one area where there certainly will be kind of timing unpredictability throughout the year.
Our next question comes from the line of Jade Rahmani with KBW.
Jade Joseph Rahmani, Keefe, Bruyette, & Woods, Inc., Research Division - Director [39]
In quite a number of markets, occupancy was down sequentially, which I think is accounted to, at least, my expectations of seasonality. Some of those markets included Atlanta, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Chicago, Nashville. So can you just touch on what's driving that?
Well, I think Nashville is one of the ones that has been a little more troublesome lately. I think Atlanta is still pretty high in occupancy. Nashville, we saw an increase in supply related to competition from other institutional players entering the space in late 2017 and 2018. We see these temporary absorption issues happen before and once they are resolved, the occupancy goes right back up. So we've seen that happen in Tampa, Phoenix and Indianapolis. Indy was one of the markets we discussed, I think last quarter, where we basically had our whole turn teams coached by one of the other institutional players have caused a slowdown in getting homes ready to rent. And so consequently, the occupancy was lower than we would have liked.
How about Jacksonville and Orlando? I mean, I think that housing has been really strong in the Florida market, especially those 2. But it looks like in Orlando, I mean, occupancy dropped almost 200 basis points, and Jacksonville dropped almost a 100 basis points. What's going on there?
I guess, what I'm looking at, it might be a little different.
You're looking at, Jade, the entire portfolio. And in Jacksonville...
I'm looking at Slide 14, same-home result, sequentially -- sequential quarterly metrics, average occupied days.
Same numbers?
Yes. I mean, I guess, 95.7%. It's really hard to keep something at 97%, and it will switch back down and come back up. It's not a reflection of the market cooling off. It's just, that's -- you have a little acceleration and move outs and you're going to end up in the 95% to 96% range for a month or 2. And the other one you've asked, that was Jacksonville. Again, I mean, 95% is strong. There is nothing going on that's negative. It's just a temporary thing. If I look at January of 2019 in Orlando, we're 96.3%; in Jacksonville, 95.8%. So it's already starting to creep up.
Florida the markets in total are all in the 95% range. If you have a few move outs at the end of the month, it's going to have a small impact. None of these markets are markets that we are concerned about demand or occupancy or the ability or the operation. So there's going to be a couple of timing things here and there, but these markets are performing well.
Okay, that's great to hear. Just on the CapEx, what is your same-home guidance implied for the increase in CapEx per home? And what are the drivers? It seems our calculations implied something like a 10% increase.
Yes, and that's kind of in the ballpark. I mean, it's a little bit less than that. I would say that the 2 drivers are, as Jack mentioned in, I think it was in his prepared remarks. Kind of the underlying increase in cost to maintain, whether it's expensed or capitalized, is kind of in the 4% to 5% range. And then the incremental preventative or expanded preventative maintenance program will increase CapEx to kind of call it a 9% range or so. And the reason for that is the majority of our preventative maintenance program is really focused on the exterior of our homes currently, kind of bigger ticket items that have kind of a higher kind of likelihood of capitalization because they really are kind of betterments in extending the useful life of our homes.
Do you expect that given the nature of the age of your homes being younger than, say, peers, that this will be kind of an ongoing theme for several years to come as your CapEx normalizes to where others in the industry are?
No. One of the major things that they're doing is paving the exterior homes. Our average home is, I think, 14 or 15 years old. And we're constantly -- we're adding new homes, and I think our average age should always be newer than theirs. But I don't -- I think, there is one thing, one area where we may see an increase because we haven't hit the midpoint of the useful life yet, and that's possibly roofing.
So Jade, a couple of things. This is Dave. One is we've been doing preventative maintenance from day 1. We've been doing it on the turns and doing it with third parties, a little less efficient than what we are attempting to do now. But like everything else that we've done, when you internalize, you can get better efficiencies and better customer service. We are proactive in the fact that we are doing maintenance today. In the long term, we believe that the cost will be lower as a result of doing maintenance. That doesn't mean that you'll see a decline in maintenance. That means that if we didn't do it, it will be much higher than we do, do it. We have looked at this. We do think it could increase a little bit on the next couple of years. So our maintenance expenditures may be about 1% higher on an annual basis. But I don't see us ever getting -- well, as inflation goes on, we will. But our comparable spend is going to be significantly lower than where our competitors are today, even with increases in the next couple of years in preventative maintenance.
And just lastly, I wanted to ask about the dividend. How much flexibility is there? When, under the REIT rules, would you need to start increasing the dividend to common stockholders?
Yes. So there is some information that is in our financials on this in the tax. But no, we do have net operating losses from the years and years that were generated that are available to reduce taxable income in the future years. Those obviously will burn off over time. We don't give dividend guidance, but I think if you look in the footnotes, you'll get some information that might be useful for you on that. Our board does look at the dividend policy on a quarterly basis. And at this time, we have -- we're not projecting an increase for the next couple of quarters or any time in the immediate future.
Jade, it's Chris. The footnote that Dave is referring is in our 10-K that will be filed a little bit later today.
Our next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Spector with Bank of America.
Jeffrey Alan Spector, BofA Merrill Lynch, Research Division - MD and Head of United States REITs [58]
I wanted to focus on the build program. We've talked about it for a number of years. You've gained a lot of experience there, great balance sheet. How much more aggressive can you get with that program this year, next year? Clearly, you've laid out on the call many of the benefits of that program, and of course, owning the younger homes, not just from a maintenance standpoint but from an experience standpoint.
Yes. We're scheduled to deliver 1,300 to 1,400 homes in 2019, which is substantially higher than what we did in 2018. We kind of are targeting somewhere in the 2,500 to 3,000 home range in 2020, but it's kind of early to really hang your hat on that. We believe we're staffed to be able to do up to 4,000 homes a year right now.
Jeff, it's Dave. Developments, a little bit longer life cycle than going out and buying on MLS. We started the program late last year, nurtured it through this year. We do things on a little bit smaller scale to test it out. We are very excited about our results and have been staffing up in additional markets. And as you heard from Chris, the deliveries this year are back weighted to the back end of the year. But more importantly, there is also an investment into properties that will be delivered next year. And so we will -- the cadence will get a little bit more normalized next year in 2020 on the deliveries as the program matures and the properties work their way through the life cycle of -- from land to completed property.
Great. And then my second question pertains to just the personnel turnover and your discussion on the new compensation program. How deep does that program go into the personnel to try to retain talent at the company?
Yes. So this is Dave again. So I think my comments were really more what you will see in the proxy on senior personnel. The other piece that you are referring to, we did have done a thorough look at compensation. This is a new industry. A couple positions were more high demand than others. We have made adjustments to our compensation. It's in our guidance for next year in the property management. It's not going to -- it's not significant. It's only a couple of tiers that we made -- had to make some significant adjustments or more, I would say, significant, but higher than inflationary adjustments. We are today fully staffed across all of the field. I think we're in better shape today than we ever have. We have additional people in certain roles that can be moved around if necessary. And when not, they are acting as trainers and the quality control in many of our markets. So I think we're in a very, very good place today. And all of the impacts of that are reflected in our guidance.
Our next question comes from the line of John Pawlowski with Green Street Advisors.
John Joseph Pawlowski, Green Street Advisors, LLC, Research Division - Analyst [64]
Dave, could you provide more details if you can on the stock sales from the C suite that you alluded to in '19?
I think it will be -- there'll be a couple of documents that will be filed here coming out that would highlight a lot of that. As you know, the compensation program of the C suite has not been traditional. We are rightsizing that. It may require some of us that have loans that are coming due this year to sell throughout the year 2019. And so it's -- there's -- I'd probably defer to the documents that will be filed over the next weeks or so on that. It's -- at the end of day, let me say one thing, John. At the end of the day, it's not a confidence thing. The individuals, which are primarily Jack and I, will continue to own a very significant position in excess of 1 million shares each.
Yes. And on the disposition plan, if you look across the major markets that constitute a lot of these planned dispositions, how has home prices trended in the last couple of months there in Oklahoma cities and Augusta, Georgias of the world?
Well, the fourth quarter is generally not a quarter where there's a lot of people out looking for houses, so it usually is a little flatter appreciation rate. And I would say that's pretty accurate for what we've seen. I'd have a better answer for you if we get through the spring buying -- home buying season and what we see after that. But one of the reasons we're selling out of those markets is they have not been very dynamic in terms of rent growth or home price appreciation. So the overall return hasn't been that good. And so I'm not expecting to see a huge appreciation coming up in March and April.
John, as the home price appreciation does lag a month or 2, the stronger data. But as Jack said, they have lagged consistently with some of our other properties, and we had seen nothing in the last 2 months to indicate that it's changed that.
Okay. On a seasonally adjusted basis, are home pricing declining on an absolute basis in any pockets of these disposition markets?
Not from what I see.
They just don't have the same potential.
Our next question comes from the line of Douglas Harter with Crédit Suisse.
Douglas Michael Harter, Crédit Suisse AG, Research Division - Director [73]
Can you talk about the underlying trend on demand, specifically kind of how long properties are staying vacant? And kind of the number of applicants per vacant property?
Yes. Again, the fourth quarter and really, the first half of January is typically not our high demand months. And so I want to start with that. But we've seen a lot of demand for our products for those months. I expect the number of applicants will pick up substantially March, April, May, June, July, and that those really our big months of leasing.
Doug, one other thing to add. I mean, overall if you look throughout 2018, for the majority of the months, you will see that our move out activity is better in 2018 than 2017. Our rental rate increases on a blended basis, renewals and new leases, was better in every quarter 2018 over 2017. And the demand is stronger.
The issue is that if you compare sequential quarters, the seasonality does play in. But we are coming into the year better. The January leasing, as Jack indicated in his prepared remarks, was very strong. And so the demand is there. And so there will be a little short-term impact if people -- more people move out at the end of 1 quarter, you may see the impact as we just talked with Jade on Florida. But it's not indicative that we are concerned about the Florida market.
Our next question comes from the line of Hardik Goel with Zelman & Associates.
Hardik Goel, Zelman & Associates LLC - VP of Research [78]
Dave, I just wanted to refer back to something you had in your prepared remarks about doing exterior work on the homes while they were occupied. If you could just give us more color on what other initiatives you guys have in place that will reduce turn times and how far that could really go? If you could just quantify that in terms of days that you're saving.
Yes. This is Jack, I'll take that call. What we had historically done is do the external work on the turn, or in emergency cases, we'd have to do it while it was occupied. But -- and that's really the most expensive way to do that. Because it's one-off, you don't really know that it has to be done until you get there. And then you got to schedule it and it really -- it takes us more time if we see that a home -- and we have now a system of cataloging the condition of the exterior of the home. We see the home may need it a year from now, may need it 2 years from now, it needs it within 6 months. We can kind of bulk that together. And even if we don't have sufficient in-house personnel, the first choice, obviously, is to do it in-house. We can bulk an area up and sub it out to a painting contractor to go do that in that area where we buy a week of time or 2 weeks of time. So it's really trying to get more efficient and not delaying the turn of the house or work that can easily be scheduled while the tenant's in there. The interior work, you really need to do on the turn.
Got it. Could you give us all-in turn times, lease and the start of a new lease in '17, '18? And what you think it will be going forward?
I can give you a '17 and '18. I'll let Jack speak to his expectations going forward. But both years in the lower 50s, 2017, I think, was kind of in the 54-, 55-day range. And then in 2018 -- and keep in mind, these are cash to cash, so totally all-inclusive turn times. And then in 2018, we were more like 52, 53 days.
So incremental improvement, we've -- I think we can get it down to 45 days, but I'm not promising that in 2019.
Our next question comes from the line of Buck Horne with Raymond James.
Buck Horne, Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division - SVP of Equity Research [84]
I want to do a follow-up a little bit on the build-to-rent questions. But just looking at the housing market in general, with the steep slowdown we had in -- particularly with new home sales last year. You had a lot of builders who got caught with too much spec inventory out there. I'm wondering if you had any increased conversations with any builders out there about their spec product. And maybe if there's any new opportunities to buy some more new homes in bulk?
Yes. We definitely have had discussions and have brought some from the builders -- national builders and some of the smaller ones. And in addition, trying to buy vacant developed lots was getting hard and it's getting a lot easier. Even some of the builders are selling their lots to us, so that's going to -- that leads to -- if you don't buy the raw land, then you have to develop the land. It makes it easier and shorter to get that investment into producing income.
Okay, great. And just kind of thinking more hypothetically. So if we do see the economy and/or the housing market experience a more pronounced downturn or a pullback, how do you think about managing the self-development programs through a downturn? Do you -- can you talk about [cutting] down? Do you shut it off? Or do you just keep building straight through?
I think you keep building straight through because we've proven we can rent houses. What I haven't seen anywhere in any large degree is where the production of houses has outpaced new household formation. So I don't think that -- I don't see it happening projected in the future, [even as slight]. I think that our product will be in demand and possibly even more in demand during a downturn.
Buck, this is Dave. I think you're highlighting one of the very large differences between us as a builder and a homebuilder for retail as a builder. We know where we're selling. We don't have the selling cost of a traditional homebuilder. Therefore, our risk profile is very, very different. Jack indicated that the new starts of all housing is less than the household formation. Before we even get to that, we still have a housing shortage in the United States. And so we will be providing and adding housing stock. And the demand for rentals in a downturn in the housing cycle, in the homebuilding cycle is a benefit to us, not a detriment. And so I think we are very, very well positioned. Overlay that, that we still have the demographic changes that we have talked about historically and on prior calls. So the demand for housing is -- for rental housing is going to be very, very strong. And it will get stronger if the economic changes make it more difficult to be going to homeownership. With that said, just one thing you should know. We've talked about the decline in our move out percentage, which is very favorable. A lot of that is driven by a decline in the number of people looking to buy homes as well and move out for that. So those are a couple of our additional facts.
That's really, really helpful. And one, last one if I can right now. Just the kind of the recent economics you've been achieving on the new-build assets, can you quantify a little bit what kind of rent premiums you're achieving or yield on cost? And whether there is any major differences in the economics on the internally developed versus the third-party stuff.
It's probably about a 20% better yield on the stuff that we develop. Premium, I don't think we're charging on average that much of a premium because in some of the developments, we're putting 100 houses up in 10 or 12 months. So we really want to fill them up. We'll look for the premium on the renewals.
Michael Bilerman, Citigroup Inc, Research Division - MD and Head of the US Real Estate and Lodging Research [92]
It's Michael Bilerman here with Nick. Dave or Chris, maybe you could just go over some of the G&A changes year-to-year. So you were running about $37 million in total aggregate G&A. It sounds like just based on the $0.01 variance for 2019, that, that should rise to probably $40.5 million give or take. Senior management, at least disclosed in the proxy in aggregate, is only $4 million from 2017. So maybe can you talk a little bit about how that evolves? And what the big changes are to cause such a big jump into 2019?
This is Dave. As we indicated, the executive management comp is outlined in the proxy. There's a number of others -- the 2 of us for sure in the comps structure that are really comped with equity that was pre-IPO. In that program, we're unwinding we are going to move the comp to more of a market-based comp. If you look at our increase year-over-year, it's about 9% in total in the amount that we expect to see G&A increase. 1% to 2% of that is recurring thing. The balance is these items that we indicated. And as I indicated with John Pawlowski, that information will be more wholesomely described in a proxy and other materials that will be filed here shortly. And so I will defer to those filings for you to get all the details.
Right. So we should expect that the top 5 individuals will go from $4 million in total comp to somewhere in the $6.5 million to $7 million range. Is that the way to think about it?
You're in the right fit cove. Yes.
And then, so -- and I think you mentioned also in terms of the stock, you and Jack both have pledged your 3.1 million shares in units for loans. And so it sounds like you said you'll own just about 1 million shares post. So does that assume then you'll be liquidating each about 2 million shares in units to fund those loan repayments? Just to make sure I got the math right.
Yes. No, the -- Mike, I think the words that were used were, we will own more than 1 million shares without giving clarification as to what the number was. And again, I'll defer to the documents at our file.
And so you -- yes, the pledge of the shares, I guess that's -- what is the loan outstanding relative to the pledge? You've pledged $70 million each of your holdings, but it's to get a loan of how much?
Mike, that's -- so all that detail is in the proxy in the filings that are coming out. I think we should probably wait until those are out.
Michael Bilerman, Citigroup Inc, Research Division - MD and Head of the US Real Estate and Lodging Research [100]
Yes. I'm just trying to figure out what was previous, right, so I'm just saying, the 2017 proxy states that you have pledged 3.1 million shares in units. I'm just wondering how big the loan was. That's all. I'm not asking what gets free band. I'm just trying to understand that the loan is against the shares that you've pledged.
David P. Singelyn, American Homes 4 Rent - CEO & Trustee [101]
Yes. It's different for each of us. I think in aggregate, you're going to see something in the -- probably in the $40 million range, maybe $50 million in aggregate.
Operator [102]
Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. And this does conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.
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Services: IMDb.com
Why isn't the d.o.p. up there with the director and writer at the top of the Cast & Crew page ?
This conversation has been merged. Please reference the main conversation: Title Pages: Show the cinematographer on the main page
Why isn't the d.o.p. up there with the director and writer at the top of the Cast & Crew page ? He/She is way up there in both hierarchy and creative input...
wobelix
Steve Crook, Champion
Why isn’t the designer/Art director?
Because a genuine director is his own production designer, and the art director is the head of department for the construction unit...
What they now often call the production designer, often used to be called the art director. It’s a different name for what is, or sometimes was, the same job. And it often wasn’t the director. Steve
Hi, wobelix. Could you maybe post a screen capture of an IMDb web page for clarification/clarity?
Most people are more interested in the cast than the DOP. The DOP should not be up with the director and writers. They're also less important than the producers. But the DOP and other key creatives (such as the production designer) should be above the other crew. I'm sure they used to be, but now it seems like the sections have been organised in mostly alphabetical order. It looks very strange.
If "DOP", stands for what I think it stands for, then the occupation already is up very high in the IMDb crew display. So, what are y'all complaining about?
I don't know what you're seeing, but to me the cinematography section is the 11th one down, past even the camera department.
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Home Economy CEO of Menzgold, NAM1 arrested in Dubai
CEO of Menzgold, NAM1 arrested in Dubai
CEO of Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah
Nana Appiah Mensah, the Chief Executive Officer of gold dealership company, Menzgold, has been arrested.
He was picked up in Dubai on Saturday by Interpol.
His arrest, according to sources, is not in relation to the scandal in Ghana, in which his company, believed to be a ponzi scheme, is unable to pay back thousands of customers their investments.
The arrest, which was first reported by the Statesman Newspaper’s online portal, is believed to have occurred after a complaint filed by an individual in that country, who claims to have been duped in a gold deal by Mr. Appiah Mensah.
A very close source to NAM1 has confirmed the arrest, but did not give further details.
According to the report, “the Dubai dealer, a national of the United Arab Emirates reported that his company, Horizon Royal Diamonds DMCC, had attempted to close a deal with Appiah Mensah involving 750 kilos of gold with the value of about US$51 million.
But NAM1 is said to be issuing a countersuit alleging that Horizon Royal Diamonds DMCC rather owes Menzgold $28 million.
Back in Ghana, Nana Appiah Mensah has been declared wanted over his company’s inability to pay investors their monies, together with two other directors of the company. An arrest warrant has been secured to have them brought before the law to answer a charge of defrauding by false pretense.
The Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service had also indicated that it has sent notices to all 194-member states of INTERPOL to get him arrested wherever he would be found.
He was recently reported to be in South Africa and Nigeria.
According to the Statesman Newspaper, officials of Ghana’s embassy in the UAE have also been able to visit Appiah Mensah in detention. The contact became possible once Interpol issued an alert.
Officials of EOCO in Ghana are also said to have made contact with NAM1 who is currently being held in police custody.
Credit: Citi News
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Colombia: Venezuela Crumbles Into Uncertainty
While Venezuela is drifting towards mass starvation, government collapse and civil war Colombia has managed to avoid all that and then some. What Colombia did was not easy. It required nearly two decades of effort to reach the point where a peace deal was agreed to and succeeded in disbanding the major leftist rebel group FARC. With that accomplished (as of the end of June) the second largest leftist rebel group (ELN, a third the size of FARC) now wants to talk peace as well. All these leftist rebels got going in the 1960s but by the 1990s were rapidly losing popular support. It got worse after 2000 because by then the drug gangs and leftist rebels had merged in many parts of the country, and the war was increasingly about money, not ideology. A new reform government took advantage of this and organized an offensive that sharply reduced crime and gave the economy a chance to become the most successful in South America.
Meanwhile there is still a problem with drug gangs. In 2016, for second year in a row cocaine production in Colombia increased. Production in 2015 was 649 tons and that increased to 866 tons last year. It’s not just 146,000 hectares (52 percent land) being planted with coca in 2016 but more of these plants are older and now more productive. Despite this growth the peace deal with FARC has changed the situation considerably. The FARC peace agreement has successfully disarmed nearly 7,000 FARC members who spent much of their time protecting drug operations. This has given the security forces an opportunity to go after the cocaine trade and that plan is on schedule to destroy more than half the coca crop this year and shut down a similar number of drug gang facilities.
In addition, as part of the peace deal FARC agreed to work with the government to convert half the 96,000 hectares (240,000 acres) from coca leaf to legitimate crops by the end of 2018. That would eliminate 150-200 tons a year of cocaine production (depending on the productivity of the cropland coca is removed from). This substitution program is possible because FARC controlled the farmers who produced this crop. This will force production to move to adjacent countries but that takes time, is expensive and does not always work out well for the drug gangs. While Peru, Bolivia and Colombia are best suited for coca cultivation, Colombia is the easiest place to produce large quantities of coca leaf. Moving production to Peru and Bolivia is difficult because the coca plant in those countries grows at a higher altitude, and the political and cultural conditions are very different.
The Mess Next Door
The regional crises has shifted from Colombia to neighboring Venezuela which is turning into a socialist dictatorship with the help of Cuban advisors and diehard, discredited, unelected and now outlaw Venezuelan socialist politicians. After a decade of corruption and inept government most Venezuelans are done with ideas of radical populist president Hugo Chavez. This former soldier got elected in 1999 and died in March 2013. Along the way Chavez trashed the Venezuelan economy and democracy. His handpicked replacement, Nicolas Maduro, was even worse. The old Chavez dream of Venezuela becoming a socialist dictatorship supported by oil revenue eventually faded along with cash reserves and the national credit rating. While most Venezuelans want reconstruction (under a non-socialist government) rather than civil war the leftists still in the government are desperately trying to hang on, even at the risk of further chaos and suffering. Currently the president Maduro is using a Supreme Court filled with recent pro-government appointees to try and outlaw democracy and grant him dictatorial power. This is opposed by most Venezuelans and comes to a head on July 30th when an illegal vote (certain to be rigged by the government) to select 545 Maduro supporters for Constituent Assembly that will revise the constitution and make Maduro a legal dictator. So far the armed forces leaders are openly backing Maduro on this and it appears no compromise is possible. The opposition is planning on forming an opposition government which means civil war. The opposition organized a national vote of their own on July 18th and an overwhelming number of voters opposed the Maduro plans.
What Maduro is trying to do is clearly illegal but he feels the need to change the current constitution to become a “legal” dictator. According to the current constitution only the parliament (currently an anti-Maduro national assembly) can perform a lot of key functions. But the Supreme Court has ruled that the current parliament is illegal. The parliament describes these actions as a coup and most Venezuelans agree with that. Unlike most other democracy constitutions Venezuela does not allow the legislature to impeach (remove) the president. Rather the Supreme Court, whose members are appointed by the president (and approved by the legislature) do so. But before Maduro’s party lost control of the legislature in the 2015 elections he appointed enough loyal (to Maduro) new judges to the Supreme Court to block any efforts to remove him from power. The legislature and the government have not been able to agree on a compromise solution for any of this and Venezuelans are faced with continued economic collapse if they submit to a Maduro dictatorship or support a civil war. It is unclear how many Venezuelans would fight Maduro and Maduro and his followers are betting on being able to suppress whatever armed opposition develops. But Maduro has few economic options when it comes to feeding the population and is facing economic sanctions by the United States (the largest customer for Venezuelan oil and largest supplier of all sorts of essentials). Sanctions include bans on obtaining equipment and technology for reviving the Venezuelan oil industry. But at the moment Maduro does not have the cash to pay for that and credit is all used up as well. The UN and all of the neighbors condemn Maduro but the international community is unwilling to do much more than that. Some South American nations have expressed a willingness to join in on sanctions. In part that is because it is no secret that millions of sick and hungry Venezuelans are preparing to flee to neighboring countries, mainly Colombia and Brazil. Many will find they cannot get to and across the border because of health or financial problems, but this demonstrates how desperate the situation has become.
Something In Common
One thing Colombia and Venezuela have in common is extraordinarily high murder rates. Central America and South America have long had the highest murder rates (currently 5-12 times higher than in the United States) in the world. Latin America, with about eight percent of the global population accounts for a third of murders worldwide. It is worst in four countries (Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia) which together account for a quarter of all the murders worldwide each year.
Some areas, especially cities, are much worse. The murder rate of Caracas, the capital and largest city in Venezuela has been over 200 killed per year per 100,000 population. That’s eight times the 24 per 100,000 rate in the capital of neighboring Colombia. This makes Caracas more violent than the worst hit (by drug gang violence) Mexican border city (Ciudad Juárez) where the murder rate has been nearly as large but has since declined. The national rate for Venezuela grew as the economic problems got worse. Since 2013 (when the oil price began dropping) the rate has increased 30 percent. By way of comparison the murder rate in Venezuela is nearly twenty times the rate in the U.S. The Western hemisphere in general has an average rate of about 8 per 100,000 people a year. That in turn is much higher than in Europe, where it is about 3-4. Middle Eastern nations have rates of between 5 and 10 per 100,000.
Venezuela stopped releasing inflation and murder rates in 2016 but there were other ways to collect data. Thus it’s no surprise that the Venezuelan capital (Caracas) has become the murder capital of the world with 130 murders per year per 100,000 population. On a list of ten cities in the world with the worst rates four are in Venezuela (ranging from 72 to 84). All ten cities are in Latin America, with number two being Acapulco Mexico with 113 per 100,000, mostly because of drug gangs. In Venezuela the reasons are mainly economic and political.
Full article: Colombia: Venezuela Crumbles Into Uncertainty (StrategyPage)
This entry was posted in Axis Powers, Brazil, Civil Unrest, Cuba, Economic Crisis, Government Corruption, Latin America, Mexico, Politics, South America, Venezuela and tagged Bolivia, Brazil, Caracas, Central America, Ciudad Juarez, Civil Unrest, cocaine, Colombia, Colombia: Venezuela Crumbles Into Uncertainty, Cuba, drug cartels, drug gangs, Economic Crisis, ELN, FARC, Hugo Chavez, Latin America, Mexico, murder rates, Nicolas Maduro, Peru, politics, South America, Venezuela. Bookmark the permalink.
Pentagon Furious After Turkey Leaks U.S. Base Locations In Syria: “Hard Not To See This As A F-You”
Germany Blocks Defense Exports To Turkey In “Worst Crisis Since World War II”
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Certifying Certificates in the Post-Snowden Age
Glenn Fleishman September 7, 2013
The news that the NSA used various methods to weaken cryptographic algorithms and protocols has caused more of a shock than I would have thought. It's been widely believed that the NSA had already broken some methods of encryption (whether a specific kind or in the right circumstances) through discovering flaws, new math, or computation power. But I suppose the intentional insertion of weakness as well as working with some companies to install backdoors or flaws is what stuns. By making supposedly secure methods weaker, the NSA endangers us all, including America's personal, corporate, and government interests. But there's one thing you can do about secure Web connections.
Bruce Schneier, who has seen the Snowden-provided documents on which the ProPublica/Guardian/New York Times report was based, has a set of recommendations for what security methods to employ. He skips one nascent effort, though, that's easy for non-technical users to add: the Perspectives Project. This Carnegie-Mellon University project lets users consult a central database of Web site digital certificates and be informed when any of those certificates change, and manually report attacks.
Right now, the Web of trust (sorry) for digital certificates works thusly. If you want to use the industry-standard SSL/TLS protocol for establishing a secure connection between client software and a server — in this case, a Web site, but also for email and many other purposes — the Web site in question has to obtain a certificate. It creates a certificate using a proprietary or public key-generation process (the private ones may now be suspect), and then has it digitally signed by a certificate authority (CA), which is either a company you work with directly, or with which a Web hosting company interacts on your behalf. (To sign a certificate, the plain-text contents are hashed, which distills the messages through a one-way encryption algorithm into a relatively short run of characters. That hash is encrypted with the CA's private key.)
A globally acceptable CA has a certificate installed in every operating system and in many browsers that contains cryptographic information that can be used to validate any certificate that it signs. When your browser connects to a Web server, the server sends its certificate. The browser checks its own list or that of the operating system to ensure that the signature is valid. If so, the server's public key is used to encrypt a session key, a symmetrical one that both sides use. (The plain text of the certificate is hashed by the browser or OS, while its signature is decrypted using the built-in public key for the CA. If the two hashes match, great; if not, the text has been modified. If the certificate isn't signed by the CA, the key won't decrypt it, too, resulting in a failure.)
There are several hundred CAs in the world, and they have a huge number of reseller relationships which gives access to countless more groups. There is no enforceable standard by which CAs issue certificates (guidelines, yes), nor the security provisions to restrict them. This means it's trivial for a party that has access to a CA to issue certificates for domains for which they have no business doing so. These certificates are perfectly valid, but they are illegitimate. This is what happened when DigiNotar's system was compromised. DigiNotar certificates were issued for a bunch of major Internet services.
Because of the lack of global recordkeeping and standards, it's impossible to know whether a given certificate from a CA is valid. Google has promoted the notion of pinning, which they built into Chrome and use for some of their domains. A browser that supports pinning only allows a certificate for listed domains to be signed by specific CAs. If a certificate is presented signed by another CA, the browser sounds the alarm. (There's a proposal called DANE that would allow every domain owner to list the valid certificate signatures for each subdomain in DNS records, but it requires the long-in-progress DNSSEC security upgrade to be further along to work at any scale.)
Without pinning, however, it's possible for an exploited CA or one that is under the control of a government (suspected in some countries) to issue a certificate for any Web site it chooses and use it without detection. Sorry for the bold. This can then be paired with DNS poisoning, in which domain-name queries for an ISP, business, or entire country (cf., Iran et al.) are provided with a false response that directs a browser (or email client or what have you) to a different IP address. An illegitimate but valid certificate coupled with DNS poisoning allows seamless interception of supposedly secure data. It is likely happening all the time.
It's also critical to note that the NSA revelation includes successful attacks against SSL/TLS connections. There's not enough detail to know what it means. Does the NSA have a way to generate CA-signed certs? Has it figured out how to break the basic protocol? Is there a weakness in one or more server software packages that allows an https connection to be intercepted and decrypted? Hard to know.
Amazon.com's notary report. A few notary servers are currently not working.
So where does Perspectives come in? Perspectives is a global watchdog. The idea is to have a set of notary servers that continuously retrieve certificates used by publicly available secure Web sites and store the associated signature. That total number of servers is a smaller number than one might imagine: it numbers in the millions.
These notary servers may be run by the CMU project (as they are in this early stage), or by governments, non-profits, individuals, or companies. One could choose which notaries one trusted. But the servers need to be spread out across countries and networks in case a site's certificate or DNS is compromised only in some locations.
Ruh, roh!
Whenever your browser equipped with Perspectives visits a secure site, it consults several notary servers to see if most of them agree that the signature you received matches the one they have seen most regularly. If not, you're warned. It could be that only your part of the world is getting an illegitimate certificate, or that, worldwide, it all changed at once. (Sites change certificates regularly, but not constantly. Further, some sites are configured in a fashion that different valid certificates might be used in different locations or change even for connections from the same part of the world. But it's still a small set of exceptions and can be encompassed in this model.)
Github's servers fed out a different certificate to one notary for several days; see the purple line.
At the moment, the only real way to use Perspectives is by installing a Firefox add-on, which was just updated in late August. The plug-in lets you optionally show the results of notary checks and report an attack if you believe you're seeing something funky. (Some of the notary servers aren't responding as I write this post, which produces false negatives, and I hope it will be fixed soon.)
The use of notaries provides a useful check against governments, ideologues, and malicious individuals who want to insert themselves into our day-to-day lives. Each notary's identity is digitally signed and preloaded in whatever software you would use. The connections are secure to the notaries. The potential to distribute notaries worldwide subverts any one country or bad actor's ability to go unnoticed.
Perspectives and a few similar ideas have been kicking around for a few years. The NSA revelation make it sensible to add Perspectives if you use Firefox. It certainly doesn't solve all possible vectors, but it does effectively shut down one used by parties with many different motivations.
InSecurity Tagsnsa, snowden, ssl/tls, https, perspectives, notaries, certificate authorities
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Bonnies To Host George Mason; Schmidt One Win From Record
George Mason 25 31 56
St. Bonaventure 42 37 79
Pts: Justin Kier - 21
Reb: Jarred Reuter - 7
Ast: Otis Livingston ii - 3
Pts: Kyle Lofton - 32
Game Preview: George Mason
Game Date: Sunday, Feb. 17
St. Bonaventure 10-14 (6-5) | George Mason 15-10 (9-3)
Bonnies Stats | Mason Stats
TV: Stadium Network
Bonnies GameDay Central
Stadium Affiliates List (Where to Watch)
St. Bonaventure hosts George Mason on Sunday afternoon in the second meeting this season between the teams. The Bonnies are tied for seventh place in the Atlantic 10 at 6-5 while the Patriots are third with a mark of 9-3.
• Mark Schmidt is tied with Larry Weise for St. Bonaventure's all-time coaching record at 202 wins. Weise's mark has stood since 1973. Schmidt is 202-166 in his 12th season.
• The Bonnies, now 5-5 in the Reilly Center, hope to end a streak of three straight home losses.
• St. Bonaventure has three freshmen in its starting lineup, the only Atlantic 10 to have that many freshmen starters. They combine to average 27.2 points per game.
• An A-10 Rookie of the Year candidate, Kyle Lofton is second among all Atlantic 10 freshmen in scoring (14.2 ppg) and leads all A-10 players in minutes. Freshman center Osun Osunniyi, who had 22 rebounds at Duquesne Feb. 6, leads the A-10 in blocks (2.3 per game). Both players have won A-10 Rookie of the Week honors once.
• Multi-talented senior guard/forward Courtney Stockard ranks sixth in the A-10 in scoring, 10th in rebounding and 15th in assists. He has played three different positions (2-3-4) this season.
• Seniors LaDarien Griffin and Nelson Kaputo stepped up in the win at Saint Joseph's. Griffin had 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Kaputo was 3-6 from long range for nine points.
St. Bonaventure vs. George Mason: The Last Meeting
Jan. 6, 2019 at Eagle Bank Arena: Patriots 68, Bonnies 53
George Mason pulled away late in the second half to defeat St. Bonaventure. Playing their first Atlantic 10 Conference game of the season, the Bonnies had a 44-42 lead after a layup by Kyle Lofton with 10:08 remaining. That capped a 14-2 run that started when St. Bonaventure had faced a 40-30 deficit. George Mason, however, answered, draining three straight three-pointers. The Patriots made five of seven shots in a 14-0 surge that ended with the home team in front 56-44 with 5:34 left. St. Bonaventure was 11-28 from the field in the second half and 23-59 (39 percent) for the game. The Bonnies got off to a solid start, leading 9-2 early. They held the lead all the way until the 5:33 mark when the Patriots' all-conference senior guard Otis Livingston tied the score at 19. The game was tied at 25 in the closing seconds when Mason's Ian Boyd drained a three-pointer that gave the home team a 28-25 lead at halftime. In addition to its poor shooting day, St. Bonaventure was outrebounded 44-24 and only attempted three free throws. Lofton led the Bonnies with 17 points and six assists, while senior Courtney Stockard added 16 points and a team-high five rebounds.
George Mason Notes
• The Patriots ground out an overtime win over UMass on Wednesday, as Otis Livingston scored 21 points to lead five players in double figures. That win kept Mason in third place in the Atlantic 10 with a 9-3 mark. George Mason's only A-10 losses were at VCU, at Richmond and at home to Davidson. Led by Livingston and coach Dave Paulsen, the Patriots have already matched their best A-10 win total in school history.
• Livingston averages 13.9 points per game and his backcourt partner, Justin Kier, is at 14.2 points and 6.6 rebounds. Javon Greene (10.0 ppg), Jordan Miller (9.4), Jarred Reuter (8.9) and Ian Boyd (6.2) are all capable scorers.
This will be the 10th meeting in the series that St. Bonaventure leads 6-3. Since George Mason joined the A-10, the Bonnies have won five of the six meetings. Mason's win in January was their first against St. Bonaventure since the Patriots joined the A-10.
Schmidt Tied For Bona Coaching Wins Record
Mark Schmidt needs one more win to become St. Bonaventure's all-time coaching wins leader. He is currently tied with Larry Weise at 202 wins. Weise's mark has stood since 1973. Now in his 12th season, Schmidt is the third-longest tenured coach in the Atlantic 10 behind Saint Joseph's Phil Martelli (now in his 23rd season) and Richmond's Chris Mooney (13th) and he also is the third winningest active coach in terms of conference wins with 101 behind Martelli and Mooney.
Stockard Shows Versatility
Senior Courtney Stockard underwent a knee procedure which caused him to miss the first six games this season. The Bonnies went 1-5 over those six games. But he has returned and is again showing why he is one of the most versatile, talented players in the A-10. Capable of playing -- and guarding -- at least three positions, Stockard is now sixth in the A-10 in scoring (16.3), 10th in rebounding (6,8) and 15th in assists (3.2). He has 16 games in double figure scoring topped by a career high 36 points against Dayton. Last year, Stockard averaged 13.3 points. Over Stockard's 49 career games in the lineup, the Bonnies are 32-17.
Home / Road Flip
The Reilly Center provides a tremendous home court advantage but the Bonnies' record at home and on the road since January has flipped around from normal expectations. The Bonnies have dropped their last three home games, although those teams have a combined Atlantic 10 record of 26-7: Dayton (8-3), Davidson (9-2) and VCU (9-2). Conversely, St. Bonaventure has won four straight road games (UMass, Richmond, Duquesne and Saint Joseph's).
The Future - And The Present
St. Bonaventure is the only Atlantic 10 team with three freshmen in its starting lineup. Osun Osunniyi, Kyle Lofton and Dominick Welch are combining to average 27.2 points, 12.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game, which is the highest production of any group of freshmen in the A-10. All three players went to a year of prep school before enrolling at St. Bonaventure.
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The History of Virtual Reality
Home/Blog/The History of Virtual Reality
Everyone knows that XR is a big buzzword in the tech world but the concept of Virtual Reality is a relatively old one.
If you want to be really cheeky about it, you could argue that panoramic painting dating back to the 19th century could be considered an alternate reality. Because the paintings went around 360 degrees, the viewer is immersed in the image making it feel like they are in different surroundings.
Alright alright, that’s a bit of a stretch. So we’ll start our story with the Stereoscope which was invented in 1838. Charles Wheatstone conducted research that demonstrated that when each eye is presented with a two-dimensional image, the human brain processes it as a singular three-dimensional image. Stereoscopic images of popular tourist destinations were presented side by side and viewed through the Stereoscope to create the illusion of immersion. These same principals are used today in cell-phone mounted VR displays like Google Cardboard.
Next came the Sensorama which was patented in 1962. Cinematographer Morton Heilig invented an arcade-style theatre that played interactive movies that stimulated all of the senses. His goal was to make the viewer feel like they were in the movie through the use of stereoscopic 3-D images, stereo speakers, fans, and a vibrating chair. He also invented the Telesphere Mask which was the first head-mounted VR gear.
Inspired by the Telesphere Mask, Ivan Sutherland invented the ultimate head-mounted device ominously named ‘The Sword of Damocles’ in 1968. This device was connected to a computer rather than a camera which, in turn, made it too heavy to fit on a person’s head and had to be hung from the ceiling. The headset displayed three-dimensional computer generated graphics that changed perspective when the user turned their head. The images could also be superimposed on top of a real life background, making it the first augmented reality.
In the 1970s, Myron Krueger was the first to use the term “artificial reality.” Virtual Reality, the term we all know and love, was later used by computer scientist Jaron Lanier in the 1980s. Lanier also worked on early versions of VR gear such as sense cloves and goggles.
In 1991, Sega was one of the first companies to launch a VR headset designed for the public; designed for their 16-bit Genesis game console. Unfortunately, the headset was never released to the public because Sega feared their VR was too good, and people would accidentally end up hurting themselves in the real world. Other sources tell us that there were too many technical problems with the headset to be fit for public release. We’ll let you decide which is true.
In 1995 Nintendo tried their hand at VR with the Nintendo Virtual Boy. While consumers were excited for the portability of this product, its awkward fit and unimpressive graphics quickly made this headset a flop.
Today, smartphone technology and the leap in graphics quality has once again made consumers excited about VR. Google cardboard and other D.I.Y. VR headsets allows anyone with a smartphone (which nowadays is almost everyone) to participate in the phenomenon. Engineers are even starting to make special VR treadmills so that you don’t run into the living room wall or smack the T.V. with your controller (it happens…trust us.) With 5G being introduced in the next year and a growing gaming culture, the future of XR is just beginning.
(For a look into some of the buzzwords referenced in this blog, check out our 2018 Tech Buzzwords blog here.)
By Abbi Minessale|2019-01-05T14:31:06+00:00August 23rd, 2018|Blog|0 Comments
About the Author: Abbi Minessale
Tech Fails we all Thought Would Succeed
ClueCon 10 year challenge
Edge: Before and After
3D Printing: Then and Now
API in our DNA: Over a decade of innovation in the telecom space.
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One More Response to Sam Harris October 9, 2007 Guest Contributor
One More Response to Sam Harris
This one coming via email from Paul Kurtz, chair of the Council for Secular Humanism and the “father of the secular humanist movement”:
May I then disagree with [Harris’] subsequent “seditious proposal” that we should not call ourselves “secularists,” “humanists,” “secular humanists,” “naturalists,” “skeptics,” etc. “We should go under the radar for the rest of our lives,” he advises. We should be “responsible people who destroy bad ideas wherever we find them.”
That sounds lofty but in my view it is counter-productive.
Why is that? Because, Kurtz says, we “need to organize with other like-minded individuals.”
Should we operate only as single individuals who may get published or speak on street corners with little influence or clout? Come on, Sam, that is unrealistic; for almost no one would be heard and we would be lone voices in the city canyons, unheard and drowned out by the powerful media. We say that democracy best functions when the citizens of a country unite under whatever label they choose to achieve what they deem to be worthy goals.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think Harris ever suggested not banding together at all. The issue was with what we called ourselves.
Speaking of which, Kurtz also gives props to Margaret Downey who organized the Atheist Alliance International convention:
I note with interest that Margaret [Downey] organized a blockbuster atheist conference in the Washington, D.C. area to which she brought many of the “new atheists.” We congratulate her on her energy.
Despite his kudos, he doesn’t mention Margaret’s group’s name, “Atheist Alliance International,” at all in his message.
It just seems like a strange omission from the head of an organization notorious for not cooperating with other atheist/Humanist groups.
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
Maybe I'll Finally Win the Monopoly Game
October 9, 2007 Any Tech-Savvy People Out There?
"Technically, they're all the same."
"I think what bombcat91 was demonstrating was that the RWNJs who say love it or ..."
"Something similar happened to my dog, a Great Pyrenees mix.Once I was watching my sister's ..."
"That is good. since I have to tell you that America just isn't into you ..."
Cozmo the Magician
Mriana
I agree with Paul Kurtz and he says what I’ve been trying to say, only far far better.
Felicia Gilljam
On the contrary, if he’s head of an uncooperative organisation it makes perfect sense to give as little information about other organisations as possible.
I would be interested to hear more about this though. Council for Secular Humanism is notorious for not cooperating? Never heard of this!
Jamie G.
[quote]It just seems like a strange omission from the head of an organization notorious for not cooperating with other atheist/Humanist groups.[/quote]
I agree. As a member of the CSH I wondered why they don’t join up with the SCA or get more involved with other groups. I wonder the same thing about American Atheists. It would be nice to see all these groups either disband individually and meld together, especially since they basically have all the same goals. Or at least pool some of their resources for a coalition like the SCA.
I have a lot of respect for Paul Kurtz, but he won’t be around forever. And with him gone, what will be the driving force for CFI/CSH?
writerdd
I agree with Sam Harris for the most part. I don’t go about calling myself an atheist or wearing atheist t-shirts. I don’t like labels, for the most part. But I am not shy about talking about what I (don’t) believe in and if it comes down to it, I’ll admit to being an atheist (or any of the other secularist labels that people might ask “does that mean you’re an ….?”) and I do have the scarlet A on my blog page.
DebGod
A few responses:
1) I also got the impression that Harris suggests we not band together, under any of those titles. Perhaps I’m off…
2) I think Kurtz left out AAI’s name from the article without thinking. Margaret Downey is really the public face for that group now. If Michael Shermer’s group organized an event, I think most freethinkers and skeptics I know would say Shermer’s event, rather than a Skeptic Society or Skeptic Magazine event, because he the public face of the org.
I think part of my perspective, however, is informed by the fact that I’ve worked with her for years in the Philadelphia freethought scene–she does so much for the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia that it’s basically known as “Margaret’s group.” Paul Kurtz and Margaret also have a long history–heck, she made the curtains in his office!–so his referring the conference as “her” event is a testament to her ability to be a pulic figure and to organize the best conference AAI has ever had. And damn, what a conference! Wish I were there.
3) The Council for Secular Humanism has a history of cooperating with other national organizations, as in the Godless Americans March in 2002. But they generally don’t do “godless” or “atheism” events; they’re focused much more on the positive ideas of secular humanism (scientific naturalism, the “good life,” etc.). By the same token, they don’t generally do religious humanism events because they’re explicitly not a religious organzation. So, in the big picture, that does limit what atheist/Humanist groups and events they cooperate with/on.
4) CFI, the umbrella organization under which the Council, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI, formerly CSICOP), and several other organizations fall, is in a unique position when it comes to working with other orgs. For example, CFI shouldn’t willy-nilly sponsor an atheist event, because CSI isn’t an atheist organization. No other organization really does quite what CFI does–we got our skeptic people, the humanists too, a naturalism research project, the campus outreach program (which draws on the resources of all the others), scholarly examination of the historical Jesus, an Office of Public Poilicy that promotes science and secularism in DC, etc. I could go on…
Debbie Goddard
Field Organizer
Center for Inquiry
Kelly Gorski
This is a tough call (duh). Tradition tells us that “movements” work when there is a banner, a label. Harris seems to want to overstep that and just “get to the end result.” I’m not sure it’s that easy, but it is ideal.
While I despise appeals to tradition, tradition does tell us that “movements” work when the collective is self-identified under a label. Conversely, labels cultivate stereotypes. So, maybe we need a new label?
Well, wait, let me back up.
A theist I know wrote an entry about “The New Atheism” here. While I disagree with him in almost every way (and he’s since refused to post my comments after calling me arrogant and a plethora of other names), we have to take into consideration that perhaps we are being viewed as arrogant and what we can do to stop it (if anything). Is this coming from the label? Or is it nothing more than a defense used by many people to construct a straw man to fight said stereotypes because they’re threatened or feel disrespected? (The term “atheist” seems to carry the most horrifying of stereotypes. Oh well, at least I don’t have horns anymore.)
I really disliked the demeanor of the crowd after Harris’s speech. I found Harris’s speech to be something to challenge us, not something we already knew. I found Dawkins’ speech, although what he said was excellent, lacking any new content. So why did Dawkins get the standing ovation while Harris got polite applause? Harris certainly got applause from my living room.
Put simply: faith and reason are mutually exclusive; the former needs to be eradicated, and the latter needs to be utilized more. What label can be drawn from that premise? What can we do to change this? I think Harris is really struggling with that. I am, too. We all are.
I don’t know. Maybe a label is a necessary evil.
Well I see that you covered up for Kurtz who mistakenly referred to Margaret Downey as Margaret Downing. As he doesn’t even know Margaret’s correct name, why draw some idiotic conclusion for yourself as to why he didn’t name her organization — Kurtz probably doesn’t even know the name of her organization either!
Kurtz agrees with Harris that we not call ourselves “atheists”, but then strongly disagrees with Harris that we also not call ourselves Humanists, etc. Kurtz is obviously a hypocritical jerk!!!
And you state:
Well Harris suggests we not call ourselves anything. And I do indeed take away from his speech that he thinks we not band together (“cult-like” as he calls it), but yet somehow work as individuals toward a common goal. That’s plain unrealistic stupidity!!
But just how would people of particular like minds come together without some identifying label? Get real! You and Harris may dislike labels all you want, but you’re both being totally nonsensical in this regard.
Debbie– Thanks for responding and clarifying some of those thoughts.
Jack– Yes, in the original press release, Margaret Downey’s last name was misspelled. However, CSH sent out another release shortly after correcting that mistake. I wasn’t trying to cover anything up. Just wanted to get to the heart of what Kurtz was saying with the error being a distraction.
By the same token, they don’t generally do religious humanism events because they’re explicitly not a religious organzation.
I don’t know, Deb, I think the Jesus Seminar and the Jesus Project are some what Religious Humanism. I’m not so sure I would consider Robert Price a Secular Humanist either because he is not only a part of CFI, but also Weststar, The Jesus Seminar and the Jesus Project. Not only that he attends the Episcopal Church. I would consider him more of Religious Humanist, then a Secular Humanist, but like me (most of the time), he just drops all the adjectives. Just a thought, but I really don’t see that it matters, just something to make note of for CFI does cover Biblical Criticism too.
I don’t think that a historical scientific examination of Jesus’s existence as “religious humanism,” just as Koranic criticism isn’t religious humanism. There are religious and non-reliigous people of all stripes involved with the Jesus Project; the same was true of the Jesus Seminar. Something like Ethical Culture would count as religious humanism. And the American Humanist Association had its tax exemption as a religious organization, so they counted too. That’s the kind of thing I was referring to.
Council for Secular Humanism argues that secular humanism is not a religion, while groups like David Noebel’s (the name of which I’ve forgotten 🙂 ) insist that it is. They say that secular humanism is the official religion of, say, public schools, and so other religions should be given time, blah blah blah. It’s because of such assertions and attacks that Council is really cautious about allying with religious organizations and religious humanists, I think.
No, scientific examination of religious texts isn’t religious humanism, but it does help to have people like Robert Price and Joseph Hoffmann on such projects. I do think Hoffmann is approaching the Jesus Project in a better manner than the Jesus Seminar was approached. Then again, I could be wrong. I approached it the way he wants to do it and look at me… I’m a Humanist who talks like Bob about the historical Jesus, “If there ever was a historical Jesus, he’s too buried in myth to find him”. 😆 I’m terrible.
Back on topic sort of… There is also a lot of misunderstanding about Humanism too. I did a paper on the Humanist Manifestos recently. The good thing is, I got flack from only a few people, which isn’t too bad. If we don’t use these words and try to explain them, there will be continued misunderstanding and misconception about them. To me, saying “I’m nothing”, when asked what we are religiously, is like saying, “I’m nobody and I stand for nothing.” But to say, “I’m a Humanist” (or atheist, agnostic, Secularist, Skeptic, Freethinker, etc) says something even if we do have to explain ourselves.
I don’t think he is being hypocritical, Jack. It may mean something like Bob said in his book, “The Reason Driven Life”. I would have to get my book for an exact quote. Basically he said something like atheist, to him, only said what he does not believe, but Humanist says a lot more about him. It maybe that “atheist” does not have as much meaning to Paul, as to who he is or what he is like the word, as the word “Humanist” does. Humanism isn’t JUST about being an atheist, but it’s a whole lot more. It’s a philosophy of life to some, a way of life to others- different things to different people.
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Christian Bigot Kicked Out of School Gets Legal Victory, But It’s Not Over Yet July 5, 2019 Hemant Mehta
Christian Bigot Kicked Out of School Gets Legal Victory, But It’s Not Over Yet
In 2016, Felix Ngole was kicked out of his social work program at the University of Sheffield in England because he expressed sympathy for the bigoted views espoused by Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis. He had written about her controversy on Facebook, adding that “the Bible and God identify homosexuality as a sin,” and that “same-sex marriage is a sin whether we like it or not. It is God’s words and man’s sentiments would not change His words.”
To be clear: He didn’t say he would treat potential gay clients the same way. There was no evidence he had acted on those conservative Christian views. But he expressed them. And for that, he was kicked out of his program. Specifically, the school said he lacked “standards of professional conduct” and that his views would “damage public confidence in the profession.”
Ngole later sued the school, but in 2017, the deputy high court judge, Rowena Collins Rice, said the decision to kick him out was fair.
[The school’s lawyers] said Ngole had been studying for a professional qualification and university bosses had to consider his “fitness to practise”.
Ngole said he planned to appeal further, adding: “I am very disappointed by this ruling, which supports the university’s decision to bar me from my chosen career because of my Biblical views on sexual ethics.
“I intend to appeal this decision, which clearly intends to restrict me from expressing my Christian faith in public.”
You can see how this was playing out: The school felt they needed to weed out social workers who didn’t meet ethical standards. Ngole said the bigotry was justified because something something Jesus. (Checkmate, atheists.)
He did appeal the decision — and on Wednesday, to the surprise of many people, he won. The earlier decision was overturned by a three-judge panel that said the university needed to reconsider his case.
At his appeal hearing, judges ruled in his favour, stating that “the disciplinary proceedings were flawed and unfair” and said Mr Ngole’s case should be heard by another [Fitness to Practice] hearing.
It’s important to understand what the appellate court’s judges said because many of the articles summarizing this story don’t do that.
The judges said the school’s position was flawed from the very beginning because they said any disapproval of marriage equality was a deal-breaker. In other words, they were policing opinions, and that, the judges said, violated professional standards. (It’s one thing to make racist or sexually explicit comments, but an opinion on same-sex marriage wasn’t breaking the rules.)
But it’s not like Ngole got away with everything. The judges didn’t buy his “freedom of expression” argument, where he could say anything without repercussion.They also said — and this is important — that religion didn’t offer immunity for those beliefs. So if you say something racist, and then cite a holy book, you don’t get a free pass.
So the judges ruled that both sides came at this issue the wrong way. The school was too extreme. Ngole was too misinformed.
They also said the school needed to make it more clear to Ngole why his actions were problematic:
At no stage, did the University make it clear to the Appellant that it was the manner and language in which he had expressed his views that was the real problem, and in particular that his use of Biblical terms such as ‘wicked’ and ‘abomination’ was liable to be understood by many users of social services as extreme and offensive. Further, at no stage did the University discuss or give the Appellant any guidance as to how he might more appropriately express his religious views in a public forum, or make it clear that his theological views about homosexuality were no bar to his practising as a social worker, provided those views did not affect his work or mean he would or could discriminate.
That last bit is key. The judges said the university failed to make it clear that students were entitled to their religious beliefs, as long as they didn’t affect patient care, and that there were professional limitations to how he could express his beliefs through social media.
By not exploring that middle ground, the judges said the school failed to do its job.
So the judges are now asking the school to give Ngole another shot — to have a hearing where all the facts are laid out in front of both sides. If the school still feels Ngole will not treat gay people — or gay couples — with the care they deserve, they will still have every right to kick him out of the program.
That, to me, is a perfectly sensible approach to this issue.
I don’t care what Ngole believes. I care about what he does.
I felt the same way about the Trinity Western University controversy in Canada where an anti-gay Christian law school couldn’t receive accreditation simply on the basis of its beliefs. My thinking there was that as long as the students met their professional obligations (like defending same sex rights if they worked for the government), they were entitled to hold whatever views they wanted, abhorrent as they may be.
Some Christian legal groups are celebrating Ngole’s victory, but it’s premature. Either the school will be able to kick him out legally — or Ngole will have to agree that he will work with same-sex couples without letting his beliefs dictate the care they receive. Neither option gives him the right to be a Christian bigot and get his social work license.
In the meantime, Ngole has made it clear how he feels about LGBTQ people in general. I wouldn’t want to work with him or hire him. He may have a right to a professional license, but he doesn’t have a right to get a job anywhere he wants, and this whole ordeal should be a giant red flag to any organization that hires social workers and may come across his application one day.
(Screenshot via YouTube)
Catholics Walk Out of Sermon After Priest Urges Forgiveness for Sexual Predators
July 5, 2019 Enjoy This Video of TX Workers Removing the “JESUS Welcomes You to Hawkins” Sign
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Category Archives: AV/IRV
The 2018 Ranked Choice Voting Election in Maine’s Congressional District No. 2
Posted on 31/12/2018 by Manuel Alvarez-Rivera
Maine’s recent congressional election – the first-ever federal poll in the U.S. to be held under Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) – took place against a backdrop of continuing opposition by the Republican Party to the recently introduced voting system. State GOP leaders not only called on their voters to rank just the party’s candidates, but sought as well a court ruling to prevent RCV from determining the outcome of the U.S. House of Representatives election in Congressional District No. 2, and subsequently a recount of all ballots in the election (later called off while it was underway).
Nonetheless, a significant minority of Republican voters in the district ignored party exhortations and indicated valid rankings for at least two candidates, while substantial minorities of non-GOP voters only gave a first preference to Democratic or independent candidates. At the same time, the number of voters who engaged in bullet voting – indicating a preference for just one candidate – constituted a minority of the voting electorate in CD-2. This is notable when one considers that in both the 2016 and 2018 RCV referendums held in Maine, a majority of voters in CD-2 rejected the switch from plurality voting.
Moreover, a federal judge first allowed the RCV count to take place, and subsequently issued a ruling upholding the constitutionality of the election in the congressional district, where incumbent Republican Bruce Poliquin obtained the largest number of first preference votes, but fell short of an absolute majority; he then lost the second and final round of counting to Democratic challenger Jared Golden, who prevailed with 142,440 votes (50.6%) to Poliquin’s 138,931 (49.4%) following the elimination of independent candidates Tiffany Bond and Will Hoar, whose second preferences were transferred to the remaining two candidates. The First Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently denied Congressman Poliquin’s motion for an injunction to prevent Golden from being declared the winner, and Poliquin – who wanted the election outcome determined solely by the first preference count, or by a re-run under plurality voting – dropped the lawsuit challenging RCV shortly thereafter.
The following table, based on a tally of 296,077 cast vote records in CD-2, published by Maine’s Secretary of State on his official website, shows the distribution of first preference votes for each candidate with at least a valid second preference for another candidate (“Preference”), or no second and successive preferences for a different candidate (“Bullet”); the “Other” category groups ballots with valid first preferences, but no valid second or successive preferences due to either overvoting on the second preference ranking – indicating a second preference for more than one candidate – or undervoting i.e. leaving blank more than one consecutive ranking beyond first preference while indicating preferences for other candidates, or a combination of both. State of Maine 2018 Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) Election Data has frequency counts for all 1,564 tallied preference combinations in the CD-2 election.
Bond (I) 4,333 26.2 12,106 73.1 113 0.7 16,552
Golden (D) 51,423 39.0 79,551 60.3 1,039 0.8 132,013
Hoar (I) 2,120 30.8 4,713 68.6 42 0.6 6,875
Poliquin (R) 89,228 66.5 43,955 32.8 1,001 0.7 134,184
Total 147,104 50.8 140,325 48.5 2,195 0.7 289,624
There were 435 overvotes and 6,018 undervotes in the first preference count; the latter figure – which included 5,711 ballots undervoted on all available rankings – is noticeably lower than the reported number of blank ballots in the plurality-based 2014 and 2016 U.S. House elections in CD-2, and it is also lower than the number of blank ballots in the district for this year’s gubernatorial election in Maine, which was also carried out by plurality voting. At the very least, these numbers indicate the introduction of RCV did not bring about an increase in the number of blank or invalid ballots. In addition, the very low number of overvotes strongly suggests there was little voter confusion about the new electoral system.
Of the 147,104 voters in CD-2 who indicated valid preferences for just one candidate, 137,971 indicated only a first preference, including 315 cases with a second preference but no first preference, while an additional 9,133 voters indicated a valid first preference (or a valid second preference without a first preference), as well as additional preferences, but only for a specific candidate; a large majority of these – 7,706 voters – gave all five preference rankings to their chosen candidate. Under Maine’s RCV counting rules, these votes had the same effect as having indicated only a first preference for the selected candidate. However, while ballots with valid preferences for just a single candidate constitute a narrow majority of the valid first preference votes, they represent a minority of 49.7% of all votes cast in the district. By contrast, in both the 2016 and 2018 RCV referendums, CD-2 reported a majority of votes against RCV both among the valid and overall vote totals. Moreover, even among voters casting valid first preferences, those who indicated a first preference only were a minority of 47.6%.
Bullet voting for the two major-party candidates had no impact in the CD-2 election outcome, since their first preferences were tallied in the second count as preferences for continuing candidates. However, the 6,453 ballots with valid rankings for either Bond only or Hoar only made up the bulk of the 8,253 non-transferable votes in the second count (most of the remaining 1,800 votes in that group had valid rankings for both Bond and Hoar, but not for the other two candidates). It has been suggested that these voters were confused as to which candidates would make it to the second count, but a far more likely explanation is that they simply wished to support the independent candidates only and didn’t care for either of the two major-party candidates. In fact, their behavior is functionally the same as that of voters in traditional runoff systems casting a blank or invalid ballot in the runoff election, after the candidates they originally supported were eliminated in the first round of voting. Moreover, Bond and Hoar first preference voters had the lowest proportion of bullet voting, at just under two out of seven ballots cast for them.
The overall distribution of bullet votes and preference votes in the CD-2 election closely resembles the 2016 and 2018 RCV referendum outcomes, and it would seem this is not entirely a coincidence: in towns with more than ten voters, there were moderately strong correlations between bullet voting in 2018 and opposition to RCV in 2016 (0.62), as well as between preference votes in 2018 and support for the new electoral system two years earlier (0.64); when the correlations were calculated on the basis of valid votes only, both stood at 0.63.
In conclusion, neither all GOP voters in CD-2 ranked Congressman Poliquin only (nearly a third cast a preference vote) nor did all Golden voters (or those backing independent candidates Bond and Hoar) rank other candidates – this was the case with almost three out of eight non-Poliquin voters. There was little evidence of voter confusion, and casting a preference vote or a bullet vote may have been indicative of ongoing support for RCV or opposition to it, respectively; if so, the election outcome did not point to growing opposition to the newly adopted electoral system. Just as important, these findings should leave no doubt that RCV is not a clear-cut partisan issue.
Posted in AMERICAN POLITICAL REFORM, AV/IRV, US House | 5 Comments
Is AV just FPTP on steroids?
In debates over electoral systems in Canada, one often hears, from otherwise pro-reform people, that a shift to the alternative vote would be worse than the status quo. It is easy to understand why this view might be held. The alternative vote (AV), also known as instant runoff (IRV), keeps the single-seat districts of a system like Canada’s current first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, but replaces the plurality election rule in each district with a ranked-ballot and a counting procedure aimed at producing a majority winner. (Plurality winners are still possible if, unlike in Australia, ranking all candidates is not mandatory. The point is that pluralities of first or sole-preference votes are not sufficient.)
Of course, the claim that AV would be FPTP on steroids implies that, were Canada to switch to AV, the current tendency towards inflated majorities for a party favored by less than half the voters would be even more intensified. This is plausible, inasmuch as AV should favor a center-positioned party. A noteworthy feature of the Canadian party system is the dominance, most of the time, by a centrist party. This is unusual in comparison with most other FPTP systems, notably the UK (I highly recommend Richard Johnston’s fascinating book on the topic). The party in question, the Liberal Party, would pick up many second preferences, mainly from the leftist New Democratic Party (NDP) and so, according to the “steroids” thesis, it would thus win many more seats than it does now. It might even become a “permanent majority”, able to win a parliamentary majority even if it is second in (first-preference) votes to the Conservatives (who thus win the majority or at least plurality of seats under FPTP). The “steroids” claim further implies that the NDP would win many fewer seats, and thus Canada would end up with more of a two-party system rather than the multiparty system it has under FPTP.
There is a strong plausibility to this claim. We can look to the UK, where AV was considered in a referendum. Simulations at the time showed that the Liberal Democrats would stand to benefit rather nicely from a change to AV. While the LibDems are a third party, heavily punished by the FPTP electoral system even when they have had 20% or so of the votes, what they have in common with the Canadian Liberals is their centrist placement. Thus, perhaps we have an iron law of AV: the centrist party gains in seats, whether or not it is already one of the two largest parties. An important caveat applies here: with the LibDems having fallen in support since their coalition with the Conservatives (2010-15), the assumptions they would gain from AV probably no longer apply.
On the other hand, we have the case of the Australian House of Representatives, which is elected by AV. There, a two-party system is even stronger in national politics than in the FPTP case of the UK, and far more so than in Canada. (When I say “two party” I am counting the Coalition as a party because it mostly operates as such in parliament and its distinct component parties seldom compete against one another in districts.)
It is not as if Australia has never had a center-positioned party. The Australian Democrats, for example, reached as high as 11.3% of the first-preference votes in 1990, but managed exactly zero seats (in what was then a 148-seat chamber). Thus being centrist is insufficient to gain from AV.
Nonetheless, the combination of centrism and largeness does imply that Canada’s Liberals would be richly rewarded by a change to AV. Or at least it seems that Justin Trudeau thought so. His campaign promised 2015 would be the last election under FPTP. While he did not say what would replace it, he’s previously said he likes a “ranked ballot” and he pulled the plug on an electoral-reform process when it was veering dangerously towards proportional representation.
Still, there are reasons to be somewhat skeptical, at least of the generalization of the Australian two-party experience. The reasons for my caution against the “steroids” view are two-fold: (1) the overlooked role of assembly size; (2) the ability of parties and voters to adapt.
Assembly size is the most important predictor of the size of the largest party, disproportionality, and the effective number of seat-winning parties in countries that use single-seat districts. (It is likely relatively less important when there are two rounds of voting, as in France, but still likely the most important factor.) This is a key conclusion of Votes from Seats. It is thus important not to overlook the fact that Australia has an assembly size considerably smaller than Canada’s. In the book, Taagepera and I show that Australia’s effective number of seat-winning parties and size of largest parliamentary party are almost what we would expect from its assembly size, even if FPTP were used. (See also this earlier post and its comment thread; how close it is to expectation depends on how we count what a “party” is.) The data are calculated over the 1949-2011 period, and the effective number of parties has been just 1.10 times the expectation from the Seat Product Model (which is based only on assembly size when single-seat districts are used). Similarly, the average largest party has been 93% of the expected size (averaging 50.5% of seats when we would expect 54.2%).
Thus we do not need to invoke the alleged steroids aspect of AV to understand the dominance of two parties in Australia. But this does not mean it would not make a difference in Canada. Consider that the current effective number of parties and size of the largest party in that country, averaged over a similar period, are also just about what we should expect. The multipartism, including periodic minority governments, that characterize Canada are not surprising, when you use the Seat Product Model (SPM). They are surprising only if you think district magnitude is all that matters, and that FPTP is FPTP. But it isn’t! An electoral system using the FPTP electoral rule with an assembly of more than 300 seats is a different, and more multiparty-favoring, electoral system than one with 150 seats. Replace “FPTP” in that sentence with “AV” and it is surely still true.
But what about the centrist party, the Canadian Liberals? Surely AV would work differently in this context, and the Liberals would be a much more advantaged party. Right? Maybe. If so, then it would mean that the SPM would be overridden, at least partially, in Canada, and the largest party would be bigger than expected, for the assembly size, while the effective number of parties would be lower than expected. Of course, that’s possible! The SPM is devised for “simple” systems. AV is not simple, as we define that term. Maybe the SPM is just “lucky” that the one country to have used AV for a long time has the expected party system; or it is lucky that country has the “correct” assembly size to sustain two-party dominance. (Australia is the Lucky Country, after all, so if the SPM is going to get lucky somewhere, it might as well be Australia.)
This is where that other factor comes in. While no one has a crystal ball, I am going to go with the next best thing. I am going to say that the SPM is reliable enough that we can predict that, were Canada to have AV, it would have an effective number of parties around 2.6 and a largest party with around 48% of seats. In other words, just about where it has been for quite some time (adjusting for the House size having been a bit smaller in the past than it is now). Note these are averages, over many elections. Any one election might deviate–in either direction. I won’t claim that a first election using AV would not be really good for the Liberals! I am doubting that would be a new equilibrium. (Similarly, back in 2016 I said my inclination would not be to predict the effective number of parties to go down under AV.)
Parties and voters have a way of adapting to rules. Yes the Liberals are centrist, and yes the Conservatives are mostly alone on the right of the spectrum (albeit not quite as much now, heading into 2019, as in recent years). But that need not be an immutable fact of Canadian politics. Under AV, the Liberals might move leftward to attract NDP second preferences, the NDP center-ward to attract Liberal and even Conservative second preferences, the Conservatives also towards the center. It would be a different game! The Greens and other parties might be more viable in some districts than is currently the case, but also potentially less viable in others where they might win a plurality, but struggle to get lower ranked preferences. The point is, it could be fluid, and there is no reason to believe scenarios that have the largest party increasing in size (and being almost always the Liberals), and correspondingly the effective number of parties falling. With 338 or so districts, likely there would remain room for several parties, and periodic minority governments (and alternations between leading parties), just as the SPM predicts for a country with that assembly size and single-seat districts.
As I have noted before, it is the UK that is the surprising case. Its largest party tends to be far too large for that huge assembly (currently 650 seats), and its effective number of seat-winning parties is “too low”. Maybe it needs AV to realize its full potential, given that the simulations there showed the third party benefitting (at least when it was larger than it’s been in the two most recent elections).
Bottom line: I do not buy the “FPTP on steroids” characterization of AV. I can understand were it comes from, given the presence in Canada of a large centrist party. I just do not believe Liberal dominance would become entrenched. The large assembly and the diversity of the country’s politics (including its federal structure) both work against that.
I agree with electoral reformers that PR would be better for Canada than AV. I also happen to think it would be better for the Liberals! But would AV be worse than FPTP? Likely, it would not be as different as the “steroids” claim implies.
Posted in Australia, AV/IRV, Canada, Plurality (FPTP, etc.), U.K., Votes from Seats | Tagged AV, Electoral reform in Canada, FPTP | 20 Comments
IRV-MMP
What do folks think of this idea, proposed by Mark Roth in the thread on open-list MMP?
I do not believe it is entirely necessary to have two votes; though I don’t oppose the idea. Essentially I would have IRV-MMP. An instant runoff determines which candidate wins the local seat in each district. First preferences determine who receives the at-large seats. If a voter wants the Greens, but knows that they won’t win locally, a vote 1 Greens 2 Labor has the effect of supporting a winnable local candidate and helping the Greens secure seats in general. I would allow transfers to second (or lower) ranked parties should the first choice(s) of parties not reach a threshold. I would also be inclined to allow a List Party that isn’t running a candidate to appear on the ballot anyway; probably marked to indicate that the List cannot win the local seat. The candidates who lose in their local race would be selected to fill the at-large seats based on their personal vote counts. List order would only be a tiebreaker.
As I say at the other thread in a comment of my own, I like it much better than the “AV+” idea of having two votes (one ranked-choice for local candidates and the other for list).
Posted in AV/IRV, ELECTORAL SYSTEMS & REFORM, Mixed-member, STV | 43 Comments
Partisan dynamics of support for AV
Maine voters will decide in November whether to use the alternative vote (AV) for all single-winner elections. (I’m not sure about the congressional-district Electoral College votes.) Why does AV have traction, and if it wins, how long can we expect it to last? I assume we need to examine the incentives of party factions. I assume these factions are fighting over a law-making veto point, which is identical to the office itself in a single-winner context. (You can see how I use these assumptions in a working paper on STV, which is the PR cousin of AV.)
Democrats (two factions: regular and insurgent) are the main AV supporters right now. Why? The current Republican governor won with 48 percent of votes in a three-way race. The independent candidate was probably an insurgent Democrat. The 8 percent of voters who supported him probably would have voted for the regular Democrat in his absence. Regular Democrats like AV right now because it would move insurgent Democratic ballots into their column.
Why didn’t regular Democrats like AV before now? As Marsha Mercer notes for Pew:
State legislators in Maine first introduced ranked-choice voting legislation in 2001, when the governor was an independent. They did again when the governor was a Democrat, and once more during the term of current Republican Gov. Paul LePage.
When the bills went nowhere, the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting-Maine collected 73,000 signatures for the citizen ballot initiative.
Regular Democrats didn’t like AV in 2010 because the insurgent Democrat led the regular Democrat, implying regular Democratic votes would have transferred to an insurgent Democrat, thereby creating an insurgent Democratic governor.
Why didn’t regular Democrats like AV in 2006? One answer is that they had the governor they wanted, so the “transaction costs” of a referendum campaign outweighed the benefits. But that’s a lazy explanation. Another answer is that AV would have helped elect a right-of-center — ugh, I hate that word — candidate. The lead insurgent Democrat was Barbara Merrill. She has a history of supporting corporations. So a rerun of the 2006 election under AV would have created a Republican governor.
Why didn’t regular Democrats like AV in 2002, just after the first introduction of AV legislation? Again, they had the Democrat they wanted, but that’s the lazy route. A glance at the vote totals shows the Green Party held the balance. “Ahh, the Green Party people would have ranked the Democrat second,” you say. That is not certain. The Green Party of the early 2000s had a reputation for “centrism” (that word again), meaning their votes may well have transferred to a Republican in an AV rerun of 2002. (I’ll let the Green Party explain its preferences.)
So regular Democrats like AV right now because they expect it to help them, not the insurgents. The minute AV elects an insurgent Democrat, regular Democrats will collude with Republicans to repeal AV.
Other lessons:
Greens are not a genuine party of the left, at least not entirely. Many once came from the pain caucus.
You like AV and want to keep it? Don’t run an insurgent Democrat who beats the regular Democrat in first-choice votes. (If you do, the regular will lose, their votes will transfer to the insurgent, Maine will have an insurgent Democratic governor, and the regular Democrats will be angry.)
Are you an insurgent Democrat? Take over the Democratic Party (becoming a regular). That way you can win with AV if the former regulars run their own candidate, win with or without AV if they do not, and scream them down if they run their own candidate
Posted in AMERICAN POLITICAL REFORM, AV/IRV, ELECTORAL SYSTEMS & REFORM | 20 Comments
Does AV mean higher or lower effective number of parties?
There may be a conventional wisdom among people who study comparative electoral systems that the Alternative Vote (also known as Instant Runoff or Majority Preferential) tends to suppress the effective number of parties, compared to plurality (First Past the Post, or FPTP). Or maybe it is just me, but I will admit to having such a notion. After all, Australia is a pretty strict two-party system, isn’t it?
The correct way to approach the question of whether AV means a higher or lower effective number of parties (N) than FPTP is to ask: What we should expect N to be, given the country’s seat product?
As explained by Taagepera (2007) and further elaborated and tested by Li and Shugart (2016), the seat product is a country’s mean district magnitude (M), times its assembly size (S). The Seat Product Model says that the effective number of seat-winning parties (Ns) tends to be the sixth root of this product: Ns=(MS)1/6.
The model is logical, not a mere product of empirical regression work, although regression tests confirm it almost precisely (Li and Shugart, 2016).
When all districts elect just one member, thus M=1, the Seat Product is just the assembly size, S. Hence we take the sixth root of S to get an expectation for Ns. What if we do this for Australia’s House of Representatives? We get an expectation of 2.31.
The actual Ns for Australia’s elections since 1984, the year S was increased from 125 to 148 (subsequently it has increased to 150, a minor change) is… 2.53. However, I believe that figure (I am using Gallagher’s Election Indices) treats the Coalition parties as one in elections before 2010.
In the two most recent elections, Ns has been 2.92 and 3.23. The notes to Gallagher’s Election Indices indicate that for these elections the Liberal Party, the Nationals, and the Liberal National Party of Queensland are treated as separate parties. In my opinion they should be so treated, although I suppose one could have a debate about that.
The actual mean is thus above the expectation for a hypothetical FPTP of the same size assembly. If we use the figure of 2.53, it is obviously not much higher than 2.31 (the ratio is 1.10). However, if we consider the value, at least in recent elections, to be around 3.0, it is about 1.30 times the expectation value.
Contrast this with the UK, where elections of the same period (1987-2010) have a mean Ns=2.30. This is just what we expect for FPTP, right? Not much over 2.0. Not so fast! The UK has a huge assembly, and with S=650 (aprpox., as it varies over the period), we should expect Ns=2.94. The UK actually has one of the more under-fragmented assemblies, according to the Seat Product Model, with this recent-period average being only 78% of expectation.
So how about Canada, where AV is one of the potential reforms being considered? Over a similar period (1984-2011) we get Ns=2.63. With S around 300 during this time, we should get Ns=2.59. So Canada pretty much nails the expectation of the model.
So, should we expect Ns to go down if Canada were to adopt AV, as (what I characterized as) the conventional wisdom would have it? Or should we expect it to go up?
I would not be inclined to say ‘down’. I will just leave it at that for now.
Posted in Australia, AV/IRV, Canada, ELECTORAL SYSTEMS & REFORM, Plurality (FPTP, etc.) | 16 Comments
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A to Z of Photography: Alvarez-Bravo and Aperture
by Mike Smith
We all like to collate, classify, and generally create order out of the world. It's no different with photography and so over the next 26 articles I'll be covering an A to Z of photography.
In starting an A to Z of photography, I'm reminded of an episode of Blackadder (Ink and Incapability) in which he meets Samuel Johnson who is compiling a dictionary of the English language. Blackadder responds to the introduction by saying "I hope you will not object if I also offer the Doctor my most enthusiastic contrafibularities", at which point the doctor begins writing furiously.
Almost by definition, we can't know everything and so it would be foolish to even attempt to write a comprehensive encyclopedia. Rather the expectation at the beginning is more pragmatic. This A to Z is to dip in to with your morning coffee, perhaps learn something new, and maybe add to it through the comments. I'll touch upon two broad areas: content and creation. The first will generally cover photographers, books, photos, and places. The second will look at manufacturers, gear, and techniques. There is no specific rationale for a subject's inclusion other than I think it's interesting!
The idea is that this A to Z becomes more than the sum of its parts. Yes, it is intended that you can read through, consume, absorb, and hopefully learn something new. However what makes Fstoppers a tour de force is the readers and the community they form. So please interact with, and add to, the words that are written here. Agree, dissent, amplify, suggest something new, or indeed write something extensive yourself. I want to learn as much from the readers as I do writing this.
So let's start the first of these 26 articles with…
Manuel Alvarez-Bravo (1902-2002)
There is one adage in life that it's not what you know, but who you know. There are a ton of photographers out there who have a lucky break and base their entire career on it (remember Zappa the Krappa?). It's when you are both talented and know people that the magic happens, which it did for Manuel Alvarez Bravo (galleries of his images).
Born and raised in Mexico City, Alvarez-Bravo trained as an artist before turning to photography. By 1930 he replaced Tina Modotti at the magazine Mexican Folkways. That would be the same Tina Modotti who worked closely with, and was a lover of, one Edward Weston. During this period he took pictures, of the artists Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco. He also met, and exhibited with, Paul Strand, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Walker Evans. One of their contemporaries, he formed part of the North American upwelling of photographic talent that stormed their way to the post-war world of the 1950s.
Now known for his nudes, Good Reputation Sleeping (NSFW) is a delicate example of long forgotten hot summers. Yet simmering beneath the surface is an artist exploring the same trope that Weston, Steiglitz, and Strand did — the female nude. Whilst seemingly innocent, there is a visual discontinuity that plays against the traditional Mexican architecture and athletic subject. That discontinuity is the clothing. To me, the bandages are reminiscent of Milla Jovovich's Jean-Paul Gaultier clad character, Leeloo, in the FIfth Element. Through contemporary western eyes, the bondage-clad inferences make the image sexualized. Whether that was the intent of Alvarez-Bravo remains to be seen, however the lack of underwear reveals her pubic hair which would have been provocative. By being both partially clad and distant, the image is able to keep asking questions without being explicit. Perhaps those that followed, such as Nobuyoshi Araki and Robert Mapplethorpe, simply continued the same exploration, yet their images continue to shock to this day.
Alvarez-Bravo was, of course, known for more than just nudes, depicting cultural change after the Mexican revolution. His work naturally touched upon the theme of identity and the impact of historical cultural themes, such as myth, literature, and music. In some senses he might be thought of as a street photographer as he covered the everyday interactions of people. He tried to transcend stereotypes whilst being artistic, yet at the same time not descending into the picturesque. Whilst not political he didn't shy away from difficult subjects, including aspects of death such as "Striking Worker, Assassinated" and "Portrait of the Eternal".
The camera is ultimately a simple device. This is exemplified through the pinhole design of the camera obscura where all you need is a hole through which you can project an image onto a screen. The size of the hole (aperture) and distance to the screen (focal length) give some control over the image.
In contemporary camera design a variable size aperture, or diaphragm, provides the greatest flexibility. Usually integrated into the lens, increasing or decreasing its size causes a change to the overall quantity of light that passes through. The f-number (N) is a measure of lens speed, calculated as
N = f/D
where f is the lens focal length and D is aperture diameter. Clicked aperture settings are designed to double or halve this value allowing control of the total exposure value.
Crucially, increasing the size of the aperture decreases the depth of field that is considered acceptably in focus. An increase in the distance to the subject, decrease in aperture size, and decrease in focal length all lead to a larger depth of field. This change is linear for the f-number, but proportional to the square of the focal length or the distance to subject. That means, if you decrease your focal length or move further away from your subject you will more rapidly increase your depth of field at no expense to exposure, but with a wider field of view. As with anything optical, there is always a trade-off between options!
Beyond the Cut
Other topics that didn't make the cut include Richard Avedon, Eugène Atget, Ansel Adams, the Airy disk, architectural photography, Arri, and Agfa. What would you include and why?
Lead image a composite courtesy of Skitterphoto and brenkee via Pixabay used under Creative Commons and Wikipedia, in the Public Domain. Body image courtesy of Wikipedia, in the Public Domain.
Mike Smith is a professional wedding and portrait photographer and writer based in London, UK.
focali.co.uk
More from Mike Smith
A to Z of Photography: Inge Morath and Minolta
A to Z of Photography: Lenna and Leica
A to Z of Photography: Yevgeny Khaldei and Kodak
A to Z of Photography: Family of Man (Part 2)
A to Z of Photography: Exposure and Harold Edgerton
Nine Great Films About Photographers and How Turning the Lens on Ourselves Can Shed the Most Light
Julian Ray - May 28, 2019
This will be a fun run of articles to follow. Thanks Mike.
Mike Smith Julian Ray - May 29, 2019
Thanks for the comment Julian - much appreciated and I'm looking forward to writing the run of articles!
ROBERT MOSKO - July 9, 2019
I am very much enjoying the series. Thank you for taking on such a monumental project. Will you be putting the series in a book form at the end? If so so, them I'd like to volunteer to help.
Mike Smith ROBERT MOSKO - July 10, 2019
Thanks for the comment Robert! Strangely I had had the same thought this week as it is shaping up better than I thought. Lets talk more at the end of the series
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upcoming Holocaust Handbooks
Werd
Postby Werd » 4 years 10 months ago (Tue Sep 09, 2014 1:24 pm)
http://holocausthandbooks.com/index.php?main_page=1
Select "pick a book."
http://holocausthandbooks.com/index.php?page_id=25
Upcoming New Volume:
Holocaust Handbooks, Volume 24:
Carlo Mattogno: The Crematory Ovens of Auschwitz.
An exhaustive technical study of cremation technology in general and of the crematory ovens of Auschwitz in particular. Next to the alleged "gas chambers," these ovens are claimed to have been the main "weapon of crime" said to have destroyed the traces of up to a million murdered individuals. On a sound and thoroughly documented base of technical literature, extant wartime documents and material traces Mattogno reveals the true hygienic function, i.e. the benign nature of the crematories of Auschwitz…
Set of 2 tomes with a total of ca. 900 pp. (sold as a set only; tome 1: ca. 550 pp.; tome 2: ca. 350 pp.), pb, 6"×9", bibliography, index
Production stage: author proofing; scheduled for: late 2012
I have a feeling we would have this in English now if it were not for MGK having to respond to HC's cut and paste manifesto. Not complaining, just stating the facts as I believe them.
We finally got #25 recently INSIDE THE GAS CHAMBERS.
now available / Mattogno's 'Inside the Gas Chambers' !!
There is also this.
Roland Bohlinger, Johannes Peter Ney: The Wannsee Protocol—A Critical Analysis.
click for a larger version
In January 1942 several top official of Third Reich Germany met in the Wannsee suburb of Berlin to discuss the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." After the war a document was published that claims to be a protocol of that meeting: The Wannsee Protocol. Ever since mainstream historians and the media have claimed that this protocol proves that the Germans were planning to kill all Jews. But lo and behold: there are several versions of this "document" which exhibit many strange features, as this study shows…
ca. 250 pp. pb, 6"×9", bibliography
Production stage: project definition; scheduled for: late 2016
I honestly can not think of who those two authors are as I have not read much of their stuff. I have however read most of the basic staples of revisionism.
Once #24 and #27 come out in English, there will be no numbers missing. It will be a straight and steady count. However, I will ask others to recall what I have mentioned elsewhere about other upcoming works...
Werd @ The NAZI's Kept the Jews A-L-I-V-E!
Re: Healthcare in Auschwitz by Carlo Mattogno
I would like to point out that this book has been promised to the English speaking world for years. Anyone who has advertisements in the backs of their holocaust handbooks either Barnes or T&D editions will often see it advertised under a heading like "In preparation" or "coming soon."
not even the two volume set THE CREMATORY OVENS OF AUSCHWITZ has made it to English yet.
Now that another Mattogno book has made it into English called "Inside the Gas Chambers", we find that Kues is expanding his work on the evidence for the presence of gassed jews in eastern territories, and Graf I believe is working on a book on the Einsatzgruppen.
Also, in the back of Weckart's book JEWISH EMMIGRATION, as well as a few other old T&D books, we were supposed to have seen English versions of Franz W, Seidler Crimes Against The German Wermacht (vol. 1& 2) as well as Walter Post. The Defamed Wermacht.. Does anyone know if any of these ones are still in the planning stages for Barnes or have they been abandoned?
http://www.whale.to/b/mind_control.html
Re: Upcoming holocaust handbooks
Postby Werd » 4 years 7 months ago (Wed Dec 10, 2014 6:26 pm)
Bump for curiosity.
Postby Werd » 4 years 5 months ago (Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:42 am)
Well it turns out that #27 is no longer the book it was supposed to be.
Now, #27 is the 3rd expanded and revised edition of John C. Ball's classic book.
John C. Ball: Air Photo Evidence—World War Two Photos of Alleged Mass Murder Sites Analyzed
3rd, corrected and expanded edition
During World War Two both German and Allied reconnaissance aircraft took countless air photos of places of tactical and strategic interest in Europe. These photos are prime evidence for the investigation of the Holocaust. Air photos of locations like Auschwitz, Majdanek, Treblinka, Babi Yar etc. permit an insight into what did or did not happen there. This then can be compared with what witnesses claim happened there. The present book is full of air photo reproductions and schematic drawings explaining them. According to the author, these images refute many of the atrocity claims made by witnesses in connection with events in the German sphere of influence.
Witnesses have claimed that, in the spring and summer 1944, the chimneys of the four crematories at Auschwitz-Birkenau were constantly smoking profusely and that thousands were incinerated on pyres in huge outdoor pits. The air photos presented here show whether they are right. An analysis of these photos further reveals that someone tampered with copies of them in an attempt to add into the pictures what should be there but isn’t ...
After German units captured the Ukrainian capital Kiev, they are said to have shot some 33,000 Jews and tossed them into the Babi Yar ravine. In the summer of 1943, shortly before their retreat, the Germans are said to have exhumed the bodies and burned them for weeks on huge stakes. What do air photos from before and immediately after the event show?
Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka
Witnesses claim that in these camps altogether more than 1.5 million Jews were killed and initially buried in gargantuan mass graves. Later on they are said to have been disinterred and burned on huge pyres. Do the air photos show any evidence for this to be true, like remnants of huge mass graves, charred earth from huge fires?
This was the first major German concentration camp “liberated” by the Red Army toward the end of World War II. Initially it was claimed that up to 1.7 million inmates were killed here by various means, but that number has decreased over the past seven decades to just under 80,000. Also decreased is the number of officially alleged gas chambers used for these claimed murders: from seven to currently two. The air photos presented here give some clues as to why these mass murder claims have been untenable from the start.
3rd, corrected and expanded edition with contributions by Germar Rudolf and Carlo Mattogno.
3rd, corrected and expanded edition, 172 pp. pb, 8.5"×11", 262 illustrations, bibliography, index
Published by Castle Hill Publishers (Uckfield, UK) in Jan. 2015; ISBN13: 9781591480761
For prices please see retail outlets.
Carlos Porter has translated Franz W. Seidler's book into English. CRIMES AGAINST THE WERMACHT.
http://www.cwporter.com/seidl1.htm
[Note: I was paid to translate this about 5 or 6 years ago, but the operation went bust, one of the organizers went to jail, and the translation got lost.
So here it is, warts and all.
Those who wax indignant about Gestapo "torture" can take a good look at what the Soviets were doing.
CLICK ON PICS TO ENLARGE. -C.P.
Postby Hektor » 4 years 5 months ago (Fri Jan 30, 2015 10:17 am)
The German book on the "Wannsee Protocoll" conveys what's wrong with the semantics and grammar in that document. That's difficult to translate to someone that hasn't have a high level knowledge of the German language. Still it's an issue that needs to be addressed. Although. I think we all understand what it means, when Heydrich is absent from the participants list
Postby borjastick » 4 years 5 months ago (Fri Jan 30, 2015 10:51 am)
Hektor wrote: The German book on the "Wannsee Protocoll" conveys what's wrong with the semantics and grammar in that document. That's difficult to translate to someone that hasn't have a high level knowledge of the German language. Still it's an issue that needs to be addressed. Although. I think we all understand what it means, when Heydrich is absent from the participants list
Hektor. I am very interested in the Wannsee conference and have read a bit but by no means do I understand the various claims and counterclaims on the meeting. Can you explain what you read into Heydrich being left off the participant list?
borjastick wrote: ...
It's pretty simple. The Wannsee Protocol starts with a participant list on the first two pages. Reinhard Heydrich would be the most important participant of the conference, yet his name isn't on that list. Although I think he would be the last person anyone would have forgotten, especially not a German secretary. Mind you, he is also mentioned in the first sentence of the text.
This is by far not the only problem with the document, not even the text. The author may have had education in university course of German, but he doesn't know the correct wording for "Freiberufler" (=professionals like doctors) to give another example.
I think we covered the formal problems this document is riddled with already elsewhere.
Postby Werd » 4 years 5 months ago (Thu Feb 05, 2015 3:38 pm)
Castle Hill in the UK is on a roll for 2015 already!
Auschwitz: A Judge Looks at the Evidence By Wilhelm Stäglich
https://shop.codoh.com/book/383/386
Concentration Camp Stutthof: Its History and Function in National Socialist Jewish Policy
By Jürgen Graf and Carlo Mattogno
This new edition is 178 pages, whereas the older one from Theses and Dissertations Press was 120.
The Giant with Feet of Clay. Raul Hilberg and his Standard Work on the ‘Holocaust’
By Jürgen Graf
https://shop.codoh.com/book/48/48
This second edition is also slightly expanded and corrected. Perhaps it will take into account some of the minor errors Graf admitted to in "The Extermination Camps of Aktion Reinhardt."
On page 40 of The Giant with Feet of Clay, I had written that, according to Raul Hilberg, the “mobile killing unit” Einsatzgruppe A had killed 125,000 Jews up to 15 October 1941, the overwhelming majority of them between August and October. As Einsatzgruppe A only had 990 members, about 240 of them non-combatants, I concluded that for logistical reasons, this unit could not have killed 120,000 Jews within a mere two and a half months. But Hilberg explicitly states that Einsatzgruppe A was supported by other German units, plus local helpers. In the light of this fact, I am compelled to concede that the alleged mass killings may indeed have been possible from a logistical point of view – which of course does not mean that they actually occurred.
- J. Graf. TECOAR. Page 23-24.
I will say that the Barnes Review does not carry these newer editions of Graf's and mattogno's books. They have the older These and Dissertations Press editions of them. But on the back, they have a very strong golden sticker slapped on the back with the mailing address information for the Barnes Review since Theses and Dissertations no longer exists. Perhaps they want to sell all of those older editions before they build stock of the newer editions? That is my speculation. If that is their intention, they should do what Castle Hill is doing with older hardback and even older paperback editions of say The Rudolf Report from Theses and Dissertation Press. Have a sale! Slash those prices!
Postby Werd » 4 years 5 months ago (Thu Feb 12, 2015 12:05 am)
I also think that since Porter has translated The Crimes Against the Wermacht, Castle Hill and/or Barnes Review should be able to publish it soon. Apparently, Mattogno claims his book I Forni Crematori Di Auschwitz (The Crematory Ovens of Auschwitz) is already in English and just needs to be published.
Mattogno books waiting for English translations
Postby Kingfisher » 4 years 5 months ago (Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:33 am)
Werd wrote: Castle Hill in the UK is on a roll for 2015 already!
You missed this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breaking-Spell-Holocaust-Myth-Reality-ebook/dp/B00Q8UK8BM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423729907&sr=8-1&keywords=breaking+the+spell+kollerstrom
Postby Werd » 4 years 4 months ago (Thu Feb 26, 2015 1:06 am)
The Dissolution of Eastern European Jewry
By Walter N. Sanning
Before the Second World War, Eastern Europe was the demographic center of World Jewry. After the war, however, only a fraction of it was left behind. What happened?
The “Holocaust,” of course, most will say.
The author of this book did not stop there, though, but thoroughly explored European population developments and shifts mainly caused by emigration as well as deportations and evacuations conducted by both Nazis and the Soviets, among other things. The book is based mainly on Jewish, Zionist and mainstream sources. It concludes that a sizeable share of the Jews found missing during local censuses after the Second World War, which have so far been counted as “Holocaust victims,” had either emigrated (mainly to Israel or the U.S.) or had been deported by Stalin to Siberian labor camps.
This is the slightly corrected second edition with an updated foreword by Prof. A.R. Butz and an important epilogue by Germar Rudolf. It compares Sanning’s study with a mainstream investigation into the numerical dimension of the Holocaust which appeared eight years after Sanning’s first edition and was designed to refute it. Both studies come to similar results of Jewish population losses in all European countries once ruled by the Nazis, except for two: Poland and the Soviet Union. These two countries harbored the vast majority of the world’s Jews prior to the war. While Sanning dedicated the majority of his book to a thorough study of both countries’ demographic developments, the mainstream book meant to refute him remains notably silent on those subjects. Also, while Sanning investigates worldwide Jewish migration patterns prior to, during and after the war, his detractors ignore the topic and simply assume that every Jew missing in Europe today was killed by the Nazis – as if there had never been Jewish emigration from Europe during and after the war.
Please remember that Rudolf wrote an article comparing Sanning's and Hilberg's work in "Dissecting the Holocaust." Holocaust Controversies has also attackedWalter Sanning here and here
Postby Werd » 4 years 4 months ago (Fri Feb 27, 2015 6:24 pm)
One note I forgot.
Rudolf wrote an article about Sanning's work in "Dissecting the Holocaust."
http://www.vho.org/GB/Books/dth/fndstats.html
In his book Sanning quotes Arthur R. Butz who pointed out that the International Red Cross made no mention in its Report, published in 1948, of any deportations of Jews to Auschwitz, but only of the beginning of Jewish tribulations in October 1944.[39] Aside from violent excesses, this time did see some deportations, whose purpose and destination, however, was forced labor in the Reich, not Auschwitz (B348; S139f.). Therefore, Butz and Sanning assume that no adequate evidence exists to prove that Hungarian Jews were deported to Auschwitz at all.
There is no way around the fact, however, that there are still Jews living today who really were deported to Auschwitz in spring 1944 and who have repeatedly testified as witnesses in court.[40] Further, Pressac states that between 1/3 and 2/3 of the Hungarian Jews deported to Auschwitz, whose arrival and selection were photographed by the SS,[41] were considered fit for forced labor, i.e., were not killed.[42] As well, it can be proven, he says, that in the spring some 50,000 of these Hungarian Jews were transported on to the Stutthof camp via Auschwitz.[43] In this respect, therefore, Sanning’s theory rests on a shaky foundation[44] - but so does that of Benz, who contends that the Hungarian Jews were killed immediately and almost without exception.
[39] A. R. Butz, The Hoax of the Twentieth Century, Institute for Historical Review, Newport Beach, CA 1992, p. 138.
[40] E.g., the witnesses I. Lazar and L. Heuser in the trial of G. Weise, cf. R. Gerhard (ed.), Der Fall Weise, Türmer, Berg 1991, pp. 28, 33.
[41] S. Klarsfeld, The Auschwitz-Album, Beate Klarsfeld Foundation, New York 1980.
[42] As G. Holming has pointed out, this relation of 1/3 to 2/3 may be the one of inmates registered in Birkenau and those sent to other camps, and not of those killed, "Wieviele Gefangene wurden nach Auschwitz gebracht?", VffG, 1(4) (1997), pp. 255-258 (online: vho.org/VffG/1997/4/HolWie4.html).
[43] J. C. Pressac, Les crématoires d'Auschwitz, la machinerie du meurtre de masse, Édition du CNRS, Paris 1993, p. 147, cites the Yad Vashem without giving any further details; acc. to findings of J. Graf and C. Mattogno in the archives of the former camp of Stutthof, only 25,000 Jews were deported (cf. J. Graf, C. Mattogno, Concentration Camp Stutthof and its Function in National Socialist Jewish Policy, Theses & Dissertations Press, Chicago, IL, 2003; online: vho.org/GB/Books/ccs). Perhaps the rest was sent to other labor camps. Cf. also the report about Hungarian Jews as forced laborers in the Volkswagenwerke in Wolfsburg: H. Mommsen, M. Grieger, Das Volkswagenwerk und seine Arbeiter im Dritten Reich, Econ, Düsseldorf 1996; P. Bölke, "Der Führer und sein Tüftler", Der Spiegel 45 (1996), p. 138f.
[44] W. N. Sanning has since reconsidered this theory; personal communication.
And if the Sanning book has a new forward from Rudolf, then perhaps this little error, and any other ones, will have been corrected. This is a new edition after all.
This is the slightly corrected second edition with an updated foreword by Prof. A.R. Butz and an important epilogue by Germar Rudolf.
Postby Werd » 4 years 4 months ago (Wed Mar 11, 2015 3:20 am)
https://shop.codoh.com/book/5/5
Auswanderung der Juden aus dem 3. Reich
By Ingrid Weckert
This edition has 114 pages. The old English edition from Theses and Dissertations Press is half that length.
Postby Werd » 4 years 3 months ago (Fri Apr 03, 2015 9:27 am)
The Hoax of the Twentieth Century
The Case Against the Presumed Extermination of European Jewry
By Arthur R. Butz
On 545 pages of penetrating study and lucid commentary, Dr. Butz gives the reader a graduate course on the subject of the Jews of World War Two Europe. One main focus is on Auschwitz, which during WWII was a strategically important location of German petrochemistry. Information about this location had been available to the Allies for a long time. The fact that the claimed exterminations had to be known to the Allies but obviously were unknown to them, has always been sheer inexplicable for experts in the field. Except if those exterminations simply didn’t happen – and this is exactly Prof. Dr. Butz’s approach.
Chapter by solidly referenced chapter, Dr. Butz applies the scientist's rigorous clinical technique to every cornerstone of the legend. He focuses on the post-war crimes trials where the prosecution's false evidence was secured by coercion and even torture. He re-examines the very German records so long misrepresented; he critiques the European demographics, which do not allow for the loss of the Six Million; he re-evaluates the concept and technical feasibility of the gas chambers with some startling conclusions; and he separates the cold facts from the sheer tonnage of disinformation that has served as a formidable barrier to the truth since the end of WWII.
The first edition of this book caused unprecedented shockwaves throughout the academic and political world in the 1970s. Its open sale has been banned in an increasing number of countries including Germany and Canada. It is a book violently denounced by those unable to refute its thesis – the most hysterical reactions to it coming from those whose own historical views cannot withstand the light of honest review.
Now in its fourth edition, five major supplements have been updated to bring the reader up-to-date on the continuing Holocaust controversy and its impact almost everywhere World War Two is discussed. A best-seller by any meaningful standard, yet still ignored and maligned by the people who have known of it but have never even made the effort to read it, The Hoax of the Twentieth Century is a book you must read if you want a clear picture of the scope and magnitude of the historical cover-up of our age, who is behind it, and what can be done to put an end to it.
"We have known about it [The Hoax of the Twentieth Century] for some time. But we didn't want to give it any publicity and help the sales. Now it's too late; it's out in the open and we have to face it squarely."—Abbot A. Rosen, Chicago Executive Director, ADL, Pittsburgh Press, Jan. 26, 1977
Werd: At the bottom it says this "corrected and expanded Pages: 552." For the older Theses and Dissertation Press edition
it was "revised and expanded" clocking in at 506 pages.
The Real Case for Auschwitz
Robert van Pelt’s Evidence from the Irving Trial Critically Reviewed
By Carlo Mattogno
In 1993 Jewish theologian Deborah Lipstadt called British historian David Irving a “Holocaust denier.” Irving sued her for libel in return. Subsequently a court case unfolded in England which attracted the attention of the world’s mass media in 2000. The sharpest weapon in Lipstadt’s defense arsenal was Jewish art historian Robert van Pelt, who presented an expert report claiming to refute revisionist assertions about Auschwitz. Because Irving had neither the support by any expert witnesses nor was he himself an expert on the Holocaust, he inevitable lost the case. Robert van Pelt was therefore praised as the defeater of revisionism. When he published his revised expert report in his book The Case for Auschwitz in 2002, he even advanced to the foremost expert on Auschwitz in the public’s eyes.
Mattogno’s The Real Case for Auschwitz is the revisionist response to Robert van Pelt. On 750 pages, Mattogno thoroughly scrutinizes van Pelt’s assertions by juxtaposing them to material and documentary facts. The author's first revelation is that van Pelt has committed plagiarism: he plundered and basically regurgitated the research results published in 1989 and 1993 by French researcher Jean-Claude Pressac – yet without naming his source even once.
Mattogno’s analysis is devastating for both Pressac and van Pelt, as it reveals that their studies of Auschwitz ignore crucial counter-arguments, fail to approach pivotal technical issues with technical means, are highly inconsistent, use deceptive methods, present conflicting sources without due source criticism, deform all sources to serve the author’s perspective, and reveal a shockingly threadbare knowledge of the history of the Auschwitz camps.
Mattogno therefore concludes
“The Case for Auschwitz is neither a scholarly nor a historical work; it is only a biased journalistic assemblage of poorly understood and poorly interpreted historical sources.”
This is a book of prime political and scholarly importance, as it delivers the exterminationists’ case the most devastating blow ever!
2nd, slightly corrected edition in one volume. (The first edition in two volumes had the title Auschwitz: The Case for Sanity.)
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A Discussion of the Holocaust with Friends
Hegwood
Postby Hegwood » 4 months 1 week ago (Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:29 pm)
Six to eight weeks ago I brought up the holocaust to a group of acquaintances, making the argument that it didn't happen because what it describes is impossible. Of course, I soon found myself totally on my own, the sole voice of reason. If anyone in the group of ten or twelve ever doubted or for that matter even knew much of the particulars of the generally presented holocaust storyline they did not speak up. It was clear from the few who had anything to say that all they knew was based on WWII propaganda and Hollywood fiction. "Schindler's List", though not mentioned, being a good example. Although they were for the most part civil, it was clear that no one accepted my verbal description of the holocaust storyline. I believe they had more trouble accepting the actual holocaust story than they did realizing it was impossible.
An honest discussion of the holocaust story, in so much as it is even possible, is very touchy and could be disruptive to the group. Knowing I was right I did not want to back down but I also did not want to create a contentious atmosphere that could be disruptive of the groups future so I proceeded slowly. At a later meeting I passed a brief description of the holocaust storyline to a single individual who I thought might be open minded enough to recognize how screwy it is. It is a description that I posted on this forum before and will repeat below.
Prominent in that description is Yankiel Wiernik's claim that at Treblinka, Jews were gassed and then burned, not cremated, just burned. Wiernik claims that no fuel was necessary the bodies just burned to ashes. As far as I can tell Wiernik's tale is the accepted holohax description of the Treblinka "death camp". There are very few individuals who claimed to have survived Treblinka. None of these, as far as I've seen, ever gave a description of open air cremation that significantly differs from Wiernik's, His tale is impossible, therefore fictional. Later, the individual to whom I had given the paper responded. He began making changes to Wiernik's description of events. He did not make it clear what his source was but he must know of another alleged witness that I never heard of. If he just knew better himself without such a source he must have somehow been there.
There was one exception to the civility. One individual claimed that he knew someone who was with an Army unit that overran one of the camps in western Germany and saw "bodies in a crematoria." I tried to explain that no one any longer claims that there were mass executions in the camps in Germany proper. The so called death camps were more than 500 miles from western Germany and had all been overrun by Soviet forces at least four months before the first Allied troops ever set foot in western Germany. He called me a liar and said he wasn't going to listen to anything I had to say. He even started blubbering whenever I tried to speak. As a result I did not get a chance to ask him how these few corpses proved that almost six million people were murdered more than 500 miles away and three years to four months earlier. At a later meeting I tried to present him with copies of the USHMM descriptions of the operation of Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, and Dachau camps that do not claim mass executions took place in them. He refused to even pick up the papers.
As a side note: The USHMM description of Bergen-Belsen makes some surprising admissions. It acknowledges that less than 50,000 inmates died in the camp, all from disease and starvation caused by overcrowding and a lack of supplies. Ten's of thousands of these died in 1945 just months before it was occupied by the Allies and thirteen thousand died after Allied occupation. Of course the article does not mention that the lack of supplies was caused by Allied strafing and bombing of everything that moved in western Germany. Nor does it mention that Anne Frank was not killed but died of typhus in the camp hospital.
At our next meeting I will advise the group of this forum and this post and invite them to visit it and see what I had to say about them. I will also challenge them to support their position but advise them to try understand the holocaust storyline and its origins before they make a fool of themselves. Also, read the guidelines first.
The following is a brief description of the Holocaust. It is just the basic unembellished Holocaust story in its current form, ignoring previous versions. It is true to the story as I understand it, as much as possible exact and unbiased - unemotional. It is not Holocaust denial; it is not revisionism; it is just the "nuts and bolts" of story in brief.
Parts seem incredible or impossible but that is just the story. It's not something I added. I use "incredible" in the original sense of the word - not believable. In attempting to present the story accurately, I make statements as fact that are not necessarily my views.
What I'm trying to say is that this is the basic Holocaust storyline, but don't take anything I say as suggesting I'm stupid enough to believe it.
What Is the Holocaust?
The Holocaust is the allegation that during World War II the National Socialist government of Germany tried to kill everyone who they identified as a Jew. It is further claimed that this attempted genocide of Jews resulted in the death of 6,000,000 of their number.
When, where, and how did this happen? When, where, and how were 6,000,000 people murdered? This seems to be the place to start in understanding the Holocaust yet I was unable to find a clear tabulation of such information from Holocaust education organizations such as the United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum (USHMM) or Israel’s Yad Vashem. The only such list that I am aware of is from Raul Hilberg’s The Destruction of the European Jews. Table B-1, page 1219, of the 1985 edition of that work, is a summary of Holocaust deaths by camp or specific action. Five major groupings account for well over ninety percent of the victims. These categories are the Action Reinhardt killing centers, Einsatzgruppen executions, Auschwitz gas chambers, general deprivation in ghettos, and the Chelmno and Majdanek camps in Poland. I’ve added an “all other” to account for smaller numbers. The goupings are:
Action Reinhardt (Treblinka, Belsec, Sobibor camps) – 1,500,000 gassing victims
Einsatzgruppen, executions in towns and villages – 1,300,000 firing squad victims
Auschwitz/ Birkenau – 1,000,000 mostly gassing victims
Ghettorization&Occupation – 800,000 general deprivation victims
Kulmhof/Chelmno and Lublin/Majdanek – 200,000 primarily gassing victims
All other including the well known camps in Germany – 300,000 of various causes
The above total is short of the 6,000,000 but that doesn’t detract from the magnitude of the alleged crime.
Don't scrutinize the foregoing numbers for complete accuracy. They are just estimates by various researchers and methods. Despite claims that the Holocaust is well documented the opposite is true. There are very few holocaust related documents and most of those are subject to alternate interpretations. None of the executions whether by Einsatzgruppen, in gas chambers, or in the ghettos are clearly enumerated. There are no lists of victims. There is no count of the dead, not even a record of the number of times executions were carried out. The only documented deaths are from disease or other natural causes plus a few executions for disciplinary reasons.
This presentation is purposefully brief only the minimum information that is necessary to answer the questions of “when, where, and how” is presented.
Action Reinhardt Camps
Action Reinhardt with 1,500,000 victims is the largest of Hilberg’s categories. These victims were murdered in the death camps of Treblinka, Belzec, and Sobibor. Hilberg puts the respective deaths at 750,000, 550,000, and 200,000. Combined this is the most deadly Holocaust action. These three camps were located in what is today eastern Poland, not far from its current borders with Belarus and Ukraine. They began operation in March 1942 and were closed in the fall of 1943. These were pure extermination camps. Only prisoners needed to help run the camps were allowed to live. All others were executed immediately upon arrival. What is known about the operation of these camps is largely based on the reports of two Jews who claimed to have been forced laborers at Treblinka -Yankel Wiernik and Chil Rajchman.
In brief the operation was: Jews arrived in trains of twenty or more carloads, disembarked and were stripped of all possessions. The men were then separated from the women and children. Both groups were ordered to remove all clothes to take a shower. Instead they were then forced into a building where they were killed by a poisonous gas. Wiernik said it was diesel engine exhaust gas but Rajchman wasn’t sure. They were all dead within minutes and initially they were buried in large mass graves. In order to eliminate all evidence of this massive crime the later victims were cremated and the previously buried corpses were exhumed and also cremated. Since there were no crematory facilities at any of the Action Reinhardt camps open air cremation was used. The following is part of Rajchman’s description of the cremations:
“He [the “cremation expert”] had laid out more than thirty meters of railway gauge. Right on top of the ground a pair of concrete foundations were cast, both with a height of approximately 50 centimeters. … On top of the foundations six railway rails were placed, that was all. The expert ordered us to put women, particularly fat women, on the first layer on the roast, face down. The second layer could consist of whatever was brought – men, women or children – and so on, layer upon layer like a pyramid, up to a height of two meter.”
“… Then the “expert” ordered us to lay dry branches under the roast and to light them. Within a few minutes the fire would take so it was difficult to approach the crematorium from as far as fifty meters away.”
Wiernik provides a similar description of the cremation. His words were “The workers piled the corpses on the grate and set them on fire.” and “It turned out that bodies of women burned more easily than those of men. Accordingly, the bodies of women were used for kindling the fires.” The cremations resulted in only ashes leaving no recognizable human remains as evidence of the massive crime.
According to Holocaust historians, Belzec and Sobibor were operated the same way. There are very limited eye witness accounts of the operation of these camps. Apparently, the small number and lack of consistency in these accounts leads Holocaust scholars to the conclusion they were operated in the same manner as Treblinka. The United States Holocaust Museum and Memorial (USHMM) descriptions of operation of all three camps are brief but nearly identical.
The next largest category is the execution by firing squad – 1,300,000 victims. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 special squads called Einsatzgruppen -Operation Groups- rounded up Jews in towns and cities of Eastern Europe, marched them to the outskirts of town executed them and buried them in mass graves. Executions were carried out in groups of various sizes from a few individuals to groups of dozens, hundreds , or even thousands.
The best known execution of this type occurred at Babi Yar, a ravine on the outskirts of Kiev, Ukraine, where 33,000 of the city’s Jewish residents were executed and buried.
However, there are no mass graves to be examined.
In June 1942 Himmler ordered all evidence of the Einsatzgruppen executions destroyed. It is claimed that all bodies were exhumed and burned in a manner similar to the Treblinka cremations leaving absolutely no physical evidence that these million plus murder victims ever existed, not even in Babi Yar whose location is exactly known has any evidence of these murders been discovered.
Auschwitz/Birkenau
Auschwitz, located in what is now southern Poland, was the largest of the German concentration camps. It actually consisted of three camps – Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II (Birkenau), and Auschwitz III (Monowitz). Auschwitz II (Birkenau) was by far the largest of the three. It had the barracks that housed the majority of the inmates and also the four large crematoria/gas chambers.
Auschwitz is almost synonymous with the Holocaust. However, Hilberg found it was only the third most deadly of the major groupings. Here approximately 1,000,000 Jews were murdered in gas chambers between September 1941 and November 1944.
Despite claims of efficient mass murder methods, the so-called “machinery of death” was rather crude. Jews to be gassed were herded into rooms actually built as morgues – “leichenkellar” in German. These rooms had no plumbing thru which the poison gas was introduced. Specifically, they did not have the shower heads, fake or otherwise, often mentioned by Holocaust survivors. Instead, Zyclon B pellets were poured into the packed rooms through holes in the roofs or through windows. Hydrogen cyanide released from the pellets killed all occupants within minutes. Sondercommando workers entered the chambers immediately and carried the bodies to the crematoria located in the same building.
As previously noted there are absolutely no records of the exterminations at Auschwitz. Those deemed useful for labor were selected for registration in the camp and their lives and activities are well documented. All others were sent to the gas chambers. There is no indication that they were even counted. There is not even a record of how often the makeshift chambers were used.
Ghettorization & Occupation
Hilberg attributes 800,000 holocaust deaths to general deprivation primarily in ghettos established for Jews in all larger cities in Eastern Europe. Also, certain Jews from Germany proper were deported to Theresienstadt, a ghetto in the what is now the Czech Republic.
Ghettos existed pretty much from the beginning of German occupation until their retreat. Deaths resulted from disease caused by crowded conditions and general deprivation.
Kulmhof/Chelmno and Lublin/Majdanek
These two camps were similar to the Action Reinhardt camps. Majdanek comes up often the story but I know little about it. The same is true for the less often mentioned Chelmo. Since Hilberg claims 200,000 were killed in them but the USHMM has a death total of 600,000 there are obviously serious unanswered questions about them and there is not space in this summary to go into these questions.
The concentration camps in Germany proper are in the catch-all category of “All Other”. Total Jewish deaths in these camps were less than 150,000 . The majority of whom died of typhus in the last three months of the war as conditions throughout Germany and particularly these camps deteriorated due to Allied bombing. These were the camps liberated by the Western Allied forces in April and May 1945. The horrible conditions were filmed and used extensively in anti-German propaganda.
Again, there were a number of these camps but the limitations of this brief description does not permit further description.
I am trying to avoid holocaust denial but many parts of the story clearly violate natural law. Therefore they must be attributed to some supernatural being or force. To the religious that would be God or gods. To the non-religious it would simply be magic.
The first event that I came across that clearly violates natural law is the burning of corpses at Treblinka. It is totally inconsistent with natural law. Animal carcasses including human corpses will not burn as described.
Another such event is the ability of Sondercommando workers at Auschwitz to enter hydrogen cyanide filled chambers in to remove the bodies of Holocaust victims without themselves succumbing to the gas.
Yet another is the complete disappearance victims of the Einsatzgruppen shootings. The mass graves of these alleged victims just don’t exist and the excuse for their absence relies on the same impossible open air cremation tale that Wienik came up with for Treblinka.
There are numerous other incredible events in the story but most require some analysis to explain. The above just so obviously impossible.
Re: A Discussion of the Holocaust with Friends
Postby Lamprecht » 4 months 1 week ago (Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:38 am)
You provide a 'Brief description of the Holocaust' but a very short list of problems.
A general summary of additional revisionist points here: http://vho.org/Intro/GB/index.html#5
You may have a good reason for the following omissions, but I often take a different approach with my main "points" or "problems" against the mainstream narrative. It is in fact useful to point out the lack of excavations, but nobody [that you'll be talking to] can go do excavations and prove that wrong. They can always shoot back with "well, just because they haven't been found, doesn't mean they aren't there" etc
- You did not once mention the "Final Solution [to the Jewish problem]" which was a real policy that existed, yet if you did, you would have had the opportunity to point out that all of the documents define it as evacuation/resettlement/deportation. See: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12296
- You did not mention delousing to explain the Zyclon-B. I believe, Jean Claude Pressac himself claimed something like 95-98% of Zyclon-B was used for delousing. So, even if they did not use homicidal gas chambers, according to the standard story, they would have needed just as much Zyclon-B
- The "Sondercommando workers at Auschwitz ... succumbing to the gas" could easily be refuted by claiming they used gas masks. As shown here, some claimed they were used, some did not: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12262
- No mention of blue staining / prussian blue. Majdanek "homicidal gas chamber" had blue stains, but only the Auschwitz delousing chambers had them. Further, zyclon-B pellets take a long time to outgas. There are loads of threads on this, plus the Rudolf report
- I would mention the Treblinka excavations. There have been 3 excavations apparently (this is not counting Krege's GPR survey, which wasn't published). Graf & Mottogno describe the first two in their book: http://www.vho.org/GB/Books/t/ Search "Sturdy Colls" for more on that. Basically, there have been 3 excavations of 'huge mass graves' in allegedly "precisely known locations" ... but never have we been shown even 1% of this alleged 750,000
- You said the Sonderkommando immediately carried the gassed bodies to the Auschwitz crematoria. You could also mention that they used a 4x9 ft elevator. bonniwell2923 just made a thread on these elevators. Also see: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12300#p91654
- I would make sure to point out that, in those "all other camps" where it is claimed nobody was gassed, there are still testimonies of jews claiming to have witnessed gas chambers there. There are a compilation of quotes in the Leuchter report claiming there were gas chambers at these camps, and then other quotes saying there are not. So, there is no question that some people, in some camps, lied and said they saw homicidal gas chambers... we are simply told to believe that at [fewer than?] half of the camps where there were "homicidal Gas chamber" testimonies, there actually were homicidal gas chambers. See: http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v10/v10p261_Leuchter.html (also see the "ridiculous testimony" thread with some examples of these testimonies: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7033&start=45 && also some quotes on the unreliability of testimony: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12170#p90773)
- You write "As previously noted there are absolutely no records of the exterminations at Auschwitz." This is true, however, you should mention that there are [incomplete] records of deaths at the camps. This would also help people understand why there were piles of bodies, because those photos are real, and a lot of people seem to think the piles of bodies proves that the nazis attempted to exterminate jews. Germar Rudolf has a table on this article, showing almost 300 thousand recorded deaths: http://www.vho.org/GB/Books/dth/fndstats.html
- A "confession" is normally seen as a slam-dunk in a criminal case. It may behoove you to take the opportunity to point out, not only that nazis were tortured to "confess" (especially Hoess, there is a whole book on this in the Holocaust Handbooks) but also the sheer number of nazis who denied it, or said they had no idea that was going on ... until after the war. Not to mention the first "deniers" were a jew and French communist who were interned in camps. (I have a collection of quotes here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12287)
You will challenge them to support their position, but you have not asked any specific questions. A recent poster, when given challenges a month ago, just came back 2 days ago admitting they could not answer the challenges: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11953&start=15#p91632
You have joined this website in 2012, I assume you started questioning the Holocaust before that ... so it is not fresh in your memory (I started questioning it over 10 years ago) but when confronted with a question someone can not answer, it is more likely to cause cognitive dissonance. You may not be wanting to try that approach though, but I do think asking difficult questions is a good strategy, ask like 5-10 difficult questions: "If .... is true, then how come .... ?" or something
Recently I read this debate with Juergen Graf and an exterminationist. He asks some tough questions (although they are a bit wordy), it could possibly give you ideas, if that's a route you'd want to take. http://juergen-graf.vho.org/articles/hu ... ebate.html
"There is a principal which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance -- that principal is contempt prior to investigation."
-- Herbert Spencer
Postby borjastick » 4 months 1 week ago (Sun Mar 10, 2019 4:48 am)
You may find that some of the group are cool towards you when next you meet and flat out refuse to discuss it again with you. The problem with asking people to justify their belief in the holocaust is that they don't really know why and certainly don't have your detailed knowledge of it. People just believe it. Trying to break that belief down is very difficult. I've tried several times and am always shocked at the look on their faces, it's almost as if I've just admitted to raping their 15 year old sister!
atomMan
Postby atomMan » 4 months 1 week ago (Sun Mar 10, 2019 6:02 am)
here is, i think, good piece of advice that i generally fail to follow myself ... it's not about the facts; you can shove facts down peoples throats all day long and any indoctrinated adult is likely to vomit them right back up - it's more about how you frame your argument
instead of beating people over the head with meaningless (to them) facts that are a direct assault to their ego, get them to challenge their own beliefs
"the number of bodies claimed to have been processed at x camp was impossible because hydrogen cyanide takes x time to produce morbidity and there was no proper method to introduce, circulate or heat the gas and drains in the floor and windows and... blah blah blah"
"hey, did you see this documentary by this Jewish kid?"
which do you think is less challenging to the adult ego? which do you think is more likely to plant a seed of doubt?
the approach is far more important than the facts in my opinion
when someone is being challenged face to face, their natural response is going to be to defend, not assimilate, but if you can convince that same person to consider information on their own time in a non-confrontational setting, their reaction may be very different and personally i think videos are a great tool as long as they appear to be more neutral in their execution
David Cole did it for me - once i saw his Auschwitz docu, my curiosity was invoked
help inform others by sharing the Jewish Holocaust Quiz
Postby Hegwood » 4 months 1 week ago (Sun Mar 10, 2019 9:07 am)
Damn people I'm not trying to educate the group in true Twentieth Century history in thirty minutes!
I am trying to keep description short and informative in hopes of getting them to read it and at least consider an alternative to what they've been told . They do have other things to talk about and do, probably more interesting things.
I haven't even read Lamprecht's lengthy post yet.
Jim Russel
Postby Jim Russel » 4 months 1 week ago (Sun Mar 10, 2019 9:56 am)
Hegwood, Welcome to the world of the outcast heretic. Some of those people might never talk to you again. Maybe all of them. That's the world we live in. Almost everyone is brainwashed.
I was only 11 years old when it happened to me. It was after the 6-Day War and I was the only child in that Hillel Academy whose family belonged to a Reform synagogue. I told them that the Israeli Army was just the same as the German army under Hitler and they hated the Arabs just like Nazis hated the Jews. I've been a social outcast ever since.
It was the late 60s living with my parents and reading every issue of the New York Times, Saturday Review, and Commentary when I came to understand that the Holocaust story was impossible mostly because it seemed I was the only person in my world besides my father who kept his thoughts to himself who understood the magnitude of the 6 million number. And I asked if any of those 6 million had rebelled or tried to escape and they told me No they all went like sheep to their deaths after riding in trains hundreds of miles to walk into fake showers and be gassed to death. It was simply preposterous and people who believed that nonsense were stupid people.
David Duke in his 1998 book My Awakening supposedly says that the holocaust story first appeared in English encyclopedias in the late 1960s. It certainly wasn't mentioned by Churchill, Eisenhower, or De Gaulle in their autobiographies of WW II. I have My Awakening but haven't found the page number of that statement but it matches up with my memories that the holocaust story just seem to have appeared in the headlines after the 6-Day War and the reason given was that jews no longer had to be passive nebbish types like Woody Allen or degenerates like Lenny Bruce because the Israeli Army had shown the world that jews are strong.
You can find others of like mind on the internet. In face-to-face, maybe or maybe not. That's just the way it is for most of us. You might find that if you have any relationships with those people worth saving that you and them will agree to no longer bring up those matters and they won't either, unless they're willing to be open-minded and respectful in conversation between equals.
I've had to change my phone number and stop talking to a family member who is the only person in the world who talks to me like I'm a stupid person, and I can't remember ever being talked to that way by anyone else. I've withdrawn from this society because of the massive stupidity everywhere which I comment on by doing performance art in my front yard. Almost everyone who is brainwashed can experience something like physical pain when their mental equilibrium is challenged by truth you might show them. That pain is real, and so is the anger which it can trigger.
As a teenager I took solace in reading books by people who had similarly withdrawn from the worlds they lived in. Henry David Thoreau with Walden Pond and Civil Disobedience, and also Thomas Merton about writing about his conversion to catholicism and choosing to live in a monastery and then become an anti-war martyr because it now seems he was assassinated probably by the CIA for being a vocal opponent of the Viet Nam War.
Postby Hegwood » 4 months 1 week ago (Sun Mar 10, 2019 8:06 pm)
Lamprecht,
After reading your earlier post I stand by my "quick" comment. I know I'm not going to educate anybody on the holohoax in thirty minutes. The best I can do is get them to read something truthful about it and getting them to read it means keeping it short.
I would certainly welcome your input if you can keep the length to about 2000 words. Less if possible. You are even invited to rewrite my whole "brief description". I would not be surprised if you did a better job. Writing, communicating in general, is one of my best skills.
Postby Lamprecht » 4 months 1 week ago (Sun Mar 10, 2019 9:32 pm)
Hegwood wrote: Lamprecht,
My response was long, but they were suggestions on things to add/remove and explanations why.
I debate the holocaust all the time, usually with people not very well versed, and the most common responses are (with common approaches I'll take):
- What about all of the documents? (point out none of the recorded deaths are from gassing, all of the "Final Solution" documents define it as resettlement/evacuation/deportation)
- What about the piles of bodies? (point out they are disease/starvation victims from allied bombs)
- What about all the testimonies? (point out most do not mention 'homicidal gas chambers', the ridiculous testimonies, and that some survivors deny the holocaust, testimonies of gassing [discounted by historians] at bergen-belsen, buchenwald, dachau, etc)
- What about the nazis who admitted it? (point out the nature of the trials, the nazis that denied it, the torture, etc)
- What about the zyclon-B? (95-98% used for delousing, according to JC Pressac)
- But Hitler/Nazis said they hated jews and wanted a "Final Solution"! ('final solution' documents, resettlement/deportation rather than extermination)
Like I said, your criticisms are legitimate, but some people WANT to believe, perhaps because they don't want to think they were deceived by people they trusted. Saying "these graves don't exist" simply because they have not been found, it does not follow, nor can these individuals you're sending this to actually go excavate.
Also, we know there are many news articles coming out "nazi mass grave found" etc. They are not from the camps of course, but often attributed to nazis ... even if testimony exonerates them, see a recent example: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12230
and of course there's the very common accusation of hating jews or being a nazi that i left out
Another thought, possibly point out that it is illegal to question the holocaust in many countries. Probably at the very end, after pointing out the major holes in the story.
Like I said, these are suggestions and I only ask suggest you think about them. There are a lot of go-to responses that I have personally experienced (listed above) that are not addressed. Although I do not know if it's just going to act as the beginning of a conversation.
example, from my post:
From yours (my addition in bold/underline):
The concentration camps in Germany proper are in the catch-all category of “All Other”. Total Jewish deaths in these camps were less than 150,000 . The majority of whom died of typhus in the last three months of the war as conditions throughout Germany and particularly these camps deteriorated due to Allied bombing. These were the camps liberated by the Western Allied forces in April and May 1945. The horrible conditions were filmed and used extensively in anti-German propaganda. Although there were survivors who claimed to have witnessed homicidal gassings at these camps (i.e. Dachau, Buchenwald, Bergen-Belsen....) historians today universally agree that prisoners weren't murdered in gas chambers at these camps.
That's just an example. So if someone says "b-b-but why would they just lie about gas chambers?" it does not really matter, since the mainstream story already reveals that some did lie about them. It's easier to believe the "Auschwitz gas chamber" testimonies are a lie, if the Dachau/Buchenwald/Bergen-Belsen "gas chamber" testimonies are acknowledged as such.
And then, under the "Problems" section, you can use the additional facts already pointed out to form another point. example:
Why should we believe jews were gassed at Birkenau, if none of the 10s of thousands of recorded deaths were from homicidal gas chambers, the majority of Birkenau testimonies do not mention gassings, the main testimonies disagree on main points, the iron cyanide traces are more comparable to random bricks in the camp than the delousing chambers, and other camps had "homicidal gas chamber" testimony that has been accepted by the mainstream historians to be false atrocity propaganda?
Although that's a long, drawn out question... it's a lot harder to answer than to make sense of:
Another such event is the ability of Sonderkommando workers at Auschwitz to enter hydrogen cyanide filled chambers in to remove the bodies of Holocaust victims without themselves succumbing to the gas.
(think: gas masks and gloves)
Postby Hektor » 4 months 1 week ago (Mon Mar 11, 2019 8:24 am)
borjastick wrote: Hegwood
People believe it, because apparently anybody else does do that as well. And then there is the omnipresence of the Holocaust-narrative in the cultural fields like media, movies, educational systems. It's also believed because nobody challenges it and people don't know about the problems with the narrative. They are also gullible to believe government statements on things, ignoring that a lot of what governments disseminate is simply propaganda. One should point people that the first fresh information on "atrocities in German concentration camps" doesn't stem from ordinary soldiers, but from Psychological Warfare Units. This isn't even in dispute, but it's not mentioned when quoting exactly that information.
You won't convince someone that believes everything the government or authority figures tell him, but someone more critical may realize that this Holocaust is another government psy-ops on the public.
Postby Hegwood » 4 months 1 week ago (Mon Mar 11, 2019 9:19 am)
Jim Russel,
Thanks for the response, though its not exactly encouraging.
If my memory serves me correct, David Irving claims the holocaust story was largely constructed about 1970. He says the word "holocaust" begins showing up in mass media around that time and the number begins an asymptotic growth about 1972.
I'm not sure what's going to happen next with me. My acquaintances seem somewhat intimidated. At the last meeting only one of the previously active participants in the earlier discussions was there. He seemed a little uncomfortable so I didn't even bring up the subject, this forum, or this post. I'll see what the next few weeks brings,
Postby Jim Russel » 4 months 1 week ago (Mon Mar 11, 2019 1:50 pm)
Hegwood, Depressing? I'm very interested in the biological reasons that explain why most individuals stick with herds and groups while others follow their own paths even it it makes them one of a kind. Galileo was such a person but he was made to crawl on his hands and knees to beg forgiveness and even so he died while living under house arrest. Thoreau was such a person and he had friends among the other Transcendentalists but it seems he most likely died a virgin. David Irving and David Duke, ditto, both having spent much time in prison because of their heterodox beliefs.
I'm very interested in learning more about the very rare exceptional individuals who deviate from the herd, and I'm very interested not so much in the hard facts of what lies were told about WW II but the whys and hows of the brainwashing of most of the world for at least fifty years with a preposterous blatant lie and also a blood libel against the German people that so far at least has been challenged by very few Germans and this brainwashing is of no interest to 99% of the public.
My understanding is that it would go against the rules here to take a wider view of the holocaust lie by exploring these whys and the hows unless in direct reply to an existing thread, such as me to you right now pondering the almost universal brainwashing around us. Only telescopes and microscopes are the allowed tools here, with no panoramic videos and time-lapse photography allowed to frame the holocaust lie in the framework of the world's economic and informational structures, particularly the power politics and sociological and psychological facts operant.
Kevin MacDonald has The Occidental Observer blog where there is free reign to discuss the Jewish control of things. David Duke talks about it almost every day and he's a person I greatly respect. As far as holocaust revisionist goes the message board RODOH seems to allow broad views of the whys and hows of the brainwashing on that topic and many others.
And I searched a PDF of My Awakening and can't find him saying there what I said above. But in Chapter 15 he gives 1970 (same as your David Irving recollection) as the year when the story took hold in US newspapers after very little in the 50s and 60s. I'm not afraid of talking with white nationalists or even national socialists because they seem to be the only identifiable groups in which ordinary non-intellectual normal people with values I share are willing to explore the causes behind the massive brainwashing of our society.
Remember also the old saying from somewhere in eastern or middle europe that the man who never lies has no friends. Loneliness can cause physical pain and lead to death either from heartbreak or suicidal behavior. It should give you some hope to know that I've survived these past 50 years despite being an outcast and heretic the entire time.
Where else would I go to post about the JQ? http://www.unz.com is a place that since last summer at least allows free and open discussion, and they now allow comments to be posted without registration, same as theoccidentalobserver blog. And almost every day I check Russia Insider has been having lots of good articles on the jewish question. Diversity Macht Frei, VDARE, National Vanguard are a few other places if you dare to go down this rabbit hole.
Postby Hegwood » 4 months 5 days ago (Wed Mar 13, 2019 11:41 am)
I don't consider your post depressing, just a warning. Perhaps even a mild warning.
Don't put me in a class with such heavyweights as Thoreau, Irving, and Duke. I do at least share the characteristic of doing my own thinking, not just accepting what I hear or read. That doesn't mean I will automatically confront someone else with whom I disagree. The confrontation that led the original post is out of character for me. It is at least a decade overdue.
I believe in a rational world, no gods, spirits, magic, or miracles. The world behaves according to natural laws. There are not exceptions, that includes holocaust storyline. I am not arrogant enough to think I understand everything but I do know some things.
Apparently I am not as astute as you are. I can see how the magnitude of the six million number would raise doubts but I'm sorry to say it did not with me.
Until about 15 years ago I believed the holocaust happened. Only when trying to find out why anyone would deny it did I find out that I really didn't know anything about it. When I found out what the storyline was it was all over.
I still remember the sentence that caused me to realize something was wrong with the story. The USHMM description of the operation of Treblinka states " In late 1942 and 1943, the Jewish forced laborers had to exhume the already buried bodies and burn them in huge trenches on makeshift “ovens” made of rail track." That sentence makes absolutely no sense. There is no part of a rail road that could be used to make anything like an "oven". It was finding out what the writer of that sentence really meant the very quickly destroyed the whole story.
Postby Hegwood » 4 months 1 day ago (Sun Mar 17, 2019 1:04 pm)
I have just informed several members of my social group of the existence of this post and invited them to see what I have to say about them.
They are invited to defend their belief that the holocaust happened.
Let's see what they have to say.
Postby borjastick » 4 months 1 day ago (Sun Mar 17, 2019 1:43 pm)
Hegwood wrote: I have just informed several members of my social group of the existence of this post and invited them to see what I have to say about them.
I would leave it be if I were you. They will feel awkward and pressured and tbh they probably know slightly less than F--k All on the subject. Plus you have to add in the issue of their beliefs being rocked badly and holed beneath the water line. They will never understand you and it will really alter the way they see you.
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Showing results for tags 'frigate'.
'Hellas' Greek Frigate 1826 (With Plans)
Sella posted a topic in Frigates and similar ships
Hellas Greek frigate 62 guns 1826 Characteristics: Length:54 m Width: 14m Tonnage:1728 t Draft:4.2 m Armament of the Hellas: 48(16 pdr) + 16 carronades(42 pdr) Sistership USS Hudson: https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=2412 From "History of the American Sailing Navy" by Howard Chapelle: "The Sailing Navy, 1775-1854" by Paul H. Silverstone: Also, from "Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants" by Karl Jack Bauer, Stephen S. Roberts "American Heavy Frigates 1794-1826" by Mark Lardas: Better resolution plans here: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL24398454M/The_history_of_the_American_sailing_Navy Her plans: Sources :http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/hudson-i.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_frigate_Hellas https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ελλάς_Ι_(φρεγάτα) Model: http://greekshipmodels.com/ships/fregata-ellas/ Model of the Hellas in the Greek War Musuem: https://imgur.com/gallery/gGxuH
'La Fama' Venetian Fregata Grossa/2nd Rate 1784 (with plans) (4th rate in game)
Fluffy Fishy posted a topic in Ships of the line
History Fama was the flagship of the last great Admiral of the Venetian Republic Angelo Emo, who captained the ship during his continuous missions hunting down Barbary pirate including the siege of Tunis in 1785. Angelo Praised Fama for her considerable speed and agility naming the ship as comfortably the best Venice had. The plans for Fama were drawn up in 1782 and 6 ships were laid, of which 5 were completed she was constructed in the Venetian Arsenal by Giovanni Domenico Giacomazzi, who was considered the best venetian shipwright in of his time and built accordingly the "ad ordinata doppia" system which was implement in 1780 by Angelo Emo who after studying the construction techniques used by the English and the French, hoped to match them or even surpass them. Fama herself spent most of her career in active service, either stationed off of Corfu with the main detachment of the Venetian navy, ready to face threats from threats to the mouth of the Adriatic by the Ottomans or other hostile nations or spent hunting Pirates over the Mediterranean or Barbary Coast. Fama was captured alongside the rest of the Venetian fleet by Napoleon in 1797 when she was briefly renamed Renomee and then renamed again to Du Blois a month later. After her capture she was sailed to Tulon where she was rearmed with slightly smaller guns to fit French standards to take part in Napoleon's Egyptian expedition where she unfortunately collided with the French flagship "L'Orient", suffering severe damage. Despite her damage she remained to Alexandria and was used as headquarters by General Kleber was later partially sunk to block the entrance into Alexandria, she was then captured by the British and sadly broken up without the French, nor British ever realising her potential as a swift and powerful shock ship or as a strong commerce escort and pirate hunter. The Fama Class were given heavy armaments to match larger capital ships but maintaining the speed, versatility and agility of a frigate, thus the name Fregata Grossa came about, translating to Large Frigate, The ideas behind the Fregata Grossa rated ships were to hit hard and fast, able to set combat to their own advantage the theory was a cross between their contemporary super frigates and modern battlecruisers. They also contain similar thoughts used in the huge super frigates of the later 19th century but obviously without the steam engines to power them. The 6 Ships of the Fama Class were: Fama (1784) Gloria Veneta (1794) Le Stengel (1797) Le Beyrand (1797) Diamante (1797) Unnamed (uncompleted) Fama and Gloria Veneta both served under the Venetian Republic with considerable distinction. The other ships of the class were completed during the French and Austrian Occupation periods. Le Stengal and Beyrand both served briefly in the Napoleonic fleet and were then transferred to Austria as part of the peace deal. Diamante was badly damaged during the French Looting period and was patched up but sailed poorly, to deal with this she was armed from head to toe with 24lb guns and used as a floating battery, later she was repaired and served in the Austrian navy as a troop transport ship. A further Unnamed ship of the class was laid but damaged beyond salvation and was sadly broken up with parts being used to outfit other ships but mostly used as firewood. Fama well represents the Venetian Naval doctrine of the time, Venice continuing to fight with a hybrid fleet of Galeass, Galleys and Frigates, due to the history and nature of what remained of the Venetian Empire. Her outfitting, speed and manoeuvrability made her a great shock ship with a strong punch, able to hunt down pirates and operate well in shallow waters and archipelagos with complex coastlines. She is also incredibly well suited for the calm waters of the Mediterranean and able to produce good speed no matter the wind conditions. She was praised for her sailworthiness by her captains and considered the jewel in the late Venetian Fleet. Details Fama was considered a Secondo Rango Fregata Grossa within the Venetian Fleet, then after she was captured by the French she was reclassified as a 3rd rate, although if she were in the game she would likely be similarly placed as Agamemnon, among the 4th rates. Her measurements are (peidi are the Venetian feet): Total Length: 138 piedi or 48.00 meters Keel: 122 piedi or 42.42 meters Width: 37 piedi or 12.86 meters Draft: 17.5 piedi or 6.08 meters (when under French service: 16 fore, 18ft aft (5.2-5.85m)) Bilge Tip (height between the keel and deck): 28 piedi or 9.73m She was crewed by around 450-500 men, depending on how many sailors Venice could muster at the time. The Venetian state had a continuous issue with raising the appropriate number of men to serve on her navies during the later years of the republic. Fama had similar crew numbers to her contemporary 64s by other navies, however due to her smaller size these men served in even more cramp conditions than was generally experienced by the worlds navies, her officers quarters were equally as confined, especially considering that she was used for most of her career as an admiral's flagship, although these close natured lodgings were something the Venetians were always used to back at home in Venice. She sailed incredibly well and was praised for being hugely fast and agile, giving her the best ability to perform her main tasks, protecting merchant shipping and hunting down pirates. Her performance under sail is fairly well documented, receiving universal commendation from the officers who sailed her. I have not yet found any information about how she heeled, rolled and other similar specifics, as Venice had no sailing queries similar to the Royal Navy. Armaments Fama Carried 66 Guns, and her four chasers, below is a make up of weight and armaments during both the French and Venetian outfitting. She also had the potential to point the two cannons nearest the bow on the main gun deck in a forwards direction to aid the 2 dedicated chase guns situated either side of the foremast and 2 rear facing guns. During Venetian period by Venetian Weight 26 x 40lb (26.5 British pounds) (12.04 kg) 26 x 30lb (20 British pounds) (9.03 kg) 14 x 14lb (9 British pounds) (4.21 kg) 2x 14lb (9 British lb) Bow Chasers (4.21 kg) 2x 14lb (9 British lb) Stern Chasers (4.21 kg) Broadside Weight = 1008 Venetian Pounds (667.5 British Pounds) (303.4 kg) French Period By French Weight (reduced to a 64) 26 x 24lb (11.74 kg) 26 x 18lb (8.8 kg) 12 x 6lb (2.93 kg) 2 x 6lb Bow Chasers (2.93 kg) 2 x 6lb Stern Chasers (2.93 kg) Broadside Weight = 588 French Pound (634.75 British Pounds) (287.5kg) Plans The most true plans, showing the proper lines of of either La Fama or Gloria Veneta, as said below in a post stating the edit history of this thread. This is the only record showing the proper 66 broadside gun ports, although the plan below does miss her bow chasers. The other plans like with her sister ship Stengel show the correct lines, but sadly show incorrect positioning for the guns on the quarterdeck, the other plans show only 6 guns either side (12 in total) from when she was reduced to a 64 rather than the true build when she had 7 (14), which are shown correctly here. This is a modern reproduction by Guido Ercole, there are a couple of minor mistakes where she is shown having 28 guns, not her proper 26 on both her gun decks, she is also missing a gun on her weather deck. The rest of the reproduction is still accurate, with the sail plan and also shows a nice idea of what she would have looked like painted. Some less detailed plans, most likely showing Stengel, after she has one of her weather deck gun ports removed making her into a 64. Rough Planking and Framing Methods used Art Many Thanks go to Sella22 for letting me use some of his resources, I would really love to see this ship in the game, she would be a fantastic addition. Thank you for Reading.
ship of the line
fregata
'Constellation' 1794 American frigate (With Plans)
Surcouf posted a topic in Frigates and similar ships
Constellation 1794 Plans Large visit of USS Constellation. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YpWpPoVYB2s
[WIP] La Proserpine 3D model of a french 18pdr frigate
freddykrueger66 posted a topic in Frigates and similar ships
hello everyone, Thought I'd drop my progress of this french frigate here, there is still a lot to be done but here's where I'm at so far. Atm the hull + rigging and masts is 90k triangles. Here are some screenshots from the ship in marmoset toolbag, it's a program showing how a 3d model would look in a game engine so no fancy vray renders hehe. I also made some cannons and swivels which are on the ship, here are some renders of them. cannon: swivel: I still need to add some rigging and one more mast piece and dont mind the stern either I'm gonna make it less boring and add some sculpts to it, also gonna try making a figurehead. I hope you guys like it, could use some feedback on the textures too btw.
'L'aurore' 1697 (French 18 Gun Frigate)
Ned Loe posted a topic in Unrated and other light combat vessels
L'aurore Frigate Google translated from French The light frigate, small vessel relegated to the bottom of the ranking between large frigates and long boats and applied for all purposes in the Navy of Louis XIV, had never until now been the subject of a comprehensive study . This is in line with the one on French naval architecture • 17 century, initiated by Jean Boudriot, author of two monographs, one on the "Ship 3 decks of Monsieur de Tourville" and the other in the long boat "La Belle". Jean-Claude Lemineur, based on a manuscript of François Coulomb, written in 1683, has written a monograph on his side of a 5th rank ship "Le François." The study of Dawn he proposes, begins with the definition of the characteristics of light frigates at the entrance of the reign of Louis XIV, who still respond to the views prevailing in the first half of the 17th century. It then traces their evolution, the architecture of the adapting light frigate, like the ship, the steady increase in firepower over the great periods of the reign and the following decades, until despite the reduction of its senior, she is abandoned in favor of the corvette whose forms are more clear-on the water. The study continues by focusing on a remarkable example of small frigates built in the aftermath of the Ministries of Colbert and Seignelay "L'Aurore" of 18 guns of 6 Books, start of construction in Le Havre in 1697 by Philippe Cochois. The Dawn is carefully analyzed, both in its architecture and its decor features well-volu metric of its hull. These demonstrate the talent of Philippe Cochois whose career is briefly traced, demonstrating an unusual command of volumes he fashions with boldness. Restitution of Dawn by Jean-Claude Lemineur therefore appeals to all of the few specific sources for this type of building. The result of these studies is concretized by 31 boards 1'écheJle 1/48 ° that graphically describe Dawn in all its aspects, from its schematic forms to complete rig through its structure and interior layouts. The relative dryness of the subject is somewhat mitigated by the account of his service in the Royal Navy, particularly with the story of two long cruises across the Atlantic. This story, significant enrichment of the book is the work of the historian Patrick Villiers. It helps to give of Dawn, a more vivid image. In total, the monograph provides information both on the technical and historical light frigate in the French navy, de1661à 1750. Its content should respond fully to the expectations of savvy designers. Plans: Building a model: http://www.shipmodeling.ru/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=70946
sloop of war
'Le Muiron' Venetian/French frigate 1797 (With Plans)
Le Muiron Venetian/French frigate 44 guns 1797 Her history: Muiron was a frigate of the French Navy, famous for ferrying Bonaparte on the 22 August 1799 under the flagship of Admiral Ganteaume from Egypt to France after the Battle of the Nile. The Muiron was one of two 18-pounder armed frigates that were building on the stocks in Venice in November 1796, when Bonaparte took Venice during the Campaign of Italy. The two frigates were launched in August 1797 under the names Carrère and Muiron, and completed during November by the orders of Pierre-Alexandre Forfait. Muiron was named to honour Colonel Jean-Baptiste Muiron, an aide-de-camp of Bonaparte who had covered Bonaparte with his body during the Battle of the Bridge of Arcole. The Muiron was armed with 28 × 18-pounder guns on the upper deck, and 12 × 6-pounder guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle, and manned with a complement of 340. She was incorporated in the fleet that invaded Egypt, and after the Battle of the Nile, Bonaparte departed for France aboard. She later took part in the Battle of Algeciras Bay. In 1807, Napoleon ordered that the Muiron be preserved as a monument; to this effect, he wrote a letter to the Ministry of the Navy, stating "I wish that the Muiron on which I came back from Egypt be kept as a monument and placed in such a way that it be preserved, if possibly, several hundreds years". She was repaired and docked in Toulon, which a golden inscription on her hull stating: "The Muiron, taken in 1797 in Venice arsenal by the conqueror of Italy. She brought back the saviour of France from Egypt in 1799". Napoléon also had a finely crafted scale model made for his study in Malmaison in 1803. This model is now on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris. At the Bourbon Restoration, Muiron was decommissioned, and she was eventually destroyed in 1850, in circumstances that remain unclear. Conflicting theories have it that she was either sold for material and broken up, or destroyed by fire after being struck by lightning. The British captured her sister ship in August 1801 and added her to the British Navy as HMS Carrere. Dimensions: (in venetian piedi 1 Venetian piede = 0,3 meter = 12 inches): 135'6" x 35'6" x 19' Length of Gundeck: 150' 10" Imperial Feet or 45.72 meters Length of Keel: 122' 3 ½" Imperial Feet or 37.1983 meters Depth of Hold: 12' 9" Imperial Feet or 3.6576 meters Breadth: 39' 5 ½" Imperial Feet or 11.8999 meters Burthen: 1,012 74⁄94 Tons BM Armament: 28 x 18 pounder 16 x 6 pounder Plans(from Vascelli e fregate della Serenissima. Navi di linea della Marina veneziana 1652-1797 http://www.amazon.it/Vascelli-fregate-Serenissima-veneziana-1652-1797/dp/8890565144/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=10SB0B1PBW7848V5AFN2): Muiron's sistership: Carrere 38/44 guns 1797 History: Carrère was a French frigate that served briefly in the French navy before the British captured her in 1801, naming her HMS Carrere. She seems never to have seen any meaningful active duty after her capture as she was laid up in 1802 and finally sold in 1814. Carrère was one of two 38-gun frigates that were building on the stocks in Venice in May 1797, when Napoleon took the city during the Campaign of Italy. Pierre-Alexandre Forfait ordered the two frigates completed, which they were in August 1797 under the names Carrère and Muiron. The French named Carrère after an esteemed artillery colonel who had fallen at Unzmarkt fighting the Austrians. Carrère and Muiron both served during the French invasion of Egypt in 1798. They then accompanied Napoleon on his return to France after the failure of that campaign. The captain of the Carrère was Commodore Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley, and with him travelled generals Lannes, Murat, and Marmont. The British Pomone of 48 guns, in company with Phoenix and Pearl, captured Carrère near Elba on 3 August 1801 after a short fight. She was escorting a small convoy from Porto Ercole to Porto Longone during the Siege of Porto Ferrajo. Pomone lost two men killed and four wounded, of whom two died later. The French casualty list was not initially available. The Royal Navy took her in as HMS Carrere, but rated at 36 guns. Frederick Lewis Maitland was her first captain. He sailed her to Portsmouth, where she arrived on 24 September 1802. Carrère's active duty career in the Royal Navy was short. She was paid off on 4 October 1802 and then laid up in ordinary. She was sold on 1 September 1814. The purchasers had to post a bond of £3000 that they would not sell or otherwise dispose of her but would break her up within 12 months from the day of sale. Dimensions: Same as above Armament: (French Service): Upper Gun Deck: 28 × 18-pounder guns Quarterdeck: 12 brass x 8-pounder guns + 2 x 36-pounder obusiers Forecastle: 2 x 36-pounder obusiers (British service): Upper Gun Deck: 28 x British 18-Pounder Quarterdeck: 10 x British 32-Pound Carronade Quarterdeck: 2 x British 9-Pounder Forecastle: 2 x British 32-Pound Carronade Forecastle: 2 x British 9-Pounder Crew: French service: 356 British service: 340 (352) Sources: Vascelli e fregate della Serenissima. Navi di linea della Marina veneziana 1652-1797 http://www.amazon.it/Vascelli-fregate-Serenissima-veneziana-1652-1797/dp/8890565144/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=10SB0B1PBW7848V5AFN2 http://mnm.webmuseo.com/ws/musee-national-marine/app/collection/record/9030 http://www.delcampe.net/page/item/id,135327174,var,militaria%3Dlivre-de-construction-du-3macirc%3Bts-la-freacute%3Bgate-le-muiron-avec-ces-plans-dorigines-1933,language,E.html http://forummarine.forumactif.com/t3001-la-fregate-la-muiron-1797-1850 https://troisponts.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/la-fregate-la-muiron/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Carrere_(1801) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Muiron Thank you LeBoiteux and Fluffy Fishy!
'Blanford' 20 Guns 1719 (With Plans)
'Blanford' H.M.S. Blandford was a 20 gun ship, launched on 13th February 1719. Please share gun specs and history.
'L'Amazone' 1707 (With Plans)
Malachi posted a topic in Unrated and other light combat vessels
Plan (from the Riksarkivet, Kopenhagen) Service history Designed by Blaise Pangalo (also known as maître Blaise) at Brest Keel laid down: 09. 1706 First Commissioned 10. 1707 21.10. 1707 Battle of the Lizard/Bataille d'Ouessant (I linked the english and the french wiki entries) Capture of the Ruby, 50 guns, and several merchant ships 1708 Cruise to the Azores, again as part of the escadre Duguay-Trouin, taking three prices 1711 Expedition to Rio de Janeiro 1712 Return to Brest 1728 Cruise to Tripoli, Bombardement of Tripoli 1741 hulked at Brest 1748 broken up Dimensions ( as demi - batterie, in pied de Roi) Length 118' Breadth 31'6'' Depth in hold 13'6'' Armarment Gundeck 6, later 8* 12 pounders Upper Deck 26* 8 pounders Forecastle and Quarterdeck 8* 4 pounders Dimensions (as frigate) Length 118'9'' Breadth 32' Depth in hold 13'8 1/2'' Armarment Upper Deck 26* 8 pounders Forecastle and Quarterdeck ? A couple of words about Blaise Pangalo, as he was quite an illustrious and mysterious figure: Originally from Venice, he went to France to work as a shipwright and was 'discovered' by Admiral de Tourville in the late 1670s. With this kind of patronage and his exceptional talents , he quickly rose through the ranks and finally became master shipwright at Brest, the most senior position in the hierachy of french naval engineers. While in french service, he designed and built at least 23 vessels, including five first rates. Pangalo´s ships were famed for stability, speed and weatherliness and his work had an huge impact on french ship design and provided a major influence for Blaise Ollivier, one of the most eminent figures in 18th century ship building ( and he built 'our' Renommée, by the way). Pangalo - most probably - died in 1714 in Brest, although it´s possible that he faked his own death in a rather creative effort to escape substantial financial troubles and contined working in Russia under Peter the Great until 1719. L'Amazone was one the first demi-batteries, 'designed specifically for commerce raiding' (Sailing Ships at War, Howard), with a fully armed upper deck and half a tier of guns on the gun deck. It´s not clear when the rebuilt took place, but given the service history of L'Amazone, I think it´s safe to assume that it happened either under the supervision of Joseph Ollivier, Blaise´s father, as master shipwright at Brest or in the early years of B. Ollivier´s tenure at the same post. In either case, she was one of the very first steps in the evolution of the 'true' frigate. Sources: Ships and Shipbuilders: Pioneers of Design and Construction, Walker, 2010 18th Century Shipbuilding: Remarks on the Navies of the English & the Dutch. Olliver, 1737, edited by Roberts, 1992 Snau and Fregat: Small Cruisers in the Danish Navy 1650 - 1750, Auer, 2008 Vaisseau de 64 cannons Le Fleuron, Boudriot/Delacroix, 1995 WIP pics As the plan leaves much to be desired, I have to do things a bit differently this time (read: oldschool) and build the ship from the ground up. The 'frames' aren´t the actual frames, just the station lines with the thickness of the planking already added, should serve as a nice visual aid to determine the final hull shape. The stuff not depicted on the plan (e.g. positions/dimensions of the masts, a proper deck plan) will come from contemporary treatises and tables. This is going to be fun
Queen Anne's Revenge
Tyrelli posted a topic in Frigates and similar ships
Obviously We need to keep perspective and not turn the game into a Pirate Fest, but Why not include the most famous Pirates ship ?
fictionary
pirate frigate Rename the Pirate Frigate
Sir Texas Sir posted a topic in Suggestions
You know our pirates have nothing special about them in the game and they are just another nation. I thought wouldn't it be better to rename this ship since all can use it to Privateer Frigate? Than you can do this with other ships that you make refits for. Like the Le Gros Ventre Refit could be Caller Privateer Le Gros Ventre. This giving the ships more of a reason why they are modified version of the main ship. I just never could see the blueish Pirate Frigate really being a Pirate ship. It seems more a role you find a Privateer using it for. Than again what is a Pirate? Just a Privateer without a job.
Sir Benjamin Thompson´s frigate 1781 (With Plans)
Malachi posted a topic in Frigates and similar ships
Now this is a real beauty: Dimensions: Length: 150' Breadth: 39' 6' Draft of Water Forward 15' 9'' Draft of Water Abaft 15' 9'' Height of middle gunport above the water: 6' 3'' L/B ratio: 3,8 Burthen in builder´s tonnage: 1000 tons Real Burthen: 915 tons Armament (proposed): 30*32-pounders (described as 'light' - 26 CWT, on sliding carriages) 12*12-pounders (also 'light') 20 musketoons on swivel stocks A battery of 30 long 18s and 8*32-pounder carronades plus 4*9-pounder chase guns would be more realistic, in my opinion. Sir Benjamin Thompson, probably better known as Count Rumford, made this draught in the late 1770s and sent it, amongst others, to Marmaduke Stalkarrt, who, seemingly impressed by the absolutely innovative design, published it in his 'Naval Architecture or the Rudiments and Rules of Shipbuilding' in 1781. Although this frigate has never been built, it´s remarkable for it´s V-shaped hull, similiar to Forfait´s 18-pounder frigates built in the 1790s or Symonds' work in the 1830s/1840s.
Neues Paint ingame entdeckt!
[PGP] Clan Leader posted a topic in Naval Action - German language
'Vita Örn' , 'Hvide Ørn' - Swedish/Danish/Norwegian 30 gun frigate (With Plans)
Tordenskiold posted a topic in Frigates and similar ships
Vita Örn/Hvide Ørn (White Eagle) First of all, I posted a bit about this very frigate a while ago in a thread asking for frigates. Figured I'd like to dedicate an entire thread to it now. Vita Örn was a frigate ahead of her time with features to be the norm in frigates from about 1740 and onwards for the next hundred years. She was built by the british shipsbuilder William Smith by commision of the Swedish state at Karlskrona, Sweden in 1711. She was armed with 30 12 pounder cannons and had a crew of 170. She was already amongst the most legendary ships in the Swedish navy (being the fastest frigate in Scandinavia and having taken several prizes and defeated 2 Danish-Norwegian frigates while commanded by Swedish Captain Printz) at the battle of Colberger Heide between Sweden and Denmark-Norway in 1715 where she was captured as a prize by the rising star of the Danish-Norwegian army, Peter Jansen Wessel, later to be enobled and given the name Tordenskiold (Thunder Shield). While in tow, she was renamed to Hvide Ørn and Wessel was rewarded with the command of her. Shortly thereafter, Hvide Ørn was involved in the battle of Rügen. After the engagement had ended with the coming of the dark, Wessel managed to sneak up on the stern of two damaged Swedish SOL's Gotland(56) and Ösel(56). There, he stern rakes the Ösel, cuts the company flag hanging from the stern off before leaving with a full broadside along the ship. The Captain of the ship, Siøstierna, flees the ship and takes shelter in the Gotland. He is later condemmed to death by a swedish court martial but pardoned. By the time the Ösel has made her way back to Karlskrona she's on the absolute verge of sinking. Hvide Ørn participated in lots of key naval engagements between Denmark-Norway and Sweden the years after and she along with her commander became famous at the top of his game, as a frigate commander. I hope to be able to sail the seas in Naval Action in this fine vessel someday. Technical data: Displacement: 600 tons Length: 33 meters Width: 9,42 meters Guns: 30 12 pounders Crew: 170 men
'Pandora' 1779 (With Plans)
Haratik posted a topic in Frigates and similar ships
I know there's a pdf file on this ship somewhere, but I kept getting a malware warning, so I might as well post what I've found directly. I've also seen the Pandora suggested here, but with no plans to speak of. Great Britain Name: HMS Pandora Ordered: 11 February 1778 Builder: Adams & Barnard, Grove Street shipyard, Deptford Laid down: 2 March 1778 Launched: 17 May 1779 Completed: 3 July 1779 at Deptford Dockyard Commissioned: May 1779 Fate: Wrecked on 28 August 1791 in theTorres Strait. Class & type: 24-gun Porcupine-class sixth-rate post ship Tons burthen: 524 (bm) Length: 114 ft 7 in (34.93 m) (overall) 94 ft 9.5 in (28.893 m) (keel) Beam: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m) Draught: 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) 11 ft (3.4 m) Depth of hold: 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m) Sail plan: Full-rigged ship Complement: 160 (140 by 1815) Armament: As built: Upper deck: 22 × 9pdrs Quarterdeck: 2 × 6pdrs By 1815: Upper deck: 14 × 9pdrs + 8 × 18pdrcarronades Quarterdeck: 2 × 6pdrs I obtained the images from a website I've been visiting lately, in particular a thread of someone building the Pandora: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/844-hms-pandora-1779-cad-build-log/ http://modelshipworld.com/uploads/monthly_03_2013/post-1575-0-89847900-1362193029.jpg I'd like to post the rest of the pics, but they were all done to scale for the model, the above picture was before scaling. Cheers Edit: Image was not showing, link'd instead.
'Saint Nicholas' Russian frigate 1796 (with plans)
Saint Nicholas Russian Frigate 34 guns Plans: Source article(in Finnish)/More diagrams and images: http://www.fregattinikolainsurkea.fi/411415125 In English:http://www.fregattinikolainsurkea.fi/426398867 Info(Probably this one):http://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=21081
'Sibylle' Venus class French Frigate (With Plans)
Ned Loe posted a topic in Frigates and similar ships
Sibylle 1792 Sibylle was a 38-gun Hébé class frigate of the French Navy. She was launched in 1791 at the dockyards in Toulon and placed in service in 1792. After the 50-gun Fourth Rate HMS Romney captured her in 1794, the British took her into service as HMS Sybille. She served in the Royal Navy until disposed of in 1833. While in British service Sybille participated in three notable single ship actions, in each case capturing a French vessel. On anti-slavery duties off West Africa from July 1827 to June 1830, Sybille captured numerous slavers and freed some 3,500 slaves. She was finally sold in 1833 in Portsmouth. Plans are rare and only by PM request. For personal use only.
Danish Shallow Water Frigate (With Plans)
Inspired by Don Alejandro´s thread about the Spanish Navy, I put all plans for danish frigates posted so far in one thread. Sorted à la francaise, i.e. by caliber of the guns on the upper gun deck, not the actual gun count. 4- / 6-pounder frigates Blaa Heyren 18 guns, 1734, Benstrup Langeland 18 guns, 1758, Krabbe 8-pounder frigates Raae 30 guns, 1709, Judichær Christiania, 20 guns, 1774, Krabbe 8-pounder frigate concept 24 guns, 1794, Stibolt Hvide Ørn, 30 guns, 1798, Hohlenberg Lille Belt 20 guns, 1803, Hohlenberg 12-pounder frigates Hvide Ørn 32 guns, captured 1715, ex-swedish Vita Orn Christiansborg 24 guns, 1758, Krabbe Perlen 36 guns, 1774, Krabbe Friderichsværn 36 guns, 1784, Gerner Triton 30 guns, 1789, Stibolt Nymphen 38 guns, 1806, Hohlenberg 18-pounder frigates Disco 42 guns, 1781, Gerner Havfruen 40 guns, 1789, Stibolt Freia 40 guns, 1793, Stibolt Venus 36 guns, 1804, Hohlenberg Freia 46 guns, 1817, Schifter Diana 20 guns, 1818, Schifter 24-pounder frigates Perlen 46 guns, 1804, Hohlenberg
French frigate Aréthuse (1792) - 3D Model
T1ckL35 posted a topic in Frigates and similar ships
Hi, Not sure if there is anywhere specific to post work on 3D models but here goes. I've been playing Naval Action for a little bit now and felt it was time to try and get back into 3D modelling after an 8 year break. The first plan I found in these forums was the French Frigate Arethuse so decided to give that a go to ease myself back in. Not sure what model resolution the game takes (or if it would ever be worthy) but this 'test' run will probably be of average resolution. Should be an interesting learning curve using Blender (after coming from Maya). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Aréthuse_(1792) Early start. The first 2 were just using the picture plans as is. I had no idea how the rear was made so after this start had a look at a load of reference material and website where people were building models. Pictures 3, 4, and 5 show progress after taking the plans and creating vertical reference image slices along the hull. I was surprisingly close in shape for most of it but was quite out at the front. Oh and ignore the gun holes in the hull, they will be filled in for now - I just wondered how it might look so far More progress when I get the time Simon
3d ship
HMS Newcastle -1813, (with plans). A Connie-killer anyone?
Mighty_Alex posted a topic in Frigates and similar ships
HMS Newcastle was a 50-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy which saw service in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. A new type of ship, a large spar-decked frigate, Newcastle and her near sister HMS Leander were ordered in response to the threat posed by the heavy American spar-decked frigates, during the War of 1812. The Newcastle proved a successful ship, which operated in squadrons which chased the American frigates, but ultimately failed to catch them before the war ended. She spent some time as the flagship on the North American Station before returning to Britain in 1822 and being laid up the following year as a lazarette. She spent the rest of her career in this role, until being broken up in 1850. Class & type: 50-gun fourth rate Tons burthen: 1,556 bm Length: 176 ft 5 in (53.77 m) (gundeck) Beam: 44 ft 8 in (13.61 m) Depth of hold: 15 ft 1.5 in (4.610 m) Crew: 450 Armament: Upper deck: 30 × 24pdrs Spar deck: 24 × 42pdr carronades Forecastle: 4 × 24pdrs The most important plan is of poor quality. If you have this plan with better resolution, please post it in this topic. (Royale Museum Greenwich definitely has one)
'L'Armide' 18-pdr Sané Frigate, 1821 (With Plans)
'L'Armide' This ship can be a nice heavy 18-lbr Frigate addition to Naval Action. It can be an all around 44x18lb gun Frigate or can be mounted with carronades for close combat damage. Ship was named after https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armida During the War of American Independence, Navy minister Sartine, his successor Castries, and engineer Borda requested standard plans to standardize the production of 18-pounder frigates (equivalent to the British Fifth-rate) and so it happened. Commanded by Captain Hugon, she participated in the Battle of Navarino in 1827, killing four and capturing the Turkish corvette Sultania; 1 November 1828 she participated in the attack on the castle of Morea. Designer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques-No%C3%ABl_San%C3%A9 Armament: Main - 28x18lb Secondary - 16x18lb or 16x24lb Carronades --- Total 28x18lb 16x18lb or 16x24lb Plans
Massive Frigate Collection With Plans (WIP)
You are more than welcome to post history and specs about these ships. Enjoy. Part 1 History Aréthuse (1791) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Ar%C3%A9thuse_(1792) Armament: N/A -------------------------------- Armide (1804) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Armide_(1804) Armament: French service 28 × 18-pounder long guns 8 × 8-pounders 8 × 36-pounder carronades British service 28 × 18-pounder guns 14 × 32-pounder carronades 2 × 9-pounder guns 2 × 32-pounder carronades Crew - Up to 339 -------------------------------- History Africaine (1795) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Africaine_(1798) Armament: French service: 28 × 18-pounder long guns 12 × 8-pounder long guns British service: 28 × 18-pounder guns 14 × 32-pounder carronades 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades -------------------------------- Aigle (1801) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Aigle_(1801) Armament: 26 × 18-pounder guns 4 × 9-pounder guns + 8 × 32-pounder carronades 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades Crew - Up to 264 -------------------------------- History Amazon (1795) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Amazon_(1795) Armament: N/A -------------------------------- Amazon (1799) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Amazon_(1799) Armament: 28 × 18-pounder guns 2 × 9-pounder guns + 12 × 32-pounder carronades 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades Crew - Up to 300 -------------------------------- Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Sail Plans
'Carysfort' British 28 Gun 6th Rate Ship, 1766 (With Plans)
HMS Carysfort was a 9pdr armed, 28 gun, sixth-rate frigate of the Coventry Class, built by the Royal Dockyard at Sheerness. The 28 gun, sixth rate frigate was the smallest vessel of the Royal Navy to meet the definition of a Frigate. Vessels carrying 20 or more guns, but less than 28 guns were classed as sixth rate Post Ships. The Coventry Class was a group of 19 small frigates designed by Sir Thomas Slade, Co-Surveyor of the Navy at the time, of which nine were built in Kent shipyards. The Coventry Class were built in four batches. The first batch of four ships were all ordered in 1756. The second batch of five ships were all built from fir rather than oak for speed of construction and all had short service careers. They were all ordered in 1757. The third batch of nine ships, of which HMS Carysfort was a part, eight of which were also ordered in 1757. They were all oak-built. Although a batch three ship, HMS Carysfort was the last to be ordered, with Sheerness Dockyard not being ordered to build her until 1761. The fourth batch, of two ships was not ordered until 1782, though in the end only one was built. This is because the order for the second ship was cancelled after the shipyard contracted to build her went bust and the contract was not re-placed with anyone else. Sir Thomas Slade is now more famous for what is widely regarded as his masterpiece, the first rate ship HMS Victory. HMS Carysfort was ordered from the Royal Dockyard at Sheerness by the Navy Board on 20th February 1761. At the time the ship was ordered, the Seven Years War was at it's height and the naval element of the war was going very well for the British. From the beginning of the war, the Royal Navy had taken the war to their French and Spanish enemies by attacking their overseas possessions in places all over the world from India and the Pacific Ocean to the Carribean. For that reason, the Seven Years War is regarded as being the first true world war. The Royal Dockyard at Sheerness was working flat out with the repair of warships in addition to the fitting out of warships built at private shipyards on the East and South Kent coasts. In addition to that, the Dockyard at Sheerness only had one slipway and at the time the order for HMS Carysfort came in, that slipway was reserved for the construction of two Niger Class, 12pdr armed, 32 gun frigates. When the order arrived, HMS Montreal was in the final stages of construction and when that ship was launched in September 1761, construction of the next one, HMS Winchelsea began. That ship wasn't launched until May of 1764. For that reason her first keel section wasn't laid on the slipway at Sheerness until June of 1764, by which time the war was over. Her construction was overseen by two Master Shipwrights at Sheerness. Mr John Williams supervised the work in the Mould Loft and the initial stages of her build and when he was promoted to the position of Master Shipwright at Deptford Royal Dockyard in June 1765, he handed the project to his successor at Sheerness, Mr William Gray. He oversaw her final construction and launch on 23rd August 1766. HMS Carysfort was fitted with her guns, masts and rigging at Sheerness and was commissioned into the Royal Navy under Captain George Vandeput in June 1767. On completion, HMS Carysfort was a ship of 586 tons. She was 118ft 4in long on her gundeck, 97ft 3in long at her keel and 33ft 8in wide across her beams. Her hold below the orlop was 10ft 6in deep. HMS Carysfort was armed with 24 9pdr long guns on her gundeck, 4 3pdr long guns on her quarterdeck and in addition to those there were a dozen half-pounder swivel guns attached to her upper deck handrails and in her fighting tops. She was manned by a crew of 200 officers, men, boys and Royal Marines. Plans of HMS Carysfort HMS Carysfort was Captain Vandeput's second appointment after promotion to Captain. His previous appointment had been as Captain in the 20 gun post-ship HMS Surprise. Prior to that, until the end of the war in 1763, he had been Master and Commander in the ten-gun brig-sloop HMS Goree. That vessel had originally been built way back in 1729 as the hoy HMS Hayling but had been converted to carry ten 6pdr long guns, rerigged as a brig and renamed. The normal size of a hoy was around the 60 ton mark and they carried a single mast, but HMS Goree was twice that size. Vandeput had been her final commander before the vessel had been decommissioned and broken up in 1763. With the end of the Seven Years War, thousands of sailors of all ranks were being laid off. At the end of his appointment as Master and Commander in an unrated vessel and without a further appointment, an officer like George Vandeput would normally have reverted to his substantive rank of Lieutenant and would have been laid off on half pay. However, George Vandeput's father, also George was not only a Vice-Admiral, but was a Baronet and an MP to boot, so it's hardly suprising that the junior George Vandeput was promoted at the end of his appointment in HMS Goree and given a command as soon as one became available. On 20th September 1767, HMS Carysfort sailed for the Mediterranean. Her role would have been that of a Royal Navy frigate in peacetime, that of showing the flag and protecting British shipping against attacks by Barbary Corsairs and other pirates. In February 1770, Captain Vandeput was appointed to command the 28 gun sixth rate frigate HMS Solebay and his place in HMS Carysfort was taken by Captain William Hay. Captain Vandeput went on to have a long career in the Royal Navy. Despite being an illegitimate son, he inherited the baronetcy on his father's death and rose to become a full Admiral and served as Commander-in-Chief of the North America Station based in Halifax, Nova Scotia from 1797 until his death at sea in 1800 aboard his flagship, the 64 gun third rate ship of the line HMS Asia. Captain William Hay was an experienced commander who had first held a command at the beginning of the Seven Years War, so was an ideal candidate to command a frigate in peacetime, able to make his own decisions and act on his own initiative, potentially thousands of miles from the nearest higher authority. Shortly after assuming command of HMS Carysfort, Captain Hay received orders to take his ship to the West Indies, to carry out the same role as before, but based in Jamaica. The ship continued in this role until July 1773, when she returned home to Plymouth and was paid off. Although HMS Carysfort was decommissioned, she was never fitted for the Ordinary and spent the next two and a half years secured to a mooring bouy at Plymouth. She would have had a skeleton crew aboard, consisting of her Boatswain, her Gunner, her Carpenter, a Pursers Mate and their respective servants and any maintenance work which would have been required was carried out by gangs of labourers from the dockyard who would have come out to the ship to carry it out. In December 1775, the ship was recommissioned to serve in home waters under Captain Robert Fanshawe. By this time, war was in the air. In order to try to service the huge mountain of debt run up during the Seven Years War, the British Government had attempted to impose taxes on the colonies in America. This had led to political protests, which had escalated into civil unrest and by the time the ship recommissioned, had escalated into a full-scale armed rebellion, with regular British troops being driven off by the part-time soldiers of the Massachusetts Militia in the skirmishes at Concord and Lexington. The war continued to escalate and between April and May 1777, HMS Carysfort underwent a short refit at Plymouth. Meanwhile, in America, things were going from bad to worse. From 1776, the French had been secretly supplying arms, ammunition and money to the American rebels. Their support escalated into ships operating under rebel colours as privateers and what would today be called 'Military Advisors'. After the rebels defeated the British in two battles at Saratoga in 1777, the French invited the rebels to conclude a Treaty of Alliance. King Louis XVI was concerned at reports that following their defeats at Saratoga and the fact that up to that point the rebels were winning, that the British were about to make major concessions. The reports were true. The British parliament had proposed offering the Americans terms which basically gave them what they wanted. These were, never to impose taxes on the colonies again from London without the consent of the people, not to station more troops in the colonies, to repeal all the objectionable acts, full pardons for everyone involved in the rebellion and a cessation of hostilities. A commission was formed which was empowered to negotiate directly with the rebels and agree whatever terms were needed. In order to thwart this, the French signed the Treaty of Alliance with the Americans on 6th February 1778. This Treaty formally recognised the United States of America for the first time and committed the Americans to seeking nothing less than full independence from the UK in return for unlimited amounts of military assistance and money from France. The British hoped that the Americans would respond positively to their offers, but the Americans demanded that the British withdraw all their troops or formally recognise American independence before they were willing to negotiate with the Commission. Their advances to the Americans rejected, on June 17th 1778, Britain formally declared war on France. By September 1778, HMS Carysfort was engaged in operations against the Americans and was the flagship of a force of troopships carrying some 4,000 troops commanded by Major-General Charles Grey, the First Earl Grey. His force of troops had been ordered by General Sir Henry Clinton, the Army Commander-in-Chief, to reduce the area around the Connecticut and Massachusetts Coasts from Long Island as far north as Cape Cod. This was to be achieved by means of a series of large-scale amphibious raids. In the first raid, the fleet sailed up the Acushnet River towards New Bedford and Fairhaven. The troops were landed on Clarks Point on 4th September and spent the night and the next day burning wharves, warehouses and vessels along the whole length of the river. On 6th September, a raid was launched against Fairhaven, but this raid was repelled by a stout defence conducted by the Massachusetts Militia. On September 10th, the force raided the island of Martha's Vineyard and seized livestock totalling 10,000 sheep, 130 oxen plus arms and money. The force arrived back in New York on 17th September with the raids having been a success. In November 1778, Captain Fanshawe was appointed to command the 64 gun third rate ship of the line HMS Monmouth and his place in command of HMS Carysfort was taken by Captain William Cumming. HMS Carysfort was his first appointment after promotion to Captain, his previous appointment had been as Master and Commander in the storeship HMS Supply. By this time the ship had returned to the UK and had paid off for a refit in Plymouth. As part of this work, her armament was increased with the replacement of her forecastle and quarterdeck 3pdr guns with 6pdr long guns. To these were added a total of 6 18pdr carronades, four on the quarterdeck and two on the forecastle. Once the work was complete, the ship commissioned into the Downs Squadron of the North Sea Fleet. On 13th June 1779, HMS Carysfort had her first success in her new assignement when she captured the French privateer L'Esperance. In November 1780, Captain Cumming was replaced in command by Captain William Peacock. HMS Carysfort was his first appointment as Captain, his previous appointment had been as Master and Commander in the gun-brig HMS Childers of ten guns and the following month, the ship sailed once again to join the ongoing war in America. On 24th May 1780, Captain Peacock had his first success in command of the ship when they captured the American privateer General Galvez. HMS Carysfort continued serving in the waters off North America for the rest of the war. In October 1781, following the failure of the Royal Navy to secure the entrance to Chesapeake Bay in the Battle of Chesapeake Bay in the September, General Charles, the Lord Cornwallis was forced to surrender with his army in the Seige of Yorktown. This left the British with insufficient troops to defend their possessions in North America and on 27th February 1782, the British Parliament voted to cease all offensive operations in North America and to seek peace. Despite the overwhelming victories of Sir George Rodney and Sir Samuel Hood in the Battle of the Saintes and the Battle of Mona Passage in April 1782, back in London, political support for the already unpopular war evaporated and the Government of Lord North fell. In late April 1782, Parliament voted to end the war, recognise American Independence and open peace negotiations with France, Spain and Holland. The negotiations resulted in the Treaty of Paris, which was signed by all the parties in September 1783 and was effective from March 1784. The last major British possession in mainland North America, New York City, was finally evacuated in November 1783. The Loyalist communities in North America and those Native American tribes who had been allied to the British and the Loyalist cause were left to their fate. In the meantime, in December 1782, Captain Peacock was replaced in command of HMS Carysfort by Captain John Markham, with orders to take the ship back to Deptford and pay her and her crew off, which he did in January 1783. HMS Carysfort's war was over. HMS Carysfort remained laid up in the River Thames, secured to a mooring bouy off the Royal Dockyard at Deptford until April 1785 she was taken upstream to a private shipyard at Rotherhithe in Surrey to undergo a Great Repair. This would have amounted to a virtual rebuilding of the ship and she emerged from this in an 'as new' condition three months later at a cost of £15,255. The ship returned to her bouy off the Royal Dockyard at Deptford where she remained until November the following year. In January 1787, the ship completed fitting for sea at Deptford Royal Dockyard and was commissioned under Captain Matthew Smith. HMS Carysfort was his first command appointment after having paid off the ex-Dutch 20 gun post-ship HMS Saint Eustatius at the end of the war. Captain Smith took the ship to the Mediterranean, where she was engaged in patrolling, showing the flag and protecting British merchant shipping from Barbary Corsairs. She remained in the Mediterranean until May of 1790, when Captain Smith paid the ship and her crew off back at Deptford. Despite the Spanish Armaments Crisis, HMS Carysfort remained laid up in the River Thames until shortly after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War in February 1793. In April 1793, HMS Carysfort was once again taken into the Deptford Royal Dockyard and was fitted for sea. The work was completed in September 1793 and the ship recommissioned into the Channel Fleet under Captain Francis Laforey. HMS Carysfort was his first appointment as Captain; his previous appointment had been as Master and Commander in the 14 gun ship-sloop HMS Fairy. HMS Carysfort was engaged in enforcing the blockade of the French Atlantic coast and patrolling the English Channel looking for marauding French privateers and warships hoping to prey on British merchant shipping. On 29th May 1794, HMS Carysfort was engaged in a patrol off Lands End when sails were spotted in the distance. These sails belonged to a Dutch merchant brig which was being towed by the ex-HMS Castor, a 12pdr armed 36 gun frigate which had been captured on 9th May when she and her convoy had run into a squadron of French ships of the line. The French immediately cast off the brig and Captain Laforey took his ship into action. On paper, the Castor was markedly superior to HMS Carysfort, having more men, bigger guns and more of them. After an hour and fifteen minutes however, the Castor struck her colours in surrender to Captain Laforey and his men. HMS Carysfort had suffered casualties of one seaman killed and three seamen and one marine wounded. She had suffered some slight damage in her masts, rigging and hull. The Castor on the other hand had had her main topgallant mast shot away, the rest of her main mast was also badly damaged and her hull had been penetrated in several places. She had suffered sixteen officers, marines and seamen killed with nine wounded. On taking possession of the Castor the British learned that the ship was on her way to Lorient to be fitted for service in the French Navy. The French crew of the Castor had been drafted from amongst the crews of the French ships of the line which had captured her and they were totally unfamiliar with the arrangement of the rigging and really only had the slightest idea how to actually operate the ship. The British also freed a Masters Mate and 18 seamen who, being the remainder of her original British crew, were prisoners of war aboard and were presumably there to show the French how to operate the ship. The rest of the ships officers and crew including her captain, Captain Thomas Troubridge, were still being held aboard the flagship of Rear-Admiral Nielly, the French officer commanding the squadron, the Sans Pareil. The would later be freed when the Sans Pareil was captured by HMS Majestic at the Battle of the Glorious First of June. In the meantime, Captain Laforey took the Castor back to Plymouth. On arrival, the Royal Navy refused to pay Captain Laforey or his men any prize-money for the ship. The reason they gave was that Laforey and the men of HMS Carysfort had simply restored HMS Castor to service. They claimed that because the ship had never been to a French dockyard and been converted for French use, she didn't fall within the legal definition of a Prize and all they were entitled to was a payment related to the salvage of the ship. Captain Laforey and his officers were having none of this and the matter came before an Admiralty Court chaired by Sir James Marriot, a senior judge. After hearing the evidence, including a statement from the French captain, M. L'Huillier, he ruled that because the French admiral in command of the squadron which had captured the ship had full powers to condemn, arm, fit out, man and equip any vessels captured by his ships as he saw fit and that on capture by HMS Carysfort, the Castor had a French crew with a French captain, the ship did fall within the definition of a Prize and that the Royal Navy must pay Captain Laforey and his men her full value. HMS Castor was therefore purchased by the Government and was taken back into the Royal Navy. As a reward for his good conduct during the capture of the Castor, Mr Richard Worsley, HMS Carysfort's First Lieutenant, was appointed Master and Commander in the 16 gun ship-sloop HMS Calypso on 24th June 1794. Later in 1794, HMS Caryfort's armament received a considerable boost when her 18pdr carronades were replaced by 24pdr carronades. Captain Francis Laforey remained in command of HMS Carysfort until he was appointed to command the ex-French 12pdr armed 32 gun frigate HMS L'Aimable in June 1795. He rose to fame when he commanded the ex-French 74 gun third rate ship of the line HMS Spartiate at the Battle of Trafalgar. He rose to become a Rear-Admiral, was knighted in 1815 and died in 1835. Captain Laforey's replacement in HMS Carysfort was Captain John Murray whose previous appointment had been as captain in the ex-French sixth-rate post-ship HMS Babet of 20 guns. In the beginning of 1794, the French government was contemplating sending an expedition to attack British commerce in India and to reinforce French garrisons in the region. Knowing that the Royal Navy was pretty much tied up in the Mediterranean, the English Channel, the North Sea and the Carribean, they concluded that British possessions in the far east would be relatively unprotected and would be easy targets. Rich pickings would be had by raiding and plundering them. The expedition was originally due to be commanded by Rear-Admiral Kerguelen with three 74 gun ships, three large frigates plus smaller vessels. Over time, losses mounted in the French Atlantic Fleet with their defeats at the Battle of the Glorious First of June, the Battle of Ile Groix and of course, the continuous blockade. This forced the French to alter their plans, so that by the time the expedition actually sailed on 4th March 1796, it was under the command of Rear-Admiral Sercey and was to comprise the 44 gun frigate Forte, the 36 gun frigate Regeneree, the en-flute armed frigate Seine, the ship-corvette Bonne Citoyenne and the brig-corvette Mutine. The ships were carrying 800 troops, with two companies of artillery and all the stores and ammunition needed. Things began to go wrong immediately. The force was caught in a storm soon after leaving Lorient. The Bonne Citoyenne parted company from the squadron on 7th March after sustaining damage in the storm. This damage slowed the ship sufficiently that she was able to be caught and captured by a force of British frigates led by Captain Robert Stopford in HMS Phaeton. Soon afterward, the Mutine lost her main topmast and was also quickly caught and captured by the British. The Seine also lost her main topmast but was able to recover it and repair the damage. In the meantime, Captain Murray was replaced in command of HMS Carysfort by Captain Thomas Alexander. Captain Murray was appointed to command the 18pdr armed 36 gun frigate HMS Crescent. The French continued to make their way around the Cape of Good Hope and arrived in the port of St Denis on Reunion Island on 18th July 1796. Other ships had also joined the French force so that by this time, Rear-Admiral Sercey's force comprised six large frigates. Also in the force was the privateer schooner Alerte. On 19th August, the Alerte's master decided that he was going to run down and capture a British East Indiaman he had spotted. Little did he know that the East Indiaman was escorted by a frigate of the Royal Navy, HMS Carysfort and no sooner that he had launched his attack, the British frigate arrived on the scene and the Alerte's crew very quickly found themselves prisoners of war. So quick had been the British frigate, that the French had not had the time to throw their confidential papers overboard and the British came into possession of Rear-Admiral Sercey's plans and detailed orders. The French were unaware of this disaster until the force which the British dispatched to deal with them finally caught up with them on 7th September 1796 and brought the French squadron to action. Two British 74 gun, third rate ships of the line, HMS Victorious and HMS Arrogant inflicted such damage on the French force that they were eventually forced to call off the expedition and return to France, all thanks to the swift action of HMS Carysfort and her crew. In December 1796, Captain Alexander was replaced in command by Captain John Turnor. On 16th December 1799, HMS Carysfort arrived in Plymouth. Amongst her crew was the only survivor of HMS Resistance, a 44 gun two-decker which had blown up while laying off Sumatra. Originally, sixteen men had survived the accident and they had survived on a raft which they were trying to sail to Sumatra. A storm had blown up and only five of the men survived this. They were captured by Malay tribesmen, but only one of them managed to escape alive and he was eventually picked up by HMS Carysfort. After her return to the UK, HMS Carysfort was assigned to the Channel Fleet and between April and June of 1801, HMS Carysfort underwent a refit at Portsmouth. On 24th August 1803, HMS Carysfort in company with the armed cutter HMS Fox captured the French vessel La Dunkerque. On 26th March 1804, HMS Carysfort in company with the 18pdr armed 36 gun frigate HMS Apollo left the Cove of Cork with a convoy of 69 merchant ships bound for the Caribbean. At 3am, off the coast of Portugal, heading south-south-east in a strong south-westerly gale, HMS Apollo ran aground and was wrecked with the loss of 61 officers and men, as were over 20 ships of the convoy. In appalling weather, Captain Robert Fanshawe of HMS Carysfort had no option but to order the rest of the convoy to head out to sea and continue their voyage to the West Indies. The ship remained in the West Indies until she was ordered to escort a homebound convoy in company with the armed storeship HMS Dolphin in June of 1806. At the time, this convoy was being hunted by a squadron of French ships of the line under the French Admiral Willaumez. HMS Carysfort and her convoy managed to avoid being caught by the French and made it safely back to the UK. On arrival in the UK, HMS Carysfort was paid off and laid up at Deptford. The reason was that not only was she by now forty years old, but that small frigates like her were by now obsolete. HMS carysfort remained secured to a mooring bouy off the Royal Dockyard at Deptford until she was sold for £1800 on 28th April 1813 and broken up. Source: Kent History Forum, Bilgerat
50 Shades of Frigate: HMS Surprise
maturin posted a topic in Frigates and similar ships
A few weeks ago a forum user threw me into confusion by referring to our in-game Surprise as a 38-gun frigate, more powerful than a 32-gun ship. Certainly a strange description for Patrick O'Brian's 'jackass frigate'! To be clear, Surprise isn't a 38-gun Fifth Rate, despite carrying precisely 38 broadside guns. Gun ratings are nominal, and often don't include the uselessly-light forecastle or quarterdeck guns. There is plenty of cause for confusion, however, given the myriad different vessels (historical, fictional and modern) one has to keep straight when searching for the 'real' Surprise. I've finally managed to track them all down and compare them, with an emphasis on armament, length and beam. L'Unite (1794)-->HMS Surprise: The historical inspiration for O'Brian's frigate was built by the French navy in 1794, captured by HMS Inconstant in 1796 (a strangely negative name, you'll agree) and brought into service in the Royal Navy as HMS Surprise. HMS Surprise was rated as a 28-gun Sixth Rate, although she briefly bore the designation of a Fifth Rate. Specifications: Length of Gundeck: 126' 0" Length of Keel: 108' 6 ¼" Beam: 31' 8'' Tons burthen: 578 73⁄94 Armament in French Service: 24x 8-pounder long guns 8x 4-pounder long guns (quarterdeck and forecastle) Armament in English Service: 24x 9-pounder long guns 8x 4-pounder long guns (quarterdeck) 4x 12-pounder carronades (quarterdeck) 2x 12-pounder carronades (forecastle) 2x 4-pounder long guns (probably bow chasers) Even these light guns were found to be too heavy and unwieldy for the ship's narrow hull, and were replaced with carronades. Later Carronade-only Armament: 24x 32-pounder carronades 10x 18-pounder carronades (quarterdeck and forecastle) 2x 4-pounder guns (bow chasers) Here is the draught the British made of her. As she is a rather modern frigate, she is cut for many ports on the quarterdeck and forecastle, where light frigates of earlier decades would carry few to none (ie, HMS Cerberus). These light upper deck guns are why she might be mistaken for a 32, 36, or even 38-gun ship. These larger frigates, however, would be expected to mount 26 guns on the gundeck, with their longer hulls. *** Jack Aubrey's HMS Surprise: O'Brian describes her as a 28-gun Sixth Rate, a 'jackass frigate,' formerly the French corvette L'Unite (1794). This background is entirely historical. However, O'Brian's Surprise carries 12-pounders instead of the historical French 8-pound and English 9-pound long guns. She also retains the '36-gun ship mainmast' which was briefly installed in the historical frigate by an English dockyard. The experiment was unsuccessful, and Surprise ended up with at least one mast sized for an even smaller (24-gun) ship. *** Fifth Rate HMS Surprise (1812): Some of O'Brian's readers speculate that the author confused Aubrey's ship with a heavier frigate that also bore the name Surprise. Presumably this would be the 38-gun Leda-class 18-pounder frigate built in 1812, a sister-ship to Naval Action's Trincomalee. I very much doubt that anyone could confuse these two ships, as the difference in size and firepower is so great. Specifications: Length of Gundeck: 150' 4'' Length of Keel: 125' 8 ⅞'' Beam: 40' ½'' Tons Burthen: 1,072 33⁄94 Armament: 28x 18-pounder long guns 8x 9-pounder long guns (quarterdeck) 6x 32-pounder carronades (quarterdeck) 2x 32-pounder carronades (forecastle) 2x 9-pounder long guns (probably bow chasers) *** Fifth Rate Gracieuse (1787)-->Unite-->HMS Unite: If O'Brian did get his ships mixed up, it was likely with the 32-gun 12-pounder frigate Gracieuse, built by the French in 1787 but renamed Unite in 1793. She retained the latter name when taken by the British. Specifications: Length of Gundeck: 142' 5 ½" Length of Keel: 118' 5 ⅛" Beam: 37' 8" Tons Burthen: 873 71⁄94 Armament in British Service: 26x 12-pounder long guns 6x 6-pounder long guns (quarterdeck and forecastle) 4x 24-pounder carronades (forecastle) With her armament, this ship may well be the reason that O'Brian's (and Naval Action's) HMS Surprise carries 12-pounders. *** HMS Rose (1970)-->HMS Surprise: This is the ship that portrayed 'the dear old Surprise' in the film Master and Commander. HMS Rose was built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in 1970, "using original construction drawings" from the 1757 Sixth Rate frigate HMS Rose, which served in the American War of Independence. In 2001, HMS Rose was officially renamed HMS Surprise, and underwent changes to her rig, upper works and outward appearance. In turn, the movie ship seems to have provided the rig and paint scheme for Naval Action's rendition of L'Unite's hull and armament. Specifications (note the different measurement systems): Length Overall: 179' Length on Deck: 135' 6'' Beam: 32' Appearance as HMS Rose Appearance as HMS Surprise As you can see, besides the superficial changes to paint scheme and decorations, HMS Rose was refitted with a mizzen topgallant and had her quarterdeck rails replaced with bulwarks pierced for guns. If you look closely, you will see that the ship's lines, especially those of the upper works, do not resemble the more heavily-armed L'Unite. *** 24-gun frigate HMS Rose (1757): The historical ship represented by the 1970 replica had an extensive career on the North American seaboard, which you can read about here. Specifications: Length of Gundeck: 108' 11 ½" Length of Keel: 90' 10 ¼" Beam: 30' 1" Tons Burthen: 430 37⁄94 Armament: 20x 9-pounder long guns You will notice that Rose is noticeably smaller than L'Unite. Because I cannot find measurements for the replica ship in the same historical units, I cannot tell whether the modern ship was built to be larger, or is faithful to the original. In conclusion, the in-game Surprise seems to be a replica of L'Unite's hull, combined with the rigging and outward appearance of the replica ship featured in Master and Commander. In addition, she carries the 12-pounders of an entirely different French frigate named Unite. Such an armament would have been seriously detrimental to her sailing qualities and safety, if history is any guide. Furthermore, she is capable of carrying 12-pounder guns even on the quarterdeck and forecastle, which never mounted any long gun heavier than a 4-pounder historically. This does turn her into a sort of pocket Fifth Rate, with firepower exceeding many 32 and 36-gun ships. With some real 12-pounder and 9-pounder frigates on the horizon (Belle Poule and Renommee), Surprise will upset the balance and progression of the game's ships unless her armament is cut down to historical size. In compensation, she should be allowed to carry 32-pounder carronades. Lastly, if anyone can find some more useful length and beam numbers for the replica ship HMS Rose/Surprise, I am very keen to see them. You are also welcome to post more pictures and especially draughts of any of the ships, and I will add them to the OP. I am especially curious to see a screenshot of the game's Surprise and Trincomalee lined up side-by-side, to compare their respective lengths (I can't access the game for a while myself).
'Freia' Danish 18-pounder frigate, 1793 [3d model]
Dimensions (imperial) length 148' 3'' breadth 38' 7' draugth aft 17' draugth forward 15' 9'' distance of the meta center to true midpoint 2' 10'' (waterline) heigth of middle gunport above the waterline 6' 6'' length-to-breadth ratio 3,84 Armarment danish service 26 18-pounders 4 12-pound howitzers 14 6-pounders Crew 380 british service 26 24-pounders (Gover) 14 32-pound carronades 2 9-pounders Crew 264 Launched 1793, captured by the RN in 1807. Coverted to troopship in 1811. Capable of 10.6 knots close-hauled and 13 knots running free, although rather leewardly (performance of sister-ship Iris). Good, easy sea-boat. British captains trimmed her by the head, which is quite unusual and the danish design draughts indicate that was not the case in danish service (draft was almost 2 feet deeper overall in british service). Lovely french lines, fast, a cool figure-head and 4 bow chase ports...what´s not to like?
Beautiful Early American Frigate USS Virginia 1776
ragnar hairy trousers posted a topic in Frigates and similar ships
This is the USS Virginia launched in 1776 and although the plans list her as a 32 gun frigate she was actually a 28 . Unlike most 28 gun vessels of the time she shipped 12 lb guns instead of the usual 9 lb guns, making her very powerful for her size. Given her armament and size she was a powerful ship for her time and had she broken the British blockade could have been a thorn in the side of the British. It is a great pity that her captain was such a coward and fled the ship when faced with HMS Emerald (32 gun commanded by Captain Caldwell ). Her demoralized crew surrendered her without a fight. It would be very nice to see how she would have preformed in actual combat against a British 32 like HMS Emerald.
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IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles
Developer Diary
By BlackSix, December 14, 2012 in Announcements
Jason_Williams 14444
Location:Las Vegas, NV USA
Today I’d like to share some straight talk with you about our current and future plans for the Sturmovik franchise. I took over as Lead Producer in August 2016 with the goal of improving Sturmovik and bringing it more in line with your original expectations, while at the same time bringing the product’s technology into the future. Matter of fact my goal was to improve, what I call the four key pillars combat simulations – technology, features, content and community.
The past 9-10 months has seen Sturmovik be improved in many ways with new technology, more content and additional features being developed with more still to come. I also hope that some new out-of-game initiatives will further strengthen our small community even more.
Our Kuban development phase is going pretty well, but we always have challenges we must overcome due our overall lack of resources relative to our goals. However, we are confident Battle of Kuban will set the standard for WWII themed simulations and give you the simmer many years of enjoyment.
So, let’s talk about what happens after Kuban for a moment. When we announced battle of Kuban I made it clear that our intention (assuming it is possible) was to do something different, something many have asked for that would shake up the norm - The Pacific Theater starting with the Battle of Midway. It’s been over a decade since a new Pacific themed product was developed and I hope we can change this. After much research and thought we have come to understand that this will be an extreme challenge for us on every front.
It is such a challenge because we need to create large capital ships like aircraft carriers and their accompanying technology as well as create Japanese built airplanes. The Japanese airplanes pose the greatest challenge because we know little about their operation and there is not a lot of detailed documentation in either English or Russian. There is quite a bit in Japanese, but that means we need translators who can helps us which adds to our budgetary expenses in an already tight budget. This has added a new level of complexity we have not dealt with before. This is important to understand because the community has certain expectations of what level of fidelity we can achieve based on our previous products. Meeting those expectations with our Japanese airplanes might be very hard both in the visual realm and in the flight dynamics. For us to make the Pacific product a reality and worthy of the Sturmovik name we need your help. We cannot possibly locate everything we need ourselves.
What we need are detailed sources of information about Japanese airplanes such as engines, their systems, weapons and their flight performance in whatever language you can find, but we are especially interested in finding detailed Japanese documents that explain in detail how these planes operated, what their cockpits looked like and their performance. I have started a special section in the forum where you can help us locate such information. If you want to help us please visit this section and contribute. Please read the instructions I have posted there before you post so we can be efficient.
Additionally, I have posted several “help wanted” posts in our Jobs and Contractors section of the English language forum. We are looking for testers, talented artists and other creative people to help with various aspects of development or community related projects. Please check them out and if you meet the requirements please contact us.
If you like what we have been doing with Sturmovik please consider purchasing all we have to offer or encourage your friends to make a purchase so we can afford the resources we need to venture the Pacific and beyond. We recently began selling Scripted Campaigns made by our own BlackSix. These are excellent campaigns and this kind of fun content helps sustain us during long, expensive development cycles. Please give them a look in our store if you haven’t already. There is no magic solution to our resource issue, we need your continued financial support to get the job done and keep going!
And finally, I can’t leave you without some development shots. This time I present you some more Hs-129 development shots. And don’t worry the Spitfire is coming along as well. It’s just not ready to be shown yet.
You can discuss the news in this thread
Han 11862
Dear pilots,
Another week has passed and we're moving further in the development cycle of Battle of Kuban. There is only a bit more than half a year left until its release, so many of its parts start to look final already. The base of the new Career mode is already there: almost all the historical texts are ready as well as squadron insignias, we're working on the cutscenes. Its internal elements - GUI and mission generator patterns - are being filled with content. The flight physics improvements (enhanced fuselage tail modeling that will make the FM even more realistic at unstable flight modes and when there is a strong rudder input) are nearly finished, we plan to release the corrected FM in July. The work on Hs 129 B-2 (we did show you several screenshots with it last week) flight model is started. We just finished reworking the airfields on the Moscow map and in the coming update they'll be prettier at close and medium distances and, most importantly, the performance hit near them will be lower.
TacView API support will be improved as well - in the coming update the sim will export additional parameters and objects like projectiles, bombs, etc., we'll also take additional measures to block an unfair usage of this utility (cheating). New hotkeys for switching between the stations will be added - RShift-0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, where RShift-0 moves you to pilot seat and other numbers to different turrets on bigger aircraft like bombers. We've made huge progress on making ship models for Battle of Kuban as well.
And last but not the least, Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb is nearly finished - our engineers are polishing its flight characteristics to make them as close to reference as possible while artists are adding final touches to its cockpit textures. Yesterday we completed its skins you can see right now. We hope that the update 2.011 that will give you Spitfire Mk.Vb will be released this month as it was planned initially.
We're finishing our work on 2.011 update. It will bring you another Collector Plane - Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb which has been used in Battle of Kuban. These planes were sent to the USSR via the lend-lease program. The update will also include the new historical campaign Blazing Steppe by Alexander =BlackSix= Timoshkov (you can already pre-order on our website).
However, in today's Dev Diary we'd like to tell you what will happen after this update - in update 2.012 that will be released later, possibly the end of July or early August. We already told you about the coming huge update of all aircraft (Battle of Moscow, Battle of Stalingrad, Battle of Kuban) flight models which will address such minor effects like oscillations in maneuvers, aircraft banking with full rudder input and control surfaces load changes at different speeds. These peculiarities, while being minor, are caused by deep flight model parameters. Tuning them meant a lot of work, but caused additional positive changes in the flight behavior of every aircraft in our project. We decided it would be the right thing to do to tell you about these changes in advance - what will be changed for each aircraft. We present you the full change list of the coming FM fix (once again, please note that these changes will be published later, in the end of July or early August, in update 2.012).
=========CHANGES implemented during 5 months’ work on the FM fix that will be in update 2.012=============
Common changes:
1. Aircraft stability along the pitch and yaw axes has been reworked. Planes reaction to control surfaces input became much less volatile and closer to reality.
2. Aircraft controllability was tuned simultaneously with the stability in the same control channels. Control surfaces inputs in different flight conditions became more realistic. Aircraft handling became much less 'sharp' and more convenient and predictable.
3. Roll 'dipping' after a full rudder input has been significantly decreased for all aircraft. Flat turns, coordinated side-slipping (straight banked flight with full rudder input for braking) and other maneuvers with side slipping motion at large angles became much closer to real ones.
4. Time of stabilizers and trimmers shift from end to end made more realistic.
5. Trim effectiveness has been corrected for several aircraft to correspond to the updated balance boundaries.
6. Load increase of the control surfaces has been corrected as the speed increases, changing aircraft controllability at various flight speeds and making them function closer to real data.
7. Because of the tuned stability characteristics, aircraft lose directional stability in an event of horizontal surfaces destruction.
8. Because of the tuned stability characteristics, aircraft lose lateral stability in an event of vertical surfaces destruction.
9. Because of the tuned controllability and stability and additional stall tuning, aircraft stall behavior changed. An aircraft sticks less in a spin, spin recovery became easier and more predictable. Therefore, an aircraft behavior during stall and spin became closer to the real thing. If there was a specific spin data available for an aircraft, it was taken into account to make the FM even more accurate (additional details follow below).
10. Thanks to aircraft stability and controllability changes taxiing and take-off and landing runs became more predictable and controllable.
11. Run-down time of the freely rotating landing gear wheels has been decreased by increasing friction values in the wheel bearings.
12. Landing gear brakes friction has been increased, making the aircraft stopping and holding while revving the engine(s) easier.
13. Air flow at beyond-stall AoA is now modeled better, making bobbling and shaking during a stall more realistic.
14. Control surfaces buffeting values at high flight speeds have been tuned: amplitudes were lowered, frequencies increased.
15. Flight stick and pedals shifting speed became slower even more due to increased load at high flight speeds.
16. Oscillation delay time of the sideslip indicator (the small ball) has been corrected.
17. Aircraft fragments behavior (unnaturally smooth fall of detached ailerons, elevators, rudders, etc.) has been corrected, especially at high speeds.
Additional clarification on fixes of Soviet planes:
LaGG-3 series 29:
1. Landing gear physics model has been revised. Now the aircraft is much less prone to 'circling', it is now possible to turn at 15-25 km/h speed without using brakes.
2. Take-off characteristics in crosswinds improved.
3. Pedals load at various flight conditions has been corrected (significantly increased at low speeds and significantly decreased at high speeds).
4. Pitch balance and its dependence on the flaps have been corrected.
5. Rudder, elevator and ailerons trim shift time from end to end increased from 6 to 8 seconds.
6. Elevator trim effectiveness has been decreased.
La-5 series 8:
2. Pedals load at various flight conditions has been corrected (increased at low speeds and decreased at high speeds).
5. The aircraft stall behavior has been corrected using the data available. The stall in a level flight doesn't end in a spin, the aircraft proceeds to 'pancake', keeping the roll controllability. In a case of intentional spin entry, spin recovery requires intensive rudder input while failure to give it can result in a significant spin recovery delay.
I-16 type 24:
1. Pitch balance and its dependence on the landing flap have been corrected.
2. Flight stick load along the roll axis at medium and high flight speeds has been slightly increased.
4. Extended landing flap pitches the aircraft up significantly, on the glide path this must be compensated by flight stick movement forward.
5. Stall speed with the landing flap and gear extended is 3-4 km/h lower than with them retracted.
6. The aircraft stall behavior has been checked using the data available. The stall readily results in a spin, spin recovery requires intensive rudder input while failure to give it can result in a significant spin recovery delay.
MiG-3 series 24:
1. Roll rate at various flight conditions has been corrected (decreased at medium and high speeds).
4. Elevator and rudder trim shift time from end to end increased from 6 to 8 seconds.
5. Flight stick load along the roll axis at high flight speeds has been slightly decreased.
7. The aircraft stall behavior has been corrected using the data available. The stall in a level flight readily ends in a spin, spin recovery doesn't require much effort.
Yak-1 series 69/127:
1. Pitch balance has been corrected.
2. Flight stick load along the pitch axis has been increased at high flight speeds.
3. Flight stick load along the roll axis has been corrected at any flight speeds.
4. Pedals load at medium and high flight speeds has been increased significantly.
5. Elevator trim shift time from end to end increased from 6 to 8 seconds.
7. The neutral roll position of the flight stick that was incorrect for joysticks without FFB has been corrected.
P-40E-1:
1. Pitch balance and its dependence on the landing flaps has been corrected.
2. Pedals load at various flight conditions has been corrected (slightly increased at low speeds and decreased at high speeds).
3. The landing flaps drag has been decreased.
4. The aircraft stall behavior has been corrected using the data available. The stall in a level flight doesn't end in a spin, the aircraft proceeds to 'pancake'.
IL-2 mod. 1941/42/43:
1. Flight stick and pedals load at any flight speeds have been increased significantly.
3. The number of complete revolutions of the elevator trim handle in the cockpit has been increased.
4. The aircraft stall behavior has been corrected using the data available. The stall in a level flight doesn't end in a spin, the aircraft proceeds to 'pancake'. The stall in a turn ends in a spin.
Pe-2 series 35/87/110:
1. Pitch balance and its dependence on the landing flaps have been corrected.
2. Propellers backwash influence on the aircraft has been decreased.
6. Flight stick load along the pitch axis has been increased at any flight speeds.
7. Pe-2 series 87 water radiators increase drag correctly as they are opened (previously the left engine radiators didn't increase drag while the right engine radiators affected the drag for both engine nacelles).
Additional clarification on fixes of German planes:
Bf 109 E-7:
1. Pitch balance and its dependence on the horizontal stabilizer and flaps have been corrected.2. Flight stick load at any flight speeds has been corrected (increased at low speeds and decreased at high speeds).
3. Flight stick load along the roll axis at high flight speeds has been increased.
5. Horizontal stabilizer shift time from end to end increased from 5 to 15 seconds according to the reference video.
6. Flaps extension time increased from 15 to 20 seconds according to the reference video.
7. The aircraft flight model is corrected to correspond to other aircraft FM (its difference was caused by attempts to fix the roll issues quickly).
8. Pushing the flight stick forward abruptly is less likely to cause an inverted snap roll or reverse spin.
9. The aircraft stall behavior has been corrected using the data available. The stall danger in a turn if an excessive flight stick input has been given is minimal.
Bf 109 F-2/F-4/G-2/G-4:
1. Their roll rate at various flight conditions has been corrected (decreased at medium and high speeds).
2. Pedals load at high flight speeds has been decreased.
3. Pitch balance and its dependence on the horizontal stabilizer and flaps have been corrected.
6. Flight stick load along the pitch axis has been increased at low and medium flight speeds.
7. Flight stick load along the roll axis at medium and high flight speeds has been increased significantly.
8. Pedals load at low and medium flight speeds has been increased.
10. The additional research on the aircraft stall has been performed using the data available. It stalls in a turn if an excessive flight stick input has been given. Spin recovery doesn't require much effort.
Fw-190 A3/A4:
2. Flight stick load along the roll axis has been slightly corrected at any flight speeds.
4. The additional research on the aircraft stall has been performed using the data available. It stalls in a turn if an excessive flight stick input has been given. The stall starts very quickly after pre-stall buffeting.
MC.202 series VIII:
2. Flight stick load along the pitch axis has been decreased at high flight speeds.
5. Horizontal stabilizer shift time from end to end increased from 5 to 15 seconds.
Ju 87 D-3:
2. Flight stick load along the pitch and roll axes and pedals load have been increased at high flight speeds.
3. Rudder and elevator trim shift time from end to end increased from 6 to 8 seconds.
5. Propeller backwash influence on the aircraft has been increased (now more rudder input is required during a take-off run).
Bf 110 E-2/G-2:
1. Course stability while taxiing has been improved.
4. Pedals load at medium and high flight speeds has been decreased.
5. Flight stick load along the pitch axis at medium and high flight speeds has been increased.
8. Engine nacelles drag correctly increases as they are damaged.
9. The aircraft is much less controllable at high AoA, now it stalls uncontrollably if you attempt extreme maneuvers.
10. The rotation rate in a flat turn is set according to the reference.
11. Aircraft stall in a level flight is much 'softer', without the tendency to enter a spin, as described in the reference article.
He 111 H-6/H-16:
2. Flight stick load along the roll axis at high flight speeds has been decreased.
4. Flight stick load at various flight conditions has been corrected (increased at low speeds and decreased at high speeds).
5. Elevator, rudder and ailerons effectiveness has been decreased.
6. Rudder and ailerons trim shift time from end to end increased from 6 to 8 seconds.
9. An issue with He-111 H6 roll trim after the right aileron loss has been fixed.
10. Water and oil radiators increase drag correctly as they are opened (previously the left engine radiators didn't increase drag while the right engine radiators affected the drag for both engine nacelles).
11. Engine nacelles drag correctly increases as they are damaged.
12. The misalignment of the animated and physical (true) position of the landing gear during its extension and retraction has been removed.
Ju 88 A-4:
2. Flight stick load along the pitch axis at any flight speeds has been increased.
4. Pedals load at high flight speeds has been significantly decreased.
6. Rudder trim shift time from end to end increased from 6 to 8 seconds.
7. Ailerons trim shift time from end to end increased from 5 to 8 seconds.
9. Bottom turret drag correctly increases as it's damaged.
Ju 52/3mg 4e:
2. Flight stick load along the pitch axis at medium and high flight speeds has been slightly increased.
3. Pedals load at medium and high flight speeds has been significantly decreased.
To add a bit of visuals after this wall of text, we'll show you the Hs 129 B-2 paint schemes prepared by community enthusiast I./ZG1_Panzerbar:
Gavrick 449
So, let's talk about Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VB. It took off for the first time in December 1940. Spitfires V were relatively old planes by the time the battle of Kuban begun in Spring 1943.
"VB" variant was armed with two 20 mm Hispano Mk. II guns and four Browning .303 machine guns. The guns were magazine-fed, 60 rounds per gun, while machine guns had 350 rounds per gun. The lend-lease aircraft sent to the USSR did not have bomb-carrying capabilities, some other equipment was also removed - gun camera, landing lights, IFF transponder, etc. Thanks to this, the aircraft became lighter roughly by 40 kilograms. The special snowguard was installed in front of the engine supercharger to protect it from dust or snow while taking off. Most of the planes sent to the USSR had Merlin 46 engine, but roughly one-fifth of them was equipped with Merlin 45. They differed by critical altitudes - Merlin 46 was designed for higher altitudes like 4-5 kilometers, where it was more powerful, but it was 80-100 HP weaker than Merlin 45 near the ground. Our sim will represent both engines (Merlin 45 will be a modification).
Spitfire instruments are similar to other planes, but there were some peculiarities. It was equipped with the rudder and elevator trimmers and the elevator trimmer position was shown on the instruments panel. The pitch up range of the trimmer is three times larger than pitch down.
The engine-propeller combination is controlled by the throttle, the automatic pressure limiter switch, the propeller control unit and the mixture control assembly. The throttle is linked to the automatic supercharger: when the throttle is set to any position from 1/3 to full, it sets a pressure supported by the supercharger from -7 to +12 pounds per square inch (PSI) relative to one atmosphere pressure. So 760 mmHg boost equals to 1 ATA and to +0 position on the British boost indicator. The automatic pressure limiter can be turned off to maintain constant +16 boost regardless of the throttle position. The automatic mixture controller maintains the optimal mixture setting if its control level is in the forward position or leaned mixture to save fuel if its control level is in the back position. The mixture control system has been removed on later Spitfires.
Water radiator is controlled by the lever to the left of the pilot seat which has six fixed positions and is set to 40% by default.
The fuel gauge indicates the amount of fuel left in the feeder (bottom) tank when the fuel gauge button is pressed. In the sim, the pilot automatically presses the button twice in a minute if he doesn't do active maneuvering. The amount of fuel left in the upper fuel tank can't be indicated.
Spitfire is equipped with a siren that warns a pilot if the throttle is set to a low position with the landing gear retracted. It turns off when the pilot either lowers the landing gear or increases the throttle or turns it off manually (in our sim the pilot turns the siren off after 3-5 seconds on its own).
The sideslip indicator isn't a small ball like on other planes, but an arrow. It functions essentially the same - there is a pendulum behind the instruments panel attached to this arrow.
The aircraft is equipped with two compasses - magnetic and gyro ones. Gyro compass should be caged up on the ground and while doing aerobatics (in the sim the pilot does on its own). There is a flight timer on the clock that is turned on by the pilot on its own after takeoff and turned off after landing. Upper and bottom formation lights can be turned on simultaneously or independently (RAlt+L).
The horizontal marks on the collimator gunsight are adjustable, so you can use it like a rangefinder. To do this, enter the target distance in yards and the target base (its wingspan) in feet by pressing RAlt + , RAlt + ; and RAlt + /. There is a sun filter on the gunsight.
While taxiing, keep in mind that Spitfire has narrow landing gear and large wings stuffed with weapons and ammunition, so they may touch the ground if you attempt a sharp turn, it also tends to 'circle'. On the other hand, it is stable on the runway during takeoff or landing. Its tail wheel rotates freely and does not have a lock.
Take off should be made at 3000 RPM and +12 boost with the landing flaps retracted. When airborne, reduce the boost to +9 and RPM to 2850 and climb in this mode.
The elevator is very sensitive and has very small stability reserve (the aircraft has a neutral static stability), so control the plane by gentle flight stick movements and don't overdo it. The pre-stall warning shake comes early, but if you continue to pull the flight stick and don't move it forward, the plane may stall and spin even at high speed. Flight manual says that you may enter spin only by a written permission of your squadron commander. Having the papers ready, enter the spin bravely - to recover from the spin, setting the control surfaces to the neutral position is enough usually.
As we mentioned above, the aircraft has a neutral static stability. Therefore, the balanced flight stick position doesn't change during level flight while accelerating or decelerating. However, due to the elevator peculiarities, the flight stick load will change and the pilot should push the stick forward harder as the speed increases. That's why the elevator trimmer has the large pitch down range. The elevator effectiveness is high, so any trimmer position could lead to high-g accelerations (and force pilot to blackout rapidly) at higher speeds in spite of the limited control surfaces effectiveness at high speeds.
The aircraft, especially untrimmed, should be controlled carefully at high speeds, not giving too much flight stick input since the high-g accelerations can potentially lead to a catastrophic structural failure.
The aircraft becomes somewhat unstable with extended landing flaps, but in spite of this, it is easy to land. It's recommended to keep 95-100 MPH speed on the glide path.
To summarize, Spitfire is a maneuverable, relatively easy to control and decently armed aircraft. However, its maneuverability (that comes from its large wing surface of 22.5 square meters, while Soviet fighters had ~17.5 sq.m. and Bf 109 had 16.2 sq.m) comes with the price of modest maximal speed near the ground.
https://youtu.be/MgL_nLVGmng
Hello Pilots,
I have been in Moscow all week with the team working on many things both current and future. Before I head home to California I want to share some images of the Spitfire cockpit and our new shadow tech. You heard right, our shadows have been re-worked and they look awesome!! They are sharper, your plane projects its own shadow on the ground while in the cockpit and objects such as trees and buildings and vehicles cast their own dynamic shadows on everything! We’ve also increased the distance at which shadows are drawn. This makes the scenery like villages and ground combat environments looks even more realistic. And shadows in cockpits will also be sharper with all details casting shadows. When everything is in motion is just looks great.
You’ll also be able to choose different shadow settings for performance reasons and you can also turn them off completely if you need to. Our tests show that the new shadows are not a huge performance hit, but we won’t know the full effect until it enters beta. It should be noted that the shadows will be released in the 2.012 update, not the soon to be released 2.011 update. Also, in the pics below the Spitfire images do not include the new shadows.
Below you will find our first real images of the completed Spitfire cockpit. It was a challenge to build, but it turned out very nice. It’s quite colorful compared to Soviet cockpits. We think you will enjoy the Spitfire a lot.
And finally, we have addressed an old complaint and adjusted the contrast of our dials and gauges making them easier to read and more useful which increases the feeling of being there.
AND DONT FORGET WE HAVE A MASSIVE SUMMER SALE IN PROGRESS UNTIL JULY 5TH!
https://il2sturmovik.com/store
Enjoy your weekend everyone!
You can discuss the news in this thread.
We have a couple new shots for you based on this week results - boats and ships on the Kuban map. The work on the flight model improvements continues and is now at its final stage - we're teaching the AI how to control the aircraft with the new FM and implementing mouse controls for it (as you may already know, both the AI and our mouse controls in our project use the real thing, full FM, not a simplified one).
Kuban map development is nearly finished and we plan to show you new screenshots of it next week. The new shadows tech we told you in the previous Dev Blog is ready for testing and debugging. Overall, the update 2.012 we expect to publish in the end of August is going to be one of the biggest and most important updates for our product.
And today we'd like to show you several screenshots of the Battle of Kuban ships: they are nearly finished and will be also uncluded in 2.012 update along with the Kuban map:
In this Dev. Diary we'd like to share with you many never before seen screenshots of the Kuban map as it nears completion. It's simply awesome and sets a new standard for Sturmovik map making. We hope you enjoy them. And progress continues as we continue to work on and testing and implementing the FM changes and new shadow technology mentioned earlier. The screens below show our old shadow technology for now.
AND DONT FORGET WE HAVE A 40% OFF BOM PROMO IN PROGRESS UNTIL AUGUST 7TH!
as you of course remember, one of the key new features of Battle of Kuban is the new gameplay mode - Career. In this mode, you'll build your character, a military pilot. His career will develop day by day in the chosen theatre of war. Each morning (except the days with non-flying weather), the plan for the day is set and the outcome of an each sortie influences your squadron (the pilots can be wounded, lost, the aircraft can be damaged, etc.). The player character will participate in some of the sorties, while the results of other ones will be generated automatically based on the overall frontline situation, how experienced the AI pilots are and which aircraft with what armament they have, weather conditions and so on.
At the end of the day, all pilots stats are updated and in the course of the following days, they could be awarded and advance in rank. When the player character becomes the regiment commander, new tools are given to him during the planning phase to assign other pilots to a mission, set up their aircraft, weaponry, fuel and plot the flight route.
One of the planned features of the Career mode are historically correct weather conditions for each day (averaged for the theater of war), squadrons positions and what aircraft they had. The daily tasks reflect what the squadron was up to during the set timeframe. Overall, this mode will let you learn more about the battle of Kuban (and Moscow and Stalingrad).
At the beginning of our work on the Career mode, we performed a huge research on squadron histories and the community helped us in this endeavor. In addition, we found almost all German squadron emblems. In Soviet tradition, the air force regiments didn't have emblems, so we decided to use their banners instead. Take a look at some of the emblems and banners you'll see in the game after the Career mode release:
Note from Jason - A very special thanks to our friend Isaac aka 10.N./ZG1_SPEKTRE76 for his help in researching and creating the German squad emblems. We very much appreciate it.
Now onto other neat things. Since our map of Kuban includes a significant chunk of the sea, we decided to improve how various warships look in our engine. First, we used more complex materials for 3D models of the ships (some of the screenshots of them were published in the Dev Blog #164).
Second, since the torpedo boats were widely used in the Black Sea, we're developing the new torpedo tech. Anticipating a question you're probably going to ask, we're making the new tech suitable for supporting aircraft-launched torpedoes in the future. Such aircraft are not planned for Battle of Kuban, but it's possible that they will appear later, so we always try to make new technologies as universal as possible.
Third, we invested into improved physics, graphical effects and some other minor stuff for the ships. Here's a short video that shows the result (please note that the sound is WIP and not finished yet):
https://youtu.be/7ZFmDNeD7Eg
In the end, we can tell you that we plan to release the update 2.012 at the very end of August - as it turns out, it will be a humongous update with many very big and important additions that affect the entire project. It's too early to publish the complete change list since some of the tasks can take longer to finish, but at the moment everything is looking fine and we hope the update 2.012 will contain everything we planned for it.
Today we present you a small report on the progress of our "Battle for the Kuban" project. At the moment, work is almost completed on the improved flight models and work on the map of Kuban is also in the final stage. The Hs -29 B-2 ground attack plane will be finished in a couple of weeks. Its flight model and cockpit textures are being finalized and we will be able to present it to you soon. Work on the new shadow technology has been completed and settings for the increased quality has been added to the GUI. We’ve added an even sharper setting recently that allows the shadows in the cockpit to become even more detailed than what we showed you earlier. Also, the distance of the shadows in the landscape has been increased to twice as far. Thus, in total, depending on the field of view of the camera, the range of shadow rendering at the highest setting will exceed the existing one by several times. Of course, this setting is quite demanding on PCs, however, on top-end video cards, the FPS continues to be quite high with the maximized settings. For less powerful video cards there will be 4 more levels to adjust the quality of shadows. You can to choose the balance of image quality and performance that’s best for you.
We have also undertaken a very serious and effective effort to improve the visualization of the sea in all ranges - near, middle and far.
Work on the new "Career" mode is also in full swing. At the moment, the programming portion is 90% complete and the work on filling this new game mode of content has started. We expect that during the continued process of this work we will be able to create an interesting and fun Career mode for you with some other small technical improvements included.
As the saying goes - A picture is worth a thousand words! So here is a small in-flight video over the Gelendzhik bay in which you can see some features of the Kuban map such as the improved sea visualization, new shadows in the cockpit and some others:
https://youtu.be/dS7Lf3NJupA
While we're making Battle of Kuban, community enthusiasts III/JG2_Gustav05 and I./ZG1_Panzerbar were also busy making the Bf 109 F-4 and Ju 87 D-3 skins even more historically accurate and adding minor details and peculiarities. In addition, I./ZG1_Panzerbar updated the Fw 190 A-5 default skin. You can see the result of their work on the screenshots below. Most of them were taken in the skies over Kuban so you could see how diverse it is. And all this is just Summer textures, while Spring and Autumn versions of the map will be included too.
0. Bf 109 F-4, default camo.
Stanitsa Timashevskaya fields, northern part of the map
1. Bf 109 F-4, default winter camo.
Winter Stalingrad map
2. Bf 109 F-4, experimental Hungarian Pattern (three-colored, vertical stripes).
Black sea limans (lagoons) near stanitsa Blagoveschenskaya, Temryuk peninsula
3. Bf 109 F-4, Fw. Eberhard von Boremski, 9./JG3, Chuguev, May 1942.
Caucasus foothils, stanitsa Abenskaya
4. Bf 109 F-4, Ofw. Rudolf Müller, 6./JG5, Petsamo, August 1942.
Caucasus ravines, Indyuk settlement
5. Bf 109 F-4, Fw. Ernst Schultz, 8./JG5, Petsamo, March 1943.
Azov sea limans (lagoons) near Tchaikino, Temryuk peninsula
6. Bf 109 F-4, Hptm. Hans Joachim Marseille, 3./JG27 commander, Quotaifiya, Egypt, September 1942.
Krasnodar southern outskirts
7. Bf 109 F-4, Maj. Hanns Trübenbach, Stab./JG52 commander, Bukharest-Pipera, September 1941.
Tschikhskoye reservoir on Kuban river, stanitsa Voronezhskaya
8. Bf 109 F-4, Lt. Hermann Graf, 9./JG52 commander, Kharkov, May 1942.
Forest patch near Ivachovskoye settlement
9. Bf 109 F-4, Hptm. Hans Philipp, Stab I./JG 54 commander, Krasnogvardeysk, June 1942.
Lower Pshish river near stanitsa Bzhedukhovskaya
10. Bf 109 F-4, Lt. Hans Beißwenger, 6./JG54, Rjelbitzi, June 1942.
Black sea coast near Gagry settlement
11. Bf 109 F-4, Oblt. Max-Helmuth Ostermann, 8./JG54 commander, Siwerskaja, May 1942.
12. Bf 109 F-4, Major Gordon Gollob, Stab./JG77 commander, Oktyabrskoye, Crimea, June 1942.
Gorge near Krasnaya Polyana settlement
13. Bf 109 F-4, Oblt. Heinrich Setz, 4./JG77 commander, Kastornoje, August 1942.
Aibga ridge
14. Bf 109 F-4, Oblt. Kurt Ubben, 8./JG77 commander, Chaplinka, October 1941.
Mountain Tchugush
0. Ju 87 D-3, default camo.
Novorossiysk port
1. Ju 87 D-3, default winter camo.
2. Ju 87 D-3, Lt Gerhard Martens, 8./St.G.1 pilot, Velikiye Luki, December 1942.
3. Ju 87 D-3, 1./V.Kdo für Panzerbekämpfung, Bryansk, January 1943.
4. Ju 87 D-3, Hptm. Bruno Dilley, Gr.Kdr., Stab I./St.G.2, Stalingrad, Autumn 1942.
Kerch port
5. Ju 87 D-3, Hptm. Ernst Kupfer, Gr.Kdr., Stab II./St.G.2, Stalingrad, Autumn 1942.
Tuapse port
6. Ju 87 D-3, Hptm. Gustav Pressler, Gr.Kdr., Stab III./St.G.2, Stalingrad, January 1943.
7. Ju 87 D-3, 2./SG 2, Nikolayev, February 1944.
8. Ju 87 D-3, Gyula Pénzes, 2/2 zb.szd., Kharkov, Summer 1943.
Sochi valley
9. Ju 87 D-3, Alfons Auner, Esc. 73 Pikaj, Mariupol, August 1943.
Krasnodar at evening
10. Ju 87 D-3, 207 Sq. 103, Gr.Aut. Tuffatori, Chilivani, May 1943.
Anapa at dusk
0. Fw 190 A-5, default camo.
Kerch straight
We approach the next milestone. Tomorrow we plan to begin testing if the release candidate version 2.012, which, as we said earlier, will include very significant innovations like:
- German twin-engined attack aircraft Hs 129 B-2,
- Kuban map;
- New technology of shadows with extended range, clarity and detail in the cabin and flexible settings;
- The updated flight model of all the aircraft of the IL-2 project, the planes will be more stable in the airflow, more properly respond to glide and a huge number of other changes in the flight physics;
- Improved morning / evening mist visualization;
- Improved visualization of armored glass on all aircraft of the project;
- Updated set of official aircraft colors Bf 109 F-4 and Ju 87 D-3.
Speaking of the plane Hs 129 B-2, it should be noted that this is an extremely interesting aircraft with many features. Firstly, this is the first twin-engine single-seat aircraft in our project. Secondly, it is equipped with French production air-cooled engines Gnome-Rhone 14M, with automatically adjustable oil coolers and a constant speed screw (2750 rpm) with the possibility of manual direct control of the pitch of the screw and the mode of feathering. The airplane is equipped with flaps with a hydraulic smooth extending system, which includes a special metering cylinder for extending flaps right to intermediate take-off position.
In the cockpit there is a folding armored seat for easy getting in the aircraft. The instruments for monitoring engine parameters are installed directly on engine cowls, outside the cabin. Front firing weapons of the aircraft are installed in the central part of the fuselage, behind the cockpit, and fire through special channels along the sides of the cabin. Despite the tightness, the configuration of the cockpit canopy provides the pilot with an excellent front-to-bottom visibility, which is extremely important for the attack aircraft. Collimator sight is installed very unusually - outside the canopy, in front of the armored windscreen, which is also unusual in itself because it has a curved shape with a multilayer structure. The "Revi C/12D mit Zieleinrichtung" gun sight is equipped with a special mechanical sighting device for level bombing at fixed altitudes and speeds; How to use it in detail is shown in the images below.
Well, finally, this is the first aircraft in our project that carries 30 mm cannonin the form of an optional under-fuselage mounted gun MK 101 or MK 103. Also a under-fuselage gunpod with 4 MG-17 machine guns can be mounted, bringing the total amount of front firing weapons to 8 with a common rate of fire up to 9200 rounds per minute, and ammunition up to 6,500 rounds.
In total, version 2.012 will be one of the most important milestones in the history of the Il-2 project. Of course, with so many changes, there may be some shortcomings that we weren't able to find during testing, but we hope that their amount will be minimal and will not hamper the pleasure that you will undoubtedly get in the process of getting acquainted with this update.
since 2.012 release, more than a half of Battle of Kuban content is available in Early Access already. We have three aircraft left to release (P-39L-1, A-20B, Yak-7B series 36) and two game modes (Career and Coop), but since the 2.012, we're positive they will be ready on time. Career mode is almost finished from a technical point of view and it is being filled with data. The main guy who works on it is Victor =FB=ViKs Sechnoy, he has a vast experience and we're sure you'll like the result. At the moment, Victor is working on mission contents - we'll try to keep all the best things you may have enjoyed in BoS and BoM dynamic campaign and Rise of Flight career while adding new things that will improve the diversity of tactical situations and mission tasks. Jason and his team of enthusiasts have nearly finished the work on the career texts while our old friend Dmitry =choybolsan= Kulikov finished drawing the squadron emblems and banners. We still have a lot to do before the end of the year, but the momentum we gained as a team makes us sure we will be successful.
The physical models of the three remaining aircraft are in the making for some time already; Yak-7B 3D model is nearly finished and we'll be able to show you its screenshots next week. The exterior model of A-20B has been finished some time ago (its screenshots are in the Dev Diary #158), but its cockpits take much time to make. Today we'll show you the WIP screenshots of the real symbol of the Battle of Kuban, the fighter on which Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin, one of the most successful Allied aces and the highest scoring pilot flying any American fighter design in history, became famous: Bell P-39 Airacobra. This aircraft brings two new American weapons into our project arsenal: 7.62mm Browning M2 .30 and 37mm Browning M4 autocannon. These graphs show how close to the reference data we were able to recreate the ballistics of their AP rounds:
M2 .30 machine gun has good fire rate (1350 shots per minute) and muzzle speed (845 meters per second), close to German MG 17. However, there will be an option in the game to remove 7.62 guns, their ammo and the rear armor plate that protected the oil reservoir, reducing the total weight of the aircraft by 200 kilograms, its time of turn and improving its vertical maneuverability.
37mm M4 autocannon is similar to German 20mm MG-FF by design - its fire rate and muzzle speed were sacrificed to reduce the weight of the gun and its recoil. These compromises improved the burst fire accuracy but greatly hampered the anti-armor effectiveness (the armor penetration of this gun is 29mm at 500m). Because of this, AP ammo for these guns wasn't supplied to USSR via the lend-lease program in adequate quantities, so AP loadout will be an optional modification in the game. Primarily, 37mm M4 autocannon in the sim will be a weapon of choice against large air targets, and HE rounds are the best for this task.
As promised earlier, this week we'll show you another Allied fighter that participated in the Battle of Kuban - Yak-7b series 36. This aircraft had an unusual story: being a one-seat fighter, it was actually converted from two-seat training plane Yak-7 by removing the rear cockpit. However, this wasn't a field modification of existing planes, Yak-7b was mass produced. The war started badly for the USSR, so it was decided to use the existing Yak-7 assembly lines to produce Yak-7b model with minimal production changes needed. Later, the upgraded Yak-7b became Yak-9, the most produced Soviet fighter of WWII era.
Speaking of its weaponry, it is an up-gunned version of Yak-1: 20mm ShVAK engine cannon and two synchronized 12.7mm UBS machine guns installed on the engine cowling could be complemented by two 50kg or 100kg bombs to engage ground targets. The increased firepower is the main advantage of Yak-7b compared to Yak-1.
Today is a very simple Developer Diary. Some images of the A-20B cockpit for you. We hope you enjoy.
In general, the work is proceeding as planned. All three remaining Battle of Kuban planes (Yak-7b, P-39L and A-20B) are in Engineers department now. P-39L and A-20B 3D cockpits are being made and textured, while the 3D model of Yak-7b is finished. In the meantime, the new Career mode is being filled with a lot of content:
- It includes all the three battles depicted in our project: Battle of Moscow, Battle of Stalingrad and Battle of Kuban:
- Battle of Moscow consists of 200 days starting from October 2nd, 1941, when the German offensive began at large, and ending on April 20th, 1942, when the Russian counteroffensive stopped at Rzhev;
- Battle of Stalingrad is 163 days long, from August 23rd, 1942 (the first massed bombing of Stalingrad and German 6th Army crossing the river Don) till February 2nd, 1943 (when its remains surrendered in what was left of the city);
- Battle of Kuban goes for 176 days from the German attempt to crush the Soviet bridgehead at Mysjako near Novorossiysk on April 17th, 1943 till October 9th, 1943, when the remaining German troops were evacuated from Taman peninsula to Crimea.
-145 squadrons total, each one of them having historically correct aircraft and airfields;
- 98 of these squadrons a player can join, so they have squadron histories. While being brief, these histories are 40 000 words combined;
- All German squadrons have unique insignias and Soviet ones have regimental banners;
- 83 newspapers you'll be receiving while playing Career have 61 000 words;
- Around 550 historical photos add more life to the new mode;
- Each pilot will not only have a name, rank, and credentials like in Rise of Flight, but also a photo thanks to the new photo generator. 24 unique pilot biographies (12 per side) add more flavor to the game;
- There are 38 mission types planned, way more that we have had before (Rise of Flight career and the current BoX campaign have 22 mission types);
- AI controlled objects in missions will be more numerous thanks to the performance optimizations we conducted earlier. For example, player flight will include up to 9 aircraft (there are up to 5 in Rise of Flight and the current BoX campaign);
- The Career will offer a number of options to suit anyone's playstyle, skill, PC performance;
- Around 70 different awards can be earned by a player in this mode. Each one of them will be supplemented by a brief description and have unique conditions to be awarded. Here are a few examples:
Aaand to finish today's Dev Blog, we want to begin, how should we call it, 'the month of surprises'. We don't tell you early about everything, and there are reasons for this. But when we do, we hope that you'll be pleasantly surprised. So, here goes the first one - we're making a new Collectors Plane, Bf 109 G-6, for a month already. This is a highly anticipated aircraft and since it fits into the Battle of Kuban timeframe, it's possible for us to make it. The exterior 3D model is being built right now, so we can show you several WIP screenshots of it:
Since the last Dev Diary and until the next version release we'll be telling you about the coming gameplay modes bit by bit. Today we'll talk about the already completed (just as the rest of the Career mode meta content) feature - weekly world news updates that come in a form of a newspaper. While this feature doesn't affect the gameplay directly, it plays a major role in creating the historical background for a player, telling about what happened to this date on the Eastern front and other fronts of the world war.
Moreover, the newspaper includes the list of ace pilots to this date, the most effective pilots of USSR or Germany depending on the side you're playing. The player himself would be listed there, making his way to the top (hopefully). The list will show top 20 aces for the current Career date and 5 more effective and 5 less effective aces relative to the player. It should be noted that the creation of the historically accurate weekly list of the ace victories required much work. This information is available on the Internet, but it comes in many different formats, contains many errors or typos in the names as well as formatting issues that didn't allow us to use it as is. Nevertheless, we have accumulated and standardized this data, so the weekly aces victories will be as close to the real historical values as it was possible to do.
Meanwhile, our 2D artists continue to draw the historical awards. In addition to medals and other decorations, there will be more unusual awards as well. For example, Soviet pilots were given certain money bonuses for destroying enemy objects and other achievements. Such awards will be shown like this - currency notes and a commemorative sign. Luftwaffe pilots have received different awards like trophy caps:
And the final piece of news for today (and our next surprise) is that in addition to Bf 109 G-6 we have announced in the previous Dev Diary we're also working on La-5FN series 2. As you can see below, we have its exterior 3D model almost ready. The work on its cockpit will start next week and its flight model development will follow a bit later. La-5FN fighter is a symbol of the Soviet airforce of the war, just like Bf 109 G-6 is a symbol of the German airforce. We dreamed about having them in our project for a long time and finally, we have this opportunity. We hope you'll also like this.
the month of surprises continues and today we present you a new kind of them - instead of a new plane it will be a new tech. Our lead programmer and lead landscape designer were developing new stuff for a couple of months already: it will allow us to make the visual image of the sim drastically more realistic and modern looking in the next update. Their main task was increasing the rendering distance of the terrain almost four times, from 40 to 150 kilometers, and they completed it successfully.
This task automatically brings several smaller ones with it in tow: increasing rendering distance of the clouds and making them more diverse, improving the air haze, the horizon, making additional, simplified landscape beyond the map borders since you can see so far now and so on. Ofcourse, one of the main objectives was to not allow significantly FPS drop appear due to this new feature, and we succeed in this. For example, today's discussion on how the new haze should look was so tense and spirited you won't believe it, with many members of the team participating - producer Jason Williams, lead programmer Sergey Vorsin, lead landscape designer Evgeny Isaev, lead physics engineer Andrey Solomykin, build manager Andrey Dineev, physics engineer Roman Kovalenko and yours truly Daniel Tuseev, of course .
You can see the current result of the work on the following screenshots that were taken during daytime at 5000, 2000, 500 and 100 meters altitude. This improvement will get rid of likely the last important thing our engine lacked in comparison to our competitors, and now it looks like we're taking the lead instead. Otherwise, our graphics engine is hands down the best among the combat flight sims. But we won't stop at this, that's for sure, we'll move forward!
Another week has passed and we have interesting IL-2 news for you once again. First of all, our programmers started the work on the next new gameplay mode: Cooperative. In the start, this mode will include a new multiplayer server type, where a player will have to choose an aircraft in a scenario mission. The mission will start once enough players have joined and confirmed they are ready. Aircraft not claimed by human players will be controlled by AI, so the mission will proceed as it was designed even if the server isn't full. The mission scenario could be nearly anything you could think of - scripting allows a mission designer to create almost any combat situation. Moreover, branching multiplayer campaigns will be possible, when a mission outcome decides which mission to load next. Judging by what the =DED= squad has made possible so far on their server, dynamic scenario campaign will be also doable.
Our preliminary plans for the next year include improving not only the new Cooperative but also the existing Deathmatch multiplayer modes by giving the players more convenient means to socialize, offering a more informative, visual and convenient way to select and join a server. We'll be able to tell you more later when we set these plans in stone. For now, we can say that our post-2.012 changes include a ton of changes and additions already and we'll be telling you about them as they mature in the each Dev Blog. This also means that this time the waiting for the next update will be longer than usual, so please bear with us. We're certain that your patience will be rewarded with the new neat stuff that will be released.
To make this Dev Blog a bit less dry, here are some WIP Aircobra screenshots - you can already see it in the game engine. This one is going to be really interesting and we'll tell you about it in detail in our next news update.
Aaand, of course, we continue our 'Month of Surprises'. This Work-In-Progress video is worth a thousand words:
https://youtu.be/GDsJo5h-DHw
The winter is coming and we're approaching the Battle of Kuban release run. The Career mode texts are finished and being translated right now. Cooperative mode is in the internal testing phase. P-39L, A-20B and Yak-7B flight models are nearly finished, Bf 109 G-6 and La-5FN exterior models are ready and their cockpits are in the works. Today we can show you the current state of the A-20B bomber interior:
We're completing the increased rendering distance feature: the atmospheric haze has been tuned for it and skydome has been completely reworked for daytime and dusk light conditions. At the moment, we're working on winter landscape and skydome graphics, as well on cumulus clouds. Plans for the new year are being finalized and confirmed, but we'll maintain the suspense a bit more, all we can say now is that they'll definitely amaze you. To finish today's relatively short Dev Diary, we present you the first in-game shots of Bf 109 G-6 Collector Plane:
today we'll briefly tell you about two new features. First, in conjunction with increasing the landscape rendering distance, we also increased the clouds rendering distance - they are now visible almost three times further than before. Together with the new gamma and gradient for the skydome we showed you earlier, it gives the sim a significantly new look. For example, the 'feeling of flight' became even more natural at medium and high altitudes and when you fly under the clouds the new perspective is stunning. We also improved the look of cumulus clouds, making them more realistic and diverse; they can also appear at two layers now. It is interesting to note that we were able to recreate one of the real life effects - the Earth projecting its shadow on the opposite to the setting sun part of the sky). As the popular saying goes, one picture is worth a thousand words:
The second new feature is related to the look of the bare metal parts on various aircraft - in the future, we plan to make planes that weren't painted and had a polished or matte aluminum finish. The metal parts on lend-lease planes P-40E-1, Spitfire Mk.Vb, P-39L-1 and A-20B and Italian MC.202 ser.8 (which also has a bare metal skin) will look even more realistic and authentic.
As you may have already noticed, the huge map of Battle of Kuban comes in three seasons (Spring, Summer and Autumn), so there is no winter one. However there are many existing winter maps in our sim, so we had to update the winter landscape quality to match the new map quality level. In the end, after some experiments, we had to remake the chilly skydome, adjust the color palette and contrast to reflect the winter visibility conditions. The existing lighting wasn't bad, but we have found a way to improve its quality and make it even more realistic to get more contrast, bluish shadows which are characteristic of the chilling weather. The overall color temperature also became colder. All this combined allowed for more 'clean air' and deep visual feel. Of course, it's hard to describe such changes with just words, so please take a look at these comparison screenshots:
Now, our engineer Roman =Gavrik= Kovalenko wants to tell you a bit about the A-20B he will finish working on soon:
A-20B had good flight characteristics, high fineness (wing/drag) ratio and very good aerodynamics. Its top speed exceeded Pe-2 speed even at nominal power mode, it had a good handling and maneuverability. All control surfaces were equipped with servo tabs to reduce the pilots' load. With bombs dropped, A-20B had comparable to fighters wing loading and two powerful Wright R-2600-11 engines allowed for a good power-to-weight ratio. However, aerobatics were forbidden for its pilots and it was advised to dive shallow and recover gently because of the durability concerns (4g maneuver envelope). Nevertheless, the flight manual included some maneuvers like combat turn.
Lend-leased A-20B's were upgraded upon arrival to the USSR: they were refitted to support Soviet bombs, electric bomb dropping gear similar to Pe-2 one was installed, and there were some other minor changes.
it was one of the first mass-produced aircraft with the nose landing gear, making taxiing, taking off and landing much easier. There was a special electric blocker that didn't allow to erroneously retract the landing gear while on the ground and alarm siren that warned the pilot about the retracted landing gear during flight at low throttle. At high speeds, flaps retracted automatically. Overall, this aircraft was very comfortable for a pilot with its spacious cockpit and good view. The only inconvenience could be caused by the engines that weren't equipped with automatic governors of the manifold pressure, just like the P-40 engine.
A-20B bomb load was formidable - up to 16 FAB-100 bombs in the bomb bay and 4 underwing holders that could carry FAB-100 or FAB-250. It is interesting to note that to ease the formation bombing, two signal lights were installed in the aircraft rear that helped the wingmen to open their bomb bay doors and drop bombs simultaneously with the flight leader. In addition to two forward firing .50 cal machine guns, there were two turrets with .50 cal (top) and .303 cal (bottom) MGs, so A-20B weaponry and flight characteristics allowed the bomber to stand up for itself even if it was engaged in air combat.
I hope you'll enjoy the A-20B in the game as much as I enjoyed making it.
Today we’ll tell you a bit what is our game is based on rather than how it works from technological point of view - history.
Our community enthusiasts III/JG2_Gustav05 and I./ZG1_Panzerbar were making official skins for Bf 109G-6 for several weeks. Since this Messerschmitt model was the most mass produced one, there were many possible candidates and their thorough research yielded some interesting ones. These paint schemes are interesting not only on their own, but because of the stories tied to these particular aircraft.
So, today’s Dev Diary is dedicated to various Bf 109 G-6 fighters and their pilots. Later we plan to do the same for La-5FN.
We’d like to say that studying history is required to learn its lessons and move forward. This study should be omnifaceted to lead to objective conclusions. Nazism wasn’t an abstract entity that came from nowhere, it was people with their own history and motivations. If we want to understand the real price and importance of the Allied victory, it is important to know the story of their enemies as well.
These screenshots also show the new graphics features we told you about earlier - increased landscape and clouds rendering distance, improved clouds and the new winter lighting.
The following paint scheme descriptions are prepared by III/JG2_Gustav05 and I./ZG1_Panzerbar.
00. Standard camo
This is a standard factory camo for Bf109G-6's assembled on Erla Maschinenwerk GmbH in Leipzig. Top surfaces are painted light green RLM74 and violet-gray RLM75 with a distinct saw-toothed style characteristic for this factory. Sides and bottom are painted light blue (RLM76). There are irregular blots of gray RLM02, gray-green RLM74 and violet-gray RLM75 on fuselage and surfaces. Engine bottom and fuselage band are yellow RLM02 for easier recognition.
01. Winter camo
During Winter 1943-44, most of the German Bf109G-6 fighter squadrons used a temporary winter camo. One of the ways to apply it was to cover the aircraft sides and top with washable paint, leaving only the tactical symbols and national markings. For instance, it was used in JG51.
02. Karl-Heinz Langer was born on 19.04.1914 in the town of Görlitz in Silesia, Germany.
Joined the Luftwaffe from February 1939, as part of in I./JG20. From the end of 1939 Langer served as an instructor in fighter schools. In May 1941 he was transferred to a training and combat group as part of JG3, and on May 26 Lieutenant Langer was appointed as adjutant III./JG3. However, he met the beginning of the campaign against the USSR as part of 7./JG3, scoring his first victory on the July 17.
As part of 7./JG3 "Udet", Langer took part in the most important battles of 1941-1942 on the Soviet-German front - the encirclement of Soviet divisions in Kiev, the battles near Moscow in 1941, and the offensive on the southern sector of the front from Kharkov to Stalingrad in 1942.
In December 1942, Oberleutenant Langer fought as part of the Pitomnik air defence squadron under Soviet encirclement. On January 1, 1943 received the title of Hauptmann. In the spring of 1943 Lager fought in the Kuban air battles. On June 1, 1943, shortly before the Battle of Kursk, he was appointed commander of 7./JG3.
From July 1943 Lager served as commander of III./JG3, after Major Ewald was shot down and taken prisoner.
After the failure of the operation "Citadel", III./JG3 was transferred to Germany and included in the so-called "Defense of the Reich", focused on intercepting American four-engine bombers. Lager took part in countering both Schweinfurt-Regensburg raids. During the second, on October 14, 1943, Langer was shot down by the bomber defensive fire and seriously wounded.
After a lengthy healing process lasting until January 1944, he was appointed commander of the squadron in the training and combat groups "East" and "South". On 21.05.44 Hauptmann Langer returned to his "native" group as a commander, succeeding Major Walter Dahl at the post. Throughout 1944 Langer led his group in battles against the armada of American heavy bombers and their fighter escort. He also participated in the fateful operation Bodenplatte on January 1, 1945. In the spring of 1945 Lager returned to the Eastern Front, and on April 20, 1945 he was awarded the Knight's Cross.
Langer survived the war, but died suddenly on May 6, 1955 in Remschied.
He flew 486 combat sorties and scored 30 victories, including 3 B-17s and 7 Il-2s.
Aboard the Bf109G-6 "White 1" W.Nr.20 014, Hauptmann Langer flew in the autumn of 1943 over Germany, and on October 14 he claimed the destruction of a B-17 in the Hammelburg area. However, Lang was shot down during this flight, and parachuted to safety.
03. Heinrich Bartels was born on July 13, 1918 in Linz, Austria.
Since early summer 1941, Bartels participated in the battles over the English Channel as part of the training and combat Erganzungsgruppe / JG26.
On January 27, 1942, when Erganzungsgruppe / JG26 was disbanded, Bartels was transferred to 11./JG1. Already on March 10, 1942 in Trondheim 11./JG1 was transformed into 8./JG5. Bartels was destined to become one of the most successful pilots 8./JG5. On November 13, 1942 Bartels was awarded the Knight's Cross for 46 victories.
In the spring of 1943 Ober-Feldwebel Bartels was once again transferred, now as part of 11./JG27, just formed at the Greek airfield of Kalamaki
From the end of March 1944, IV./JG27 joined Reich air defense duties. In April and May 1944, Bartels scored 12 victories, and in June - 11 more. On June 25, 1944, Bartels' account reached 96 victories. For these achievements he was recommended for the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross, but never received them in the end. On June 12, 1944, 11./JG27 was renamed to 15./JG27.
Like many fighter pilots, Bartels had his lucky number adorning his aircraft - "13". However, luck could not continue indefinitely. On December 23, 1944 Bartels took off at 11:00 on what was to be his last flight. His wingman was Ober-fähnrich Rolf Brand. Having gained altitude, they headed towards Cologne-Bonn. 7500m above Bonn, they saw in front of themselves fuel tanks dropped from the P-47 from the 56th FG, USAAF. The Thunderbolts were chasing Heinz Rossinger’s plane. Bartels quickly intervened and shot down one of the American fighters – it was his 99th and final victory. He did not return from this fight. His Bf109G-10 (W. N. 130359) "Yellow 13", together with his remains, was found 24 years later on January 26, 1968.
In total, Henry Bartels made about 500 sorties and claimed the destruction of 99 aircraft, 47 of them on the Eastern Front.
Aboard the Bf109G-6 "Red 13" W.Nr.27 169 Oberfeldwebel Bartels flew to Greece in October-November 1943, and scored 24 victories.
04. Hermann Graf was born on October 24, 1912 in Engen, Baden-Württemberg, in Germany.
In 1932 he was engaged in flying gliders, and in 1935 Graf joined the Luftwaffe. Upon completion of the studies in May 1938, he was sent to 2./JG51. In the autumn of 1939 Graft carried out patrol missions on the Western Front, and in January 1940 he was transferred by an instructor to Erg.JGr. Merseburg. In May 1940 Graf was promoted to Lieutenant. In October 1940, he finally returned to the front, at 9./JG 52.
In the spring of 1941, together with his group, Graf was sent to Romania and from there to Greece in support of the invasion of Crete. In June 1941 the unit returned to Romania for patrol flights without proper contact with the enemy. In August III./JG52 flew to Belaya Tserkov’, and on August 4 Lieutenant Graf scored his first victory. Until the end of the year, his tally rose to 45, and on January 24, 1942 Lieutenant Graf was awarded the Knight's Cross. In March 1942 he was appointed commander of his squadron, fighting in the area of the Barvenkovskiy protrusion towards Kharkov. Due to his rapidly rising number of victories, on May 17, 1942 Graf was awarded the Oak Leaves for a total of 104 air wins. Two days later he was promoted to the Oberleutenant and received the Swords to the Knight’s Cross. In the summer of 1942 he fought over Voroshilovgrad and Rostov, before heading to Fighter Command in Stalingrad in August. During August and September Graf successfully operated over Stalingrad, scoring 62 kills in September alone. In the same month he promoted to the Hauptmann rank and awarded the Diamonds to the Knight's Cross. On September 26, Graf became the first Luftwaffe pilot to claim his 200th victory – this came with a ban on combat flights and a leave home.
In the spring of 1943, Graf took over Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost, a training unit engaged in the preparation of pilots for the squadrons of the Eastern Front. In May 1943, Major Graf led Jagdgruppe Süd der ObdL, a fighter group specializing in the interception of British Mosquitos in reconnaissance missions. In August, the group was renamed JG50, but the insufficient performance of the Bf109G-6 forced the the group to be used against American four-engine bombers instead. In October the group was disbanded, and Major Graf was appointed commander of JG 1 to replace the late Oberstleutnant Hans Philip. November 11, 1943 Graf was appointed commander of JG11. Until the spring of 1944 the squadron few as part of the Reich air defence. On March 29, 1944, during a fight against P-51s north of Hanover, Graf was shot down and seriously wounded, requiring six months of recovery in the hospital. In October 1944 Graf was appointed commander of JG52 on the Soviet-German front. He fought in Poland and Czechoslovakia until the end of the war in Europe.
Graf was captured by Allied forces in Czechoslovakia, and was sent to the Soviet side where he spent five years in captivity. Graf was collaborative with the Soviets, and became one of the leaders of the anti-fascist movement among German prisoners. This led to Graf being severely obstructed by the Association of Luftwaffe Veterans, which in fact disowned him.
After his release, Graf started working in the sales system of an electronic company in Bremen and after a while became the head of the sales department for this company. In 1965, Herman was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He died in his hometown of Engen on April 11, 1988.
Graf flew about 830 sorties and scored 212 air victories, including 6 four-engine bombers.
Aboard the Bf109G-6 "Green 1" W.Nr.15 913 Major Graf flew in September-October 1943 from the Wiesbaden-Erbenheim airfield, and claimed the destruction of two B-17s.
05. Elias Paul Kühlein was born on 7 December in Bayreuth, Bavaria.
After completing flight training in the spring of 1942, Unteroffizier Kühlein was sent to 4./JG51, operating on the central sector of the Soviet-German front.
Around the Rzhev-Vyazma area in the summer of 1942, he scored 10 victories, 4 of which were Pe-2s and another 3 Il-2s.
In the autumn, II./ JG51 was withdrawn from the front to reequip with the new Fw-190A. However, the critical situation in North Africa required the transfer of the group to a new theater of operations. Those pilots who had already managed to master the Fw-190 were reduced to Stabstaffel./JG51 and sent to the Eastern Front. The rest of the group, with the exception of the 6th Staffel, received Bf109G-2 and went to North Africa.
During the battles on the Mediterranean theater, Kühlein was shot down 4 times and claimed 3 victories - one Spitfire and two P-38s.
In the summer of 1943 he fought over Italy, before transferring to the Reich air defense in Austria. There, Graf shot down his first four-engine bomber.
In the spring of 1944 II./JG51 was transferred to the Balkans to engage American four-engine bombers over Yugoslavia and Romania.
From the autumn of 1944, Kühlein found himself on the Soviet-German front again, this time in Hungary.
On November 16, 1944, Lieutenant Kühlein was named as acting commander of 7./JG51, but already in December transferred to 6./JG51, and commanded the squadron until April 1945, when he was transferred to JG7.
Kühlein flew more than 600 sorties, scored 36 aerial victories including 13 four-engine bombers as well as one Romanian Bf109G. He was awarded the German Cross in Gold.
Unfortunately, little is known about Kühlein post-war life. Since 2011 there has been no information on the life of Elias Kühlein including reports that he had died. It is possible that he is still alive.
Aboard the Bf109G-6 "White 7" W.Nr.163269, Elias Kühlein flew in the spring-summer 1944 over Bulgaria, and scored at least two kills – both B-24s.
06. Rudolf Dreesmann was born on May 16, 1920 in Apen, near Oldenburg.
He is a great example of the ordinary Luftwaffe fighter pilot. Dreesmann did not shine in the cameras of reporters and he did not receive high awards. Instead Dreesmann was leading pairs and flights, and without efforts of such pilots the careers of many better-known aces would not have happened.
Part of the Luftwaffe since 1940, after completing the flight training in May 1943 he was sent to 12./JG51, armed with Fw-190As.
The unit took part in the Battle of Kursk, after which it was converted to the Bf109G-6 due to heavy losses. By September 1943 Dreesmann had 11 victories in his account. In autumn and winter he fought in the southern sector of the Soviet-German front, covering the breakthrough of the surrounded German troops from the Korsun-Shevchenko's cauldron in February 1944.
In the spring of 1944 Dreesmann fought in Western Ukraine, in the Lvov area. In June, his squadron was transferred to Hungary and renamed to 4./JG302, engaged in the Reich air defense system. Dreesmann was repeatedly shot down during this period, but got away unscathed every one of them.
On July 7, 1944 luck finally turned away from him. During a combat mission in difficult weather conditions at an altitude of 9000m, Dreesmann transmitted to his wingman that he had problems with the engine and began to descend into a thick cloud layer. This was the last sighting of Rudolf Dreesmann. It is most likely that he, like hundreds of fighter pilots on the Western Front, crashed in the fog while trying to make an emergency landing.
His final tally included 28 aerial victories, including 9 Il-2s and 4 P-51 Mustangs. He was awarded with the Iron Cross, 1st class.
On the Bf109G-6 "Brown 12", the Dreesmann flew in April 1944 from the Lisyatichi airfield near Lvov, Ukrainian SSR, and scored 4 victories. His aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and lost on April 11, but Dreesmann himself was not injured.
07. Gerhard Barkhorn was born on March 20, 1919 in Koenigsberg, East Prussia.
In 1937, Gerhard Barkhorn joined the Luftwaffe and after completing flight training in the rank of lieutenant in September 1939 he was sent to 3./JG2. In April 1940, Barkhorn was unexpectedly transferred to an instructor's post in a flight school, and only returned to the front on 01.08.1940, as part of 6./JG52. During the Battle of Britain, Barkhorn carried out 100 sorties but he did not score a single victory while he himself was shot down twice.
Barkhorn’s first success came in Eastern Front after shooting down a DB-3 bomber on July 2, 1941 during his 120th combat sortie. At first his tally grew very slowly, victory number 10 came only on November 30. However, on 03.01.1942 Ober-lieutenant Barkhorn was appointed commander of 4./JG52.
In the summer of 1942, his score began rising steadily. By July 25, this number reached 64. However, that same day his Bf109F-4 was also hit, and Barkhorn himself was wounded and sent to a hospital. On August 21, he was first awarded the Iron Cross in Gold, and two days later the Knight’s Cross.
After recovering, he returned to the squadron at the beginning of October and resumed flying. On December 19, 1942 Barkhorn scored his 100th victory, and on January 11, 1943 he was awarded the Knight's Cross with the Oak and Leaves (No. 175). Barkhorn participated in the spring battles in the Kuban, and later in the Battle of Kursk in the summer. In August, he briefly acted as commander of I./JG52. On September 1, 1943 Hauptmann Barkhorn took over II./JG52, and on November 30 he passed 200 victories. From the autumn of 1943 until the spring of 1944, Barkhorn fought over Kuban and Crimea.
On January 23, 1944, Barkhorn became the first Luftwaffe fighter pilot to carry out 1,000 sorties, and on February 12 he became the second pilot to reach the 250 victory line. For his achievements, on March 2 Barkhorn was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Nr.52).
On May 31, during his sixth flight of the day, Barkhorn’s Bf-109G-6 W.Nr.163195 was severely damaged by an Airacobra. Due to injuries to his right arm and leg, Barkhorn spent four months in the hospital. In October, he returned to his group and for the next 3 months fought over Hungary. On 01.05.1945 he shot down an La-5 - it was his 301th and last victory. On January 16, Major Barkhorn took over JG6 "Horst Wessel".
On April 10, he resigned this post and joined the JV44 commanded Lieutenant-General Galland. He managed to accomplish only two combat sorties on the Me-262. On April 21, the right engine of the airplane quit, and he was subsequently attacked by P-51s. Barkhorn made a forced landing, but was injured by the canopy sliding into his neck after he had opened in the air to quickly leave the plane. As a result, he met the end of the war in the hospital.
In total, Barkhorn made 1,104 sorties, during which he himself was shot down nine times.
From 1955 onwards, Barkhorn served in the Bundesluftwaffe of the FRG. In the early 60's Oberst Barkhorn commanded JG31 "Boelcke". On 19.03.79 he retired with the rank of Major-General.
01.06.1983 the car in which he was traveling with his wife Christl suffered an accident on the highway near Cologne. His wife died on the spot and Barkhorn was taken to the hospital, but despite all the efforts of doctors, on January 8 he passed away as a result of his injuries.
The lucky number of Gerhard Barkhorn was "White 5", and he used this number from the autumn of 1941 until the end of the war. Even after becoming group leader, he added a small number 5 to the commander's chevrons. Aboard Bf109G-6 "Double Chevron, White 5", Barkhorn flew from the end of the summer of 1943 to January 1944, and scored about 80 victories.
08. Erich Hartmann was born on April 19, 1922 in Weissach, Wurttemberg.
He joined the military aviation world in October 1940. On March 1, 1941 Hartmann was sent to the air school in Berlin-Gatow and from November 1, 1941 he began training as a fighter pilot.
After graduating on October 10, 1942, he was promoted to lieutenant as part of 7./JG52 on the Eastern Front. His first victory was scored on November 5, 1942. Compared with other famous fighter pilots, at the initial stage of service Hartman did not particularly shine. After 100 sorties, he had only 7 victories until mid-April 1943. By May 18, 1943, he flown 158 sorties and had only 17 air victories.
His star began to ascend during the battle in the sky over the Kursk Bulge in the summer of 1943. On the morning of August 20, the Luftwaffe ace shot down two IL-2 and reached the turn of 90 wins, but his Bf-109G-6 W.Nr. 20485 had to make an emergency landing in the location of the Soviet troops in the vicinity of the Donets River, and Hartmann was taken prisoner. After a desperate escape, after 2 days he reached friendly positions on the other side of the front line.
On September 2, 1943, he was appointed commander of 9./JG52. October 17, he was first awarded the Iron Cross in Gold, and on October 29 came the Knight's Cross. Hartmann received a month's leave, then continued combat missions in early December.
In three sorties on February 26, Hartmann announced the destruction of ten P-39s, increasing the score to 202 wins, and on March 2 he received Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross (Nr.420).
On May 8 Hartmann and his unit left the Crimea, and he evacuated two mechanics in the fuselage of his Bf-109G. By this time Hartmann's account had risen to 223 air victories, 6 of which he won on May 5 and 7, 1944. In Romania, Hartman first became acquainted with the American fighters covering the 15th Air Force, claiming a Mustang on June 24.
On July 1, Hartman was given the title of Oberleutenant, and on the same day his score of victories reached 269. A day later Hartman received "Swords" for his Knight's Cross (Nr.75).
On August 24, in two sorties, Hartmann claimed the destruction of eight La-5 and three P-39s, and became the first Luftwaffe pilot to overcome the 300-victory line. The next day he was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (Nr.18), and on September 1 was awarded the title of Hauptmann. After a month's holiday (during which he married) on October 1, Hartmann headed 7./JG52 and, starting from October 27 in Hungary, continued to build up his score of victories.
In January / February 1945, Hartmann was appointed acting commander of I./JG53. The group had been badly mauled in previous battles, and the Luftwaffe command hoped that Hartmann would be able to rally people, raise morale and lead the pilots into battle. However, this did not work out. After the experiment, Helmut Lipfert was given command of I./JG53, and Hauptmann Hartmann was appointed commander of I./JG52 instead, based in Upper Silesia.
On April 17, 1945 he achieved a tally of 350 air victories.
On 24.05.1945, Americans handed Hartmann to the Soviet authorities. Hartmann spent ten years in the USSR, first in the prison camps, then in prisons and colonies, and only returned home on October 15, 1955.
From 1956 Erich Hartmann served in the Bundesluftwaffe of Germany, and from 09.09.1959 to 29.05.1962 he commanded JG71 "Richthofen". In January 1963 he was appointed Inspector of the Fighter Aviation for the Bundesluftwaffe.
On October 30, 1970 Hartmann retired in the rank of oberst and settled in Weil im Shonbuch, 20 km south-west of Stuttgart, where he died on September 19, 1993.
In total, Erich Hartmann made 1,428 combat sorties and scored 352 air victories. He made 14 forced landings.
Aboard the Bf109G-6 W.Nr.20 499 "Yellow 1", Lieutenant Hartmann flew from the middle of September to November 14, 1943, when due to damage to the engine made an emergency landing at the airfield of Kirovograd. On this plane he scored 40-50 victories, it is not known exactly which plane he flew from September 15 to 29 when some of these were recorded.
09. Wilhelm Schilling was born January 30, 1915 in Kamenz, Sachsen, Germany.
The career of Wilhelm Schilling was unusual - it's rare that one of the Luftwaffe pilots was able to stay in the same squadron for 4 consecutive years.
After completing flight training, Schilling was posted to 3./JG21 in early 1940 and scored his first 4 victories in the skies of France and Britain. In the summer of 1940, his Staffel was renamed 9./JG54, and Schilling fought in this lineup first as an ordinary pilot, then as a flight commander. He fought battles in the western Soviet borders in the Baltic, then in the Leningrad region, and above the Demyansk pocket. Schilling was seriously wounded in September 1942 after being hit by anti-aircraft fire, and his Knight's Cross was presented to him in the hospital.
After the battle for Velikie Luki, the tattered III./JG54 was taken to the Western Front and attached to the Reich air defense. From that moment until the end of his flying career, Schilling was engaged mainly in intercepting American heavy bombers. In September 1943, Oberleutnant Schilling was appointed commander of 9./JG54. He said goodbye to his native squadron in the summer of 1944 due to heavy wounds sustained during an intercept, and finished the war in training units.
In total, Wilhelm Schilling made 538 sorties and scored 63 air victories, being awarded the Knight's Cross.
He died on 14.03.2000 in Ashenberg, Schleswig-Holstein.
On the Bf109G-6 "Yellow 1" W.Nr. 440 141 Schilling, flew in January-February 1944 to intercept American four-engine bombers. This plane was lost on February 10, 1944 in a battle against B-17s in the area of Densen/Alfeld, when Schilling was shot down and wounded for his third and last time.
10. Robert Weiss (Robert Weiss) was born on April 21, 1920 in Baden near Vienna, Austria.
Weiss met the beginning of the war as an anti-aircraft gunner, but in 1940 he managed to get a transfer to an aviation school, which he finished in December of the same year. On January 1, 1941 he was sent to II./JG26, where he spent a year and a half gathering experience. In this unit he flew the aircraft "Yellow 10", and from then on "10" became his permanent, "happy" tactical number in all the units in which he served.
In September 1942, with three aerial victories to his name, Weiss was transferred to I./JG54 on the Eastern Front. However, new victories came to him only after the unit adopted the Fw-190A. During 9 months of fierce fighting, Weiss scored 94 wins and became squadron leader (first 3rd then 1st squadron). In September 1943, he was appointed commander of 10./JG54 in the newly formed IV./JG54, and was again "moved" to the Messerschmitt Bf-109. Together with the group, Weiss participated in fierce battles in the Leningrad area and in Estonia in early 1944. In May, just before IV./JG54 was sent to Romania, Weiss was transferred to the Western Front as part of III./JG54.
III./JG54, rearmed the day before on Fw190A-8, was transferred to Normandy in June. Weiss, as the most senior in rank, led the Group instead of the hospitalized Major Schroer. During the intense engagements over Normandy, the Group suffered terrible losses, but shot down more than 100 enemy aircraft and became the most effective fighter unit of the Luftwaffe on the "Invasion Front". In early September, III./JG54, under the command of Weiss, finally received a well-deserved "rest", as well as the honor to be the first Luftwaffe fighter group armed with the Fw190D-9. On the new fighters III./JG54 was engaged in the interception of recon aircraft, as well as covering the take-offs for the new Me-262. In December 1944, III./JG54 supported the offensive in the Ardennes.
On December 29, 1944 luck changed for Weiss. III./JG54 received orders to attack the Allied fighter-bombers operating in the Osnabrück-Münster-Rhein area. Due to the error by the ground-based Focke-Wulfs guidance operators, the group clashed directly against a large group of English fighters, which included Spitfires from 331 and 501 Sqdn. RAF, as well as Typhoons from 168 and 448 Sqdn. RAF. In this black day in the history of JG54, 17 Fw-190D-9 were lost immediately with 13 pilots killed and two more wounded. Fw-190D-9 W.Nr. 210,060 “Black 10”, flown by Hauptmann Weiss, was shot down by Flight Sergeant Haanes from 331st (Norwegian) Squadron RAF. Weiss was killed in the crash.
In total, Hauptmann Robert Weiss flew 471 combat sorties, during which he won 121 air victories (40 of them were IL-2s). On 12.03.45, Weiss was posthumously awarded the Oak Leaves to the Cross of the Cross.
Aboard the Bf109G-6 "White 10", Oberleutnant Weiss flew in the winter of 1943-44 from the airfields Idritsa, Dno and Pskov.
11. Manfred Dieterle was born on May 25, 1922 in Stuttgart, Germany.
Very little is known about his flying career. In 1942 and early 1943 Dieterle served as an instructor across various aviation schools, including the School of Blind Flight. In the summer of 1943, Dieterle volunteered to join division of night fighters known as "Wilde Sau", as part of 3./JG 300. Until the end of 1943 he performed mostly night combat missions intercepting bombers.
In March 1944, Dieterle became commander of I./JG300. Later that spring the unit began to be employed in daylight missions, and in July Dieterle was transferred to 2./JG300. He was shot down twice during this period, but escaped without injuries both times.
On September 28, 1944 Dieterle was wounded while intercepting bombers, and had to parachute. After recovering, he was appointed commander of the combat training squadron 2./Erg.JG 2. In February 1945 Dieterle returned to the front as commander of the 2./NJG 200.
In total, according to diverging sources, Dieterle scored 10 to 13 victories, all of them assumed to be four-engine bombers (three British, with the rest American). He was awarded the 1st grade Iron Cross.
Unfortunately, nothing is known about his post-war life.
Aboard the Bf109G-6 "Yellow 1", Lieutenant Dieterle flew in the spring-early summer of 1944 before being hit on June 20 and making an emergency landing in the Bernberg area.
12. Gerhard Stamp was born June 3, 1920 in Bamberg, Germany.
He joined the Luftwaffe in 1938. From 1940 to the spring of 1943 Stamp flew Ju-88A bombers with I./LG1, and for his successes he was awarded the Knight's Cross. After a brief stint at the headquarters of the Inspector of Bomber Aviation, in August 1943 Stamp was transferred to the “Wilde Sau” night fighters group and appointed commander of 8./JG300. At that time, the group did not have their own planes, instead they flew on borrowed fighters from III./JG11 during the night.
In November, Stamp was appointed commander of I./JG300, and at the end of the war he headed an experienced group of jet night fighters.
Stamp made about 300 sorties aboard the Ju-88 and about 100 on Bf-109s. He scored 5 air victories, sank ships with a total tonnage of 35,000t, and also damaged ships with a tonnage of 45,000t (including 3 destroyers).
After the war, Stamp joined the Bundeswehr and served across many administrative positions before retiring in 1978. He died on May 21, 1998, in Nassau.
On the Bf109G-6 "Yellow 17" fighter Stamp flew between August and October 1943. The plane retained the logo of III./JG11 (a tiger’s head on a black shield), but the identification marks were painted over with black. On the rudder, Stamp ordered markings of the largest of the ships sunk by him, the Knight's Cross, and a note for an air victory. On the hood of the engine was the "Buckle for combat missions for bombers in gold" followed with an exclamation mark.
13. Heimo Emmerstorfer.
Heimo Emmerstorfer studied in the air school when the war started and became a flight instructor. In early 1943, Oblt. Emmerstorfer joined NAGr.12 which was equipped mainly with recon Bf109s, soon becoming a technical officer. He flew recon flights at the Western front till Autumn 1943 and has been awarded the Luftwaffe Honor Goblet on June 5th, 1943.
After a brief visit to the Eastern front in Orsha area in November, NAGr.12 moved to Balkans, Mostar airfield. He flew long range recon missions to the eastern shores of Italian peninsula. After serving in 2./NAGr.12 during Spring 1944, he moved to Hungary and stayed there until 1945, hopping from airfield to airfield as the German troops withdrew. In March, Emmersdorfer went on recon missions in lake Balaton area. On May 9th, 1945, Oblt. Heimo Emmerstorfer flew to austrian airfield Haibach, and continued on foot to his home town Hoersching.
His post-war life is unknown.
In total, he flew 217 recon missions (1134 flight hours). Awards: Iron Cross 2nd and 1st class, Gold Buckle for recon pilots, Black wound badge, German Cross in Gold.
This skin represents the aircraft he flew for three weeks during Spring 1944 from Mostar airfield.
14. Lászlo Molnár was born on May 1, 1921 in Szombathely, Hungary, part of a long lineage of soldiers.
In 1942, Hadnagy (Lieutenant) Molnar graduated from the academy and was sent to the Soviet-German front to the 5/2 V.Szd., in which he took part in the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943 and in autumn during defensive battles as part of Army Group "South". That winter the unit was renamed 102 / I Ö.V.Szd.
In February 1944 the group was transferred to Hungary to act against American strategic bomber raids, and entered the newly-formed 101 V.Osz. "Puma".
On August 7, 1944 the pilots 101 V.Osz. rose to intercept another raid of American heavy bombers. The task of the Hungarian pilots was to cover German Messerschmitts from I./JG302. In the area north-west of Lake Balaton, near Vas, the package rushed to attack the bombers, but they themselves were intercepted by a large group of P-51 from 31st F.G. The Hungarians managed to warn their German colleagues about the threat, but they were not able to defend themselves - eight of 18 fighters, including Bf109G-6 V8 + 48 flown by Molnar, were shot down. He managed to leave the plane, but was killed by American fighters while descending on a parachute. In that battle, P-51 pilots mashinegunned another Hungarian pilot who had parachuted, János Nyemecz.
In total, Hadnad Laszlo Molnar performed 132 combat sorties and scored 25 aerial victories, including 7 Il-2s and 6 B-24s. He bore the highest Hungarian award for bravery in battle, the Knight's Cross with Swords and Ribbon. Molnar was posthumously promoted to the rank of Főhadnagy (Senior Lieutenant).
With the Bf109G-6 (V8) + 66, Laszlo Molnar flew in the winter of 1943-44 from Kalinovka airfield (Vinnytsia region, USSR), and scored about 5-6 victories. The plane received winter camouflage and Hungarian side signs in a hurry, so the first two symbols of the tactical code are not visible.
15. Osmo Länsivaara was born on February 18, 1921 in Turku, Finland.
After completing flight training in the july of 1941, Lansivaara was sent to 1 / LLv 26 for active duty. Until the march of 1943, he flew aboard Fiat G.50s and managed to score two victories - one I-16 and one Il-2.
On 26 March 1943, Ylikersantti (Sergeant) Osmo Lansivaara was transferred to the newly formed 3 / LeLv 34 equipped with Bf-109G-2. Until next spring, Lansivaara claimed Pe-2 and damaged a La-5.
Lansivaara was transferred to 1 / HLeLv 34 in the spring of 1944. During the Soviet strategic offensive on the Karelian Isthmus in the summer he scored two victories - Yak-9 and Il-2 (the latter aboard MT-453), and damaged another Il-2. Osmo Länsivaara survived the war.
After the war, Osmo Lansivaara remained in active service. On 10/18/1947 he received the title of Lentomestari (Sergeant). After his discharge, he lived his life in Pori. He was alive at 2007 but has died later in Pori.
In total, ylikersentti Lansivaara scored 5 victories.
Medal and awards: Order of Liberty bravery medal 2nd class (29.01.1942); Order of Liberty bravery medal 1st class (09.11.1942); Order of Liberty Cross 4th class (25.11.1942).
The Bf109G-6 "White 11" W.Nr.165 274, MT-453 was delivered to 1 / HLeLv 34 on 23 July 1944, and assigned to sergeant Lansivaara who won one victory on this airplane. However, on this fighter sometimes flew other pilots. For example, Senior Sergeant Antti Tani, on MT-453, claimed 3 Il-2s shot down in the Vyborg area on July 1, 1944. In December 1944, MT-453 was transferred to HLeLv 33. On October 19, 1951, the fighter was mothballed after 300 flight hours. On February 16, 1954 it was disposed of. In total, 5 air victories were scored with MT-453, all by HLeLv 34 pilots.
BlackSix 2651
Today we'll tell you about the creation of the new historical scenario campaign for Battle of Kuban. Unlike previously released 10 Days of Autumn and Blazing Steppe historical campaigns that you can get in our store, this one will be included in the Battle of Kuban and will be available once BoK releases.
After finishing the work on the Kuban map this Summer, we faced a hard decision of choosing a scenario for the next historical campaign. Battle of Kuban includes many very interesting planes and an interesting and captivating story could be told about almost each one of them. However, taking into account the development plan, two already released campaigns focused on the fighter aircraft (Bf 109 and Yak-1) and numerous suggestions on the forums we decided to choose the series title aircraft for the next story - IL-2.
During the battle, Ilyushin sturmoviks made up almost a quarter of the entire Soviet air force that consisted of 4th and 5th Air Armies and the air forces of the Black Sea Fleet. The main strike units were 214th and 230th strike fighter divisions while naval sturmoviks formed the Novorossiysk Defense Region Naval Air Group that later became 11th strike air brigade and eventually 11th air division. Unfortunately, reconstructing the tour of duty of 214th or 230th ShADs was out of the question because of the lack of the required information and some practical gameplay reasons. For instance, 214th ShAD regiments were based in Krasnodar area - at least 75 km to Kuban bridgehead where the main fighting unleashed and almost one hundred kilometers to Malaya Zemlya bridgehead under Novorossiysk.
So in the end, I have decided to select naval 47th ShAP. There are enough real sorties and losses data and pilots lists for several dates are also available. And, most importantly, this regiment together with 8th GShAP conducted not only the strike missions for the fleet targeting ships and ports, but it also provided support for ground forces, allowing me to create diverse missions.
A flight of 47ShAP sturmoviks moves to the runway.
While there is a lot of data on the air force operations of both sides, ground force movements were harder to recreate - they were reconstructed day by day using the documents of the North Caucasian Front and its subordinate armies. Because the offensive as a whole did not go as planned, these events were mentioned in the Soviet history works very sparingly, and studying the available primary sources revealed interesting facts that would be enough for a dedicated discussion. I think we should be proud of the painstakingly researched front lines that reflect the accurate operational situation for a given date and time; you'll see them both in this scenario campaign and the new career mode.
This unusual frontlines configuration in the 37th Army area for April 17th, 1943 was caused by the difficulties of warfare in the floodplains during Spring.
In this campaign, you'll take a role of a former fighter pilot who has been transferred to 47th ShAP after recovering from a heavy wound and immediately found himself in the thick of the action when the new stage of the battle for Novorossiysk bridgehead started. This means that you'll be flying as wingman for some time to familiarize yourself with the new area of operations and ground attack tactics. When you get the hang of it, you'll take command over... well, let's not reveal most of the story beforehand.
Т-34s of 62nd separate tank battalion enter the liberated stanitsa Krymskaya.
Since the 47th ShAP was called back from the frontline for reorganization in June 1943 and returned only on September 23rd, I was able to skip the mostly uneventful and calm time during the Summer. Therefore you'll participate in the most fierce fighting during Spring and in the final liberation of Taman peninsula during Autumn 1943, which wasn't a cakewalk for the Red Army at all because of the desperate resistance of the enemy.
IL-2 pair of 47th ShAP begins a combat mission.
I have only a bit of time left to finish the campaign and pass it to beta-testing while you only have to wait until the Battle of Kuban release and evaluate it for yourself. Well, perhaps the waiting is a harder thing to do
Alexander 'BlackSix' Timoshkov
=FB=Isay 188
Hello virtual pilots,
Today I have the honor to write a Dev Diary. My name is Evgeny Isaev, I'm the lead map maker. I want to tell you a bit about our work and share some good news.
The Stalingrad map was the first in our project. Time has passed and now, thanks to our lead programmer Sergey Vorsin, we have new technologies, instruments and methods that allow us to reach a new level of quality. In addition, the recent changes in the engine for almost four times visibility distance increase caused visible artifacts on maps that were most apparent on the Stalingrad map. So it was the time to re-visit and improve our first map. This wasn't planned initially, but we ought to find the time for this task.
The main issue was the repeating of terrain textures that was much less noticeable before. Even with very large textures, visible tiling is inevitable with the new far visibility distance. To solve this issue, we used our new tech that was created for mountains on the Kuban map - procedural texturing. This allowed us not only get rid of the tiling but also emphasize the map relief and make each area unique. Nature itself helped us in this task - we used the real-world satellite heightmaps. We ourselves were surprised at the end result.
We read your comments on the forums and know that some of you put up some valid points regarding the maps, for instance, that the Stalingrad area is a steppe and therefore it should have much less agricultural fields. We knew this since we always do a thorough research on the areas we recreate in the game, but this implementation was mandatory. It's pleasant that you notice smaller things. Now, the most part of the updated Stalingrad map will be a steppe, making it more true to history.
Thanks to our increased experience and new methods at our disposal we were able to achieve a much better result - the ground surface became much more vivid, its microfeatures are different on cliffs, ravines and plains, contributing to the feel of the world scale and allowing to estimate your altitude easier.
You can see some screenshots of the updated summer map below (update 3.001 will include the updated summer and autumn seasons). The old version of the map (but with the new visibility distance and sky) is shown on the left for comparison, while the updated map at the same lighting conditions is on the right.
We hope you'll like the new version of the map and it will give you new emotions from the flight in our simulator.
three weeks ago I promised that we'll publish an article about Soviet VVS pilots and here it is now. It is also compiled by I./ZG1_Panzerbar (216th_Lucas_From_Hell helped with the initial translation), who created the skins for La-5FN fighter that is coming to our sim.
In Dev Diary #180 I mentioned that to understand the real price and importance of the Allied victory, it is important to know the story of their enemies as well, so that DD was about Luftwaffe aces. Today we'll tell you about the Soviet pilots, who again and again took off in their fighter planes and stood up against the highest ranking aces in the world. In spite of all the experience and skill of their enemies, Soviet and other Allied pilots slowly, but inevitably turned the tide of the war and helped USSR and Allies to win.
00. Early standard camouflage.
The earlier La-5FN series, produced during Summer 1943, were painted standard camouflage according to the order of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry No. 547ss from June 20, 1941 (NKAP-41).
The top of the wings and fuselage were painted with protective green AMT-4 and black AMT-6. Lower surfaces were applied sky-blue AMT-7. Identification marks are painted in 6 positions, without borders.
01. Late standard camouflage.
All La-5FN produced from the end of the summer of 1943 carried standard camouflage according to the order of the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry No. 389/0133 dated July 3, 1943 (NKAP-43).
The top of the wings and fuselage were painted dark gray AMT-12 and gray-blue AMT-11. Lower surfaces were painted with the same sky-blue AMT-7 as before. Identification marks are painted in 6 positions and were slightly enlarged and got a thick white and thin red outline.
02. "White 57", 32 GIAP.
La-5FN (board number 57) from the 1st squadron of 32 GIAP, one of the very first 12-aircraft series of La-5FN, during the front-line Summer 1943 test. on the northern facet of the Kursk Bulge. Identification marks and the onboard number is of a larger size, which became the standard for Lavochkin fighters until the end of the war. The red spinner and the front of the engine are rapid identification elements of 32 GIAP.
03. Alexander Ivanovich Mayorov was born on 01/01/1921 in the village of Kesova Gora of the Kalinin region. Russian.
In May 1941 he graduated from the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation School of Pilots and remained there as an instructor. In February 1942 he was transferred to 425 IAP. 03/19/1942 in LaGG-3 he won his first air victory - Me-109 (shared with another pilot). April 10, 1942 Jr. lieutenant Mayorov and 9 other pilots were transferred to 2 giap. The regiment was equipped with LaGG-3 fighters and operated as part of the Volkhov Front Air Force. 08/11/1942 the regiment was withdrawn from the front for re-training on La-5 fighters.
Mayorov particularly distinguished himself in the battles on the Kursk Bulge. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on September 2, 1943 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 1105).
Alexander Mayorov had to visit almost every section of the Soviet-German front - he fought in the skies of Kalinin, Steppe, Bryansk, Western, 1-st Baltic, 3rd Belorussian, 1-st Ukrainian fronts. Since the end of Autumn 1944 he flew the La-7.
On April 26, 1945, Guard Captain Mayorov was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Berlin. Having miraculously survided an emergency landing, he survived, but injured his spine.
He made more than 300 combat sorties, conducted 68 air battles, scored 13 personal (including 5 Fw190) and 6 group air victories. Member of the historic Victory Parade on June 24, 1945 in Moscow on Red Square.
Battle awards: Hero of the Soviet Union (02.09.43); Order of Lenin (02.09.43), two Orders of the Red Banner (19.02.1943, July 29, 1943), the Order of Alexander Nevsky (05.09.1944), the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (11.03.1985), the Order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree (29.05.1945), the Order of the Red Star, medals.
After the war, he continued to serve in the Air Force as deputy commander. In 1949, he graduated from officer training courses and became the deputy chief of staff of the air defense corps. In 1974, Guards Colonel A.I. Mayorov retired from Air Force. He lived in Odessa, worked at a rescue station. He died on October 26, 2004.
On this La-5FN (number 25) of 2 GIAP Guards Captain Mayorov fought on the 1st Baltic front during Autumn and Winter 1943-44. On September 25, 1943, 12 new La-5FN fighters were sent to 2 GIAP, built using the money donated by Mongolian workers. The inscription "Mongolian Arat" and the front part of the engine hood is red-orange color.
04. Ivan Alekseevich Vishnyakov was born on June 15, 1917 in the village of Tribunki, Lipetsk region. Russian.
In 1938 he graduated from the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation School of Pilots and then served as an instructor at the Bataysk Aviation School.
In the battles of the Great Patriotic War from July 1941 he flew the I-16 of 296 IAP. In April 1942 he was transferred to 171 IAP. His first victory on June 27, 1942 was a Bf109. In Spring the regiment was part of the air defense of the city of Tula and on Bryansk front since Summer 1942. During the battle on the north of the Kursk Bulge, he declared 4 victories. Participated in air battles during operations to liberate Velikiye Luki, Pskov, and Riga (Latvian SSR). He met the end of the war in Courland.
He made 286 sorties, particiapted in 52 air battles, scored 20 air victories (4 Bf109, 14 Fw190, 1 Ju88 and 1 Fw189).
A participant in the war with Japan, Yak-9, consisting of 47 IAP, carried out 9 sorties. During one of the attack plane was hit, he hardly brought the burning aircraft to the airfield.
Surprisingly, during the war, despite a solid combat account, he was never awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Ivan Vishnyakov was awarded the medal "Golden Star" only three years after the war, on 23.02.1948.
Battle awards: Order of Lenin (23.02.1948), four Orders of the Red Banner (11/05/1943, July 18, 1943, April 30, 1944, August 29, 1945), the Order of Alexander Nevsky (February 23, 1944), two Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (07.09.1943, 11.03.1985), the Order of the Red Star, medals.
After the end of the fighting he continued to serve in the Air Force. In 1953 he graduated from the Air Force Academy and piloted jet and supersonic aircraft. Major General Aviation I.A. Vishnyakov retired from Air Force in 1975. He worked in the aviation department of the Central Committee of the DOSAAF. He lived in the city of Moscow and died on August 2, 1992.
This La-5FN (number 76) was the personal aircraft of Ivan Vishnyakov in 171 IAP during Summer 1944. The number of white stars corresponds to the personal combat score of the pilot since June 6 to July 19, 1944. Aircraft camo is standard NKAP-43. The inscription "For Oleg Koshevoy" was, according to memoirs, applied to all planes of the Vishnyakov’s squadron.
05. Anatoliy Vasilyevich Ruzin was born in 1923 in the city of Moscow. Russian.
A member of the Red Army since 1941, he graduated from the military aviation school. On July 10, 1943, junior lieutenant A. V. Ruzin of 159th IAP started his combat service on La-5 fighter. His first air victory (the Finnish Bf109G) was won on February 26, 1944.
Particularly distinguished in the summer battles on the Karelian Isthmus.
By November 1944, Lieutenant AV Ruzin, commander of the 2nd Squadron 159 IAP (275 IAD, 13 VA, Leningrad Front), flew more than 130 sorties, conducted 40 air battles in which he gained 11 air victories: 6 Bf109G, 4 Fw190A, 1 Ju87D.
Since November 1944 159 IAP was out of action, covering the coast of Estonia and remaining ready to strengthen the air grouping of Soviet troops in Courland). He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner (15/05/1944, July 25, 1944) and the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class (11.03.1985).
La-5FN (number 15) was the personal plane of Anatoly Ruzin during Summer 1944 on the Leningrad front. The inscription "For Vasjok and Zhora" is put on board in memory of two combat friends of Anatoliy - the commander of the 2nd Squadron 159 IAP Lieutenant Vasily "Vasjok" Grechka and Lieutenant Andrey "Zhora" Vasilyev, who both were killed on June 28, 1944 in the fight against Fw190As of II./JG54 over Vyborg/Viipuri (Karelian isthmus).
06. Konstantin Savelievich Nazimov was born on March 4, 1915 in the Volkovaya village, not far from Petrograd. Russian.
In 1939 he was drafted into the Red Army and a year later graduated from the Chuguev Military Aviation School of Pilots.
When the war began, Lieutenant K. S. Nazimov was far from his native city: almost for 3 years Constantine served as an instructor pilot. Nazimov's mother and his stepfather, Saveliy Nikolaevich Rafekov, died in the Leningrad blockade from starvation, his half-brother Misha Rafekov, a fighter of the Leningrad militia, died in battle near Gatchina. His wife and daughter were evacuated to Kazakhstan, in the city of Chimkent. Constantin insistently wrote reports with a request to be sent to the front. Only in early 1943 he managed to achieve his goal.
Since March 1943, Lieutenant K.S. Nazimov, on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, as deputy commander of the squadron 254 IAP (14th Air Army, Volkhov Front), flew to La-5. A year later he became commander of the squadron, a senior lieutenant, and had 12 victories in his account.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 26, 1944, commander of the squadron 254 IAP (269 IAD, 14 VA, 3rd Baltic Front), captain K.S. Nazimov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal 4519).
In November 1944. 254 IAP was transferred to the Kharkov Military District, to the airfield Lebedin, for upgrading the new staff and re-equipping the Yak-9 fighters.
On December 23, 1944, Captain Nazimov was killed in an airplane crash.
In total, he carried out about 350 sorties, conducted more than 35 air battles, gained 19 air victories personally (11 Fw190 of them) and 2 shared with other pilots.
He was buried in a mass grave at the Myronositskoye Cemetery in the city of Lebedin, Sumy region.
Military awards: Hero of the Soviet Union (26.10.1944), Order of Lenin (26.10.1944), two Orders of the Red Banner (11.05.1943, 12.09.1943), the Order of Alexander Nevsky (07.06.1944), the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (18.10.1944).
La-5FN (number 71) of 254 IAP, the personal plane of Constantine Nazimov during Autumn 1944 on the 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts. The number of stars (21) reflects the overall combat score of personal and group wins. There is a picture of eagle that carries a bloodied Hitler.
07. Yuri Mikhailovich Lubenyuk was born in 1916 in the town of Narodichi (nowadays an urban settlement of the Zhytomyr region). Ukrainian.
Since 1940 year in the ranks of the Red Army. From November 22, 1942, Junior Lieutenant Yu. M. Lubenyuk served on the front as commander for 240 IAP (302 IAD, 4 IAK), flying the La-5, fought on the Voronezh and Steppe fronts (another ace, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Kirill Alekseevich Evstigneev served under Lubenyuk’s command).
Since October 1943, Lubenyuk was commander of the 3rd Squadron, 813 IAP (215 IAD, 8 IAK), flying both La-5 and La-7, and fought on the 1st and 2nd Belorussian fronts. He ended the war as commander of 813 IAP in East Prussia.
He made 98 sorties, conducting 44 air battles in which he scored 11 personal and 1 group victory. On his account are 6 Fw-190, 2 Bf-109 and one each of Bf-110, Fw-189 and Ju-88.
After the war ended, he continued to serve in the Air Force, eventually retiring with the rank of Colonel.
His battle awards include three Orders of the Red Banner (15.05.1943, 04.09.1944, 30.04.1945), the Order of Alexander Nevsky (September 25, 1944), the Order of The Patriotic War, 1st class (30.06.1945), the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree (11.03.1985) and others.
Yuri Lyubenyuk flew this La-5FN (board number 07) of 813 IAP, during Spring 1945 on the 2nd Belorussian Front. A wide white band on fuselage in the cockpit area is the rapid identification element for the regiment.
08. Pavel Kocfelda was born on June 29, 1917 in Horní Suchá, Czechoslovakia. Czech.
Kocfelda began his military career as an aviation mechanic, but soon began to study privately to become a pilot. After the Germany, Poland and Hungary occupied Czechoslovakia, on July 14, 1939 Kocfelda (together with many pilots) he went to Poland, then to France. In May 1940 he enrolled in an aviation school in Bordeaux. In June, after the fall of France, Kocfelda relocated to Britain where he joined the 1st DF (Delivery Flight) and was engaged in the distribution of fighters from factories to combat squadrons.
On January 6, 1942, Sergeant Kocfelda joined 313th Squadron RAF.
On June 15, 1943 in the rank of fly-sergeant Kocfelda was transferred to 312nd Squadron RAF. By February 1944 Pilot-Officer Kocfelda had performed 191 combat sorties.
Kocfelda arrived to the USSR in the beginning of 1944 as part of the 128th Cz. Independent Fighter Group, then moved to the 1st squadron of the 1st Independent Czechoslovakian Fighter Regiment. During Autumn 1944 he fought in Slovakia, made 47 sorties, scored 1 personal victory (Bf-109G) and 1 shared (Ju87D). In December 1944 he was transferred to the position of instructor in the 2nd Czechoslovak IAP, and until the end of the war was engaged in the preparation of Czechoslovak pilots-fighters.
After the war he worked as an instructor at the Aviation School in Prostějov, then in Olomouc.
In 1948-49 he served in the 3rd Division in Brno. During Operation "Hagan" he was engaged in the preparation of Israeli pilots on the S-199 (post-war conversion of Bf-109 with a Jumo 214). In the beginning of the 1950s, Kocfelda received a ban on flights and only took the skies again in Prostějov in 1955. In 1959 he was appointed head of the aviation school in Prešov and flied until the 60's. In 1990 he was promoted to Major-General.
He died on 6/10/1992 in the town of Prague.
He was awarded two Československý válečný kříž (1939), three Československá medaile Za chrabrost, Československá medaile Za zásluhy I. st., Československá medaile zahraniční armády, Hvězda 1939-1945, and Air Star a 1.6.1979 Čestný pilotní odznak.
Aboard the La-5FN board No. 13, Lieutenant Pavel Kocfelda flew in September-October 1944 during the Slovak National Uprising from the Tri Duba airfield. The aircraft was written off after a forced landing on October 11, 1944. Two victories were scored aboard this very aircraft: 1/2 Ju-87 ppor. P. Kocfelda on 07.10.1944, 1/2 FW-189 by ppor. L. Šrom on 08.10.1944.
09. Vladimir Alexandrovich Orekhov was born on January 8, 1921 in the city of Tula. Russian.
In March 1940 he graduated from the Kachinskaya Military Aviation Pilots School, served in the Air Force of the Kiev Special Military District. Since June 1940 - Junior Pilot in 87 IAP.
In July 1941, was sent to the formed 434 IAP, and served in it during the whole war.
The first air victory - Bf109 - was won on September 12, 1941. During the combat mission on the Volkhov Front on February 4, 1942, he was wounded by fire of antiaircraft artillery.
In early June 1942, Vladimir Orekhov, as part of a reformed 434 IAP fought on the South-Western Front. On June 13, during an air battle, Lieutenant Orekhov's plane was hit, and the pilot was seriously wounded. Vladimir Orekhov returned to his regiment only in mid-August 1942.
May 1, 1943, for the courage and courage shown in the battles with the enemy, Vladimir Orekhov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. By the time on his battle account there were already 11 personal and 1 shared victories.
Soon he was appointed deputy commander of the squadron, and in 1944 - commander of the 1st squadron. In December 1944, Major V.A. Orekhov, the Guard, went off to study at the Poltava Higher Officer School of navigators of the Red Army Air Force (the city of Krasnodar).
In 1945, after graduation, he was appointed a navigator of 246 IAD (in Mongolia). Member of the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945, carried out 3 sorties, shot down enemy aircraft had not.
Total performed 423 sorties, conducted 102 air battles, which scored 19 personal and 3 group victories, destroyed 2 observation balloons. His personal score includes 10 Fw190, 5 Bf109 and 3 bombers (Ju88, He111).
Military awards: the Order of Lenin (01.05.1943), four Orders of the Red Banner (01/01/1942, 03.02.1942, 10.07.1944, ...), the Order of Alexander Nevsky (10.09.1944), two Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (09.10.1943, 11.03.1985), two Orders of the Red Star (03.09.1945, ...); medals.
After the end of hostilities, he continued his service in the USSR Air Force on navigational posts (including, chief navigator of the 1st Guards IAK of the Western Group of Forces). Since September 1968, Guards
Colonel V.A. Orekhov - in reserve, and then retired. Lived in the city of Minsk. Before retiring to a well-deserved rest he worked in the Civil Air Fleet of the USSR.
He died on February 4, 1997.
La-5FN (board number 93), a personal aircraft of Vladimir Orekhov, on which he flew in the autumn of 1943. on the Bryansk front. The asterisks indicate personal victories. Two white stripes on the tail unit and the front part of the engine hood, painted in red - tactical designations of 32 GIAP.
10. Vitaly Ivanovich Popkov was born on May 1, 1922 in Moscow. Russian.
In the Red Army since 1940. He began his service as a cadet of the Chuguev Military Aviation Pilots School, then graduated from Bataysk Military Aviation School.
He fought in Kalinin (May-October 1942), South-West (December 1942-October 1943), 3rd (October 1943 - January 1944 and May-July 1944) and the 1st Ukrainian (July 1944 - May 1945) fronts.
The first victory - Ju88 - was won on June 10, 1942. He was shot down on August 3, 1942 and ejected. He got severe burns and leg shrapnel wounds.
On June 16, 1944 during dogfight he was injured by splinters in the right arm and left leg.
The last victory was won in Germany on April 18, 1945, when Vitalij rammed a Fw190. Vitaly Popkov ended the war as commander of the squadron, in which 11 (!!!) pilots were the Heroes of the Soviet Union.
In total Vitaly Popkov made 475 sorties, conducted 117 air battles, scored 40 air victories. On his account 10 Fw190, 17 Bf109, 5 twin-engine bombers.
Military awards: Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (26.08.1942, September 8, 1943), three Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, two Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, two Orders of the Red Stars, the Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" 3rd degree, the Russian orders "For Services to the Fatherland" of the 4th degree (20.05.2002) and Honor (09.05.2007); medals, foreign awards.
After the Great Patriotic War he graduated from the Red Banner Air Force Academy (1951), and then the Academy of the General Staff (1964). He mastered 25 types of aircraft and helicopters. Was on responsible work in the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. Since 1967, Honored Military Pilot of the USSR and lieutenant General of Aviation since 1968. Since 1980, he was a teacher at the Air Force Engineering Academy. After retiring in 1989 he particiapted in public activities. He lived in Moscow and died on February 6, 2010.
The commander of the 2nd Squadron of the 5 GIAP Vitaly Popkov became the prototype of two heroes of the iconic Russian war movie "Only Old Men Are Going to Battle" – “Maestro” Titarenko, the commander of the "2nd Singing Squadron", and the young pilot "Grasshopper".
https://youtu.be/i8bNInTulB4
La-5FN (board No. 101) of 5 GIAP, a personal aircraft of Vitaly Popkov, on which he flew on the 1st Ukrainian Front in the summer and autumn of 1944. The number of stars of air victories (33) corresponds to the personal combat account of the pilot since August 13, 1944 until February 9, 1945. The spinner and the front of the engine hood are painted white - the designation of aircraft 5 GIAP.
11. Alexander Vasilyevich Lobanov was born on April 28, 1917 at the Karamyshevo station in the Pskov region. Russian.
In 1938 graduated from Borisoglebsk aviation school of pilots. Lieutenant Lobanov served on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since August 1941 in 40 IAP (February 9, 1943 renamed 41 giap). In 1941-43 on I-16 he fought in the Donbass, over Rostov, in the Kuban, in the foothills of the Caucasus.
The first group victory - Hs126 - was won on May 20, the first personal - Bf109 - on August 16, 1942.
In the spring of 1943. 41 giap was withdrawn from the fights and finally replaced the I-16 with La-5.
On new fighter planes, since May 1943 Lobanov fought on the Voronezh front, took an active part in the battles in the southern part of the Kursk bulge. As part of the 2nd Air Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, he took part in the liberation of the cities of Kiev, Chernivtsi, Lvov, Krakow, and the assault of Breslau. In April 1945 commander of the squadron 41 giap Guard Captain Lobanov on the fighter La-7 participated in the battles over Berlin.
He made more than 600 combat sorties, gained 24 personal and 13 group victories. Among his personal victories are 4 bombers (Do-217 and Ju88A), 3 Fw189A, 7 Ju87D, 6 Bf109 and 3 Fw190.
Military awards: Hero of the Soviet Union (28.09.43); Order of Lenin (28.09.1943), three Orders of the Red Banner (27.07.1942, 09.09.1942, 22.10.1944), the Order of Alexander Nevsky (22.02.1945), the Patriotic War 1st Step. (11/03/1985), medals.
After the war he continued his service in the Air Force. In 1949 he graduated from the Higher officer flight tactical courses. Since March 1952 he commanded 968 IAP. Since April 1953 the Guard Lieutenant Colonel A. V. Lobanov was in reserve and later retired. He lived in the city of Minsk and worked as an instructor of the flying club. In 1959 he became the director of production workshops at the Belorussian Institute of Mechanization and Electrification of Agriculture. He died on October 4, 1986.
La-5FN (board number 30) from 41 GIAP, the personal aircraft of Alexander Lobanov during Summer 1944 on the 1st Ukrainian Front. The picture "Eagle on top of Elbrus" reminds of the fighting in the Caucasus in 1942. The red heart on the hood of the engine is the designation of the regimental commander.
12. Kirill Alexeyevich Yevstigneyev was born on February 17, 1917 in the village of Khokhly, now Shumikhinsky district of the Kurgan. Russian.
In the army since September 1938, he graduated from the Biysk Military Pilots School in 1941, where he stayed to work as an instructor pilot.
At the end of 1942, Evstigneev was sent to Moscow to the main air force headquarters for the evaluation of American P-39 Airacobra aircraft delivered to the USSR by Lend-Lease from America. In Moscow, Sergeant Evstigneev was able to meet with the commander of 240 IAP, Major I. S. Soldatenko, who was going to the front with a replenishment. Evstigneev made a favorable impression, and Soldatenkov took him to his regiment.
He started combat as part of 240 IAP, 302 IAD, 4 IAK, 2nd Air Force of the Voronezh Front on March 13, 1943, flying the La-5. In less than 8 months of combat work, he promoted from an ordinary pilot to a squadron commander.
His first victory was a Bf-109G, scored on 28.03.43. By the beginning of the Battle of Kursk on the account of Sergeant Evstigneev there were already 4 victories – a Bf-109, two Bf-110 and one Ju-87D. In battles over the southern part of the Kursk salient, Evstigneev added to his account five more personal and two group victories, including 3 Ju-87 in one battle on 8th July. On July 23, 1943 240 IAP was transferred to the 5 Air Force of the Steppe Front.
On August 5, 1943 as part of a group of 8 La-5, Evstigneev flew to provide cover to Soviet troops in the outskirts of Belgorod. In the ensuing air battle he was shot down and wounded in both legs. In the medical battalion, he dissuaded the doctor from amputating one of his feet, and on the ninth night Evstigneev ran away from the hospital on crutches! He made the thirty-five kilometers walk to the nearest airfield, and from there it was transferred back to his unit. A month later, Evstigneev performed his first combat mission since returning, and during it he flew with his crutches to get in and out of the aircraft.
After the Battle of Kursk, and the liberations of Belgorod and Kharkov, Evstigneev took part in the air battles over Poltava (against Fw-190 from I./JG54), the Dnieper and Kirovograd.
By November 19, 1943, he had made 144 sorties, participated in 53 air battles and scored 27 air victories (24 individual and 3 in a group).
After the winter battles in the area of Pervomaisk and Konstantinovka, 240 IAP took part in the fierce fighting during the Iasi-Chisinau operation in the spring of 1944. In battles against JG 52 and SG2 Evstigneev scored another 15 victories.
On 07/02/1944, for the exemplary performance of combat missions and the courage and heroism shown, by the order of the USSR NKO No. 0178 former 240 IAP he was given the title of 178th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, and at the same time 302 IAD were converted into the 14th Guards Fighter Aviation Division.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 2, 1944, Kirill Evstigneev was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin (No. 19094) and the "Gold Star" (No. 4039).
Afterwards came the fighting in Romania against the German and Romanian Air Force. After Romania sided with the Allies, Guards Captain Evstigneev managed to make an in-flight flight to IAR-80.
Continuing to conduct effective combat work in the regiment, Guards Captain K. A. Evstigneev carried out 227 sorties by October 20, 1944, participated in 97 air battles and scored 50 air victories (47 personally and 3 in a group). In the winter of 1944-45 Evstigneev fought in the skies of Hungary.
By Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 23, 1945, Kirill Evstigneev was awarded the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union with the second "Gold Star" (No. 2284).
On March 26, 1945 over Budapest, using a head-on attack Evstigneev scored his last victory - a Fw-190. He finished the war in Czechoslovakia as the deputy commander of the 178 GIAP for flight operations, in the rank of Guards Major. He ended the war with a total of 283 sorties, participated in 113 air battles, and scored 55 air victories (52 personally and 3 in a group). Among his personal victories are 13 Ju-87, 14 Fw-190 and 16 Bf-109. Evstigneev is one of the highest scoring pilots of Ju-87s among all Allied pilots.
Battle awards: twice Hero of the Soviet Union (02.08.44, 23.02.45); Order of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner (30.09.1943, 28.10.1943, 22.02.1945, unknown), Order of Suvorov 3rd Class (02.10.1943), Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class (11.03.1985) 2nd class (30.04.1943), Order of the Red Star, and foreign medals including the Order of the British Empire of the 5th class (1944).
After the war, Evstigneev remained in the Air Force. In 1949 he graduated from the flight-tactical courses, and in 1955 from the Air Force Academy in Monino. In 1960 Evstigneev finished the Military Academy of the General Staff and was promoted to Major-General of Aviation in 1966. Since 1972 Evstigneev was in the reserve. He lived in Moscow and died August 29, 1996, and was buried in the Kuntsevo Cemetery.
This La-5FN (board number 14) of 178 GIAP, the second such aircraft in the regiment, was built with funds provided by worker V. Konev. During Summer 1944, Ivan Kozhedub flew on this fighter plane. When Kozhedub was transferred to 176 GIAP, the aircraft was assigned to his friend Kirill Evstigneev. Besides the two famous aces, a number of combat sorties on this La-5FN were made by Lieutenant P. A. Bryzgalov.
13. Ivan Savelievich Kravtsov was born on February 19, 1914 in the village of Novgorodka in the Kirovograd region. Ukrainian.
In 1939 he graduated from the Yeisk Naval Aviation School and was left in it as an instructor pilot. In November 1940, he was transferred to the same position in the reserve of the Air Force KBF.
Since November 1941, Junior Lieutenant I. S. Kravtsov served as a pilot of the 1st Squadron of the 5 IAP VVS KBF (on January 18, 1942, it was reorganized to 3 GIAP VVS KBF) and flew the Hurricane fighter until the end of 1942, LaGG-3 until Autumn 1943, and then La-5.
On September 29, 1942, during his 104 combat sortie in Hurricane, Ivan Kravtsov won his first air victory. In a pair with the leading V.I. Teryokhin, he shoot down a Ju-88 bomber.
On October 1, 1942 in a heavy fight with 6 Me-109, which occurred in the area of Kolpino, Kravtsov's plane was hit in the engine and gasoline tanks. Hurricane started to burn and the pilot ejected. Having received burns to his face and back, I.S. Kravtsov was sent to the hospital in a severe condition. Ivan Kravtsov returned to his unit at the end of December 1942.
From June 17, 1943 to January 14, 1944 he studied at the Courses for the Improvement of the Command of the Navy. After returning to the regiment, he became the flight leader in an La-5. 07/22/1944 for 13 personal and 4 group wins he awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Since November 1944, the Guards Captain I.S. Kravtsov commanded the 1st squadron of the 3rd IAP CBF and piloted La-5 and La-7 fighters.
Ivan Kravtsov ended the war with the most successful pilot of Soviet naval aviation: 375 combat sorties, 104 air battles, 31 personal (25 of them Fw190) and 3 air victories in a group.
Military awards: Hero of the Soviet Union, Order of Lenin (22.07.1944), four Orders of the Red Banner (21.10.1942, 12.06.1944, 18.07.1944, 04.04.1945), Order of Nakhimov 1st degree (15.05.1946), two Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (10.11.1945, 11.03.1985); medals.
After the war ended, he continued to serve in naval aviation. Since September 1950, the Guard Major Kravtsov was in reserve, he worked in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). In 1965 he moved to the city of Gelendzhik (Krasnodar region). He died on January 29, 2005.
La-5FN (board number 69) of 3 GIAP VVS KBF, personal plane of Ivan Kravtsov, on which he flew during Summer 1944. The number of victory stars with a white stroke (23) corresponds to the personal combat score of the pilot in mid-August 1944. Sprockets without strokes show group wins. The aircraft is painted in NKAP-43 standard camouflage, the white spinner is a rapid identification symbol of the Baltic Fleet Air Force aircraft.
14. Georgiy Nikolayevich Urvachev was born on August 20, 1920, in Moscow region. Russian.
In 1939 he entered the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation School of Pilots.
His first victory (Bf110) was won on October 5, 1941. From Autumn 1941 until Spring 1942 Georgiy Urvachev served in Moscow air defense and flew ground support sorties. Among his aircraft were MiG-3, Yak-1 (in 1942), Yak-9 (Summer 1943), P-39 (at the end of 1943), La-5FN (from Spring of 1944 to the end of the war).
In Autumn 1943, there were no military operations since the activity of the Luftwaffe over Moscow practically ceased. Until May 1945, the regiment pilots performed training and instructor flights mostly. In May 1945, the regiment was transferred to the Far East, and in August-September took part in hostilities against Japan.
In total Georgiy Urvachev made 472 combat sorties, conducted 22 air battles, scored 4 personal and 7 group air victories. Except for one Bf109, all air victories are recon planes and bombers Bf110, Ju88 and He111.
When the war ended, he continued to serve in the Air Force. In HQ of 147 IAP, Colonel G.N. Urvachyov took part in an armed conflict in Korea from 1950 to 1953 and flew until 1964. After leaving for the reserve, he worked at the Flight Test Station of a helicopter plant. He died in 1997.
Battle awards: the Red Banner (4.03.1942), the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (1.09.1943), medals.
La-5FN (No.25) of 34th IAP air defense, on which Captain Urvachev flew during Winter 1944-45. It is interesting to note that the number of asterisks denoting personal victories (6) does not coincide with the official score of personal victories (4). Probably, several victories, marked in the pilot's flight book as personal, were indicated in the regimental documents as group ones.
15. Rashit Nursultanovich Beketov was born on 01.07.1922 in the Kazakh ASSR. Kazakh.
He arrived at the front in January 1943 as a Junior Lieutenant of 721 IAP of 286 IAD. During that Winter, the unit fought as part of the effort to free Kastornoe, in the Voronezh theatre of operations.
Starting in March, the regiment was sent to the 16th Air Army of the Central Front, and participated in the Battle of Kursk during Summer. From Autumn 1943 until Spring 1944, 721 IAP fought in the liberation of Ukraine’s western borders by Dnepr river. From June 1944, Lieutenant Beketov flew for the 1st Belorussian Front over Belorussia and Poland. On 12.01.1944 he was wounded during a dogfight, suffering wounds to his back, but returned to his unit after recovering and took part in the Berlin operation. During May 1945, Lieutenant Beketov became a flight leader of 721 IAP.
Throughout the war, Beketov completed over 100 sorties and scored 4 aerial victories – all Fw-190s. Among other medals, he was awarded the Order of the Great Patriotic War 2nd Class, and the Order of the Red Banner.
After the war Beketov briefly served in Germany, but quit military service in the early 1950s due to consequences of his injuries and lived in Shymkent until his death on 25.11.1995.
Lieutenant Beketov flew this La-5FN built with donations from Kazakh millers during Autumn 1944. At the end of the year, once the battle of Visla ended, 721 IAP handed over this and the rest of their La-5FN aircraft to 165 IAP, and went to the rear to receive the new La-7.
16. Anatoly Panteleevich Trefilov was born on June 15, 1921 in the village of Yuberki, Yaremsky district of the Saratov region. Russian.
He served as Jr. Lieutenant in the 33 OAE flying the U-2 and R-5 in the Air Force of the Red Army since September 1940. Since August 31, Jr. Lieutenant Trefilov became the flight commander, and on 18.12.41 he became the appointed deputy commander of 33 OAE with the rank of Lieutenant.
In December 1943, Captain Trefilov arrived in 303 IAD and was sent to re-training in the training center of the division. Since April 1944 he became a pilot the 1st squadron of 139 GIAP, led by the commander Udovitsky. The regiment was equipped with Yak-1, Yak-7 and Yak-9 fighters and fought on the 3rd Belorussian Front during Spring and Summer 1944. It was distinguished in the battles of Orsha (Belorussian SSR), Vilnius and Kaunas (Lithuanian SSR).
In November 1944, Captain Trefilov was transferred to 523 IAP to be flight commander again. At the final stage of the war, he participated in the fighting in East Prussia. On 08.05.45 Captain Trefilov was appointed deputy squadron commander in 523 IAP.
Captain Trefilov did not have any air victories. This was due to 523 IAP’s specialisation as a "reconnaissance" regiment – for example, of 3,333 combat sorties flown in 1944, 2,773 were reconnaissance flights. The pilots in the regiment flew mainly with as pair and sometimes as a flight. Trying to avoid dogfights, they occasionally strafed targets they located in the rear of the enemy.
After the war, Trefilov remained in the air force. In 1951 he became part of the Soviet special mission in Korea. During the air battles in that war he scored three victories – two F-86s and one F-84. He served as squadron commander, commander-in-chief of the regiment for air tactics, chief of staff of 153 IAD, and head of the air gunnery service 1218.
His battle awards include three Orders of the Red Banner (30.11.41, 20.01.45 and 19.04.45), the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 3rd class (1945), the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class (18.08.43), and other medals. He lived in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) after the war.
Captain Trefilov flew this La-5FN (number 44) during Fall 1944 on the 3rd Belorussian Front. On the side of the fuselage is an arrow - a rapid identification element of the fighter aircraft in 303 IAD.
In addition, here are several screenshots of La-5FN cockpit, its entire 3D model is complete. The only thing left for this plane is to finish its flight model.
The New Year is almost here, and our office is very busy. As Jason announced earlier, BoK release is planned for the last third of the winter and we have a lot to make in time for it. The final part of the work on the Career mode turned out to be a lot more difficult than anticipated - those improvements that we planned to combine the best from RoF and BoS worlds require an astonishing amount of work. The overall work is tripled by the fact that we create the Career mode for three war theatres at once - not only new BoK, but also for previously released Battle of Moscow and Battle of Stalingrad. The amount of squadron histories research, work on preparing the map data for the generator were tripled; this also significantly increased the time needed for unique theatre settings. On the other hand, the final result we expect to get should make up for this hard work and release delay. It is important to note, that last two times (in RoF and BoS) Viktor =FB=VikS Sechnoy developed the generator templates that were significantly limited, this time he makes it as he sees right. Our producer Jason gave Viks the freedom that he asked for. Everything will be changed - mission tasks, mission success conditions, mission progress conditions, the placement of various objects near the front line. For instance, to complete a ground attack mission you can destroy various different enemy targets in the designated area, not necessarily the main target listed in the briefing. There are many other things that should make the new gameplay more diverse and interesting compared to earlier BoS campaign or RoF career.
The new Coop multiplayer mode is almost done. This game mode is much like RoF Coop, but IL-2 Coop will have several improvements compared to RoF one thanks to our GUI programmer Vitaly Tolmachev. It will be possible to form player groups using a dialog window and assign a different route to each. There will be also an option to fly a gunner like in Dogfight.
Thanks to Coop development, we're also improving the game statistics system, which will benefit all the game modes. First of all, stats will become more informative. After making necessary improvements that stats parser tool was designed to support from the start, in the future we plan to further expand and improve the statistics system. Moreover, the entire MP points assignment system will be revised. Difficulty modifier will be gone - on all difficulty settings, players will receive the same amount of points. We do this because it turned out that setting strict rules for set groups of users is not needed for the community, and most MP servers use custom difficulty settings where points are not counted at all. We also won't set the player points to zero if he is killed or captured. Instead, we're adding additional player states the community asked us for some time:
Airplanes:
Successful Landing at airfield : x 2.5
Emergency Landing at airfield : x 2.0
Forced Landing outside the base : x 2.0
Ditched : x 1.5
Bailed Out : x 1.0
Flight Canceled : x 0.5
Captured : x 0.5
Killed : x 0.5
Friendly Fire : x 0.0
In Service : x 1.5
Broken : x 1.0
Statistics system isn't the only thing that is changed by adding Coop mode - you'll be able to host a server not only from a separate DServer tool using a different account, but from within a game. You will be able to specify all the required parameters in the game itself and participate in the mission he is hosting together with other players. Such servers will be visible in the servers list just like DServer ones. You'll be able to host both Dogfight and Coop servers this way.
Another chunk of news today is that we started Bf 109 G-6 flight model development since its 3D model is ready. This aircraft is going to be interesting, here's its cockpit screenshot:
Speaking of aircraft, we finished the raindrops visual effect on the canopy and restored the old RoF feature with raindrops on pilot's goggles. They both kick in when they should, creating a new level of immersion during rain. When you're on the ground and the canopy is opened, the raindrops will land on your goggles. While taking off, the front glass will protect you from the rain, unless you move your virtual head outside. While the movement of raindrops on the canopy surface and on the pilot's goggles is simplified, it is physics based and changes depending on airspeed and flight direction. Even if there is no rain, the raindrops will appear when you fly through a cumulus cloud or very low above the water. This 5-minute gameplay video showcases this feature:
https://youtu.be/DTl6PZ8SQGs
Now let's show you something more grounded. Since the graphics improvements for BoK are nearly complete, we started the work on tech required for new projects. The research on Bodenplatte map and scenery has started and we'll tell you about it a bit later, but today we can give you more info on another project - Tank Crew. All tanks will have the detailed exterior and interior (WIP screenshots are coming soon). Right now here's the screenshot of the current Pz. III tank model you already have in the game that shows the new visor tech - prismatic optical instruments and triplex armored glass:
Our partners are making the tank models while we make the necessary new tech for them to look best, for instance, the new tech to make the tank tracks look as real ones as possible. This tech is different to what two most popular tank games are using and is more modern and perspective. It is not heavy on polycount, performance optimized, looks good at different distances, including close up views, and is also convenient for 3D modelers to work with. Our lead programmer Sergey Vorsin not only made all that but also made sure the tracks move in a physically correct way at different speeds.
In addition, Sergey has made it possible to topple trees on the edges of woods, in the wood lines and single standing trees. This option is optimal for game performance (it doesn't adversely affect the performance of the entire game and doesn't clog the bandwidth in the multiplayer) and is also realistic because a tank crew couldn't expect to move right through a forest. Although physics of tree-toppling is very simplified due to the insane amount of trees in the game, it still looks better than in many other projects.
We plan to improve many other technologies for Tank Crew project. In particular, we plan to make landscape mesh 16 times more detailed for smaller, 100x100 km tank maps. This will allow creating the fully-featured multiplayer missions with tanks and aircraft acting simultaneously in one mission (10000 sq.km. are more than enough for fighters and ground attack planes). In the same time, tank players will have very good landscape visuals on such maps.
However, as they say, it is better to see once than to hear many times. So here is 3-minute gameplay video which showcases two new tank features - new tracks and tree-toppling:
https://youtu.be/3tQVifFTGKY
Today is the last working day of 2017. Officially. Part of our team that finalizes the game bits that are required for 3.001 release will continue to work on holidays. This is a personal decision of each team member and I can only respect them.
Total of 5 new aircraft will be released in 3.001. We still need to texture P-39L-1 cockpit and finish Bf 109 G-6 flight model. A-20B, Yak-7B ser.36, and La-5FN ser.2 are almost done, there are some skins and details left to do.
Cooperative multiplayer mode and new statistics system are being tested. The new Career is finished from functionality point of view, it is being tested, debugged and filled with missions and locations content. We plan to have as many as 40 generated mission types; 20-25 of them will be ready for 3.001 and the rest will be added during the course of the year. Generated missions will have randomized locations, mission route and target parameters, weather conditions and other details, so each sortie will play differently.
Other stuff planned for 3.001 is ready. Today we plan to start 3.001 alpha testing, hopefully our testers will help us finalize all the work we were busy with for 4 last months quickly and effectively.
We, IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles team, would like to wish you a Happy New Year and all the best in the coming 2018. To make this Dev Diary more visually appealing, here are several A-20B cockpit in-game screenshots and the video showing all five aircraft coming in 3.001.
https://youtu.be/t1KS9gscY5g
The end of January draws near and we're finishing the BoK development. The new functionality of the coming version 3.001 is being actively tested and debugged, our volunteer beta tester team helps us in this task greatly. This development stage is hard, but it consists of routine work mostly, not very exciting to tell about. However, there is a development which might be interesting for you to know. Andrey =AnPetrovich= Solomykin finished the Yak-7b series 36 flight model but, being the lead engineer, he couldn't just 'make a new plane'. During this work, he implemented many new features which in time may be applied to other aircraft. In addition, while we have a common flight modeling accuracy standard, this time some characteristics were modeled with higher fidelity. Here's the list of Yak-7b FM features:
1. Maximum horizontal speed matches the reference data at all altitudes with 1% difference margin (less than 5 km/h).
2. Climb time matches the reference data with 4% difference margin (less than 8 seconds difference lower than 6000 m and less than 34 seconds at higher altitudes).
3. Turn time matches the reference data with 0.5 seconds difference margin.
4. Takeoff and landing speeds with or without flaps match the reference data with 2-3 km/h difference margin (takeoff run accuracy is 10-20 m).
5. Inertial model is congruent with the reference data for all load variants including fuel and ammo mass.
6. Shock absorbers and tire load are congruent with the reference data in all drop tests.
7. New canopy functionality:
7.1 Canopy opening or closing delay after the player input has been corrected.
7.2 It is impossible to open or close the canopy at speeds higher than 600 km/h.
7.3 Canopy damage model and wind sound corrected.
7.4 Moving canopy recoils when it hits the limit.
7.5 Player can repeat the canopy move command if canopy releases from the lock on its own and didn't lock at the opposite lock.
7.6 If a pilot finds himself in an unlucky flip over situation on the ground, it may be impossible to open the canopy.
8. New flaps functionality:
8.1 Flaps pneumatic valve can be set to the neutral position instead of retracting position, making the flaps retract by air flow pressure instead of a sharp retracement.
8.2 An incorrect flaps behavior, while pushed back by the air flow pressure, has been addressed.
9. Pneumatic valves in the cockpit are being turned in an anthropomorphically realistic way since a human hand can't turn something 360 degrees without pauses.
10. Constant speed governor wheel has been slowed down realistically (synchronized with a virtual axis while controlling it from keyboard).
11. Propeller pitch automatically lowers during landing if the automatic pitch control is selected in difficulty settings.
12. Oil overpressure results in an oil leak.
13. Oil and water radiator scoops can be lost due to combat damage.
14. The airframe structural fatigue and combat damage dependencies on the G load have been adjusted.
15. Fuel pressure indicator shows realistic data while the engine cylinders are being primed with fuel during the engine start.
16. Force Feedback effects were adjusted for higher flight speeds.
17. Oil injector functions correctly during engine warm up (if you start a mission from parking).
18. Instruments and switches function correctly with all interdependencies.
19. Correct Venturi tube modeling in UP-1 gyro, KI-10 gyro modeling.
20. Engine start and turning off procedures fully correspond to the pilot's manual.
21. Landing gear bays and flaps affect flight dynamics correctly in all possible landing gear and flaps combinations (including flaps being lost).
22. Neutral virtual flight stick position corresponds to the real joystick flight stick position for FFB and regular joysticks (taking into account the elevator trim and fixed trim tabs).
23. Aircraft balance changes correctly in an event of fins or fins control rods loss for FFB and regular joysticks (taking into account the fixed trim tab position on the left aileron and both elevator trim tabs).
24. Fins with broken control rods correctly re-orient themselves when the air flow speed drops, affecting the FFB neutral position.
While working on Yak-7b, Andrey was also able to add these features and corrections to other aircraft:
1. Radio compasses on all planes work only when powered and show correct readings when switched on or off and when the beacon signal is lost or acquired.
2. An aircraft can no longer explode when 'Unbreakable' difficulty option is selected.
3. These aircraft can't be damaged anymore with 'Unbreakable' difficulty option selected:
- Bf 110 E-2
- Bf 110 G-2
- He 111 H-6
- He 111 H-16
- Ju 88 A-4
- Ju 52 3mg4e
- IL-2 mod. 41
- Pe-2 series 35
4. 'Unbreakable' difficulty option: flipped over MiG-3 and Hs-129 B2 turn back to a normal position.
5. 'Unbreakable' difficulty option: turning back a flipped over aircraft happens correctly and there are no artificial oscillations that could happen when an aircraft lies on its belly.
6. When a plane or its fragment hit a concrete, ice or packed snow surface, dust or snow cloud effects won't be shown.
7. Loss of smaller aircraft fragments won't be accompanied by a dust cloud visual effect.
8. Damage modeling artifacts have been fixed (i.e. sudden breakage of damaged aircraft parts in a resting state).
9. Lost canopies fall off from a correct place on an aircraft.
10. Lost canopy and other parts of Bf-109 Е7 correctly affect its aerodynamic characteristics.
11. Oil viscosity changes correctly with temperature, resulting in faster engine failures when the oil is overheated.
12. Constant propeller speed governor R-7 control wheels were made slower according to reference data. These governors were installed on the following aircraft:
- MiG-3 series 24
- Yak-1 series 69
- Yak-7b series 36
In addition, for all these planes (if 'Engine auto control' difficulty option is selected) the propeller pitch is automatically lowered when instrument speed drops and the landing gear is released (to help in a situation when an urgent go around procedure might be needed).
As usual, here are some visual pics to compensate that wall of text above. Here are P-39 official painting schemes:
Update 3.001 testing is progressing well: almost all the planned functionality is in and ready. We know that you'd like to hear an exact release date, but since this update is shaping up to be the biggest of all, it's hard to pinpoint an exact release date. Nevertheless, as we said before, we're doing our best to release this update before the end of Winter. Major tasks that still remain include P-39 cockpit texturing and completion of 25 Career mission types that will be included in the initial release (after it the work on the new mode will continue to increase the total number of the mission types to 40). Once again, this update is going to be the leader in terms of changes and additions - the change list includes more than 80 items already.
Speaking of the further development, we'll start to disclose various details about it pretty soon. For now, we can say that the work on 3D models of P-47, Spitfire Mk.IXe and Bf 109 G-14 has already started while we're collecting reference documents on Tempest Mk.V. In the same time, we have started adapting the existing WWI aircraft FM for IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles engine for Flying Circus project. The work on Tank Crew is also progressing: new track assembly animation tech and increased height map detail are accompanied by the new detailed buildings destruction tech which will be used on 'Clash at Prokhorovka' map; the first two new 3D tank models are in the works as well. We'll tell you about them later, but they are heavies.
To spice up today's diary, here are the official A-20B skins. Important note is that external textures of A-20B are made in 4K resolution:
Today we have a small surprise for you. But we aren't its authors: it was made by an enthusiast from the Netherlands, Neeraj =BlackHellHound1= Bindraban. Neeraj turned out to be the biggest enthusiast among the Soviet WWII aircraft skin artists since he was the first to finish the entire path of re-texturing an aircraft in 4K. Not only he remade the skins in 4K, he also made many corrections to the base textures of the IL-2 mod. 1943. He started his work as early as June 2017 and finished it only now, since it was a lot of work to redraw all this in 4K to achieve the new level of detail:
- All panel lines, hatches, rivets, etc. in 4K detail
- Dirt and wear layer
- Texture alpha channel that governs matte effect, reflections and glint
- Bump texture that visualizes small surface details
- Bump texture alpha channel that governs the damage visualization
- Damage texture that shows bullet holes, raptures and other visible surface damage
- 15 existing and new paint schemes
Here are some screenshots showing the new look from the IL-2 mod. 1943 cockpit:
... new damage look:
... and new skins that you'll get together with a ton of other improvements and additions in the update 3.001:
Neeraj became a trailblazer in converting the entire set of aircraft textures and skins to 4K resolution and encountered difficulties all the pioneers face. He managed to overcome all these difficulties and hopefully other enthusiasts will follow, helping to take the visual clarity of various aircraft to the new level.
As a teaser for the coming Career mode, today we present you one of the reports from our volunteer testers that was edited a bit to be less formal:
'Today I was flying in the Career mode (Battle of Moscow theatre of war, 'Typhoon' phase) for the 62nd ShAP (attack regiment). Career options were set to realistic career speed, easy difficulty and dense frontline activity.
The mission started on the morning of October 10th, 1941, from Vlasiha airfield near Podolsk town; the order was to attack the forward enemy positions near Turmino settlement. There were six IL-2 mod. 1941 sturmoviks including mine. The weather was clear, light frost (-2°C) and light wind (2 m/s near the ground and not more than 10 m/s higher, no turbulence).
After taking off, we proceeded to the rendezvous waypoint near Nazaryevo forward airfield where we met our air cover - six MiG-3 fighters from 512 IAP that were flying at 1000m altitude - and set our course to 260°. We flew together for around 10 minutes and traveled 65 km to the frontline uneventfully.
Unfortunately, when we arrived at the front line all the hell broke loose: we were greeted by as many as nine Bf 109 F2s. While MiGs tied the Messerschmitts in combat, we dropped our bombs on the targets (there was no shortage of them there) and the flight leader turned to fly back home. Shortly after this, I saw another group of enemy fighters while our cover already had had their hands full. I got lucky and one of the new enemies flew too close to the hail of shells and bullets from my cannons and guns - I saw the black smoke and he retreated. Another one was diving right on me - with ammo spent, I was running away as fast as I could. My IL-2 flight was 6 km away already and it looked like there were only two MiGs with them - German fighters seemed to ignore them for now, but MiGs understandably ignored me - I was cut from the herd and they were guarding the rest of the sturmoviks. In a desperate need of help, I turned with empty guns like mad. Suddenly another MiG appeared, it looked like he was trying to save me. After short series of mad maneuvers, he and the attacking Bf 109 hit the ground while I ran. I felt sorry for our pilot, but he just saved me.
I sigh with relief, but saw another enemy fighter getting close, for crying out loud! My plane was sturdy, but it resembled a sieve already - I wondered how it still flies. Not willing to spare the engine, I flew 50 km at maximum throttle, making suicide evasion maneuvers near the ground when the enemy dove at me. One time I saw another MiG, but either its pilot didn't see us or maybe he was wounded. I don't know how I limped to the airfield, but near it, the enemy fighter disengaged, maybe he was getting short on fuel or he was afraid of our airfield AAA (there were a plenty of them because of the easy difficulty setting). Works for me.
I would say there were too many Messerschmitts for easy difficulty, but I guess this will be tuned. In this flight my pilot got wounded and I was taken to the hospital until October 14th. After returning I got a medal, but in the new newspaper I saw a scary main title: 'City Under Siege'.'
Since this tester was playing the game in VR, his screenshots are not very clear, so here are several regular screenshots taken in similar circumstances. And to illustrate all the complexity and variety of the scenarios that are generated in the Career mode, one of the screenshots shows how this particular generated mission looks in the mission editor (so complex missions are built from many bits so they are hard to understand when being viewed as a whole):
Today we don't have a lot of news, we just want to tell you that the work on 3.001 update is near its end. We have 20 Career mission types working of 25 planned for the release. The most of the initially found issues are fixed and some tweaks are already in the place.
To give you a general idea of the scale of this update, its change list will contain 90 items, nearly a third of which are significant changes and improvements. The sheer number of these changes means that after 3.001 release hotfixes will likely follow because there could be problems that couldn't be found by the testers. We're sure this teething period will be short.
P-39L-1 cockpit is almost ready, perhaps we'll spend 1-2 days for final 'polishing' of its textures, but we can already show you its overall look.
All other changes and additions planned for 3.001 release are finished. Therefore, we plan to release this humongous update in 2-3 weeks. We want to release it as soon as possible ourselves: all we're doing we're doing for you and your feedback is very important for us. But we need to make a bit more effort to give you the result that will not only be massive, but also good functioning, so these days will be spent on debugging and refinement of the new functionality.
After releasing 3.001 update and going wild with the celebration - having 5 work days in a week instead of 7 - we continue the further development.
Thankfully, 3.001 release went ok and didn't require any urgent critical hotfixes, which is strange for such fundamental changes, to be honest. Anyway, at this moment we already have around 40 changes and enhancements we plan to release in the next 3-4 weeks. Graphics, Career, AI, multiplayer and some other stuff will be addressed.
In parallel, we're developing the next big thing, Bodenplatte. The work on the map, buildings and its first planes has already started. We have a huge task in front of us, but we already got used to big plans and we know how to follow them. Soon we'll tell you about the other projects of IL-2 Great Battles series - the work is going on them as well.
Meanwhile, today we can show you the first WIP screenshots of Spitfire F/LF Mk.IXe and Bf 109 G-14 fighters from Bodenplatte aircraft list - we're working on their 3D models and FMs. We plan to start the Bodenplatte Early Access program when they are ready.
And here's some "insider's bonus" for you:
There are holidays at the beginning of May in Russia, but to this day we have managed to release the important 3.002 update and its hotfixes. Moreover, we have found a temporary solution for our Russian customers who were affected by the recent mass blocking of the Amazon IP addresses (we use its web services). While one part of the team has been working on the update, others have continued the development of our next big project - Bodenplatte. For instance, we have reached an important milestone in the development of the new map. Evgeny Isaev, our lead landscape and game world artist, has this to say:
It's important to note that the new map will be special and different (once again!). The set development time limits force us to find the ways to optimize our work, simultaneously increasing the quality of the landscape. This means we ought to implement new design methods, namely using digital geodata (with required historical corrections) instead of drawing by hand. This way we can save time, but increase the accuracy of the resulting map.
At the moment, we already have the map with height data, rivers and forests. The result is not final, but it required a lot of work already.
Now we're working on the settlements. It is possible that we'll increase their number in the course of development, but we'll make the decision when we have the major towns and smaller settlements ready. The airfields list is ready and we have collected enough information to make them. In addition, we have a general concept of how we'll texture the landscape for different seasons, but we'll give it a bit more thought.
It is said than one picture is worth a thousand words, how about fourteen:
The time has come to tell you more about the historical timeframe of Battle of Bodenplatte.
As we said in our previous Dev Blog #192, we're making all four different seasons for this map. Some might think that we'll model only 1-2 days of the actual Bodenplatte operation when the Luftwaffe made the all-out attack on the Allied airfields near Brussels and Antwerp. However, our “Battle of” series is much more than that! The Career mode for this new theatre of war will last from September 17th, 1944 to March 28th, 1945 – 188 days of war in total.
Historically, 11 significant engagements took place in this area during the given timeframe. In the Career mode, you'll see your area of operations, mission types, acting air force units, their home airfields and other details that correspond to the historical data. You'll be flying in and around many famous operations and battles. Of course, we can’t model every skirmish or battle on the ground, but we will have an exciting Career spanning this later stage of the war when the Allies were fighting their way into Germany.
Operation Market Garden (September 17 – 26, 1944)
Battle of Aachen (October 2 – 21, 1944)
Battle of the Scheldt (October 2 – November 8, 1944)
Operation Queen (November 16 – December 15, 1944)
Operation Watch on the Rhine (December 16 – 25, 1944)
Allied Counter-Offensive (December 26, 1944 – January 25, 1945)
Operation Bodenplatte (January 1, 1945)
Operation Veritable (February 8 – March 10, 1945)
Operation Clarion (February 22 – 23, 1945)
Operation Grenade (February 23 – March 10, 1945)
Operation Plunder (March 23 – 28, 1945)
As said above, we won't be able to recreate these ground operations in super detail, but the overall situation, mission tasks, home airfields and mission targets will change as they should historically just as you experience with Stalingrad, Moscow and Kuban. This, along with the corresponding features of the Career mode like pilot biographies, squadron histories, newspaper articles, videos, squadron rosters, medals and rank progression will create an authentic experience of flying on the Western Front during the late war period. The whole timeframe will be divided into 5 chapters:
Chapter 1: Fighting in Holland (September 17 – October 1, 1944)
Chapter 2: Autumn Offensive (October 2 – December 15, 1944)
Chapter 3: Battle of the Bulge (December 16 – 25, 1944)
Chapter 4: Allied Counter-Offensive (December 26, 1944 – February 7, 1945)
Chapter 5: Battle of the Rhine (February 8 – March 28, 1945)
To create this new theatre of war, a thorough research will be done on where the units of both sides were based, their tasks and what aircraft they used day by day. Two new award systems for the US and Great Britain are to be created from scratch, as well as the late war pilot models for Luftwaffe, RAF and USAAF along with their chutes. The Newspaper articles is a huge task on their own and takes several months to complete. If you’d like to help with this contact Jason. We also plan on making additional mission types for this unique location and timeframe. All in all, this will be a lot of work for us, but progress is already being made. For example, we have finalized the map boundaries and the airfield locations. This map is bigger than we initially planned (flyable area is 401 x 324 km - it is 129.900 sq.km) and several compromises will have to be made to make it a reality. It will stretch us to the limit of what is possible in our development schedule, but as with our other maps it will be really cool when it’s done.
Three weeks have passed since the update 3.003 which started the early access of Bodenplatte. At the moment, we prepare to release another important update that will bring required functionality to support Steam requirements for the distribution of a new content. In addition to purely technical stuff 'under the hood', this will make running the game through Steam more streamlined, without entering login and password.
Meanwhile, the development of the new project goes according to the plan. Fw 190 A-8 will go into testing soon (to be released in Bodenplatte early access shortly thereafter) and engineers are already working on P-47D-28 flight model. 3D artist department works on several aircraft at once - P-47D-28, Fw 190 D-9, P-51D-15, Me 262 A, Hawker Tempest Mk.V series 2 and Bf 109 K-4 - some of them are nearly finished while the work on others just started.
Today we can show you the first WIP screenshots of two planes from this list: P-47D-28 и Fw 190 D-9.
Dear Pilots and Drivers!
We start this Dev Blog with a somber reminder that 77 years ago, on June 22, 1941, German troops, under the control of the Nazi regime in Berlin, launched the largest invasion in the history of warfare. They crossed the Soviet Union border in a surprise blitzkrieg attack obliterating the non-aggression pact signed between Germany and the USSR. This escalation of WWII would forever change the history of the USSR and the rest of the world. Modern history still to this day is divided into 'before' and 'after' the war. The German war machine was powerful, effective, modern and technologically advanced. Its soldiers were highly motivated and exceptionally trained. Operation Barbarossa was planned by the best minds of the German general staff. The plan was for three army groups, 'North', 'Center' and 'South' to smash the USSR in just 5 months with the help of the cavalry of the new age - the air force.
This outcome may have seemed inevitable if not for the tenacity of the Soviet people and military. Surprisingly for the German High Command, as Barbarossa rolled on and early victories showed Soviet unpreparedness, the Soviet resistance began to stiffen and harden with each passing day. The Soviets withstood the initial, most powerful impact of the enemy with grim determination. This determination and composure turned into a shield and spear that would eventually stop and kill the enemy. We all know the price of this victory - there was no family untouched by the war, countries were destroyed, cities turned to rubble, tens of millions of people killed and millions of children became orphans. The price was hideous and we can't forget it because our ancestors live in our memory. We hope such an event never happens again.
This price wasn't paid in vain - the modern world as we know it comes from the great joint victory over Nazis. The victory which wasn't possible without the blood of the Soviet people, which begun on this day, June 22, 1941.
This new project of ours is our tribute to this memory. We tell about the machines of WWII and the fighting in the skies above its battlefields. And starting this year, we'll also tell you about the fighting on the ground. We'll begin with one of the most famous and critical battles of the war - the battle of Kursk. In 1943, the Wehrmacht gathered all available forces, which in 1943 were still considerable and far from defeated and attempted to turn the tide of the war after the setbacks in 1941 and 1942 in one coordinated all-out assault. It can't be said that this attempt was entirely hopeless, the German forces nearly broke through the last lines of defense, but the Red Army held and counterattacked. And with that, the final outcome of the war became clear. The symbol of that battle, of course, is the armored combat machines that defined the battlefield – TANKS! Tanks alone are little more than expensive metal heaps without their human crews. This new project - Tank Crew: Clash at Prokhorovka - is dedicated to the crews who bravely went to battle in them.
The action in Tank Crew: Clash at Prokhorovka will take place in 100x100 km area around Belgorod, including the place where the greatest tank battle of all time was waged, near Prokhorovka village. You can see that the map size is smaller than in our other projects, but we made it smaller on purpose to use our recently developed landscape detail scaling technology. This tech will make the landscape wireframe 16 times more detailed than our usual maps that are designed for aircraft engagements. While being smaller than our other maps, this map size is still unequal among tank sims. We don't do this just to boast about it either - the size of our map makes joint multiplayer with tanks and aircraft possible on the same multiplayer server.
In addition to 16 times more detailed landscape, we also implemented the knock-over-trees tech which in some aspects is more advanced than in competing titles. The terrain texturing has also been improved to make creating believable settlements and villages possible.
The settlements also required new tech advances because this project is focused on tanks, so we have implemented more detailed building damage modeling. Of course, we can’t get carried away, because populating all settlements and big towns with detailed damage model buildings won't be feasible from both development resources and sim performance standpoints. The bulk of the map will be populated like on the regular maps while the historically important areas where the major tank engagements happened will have the new detailed buildings. This will make ramming the buildings possible by the way. As you can imagine, the area of the Prokhorovka battle will be one of these highly detailed areas. The size of just this area is comparable to the full size of the map in some tank games.
Now let's list the tanks that will be made for the project, it is called Tank Crew after all. There will be 10 armored vehicles and two Anti-Aircraft vehicles:
1. T-34-76 model 1943
2. KV-1s
3. M4A2
4. SU-122
6. GAZ-MM + 72K
7. PzKpfw III Ausf.M
8. PzKpfw IV Ausf.G
9. PzKpfw V Ausf.D "Panther"
10. PzKpfw VI Ausf.H1 "Tiger"
11. Sd. Kfz. 184 "Ferdinand"
12. Sd. Kfz. 10 + Flak38
For this project, we performed historical research on the construction of these tanks and their equipment and weapons for exterior and interior 3D modeling and texturing. Part of our team is working on improving the engine, making the physical tank models and their damage modeling, creating the map and improving the user interface for the tank crews. We've managed to set up the joint workflow with our development partners so Tank Crew development doesn't affect the progress we're making on our other big project – Battle of Bodenplatte.
We can tell you a bit about the gameplay already. The player will be able to occupy one of the four stations:
- Tank commander
- Driver
- Gunner
- Radioman/MG gunner
The required support for drivable tanks and vehicles has been created in advance. All our customers should try the existing two tanks, T-34 and Pz. III. Now we're improving and expanding this support, and one of the most important directions of this improvement is making the damage model of the tank and its systems more detailed.
We'll also improve the ground vehicle AI so it will be capable of controlling detailed tanks, the ones that human players control. This is required for single player - you'll be acting as part of tank squads or companies.
For each side we plan to create a Scripted Campaign consisting of several missions connected with a single story, telling about the historical events of this battle.
As we see things now, the Tank Commander role is shaping up to be the most interesting one - you'll be able to command your crew, give orders to your unit as a whole or any particular tank under your command. On Expert difficulty level, you'll do all this from your seat inside the tank relying only on the visual information which has been possible to obtain in real life.
Players assuming the role of a driver will notice the realistic tank movement physics that includes the complex interaction of the tank tracks (or wheels for a car) with the ground, engine and transmission, resulting in realistic dynamic characteristics of a given tank or vehicle. Since we are not only a simulator, but also a game, it will be possible to control this complex dynamical model with simple input devices.
The gunner will operate the realistic optical gun sight. We have performed significant research to model the ballistics of all the rounds used in these tanks. At the moment we plan that it will be possible to use 5 round types: AP, APHE, APCR, HEAT and HE (it's likely you know what these mean if you're interested in tank warfare). The types available will be historically accurate, for instance, the 76mm HEAT round was forbidden to use in 1943 because of the many cases of its premature bursting in the barrel, or there were no solid AP rounds for German guns, they used APHE. All MGs installed on the tanks will be accurately modeled as well.
The Radioman/MG gunner will operate his MG most of the time but losing a radioman will prevent you from talking with other tanks of your unit. The loader will be also modeled, but he will be controlled by AI.
We plan to start the Early Access program for Tank Crew: Clash at Prokhorovka as early as this July. Of course, we'll have only a small bit of the final product available at the start. The official release date is more than one year ahead in the future, but early adopters of Tank Crew will have something to play with:
- Highly detailed (exterior and interior) KV-1s and PzKpfw VI Ausf.H1 "Tiger" tanks;
- Nearly complete physics model of these tanks;
- Detailed ballistics model for 50mm, 76mm and 88mm rounds;
- Ability to occupy any tank station (tank commander functionality won't be ready, but you'll be able to take the commander seat);
- Numerous improvements to other game functionality which will improve a ground vehicle gameplay.
Well, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, but here is a bunch for several thousand words!
IAmNotARobot 185
Our Early Access program for Bodenplatte begun recently with its first two aircraft having become available - the Bf-109 G-14 and Spitfire Mk.IXe. They both have unique features – the G-14 has a water-methanol mixture injection system MW 50, and for the Spit has an optional G.G.S Mk. IID gyro gunsight. Many virtual pilots were surprised with the accuracy that can be achieved using it. Positive user feedback and their interest in this device and how it works motivated us to write this extensive description of how it works and what difficulties we had to overcome modeling it in the sim. It is also useful as a guide on how to use it in combat.
Let's see an overview of why this device was developed in reality. Obviously, shooting accuracy is paramount in an aerial engagement, that's why future fighter pilots spent a lot of time improving their gunnery skills. First, cadets learned the theory of estimating the deflection required to hit a moving target and then they practiced in it by attacking an aerial target. In the middle of the last century, they usually practiced on a towed fabric cone that was attached to another aircraft using a long cable. These cones were usually towed by low-speed aircraft that didn't attempt sharp maneuvers, so a fighter trainee could plan his attack conveniently. Of course, this led to a dramatic decrease in shooting accuracy when new pilots encountered a real enemy instead of fabric cones. Even Winston Churchill, himself noticed this problem in 1939. An average fighter pilot often chose a much smaller deflection than was required. Bomber gunners had the same difficulties in hitting enemy fighters.
As the result of this, the engineers of several countries were assigned a difficult task to make a gunsight that took the guesswork out of shooting. Eventually, the British found the most elegant, dependable solution that was quite effective -
the gyro gunsight, namely the G.G.S Mk. II. C (for turrets) or D (for fighters). Later they were copied with minimal changes by American engineers and were named Mk.18 and K-14A gunsights.
Let's divide the following description into the following parts for easier understanding:
1. Gunsight construction;
2. How the target deflection is calculated;
3. Dynamic processes that happen in the gunsight during its work.
Gunsight construction.
We begin the work on any aircraft or its instruments with a search for its technical documentation. As the main source for modeling G.G.S Mk. IID we chose the manual for its American counterpart then K-14A since it was the most complete description of such a gyro gunsight we could obtain by the required date. Their cores are the same. If someone has the original manual for G.G.S Mk. IID or have this gunsight itself in a working condition, please contact us to clarify the remaining questions we have for the British version of this gunsight.
Ok, let's take a look at the main parts of K-14A gunsight shown in Pictures 1 and 2.
Immediately we can see that it is a twin gunsight: there are two reticles on the reflecting glass, each one projected by its own optical system, the distance between them is close to user inter-pupil distance. Each eye could see only one reticle, so if a pilot moved his head to either side far enough, he could see the first mark disappear and then another. We wanted to model this peculiarity too, but it is impossible to show this behavior on a flat monitor and while in VR we run into graphics engine limitations. Therefore, we have decided to omit this feature in spite of wanting to have it for the sake of completion.
The reticle visible by the left eye is fixed, it is projected by a regular collimator system. It serves as a backup sight in case of gyro system failure or for firing in a head-on attack, setting up the gunsight and zeroing in the guns on the ground.
The second reticle is much more interesting - as you can see on the drawings, its position on the reflecting glass depends on the angle between the moving mirror and the gunsight lateral axis (Picture 3). This mirror is attached to the gyro rotor that has three degrees of freedom. The aluminum hemisphere of the rotor rotates in the magnetic field created by inductance coils, so the angle of the mirror is controlled by these magnetic fields (Pictures 4 and 5). These processes are shown in detail in the third part of this article.
Pictures 3, 4 and 5.
In addition to the fact that the second reticle is movable, it also serves as an optical rangefinder. There are two sets of slits that rotate independently of each other (Picture 6). The resulting openings form an image of the reticle of a variable size. The set with straight slits is controlled by the target base knob (that can be adjusted to set the size of a target) while the set with curved slits is controlled by the target distance knob. When a pilot changes the target base (wingspan), straight slits move along the curved slits and the visible reticle mark changes its size and slightly rotates at the same time. On the other hand, when you adjust the distance, only the curved slits move and you see that only the size of the reticle is changing without rotation.
Picture 6.
Let's see how the optical rangefinder works (Pictures 7 and 8). Our target will be a Bf 109 G-6 fighter, its target base is roughly 32 feet. We'll place it at the point C on our scheme, 400 yards away from the pilot eye (point O). Let's draw a circle around the target and then draw a cone with its apex at O and its base at that circle. The angular opening of the cone depends on the distance between the target and the eye and also on the target base circle, this angular opening is called the angular size of the target. If the target base remains the same, the angular size of the target will decrease as C-O distance increases.
Pictures 7 and 8.
To a human eye, different objects that have the same angular sizes appear to be the same size. For example, a coin you hold in a stretched-out hand would appear to have the same size as the Moon. The optical rangefinder is based on this principle. It should be noted that collimator sights have an important characteristic - the angular size of the visible reticle depends on the optical system and almost doesn't depend on the distance between the user eye and the reflecting mirror, so it's not required to keep your head in a certain position. As we saw above, the resulting size of the gyro reticle mark in K-14A gunsight is adjustable, so a user can adjust the size of the mark to be the same as the visible target size (the Bf 109 G-6 wingspan positioned at 400 yards). If a pilot identified the type of the target and set the target base correctly, adjusting the size of the reticle mark to be the same as the visible target size results in the precise measuring of the distance to the target.
It should be noted that exact match between the reticle size and the target wingspan is possible if you look at the target directly from the front, back, above or below. In other cases, the angular size of the target wingspan will be less than the size of the reticle because of the obvious geometrical reasons. The rules of correction while determining the distance to target are shown on Picture 9.
The maximum angular size of the gyro reticle that can be set on this gunsight corresponds to a target with 120 feet base positioned at 300 yards. The target distance knob has the range of 200-800 yards, so if you set the target base knob to its maximum value of 120 feet and rotate the target distance knob to lower the distance, the visible reticle mark won't increase in size beyond 300 yards, but the set distance will be taken into account correctly. For the gunsight to function correctly in such circumstances, there is a coil spring link between the distance knob and the gears that control the slit sets. When the slit sets reach their limit, the coil spring stretches, allowing a pilot to adjust the knob further. As long as the distance know is set to less than 300 yards, the coil spring will remain stretched, pushing the slit set to its stop. If the target base knob is set to less than 120 feet, the slit set limit will also decrease (the mechanical stop is linked to the current angular position of the slit set).
Calculating the Deflection.
The exact method of calculating the required deflection that has been used in K-14A construction is missing in all sources we could find. Nevertheless, after analyzing its manual and its internal construction we devised a method which is close to the original one as possible even if it doesn't correspond to it completely.
According to the manual, for a correct deflection to be calculated you need to keep the target inside the moving mark for at least 1 second, simultaneously correcting the set distance if needed (it goes without saying that the target base needs to be correctly set before). In short, you need to lead the target with the gunsight for some short time.
So, let's imagine we engaging that unlucky Bf 109 G-6 again: it flies in a more or less steady turn at some distance ahead of our fighter. We assume that you already identified the target and set the correct target base (Picture 10).
Picture 10.
To understand the principles of calculating the correct deflection, let's inverse this task and simplify it:
A pilot leads the target for the required time, the deflection is calculated already and the aiming line is positioned so when we fire the guns we hit the target 100%;
We disregard the gravitation that affects the flight of the projectiles;
Own aircraft is in the center of the target aircraft turn when it shoots;
After firing, a pilot continues to lead the target until the projectiles hit and the deflection change during this time is negligible.
The point of inverting the task is to express the calculated deflection as a function of some dynamic characteristics or parameters we can measure before firing.
Let's take a look at the schematic that shows the target trajectory it travels between the time the shot is fired and the time of the hit. We'll draw the visible target line that goes through the center of the moving reticle and the aiming line that goes through the center of the stationary reticle (at the moment of firing). The angle between these lines is the deflection angle calculated by the gunsight. Also, the aiming line corresponds to the lateral axis of the firing aircraft.
The first conclusion we can make in this simplified task is that all dynamic processes in this system happen in the plane of the target aircraft turn. It is also apparent that while the projectile is in flight the direction of the target speed vector will change exactly by the pre-fire deflection angle. Since a pilot with the gyro gunsight continues to lead the target and during the time of firing his own aircraft was located in the center of the target aircraft turn, the aiming line rotates by roughly the same angle while the projectile is in flight. Therefore, we can conclude that the angular speeds of both aircraft are roughly the same.
From kinematics, we know that an object that rotates around a fixed center with a constant angular speed, in a given time rotates to the angle which can be calculated by multiplying the angular speed by the time. If we apply this to our situation, we can say that the deflection angle can be calculated by multiplying the angular target speed by the time of projectile flight. Considering our above simplifications, we can replace the angular target speed with the angular speed of your own aircraft, allowing us to solve this task: we can determine all the required data before firing to calculate a correct deflection angle. That's right: the time of the projectile flight can be calculated from ballistics tables if we know the target distance while the angular speed of the own aircraft is the same as the angular speed of the gunsight itself, naturally.
This solution may seem rough since we have made several simplifications for the inverted task. However, in a sustained turn when you pursue your target, your trajectories are approximately the same and these simplifications can be considered negligible. It should be also noted that the gunsight doesn't have any additional data from the outside world: only the distance to target, target base and the angular speed of the gunsight itself. Therefore, this solution is the only one possible with this limited amount of data available.
To understand the working principles of the gunsight fully, we need to find out how a ballistic table can be 'hidden' in its construction and how the angular speed of the gunsight can be converted into the corresponding angle between the lateral axis of the gunsight and the rotating mirror to show the moving reticle in a correct place.
Dynamic Processes in the Gyro Assembly.
In the gunsight construction overview, we have noted that the mirror is attached to the rotor of the gyro that has three degrees of freedom (it is actually a part of the rotor) which rotates in the magnetic field. There is an aluminum hemisphere on the other side of the rotor. The rotor is balanced in relation to its gimbal suspension. Let's find out what processes happen in this electro-mechanical system.
To make the explanation simpler, let's imagine that the hemisphere is replaced with a flat part and all electromagnets except one (that is located at some distance from the rotor axis) are removed. When a conducting material moves in a magnetic field, vortex Foucault currents (eddy currents) are generated in it and their strength is proportional to the speed of this movement. If a thin disk made from conducting material rotates in the magnetic field of a single electromagnet, Foucault currents in it look like shown in Picture 11 These generated currents interact with the magnetic field, inducing the Lorentz force that is distributed along the disk surface the current flows through. The total Lorentz force is located in point A and is directed in the way to slow the disk rotation: modern magnetic brakes work using this principle. The gyro motor compensates for this slowing motion, keeping the RPM constant. It's important that Lorentz force is in direct proportion to the distance between the rotating axis of the rotor and point A: the further from the disk center, the linear speed of rotation is higher and the Foucault currents there are stronger.
Note that the point of application of the Lorentz force is located at some distance from the center of the gimbal suspension (point O), which creates the moment of force resulting in precession: rotor axis starts to change its position according to Picture 12 It looks like the rotating axis is drawn to the center of the electromagnet (the axis 'tries' to move through the point A and nullify Lorentz force and the created moment).
Pictures 11 and 12.
If we add another electromagnet from the opposite side of the rotating axis, the resulting moments of Lorentz force will compensate each other and the gyro rotor will remain right in the middle between the electromagnets. An interesting effect will happen if we start to rotate both electromagnets in a circle in OA1A2 plane as shown in Picture 13. The distance from one electromagnet to the rotor axis will increase while the distance from another electromagnet to the rotor axis will decrease and the moments of Lorentz force will no longer compensate each other. The total precessional moment will be directed in such a way so the rotor axis will precess towards the electromagnet that moves away. The angular misalignment between the center of the magnetic system and the rotor axis will build up until the speed of precession will reach the speed of the rotation of the electromagnets around the point O. The dependence between the value of the angular misalignment and the rotation speed can be considered linear with high accuracy.
The system of four electromagnets and hemispheric rotor in the K-14A gyro gunsight operates on the same principles. Such system makes the rotor behave like described above for any orientation of the magnetic system rotation in 3D space while hemispherical rotor improves the linearity of the dependence. When your own aircraft and its gunsight enter a turn, the electromagnets attached to the gunsight body change their positions in relation to the rotating gyro, inducing its precession. The accumulated angular misalignment moves the rotating mirror in such a way so it shows the required deflection using a given distance to the gunsight user.
But how the distance knob influences the position of the gyro reticle? The distance to the target is regulated by the electric current that flows through the electromagnetic coils, and the dependence is quadratic: both the magnetic field strength and Foucault currents strength in the rotor depend on the amperage in electromagnetic coils. The distance knob controls the adjustable resistor that regulates that amperage.
It is somewhat ironic (or genial) that one of the keystones of the gunsight function is right there, in front of your eyes - the distance scale on the knob is non-linear (Picture 14). Thanks to this non-linearity, the gunsight takes into account the values from the ballistic table for projectiles and also the fact that the dependence between distance and amperage is quadratic. The target base knob also has a non-linear scale (Picture 15) and this is also required for the gunsight to function properly.
We attempted to model the gunsight with all its peculiarities described above, to have all the authentic transient responses and micro-dynamic movement of the gyro reticle, so the mathematical model of the rotor with the hemispherical dome that rotates in the magnetic field of four electromagnets has been created. The angular displacement of the rotor follows the vector differential equations which take into account all the described physical values and processes.
The only noticeable simplification that was dictated by the performance reasons is that the gyro movement between the electromagnets is limited by a pyramidal space instead of a cone, because of this the gyro reticle has square limits instead of circular ones. In the future, we may find a way to model the conical limit without an additional performance impact. Moreover, since Spit IX release with this gyro gunsight in update 3.003 we have improved the modeling of the influence of the tension in the gimbal suspension on the dynamics of the entire system. This peculiarity which pushes the virtual gunsight even closer to the real thing will be published in one of the coming updates.
In conclusion, we would like to point out that G.G.S. Mk.II D gyro gunsight has been created by the best British engineers of that time and it is unlikely that a modern engineer team could make such a device without using computers at all. Its final design that amuses any engineer has been developed for several years with many experiments, trials and errors on the way. We did our best to reconstruct its design and give you the feeling of operating a real, 'live' instrument.
To mix the nice visuals in the hard science of the today's blog, here are the first in-game shots of the two new planes.
First of them is German fighter/attack plane Fw 190 A-8/F-8 which is part of Bodenplatte planeset. Thanks to its array of modifications it's going to be two planes in one - both the fighter and attack variants. We plan to release it for all Bodenplatte owners in the next update.
The second aircraft is in development and will be ready this Autumn - Po-2VS Collector Plane, the legendary multipurpose (recon, liaison, ambulance, night bomber, psychological warfare) plane of the Eastern front that will have higher fidelity (4K) textures by default.
Today I would like to tell you about what we plan for Flying Circus – Volume One and show you some WIP screens of our first two aircraft which are ready for Early Access release this month! But first let’s take a minute and talk about how we came to make Flying Circus and the challenges that we face in developing it.
Of course, Flying Circus is going to essentially be our spiritual sequel to our ground-breaking WWI simulator Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War. ROF was the first product we ever made and over the course of several years we greatly expanded its content and created some really cool features for it, many of which were ported or updated to work in Sturmovik. We have not lost our affection for WWI and we have always hoped to be able to bring WWI combat to our updated Digital Warfare Engine.
When we eventually ended work on ROF and shifted our focus to WW2 many WWI fans were disappointed. At the time, we had no intention of abandoning ROF or her fans, but the requirements for WW2 overwhelmed us and we had no resources to manage two projects at the same time and the technology we developed for WW2 was extremely difficult to retrofit back into our WWI engine without causing major delays to Sturmovik. Retrofitting WWI would have required an entirely new team of developers that we could not afford. So, we marched forward with WW2 hoping to someday find a way to come back to WWI and do a sort of parallel development. That opportunity has finally become available thanks to some creative planning and so we decided to create Flying Circus – Volume One with the help of our friends at Yugra Media. Yugra employees have been training with our team learning how to re-build our WWI content and make maps with our current technology. This has taken several months already, but our plan is to get WWI up and running as quick as we can and get WWI content brought up to our new standard. We hope to generate new revenue to fund more WWI development and general development of the common engine which benefits all of our products. We also wanted to give WWI fans something to cheer about after a long drought of development.
Now it should be said that trying to bring all content and features of ROF to Flying Circus in one fell swoop is impossible. This will be a marathon, not a sprint and new features or old features found in ROF will take time to make in the current engine. Bringing WWI to our current engine which has been re-worked and modified for WW2 is a big challenge and some things can be ported relatively easily and others require all new work. As with Tank Crew, several months of work behind the scenes has already taken place laying down the foundation to support Flying Circus. This will take much time, but we will endeavor to make Flying Circus just as awesome or even more amazing than ROF ever was. However, for that to happen we need your support!
Both Flying Circus as well as Tank Crew are experiments and first steps in working with qualified and trained third parties on new content and gameplay features that users have asked for or we feel have potential to help our overall cause. Our team is still small, relative to our competitors and we are still a self-sustaining team. Meaning, we sink or swim on our own, there are no bailouts if we fail regardless of who our benefactors have been in the near past. So, if you like anything about Flying Circus please support us by buying a copy. We want to make WWI great again inside the Sturmovik universe.
So now that you know the background of how Flying Circus came to be, let’s take a look at the actual product.
As you have previously read in other announcements here are the planes that will be included in Flying Circus – Volume One. We have decided to choose a plane-set that represents the period of April-May 1918. This period offers some great planes that will provide lots of fun match-ups.
Planes:
Spad XIII
Sopwith Dolphin
RAF S.E.5.a
Bristol Fighter
Albatros D.Va
Fokker Dr.1
Fokker D.VII
Pfalz D.IIIa
Halberstadt CL.II.
The first two planes off the assembly line and into Early Access will be the venerable SPAD 13C.1 and the Fokker Dr.1 triplane!
All of the planes in Flying Circus have their roots in ROF, but the models have been re-worked by Yugra Media to be brought up to our current visual standard. That means improved mesh and new 4K textures.
Map and Technologies
Included will be a map that is approximately 100 km x 100 km that has is generally centered on the Arras sector of the Western Front. The map will include towns such as Arras, Cambrai, Lille, Amiens and St. Quentin and the dreaded No-Mans-Land along with several airfields to fly from. This map will be created using all our latest map making technology that is found in current IL-2 Great Battles products. It should make WWI a much more beautiful experience scenery wise. Matter of fact, Flying Circus will benefit from all current and new technologies in our updated engine. This means more than the graphical updates, but also improvements to AI and of course our amazing VR support is included! The difference from ROF will be quite remarkable.
The plan is for future volumes of FC to include larger maps like we had in ROF. Exactly how big, is yet to be determined.
For us to bring WWI to you in any reasonable amount of time, we have decided to use the Flight Models from ROF for our Flying Circus planes. We have done this for a couple reasons. First, we have spent a lot of time researching and building these FMs over a period of several years and unlike the 3D models, they stand the test of time and there is no reason to toss them and start over. Second, these FMs were built for an engine that was created solely for WW1 speeds and maneuvers etc. It was more prudent to build support for these FMs in the current WW2 focused engine, then to completely re-make these FMs with an engine designed for heavier and faster aircraft in WW2. In essence, we’ve been able to make both regimes co-exist side by side within the same environment without compromising the feeling of flight or their unique characteristics. Our engineering team as done a marvelous job building this support in just a few months! Without this work, Flying Circus would not be possible. Our Flying Circus planes will still have all the interesting quirks and characteristics that many of you know and love from our previous title.
Finally, I must mention one of the driving motivations for making Flying Circus at all - VR support! There was simply no way to retrofit VR support into ROF properly. So, to bring our awesome VR support to the WWI battlefield we had to work on a new title with the tech already included. The end result did not disappoint, we really like how our open cockpits look in VR! This will be a really awesome experience for those that love VR.
As I mentioned above, getting WW1 up and running again takes a lot of work, so Flying Circus will initially include support for the Quick Mission Builder and our Mission Editor. We will also create and include some custom single-player missions as we near completion of FC and if Volume One proves popular and we move to make future volumes, we will introduce the Pilot Career to FC. And Scripted Campaigns can be built for FC by anyone using our Mission Editor just like in IL-2.
If you are concerned about the Pilot Career, please know this. We can’t support the Pilot Career for FC yet because we are still building support for WW2 and other general features and mission types it needs. Remember, it’s still new tech for the Great Battles series and we have to build this support in-house so we cannot place this task with a third party. We also have to build support for WW1 style missions and this will take time. If we include support for the Pilot Career in say Volume Two of Flying Circus, it will of course become compatible with Volume One. That is the beauty of our one client approach.
All of our Flying Circus aircraft will come equipped with all field and factory mods that we used to sell as separate items way back when. This also includes pistols, scarves, streamers and special gunsights like the Aldis and collimator style gunsights.
And last but not least, our pilot models for Flying Circus will be completely new and they will look really cool in our updated aircraft. They of course have yet to be animated, but the finished pilot models look to be really great!
We hope this overview of Flying Circus is helpful and gives you a good idea of the great effort we are undertaking to bring WWI development back to our amazing WWI fans who enjoyed Rise of Flight so much.
So please enjoy the following images of Flying Circus. Remember this is still a Work-in-Progress and the maps is obviously not WW1 France. For Early Access we will be including the Lapino map as a substitute until the French map is ready.
It’s the summer holiday season and many team members are taking their hard-earned vacations. So, as a result our ability to give you super detailed Developer Diaries is diminished a bit. However, we have the first shots of our American P-47D-28 “Jug” in the engine. The cockpit is under development and these shots are of course Work In Progress. She’s turning out to be quite the beauty! We hope you enjoy!
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Buy Low Sell HighDynastyLatest Articles
5 Dynasty Wide Receivers to Sell for 2019
Aaron Schill 2019-02-24
24 Feb 2019 Aaron Schill
Dynasty Wide Receivers to Sell
The 2019 NFL season is slowly creeping up on us. Free Agency, the NFL Combine, and the NFL Draft are all just around the corner and will be here before we know it. This is one of the best times of the year for dynasty football owners to make changes to their teams and capitalize on the current value of players in dynasty football leagues, or lack thereof. If you missed my first piece on Wide Receivers to Sell, be sure to check it out in addition to the following list of players that I’ll be buying for the 2019 NFL season.
Please Note: Staff Dynasty Rankings Are Subject to Change
Age: Turns 31-years old in July
The first player on my list is none other than ‘Mr. Big Chest‘ himself, Antonio Brown. Apparently, he is over his last nickname of ‘Ronald Ocean’ and has moved on to bigger and better things. Whatever you want to call him, there’s no denying that Brown has been a fantasy superstar year in and year out. There’s also no denying he’s been a diva on and off the field and Pittsburgh has finally decided that they’ll part ways with him. With all of the drama in Pittsburgh and the uncertainty around his future, now could very well be the last time you see him inside the top-ten of our Dynasty wide receiver rankings. He’s currently the WR10 behind Amari Cooper and ahead of Stefon Diggs.
Brown is heading into his tenth season in the NFL this year, and has posted 1,200+ receiving yards and a minimum of eight touchdowns every year since 2013. There is no denying that Brown has continued to produce on an elite level and regardless of where he lands in free agency, he could very well produce at an elite level for another year or more. As the current WR10, the main takeaway with Brown is that he’s still being valued around some names like Amari Cooper, Stefon Diggs, Tyreek Hill, or Keenan Allen. If I own Brown, I’m looking to move him for one of these younger studs or a running back of similar value. Just for reference, according to FantasyPros Dynasty rankings, David Johnson, Travis Kelce, Nick Chubb, and James Conner are a few players at other positions with similar value.
Who ya got? #DynastyTrades @MyFantasyLeague
— Aaron Schill (@aaron_schill) February 21, 2019
The main point with selling Brown right now is that you can capitalize on his WR10 value and gain some youth in the process. If Brown lands an any situation that is less than ideal for his fantasy value, he’ll drop outside of the top ten. There’s also a chance that doesn’t get the type of deal he’s looking for based on all of his drama and personal issues and that in itself could be an issue. If you do sell Brown, don’t be shocked when he produces again in 2019, I just don’t foresee him having too many elite seasons left in him. I’m capitalizing on his value while it’s still there.
Age: Turns 29-years old in August
Adam Thielen is a guy that has been fairly undervalued for a couple years now, and while I’ve be an advocate for holding, I’m finally on board with selling him. The reasoning for this comes largely from the offensive changes that the Vikings made in the second half of the season and moving forward. Kevin Stefanski was named the interim offensive coordinator in December and now being named the permanent offensive coordinator moving forward. Another reason is Stefon Diggs. who will be 26 in December and is coming off his best season to date. He finished the season with 149 targets over 14 games compared to Thielen’s 153 over 16 games. He also ended with his first season with over 1,000 receiving yards and his nine touchdowns were the most he’s had in a season yet.
In the first half of the season, Thielen was the WR1 in fantasy football and fell off in a huge way over the second half. He finished the first eight games with 202 points in PPR scoring and over the next eight, he had 105.3 points. He had six touchdowns in the first half and three touchdowns in the second half of the season, not to mention the drop in volume. The team made it very clear that they want to run more and Stefanski did his part of getting Dalvin Cook more involved after he stepped in. I expect this to continue into 2019 and Cook starting off the season full healthy will be a perfect scenario for this to happen.
Allen Robinson
After signing with the Chicago Bears, we saw a massive bump in value for the former Jaguars wide receiver, Allen Robinson. We are now four years out from seeing Robinson put up 1,400+ receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. That was in 2015 where we saw Blake Bortles lean heavily on Robinson for a couple seasons in a row. He saw 151 targets in both 2015 and 2016, but in 2016 he saw a big drop in yards and touchdowns. Signing with Chicago had fantasy football fans excited about him and the new apparent WR1 role that he’d step into. As the current WR23 on our Gridiron Dynasty Rankings, he’s someone I’m currently looking to sell.
As crazy as it may sounds, I’d almost rather have Anthony Miller in that Bears offense at this point than Robinson. He’s my WR27 while Robinson is my WR25, which is far closer than the consensus WR36 that Miller is in our staff rankings. A good portion of the reasoning is Mitchell Trubisky. While he did step up and show what he’s capable of, I’m not convinced he is the long term answer in Chicago. He reminds me very much of Robinson’s former quarterback I spoke about before, Bortles. While I did like what I saw out of Robinson in 2015, I’m worried that we’ve seen the best of him. I’d sell Robinson in a heartbeat for a few wide receivers who come shortly after him in our consensus rankings, such as Jarvis Landry who I featured in my article on wide receivers to buy or someone like Chris Godwin who comes after those two in our rankings.
Age: 29-years old
The next name on my list of wide receivers to sell before the 2019 season comes around is Alshon Jeffery. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Jeffery as a fantasy-stud and it hasn’t been since his time in Chicago. In 2013 and 2014, Jeffery saw 140+ targets each season and had his two 1,000+ receiving yard seasons at that time. He hasn’t come anywhere close to that in recent years and definitely not in his time as an Eagle. His 92 targets he saw this year were the fewest he’s seen in his entire seven-year NFL career, outside of his rookie season where he played in just ten games and started in just six. As the current Gridiron Experts Dynasty WR28, I’m convinced that he is well past his time as a fantasy-stud and this is the highest his price will be for the rest of his career.
Jeffery is under contract until 2021 and will become an unrestricted free agent in 2022. Golden Tate is entering free agency and it isn’t looking like he will be back. While this is somewhat good news for Jeffery as far as target share goes, I expect the Eagles to land one of the higher ranked rookie wide receivers with one of their two second-round draft picks. Jeffery has been unable to play an entire season in all but two of his seasons in the NFL, and as a 29-year old, I don’t expect that to change. He’s also dealt with shoulder and knee issues for the majority of his career. I’m looking to move Jeffery for a younger receiver like Anthony Miller or Dante Pettis who are both ranked below him at the moment.
Calvin Ridley
The last name on this list is the second-year wide receiver in Atlanta, Calvin Ridley. While on paper he did have a very nice rookie campaign, his production is somewhat deceiving as the majority of his production came all at once. Finishing with 824 yards and ten touchdowns is nothing to scoff at from a rookie wide receiver. What makes me hesitant is that six of his ten touchdowns came in three weeks. Ridley finished the season where 13 of 16 weeks he had five receptions or fewer. This leaves just three weeks where he saw a decent number of receptions and just one week where he saw double-digit targets.
As the current WR22 in our Gridiron Experts Dynasty Rankings, his price is far more than what I’d be willing to pay right now. I expect his production to fall off in 2019 as well as I expect Julio Jones to have several elite seasons left in him. I wasn’t as high as most were on Ridley as a prospect and am not sold that he is the heir to Julio Jones like many owners may be thinking. A few wide receivers ranked after him that I’d gladly take ahead of him are Jarvis Landry, Mike Williams, and Chris Godwin. While it can be tough to part with a young wide receiver who showed promise as a rookie, I’m not sold his situation is ideal or that he can sustain the production he put up in 2018.
Get a 50% match on your first deposit up to $100!
Use the promo code “Gridiron”
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Convergence of E-commerce & Media and Entertainment Sectors
April 25, 2019 Posted By
hexgn
The media and entertainment industry has evolved excellently in the last two decades. E-Commerce startups have risen due to the introduction of new technologies bringing about digitization and the rising disposable income levels have lead to the diversification of media and entertainment services and channels available.
Various parts and processes within the media and entertainment industry are now digitized. The E-commerce startups range from the creation of content, to its distribution and consumption, digitization and the use of the internet have taken a prominent place in all of them.
The increasing rate of internet penetration and access to gadgets especially smartphones have been the catalysts that the media and entertainment e-commerce segment needed.
A newly released report by HexGn studied the funding pattern in the media and entertainment e-commerce sub-sector from 2014 to 2018. The report found that there has been a drop in the number of deals and the investment amount since 2015 (also the year which recorded the highest number of transactions in the mentioned period) to 2017. However, the funding amounts in the segment picked up in 2018 and marked the maximum investment amount received in the years 2014 through 2018.? The report notes that 2018 recorded investments of more than $2 billion while the number of deals was less than 25.
Let us look at some of the top media and entertainment startups that have made notable progress in the e-commerce sector in recent years.
Pluto TV is an online TV streaming platform in America that offers content from more than 100 linear channels with movies and shows on demand. It was co-founded by Tom Ryan and Ilya Pozin in 2013 and is among the first few streaming services to be launched in the US. Pluto TV was acquired earlier this month by media conglomerate Viacom for a whopping $340 million. The free TV streaming service brand is headquartered in Los Angeles, and its services can be accessed on all kinds of devices with an internet connection. The platform boasts of a footfall of over 1 million users on a monthly basis.
Know more about this top media and entertainment e-commerce startup in Los Angeles
Website: www.pluto.tv
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/pluto-tv
Twitter:? www.twitter.com/plutotv
New York based Gimlet Media is a fast-growing narrative podcasting company.? The company has won several awards for its work and offers its services in close to 190 countries. Based in Brooklyn, Gimlet Media was established in 2014 by co-founders Alex Blumberg and Matthew Lieber. The company boasts of over 12 million downloads in a month by its users and of producing only high-quality content for its audiences. Till date, total investments of more than $28.5 million have been picked up by the company. The largest round of Gimlet Media was the second closing of Series ?B round of funding in which it raised $15 million.
Know more about this top podcast company in New York
Website: www.gimletmedia.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/gimlet-media
Twitter:? www.twitter.com/Gimletmedia
Video++
Video++ was set up in 2014 by William Joy and is headquartered in Shanghai. It is a leading video sharing platform in China whose services are available to users outside the country as well. Video++ reports a unique viewership of 420 million each month. The venture-backed startup has found support from the likes of Yungfeng Capital, Alibaba Group, and Face++. So far, it has received total funding of $165.5 million and is among the top startups in the media and entertainment e-commerce segment in China. It introduced the groundbreaking object tracking and content recognition technology in videos on the platform and has paved the way for effective advertising with the help of automated ads based on the viewers? preference.
Know more about this top media and entertainment e-commerce startup in China
Website: www.videojj.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/videopls
NetEase Cloud Music
NetEase Cloud Music is a trailblazing music streaming platform based in Beijing. The startup is among the several startups in the region to cross the billion-dollar mark whose services have been quite popular in the Chinese market.? William Lei Ding founded NetEase Cloud Music in 2013. Backed by prominent investors like Baidu, General Atlantic, and Boyu Capital, the online music streaming company has raised $708.8 million till date. This amount has been raised from two rounds so far with the last round being the more prominent one.
Know more about this top media and entertainment e-commerce startup in Beijing
Website: www.music.163.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/neteasecloudmusic
California based startup Flipboard is an innovative online magazine that was co-founded by Evan Doll and Mike McCue in 2010. The social magazine app is compatible with most operating systems for smartphones and can be accessed via laptops also. Since its inception, the company has grown to gather ? $210.5 million in funding and acquired three other media and entertainment companies, namely, Zite, Ultrvisual, and Ellerdale.? The readers are presented with carefully curated content through flipboard format magazines. Flipboard takes special care in ensuring that the content is not just informative but engaging as well.
Know more about this top online media and entertainment company in California
Website: www.flipboard.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/flipboard-inc-
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Flipboard
Countries Leading the Way with Fast Growing Media and Entertainment E-commerce Industries
The growing role of social media in catalyzing the marketing efforts of various industries and especially the e-commerce segment is notable. The adoption of e-commerce solutions to reach newer audiences and for facilitating marketing to a disparate target audience using the same platforms is not uncommon. Media and entertainment is a soaring sub-sector in the e-commerce industry, that has grown at multiple levels with the help of new digital media technology and increased use of smartphones.
According to research from HexGn, the top countries whose media and entertainment startups in the e-commerce sector have received the highest investments are the US, China, and India. Majority of the investments have been directed to the startups in the e-tail and online marketplace category.
The USA is among the top countries whose e-commerce market has set a new benchmark. Media and entertainment is a crucial part of this economy. The increasing popularity of platforms like Netflix and with the array of data plans available for phones, there has been a meteoric rise in the number of startups in media and entertainment sub-sector. According to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the media and entertainment industry will be valued $792.3 billion by 2022.? Some of the areas that will see rapid development in the American regional markets in the coming years include OTT video, VR, and online advertising.
The Chinese media and entertainment industry has realized the power of e-commerce in the sector and is seeing several new companies joining the force. The online entertainment sector in China is mainly characterized by gaming companies especially those in the e-sports category. Apart from online games, online live streaming and video platforms are the next most significant segment in terms of the customer base. The spending in these areas is forecasted to grow to $116 billion by 2020. The main reason for the growth of the online media and entertainment industry in China is the country?s growing middle-class economy. The growth in the number of families in the middle-income group indicated better spending capacities characterized by an increase in personal disposable income.
Key Trends for 2019 in the Media and Entertainment Sub-sector
The media and entertainment industry will see rapid changes in the coming years. Factors like increased investments and the shift to online sources of entertainment by the audience can be accredited for these changes. Here are some of the trends that will be prominent in 2019 in the e-commerce sector for startups in the media and entertainment segment.
A larger budget for creating content of high quality and one that can capture a more significant market can be expected. With the surge in the number of online media and entertainment companies, it has become imperative for these platforms to churn out content that is exclusive and offers the best value for money.
With the growth in the number of online audio streaming platforms, a drastic decline in digital music downloads will become inevitable. The new platforms will also help in curbing any acts of piracy that may be involved in accessing audio content.
Newer and easier plans to use online entertainment platforms will be rolled out in association with telecom partners aiming to help consumers shift to a 5G network.
The online media and entertainment industry has leveraged the constant need to be on the go for people around the world and has presented them with opportunities to enjoy the best of entertainment options on their smartphones and gadgets. A positive growth in funding can further boost this high-impact industry in the e-commerce sector.
Tags: media and entertainment e-commerce, media and entertainment e-commerce startup, online media and entertainment
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HBI Team Plots Course for Rehabilitating St. Luke’s Chapel and Ionic Hall
30 Jul HBI Team Plots Course for Rehabilitating St. Luke’s Chapel and Ionic Hall
Posted at 17:18h in Blog by Historic Boston Inc
In May we shared the news that HBI had been enlisted by the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and the Parish of St. John St. James in Roxbury to prepare a feasibility study to preserve and rehabilitate the two historic buildings that make up the Episcopal Church of St. John St. James. We assembled a team led by Lynne Spencer at Spencer, Sullivan & Vogt to assess the condition of both buildings and help explore possible uses for reactivating the currently vacant spaces in both buildings.
Following discussions with the St. John St. James congregation and the Diocese, a plan has been recommended by our team to phase the rehabilitation of the two buildings. The St. John St. James congregation currently worships in a chapel in the 1960s rear addition of Ionic Hall, but due to severe water damage to the building’s mechanical systems, there is no heat or water, so that the church’s main worship space cannot be used over the winter, and could not be available during the rehabilitation of Ionic Hall, which could take a few years. Therefore, the plan is to focus first on completing the rehabilitation of St. Luke’s Chapel first, so that the congregation will have a home for worship while the more extensive work required for Ionic Hall is being completed.
St. Luke’s Chapel was designed in the Gothic Revival style by well-known ecclesiastical architect Ralph Adams Cram and was built sometime between 1893 and 1900 for use by the residents of Ionic Hall, which was at that time St. Luke’s Convalescent Home for the Sick and Aged. There was at one time a covered passageway leading from Ionic Hall to the chapel, but that is long gone. St. Luke’s is a tiny building – the sanctuary is not quite 900 square feet – and it currently has no heating, plumbing, or electrical systems in place. The building envelope is in need of repair, and there is no handicapped accessibility. Perhaps the biggest design challenge for the chapel’s rehabilitation is where to locate a bathroom, which it has never had. There is also a desire for a small kitchenette for post-church service coffee and social hour, which is also a bit of a puzzle. But thankfully, the interior carvings and stained glass windows are not too badly damaged and can be restored.
Once the work at St. Luke’s is completed, which will likely take a year from construction start, the congregation will have a beautiful space for worship. We anticipate Ionic Hall and its 1960s addition will follow soon after as phase two, and when that work is complete, the congregation can move back to its current worship space. The restored St. Luke’s chapel will then likely be made available for other uses, such as community meeting and small performance space. HBI is thrilled to be part of the renovation of this beautiful historic chapel.
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The Faversham Society
Formed in 1962, the Society is a Registered Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee working to preserve the heritage and fabric of the historic town of Faversham and its surrounding parishes. Created in response to modernization and the loss of historic buildings in Faversham, the Society aims to ensure that Faversham’s individual sense of place and outstanding heritage features are not lost.
Over 50 years of growth and development have shaped the Society into a complex business with many different aspects, most of which engage directly with the general public as well as with specialist researchers and enquirers. With over 1000 members and run entirely by volunteers, the Society is one of the oldest civic societies in the UK and much of its early work has since been replicated by other civic organizations, especially our Open House event.
The steady collection and preservation of physical evidence from Faversham’s rich, historic past – archaeological discoveries reflecting many centuries of human activity, recent artefacts from everyday life, relics of Faversham’s diverse industrial and maritime past, and supporting documentary archives – endow the Society with a central role in the research and presentation of Faversham’s history to the widest audiences.
13 Preston Street
ME13 8NS
Email: ticfaversham@btconnect.com
Website: www.favershamsociety.org
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Detailed Information About the Unfortunate Job of a Scullery Maid
Enlisted with menial tasks in a household, a scullery maid led a life of servitude and drudgery. Historyplex gives further information on the life and duties of a scullery maid.
Mary Anthony
Both Cinderella and Snow White were portrayed as scullery maids in the 1950 and 1937 Disney films.
Scullery Maid is "A female domestic help who is responsible for washing the dishes and doing other menial household work.'' The word 'scullery' comes from the old French word 'escuelerie' which means keeper of dishes. Their job was to spend most of the time in a 'scullery', which was a small room where vegetables, grains, or fruits used to be cleaned, trimmed, and cut before sending it to the kitchen. Also a place where cooking utensils were cleaned and stored. They also took orders from the senior servants to perform a variety of duties for the household, and reported mainly to the kitchen maid and the cook.
The practice of keeping a scullery maid was rampant during the early Victorian times as it was common for young children to be employed as domestic servants. This was considered as an ideal occupation for young single girls and women. They were also known as 'tweenies' because they did menial tasks from 'between the stairs' in the basement, lending a helping hand to the cook or assisting parlor-maids in the family room. Historically, they belonged to the lowest rank of the household hierarchy, and were mostly ridiculed by the other servants. They remained invisible to the owners of the household. The practice of employing a scullery maid no longer exists, but here is some information on the duties they performed.
Duties of a Scullery Maid
✦A scullery maid was expected to work in the kitchen, first thing in the morning She had to wake up early and be the first one to light the kitchen fire and prepare water for the morning tea.
✦The next chore was to clean the chamber pots of the other female servants as well as the kitchen along with the passage, pantry, scullery, and utensils.
✦ They also had to lay out the breakfast table and clean the utensils after breakfast. They spent hours scrubbing floors and helping the cook with the cleaning, cutting, trimming of vegetables, poultry, meat, and fish.
✦In the Elizabethan era, herbs were considered as important ingredients for cooking, and a scullery maid was responsible for gardening and gathering the herbs.
✦There were always plenty of clothes to be washed as wealthy people had the tendency of changing linen undergarments several times a day. It was the duty of the scullery maid to prepare washing soap from boiling fat and lye.
✦Additional duties included changing linen, making beds, dusting and cleaning bedrooms, cleaning out fireplaces, polishing the grates, carrying the coal up to the bedrooms to light fresh fires. Prepare heavy cans of warm water for bathing as well as polish brass and silverware, scrub the front stairs.
✦They took orders from the seniors maids and many a time, set tables for them and served food.
✦A scullery maid worked with minimum benefits. They were given a place, which was little more than a room, to stay, meager emergency medical care with only a few days of leave, and no opportunity for remunerative leftovers, to barter or sell so as to add some extra money to their already low wages.
✦They earned wages between 10 to 13 pounds per annum during the Victorian era. If anything was damaged or broken, they were held responsible for the same, and their wages were deducted.
✦At times, they were expected to sleep in the cupboards or under the attic stairs, a strict rule forbid them from singing or laughing during work, and they had to remain quiet and invisible most of the time.
✦They were subjected to monotonous hours of work with no compensation for burns, cuts, and falls during work. They were unable to enjoy the fresh air outside due the long hours of work.
✦They had no authority to question the work given by the senior servants, and if they ever came in contact with the members of the household, they had to avoid eye contact and leave the room immediately.
A scullery maid had the most strenuous and thankless job in a Victorian household. They lived a totally oblivious life till the time the issue of servants' grievances and injuries was finally acknowledged in the Workman's Compensation Act of 1907. This act proved beneficial for the maids as well as the cooks, thus, helping them live a better life.
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Flag of England: History and Meaning
British Bill of Rights 1689
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Note to Washington Post: Two Democrat-Appointed Judges Will Testify for Alito
Today’s Washington Post carries an article about the judges who will testify on behalf of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito during his confirmation hearings next week.
The article states that the judges were all "appointed by Republican presidents, except [Ruggero J.] Aldisert, who was named by Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson."
However, thanks to the research of Sen. John Cornyn’s staff, there is a slight error in the piece. A Cornyn aide reports:
"Maryanne Trump Barry, who is also scheduled to testify at the hearing, was appointed to the 3rd Circuit by President Clinton, and she was confirmed in the Senate by unanimous consent on September 13, 1999 — after Sen. Lautenberg (D-NJ) gave glowing remarks supporting the nomination (Congressional Record, pgs. S10773-S10774)."
Lautenberg, of course, made glowing remarks about Alito, too. He’s scheduled to introduce the judge along with Christie Todd Whitman on Monday, although that’s more out of respect for home-state pride than love of the man.
Republican Colleagues Praise DeLay
Peter Paul Isn’t Ready to Give Up
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's remarks for Veteran's Day given on the Senate floor.
‘Built On What They Have Sacrificed’
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s remarks for Veteran’s Day given on the Senate floor.
U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday honoring Veterans Day:
“Tomorrow is Veterans Day, the day we set aside to honor the service and sacrifice of the heroic men and women who have served in the United States armed forces.
“America remains a beacon of freedom throughout the world today because of the commitments and sacrifices they have made. Over the years, many brave Americans donned their country’s uniform to ensure that we would remain safe and free here at home.
“That effort continues today, as our fighting forces courageously defend freedom from threats in Afghanistan and Iraq, and elsewhere around the world.
“My own home State of Kentucky has a proud military history, and today is home to both Fort Knox and Fort Campbell, which together house thousands of soldiers. Many have gone from vital training at these two posts on to protecting their nation in the heart of the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“So tomorrow, as America takes a moment to thank these brave men and women who have fought to preserve our way of life, and to remember the heroes who did not return home, we will also give special thanks for the men and women in uniform who are currently in harm’s way.
“Later today, the Fort Hood community will honor the victims of the tragic shootings there last week. We were all shocked by this assault on American soldiers right in the heart of the post they called home. We mourn their loss, and we pray for the victims and their families. In the midst of this terrible tragedy, we also saw the courage of many troops and civilian law enforcement. And we thank these brave men and women for the dedication they showed in putting themselves in harm’s way.
“So we honor every American who has fought for this country. And we recognize that this country was built on what they have sacrificed.”
Cartoon by Brett Noel.
Muslim Suffers Bruised Ego in Fort Hood Tragedy
Enemies Within
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To skeptics of modern Darwinian theory, this Climategate scenario sounds familiar.
Climategate Recalls Attacks on Darwin Doubters
mmeyer
Believers in human-caused global climate change have been placed under an uncomfortable spotlight recently. That is thanks to the Climategate scandal, centering on e-mails hacked from the influential Climate Research Unit (CRU) at England’s University of East Anglia. The e-mails show scientists from various academic institutions hard at work suppressing dissent from other scientists who have doubts on global warming, massaging research data to fit preconceived ideas, and seeking to manipulate the gold standard “peer review” process to keep skeptical views from being heard.
Does this sound familiar at all? To me, as a prominent skeptic of modern Darwinian theory, it sure does. For years, Darwin-doubting scientists have complained of precisely such abuses, committed by Darwin zealots in academia.
There have been parallels cases where e-mail traffic was released showing Darwinian scientists displaying the same contempt for fair play and academic openness as we see now in the climate emails. One instance involved a distinguished astrophysicist at Iowa State University, Guillermo Gonzalez, who broke ranks with colleagues in his department over the issue of intelligent design in cosmology. Released under the Iowa Open Records Act, e-mails from his fellow scientists at ISU showed how his department conspired against him, denying Dr. Gonzales tenure as retribution for his views.
To me, the most poignant correspondence emerging from CRU e-mails involves discussion about punishing a particular editor at a peer-reviewed journal who was defying the orthodox establishment by publishing skeptical research.
In 2004, a peer-reviewed biology journal at the Smithsonian Institution published a technical essay of mine presenting a case for intelligent design. Colleagues of the journal’s editor, an evolutionary biologist, responded by taking away his office, his keys and his access to specimens, placing him under a hostile supervisor and spreading disinformation about him. Ultimately, he was demoted, prompting an investigation of the Smithsonian by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
The public has been intimidated into thinking that “non-experts” have no right to question “consensus” views in science. But the scandal in at the University of East Anglia suggests that this consensus on climate may not be based on solid evidence.
But what about the Darwin debate? We are told that the consensus of scientists in favor of Darwinian evolution means the theory is no longer subject to debate. In fact, there are strong scientific reasons to doubt Darwin’s theory and what it allegedly proved.
For example, contrary to Darwinian orthodoxy, the fossil record actually challenges the idea that all organisms have evolved from a single common ancestor. Why? Fossil studies reveal “a biological big bang” near the beginning of the Cambrian period (520 million years ago) when many major, separate groups of organisms or “phyla” (including most animal body plans) emerged suddenly without clear precursors.
While all scientists accept that natural selection can produce small-scale “micro-evolutionary” variations, many biologists now doubt that natural selection and random mutations can generate the large-scale changes necessary to produce fundamentally new structures and forms of life.
Thus more than 800 scientists, including professors from such institutions as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale and Rice universities and members of various national (U.S., Russian, Czech, Polish) academies of science have signed a statement questioning the creative power of the selection/mutation mechanism.
Increasingly, the Darwinian idea that living things only appear to be designed has come under scrutiny. Indeed, living systems display telltale signs of actual or intelligent design such as the presence of complex circuits, miniature motors and digital information in living cells.
The information and information-processing systems that run the show in cells point with a particular clarity to prior design. The DNA molecule stores instructions in the form of a four-character digital code, similar to a computer code. As we know from our repeated experience — the basis of all scientific reasoning — systems possessing such features always arise from minds, not material processes.
Thus, despite the orthodox view that Darwin showed “design could arise without a designer” there is now compelling scientific evidence to the contrary.
The question of biological origins has long raised profound philosophical questions. Have life’s endlessly diverse forms been the result of purely material processes or did a purposeful intelligence play a role? It’s not surprising that such an ideologically charged issue would illicit strong passions, leading even scientists to suppress dissenting views with which they disagree.
All the more reason — in this debate as in the one about global warming — to let the evidence, rather than the consensus of experts, determine the outcome.
RedState Morning Briefing
Newt Gingrich: What It Will Take to Win
Written By mmeyer
Dr. Meyer is director for the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. He is author of Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design, honored in the Times Literary Supplement as one of the best books of 2009. He received his Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Science from Cambridge University.
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Latest Hillary Clinton News
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Going after four Democratic congresswomen one by one, a combative President Donald Trump turned his campaign rally into an extended dissection of the liberal views of the women of color, deriding them for what he painted as extreme positions and suggesting they just get out....
Gardner had good news for Colorado. But Trump had tweets.
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FBI report: Mailed pipe bomb devices wouldn't have worked
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The Latest: House votes to condemn Trump tweets
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O'Rourke raises just $3.6M, a big drop from last quarter
WASHINGTON (AP) — Beto O'Rourke raised just $3.6 million in the second quarter, a dramatic drop that places him among a growing group of Democratic presidential hopefuls who are struggling to raise the cash needed for a credible White House run. The former Texas congressman entered the race with a glowing...
Today in History Today is Saturday, July 13, the 194th day of 2019. There are 171 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 13, 1985, "Live Aid," an international rock concert in London, Philadelphia, Moscow and Sydney, took place to raise money for Africa's starving people. On this date: In...
Trump pushes trade deal in formerly blue Wisconsin
MILWAUKEE (AP) — President Donald Trump barnstormed for his new trade deal with Mexico and Canada during a visit to Wisconsin on Friday, hoping that its economic impact will help him to retain a battleground state vital to his re-election effort. Trump told workers at Derco Aerospace the United...
Paul Ryan's public support of Trump masked GOP struggle
WASHINGTON (AP) — What's so stunning about former House Speaker Paul Ryan's new admissions regarding President Donald Trump is that his story is now so ordinary. Ryan decided to leave Washington, as relayed in a new book, "American Carnage," by Tim Alberta, rather than endure two more years of the Trump...
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FOX POINT, Wis. (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump in Wisconsin (all times local): 4:25 p.m. President Donald Trump is calling on Congress to pass a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico and send it to his desk immediately. He says, "We shouldn't be playing around." Trump is lobbying for...
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Bob Unglaub
Robert Alexander Unglaub (July 31, 1881 – November 29, 1916) was an American first baseman, utility infielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Highlanders, Boston Americans, and Washington Senators.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he attended the University of Maryland, and in 1904 he was offered his first shot at the major leagues, being signed by the Highlanders. Due to blood poisoning, he was only able to play six games, and was sent to the Americans for Patsy Dougherty, which some people perceived as the American League's attempt to increase competition against the National League's New York Giants.[1] He didn't become a regular player until the 1907 season when he also served as manager of the Red Sox, replacing George Huff. He went 9–20 (.310) in his only managerial stint.
Unglaub had a series of minor league managerial jobs, and in 1916, while supervising repair work on a locomotive, he was killed in an accident in his hometown of Baltimore at age 35.[2] He was laid to rest at Sunny Ridge Memorial Park in Crisfield, Maryland.[1]
First baseman / Utility infielder / Manager
Died: November 29, 1916 (aged 35)
April 15, 1904, for the New York Highlanders
New York Highlanders (1904)
Boston Americans/Red Sox (1904–1905, 1907–1908)
Washington Senators (1908–1910)
Boston Americans (1907)
List of Major League Baseball player–managers
^ a b BaseballLibrary.com Archived October 4, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 24, 2006.
^ TheDeadBallEra.com – Unglaub's Obituary Archived November 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 24, 2006.
Baseball-Reference.com – managerial statistics and analysis
TheDeadBallEra.com – Unglaub's grave marker
Baseball-Almanac.com
1904 Boston Americans season
The 1904 Boston Americans season was the fourth season for the professional baseball franchise that later became known as the Boston Red Sox. The Americans finished first in the American League (AL) with a record of 95 wins and 59 losses, 1 1⁄2 games ahead of the New York Highlanders. The team was managed by Jimmy Collins and played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds. The Americans were set to play the National League (NL) champion New York Giants in the 1904 World Series, however the Giants refused to play.
1904 New York Highlanders season
The 1904 New York Highlanders season, their second in New York and fourth overall, finished with the team in second place in the American League with a record of 92–59. The team was managed by Clark Griffith and played home games at Hilltop Park.
The 1905 Boston Americans season was the fifth season for the professional baseball franchise that later became known as the Boston Red Sox. The Americans finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 78 wins and 74 losses. The team was managed by Jimmy Collins and played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds.
The 1907 Boston Americans season was the seventh season for the professional baseball franchise that later became known as the Boston Red Sox. The Americans finished seventh in the American League (AL) with a record of 59 wins and 90 losses. Including spring training, the team had five different managers during the season. The team played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds.
The 1907 Major League Baseball season. The Chicago Cubs defeated the Detroit Tigers 4–0–1 to win the World Series.
The Philadelphia Phillies set a Major League record for the fewest at bats by a team in a season – 4,725.
The 1908 Boston Red Sox season was the eighth season for the Major League Baseball franchise previously known as the Boston Americans. The Red Sox finished fifth in the American League (AL) with a record of 75 wins and 79 losses. The team played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds.
The 1908 Washington Senators won 67 games, lost 85, and finished in seventh place in the American League. They were managed by Joe Cantillon and played home games at National Park.
The 1909 Washington Senators, a professional baseball team, won 42 games, lost 110, and finished in eighth (last) place in the American League. They were managed by Joe Cantillon and played home games at National Park. The Senators still hold the Major League record for the most games lost in one month of a season, with 29 losses (and only 5 wins) in July.
The 1910 Washington Senators won 66 games, lost 85, and finished in seventh place in the American League. They were managed by Jimmy McAleer and played home games at National Park.
Adam DeBus
Adam Joseph DeBus, Jr. (October 7, 1892 – May 13, 1977) was a German American professional baseball player whose career spanned three seasons, one of which was spent with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Pittsburgh Pirates (1917). Over his MLB career, DeBus, an infielder, compiled a .229 batting average with nine runs scored, 30 hits, five doubles, four triples, seven runs batted in (RBIs) and two stolen bases in 38 games played. Originally, Debus signed with the MLB St. Louis Cardinals out of the Northern League, but his contract was waived after never making an appearance. He then signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates and made his MLB debut on July 14, 1917, against the Brooklyn Robins. During his career, DeBus weighed 150 pounds (68 kg) and stood at 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm). He batted and threw right-handed.
Fargo-Moorhead Twins
The Fargo-Moorhead Twins were a minor league baseball team that existed from 1933 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1960. They played in the Northern League and were affiliated with the Cleveland Indians from 1934 to 1940 and from 1953 to 1957, the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1947 to 1948 and the New York Yankees from 1958 to 1960. They represented the cities of Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota. The previous Fargo-Moorhead team in the Northern League was the Fargo-Moorehead Graingrowers, who played from 1914-1917.
George Huff (coach)
George A. Huff, Jr. (June 11, 1872 – October 1, 1936) was an American football and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. Huff served as the head football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 1895 to 1899, compiling a record of 21–16–3. He was also the head baseball coach at Illinois from 1896 to 1919, tallying a mark of 317–97–4, and the athletic director at Illinois from 1901 to 1935. Huff Hall at the University of Illinois in Champaign is named in his honor.
Huff was briefly a manager for the Boston Americans at the start of the 1907 Major League Baseball season following the sudden suicide of Chick Stahl. Cy Young started out as the player/manager, but after six games stepped down in favor of Huff. Huff managed only eight games, finishing with a career 2–6 managerial record, before resigning on May 1, 1907 to return to his old job. Bob Unglaub replaced him. The Americans had a total of four managers in the 1907 season. The team was renamed as the Boston Red Sox the following season.
Joe Kerrigan
Joseph Thomas Kerrigan (born November 30, 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a former relief pitcher, manager and longtime pitching coach in Major League Baseball.
List of Boston Red Sox captains
Eighteen different players have been full-time captains of the Boston Red Sox, an American professional baseball franchise also known previously as the Boston Americans. The list was created from scratch by baseball historian Howard W. Rosenberg in 2004. The Red Sox front office contacted Rosenberg in advance of Jason Varitek being named captain that year, after learning that Rosenberg, author of a 2003 book featuring captains in 19th-century baseball, had disputed the official count of captains in New York Yankees franchise history.In Major League Baseball, a captain is an honorary title given to the member of the team primarily responsible for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. This role has been particularly important during eras and situations in which managers and coaches have been precluded by the rules from interacting with players on the field while the game is in progress. As is the case with the National Hockey League, then- and now-retired captain Varitek wore a distinctive "C" on the left side of his jersey.
List of Boston Red Sox managers
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox are members of the American League (AL) East Division in Major League Baseball (MLB). There have been 47 different managers in their franchise history; four during the era of the Boston Americans (1901–1907) and the rest under the Boston Red Sox (1908–present). In baseball, the head coach of a team is called the manager, or more formally, the field manager. Since 1912, the Red Sox have played their home games at Fenway Park.Jimmy Collins was the first manager of the Americans and managed from 1901 to 1906. Joe Cronin managed the most games with 1,987 and wins with 1,071 with the Red Sox. Terry Francona, a recent manager of the Red Sox, managed the most playoff games with 42 and wins with 28. Bill Carrigan and Francona have each won two World Series championships. Carrigan won his two championships in 1915 and 1916, while Francona won his two championships in 2004 and 2007. John McNamara and Jimy Williams are the only two Red Sox managers to win the AL Manager of the Year Award, in 1986 and 1999 respectively. On October 22, 2017 the Red Sox named Alex Cora their manager after firing John Farrell on October 11, 2017.
List of Major League Baseball players (U)
The following is a list of Major League Baseball players, retired or active. As of the end of the 2010 season, there have been 53 players with a last name that begins with U who have been on a major league roster at some point.
List of athletes from Maryland N – Z
Maryland has a long history concerning sports and a number of major and minor professional sport figures have hailed from the state. Maryland enjoys considerable historical repute for the talented sports players of its past, including Cal Ripken Jr, Michael Phelps and Babe Ruth.
Boston Red Sox managers
Jimmy Collins (1901–1906)
Chick Stahl (1906)
Cy Young (1907)
Bob Unglaub (1907)
George Huff (1907)
Deacon McGuire (1907–1908)
Fred Lake (1908–1909)
Patsy Donovan (1910–1911)
Jake Stahl (1912–1913)
Bill Carrigan (1913–1916)
Jack Barry (1917)
Ed Barrow (1918–1920)
Frank Chance (1923)
Lee Fohl (1924–1926)
Heinie Wagner (1930)
Shano Collins (1931–1932)
Marty McManus (1932–1933)
Joe Cronin (1935–1947)
Joe McCarthy (1948–1950)
Lou Boudreau (1952–1954)
Pinky Higgins (1955–1959)
Rudy York (1959)
Billy Jurges (1959–1960)
Del Baker (1960)
Johnny Pesky (1963–1964)
Billy Herman (1964–1966)
Pete Runnels (1966)
Dick Williams (1967–1969)
Eddie Popowski (1969)
Eddie Kasko (1970–1973)
Darrell Johnson (1974–1976)
Don Zimmer (1976–1980)
Johnny Pesky (1980)
Ralph Houk (1981–1984)
John McNamara (1985–1988)
Joe Morgan (1988–1991)
Butch Hobson (1992–1994)
Kevin Kennedy (1995–1996)
Jimy Williams (1997–2001)
Joe Kerrigan (2001)
Grady Little (2002–2003)
Bobby Valentine (2012)
John Farrell (2013–2017)
Alex Cora (2018– )
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55. Michael Trucco, Actor - What’s Behind the Curtain, Original
Today's guest is Hollywood actor Michael Trucco and I feel honored to be invited to his beautiful home here in Hollywood Hills. Michael was born and raised in San Mateo, California and graduated from Santa Clara University with a BA in Theatre Arts and was quickly headed to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of a career in Film and Television.
Since then he has been an successful actor and starred in series such as BEVERLY HILLS 90210, PENSACOLA: WINGS OF GOLD, ARLI$$, ONE TREE HILL, CASTLE, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, REVENGE, THE BIG BANG THEORY, LAW & ORDER: SVU, CRIMINAL MINDS, V, PSYCH, SCANDAL, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and FAIRLY LEGAL just to name a few.
He can currently be seen alongside Kathy Bates in DISJOINTED where he plays Tae Kwon Doug now streaming on NETFLIX.
Michael also appeared opposite Jessica Biel and Nicholas Cage in the film “NEXT” and headlined the “BATTLESTAR GALACTICA” prequel movie “THE PLAN”, and can be seen in the thriller/horror films “HUSH” and “THE BYE BYE MAN”. Last but not least he recently completed shooting in London and Bulgaria for the Millennium Pictures feature film “HUNTER/KILLER” with Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman due out in theaters in 2018. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Sandra Hess and their 2 dogs and 2 cats.
The host is Peter Jumrukovski a World medalist, author and public speaker with the mission to help as many people as possible to achieve their dreams. For more info on him visit www.ilsuccess.com or www.thegoalbook.com
Sponsor: Hästens Los Angeles - Bringing the World's Best Sleep To Southern California
http://hastensla.com
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Politics Without Dialogue
Russian authorities continue to test the opposition movement’s strength and determination. Earlier this month, a week before the March of Millions, the Duma passed a series of controversial amendments to the law on demonstrations. Several days later, the Investigative Committee of Russia searched the residences of prominent opposition leaders. According to IMR analyst Olga Khvostunova, the Kremlin’s inability to engage in a dialogue with the opposition is what will lead to the further escalation of this conflict.
Experts estimate that the adoption of the amendments to the law on demonstrations increased the turnout at the June 12th rally by approximately 30%
On June 6th, the State Duma passed amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences and the Federal Law on Assemblies, Rallies, Demonstrations, Marches and Picketing with record speed for Russia. Indubitably, the new laws were aimed at the June 12th opposition rally, called the Second March of Millions. The Kremlin was eager to use new laws to penalize protesters.
As it often happens when expediency is valued over responsible action, some of the changes to the law were downright absurd. For instance, common citizens (such as soccer fans) are subject to a 300 ruble (approximately $10 USD) fine for obstructing traffic; meanwhile, a group of protesters chanting “Russia Without Putin!” can be fined 50,000 rubles (about $1600) for the same offense. A person organizing an unsanctioned protest can be fined 100,000 rubles (about $3200). If any property is damaged during such a protest, for example, a window is broken, the fine increases to an amount of up to 300,000 rubles (about $9600).
Another example of the egregious nature of these amendments is the clause requiring that municipal authorities be officially notified of any non-public event that involves “a mass assembly and/or movement of citizens in public places.” Because the law does not define “mass” in terms of numbers, law enforcement can interpret this clause at their discretion.
Already, authorities have taken advantage of this vague language. On June 12th, three residents of the central Russian city of Kemerovo were detained and later summoned to appear in court for “organizing an unsanctioned rally.” The trio had been walking down the street bearing white ribbons and balloons in support of the rally in Moscow.
Then there were the raids on opposition leaders’ residences that took place a day before the protests. On June 11th, Investigative Committee (IC) officials searched the apartments of Alexey Navalny, Sergey Udaltsov, Boris Nemtsov, Ilya Yashin, and Ksenia Sobchak. The search warrants had been issued on the grounds that all of them had witnessed the confrontations between police and protesters at the May 6th demonstration. Authorities confiscated electronic devices, documents, and money. In addition, the opposition leaders were summoned to appear at interrogations scheduled to begin an hour before the following day’s rally. As a result, none of them made it to the rally.
Opposition leaders Ksenia Sobchak and Ilya Yashin were summoned for interrogations at the Investigation Committee headquarters on June 12th, the same day as the second March of Millions
This chain of events becomes even more complicated with the latest scandal involving the deputy editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Sergei Sokolov and IC head Aleksandr Bastrykin. The incident was triggered by an article in which Sokolov harshly criticized the IC’s handling of the Kushchevskaya massacre. According to the journalist, after the article's publication, he was called in for a personal meeting with Bastrykin who wanted to “clarify some details.” This meeting went poorly; Sokolov was yelled at and kicked out. Afterwards, IC guards drove him to the forest where Bastrykin spoke with him again, this time, screaming and threatening his life. In response to these horrific actions, Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov printed an open letter to Bastrykin, demanding a public apology. Muratov rallied the support of many journalists, some of whom proceeded to picket outside of the IC building in Moscow. Eventually, Bastrykin buckled under this pressure and apologized for his “emotional outburst,” although he never acknowledged that the incident in the forest took place.
Under public pressure, head of the Investigation Committee Aleksander Bastrykin (Left) offered his official apologies to Novaya Gazeta's journalist Sergei Sokolov (Right)
Analysts agree that the opposition movement is only gaining steam. The discontent fomenting over the course of the past six months has not been dampened by Putin’s victory, the police brutality during the May protests, nor by the amendments to the law on demonstrations. The active segment of civil society refuses to be intimidated or deceived.
Nonetheless, the opposition movement has yet to develop a solid political platform. Its role in the political process remains minimal due to the fact that Russian politics tend to function independently of civil society and its interests. Maria Lipman, Editor-in-Chief of Pro et Contra, commented that, “It was naïve to think that if tens of thousands people went into the street and started chanting “Russia Without Putin!” it would make him disappear. This movement is not very influential in terms of direct political impact. <…> The elite, at least in the public sphere, remain loyal [to the Kremlin], institutions are still under state control <…> The judiciary doesn’t fail to support the Kremlin, either. So far, the opposition has posed no direct political threat to the state. Nonetheless, [the emergence of the protest movement] is very important.”
Andrei Ryabov of the Carnegie Moscow Center named three types of protesters involved in the movement. The first category makes social and economic demands, calling the state to raise the standard of living and provide greater social security. The second category seeks political reforms, such as true competition in the political arena, pluralism, and the division of powers among the branches of government. The third category, in Ryabov’s words, advocates for human dignity, and is the one that initiated the process that he calls 'civil emancipation'. “They avoid political and ideological identification in principle, but stand for everything else. They are probably the reason the protest movement cannot come up with a common political program, or endorse a single leader.”
The opposition's lack of a common political platform seriously weakens its influence and ability to complete with the regime. Some analysts, such as Stanislav Belkovsky, believe that the problem is rooted in the opposition leaders, who, in their opinion, use protest activities for self-promotion and whose egos keep them from reaching a consensus among themselves. In contrast, other analysts, including Andrey Piontkovsky, believe that the foundations for a unified platform are already in place and can be found in the Free Russia Manifesto, which was signed in by all major opposition leaders.
As for average Russian citizens, Pew Center polls published this May reflect a conflicted populace. Seventy-two percent have a favorable opinion of Vladimir Putin; 56% are satisfied with the way the recent presidential election was run; 57% think that a strong leader is more important than democracy; only 32% disagree entirely. It’s worth nothing that in 1991, the ratio was 39% to 51% in favor of democracy. Seventy-five percent of Russians today believe that a strong economy is more important than democracy (19% believe the opposite). At the same time, 64% of respondents said that the current economic conditions were bad. It is possible that Russians have not yet connected the country’s economic problems with its “strong leader.” Andrey Piontkovsky predicted this changing in the coming autumn when utilities prices will be raised, which could finally push the protest movement into the provinces.
Despite mass protests in major Russian cities, 72% of the Russian population still has a favorable opinion of Vladimir Putin
Overall, recent developments are signs of the authorities' irritation with the continuing demonstrations. The Kremlin doesn't seem to understand why the unspoken accord that has existed for years, entailing the implicit exchange of political liberties for economic stability, has suddenly begun to disintegrate. Of course, this regime has always had its enemies, but up until now, they were few and could be neutralized or put down with directed measures. In the past, the public had been largely silent.
Originally, the authorities supposed that the protests had been brought about by the rampant voter fraud that took place during the December 2011 parliamentary elections. They figured that after Putin's victory in the presidential election, even the most radical opposition leaders wouldn’t be able to help but admit that the President had the support of the (narrow) majority. But the tide of protests has refused to ebb. On top of that, it has brought about yet more political failures on the part of the regime following the rallies at Bolotnaya Square and Sakharov Avenue.
The impending split in the Kremlin is aggravated by the fact that neither Putin nor the majority of the elite see the opposition as a force to truly engage with. They continue to function in the construct of a system that includes elements of two different political cultures. On one side, the so-called "corporatism of the chekhists," a coalition among the career Kremlin strongmen, and on the other side, the oligarchy, representing the more liberal faction of the elite that is more tolerant to opposition. The ruling class has realized that a hostile mass has emerged, eroding the system and threatening its prosperity. Instead of looking for opportunities to create a dialogue, authorities will continue to mechanically assess the risks, develop counter-measures, and attempt to use directed repressive measures in order to gain traction over the movement and reduce the threat it poses.
This autumn, the future path of the Russian political system will be revealed following the first regional parliamentary elections to include opposition candidates. The next March of Millions, tentatively scheduled for September 15th, will also be telling. As Andrei Ryabov wrote, when there is a stand-off instead of a dialogue, “violence inevitably comes to drive the political process, and the violence reproduces itself as each side uses it as the only available means for expressing its will.” In the worst-case scenario, this violence could lead to a serious social rupture—and the inevitable casualties.
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Kudrin Factor, Putin’s Counter-Sanctions, Ruble vs. Oil
Russian media roundup, May 12-18, 2018
While the Russian state media relished Vladimir Putin’s photo-ops at the opening of the Crimea bridge, other developments were less hyped but more consequential to the country this week. First, Dmitry Medvedev’s Cabinet was approved, with most positions filled with the same people. Second, the Duma steamrolled the passage of the counter-sanctions bill to target not just the U.S. but also Russian citizens. Third, the recent oil prices fluctuations revealed a weaker correlation with the ruble exchange rate.
Former finance minister Alexei Kudrin to head Russia's Audit Chamber. Photo: Vladimir Andreyev, URA.RU | TASS.
The Kudrin Factor
The breakdown: this week Vladimir Putin confirmed the composition of the new government proposed by the new/old prime minister Dmitry Medvedev. The Cabinet will now have 22 ministers and ten deputy prime ministers.
The overall government structure will remain the same, with a noticeable change to take place in the Ministry of Education and Science (which will be split into two—the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education) and the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media (which will be reformed as the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media).
Other key shifts: Konstantin Chuychenko, former presidential aide and head of the Control Directorate will replace Sergei Prikhodko as the chief of the Government Staff.
Tatyana Golikova, head of the Audit Chamber, is to become the Minister of Health, Education and Social Policy.
Dmitry Kozak is to remain Deputy Prime Minister, but now responsible for industry and energy. Vitaly Mutko, former Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy, is to become Vice Premier for Construction. [RBC]
Despite speculations of a new appointment within the government, Alexei Kudrin, whom Putin asked to create a six-year economic plan, is to head the Audit Chamber.
What it means:
Sergey Aleksashenko, Brookings Institution: There will be no breakthrough with this government, but a new stabilization. It will use limited resources to minimize risks.
The two strongest figures in the new Cabinet are Anton Siluanov (who is competent but relies dogmatically on fiscal discipline) and Tatiana Golikova (who proved her efficiency as head of the Audit Chamber and was brought in to lead crucial healthcare and pension reforms). [Republic]
Andrei Perstev, journalist: Putin prefers appointing close friends to high positions, experimenting with technocrats only on the regional level. [Carnegie.ru]
Alexander Baunov, Carnegie Moscow Center: Putin’s “May executive orders” are largely based on Kudrin’s six-year economic plan, while ignoring political reform. Why did Kudrin agree to a post outside the government? Because he likely believes that Russia’s experiment of building its own market, independent of the capitalist West, will either succeed or transform in the course of its implementation. [Carnegie.ru]
Philip Sterkin: There’s no room in Putin’s political system for Kudrin, despite being the former’s faithful ally.Though Kudrin has vied for political reform (without criticizing Putin, of course), Putin’s overwhelming electoral victory shows that the president has no reason to change his political system. [Vedomosti]
Kirill Rogov, political scientist: the “2024 problem” for Putin is still wide open. In essence, he has three scenarios: 1) “Central Asian” (waiving the constitutional restriction), 2) “Yeltsinist” (appointing a successor) and 3) “Chinese” (changing the Constitution to expand the Duma’s powers, which is to be controlled by one party). Given Medvedev’s reappointment, there might also be a “palliative” scenario”—a combination of the last two. [Carnegie.ru]
Counter-Sanctions Strike Back
The story: On May 15, the State Duma approved the revised counter-sanctions bill that would terminate cooperation with U.S. nuclear, missile and aircraft companies and implement various trade embargos. But progress on a second sanctions-related bill has been postponed after garnering a public backlash.
The latter bill would criminalize Russians and Russian businesses that comply with the recently expanded Western sanctions, as well as “transferring information” that leads to the imposition of sanctions. Compliance could lead to incarceration (for up to four years) or fines (of about $1,000).
If implemented, this bill would require Russian companies to terminate or suspend cooperation with international companies affiliated with the sanctions, which threatens international banks and companies operating in Russia.
But it would also harm Russian business, which is why the Presidential Administration was first against the adoption of the bill. (However, Sberbank and VTB will not be punished for refusing to operate in Crimea.) [Kommersant]
Dig deeper:
The bill punishes Russians for pointing out Russia’s own pain points. This reaction to the Western sanctions and the new counter-sanctions bill signal a gradual renunciation of responsibility by the state, whose main motive is to distribute state aid to oligarchs, introduce new taxes and limit the right to information for Russian citizens. [Republic]
Sergei Glandin, Moscow State University: The bill responds to a specific situation, but is unlikely to work in practice. The deputies in the Duma are thinking in geopolitical terms, but they cannot match Western sanctions because of the restrictive size of Russia’s GDP. [RBC]
Elena Lukyanova, constitutional lawyer: The bill is absurd and unlawful. It is a way for the state to react to the U.S. sanctions. The bill itself is of poor quality, the definitions are vague and elastic, which means it can be applied to anyone. But it is likely to specifically target people like Vladimir Kara-Murza, who helped to pass the Magnitsky Act. [MBK media]
Vladimir Kara-Murza, politician: The bill is a return to Stalin’s penal code. The drafters of this bill see the Western sanctions as “anti-Russian,” when they are actually against Putin and his government. Following their logic, the bill is “pro-Russian,” when it actually harms Russian citizens and business. [MBK media]
Ruble vs. Oil
The gist: Oil prices are reaching a new high. On May 17, for the first time since November 2014, Brent crude was selling for $80 per barrel [RBC], with Bank of America predicting prices could spike to $100 per barrel in 2019. The increase has had a relatively small positive impact on the U.S. dollar/ruble exchange rate.
What’s the deal?
Oil prices are rising against the backdrop of two major developments: the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and the imposing of new sanctions (although not expected earlier than November 5), and the rising oil demand as recently reported by OPEC.
Despite the dependence of the Russian currency on the global oil prices, the current spike had a limited effect due to interventions from the Finance Ministry, which has recently increased its purchases of foreign currencies. [Kommersant]
So what does it mean?
Sergei Khestanov, macroeconomic advisor to Otkritie Broker: the share of oil and gas sector revenue in the Russian federal budget is traditionally high—officially about 30 percent, but in reality, accounting for other factors, about 60 percent. This explains the high correlation between oil prices and the ruble exchange rate.
However, this correlation has recently become much weaker for two key reasons—sanctions (primarily the 2018 round) and fiscal policy by the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry. The latter is the result of the Russian government’s goal to decrease the budget deficit and keep fulfilling state obligations for the sake of “social stability” in the face of stagnation and inflation. Additionally, the government sees the increase in foreign reserves as a financial cushion in case of a sudden destabilization. [Republic]
Alexander Losev, CEO at Sputnik Asset Management: The changing world order observed today marks the beginning of a new round in the fight among all leading powers for control over energy resources, which will cause an array of “cold” and “hot” conflicts. A war in the Middle East is likely to be the first such conflict.
For Russia, the main goal should be not just a military and political presence in a certain region, but prompt development of its own economy. Otherwise, its attempts to counter the Western powers are doomed to fail. [Russian Forbes]
Other stories that mattered this week (in Russian):
“Crony Capitalism”: Boris Grozovsky dissects Putin’s economic policies since the early 2000s to explain a paradox: why in his first decade in power did these policies promise business growth, while in his second everything he does damages the economy? [New Times]
Leonid Volkov: “There is a burned field, and there it’s just us”: Alexei Navalny’s campaign manager talks about political success, moral responsibility and the conflicts within his team and beyond. [Novaya Gazeta]
“How to respond to sanctions correctly and incorrectly”: Economist Yevsey Gurvichexplains why sanctions are viable despite their ineffectiveness. [Vedomosti]
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December 6, 2018 / 7:39 AM / 7 months ago
China commerce ministry says goal in trade talks with U.S. is to remove all tariffs
FILE PHOTO: Workers paint the ground at a port in Qingdao, Shandong province, China April 9, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday that the ultimate goal in Sino-U.S. trade talks is to remove all tariffs, adding that the recent meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had been successful.
In Argentina last weekend, Trump and Xi agreed to a 90-day truce that delayed the planned Jan. 1 U.S. hike of tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion of Chinese goods while they negotiate a trade deal.
China has reached a consensus with the United States on agriculture, energy and cars, and what has been agreed will be implemented immediately, Gao Feng, spokesman at the commerce ministry, told reporters.
China and the United States will continue to hold talks on agriculture, energy, services and other sectors, Gao said, adding that China is very confident of reaching an agreement on trade with the United States in the 90-day period.
Reporting by Yawen Chen and Lee Se Young; Writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Darren Schuuettler
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States Update: October 25, 2017
Rajasthan tables a controversial law to protect public officials from investigation; Maharashtra plans further privatization of power distribution; Punjab freezes lower power tariffs for industry; Haryana cracks the whip on public employees with power debts; and more.
Center–State relations
The Andhra Pradesh government announced a rent guarantee scheme for technology park developers as part of its Designated Technology Park Policy 2017-2020. The state government will guarantee up to 35 percent of the full rental income of the park. Source: Business Standard
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has canceled its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Amaravati Metro Rail Corporation following delays in the tender process and disputes over the model for the city's mass transit. The center has not yet approved the Amaravati metro and is pushing for a light rail system instead. Source: Deccan Chronicle
Gujarat announced significant pay hikes for teachers and municipality employees in the run-up to state elections likely to take place in November or December. Teachers on fixed-salary contracts will see their salaries rise from $250 to $384 dollars per month. Source: Economic Times
Orange Renewable has commissioned a 40 megawatt (MW) solar power project at the Charanka solar park in Gujarat. Orange won the project from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) via competitive bidding processes in 2016 using the viability gap funding (VGF) scheme. Source: PV Tech
Haryana's chief secretary issued a circular directing all government employees and pensioners pay overdue electricity bills immediately and also to adhere to the Haryana Civil Services (Government Employees' Conduct) Rules, 2016, which forbids state employees from being habitually in debt. Source: Business Standard In Detail: Circular
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan arrived in the United States for a week-long trip to meet with business leaders. Source: Money Control
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed victory in the second phase of village council elections. The BJP won in 1,311 of the 3,666 gram panchayats that went to the polls. According to figures released by the BJP's state office, the Congress won 312 gram panchayats, followed by the Nationalist Congress Party (297) and Shiv Sena (295). Source: LiveMint
Maharashtra's power utilities lost $4.3 billion in the 2015-16 fiscal year, compared to a profit of $281 million in 2014-15. The losses were mainly due to charging depreciation of $4.2 billion on revalued assets for the period FY06 to FY15. Source: Financial Express In Detail: Power Finance Corporation Performance Report
The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (Mahadiscom), the Maharashtra electricity distribution company, is planning to invite international bids to implement the distribution franchisee model in six more locations. Currently, the model, in which a private company provides electricity at a set rate and collects dues, is used in parts of the Bhiwandi, Nagpur, Aurangabad, and Jalgaon distribution circles. Source: Hindu Business Line
The Rajasthan government tabled the Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill, 2017 in the assembly. The bill prevents serving government officials from being sued without prior approval by the government. It also bars the media from naming the subject of a suit until the state government allows the case to be investigated. The bill would make permanent the Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance promulgated on September 7. Source: Indian Express In Detail: Bill Text
The center approved the detailed project report for introducing 'BharatNet'–broadband services in rural areas — in Tamil Nadu with a budget of $188 million. The project, which involves deploying broadband with a high speed of around 1 gigabit per second, will be implemented by the state. India hopes to introduce high-speed wireless in 100,000 villages by the end of the year. Source: CXO Today
Rays Power Infra has signed a power-purchase agreement with Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd (Tangedco) to sell 100 MW of solar power at 5 cents per unit. Source: Business Standard
The winter session of the Telangana legislature will commence on October 27. Source: Hindu Business Line
Shortly after Andhra Pradesh announced it would use blockchain technology to secure public records, the Telangana government said it will also utilize blockchain to protect digitized revenue/land records. Agricultural land records in over 10,000 revenue villages are being updated to prepare for the implementation of an input subsidy scheme. Source: Live Mint
In line with the center's national aviation policy and regional connectivity scheme, the state government has promulgated the UP "Civil aviation promotion policy 2017." The policy aims to connect underserved and unserved airports. Source: Daily Pioneer In detail: UP Civil Aviation Policy
The state government launched a dedicated web portal (odisha.data.gov.in) that will share public data on government departments and development programs. Source: Times of India
The Punjab cabinet approved a new Industrial and Business Development Policy that freezes the industrial power tariff at 7 cents per unit for five years. Source: Livemint In Detail: Industrial Policy
The Uttarakhand government has altered the terms of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) to help the participants create private assets. Those seeking work under the program can now be paid to plant orchards or to build the infrastructure necessary to raise goats or chickens. Previously projects under the scheme were all carried out on public land. Source: Hindustan Times
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Home > Road Map for a Clean Energy Revolution
Road Map for a Clean Energy Revolution
The United States has the technology to end its reliance on coal, repower the nation with renewable energy, and slash its carbon dioxide emissions by more than 80 percent by 2050 – one of President Obama's goals. It just has to stop dragging its feet and put that technology to use.
That's the crux of a study released today by the European Renewable Energy Council and Greenpeace. It offers a road map for developing energy independence and a low-carbon, fossil fuel-free economy based on three simple principles:
No. 1: Stop wasting energy.
No. 2: Drop coal like the dirty power source it is and repower the nation with renewable energy, using natural gas as a bridge to that future.
No. 3: Start writing strong policies based on science.
The coal industry will be quick to point out that the up-front cost of phasing out coal and repowering the nation with renewable energy will be higher than continuing businesses as usual.
However, the study notes that the investment quickly pays off. By 2030, following the renewable energy-based Energy [R]evolution Scenario [1] would save the nation half what it would have spent if it continued to pump money into the coal industry, and it would create more jobs in the process.
One reason for the long-term cost of coal – and another reason to start shifting policies and attitudes toward renewables now – is the aging of the U.S. coal plant fleet. The average coal-fired power plant in the United States right now is 44 years old. About half of all coal plants are retired by age 50, and 92 percent are retired by age 60, according to analysis by Energy Velocity.
Continuing to rely on coal as those plants deteriorate will require either building new power plants, which will pollute for another 60 years, or patching up old plants as they break down and fall out of compliance with strengthening environmental regulations. New Hampshire's Merrimack Station power plant [2] is a prime example. PSNH won a permit this week to begin installing mercury scrubbers in the 41-year-old plant at a cost of $457 million – and those scrubbers might not keep the plant in compliance for long.
With so many power plants hitting retirement in the next 10 years, utilities will soon have to make the choice between fossil fuels and renewable energy. To help them make that decision, the German Aerospace Center, which conducted the Energy [R]evolution study, crunched the fuel costs of both scenarios over time and determined:
"The additional costs for coal fuel from today until the year 2030 would be as high as $2.3 trillion under the reference scenario [business as usual, as estimated by the IEA]. This savings alone would cover the entire investment in renewable and cogeneration capacity required to implement the Energy [R]evolution Scenario. ... Because renewable energy has no fuel costs, the total fuel cost savings in the Energy [R]evolution Scenario is nearly $2.1 trillion."
Which route the country's investors, states and utilities choose will depend on policy. A carbon cap with emissions trading will spur private investments in renewable energy. Plowing money into coal-supporting proposals, such as developing carbon capture and sequestration, will encourage the continued burning of coal.
The easiest and quickest step toward a more sustainable future is being smarter about the way people and businesses use energy.
The Energy [R]evolution Scenario estimates that cutting energy use with such actions as improving insulation in homes and buildings, replacing old appliances with energy efficient ones, and using technology and incentives to track and stop energy waste could cut U.S. energy demand by about 24 percent by 2050, compared to an expected increase of 40 percent by 2050 if nothing changes.
For example, if the federal government expanded its home weatherization program nationwide, it could cut energy use sucked up by home heating and cooling systems by 30 percent – and save $1.50 for every $1 invested, according to the study.
Expanding public transit and scrapping low-gas-mileage vehicles for electrics and plug-in hybrids could cut the transportation sector's energy demands by 40 percent by mid-century.
The second part of the plan, repowering with renewables, will take several years to build up, which is why the study suggests phasing out coal, oil and nuclear, while keeping natural gas as the primary bridge to the future.
There's no question that the country has the potential to switch to renewable energy. Five states – the Dakotas, Kansas, Montana and Texas – have enough wind energy potential to power the entire country. Hypothetically, solar thermal plants covering 9 percent of Nevada could do the same thing. The study suggests that if the U.S. invests $2.8 trillion between now and 2030: Wind power could grow from just over 20 gigawatts to nearly 400 GW by 2050; solar photovoltaic power could be boosted to over 500 GW; geothermal, wave and biomass capacity could near 300 GW.
A shift toward decentralized power, improved battery and storage capacity, and cogeneration would make electricity as efficient as possible, the study suggests. Decentralized power is generated locally and distributed using local networks rather than the high voltage transmission systems. In cogeneration, waste heat from power plants is piped into nearby buildings.
"All we need to kick-start this plan is bold energy policy from world leaders," said Sven Teske, Greenpeace International's senior energy expert and a co-author of the Energy [R]evolution Scenario.
Here are the actions the study's authors recommend for the United States:
Launch a national cap-and-trade program capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the levels recommended by science.
End all subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear energy.
Set mandatory efficiency standards for all appliances, buildings and vehicles.
Set mandatory targets for renewable energy generation.
Reform the electricity markets by guaranteeing renewable power has access to the grid.
Provide defined and stable returns for investors, such as feed-in tariffs.
Implement consumer transparency measures to provide more information about the energy they use and the impact it has.
Increase funding for research and development of renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Under the Energy [R]evolution Scenario [1]'s recommendations, the annual CO2 emissions per person in the United States would drop from about 18.6 tons now to 2.1 tons by 2050.
The plan is bold, but its interim goal of cutting emissions 12 percent below 1990 level by 2020 still falls short of the IPCC's recommendation [3] that the industrialized world cut its emissions at least 25 percent by 2020. The IPCC made that recommendation two years ago, before it had the latest scientific evidence showing that the rate of global warming is increasing faster than previously believed.
Greenpeace supports the IPCC's goal, said Steven Biel, head of the group's U.S. Global Warming Campaign. But he notes that after a decade of delay in Washington, "It's going to take some time to get the U.S. back on line."
Other countries are proving that it can be done. Today, Sweden [4] strengthened its 2020 goal. It initially planned to cut emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 – now it's shooting for a 40 percent cut. It also plans for half of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, and for its vehicles to be fossil-fuel free by 2030.
As the study points, out:
"The climate crisis demands nothing short of an energy revolution."
Renewable Portfolio Standards: America's Clean Energy Savior [5]
Canada Dumps Vital Renewable Energy Incentives for "Clean" Coal [6]
50-Plus Nations Launch World's First International Renewable Energy Agency [7]
Obama Orders Return to Scientific Integrity in Policymaking [8]
Source URL: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20090311/road-map-clean-energy-revolution
[1] http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/usa/press-center/reports4/energy-r-evolution-a-sustain.pdf
[3] http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/presentations/briefing-bonn-2008-06/emission-reduction-trade-offs.pdf
[4] http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jK1pcDnmSIQ_KzXDfMi27Yi0EM-A
[5] https://insideclimatenews.org/blog/20080424/renewable-portfolio-standards-america-s-clean-energy-savior
[6] https://insideclimatenews.org/blog/20090203/canada-dumps-vital-renewable-energy-incentives-clean-coal
[7] https://insideclimatenews.org/blog/20090126/50-plus-nations-launch-worlds-first-international-renewable-energy-agency
[8] https://insideclimatenews.org/blog/20090310/obama-orders-return-scientific-integrity-policymaking
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States Battling for Data Center Investment with Tax Cuts
by Kevin Fogarty May 31, 2013 6 min read
Data CenterRevenuetaxes
Legislators in Texas and Minnesota are trying to bring a little more of the data-center boom to their respective states, using tactics more often employed to attract factories and other major employers.
In the past week, both states passed legislation that cut taxes normally applied to large IT facilities, in hopes that lower costs would make their states—both of which already stand among the leading datacenter regions in the United States—even more attractive.
The tax benefits come primarily from exemptions that allow companies building large IT facilities to avoid paying sales tax on equipment bought to be used in the facility for its core purpose. The rules don’t cover office supplies such as desks and filing cabinets—but do cover all the computing, networking, storage, heating, cooling, monitoring, security and other core systems packed into the buildings.
The tax breaks affect only the cost of equipping a datacenter—not acquiring the land, building or staffing the facility. At state sales tax rates ranging between 4 and 8.5 percent, however, even a partial sales-tax exemption could save millions for any company equipping a large datacenter.
Sales-tax exemptions contrast with policies in more than a dozen other states that tax not only new datacenter equipment, but software and services, as well.
Massachusetts, for example, is considering a proposal to add a 4.5 percent tax on custom-written or cloud-based software. The tax would serve as an extension to an existing rule that applyes sales tax to packaged software, but includes more than just custom-written code built to support individual applications. It would also apply to the work of designing a site or cloud platform, as well as writing Java, PHP or other custom code either for display or to integrate corporate applications into an existing cloud.
Other states—including Ohio, Texas, New York, South Carolina and Washington—tax computer services as well as computer equipment.
Meanwhile, Vermont and Idaho have passed rules exempting cloud providers from sales tax, though the tax breaks aren’t as comprehensive as those in Minnesota or Texas.
Under a bill signed by Gov. Mark Dayton, Minnesota offers a sales-tax exemption to companies refurbishing existing datacenters, and made it far easier for companies building new datacenters to also qualify; under the previous law, only new datacenters could apply for the exemption, which required a commitment to provide at least 30,000 square feet of space and cost at least $50 million ($25M/year) over the course of two years.
The new Minnesota law lowers the size limit to 25,000 square feet for either new or refurbished datacenters and lowers investment requirements for new facilities to $30 million over four years (7.5M/year). Datacenters undergoing refurbishment still have to commit to $50 million in costs over two years.
The Texas bill—which must still be signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry—is even more generous. The exemption requires a capital investment of only $200 million to qualify, and extends for 10 years rather than two or four. Datacenters investing $250 million or more can stretch out the exemption to 15 years.
The Texas exemptions don’t apply to service providers building multi-tenant facilities, however. To qualify, datacenter plans have to cost at least $200 million over five years and create 20 new full-time jobs at pay rates 20 percent above the average in that county. Qualifying facilities have to be at least 100,000 square feet, as well. If signed by the governor, the Texas bill will go into effect Sept. 1; the Minnesota rule applies after July 1.
Taxing—or exempting taxes from—the money companies spend on equipment for data centers may be used as an incentive, but are far more concrete and predictable than taxes on software, according to a study (PDF) from consultancy KPMG. Multi-tenant facilities, or datacenters hosting data or logic for applications housed in many locations, make taxing corporate software even trickier than taxing sales on the Internet, the report added.
Purchases made online may cross or involve networks and servers in several states or countries, but usually include a specific product owned by an entity in one location and sold to an entity in another.
Datacenter construction is similarly tied to geography and is therefore relatively easy to tax or exempt from taxes. It is the services and applications that run on top of those data centers that will become tricky tax problems for many companies, according to KPMG.
Image: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.com
Google Doubles Investment in S.C. Data Center
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Cisco Adds Two Data-Center Certs
This Week’s 5 Most Popular Stories
Al Gore Has Seen the Future
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What to Watch for on Tax Policy During the Presidential Primary
Director of Federal Tax Policy
America needs a new tax code. As ITEP explained in an April report, The Case for Progressive Tax Policies, the nation’s tax code is not doing enough to address inequality or to raise enough revenue to make public investments that make the economy work for everyone. All presidential candidates should make clear how they would address these problems.
The Democratic presidential primary presents an opportunity for candidates to answer that question. To be sure, the current field is crowded, and candidates are outlining their policy positions on a host of domestic and foreign policy issues. Taxes, however, fund our democracy and candidates’ philosophy on how the nation raises revenues to fund its priorities matters. Below is an overview of how bold progressive tax policy ideas (on which some candidates have stated policy positions) can work.
Taxing Income from Wealth Like Income from Work
ITEP’s April report explains that income is distributed unequally in the U.S., with more than a fifth of the nation’s income going to the top one percent. Our tax system could do more to address inequality. Certain parts of our tax system are progressive, like the federal personal income tax. But even that tax is weakened by special breaks that disproportionately benefit the rich.
For example, income in the form of capital gains and stock dividends is taxed at lower rates than other types of income, like income from work, and about 78 percent of the benefits of this break go to the richest 1 percent of Americans this year. Would candidates end this and other breaks for capital gains and dividends?
Another special break provides a 20 percent deduction for income from “pass-through” businesses, which already have an advantage because they are not required to pay the corporate income tax. Most of these profits go to the well-off, and as a result, 64 percent of the benefits of this break go to the richest 1 percent this year. Will candidates repeal this provision, which was enacted as part of the 2017 law?
Taxing Estates and Wealth
Wealth is distributed even more unequally than income in the United States, with an increasing concentration of wealth going to the top 1 percent over the past four decades. One way to address this is the federal estate tax, the tax on large transfers of wealth across generations. Which candidates propose to reform the estate tax to close loopholes, raise more revenue and better curb the sort of dynastic wealth that is a feature of extreme inequality?
Another approach is for the federal government to tax wealth directly by placing an annual tax on the net worth for very high-wealth individuals. Like any proposal that is new, this one has raised questions about how it would be implemented, but ITEP explained earlier this year how those challenges can be met and why a wealth tax would benefit the nation. Which candidates are clearly supporting such a wealth tax?
Ending Corporate Tax Breaks and Loopholes
At least 60 profitable Fortune 500 corporations paid no federal corporate income taxes for 2018, the first year when they were subject to the 2017 GOP tax law. What do candidates propose to do about this?
Part of this problem is related to tax breaks that are supposed to encourage investment, but likely reward companies for doing things they would have done absent any tax break. For example, the 2017 law expanded accelerated deprecation tax breaks, which allow companies to write off the cost of equipment and certain other capital investments more quickly than they actually wear out and lose value. These breaks seem to have little effect on investment decisions but are hugely expensive over time.
Another part of the problem is offshore corporate tax dodging. Loopholes allow corporations to avoid U.S. taxes by using accounting gimmicks to make their profits appear to be earned offshore or, in some cases, by moving real operations and jobs offshore. While the 2017 law dramatically changed the international tax rules for corporations, it did not close these loopholes and in some ways made them worse.
While some lawmakers have suggested raising the statutory corporate tax rate (which was reduced from 35 percent to 21 percent under the 2017 law) these particular breaks and loopholes suggest that there is more to corporate tax reform than changing the rate. If companies can use depreciation breaks and offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes, it will not matter what statutory rate Congress settles on. Which candidates have a plan to really address this?
Using the Tax Code to Raise Incomes of Low- and Moderate-Income People and Families
The proposals discussed so far would deal with one side of the inequality problem by wiping out special breaks that benefit those with high incomes, high net worth, and large investments in corporations. The other side of the inequality problem is people not having enough income or wealth to make ends meet.
The tax code is one tool that can address this challenge. At least since the mid-1970s, Congress decided that instead of taxing the poor or near-poor further into poverty, the tax code could be used to do the opposite, to enhance those households’ financial security. To do this, Congress has provided refundable tax credits which provide an income boost regardless of federal tax liability. This approach has been expanded by every president since then, including even President Trump in the GOP’s 2017 tax law.
But existing refundable tax credits provide help very unevenly, and several barriers in existing law prevent many low-income people from fully accessing them. In response, lawmakers and some presidential candidates have proposed dramatic expansions of existing refundable tax credits or new ones to help address inequality. A recent ITEP report examines the five largest of these proposals. What are the candidates’ positions on using the tax code to boost the incomes of low-income families?
Raising Revenue
The U.S. is one of the least taxed of the developed countries, meaning our tax code collects a small amount of revenue measured as a share of economic output compared to all but a few developed nations. Federal revenue has been lower than federal spending for years. People disagree about how important this is, but it has certainly provided lawmakers with an argument for holding back on public investments that would pay off in the long-run.
This situation is not new. We needed to collect far more revenue even before the 2017 tax was enacted. Solving this problem is not as simple as just repealing the 2017 law. Which candidates have proposals that really address the need for revenue?
Several of the proposals to increase taxes on wealthy households and corporations already mentioned here would raise significant revenue. Some would do so by rolling back tax breaks enacted as part of the 2017 law, such as the special deduction for pass-through business profits. Others would do so by repealing breaks that predated the 2017 law, like the special breaks for capital gains and stock dividends.
Which candidates have proposals that address the nation’s need to raise revenue? And what is the candidate’s approach to raising revenue?
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The Disparity of Prosecution in Drug Related Offences is Staggering
Posted on January 11, 2013 by randylj
A deal worked out by the Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer has released top executives at HSBC from prosecution in a 1.9 billion dollar deal that allows them to escape prosecution for money laundering charges associated with the Mexican and Columbian drug cartels. Their punishment administered by HSBC is that their bonuses will be partially deferred. What a harsh way to treat those who looked the other way and helped as terrorists and murderers laundered billions of dollars over a decade of time. The Justice Department’s reasoning for allowing the non-prosecution fee (bribe) is that prosecuting top executives at HSBC would destabilize the financial institution causing ripples throughout the financial world. In a press release Breuer announced, As a result of the government’s investigation, HSBC has . . . “clawed back” deferred compensation bonuses given to some of its most senior U.S. anti-money laundering and compliance officers, and agreed to partially defer bonus compensation for its most senior officials during the five-year period of the deferred prosecution agreement. The New York Times had this to say, “Federal and state authorities have chosen not to indict HSBC, the London-based bank, on charges of vast and prolonged money laundering, for fear that criminal prosecution would topple the bank and, in the process, endanger the financial system.” The most criminal part in all of this is that the Justice Department did exactly the same thing, they took money to look the other way instead of prosecuting the crime. http://neilrockindpcblog.com/2012/12/18/outrageous-hsbc-settlement-proves-the-drug-war-is-a-joke/
For anyone who has ever been prosecuted for any drug violation or had their property confiscated in this failed war on drugs, this is a slap in the face. The poor and people of color are disproportionately prosecuted and persecuted in this failed war on drugs where their lives are destroyed and property taken. http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p11.pdf
Cornell Hood II was sentenced to life in prison for possesing two pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute in Louisiana. Louisiana is a state with a three strikes and your out policy. Sadly Cornell Hood II is not alone. The organization, http://lifeforpot.com/ has documented and tracked multiple cases similar to Hood’s where people are given extremely long sentences for non-violent marijuana charges. http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/581875/louisiana_man_gets_life_sentence…_for_weed
http://blog.norml.org/2011/05/10/americas-shameful-prohibition-life-sentences-for-marijuana/
http://lifeforpot.com/
Look what happened to Cameron Douglas, the white son of well-known actor Michael Douglas who was given the longest federal prison sentence ever for simple possession. http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2012/05/cameron-douglas-son-actor-michael-douglas-given-longest-ever-federal-prison-sentence-im
Or Aaron Sandusky who received a ten-year prison sentence for operating a medical marijuana dispensary. Because he was being tried in federal court, he was not allowed to mention that his activities were legal under California law. So much for “the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. http://reason.com/blog/2012/10/12/can-juror-nullification-save-aaron-sandu
http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_22325286/sandusky-sentenced-10-years-prison
What happened to Chris Williams, a medical marijuana distributor in Montana is equally disturbing. Williams who believed he had done nothing wrong and wanted to challenge federal interference in Montana’s medical marijuana laws was quickly found guilty of all 4 marijuana charges against him because in federal court, evidence suggesting that his activities were legal by Montana law were not allowed. Since the federal government tied firearm possession charges to each of the drug charges, Williams faced 80 years mandatory minimum sentencing on the weapon charges alone, even though he had not handled the firearms. U.S. Attorney Micheal Cotter offered to drop enough charges to allow Williams to serve less than ten years if he would drop his appeal in the case. Williams refused and Cotter came back with a final offer of five years in prison in exchange for dropping all appeals. Since the federal prosecutors had already won their case and were trying to lessen Williams sentence, it would seem that they also believed the mandatory sentencing to be egregiously too harsh. Yet to take five years from a mans life for helping medical marijuana patients acquire their medicine legally under state law still seems wrong to me. But to not allow a defendant to present all evidence relevent to his defense, such as the fact that his activities were legal under state law that was voted in by the citizens of that state is a horrible miscarriage of justice. What is your opinion? http://reason.com/archives/2013/01/02/plead-guilty-or-go-to-prison-for-life
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged federal drug convictions, HSBC, life sentences, marijuana, medical marijuana, money laundering by randylj. Bookmark the permalink.
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