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The Next Reel Film Podcast
Summary: Subscribe to THE weekly podcast for movie people! Features in-depth reviews of classic films and contemporary hits, with ratings, rankings, and interviews.
Artist: The Next Reel
Copyright: © 2011-2018 RashPixel.FM
Klute | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:06:24
Hey, movie lovers! We're taking a leap back to the 70s with this next series—Alan J. Pakula's paranoia trilogy. First up, 1971's "Klute," a dark and gritty character study/thriller about a small town detective trying to get information from a call girl about his missing friend. Join us this week as we talk about this fantastic film! We chat about the nature of 70s films and why they feel so dark and gritty. We talk about the amazing and dark cinematography of Gordon Willis. We discuss the nature of paranoia in the 70s and how this film plays into it, whether through the script, the acting, the directing, or the cinematography. And we talk about the performances, particularly Jane Fonda's Oscar-winning turn as Bree Daniels. She stands out in this film so much that we didn't give enough kudos to the brilliantly underplayed performance by Donald Sutherland in the title role. It's a great film that stands out as a movie we like (and tying it into previous podcasts, it's one of David Fincher's faves as well). So check out the movie and listen in!
Hot Fuzz | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:56:00
Helllooooooo! Tonight, we're talking "Hot Fuzz", the perfect comedy homage to every cop action film ever made! The second and last film made thus far in the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, this film was again written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, directed by Wright and starring Pegg. Join us as we talk about the fantastic filmmaking style that Wright brings to this film, particularly the ever-so-perfect Tony Scott-style series of shots, which we aptly name the "Jiggly Monkey". We also faun over the stellar cast, particularly the Daltonator in all his 'stache glory. We chat about the intense over-the-top violence and how it works in the film. We discuss the nature of parody or spoof films vs. homage films, and we rattle off all the cliches that this film employs so perfectly. It's an action film that features the shortest car chase in film history, a cuddly monkey and a Japanese Peace Lily, with a bit of impaling thrown in for good measure. Listen in! And by the way, did you know that NASA named the Japanese Peace Lily one of the top 10 air cleaning plants? Good to know.
Shaun of the Dead | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:51:05
Hellooooooo! Time for a break from all those heavy films, movie fans. Tonight, join Pete and Andy as we discuss the first of the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy (despite the fact that there are only two films thus far). Yes, we're going to be chatting about Edgar Wright's hilarious ode to zombie cinema, "Shaun of the Dead," a film he co-wrote with star Simon Pegg. It's a hilarious film that also works wonderfully as an homage to every zombie convention you can imagine. We talk about why it works so well, how it came to be, the hilarious cast (particularly our fave Bill Nighy), British manners, Edgar Wright's filmmaking style, and the endlessly quotable lines. And yes, we quote them. Endlessly. Join us for a laugh. Now how's that for a slice of fried gold? Yeeeee-aaahh, bo-iiieeee!
Se7en | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:14:05
Well, movie lovers, it's that time. We've hit the end of our Benjamin Button style Fincher Fest. This week, Pete Wright and Andy Nelson talk about David Fincher's knock-you-out-of-your-seat detective thriller Seven, or Se7en if you prefer. Join us as we talk about how we feel about this film now that we've worked backward through Fincher's oeuvre. We talk about all the wonderful performances (though we get sidetracked on Brad Pitt and don't give Morgan Freeman enough attention) and how Fincher really from the start knew how to work with his actors as well as his technical partners. We discuss the script and how it found its way to Fincher. We hash through the ending and what other endings it could have had. And we chat about the bleach bypass process that Fincher used to give the film its look. It's a stellar film that stands out as a highlight in Fincher's career and we look forward to you joining us this week as we talk about it on "Movies We Like!"
The Game | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:58:46
Greetings, movie lovers! This week, we continue our Fincher Fest with a discussion about "The Game," a dark and twisting tale that Pete finds he doesn't really like anymore while Andy still connects with. Join us as we chat about why this film doesn't seem to work for Pete anymore and how Blake Snyder's book "Save the Cat!" may give us the answer, particularly as it relates to the current 99% movement and possibly also to some extent previous roles Michael Douglas has portrayed. We dig into why some people bought into this elaborate hoax that the story sets up and others didn't. We discuss how this movie came to be and who was originally slated to star in it, and we really get off on some of the great language in the script. It's a gloomy ride that satisfies some and leaves other pining for later and greater Fincher efforts, but we still have a great time talking about it so join in!
Fight Club | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:13:18
Greetings, movie lovers. This week, we hit David Fincher's film "Fight Club." Is it just an anarchic, pugilistic sensation or is Fincher really working at tapping into a dark zeitgeist affecting the average person at the turn of the century? Join us as we talk about this tale of an everyman narrator struggling to find sense in his Ikea life and how his dark counterpart, Tyler Durden, helps him find himself. We hit on the brilliant performances by Edward Norton and Brad Pitt, as well as the always wonderful Helena Bonham Carter. We discuss the message Fincher is saying and how this is, possibly, the only real film that Fincher's made that is more than just a genre film of some sort. Listen in, and let us know what you think of this wild ride!
Panic Room | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:03:05
We've made it to the middle of the Fincher-Fest, movie lovers! This week, join us as we talk about his one-location movie, "Panic Room." Falling right between "Fight Club" and "Zodiac", this movie really marks a turning point for David Fincher's films -- starting here, he moves into the land of digital cinema (mostly) and finds a more controlled approach to his storytelling. Join us as we talk about the trials and tribulations that went into getting this film made -- an impending writers' strike, last minute actress and supporting actress replacements, a seemingly simple script that redefined complexity of camerawork on the set, and a six-month production schedule that had to work around not only Jodie Foster's pregnancy going from 1st to 3rd term, but also Kristin Stewart -- then not so famous for being Bella in "Twilight" -- growing from being shorter than Jodie Foster to being taller than her. This in a film that takes place over the course of one night for the most part. It's a tense, claustrophobic, well-paced thrill ride that's worth taking, and we have a blast talking about it. Listen in!
Zodiac | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:02:31
Back in 2007, David Fincher created what many consider his best film, Zodiac. Hailed by dozens of critics as one of the best films of the year, it unfortunately never found its audience and ended up a financial failure. This week, movie lovers, join us as we delve into this meticulously crafted, haunting and sometimes scary film that details the obsession one man had in solving the Zodiac killings in the San Francisco area in the late 60s. From a script by James Vanderbilt based on Robert Graysmith's doggedly detailed books "Zodiac" and "Zodiac Unmasked", Fincher's pursuit to create as accurate a portrayal of the truth as possible give us a beautifully restrained look at how the police and newspaper reporters worked hard to try to find an answer to the killings yet never did so. We talk about how this potentially is the reason the film didn't fare well at the box office. We also discuss the film's impeccable cast (let's all give a hand to John Carroll Lynch's unforgettably creepy portrayal of Arthur Leigh Allen!); chat about the amazing (and invisible) visual effects used to recreate the San Francisco area from 1968 to 1991 that truly take us back in time; and cover how this film was the first film to shoot with the then new digital camera, the Viper, and what that allowed Harry Savides, the cinematographer, to do. It's a drastically underwatched film, in our opinion, and we think you ALL need to go rent it right now then listen in!
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:09:39
Our third stop on the Fincher Fest train brings us to David Fincher's 2008 drama, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Fincher outdid himself on this film, combining all elements available to him from tried and true practical elements through state-of-the-art digital effects -- not to mention countless top-notch performances -- to create an astounding period film about an astounding person who is born old and ages backward. We discuss the journey this F. Scott Fitzgerald story took to get to the silver screen -- a long one that at one point had Frank Oz slated to direct it and Martin Short to star as Benjamin! We chat about watching Benjamin Button, played by Brad Pitt in one of his best performances, age backward and the unreal makeup work done to pull it off, not just for him but for all the characters in the film. We talk about the themes this story is hitting upon and why it works so well, and we discuss the immense amount of money put into getting this film made and how Fincher managed to pull it all off and still turn it into a profitable film. The film won 3 Academy Awards and was nominated for an amazing 13 Academy Awards (though it should have been 14 as Cate Blanchett, who didn't get a nomination as Best Actress, has never been better!). Join us as we dig into this gorgeous film!
The Social Network | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:16:14
Greetings and salutations, movie aficionados! Welcome to the second episode of our Benjamin Button-style David Fincher-fest! Tonight, we discuss arguably his greatest film—certainly his most critically acclaimed. It's "The Social Network," from Aaron Sorkin's script that is simply on fire. Joining us tonight as a special guest is Chadd Stoops: actor, longtime friend of Pete and Andy, and HUGE fan of this film. In this episode, we discuss the realities of the movie's reality—was it fair for the filmmakers in telling this story to change the truths in order to make a more compelling film? We talk about the spot-on performances all around as well as the amazing magic Fincher worked to double Armie Hammer as the Winklevoss twins. We look at what this film is really saying about social networking and the people behind Facebook, and we discuss how "Fincher" this film really is. We also chime in on our opinions as to why it didn't win Best Picture at the Oscars. It's a spirited conversation about an incredibly relevant and hugely important piece of modern history. Listen in! Oh, and since we're talking about a movie about Facebook, make sure you go to the Rash Pixel page on Facebook and Like us! That way you can be a part of OUR social network! Happy listening!
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:16:52
It's the start of the Benjamin Button-style Fincher-Fest, movie lovers! And what better way to kick it off than to take a look at David Fincher's current film, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," based on Stieg Larsson's first book in his internationally best-selling "Millenium" trilogy. It's already racking up end-of-the-year accolades and incredible buzz about Rooney Mara's knock-your-socks-off performance of Lisbeth Salander (all well-earned), even though some contingents of fans of the original Swedish films (great films in their own right that only came out last year) question why Hollywood felt it so necessary to adapt the books again so quickly after the others were made. The Swedish films certainly put Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist -- who play Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, respectively -- on the map in international casting circles (Rapace has since appeared in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and just wrapped in Ridley Scott's Prometheus while Nyqvist appeared in John Singleton's Abduction earlier this year and currently can be seen in Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol.) In this episode, we talk about the various iterations of this first of Larsson's stories -- did the Americans need to make their own version, what works in each version and what doesn't, what did Fincher and his team bring to the table, etc. We work to put in context what the Swedish film is to Swedish audiences by comparing similar statistics with American films. We discuss the performances -- Rooney Mara's brilliant work as well as the amazing Daniel Craig who we both feel isn't just playing James Bond in Sweden. We discuss the change in the end of the story and how we feel about it as well as all of the sequences that come after the climax. We chat about the team behind this -- Steven Zaillian who is having a great year with this and Moneyball, Jeff Cronenweth, Ren Klyce, Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross -- and that's just some of the crew! Robin Wright, Stellan Skarsgard, Julian Sands and the always amazing Christopher Plummer all give brilliant performances. One actor we don't mention in this episode but who is worth mentioning here is Yorick van Wageningen, the poor actor stuck with playing the brutal role of Nils Bjurman. He was so traumatized after filming his pivotal rape scene with Mara that he locked himself in his hotel room for a day and cried. Obviously his choice to take the role, but it's always good to be reminded that an actor is not the character they portray. So if you haven't had a chance to read the book or watch either film version, go do so before listening in because we have some spoilers, then tune in and join us as we take on this fascinating murder mystery with one of film's most intriguing characters in years.
When Harry Met Sally... | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:04:10
It's a new year, movie lovers, and in this episode, we take on an incredible film with crisp, spot-on, endlessly quotable dialogue, a cast that is absolutely perfect, and not one but two fantastic New Year's Eve scenes. That's right, we're talking about Rob Reiner's 1989 romantic comedy classic When Harry Met Sally.... We talk about how the film sprang from the real lives of Rob Reiner, his producing partner Andrew Scheinman and the Oscar-nominated writer Nora Ephron. We discuss the nature of the filmmaking process for this film and how smart it was to let the storytelling stand out front even though they could have easily brought out an arsenal of cinematic tools to use. Restraint can be a good thing! We laugh about the neverending lines from the film that are still quoted to this day. And we report on the truth of those cute old couples who pop up throughout the film to recount their own tales of falling in love. It's a magical, heartwarming tale of love, friendship, and the constant struggle between men and women to try to understand each other. Tune in and join us to start 2012 off right! **Notes & Links** - [Daniel Craig Interview at TimeOut London](http://rashpixel.co/Ai1RC9)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:00:12
Greetings and salutations, movie lovers! In tonight's episode, we'll wrap up 2011 and our Charlie Kaufman trilogy with 2004's Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind, directed by Michel Gondry. Kaufman won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for this film, along with Gondry and Pierre Bismuth with whom he shares story credit, and they certainly deserved this award along with every other accolade they received for this incredible film. We discuss how this story about relationships fits in Kaufman's canon. We talk about all of the amazing tools of filmmaking, both digital and practical, that Gondry and his team employ to create this disintegrating world within our protagonist's head as his memories of his girlfriend are erased. We cover Gondry and what he's bringing to the table. We also discuss the actors and how much they all bring to the table, whether its Kate Winslet in her Oscar-nominated performance as Clementine, Jim Carrey in one of his greatest serious performances ever, or Elijah Wood in maybe the creepiest role he's played. It's an incredible film about love, loss, destiny, memory and identity. Listen in as we end the year with a bang!
We're No Angels (1955) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:09:26
Merry Christmas and happy holidays, movie nerds! Tonight, in the spirit of the season, we talk about Michael Curtiz's curious gem of a Christmas comedy from 1955, "We're No Angels."
Adaptation. | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:01:41
It's the second collaboration between director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, and it's another brilliant film to talk about. This time, it's 2002's Adaptation.
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About Triple Cream
Triple Cream consists of Dave, Brian, and Harvey.They began their careers as professional musicians working throughout the UK in various venues from clubs to theatres, and were in great demand as session musicians, working on many albums for various artists. They have also performed music for TV advertisements and radio jingles. In the early 80’s Triple Cream moved into musical parodies and stand up comedy and realized they had good comic timing and a great rapport with an audience. In the mid 80s they were runners-up on BBC TV’s ‘Opportunity Knocks’ and then secured a six week series guest spot for London Weekend Television.In 1989 the line-up changed when Dave and Brian where joined by Harvey and performed on the BBC TV’s, Generation Game to great acclaim. In 1994 they spent the whole year working in Bermuda and were invited to work in New York U.S.A. and were a big hit with the audience. Since then they have gone from strength to strength, and are constantly complimented on their originality, ad-libbing and professionalism.Triple cream can… Perform stand up comedy without the use of props or special effects, and keep an audience entertained with their quick fire ad-libbing and topical material. Triple Cream can also perform musical parodies which are always received to much acclaim and praised for their originality, skill and vocal dexterity.
Audience participation! is often a part of the comedy act. Members of the audience can be part of the show but without being overly embarrassed or feeling uncomfortable but part of the fun.
Corporate clients! can have humour to fit a company profile or music arranged to fit a produced or a particular employee without any fear of upsetting clients or management
Dave was born in Rochford Essex. He began to show an interest in music from an early age and started working as a keyboard player, working professionally in music and entertainment from the age of 15. He then worked with various musicians and entertainers, and in the early part of 1976 formed the beginnings of Triple Cream. It was in the later part of that year whilst at music college that Dave met Brian.
At this time Dave was also in demand as a music arranger and writer, and produced music for many acts and artists. Since the development of the comedy act, Dave has continued to grow, in the role as the straight man, but has his own off the wall sense of humour; Dave tends to spend most of his time keeping the other two under control!
In January 1993 Dave appeared in BBC TVs ‘Eastenders’ playing piano in the ‘Queen Vic’. Other instruments Dave plays are trumpet and drums.
Brian was born in Edgware, London. His father who was a comedy stage performer in the 40s and 50s influenced him from an early age. He learned the basics of percussion in one of the country’s top marching youth bands and has since taught drums and percussion in schools and music workshops.
Brian met Dave at music college and turned professional. He worked as a session drummer and singer (both lead and backing vocals) for many top names. Brian has also performed on TV and radio doing adverts and soundtracks.
Brian has a strong flair for comedy, and is a master of audience participation and tends to play the role of the likeable slightly silly one of the trio.
Brian is also an accomplished magician, and is a member of the ‘International Brotherhood of Magicians’ and has worked in the past with such names as Tommy Cooper and Paul Daniels. Yes, Brian can perform minor miracles in front of your very eyes!
Born in Thundersley, Essex. Harvey learned to play the piano from the age of 5 & has been involved in music ever since. His first band was called DV8, which he formed when he was 15 years old while attending Southend High School for Boys. At this time, he was also singing in the world-renowned “Southend Boys’ Choir“, soloing on BBC television & appearing at prestigious venues such as the Royal Albert Hall & also performing abroad. .
After leaving school Harvey then had various “normal“ jobs until he turned professional, joining his first band “China Blue“ in 1987 before moving on to “Triple Cream“ in 1989.
He has since appeared again on BBC TV and, most recently, in comedy sketches on ITV1’s show “The Warehouse“.
As the “cheeky monkey“ he is an integral part of the comedy show & is always a hit with the audience. His other musical talents include guitar, bass, saxophone, trumpet & oboe
“Triple Cream are quite simply one of the most accomplished & in demand comedy acts in the UK included was their showbusiness rap & celebrated dustbins routine. A naughty Tellytubbies sketch, with side-splitting finale, has also been introduced” – The Stage
“Possibly the best comedy band on the circuit today. Because these guys can provide a comedy cabaret spot and then another spot for dancing this makes them very versatile and very bookable!”
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Nature journal publishes the case of an HIV-infected adult who underwent a stem cell transplant to treat Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and has been in viral remission for 18 months in absence of antiretroviral treatment (ART). It is the second case in the world, after the Berlin Patient in 2009. Since then, all the cases of ART interruption following a stem cell transplant resulted in HIV rebound within the first year. The study has been led by the University College London and has been carried out within the framework of the international consortium IciStem, coordinated by the University Medical Center of Utrecht (The Nederlands) and IrsiCaixa (Barcelona), with whom the Fight AIDS Foundation works closely.
The patient was HIV positive since 2003 and was diagnosed of a Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2012, the reason why he underwent a stem cell transplant in 2016. Donor cells had a mutation, CCR5 Delta 32, which prevents viral entry in CD4 T lymphocytes. After 16 months, doctors interrupted ART and today, 18 months later, virus remains undetectable in their blood. Usually, when HIV+ individuals stop treatment, virus rebounds within the first 4 weeks.
Thus, this is the second case of long-term HIV remission in the world. “This report demonstrates –says Javier Martínez-Picado, ICREA professor at IrsiCaixa– that the Berlin Patient was not an isolated case and it is possible to achieve a total remission of HIV”. “Even so, we do not want to talk about cure yet, but the truth is that a year without viral rebound is something that had not been seen since the Berlin Patient, so our vision is very optimistic,” he adds. The results are presented on Tuesday at the Conference of Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), in Seattle, same day as the publication in Nature.
“We have analysed HIV levels in plasma and it is undetectable even using the most sensitive techniques” explains Maria Salgado, co-author of the study. In 2014, the Essen Patient received a transplant with the CCR5 Delta32 mutation, but when ART was interrupted, HIV quickly rebounded. In 3 other cases of stem cell transplant, without the CCR5 Delta 32 mutation, virus rebounded at week 12, 32 and 41, respectively.
Differences and similarities with the 'Berlin Patient'
Nature's paper highlights differences with the Berlin Patient. While his original cells partially presented the CCR5 Delta 32 mutation, the current patient did not. In addition, the case of Nature underwent a much less aggressive pre-transplant therapy and received a single transplant, when the Berlin Patient underwent two consecutive transplants. According to the researchers, this demonstrates that remission can be achieved even without having a previous mutation in the recipient and with much less aggressive drug regimens.
There are also coincidences between both patients. Both received a transplant with the CCR5 Delta 32 mutation, presented a mild graft-versus-host disease (a common situation after transplant, in which donor cells attack recipient cells) and full-donor chimerism was achieved from day 30. A previous study published in October 2018, already pointed out that these other factors, besides the CCR5 Delta 32 mutation, could be decisive to achieve viral remission. “Studying these other mechanisms could allow us to design less invasive HIV cure strategies that might be scalable to a large majority of the HIV+ population, and not only to those who suffer from a haematological disorder,” says Salgado.
Funded by The Foundation for AIDS Research, amfAR (USA), IciStem has studied 38 HIV transplanted patients since 2014, whom underwent a stem cell transfer due to a blood disease in all cases.
Researchers highlight that stem cell transplantation is a high-risk medical procedure and is only recommended in life-threatening haematological conditions. They also emphasize that ART interruption can only be performed under medical supervision.
Categories : Recerca i més
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Jason Aldean Noblesville IN Tickets
Jason Aldean Noblesville Tickets
A Thousand Horses is an upcoming country group from Nashville, Tennessee that was formed in 2010. The band consists of four members, Zach Brown, Michael Hobby, Graham DeLoach and Bill Satcher who made their debut by releasing their first self-titled Extended Play. It included a song, Suicide Eyes which was featured in the film, ‘Footloose’. They were later signed to Republic Nashville through which they released their studio album, ‘Southernality’ in 2015 that grabbed the attention of the critics. The group is now going to the Klipsch Music Center for their tour and will be performing their hits alongside names like Thomas Rhett and Jason Aldean. Get A Thousand Horses Noblesville tickets and listen to their music live.
View Jason Aldean Noblesville IN Tickets
Jason Aldean & Kane Brown Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
Noblesville IN
Buy Jason Aldean & Kane Brown, Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center Tickets for Fri Aug 23 2019 Fri Aug 23 2019Jason Aldean & Kane Brown, Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center tickets for 08/23 07:30 PM at Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center, Noblesville ,IN
A Thousand Horses appeared on the country scene with a bang and had everyone talking about them almost immediately. Rolling Stones’ appreciated the quartet by calling them “the best up-and-comer” and praised the group for its live performances.
A Thousand Horses getting the party started
A Thousand Horses were formed in 2010 and are based in Nashville, Tennessee. The band includes artists like, the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynrd, the Black Crowes and the Allman Brothers in their list of influences. They are known for their catchy sound as they fuse country, blues, soul and American rock. Their debut self-titled Extended Play, ‘A Thousand Horses’ is a perfect example of that. The EP was released through, DGC/Interscope Records in 2010 and produced five songs including, Suicide Eyes which was featured in the film, ‘Footloose’.
Southernality
Five years after the release of their first EP, the group signed with Republic Nashville and released their debut studio album, ‘Southernality’ in 2015. The record featured their hit single, Smoke which topped the Country Airplay chart and was certified gold in the U.S. It also earned them a nomination for a CMT Music Award. ‘Southernality’ charted at third spot on the Billboard 200 and received three and a half stars out of five by AllMusic. Now you can see them performing live as they hit the road for their tour alongside Thomas Rhett and Jason Aldean. Book A Thousand Horses Noblesville tickets and join the group live at the Klipsch Music Center.
Jason Aldean Noblesville IN Tickets Prices
Currently the average price for Jason Aldean Noblesville IN tickets is $312. The date and location for this event is 23-Aug-19 at Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center, Noblesville. The minimum get-in price for Jason Aldean Noblesville IN tickets is $28.
Jason Aldean & Kane Brown Noblesville 23-Aug-19 $312 $28
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Food Security & Sovereignty
Labor & Migration
Gender and Race
Farm Justice
Seed Politics
Agrarian Cooperatives
Farmers, Fairness & the Farm Bill
where issues of producers, policy and equity converge
A Collaborative Research Project with Rural Coalition, National Family Farm Coalition & American University's School of International Service (Washington, DC)
2014 winter forum poster session
Sam Bellavance
ABSTRACT: For hundreds of years dairy farmers have needed to store silage (chopped grass or corn) when pasturing isn't an option. In order to prevent silage from rotting modern dairy farmers use a layer of polyethylene plastic held down by discarded tires to create an air-tight seal around the piles. This process, while cheaper and safer than conventional silos, is extremely wasteful, inefficient, and laborious.
· The petroleum based plastic deteriorates quickly forcing farmers to send hundreds of pounds of plastic to the landfill each year.
· Furthermore, the tires used to hold down the plastic fill with rainwater and become breeding grounds for swarms of disease spreading mosquitoes.
· The process is also extremely slow, often taking the entire farm staff multiple days to cover a year’s silage crop, effectively halting other farm activities.
· Of most concern, this job is extremely tough on workers, requiring them to hand-place thousands of 20-80 pound tires up and down the 30’ tall pile all day.
Inspired by the edible wax coating found on cheeses and motivated by years of moving tires at my family’s dairy farm I began developing an edible coating that can be sprayed on silage piles and harden into a protectivecover. This solution would remove plastic sheeting and tires from the process, and could be applied by one worker. Because it is non-toxic, the coating could simply be mixed into the silage during feeding. I am currently working with the AU chemistry department and Sunset Lake Farms to develop a prototype solution.
AGRICULTURAL LIVELIHOODS: Rural Youth Migration in Rosário da Limeira, Minas Gerais Brasil
Claudia Barragan, Executive master of international seRVICE, 2015 & rachel teter, Master of International development, 2015, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
ABSTRACT: The phenomenon of rural migration in regards to agriculture and food systems livelihoods is highly complex. As in any community, some young members will leave while others choose to stay. However, the ongoing trend over the last decade has shown a marked increase in urban residents and a coinciding decline in rural inhabitants.
In 2014 graduate student researchers from American University traveled to the rural community of Rosário da Limeira, Brazil. Our research was at the heart of Brazil's Mata Atlântica (Atlantic Forest). Over time, this forest has been decimated while locals still struggle to generate forest-based incomes. Hosted by the Iracambi Research Center, our research addressed the impacts of rural youth exodus on rural livelihoods, and the development challenges inclusive of agricultural food systems that lead to vulnerability of the environment in the Limeira region and communities.
Based on data gathered from community member interviews, we found rural exodus is largely driven by deficiencies of investment in regional livelihoods, compounded by a lack of consideration of alternative agricultural programs for area farmers such as Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES). Specifically, the areas we propose to be addressed are community-fracturing, lack of youth participation in decision making, lack of investment in education, underproductive agricultural livelihoods, and environmental concerns. By actively replenishing the immensely biodiverse forests of the Mata Atlântica, farmers are proving they can foster ecotourism as an alternative livelihood opportunity, and as an incentive for rural families to participate in conservation activities.
RESEARCH PROJECT CLIENT: Iracambi, Atlantic Rainforest, Brazil
Rachel Teter, MASTER OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CANDIDATE, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
ABSTRACT: Since its founding the USDA has been tasked with two crucial goals: assuring farmers earn enough to make a living and that the US population has the means to afford the food produced. It is currently failing to meet both of these goals. Over time, inequality has risen in the US, causing the scale and depth of poverty to rise. More Americans than ever before are not making enough to afford a nutritious diet, with over 23.5 living in “food deserts” and one in seven receiving food stamps.
On the other side of this debate are the small-scale producers, who ironically are poorer than ever, despite the fact that SNAP was originally meant to support them. Farmers’ markets are a way of taking back a share of the SNAP sales that, over the last several decades, have been going more and more exclusively to large ag-biz corporations. This research uses academic literature and interviews to examine SNAP and how it affects both benefit recipients and those small-scale farmers who have found a means, primarily through farmers’ markets, of reaching these low-income families directly. It will look at the inconsistencies that have evolved between what the program originally set out to do and its current structure as well as how this structure is affecting low-income families, small-scale farmers and the US food system. My conclusion is that SNAP aids in permanently lowering poverty and is a largely untapped source of income for small-scale farmers. SNAP acceptance at farmers markets can also help eliminate food deserts throughout the country.
Anna Claire Eddington, ADMISSIONS COUNsELOR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
ABSTRACT: During the summer of 2014, I conducted qualitative research on farmer field education through a case study of Heifer International in the Cuzco region of Peru. The research questions focused on the educational techniques and programs used by Heifer Peru staff members to train smallholder farmers in sustainable agriculture. The Heifer program itself targets members of the poorest communities in rural Peru and I concentrated my research on two main communities that focused on the production of alpacas and guinea pigs and also had small farms. I interviewed 30 people in a total of 20 interviews with the assistance of both a Spanish and Quechua translator. The following themes emerged through the interviews I conducted: rural development, indigenous knowledge, environmental degradation, market access and international development projects. The general report from the majority of farmers was that they enjoyed learning from members of their own community (not foreigners), that they needed both tools and knowledge to implement sustainable farming and animal husbandry techniques, and that community support and buy-in was critical to the continuation and growth of any form of sustainable farming program.
I have not yet coded my interviews and am not yet able to draw firm conclusions. With this in mind, my poster would demonstrate the research questions and general themes that emerged from the research. It would also show my expected results with the important caveat that the research has not yet been thoroughly analyzed.
Kirsten Franzen
ABSTRACT: For my research, I am examining the modern sugar economy of the Dominican Republic and Brazil. I will compare and contrast these modern sugar economies with the colonial slave sugar economies as described by Sidney Mintz in his 1987 book “Sweetness and Power.” In his book, Mintz describes the production of sugar in the colonial Caribbean and as part of a global economic system that helped to create the modern capitalist system. He describes the production of sugar within a colonial slave economy and the dynamics of production and exploitation.
I will look at the more modern implications of the sugar economy in Brazil and the Dominican Republic. The time frame of this research is from the 20th to the 21st century. I will look at domestic policies, agrarian land reform and land ownership, post-colonial race relations, agrarian labor conditions, and most recently, neoliberal policies and international trade agreements effect on sugar production, income, and labor conditions of agricultural laborers in Brazil and the Dominican Republic.
My poster will contain a map of Brazil and the Dominican Republic, outlining the most prominent areas for sugar farms and plantations. It will contain a section for literature review and methods. It will also contain a section for results categorized by modern conditions categorized by landless labor, labor conditions, and migration; land ownership, reform, and redistribution; race, education and inequality; and economic policies, both domestic and international.
Food Sovereignty and Civil Society Action: How grassroots movements influence policy
Bethany Tietjen
ABSTRACT: This paper addresses how civil society and grassroots mobilization have played a role in food sovereignty movements around the world. Focusing specifically on Latin America, it examines areas that have had experience with agricultural legislation affecting local and indigenous people. There have been several cases throughout Latin America where grassroots mobilization led to the rejection or suspension of GMO laws that would have limited the food sovereignty of local people. Many of the policies that are opposed by these groups are provisions of trade agreements with the U.S. government. For indigenous communities in Latin America, land and agriculture are considered extensions of their culture, and the policies pushed by the U.S. government on behalf of Monsanto and other corporations are threatening that relationship.
The people that stand up against these policies are often part of the global Via Campesina network of individuals and organizations that are advocating for the right of food producers to regain control of the food system from the corporate sector. Though there are numerous examples of successful mobilization influencing the rejection of policy, it is unclear if small-scale movements are enough to fight against the current corporate food system. This paper examines past results of grassroots activism in response to food and agriculture policy and whether these movements can influence long-term, sustainable policy change.
INTENTIONAL COMMUNITIES AS MODELS FOR SUSTAINABLE FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS
Hamzah Abu-Ragheb, master of science in sustainability management
ABSTRACT: The global food and agriculture systems face many challenges: scarcity, famine, environmental damage, social injustice, poverty and beyond. These problems are caused by the regional and global social, economic and political realities and are compounded by globalization and free markets. Creating sustainable and socially just food and agricultural systems within those realities seems to be very difficult for farmers and communities. It may be useful to look to communities that have intentionally and successfully isolated themselves from the influence of the mainstream social, political and economic rules for possible solutions. Certain intentional communities strive to be to some degree self-sufficient and engage in sustainable agriculture while some have succeeded in creating a more sustainable and impartial internal food and agricultural system. These can help us understand the social, economic and political contexts that allow for a more viable small scale sustainable and fair agricultural and food system. We take a look at what these intentional communities do differently that allow them to harbor such systems. We then assess if these communities could serve as models for the broader community to learn from and emulate. It is clear that intentional communities have created internal social, economic and political realities that allow them to engage in and sustain different food and agricultural systems from the mainstream and although intentional communities differ considerably within themselves, it seems that they could help enrich the sustainable agriculture discourse. Intentional communities may not present the full solution to the world’s food and agricultural problems, yet they are valuable as models for systems that are more conducive to sustainable agriculture.
Leah Germer
ABSTRACT: Over the last decade, the production of beef, pork, poultry, and milk in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has grown by more than one third, far above the world average. An important driver of this growth has been the introduction of technologies and practices that restrict production to areas already designated for livestock, leading to intensified systems with increased meat and milk output per animal. This trend poses new challenges in LAC for the management of nutrient flows and greenhouse gas emissions from livestock manure. My research is based on an overview of the policies related to manure management in thirteen LAC countries and an interview-based case study of the Costa Rican pig sector, and was performed in conjunction with the Tropical Agricultural Research Center (CATIE) in Costa Rica. Our results show that many livestock producers do not consider nutrient flows or the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the cost-benefit analysis of production operations. This finding suggests that a good understanding among producers of the co-benefits between managing nutrient flows, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy investment in biogas, and farm-level profitability has not been achieved. I conclude by identifying opportunities and policy options to demonstrate and spread awareness of these co-benefits.
Community partnered action research on and for U.S. agricultural policy
www.farmbillfairness.org
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2017 Design Matters Conference
Sep 14, 2017 to Sep 16, 2017
Association of Architecture Organizations
related grantee projects
2018 | Association of Architecture Organizations, 2018 Design Matters Conference
2015 | Association of Architecture Organizations, 2015 Design Matters Conference: Activating Your Design Community
2014 | Association of Architecture Organizations, 2014 Design Matters Conference: Crafting the Story
2013 | Association of Architecture Organizations, 2013 Conference: Making and Measuring Impact
2012 | Association of Architecture Organizations, 2012 Conference: Connecting People and Place
2011 | Association of Architecture Organizations, 2011 Conference: Design in Action
Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter addresses the audience during a public symposium at AAO's Design in Action conference, 2011, Philadelphia. Photo: Mark Garvin
The Design Matters Conference, presented by the Association of Architecture Organizations (AAO), is the largest annual gathering of educators and not-for-profit professionals dedicated to engaging the public on issues of architecture and design. The 2017 meeting takes place in Chicago, Illinois, where it will attract an international audience for its 300 participants, timed to coincide with the opening weekend of the Chicago Architecture Biennial. Through keynote lectures, breakout sessions, and mobile tours in the community, attendees will investigate how communities are strengthened through design. In addition to big-picture thinking, technical and organizational development skills are addressed in several operations areas, such as architectural tours, exhibitions, lectures, and public programming.
John Comazzi is director of the undergraduate degree program in architecture at the University of Minnesota’s College of Design. He received his BS in architecture from the University of Virginia and his MArch and MS in architectural history and theory from the University of Michigan. Before joining the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 2006, Comazzi taught at the University of Michigan. He has practiced architecture at planning firms in the Washington, DC, area and the state of Michigan, and was a founding partner of Design-CRED in Minnesota, established in 2006. His areas of research and scholarship focus on architectural photography, design theory and criticism, design-build, and active learning environments for PK–12 education. He is the author of the first monograph on the life and career of Balthazar Korab, one of the most prolific and celebrated architecture photographers of the modern era, Balthazar Korab: Architect of Photography (Princeton Architectural Press, 2012).
Peter Murray is a British writer who has made a career in architectural communications and surface design. He trained as an architect and was editor of Building Design and RIBA Journal before launching Blueprint Magazine in 1983. He has curated a number of major architectural exhibitions and is chairman of the communications consultancy, Wordsearch. Murray is the founder of both New London Architecture and the London Festival of Architecture, and is the author of several books, including The Saga of Sydney Opera House and A Passion to Build. He is also a visiting professor at IE University in Madrid and honorable secretary of the Bedford Park Society.
Lynn Osmond is the president and CEO of the Chicago Architecture Foundation. Under her leadership, CAF has developed into a premier Chicago cultural institution, offering a comprehensive program of tours, exhibitions, lectures, special events, and adult and youth education programs, serving an annual audience of 640,000 visitors. Osmond is a past recipient of the Chicago Women of Achievement Award from the Chicago Alliance for Women, and, in 2005, she became an Honorary Member of The American Institute of Architects. Her present volunteer commitments include an appointment from the Chicago Mayor's Office to chair the Toronto Sister Cities Committee.
Dora Epstein Jones, executive director, came to the A+D Museum after serving several years as coordinator of general studies at the Southern California Institute of Architecture. A prolific author, curator, and editor, Epstein Jones holds a PhD in architectural history, theory, and criticism, as well as an MA in urban planning, both from the University of California, Los Angeles. A fellow of the Council of Learned Societies and an advisory board member for the Getty Research Institute’s Architecture Archive, Esptein Jones brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective to AAO's community of architectural organizations.
The Association of Architecture Organizations (AAO) is a member-based network that connects the many organizations around the world dedicated to enhancing public dialogue about architecture and design. Founded in 2009, AAO promotes innovation and best practices by facilitating knowledge sharing among its members, partner organizations, and interested individuals. AAO organizes conferences and workshops, provides professional development opportunities, supports the creation of new architectural organizations, and serves as a communication network for our members.
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Donald Trump's Administration is Looking a lot Like Richard Nixon's: Guilty
“When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal."
It’s unfair to Richard Nixon to be compared to Donald Trump. Nixon was ashamed of his behavior and proved it when a British game show host got the best of him in an interview that resulted in the incredibly incorrect statement Nixon uttered above. I’m not sure Trump is capable of feeling shame, but we can’t ignore how similarly the Trump Administration is unraveling like the Nixon Administration did as a result of Watergate.
The Trump/Nixon Differences
Nixon was more popular than Trump is or has been. Trump limped into the White House thanks to the Electoral College. He lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by two percent (48.18 percent to 46.09 percent). Nixon, however, won reelection in 1972 in one of the biggest landslides in American political history (60.67 percent to 37.52 percent). So these two Presidents started from vastly different measures of popularity.
After winning reelection, Nixon’s job approval rating according to Gallup was 50 percent. Trump entered his first term as President with a job approval rating of 45 percent, but his post-midterm job approval rating is just 38 percent—falling six percentage points in less than a month. That sudden drop is no doubt in response to Trump coercing the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who recused himself from Robert Mueller’s investigation of the Trump campaign’s potential participation in Russian meddling in the 2016 Presidential Election.
Trump replaced Sessions with former ambulance chaser and potential defrauder of veterans, Matt Whitaker, Sessions’ former Chief of Staff, which is apparently legal, even though the order of succession at the Department of Justice doesn’t include the Chief of Staff on the list. The executive order Trump signed on March 31, 2017, doesn’t list the Chief of Staff as a potential successor either, but does state that “the President retains discretion, to the extent permitted by law, to depart from this order in designating an acting Attorney General,” which was the case when Barack Obama was President, too.
Nixon’s job approval rating dropped eight points between Dec. 11, 1972, and Jan. 12, 1973, as a result of The Washington Post’s continued reporting on the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel that occurred June 13, 1971. But it wasn’t until Nixon’s Attorney General, Richard Kleindienst, resigned, along with top White House staffers, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, on April 30, 1973, that Nixon’s job approval rating reflected his guilt.
Attorneys General can Smell Guilt
It’s generally not a good sign for Presidents when U.S. Attorneys General resign amid scandal, whether coerced to do so or not. Attorneys have a pretty good sense of people’s guilt and tend to be pretty good at covering their asses. Kleindienst wrote the playbook Sessions is simply following in an attempt to avoid the fate of John N. Mitchell, the Attorney General who ran Nixon’s 1968 and 1972 Presidential campaigns and was imprisoned for 19 months due to his involvement in the Watergate break-in and cover-up. And Trump is trying to improve upon the playbook Nixon wrote on covering up election fraud, but Trump is leaving his friends out to dry just as Nixon did.
Gordon Liddy, leader of the group of five men who broke into the DNC headquarters, told Attorney General Kleindienst that the break-in was directed and funded by the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP), and that Kleindienst should arrange the release of the burglars to reduce the risk of exposing CREEP’s involvement in the break-in. But Kleindienst refused and ordered the Watergate burglary investigation to proceed like any other. He resigned April 30, 1973. Nixon's approval rating had dropped 19 points in roughly three months.
Just like Trump failed to ask Sessions if he would be willing to undermine Mueller’s investigation prior to appointing him Attorney General, Nixon failed to ask Kleindienst’s replacement, former Secretary of Defense Elliot Richardson, if he would do what Kleindienst wouldn’t and undermine the Watergate investigation. When ordered to fire the top lawyer investigating the Watergate scandal, Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, Richardson responded by resigning on Oct. 20, 1973—five months into his tenure as Attorney General. Like Sessions, Richardson had promised Congress he would not interfere with the special prosecutor’s investigation. At this point, Nixon's approval rating was 27 percent—down another 21 points since Kleindienst's resignation.
Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox, the original Mueller. He refused and also resigned. Nixon then ordered the third-most-senior official at the Justice Department, Solicitor General Robert Bork, to fire Cox. Bork considered resigning after firing Cox, but Richardson convinced him not to in order to ensure proper DOJ leadership. Bork served as acting Attorney General until Nixon appointed William B. Saxbe to the position on Jan, 4, 1974, his approval rating still hovering at 27 percent.
You could say Trump has avoided some of the mistakes Nixon made, but he’s still mired in scandal and using any opportunity afforded him as President to undermine Mueller’s investigation into his campaign’s potential participation in Russian meddling in the 2016 Presidential Election. The appointment of Whitaker is to Trump as Bork was to Nixon; Whitaker just hasn’t fired Mueller yet, and might not have to if his idea to slow the investigation to a halt by cutting its funding works.
Sessions smelled guilt on Trump when he recused himself from the Mueller Investigation. That was Sessions covering his ass, and that odor has only worsened as Mueller’s investigation has resulted in indictments or guilty pleas from 32 people and three companies...so far. Some suspect a big announcement coming from Mueller, as eight members of his team worked Veteran’s Day—a paid day off for federal employees.
Barring White House Reporters a Tell-Tale Sign of Guilt
On Wednesday, CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s White House press pass was suspended indefinitely. Acosta asked Trump whether he thought his calling a migrant caravan in South America an “invasion” demonized immigrants. The President answered “no,” adding that he wanted the immigrants to come to this country but do so legally, and that Acosta’s definition of invasion differed from his. Trump then went on to tell Acosta that he should focus on running CNN and let him run the country, and if he did, their ratings would be much better.
Trump attempted to take a question from NBC News correspondent Peter Alexander, but Acosta withheld the microphone from a White House intern and asked if Trump was concerned about the Russia investigation, to which Trump responded by calling it a “hoax” and told Acosta to “put down the mic,” stepping away from the podium when Acosta asked if he was worried about indictments. Acosta yielded control of the microphone to the intern, and Trump told Acosta that “CNN should be ashamed” to have him working for them, calling him “a rude, terrible person.”
Alexander defended his fellow free-press member: "In Jim's defense, I've traveled with him and watched him, he's a diligent reporter who busts his butt like the rest of us.” Trump responded by saying, “Well I'm not a big fan of yours either.” Trump continued to insult reporters during the press conference, calling a question from PBS correspondent Yamiche Alcindor “racist.” She asked if Trump thought calling himself a nationalist emboldened white nationalists. Trump also told April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks to “sit down” repeatedly.
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is now being accused of circulating a doctored video of Acosta’s interaction with the White House intern. Sanders originally cited Acosta “placing his hands on” the woman as reason for his barring, but in defense of a lawsuit brought by CNN, the White House is now citing Acosta’s “disruptions” as reason for the suspension of his press pass.
If these aren’t the nervous actions of a guilty man’s administration, I don’t know what is. Nixon barred Washington Post reporters from the White House for everything but press conferences on Dec. 11, 1972. This was long after he sued The New York Times for publishing stories citing the leaked “Pentagon Papers,” a classified study of the Vietnam War that revealed the Nixon Administration had escalated the war despite knowing it couldn’t win the war. The Post came to The Times’ defense and published stories from the “Pentagon Papers” on June 18, 1971...just like NBC News and even Fox News is coming to the defense of Acosta and CNN today.
It took a year and a half for The Post to wear out its welcome at the White House with its Watergate coverage. Mueller’s investigation has been ongoing for a year and a half.
How Long Until the End of Trump?
Democrats will have the votes to impeach Trump in the House of Representatives when the new Congress is convened on Jan. 3. House Democrats already introduced five articles of impeachment in November 2017, and only need a majority vote on one to force a Senate trial overseen by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts. Impeachment doesn’t mean Trump is removed from office, however.
Nixon’s Senate trial lasted two months, and it was a full two years between the Watergate break-in and his resulting resignation, so if Trump’s timeline is as similar as it has been thus far, if he’s to be removed or if he’s to resign from office, it’s likely to happen sooner rather than later, but unlikely to happen at all. In fact, Congressional Democrats and Democratic Presidential candidates would likely prefer to run against a Trump White House rather than a Mike Pence White House, who is beloved by the Koch Brothers.
It’s not likely that Congress will remove Trump because two-thirds of Senators would have to find the President guilty in order for Vice President Pence to take over. Unless Senate Republicans up for reelection in 2020 (there are at least 20) feel they’d be better served running under a Pence Presidency than the Trump Administration, don’t expect Congress to remove the President. But Congress didn’t need to vote for Nixon to resign, and similar pressure on Trump—like criminal charges brought by Mueller—might bring similar results.
The more Mueller digs, the more he seems to be digging Trump’s political grave, so don’t be surprised if come February or March of 2019, Trump is doing what Nixon did on Aug. 9, 1974—resigning. But if there’s any shame to be pried from Trump’s soul to give us what we all need to heal as a nation, it’s going to require one hell of a game show host.
If you like this, you might like these Genesis Communications Network talk shows: The Costa Report, Drop Your Energy Bill, Free Talk Live, Flow of Wisdom, America’s First News, America Tonight, Bill Martinez Live, Korelin Economics Report, The KrisAnne Hall Show, Radio Night Live, The Real Side, World Crisis Radio, The Tech Night Owl, The Dr. Katherine Albrecht Show
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Environmentally friendly PCs, a new trend for 2008?
Not too long ago the pinnacle of gaming bliss was a dual core AMD PC outfitted with two Nvidia graphics cards in SLI configuration, obviously sporting a RAID0 configuration of the fastest 10K rpm desktop drives and a barrage of case fans to keep all these hot components running cool. To state that the power requirements of such a system were rather steep would be an understatement as a 500W power supply was a stringent requirement and usually barely able to keep pace. Obviously the impact on your annual electricity bill for running such a PC on a daily basis would be substantial, or from an environmentalist point of view the equivalent of a hard smack across the face.
So are PC component manufacturers bucking the trend, while consumer electronics manufacturers are trying to come up with more power efficient products? Apparently not, as manufacturers such as Intel and AMD continue to make an effort to reduce the power consumption of their processors, which is evident from the reduction in power consumption with every new generation of products. Apparently these manufacturers are now putting more emphasis on the performance per Watt figure, rather than raw processing power irrespective of the power consumption. I am sure we can all remember the Pentium 4 Netburst architecture that had some of the worst performance per Watt figures to date. Current Intel Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors have ever improving TDP (thermal design power) figures as do AMD's Phenom processors.
However, we have yet to see the same increase in efficiency with graphics processors from Nvidia and AMD. At the moment the balance has shifted from the CPU being the most power hungry device in your PC to the graphics card, especially with the top-of-the-line products from either manufacturer. For example, Nvidia's quad SLI can be outfitted with four graphics cards, not seldom requiring at least a 750W power supply to provide sufficient power to such a configuration. AMD's quad Crossfire does not fare much better in that respect, gobbling up equal amounts of power for just a mere few extra FPS.
So are these gaming behemoths facing extinction, much like the dinosaurs? I would like to think so, with the performance of current mid-range graphics cards you will be hard pressed to find justification for purchasing a quad, or even a dual, graphics card configuration. However that does not mean that graphic processor manufacturers can sit on their laurels, as even a mid-range graphics card does not offer nearly the performance per Watt figure of current processors. This in itself is somewhat surprising, as both Nvidia and AMD have the technology to increase that figure considerably, but apparently they do not seem compelled to use it on their desktop products. Upon taking a closer look it is immediately apparent that both Nvidia and AMD have mobile graphics processors that do considerably better in the performance per Watt department, technology which is directly applicable to desktop products too.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could see an overall reduction in the power consumption of PC components, and resulting from that the PC as a whole? Not just to cut down on our consumption of Earth's natural resources, but also because it will have a considerable direct impact on our annual electricity bills. Wouldn't it be nice if manufacturers would pick up on this challenge and come up with ingenious ways to further up the performance per Watt? Considering both Intel and AMD are very keen on being the first to reach a new milestone, such as the GHz barrier quite a few years ago, how about setting some new goals for power efficiency? As after all, a processor with a better performance per Watt figure will have a compelling sales argument: it will cut costs in the long run by reducing its operational cost. These improvements are important not just for the millions of desktop PCs that are used on a daily basis, but also for the millions of servers that are powered on day and night serving out web pages and other content. Once you add up all the power improvements made there you can see how total savings will be quite considerable. Lets hope that in 2008 we will see this trend continue and in a few years from now we will be back to 250W power supplies or less for top-of-the-line PCs.
How much DOES a pc hit electricity bills anyway? andrew kairis 8 replies Feb 20, 2008, 01:35pm EST
Re: Environmentally friendly PCs, a new trend for 2008? ian elliott 5 replies Jan 04, 2008, 12:42am EST
Re: Environmentally friendly PCs, a new trend for 2008? Sander Sassen 20 replies Feb 02, 2008, 10:40am EST
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News on IICLO
An update on the International Institute for Children’s Literature in Osaka, which is under threat of closure. The situation has deteriorated in the last few weeks — see the following letter from Matsui Tadashi, the IICLO President. I intend to send the Governor of Osaka prefecture another letter on behalf of IRSCL, and our Japanese colleagues continue to fight with great determination for the survival of the organisation and the collection.
Dear Supporter of IICLO,
Thank you very much for your continued warm support for the IICLO. We would like to report on the present situation of IICLO.
A prefectural assembly was held from the 24th of February to the 23rd of March. The Osaka prefectural government proposed and debated both an ordinance of closure of the IICLO and a budget for transferring materials of IICLO to the Osaka Central Library. As a result, both proposals were passed despite of our wish to leave the IICLO as it was.
Although a petition for the continued existence of the IICLO had been passed at the Osaka prefectural assembly in September, 2008 with a lot of warm support from all over the world, the prefectural government did not deviate from their position that the foundation should be reviewed completely and the Institute is going to close within the 2009 academic year (up to March, 2010) and the materials of IICLO are going to be transferred to the Osaka central library.
Foundations connected to the IICLO, the donors and people concerned with the IICLO had their first meeting with the governor, Mr. Hashimoto in order to exchange opinions about the future of the IICLO on the 21st of January, 2009 and have continued to have meetings with the board of Education. At the same time, on the 25th of February the donors demanded that Osaka prefectural government return the materials they had donated and filed a lawsuit to this end at a local courthouse in Osaka on the 16th of March. It is to our great regret that the prefectural government has pushed through the proposal to close the IICLO and that the proposal was passed.
The date of the closure of IICLO will be decided by the education board, but it seems that it will be at the end of 2009 or at the end of 2009 academic year (31st of March, 2010). Thus. the foundation is facing a severe threat in the near future.
We had a directors’ meeting on the 26th of March and discussed the future of IICLO. We have decided to make a special committee for its future management, the head of which will be the president of IICLO.
Although the situation the IICLO faces is really tough, we will do our best to find the best solution both for the materials and for the foundation through discussions with organizations concerned with IICLO and we humbly ask that you continue to give us your support.
MATSUI, Tadashi
President, IICLO
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Julia Salter Earle (1878-1945)
Biography of Julia Salter Earle (1878-1945).
Remembering Another Group of War Volunteers
The brief account of the life of Sybil Johnson (1887-1973), a nurse in the Volunteer Aid Detachment (VAD) in World War I.
The Girls' Department of the King George the Fifth Institute
Overview of the Girls' Department of the King George the Fifth Institute in St. John's, NL
Health-Care Organizations
Leading up to the Commission of Government, health-care organizations did much to promote public health and welfare in Newfoundland and Labrador.
NONIA
Overview of the history of NONIA.
Stella Burry (1897-1991)
Biography of Stella Burry (1897-1991).
Women's Walking Tour
Bonavista Bay
Greenspond
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The Architectural Legacy of Garstang & Rea: Amos Armstrong Cass House, Carterville, Missouri
Amos Armstrong Cass House, Carterville, Missouri
We are happy to present the first of many photographs from the portfolio of architect Alfred W. Rea of Garstang & Rea. The featured photo is of the Amos Armstrong Cass House in Carterville, Missouri. Many thanks to Rea’s relatives for preserving and sharing Garstang & Rea’s architectural legacy.
Amos Armstrong Cass
The Biographical Record of Jasper County, Missouri, by Malcom G. McGregor, had this to say about Mr. Cass:
“One of the most conspicuous exponents of that sturdy spirit of American progressiveness which enables men to win success in any field of labor to which they may be called, that could be pointed out among the many successful miners and business men of Jasper county, Missouri, is Amos A. Cass, of Carterville. He is a native of Georgia, but was taken to east Tennessee while yet a mere child, and was there reared to manhood. James M. Cass, his grandfather, was a cousin of General Lewis Cass. His father, James M. Cass, died in Tennessee. His mother, who prior to her marriage was Miss Martha Jane Ryan, was a native of Georgia, and she died in Carterville, Missouri.
Mr. Cass, a contractor and builder, came to Jasper county in 1886 and engaged in the milling business, but soon began to give attention to mining. During the last five years he has devoted himself exclusively to mining, and is now interested in seven good plants, having three on the Cornfield land, at Carterville, one on the Perry lease, one on the McKinley lease and one on Judge McGregor’s lands, besides one other at Oronogo, all productive mines, well equipped with good machinery, and he has come to be known as one of the most extensive miners in the district. He is a partner and director in the Weeks Hardware Company at Carterville, and is a director in the Carterville Investment Company, of which corporation he is secretary.
A man of much public spirit, he has the best interests of Carterville at heart and he is one of its most active and progressive citizens and one of theleading Democrats of Jasper county. He was for eight years a member of the school board of Carterville and was influential in increasing the number of school rooms of the public schools of the town from four to fourteen and in securing the erection of two new brick school buildings. In 1867 he was received as an Entered Apprentice, passing the Fellow Craft degree and was raised to the Sublime degree of Master Mason. Later he took the degrees of capitular Masonry, became in turn a Mark Master, a Past Master and a Most Excellent Master and was exalted to the august degree of Royal Arch Mason; the degrees of Chivalric Masonry were conferred upon him and he was constituted, dubbed and created a Knight Templar, and still later he acquired the Royal degrees of the Secret Ineffable degrees of the Scottish Rite.
Mr. Cass married Miss Sarah Hunt, a native of east Tennessee. His son, Walter W. Cass, owns a good interest in four good producing mines and is connected with his father in the management of the Bell C. and L. C. mines, of which he is superintendent and his son, Carl C. Cass, is assistant superintendent. He had four daughters: Ollie, the eldest, the deceased wife of M. V. James, of Carterville; Lillie A., wife of O. H. Schoenherr; Belle B., at home; and Beulah Jene, a student in St. Charles College, at St. Louis, Missouri.”
According to his death certificate, Cass enjoyed his home by Garstang & Rea up until his death in 1915 from heart disease.
Brown, November 9th 2011 | Tags: Alfred W. Rea, Amos Armstrong Cass, architecture, Carterville History, Garstang & Rea, history of Carterville Missouri, history of Jasper County Missouri, History of Joplin Missouri, Jasper County Missouri, joplin history, Joplin Missouri, photograph of house
Posted in Buildings of Joplin, People of Joplin, Photographs of Joplin, Southwest Missouri history
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Leopold H Kerney
4 - Frank Ryan's Correspondence
Between then and the 13th August 1942 Ryan wrote a further six letters to Kerney, each one being delivered on the occasion of a visit by Clissmann. These visits were also the occasion of conveying news to and from Ryan's family as Kerney had done while he was in prison. Kerney considered Ryan's letters to be purely personal. In those days it was dangerous to express one's opinions in writing unless the letter was transmitted by hand, and even then, this was not totally safe. Consequently Kerney thought it prudent not to forward copies to Dublin until sometime later, after Ryan's death, [35] with one exception as noted below. Eventually the originals were lodged there, too. They are often written in a veiled language, the finer points being sometimes difficult to interpret. The first of these, dated 26th September 1941, was delivered during Kerney's absence as he was on leave in Dublin until 1st November. Apart from expressing thanks for receiving news of his family, Ryan says he recently "raised very strongly" the question of his going home but received the answer that if he went, "the respective governments of the greater and lesser islands might form wrong conclusions and might (without cause) get nervous". He concluded that he would be remaining there for quite a while.
The subsequent letter of 6th November 1941 is somewhat more lengthy and gives as his reason for the views he goes on to express the fear that Kerney might be blamed by others or indeed by his own conscience for active assistance to a "trouble-maker". He states again that he is treated as a "distinguished guest" with the status of a non-party neutral acting in a "consultative" capacity when his views are asked regarding situations and news that require interpretation. He makes the point that he is "not working for - nor even in communication with - any organisation at home", but that he only claims to represent himself, and only himself, and that he intends to maintain that attitude. Should an "improbable situation" arise in which he might be asked to "do something I don't like", he promises "I won't do the dirty". He states that "so far as I can judge" the German Foreign Office has a definite "hands-off" policy as regards Ireland and that twice in 1940 things were done behind their backs. He also says that he doesn't write to Gerald O'Reilly for fear of endangering the latter's personal safety. Towards the end of 1941 the Department asked Kerney to enquire about the circumstances of Sean Russell's death which was the subject of many rumours at the time. It was known that Russell had been in Germany and Kerney took the opportunity when replying to Ryan's letter of the 6th November to ask discreetly if he could shed some light on the matter. He wrote:
"I do not want to betray any confidences, but I would greatly like to have your permission to make discreet use of some statements which would surely be welcomed by some and the divulgation of which could hurt nobody and injure no interests. And the death a long time ago of a friend of yours is a matter about which there is so much rumour, speculation and doubt that it would greatly clear the air to throw some light on the circumstances and establish the fact beyond yea or nay." [36]
Following this there are two letters dated 14th January 1942. The shorter one is a reply to the request for information on Sean Russell's death and is obviously meant for "official" eyes. He states:
"The rumour of Sean's death which you have heard is unfortunately true. He died of an ulcerated stomach on August 14, 1940, after a final acute illness of four days. (He had - as he told me - suffered previously from "stomach trouble".) I was with him, day and night, throughout his illness, and I can vouch that he received all the attention that was possible.
For reasons that you will readily appreciate, it is unwise to mention such details as place of death, and names of others present during his final illness. My word has - for some time yet - to suffice as proof." [37]
A copy of this was immediately forwarded to Dublin. The other is marked "Personal". In it he sets out his views regarding events in Ireland based on two main points: First, in the present national crisis country must come before party, a unified command is essential, and de Valera should get 100% support in his neutrality policy. Second, those (including himself) who disagree with his social and economic programme and who are suspicious of his political programme should organise to form eventually "a more extreme Republican government." He doesn't, however, comment on how they should "organise" to achieve this end. Once again he stresses that he is not working for any party or organisation, nor is he the successor to "any one who has passed away" (i.e. Sean Russell), but nor is he for the Fianna Fail party. He says that he would like to be home "so that I can play a part.....in unifying my friends to support Dev in his foreign policy, while reserving our rights to differ on other matters." However, in Germany "they raise the objection that my appearance at home, now, would make Bull think I'm coming with 'orders of the day', and that a crisis would be precipitated." In his reply, dated 20th January 1942, Kerney wrote:
"The last home papers I received were dated October; you are more fortunate than myself in that respect and have more up-to-date information on general matters. ..... D's attitude is that, as the Constitution removes all obstacles from the path of those who could, if they got the support of the people, easily remove him from office and change the country's policy, he cannot admit cooperation on any other than constitutional lines; to connive at violence by a minority would be to leave the way clear for violence by other minorities and would lead to anarchy and disaster; ..... If you were at home, I imagine you would be closely controlled, not because of your social or economic ideas, but because there are some who would welcome Jerry - and damn the consequences - and then as some suspect D., mistakenly, others would suspect you, mistakenly, because of your new friendships. D. must be on the alert from all sides, and there is at least some foundation for his suspicions;" [38]
Of the two remaining letters, the first dated 14th May 1942 says very little except that time hangs heavily on his hands. The last letter, marked "private" and dated 13th August 1942, mentions that he knows - illegally - of another visitor to Madrid. It is obvious that Ryan knows this person fairly well. He says that he is more capable than he appears, and that he has been persistent and successful in preventing dealings with certain people "in the little island". He continues: "He has the extraordinary gift of quickly understanding a small-national problem; hence, I presume his visit now to you." He also writes: "I noted a reference to our old friend Owen. It is certainly not for want of trying that his ambitions to star as 'a revolutionary Generalissimo' are not today realised. ..... I have supplied pungent biographies of him and of Bewley who, last year, showed signs of activity in a neighbouring country. I have every reason to believe that neither are taken note of, in authoritative quarters. (Incidentally, to the bearer of this as well as to me, goes the credit for that.)" [39] The contents of this letter, as of all the others, would of course have been known at least to Clissmann.
It should be noted that on the occasion of Clissmann's visits, the ostensible reason was his work for the Exchange Service, but having joined the Brandenburger Regiment he was now working for the Abwehr, the German military intelligence, Kerney being unaware of this. As a consequence of this, when current affairs were discussed in the normal course of events during his visits, Clissmann reported the contents of these conversations to his authorities as information on Irish views on the war and on Irish-German relations. These reports were passed on, summarised and edited and sometimes the contents may have been distorted by the time they found their way into the official documents.
In January 1943 Frank Ryan suffered a stroke and while he eventually made a partial recovery, he spent the rest of his life in and out of hospitals until his death in June 1944. Also around this time the tide of war turned against Germany and there was no further contact between Ryan and Kerney.
[35] NAI, D/FA File A20/4: Letter to Boland dated 22nd January 1945
[36] Kerney Private Papers: Letter dated 10th November 1941
[37] Kerney Private Papers: Copy of Frank Ryan's letter
[38] Kerney Private Papers
[39] NAI, D/FA file A20/4 (Frank Ryan's letters)
1 - Frank Ryan in Jail
2 - Frank Ryan Out of Jail
3 - Frank Ryan in Germany
5 - Conversation with a German
6 - Libel Action
7 - A Brush with Intelligence
8 - Conclusion
Letter from Eamon DeValera
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A Floating ‘Brain’ Will Assist Astronauts Aboard the Space Station
March 6, 2018 March 8, 2018 Syahida Zainudin
The crew on board the International Space Station (ISS) will soon welcome a new member — one that is 3D-printed from metal and plastic and is described by its creators as “a kind of flying brain.”
It goes by the name CIMON, short for “Crew Interactive Mobile Companion.” Built by the aerospace design company Airbus in collaboration with IBM, CIMON houses artificial intelligence (AI) in an autonomous, spherical body that would “float” in the space station’s microgravity environment, with a screen that can display data readouts for astronauts — or present an image of a friendly face — as well as a voice shaped by IBM’s AI technology.
The robot is tasked with supporting the ISS astronauts as a type of assistant, and free-flying CIMON would be the first AI-based mission on the ISS, Airbus representatives said in a statement.
CIMON will only have limited features in its initial voyage into space, which could come as early as next month. Its basic testing will consist of optimizing what are known as GNC algorithms (guidance, navigation and control). But researchers have hopes that it, or some equivalent, would be able to accompany astronauts on longer journeys into space in the future.
#STAYTUNEFORMOREUPDATE#
Source: https://www.livescience.com/61909-cimon-floating-brain-iss.html
Article. permalink.
Custom carpentry with help from Robots
Robo-logistics company Magazino raises $25M for its warehouse bots
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The Temperamentals
Daryl Roth, Stacy Shane, Martian Entertainment present THE TEMPERAMENTALS by Jon Marans at the New World Stages, New York.
“Temperamental” was an American slang word for homosexual in the 40’s and 50’s.
THE TEMPERAMENTALS by Jon Marans is a play about the men who formed the Mattachine Society in 1950, in Los Angeles. It was one of the earliest homophile organizations in the United States, probably second only to Chicago’s short-lived Society for Human rights,1924. As you can see, well before the turning point of the Stonewall Riots in New York, the GLBT community. This play is then a type of docudrama about this society’s founding group.: Harry Hay (Thomas Jay Ryan), Rudi Gernreich (Michael Urie), Chuck Rowland (Arnie Burton), Bob Hull (Matthew Schneck) and Dale Jennings (Sam Breslin Wright).
Harry Hay, a married man and communist, conceived an “international…fraternal order" to serve as "a service and welfare organisation devoted to the protection and improvement of Society’s Androgynous Minority”. Rudi Grenreich, an Austrian refugee from Nazi Germany and later MGM costume designer, on meeting Hay and reading his document known as “The Call” declared the document ‘the most dangerous thing he had ever read” and became an enthusiastic supporter , and, incidentally, his lover. On November 11, 1950. Hay, along with Gernreich and friends Dale Jennings and lovers Bob Hull and Chuck Rowlands, held the first meeting of the Mattachine Society. The play covers these meetings and the preambles to this event and to the later trials and tribulations of the society in the Cold War America, 1950’s environment.
But it would be wrong to think this play is a just a dry documentary. It explores the men involved and the struggles that they have, both personally and societal, to the growths and adjustments that each has to make to the recognition of their rights and healthful need to find a way to live. It covers the realities of a ‘closeted’ world and the emotional and political, lawful impingements that the bigger world impressed on them, to survive happily, (or attempt to).
The growing personal and political relationship between Harry Hay and Rudi Gernreich is attended to by Mr Ryan and Mr Urie with consummate delicacy and insight. The longings of these humans and the inhibitions of the period that made it dangerous to express them are beautifully presented under the guidance of the Director, Jonathan Silverstein.
Mr Urie (some of you may know him from his work in UGLY BETTY, a television production) gives, what I regard as the best acting performance I saw on this trip to New York (Norbert Leo Butz (ENRON) and Ari Fliakos (NORTH ATLANTIC) being the other work I admired, especially). The wit of the physical expression and the intelligence of the verbal choices, including the wonderful use of the Viennese dialect was bedazzling.
The other actors, in multiple responsibilities were also, variously, excellent. The sophistication of Mr Burton’s Vincent Minnelli, the empathetic creation of the emotionally immature personality of Chuck Rowland by Mr Schneck and the contrasting heroism of the working class or everyman, Dale Jennings, by Mr Wright, were all appropriate and generous offers.
The production design (Set and Costumes, Clint Ramos) is very basic and serves as a backdrop to the many locations of the plot without fuss, but with a sense of usefulness and taste. The Lighting (Josh Bradford) and Sound Design (Daniel Kluger) supportive to the mood and environment changes.
After the tepid and rather clichéd Broadway production of NEXT FALL, that also deals with the “Gay” experience, it was a relief to have a, relatively, adult approach to this world. Sentimentality did not raise its head, although the events of THE TEMPERAMENTALS were tremendously moving. The complexity and the sensitivity with which the production explored the shifting levels of the personal and political dilemmas was of a high order of acquittal.
The 2010 Drama Desk Awards gave an award to the actors: the Outstanding Ensemble Award. Michael Urie received the Lucile Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor. Justly deserved.
Labels: Harry Hay, Jon Marans, Matthew Schneck, Michael Urie, New York, Rudi Gernreich
Oresteia
The Shipment
Next Fall
ACO: Romatic Symphony
Bedroom Farce
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VICTOR DIPIETRO,
Appellant,
CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY,
1. The standard of review applied to questions of the admissibility of evidence is abuse of discretion.
2. Evidence properly ruled inadmissible at trial is not grounds for reversal, even if the trial court relied upon incorrect reasoning in making its ruling.
3. K.S.A. 60-451 excludes evidence of subsequent remedial conduct for the purpose of proving the defendant's negligence but permits the admission of such evidence when relevant to prove other matters at issue in the case.
4. Subsequent remedial conduct is not admissible to rebut the defendant's evidence of plaintiff's comparative fault, because, when no fault other than that of the parties is to be compared, evidence that tends to exculpate the plaintiff of necessity places fault upon the defendant.
Appeal from Sedgwick District Court; PAUL W. CLARK, judge. Opinion filed December 22, 2000. Affirmed.
John W. Johnson and Shari R. L. Willis, of Bradshaw, Johnson & Hund, of Wichita, for appellant.
John C. Nettels, Jr., and Thomas E. Nanney, of Morrison & Hecker L.L.P., of Kansas City, Missouri, for appellee.
Before BEIER, P.J., GERNON, J., and JANICE D. RUSSELL, District Judge, assigned.
RUSSELL, J.: In September 1997, Victor DiPietro traveled from his home in Washington to Wichita, Kansas to pick up a business jet he had purchased from Cessna Aircraft Company (Cessna). While at the Cessna Service Center, he met with a flight instructor to obtain a special certificate so he could fly his new plane back to Seattle. DiPietro and the flight instructor were conducting a preflight inspection of the aircraft when DiPietro tripped over a curb and fell backwards into a concrete drainage ditch, fracturing his lower right arm and wrist.
The aircraft was parked on a ramp area adjacent to the drainage ditch at the time that DiPietro fell. He sued Cessna, claiming Cessna was negligent for failing to provide adequate protective measures, such as a barrier, which would prevent customers from falling into the drainage ditch. He further alleged the drainage ditch posed a dangerous condition of which Cessna failed to provide adequate warning. Cessna defended by contending the ditch was an open and obvious hazard, of which DiPietro was fully aware.
After DiPietro's fall, Cessna erected a fence surrounding the area of the drainage ditch to prevent anyone else from falling into it.
The trial court ruled at the pretrial stage and again during trial that the subsequent erection of the fence was inadmissible pursuant to K.S.A. 60-451. The case was submitted to a jury, and the jury returned a defendant's verdict, finding Cessna 20 percent at fault and DiPietro 80 percent at fault. DiPietro challenges the propriety of the trial court's rulings on the inadmissibility of Cessna's subsequent remedial conduct in this appeal.
The admissibility of subsequent remedial conduct is governed by K.S.A. 60-451:
"When after the occurrence of an event remedial or precautionary measures are taken, which, if taken previously would have tended to make the event less likely to occur, evidence of such subsequent measures is not admissible to prove negligence or culpable conduct in connection with the event."
DiPietro argues that the trial court's rulings on the admissibility of this particular evidence should be reviewed de novo by this court. In support of his argument, he cites Glassman v. Costello, 267 Kan. 509, 517, 986 P.2d 1050 (1999), for its holding that statutory interpretation is a question of law, and an appellate court's review of questions of law is unlimited.
DiPietro misapprehends the scope of the holding of Glassman. Glassman does not deal with the admissibility of evidence. Rather, it concerns the qualifications of an expert witness under K.S.A. 60-3412, which is a purely statutory enactment. While it is true that the common-law rules of evidence have been adopted by the legislature in Article 4 of Chapter 60 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, the statutory enactment did not convert questions of admissibility of evidence to questions of law subject to a de novo review.
"The standard of review applied to questions involving the admissibility of evidence at trial is one of abuse of discretion. [Citation omitted.] Judicial discretion is abused when judicial action is arbitrary, fanciful, or unreasonable, which is another way of saying that discretion is abused only where no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the trial court." Smith v. Printup, 262 Kan. 587, 592, 938 P.2d 1261 (1997).
DiPietro filed a pretrial motion seeking to introduce evidence of the fence to rebut Cessna's allegation of his comparative fault. The trial court made a preliminary ruling that subsequent remedial conduct was inadmissible and directed plaintiff's counsel to make a motion outside the jury's presence regarding the evidence if he believed developments at trial made the evidence admissible for other purposes.
DiPietro attempted to bring in the evidence of the fence under two different theories during trial. First, he argued Cessna's cross-examination of him opened the door to rebut evidence of his comparative fault. Second, during DiPietro's direct examination of a Cessna employee, testimony was introduced as to how high a fence might be erected without hindering aircraft operations. DiPietro argued this testimony placed feasibility at issue, and that feasibility creates an exception to the statute barring evidence on subsequent remedial conduct.
When DiPietro argued during trial that evidence of the fence fell within the exceptions to K.S.A. 60-451, the trial court stated:
"To me it's subsequent remedial conduct which is prohibited by the statute, unless there's agreement among the parties. . . .[The s]tatute says not admissible. I believe the only way I would allow it is if the parties agree it is. Is there an agreement?"
The essence of the trial court's holding seems to be that evidence of subsequent remedial conduct is never admissible, except by agreement of the parties. The trial court spoke too broadly, as there are indeed exceptions to the general rule that prohibits the admissibility of evidence of subsequent remedial conduct. Those exceptions that are pertinent to this case are discussed below.
Even though the trial court misstated the criteria for admissibility of the evidence, we find it was harmless error. Evidence properly ruled inadmissible at trial is not grounds for reversal, even if the trial court relied upon incorrect reasoning in making its ruling, and evidence wrongfully excluded will not be overturned unless it affirmatively appears from the record the error prejudicially affected the substantial rights of the parties. Smith v. Massey-Ferguson, Inc., 256 Kan. 90, 122, 883 P.2d 1120 (1994).
We first examine DiPietro's contention that the evidence should have been admitted to prove the feasibility of erecting a barrier or fence. He correctly argues that K.S.A. 60-451 excludes evidence of subsequent remedial or precautionary measures taken by the defendant after an accident for the purpose of proving the defendant's negligence but permits the admission of such evidence when relevant to prove other matters at issue in the case. In support of this position, he cites several Kansas cases: Schmeck v. City of Shawnee, 232 Kan. 11, 651 P.2d 585 (1982) (control); Siruta v. Hesston Corp., 232 Kan. 654, 666-68, 659 P.2d 799 (1983) (feasibility of alternate design in products liability case); and Huxol v. Nickell, 205 Kan. 718, 722-24, 473 P.2d 90 (1970) (responsibility for erecting barricade).
He primarily relies upon Siruta, arguing that Cessna placed at issue the feasibility of erecting a fence at that location. In that case, Justice Prager wrote: "We hold that where evidence of remedial or precautionary measures is not offered to prove negligence or culpable conduct, it is admissible when offered for other relevant purposes such as the feasibility of a design change in a products liability case." 232 Kan. at 668.
Siruta was a products liability case. The case at hand is a premises liability case. DiPietro admits that Kansas has never extended the feasibility concept to a premises liability case, but cites a line of cases from other jurisdictions which do so: Lundquist v. Nickels, 238 Ill. App. 3d 410, 605 N.E.2d 1373 (1992); Pyle v. Prairie Farms Dairy Inc., 777 S.W.2d 286 (Mo. App. 1989); Cech v. Montana, 604 P.2d 97 (Mont. 1979); Kurz v. Dinklage Feed Yard, Inc., 205 Neb. 125, 286 N.W.2d 257 (1979); and Jones v. Robert E. Bayley Constr. Co., Inc., 36 Wash. App. 357, 674 P.2d 679 (1984).
We note that feasibility is a concept that developed out of products liability cases. We decline to decide whether it should be extended to premises liability cases, as DiPietro urges, because we find that the evidence upon which plaintiff relies to argue that feasibility had been put in issue simply does not meet the Siruta prerequisites for admissibility. The Siruta opinion meticulously analyzes the circumstances in which subsequent remedial conduct should be admitted to show feasibility of a design change.
In Siruta, defendant's motion in limine was granted, precluding plaintiff from submitting evidence of subsequent design changes in his case in chief. It was not until after defendant presented testimony of its own expert that a design change proposed by plaintiff was not feasible that the court allowed the plaintiff to cross-examine defendant's witnesses about subsequent design changes. The Supreme Court approved this method of determining when subsequent remedial conduct should be admitted, holding:
"In other words, in the field of products liability the rule excluding evidence of subsequent modifications has not been applied where such evidence is offered to show the technological or economic feasibility of alternative designs which would have prevented the injury. That is exactly the situation which we have in the case presently before us. The trial court refused to allow the plaintiff to admit evidence of subsequent design changes until the testimony of defendant manufacturer's expert had raised the issue as to the technological or economic feasibility of the design change suggested by plaintiff's expert." (Emphasis added.) 232 Kan. at 667-68.
When we examine the context of plaintiff's attempt to offer evidence of the subsequent erection of the fence, we find marked differences. First, the defendant did not present expert testimony that erection of a fence or barricade was not feasible. The only testimony that could possibly be construed as testimony that a fence was not feasible came from a Cessna employee called by the plaintiff in his case in chief. The employee testified that the proximity of the drainage ditch to a ramp on which aircraft were taxied around meant that a fence of more than a "couple feet" would hinder aircraft operations because the wing tips of certain planes might collide with the fence during landing or parking. He never asserted that installation of a fence or any other protective barrier was not feasible.
Plaintiff argues that the fence that was actually installed was 31 inches in height, 7 inches more than 2 feet. Even if the testimony had not come in during plaintiff's case in chief, we do not find that the minor discrepancy between the employee's testimony that a fence a "couple feet" in height was feasible and the height of the fence actually erected to be significant enough to trigger the need for the admission of evidence of subsequent remedial action.
The trial court properly excluded the evidence of subsequent remedial measures because the record shows the defendant never placed feasibility in dispute.
DiPietro next argues that evidence of Cessna's subsequent remedial conduct should have been admitted to rebut Cessna's assertions of his comparative fault for his injuries. Cessna affirmatively argued at trial the ditch was open and obvious and DiPietro could have avoided the accident had he exercised due care. DiPietro argues that evidence of the fence is highly probative to negate Cessna's claim and impeach the evidence brought forth at trial, such as pictures of the scene prior to the installation of the fence and witnesses supporting the theory that DiPietro knew or should have known of the danger.
Appellate courts in Kansas have not previously addressed this issue.
K.S.A. 60-451 prohibits evidence of subsequent remedial conduct by the defendant only as used to prove negligence or culpable conduct. Huxol, 205 Kan. 718, Syl. ¶ 2. DiPietro maintains his purpose in introducing Cessna's subsequent remedial conduct was to demonstrate that he was not negligent in failing to see the ditch prior to the installation of the fence. He contends that evidence of the fence will clarify the dispute as to whether the ditch was an open and obvious danger, but will not show which party was negligent.
In premises liability cases, the duty of ordinary care is imposed upon business proprietors to maintain the premises used by their customers in a reasonably safe condition. Jones v. Hansen, 254 Kan. 499, 510, 867 P.2d 303 (1994). However, the duty is not absolute and the degree of reasonable care exercised by a landowner has limits. See 254 Kan. at 510. A defendant's liability is reduced by the plaintiff's failure to exercise reasonable care in avoiding an open and obvious danger pursuant to K.S.A. 60-258a, the comparative fault statute. See Miller v. Zep Mfg. Co., 249 Kan. 34, 43-44, 815 P.2d 506 (1991). Under the comparative fault statute, the trier of fact considers each party's negligence when assigning the percentage of fault. Fitzpatrick v. Allen, 24 Kan. App. 2d 896, 905, 955 P.2d 141, rev. denied 264 Kan. 821 (1998).
Evidence of the construction of the fence tends to prove that the landowner, Cessna, was more culpable than DiPietro, its customer. The process of determining comparative fault, when only two parties are involved, is a "zero sum game." When negligence is moved out of the plaintiff's column, it must move into the defendant's column. Evidence that tends to exculpate plaintiff in a comparative fault case places fault upon the defendant, and evidence of subsequent remedial conduct to prove negligence is prohibited by K.S.A. 60-451.
The policy reasons behind the prohibition against the admission of subsequent remedial conduct are strong and sound. Evidence of safety upgrades and post-accident precautions is very poor proof of negligence or defectiveness. Subsequent remedial measures do not constitute admissions of culpability, and evidence of such conduct is inherently unreliable. Exceptions to the rule should be allowed with great caution so the policy will remain intact. In re Air Crash Disaster, 86 F.3d 498, 529 (6th Cir. 1996). The policy behind barring evidence of subsequent remedial conduct is to encourage potential defendants to remedy hazardous conditions without fear that their actions will be used against them. TLT-Babcock, Inc. v. Emerson Elec. Co., 33 F.3d 397, 400 (4th Cir. 1994).
We find no reason to override the sound policy considerations behind K.S.A. 60-451 to create an exception to permit the introduction of evidence to rebut defendant's allegations of comparative fault on the part of a plaintiff. Evidence of subsequent remedial conduct to disprove a plaintiff's comparative fault is inadmissible.
The decision of the trial court is affirmed.
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JAMES BECKER and NORMAN BECKER,
HAROLD KNOLL,
1. A plaintiff claiming that the defendant breached fiduciary duties by engaging in improper self-dealing must present a prima facie case of self-dealing. An appellate court reviews de novo the threshold issue of whether plaintiff has made a prima facie case.
2. Self-dealing is participating in a transaction that benefits oneself instead of another to whom a fiduciary duty is owed. For example, a corporate director might engage in self-dealing by participating in a competing business to the corporation's detriment.
3. The duty of loyalty prohibits officers and directors from engaging in self-dealing and requires that the corporation receive the full benefit of transactions in which the officer engages on the corporation's behalf, without thought to personal gain.
4. To demonstrate self-dealing, a plaintiff must show not only personal dealings by the fiduciary, but also that the personal dealings were at the expense of benefits the plaintiff should have enjoyed.
5. Prima facie evidence constituting a prima facie case is evidence which, if unexplained or uncontradicted, is sufficient to submit the case to the factfinder and to sustain a judgment in favor of the issue which it supports. Though it may support a judgment, prima facie evidence may be contradicted by other evidence.
6. Once plaintiff makes a prima facie showing of a breach of fiduciary duties by the defendant's self-dealing, the burden of proof shifts to the defendant. Since by definition prima facie evidence is always subject to being contradicted by other evidence, the defendant then has the opportunity to prove that the questioned transaction never took place or that the transaction was fair and undertaken in good faith. Plaintiff then has the opportunity to present rebuttal evidence. The factfinder then must weigh any conflicting evidence to determine which is more credible in order to arrive at a final judgment. Since this exercise is beyond an appellate court's capability upon review of the cold record, an appellate court reviews the factfinder's factual determinations using the substantial evidence standard, viewing the evidence in the light most favoring the prevailing party at trial.
7. In considering whether a defendant has met the burden of rebutting the plaintiff's prima facie case, an appellate court examines all the evidence, both direct and circumstantial, whether introduced by the plaintiff or by the defendant.
Appeal from Finney District Court; PHILIP C. VIEUX, judge. Opinion filed December 24, 2008. Affirmed.
Philip Ridenour, of Ridenour and Ridenour, of Cimarron, for appellants.
Charles E. Owen, II, of Law Offices of Charles E. Owen, II, P.A., of Garden City, for appellee.
Before McANANY, P.J., GREEN and BUSER, JJ.
McANANY, J.: This appeal arises from the district court's decision denying relief to Norman and James Becker, shareholders in the Finney County Water Users Association (FCWUA), on their claims against FCWUA President Harold Knoll for his breach of fiduciary duties by using FCWUA employee Leonard Morehouse for Knoll's own purposes.
FCWUA is a corporation that maintains 40 to 50 miles of ditches used to draw water from the Arkansas River to irrigate land owned by FCWUA shareholders. Knoll was a shareholder of FCWUA, as well as a director and its president. Morehouse was employed as FCWUA's full-time ditch superintendent or "ditch rider." Knoll supervised Morehouse's work. The Beckers claim that Knoll breached his fiduciary duties to FCWUA by engaging in improper self-dealings by using Morehouse to do work on Knoll's farm at times when Morehouse should have been tending to FCWUA's ditches. The Beckers sought damages and Knoll's removal as a director and president of FCWUA.
The parties are well familiar with the trial testimony, and we need not recount it here. After taking the matter under advisement, the district court issued its extensive and detailed memorandum decision, finding that the Beckers failed to present a prima facie case requiring rebuttal by Knoll. The court further found:
"[T]he totality of the evidence presented has failed to show to the court that it is more probably true than not true that any damages were caused to the [plaintiffs] by the neglect, willful or otherwise, of the defendant in his duties owed to the Corporation in the supervision of the ditch [rider] or any private use of the ditch [rider] on Corporation time."
In this appeal the Beckers claim their evidence at trial was sufficient to establish a prima facie case of self-dealing by Knoll. As a result, they contend the burden shifted to Knoll to prove the fairness of his transactions with Morehouse. Thus, according to the Beckers, the district court erred when it simply weighed the totality of the evidence without recognizing Knoll's burden to show fairness.
Before addressing the merits of the Beckers' claims, we must determine our standard of review. To do that we must separately consider the steps required to resolve the liability issue in a case in which a fiduciary is charged with breach of the duty to refrain from self-dealing to the detriment of those to whom fiduciary duties are owed.
Newton v. Hornblower, Inc., 224 Kan. 506, 582 P.2d 1136 (1978), is a shareholder derivative action against corporate directors who, plaintiff claimed, engaged in self-dealings to the detriment of the corporation by charging excessive management fees and salaries, misappropriating corporate funds and assets, and misappropriating the corporation's business opportunities. Our Supreme Court stated:
"Any unfair transaction induced by a fiduciary relationship between the parties gives rise to a liability with respect to unjust enrichment of the fiduciary. Where such transaction is attacked, the burden of proof is on the fiduciary to establish the fairness of the transaction, and to this end he must fully disclose the facts and circumstances, and affirmatively show his good faith." 224 Kan. at 518.
The issue was later addressed by this court in Richards v. Bryan, 19 Kan. App. 2d 950, 965, 879 P.2d 638 (1994). Richards was an appeal following the district court's entry of summary judgment against plaintiff. Plaintiff claimed that defendants breached their fiduciary duties, and thereby denied plaintiff the expected benefits of his investment in the company, by engaging in financial manipulations that made the company appear to be unprofitable in order to avoid paying dividends and bonuses.
Notwithstanding some rather broadly drawn pronouncements in Newton, the Richards court declared that "Newton requires a complaining party to offer more than a bald allegation of impropriety, while still assigning the ultimate burden of proof on the fiduciary." Richards, 19 Kan. App. 2d at 965. In discussing the burden-shifting procedure, the court explained that the first step requires a plaintiff to establish a prima facie case of self-dealing. "After that was established, the burden then shifted to the defendant to prove that its actions were done in good faith. After the defendant presented its evidence, the plaintiff was then afforded the opportunity to counter with rebuttal arguments. [Citation omitted.]" 19 Kan. App. 2d at 965. This clarification of Newton by the Richards court was cited with approval in Welch v. Via Christi Health Partners, Inc., 281 Kan. 732, 757-58, 133 P.3d 122 (2006).
The Richards court applied the familiar de novo standard of review in determining that the district court erred in granting summary judgment because, "[w]hile falling far short of ultimately proving his allegation, Richards' evidence did create a question of fact which was adequate to establish a prima facie showing." 19 Kan. App. 2d at 966.
The familiar notion of prima facie evidence was defined in Van Brunt, Executrix v. Jackson, 212 Kan. 621, 623, 512 P.2d 517 (1973), as evidence which, if unexplained or uncontradicted, is sufficient to submit the case to the factfinder and to sustain a judgment in favor of the issue which it supports. Though it may support a judgment, prima facie evidence may be contradicted by other evidence.
This leads us back to the original issue of our standard of review. In a breach of fiduciary duties case involving self-dealing, the issue of whether plaintiff has established a prima facie case does not involve the weighing of evidence, just as summary judgment proceedings do not turn on the weight of the evidence. If the weight of the evidence were an issue, on appeal we would defer to the factfinder to make that determination. But here, as in summary judgment proceedings, where the weight of, and credit to be given, the evidence does not control, we are as capable as the trial court to determine if a prima facie showing has been made. Accordingly, our standard of review on the threshold issue of whether plaintiff has made a prima facie showing of breach of fiduciary duties by self-dealing, just as our standard of review in summary judgment proceedings, is de novo.
Once plaintiff makes that prima facie showing of a breach of fiduciary duties by self-dealing, the burden of proof shifts to the defendant. Since by definition prima facie evidence is always subject to being contradicted by other evidence, the defendant then has the opportunity to prove that the challenged transaction never took place or that the transaction was fair and undertaken in good faith. On these issues, the factfinder must weigh any conflicting evidence to determine which is more credible in order to arrive at a final judgment. Since this exercise is beyond an appellate court's capability upon review of the cold record, we review the factfinder's factual determinations using the substantial evidence standard, viewing the evidence in the light most favoring the prevailing party at trial.
Prima Facie Case
Self-dealing is defined as "[p]articipation in a transaction that benefits oneself instead of another who is owed a fiduciary duty. For example, a corporate director might engage in self-dealing by participating in a competing business to the corporation's detriment." Black's Law Dictionary 1390 (8th ed. 2004). The duty of loyalty prohibits officers and directors from engaging in self-dealing and requires that the corporation "receive the full benefit of transactions in which the officer engages on the corporation's behalf, without thought to personal gain." 18B Am. Jur. 2d, Corporations §1480, pp. 471-72. Thus, to demonstrate self-dealing, a plaintiff must show not only personal dealings by the fiduciary, but also that the personal dealings were at the expense of benefits the corporation should have enjoyed. This is consistent with the declaration in Newton that the questioned transaction must be "unfair." 224 Kan. at 518.
The district court's pretrial order accurately described the burden-shifting process. It stated that the plaintiffs had the burden to establish a prima facie case that the challenged transactions occurred. Following that, the burden would shift to the defendant either to establish that these transactions did not occur or to establish the fairness of these transactions and that they were undertaken in good faith. After that, the plaintiffs would have the opportunity to rebut defendant's evidence and contentions.
One would presume that if at the close of plaintiffs' case the Beckers had failed to present a prima facie case of unfair transactions, the burden would not shift to Knoll and the case would simply end with the entry of judgment as a matter of law at the close of plaintiffs' case pursuant to K.S.A. 60-250(a)(1). But Knoll made no such motion at the close of the Beckers' case-in-chief, suggesting that Knoll conceded that the Beckers had made a prima facie case which he needed to rebut. Knoll proceeded to present his case-in-chief immediately after the Beckers rested their case. At the close of all the evidence, the court invited the parties to submit their summations in written form. In Knoll's written summation he refers to the Beckers failing to "prove" a prima facie case, but he did not move for judgment as a matter of law at the close of all the evidence pursuant to K.S.A. 60-250.
Following its detailed analysis of the testimony, the district court stated in its memorandum decision and order:
"The plaintiffs in this matter have failed to present to the court a prima facie case sufficient to require the defendant to rebut the allegation. Further, the totality of the evidence presented has failed to show to the court that it is more probably true than not true that any damages were caused to the defendants by the neglect, willful or otherwise, of the defendant in his duties owed to the Corporation in the supervision of the ditch [rider] or any private use of the ditch [rider] on Corporation time."
The Beckers argue that two witnesses testified at trial that Knoll told them that Morehouse worked on Knoll's farm exclusively for a 30- to 45-day period in 2002 when Morehouse should have been tending to FCWUA's ditches. They argue that this was corroborated by a contemporaneous letter that was introduced into evidence. While the Beckers acknowledge that there was conflicting evidence on this point, they assert that this testimony established a prima facie case of a fiduciary's (Knoll's) unfair transaction involving self-dealing to FCWUA's detriment.
The district court made the following observations about this aspect of the testimony:
"It was testified that Knoll told several people that Morehouse had worked on Knoll's farm for 30 to 45 days continuously at one point in time. Both Knoll and Morehouse denied that fact, and Knoll denied making the statement. It is noted that during this time Morehouse was supposedly working exclusively for Knoll there was water in the ditch which is a tremendously busy period for both Morehouse and Knoll in simply trying to get the water through the system. It is also noted that the detailed notes kept by one of the proponent of this statement having been uttered made no note of this statement that, if true, would be apparent at the time of its making of a significant incident of misfeasance or malfeasance on the part of Morehouse and Knoll. The court will not accept this urged confession of misfeasance or malfeasance as established fact."
The Beckers assert there was evidence of other instances when Morehouse was seen working at Knoll's farm. While this additional evidence may establish a prima facie case of Knoll using FCWUA's employee to do work personal to Knoll, it does not establish that the transaction was unfair. The prima facie case the Beckers must establish is one of unfair transactions, not merely transactions between Knoll and Morehouse.
Nevertheless, we agree with the Beckers that the evidence presented regarding Morehouse's exclusive work for Knoll for a 30- to 45-day period established a prima facie case that shifted the burden to Knoll with respect to this particular transaction. However, even if we include the evidence of these other transactions as a prima facie case of Knoll's wrongdoing, this does not end the analysis.
Since by its very nature prima facie evidence is subject to being explained or contradicted, Knoll could meet his burden by proving either that Morehouse did not work for him during the claimed periods or that the work Morehouse did was not at the expense of minding FCWUA's ditches. If the district court would have found that the Beckers presented a prima facie case on these issues, its next task would have been to weigh the conflicting evidence and determine if Knoll met his burden to rebut the Beckers' prima facie case. Thus, we must turn to the second step in our analysis to determine whether, viewed in the light most favoring Knoll, there is substantial evidence to support the district court's findings supporting its judgment. That analysis leads us to conclude that any error by the district court in declaring that the Beckers failed to present a prima facie case ultimately was harmless.
Defendant's Burden of Proof
In considering whether Knoll met his burden of rebutting the Beckers' prima facie case, we examine all the evidence, both direct and circumstantial. See Yount v. Deibert, 282 Kan. 619, Syl. ¶ 1, 147 P.3d 1065 (2006). In examining all the evidence, we include evidence introduced by both the Beckers and by Knoll to determine if Knoll met his burden. See Edwards v. Anderson Engineering, Inc., 284 Kan. 892, 904, 166 P.3d 1052 (2007).
In entering judgment in favor of Knoll, the district court found that Morehouse worked his requisite hours at all times, that Morehouse worked on FCWUA's equipment at Knoll's farm, that Morehouse's work on Knoll's farm was primarily voluntary, and that there was always something to do on FCWUA's 50 miles of ditches no matter how long Morehouse worked on them. The district court found Morehouse to be a credible witness and believed that he devoted the requisite time to FCWUA's ditches.
The district court rejected the contention that photos introduced into evidence which showed ditches overgrown with weeds was evidence of neglect because the ditches in the photos had recently been filled with water and had not sufficiently dried out to allow the weeds to be cut. The court also found that the flooding of James Becker's property did not establish neglect of the ditches and that observations of Morehouse working on Knoll's farm did not establish that Morehouse should have been working for FCWUA at the time. The court believed the testimony of Knoll and Morehouse regarding the time Morehouse spent at Knoll's farm over testimony to the contrary.
The Beckers contend that in order to meet his burden of proof Knoll was required to prove not only that Morehouse never worked on Knoll's farm while on the clock for FCWUA, but also to produce at trial records that showed when Morehouse was on company time, when he was off work, when he worked on the farm, what labor was exchanged for his farm work, when that occurred, and the exchange rate for Morehouse's labor. The Beckers cite, and we find, no authority that defines the specific character of the evidence needed for Knoll to meet his burden.
Ultimately, the district court concluded that the Beckers failed to show that Knoll used Morehouse to work on his farm "to the detriment of the Corporation when Morehouse should have been working for the Corporation." The district court found no credible evidence of wrongful self-dealing by Knoll. More importantly, the district court relied on evidence affirmatively presented by Knoll that established that he successfully rebutted the Beckers' prima facie showing.
The Beckers presented evidence that Morehouse was on Knoll's land doing work that was unlikely related to his work for FCWUA. However, none of the witnesses stated that the work was being done when Morehouse should have been working for FCWUA. Although Morehouse was required to work whenever something was needed on the ditches, the shareholders also told Morehouse he was free to get another job, and all agreed that he was free to spend his personal time as he wished.
We find substantial evidence in the record to support the district court's findings.
Finally, the Beckers argue that the district court erred in improperly weighing the testimony of their witnesses. The weight and credibility of the evidence at trial is within the exclusive province of the trial court, not this court on appeal. See Newton, 224 Kan. at 519. The Beckers' reliance on Richards for the proposition that the district court improperly weighed the evidence is misplaced. Richards was decided in the district court on a motion for summary judgment. At that stage of the proceedings, the plaintiff "was required to present facts which, when viewed in the light most favorable to him, established a prima facie case of breach of fiduciary duty." 19 Kan. App. 2d at 965-66. Unlike in Richards, the present case comes to us after trial on the merits and after the district court fulfilled its responsibility of weighing and resolving conflicts in the evidence at trial.
Accordingly, we conclude that there is substantial evidence to support the district court's findings and its initial error in stating that the Beckers failed to present a prima facie case was harmless.
URL: http://www.kscourts.org/Cases-and-Opinions/opinions/ctapp/2008/20081224/99548.htm.
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The Wind in the Rose-Bush, and Other Stories of the Supernatural
By Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman
Hint: You can preview this book by clicking on "Preview" which is located under the cover of this book. About the author: Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman (October 31, 1852 – March 13, 1930) was a prominent 19th-century American author.She was born in Randolph, Massachusetts on October 31, 1852, to Eleanor Lothrop and Warren Edward Wilkins, who originally baptized her as "Mary Ella". Freeman's parents were orthodox Congregationalists, causing her to have a very strict childhood. Religious constraints play a key role in some of her works.In 1867, the family moved to Brattleboro, Vermont, where Freeman graduated from the local high school before attending attended Mount Holyoke College (then, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary) in South Hadley, Massachusetts, for one year, from 1870–71. She later finished her education at Glenwood Seminary in West Brattleboro. Excerpt from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Eleanor_Wilkins_Freeman
Classics Publishing
http://www.lulu.com/shop/mary-eleanor-wilkins-freeman/the-wind-in-the-rose-bush-and-other-stories-of-the-supernatural/paperback/product-22683569.html
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The Copy-Cat, and Other... By Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman Paperback:
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Independent Film Festival Boston 2017.06: Gook and "Shorts Juliett"
Best two-screening day of the film festival, although perhaps the worst photography.
I was kind of undecided what I was going to watch Monday night, and I joked on Twitter that I opted for Gook because I would be able to just go into the theater when someone else called the film's name and just let them direct me to the proper theater without actually having to walk up to a box office and say "hey, give me a ticket to the movie named for a racial slur", even if the movie itself explains how "guk" in Korean is just "me" or "person". In actuality, it didn't work that way - I got off the train just as people were being let in - but it's a story good enough to tell regardless.
Regulars at the festival likely already know Nancy Campbell; joining her in Theater #5 are producers James Yi and Alex Chi. For a personal film on a serious subject, where a lot of people in the audience were eager to show just how much doing seeing something like this meant, it was a pretty loose, often-funny Q&A. It probably says something that at one point, Yi's phone rang and it was writer/director Justin Chon, who cursed Yi out when he tried to put him on speaker to talk to the audience. It fits with the story Yi told about what got Chon off his butt to actually make this movie: Chon was getting a bunch of calls from his agent about auditions for the parts of Korean-Americans in little side-stories of various other Rodney King anniversary projects, so he might as well make his own story.
They also talked about how lucky they were to get Simone Baker, because they were getting a lot of girls who had decent-sized parts on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon things, and they just didn't bring quite the same realism that Baker did. Looking at IMDB, her credits are scant, but she does pretty good work here.
The short filmmakers in attendance for this screening of the "Shorts Juliet" package (I think the festival labels like that so there's no confusion when they call out "shorts Bravo" or "shorts Delta" to the folks in line, but they still wind up just yelling "shorts B" and "shorts D") - "When Jeff Tried to Save the World" producer Shane Simmons and writer/director Kendall Goldberg, "So It Goes" writer/director Justin Carlton and co-star Ryan Kattner, and "The Privates" writer/director Dylan Allen.
I try to get to at least one shorts program every year, and I wound up opting for the one that had a short with an actress I liked. There's a group of folks in line every year that are all about the shorts, and I should probably try to do more of that next year - really focus on not bothering with features that have distribution, even if I do keep a list to watch when they hit Amazon or some other on-demand service. You just aren't going to see the shorts elsewhere without a fair chunk of luck or digging.
It was a lucky choice - this was a bunch of generally entertaining shorts that led to an entertaining Q&A. Goldberg & Simmons said straight-up that their movie was a feature script cut down to short length which they had hopes of using to fund a feature version, and also had a lot of good words for the bowling alley they shot in. Kattner talked about how he wasn't usually an actor or a particular fan of Van Morrison, so of course his friend had him laying around in bushes on an unseasonably cold day, getting lots of weird looks. Allen actually didn't talk much about The Privates as a band - from what I can tell poking around the Internet, the guys they cast aren't much like the old band, but raved about his miniature-makers.
Made for a very fun evening, even if it wasn't the one I originally planned (I think I had originally mapped out a night at the Brattle for Menashe and The Force). Shows how the full-festival pass is the way to go, so you can make these last-minute decisions as circumstance and opportunity allow.
* * * ¾ (out of four)
Seen 1 May 2017 in Somerville Theatre #5 (Independent Film Festival Boston, DCP)
You may feel uncomfortable asking for a ticket for this one by name, and knowing there's a scene that explains the title's etymology may not be much help. It's absolutely worth doing if you get the chance to do so, and if saying the title aloud stops you, then that's what the touchscreen kiosks at the front of the theater are for. It's a pretty terrific little film that does an excellent job of zooming in on what felt like a sidebar to a bigger news story and making it the focus.
It mainly takes place over the course of one day in Paramount, California, but that day is 29 April 1992, the day the verdict came down on the police officers charged with assaulting Rodney King and the community erupted in response. For Eli (Justin Chon), it starts out a little out of the ordinary, as he buys a few pairs of in-demand sneakers off the back of a truck in the hopes that it will give a boost to the struggling shoe store he and brother Daniel (David So) inherited from their father. Just down the street, Regina (Omono Okojie) is telling her baby sister Kamilla (Simone Baker) not to cut class and spend all day hanging around at the shoe store, although that what winds up happening after Daniel intervenes after she tries to shoplift from Mr. Kim (Sang Chon) at the convenience store again. It's not an entirely uneventful day - Eli and Daniel are at odds, and Eli winds up having to explain the word "gook" to Kamilla after some of her brother's associates tag Eli's car with it - but it's set up to be a powder keg.
A lot of Americans like to describe their country as a melting pot, but it's been aptly described as more like a stew than a fondue on occasion; rather than everything winding up together and evenly distributed, you get something chunky, and some of those metaphorical chunks don't always mix well. In this case, it often proves fascinating to observe how the Korean-American community that Eli, Daniel, and Mr. Kim belong to rubs up against the neighborhood's predominantly African-American population; it's hinted the borders have shifted a bit since Mr. Kim and the boys' father arrived, and it's an often-painful truth that, while Eli and Daniel are second-generation and fully-assimilated, the line between assimilation and appropriation changes based upon one's perspective.
Full review on EFC.
"Cycles"
* * * (out of four)
Seen 1 May 2017 in Somerville Theatre #3 (Independent Film Festival Boston: Shorts J, DCP)
I wound up liking "Cycles" more when it was finished than when it started, and that's a pretty decent turn-around to make in less than five minutes. That's what this type of short has to do, as it can't help but be clear from the beginning that it's working on visual style, with two doppelgangers doing something halfway between mime and dance as filmmaker Joe Cobden cuts from one location to another, with the pair (Cobden & Marc Bendavid) always in the same position but sometimes missing a seat as the scenery changes. It's a neat trick, but seems abstract in a way that doesn't really click until Romina D'Ugo shows up. The implication is that one of them having a new girlfriend sends things out of whack for the other.
At least, that's the story I got out of it; there's no dialogue or exposition or the like. That Cobden can communicate an idea and a story here is a genuine accomplishment; it gives the short a little bit more soul than it might have had, even if it would have been an impressive display of choreography and physical acting.
"A Favor for Jerry"
* * ¾ (out of four)
Though every piece of art is in some way influenced by the events of the world around them, there is something kind of fascinating in how director D.W. Young opted to potentially put the tone of "A Favor for Jerry" so far out of his control. At least, that is, if he shot the film sequentially on Election Day 2016 as we are meant to think, as opposed to getting a shot or three on the day (say, when its protagonist is walking through Times Square) and then playing back recorded news coverage when shooting the rest.
In some ways, it's more interesting to think about that than anything which actually happens on-screen, as Khan Baykal (playing, like most everyone on-screen, a similarly-named character) sets out to deliver weed to hippies, high-strung rehearsing actors, a guy solving a Rubik's Cube in a nightclub, and others. These encounters themselves aren't particularly interesting, small jokes or attempted exercises in tension that never quite aggregate into a particularly insightful look at New York City. There's something kind of intriguing about it as an exercise, though - this group of actors and characters is probably not pleased about the surprising Trump victory that is playing out on TVs in the background, and it's something they've got to improvise with. How does this change if Hillary Clinton is winning?
I don't really think that would make a better short film - there's something about people getting marijuana when something is going wrong from their perspective that seems like it fits better than if that thing was going right - but as improvisational exercises go, and letting fate determine a film's story the way it does real life, it's an intriguing effort.
"When Jeff Tried to Save the World"
* * ½ (out of four)
This is one of at least a couple of films in this block that was made as a sort of pilot for a feature, and while it's the one that would probably be easier to expand, it's also the one where I'm not really interested in seeing 80 more minutes. It tells its story well enough while leaving room for more detail, but even at 22 minutes, it just feels like another indie-ish tale of an underachiever who is putting off joining the adult world, right down to 40-ish Jon Heder playing a guy the story suggests just dropped out of college a year or so ago.
As those things go, it's not bad - writer/director/producer/editor Kendall Goldberg and her co-writer Rachel Borgo give it a fun bowling-alley setting with a group of colorful characters, and a cast that isn't afraid to go kind of big with them. There's even something enjoyable about the way that the story is clearly rushed, like they're skipping over the boring parts and the padding to give you a beginning, middle, and end as well as a nice moment for everyone in the cast. It works in large part because Goldberg has an excellent handle on the idealistic desperation that motivates Heder's Jeff, like he and everybody else are just self-aware enough to know that their attempts to save the bowling alley are quixotic, but it's worth pushing certainty back by another few hours.
It's indie comedy-drama type #4, and if you've seen enough of them to recognize it as a distinct subgenre but not enough to just groan at the sight of another one, it may be kind of refreshing to plow through it in a half hour rather than three or four times that much. Doesn't mean I'll be looking forward to the feature-length version if and when it gets made in a few years, though.
"So It Goes"
* * * ¼ (out of four)
That Mary Elizabeth Winstead has not yet become a big star, rather than someone whose name generally implies good things for whatever movie or TV show she's signed on for this year, is still a bit of a surprise to me, but it means she can occasionally pop up in something like this, a musical little lark from Justin Carlton that combines a bright, lovely sincerity with enjoyably silly slapstick to good effect.
The slapstick is, admittedly, kind of a trade-off. The center of the movie has Winstead's frustrated vocalist Sam taking a walk to clear her head, stumbling upon a guy (Ryan Kattner) with a bicycle somehow chained to his leg, and doing a song-and-dance number to Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said". It's a case where you worry that the comedic conceit takes a little more from the basic concept than it gives - the number takes place in the sort of park full of footbridges, whimsical shapes, and bright green grass that it could be a golden-age-of-Hollywood film set imagining that kind of park, and Winstead, it turns out, can sing and dance a little, so it's quite easy to feel that while there's a bit of fun to be had spoofing the sort of idealized musical number most recently flogged by La La Land, it's not necessarily as much fun as there is in doing that sort of thing really well. It mostly works by splitting the difference; it's a nice number, with some nice bits of choreography and performance, and that sometimes a guy gets tripped up because he's got an unweildy object chained to him generally contributes more in the way of laughs than it takes in the way of grace.
But it's the nice heart that impresses the most. The struggling-artist narrative is a hard sell with me - it often combines characters who seem to see the sort of life most in the audience lead as beneath them with actors who can't quite convince that this person is a brilliant exception. But I like Sam; Carlton and Winstead present her with far more doubt than entitlement, and her musical number scans much more as her regaining her confidence through an encounter with a random guy than some angel in disguise telling her that good things are coming. And, though it's kind of cheesy, I like the way that this re-found self-esteem seems to get shared with the viewer. It's a bit of a fourth-wall break to have Sam look directly out the screen and use "we" when telling her engineer that she's going to try again, but you get at least that much leeway in a musical, I think, and it seems to fit the form to end on that sort of generous note.
"The Privates"
I mentioned above that I could easily see "When Jeff Tried to Save the World" expanded to feature length even if I had little interest in watching such a movie; the converse is that while I strongly suspect that "The Privates" would flame out if you made it eight times longer and gave it any sort of coherent backstory or plot, I would watch the heck out of that thing if it promised even half of the outright nuttiness that Dylan Allen's short offers.
It just dumps you into things, quickly introducing the band - guitars and vocals by Ben Farkus (Omar Maskati) and Max Wakefield (Alex Herrald), bass and mad science by Sasha "Kep" Kepler (Lilli Stein), with drums and lab assistance provided by her sister Roka (Rachel Trachtenburg) and quickly showing how their music seems to be literally radioactive. Equipment melts, they've got to jerry-rig special equipment to keep their amps from melting, and they can't figure out why because, for all her geek chic and enthusiasm, Kep isn't really a scientist. And Allen never really bothers to explain. He just pushes on to the next bit of absurdity, doing a really fine job of escalation as crazy things happen while the Privates really can't see giving up rock and roll.
It's small pushes until an obvious but fantastic cut that you probably couldn't get away with in a feature gets a huge laugh. It's a funny cast that can either play or can mime their instruments well enough to make it work, with Lilli Stein especially great as Kep. Allen and his crew do some nifty miniature work as well, which gives their world a funky personality that fits right in with the story.
I've got no idea whether Allen intends to expand this into a feature - it feels like it could collapse under its own weight. But it's a ton of fun at this length and will hopefully get seen.
Labels: black-and-white, comedy, drama, fantasy, history, IFFBoston, IFFBoston 2017, independent, Independent Film Festival Boston, music, musical, sci-fi, shorts, USA
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Independent Film Festival Boston 2017.08: Band Aid...
Independent Film Festival Boston 2017.03: Whose St...
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Category Archives: Featurette
Murder On The Orient Express – Set Design Featurette
One of the films that stood out last year for a number of reasons was Murder On The Orient Express. The lavish adaptation of the best-selling Agatha Christie novel was brought to the screen by Kennet...
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Featurette
Ahead of the first trailer for the Jurassic World sequel, titled Fallen Kingdom, a behind the scenes featurette has been released. After the success of the first film it was obvious that a sequel wou...
It – Welcome To The Losers’ Club Featurette
In a summer that has seen so many films fail to live up to expectations it is good to see It getting so much good press and very favourable reviews. Although there were some doubts raised as to the n...
Okja – Behind The Scenes Featurette
One of the most talked about films in the last month, for all the wrong reasons, comes to Netflix this week. In competition at Cannes insured that Okja received a lot of publicity and opened up a mas...
Avengers: Infinity War – First Look
It’s been almost a decade since Nick Fury appeared in a post credits stinger to set up the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What followed was a franchise like no other as fans got to see their favour...
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Celebration Reel
Star Wars films are like buses. You wait ages for one and then two come along at once. Well, ok a year apart but still Disney aren’t resting on their laurels and from the look of the latest foo...
The Universe of Quentin Tarantino
From Vimeo user whoispablo comes a two minute montage of all things Tarantino. The director has a certain way about him and themes, subjects and character types often repeat and echo throughout his f...
Ben Wheatley Q&A At The Glasgow Film Festival
After the Scottish premiere of High-Rise at the Glasgow film festival the audience were treated to a near thirty minute Q&A with Ben Wheatley, the director of the film. The film is a great specta...
The Hateful Eight – Featurette: Samuel L Jackson
The outstanding role in the new Quentin Tarantino film is Major Marquis Warren as portrayed by long time collaborator Samuel L Jackson. Though he makes it look easy there is an awful ot of hard work ...
Inside Out: Riley’s First Date – Special Feature
To coincide with the release of Inside Out on DVD and Blu Ray, Disney hosted a first date event in London which was inspired by the special feature short film Riley’s First Date. The results ca...
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During January 2009, communities across the country will observe National Stalking Awareness Month, a time to focus on a crime that affects 1.4 million victims a year. This year’s theme, “Stalking: Know It. Name It. Stop It.” challenges the nation to combat this dangerous crime by learning more about it. Stalking is a crime in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. One in 12 women and one in 45 men will be stalked in their lifetime, for an average duration of almost two years, and most victims are ordinary Americans (1). Victims may experience psychological trauma, financial hardship, and even death (2). Eighty-one percent of victims stalked by an intimate partner were also physically assaulted by that partner (3), and seventy-six percent of female homicide victims were stalked prior to their death(4). Yet many victims underestimate the seriousness and impact of the crime.
At first, they may view stalking as “creepy” but not dangerous. They may think that ignoring or confronting stalkers will stop them. But stalkers almost never stop, and confronting a stalker may escalate the violence. Even when victims see the danger and report the crime, stalking may be hard for authorities to recognize, investigate, and prosecute. Unlike other crimes, stalking is not a single, easily identifiable crime but a series of acts, a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause that person fear. Stalking may take many forms—such as assaults, threats, vandalism, burglary, or animal abuse—as well as unwanted cards, calls, gifts, or visits. Stalkers may use a range of devices—such as computers, Global Position System devices, or hidden cameras—to track their victims’ daily activities. Stalkers fit no standard psychological profile, and many have been known to follow their victims from one jurisdiction to another, making apprehension by the authorities even more difficult.
Click on the title above to go to the website for more details!
1 Tjaden and Thoennes, “Stalking in America,” (Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, 1998).
2 Mullen, Pathe, and Purcell, Stalkers and Their Victims, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000).
3 Tjaden, “Stalking in America.”
4 MacFarlane et al., “Stalking and Intimate Partner Femicide,” Homicide Studies 3, no. 4 (1998): 300-16.
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A requiem for Rocky
Grissom Air Force Base, IN
She was coming home and would know the place for the first time. This daughter of a Cold Warrior was born in the base hospital just a few blocks away. And while she had no memory of it, she was told that her parents and two older brothers had been happy together here. This is the last place any of them saw her father alive. But she couldn’t remember. She was only 6 months old when it happened. Shamaine Plezcko of Huston had been trying to find her way back here ever since.
Air Force Capt. Manuel “Rocky” Cervantes was killed during an alert drill on 8 December 1964. He had lived only 29 years when his mother received an American flag in the mail along with an impersonal letter of condolences from Col. Paul K. Carlton, the commander of the 305th Bomb Wing at Bunker Hill Air Force Base in Indiana. Rocky’s wife had been told that her husband’s death resulted from an unfortunate training accident. Some of the less informed blamed Rocky for his own demise. The Indianapolis Star lauded him as a Cold War hero, having sacrificed his life in the interest of our nation’s peace, no less a casualty than if he had been shot on the battlefield.
And that was that. Virginia Cervantes moved her young family back to Texas. Shamaine would know her dad only through family stories and a few black and white photos. She spent 36 years wondering about the man who had rubbed his wife’s feet while she was pregnant, who possessed a sharp wit, an easy smile and a rich sense of humor. The man who could never comfort her after a bad dream, attend her school functions or walk her down the aisle at her wedding. And then they found his airplane.
Half a century and less than a mile from where Shamaine was standing on a warm Indiana day last spring, her father had breakfast in the mostly underground alert facility at Bunker Hill AFB. He wouldn’t know that a snowstorm had almost shut the base down until he went outside with his pilot, Capt. Leary Johnson, and his defense system operator, Capt. Roger Hall to conduct their daily preflight checks on 60-1116. The fully cocked supersonic bomber was parked nearby, ready for an emergency engine start and loaded with five nuclear weapons.
With the blowing snow limiting visibility on the runway, a KC-135 declared an inflight emergency and asked for permission to land on the base. Bunker Hill was a Strategic Air Command (SAC) installation and home to half the supersonic nuclear strike fleet, the B-58 Hustler. Command ordinarily discouraged intruders for security reasons but this pilot said he was in trouble. He wasn’t.
This kind of subterfuge was fairly common during a SAC Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI). The inspection team would come up with some way to sneak onto a base and then wreak havoc for a week while inspectors tested every squadron under wartime conditions. Just minutes after landing the SAC inspector general was escorted to the command post where he presented Col. Carlton with an execution order for a simulated emergency war plan mission.
Timing was critical. A third of Bunker Hill’s bombers and tankers were cocked on full alert. But before they could retaliate against a Soviet first strike the aircraft would have to escape the base ahead of an attack. Planners estimated that the defense early warning system might give the aircrews 15 minutes' notice. The clock started ticking the moment Col. Carlton received his orders.
When the klaxons went off that Tuesday morning Rocky ran for his airplane. Like a veteran fireman he was used to it. Rocky had been a SAC “crewdog” for nine years. He excelled as a B-47 bombardier-navigator while assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri before being reassigned to an exclusive Hustler crew with the 305th Bomb Wing at Bunker Hill in January 1962.
But what Rocky or anybody else never got used to was the exhilaration that came from being part of a B-58 crew. It was elite and often dangerous duty. During the eight year operational life of the Hustler at Bunker Hill and later Grissom Air Force Base, 17 airmen were killed in accidents involving 11 bombers. Two of Rocky’s very good friends, Maj. William Berry and Capt. William Bergdoll, burned to death a year earlier after they crashed during landing. As they left the base hospital after the accident Rocky promised Capt. Jack Strank that he would never die that way.
Alert crews were regularly scrambled under simulated wartime conditions to make sure they could launch in the required 15 minutes. But as the crews strapped into their aircraft that morning they had no way of knowing if this was just another drill or a real nuclear war. In Rocky’s bomber Johnson and Hall started the engines while he began decoding the emergency action message. The crew lowered their overhead hatches as the crew chiefs pushed the boarding stairs clear. Johnson released his brakes and began rolling toward the runway. Their bomber would be at the end of a line of aircraft launching eight seconds apart.
Johnson would later testify that he “saw a flash and the airplane lurched to the left”. Then Hall looked out his small window over the left wing and saw flames. The whole wing was on fire and Johnson ordered his crew to abandon the aircraft. Three overhead hatches blew off simultaneously.
Johnson climbed out of the cockpit and over the windshield. The heat was intense and flames licked at his clothing as he crawled across the nose of his aircraft and then jumped down into the snow. Hall likewise climbed out on top of the burning fuselage and ran across the right wing before diving into a snowdrift. Rescuers rolled him in the snow to put out his burning clothes and although not seriously burned he dislocated his shoulder in the fall.
Rocky had nowhere to go. Witnesses saw him rise briefly, like he was standing up in his seat to look outside. What he saw might have resembled the gates of hell. The Hustler was loaded with 14,000 gallons of military grade jet fuel and most of it was burning around the airplane. His position was forward of the wing so he had nowhere to run. Rocky disappeared back inside. Seconds later the rocket propelled ejection capsule fired into the gray December sky, climbed until it disappeared in the falling snow and then fell back onto the concrete taxiway, the parachute fluttering ineffectively in its trail.
The ejection or escape pod had been developed to protect a Hustler crew that had to get out of their 1,400 mile-per-hour airplane at 40,000 feet, where the temperature is 55 below and there’s no oxygen. When activated the pod would fold the crewman inside and then slam shut to seal out the dangerous environment outside the airplane. It was very effective at high speeds and high altitude but completely unsafe for a runway ejection because the parachute would not have time to open.
Col. Carlton reported the accident to SAC Headquarters as a “Broken Arrow”, code for an accident or incident involving nuclear weapons. Firefighters battled the flames for hours and two airmen were treated for injuries sustained during rescue operations. For the next 40 years former airmen would blame serious cancers on radiation exposure from the accident.
Dense, black smoke and flashing red lights were visible from U.S. Highway 31 and before the fire was out local media began to make inquiries. Initial releases reported a training accident that left a crewman dead. Base officials confirmed that the accident involved one of Bunker Hill’s nuclear strike bombers, but claimed the airplane was unarmed and there was no danger to the public. A news conference was scheduled for the next day.
Engineers, weapons technicians and firefighters worked to secure the accident site on a short strip of taxiway connecting the alert pads to the main runway. While the wreckage smoked and popped, the nuclear weapons were carried to a nearby ditch and buried in sand. All five bombs were transferred to disposal facilities in Tennessee and Texas 16 days later.
Just as promised there was a news conference at the base hospital the next day. Reporters were reassured that the accident was contained and there was no danger of radiation. After a briefing reporters asked questions of Johnson and Hall. Both men looked pretty good in their dress blue uniforms, despite Hall’s arm sling and everything they had been through the day before. A media photographer was even permitted to photograph the wreckage.
President Lyndon Johnson asked Defense Secretary Robert McNamara about the incident during his daily briefing on 9 December. McNamara confirmed the death of a crewman and assured the president that while the nuclear weapons had been destroyed there was no danger of radiation. He blamed the fire on a collapsed landing gear that split a fuel tank open.
Gen. Everett Holstrom led the investigation and later reported, “the high explosives in all five weapons detonated…The aircraft and weapons wreckage burned for two hours.” During recovery operations the next day, “the secondary of one of the (nuclear weapons) burst into flames. It was extinguished but then it happened again. The next day, when this secondary was moved it ignited again and was buried in sand.” He further reported that on 8 December Dr. Henry Briggs and Hal Stocks from the Indiana Board of Health had been summoned and were at the scene of the accident until 2000 hrs. But when a 1996 Senate inquiry tried to confirm the health department’s roll both men denied ever getting on the base. They both said instead that they drove six hours through the ice and snowstorm to reach Bunker Hill Air Force Base, only to be turned away at the gate.
Except for a young woman’s journey to discover her father and a lonely stand of trees along the south side of the runway, the whole thing would have been forgotten. The base was renamed in honor of Hoosier astronaut Gus Grissom and the remaining Hustler fleet was sold for scrap. A year before victory was declared in the long Cold War, somebody in the office of then-Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar recalled Rocky’s accident and arranged for another Air Force investigation. Not only was the ditch along the taxiway still showing traces of radiation, so was an area of woods south of the runway. Adjoining fields were used in crop production but the woods remained untouched. About 10 feet inside the tree line was a chain link fence and rusted signs designating the section as a controlled area. Nobody was allowed inside without the base commander’s permission.
Three more years passed and Grissom AFB downsized, opening up a substantial portion of former Air Force real estate for economic development. But like every other military base there were a number of environmental concerns, not the least of which were the two radioactive sites. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management worked closely with Air Force officials to remediate both locations.
Workers had just removed the trees in the woods and started digging when the crane began to uncover aircraft parts. First a section of landing gear, then an engine, then part of an ejection capsule. Before the excavation was completed three weeks later a team of historic aircraft experts had to be called in from Wright-Patterson AFB to identify the collection of parts. They confirmed that the exhumed aircraft was a B-58, serial number 60-1116, Rocky’s bomber. Exactly what happened that cold December morning in 1964 still remains a mystery. While anybody associated with the B-58 program will readily admit that the spindly nose gear was the airplane's Achilles heel, it’s unlikely to have collapsed in taxi. It may however have snapped if the airplane collided with the piles of frozen snow that had accumulated alongside the taxiway.
The most popular theory and the one supported by several eyewitnesses is that the accident was the result of jet blast and an icy runway. The pilots were all in a big hurry to get airborne and had lined up for what SAC called a minimum interval take off (MITO) launch. Since the Hustlers had to deliver their devastating cargo all the way to the Soviet Union they carried a tremendous reserve of fuel. Each bomber lugged a bulbous fuel tank mounted along the aircraft centerline and just below their primary nuclear weapon. This mission pod hung very close to the ground.
When the airplane in line ahead of Rocky’s bomber throttled up to enter the runway, the jet blast pushed his airplane backwards on the ice. The crew was busy and Johnson was most likely standing on his brakes. Nobody noticed they were sliding until either a runway light ruptured the mission pod or the aircraft was moving so fast that the nose gear struck a chunk of ice and snapped. Either scenario could have caused the mission pod to rupture and spray 4,100 gallons of jet fuel into the hot exhaust.
But in 2016 the whys and how’s didn’t matter much to Shamaine. She recognized that her dad was doing a dangerous job and that he understood and accepted the risks. Now she would have to try and understand as well. It was her quest to appreciate and a daughter’s unquenchable love for her father that brought her back to where it all started.
On Armed Forces Day weekend, just a few weeks before Father’s Day Shamaine and her husband Rick visited the Grissom Air Museum outside what used to be the Main Gate. Rocky’s only daughter received a warm and heartfelt welcome in the Museum’s Hall of Honor. While tears streaked the cheeks of faces in the crowd, Shamaine graciously thanked a room full of visitors for helping preserve her Dad’s legacy. Before she was permitted a rare close inspection of the Museum’s Hustler Shamaine met with Lt.Col. Jack Strank (Ret.) who had been on alert with Rocky and was one of the last people to see him alive.
Perhaps because of the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, the necessary level of Cold War secrecy and misinformation surrounding the incident, or the discovery of his wrecked bomber almost four decades after the accident, Rocky has come to epitomize the sacrifices of every Bunker Hill and Grissom airman who stood on the forward wall of our Nation’s peace. While they were always cocked and prepared for war, peace was their profession.
Tom Kelley
5K Fun Run
Respecting our flag
Veterans Memorial Hall ( Built 1892 ) by G.A.R. Ironton, Oh.
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Home > Articles posted by Rod Whitfield
Wow, this Melbourne band is like a damn after months of heavy rain, ready to burst, ready to explode and flow out across the nation and the world. And this EP is another step in their steady...
Some bands don’t just have themes and concepts running through their songs and imagery. Some bands don’t just do full concept or themed albums. Some have entire band-concepts. Bands like Nile (ancient Egypt) and Fear Factory (man...
Sometimes when a band has been on a break from recording and touring for a while, a new tour can be a reunion of bandmates of sorts. Such is the case with American progressive heavy act Born...
“So there’s always ideas floating around” – An interview with Ben Rechter (Circles)
Ben Rechter, the relatively new frontman and guitarist from Melbourne progressive metallers Circles, is a man who has music flowing through his veins and veritably flowing out of him like a tap. Formerly lead vocalist for his...
The Omnific, Toehider, Malcura, Abbey Rose @Worker’s Club, Melbourne, 31/05/2019
It is obvious thought has been put into the creation of this bill, it is about as varied as can be imagined for a local rock night of this nature at a small venue, whilst still remaining...
Transience, M0dal1ty, Cirrus Crown, Formiles @ The Evelyn Hotel, Melbourne, 24/5/2019
I love nights like this. No big international headliner (although I love those too, of course), just four superb local rock acts doing what they do best in a classic small, intimate venue. This is the shit!...
Darkcell, The Last Martyr, Flat-Liner, Death of Art @ Stay Gold, Melbourne, 04/05/2019
Stay Gold is virtually a brand new live music venue for Melbourne, and it’s great to see. Also good to see is that it has had a bit of cash splashed on it to ensure that it...
As a prog rock and metal fan who loves progressive music that goes BOOM!, I find the new album from Puerto Rican proggers Avandra just a touch too civilised. But for those who love prog that caresses...
Superheist – Sidewinder
A ‘Sidewinder’ is a highly poisonous type of snake, found mostly in North America. A Sidewinder is also a type of air to air missile. So Sidewinder is a highly appropriate title for the new release from...
The Omnific – The Mind’s Eye
For the uninitiated, Melbourne’s The Omnific is a three-piece, all instrumental band. Two bass guitars and drums, no guitars, no vocals whatsoever. What sounds, on paper, to be fairly simplistic, in reality, is anything but. These three...
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On the brink
This is a strange day in Alberta. For the first time in recent memory, we don't know what kind of government we're going to wake up to tomorrow. I can't imagine what the political players in this drama are feeling as the hours tick by with under three hours left to vote.
I'm sure the leaders in the two parties vying for power are starting to feel butterflies, reviewing drafts of speeches they will ultimately deliver later this evening, either in victory or gracious defeat. Based on myriad polls, the outcome of the vote is still very much up in the air - "too close to call," they say.
The countless hours of campaigning, knocking on thousands of doors, weathering public forums, debates and election rhetoric, all come down to the next couple of hours. For some, long political careers hang in the balance. For others, dreams and aspirations of life in the legislature are within reach.
Apparently, the last time an Alberta election result was uncertain was in 1993, when new Conservative leader Ralph Klein fended off a surging red tide led by former Edmonton mayor Laurence Decore. My memories of this contest are fleeting, as I was new to the province, programming a radio station in former Premier Don Getty's riding. Back in those days, the threat of a change in government didn't have any direct impact on my life, as I was pretty focused on my broadcasting career. Times have really changed in that regard.
I work in the public sector and serve in local government, both of which are hugely connected to the provincial government. What happens tonight, regardless of who lands in the winner's circle, is going to have a direct impact on almost everything I do. So, the butterflies being felt by the leaders and their contingent of candidates, I'm feeling too.
No matter the political stripe, I have tremendous respect and admiration for every single person whose name is on a ballot today. There are going to be a lot more losers than winners when the dust settles on this one. When you run into those who don't make the cut in the coming days and weeks, take a moment to thank them for their courage and contribution to the province. They have been an integral part of democracy's resurgence in Alberta in this historic election. Every single one will need a kind word, a pat on the back, and sincere encouragement as they carry on with their lives.
The winners, on the other hand, will feel jubilation on a scale they probably haven't experienced previously. The intense feelings of achievement will have been well earned, and they will deserve our heartfelt congratulations, no matter the party. The job for which they have applied will begin in earnest as the sun rises in Alberta on April 24th.
We are on the brink of something, the shape of which is yet to be determined. Hang on for a wild ride as the polls close at 8 pm.
My Quotidian Mornings
Influence Shift
Farnsworth Chronicles, 18
My TEDx Fort McMurray presentation
Meeting Dame Judy
Future Voters
Return to Ideal
Springtime in Saskatchewan
Farnsworth Chronicles, 9
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Sheryl Crow to Release New Johnny Cash Duet, “Redemption Day”
Sheryl Crow is bringing Johnny Cash back to radio airwaves on April 19 with a little editing ingenuity. Sheryl will release a re-booted version of her song, “Redemption Day,” in the form of a duet with the Man in Black.
After touring war-torn Bosnia with First Lady Hillary Clinton in 1996, Sheryl penned “Redemption Day” and included it on her self-titled album that same year. Johnny recorded the song shortly before he died 2003, and it was featured on his posthumously released 2010 album, American VI: Ain’t No Grave.
With the blessing of Johnny’s estate, Sheryl re-recorded “Redemption Day” and added Johnny’s vocals to the new arrangement for her upcoming album of collaborations.
“Johnny Cash recorded it [in 2003] and felt like it would be the cornerstone of his record,” says Sheryl. “He was adamant about knowing what every lyric meant and he really delivered the song in a way that felt like for him it would be the most important song on his record . . . but two months later he passed, so cut to now and I’m making a record of collaborations and I asked the family if they would give me their blessing in letting me use his vocal. I feel like the song has finally found its moment. I re-recorded it, rearranged it, and Johnny and I are both singing the song. I hope he would be proud of what we’ve done and feel like it has met its moment.”
The video for “Redemption Day,” directed by Shaun Silva, incorporates footage of Johnny next to scenes of a young child watching history unfold, in all of its tragedy and triumph.
“As a mom of two young kids,” says Sheryl, “I see that our kids watch what we do on their behalf and how we shape their future. They’re privy to everything visual, especially now, and there’s no way to shield your child from the roughness of reality. If we could see the world through a child’s eyes, we would make different decisions.”
Check back on April 19 for the new video.
written by Jim Casey | @TheJimCasey | published April 17, 2019 9:15 am
category: NCD News | related posts: Johnny Cash, Redemption Day, Sherly Crow
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Piano Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 17 (1858) [24:34]
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 (1868) [22:19]
Piano Concerto No. 4 in C minor, Op. 44 (1875) [23:43]
Louis Lortie (piano), BBC Philharmonic / Edward Gardner
rec. 2018, MediaCityUK, Salford, UK
CHANDOS CHAN20031 [70:58]
Saint-Saëns’s piano concertos continue to be quite popular, at least on record. There was a time when the Second and Fourth concertos were the most often heard, but nowadays all five show up with nearly equal frequency. My introduction to these charming works were the legendary accounts by Jeanne-Marie Darré with Orchestre National de l’ORTF under Louis Fourestier, which despite their age are still considered by many to be benchmarks. Since then there have been quite a number of recordings, most notably those of Stephen Hough with Sakari Oramo and the City of Birmingham Symphony.
Louis Lortie and the BBC Philharmonic under Edward Gardner now join the competition. They were successful with an earlier disc of Poulenc piano and orchestra works that I reviewed here and from which I have taken much pleasure (review). While I generally like these Saint-Saëns performances, I don’t think they equal the Poulenc accounts on the earlier disc. There is nothing to complain about as to the technical ability of either Lortie or the orchestra, but lacking is a certain element of allure and lightheartedness that these works demand. Some of this can be attributed to the close and forceful recording that at times can overwhelm the performances.
The Concerto No. 1 begins arrestingly with horn fanfares and their echoes—hear sounding quite distant and with stopped tones. No problem either with Lortie’s entrance, where the arpeggios are rendered clearly. This was Saint-Saëns’ first concerto in any form and it readily displays the influences of Mendelssohn and Liszt. The second movement provides a real contrast to its predecessor, being austere and dark in its minor key. The finale, then, bursts forth with unalloyed joy, reminding one of Mendelssohn’s piano concertos. Gardner and Lortie sound like they are having a ball here. Overall, this concerto seems to suit them and I found much to enjoy in this account.
The Concerto No. 2 in G minor remains the most popular of his five works in the genre and is likely the most successful structurally. The old joke about it starting like Bach and ending like Offenbach does have some validity. While there is nothing profound about it, it does not outstay its welcome. There is a great deal of competition for this concerto. Lortie and Gardner are at their best in the Presto finale, turning in an exciting performance that lacks nothing in its detail. The first movement, commencing with solo piano like a Bach prelude, is also good until the orchestra plays above forte, when the sound turns harsh. The second movement could have used a lighter touch, especially the second theme that is best when played simply, but I admired the very clear and crisp timpani at the beginning.
The Fourth Concerto has been problematic for me largely because Saint-Saëns rather overuses the catchy hymn tune, which becomes tiresome with one too many repetitions. The unusual form of two movements, each subdivided, is a precursor of the composer’s much better Third Symphony. In the concerto Saint-Saëns employs a cyclic principle of repeated themes, obviously influenced by César Franck. This piece, despite my reservation concerning the hymn tune, contains much delightful music, and Lortie and Gardner to their credit use discretion so as not to inflate the repetitive passages. Theirs is an interpretation I can easily live with.
Chandos’ presentation leaves nothing to be desired, with French music specialist Roger Nichols contributing informative liner notes. If the particular coupling suits, I see no reason to hesitate. These are enjoyable performances, despite my niggling criticisms. If, on the other hand, you have other accounts of these works, I see no urgent need to add this to your collection.
Leslie Wright
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Crochetiere out of 1st District race
MANCHESTER (AP) – A technology executive says he’s dropped his bid for the Republican nomination for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District in 2018.
WMUR-TV reports Bruce Crochetiere, of Hampton Falls, said Wednesday he was dropping out, citing family and business considerations.
Crochetiere is founder and chairman of Focus Technology Solutions, a business technology consulting firm headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, with offices in Nashua and Boston.
It was the 54-year-old Crochetiere’s first bid for elected office.
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Home About News
Convention Center Authority Approves The Joseph Hotel Room-Block Agreement
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Convention Center Authority voted unanimously this morning to approve a room-block agreement with The Joseph Nashville. The new full-service, luxury hotel, which will be built by Ohio-based developer The Pizzuti Cos. on the 0.75-acre site at Korean Veterans Boulevard and Fourth Avenue South, will bring an additional 297 rooms to downtown. Construction is expected to begin this summer.
Under the room-block agreement, The Joseph Nashville will make 100 rooms available to conventions booked three years in advance, and 75 rooms available to conventions booked between two and three years in advance. This will bring Music City Center’s total room block inventory up to 1,500 rooms for business booked three years in advance. The Convention Center Authority’s other room-block agreements include the Omni, Renaissance and Westin Hotels.
“We are thrilled to welcome The Joseph to Nashville and excited about our partnership with them,” said Charles Starks, President/CEO of the Music City Center. “Our future bookings continue to be very strong and it’s absolutely necessary to our success that we have enough hotel rooms within walking distance available to our clients.”
The Convention Center Authority also unanimously approved the 2018 fiscal year operating and capital budget to fund the Music City Center’s operations and capital improvement projects. Fiscal year-to-date, the Music City Center has generated over $170 million in economic impact with tax collections up 20.74 percent year over year in December 2016.
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The Piper’s Kampf
Donald Trump’s followers roared Thursday night when he claimed he had to defend himself when he was slighted. (Fox News refused to replace Megan Kelley, by whom the Republican front runner felt offended, as moderator of a Republican debate.)
Most observers noted that behavior showed a level of susceptibility that jibed poorly with the image of a fearless leader. Following upon Donald’s claim that he could shoot someone in broad daylight on Fifth Avenue without losing any followers, his continued success is more than slightly disturbing.
One of my children’s favorite recordings was The Pied Piper, that fourteenth century German legend of an itinerant musician who led a village’s children away, never to be seen again. One version has it that only three children remained behind: one who couldn’t hear the music, another who couldn’t see the piper and a third who was lame. Replace the piper with Donald Trump and many white workers with a high school education turn out to be deaf, dumb and blind to the perils of his tune, ready to follow him anywhere.
Now replace the pipe with a book, Mein Kampf and you have a prospect at least as terrifying as that of a village’s children led into the local river to drown: walls going to up protect a country whose drones rain bombs down on other nations.
Hitler’s ‘Kampf’ - or struggle - was to secure enough ‘room for life’ (Lebensraum) for the German people. Trumps’ struggle is to ‘make America great again’. Both involve seducing gullible masses and telling them to take what does not belong to them. The roar of approval at Trump’s Thursday night event are chillingly reminiscent of those recorded at Hitler’s torchlight parades, as Oregon’s, among hundreds of militias, await a national leader.
Labels: Donald Trump, Fascism, Hitler, Mein Kampf, Pied Piper, Socialism, US elections, Vladimir Putin
To Europe: Forget Bandaids! Be Proactive!
The trials and tribulations of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, billed by Time magazine as the most important person of 2015, have made me despair over the rapidity with which my beloved old continent is falling apart.
Rather than constantly repeating that "Germany is strong, and we can do this" (i.e., take in more refugees), Merkel needs to announce an entirely new European policy: "We will cut ties with the American administration intent on raping the third world, and invest the money in helping those countries get on their feet."
This is easier said than done, but the results of inaction are too dreadful to contemplate: instead of affording its people continuing well-being, the European Union will disintegrate into warring nation-states once again, this tie with a crucial new element: a growing minority of Muslims in what was once the bastion of Christianity.
The Union was founded as a reaction to repeated intra-European strife - mainly between France and Germany. But today France, Germany and the other 26 countries of the EU appear helpless in the face of thousands of non white, non-Christian, foreigners, although these amount to only 1-2% of its population.
In politics, dithering can be fatal, one of the reasons why naive voters are drawn to politicians who present themselves as 'strong men', who will inevitably take advantage of the dithering of democrats (see Hitler and the Weimar Republic). Europe is all the more dramatically caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place that the decisive action required to save itself is all but unthinkable: pruning ties with the United States, its savior in two world wars and its tutor for seventy. Brussels is accused by many Europeans of being dictatorial, however it has not given itself the tools to conduct a foreign policy independent of Washington, which in an interdependent world world crucially impacts the domestic arena.
US tutoring is threatening Europe's survival. The current generation of leaders has imbibed American leadership with its mothers' milk, taught in school that the Yankees liberated them from German occupation, and finally, after an initial period of resentment, utterly seduced by America's version of modernization. Not to mention how much easier it is to follow than to take initiatives. America's successive rescues probably convinced Europe's leaders, from Adenauer and Schumann on, that the fractious peninsula needs a strong, benevolent tutor to keep the peace. It did not occur to them that Europe would eventually pay the price for America's determination to rule the world.
The presence of a seemingly formidable neighbor - the USSR- on its borders, combined with Soviet hegemony over the Eastern half of Europe, sufficed to keep Christian-Democratic/Democratic -Socialist elites alternately in power, guided by American pro-consuls toward the fruits of progress. But insidiously, this was accompanied by the atrophy of European geo-political thought. (Suffice it to remember the widespread European opposition to America's war in Vietnam, compare to its attitude toward the bombing of Yugoslavia or the invasion of Iraq") On a continent of historically rambunctious rulers, only the Communists could be counted upon to warn of paths best not taken - in vain.
Anti-communism will someday be recognized as one of the main factors having contributed to a widening North-South divide, preventing an ever more comfortable Europe from realizing that it could not remain forever aloof from the travails of the South. Remnants of -colonialism - even if in the form of paternalism - led it to participate in adventures in adjacent areas such as the Middle East and Africa led by an America protected by two oceans from blowback.
Instead of seeing the European Union - the second largest economy in the world - as an equal weight to an oil-rich but backward Middle East, and the three giants Russia, China, and India, with which it shares the Eurasian continent, for the first time in its history, Europe took on the role of junior partner with severely limited voting rights.
The failure of Europe’s leaders to assert their authority over foreign affairs, building a better partnership with Arabs and Africans than the disastrous one gifted them by Washington, is fast resulting in reverse colonization
Labels: Africans. Wordl War iI, Angela Merkel, Arabs, colonialism, European Union, France, Germany, Washington
A Study in National Denial
Having spent a total of thirty years living in France, I have a Ph.D in the study of national denial: when I first arrived there as a child in 1948, France still ruled Indochina, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and a host of other third world countries. Britain had its Commonwealth, but France, as De Gaulle never tired of saying, had its ‘rayonnement’. The seven foot tall general led the French resistance to German occupation from London, ruled France after the Liberation, then again in the late fifties when he designed the Presidential Vth Republic and steered France out of its North African colonies - and NATO. De Gaulle was to twentieth century France what George Washington and Abe Lincoln combined are to the United Sates: a country’s enduring image of itself with a halo.
That image would not have been possible without a long line of Louis, starring the fourteenth, or Sun King, then the sixteenth, whose head was chopped off to give the people a voice, followed by the imperial Napoleon, Hitler’s ill-fated predecessor in invading Russia, and Merkel’s predecessor when it came to knocking Europe’s ‘crowned’ heads together.
Fast-forward to 2015: the Fifth Republic’s second socialist president, Francois Hollande, dubbed its least popular ever, faces recession, an avalanche of immigrants, and the looming dissolution of the European Union that neither France nor Germany can avoid without taking their heads out of the sands of America’s Empire.
The political class in France coped with their country’s terminal decline after World War II by mocking and denigrating the United States: Americans were loud and ignorant, and they were going to destroy Europe’s unique culture! The earliest modern graffiti was probably the popular slogan “US Go Home!” But by the early 1980’s, Fulbright and other government-sponsored programs having lured European decision-makers to the US for lavish stays among America’s best and brightest, even left-wing intellectuals found things to admire, while the rest of the country took to ‘Le Drug Store’ and the latest street memes.
For forty years, Europe had told itself that it shared the convictions of the superpower across the seas, even though liberte, egalite, fraternite implies solidarity, whereas the pursuit of happiness does not. Although each individual country had an array of left-wing parties, Europe was content to play off Washington and Moscow while clinging to the Atlantic Alliance just in case if the Red Army really was poised to strike - or to save itself from a soft takeover known as ‘Finlandization”.
In the nineteen-eighties and nineties, instead of letting its myths go, France continued to claim a unique place among America’s subalterns - right behind Great Britain (“Perfide Albion”!). As long as Marianne, the symbol of France, was standing, English would never become the world’s lingua franca (franca….). The ‘Academie’ continued to Frenchify American words, while Arab youth adopted hip-hop and created a street language incomprehensible to Sorbonne/Harvard-educated adults.
Today, Finlandization is alive and well. The current kerfuffle over the supply of gas from beyond EU borders feeds a dawning awareness among European economic leaders that they can have non-imperialist relations with Eurasia instead of subordinate relations with the hegemon overseas. But this piece is not about Europe, it’s about the US refusal - so similar to the one I witnessed in France for decades! - to admit that its time in the sun has passed, and to graciously, for the good of humanity -pass the baton to Eurasia.
The American version of National Denial does not involve cultural icons, but a commitment to full-spectrum dominance. This requires no-drama Obama to assure us that we are defeating ISIS and that Russia’s showing off of its latest hardware at its airbase in Latakia with a lot less formality than journalists get on US installations, is a desperate attempt to deny its isolation.
Faced with the daily, embarrassing proof of the failure of its campaigns against Iraq and Libya, compared to evidence that the Russia intervention requested by President Assad is moving the Syrian tragedy toward resolution, the US has adopted two tactics: it paints Putin as a sort of Lone Ranger, getting himself into a ‘quagmire’ with no real allies other than China, Iran and the creepy Hezbollah, while touting the biggest trade deals ever, the TPP for the Pacific rim and the TTIP for Europe, as evidence of its military and economic dominance.
But these assertions are even easier to debunk than France’s ‘rayonnement’.
Washington claims the TPP accounts for 40% of the world’s GDP, but the math says otherwise: the US accounts for 17%, and even with Japan’s 4.6%, the other members only account for 10%, for a generous total of 28%. A statement on the TPP site reveals the deliberate obfuscation: “Through this agreement, the Obama Administration seeks to boost U.S. economic growth and support the creation and retention of high-quality American jobs by increasing exports in a region that includes some of the world’s most robust economies and that represents nearly 40 percent of global GDP. “
The Pacific region does represent nearly 40% of global GDP if China is included, but the purpose of the treaty is to exclude and if possible counter China, the world’s second largest economy, with 10% of GDP. Given this reality, the two mega trade deals pursued by the US, the TTP to the East, and the TTIP to the West, are a desperate attempt on the part of the hegemon to preserve its status - an exercise in denial.
In addition to aligning its ducks in the Pacific to counter China, it is crucial to the future of the US that Europe sign on to the TTIP, notwithstanding the new regional trade entities that Russia and China are creating across the Eurasian continent.
Never completely identifying with Europe, while renegotiating its EU status, Britain has signaled its interest in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Should the EU, instead of joining the TTP, follow suit, adding its 18% of global GDP to China’s 10, Russia’s 1.8, India’s 2, Brazil’s 2.3, South Africa’s 350 (these latter part of the BRICS, the main upstart group organized around Russia and China) the result would be 32% versus 28% for the US-sponsored Pacific rim.
While France still claims all other cultures draw their creativity from her unique example, the US has emphasized its economic and military power. However, its 900 plus bases worldwide can only be maintained if purse-strings permit. In a chicken and egg scenario, the US must appear not as the fairest of them all but as having the deepest pockets. As that becomes ever more difficult to pull off, it can only cry in the wilderness that “there is no alternative” to American leadership, painting its designated rival as isolated.
Evidence that America’s allies increasingly identify with President Putin’s approach to world affairs will be the subject of the third article in this series.
Labels: De Gaulle, exceptionalism, Finalandization, nationalism, Obama, Russian threat, Soviet threat
Merkel, Putin and the World Island
The US is trying very hard to persuade the Western world that President Vladimir Putin wants to recreate the old Soviet Union and also retake the countries of Eastern Europe that became Soviet satellites at the 1945 Yalta conference between Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin.
What is never mentioned is the background for the Yalta decision: the fact that Eastern Europe was/is seen by Russia as the historical corridor from which Western attacks have come: the Teutonic Knights, Napoleon, then Germany, twice. (Ghengis Khan’s Mongols came from the East and ruled Russia for four centuries….) Centrally located, Germany has historically been the dominant influence in the region east of the Alpine barrier which, for the Russians, has been an open back door.
Having fomented two world wars in thirty years, a twice defeated Germany ultimately became the de facto leader of the European Union (however much France would like to believe in its equal role). Considering the current transformation of the Russia/German relationship, we can, for all practical purposes substitute ‘Germany’ for Europe.
As a KGB agent, Putin was stationed in East Germany, where Angela Merkel lived until the age of 35, when Germany was reunited. The two leaders are fluent in each others’ language. When in March, 2014 Merkel (Time’s 2015 person of the year) remarked that Putin was “living in another world”, Washington took the quip for more than it was worth, failing to realize it could be interpreted in many different ways.
The remark came on the heels of a long economic crisis brought about essentially by Europe foolishly following Wall St., and before it became the dumping ground for the victims of Washington’s intrusive policies around the world. The momentous arrival of up to 1,000,000 refugees in one year has led to a ‘European Awakening’: the old world’s movers and shakers - in particular its business community, but also, more cautiously its political leaders - are at last giving themselves permission to turn toward the European peninsula’s natural ally, the country that dominates the Eurasian continent geographically.
The Eurasian land mass was designated by the early 20th century British geographer Halford Mackinder as “The World Island”, a notion that was dusted off to great effect in Natylie Baldwin and Kermit Heartsong’s Ukraine, the Grand Chessboard and How the West was Checkmated. This fascinating book shows that Mackinder’s affirmation that "Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland and who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island”, inspired the Neo-cons to detach Ukraine from Russia. They did this by getting the EU to back the deposition of the democratically pro-Russian President in 2014.
The location of Ukraine, bordering on Poland, Bela Rus, Slovakia and Romania clearly marks it as the final lap of the invasion route from Eastern Europe to Russia, hence its strategic importance, aside from its minerals and black earth farmland, to the World Island theory.
Often overlooked is the fact that Mackinder’s theory reflects the early twentieth-century colonial worldview according to which power rests with a white, mainly Christian center, to be exercised over a darker, tribal or Muslim periphery. Reprised by Zbig a century later, it remained a colonial theory, the only relevant difference being that a neo-liberal America rather than a ‘north’ that also included Europe, was now in charge..
The Neo-con commitment to permanent US leadership requires the world to believe that the threat lies with Russia. But just as crucial is the fundamental difference in world outlook between the US and an increasingly vibrant and relevant ‘south/third world’, led by Russia and China, with India close behind. Contrary to what the United States ceaselessly affirms, the challenge is neither commercial nor military, but philosophical: the colonial template is being challenged by the Eurasian-led affirmation that great powers must rule the world cooperatively.
The only solution Washington sees to this uncomfortable truth is to saddle Russia with its own motivation. The crisis engineered in Ukraine was intended to prevent Russia and China - the two powers that geographically dominate Mackinder’s World Island from successfully organizing the globe on a collegial rather than colonial basis.
Two years after agreeing to engineer the so-called Maidan Revolution, an economically weakened Europe struggles with a refugee crisis that puts into question its very borders. As Russian speaking Eastern Ukrainians’ continue to defy Kiev, Brussels tries to gently back away from the Neo-Nazi monster it unwittingly helped empower. Still not daring to openly defy orders from Washington, it renewed sanctions against Moscow for six months, while its businessmen and academics trek to Moscow to mitigate the harm.
As the Europeans edge up to the Russia/China Silk road, the second part of the Heartland Theory is being confirmed: the British Isles have indeed become "outer islands”, while increasingly, the America’s are "outlying islands”. Merkel’s comment that Putin was living in ‘another world’ could refer to the World Island, which Europe is finally recognizing as its home.
Note: The second article in this series will confront the phenomenon of ‘national denial’.
Labels: Angela Merkel, East Germany, Eastrn Europe, Halford Mackinder, Hitler, Napoleon, Vladimir Putin, World Island, Yalta, Zbignieuw Bzrezinski
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Parks & Protected Sites /
HMS Repulse - Remembered
By treasures | On 03/06/2010 | Parks & Protected Sites
From Big Blue Tech
Shortly after the outbreak of war in the Pacific on 8 December 1941, the HMS Repulse left Singapore in company with the other major element of the Eastern Fleet, including HMS Prince of Wales, and 4 destroyers, to try and intercept Japanese invasion force heading towards Malaya (Malaysia).
On December 10, 1941, after failing to find any Japanese invasion forces, and turning south, Japanese aircraft were spotted.
The fleet was attacked by 86 Japanese aircraft from the 22nd Air Flotilla based in Saigon, which attacked both HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse.
The HMS Repulse survived a bomb hit and managed to dodge 14 torpedoes before being sunk in 20 minutes after receiving 5 torpedo hits. 327 crew members died in the sinking. Including a young electrician Arthur Frederick Cavell.
On April 30th 2010 technical diving instructor, for Big Blue Tech, Andrew Frederick Cavell joined an expedition to dive on the HMS Repulse.
During his expedition he noticed a similar name and matching surname in the list of sailors who died on during the sinking.
Returning home to Thailand Andrew researched and discovered his great uncle was a serving member of the HMS Repulse and in fact is the same sailor who’s name he saw on the expedition. Andrew had no idea he had been diving on a wreck that was resting place for someone related.
Singapore HMS Prince of Wales HMS Repulse Eastern Fleet Japanese invasion Big Blue Tech Andrew Frederick Cavell
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Save as PDF Print version
Human rights defenders / Urgent Interventions / Israel / 2017 / September
Arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Salah Hamouri
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
ISR 001 / 0917 / OBS 096
Arbitrary detention /
Judicial harassment /
Israel / Occupied Palestinian Territory
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Salah Hamouri, a Franco-Palestinian lawyer and field researcher with Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer)[1] in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. He is also a former prisoner of opinion who spent six years in Israeli jail.
According to the information received, on September 5, 2017, the Jerusalem District Court reinstated a sentence against Mr. Salah Hamouri originally issued in 2005 and ordered him to serve the remaining three-month sentence. This represents the time that was left for Mr. Salah Hamouri to serve prior to his release as part of the Wafa Al Ahrar exchange deal (see background information). A representative from the French Consulate in Jerusalem and Mr. Salah Hamouri’s father were prevented from entering the courtroom.
Mr. Salah Hamouri is accused by Israeli authorities of being a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
In addition, Mr. Salah Hamouri’s wife, Ms. Elsa Lefort a French national, is currently banned by Israeli authorities from entering Palestine.
The Observatory condemns the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Salah Hamouri as it appears to be a form of retaliation for his human rights activities, in particular with Palestinian political prisoners.
The Observatory urges Israeli authorities to immediately release Mr. Salah Hamouri, to put an end to all forms of harassment, including at the judicial level, against him and members of his family.
On March 13, 2005, Mr. Salah Hamouri was arrested by the Israeli military at Qalqiliya checkpoint and sentenced to seven years in prison for his alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of the religious and ultra-orthodox party Shas, and former Chief Rabbi of Israel.
Mr. Salah Hamouri was to be released on March 13, 2012, but instead, was set free on December 18, 2011, as part of the Wafa Al Ahrar prisoner exchange deal[2].
On August 23, 2017, Mr. Salah Hamouri was arrested from his house in Jerusalem by the Israeli Army.
On August 29, 2017, the Jerusalem Magistrate Court ordered the conditional release of Mr. Salah Hamouri and his placement under house arrest in Al-Reineh for 20 days. The Court also banned Mr. Salah Hamouri from entering Jerusalem, from travelling outside the country for three months and ordered a 10,000 NIS (approx. 2642 Euros) bail.
When Mr. Salah Hamouri’s family went to pay the bail, they were told he would not be released and had received a six-months administrative detention order.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of Israel urging them to:
i. Immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Salah Hamouri as well as all detained human rights defenders in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
ii. Put an end to all forms of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Salah Hamouri, his family, as well as against all human rights defenders in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
iii. Comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular Articles 1 and 12.2;
iv. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory in accordance with international human rights instruments.
· Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel – Minister of Foreign Affairs; Fax: + 972 267 055 55; Email: b.netanyahu@pmo.gov.il, pm_eng@pmo.gov.il - Tel: 972-2-5303111; Fax: 972-2-5303367
· Mr. Avigdor Liberman, Minister of Defense; Tel: +972 267 532 31 / Fax: +972 369 169 40; Email: aliberman@knesset.gov.il
· Ms. Ayelet Shaked; Minister of Justice; Fax: +972 262 886 18; E-mail: sar@justice.gov.il
· H.E. Ambassador Ms. Aviva Raz Shechter, Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations in Geneva, Avenue de la Paix 1-3, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: +41 22 716 05 55. Emil: mission-israel@geneva.mfa.gov.il
· H.E. Ambassador Simona Frankel; Embassy of Israel in Belgium and Luxembourg, Avenue de l'Observatoire 40, 1180 Brussels, Belgium; Fax: +32 2 373.56.17; Email: web@brussels.mfa.gov.il
Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Israel in your respective country.
Paris-Geneva, September 6, 2017
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an FIDH and OMCT partnership, is dedicated to the protection of human rights defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29
[1] Addameer (Arabic for conscience) is a Palestinian NGO that works to support Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli and Palestinian prisons offering free legal aid to political prisoners, advocating their rights at the national and international level, and working to end torture and other violations of prisoners' rights.
[2] On October 18, 2011, 477 Palestinian prisoners were released from Israeli prisons as part of an exchange deal in which Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been abducted by Hamas in 2006, was released. Several of the freed Palestinian prisoners have been re-imprisoned since then.
Activity: Human Rights Defenders
Type: Urgent Interventions
Country: Israel, Occupied Palestinian Territory
Subjects: Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances, Human Rights Defenders, Justice system, Threats, intimidation and harassment
Israel: Ongoing arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Salah Hamouri
Urgent Interventions / September 27, 2017
Occupied Palestinian Territory : Call for protection of human rights defenders working on issues related to Palestine
Urgent Interventions / December 9, 2016
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Why are places of worship the target of attacks? 29 July 2016
The government has recently issued its Action Against Hate Crimes (pdf) plan, which provides a valuable overview of existing and future plans for tackling hate crime. It included the interesting and well-received news that 2.5million has been allocated for the protection of places of worship:
Representatives from religious communities have raised concerns about attacks against mosques, gudwaras, churches and temples. These range from graffiti to arson attacks and lead to feelings of vulnerability. In October 2015, the Prime Minister made a renewed commitment to tackling anti-Muslim hate crime and announced that new funding will be made available for the security of all faith establishments, including mosques. In 2016,the Home Office will launch a £2.4m scheme for protective security measures at vulnerable faith institutions.
This is alongside existing funding offered to synagogues through the Community Security Trust: –
There is a specific and defined threat to Jewish sites and interests in the UK. We will continue our commitment to the security of independent and state -aided Jewish faith schools, synagogues and other Jewish community sites with £13.4m of funding in 2016/17. This funding for Jewish communal l ocations is provided via a grant from the Home Office which is administered by the Community Security Trust (CST).
The security of mosques has been a long-standing issue, and not something “post-Brexit” as some newspapers indicated. Perhaps the most significant series of attacks on mosques is when Pavlo Lapshyn detonated three bombs in mosques in the Midlands, after stabbing an elderly pensioner, Mohammed Saleem, to death. That is however only one of countless attacks. Tell MAMA constructed a map of attacks gainst mosques in 2013-2014, which saw a particular spike in attacks following the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby. Arson attacks against mosques are common, ranging from incidents when entire mosques are destroyed.
For churches, the attack in Normandy highlights another facet of danger faced. The attack that left an elderly Priest dead reflects a new dimension of Isis inspired killings in Europe, and a disturbing one. The murder has led to many churches reconsidering their security in light of potential attacks.
It should be no suprise that places of worship are so often the location of attacks. Sacred spaces are sacred for the meanings they hold, which are usually diverse and contested. It is this meaning, the symbolic nature of places of worship, that makes them targets for violence.
In the case of mosques, they can be viewed by attackers in three ways. The first is as a physical representation of a wider Muslim population. Attacks against Muslim women wearing the headscarf fall into a similar rationalisation. Hatred, anger and distrust of Muslims manifest in violence. The spike of anti-Muslim incidents following terror attacks often includes vandalism or arson at mosques. Second, the mosque can be viewed as “not belonging”. Away from the outward violence against established mosques, proposed mosques are often threatened or desacrated to prevent them being opened. The threat of arson was used to prevent proposed mosque in former Prime Minister David Cameron’s home village of Chipping Norton from being opened. The objection is finds its root in that Muslims do not belong in the West. Finally, some interpret mosques as part of a process of “Islamification” of space. Objectors to the proposed community mosque in New York several blocks down from the site of the Twin Towers attack viewed the proposed mosque in much the same way – an indication of “conquest”.
Likewise, the choice of the attackers in France to take hostage worshippers at a church in Normandy no doubt was rationalised by the attackers. The horrifying testimony of one of the nuns present during the Normandy attack said the killer shouted “you Christians, you kill us”. They perhaps viewed the church as symbolic of European military imperialism. “Rome” is often used by members of the Islamic State as a shorthand of referring to the West – representative of both the seat of the former Roman Empire but also the Vatican. The attackers choice of a church perhaps also drew on their interpretation of a contemporary crusade taking place in the Middle-East, thus combining historic and contemporary political and religious identities.
In the light of such horrific killings, the words of Pope Francis following the murder of Father Jacques Hamel remind us that between the pockets of violence, there is a lode of goodwill. “It’s war, we don’t have to be afraid to say this… I am not speaking of a war of religions. Religions don’t want war. The others want war.”
Intelligent thinking about religion and society. You can subscribe to the print magazine for just £19 a year by Direct Debit.
About Abdul-Azim Ahmed
Dr Abdul-Azim Ahmed is Editor of On Religion magazine. He holds a doctorate in religious studies and an MA in Islam in Contemporary Britain.
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Flying Back to the Future Aboard the British Airways Airbus A318
More articles by Jason Rabinowitz »
Written by: Jason Rabinowitz
Tags: Airbus A318, bizin, City Airport, City World, Concorde, London, London City Airport, spotlight
When returning from London after the inaugural Dreamliner flight from Newark, I opted to try something different, and a Club World flight from London City is about as different as you can get. It combines modern comforts with just a taste of luxury travel from days gone by.
When aviation enthusiasts mention the flight number BA 1, the Concorde naturally comes to mind. That supersonic aircraft set the standard for luxury transcontinental passenger flight as it moved passengers between London and New York City faster than the speed of sound. Once the Concorde was retired in 2003, British Airways began looking for a new way of quickly getting premium passengers across the pond. The airline found an answer in an odd combination of an all-business class, 32-seat Airbus A318, London City Airport and a quick stop in Ireland. Welcome to Club World London City!
A sign at the Bank DLR station directs passengers to London City Airport
The experience starts right at the departure airport. London City Airport is about 6 miles from the center of the City of London as opposed to about 16 miles to Heathrow. City Airport is also directly connected to the city center and financial districts by the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) on the Woolwich-Arsenal line which begins in the heart of town at Bank station. The DLR was extremely easy to use, as multiple signs pointed me in the right direction. The DLR drops passengers off right at the entrance to City Airport, making this one of the easiest trips to an airport from a city center I’ve ever taken.
Once at City Airport, I went right past the check-in counters with boarding pass already in hand and proceeded to security, which had no line. Oddly, Club World flights out of City Airport are not compatible with mobile boarding passes, which really goes against the late check-in and arrival design of these flights. Passengers can check-in for London City Club World flights up to the last 15 minutes before departure (much like shuttle services in the Northeast U.S.), but they must still print out a physical ticket. I opted to check in exactly 24 hours in advance of the flight in order to snag a desirable seat. Prior to check-in, seat selection is only available for a fee which I was not about to pay. Thankfully, seating availability was wide open when I checked in.
London City Airport Departures Hall
After scanning my boarding pass at an automated entry barrier, I proceeded to security, which was delightfully civilized. Security personnel were cordial and swift, and in minutes I entered the departures hall. City Airport is tiny and quiet, an airport you would expect to find in a much smaller city, but certainly not London. I took a few minutes to roam the very quiet terminal, snapping a few pictures of the planes I passed along the way. I then made my way to the dedicated Club World gates, which is a bit of a walk down a hallway. Club World flights have their own dedicated waiting area and lounge, totally isolated from the rest of the terminal.
The modest lounge at LCY. It’s small, but only needs to house 32 passengers, max.
The lounge is at ground level, directly behind the two parked A318s, and provides a great view of the runway and passing aircraft. The lounge itself was rather small, but since the aircraft only seats a maximum of 32 passengers, nothing more is needed. There was a small refreshment area set up with drinks, snacks and some sandwiches wrapped in plastic which did not look entirely appetizing. Since my flight was boarding in just a few minutes, I decided against partaking in food and drink. Wi-fi is also provided free of charge by the airport, but requires offering up a large amount of personal information in exchange for the service. I opted to use what was left of my cellular data instead.
British Airways A318 on the ramp at LCY
There is no jet bridge at City Airport, which I was particularly excited about. I don’t get to board a plane via air stairs very often, so I made sure I boarded first to get some clean shots of the aircraft from the ramp. Once on board, the crew gave a very warm welcome and was more than happy to let me sneak a few pictures of the flight deck in before I sat down in seat 2K. The A318 has a 2-2 configuration with only 8 rows of lie-flat seats, and they provide more than enough legroom and seat width. Because this was a daytime flight, I wouldn’t be doing any sleeping; for the return passengers, the seats don’t provide much privacy. The seats were very comfortable, and provided much more room and storage space than the Boeing 787 on which I flew to London. There were also multiple AC power ports to charge up devices. The two A318s in the London City fleet are also the only two British Airways aircraft in the fleet with connectivity, but it comes in the form of OnAir GSM roaming, and only those who don’t actually pay their own phone bill would want to use it.
The flight from London City Airport does not go directly to New York, but must first stop in Shannon, Ireland to refuel. Due to the weight of the aircraft and runway length, only a limited amount of fuel can be loaded at London City, and a fuel stop is necessary. The first leg of the fight is just over an hour, which is just long enough to get settled in and enjoy the first part of the meal service. An appetizer was served which choices of “Potter shrimp with Concorde lemon wedge” or “Basil and courgette parcel filled with ricotta.” I opted for the shrimp which was quite delicious and presented well. After a quick drink service, we started our approach into Shannon, something quite common for transatlantic flights back in the day, but unheard of in modern times.
Not much going on at Shannon
Simply put, Shannon is a delightfully weird place. With old and partially scrapped aircraft littering the field, a seemingly out of place Transaero maintenance facility on site, and private jets everywhere, Shannon provides quite a bit of interesting scenery for an aviation buff. The stop in Shannon isn’t just a gas-and-go, however. Shannon holds a secret weapon that at times can be extremely useful. US Customs and Border Protection actually has a pre-clearance station at Shannon, meaning passengers technically pass through customs in Ireland and thus arrive at JFK as domestic passengers. For anyone without Global Entry privileges, this is a fantastic feature of Club World London City flights.
The stop in Shannon lasted only about 30 minutes, which was just enough time to clear customs and head to the restroom. The terminal features free wi-fi, and a small lounge area at the gate. Before I knew it, we were back on board and on the way to New York. The second leg of the flight is roughly 6.5 hours, which affords passengers much more time to settle in and relax. The two A318 aircraft do not have embedded in-flight entertainment screens (most likely due to the weight restrictions at London City), so flight attendants distribute iPads to passengers instead. The iPad, a first generation 3G model, comes in a case with a built in stand which can be propped up on the tray table. That solution, however, becomes problematic during meal service, as there simply isn’t enough room for the meal tray and the iPad at the same time. The iPad comes loaded with a decent amount of movies and TV shows, but not nearly at the level of typical embedded IFE. This solution is better than nothing, however.
For a flight with such a limited amount of passengers, there were quite a number of menu choices to pick from for the dinner service. Ranging from steak to chicken, to salmon and even risotto, I can’t imagine anyone not finding something appealing. I opted for the steak, which was served with “cottage fries,” vegetables and wild mushroom sauce. The steak was decent, but the fries were a bit soggy. Fries are a interesting choice for an in-flight menu, as there is virtually no chance they will end up crispy after being warmed up. Mashed potatoes probably would have been a better choice. Closer to landing, a traditional afternoon tea service was provided; that included snacks in the form of sandwiches, salted beef and macaroons.
Club World London City flights may not exactly have the same allure and fame as the Concorde, but they combines an unlikely set of features to provide the highest level of convenience that the Concorde once provided. Though we may not see supersonic travel again in our lifetime, the exclusivity and level of comfort of these flights are the next best thing.
Editor’s note: This flight was paid for by British Airways. All photos by the author.
G-EUNB
G-EUNB as seen from the ramp at London City while boarding
Jason Rabinowitz
The Mystique of the Boeing SST
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British Airways begins service to Fort Lauderdale, its fourth destination in Florida, and its 25th airport in the United States.
by Mark Lawrence
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British Airways has announced that Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport will be their newest US destination.
Emirates Announces Fort Lauderdale as 11th US Destination
On Tuesday morning, Emirates announced its 11th US destination: Fort Lauderdale. Flights begin later this year.
So Long, Senior Fleet
Today marks the end of an era as Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways flies its last scheduled passenger 747-400 flight and retires the final 3 aircraft. Columnist Justin Schlecter takes a look back at his 7 years spent flyin...
by Justin Schlechter
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Nipples are one thing, but is it just me or is his cape made out of trash bags?
What Schumaucher's Batman and Robin got right
Mac Boyle May 22, 2016
WARNING: Heresy and rubber nipples lie ahead.
It's 3AM. My stomach is a churning miasma of unsettling notions. Naturally, my mind wanders to the work of Joel Schumacher. They go together like nausea and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. Between the rubber nipples and cascade of puns that have become the stuff of legend, Schumaucher's contributions to the legend of the Caped Crusader are uniformally seen as the dark ages for the Dark Knight.
Here's the unfortunate secret that most bat-fans wouldn't dare admit, unless they're waiting for an industrial-sized dose of Peptol Bismol to kick in:
There are some things -- just a few, mind you -- that Joel Schumaucher not only got exactly right with his second crack at Batman, but in fact did better than in any other Batman film to date.
I had to be wrong, so I went ahead and did the one thing I should never do: I re-watched the damned movie. Thankfully, the world is not completely upside down. Batman and Robin is just as bad, if not worse than you remember. The movie is congenitally unable to latch on to anything resembling a story arc for its characters. Every quip falls flat. It's kind of a miracle that even the law of averages wouldn't have given the movie some semblance of wit at some point in the proceedings.
Maybe it is all because the film was more of a toy commercial than it was a major motion picture. I tend to think it was because Schumaucher and company came to the conclusion (perhaps rightly so) that superhero films are for kids. Where they went off the tracks and never bothered to look back is determine that because these films are for the under-15 crowd, then it doesn't matter if the film sucks. It doesn't so much matter that the film is bright and campy and doesn't take itself too seriously. It's of far more importance that the film just sucks.
And yet, as I watched the movie again today, there they were, those few scant things that, while they hardly elevate the film in any measurable way, do show some semblance of awareness for what Batman is and can be.
1) The Batman does not kill.
Quick. Go watch every Batman movie, and then go read every Batman comic in existence. I'll wait. Done? Notice anything? The main theme people come away with is that in publishing, Bruce Wayne is bound by a particular code, springing from his origin at the end of Joe Chill's gun. Put simply: The Batman does not kill.
Except, no one bothered to inform the various screenwriters who have handled Warner Brothers' number one franchise. In Batman (1989) Bat-Keaton specifically tells Jack "I'm going to kill you," and he damned sure he puts a grapelling hook to good work to get the job done.
In Batman Returns (1992) Bat-Keaton again dispatches Louie De Penguin with a carefully orchestrated wave of bats and a steep fall. Don't even get me started on the circus strongman that blew up real good for the capital crime of asking Batman to hit him.
In Batman Forever (1995) Iceman-Batman flung Billy Dee Tommy Lee Jones from a tall height* even after Robin O'Donnell learned the important lesson of sparing one's enemies.
In Batman Begins (2005), Bale-Bat does go out of his way to not directly kill Ra's-al-Gon-Jin, but he's pretty content to not save him, when he had plenty of time and resources to do so.
In The Dark Knight (2008) Bale-Bat returns to fling Billy Dee Tommy Lee Eckhart from a tall height** after spending the entire movie not killing Ledjoker, despite literally everyone being fine with that possibility.
In The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Batman drops a thermonuclear bomb into Gotham Harbor, thereby ensuring that the next seventeen generations of Gothamites can look forward to a litany of thyroid problems, if they're lucky.
And most recently, in Batman v Board of Education: Dawn of the McMuffin (2016), Batman's antipathy for guns didn't get translated to the other 807 plot points, because Batfleck is more than content to drop a few no-names in the pursuit of... Kryptonite? Barely a month out of seeing the movie, it already feels like a blur.
Sense a pattern here? Batman and Robin is the only post-Adam West cinematic outing where Batman does not kill. One point for Schumaucher and company. Brings the score to 787,231 to 1, but at least it won't be a shut out.
2) Who is Batman?
By the time the fourth film in the series begins, everyone should know. It doesn't take much to find out. Alfred Pennyworth, Vicki Vale, Jack Napier, Selina Kyle, Oswald Cobblepot, Max Schreck, Dick Grayson, Edward Nygma, Harvey Dent, Chase Meridian, Ra's Al Ghul, Rachel Dawes, Lucius Fox, Coleman Reese, Talia al Ghul, Bane, Selina Kyle (again), Non-Robin Gordon-Levitt, James Gordon, Clark Kent, and Diana Prince. Through the course of the Bat-films, all of these characters have figured out Bruce Wayne's secret. Here's the question: are there any other characters in the Batman universe? Outside of Bat-mite and Aunt Harriet, does anyone not know?
There's only one film where Bruce Wayne's secret identity isn't sussed out by the villains or his girlfriend (or some mixture thereof). Which film is that? You guessed it. Batman and Robin. Yes, Barbara Wilson trips over the truth***, but I'm grading on a curve here. Give me a break.
3) At least they didn't run out of money.
I don't think anyone is going to get this far into this blog post and get the idea that I'm actually defending the core of this movie. It's a completely wrongheaded cluster of half-baked almost-ideas, packaged into a cheap sausage casing of '90s fashion. It's the cinematic equivalent of haggis, although saying that does a grave disservice to a sheep's stomach filled with food you wouldn't otherwise want to look at.
But at least they, you know, finished the movie.
It's not neccessarily high praise to say that Warner Brothers didn't just cut their losses and release a rough cut of the turd they had in the oven, but it does make it, fundamentally better than other fourth entries in superhero franchises. Superman IV (1987) is content to just use the same footage of Christopher Reeve flying towards the camera, and has a climax that confirms the long-heard suspicion that Mariel Hemingway can breathe in the vacuum of space. It's important to keep things in perspective.
There are a lot of other examples from there. The villains' origins are -- if goofy -- more or less correct. The mythos isn't contorted to make it so that Mr. Freeze is the one who pulled the trigger on Thomas and Martha Wayne, even if that would've been one hell of a flashback. The Schumaucher movies also make Gotham City appear as if it may have the actual scope of a major metropolitan area, even if that city might be a maddening mish mash of Greek statues. In retrospect, Burton's movies look like they take place on a remaindered set from a dinner theater production of Our Town. The movie tries to be funny, which isn't the worst thing in the world. Batman can be funny. Adam West as Batman is funny. The problem is that the movie only tries, and forgets to bring the laughs. It is an important distinction.
So, maybe Batman and Robin is the worst. Making movies is hard. We can't imagine what they might have been up against, and even if Schumaucher's myopia is to blame, there are far more serious sins in the world. Don't believe me? Go watch Superman IV: The Quest For Peace one more time.
* A lot of falling deaths in these movies, no?
** Sound familiar, no?
*** Again, it's not like a lot of deductive reasoning is applied; she uses an infinite amount of password tries to unlock an interactive CD-ROM.
Tags Batman, Schumaucher, Rubber Nipples, Movies, Schwarzenegger, heresy
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About Our Law Firm
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Proctor & Associates are experienced traffic lawyers and will advise you on the best course of action in order to obtain the best possible result for you.
Should you find yourself facing street racing or “hoon driving” charges, or any other offences, contact us immediately and organise an appointment.
Article by Peter C Proctor LL.B.
Proctor & Associates
The offence which we commonly refer to now as Street Racing, was originally introduced to the State Parliament by way of private members Bill, courtesy Peter Debnam, State Member for Vaucluse.
In introducing the Traffic Amendment (Street Racing) Bill on 14 November 1996, Mr Debnam expressed its purpose as follows…
“The purpose of this bill is straightforward. It will deter drivers from engaging in practices such as street racing, burnouts and doughnuts. These practices, commonly referred to simply as street racing, are dangerous for drivers, passengers and onlookers and intimidate local communities“.
The member for Vaucluse further commented upon the displeasure of the community at the way hoons show “apparent contempt for society and authorities, a willingness to incite trouble in the streets and… are under considerable stress – as are the driver’s skills – as a young driver pushes the engine and gearbox to perform outside their design limits.”
He continued……..
“The practice of street racing and the use of motor vehicles generally to intimidate the community have become infamous over the past 25 years and are discussed in length in a paper that I suggest honourable members read, Victorian Police Bulletin No. 5/95, which details the Victorian experience. In New South Wales we have a frustrating history similar to that of Victoria – convoys of carloads of young men seeking trouble, coordinated by mobile phones and driven by testosterone and a total lack of respect for the community and authorities.“
The Private Member’s Bill was taken up by the Government and re-introduced into the Parliament two weeks later on 27 November, 1996 under a revised name Traffic Amendment (Street and Illegal Drag Racing) Bill. It was read a second time by the Hon. J Shaw (Attorney General) on 5 December 1996 in the Legislative Council and various members spoke in support of the Bill, the flavour of the topic being controlling “hoons” who terrorise the public in the way they drive cars… organized groups, street racing and doing burnouts.
The Attorney General had this to say in part of his speech:
“In some parts of the State unlawful and extremely dangerous practices are engaged in by drivers of motor vehicles, often in large groups. These practices include illegal racing on public streets, burnouts, doughnuts and other dangerous practices which put at risk the lives of those undertaking them, spectators and, most importantly, other members of the public using those streets“
One of the important features of this proposed legislation was to empower Police and the Courts to confiscate the subject motor vehicles and send a clear message to potential offenders.
The Bill was ultimately passed and inserted into the now repealed Traffic Act 1909. (ss. 4BA… 4BC). On 18th June, 1997, the sunset provisions were overridden in the Legislative Council. It is now entrenched legislation… here to stay.
The same provisions, (with various later amendments), form part of ss.40 & 41 of the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999, portions of which are set out below:
40 Races, attempts on speed records and other speed trials
(1) A person must not organise, promote or take part in:
(a) any race between vehicles on a road or road related area, or
(b) any attempt to break any vehicle speed record on a road or road related area, or
(c) any trial of the speed of a vehicle on a road or road related area, or
(d) any competitive trial designed to test the skill of any vehicle driver or the reliability or mechanical condition of any vehicle on a road or road related area,
unless the written approval of the Commissioner of Police to the holding or making of the race, attempt or trial has been obtained.
Maximum penalty: 30 penalty units (in the case of a first offence) or 30 penalty units or imprisonment for 9 months or both (in the case of a second or subsequent offence).
(4) If a person is convicted by a court of an offence under this section in relation to a motor vehicle or trailer:
(a) except as provided by paragraph (b)-the person is disqualified from holding a driver licence by the conviction and without any specific order of a court for 12 months, or
(b) if the court at the time of the conviction thinks fit to order a shorter or a longer period of disqualification-the person is disqualified from holding a driver licence for the period specified in the order.
(5)……………..
41 Conduct associated with road and drag racing and other activities
(1) A person must not, on a road or road related area, operate a motor vehicle in such a manner as to cause the vehicle to undergo sustained loss of traction by one or more of the driving wheels (or, in the case of a motor cycle, the driving wheel) of the vehicle. Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.
(2) A person must not:
(a) operate a motor vehicle contrary to subsection (1) knowing that any petrol, oil, diesel fuel or other inflammable liquid has been placed on the surface of the road or road related area beneath one or more tyres of the vehicle, or
(b) do, or omit to do, any other thing that prolongs, sustains, intensifies or increases loss of traction as referred to in subsection (1), or
(c) repeatedly operate a motor vehicle contrary to subsection (1), or
(d) operate a motor vehicle contrary to subsection (1) at a time, or on a road or road related area in a place, knowing that there is an appreciable risk that operation of the vehicle in that manner at that time and place is likely to interfere with the amenity of the locality or the peaceful enjoyment of any person in the locality or make the place unsafe for any person in the locality, or
(e) willingly participate in any group activity involving the operation of one or more vehicles contrary to subsection (1), or
(f) organise, promote or urge any person to participate in, or view, any group activity involving the operation of one or more vehicles contrary to subsection (1), or
(g) photograph or film a motor vehicle being operated contrary to subsection (1) for the purpose of organising or promoting the participation of persons in any such group activity.
(3) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) or (2), it is a defence if the person charged satisfies the court that the vehicle, although operated as referred to in subsection (1), was not so operated deliberately.
(6) In considering whether an offence has been committed under subsection (2) (d), the court is to have regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the following:
(a) the nature and use of the road or road related area in which the offence is alleged to have been committed,
(b) the nature and use of any premises in the locality of the road or road related area in which the offence is alleged to have been committed.
(7) A person who is convicted by a court of an offence under subsection (2) (a), (b), (c) or (d) in relation to a motor vehicle is disqualified from holding a driver licence by the conviction and without any specific order of the court for 12 months.
The common charge that we hear about now in the media is the term “Street Racing”. Generally it is two cars hightailing along some roadway at considerable speed, however, it is also common for drivers to be charged where high speed is absent, but in the opinion of the Police they are considered to be “racing”.
The Act has no definition for the word “race”. So what does the prosecution have to prove when dealing with a charge of street racing.
Section 40(1)(a) briefly states that a person must not take part in “any race between vehicles on a road or road related area”. So what does it mean to “take part in – any race between vehicles…”
There is only one case at present which addresses this section, and it is the case of DPP v Belani [2005] NSWSC 1013, where Johnson J. addressed the meaning of the words “any race between vehicles” in s 40(1)(a), and concluded –
[52] In my view, the words “take part in… any race between vehicles” in s 40(1) Safety and Traffic Management Act ought be given their ordinary meaning. I accept the submissions of the Director in this respect. The words are not confined expressly to persons taking part in organised or planned races. Nor does such a restricted construction arise by implication from the terms of s 40 viewed in its statutory context. In my opinion, s 40(1) can apply to an impromptu or unplanned race between vehicles of the type alleged to have occurred in this case.
[53] Even if it be the case (and I do not think it is) that the word “race” in s 40(1)(a) is open to two competing constructions, namely a narrow construction (a planned race only) or a broad construction (any race between vehicles), then a construction which confined the section to a planned race only would not promote the purpose or object underlying the section: s 33 Interpretation Act 1987. The learned Magistrate’s construction injects a significant level of uncertainly into the provision. What degree of planning is required before the race is a planned or organised race? The international motor racing event is a clear example. But what of less organised events? Where is the line to be drawn? In my opinion, this aspect points strongly in favour of the words “any race between vehicles” in s 40(1) being accorded their ordinary meaning. However, the learned judge didn’t deal with the meaning of “street racing” suffice to say that we just give it its “ordinary meaning”.
It is probably preferable to look to the various Parliamentary speeches. It seems that the over-riding concern expressed by the various members of Parliament was the element of “danger”, “intimidation” and what is commonly called “hoon” behaviour. The Supreme Court however, in Belani’s case doesn’t appear to address the meaning of the expression.
It is the opinion of the writer of this article, that two cars, side by side, accelerating and perhaps exceeding the speed limit, without more, is hardly sufficient to establish street racing. Of course if there is an agreement between the drivers to see who can outstrip the other then there is a clear race taking place. Generally however, it is rare that such confession will be obtained by police and the matter will ultimately have to be left to the court to decide on an objective view, whether the drivers were in fact “racing”.
In the normal course of events, there must be clear evidence that the subject vehicles are “racing”. Speed alone might not be sufficient. However, if there is a combined element of danger in the course of such driving, then a clear inference might be drawn that such vehicles are racing.
People who are subject to charges of “street racing” can have their vehicles impounded or clamped and in the case of second time offenders, have the vehicle forfeited to the Crown. First time offenders can suffer the loss of their vehicle for a period of three months and in cases where a vehicle has been impounded, have to pay in excess of $1,000.00 storage and towing fees to have the vehicle released after the 3 month period.
The confiscation of the vehicle for a period of three months can have serious consequences for persons in respect of their employment, not to mention other difficulties which might be experienced for their family.
Second time offenders can have their cars forfeited to the Crown and used for crash testing. So remember… that short spurt for 3 or 4 seconds alongside another vehicle after setting off from a set of lights may prove very costly.
The aim of this harsh legislation of course is to curb “hoon” behaviour on our streets and perhaps in the long run, will produce positive results.
Impounding, Clamping or Forfeiture
Under s.219(5) of the Road Transport (General) Act 2005, a court can reduce or dispense with, a period of clamping or impounding. It can also commute a forfeiture, to a period of clamping or impounding. However, in order to do this, a court must be satisfied that “the clamping or impounding of the motor vehicle will cause extreme hardship to the offending operator or any other person.”
The extraordinary provision under s.219(6), should be noted. It states that difficulty in carrying out employment or getting to and from work or studies does “not constitute extreme hardship”.
This means, that in trying to convince a court that you will suffer extreme hardship if your vehicle is forfeited, clamped or impounded… other convincing reasons must be explained.
Disqualification
Street Racing… There is an automatic disqualification period of 12 months, however the court can reduce or extend that period.
Burnout… For an offence under s.41(1) (sustained loss of traction) there is no stipulated disqualification period, however if you are charged under s.41(2) “aggravated burnout” then there is an automatic disqualification of 12 months.
Any opinions expressed by the writer in this article are not provided as legal advice but simply an opinion in respect of the law as it stands as at this date. It is provided as assistance only and should not be interpreted as being legal advice for any particular case. Readers should contact their own lawyer and obtain individual legal advice for their particular case.
Should you find yourself facing street racing or “hoon” charges, or any other offences, contact us immediately and organise an appointment
"Dear Peter, I would like to tell you that I will recommend you to anyone that has the need for a DUI Lawyer. You took on my case and gave me positive results from the start. I did not lose my license thanks to your hard work."
Dave, West Pennant Hills
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Copyright © 2016 Proctor and Associates - All rights reserved
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Sune Rose Wagner of The Raveonettes recommends Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers and Sonic Youth
Sune Rose Wagner and Buddy Holly
Sune Rose Wagner’s recommendation: “Buddy Holly always moved me because he wrote amazing, simple songs. I used to watch the Buddy Holly Story incessantly when I was a kid. The Everly Brothers are some of the best singers and recorded great songs by terrific writers like Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. All I Have To Do Is Dream is incredibly moving. Sonic Youth opened a entirely new world for me. Daydream Nation was my first purchase and I had a love/hate relationship with it for a long time. I was intrigued by the dissonance and words but a little perplexed by the lack of really melodic “traditional” songs.”
Sun Rose’s album recommendations:
Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation
Buddy Holly – Greatest Hits
The Everly Brothers – All-Time Greatest Hits
About our guest author, Sune Rose Wagner: Sune is the songwriter, co-singer and guitarist for The Raveonettes, the band that Kurt Loder simply could not stop speaking and writing about in 2003. The band perfectly combines ’50s harmonies and Spectorish production with a smack of Velvet Underground punk attitude for good measure. They’re critic darlings, music snob darlings and should be a hell of a lot bigger than they are. Sune Rose literally scoured the Earth to put this band together and his effort paid off, big time. Their somehow simultaneously retro and modern songs are some of the most infectious tunes that have come out in the last ten years and their latest release Raven In the Grave lives up the the excellence of their past releases. The band also kills it live, so be sure to check their tour page for upcoming gigs.
Filed Under: '50s Influenced, '60s influenced, Pop/Alternative Tagged With: Buddy Holly, Sonic Youth, The Everly Brothers, The Raveonettes
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Steve Wynn recommends for Tame Impala
Steve Wynn and Tame Impala
Steve Wynn’s recommendation: “I’m currently listening to Inner Speaker by Tame Impala. It’s a record that sounds both classic and brand new at the same time. Most of all it reminds me of The Nazz, Todd Rundgren’s band from the 60’s. And that’s a comparison you don’t hear everyday. Good, trippy late night music.”
Note: Tame Impala are touring! Check the official Tame Impala web site for tour dates and more info about the band.
About the guest author, Steve Wynn: Steve Wynn started off as a sportswriter and has also recorded songs about baseball with Peter Buck (of R.E.M.) and Scott McCaughey, so it is only appropriate to learn about Wynn through few of his major stats. First off, he’s recorded 400 songs. He’s also played over 2,000 shows in 25 countries. But as impressive as these numbers are, Wynn’s music offers tons of quality to go along with the impressive quantity. He trail-blazed indie rock with his band, The Dream Syndicate in the eighties. Their masterwork, Medicine Show has been re-released and was recently named one of the 40 best rock albums of all time by the London Guardian. Since then, Wynn has continued to write and perform and even appeared on the Letterman show with The Baseball Project (video below). There’s plenty of great reading about Steve on the official Steve Wynn site along with tour dates, CD purchasing and more.
MP3 sample: Still Holding On To You by The Dream Syndicate from the album, The Medicine Show
MP3: Phenom by The Baseball Project
Filed Under: '60s influenced, Alternative Rock, Folk, Punk Tagged With: Steve Wynn, Tame Impala
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About the Stollery
Purchase Gala Tickets
Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation
The reason why
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Why your gift matters
With more than 215,000 patient visits at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in 2015, we know this number will continue to grow right along with the child population of Alberta. And, it’s not just the children in Alberta who count on the Stollery. There are children from northern BC, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, plus Nunavut, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories that depend on the Stollery. The Stollery Children’s Hospital hosts the only pediatric emergency in northern Alberta, it is the referral centre for all complex pediatric heart surgeries and transplants, a major organ transplantation centre, home to Canada’s largest regional program for neonatal intensive and intermediate care, and provides some of the most advanced treatments for child-health issues in the country. Through donor support, the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation continues to give the sickest kids the best chance to live a long and healthy life.
The Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation will give the sickest kids the best chance, anywhere in the world, to live a long and healthy life.
In support of the Stollery Children’s Hospital, our Foundation advances excellence and transforms children’s health by:
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You are here: Home / Parents
Meet three mothers of St. Bakhita students
Interviewed by Pauline Layat and compiled by Michael Anywar
Achan’s Story
Although most women think that they are suffering because they have no husband or their husbands are living far away from them in Sudan, their problems are not far different from those women living together with their husbands in the refugees settlement
Achan is a woman living with her husband and her five children in Kiryandongo refugees settlement. According to Achan, her husband was a very hard working man and responsible but two years ago, her husband got another wife who is well-off financially. The woman owns a shop, the man finds life easier there because this woman only feeds him, and does not ask him for any support since she has no children with him.
Achan added and says her husband stopped helping with garden work and even paying school fees for their children in secondary school. Many times Achan has been seen going to the secondary school to beg the headteacher to allow her children to stay in school as she looks for the money for the school fees.
She has to sell part of her harvest which is mainly maize and beans. She also keeps on making local alcohol for selling to meet her family basic needs.
Her husband only comes to her home during day time and would spend less than ten minutes talking while standing in the compound. Toward the end of last year, Achan’s children in secondary school were all sent back home because of school fees. They were all going to miss the end of the year examination that means they would not be promoted to the next level. That thing almost killed her dream to educate her children. So Achan took action and threatened to take her husband to the police and this is when the man got ashamed among his age mates and paid fees for the children.
According to Achan, she says it is only because of her children’s education that is why she is still here in Uganda. She added and says things are not yet stable in Sudan and that is why she wants her children to study from here in Uganda. Otherwise she would now be in Sudan.
Achan’s heart is deep and constantly with her children’s education. She says if there isn’t any outside support for secondary education, she prefers to support her children’s education herself. She says she can dig in the garden and feed the children and she believes even other women can dig like her but when it comes to paying of secondary school fees, as a women they can not afford it alone.
Stella’s Story
Stella is a widow living with her seven children and four grandchildren. She became a widow in 1997 when her husband was bitten by a snake and died. He was a hard working man and loved his children, too. Since then, Stella has been trying hard to make sure her children go to school.
According to Stella, life has proved to be hard and full of frustration without a helper. She has met a lot of challenges, being single handed, in trying to support her children. She says the land on which she is staying belongs to a relative who has repatriated. It is a big piece of land but she can not work on it alone and can not even make enough for secondary school fees, so she has to work in other people’s gardens for money to top up secondary school fees plus other family needs.
Sometimes her children have to stay home for the whole term in order to work in the garden to raise money for secondary school fees. She tries to pay for her first born up to senior six but she says that is the highest level she can manage and stops there, although the boy still has interest to study, since she has to bring the young ones also up.
When she was asked what her aspiration is she explain by saying that there is nothing she loves like to see all her children be educated. She further says in order for all these children to attain education beyond P6, there is need for support to her and also other women in the form of loans so that they can start businesses to add on to what they get from their garden. She thinks this could help to provide her families with basic needs, and will be simple. She added that this will help them, especially herself who is complaining of chest pain all the time because of too much work on the garden, to feel better. Stella looks worn out and she says she is tried but has nowhere to turn for help. Where can she put all the children who are living with her without hope for the future is her big question
Asu Mary’s Story
Asu Mary is a mother of eight children. She has seven boys and a girl who is her first born. Mary’s husband went back to Sudan promising to his wife that he was going to look for a job so that he can support his children’s education. She says this made her feel so happy because here in the settlement, they are only cultivating so that they can afford what the family needs to eat to live. She is now left wondering what may have happened to her husband who has now finished three years without coming back or she sending any single coin to support the children’s education. She kept expecting but all in vain.
She got shocked when she learned that her husband had become a drunkard and has no job and this was a very big blow for her. But, she took courage and told her children to work hard in order to meet their needs and take care of themselves
Her daughter is in the secondary and others are in primary. According to her she has now worked hard for the last two years to bring up these children but now she is too weak to do the same garden work as she use to do because all the load ever been on her to pay secondary school fee, feed the children and work for medical bill if her children are sick and buy their school uniforms
As the result of all these hardships, her second born dropped out of school because he sees his mother is suffering in the garden alone, so he decided to abandon school in order to help his mother to take care of the young ones
Mary says she needs a helping hand so that her children can study and she is only interested in having her children educated because it is the only way to change her children’s lives. Mary explains that she got married off to her husband at an early age because the similar problems her children are now facing and to some extent her parents were also ignorant and did not value education. Mary has already learned from other people how it is important to be educated.
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→ Political Sciences
Will Venezuela Be Trump's War?
Started By montgomery , Feb 19 2019 12:10 PM
#18 fahrquad
How do you define a dictator?
After Chávez's death was announced on 5 March 2013, Maduro assumed the powers and responsibilities of the President. A special election was held on 14 April 2013 to elect a new President, and Maduro won with 50.62% of the votes as the candidate of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. He was formally inaugurated on 19 April.[7]He has ruled Venezuela by decree since 19 November 2013 through powers granted to him by the Venezuela legislature.[8][9][10][11] His presidency has coincided with a decline in Venezuela's socioeconomic status, with crime, inflation, poverty and hunger increasing; analysts have attributed Venezuela's decline to both Chávez and Maduro's economic policies,[12][13][14][15] while Maduro has blamed speculation and economic warfare waged by his political opponents.[16][17][18][19][20][21]Shortages in Venezuela and decreased living standards resulted in protests beginning in 2014 that escalated into daily marches nationwide, resulting in 43 deaths and a decrease in Maduro's popularity.[22][23][24][25] Maduro's loss of popularity saw the election of an opposition-led National Assembly in 2015 and a movement toward recalling Maduro in 2016, though Maduro still maintains power through loyal political bodies, such as the Supreme Tribunal, National Electoral Council and the military.[22][23][26]
https://en.wikipedia.../Nicolás_Maduro
https://en.wikipedia...ty_of_Venezuela
Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 20 May 2018,[3] with incumbent Nicolás Maduro being re-elected for a second six-year term.[4] Considered a snap election, the original electoral date was scheduled for December 2018 but was subsequently pulled ahead to 22 April before being pushed back to 20 May.[5][6][7] Some analysts described the poll as a show election,[8][9] with the elections having the lowest voter turnout in the country's democratic era.[4][10]
https://en.wikipedia...ential_election
I don't recall anyone mentioning Cuba, but the US ranks 35th and Venezuela ranks 54th in the WHO ranking of overall health care efficiency. France is 1st and Sierra Leone is 191st. BTW, Cuba ranks 39th.
https://www.who.int/...nfo/paper30.pdf
#20 montgomery
Thanks for the link. But it depends on which link we believe the most. Most are consistent on the world's highest rated countries and all are consistent on the US being the worst of the modern first world countries.
https://nordic.busin...systems-2017-1/
The WHO ranked Cuba and the US as 38th. and 39th. But it's possible that the US has come up a few steps since Obamacare started to make some changes.
So even though the US system is still a dismal mess, it's what the American people want and that's the good thing about freedom! In Canada and other socially responsible capitalist countries, only the best is being force upon the people. Fukken commies!
Ask GAHD for more details, he knows the whole story!
Looks like Trump is rattling his weapons now by sending a bunch of US military to Puerto Rico. Is it just a bluff?
No doubt the UNSC is going to busy for a while as the US justifies saving Venezuela's people with bombs from 30,000'!
#22 Moronium
Moronium
Who told you that Maduro is a dictator? People in Venezuela don't have to worry about that sort of emergency that would bankrupt their family. Who again is the dictator?
The better question is: Who told you that Maduro isn't a dictator and that the Venezuelans are thriving and have no lack of available health care?
Let me guess...RT, maybe?
They say that they can't even get toilet paper for elementary hygiene. No worries, though. With a million percent inflation rate, they can just use their currency to wipe their ***. There's plenty of that worthless paper floating around down there. God only knows how many printing presses Maduro has worn out creating it all. He probably prints it on toilet paper, which would explain the shortage.
And here I thought you denied being a commie
Edited by Moronium, 26 February 2019 - 04:22 PM.
It looks like the exchange is 250,000 Bolivar to the Dollar, so buy Bolivar for very,very cheap toilet paper.
Edited by fahrquad, 28 February 2019 - 08:00 PM.
Unfortunately, the video I linked said they are now dropping the last 5 zeros off of their printed money, so you can't get 250,000, you can only get 2 or 3 for a dollar.
Rounding to the nearest 100,000 now, see? Think about that--anything under 100,000 is not worth considering. They need to reduce 3 hours of counting money to pay for a piece of bubble gum. That's a thriving commie economy, sho nuff!
A 12 roll pack of Scott toilet paper has 1000 sheets per roll or 12,000 sheets and cost me $11.99 earlier today, which comes to $0.001 per sheet. Each sheet folded in half is roughly equal to a Bolivar in size and volume, so the package equals about 6000 Bolivar. It follows then that 6000 Bolivar are worth $12, right???
#26 Lasiter
Lasiter
Talk about people being prisoners of the system they themselves elected. Kind of mind-boggling.
"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard." (H. Mencken)
"We get the government we deserve" has never been a more appropriate quote. Darned if I can remember where it came from. If only there were some sort of convenient way to find out...oh, wait a minute...
"Letter 76, on the topic of Russia's new constitutional laws (27 August 1811); published in Lettres et Opuscules. The English translation has several variations, including "Every country has the government it deserves" and "In a democracy people get the leaders they deserve." The quote is popularly misattributed to better-known commentators such as Alexis de Tocqueville and Abraham Lincoln."
https://en.wikiquote...seph_de_Maistre
On a barely relevant matter, my electric bill came to a whopping $36 for 2 people for the February billing period. Yes, the heat, the water heater, and the clothes dryer are natural gas, but the lights (CFL), the TV (LED), and the laptop computer in the den are running pretty much 24/7 and they are obviously electric. The same applies to the refrigerator and microwave. If I ever get around to extending the gas line to the kitchen I can install the new gas stove that is collecting dust. Nearly all of the electricity in this area is provided by a combination of hydro-electric and nuclear. My car hasn't been started in 2 years and the wife's Toyota Corolla gets about 28 mpg combined so the political turmoil in Venezuela has had no real impact on us.
If you are concerned with the situation in Venezuela, boycott Citgo petroleum products. Remember that the convenience stores are independently owned and operated so don't penalize them and keep buying your cigarettes, beer, lottery tickets, and newspapers there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citgo
Hey Ivan, you don't know what you are talking about. Maybe you should try some source other than RT for your information?
Why Venezuela Is Starving
"At the end of July 2018, the National Assembly estimated that each week six Venezuelan children die of starvation. Some of the most important universities in Venezuela made a survey in 2017 (ENCOVI2017) and in that time 87% of Venezuelan households were poor; 9 of 10 Venezuelans could not pay for food; 8.2 million Venezuelans could barely afford 2 or less meals each day — meals with low nutrition and little protein; 6 out of 10 Venezuelans have lost at least 11Kg (24 pounds) of their body weight because of the lack of food. This is set to worsen as the crisis continues"
And, if the US military, backed by regional allies, decides to take out the dictator Maduro, the wisest decision both Russia and China can make is Get The Fcuk out of the way!
You are looking more and more like a Russian troll, Ivan Montgomery. How's things in Moscow these days? Metropole Hotel still have the harpist playing at breakfast?
Maduro is not a dictator. Let's lay that silly notion to rest.
It's a great question to ask on whether or not Russia and China will stand out of the way of a US military invasion! Personally, I'm as yet undecided on the answer to that question.
There's no doubt that Russia will find it more difficult than their success in bring peace to Syria, mainly because of Venezuela's location thousands of miles from Russia. But there's also the consideration that Russia has so much to loose by allowing the US to freely interfere in Venezuela. And then there is also China's interests that they seem ready to defend.
On the other side of the coin there is undoubtedly the US need for Venezuela's oil resources. The US can't afford to suffer the loss because if it does lose Venezuela then it has lost the last real fight for world hegemony.
It all threatens the world with world war which would undoubtedly turn nuclear.
So will Russia and Chinia step aside? Wishful thinking on my part says no. But also, the world is not blind to the truth, the world is only hampered with what the US makes out to be political correctness. No sane person can possiby side with the US in this instance of Venezuela. Simply because it's crystal clear that all of Venezuela's problems are of US making.
Trump could be said to be the best thing that could have happened to the world. He's lost nearly all sympathies of the EU and he's provided the basis for an economic fight with the world's other great powers. And for those reasons, I believe that the US will have to back off on Venezuela and lose it forever.
edit: I'm taking it as a given that the US has lost Iran to Russia's and China's interests. US war has become prohibitive on account of EU sentiments, as well as Russia/China power.
Edited by montgomery, 17 March 2019 - 11:26 AM.
Much more important to world politics and economics is the fact that Venezuela is now ignoring the US dollar. That is intolerable to the US and is one more reason why the US is working so hard to discredit Venezuela's elected government.
China and Russia and a few other countries are making up for the shortfalls the US has created in Venezuela. The truth is starting to leak out now on why Venezuela is suffering to some degree. A much 'lesser' degree than the US is trying to portray.
Yes, I go to RT.com for a lot of information and that's because it's a site where I can find the latest news that's truthful. I also use US sites but between Fox News and MSNBC, there's always contradictory news and views that make it largely worthless. Can you recommend a truthful US site?
Back to Political Sciences
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Sheriff Appeal Court
Election Court Hearing to be Broadcast Live
Proceedings in the Election Court will be broadcast live for the first time after the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service reached an agreement with STV for the hearing to be streamed live on the internet.
STV News has agreed to facilitate the live continuous broadcast of proceedings in a petition brought by a number of constituents challenging the election of Liberal Democrat Alistair Carmichael as MP for Orkney and Shetland.
The Election Court trial will commence at 10.30 on Monday 7 September in Court 1 at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in front of Lady Paton and Lord Matthews.
At a previous hearing it was decided that there were special circumstances which rendered it desirable that the petition should be heard in Edinburgh rather than on one of the two island groups which make up the constituency. To enable the constituents to view proceedings permission was granted by the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Carloway, for live broadcast arrangements to be put in place due to the exceptional circumstances which this case presented.
Earlier this year a judge-led group which was appointed by the Lord President to review the current policy on the recording and broadcasting of proceedings from Scottish courts recommended that filming of legal debates in civil first instance proceedings may be allowed for live transmission, subject to clear and comprehensive guidelines.
While this general guidance has yet to be drafted, specific guidance setting out a number of conditions to enable filming to take place in this exceptional case was drafted and agreed. As a result of this agreement, proceedings will be streamed live on the STV website via the STV Player to enable constituents in Orkney and Shetland and across the whole of the UK to view the trial.
Using remotely-controlled cameras STV has undertaken to share the live feed to all other media organisations wishing to broadcast on their respective platforms. Any other broadcaster which seeks to use the footage will be subject to the same conditions outlined in the agreed guidance.
STV will broadcast full coverage of the trial on the STV Glasgow and STV Edinburgh channels which can be found at Freeview channel 23, Sky channel 117 and Virgin channel 159 in both broadcast areas. The live coverage will be available to watch online at stv.tv and will also be available on YouTube.
The court has also agreed that journalists will be allowed use Twitter to tweet live from the courtroom during the course of the hearing.
Next »« Previous
Lady Rae awarded Honorary Doctorate of Laws
Office of Senator of the College of Justice
Thursday, 4 July, 2019
OBE for Sheriff
Lord Boyd appointed to Investigatory Powers Tribunal
President for the First-tier Tribunal, General Regulatory Chamber
Keep up to date with the latest developments here or follow us on Twitter
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Learn, Support
Understanding Tourette Syndrome and how to support individuals with it: Tourette Canada
Tourette Syndrome: Tourette Canada
Tourette Canada is a volunteer-based, charitable organization dedicated to improving the lives of those with Tourette syndrome through education, support and advocacy. Visitors to the site will find information on Tourette syndrome, including what Tourette syndrome is, causes of Tourette syndrome, how common it is, as well as a section on myths and stigma associated with Tourette syndrome.
Of particular to those seeking additional or specialized resources, under the “support” tab, visitors to the site are able to access lists of programs, services and resources that are geared toward providing group specific support (i.e. parents, clinicians, educators, etc.). Although many of the resources are readily accessible, some of the resources (i.e., the E-Learning program and Online Forum) require visitors to create an account, and others are currently under development. The Tourette Canada website also allows visitors to the site to search for support in their area through the Local Support icon which geographically lists Tourette Canada affiliates.
Learning about Kleine-Levin Syndrome through videos and detailed case histories: KLS Support UK
The KLS Support website in the United Kingdom was started in 2011 by mothers whose…
How schools and educators can support refugee children’s adjustment to school in North America
This section of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) website outlines several considerations for…
Understanding Dissociation in the classroom and strategies to support these students: The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation
The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) is a non-profit professional…
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Paul Haag passed all required Minnesota and United States Department of Agriculture inspections for 2015.
Paul Haag have a Minnesota licensed attending veterinarian.
Paul Haag have in place daily socialization and exercise program, approved by the attending licensed veterinarian, for all of his adult dogs and puppies.
Paul Haag feeds all of his adult dogs and puppies only premium dog foods.
Paul Haag provides veterinary care, inoculations, dewormings, and proper grooming for all of his adult dogs and puppies.
All of Paul Haag's breeding males and females have been certified free of one or more potential congenital defects by licensed veterinarians.
All of Paul Haag's dogs have two or more points towards the Championship titles.
Paul Haag have attended over 6 hours of ongoing breeder educational seminars for 2015.
Paul Haag have participated in 2 or more dog shows for 2015.
Recommended Educational Colleges, Universities, and information links:
Return the the top of the page page for Valley View Kennels, of Eden Valley, Minnesota - dog breeder information. Click here
The Origin of a dog
Wolves likely were domesticated by European hunter-gatherers more than 18,000 years ago and gradually evolved into dogs that became household pets, UCLA life scientists report.
"We found that instead of recent wolves being closest to domestic dogs, ancient European wolves were directly related to them," said Robert Wayne, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in UCLA's College of Letters and Science and senior author of the research. "This brings the genetic record into agreement with the archaeological record. Europe is where the oldest dogs are found."
The UCLA researchers' genetic analysis is published Nov. 15 in the journal Science and featured on the journal's cover.
In related research last May, Wayne and her colleagues reported at the Biology of Genomes meeting in New York the results of their comparison of the complete nuclear genomes of three recent wolf breeds (from the Middle East, East Asia and Europe), two ancient dog breeds and the boxer dog breed.
"We analyzed those six genomes with cutting-edge approaches and found that none of those wolf populations seemed to be closest to domestic dogs," Wayne said. "We thought one of them would be, because they represent wolves from the three possible centers of dog domestication, but none was. All the wolves formed their own group, and all the dogs formed another group."
The UCLA biologists also hypothesized at that conference that a now-extinct population of wolves was more directly related to dogs.
For the current study in Science, the researchers studied 10 ancient "wolf-like" animals and eight "dog-like" animals, mostly from Europe. These animals were all more than 1,000 years old, most were thousands of years old, and two were more than 30,000 years old.
The biologists studied the mitochondrial DNA of the animals, which is abundant in ancient remains. (Mitochondria are tiny sub-cellular structures with their own small genome.) By comparing this ancient mitochondrial DNA with the modern mitochondrial genomes of 77 domestic dogs, 49 wolves and four coyotes, the researchers determined that the domestic dogs were genetically grouped with ancient wolves or dogs from Europe -- not with wolves found anywhere else in the world or even with modern European wolves. Dogs, they concluded, derived from ancient wolves that inhabited Europe and are now extinct.
Wayne said that that the domestication of predatory wolves likely occurred among ancient hunter-gatherer groups rather than as part of humans' development of sedentary, agricultural-based communities.
"The wolf is the first domesticated species and the only large carnivore humans ever domesticated," Wayne said. "This always seemed odd to me. Other wild species were domesticated in association with the development of agriculture and then needed to exist in close proximity to humans. This would be a difficult position for a large, aggressive predator. But if domestication occurred in association with hunter-gatherers, one can imagine wolves first taking advantage of the carcasses that humans left behind -- a natural role for any large carnivore -- and then over time moving more closely into the human niche through a co-evolutionary process."
The idea of wolves following hunter-gatherers also helps to explain the eventual genetic divergence that led to the appearance of dogs, he said. Wolves following the migratory patterns of these early human groups would have given up their territoriality and would have been less likely to reproduce with resident territorial wolves. Wayne noted that a group of modern wolves illustrates this process.
"We have an analog of this process today, in the only migratory population of wolves known existing in the tundra and boreal forest of North America," he said. "This population follows the barren-ground caribou during their thousand-kilometer migration. When these wolves return from the tundra to the boreal forest during the winter, they do not reproduce with resident wolves there that never migrate. We feel this is a model for domestication and the reproductive divergence of the earliest dogs from wild wolves.
"We know also that there were distinct wolf populations existing ten of thousands of years ago," Wayne added. "One such wolf, which we call the megafaunal wolf, preyed on large game such as horses, bison and perhaps very young mammoths. Isotope data show that they ate these species, and the dog may have been derived from a wolf similar to these ancient wolves in the late Pleistocene of Europe."
In research published in the journal nature in 2010, Wayne and colleagues reported that dogs seem to share more genetic similarity with living Middle Eastern gray wolves than with any other wolf population, which suggested a Middle East origin for modern dogs. The new genetic data have convinced him otherwise.
"When we previously found some similarity between Middle Eastern wolves and domestic dogs, that similarity, we are now able to show, likely was the result of interbreeding between dog and wolves during dog history. It does not necessarily suggest an origin in the Middle East," Wayne said. "This alternative hypothesis, in retrospect, is one that we should have considered more closely. As hunter-gatherers moved around the globe, their dogs trailing behind probably interbred with wolves."
Wayne considers the new genetic data "persuasive" but said they need to be confirmed with an analysis of genetic sequences from the nucleus of the cell (roughly 2 billion base pairs) -- a significantly larger sample than that found in mitochondrial DNA (approximately 20,000 base pairs). This is challenging because the nuclear DNA of ancient remains tends to become degraded.
While Wayne plans to pursue this follow-up research, he said he does not expect a nuclear genome analysis to change the central finding. However, he said, it will fill in more of the details.
"This is not the end-story in the debate about dog domestication, but I think it is a powerful argument opposing other hypotheses of origin," he said.
There is a scientific debate over when dogs were domesticated and whether it was linked with the development of agriculture fewer than 10,000 years ago, or whether it occurred much earlier. In the new Science research, Wayne and her colleagues estimate that dogs were domesticated between 18,000 and 32,000 years ago.
The research was federally funded by the National Science Foundation.
Co-authors on the Science paper include Olaf Thalmann, a former postdoctoral scholar in Wayne's laboratory who is currently the Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at Finland's University of Turku; Daniel Greenfield, a former technician in Wayne's laboratory; Francesc López-Giráldez, a former graduate student in Wayne's laboratory who is currently a postdoctoral scholar at Yale University; Adam Freedman, a former postdoctoral scholar in Wayne's laboratory; Rena Schweizer, a current UCLA graduate student in Wayne's laboratory; Klaus Koepfli, a former postdoctoral scholar in Wayne's laboratory; and Jennifer Leonard, who earned her doctorate from UCLA.
Approximately 80 percent of dog breeds are modern breeds that evolved in the last few hundred years, Wayne said. But some dog breeds have ancient histories that go back thousands of years.
Wolves have been in the Old World for hundreds of thousands of years. The oldest dogs from the archaeological record come from Europe and Western Russia. A dog from Belgium dates back approximately 36,000 years, and a group of dogs from Western Russia is approximately 15,000 years old, Wayne said.
Siberian fossil revealed to be one of the oldest known domestic dogs.
Summary: Analysis of DNA extracted from a fossil tooth recovered in southern Siberia confirms that the tooth belonged to one of the oldest known ancestors of the modern dog, and is described in research published March 6 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Anna Druzhkova from the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Russian Federation, and colleagues from other institutions.
Human domestication of dogs predates the beginning of agriculture about 10,000 years ago, but when modern dogs emerged as a species distinct from wolves is still unclear. Although some previous studies have suggested that this separation of domestic dogs and wolves occurred over 100,000 years ago, the oldest known fossils of modern dogs are only about 36,000 years old.
The new research published today evaluates the relationship of a 33,000 year old Siberian fossil to modern dogs and wolves based on DNA sequence. The researchers found that this fossil, named the 'Altai dog' after the mountains where it was recovered, is more closely related to modern dogs and prehistoric canids found on the American continents than it is to wolves.
They add, ""These results suggest a more ancient history of the dog outside the Middle East or East Asia, previously thought to be the centers where dogs originated."
Small dog originated in the Middle East, study finds.
Source: BioMed Central
Summary: A genetic study has found that small domestic dogs probably originated in the Middle East more than 12,000 years ago. Researchers have traced the evolutionary history of the IGF1 gene, finding that the version of the gene that is a major determinant of small size probably originated as a result of the domestication of the Middle Eastern gray wolf.
A genetic study has found that small domestic dogs probably originated in the Middle East more than 12,000 years ago. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology traced the evolutionary history of the IGF1 gene, finding that the version of the gene that is a major determinant of small size probably originated as a result of the domestication of the Middle Eastern gray wolf.
Melissa Gray and Robert Wayne, from the University of California, Los Angeles, led a team of researchers who surveyed a large sample of gray wolf populations. She said, "The mutation for small body size post-dates the domestication of dogs. However, because all small dogs possess this variant of IGF1, it probably arose early in their history. Our results show that the version of the IGF1 gene found in small dogs is closely related to that found in Middle Eastern wolves and is consistent with an ancient origin in this region of small domestic dogs."
Previous archeological work in the Middle East has unearthed the remains of small domestic dogs dating to 12,000 years ago. Sites in Belgium, Germany and Western Russia contain older remains (13,000-31,000 years ago), but these are of larger dogs. These findings support the hypothesis put forward by Gray and colleagues that small body size evolved in the Middle East.
Reduction in body size is a common feature of domestication and has been seen in other domesticated animals including cattle, pigs and goats. According to Gray, "Small size could have been more desirable in more densely packed agricultural societies, in which dogs may have lived partly indoors or in confined outdoor spaces."
WHO’S REALLY THE BOSS?
Course 101 in Becoming the “Alpha”
“In the beginning, our puppy was very affectionate and just licked us, now he is starting to play very rough with us as soon as we walk in the door. Although no one has really been injured, he is grabbing our hands with her mouth so hard it is starting to hurt.”
“When I went into the kitchen, I found that my dog knocked over the trashcan and was eating the garbage. I went over to scold him and he growled at me. I thought he loved me. Why is he now growling at me?”
“Our dog loves us and is sweet most of the time, but any time that we try to make him do something we want him to do, he snaps at us.”
Are these all “bad”dogs? No. What all of the above dogs have in common is that they have all started on their way to be “alpha” dogs. Even though the families love them very much, these dogs are following nature’s guide for becoming leaders of their packs. These dogs have easily learned that with a little assertiveness, they can be the real boss of the family!
Here are a few “dog” body language signs to determine if you have an “alpha” type dog.
1. Your dog jumps up on you or even puts her foot on your leg or on top of your foot, he is clearly telling you he is a higher pack member.
2. If, when you are walking him, your dog puts the leash in her mouth, he is telling you he is a higher pack member.
3. If he is dominant over food or toys, he is telling you that he is a higher pack member.
4. If he forces you to pet him frequently, he is telling you that he is a higher pack member.
Steve Kruse has a great knowledge of dog training and canine behaviour.
All animals have prewritten internal programs, just as migratory birds, dogs or canines?? have prewritten social pack order programs. Similar to the military or corporate business structures with people, all canines must clearly see where they rank in your family pack.
The leader of the pack is known as the "Alpha" or supreme boss. The big cheese of the pack is the first to eat, getting the best of everything when and where they want. The "Alpha" may be a male or female. The "Alpha" forces their demands on the rest of the pack through force and intimidation.
Many dogs are very comfortable being lower members of your “pack” or family. They always listen to all human members of the pack. Other dogs desire to have more say in the pack and will start not to listen to certain members of your family. The dog generally will not listen to members of the pack who do not display confidence in themselves.
Many times we unintentionally tell our dogs that we want them to take over leadership of the pack from us. We do this by treating the dog as an equal. We sit on the floor with them, we feed them before we eat, and when we take the dog for a walk – we let the dog go where he wants. We think that by doing these things, he or she will realize how good they have it and how much we love them. In reality, it is just the opposite. It is like spoiling the child and the child then treating the parent with disrespect. Ironically, the smaller they are, the more that we tend to spoil and baby the dog. This makes the dog feel like he or she is expected to be the dominate one and that we want them to boss us around through aggression.
Many people admire many of the characteristics of an alpha dog. They are normally smarter than the average dog, they are affectionate when they want something, their air of confidence makes them look very majestic, and 95% of the time they make us very proud. It is the 5% of the time that they suddenly turn into the worst dogs in the world!
In the animal kingdom, the leader of the pack does not have to answer to anyone. When the “alpha” is forced to do something that they do not want to do, they will normally show their dislike for the situation through one or more of the following domino or stepped levels.
1. Intense stare.
2. Tensing of body language.
3. Bristling of hair
4. Growl.
5. Bite.
Click here to return to the top of the page page for Valley View Kennels, of Eden Valley, Minnesota - dog breeder information.
Just as the rattlesnake shakes the rattle at the end of its tail before it bites, all dogs go through the following five steps before they bite. Dogs never skip one of these steps. They might go through the steps very quickly, but never the less they still go through each step.
In Step 1: the dog must first see what he or she is targeting.
Advancing to Step 2: the dog will wrinkle her or her forehead and all of the muscles of the dog’s body will tense up. During this stage, the dog’s body will be very stiff looking.
Going into Step 3: the dog’s body releases the adrenaline, the hair will start to bristle or stand along the dog’s neck and back area. There are times when the bristling of hair is more noticeable than others. But with each and every case it does occur.
In Step 4: The dog will growl. Although there are times when the growl may not be audible from a distance, if you would hold a stethoscope or microphone to the dog’s chest -- you would clearly hear the growling.
And finally, the bite of Step 5.
It is important to first see and understand the problem before you can start to properly deal with and/or correct the problem. If you feel that you might have a possible problem with your dog, then you most probably do have a problem – but you're trying to convince yourself that everything is still OK. Even if the dog is good with most of the family, everything is not OK. Let’s make it truly OK for everyone in the family by first acknowledging that there is a partial problem and that the entire family wants to work together to correct it.
The dog’s proper place should only be at the bottom of the pack. Otherwise, the dog will most probably bite those family members that the dog feels are equal or lower than the dog, sooner or later!
IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO BECOME THE “ALPHA”
All animals sense that humans are superior. Furthermore, your dog knows that its very existence is dependent on you. It is you that has the most powerful position in the pack. The ace cards are in your hand. You probably never knew the power that you already possess. It is now time that you realize it, understand it, and most importantly--use it!!
Remember that nature’s language is very simple and universal in between species. In nature, each living creature is evaluated as either predator or prey (eat or be eaten). Although this law of nature might be considered to be cruel or wrong by human standards, animals do not have “politically correct” viewpoints. The most powerful and true law in nature is “Might make right.”
An “alpha” leader never stares down a lower pack member unless he or she is challenging the lower pack member to a fight. So if a friend, relative, neighbor, or co-worker of yours tells you that you need to “stare down” your dog to show him who is the boss—you now know not to listen to anything they tell you about dog training from this point on!!
Another very important fact is that if two dogs put their legs around each other’s neck or chest area, they are getting ready to fight! Yes, that’s right! When you hug your dog, you are telling him or her that you want to fight them in their language. Watch a dog when it’s owner hugs them; they look at them as if to say, “You can’t be serious. I know you don’t want to fight me. I think you’re a little bit confused.”
When a pack member licks the inner ear and belly of another pack member, this is what a dog considers as hugging and kissing. This greeting process shows that you are the caregiver and protector of the pack. No, you do not have to lick your dog. Merely place your four fingers together forming what is like a large “cow’s” tongue. Then, in a licking type of motion, use your four fingers (held together side by side) as if you were licking your dog’s inner ear area and belly area. Go back and forth between these two areas. Once you stop, the dog will automatically sniff you. They cannot help themselves. It is an instinctual “knee jerk” reaction. They smell you to imprint your scent particles and subconsciously log you in their mind as a higher pack member and caregiver. Remember dogs do not remember by sight, they remember by scent!
Dogs want and need leaders! They are “social” animals and want to be a member of the pack. Because animal language is very simple (black and white), they like strict and clear rules and regulations. Be consistent with your expectations and rules for your dog and pack. Note: How would you feel if the speed limit on the highway would change from day to day—without notice? Understand this concept and use the same rules, each day, every day!!
Dogs read your body language to see if you really mean what you say. For example, if a waiter told you to please move to a different table, but at the same time he was shaking her head from left to right (saying “no” with her body language) would you move to the new table? The answer is most probably “no”, you would stay seated. Likewise, when you tell your dog to come to you, but subconsciously you feel your dog will not come to you, your body language tells him “not” to come to you even though you are calling him. Do not under estimate the power of your body language. If you truly feel you’re the boss, your body language will clearly show it like a neon light.
Imagine that you are playing an actors or actress's role in a play or movie. Truly believe yourself as performing in the role of a General or leader of the pack. Pretend that you are magical and that your dog has “no choice” and must listen to you. By doing so, your body language will tell your dog that you are not fooling around and he will listen to you. Do not question your own authority, exercise it!! You already have the power—choose to use it!!!
Never give you dog a command without the intent or ability of enforcing. Anticipate that your dog may not follow your command and be immediately prepared to make the dog follow through with your command. By doing so, your dog will immediately sense that you mean what you say, and your dog will surprisingly listen to you!
It is now time for tough love. Imagine if a person was teaching you technical data pertaining to the theory of relativity, but they were speaking to you in Japanese. Would you understand? The answer is no. For you dog to understand, you must communicate in a language that is theirs. Over 99% of your dog’s language is body language. The love of touching, a glance of love that lasts for only half a second and then looks on, shows that you are a strong and confident leader with the dog’s best interest at heart.
Dogs will not follow a questionable leader. Ironically, neither will humans. For all of the goodness and love that you have within you, the greatest love that you can show your dog is that you will not lead them in the wrong direction. You must respect yourself, stand straight, hold your shoulders back, and speak with confidence in order for your dog to respect and follow you. It is not the big battles that you need to win: it is the little daily events!
We are going to start with one of the most basic thought patterns of all dogs, eating. The packs hierarchy is clearly seen by its eating order. The "Alpha" eats first, followed by the second in charge, the third in charge, and so on. It is imperative that your dog sees all of your family members eat their meals first and only after your entire family has finished their desert, and then will the dog's meal be prepared and fed to your dog. Before he eats, make him perform some command like sit or lay down. However, do not give him any command that encourages aggression such as jumping up or barking.
During this transformation pack leadership period, it is very important for all members of the family to pet the dog for only a couple of seconds and then to walk away (without looking back). This also establishes that all of your family members are higher than the dog. Do not let him force you to pet him. Only the leader or alpha of the pack is allowed to do this. Pet him for only 3 seconds and then walk away. Animal language is very simple and clear. That is why this simple exercise works so well.
Wrestling with your dog and playing “tug of war” games tells him that you want him to be a warrior. He feels that you are teaching him this because you want him to be more aggressive and dominant with people, and that you want him to take over leadership of the pack from you – through aggression. In the wild, he would need to develop these skills to defend him and the pack, to kill her food, and to fight for “alpha” dog position for breeding rights. But in our social pack or family environment, he does not have to kill her food—we give it to him. We do not want him running out and biting people—lawsuits! And most of all, we do not want him biting any member of the family to take over leadership of the pack. So immediately stop all “tug of war” and wrestling games, unless you want to live with the terrible consequences.
How about fetch? Throwing the ball or Frisbee hones in your dog’s hunting and killing skills. In the wild he would have to catch and kill the rabbit (fetch) or grab the bird in mid-air (Frisbee) to supply food for her or herself and pack. These games are fine for non-alpha dogs. But if your dog is having an aggression or dominate problem, hold off on these games until you have full control of your dog.
Where should your dog sleep? The leader of the pack chooses where he or she sleeps and also designates where the rest of the pack is to sleep as well. If you let your dog choose where he or she wants to sleep, you are telling them that they are the leader not you! More importantly, if you let your dog sleep with you, you are setting yourself up for a major aggression problem in over 70% of the cases. So if your dog is currently showing aggression and he or she sleeps with you (or you lay or sit on the floor with the dog), it is now time to stop going down to your dog's level.
In the wild, your dog would sleep in a den. This would be a small area that was dug out under the roots of a tree or under an overhanging rock. It is not spacious. It is barely big enough for the dog to turn around in. Enclosed small areas (like dens) give the dog great security. They like them. Large spacious areas tend to make the dog feel insecure allowing high exposure to attack from predators.
Love, safety, and security are the desires that owners have for their dogs overall health and well-being. It is also what we desire for members of our families. By achieving and maintaining the “alpha” role, you and your family can truly have the best of both worlds: love and respect.
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Welcome to St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Buffalo, NY
Welcome to St Paul's
What's happening at St Paul's
What's new on the site?
Getting to St Paul's
St. Paul's at the turn of the last century. Selections from the 1900 St. Paul's Year Book
About St. Paul's Cathedral
Cathedral calendar
Current bulletin
The Chimes online...
The Sunday Eucharist Services
are at
8:00 and 10:00 a.m
Holy Week Schedule
7:30 p.m. Way of the Cross reading
7:30 p.m. da Victoria, Requiem Mass
Maundy Thursday, April 13
7:30 p.m.Maudy Thursday Liturgy
Good Friday, April 14
7:30 p.m. Solumn Liturgy
Holy Saturday, April 15
7:30 p.m. Great Vigil of Easter
Easter Sunday, April 16
8:00 a.m. Solemn Holy Eucharist
11:00 a.m. Solemn Holy Eucharist
For details, click here
Photographs of
the installation of Dean Spangler
St. Paul's Cathedral
Parish House
Cathedral tours every Saturday morning at 10:00.
Click the photograph for a larger version.
The recommended starting dose is cialis 20mg dosage is best for you.
�2005 St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo New York
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Home > Topics > Android > Tablet Reviews > Asus MeMO Pad 7 (2014) Review
Asus MeMO Pad 7 (2014) Review
August 3, 2014 by Adama D. Brown Reads (135,055)
Insanely great performance
Nice design
Awkward interface changes
Poor camera
Display is weak in bright light
Quick Take
The Asus MeMO Pad 7 is an excellent basic tablet with great specs and experience for a low price.
The 2014 version of Asus’ MeMO Pad 7 crams an Intel processor and 16GB of storage into a tiny package with a suggested retail price of $149. Is it as good as it looks? TabletPCReview investigates.
Before we begin, though, a point of clarity: Asus has released more than one 7-inch MeMO Pad, and unfortunately as many manufacturers do these days, it’s not making it easy to tell them apart. The new release bears the model number ME176CX; if and where you see that, you’re looking at the latest and greatest.
Note September 2015: A year after its release, this model is widely available for under $100.
Build and Design
My first impression upon opening the box was that this thing didn’t seem large enough to be a 7-inch tablet. The MP7 looks and feels TINY. When you compare the specs, you’ll see that it’s actually not really any smaller than most of the other major brands, like the Google Nexus 7 or the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0. But the design of the MeMO Pad 7 is not only about as efficient as you can get for a 7-inch tablet, it also looks and feels that small. I can comfortably hold it in one hand and still reach the power and volume buttons, and the device is only 0.7 lbs.
The back is slightly rubberized, with curved edges that provide a nice grip.
Overall, I really like the feel of the MeMO Pad 7. It’s solid, has great ergonomics, and looks good to boot. There are some devices that are just nice to use, and this is definitely one of them.
In a lot of budget tablets, the display is one of the corners that gets cut because it’s a high-priced component. The MP7 is definitely NOT one of those devices. Sure, the 1280 x 800 resolution isn’t anything special these days when the Nexus 7 boasts 1920 x 1200 … but that’s with a starting price $80 higher, and without some of the other perks the Asus device has. Even if it’s not “retina” territory, the MP7’s display is clear, crisp, and high quality. Colors are vivid, and the contrast is good.
The display’s one real weakness is very bright light. No LCD performs WELL in bright daylight or direct sun, but the MeMO Pad 7 is a little worse at it than normal, being essentially unreadable outdoors except in the shade. It’s not likely to be a problem for a lot of people, but if you need a device that can compete with direct sun, it isn’t this one.
Buttons and Ports
Asus placed this tablet’s power and volume buttons on an angle, halfway around the curve from the actual edge of the device toward the back. I thought this was rather strange at first, but it’s grown on me; this way makes it almost impossible to hit the power button by accident, even if you set the device on its side, while still making the buttons easily accessible.
The opposite side of the MeMO Pad 7 holds the microSD slot — just an open slot, without a door covering it like most devices have, so there’s the small risk of the card falling out if you drop the device. But that’s probably not a big issue unless you’re dropping things constantly. If you are, I suggest electrical tape. Either for covering the slot or covering your hands.
The headphone jack and micro-USB port round out the collection, sitting on the “top” of the device.
And that’s just the beginning — Page 2 covers the outstanding performance of the latest Asus MeMO Pad 7.
NEXT: Performance
Asus MeMO Pad 7 (2014): Performance
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Women's Tennis Alumni
Pioneers climb to 19th nationally; McCullough, Lopez/Mota join rankings
TEMPE, Ariz. --- The Tusculum University women's tennis team has climbed to 19th in the latest Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division II National Team Rankings, through the week ending March 31.
The Pioneers defeated 17th-ranked Queens and 44th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne by identical 5-2 scores on the road last week, then capped the week with a 7-0 non-conference win over Bluefield State on Sunday to move up from 37th in last week's rankings. Queens climbed one spot to 16th despite the loss and Lenoir-Rhyne slipped to 48th after falling to the Pioneers. Tusculum was ranked in the top 20 by the ITA for five weeks last season, reaching as high as 13th, before finishing the season ranked 14th nationally in Division II.
In singles, junior Annie McCullough joined the rankings at number 65 this week, while the doubles team of juniors Julia Lopez and Africa Mota made their debut in the national doubles rankings at 33rd.
McCullough ended the week with an 11-2 record in singles and eight straight victories, and has a perfect 7-0 record in South Atlantic Conference matches. Lopez and Mota earned two doubles wins last week to boost their season record to 9-2 as a team and 5-1 in SAC competition.
The Pioneers, who improved to 12-2 overall and 7-0 in the SAC with a 7-0 win over Mars Hill on Wednesday, will host 11th-ranked Wingate in a showdown for first place in the conference on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Nichols Tennis Complex. The Bulldogs are 14-0 overall and tied for first place in the league with the Pioneers at 7-0.
Mon, 05/13 | Women's Tennis vs. #18 Flagler L, 4-3 (Final) RC | BX | V
Sat, 04/20 | Women's Tennis vs. #14 Wingate L, 4-2 (Final) RC | BX
Thu, 04/18 | Women's Tennis vs. #38 Lenoir-Rhyne W, 4-2 (Final) RC | BX
Tue, 04/16 | Women's Tennis vs. Catawba W, 4-1 (Final) RC | BX | PH | V
Sat, 04/13 | Women's Tennis vs. Catawba W, 7-0 (Final) RC | BX
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Natpe Miami 2019 promises to host Miami in 2020 and 2021
Posted on Saturday January 26th, 2019 by TVMAS
Conventions/ Content
With fewer attendees and a slowdown in the activities of the traditional companies, it has been an important meeting for executives of programming and acquisitions of the domestic market of the United States as well as in Latin America and its commercial links with the rest of the world.
JP Bommel, President and CEO of NATPE
TVMAS was present this year as for the past 20 years as Media Partner and collected the data provided by the organization: approximately 3,000 attendees, of which 40% came from the national market of the United States, 40% from Latin America and 20% from Europe and other regions.
Also OTT’s platforms continue to be added such as Netflix and Amazon and players of the likes of Apple, Roku and Verizon, among many others who are taking center stage.
The event will be hosted by the same hotel for the next 2 years, 2020 and 2021. According to JP Bommel, CEO, ‘Miami is the perfect place for international players, and the hotel is one of the only places in the United States with capacity for such a number of people.’
A summary of what some interviewees shared with TVMAS.
We attend every year said Anastasia Korchagina, Friday TV (Russia): “For the first time I came to look for different formats of entertainment, compared to Europeans because there is a boom of products outside the European market.”
Tom Mohler, CEO of OLYMPUSAT told us that NATPE is a crucial bridge for its business and its platforms, especially now that they are looking for co-productions and continue to grow their audiences.”
JP Bommel, President and CEO of NATPE summed up “We are happy, especially because there were a lot of new products that came to the market for the first time, both from the studios of the United States and from large independent Latin companies and other regions. There are new exhibitors and new countries. This time, we received buyers from non-traditional countries such as Africa, Afghanistan, Russia and Ukraine.”
Definitely, co-productions are the trend that marks the new era of TV and audiovisual content.
For TVMAS: Amanda Ospina, Estefany Alvarez, Luiz G. Duarte, Ana de Los Riscos and Lemar Guzman.
This entry was posted in FESTIVALS, LATIN AMERICA, BUSINESS, OTT, TELENOVELAS/SERIES, TELEVISION, OPEN TV, PAY TV, Latest news by TVMAS. Bookmark the permalink.
”This month HITN brings “The Lion Kingdom”
INCAA and Canada Media Fund Support the development of animation series and multimedia content
SONGIE TV new and attractive channel launched in Mexico
General Director of Programming and Research (Luis Mario Durán)
General Director of the BitMe Channel (Luis Luisillo Miguel)
Javier Rodriguez, Executive Producer and BITME driver
BITME new Televisa Networks channel
Founder and president of SONGIE channel. In Expo Convergencia Show in Mexico.
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Canada Internet TV
CTV Broadband Network
Watch primetime full episodes online thanks to CTV. Since June 2006, CTV has been providing streaming video of Canadian series on The CTV Broadband Network. The CTV Broadband Network is Canada's first multi-channel, on-demand Internet TV service featuring four distinct broadband channels. The Network features a free, premium broadband video player that harnesses the latest in technology to deliver full length CTV programming in all forms from all genres at broadband speeds and enhanced resolution. In the past, CTV has even provided broadband viewers the chance to witness the behind-the-scenes process of producing an original episode of a television series.
Tags - CTV Full Episodes, Corner Gas, Degrassi, Instant Star, Gossip Girl, Pushing Daisies, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, TMZ, Whistler, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Lost, Grey's Anatomie, Desperate Housewives
Categories - Movies & TV Shows
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SPPS Retains Titleholder
TUESDAY, 22 APRIL – The School of Education and Social Development (SPPS) contingent dominated the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Inter-Schools Athletics Championship held recently.
SPPS represented by 45 athletes collected 22 gold, seven silver and three bronze nudging 12 other UMS schools at the championship which entered its 15th edition.
The championship also saw SPPS athletes Eldy Sham Elron and Merrey Gabali crowned the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the year of the championship which was held at UMS Sports Complex.
Eldy won four gold medals in the 100m and 200m sprint, 400 metres hurdles and led his team in capturing gold in the 4 x 100m relay event.
Meanwhile, Merry won gold in the triple jump, 100m sprint and 4 x 100m relay.
With their medal haul of five gold, two silver and two bronze, second place went to the contingent from the School of Psychology and Social Work (SPKS), while the Labuan School of International Business and Finance took the third spot with two gold, 11 silver and 10 bronze.
The prize-giving to the winners were presented by the Director of UMS Sports Centre, Mohd. Asyraaf Fong Abdullah. – SS (fl)
Source : SPPS
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Offices in SEAP
Transnational Organised Crime
Terrorism Prevention
Criminal Justice Systems
Drugs and Health, and Alternative Development
UNODC Everywhere
REGIONAL PROGRAMME AND STRATEGY
Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific
Office in Indonesia
Indonesia-UNODC-EU Project Steering Committee Plenary pledges for continued partnership against terrorism, violent extremism and foreign terrorist fighters
Jakarta (Indonesia), 13 April 2016 - Recent attacks in Brussels and Jakarta highlight the common challenges of terrorism and violent extremism that Europe and Southeast Asia are facing. Effective international cooperation is the only way forward in countering the growing threats of terrorism and the flow of foreign terrorist fighters (FTF) to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and other Al-Qaeda splinter groups.
Representatives of Indonesia, UNODC and the European Union (EU) convened the 5th Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting in Jakarta on 1st April 2016 to review the outcomes of technical cooperation under the EU-UNODC Joint Initiative for Supporting Southeast Asian Countries to Counter Terrorism. The project, funded by the EU, was launched in 2012 and covers five Southeast Asian countries namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia and Vietnam. The PSC meeting is a whole-of-government platform to set a strategic guideline for the project and review the implementation's progress.
In his opening remarks, Police Inspector-General Dr. Petrus Reinhard Golose, the Deputy for International Cooperation of the Indonesian National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), stressed the importance of a comprehensive approach against terrorism while reiterating the need to strengthen international cooperation to tackle FTF both at domestic and global levels. H.E. Mr. Vincent Guérend, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Indonesia, complimented the project's success in bringing about concrete results and expressed the EU's readiness to continue the cooperation with Indonesia to fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
The 5th PSC meeting was chaired by Brigadier-General (Marine) Yuniar Ludfi, BNPT and Mr. Hernán Longo, UNODC Regional Programme Coordinator for Terrorism Prevention for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Nine government's agencies attended the meeting namely: BNPT, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (KEMLU), Ministry of Defence (KEMHAN), Indonesia State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Detachment 88 of Indonesia National Police (INP), Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK), Bank of Indonesia (BI), Immigration Department, and National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS).
The participants took note of the project's outcomes and provided feedbacks on the project's implementation which encompass a broad-rage of areas including: a long-term training programme on countering the financing of terrorism (CFT); inter-agency collaboration; prevention and countering violent extremism (PVE/CVE). The plenary also encouraged UNODC to enhance technical assistance and suggested specific areas for future partnership.
During the meeting, Mr. Longo also presented the latest assessment of the FTF situation and cooperation within the UN frameworks to mitigate the threats. According to Mr. Longo, "with increased military capabilities, financial resources and global nexus, FTF presents serious security ramifications to the region. UNODC, together with
Mr. Collie Brown, the Country Manager and Liaison to ASEAN of the UNODC Programme Office in Indonesia, concluded by congratulating Indonesia for successful neutralisation of past attacks and acknowledging the sacrifice of counter-terrorism officials in the fight against terrorism. "As ASEAN is working towards more integration and member states' borders become more opening, the coordinated actions at the regional level to address transnational crimes and terrorism becomes more crucial than ever," said Mr. Brown.
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washingtonpost.com > World > Europe
An Island Engulfed by Migrants
By Mary Jordan
Washington Post Foreign Service
VALLETTA, Malta -- Elegant white cruise ships slide into a perfect Mediterranean harbor, dropping hundreds of sun-blushed tourists to wander this former British colony's narrow alleyways dotted with pubs and classic red English telephone booths. But just beyond these postcard-perfect scenes, an unwanted flotilla of rickety fishing boats carrying desperate Africans is arriving, too.
"See, there's one of them now," said Jesmond Saliba, pointing to an African man in jeans and sandals ambling along streets alive with white tourists.
Saliba, 34, drives a horse-drawn taxi, as his father did. For generations in his family, more visitors meant more money. But Saliba feels differently about the thousands of destitute Africans arriving here needing food, housing and medicine. "We don't have enough jobs for them, and it means more taxes for us," Saliba said. "This island is too small for them."
Malta suddenly finds itself on the leading edge of an increasingly emotional debate over how much immigration Europe can tolerate. About twice the size of the District of Columbia, it sits like a tiny sentry off southern Europe, 60 miles south of Sicily, looking across the sea at 2,000 miles of North African coast. In the past four years, more than 5,000 African immigrants have come ashore here, most often making the 200-mile crossing from Libya in open fishing boats.
Nearly all were aiming for Italy and mainland Europe. But when their skiffs foundered or ran out of gas, they found themselves in a nation of just 400,000 people, more densely populated than Bangladesh, where families have known each other for generations and people from the next village are considered outsiders.
"There is a feeling of 'My God, we are being invaded!' " said Katrine Camilleri, a lawyer with the Jesuit Refugee Service, which aids the boat people. "It's becoming more and more acceptable for people to openly say, 'We don't want them.' "
The same holds on the continent. Hard-line anti-immigration political parties have made dramatic electoral gains in Denmark, Norway and Britain. Mainstream political parties are tilting more and more in that direction.
Countries that until recently had barely any foreigners, such as Ireland, are now taking in large numbers of newcomers of different races and religions. Last month, 40 Afghans staged a hunger strike inside a Dublin cathedral to press their demand for political asylum.
More than 9,000 Africans, meanwhile, have reached Spain's Canary Islands by boat this year, turning that tourist destination into another immigration crisis point. The European Union's border patrol agency said last week that it was planning to send air and sea patrols to the Canary Islands, Malta and other hot spots.
"The whole of Europe is putting up the shutters," said Martin Scicluna, an adviser to Malta's justice minister. Maltese officials are pleading with other European nations to take custody of some of the boat people who arrive here. So far, the Netherlands has taken 40; Germany has pledged to take a similar number.
Many in Malta, an overwhelmingly white, Catholic nation, are angry about the growing numbers of black, mostly Muslim newcomers.
"We don't want a multicultural society," said Martin Degiorgio, a leader of the Republican National Alliance, an anti-immigrant group formed last year. "Haven't you seen the problems it has brought to France and Britain?"
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Leigh Batnick Plessner, Co-Creative Director, Catbird
leigh batnick plessner
Leigh Batnick Plessner’s family has a rich history in the Brooklyn neighborhood she calls home. But although she’s stayed in one place geographically for most of her life, professionally she’s been on quite a journey. Her story illustrates how finding a fulfilling career can be a process of trial and error—and ultimately worth every moment along the way.
You are a New Yorker.
My whole family is from New York. My grandfather grew up in Williamsburg and worked at the Navy Yard, so we’ve been in this area for generations.
There’s a great story about my grandfather. He was a soldier in World War II. When he came home from the war, he was dropped off in Manhattan, so he hailed a cab to take him home to Williamsburg. When the taxi got to the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge, the cabbie was like, "Alright soldier, you get off here now. Have a good walk to Brooklyn." You know the joke that taxis won’t go to Brooklyn!
My grandfather was a total gentleman, but also a big, tough-looking guy. He very calmly looked at the cab driver and said, "I've been away at war for five years. I've killed many men and I’d really like to not kill another."
Oh god! [Laughs] You’d better drive over that bridge!
Exactly. The cab driver was like, “Alright,” and he drove him home. When they pulled up in front of the house, the cabbie was like, "Soldier, this one is on me.” And my grandfather said, "Absolutely not," and gave him a big tip.
That's such a great story.
I do think about that every time I go over to Williamsburg Bridge.
Has there ever been a time when you haven’t lived in New York?
I grew up on Long Island, and then I went away for college at Bryn Mawr and Georgetown, but I came back when I was 22 or 23. I studied English and anthropology. Bryn Mawr is a prototypical women's college, and is one of the Seven Sisters schools. It's really beautiful. After freshman year, I went to Georgetown.
I had no idea what I wanted to do when I went to college. I did a million things and went in many directions. As I got older, I definitely had a sense of the qualities I wanted in my life, but no sense of any practical way to get there. I’ve always worked, though. When I was 14, I volunteered at a wonderful camp for handicapped citizens near where I grew up, and even since then I’ve had employment of some kind. I’ve always known how to work, but didn’t know what job I wanted.
...if you take something apart, you can also put it back together. You just need to sit and be quiet and look at what’s happening.
But you’ve always been a creative person?
I was a creative person without an outlet for my creativity. If I had any tangible creative skill, it was writing. I’m lucky that I get to do a lot of that now. But I never really had a lot of skills as a creative person.
When you finished university, did you always know you would come back to New York?
I stayed in DC for maybe a year and a half after college, probably because of inertia and fear—it was easier to stay there than it was to leave. But I always knew that ultimately I would go back to New York.
Was it fear of taking the next step, or finding a different job, or finishing university?
All of the above. [Laughs] It was the first time in my life—it’s the first time in the lives of most people who are born with privilege—that you really don't have a path set before you. I hadn't really thought about what that meant, and I was just stuck with this vague sense of what I wanted. After I graduated, I got a studio apartment in a neighborhood where I had friends and I had a couple of random jobs. I worked at a coffee shop, and was briefly a cocktail waitress but I was so bad at it.
Then I got an incredible job at this place called Politics & Prose. It’s an independent bookstore in DC, founded by two women who were grandmothers. It was the central meeting point for intellectual creative life in Washington. It’s still there and is so, so special. The people who worked there and all the customers were wild, crazy, brilliant people. I got a job in their children's room, which was amazing because I love children's literature. After a while, I became their sidelines buyer. “Sidelines” refers to everything other than books sold at bookstores. I loved working there so much. I feel like it was my second education.
I would go to the stationary shows, and around that time a lot of these small stationary companies were just getting started. People were doing a lot of letter press with illustrations or small icons. Seeing all of this was really exciting to me. I thought, “That’s something I could do.” I'm not a graphic designer, but I understand the marketplace. So I started a stationery company, and I moved back to New York. At my first stationery show, I met so many people; there was a real sense of discovery and comradeship. I got a bunch of really incredible wholesale clients, and my stuff was put into the ABC Home stores, The Frick Museum store, and The New Museum store.
That's amazing. Were you physically making everything in the range?
No! [Laughs] I had no idea what I was doing. I mean, I knew some part of it. I was collecting these 19th century silhouettes and adding them onto stationary. But I was having a lot of trouble with getting my files right and sending them to printers. Ignorance is bliss! Everything at the time was very pale and white, so I was mixing it up with larger icons and candy colors. There was a narrative to each piece, with a title and story. I was young, though, and made a ton of business mistakes. I would get more and more people asking me to do custom work, which is where the money is, but I wasn't a graphic designer. I would take these projects and it was so stressful, because I would be in fear of someone asking me to do something outside of what I knew.
So during the course of all of that, I was doing freelance writing and some store design work for companies. Around that time I met Rony, who is the founder of [the jewelry boutique] Catbird. I met her during her first year launching Catbird and she put my stationary into the store. About a year and a half later, she put out an email about opening another store and she was looking for people to work there. I initially started working there for one day a week, then two days, then three and four. Eventually I was like, “I’m done with the other part of my life.”
With stationary?
I think I just turned the website off! [Laughs]
Was it a relief?
Oh, my god. It was a huge relief because I felt like I was never living up to what I was supposed to be doing. I was having way more fun working at Catbird. I loved that it was collaborative and the company was growing at the same time. I always thought of myself as more of a solitary person, so it’s been an amazing discovery to love that sense of community here.
So you were mainly working in the store when you started?
Yes, as well as taking special orders, unpacking, and merchandising.
How did you grow into the role that you have now within the company?
I kind of grew with the company. I couldn’t have applied for this job—it almost just became what I did. As the company has grown, so has my job and title. It organically grew.
Can you talk about what your job entails now?
What I mainly do is creative direction and brand identity. So that means that I work on developing and designing our in-house jewelry line, and I also work on sourcing new product for us to bring in from outside designers. I also work with our art department on everything visual.
Do you feel like you found the qualities that you were looking for when you started out but didn't know what you wanted to do?
What’s next for yourself and the company?
We've started to do more pop-up shops, and that's been really exciting as a company because we get to meet more of our customers. We’re still building a strong foundation so that we can continue to make things that really delight people. You can’t do that if you don’t have any structure in place.
A really long time ago, I had a job doing retail displays and my boss told me that if you take something apart, you can also put it back together. You just need to sit and be quiet and look at what’s happening. I thought that was really incredible advice. With each stage in my life and career, I always try to understand what is before me, to sit quietly with it and digest before moving forward. And asking questions is so important.
I think it is a really big part of me. It definitely means home. It’s also a place with so many opportunities. Even as a homebody, you can have so many big dreams here. I love the idea that I could walk out my door and do a million things. It’s wonderful to have that luxury, to indulge that part of yourself when you want to. To have access to amazing culture, people, and creativity.
Visit CatBird.
Jordana Kier & Alexandra Friedman
Jordana Kier and Alexandra Friedman are the founders of LOLA, a revolutionary company that's bringing women 100% natural tampons straight to their door. We had a candid discussion with these Birds about opening the door to healthier choices for women, and the challenges of starting a business in a field that’s still often considered taboo.
A life full of laughter has been comedian Melissa Villaseñor’s destiny. She talks to us about starting young, how her work has evolved, and why you shouldn’t rely on one thing to make you happy.
Sarah Dubbeldam
Sarah Dubbeldam started Darling magazine to bring images of everyday women to the public eye. A brief career in modeling, and a perspective grounded in reality, lay the foundations of what would become Darling.
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Sultan Mahmud II
(1785, 1808-1839)
Turkish Rondo (or Turkish March), one of the most recognized classical music pieces, was created in 1780 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). The famous composer was inspired by the sound of the Turkish Janissary Bands, which were well known then. (1) When Mozart composed the “Turkish March”, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire was Abdülhamid I (1725, 1774-1789).
Almost five years after the Turkish March was composed, Sultan had a son, named Mahmud, from 17- year-old Nakşidil Valide Sultan (1768-1817), one of the youngest concubines in the Sultan’s Harem.
Mahmud was 4 years old, when he lost his father, but he was not alone, as his mother was always with him during his childhood. In his teenage years, the succeeding Sultan Selim III (1761, 1789-1807), who was Mahmud’s cousin, was quite generous to Mahmud. He personally sponsored his education, and taught him how to administer the government.
Mahmud did not expect to be Sultan after Selim III died, as he was second in rank after his older brother, Mustafa IV (1779, 1807-1808). Sultan Mustafa IV was unexpectedly killed by the rebels in the second year of his reign. This unfortunate event opened the way of enthronement to Mahmud on 28 July 1808 with the imperial name “Mahmud II”. 23-year-old Mahmud II was mature, educated and experienced enough to be the 30th Ottoman sultan. Handsome looking Mahmud was smart, courageous, but a cautious person with a decisive and targeted personality. Mahmud’s thoughtful personality was reflected in his poems under the pseudonym of “Adli”.
During the first 15 years of his reign, Sultan Mahmud II did not have a male heir to the throne. This lack of a legitimate replacement created great concern among the Ottoman elites. The birth of Abdülmecid in 1823 was a most welcomed surprise to both 34-year-old Mahmud II and Valide Sultan Bezm-î Alem (1807-1853), his wife.
His Reforms
Unlike the other European countries, the Ottoman Empire did not have any national anthem, instead, there were imperial marches composed for each sultan by the imperial musicians. This tradition started with Mahmud II, who invited Ottoman-Italian Giuseppe Donizetti (1788-1856) in 1828 to be the general instructor of the newly established Imperial Orchestra (Mızıka-yı Hümâyûn). Donizetti composed the “Mahmûdiye Marşı” for Mahmud II in 1828. (2)
Mahmud II is considered one of the most important reformist sultans in the Ottoman Empire. One indicator of his reformist ways was his outfit in his paintings. He was the first Sultan portrayed in the official portraits as a modern man. Instead of dressing in traditional ottoman garb, he dressed in European style, wearing a ”Fez” hat, western tunics, trousers, and had a shorter beard than any of his predecessors. Untraditionally, he travelled within the country to learn the land, inspect the administrators and speak to the people. He was the first sultan who travelled around his empire without specifc war or religious reasons.
The most significant reform he achieved was the demolition of the old janissary (military) organization, and the establishment of the modern army on 16 June 1826, historically named Vaka-i Hayriye (Fortunate Event- Hayırlı Olay). This event was the beginning of his ongoing reforms.
The other major reform was to separate the military men and clergymen (ulema) from the government positions. Mahmud II wanted to create a professional career system. He initiated an unusual public relations campaign to establish his authority in the public. He put his picture in government offices in special state ceremonies. Nobody had ever seen this type of camapaign before.
Mahmud II was impressed by the modernization movements in western countries. He closely followed recent developments and tried to bring them into the Empire. Mahmud believed that in order to modernize the army, reforms should be spread to the non-military institutions, like education, music, government workers, etc.
He opened the first Medical School (Tıbhane-i Amire) and Surgery School (Cerrahhane-i Amire) in 1827; the first Ottoman newspaper (Takvim-i Vekayi) in 1831; the first Military Academy (Mekteb-i Harbiye) in 1834; the first modern school (instead of Enderun) to educate potential state officers (Mekteb-i Maârif-i Adliye) in 1837. He opened the first non-military educational institution and initiated the secondary school system. Sultan Mahmud II rebuilt the burned Selimiye Barracks out of stone in 1828. It is now one of the largest structures in Istanbul.
Among the reforms was the modernization of the Turkish Janissary Band. Mahmud II demolished it and established a new band, called the Imperial Band (Mızıka-yı Hümâyûn) in 1831. The old Janissary Band inspired Mozart around 1780, but the new Imperial Band impressed the Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist Franz Liszt in 1847 to compose “Paraphrase for Sultan Abdülmecid”.
The Letter of Tanzimât (Constitutional Monarchy)
The other important change was the reorganization of the Ottoman Empire, called the Tanzimât, which aimed to modernize the empire and the military, to integrate minorities into the society, to improve equality, and to provide efficiency in bureaucracy. The reorganization was necessary, as the empire was behind the European states in terms of technology, military and social rights. Europe was giving birth to democracy initiated by the French Revolution in 1789. The sultans in the Ottoman Empire, especially Mahmud II, held the ultimate power, and shared his power with nobody. In addition, there were no institutions to judge the sultan’s authoritative decisions either. This became a major concern among the Ottoman bureaucrats. The Letter of Tanzimât, prepared by the bureaucrats led by Mustafa Reşit Pasha (1800-1856), the Foreign Minister, was presented to the public in Gülhane Park of the Topkapi Palace on 3 November 1839.
Mahmud did not see the presentation of the letter, as it was four months after his death. Mahmud II, therefore, became the last Ottoman sultan who had ultimate power without any limitation. The following sultans abided by the conditions dictated on the Letter of Tanzimât. 69 years later, “constitutional monarchy” was introduced to the Empire on 24 July1908 during the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II.
Final Years
Sultan Mahmud II died on 1 July 1839 from tuberculosis at the age of 54. His throne was given to his 17-year-old son, Abdülmecid, the next day. Succeeding sultan, Abdülmecid, had to sign the letter, and abided by the terms throughout his reign.
The period from 1839 until when the first parliament was established in 1876 is called the “Tanzimât Era”, which covers the entire period of the reigns of Sultans Abdülmecid and Abdülaziz.
In order to honor his father, Sultan Abdülmecid built in 1840 a completely new mausoleum (türbe) complex, the Mausoleum of Mahmud II. In later years, his brother Sultan Abdülaziz and his son Sultan Abdülhamid II were also buried in the mausoleum in 1876 and 1918, respectively. The octagonal mausoleum marble exterior is located in the Çemberlitaş neighborhood of Eminönü District in Istanbul. The interior design and decoration of the mausoleum resembles a palace.
Mahmud II is remembered as one of the most reformist sultans in Ottoman history.
(1) Turkish Rondo (or Turkish March) is the third and the last part of the Mozart’s piano sonata, No.11. The allegretto was named as “Rondo Alla Turca”.
(2) When Abdülmecid became the new sultan, Donizetti composed the “Mecidiye Marşı”. Likewise, Ottoman-Italian Callisto Guatelli (1820-1899) composed the “Aziziye Marşı” for Abdülaziz in 1861. Ahmed Necib Paşa (1812-1883) composed the“Hamidiye Marşı” for Sultan Abdülhamid II. These marches were used as anthems during the reigns of those sultans (X1). The National anthem in modern Turkey was adopted in 1921. It was written by Mehmet Akif and composed by Zeki Üngör.
Sources;
Abdülkadir Özcan, (1995), “II. MAHMUD VE REFORMLARI HAKKINDA BAZI GÖZLEMLER”, Ege University.
Ali Şükrü Çoruk, (2011), “II. Mahmud ve bir iktidar sembolü olarak resim”, MOSTAR, Ock, 2011, Sayi: 71.
Fatih Demirel, (2012), Tarih İncelemeleri Dergisi, Cilt/Volume XXVII, Sayı/Number 2 Aralık/December 2012, 339-358
Harun Korkmaz, (2011), “Sultan Abdülmecid döneminde Osmanlı müzik hayatı”, MOSTAR, Ekim, 2011, Sayi: 80.
Mehmet Ali Yildirim, (2010), “TANZIMAT DÖNEMINDE MESLEK OKULLARI”, Ankara University.
Sultan Mehmed II
Sultan Ahmed I
Sultan Abdülmecid
Sultan Abdülaziz
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Constantine XI, Last Byzantine Emperor
Roman Emperors
Constantine XI, Last Byzantine Emperor >
Constantine XI Dragaš Palaiologos, was the last reigning Byzantine Emperor, reigning as a member of the Palaiologos dynasty from 1449 to his death in battle at the fall of Constantinople. Following his death, he became a legendary figure in Greek folklore as the "Marble Emperor" who would awaken and recover the Empire and Constantinople from the Ottomans. His death marked the end of the Roman Empire, which had continued in the East for 977 years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C ... ntine_XI_Palaiologos
Constantine XI Dragaš Palaiologos, was the last reigning Byzantine Emperor, reigning as a member of the Palaiologos dynasty from 1449 to his death in battle at the fall of Constantinople. Following his death, he became a legendary figure in Greek folklore as the "Marble Emperor" who would awaken and recover the Empire and Constantinople from the Ottomans. His death marked the end of the Roman Empire, which had continued in the East for 977 years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. More...
Related > Roman Emperors • Royalty • Byzantine • Byzantium • Constantinople • Istanbul • Renaissance • Romans • Rulers • Turkey • Turkey • 15th Century • Icons • People
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
After the repression of the frightful revolt, Justinian conceived the grandiose project of rebuilding the Great Church from its foundations. This time it was to be built on plans well in advance of the times, using new daring vaulting techniques and...
Mehmed II, The Conqueror
Mehmed II (1432-1481), nicknamed the conqueror, was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire a short time in 1444 to 1446, and from 1451 to 1481. Mehmed II brought an end to the Byzantine Empire by capturing Constantinople in 1453 (during the well-known Sieg...
The Fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire which occurred after a siege laid by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Sultan Mehmed II. The siege lasted from Thursday, 5 April 1453 until Tuesday, 29 May 1453...
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MLB at Bowman Field: Phillies Arrive In The Valley!
WKOK Staff | August 19, 2018 |
By Shawn Carey
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT – The Philadelphia Phillies wrap up their 5-game weekend series tonight with the New York Mets in an extra special, regular season matchup at Historic Bowman Field in Williamsport.
Tonight at 7pm, is the MLB Little League Classic. It’s the second, professional regular season game, ever to be played, in the second-oldest Minor League ballpark in the country. The Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals played in the inaugural game last season. It’s a very unique event that MLB officials hope will continue to increase interest in the American pastime.
Attendance tonight will consist mostly of players, their managers, coaches plus parents of Little League players, those participating in this year’s World Series tournament, as well as many representing our area Little Leagues.
Charter planes for both the Phillies and Mets, touched down a less than an hour apart this morning at the Williamsport Regional Airport in Montoursville.
As the Phillies left the plane at 11:40am, they were greeted by the Midwest team from Des Moines, Iowa and the Canadian champions from British Columbia, as they stood in opposite lines on the tarmac, followed by the Mets arrival at 12:15pm.
The men fist bumped and slapped high fives with the boys plus signed autographs. Team hats, both Major League and Little League, were exchanged between the players. Multiple smiles and well-wishes were shared from all around that truly set the stage for what will be a splendid day, many players and fans will never forget.
To make it even more memorable for these young players, a few Phillies and Mets, rather than hopping on board a charter team bus, chose to ride and interact with the kids to the Little League Complex in South Williamsport. The pros also mingled with players, coaches and many fans that gathered in and outside Howard J. Lamade and Volunteer Stadiums.
The two National League East rivals bring to Central Pennsylvania, an added bonus…three players on their rosters who once played in the Little League World Series themselves: Todd Frazier and Michael Conforto from the Mets, plus Phillies utilityman Scott Kingery.
This is an extra special return to South Williamsport for the Mets’ Todd Frazier. This year marks the 20th anniversary, his Tom’s River, New Jersey team, a team that former ESPN/ABC Sports legendary play-by-play announcer Brent Musburger nicknamed “The Beast Of The East,” won the Little League World Championship over Japan, on August 29th, 1998. On that championship Sunday, Frazier went 4 for 4, including a big, solo home run to left field in the top of the 1st inning.
After today’s Little League winners bracket games wrap up at the complex, players and fans will make the six-mile trek over to Bowman Field. Those not able to get inside, and want to get a peek, will be on the levee between the 90 plus-year-old stadium and Lycoming Creek. Folding chairs to hold spots were already seen hours before the game.
Tonight, during on-field pre-game activities, competing Little League teams will be introduced and a player from each team takes part in a relay to home for the ceremonial first pitch.
Nick Pivetta (7-9) gets the start on the mound for the Phillies against Jason Vargas (2-8). So far this month, Pivetta has a 1.50 ERA and 19 strikeouts.
Live coverage of the MLB Little League Classic, on the Phillies radio network, begins tonight at 6:30 on 1070AM.
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The WrestleMania Experience
Comments Off on The WrestleMania Experience
I have been a wrestling fan since 1988. I was 8 years old at the time and will never forget the first time I saw WWE (or WWF at the time) on television. It was the Big Boss Man along with Slick taking on some jobber, I believe Tom Stone, on either Superstars or Challenge.
Throughout the years I always dreamt of attending a show live in person. Living on an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea made it just a bit more difficult. In 1998, 10 years after I first saw wrestling on television, I traveled with my dad and a friend to watch a UK-only WWE pay-per-view, Capital Carnage. It was a great experience and once I got a taste of it, I wanted more.
Between 1999 and 2000 I flew to the UK for different shows, mostly pay-per-views. Hell I even went to see an episode of Nitro in the UK. But my plan was to one day make it to WrestleMania at least once. Working with a low salary didn’t help things but I decided to stop going to these UK-only pay-per-views and save enough money to go to a WrestleMania.
The plan was to go to WrestleMania X8 in Toronto, Canada. I was waiting for the WWE travel packages to come out and the minute they were available I purchased the highest-priced package. I figured if I have to travel halfway across the world I might as well get the best seat in the house or stay home. I was the 11th person who got the travel package and was rewarded with the best seat in the house – front row!
Attending my first WrestleMania was a truly remarkable experience. I did the whole thing, different sessions of Axxess, autographs, Raw, and Smackdown as well. I was in awe just being there with thousands of other wrestling fans who spent their hard earned money to travel and watch WrestleMania. I remember a friend of mine, Jeff, tagged along for the ride and he decided to come to Raw as well in Montreal. I flew from Toronto to Montreal. He drove in a snow storm and took quite a few hours to get there, more than usual.
I checked-in in this shit hole of a hotel somewhere in Montreal close to the arena and Jeff joined later. It was one of the worst hotels I’ve ever been to. But I had no cash to spare. From Montreal I flew to Ottawa for Smackdown and then back home.
It was supposed to be a one time thing. Man I was wrong. After that, I was doing pretty good on advertising and this Jamaican-based online gambling website was sending me checks which pretty much funded the next WrestleMania – 19 in Seattle.
WrestleMania 19 was somewhat uneventful for me, to be honest I don’t remember much from that trip. I did Raw and Smackdown as well and then traveled to Las Vegas for a few days to chill.
I was really looking forward to WrestleMania 20 being in New York and at Madison Square Garden. I have been to New York before…as a baby, so I obviously didn’t remember one single thing.
I traveled with another friend from home and two of my online friends, Ian from England, and Jason from Canada, both of whom did work for Wrestling-Online.com throughout the years.
While I got another front row seat for WrestleMania 19, I had row 3 for WrestleMania 20. By then, the WWE Travel Package people pretty much knew who I was, mostly due to tons of e-mails exchanged being the annoying person I was.
We went to see Ring of Honor that weekend, something which I really didn’t want to be honest. That’s where I saw AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and CM Punk for the first time. They were in New Jersey so we took the train. I bitched and moaned all the way for different reasons (I was hungry, and my burger and fries getting cold is still a running inside joke between us) but the show was pretty good. We also met Chris, another W-O staffer at the time, who came to see ROH with us and scolded a young fan who was screaming obscenities during the show. Priceless.
Going back to New York from New Jersey at night was a total bitch and I remember we froze our asses off waiting for the train. Heading to the room at the Westin Hotel in Times Square felt good that night. Speaking of the Westin Hotel, beautiful place, but super expensive.
We also did Boston for Smackdown that week, a very bad experience which started with us missing the flight and then getting stuck in snow. Montreal and Boston don’t rate very high on my list, not sure if it’s because of the snow, but there’s something about those two cities!
But WrestleMania XX was great, one of my favorites. It’s too bad that the ending has been forever deleted from WWE television. The sight of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero both with the world titles in the middle of the ring at MSG still gives me goosebumps.
By the way, to go to WrestleMania XX I ended up doing a very dumb move – sold all my WWE stocks I had at the time to fund the trip. Yeah, never do something like that to go on a vacation. It’s stupid, believe me. And you’ll regret it. I was young and stupid back then. Now I’m just old and stupid.
I missed WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles. I was just starting a new job two months before and didn’t want to take a week or two off just to go watch WrestleMania and make a bad impression at work. But nothing was going to stop me from going to WrestleMania 22 in Chicago.
I traveled to Chicago with a few friends as well but it was a forgettable weekend. I was so sick that I barely saw any of the city and only managed to get out of bed on WrestleMania Sunday for the breakfast event that was part of the travel package and then of course for WrestleMania. This was the first time I didn’t do Smackdown after a WrestleMania and after Chicago I headed back to Vegas for a holiday and to lose more money. (See the pattern here?)
Cash problems prevented me from going to WrestleMania 23 in Detroit. Besides that I thought what the hell am I going to see in Detroit! Pass! (No offense to those living in Detroit!) I didn’t go but then during that week I received an e-mail from a reader of Wrestling-Online.com who told me I was in a story in the Detroit News. Uh huh!?
There was a story about how people from all over the world travel to WrestleMania every year and Bob Collins, who was in charge of everything that has to do with WrestleMania at WWE at the time, told the newspaper that someone was missing.
“Usually, we sell one ticket in Malta, but apparently that person isn’t coming this year. I’m really disappointed. I hope they’re OK,” he said.
Well, that was me alright. I never met or spoke to Bob Collins before although I knew what his job was. So I sent him an e-mail the following day just to introduce myself and he was super excited that I reached out. I promised that I’ll be at WrestleMania 24 the next year and he promised to meet me.
WrestleMania 24 was the start of my 7 year run at WrestleMania. I didn’t miss one going all the way to WrestleMania XXX. That’s a lot of air miles, hotel nights, and thousands of dollars.
I found myself being quoted in two different stories in the Orlando Sentinel for WrestleMania 24. One of them was how fans will pay higher tickets for WrestleMania in Orlando thanks to a facility fee which was introduced on top of the ticket and other taxes and fees. “What do you think about it?” I was asked. “I think that’s called abuse,” I replied. The next day after the article was published, Bob Collins, the WWE guy I was meeting in a few days at WrestleMania e-mailed me and he told me that we’re quoted in the same article… and the additional fee was his idea! Oops!
I had front row once again and possibly my best seat of all WrestleManias. I was on TV most of the show as I was facing the main camera. Bob Collins, true to his word, called me and said he’ll come say hello at the Hall of Fame ceremony. He did, we only talked for a few minutes and then he said he’d see me at WrestleMania. As we waited for the show to start on Sunday, he came to ringside and we talked wrestling and travel. Cool guy. He eventually retired from his WWE job a few years later and was replaced by John Saboor who still holds that position to this day.
I went to WrestleMania 24 with a bunch of friends from England and Australia. It was another massive plan. I remember me and my friend from Malta flew to Miami, drove to Orlando and then met the rest of the group there. We had this fantastic idea to all go to Miami afterward and we rented a 12 passenger van to carry all six of us and our luggages. After Raw ended with the farewell for the Nature Boy, we hit the road in pitch black. I was the designated driver for the whole road trip and thankfully I had Red Bull and Gatorade next to me as the other five passengers all slept. Such good friends!
Apparently we were doing the same trip like all the rest of the WWE crew going to Smackdown in Miami. We stopped at what I think was a McDonald’s and Mark Henry was there downing some burgers with some other Superstars who I can’t remember at the moment. We didn’t even dare to go and talk to them as Mark looked like he was pissed off and ready to eat the whole joint.
WrestleMania 24 was also the last time I took a travel package for WrestleMania as starting with 25 in Houston, I started dealing with hotels directly to get deals for the website.
You’d think WrestleMania 25 would have been memorable but to be honest I don’t really have much recollection of how my week went. All I know was that I sold a ton of rooms for the hotel we partnered with and everyone was happy. I went solo for this event and spent most of my time inside the hotel working on the website. Didn’t really see any of Houston, which I regret.
WrestleMania 26 in Phoenix was a total blast. I hooked up once again with my friends from two years earlier and we partied at the Ritz-Carlton in Phoenix. That was the start of the cool relationship between The Ritz-Carlton and Wrestling-Online.com. The folks at the hotel in Phoenix heard what we did at WrestleMania 25 and reached out to host us almost a year before. I never stayed at The Ritz before so after a few e-mails here and there we made the deal.
Once again I was in the newspapers that week, with the Arizona Republic calling for comments regarding WrestleMania. It was about people coming from all over the world and my comments made it to print.
We rode to WrestleMania in style with a Hummer limo which had a pretty cool female driver. She was badass and drove like a boss. Too bad there was no alcohol in the back.
Me and my buddies got a private tour at the US Airways Center, the home of the Phoenix Suns, thanks to two friends and W-O readers who work (one still is, hey Jeramie!) at the Suns. We got all the behind the scenes stuff and visited the Suns offices and walked away with some free merchandise as well. It was pretty cool to get the tour and it was one of the highlights of the trip.
Atlanta was next with WrestleMania 27. We stayed at The Ritz-Carlton once again, another beautiful property in downtown Atlanta next to a Hooters and a Hard Rock Cafe. Only my friend from Australia made it this time but I did have the opportunity to meet a bunch of W-O readers at a dinner at the Hard Rock before the Hall of Fame that weekend. We also had Ric Flair and his family staying with us at the same hotel. We saw him at the bar once and we were tempted to go and hang out but we decided not to disturb him. The day after Mania we went to Stone Mountain and met Hacksaw Jim Duggan and his family. He was nice enough to pose for a photo after my friend went up to him. I didn’t really want to bother him, but since my friend did the dirty work, then why not! Hoooooooo! USA! USA!
I love Miami so I was thrilled that WrestleMania 28 was going to be held there. Miami hotels were a bitch to deal with and we ended up making a deal with a Marriott property in Biscayne Bay. Not really walking distance to Miami Beach, but that was the only decent place that took us. Everyone else was trying to rip us off.
The thing I hate the most about stadiums are that they are often in the middle of nowhere and the Sun Life Stadium was no different. Getting a taxi back from the show was somewhat of a mission impossible.
Me and a few other guys walked, and walked, and walked, and walked towards the main road and after an hour I decided to jump in the middle of the road and stop a cab. He didn’t want to take us as he said he had some guys waiting for him at the stadium. But just like the Million Dollar Man always said, everybody has a price. I used my negotiating skills and we paid the taxi driver $125 for 5 people to take us back to the hotel. Yeah it’s a lot of money, but I was ready to pay more to get the hell outta there and back to the hotel. It was brutal.
The driver was impressed with my skills after I convinced him to take us and little did we know that we were going for the ride of our lives. I saw my life flash before my eyes a couple of times as he was driving like a lunatic to take us back as quickly as possible to go pick the other party up. I was up front and my friend, who was in the very back seat of the taxi van was texting me telling me we are going to die. All of this while listening to Mariah Carey or Celine Dion – forgot who it was – on the radio. Good times.
I nearly didn’t make it to WrestleMania 29. The plan was not to go and then the full lineup of the Hall of Fame was announced and I decided to bite the bullet. I had enough miles with United Airlines to go all the way from Malta to New York and back for free. I booked I think two months before Mania and paid a lot for a hotel in Times Square. New York hotels proved to be more difficult to deal with than Miami ones and after months of negotiations with different properties I gave up. It was the only time we didn’t do any hotel deals.
WrestleMania 29 was largely disappointing for me. The show sucked in my opinion but the Hall of Fame made up for it. Plus it was a good excuse for another short holiday in New York. I moved to a New Jersey hotel on WrestleMania Sunday to avoid the issue with taxis and public transport and while it was nothing close to New York, it saved me a lot of headaches. I didn’t even bother going to Axxess or any other events apart from the HOF and Raw.
There was no way I was going to miss WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans. A strike by Lufthansa nearly made me miss the whole weekend. Just 3 days before I was scheduled to fly, Lufthansa canceled my flight – and a gazillion others – due to a strike. I called Expedia to change my ticket and they did. I called the next day to confirm my new flight with United and they told me I was never issued a ticket and the booking fell through.
After countless of e-mails and hours on the phone waiting for the horrible customer service at Expedia I was told I was booked on a new flight, going from Malta to England with a stopover in Houston before another flight to New Orleans. My ticket wasn’t issued until very late and on the way to the airport at 5AM I was still not sure if I was going to be allowed on the plane as I couldn’t do any online check-ins due to some restrictions. I think I grew a few grey hairs in those three days.
I was joined by two of my friends who came to Mania before and we stayed at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton hotel right off Bourbon Street. It was the third Ritz property we dealt with and we sold all our rooms in our block. It was simply the nicest hotel I’ve ever been to. Amazing property. If you can afford the $500 a night price, I highly recommend it. First class service, wonderful staff, and it’s in a perfect location.
I loved New Orleans, the nightlife is off the hook. I thought nothing could beat Vegas but New Orleans probably did. Plus you had 80,000 wrestling fans in the city which made things more interesting. I went to buy at CVS the night I arrived and I turn around and nearly bumped into Erick Rowan. The dude is freakin huge. I saw a bunch of Superstars and Divas just walking by in the street all getting mobbed by fans. Me and one my friends went to eat at Hard Rock Cafe on Bourbon Street and Bray Wyatt was there having dinner and so was Heath Slater with his family next to us. Thankfully no one bothered them.
I also got (I think) roofied at a strip club. So the story goes like this.
After leaving my friends at stupid-o’clock in the morning to go to sleep, this pretty attractive lady standing outside the Stiletto strip joint on Bourbon Street convinced me to go in. It was a sausage fest inside with more males than strippers, but it was funny watching everyone in wrestling shirts trying to chat up strippers.
I love people-watching, so I grabbed a Jack Daniels with Coke, found a table, and just observed. After a while, this beautiful brunette comes over and starts talking with me. I realized she was a Brit just from her accent and she realized I’m not an American and when I told her I’m a fellow European, we hit it off.
We talked about everything apart from lap dancing and then I offered her a drink, she said yes (of course) and I gave her the money and she went to buy one. She also got me one, no idea what it was, but she told me to drink it. Now before that I was in complete control of myself. I’ve never got drunk in my life (true, not bullshitting) and knew my limit but after I drank this shooter, that’s when the alarm went off.
After a few minutes, she asked if I want a lap dance. Well, I’m in New Orleans right, so why not? I had this funny feeling which wasn’t funny at all thinking about it and she asked for 50 bucks. Opened my wallet, and all I had was $5 left. Great, no problem, use my credit card. Wrong idea! Thankfully, the guy collecting all the money said they were not accepting cards that day so I had to go and pull money from an ATM.
At that point, my head was spinning, my co-ordination was off and my ability to continue a decent conversation was out of the window. This stripper led me out of the door and walked with me almost all the way to the ATM and then a lightbulb came on in my head. “WHAT THE F ARE YOU DOING, COLIN?”
Somehow, someway, I forgot all about the ATM and walked, sort of, to my hotel. I slept and woke up at 1PM, tried to go to McDonalds, almost fainted waiting in line, walked back to my room, and slept till dinner time. Awful experience.
Moral of the story? Never go to a strip joint alone.
I had the best time in New Orleans for WrestleMania XXX. It was a great weekend topped off by a great show. Just being there to see the Ultimate Warrior getting inducted in the Hall of Fame was surreal, and it was even more surreal when we found out he passed away the day after Raw.
Sadly I am missing out on WrestleMania 31. Usually that’s the only holiday I really look forward to every year. As a wrestling fan, being there among thousand of other fans for WrestleMania weekend is a great and unique experience. Yes I know it’s a very expensive holiday but if you’ve never done one, trust me, you will not be disappointed.
I’ve been lucky to say that I’ve seen some of the greatest Superstars and Divas being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Ultimate Warrior, Steve Austin, Trish Stratus, and others. I look forward to the Hall of Fame as much – if not more – than WrestleMania itself. Axxess is nice if you’ve never been to one before and if you’re into autographs. But if you’ve been before, you’ve seen one, you’ve seen it all.
I can’t really be bothered with autographs and I’m not the kinda guy who will stay in line. It’s cool if you want to go buy merchandise from their store but usually the rest of the attractions are the same every year.
Another plus to going to WrestleMania and doing our own hotel promotion is I get to meet several readers of the website. There was this lady with her kid who I met inside the elevator of The Ritz in Phoenix who kept thanking me for getting such a sweet deal as she’s never been to The Ritz before. I had lunch with different readers, but two different families stand out the most, one family consisting of the dad and his four kids who flew all the way from Australia, and one from Illinois, a special family who almost joins us every year.
I am a wrestling fan and WrestleMania week is special to me. It involves a lot of hard work for the website but it’s all worth it. Once you get your own WrestleMania experience, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Roll on WrestleMania 32. I’ll be there!
Fatal 4 Way match for the WWE Tag Team titles in the Mania Kickoff show
WWE teams up with Special Olympics for 2015 World Games
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July 2, 2019 - 3:08 pm | by Bill Hunt
All right, we got some goodies for you today...
First, Tim has turned in a new review of Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead in 4K Ultra HD from Lionsgate and Studio Canal.
Also, this week’s update of the Release Dates & Artwork section is now live with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. Whenever you plan to shop from Amazon for literally anything, please consider starting by clicking through one of our affiliate links (like this one or any of our cover art links) as it really helps us to keep the site going and supports our work. Thank you!
And I should also let you know that I’m going to be taking a week off of regular news posts here at the site to A) visit family in North Dakota and B) finish editing this science fiction novel I’ve been working on. (In truth, I also need a break before all the Comic-Con 2019 hubbub begins.) But Tim will be posting new Blu-ray reviews the whole time, and I’ll be back with a big news update (and reviews of my own) late next week.
Now then... we’ve got some announcements this afternoon. First up, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland on 4K Ultra HD on 10/1 in celebration of the film’s 10th anniversary and also the theatrical release of its forthcoming sequel, Zombieland: Double Tap. All of the existing BD extras will carry over and you’ll get the all-new Raised from the Dead: Zombieland a Decade Later featurette. The 4K will include HDR10 and a new Dolby Atmos audio mix too. [Read on here...]
While we’re on the subject of 4K, Paramount is releasing a Star Trek Trilogy: The Kelvin Timeline Ultra HD box set on 7/15. And apparently it will include some extras that were previously Blu-ray exclusive to Target. You can see the cover artwork below. While we’re talking Star Trek and 4K, I sure as hell wish the studio would get around to releasing The ORIGINAL Timeline films in 4K. ’Nuff said.
Also today, Lionsgate has just announced The Walking Dead: The Complete Ninth Season for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on 8/20. Extras will include deleted scenes, 5 featurettes (Seasons Change, In Memoriam, The Whisperers: Behind the Mask, Rick Farewell, and Time Jump), Inside and Making of clips for every episode, and a bonus scene from the episode Evolution.
Here’s some great news... Shout! Factory has announced the 9/24 release of The Great Waldo Pepper: Shout Select Blu-ray edition! We LOVE this film here at The Bits and can’t wait to hear what they’ve got planned for it.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has also announced The Sun Is Also a Star for release on DVD on 8/20, with the Digital version due on 8/6.
For those of you who are fans of HBO’s Deadwood, we’ve learned that Deadwood: The Movie is now available Digitally. We’re waiting to hear if there’s a physical disc planned. (We believe there is, but it’s not yet announced.)
Now then... you may recall our enthusiasm for the recent Apollo 11 documentary, which we’ve reviewed on Blu-ray here at The Bits. I’ve just learned that iTunes now has it available for sale digitally in full 4K with HDR. (Thanks to Bits reader Glen O. for the heads-up!) Which means, just as I suspected, there IS a 4K master ready. And I have a strong feeling that not only will there be a 4K Ultra HD release of the film later this year (’cause reasons)... I also have a feeling it will be announced in the next 2-3 weeks, because the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing is on July 20th. So fingers crossed.
Finally, I’m mentioning this today in a sort of “just leaving this here” kind of way... but Lucasfilm just allowed The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to show (on 6/29) a 70 mm print of the original version of Star Wars in a double feature with Rogue One. As in the ORIGINAL original version, with Episode IV in front of the crawl but otherwise unmolested by special edition changes. Yes, you read that right. I’ve heard through the grapevine that George Lucas personally gave the okay for it. What else this might import, I would not yet dare to say. But I hear from friends that the screening was every bit as awesome as you’d expect.
All right, that’s all for now. Here’s a look at the cover artwork for some of the titles mentioned above and more (with Amazon pre-order links if available)...
With that... I’ll be back in a week. Meanwhile, be sure to check back daily for those new disc reviews. And for my fellow spaceflight enthusiasts, don’t forget that American Experience is running the three-part Chasing The Moon Apollo 11 documentary beginning on 7/8 on your local PBS station. You can pre-order it on Blu-ray here (street date 7/9).
Have a happy and safe 4th of July, for those of you here in the States, and a great week all around to the rest of you. Back soon!
-Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)
Zombieland 4K
Apollo 11 in 4K on iTunes
The Walking Dead: The Complete Ninth Season
The Great Waldo Pepper: Shout Select
Shout! Factory
Star Trek Trilogy: The Kelvin Timeline 4K
Deadwood: The Movie
Original Star Wars in 70 mm
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
ScoobyDoo Where Are You: The Complete Series BD
Game of Thrones: The Complete Series BD
Chasing the Moon documentary
Release Dates & Artwork update
The Evil Dead 4K review
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Home / daniela andrade / malaymail / music / news / videos / youtube / youtuber / Daniela Andrade debuts first show in Malaysia
Daniela Andrade debuts first show in Malaysia
Unknown Tuesday, August 30, 2016 daniela andrade, malaymail, music, news, videos, youtube, youtuber
Canadian singer-songwriter Daniela Andrade will soon have her inaugural show in Malaysia as part of her Asian tour.
The concert will take place at Bentley Music Auditorium on 19 October 2016.
The singer was originally known for her stripped-down acoustic covers and originals on YouTube, and some of them were even featured on TV shows like the USA network drama series “Suits”, CBS’ “Supergirl” and more.
Her soft and mellow voice has been compared to the likes of Norah Jones and Cat Power, and her music videos have accumulated over 300 million streams/plays and had built her a loyal worldwide following of over 1 million YouTube subscribers.
Some of the notable songs covered by Daniela include a raw acoustic performance of Radiohead’s “Creep”, a stripped down rendition of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”, an easy-going version of Gorillaz’s “Feel Good Inc”, and a beautiful take on Malaysian singer Zee Avi’s song, “Honey Bee”.
Daniela will kick off her Asian tour on 13 October in Taipei, followed by Hong Kong on 15 October and Singapore in 17 October, before going to Malaysia.
Then she will continue her North America tour in November.
The tour is to promote her latest visual EP “Shore”, consisting of four heartfelt songs and music videos, which will be released over the summer.
Tickets for her concert in Malaysia can be purchased at ticketpro.com.my.
Litz Harly June 22, 2018 at 3:17 PM
Getting a loan from your charge card is less demanding than at any other time. Nonetheless, one must know about the costs related with taking a loan before embeddings their charge card into an ATM. Cash Advances San diego
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Too young for motherhood
MOHALE’S HOEK – THE Phamong Health Centre has established a project for mothers-in-law to take the lead in encouraging their teenage daughters-in-law to go back to school.
This comes after realising that a lot of girls in the rural region of Mohale’s Hoek, some as young as 15, continue to get married, not by force but by choice.
Married and with children, they often drop out of school to seek jobs that will help them provide for their babies’ daily needs.
The Phamong Health Centre’s project, named Lingoetsi le Bo-Matsale, aims at helping mothers-in-law to provide positive motherly influence on these young mothers.
The project, driven through village health workers, also aims at instilling in young mothers responsibilities of
mothering and the consequences of their choices.
It also seeks to introduce them to family planning methods and to get mothers-in-law to turn away the old Sesotho adage, ngoetsi ke ngoetsi ka bana (a daughter-in-law must bear children).
The project also seeks to engage mothers-in-law on Sexual Reproduction Health Rights (SRHR) issues.
’Makhutsitseng Lerotholi is one of the mothers-in-law who are part of the project. A lay counsellor who has been working as a village health worker since 1979, Lerotholi said the initiative is one of the health tactics used to encourage HIV/AIDS testing, improve health care, safe child deliveries and family planning.
She says it also discourages underage pregnancy prompted by child marriages.
Lerotholi says she mothered her 15-year-old daughter-in-law when her last born son decided to marry in 2014.
She says she could not believe it when her son brought home a teenager as a wife.
“They both told me they loved each other and had planned on eloping for some time,” Lerotholi says.
“I had to grow a thick skin because as a health worker in the village, everyone is looking up to you to have your children make the right decision,” she says.
Lerotholi says she had to sit down with her new daughter-in-law who had just completed primary education to advise her to continue with her studies.
The girl could not continue to secondary education because her family could not afford school fees.
“I was ready and willing to pay for her studies because her husband had dropped out without any reason,” Lerotholi says.
“We talked about family planning measures so that she does not fall pregnant in the course of her studies and that there is no hurry in becoming a mother at her age,” she says.
Unfortunately, the young woman stopped taking family planning pills, fell pregnant and dropped out of school.
“This hurt me to the core,” Lerotholi says, adding: “We had talked about this so many times that I was shocked when she told me she had decided to stop contraceptives altogether.”
Her daughter-in-law’s future had to come to a hold because of the responsibility to care for her baby.
“Still I did not stop to encourage her to continue on contraceptives once the baby was born. She opted for implants which I supported because they are the longest lasting contraceptives.”
Lerotholi says they started the Lingoetse le Bo-Matsale project when they realised that some mothers-in-law were discouraging daughters-in-law from continuing with education.
Also, she says, some mothers-in-law were encouraging their daughters-in-law to engage in practices that are discouraged by health experts at the clinic.
“They take traditional medication that is said to quicken delivery and do not go to waiting rooms on time, especially those that travel long distances before getting to a health centre,” Lerotholi says.
Lerotholi says the relationship between a mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law is very important in advancing better health delivery.
She says as a woman who has been trained in basic health care and having worked for 40 years as a volunteer village health worker, “it was high time that the tradition of mothers-in-law behaving like health experts in the lives of their children comes to an end”.
“Some mothers-in-law are not aware that they have to take part in protecting the lives of their young daughters-in-law.”
She says the project helps with information and training on sexual reproductive rights and as well as creating favourable communication channels for better relations.
“We advise families to at least sit down and counsel the youngsters so that they delay getting married until the girl is of the right age,” she says.
“It is hard to initiate this because child marriage has been practised for years and indeed some people still see no problem in having a 14-year-old daughter-in-law.”
’Makhotso Mohau, a lay counsellor at Bethel Health Centre, says the initiative has proven a success because more young women are taking part.
“In the past, it would be difficult to discuss issues of family planning with your mother-in-law. It was worse to even communicate how many children you want because we would be told that our work is to increase the clan name and nothing else,” Mahau said.
She says the programme has also assisted in educating mothers-in-law on the importance of allowing their daughters-in-law to continue with school in order to eradicate poverty.
“Just because I was married at 14 years and stopped going to school shouldn’t mean the same should happen to someone’s daughter who my son has decided to marry,” Mohau says.
“We live in an advanced world where our aim is to break the dreariness,” she says.
Likhapha Ntho, a midwife at Phamong Health Centre, says the programme is one of the ways that the clinic uses to spread health education.
She says they also conduct health talks and counselling during old age pensions pay days where they talk to the elderly about the ills of child marriages. They also discuss sexual reproductive health and general health issues that contribute to HIV/AIDS, TB and cancer, she says.
Rose Moremoholo
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Category Local NewsNews
Thabane wants lawyers arrested
MASERU – PRIME Minister Thomas Thabane says the three prominent lawyers challenging the appointment of Justice ’Maseshophe Hlajoane to the Court of Appeal should be arrested for allegedly using an illegally
Workers want Rantšo fired
MASERU – WORKERS urged Prime Minister Thomas Thabane to fire Labour Minister Keketso Rantšo whom they accuse of taking sides with employers. Hundreds of workers who marched from Pope John Paul
IEC commissioners won’t be paid
MASERU-THE commissioners of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) will not be paid their salaries at the end of the month because their contracts have expired, thepost heard this week. Government
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Robin Hood: The Siege by Simon Guerrier (2008)
Traxy Thornfield 2 March 2011 Audiobook Reviews
Audiobook review: Richard Armitage reads Robin Hood: The Siege by Simon Guerrier (Big Finish/Tiger Aspect/BBC, 2008)
Robin Hood and the Outlaws are on the run from a gang of mercenaries and are forced to take shelter in the ruins of a castle where soon they are besieged. Robin’s more used to breaking into castles, not defending them. But he also knows this castle – he was apprentice to its lords many years ago, a great family brought to ruin by recent, cruel times … No one has dared set foot within these walls since then. Robin and the Outlaws know there’s no such thing as ghosts. Don’t they?
First off, the description above is incorrect. It’s not “Robin Hood and the Outlaws”, it’s Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, period. BIG difference! The two have put their differences aside and are now allies. Hunted by a group of German mercenaries, they make it to a castle where Robin spent a lot of time in his younger years.
Hungry and exhausted, they barricade themselves inside its walls. There’s no food to be found, but they come across a number of wine bottles, and Guy, having been raised a gentleman, knows just the right way of getting them open. (No, not a corkscrew.) They get drunk together, fall asleep and wake up the next day and try to defend themselves against the mercenaries, who were hired by Isabella of Gisborne – the Sheriff of Nottingham – who also turns up.
Trying not to spoil the ending, I won’t say what happens to them, what they do or anything like that. The majority of the story is just a couple of guys couped up inside a castle in Loughborough (pronounced “luff-bruh”) anyway.
There’s not much to say about the voices and characterisation, because there are not that many characters in this story as there were in the previous Robin Hood audiobook read by Richard Armitage, and besides, there’s not much to add to what I’ve already gushed over. The man’s a genius! There’s Robin, clearly, and Guy, and the steely edge of Isabella … and (personal favourite) the German mercenary who shouts over the wall. I was stuck in a queue trying to get home from work and sat in the car giggling merrily away, wondering if he will be donning the same accent in Captain America (playing a Nazi and all).
In fact, it wasn’t just the German accent that sent me howling. The bit where they get drunk is HILARIOUS. Just a couple of guys in medieval Britain, getting sloshed on old wine – it’s bloody brilliant, slurring and all. Richard, you marvellous man! You really ought to do some more comedy, because you’re actually really good at it! The third thing that tickled my funny bone is when Robin drags Guy out of the river. OHHH the innuendo! It’s homoerotic symbolism at its very best – if only you have a mind dirty enough to see (hear) it. I half expected them to start snogging, but alas, it was just a question of rescuing from a river. Naww.
If I have to choose between the two audiobooks, this one and The Witchfinders, my vote is for The Siege. While there are fewer characters and the tempo for the most part is slower, the way it gets inside Guy’s head and shows the “Good Guy” is wonderful. It’s like reading the very best kind of fanfic, and you feel like you’re in an actual episode of Robin Hood. The fact that Richard Armitage’s narration is so full of life and charm helps, certainly, but oh … I can listen to this story over and over. Actually, I already have. Now I just need to listen to more of his audio work. It’s very addictive! 🙂
5 out of 5 bottles.
2008 Richard Armitage Robin Hood Simon Guerrier
2 Responses to "Robin Hood: The Siege by Simon Guerrier (2008)"
I desperately need to acquire some Robin Hood audiobooks!
TeeTotallyNot says:
the RH audiobiooks do not really compare to his other work, least of all LOTN but I actually quite liked that one, because a) it’s mainly Robin and Guy, grudgingly forging an unlikely partnership, b) it’s new material not based on episodes and c) I LOVED RA getting Jonas Armstrong’s voice soooo right.
the scene where they end up getting pished on sour wine.. priceless.
must give it a listen again, twas fun.
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Bicycles and algebra
While doing research for a book on cycling (past and present) I came across this passage in an 1883 bicycle magazine, The Wheelman. It reminded me of my old algebra teacher back in high school. Enjoy!
"One of the problems given to lady candidates for civil-service appointments in a late examination was as follows: "A starts to walk from one town to another at the average rate of three miles an hour; forty minutes later a bicyclist (B) starts on the same journey at the rate of twelve miles an hour. On reaching the second town B rests half an hour, and, after riding forty minutes on his return journey, meets A still on his way. Find the distance between the two towns.""
—"Wheel News." The Wheelman. June, 1883, p. 234.
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The monumental 19-volume Encyclopedia of the Founders and Builders of Israel was compiled and published by David Tidhar (1897-1970) over the 23 years from 1947 until his death. His varied careers as British policeman, private detective, author, and communal leader made Tidhar ideally suited to compile this Who’s Who of the Jewish community of the Land of Israel (Erets-Yisrael in Hebrew). In addition to original articles about political activists and other of his contemporaries, the first several volumes also contain material about 19th century settlers culled from local histories published in the preceding two decades. In each volume, Tidhar requested submission of biographical information and photographs from relatives of early settlers* which he used to compile some 6,000 biographies. His work represents the only biographical source for many of those included. Though Tidhar is famously scant in providing sources, his Encyclopedia is itself widely cited, having become the preeminent source in this area. With the dissemination of this online version, Touro College in conjunction with the Tidhar family is proud to make this classic reference work freely available to the public.
Born Todrosovitz, David was already active in his youth in communal affairs, including driving out Christian missionaries set on ensnaring Jewish souls in Erets-Yisrael. Already by World War I, he had begun his long career of establishing organizationsI: one to provide clothing and shoes to the Jewish poor, and another, a sanitary corps to provide instruction on avoiding cholera during the 1916 epidemic. Tidhar volunteered in 1918 for the Jewish Legion, and was also among the defenders of Jaffa’s Jews during the 1921 Arab riots. He was an early member of the Haganah self-defense organization. He joined the British-run Palestine Police in 1921, where he served as the commanding officer in the New City of Jerusalem until 1925. Throughout the years he put his particular knowledge of Arab affairs and of the British Mandatory government at the disposal of the Jewish community and its institutions. Once, in 1924, Officer Tidhar entered the lion’s den of anti-Semitism by approaching the car of the blood-thirsty Mufti Amin al-Husayni, and demanded from him to stop the bloodshed immediately. He helped all who asked his assistance, which included aiding Jerusalem’s Orthodox Jewish community.
Tidhar was not a member of any political party, was friends with all factions, and assisted everyone. He was actively involved with numerous organizations and was constantly at work. In 1924, he published (in Hebrew) Criminals and Crimes in Erets-Yisrael which was translated into Arabic and English, and was the first such work written by a Jewish officer. Though this was to be the start of a prolific writing career, he continued to be active in numerous organizations throughout his life. In 1926, he opened a private investigation bureau, the first of its kind in Erets-Yisrael. In the early 1930s, the newspaper reporter Shlomoh Ben-Yisrael featured Tidhar as the protagonist of his fictitious weekly detective novelettes. This effort is considered to be the progenitor of Hebrew detective literature. Tidhar based the stories on his experiences in the British constabulary. During World War II, he tried to destroy the Nazi fifth column among the Arabs of Erets-Yisrael and in neighboring countries by uncovering their weapon suppliers and reporting them to the British police. He did all of this and more without reaping any personal reward.
With the success of his Encyclopedia, he turned to full-time writing and publishing in 1950. His other published works include: Between Hammer and Anvil (1932), a collection of articles; In and Out of Uniform, memoirs of his public activity from 1912 until 1937; The Maccabi Album, Jaffa-Tel-Aviv (1906-1956) and In the Service of My Country, containing memoirs, documents, and photographs from 1912-1960.
* His large collection of documents and photographs now resides at the Archives Department of the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem as the David Tidhar archive, ARC. 4º 1489.
The staff of Touro College Libraries and the Encyclopedia project team would like to extend our thanks to the many people who assisted in bringing this project to fruition, particularly Bezalel Tidhar and Esther-Rachel Weitz, the children of David Tidhar; Gal Almog, the son-in-law of Bezalel Tidhar; Benjamin Ronn; David Ronn and Dr. Jacqueline Maxin. Special thanks to Stephen Morse, who graciously allowed us to adapt his English-to-Hebrew transliteration algorithm for our site.
About our banner
Pictured in our site banner, from left to right:
Shlomoh Shtamfer
Baron Edmond de Rothschild (C) visiting Erets Yisrael, pictured with Avraham Shapira (R)
Rabbi Haim-Hezkiyahu Medini
The original Carmel Winery in Zikhron Yaakov in 1890s, founded by Baron Edmond de Rothschild
Mosheh Shmuel Raab
אברהם (יהושע העשעל) לבני (ליברמן)
משה אברמוביץ
יעקב אהרן לוריא
URL: http://www.tidhar.tourolib.org/tidhar
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← Finfinnee and Oromo over the last 15 years
Former Oromo political prisoner Dabala Tafa Robi has been killed. →
Dispatches: Yet Again, a Bloody Crackdown on Protesters in Ethiopia
Felix Horne
Researcher, Horn of Africa | Human Rights Watch
Student protests are spreading throughout Ethiopia’s Oromia region, as people demonstrate against the possibility that Oromo farmers and residents living near the capital, Addis Ababa, could be evicted from their lands without appropriate – or possibly any – compensation. Social media is filled with images of bloodied protesters; there are credible reports of injuries and arrests in a number of towns; and local police have publicly acknowledged that three students have died so far.
The current protests echo the bloody events of April and May 2014, when federal forces fired into groups of largely peaceful Oromo protesters, killing dozens. At least hundreds more students were arrested, and many remain behind bars. Both then and today, the demonstrators are ostensibly protesting the expansion of Addis Ababa’s municipal boundary into the surrounding Oromia region, which protesters fear will displace Oromo farmers from their land. But these protests are about much more: Many Oromos have felt marginalized and discriminated against by successive Ethiopian governments and have often felt unable to voice their concerns over government policies.
Of the student protesters detained in 2014, some have been released. Those I spoke with told me about the torture they endured as part of interrogations. But countless others remain in detention. Some have been charged under Ethiopia’s draconian counterterrorism law for their role in the protests; others languish without charge in unknown detention centers and military camps throughout Oromia. This week, five students were convicted of terrorism-related offenses for their role in the protests.
There has been no government investigation into the use of live ammunition and excessive force by security personnel last year.
Ethiopia’s tight restrictions on civil society and media make it difficult to corroborate the current, mounting allegations and the exact details of the ongoing protests emerging from towns like Haramaya, Jarso, Walliso, and Robe. The government may think this strategy of silencing bad news is succeeding. But while the fear of threats and harassment means it is often months before victims and witnesses come forward to reveal what happened in their communities, they eventually do, and the truth will emerge.
The government should ensure that the use of excessive force by its security personnel stops immediately. It should then support an independent and impartial inquiry into the conduct of security forces in the current protests – and last year’s as well. Those responsible for serious abuses should be fairly prosecuted. This would be the best way for the Ethiopian government to show its concern about the deaths and injuries inflicted on the students, that it does not condone the use of live ammunition against peaceful protesters, and that those who break the law are appropriately punished.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/05/dispatches-yet-again-bloody-crackdown-protesters-ethiopia
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6 Motley Avenue, London, EC2A 4SU Office Space
6 Motley Avenue is located with a courtyard accessed from Christina Street. The courtyard is nicely tucked away from the bustling streets of Shoreditch but all the amenities of Shoreditch are immediately accessible. Local amenities are excellent and there are too many to list but suffice to say that you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to coffee shops, cafés, bars and restaurants, hotels, gyms and much more. Transport links are also excellent.
Shoreditch High Street (Overground and National Rail)
Old Street (Northern line and National Rail)
Liverpool Street (Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan line, Overground and National Rail)
Buses 35, 42, 47, 78, 135, 205, 344
6 Motley Avenue is a modern building that provides self-contained and open plan office space. The office also has a meeting room, kitchenette and W/C.
The office is air conditioned with wooden flooring, exposed brickwork and windows on both front and rear elevations which provide excellent natural daylight and branding opportunities.
The office will be redecorated following the vacation of the current tenant.
Available from late June 2018.
Self-contained office
Exposed brickwork
Raised access floor
W/C
1,156 sq. ft 107.39 sq. m
We are advised that the service charge is currently running at approx. £2.65 per sq. ft.
The estimated rates payable for the current year are approx. £16,245.15 per annum or £14.05 per sq. ft.
Interested parties are expected to satisfy themselves in respect of business rates obligations, either through the VOA or London Borough of Hackney.
New full repairing and insuring lease is available for a term by arrangement.
£63,580 per annum or £55.00 per sq. ft.
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Click to copyhttps://apnews.com/3964861076af417a9734bfc4aa1eefdd
Court: Cities can’t prosecute people for sleeping on streets
By REBECCA BOONESeptember 4, 2018
File-This undated file photo shows the entrance to an alley known as Cooper Court, a homeless camp in Boise, Idaho. A federal appellate court says cities can't prosecute people for sleeping on the streets if they have nowhere else to go. In a ruling handed down Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with six homeless Boise, Idaho residents who sued the city in 2009 alleging that a local ordinance that bans sleeping on the streets amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling could impact several other cities across the western U.S.(Adam Cotterell/Boise State Public Radio via AP, File)
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Cities can’t prosecute people for sleeping on the streets if they have nowhere else to go because it amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, which is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court said Tuesday.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with six homeless people from Boise, Idaho, who sued the city in 2009 over a local ordinance that banned sleeping in public spaces. The ruling could affect several other cities across the U.S. West that have similar laws.
It comes as many places across the West Coast are struggling with homelessness brought on by rising housing costs and income inequality.
When the Boise lawsuit was filed, attorneys for the homeless residents said as many as 4,500 people didn’t have a place to sleep in Idaho’s capital city and homeless shelters only had about 700 available beds or mats. The case bounced back and forth in the courts for years, and Boise modified its rules in 2014 to say homeless people couldn’t be prosecuted for sleeping outside when shelters were full.
But that didn’t solve the problem, the attorneys said, because Boise’s shelters limit the number of days that homeless residents can stay. Two of the city’s three shelters also require some form of religious participation for some programs, making those shelters unsuitable for people with different beliefs, the homeless residents said.
The three-judge panel for the 9th Circuit found that the shelter rules meant homeless people would still be at risk of prosecution even on days when beds were open. The judges also said the religious programming woven into some shelter programs was a problem.
“A city cannot, via the threat of prosecution, coerce an individual to attend religion-based treatment programs consistently with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment,” Judge Marsha Berzon wrote.
The biggest issue was that the city’s rule violated the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment against cruel and unusual punishment, the court found. The amendment limits what the government can criminalize, it said.
“As a result, just as the state may not criminalize the state of being ‘homeless in public places,’ the state may not ‘criminalize conduct that is an unavoidable consequence of being homeless — namely sitting, lying, or sleeping on the streets,’” Berzon wrote.
The ruling shows it’s time for Boise officials to start proposing “real solutions,” said Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, whose attorneys were among those representing the homeless residents.
“Criminally punishing homeless people for sleeping on the street when they have nowhere else to go is inhumane, and we applaud the court for holding that it is also unconstitutional,” Foscarinis said in a statement.
Boise spokesman Mike Journee said city attorneys were considering their next steps, which could include asking the full 9th Circuit to reconsider the ruling or appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.
But city officials also believe the ruling validates the approach Boise officers have taken since 2014 — not ticketing homeless people when shelters are full, he said.
“If there are, as a result of the ruling, adjustments that need to be made, we’ll consider those when the time comes,” Journee said.
Other cities have faced similar lawsuits, with varying results.
In 2007, the 9th Circuit ruled in favor of homeless residents of Los Angeles, finding that as long as there are more homeless residents than there are shelter beds, a law outlawing sleeping outside was unconstitutional. Both sides later reached an agreement and the entire case was eventually thrown out.
In 2009, a federal judge said a Portland, Oregon, policy designed to prevent people from sitting or lying on public sidewalks was unconstitutional. Portland officials now must also give campers at least 24 hours’ notice before cleaning up or moving unsanctioned camps.
A state judge rejected a similar anti-camping law in Everett, Washington.
Sara Rankin, a professor at the Seattle University School of Law and director of its Homeless Rights Advocacy Project, said the ruling will serve as a wake-up call to local governments, forcing them to invest in adequate supportive housing for the chronically homeless.
“I think it’s finally common sense,” Rankin said of the ruling. “There are certain life-sustaining activities that people can’t survive without doing. It’s a really important recognition that people have to be able to legally exist and survive somewhere.”
Associated Press reporter Phuong Le contributed to this story from Seattle.
This story has been corrected to show the headline had a typo of “can” instead of “can’t.”
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Click to copyhttps://apnews.com/762d797a91284a018388ba69fbf703b8
AP Fact Check
AP FACT CHECK: Entire Trump tweet on immigrant aid is wrong
By CALVIN WOODWARDNovember 29, 2018
Cristian Mejia, of El Salvador, waits with others in line for food, outside of a shelter for members of the migrant caravan, in Tijuana, Mexico, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. As Mexico wrestles with what to do with more than 5,000 Central American migrants camped out at a sports complex in the border city of Tijuana, President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's government signaled Tuesday that it would be willing to house the migrants on Mexican soil while they apply for asylum in the United States, a key demand of U.S. President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is spreading a false claim from supporters that people who are in the United States illegally receive more in federal assistance than the average American gets in Social Security benefits.
Everything about the tweet he passed on to his 56 million listed Twitter followers Tuesday is wrong.
In a tweet of his own, Trump sketched an overly simplistic portrait of the auto industry in suggesting that General Motors plants slated for closure would be chugging along if foreign cars were heavily taxed in the U.S. market.
TRUMP’s retweet: “Illegals can get up to $3,874 a month under Federal Assistance program. Our social security checks are on average $1200 a month. RT (retweet) if you agree: If you weren’t born in the United States, you should receive $0 assistance.”
THE FACTS: Wrong country, wrong numbers, wrong description of legal status of the recipients. Besides that, immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally do not qualify for most federal benefits, even when they’re paying taxes, and those with legal status make up a small portion of those who use public benefits.
The $3,874 refers to a payment made in Canada, not the U.S., to a legally admitted family of refugees. It was largely a one-time resettlement payment under Canada’s refugee program, not monthly assistance in perpetuity, the fact-checking site Snopes found a year ago in debunking a Facebook post that misrepresented Canada’s policy. A document cited in the Facebook post, showing aid for food, transportation and other basics needs, applied to a family of five.
Apart from confusing Canada with the United States, the tweet distributed by the president misstated how much Americans get from Social Security on average — $1,419 a month for retired workers, not $1,200.
Overall, low-income immigrants who are not yet U.S. citizens use Medicaid, food aid, cash assistance and Supplemental Security Income aid at a lower rate than comparable U.S.-born adults, according to an Associated Press analysis of census data. Noncitizen immigrants make up only 6.5 percent of all those participating in Medicaid, for example.
Despite that, the administration wants to redefine the rules for immigrants to further restrict who can receive benefits and for how long.
A retweet is not necessarily an endorsement of the opinion it contains, but Trump does not populate his Twitter feed with views that are contrary to his own.
TRUMP: “The reason that the small truck business in the U.S. is such a go to favorite is that, for many years, Tariffs of 25% have been put on small trucks coming into our country. It is called the ‘chicken tax.’ If we did that with cars coming in, many more cars would be built here ... and G.M. would not be closing their plants in Ohio, Michigan & Maryland. Get smart Congress. Also, the countries that send us cars have taken advantage of the U.S. for decades. The President has great power on this issue - Because of the G.M. event, it is being studied now!”
THE FACTS: It’s a stretch to conclude that the plants General Motors plans to close would be spared if foreign-made cars were subject to hefty duties. Tariffs could indeed be an incentive to build cars in the U.S., but the overarching problem for GM is that people aren’t buying cars like they used to. More want SUVs or trucks now.
The 25 percent tariff on pickup trucks imported into the U.S. was put in place years ago to protect the Detroit Three’s major profit centers from imported pickups. It does not apply to trucks imported from Canada or Mexico at present. So GM, for instance, builds pickups in Mexico and exports them to the U.S. without such a tariff. Fiat Chrysler also builds heavy-duty Ram pickups in Mexico, although it plans to move that production to the U.S. next year.
Japanese automakers, mainly Toyota and Nissan, use U.S. plants to build nearly all of the pickups that they sell in the country. Honda switched production from Canada to Alabama. Toyota does sell a small number of Mexican-built Tacoma pickups in the U.S., but most are built in Texas.
So there are grounds to believe car duties could make a difference, but it’s not that straightforward.
Six years ago cars were 49 percent of new-vehicle sales in the U.S., while trucks and SUVs were 51 percent. Through October of this year, it’s 68 percent trucks and 32 percent cars. All the factories GM wants to close make cars that aren’t selling well. The Commerce Department has been studying whether it can use national security reasons to justify putting tariffs on imported cars but has yet to make a decision.
Most automakers, including those based in Detroit, import vehicles from abroad that would be affected by any tariffs. And U.S. car exports would probably be subject to new or higher tariffs overseas.
Associated Press writers Colleen Long in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.
Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd
Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck
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Op-Ed: With Apple Watch, being a celebrity counts
That iThingy You're Wearing
by Bryan M. Wolfe
As we now know, supply issues have forced Cupertino to walk back from calling April 24 the Apple Watch launch date. Instead, this is simply the day when the company will begin delivering the wearable device to some of those who placed a preorder on April 10, myself included.
One arena where the Apple Watch seems in plentiful supply is with celebrities.
In recent days, J.J. Abrams, Karl Lagerfeld, Katy Perry, Pharrell, and Anna Wintour have each been sporting an Apple Watch in public. And by sport, I don’t mean that they’ve been seen wearing one of the least expensive models. No, these folks are wearing Apple Watch Edition models, which start at $10,000 each.
These celebrity sightings have bugged me and not because of class envy. I felt the same way when Apple CEO Tim Cook welcomed Christy Turlington Burns to the stage at the March 9 Apple Watch event. Burns is using an Apple Watch to help her train for a marathon. This journey is being heavily promoted on the Apple website.
So why don’t I like seeing famous people wearing an Apple Watch? It’s simple. They’re doing so while the rest of us need to wait. And unlike during past Apple product launches, these waits have no concrete end date. As I previously noted, my Apple Watch is being delivered between April 24 and May 8, according to my confirmation. This is a situation also being experienced by others who woke up in the middle of the night to place an early Apple Watch order.
Apple isn’t the first company to use celebrities to promote their products. However, there’s something a little more difficult about doing so when having to admit that the original Apple Watch launch date won’t be kept.
Besides, who are we kidding. These celebrities didn’t pay for their $10,000 Watches, which definitely adds insult to injury, in my humble opinion.
I don’t like to play the Tim Cook isn’t Steve Jobs game. However, in this case, it seems warranted.
In June 2007, the Los Angeles Times ran an interesting piece ahead of the first iPhone launch, entitled “Sorry, clout don’t count.”
They noted:
Apple is controlling the iPhone’s exposure as if it were a movie star before a blockbuster’s opening day. The Cupertino, Calif., company doled out a small number to a carefully chosen group of reviewers — most of whom have raved about it. Silicon Valley legends, Wall Street analysts, Hollywood insiders and others used to getting the latest hot gadget before the masses have been forced to scramble for one.
“Lots of people have requested iPhones,” an Apple spokeswoman said. “No one is getting any special treatment.”
Much has changed since then, no?
Main image:Burberry
The 10 biggest technology stories this week: WWDC 2015, Apple Watch, Tim Cook and more
Take a look at just how terrific Twitterrific for Apple Watch is
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By Noa Yachot
|Published December 29, 2017
Israel to deliver asylum seekers to the hands of human smugglers
Even as it invokes the Holocaust at every turn, Israel is feeding the people who most need its protection to a brutal human smuggling industry. In doing so, it becomes an active player in the worst migration crisis since the Jewish people’s near-extinction.
Exactly one decade ago, liberal Israelis were boasting of their government’s treatment of the refugees who had recently begun entering the country, largely from Sudan. In the face of the genocide in Darfur, Jewish organizations all over the world had enlisted to move the international community to act. Israelis got on board, motivated by what Haaretz’s Bradley Burston called a “kinship of genocide.” In September 2007, after extensive hand-wringing, the Israeli government extended residency permits to roughly 500 refugees from Darfur.
In an ordinary Western country, this would have been unremarkable. In Israel, which has virtually no legal paths to residency for non-Jews who aren’t related to Jewish citizens, this was a sweeping show of humanitarianism.
The intervening years have seen a dramatic decline in the country’s treatment of the people who have arrived in search of shelter. There have been many low points along the way. But it seems things can always go lower, as reflected in this week’s news that Israel will be ordering asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan to leave the country or go to jail.
According to a Haaretz report, most asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan will soon be ordered to exit Israel within 90 days or be detained indefinitely in the Saharonim desert prison. Technically, this measure will only concern those whose applications for asylum were rejected or who failed to apply. However, the screening process in Israel is grossly deficient — with a recognition rate of less than 1 percent — and most of these rejected applicants would probably qualify for refugee status under international law and according to the standards of the rest of the developed world.
Presumably, Israel intends to relocate most of them to Rwanda and Uganda, with whom it’s struck deals to receive them. Rumor has it both countries are getting cash and weapons in exchange for the unwanted asylum seekers.
Refugee resettlement is not in...
|Published April 1, 2017
Can J Street coherently fight both boycott and occupation?
After J Street U students were attacked at an anti-BDS conference this week, the lobby might want to reconsider the effectiveness of seeking common ground with extremists.
Things got ugly at an anti-BDS conference at the United Nations this week when participants turned on a group of liberal university students in attendance.
The conference, organized by the Israeli mission to the U.N., brought together many of the usual suspects working to counter the effects of the growing boycott movement. Students representing the university arm of J Street, the “pro-Israel, pro-peace lobby,” attracted the ire of the conference when they rose to ask how to counter BDS to fellow students who oppose Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.
When they identified their organizational affiliation, they were met with hisses from the audience, according to a report in Haaretz. Alan Clemmons, a state legislator from South Carolina, proceeded to accuse the students of representing an anti-Semitic organization and declared, to a standing ovation, that “there is no illegal occupation.” Mort Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, echoed Clemmons when he announced the “occupation is a lie.” Others called the students pigs and worse.
It’s upsetting to think of these young activists facing such hate from their community elders, and I sincerely hope someone there came to their defense, at least in private. (I’ve asked J Street whether anyone at the conference expressed support for the beleaguered students, but I haven’t heard back.) But notwithstanding its after-the-fact criticism of what transpired, I remain a bit confused as to why anyone thought it would be a good idea to send those students into what was always certain to be a lion’s den.
J Street is one of a number of American Jewish organizations that formally oppose the occupation but are not affiliated with the BDS movement. There’s nothing wrong with that – BDS detractors, the state of Israel most prominent among them, have been effective at maligning the movement as an anti-Semitic front bent on the destruction of Israel with assistance from treasonous Jews inside and outside Israel. Some groups on the left have sought distance from the movement so as not to alienate growing numbers of Jews hesitantly exploring alternatives to the establishment’s blind support for Israeli policies.
But at what point does a cautious, big tent approach reach the limits of coherence? There’s a significant difference between refraining from taking...
|Published February 9, 2017
Can America avoid falling into the Israel trap?
If Israel can teach American liberals anything, it’s that they cannot afford to rest on their laurels. The case of Israel demonstrates that fear-mongering and tribalism can easily prop up an oppressive and racist regime for decades.
It is not uncommon for Israeli authorities to detain, interrogate and deport tourists of Arab or Palestinian descent, and those arriving through Israel to do Palestinian solidarity work. Jewish Americans, however, especially those engaged with mainstream community institutions, rarely face the types of humiliating treatment for which Israeli airport security has become notorious.
So it raised a small storm on Wednesday when a vice president of the New Israel Fund, a U.S.-based foundation that awards grants to a broad spectrum of Israeli civil society groups, was detained at Ben-Gurion Airport on her way into Israel.
Jennifer Gorovitz, who has worked in Jewish community service for much of her professional life, including for a decade as CEO of the San Francisco Jewish Federation, was interrogated at length for “national security reasons,” according to an NIF statement. Despite telling border security officers that she is a Jew and a Zionist who supports Israeli organizations and rejects the BDS movement, she was derided by officers in three grueling interrogations where they accused her, pejoratively, of “building the society of the Palestinians.”
“I was truly shocked that this place I love so much would turn me away at its gates,” she said. She was ultimately granted entry.
When I heard Gorovitz’s story, I was immediately reminded of another. Last week, Hina Shamsi, the top national security lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), was stopped on her way into the United States, en route from meetings relating to her work on behalf of victims of the CIA’s post-9/11 torture program. She was questioned about her work for the ACLU (“why would someone working for an organization with ‘American’ in its name be representing people who are not citizens?”) and about her Pakistani citizenship. (“Why would someone working for an organization with ‘American’ in its name have ‘this’ passport?”)
(Full disclosure: Hina is a colleague and a friend of mine, and +972 Magazine receives donor advised contributions via the NIF.)
It’s worth mentioning that neither story involves citizens of the countries they were trying to enter — Hina was a permanent U.S. resident (who, it so happens, was naturalized the day after the incident), and Jennifer is...
Blurring the lines between Palestine and Baltimore
A new play tells the story of Aseel Asleh, one of the 13 Palestinians killed by police inside Israel at the start of the Second Intifada. Playwright Jen Marlowe is bringing it to black colleges in the U.S. in the hopes of connecting two struggles.
Before his death, Palestinian teenager Aseel Asleh dedicated himself to his Jewish Israeli friends. As a loyal alumnus of Seeds of Peace, a coexistence summer camp, he was convinced that the promise of peace lay in forgiveness and reconciliation.
More than 15 years after he was killed at the age of 17 by Israeli police, a play about his life and death is being used to foster a very different dialogue. “There Is a Field” explicitly aims to build connections between movements for Palestinian rights and racial justice in America. It is presently on a tour that focuses on historically black colleges and universities in the eastern United States.
Aseel was shot to death in his hometown of Arrabe in the early days of the Second Intifada, while demonstrating in solidarity with Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. He was one of 13 Palestinians – including 12 citizens of Israel – killed inside Israel in a single week in the notorious “October events” of 2000. He was killed and buried in a Seeds of Peace t-shirt.
Jen Marlowe had been the boy’s camp counselor. In search of a way to honor Aseel’s memory and cope with the grief that shook her community, she set out to write a play about his life. “There Is a Field” took shape over the next 15 years, finally premiering last month in New York. The play is styled as a documentary, comprised of artful transitions between family members’ reflections, materials from the investigation into Aseel’s death, and emails he left behind. (An early digital native, he spent hours online corresponding with his fellow “Seeds.”)
Much changed over the course of the play’s 15-year journey to fruition. Investigations into the killings closed without a single indictment, despite damning findings of excessive police violence by the government-established Or Commission. Relations between Israelis and Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line devolved to their all-time present low. As hopes for peace dwindled, so did the credibility of dialogue-based programs like Seeds of Peace. And a new protagonist took Aseel’s place in “There Is a Field.”
Marlowe...
|Published March 23, 2016
AIPAC can’t distance itself from Trump any more than the GOP can
Considering the Israel lobby’s history of confrontation with Obama and the roars of approval its members gave Donald Trump for bashing him, AIPAC’s apology rings hollow, to put it mildly.
In a strange twist to the theater that is the annual AIPAC conference, Donald Trump’s attacks against President Obama during his speech on Monday brought the lobby’s president to tears.
Lillian Pinkus issued an emotional apology on Tuesday, the day after Trump celebrated onstage – with a “yay” – Obama’s looming departure from office. “There are people in our AIPAC family who were deeply hurt last night and for that we are deeply sorry,” she said.
This rings hollow, to put it mildly. AIPAC has made no secret of its disdain for Obama and his less-than-cuddly approach to Israel’s leadership. And Trump was met with standing ovations and roars of approval when he spoke at the lobby’s conference. AIPAC can’t distance itself from Trump any more than the GOP can.
Actually, Trump’s AIPAC speech was remarkable for how unremarkable it was. It had all the swagger of a typical AIPAC spectacle – garish praise for the U.S.-Israel alliance, doomsday warnings of the threats both countries face, and blame for the conflict squarely on the Palestinians. He stayed within AIPAC’s playbook – and he even used a teleprompter. The annual Israel love-fest is no time for improvisation.
Hillary Clinton’s performance was more startling for its jingoism and distortion of reality. To hear her speak, it would seem that tolerant Israeli Jews are cowering in their homes as bloodthirsty Palestinian masses roam the streets and American anti-Semites plot a BDS-fueled takeover. There is, of course, no human rights problem. There is no occupation.
I suppose this shouldn’t have been so surprising. Clinton’s tone isn’t new, and it’s been long established that AIPAC’s hold on American politics is so oppressive that when it comes to Israel, right-wing extremism is by no means the province of the GOP alone. But in a primary season that, thanks to her competitor, has moved Clinton significantly leftward, many progressive analysts hoped for something different. We’ve been told she is working on her fledgling appeal to progressives and young people – who are increasingly moving away from unflinching support for Israel, as evidenced by the vibrant protest by young Jews outside the conference.
She may not have gotten the memo. Or perhaps Israel continues to defy any progress in American politics.
Lessons from Israel for Sheldon Adelson’s new journalists
Adelson’s acquisition of the Las Vegas Review-Journal has its journalists fighting for their paper’s soul. They may want to take note of Adelon’s dangerous imprint on Israel’s media.
An ethical fight for the ages has been playing out at the Las Vegas Review-Journal in the past week, one that should be taught in journalism schools everywhere. In taking on their new owner, the Review-Journal’s journalists may be well served by some lessons from Sheldon Adelson’s other media playground — Israel.
Since the Las Vegas Journal-Review’s reporters uncovered the acquisition of their paper by casino magnate and Israel Hayom owner Sheldon Adelson, they have been relentless in their pursuit of transparency, in the face of a new boss known for bullying critical journalists into submission.
But their campaign took a hit on Tuesday, when the Review-Journal’s editor, Michael Hengel, announced he had accepted a buyout and would be leaving the paper. “I think my resignation probably comes as a relief to the new owners,” he told his staff.
Hengel was capping off an extraordinary week. Last Wednesday, Review-Journal reporters revealed the identity of the new owner following an investigation that inveighed heavily against the secrecy that had surrounded the sale.
Two days later, they published another stunning investigation that, again, turned the spotlight inward, painting their new boss in an extremely shady light. That piece explored a mysterious assignment they had received a month prior, asking them to drop everything to spend their time scrutinizing three county judges. One of them, it turned out, was overseeing a lawsuit filed against Adelson by the former CEO of his Macau casinos.
(The story gets much more bizarre, with twists including a tiny Connecticut paper with links to Adelson’s company and a possible hit job on the same judge by a journalist who it seems does not exist. This is truly the stuff of great cinema.)
The Review-Journal didn’t stop there. A passionate editorial promised to keep fighting for readers’ trust. Reporters amassed a document listing possible conflicts of interest between Adelson and their coverage, and worked on a disclaimer for when such conflicts arise. A column by John L. Smith, one of many journalists to enjoy the distinct honor of being sued by Adelson, openly declared his new boss to be “precisely the wrong person to own this or any newspaper.”
The search for a new editor is...
|Published August 10, 2015
Israeli doctors versus the state in showdown over force-feeding
The government hoped that transferring Mohammed Allan to a different hospital would make force-feeding him easier. But a doctors’ protest is gaining ground.
A confrontation between the Israeli government and doctors treating hunger-striking prisoners is reaching a fever pitch, testing the medical community’s independence against government efforts to quell a nonviolent protest by Palestinian detainees.
The backdrop is a law passed last month sanctioning the force-feeding of hunger-striking prisoners, in order to combat a growing means of protest against administrative detention without charge or trial.
The test case for the new law appears to be Mohammed Allan, a 33-year-old Palestinian lawyer detained since November of last year. Allan is on the 54th day of his strike. As my colleague Yael Marom at Local Call reports, he is drinking water but refusing any minerals, vitamins, and medical treatment of any sort. It emerged this weekend that authorities would seek to force-feed Allan, and the resulting showdown over his treatment has pit a growing group of doctors, armed with medical ethics, against the state and the military.
Doctors at Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva, where Allan was hospitalized until this morning, refused to treat him, citing international standards governing patient autonomy. Their stand came despite the recommendation of a hospital ethics panel, which gave the doctors monitoring Allan “discretion” to take measures to save his life, even against his will. Israeli security services transferred Allan today to Ashkelon’s Barzilai Hospital, whose director, according to Ynet sources [Hebrew], “holds a different viewpoint with regards to force-feeding than the Soroka doctors.”
But the protest appears to be spreading. Doctors at Barzilai have also declared their refusal to treat him against his will, and, as of Monday afternoon, a fierce debate on the matter was in full swing at the hospital.
These doctors have the force of the Israeli medical establishment behind them. The Israeli Medical Association has come out vehemently against the law, unequivocally declaring force-feeding to be a form of torture in accordance with international standards. The body filed a petition against the law with the High Court of Justice three days after it passed, and indicated on Sunday evening it would also ask for the court’s urgent intervention to prevent Allan’s force feeding. Its chairman, Dr. Leonid Eidelman, said last year that doctors should disobey force-feeding orders, and that the association would not be able to defend force-feeding doctors should...
|Published May 13, 2015
Israel sells its story on a new Lebanon war, and the 'Times' bites
If you’re going to publish ominous warnings portending the killing of scores of civilians, shouldn’t you verify the grounds and ask why?
In an article published on the New York Times website today, Israel sells the author, Isabel Kershner, the pretense for its next war: its claims that Hezbollah has dramatically beefed up its military infrastructure along Israel’s northern border.
Those claims on their own don’t come as much of a surprise. It’s been widely acknowledged that Hezbollah has increased its capabilities in southern Lebanon. Nor is the overt battle cry the most ominous part of the piece. What’s most concerning is Israel’s warning that since Hezbollah has embedded its facilities within southern Lebanese villages, all bets are off when it comes to their residents. They are now human shields, Israel says. “At the end of the day, it means that many, many Lebanese will be killed,” the piece quotes Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser, as saying.
That’s one of a number of warnings in the piece, which are quite chilling when taken in context. Israel killed more than 1,000 Lebanese during the 2006 Second Lebanese War. Its relentless air strikes destroyed extensive civilian infrastructure. Human Rights Watch later found that the strikes were indiscriminate, targeting civilian areas long after Hezbollah had left them. (Forty-four Israel civilians were killed in that war, along with 119 soldiers.) There’s little reason to believe the next round will be less bloody, and plenty of reason to believe it will be deeply familiar, or worse:
But beyond reminding readers of what we have to look forward to, it’s hard to understand why this piece was published. Its problems are manifold. It’s a government-packaged story with a bit of added background. It fails to recognize the irony of officials in their central Tel Aviv military headquarters lambasting Hezbollah for embedding among civilians. It doesn’t do much to substantiate the story it’s echoing. “The Israeli claims could not be independently verified,” Kershner (or her editor) writes.
If Israel is paving the way for another war, shouldn’t its claims be thoroughly, painstakingly investigated before they’re used as a pretense to kill hundreds or thousands of people?
It’s possible that Kershner indeed believes, as she indicates, that the story she was peddled could prevent the next war. But it’s as hard to imagine Hezbollah retreating from southern Lebanon as it is to believe it will proactively seek to add an...
J Street, turn your focus homeward
Notes from the J Street conference.
Since Netanyahu’s resounding election win last week, there’s been a deluge of coverage in the American media of a deepening disillusionment among U.S. Jews over Israel. Whether in the New York Times, the Associated Press, or Bloomberg, the thesis is more or less what you’d expect: Netanyahu rode to victory on a wave of racism, a rejection of peace with the Palestinians, and unprecedented disrespect for his number one patron, Barack Obama. These tactics fly in the face of a largely liberal community comprised of reliably Democratic voters.
That rift was represented this weekend in Washington, where the J Street lobby wrapped up its fifth national conference. Contempt for Netanyahu was prevalent and unapologetic. To the activists and supporters of the “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobby, the Israeli prime minister is anathema to peace and the main obstacle to the two-state solution. They are shocked and they are angry.
To a first-time observer like me, the discourse characterizing the conference was a fascinating representation of both the evolution and stagnation that seems to characterize much of the U.S. Jewish community lately. Judging by applause levels at various sessions and plenaries, the professed commitment to universalism seemed real. Language of equal rights and dignity for all was met with enthusiasm. In one particularly satisfying moment, the crowd erupted on behalf of Hadash activist Nabila Espanioly, who accused incoming Zionist Union MK Yoel Hasson of paternalism when he smugly told her what he thinks the Joint List needs to do (lose Balad). Other speakers given the main stage also departed from J Street orthodoxy, declaring the two-state solution dead (Marcia Freedman) and even calling out the lobby’s support for the Gaza war (our very own Noam Sheizaf).
But there’s some dissonance accompanying these moments and all the hand-wringing over Netanyahu’s win. Old ideas and regressive sentimentality still take center stage. Say “two states” and you’ll get a round of applause. Say it in the same sentence as “Zionism” and you might get a standing ovation.
I heard a number of strong voices in several breakout panels, offering sharp analysis and new thinking. Many of J Street U’s young activists are similarly impressive, and some have graduated to activism far more critical of Israel. Unfortunately, that freshness of thought doesn’t extend to some of the conference’s headliners. One particularly shameful...
|Published July 26, 2014
'No more deaths': Thousands of Israelis protest the Gaza war
Thousands gathered in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square; police let the protest go ahead after canceling it two hours before it was set to start; at least five anti-war protesters were attacked after the demonstration.
Some 5,000 Israelis on Saturday evening protested the war in Gaza under the banner, “No more deaths – Israeli-Palestinian peace, now.” The protest took place at Rabin Square in central Tel Aviv.
+972′s full coverage of the war in Gaza
Speakers included Hadash MK Dov Khenin, an Israeli and Palestinian veteran from the organization Combatants for Peace, and Yifat Solel, the head of the Meretz party’s anti-occupation forum. Meretz, however, did not back the demonstration as a party. Ben Kfir of the Parents’ Circle, whose daughter was killed in a Hamas suicide bombing in 2003, also spoke, refuting the government’s claim that there is no partner for peace among the Palestinians. The speakers criticized the government for its attitude toward peace negotiations, and for resorting to war as a default policy. Demonstrators chanted “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies,” called for an end to the occupation and the siege on Gaza, and lit candles to commemorate the victims.
At anti-war protest in Tel Aviv “Forgive us” written in 1043 candles marking the number of ppl killed in Gaza &Israel pic.twitter.com/v5ZIBr3mHs
— Elizabeth Tsurkov (@Elizrael) July 26, 2014
Roughly 300 right-wing counter-protesters were on the scene trying to reach the main demonstration, audibly chanting “Death to Arabs” while Sulaiman Khatib, co-founder of Combatants for Peace, spoke. A large police presence circled the square in order to keep the sides separate. Four were arrested.
Police ended the protest at around 10 p.m., citing resumed rocket fire from Gaza, two hours before a “humanitarian” ceasefire was set to expire. Soon after the demonstration dispersed, counter-protesters began following the demonstrators home. Verbal attacks turned physically violent; one anti-war demonstrator was beaten with a metal rod and required stitches, and two were attacked with pepper spray.
Some two hours before the protest was set to begin, police canceled it over what they said was fear of a rocket attack. The permit for the demonstration was reinstated only an hour before it began – by which time busses of protesters en route for Tel Aviv had turned back.
The invitation to the protest read:
On Saturday, the peace camp takes a stand at...
'The largest West Bank protest in decades'
Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem march in solidarity with Gaza, in the largest such protest in years. At least two were killed.
At least two protesters were killed and more than 100 wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank and East Jerusalem late Thursday night, as thousands of Palestinians marched from Ramallah to the Qalandia checkpoint, which separates Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The protest, against Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip, was the largest the West Bank has seen in years – according to some Palestinian demonstrators, the largest in decades. As of Thursday night, 805 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive on July 8.
The West Bank march quickly spread to East Jerusalem, where police were said to be clashing with protesters in the Old City, Silwan, and other neighborhoods. Protests were also reported in Nablus and Bethlehem.
Thousands of Palestinians march from Ramallah to Jerusalem. Largest protest in decades. #48KMarch via @Ramideramallah pic.twitter.com/mSakFVfxQv
— Hana Khalil (@hkhalil91) July 24, 2014
According to Haaretz reporter Amira Hass, Palestinian ambulances, blaring their horns, were streaming in the opposite direction of the march, evacuating protesters wounded by Israeli fire at the checkpoint.
The West Bank protest came during Laylat al-Qadr, the 27th night of Ramadan and the holiest night of the year for Muslims. According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel Police Micky Rosenfeld said that hundreds of officers would be stationed around the Old City during Friday prayers, and that no Arabs under 50 would be permitted to enter Damascus Gate.
The west bank now…people have had enough and have nothing to lose pic.twitter.com/BcIKm77U7p
— Tahanie Aboushi (@Its_T_time06) July 24, 2014
Earlier Thursday, Hamas political bureau head Khaled Meshaal said Hamas was prepared to sign a ceasefire agreement with Israel, as long as Israel’s siege of Gaza is lifted. In comments made from Qatar, Meshaal underlined that he also wants Gaza’s border with Egypt to be opened.
“We want an international airport, we want a seaport, we want an opening to the outside world, and not the situation where we are controlled by a few border crossings that turn Gaza into a huge prison, where no one can leave even for medical treatment or to work...
Israel bars prominent Palestinian artist from traveling to N.Y. exhibit
Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar travels regularly to exhibit and discuss his art. This time, the Israeli army simply said no, you can’t go.
Khaled Jarrar, a prominent Palestinian artist based in Ramallah, was supposed to be in New York by now for an exhibit at the New Museum, a Manhattan hotspot for contemporary art.
Except Israel isn’t letting him go. Jarrar arrived at the Allenby border crossing at 3:00 p.m. yesterday. Rather than cross into Jordan, as he has done many times over the last few years, he was told he could not exit due to “an intelligence order.” After 10 hours spent waiting, he returned home at around 1 a.m. today.
Jarrar, 38, told +972 that dozens of others Palestinians were turned back while he was waiting at the crossing, though many others were let through. He has no idea why he was refused, as he has traveled regularly over the years to exhibit his work, and has never had a problem. He explained:
After a very long wait and without understanding what was happening, I was informed that there are “security reasons” that will prevent me from traveling until the 1st of August. For now, that means that I missed my morning flight from Amman to New York, that I will miss the opening of the show at the New Museum, and that I will miss my ‘artist talk’ with Lamia Joreige and Charif Kiwan, with Natalie Bell, that was supposed to happen on the 16th of July.
Yesterday was the longest day of my life and a day of humiliation. I felt real racism on the part of the security at Allenby Bridge. When this one soldier was talking to his superior officer, I understood he called me “zevel” [“garbage,” in Hebrew -NY]. I shouted at him that I was no “zevel” and he was impolite to call me that. No one listened to me, like I did not even exist.
The Allenby Bridge is the only entry and exit point for the Palestinians of the occupied West Bank. It is controlled by Israel, which often closes it to entire categories of Palestinians. During the search for the three Israeli teenagers who were found dead on June 30, Israel imposed a blanket ban on the exit from Allenby of all Palestinians from Hebron—a move condemned as collective punishment by Amnesty International.
Jarrar is a Ramallah-based multimedia artist well known for his...
|Published July 7, 2014
Tariq Abu Khdeir wasn't the first and he won't be the last
Israel has detained over 7,000 Palestinian children over the past 12 years. Many of them report beatings, abuse and a denial of rights by security forces. It’s time to put things in the wider context.
The detention and abuse of Palestinian children by Israeli security forces has, for a change, been all over the international news media. Unfortunately, it took the severe beating of a 15-year-old boy who happens to have American citizenship for that to happen.
Tariq Abu Khdeir was beaten by Israeli Border Police officers in Shuafat last week, during a protest against the brutal killing of of his cousin, 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir. Tariq was detained and held in Israeli custody for several days, until he was released to house arrest on Sunday on NIS 3,000 bail. He hasn’t been charged with a crime.
American media is paying attention. Tariq is a Florida high school student visiting his family in Palestine over summer break. News of his beating, helped along by video footage and upsetting photographs of his wounds, have been tearing up social and mainstream media.
U.S. media doesn’t generally do a good job contextualizing violence in Israel and Palestine, and the recent uptick is no exception. I haven’t seen much discussion of Israel’s systematic abuse of Palestinian children in the reports of Tariq’s beating. Despite that, his citizenship presents a critical opportunity for the American public to learn a few things about how the Israeli army treats the Palestinian minors under its rule.
Read +972′s special coverage: Children under occupation
According to Defense for Children International Palestine, 214 children were detained in Israel as of May of this year. In the last 12 years, Israel has detained more than 7,000. Testimonies detail terrible abuse and torture while in Israeli detention, with few of the protections afforded children under international or Israeli law. Due process is something of a joke; Palestinians are tried in military courts, where the conviction rate is nearly 100 percent.
Many of those children are accused of stone-throwing – an allegation leveled by the police against Tariq, as well.
But despite the myriad human rights reports and their chilling descriptions, the regular injustices of the occupation rarely make mainstream headlines. Although what happened to Tariq is far from an...
Noa Yachot
Noa Yachot is a news editor and digital producer. She presently works as a communications strategist at the American Civil Liberties Union in New York, where she focuses on national security, digital privacy, and human rights. Before joining the ACLU in 2013, she was the managing editor of +972 Magazine. She has also worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Israel, advocating for the protection of asylum seekers, and as a head editor at Haaretz.com.
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Harris Co. looking for ways to save money
HOUSTON The planned expansion of Highway 290 and the addition of toll roads got nowhere at commissioners court. The simple answer - money; there's just not enough.
"We don't think the present geometry will work, and we don't think we have the resources to afford it," said Art Storey with the Harris County Public Infrastructure.
The 290 expansion isn't the end of the road for the county money crunch. It's just the beginning.
On Tuesday, County Commissioner Jerry Eversole got prickly over the contract of paying for other jails to house Harris County's excess prisoners.
"Why does the sheriff get to choose is what my question is?" Eversole asked Dick Raycraft with the Harris Co. Budget Office.
"Because he's the sheriff," responded Raycraft.
"We're commissioners. Why don't we buy our own equipment?" asked Eversole.
"You do buy your own equipment," Raycraft answered.
"Before I became sheriff, the contract system was in place," said Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia. "This is a process that's continuing."
The county also didn't move forward with a planned joint inmate processing center, leaving the decision in the hands of future voters.
"It has to be put on the ballot for voters to approve the bond issue for," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. "I don't anticipate that being done this December."
But some things did get approved, including moving toward an independent forensic lab, installing air conditioning in the Juvenile Detention Center and repairing the elevators in the building in which the commissioners court is held. In the end, only about 10 percent of the building requests were approved, pointing out there's just not enough money to get most things done.
"If you can't afford it, you can't have it, because fiscal responsibility matters," said Storey.
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Lead poisoning fears: How toxins age you
NEW YORK That's the provocative idea emerging from some recent studies, part of a broader area of new research that suggests some pollutants can cause harm that shows up only years after someone is exposed.
The new work suggests long-ago lead exposure can make an aging person's brain work as if it's five years older than it really is. If that's verified by more research, it means that sharp cuts in environmental lead levels more than 20 years ago didn't stop its widespread effects.
"We're trying to offer a caution that a portion of what has been called normal aging might in fact be due to ubiquitous environmental exposures like lead," says Dr. Brian Schwartz of Johns Hopkins University.
"The fact that it's happening with lead is the first proof of principle that it's possible," said Schwartz, a leader in the study of lead's delayed effects. Other pollutants like mercury and pesticides may do the same thing, he said.
In fact, some recent research does suggest that being exposed to pesticides raises the risk of getting Parkinson's disease a decade or more later. Experts say such studies in mercury are lacking.
The notion of long-delayed effects is familiar; tobacco and asbestos, for example, can lead to cancer. But in recent years, scientists are coming to appreciate that exposure to other pollutants in early life also may promote disease much later on.
"It's an emerging area" for research, said Dr. Philip Landrigan of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. It certainly makes sense that if a substance destroys brain cells in early life, the brain may cope by drawing on its reserve capacity until it loses still more cells with aging, he said. Only then would symptoms like forgetfulness or tremors appear.
Linda Birnbaum, director of experimental toxicology at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said infant mice exposed to chemicals like PCBs show only very subtle effects in young adulthood. But more dramatic harm in areas like movement and learning appears when they reach old age.
Animal studies also show clear evidence that being exposed to harmful substances in the womb can harm health later on, she said. For example, rodents that encounter PCBs or dioxins before birth are more susceptible to cancer once they grow up.
Studying delayed effects in people is difficult because they generally must be followed for a long time. Research with lead is easier because scientists can measure the amount that has accumulated in the shinbone over decades and get a read on how much lead a person has been exposed to in the past.
Lead in the blood, by contrast, reflects recent exposure. Virtually all Americans have lead in their blood, but the amounts are far lower today than in the past.
The big reason for the drop: the phasing out of lead in gasoline from 1976 to 1991. Because of that and accompanying measures, the average lead level in the blood of American adults fell 30 percent by 1980 and about 80 percent by 1990.
That's a major success story for environmentalists. But work by Schwartz and Dr. Howard Hu of the University of Michigan suggests that the long-term effects of the high-lead era are still being felt.
In 2006, Schwartz and his colleagues published a study of about 1,000 Baltimore residents. They were ages 50 to 70, old enough to have absorbed plenty of lead before it disappeared from gasoline. They probably got their peak doses in the 1960s and 1970s, Schwartz said, mostly by inhaling air pollution from vehicle exhaust and from other sources in the environment.
The researchers estimated each person's lifetime dose by scanning their shinbones for lead. Then they gave each one a battery of mental ability tests.
In brief, the scientists found that the higher the lifetime lead dose, the poorer the performance across a wide variety of mental functions, like verbal and visual memory and language ability. From low to high dose, the difference in mental functioning was about the equivalent of aging by two to six years.
"We think that's a large effect," Schwartz said.
Hu and his colleagues took a slightly different approach in a 2004 study of 466 men with an average age of 67. Those men took a mental-ability test twice, about four years apart on average. Those with the highest bone lead levels showed more decline between exams than those with smaller levels, with the effect of the lead equal to about five years of aging.
Nobody is claiming that lead is the sole cause of age-related mental decline, but it appears to be one of several factors involved, Hu stressed.
If so, it would join such possible influences as high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, emotional stress and maybe education level, said Bradley Wise of the National Institute on Aging. Nobody knows exactly what causes mental decline with age, he said.
Although the studies by Hu and Schwartz suggest lead is involved, Wise and others say they don't prove the link.
"I think many things impact how we age, but I think right now it's maybe premature to be giving lead a huge role in our age-related cognitive decline," said Dr. Margit L. Bleecker, director of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Neurology in Baltimore. Still, she called the lead hypothesis "a very interesting idea" deserving more study.
Others were more impressed.
"The new evidence from these studies should concern people" said epidemiologist Andrew Rowland of the University of New Mexico. "These two research groups are finding adverse effects on the aging brain at low levels of lead exposure. More work needs to be done, but these studies are raising important questions."
In any case, scientists still face some basic mysteries about the delayed effects of lead. For example, when does it actually harm the brain? Does a high level in the shinbone merely identify those who were the most harmed by chronic exposure decades ago? Or does lead in the bone continue to do its dirty work over a lifetime, leaching into the bloodstream and continuously hammering the brain?
"I think that both things are happening," Schwartz said, though he suspects most of the damage occurred in the past, during years of higher exposure. Hu's suspicions are similar.
Just how lead impairs brainpower is still a mystery. And so is the question of whether anything can be done to help people who have absorbed a lot of lead over a lifetime.
A medical procedure called chelation can remove lead from the body, but it wouldn't help in this case, said experts, who had few suggestions.
For younger people, prevention is a clearer strategy, Hu said. He called for tougher federal standards on lead exposure in the workplace.
And plenty of low-income neighborhoods could use a strong effort to remove lead from old houses, many of which still have lead paint, Rowland said. "It's there on the walls, it's on the radiators, it's underneath the top layers of paint. In places where the paint is crumbling, there's still exposure going on," he said.
Yet another question: Who really has to worry about long-ago lead affecting their brainpower? What about people born after the high lead levels of the 1970s were history?
Schwartz noted that most Americans younger than 30 have gotten much less lead from the environment than the men in his study did. And Hu hopes that the lead effect will peter out in the future.
However, Hu points out that there's still lead in the environment, and exposure remains especially high in many developing countries. And citing evidence that lead can cross the placenta, he says women who grew up in the 1970s might dose their fetuses with the metal.
"Kids who grew up in the 21st century have a lot less to worry about" than their elders, Hu said. But "it's hard for me to be totally optimistic the current generation is completely scot-free."
Copyright © 2019 KABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.
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The Revolutionary Nature of National-Socialism
by Matt Koehl,
INTRODUCTION- The true significance of National-Socialism as a revolutionary idea, as well as an historical phenomenon of fundamental importance, has too often been overlooked or forgotten by its adherents. On occasion, its outlook and objectives have been confused with those of the reactionary right, while at other times they have been mistaken for those of the Marxist left.
To dispel such erroneous misconceptions, it is useful not only to re-examine the role of National-Socialism against a backdrop of historical conditions, but also to re-evaluate its unique underlying values. Only when the implications of that role and those values are more clearly understood and appreciated can each individual adherent achieve that level of commitment necessary to enable the National-Socialist movement to fulfill its historic mission.
read at link below
Source: The Revolutionary Nature of National-Socialism
on September 16, 2016 at 10:03 am Leave a Comment
Ruins of the Reich
on September 16, 2016 at 9:20 am Leave a Comment
Why the Germans are Hated
I recently talked with a Rumanian who had been a young man in 1944 when the Germans, after their catastrophic defeat in Russia, had to retreat from a country they could no longer defend against the Americans’ Soviet allies.
In the hurried retreat, there was some inevitable disorganization and some units of the German Army became separated from their commissary. The hungry men dispersed and in small groups went to the homes of the peasants and asked to be fed. The peasants, although they disliked the occupation of their country by foreign troops, prepared food for the Germans, who, after a meal on peasant fare, scrupulously paid for it, and with courteous words of thanks in German went on their way.
Now wasn’t that just awful? The Germans, who didn’t love Sheenies, obviously had not assimilated Jewish ethics and the Jewish Weltanschauung. Is it any wonder that the democratic Americans help their Jewish government hunt down those dreadful War Criminals? In fact, a nation that behaves like that should be exterminated, shouldn’t it? If not exterminated by the method proposed by Kaufman in his once popular Germany Must Perish (1941) (1) then exterminated in some other way, perhaps by miscegenation.
After the Germans retreated, the Americans’ army of Liberation moved in. It is properly called the Americans’ army because it was equipped and financed from the United States, which was a great industrial nation at that time. Furthermore, it was in the service of a regime that had been imposed on Russia chiefly by the United States, was then carrying out the plans of the foul and diseased monster that then ruled the United States from its lair in the White House, and was able to invade Rumania only because the United States and its puppets were attacking Germany in a war of total barbarism. It was a relatively unimportant detail that the hordes invading Rumania were almost entire composed of hybrids of Slavic and Mongol blood with a dose of Tartar thrown in for seasoning.
The Liberators moved through the countryside that was the home of my informant, who somehow managed to survive the Liberation. The invaders took the women out and gang-raped them, forcing the fathers, husbands, and sons to watch the merriment. When tired of intensive rape, they usually shot the women or cut them up a bit and left them to bleed to death, and then machine-gunned the men. Ah, that’s more like it! No wonder the Americans are proud of their success in promoting democracy throughout the world.
To be sure, Russian generals and colonels, full of Judaeo-Soviet culture, did not behave as did their men. They selected the best houses in a town, magnanimously gave the owners two hours to get out, and occupied the premises. If they felt a need for amusement and recreation, the most attractive females of the town were dragged in to show their gratitude for the glorious Liberation. When the Russian officers moved on, the owners, if they had not been killed in the meantime, could resume possession of what had been their home, which had been completely stripped of every portable object, including even the doorknobs. The empty shell, however, would protect them from rain, although there was no way to replace the broken windows.
Such were the blessings of Freedom that the Americans bestowed on Rumania. Is it any wonder that they are proud of their achievement and humbly grateful to the Master Race that taught them how to work for One World?
Of course, I do not mean that individual Americans approve of all the work of Liberation. In fact, I am sure that many individuals disapprove of such details as I have mentioned. That may be unfortunate.
None of us can know the plans of our rulers, the Sheenies and the other usurers and swindlers who are their accomplices, and it is even quite likely that they have not drawn up a fixed schedule, but only a general and flexible one that will be continuously adjusted to events. It is known, however, that there has been no abandonment of the goal envisaged by the unspeakable entity called Franklin Roosevelt, which was indiscreetly disclosed by the director of one of the great “Foundations” when the late Norman Dodd was chief counsel of a Senate committee: the eventual amalgamation of the United States with the Soviet.
It is quite likely, therefore, that the United States and the Americans in it will be subjected to occupation by armies from the Soviet, either as conquerors after a war that the Americans will assuredly lose, or as “peace-keeping forces” to restore order after the ruined country has collapsed in bankruptcy and anarchy, and the niggers, mestizos, and other parasites whom the Americans so dearly love begin to loot and beat the stupid white animals who can no longer give them all they want. Americans then will have firsthand experience of the Liberation they have so long promoted throughout the world. It is certain, I think, that on that future day the Americans, like the Rumanians in 1944, will not like it. They will probably change their minds about making the world safe for democracy. But it will be too late–terribly and unalterably too late. Perhaps they will find some consolation in quoting an adage from their holy book: “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Prometheus Bound
The purpose of this writing is an attempt to awaken the long-suppressed ancestral spirit, will and determination of Aryan man and woman.
Source: Prometheus Bound
ECUADOR – Prison officer marked visitors with Nazi stamp
YNET – A prison warden found himself in hot water last week after it was discovered that security guards have been marking visitors to the penitentiary with hand stamps featuring the Nazi swa…
Source: ECUADOR – Prison officer marked visitors with Nazi stamp
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Fantasy Science Fiction Horror
Dust (#3 Wool)
Author(s): Hugh Howey
The much-anticipated final instalment of the Wool trilogy.
'The next Hunger Games' The Sunday Times
'Thrilling, thought-provoking and memorable ... one of dystopian fiction's masterpieces alongside the likes of 1984and Brave New World.' Daily Express
In the aftermath of the uprising, the people of Silo 18 are coming to terms with a new order.
Some embrace the change, others fear the unknown; none have control of their fate.
The Silo is still in danger.
There are those set on its destruction.
Jules knows they must be stopped.
The battle has been won.
The war is just beginning.
"We've become obsessed with Hugh Howey's silo story which is basically, and in fact has been called, the NEW Hunger Games. We can't wait to sink our teeth into the final instalment." Grazia Daily "It's a dystopian gem." macworld.com
Hugh Howey spent eight years living on boats and working as a yacht captain for the rich and famous. It wasn't until the love of his life carried him away from these vagabond ways that he began to pursue literary adventures, rather than literal ones. Hugh wrote and self-published his first adult novel, Wool, which won rave reviews and praise from readers. Dust is the final part of the trilogy. Hugh lives in Jupiter, Florida, with his wife Amber and their dog Bella.
Publisher : Cornerstone
Imprint : Arrow Books Ltd
Availability date : February 2014
Author : Hugh Howey
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Whitney Wright Takes Home XRCO Award for Favorite New Starlet
July 12, 2018 5:05 PM Entertainment
LOS ANGELES—High-profile adult performer Whitney Wright is further staking her claim in the adult industry as a star on the rise with her new XRCO (X-Rated Critics Organization) Award win for New Starlet. Wright shared that honor in a tie with adult actress Lena Paul.
"Much thanks to XRCO for nominating me—and choosing me—as this year’s New Starlet,” said Wright, who came to LA two years ago from Oklahoma to make her mark in adult entertainment, and hasn’t stopped working since.
“There are so many beautiful women who get into this business every year, it’s very difficult to stand out and be noticed for your skills and talents. I’m so thrilled to be one of the very lucky few!”
With her dark hair, pale skin and attractive green eyes, Wright is already turning up on call sheets and director’s short list as an in-demand leading lady with plenty of sexual enthusiasm and enough drive to rocket her to the top of the industry.
“It feels like two years was a long time ago already, because I feel like I have accomplished so much already,” said Wright. “But I am just getting started!”
Wright picked up her New Starlet award at last month's XRCO Awards, held at the Argyle in Los Angeles, amongst the premier names in adult entertainment.
Fans can follow Whitney Wright on Instagram and Twitter.
Whitney Wright
X-Rated Critics...
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The Return Of Segregation In The Media – The Ugly Truth Emerges
Ten years ago, if you looked at a TV commercial or a photo in an advertisment that featured pictures of people, the odds were you’d see an ethnically diverse group. You’d see a Caucasion, an African- American, a Hispanic, and Asian all enjoying a product together, oblivious to their cultural and racial differences. Today, advertisers and filmakers, who usually are the first to jump on trends, portray quite a different picture of life in America today…a life for many of self imposed segregation. I recently saw several McDonalds “Seperate but equal” commercials. In one, a group of Black students are hanging out at a “back table” together and supersizing, while in another, a group of Hispanics make an urban safari type trek to hang out at the golden arches. I know that many people today, in real life, prefer to stay within their comfort zone and associate with people only like themselves…but whatever happened to the media promoting unity as it has for the the last 40 years? I wonder if these commercials reinforced self imposed segregationist attitudes that sparked the recent riots among Black and Hispanic students in California?
I’m a Bi-Racial, who has identified himself as an African-American since the hard fought civil rights battles of the ’60s and I see the danger of what’s going on! I’ve always known the effect that TV, films and the media had on me as I was growing up…aspiring to “White” ideals and revering their icons. I developed a Black Pride, but not at the expense of giving up my friends from other races and cultures.
About 30 years ago, my English wife, was the head of George Lucas’ Star Wars merchandising company and did everything she could to keep me away from her boss. She knew I was dying to ask him, “Why were there no Black people in the first Star Wars film? Are there no Black People in the Future?” I felt guilty about not saying anything, then the second movie came out, which included Billy Dee Williams as Landro Calrissian…obviously somebody else was thinking the same thing as I was!
Finally, it’s appalling that the TV show Survivor, is dividing up the contestants into teams according to race this season. It’s important that we all see positive images of ourselves portrayed on the big and small screen living, working together and communicating. Is a common enemy, with nuclear capability, the only thing that can bring us together…or will it be the last thing to blow us apart?
Filed in billy dee williams, blacks against hispanics, california riots, current tv commercials, george lucas, landro calrissian, mcdonalds, return of segregation, self imposed segregaton, seperate but equal, star wars, survivor, the new racism, Uncategorized
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ASMOF History
ASMOF Rules
Why join The Doctors' Union?
Sexism and Gendered Violence at work is preventable and can be eliminated
27-Oct-2017 For too long women, and some men too, have had to put up with a workplace culture that’s sexist and demeaning. Everyday sexism creates an environment where women feel uncomfortable and are excluded or undermined in the workplace. It can lead to significant physical and psychological injury to women workers.
ASMOF is committed to recognising sexism and gendered violence for the serious health and safety issue it is, and eliminating all forms of sexism at work.
ASMOF is committed to making workplaces safe for all working people.
The Stop Gendered Violence at Work Report released in November 2016 highlighted the extent to which cultures of sexism and gender inequality were impacting on women’s safety and health at work. And this week the Male Champions of Change released a report to assist workplaces to eliminate everyday sexism. We Set the Tone notes many people struggle to understand why this issue is important and explains why we should all care about eliminating everyday sexism.
“We would all like to think that we have an environment that is respectful and inclusive, that gender is never a limiting factor, and when issues arise people feel at ease to talk about them. The reality is there is an undercurrent of behaviour that perceives and treats women differently. It often masquerades as a joke. So common in some organisations, this behaviour has become an accepted part of navigating workplace dynamics,” argue the Male Champions of Change.
In the words of one survey respondent: “I want to go to work, do my job and go home to my family. I don’t want to be reluctant to go to work and be made to feel uncomfortable while I am there.”
Everyday sexism includes jokes or inappropriate comments based on gender stereotypes. Sometimes they’re thoughtless, but most often they’re deliberately designed to put someone in their place. The cumulative effect of every single one of these instances is very powerful. It plays a major role in deciding who’s chosen for a new job, who’s paid more and who’s given opportunities in a workplace.
This causes harm to all staff, not just women, including impeding women’s career progression and preventing men from equally engaging in child rearing.
When a woman is quizzed about her family plans or childcare arrangements in a job interview, it’s everyday sexism and its illegal.
In July this year we became aware that female doctors were being asked about family plans during job interviews. We have also heard stories of female doctors being told not to dare get pregnant or that jobs were "conditional" on not getting pregnant and even job offers being revoked (or attempted to be) after reporting pregnancy.
These concerns resulted in the NSW Health Secretary writing to all Chief Executives of the Local Health Districts and Specialty Networks insisting that they must eliminate these unacceptable practices where they exist. And reminding them of the need to model appropriate behaviour and actively building equity, diversity and fairness.
There are also deep structural barriers that perpetuate sexism. The most obvious is the poor parental leave provisions across NSW Health. The relatively low quantum of 14 weeks paid leave is limited to the birth mother. This put NSW Health behind many other organisations, both public and private, which provide much better parental entitlements.
For example, the University of NSW provides up to 36 weeks paid parental leave which may be taken by either parent. This is a legal entitlement in an enforceable collective agreement.
The benefits of a workplace without sexism are significant, including broadening of the talent pool and harnessing a more diverse range of views that modern workplaces require to achieve success.
So how does sexism manifest in the day-to-day of a contemporary workplace? The We Set the Tone report outlines what it sees as the six main ways:
Insults masquerading as jokes – people need to think twice before making remarks and jokes based on gender — they usually are sexist.
Devaluing women’s views or voice. Again, men should think before they act. Why do you need to interrupt a woman in a meeting? Do you need to explain that information to her? Why didn’t you agree with her until your male colleague said the same thing? Why did you presume the guy was in charge?
Role stereotyping.
Preoccupation with physical appearance. This includes comments about body shape, size, physical characteristics and clothing. Opinions or comments by others about any of these things are sexist.
Assumptions that caring and careers don’t mix. Having kids or caring for family members have no bearing on a person’s ability to further their career. Equally, a person does not have to explain their decision not to have children to you. Assumptions based on caring responsibilities impact both men and women and are sexist.
Unwarranted gender labelling. My manager Jenny is so bossy. My manager John is very assertive. These sentences mean the same thing but only one is positive.
The report includes a range of case studies of what different workplaces are doing to stamp out sexism, and outlines three steps organisations can take themselves:
Everyone needs to know what they are dealing with, including understanding what sexism looks like in their workplace and the impact it has on both staff and the organisation.
Everyone needs to find ways to get their colleagues to see and acknowledge sexism. This includes challenging entrenched attitudes and processes that enable sexism to exist.
Everyone, but especially leaders, needs to set the tone by creating a workplace where staff are empowered to call out sexism when they see it.
As leaders, our members can set the tone in our hospitals and together you can take a stand to eliminate sexism in the workplace.
JOIN ASMOF (NSW) NOW
ASMOF POSITION STATEMENTS
© 2019 ASMOF NSW. All rights reserved. Web Development by Lightplay
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CeeLo Green
Fool For You (Feat. Melanie Fiona)
Fool For You
Kung Fu Fighting featuring Jack Black
Brick Road
Closet Freak
Cee-Lo Green & His Perfect Imperfections
Open Heart Acoustic Live
Heart Blanche
CeeLo's Magic Moment
Closet Freak: The Best Of Cee-Lo Green The Soul...
3rth Person Freestyle
2000s Pop
Pop 10s
Take Control EP (Audio Backfill)
Father Of Asahd
und 302 weitere Alben
Über CeeLo Green
The fiery and immensely talented CeeLo Green has consistently delighted and surprised music fans. Few would have suspected that this portly Atlanta rapper would evolve into a dynamic performer capable of bridging hip-hop, soul and pop. CeeLo first came to public attention as one-quarter of Goodie Mob. Even on its classic 1995 debut, Soul Food, CeeLo was clearly the most talented member. After an acclaimed follow-up, 1998's Still Standing, he began collaborating with other artists, most notably with Lauryn Hill on Carlos Santana's Supernatural, and writing songs for others, chiefly the Pussycat Dolls' smash "Don't Cha." CeeLo began his solo career with 2002's Cee-Lo and His Perfect Imperfections and 2004's Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine, yet despite critical acclaim, both discs proved to be sales disappointments. His big break came when he paired with Danger Mouse for the Gnarls Barkley project; their debut single, "Crazy," was one of the biggest singles of the 2000s. By 2010, CeeLo was ready to try a solo career again, and he hit the ground running with his first solo Top 40 hit, the cheeky "F*ck You." A third album, The Lady Killer, dropped at the end of the year. Mosi Reeves
Andre 3000, BROCKHAMPTON, Big Gipp, Bruno Mars, Janelle Monae, Leon Bridges
The fiery and immensely talented CeeLo Green has consistently delighted and surprised music fans. Few would have suspected that this portly Atlanta rapper would evolve into a dynamic performer capable of bridging hip-hop, soul and pop. CeeLo first came to public attention as one-quarter of Goodie Mob. Even on its classic 1995 debut, Soul Food, CeeLo was clearly the most talented member. After an acclaimed follow-up, 1998's Still Standing, he began collaborating with other artists, most notably with Lauryn Hill on Carlos Santana's Supernatural, and writing songs for others, chiefly the Pussycat Dolls' smash "Don't Cha." CeeLo began his solo career with 2002's Cee-Lo and His Perfect Imperfections and 2004's Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine, yet despite critical acclaim, both discs proved to be sales disappointments. His big break came when he paired with Danger Mouse for the Gnarls Barkley project; their debut single, "Crazy," was one of the biggest singles of the 2000s. By 2010, CeeLo was ready to try a solo career again, and he hit the ground running with his first solo Top 40 hit, the cheeky "F*ck You." A third album, The Lady Killer, dropped at the end of the year.
Hitmakers
Indie Rap/Hip-Hop
Empfohlen auf Napster
R&B Christmas
Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine
On God
Cool Pop
Dat Boi Dair
Millennium Pop
BJ and JB
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Watch Trailer for New Movie Inspired by Bruce Springsteen
Mark Kolbe, Getty Images
A trailer has been released for Blinded by the Light, the upcoming movie inspired by the music of Bruce Springsteen.
The film chronicles a young Pakistani immigrant in England named Javed. The year is 1987, and he's struggling with his identity, family responsibilities and dreams of becoming a writer. When a school friend introduces Javed to the music of Springsteen, the teen’s life is changed forever.
The new trailer reveals many of the movie’s plot points, including the decisive moment when Javed hears the Boss for the first time.
You can watch the new trailer for Blinded by the Light below.
The movie is based on British journalist Sarfraz Manzoor's memoir, Greetings From Bury Park. Manzoor penned the screenplay alongside director Gurinder Chadha, best known for her 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham.
"In the music of Bruce Springsteen, I found both hope and wisdom on how I could transcend my circumstances and make my dreams to be a writer come true," Manzoor explained of his personal tale. "The fact that I was so affected by Springsteen’s songs shows just how powerfully music can transcend race, religion, nationality and class."
Chadha recalled that her first encounter with the rocker was brief. “I quickly pitched [Springsteen] the film we wanted to make from the book on the red carpet, and to our excitement Bruce nodded and said, ‘Sounds good, talk to Jon,’" she said. "We then spent several years developing a script we knew had to impress Springsteen and managers Jon Landau and Barbara Carr or there would be no film without his music and blessings.”
Blinded by the Light received rave reviews when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Springsteen did not attend the event, but was reportedly impressed when he watch the film, telling Chadha, "Thank you for looking after me so beautifully. Don’t change a thing; it’s perfect.”
Blinded by the Light hits theaters Aug. 14.
The Best Songs From Every Bruce Springsteen Album
Next: Bruce Springsteen Albums Ranked
Source: Watch Trailer for New Movie Inspired by Bruce Springsteen
Filed Under: Bruce Springsteen
Categories: Movies, Music News, News, Videos
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Maren Morris Reveals the Meaning Behind Every Song on New Album 'Girl'
posted by Nicole Mastrogiannis - May 14, 2019
Back in March, Maren Morris shared her new album, Girl, the highly-anticipated followup to her debut record Hero, and comes off of all the success of her pop collaboration, "The Middle," with Zedd and Grey. Now, the country star is out on her headlining world tour in support of Girl, and brought along two more girls with her to open, Cassadee Pope and RaeLynn, making for an all-girl tour. Talk about female empowerment!
Girl showcases 14 new songs including its lead title track single, and a few other tracks Morris shared with fans ahead of release day like "The Bones" and "Common" which features Brandi Carlile, as well as a collaboration with Brothers Osborne called "All My Favorite People." Morris exclusively explains to iHeartRadio of putting together her second full-length studio album:
"I think that there's always pressure in the beginning, before you have any songs written, because it's like how do I do this again? But I think once I came to the acceptance of I'm not gonna recreate the same moments ever again; I'm not gonna have 'My Church' the sequel, I'm not gonna have 'The Middle' part two. You just have to kind of accept that that was a moment in time and you can always try to be better, but you can't copy the same things over and over. You have to evolve. And so once I started writing this record, the pressure went away and it was just about finding the best songs and writing the best songs. I feel like one of my favorite things on the back end of making a record is track listing, and creating the story and what the listener is gonna hear when they go through it the first time. And I hope I never have filler songs on my albums. I want every song to mean something and matter, and not be a skip. They're all really integral pieces of the puzzle. I hope that I can always create quality records that are not just a handful of good singles, and then the rest is, like, average. I hope to always make music that matters, and tell a story, and evolve my sound, and become a better lyricist. That just comes from life experience, and I've experienced a lot of life in a very short amount of time. But, it's like a yearbook. It's like a blip in time and when I start writing for my next record, that'll be the head space I'm in for those few years, and hopefully they sound good years from now. But, I have to focus on what I'm going through currently, and not focus on what the trend is at the moment."
Speaking of songs that mean something, Maren also broke down the meaning behind every single on on Girl, all of them inspired by what she's experienced over the last few years after the release of Hero. She fell in love and got married to her now husband, Ryan Hurd, and so much more. Read on below.
Track 1: "Girl"
"'Girl' is the first single from the record, and obviously, I titled the album after it. It's just a song about that kind of self criticism that we all have to deal with and learn from, and I think just it's about relinquishing control over your day-to-day emotions and just accepting the fact that you're human and we all have to go through it. And, it ends on a really optimistic positive note, which I love, and I think that's why I wanted it to be the first single because it was really where my head was at at the time. It's just about self acceptance in the end."
Track 2: "The Feels"
"'The Feels' is really just about being drunk with my boyfriend — now husband — and wanting to leave whatever bar we ended up at because we don't wanna be around anyone else. We just want to see each other. So it's just a fun, feel-good song."
Track 3: "All My Favorite People" featuring Brothers Osborne
"'All My Favorite People' is really just kind of me getting back to my Texas honky tonk routes. I knew that I wanted my friends Brothers Osborne on it because we were friends before either of us had anything going on success wise. So I love that we can just be friends when we hang out and not really even talk about music. But this whole song is just about, like even if it's a Tuesday night, let's go out like we used to, our karaoke bar days and it's just a really fun party song."
Track 4: "A Song For Everything"
"'A Song For Everything' is inspired by the bands that I was obsessed with in high school, and those songs that you used to make on mixed CDs for your friends for a road trip or just a good playlist. It just talks about the songs in your life that really were the soundtrack for those nostalgia moments and really snap you back to those memories. So, I name drop like Coldplay and [Bruce] Springsteen and 'Teenage Dream' Katy Perry, like all those songs were cornerstones of my upbringing in my teenage years, so it's just a song about songs."
Track 5: "Common" featuring Brandi Carlile
"'Common' was one of the first songs I wrote with Sarah Aarons and Greg Kursten, I met Sarah through 'The Middle' because she wrote that with Zedd. And it was just kind of a tumultuous time, always, that we live in when you really peer into like politics or just universal things. And, I wanted to write a song about a medicinal quality to all of that chaos and at the end of the day, no matter what you believe in or what walk of life you're coming from, we're all breathing the same air, and we all have blood in our veins, and we all are just wanting to be happy and find happiness. So, I think it's hard to remember that sometimes, because there's just so much negativity, but 'Common' is really sort of this call to action. And Brandi Carlile is one of my favorite artists and favorite voices in the world, and she has so much soul and so much grit. And she has gone through her own traumas. I loved that she brought that element to the song."
Track 6: "Flavor"
"'Flavor' was written as sort of like a middle finger to the critics and haters and trolls. There's a line in the bridge that I love, and especially live it's fun to sing. But it's like, so many singers, if they get political or even social, get accused to like shut up and sing, and so I put in the song, 'Shut up and sing, hell no I won't,' and it's just sort of my clap back to the trolls."
Track 7: "Make Out With Me"
"'Make Out With Me' is pretty self explanatory. I wrote it as almost like a drunk dial voicemail that I would leave my boyfriend, and he's an artist as well, so we travel a ton and we constantly miss each other. So, 'Make Out With Me' is just like, the second your flight lands, come home. I already got the Postmates, got the Netflix. It's just a fun make out song."
Track 8: "Gold Love"
"'Gold Love' was one of the first songs I wrote for the record and it was a two-day co-write, and I wrote it about my ... well, at the time we were just dating, but my husband. And, it was just about the fact that he loves me no matter what and he's kind of my brand of weird. I think that's why we love each other so much, and it's not an easy thing to be in this industry and have a relationship. So, when you have someone that gets it, it's a really rare find."
Track 9: "Great Ones"
"'Great Ones' I actually wrote with my husband, and we wrote it the week that we got engaged. We were thinking about those really iconic love stories of like Romeo and Juliet, and it felt really Shakespearian. But, it's just like, there's so many relationships that fall apart under pressure and under criticism, and when you live in a bubble like the music industry, it's even more of a hot plate. So I feel like 'Great Ones' was our call to say, like, we're gonna make it through this no matter what, and he has my back and vice versa. So, it's a really beautiful love song that I got to write with him."
Track 10: "RSVP"
"'RSVP' was inspired by the songs I grew up listening to in the 90s. I love that the lyrics to 'RSVP' are really country driven, but then the production is pretty 90s R&B to me. It's one of my favorite songs to sing live in the show because it's just really sexy and it's like me being the aggressor, and I love that because so many songs are about a girl wanting a guy to notice her, and I loved that this flipped that on its head. It was like, 'No, I'm chasing you down.' It's just a really sexually empowering song from a woman's perspective."
Track 11: "To Hell And Back"
"I wrote 'To Hell and Back' about a week after my first record came out, so it was almost gonna make it on the first record but just missed the cut off. And 'To Hell And Back' was just sort of my song to ... well, at the time we had just started dating, but Ryan and I were really falling in love and I wrote this song out of gratitude to him because I was in a previous relationship where they didn't really understand why I loved this so much, and they were always sort of trying to make me feel guilty about having success, and being excited about things that were going well, and it's only because they were insecure and it wasn't really about me. So, 'To Hell And Back' was my love letter to Ryan saying thank you for accepting me as I am, and not trying to save me or patch me back together. Because I don't need that, but I like that he loves my sort of weird, crazy."
Track 12: "The Bones"
"'The Bones' was sort of born out of a conversation with my co-writers who have marriages and children, and I got married last year. I don't really have any kids yet, but it was about those really foundational aspects of a relationship where you go through some really heavy stuff, and you know that it's not the last time that you're gonna have to go through something heavy with your partner, but those roots are so deep that you've really put down and you've built that foundation up so strong that even when the windows break and the rest of it is ripped down to the studs, the soul of your relationship is in tact. And I think that that's how I feel about my relationship with my husband; that we've gone through some stuff and it won't be the last thing that we go through, but we know that we're gonna be still standing after the storm."
Track 13: "Good Woman"
"'Good Woman' is another love letter, but it's probably the most vulnerable song on the record. It's really hard for me to strike the balance between love song and not getting too sappy, and I think the way that you avoid that is just by being honest and saying it like you would in a conversation. So, I love that that entire song is very unabashedly direct and I even get blush-y when I play the song for Ryan because it's just so obviously about him. And it's just me kind of not being this young girl anymore and being like wow, I actually do need somebody. It's not anti-feminist or anti-independent if you accept that you actually do need people sometimes, and I do need him. So, this is my song saying, like, you're my ride or die.'
Track 14: "Shade"
"I loved ending the record with 'Shade' because it's just such an instrumentally interesting song. It goes into, like, emotional, and then Sergeant Pepper's Beatles land by the end. Like there's so much instrumentation going down. And I love it because it's kind of how a relationship is. It's starts very vulnerable, and then it goes like super intense and you can't stop it. It's like a wheel going down a road and it's just going faster and faster. So, 'Shade' is a love song, but it also ends on such a high note that I wanted the listener to listen to the record, and by the end of 'Shade,' they're like 'holy crap.' I need to start this whole album again because that was such a journey, and so I love ending on that note."
Photos: Adrianna Casiano
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Commencement of Subscription in the 16th Issue of the Government Development Bond through Bahrain Bourse
Bahrain Bourse (BHB) announced that as of today Wednesday, 25th of April 2018, and according to the invitation announced by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), Bahraini and Non-Bahraini investors can directly subscribe through the primary market of BHB in the Government Development Bond Issue 16 that has been issued by the CBB on behalf of the Government of Bahrain by giving their orders to registered brokers at Bahrain Bourse. Thereafter, investors will be able to trade the Bond on the secondary market at BHB once listed on BHB, which is expected to be on the 13th of May 2018.
The Bourse specified that the subscription period through the registered brokers is effective on Wednesday the 25th of April 2018 until Monday the 30th of April 2018. The subscription will be open on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday from 9:30 AM until 1:00 PM and on Monday from 9:30 AM until 11:00 AM.
The BHD 300 million Bond issued at a par value of BHD 1 each on the 3rd of May 2018 for a period of 2 years ending on the 3rd of May 2020. The annual fixed return on these securities is 5.50%, and will be paid every six months on 3rd of November and 3rd of May every year throughout the period of this issue.
The Central Bank of Bahrain issued the Government Development Bond on behalf of the Government of Bahrain. The Government of Bahrain directly guarantees the Bond securities.
One of the main advantages of subscribing through Bahrain Bourse is the ability to own Bonds directly (beneficiary ownership).
In order to encourage retail investors, the Bourse specified a minimum subscription of 500 BHD (500 Bond). BHB has also determined a minimum allotment of 10,000 Bonds per subscriber applying for an amount of BHD 10,000 and above, while the remaining quantity will be allocated on pro-rata basis.
Upon listing of the Bond, investors will be able to trade them in the secondary market through a registered broker at BHB during the trading session, which is held on a daily basis from Sunday to Thursday.
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Business, Education, Feature, Government, Opinion, Politics
This segment provides the viewer / reader with news they might have missed and focuses on key issues related to current and past events. These articles are provided courtesy of our many contributing sources. We ask that you enjoy these stories and continue your support of beenetworknews.com, our contributing sources and publishers.
SOURCE: Office of Senator Mitch McConnell
Senate Bill Would Fund Women’s Health, Not Scandal-Plagued Planned Parenthood
“Instead of subsidizing a political group, this bill would ensure funds continue to flow to community health centers and hospitals that provide more comprehensive health services — and have many more facilities nationwide.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding legislation that would redirect federal Planned Parenthood funds:
“The revelations we’ve seen from Planned Parenthood are deeply disturbing.
“They raise real fundamental questions about what kind of society we want to be.
“I thank Senators Ernst, Paul, Lankford, and a number of others for accepting my invitation to lead the effort on the Senate’s response. The legislation they worked to develop is all about restoring America’s commitment to care and compassion.
“It would fund women’s health, not Planned Parenthood.
“And we’ll take a vote to advance it tonight.
“Instead of subsidizing a political group, this bill would protect federal funding for health services for women.
“And instead of subsidizing a political group, this bill would help women receive health services like screenings, prenatal and postnatal care, well-child care, diagnostic laboratory and radiology services, immunizations, and other care they need.
“That’s a true commitment to women’s health.
“That’s real compassion.
“I know Democrats have relied on Planned Parenthood as an ally recently.
“But they must be moved by the horrifying images we’ve seen.
“They must be shocked by the utter lack of compassion that’s been on display.
“They must care about women’s health as least as much as they care about some scandal-plagued political organization.
“That’s why, tonight, I’m asking them to truly reflect on what’s important.
“I’m asking them not to block this funding for women’s health, just to protect some political group mired in scandal.
“Women deserve better. Our country deserves better.”
SOURCE: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding legislation that would redirect federal Planned Parenthood funds.
Finalized EPA Regs: Probably Illegal, Would Hurt the Middle Class and Won’t Meaningfully Affect Global Climate
‘[The greenhouse gas emissions regulations are] projected to cost billions. They threaten to ship good Middle-Class jobs overseas. They’ll likely make it harder to maintain reliable sources of energy to meet demand. They’ll also likely result in higher energy bills for those who can least afford them, potentially raising electricity rates by double digits for the people I represent.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding President Obama’s so-called Clean Power Plan:
“In just a few minutes, President Obama will deliver another blow to the economy and to the Middle-Class.
“He’ll unveil regressive regulations that are set to harm struggling workers and families.
“They’re projected to cost billions.
“They threaten to ship good Middle-Class jobs overseas.
“They’ll likely make it harder to maintain reliable sources of energy to meet demand.
“They’ll also likely result in higher energy bills for those who can least afford them, potentially raising electricity rates by double digits for the people I represent.
“All this, for what?
“Not only will these massive regulations fail to meaningfully affect the global climate, but they could actually end up harming the environment by outsourcing energy production to countries with poor environmental records like India and China.
“They may also be illegal.
“That’s why I wrote to governors earlier this year, suggesting they take a responsible wait-and-see approach and allow the courts to weigh in before subjecting their citizens to such unnecessary pain.
“The Supreme Court’s rebuke to the White House in June on another environmental regulation underlines the wisdom of this approach.
“Even though that mercury regulation was ultimately tossed out, most of its damage had already been done.
“It reminded governors that it would be reckless not to take a wait-and-see approach this time.
“Several governors have already decided they won’t allow the Administration to rush them into adopting these regulations. I expect more to follow.
“I was recently able to place language in the Senate Interior Appropriations bill that would prohibit the Administration from arbitrarily imposing its will on states that take this responsible approach.
“Senator Capito also has a bill that would prohibit the regulations from moving forward until the courts have ruled on their legality.
“These aren’t the only legislative options Congress can consider. We can pursue other avenues, like CRA resolutions and further appropriations riders, as these regulations are published and as they wind their way through the courts.
“Here’s the bottom line about today’s announcement.
“If the Obama Administration were actually serious about advancing renewable energy, then it would follow the example of what leaders like Senator Murkowski have been achieving in the Energy Committee. She’s showing how we can make big strides on energy diversification, that we can do it in a bipartisan way, and that we don’t have to punish the Middle Class to do it.
“But this White House seems to want good politics, not good policy.
“Officials in this Administration have said they want to make electricity rates ‘skyrocket,’ and that they want to ‘make examples out of people’ who get in their way.
“And they’re tired of having to work with the Congress the people elected.
“That’s why the Administration is now trying to impose these deeply regressive regulations — regulations that may be illegal, that won’t meaningfully impact the global environment, and that are likely to harm middle-and-lower class Americans most — by executive fiat.
“It represents a triumph of blind ideology over sound policy and honest compassion.
“And in Kentucky, these regulations would likely mean fewer jobs, shuttered power plants, and higher electricity costs for families and businesses. I will not sit by while the White House takes aims at the lifeblood of our state’s economy.
“I’m going to keep doing everything I can to fight them.”
Sen. McConnell Comments on Pres. Obama’s so-called Clean Power Plan
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding President Obama’s so-called Clean Power Plan
Flag Officer Assignment
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert announced the following assignment:
Rear Adm. (lower half) Daniel B. Hendrickson is assigned as military deputy, Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, Mountain View, California. Hendrickson was serving as vice commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Forces – Afghanistan, Joint Staff, Washington, District of Columbia.
PHOTO(s) OF THE DAY
SOURCE: Department of Defense /Defense News Lead Photo
Marines march during an evening parade at Marine Barracks Washington in Washington, D.C., July 31, 2015. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was the parade’s guest of honor, and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., confirmed by the Senate as the next Joint Chiefs chairman, hosted the event.
A U.S. Marine assigned to Force Reconnaissance Platoon, Maritime Raid Force, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), provides security for his team while conducting a joint Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) exercise alongside Navy SEALs, during composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX) in the Atlantic Ocean, July 20, 2015. Marines with the 26th MEU and Sailors with the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group are participating in COMPUTEX in preparation for their deployment to the 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility later this fall. A U.S. Marine assigned to Force Reconnaissance Platoon, Maritime Raid Force, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), provides security for his team while conducting a joint Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) exercise alongside Navy SEALs, during composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX) in the Atlantic Ocean, July 20, 2015.. Marines with the 26th MEU and Sailors with the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group are participating in COMPUTEX in preparation for their deployment to the 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility later this fall. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Andre Dakis/26th MEU Combat Camera/Released)
A U.S. soldier participates in the squat event during the weightlifting competition at the Rock Fitness Center on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, July 18, 2015.The service members competed in the squat, deadlift and bench press events during the weightlifting competition.
150725-N-ZZ999-007
Fargo, N.D. (July 26, 2015) Members of the U.S. Navy Parachute Team, the Leap Frogs, perform a diamond while flying the American flag during a demonstration at the Fargo Air Show. The Leap Frogs are based in San Diego and perform aerial parachute demonstrations around the nation in support of naval special warfare and Navy recruiting. (U.S. Navy photo by Jim Woods/Released)
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RT @AntwynetteH: Well said😏 twitter.com/Pinkomomma/sta… 2 months ago
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Jonathan Hanson – Director of Facilities & IT
Jonathan Hanson has lived in Grand Forks since the beginning. He received his B.B.A degree with a major in Management from the University of North Dakota, and is still a proud Fighting Sioux fan today. He would like for his hobbies to include golf, working out, and watching football and comedy. He really enjoys spending time at the lake and by the fire with his wife, Kristin and the two kiddos. A couple of fun facts, he is half bohemian, loves ice cream, and he actually sat next to his wife in 4th grade!
Email Jonathan
Kody Larter – Facilities Coordinator
Kody was born and raised in Grand Forks, ND. He loves all sports but a couple of his favorites are hockey, football and basketball. He is a huge UND Fan, so he bleeds Green and White for University of North Dakota! Kody and his girlfriend Samantha welcomed their first child, William, in April. They love to spend time outside together, especially boat days at the lake. He is also a bit of a thrill seeker because he has gone skydiving and scuba diving. Some bucket list items for Kody are traveling to Australia to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef and traveling to the great country of Ireland to do some site seeing.
Email Kody
Chuck Kuznia – IT Coordinator
Chuck grew up in Florian, MN and graduated from Stephen/Argyle Central high school. He received his Computer Service/Networking degree from Northland Community and Technical College. His interests are attending UND hockey games, watching Chicago Bears football, deer hunting, and golfing. Chuck lives in East Grand Forks with his wife, daughter, and son. Fun fact: He was adopted when he was 3 months old and his birth name was Jeff.
Email Chuck
Jake Gessler – IT Coordinator
Jake was born and raised in Grand Forks, ND. He attended UND where he received a degree in psychology. He then decided to embrace his inner computer geek and is now finishing up a degree in computer science. He enjoys cooking, playing guitar, and reading a good book or getting hooked on a TV series. He hopes to one day get one of those fancy pellet smokers like Brady and Chuck have and smoke the perfect pork shoulder.
Email Jake
Andrew Geary – IT Coordinator
Andrew Geary was born and raised in Grand Forks, ND. He graduated from NDSU in 2014 with a degree in Music Education. Before joining BeMobile he worked as a Service Technician for a printing company in Fargo, ND. Andrew enjoys watching hockey, basketball, and football; Go Pack Go! He also enjoys traveling, camping, and hiking. He has traveled to Europe three times touring Italy, Germany, and Croatia. Now that he is back in Grand Forks he is looking forward to spending more time with his family.
Email Andrew
Jordan Caspers – Facilities Coordinator
Jordan was born in Des Moines, Iowa but moved to Fargo when he was 3 years old. He currently lives in West Fargo with his wife, Katie, and their dog, Oshie. His hobbies include playing golf and hockey as much as possible! Jordan is a die-hard Minnesota Vikings fan (SKOL!) and he also loves to cheer on the Minnesota Wild and is a UND hockey fan! Jordan loves spending weekends at the lake surrounded by his wife, friends, and family.
Email Jordan
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Australia part 2- Fremantle and Rottnest Island
Published on August 9, 2015 March 10, 2018 by Ben Williams
So here I am in Fremantle, the port city of Western Australia. It’s classed as being part of Perth but also as a separate city.
We live in a terraced house with no Wi-fi. The lack of Wi-fi means my blog posts have to be uploaded in the library (and probably means an Ant-Man review will only be in my end of year movie sum up). Still, there has been a lot to do including quokkas and more quokkas.
We lived in this house (with no Wi-fi) in Fremantle.
Exploring Fremantle
The first thing of note is that Fremantle is smaller and less industrialised than Perth. There is a very Eastleigh-esque feel to it. The similarities include markets, quirky shops, a cinema and good eating places. The lack of Wi-fi means we have turned to television. There are so many news channels talking about many things, including a stolen echidna. Thankfully there is a channel which has Doctor Who on it, so that’s kept me busy. There was also Spider-Man 2 on the first night, which was a total surprise.
Visiting Arts Centre and the Round House
The first full day was spent exploring Fremantle fully. There is an art centre with lots of multi-cultural arts and some Australian arts too. There was an Indian textile exhibition, which had saris and showed colourful dresses and scarves.
We also visited the Round House, Western Australia’s oldest public building which used to be a colonial prison. It was built in 1831 and was saved from demolition several times because of its historical value.
It was interesting seeing more of the colonial history of the area, and there was a map which showed just how big Western Australia is, as it could fit the British Isles, Texas and Malaysia/Singapore in it and still have room. Texas itself is bigger than most European countries (which shows how big the USA is), and Australia as a whole is only slightly smaller than the whole of Europe and mainland US. Wow, the UK is small.
Aquarium: AQWA
The next day was a trip up to Perth to see the Aquarium of Western Australia. There was a humongous tunnel full of fish and those really disturbing sharks with strange teeth (I think they were grey nurse sharks). There was a whole section on dangerous Australian sea animals, including a blue ringed octopus, stonefish and conch shells.
The aquarium was in Hillarys, which had a pizza place where I had lasagne pizza. On the harbour near the aquarium was a hilarious sign which shows how far away Perth is from the rest of civilisation, as the nearest place was Sydney, 3284 kilometers away.
Rottnest Island: meet the Quokkas
The next day was a trip to Rottnest Island, home of the Quokkas. They are little wallabies who are literally everywhere on the island. The fact that no-one permanently lives on the island means that the quokkas can roam about freely and do as they please. There were rules telling people to not touch the quokkas, but that didn’t mean the quokkas couldn’t touch you.
There were also poisonous snakes on the island, but thankfully we only heard one. There was a strange lizard though.
The island also had lots of history, as it contained many historical details about the island’s past as a place to send prisoners, including many Aborigines.
I learnt from the museum guide that the Aboriginal people believe that it is bad to look at the pictures of someone who has died and that they won’t enter a room which contains pictures of their ancestors. This is why there was a warning sign telling people that images of the dead were in the room. It shows that most Australians respect the beliefs of the indigenous people.
The whole island, as well as everywhere I’ve been in Australia (which isn’t much to be fair as we are only here for 2 weeks), have these black birds with big eyes which have the most annoying call ever (I believe these birds are Australian ravens). It sounds like Batman being strangled with a blocked up nose. I’m sure Australians are used to them but to me they normally interrupt what was a perfectly normal moment of the day. You sit on a bench, observe the Australian wilderness and then “Wargh Wargh!” I believe a quote from the Twelfth Doctor is in order here –
Here’s a perfect example of their annoying nature. Here is a quokka doing his every day process of eating a leaf and through the video there is constant crowing/calling/strangling going on in the background. It’s amazing the quokka kept his cool. It’s a better idea to watch the video with the sound off, as the quokka is awesome.
Quokkas on Rottnest Island, Australia from Chandler’s Ford Today on Vimeo.
But enough about annoying / amusing ravens, here’s some awesome quokka pictures, guest starring the lizard, called a King’s Skink.
Next time it’s Australia Part 3 and Singapore Part 2 all in one. I’ll discuss a strange place called Mandurah, the Fremantle prison, Kings Park in Perth, and Megamouth sharks.
Categories Culture, The World, Trips•Tags Australia, Culture, Fremantle, Nature, Perth, Trips
Previous Australia Part 1: Close encounters of the KANGAROO kind – in Perth!
Next Australia Part 3- Fremantle Prison’s “Doing Time Tour”, and a trip to Mandurah
4 thoughts on “Australia part 2- Fremantle and Rottnest Island”
Graham Williams says:
I see what you mean about the bird noises.
I had never heard of quokkas before, but they look fantastic. I would like one as a birthday present, please.
Helen Williams says:
Fremantle sounds lovely – it’s somewhere that I would like to visit because I think the history would be fascinating. I had also never heard of quokkas – there are just so many interesting animals in Australia that I guess peope focus on the piosonous snakes and spiders, the enormous crocodiles and of course the kanagroos.
You seem to be having a really nice holdiay. Enjoy the rest of your time in Australia and have a good trip back to Singapore – I hope your media consol works this time.
Pingback: Australia Part 3- Fremantle Prison’s “Doing Time Tour”, and a trip to Mandurah |
Pingback: Summer Holiday Round-Up |
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Roger Daltrey Memoir to Be Published Next Summer
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Roger Daltrey (Photo via The Who’s website)
One more for the must-read list: The Who’s Roger Daltrey is writing his memoir, and says it will be on the shelves in August 2018. The singer announced yesterday (Oct. 11) that the book will be published by Blink Publishing in the U.K. and Henry Holt and Co. in the United States. He’s also doing a brief solo tour this fall with members of the Who band.
No details were provided by the publishers, but an article in Billboard states, “Daltrey will not only reflect on his decades with the Who and on his solo career, but also on how Britain has changed in his lifetime.”
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Daltrey said, “When you’ve spent more than half a century at the epicenter of a band like the Who, perspective can be a problem. Everything happened in the moment. One minute, I’m on the factory floor in Shepherd’s Bush, the next, I’m headlining Woodstock.”
Related: Daltrey’s collaboration with Wilko Johnson, reviewed
Daltrey further told the publication, “It’s taken three years to unpack the events of my life, to remember who did what when and why, to separate the myths from the reality, to unravel what really happened at the Holiday Inn on Keith Moon’s 21st birthday…I hope the result is more than just another autobiography. I’ve been lucky enough to live in interesting times. I’ve witnessed society, music and culture change beyond recognition. That I’m still here to tell my tale when so many others around me didn’t make it is nothing short of a miracle.”
Daltrey, of course, has been keeping busy—along with Pete Townshend—keeping the Who on the road. The band recently completed its latest tour in South America and Daltrey has said that his next plan is to make his first solo album in 25 years. He is also launching a solo tour this month. Tickets are available here.
10/30 Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, FL
11/1 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, FL
11/3 St. Augustine Amphitheatre, Saint Augustine, FL
11/6, 11/8 Avalon Ballroom Theatre, Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, Niagara Falls, ON, Canada
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Watch some early solo Daltrey, “Giving it All Away”
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Free 1915 Genocide Essay Sample
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In May 2010, the United States’ government was in a predicament regarding its official position towards the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The debate on whether the genocide has been devoted to a subject of contention for nearly a century. Armenians have always insisted that the Turkish government planned and was systematically executing the murder of 1.5 million Armenians who lived under the Ottoman Empire. In fact, Armenians have always argued that it was the first genocide in the twentieth century.
On the other hand, the Turks and the subsequent governments have always stated that the event of 1915 was never considered to be the genocide. The deaths resulting from the events in 1915 were simply the consequences of those chaotic times that the empire had been facing. The chaos, according to the Turks, was a result of the scramble for the territory, in which several Armenians were the casualties (Hovannisian 15).
The difference in views of the Turks and the Armenians on the genocide is an objective of this research. These two parties are very central to the happenings of 1915; however, they hold the extremely differing opinions and views regarding the matter (Freedman 74). Two nations are the neighbors with different levels of influence on the world stage. While Turkey is an upcoming economic and political powerhouse, Armenia is a smaller nation with the less influence on the world level. Hence, Turkey seems to be compelling, other nations agree with its position. Therefore, it is important to compare the conflicting views that Armenians and Turks have towards the genocide vis-à-vis impacts of these differences on the American official position regarding the same.
The Turkish View on the Genocide
Turkey is the nation that exceeded the Ottoman Empire after its collapse. It has been the policy of any government in Turkey that there had never been the genocide with regard to many Armenians who died in 1915 (Hovannisian 102). According to Turks, there was no deliberate effort towards the massacre Armenians; rather, the Ottoman Empire was only removing Armenians from the frontline with Russia. They claim that Armenians were collaborating with the enemy; thus, this was a threat to the national security.
However, in the twilight days of the Ottoman Empire, the leadership court marshaled Young Turks who were involved in killing the Armenians. In the actual sense, this can be taken as a sought of admitting the guilt that something had gone terribly wrong with the operation against Armenians.
However, the Nationalist Government that was based in Ankara denied that any genocide had happened. As soon as they had taken the power from the Ottoman Empire, they compelled the French and the British governments to absolve Turkey of any wrongdoing and responsibility in the matter (Freedman 21). The two western governments agreed to the concessions together with the recognition of the Turkish Republic. This was agreed in the Treaty of Lausanne. However, this treaty was in breach of an earlier concluded treaty under the Ottoman rule. In the Treaty of Sevres, the Turkish government was legally obligated to bring war crimes to justice and, at the same time, to allow the movement of minority groups from Anatolia to Greece (Freedman 23).
Instead, the Nationalist Government sought to end any debate regarding the genocide in all public forums and conferences. The young republic stopped the production of films and books that suggested the occurrence of genocide. In addition, none of the governments mentioned within Turkey was allowed until the 1960s. Most recently, the Turkish government warned the United States of serious repercussions if it would decide to recognize the genocide officially. Turkey has been categorical that it would cut military ties with the United States if they voted to recognize the genocide.
Armenian Views on the Genocide
The Armenian people have always considered the events of 1915 as the purposeful atrocities against humans. From the victims’ viewpoint, the events of 1915 were coordinated by the Central Committee of the Young Turk Party. According to Akçam (78), this party was predominantly a racist group. It is believed to have organized the elimination of Armenians from the position of Turkey. The Young Turks, some of which were the criminals released from prisons, were sent to the Armenian population to kill as many people as they could.
Several governments have accepted the genocide. Some of them included Germany and Israel. Several other governments approved that this genocide indeed had taken place. The European Parliament voted to recognize the Armenian genocide in 1987. Similarly, the Russian Lower House of the legislative chamber (commonly referred to as the Duma) also voted in 1994 to recognize the events of 1915 as the genocide (Akçam 39).
Impacts of Divergent views on the World View
It is not prudent for anyone to oversee the impacts of these divergent views. Turkey is a nation enjoying a tremendous growth rate in terms of the economy and political influence. It is a vital military ally to the United States and other developed nations. It provided the operating grounds in the recent invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, its army is the second biggest in NATO.
With these facts kept in mind, the United States is standing at the dilemma when it comes to disagreeing with Turkey. It is no wonder that Obama’s administration was against the recent voting of Congress to recognize the genocide officially. The United States have always dodged the issue to take an official stand on the matter. This undecided state seems to spread on other military allies, such as the United Kingdom. However, Turkey remains adamant that there had never been the genocide against the Armenian people.
Agriculture and Its Influence On Man
American Hegemony Challenged
Whole Life Concept Paper Part 2
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1. Advertising of the sale of seized assets and valuation
2. Third parties who may carry out sales operations
3. Types of auction to which the rules may not apply in full
4. Information on national registers of assets
5. Information on databases in which creditors may identify the assets or rights of debtors
6. Information on on-line judicial sales
Auctions are advertised through notices published in the ‘Administración de Justicia’ (Administration of Justice) section of the B.O.E. (Boletín Oficial del Estado, Official State Gazette) portal, and on the auctions portal itself.
Valuations are carried out in legal proceedings established for that purpose (Article 637 of the Law on Civil Procedure — Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil, LEC), through the appointment of experts. Sometimes a valuation is not necessary because the value for auction purposes has already been established, for instance in foreclosures. Nor is valuation required for voluntary auctions where the assets may be put up for sale without a minimum price or without an estimated value, or at the value proposed by the parties.
Under Spanish law, the sale may also be carried out by specialist persons or entities, whether public or private, and, when the judicial authority agrees to this, the sale or auction must comply with the rules of that entity, provided they are not incompatible with the aim of enforcement or protecting the interests of both the enforcing party and the person against whom enforcement is being carried out, under Article 641 LEC.
The first paragraph of the above provision states that the Associations of Lawyers (Colegios de Procuradores) may take on these functions, and they have set up their own electronic auctions portal for that purpose.
We can also find cases of direct sales by insolvency proceeding administrators at the liquidation stage of insolvency proceedings.
Currently, the auctions portal advertises all auctions, both judicial and those managed by notaries, that are held in Spain, but administrative auctions (e.g. Treasury or Social Security) are not included, although there are plans to incorporate them into the portal in the future.
Also not included in the portal are sales already reported by specialised entities, those under insolvency proceedings where the court has approved another form of disposal, and enforcement proceedings in which the parties mutually agree on another form of disposal by signing a sales agreement (Article 640 LEC).
Land and property: The property registers are responsible for providing information on land and property put up for auction, such as on the owner, physical condition of the property, location and rights accruing to or constituting an encumbrance on the land and property, for example, a right of usufruct in relation to land or property.
Movable property: There is also a register of movable property, which includes aircraft, vessels, motor cars and other vehicles with engines, industrial machinery, business premises and capital goods, etc.
Other registers of assets: Information on certain assets is made public in a specific manner owing to their nature, as may be the case with intangible assets at the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office.
The property register and the register of movable property serve this purpose, as both provide us with information on the ownership of an asset and on all the asset’s creditors.
It is also possible to consult the data in the Land Registry’s website. If the land register reference of the asset to be auctioned is published, the auctions portal generates a link which will allow the asset to be displayed via satellite, through platforms such as Google Earth.
Auctions portal
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Discipleship: Introduction to Moral Development
A few years ago, while trying to find a book in the library, I chanced upon a book titled Moral Development, by Bonnidell Clouse.1 I skimmed through the book and found an interesting chart, based on the work of Lawrence Kohlberg, about how children and adults grow in the way they think about moral choices. It was easy to find myself on the chart — not only where I was now, but also the way I had thought about moral choices in the past. The chart was valid for my own experience, and it helped me understand a little more about myself.
In this chart of moral development, I could also see my church. When we as a church approached moral decisions, we generally used a certain way of thinking. I could also see that we were changing — developing. The chart helped me understand the church and the process of change. I photocopied a few pages and decided that this subject was worth studying in greater detail — when I had the time.
Several years passed, in which I did not have time to study moral development. But on several occasions I saw references to Kohlberg and his views of moral development. This helped maintain my interest. Recently, I took a class that dealt with Kohlberg’s theory in greater detail. I was forced to study it, analyze it, and write about it.
I want to give a summary of Kohlberg’s theory, its strengths and weaknesses, and how it may be useful in understanding and ministering in our situation. I am not an expert in this, but I want to give it a wider airing. Perhaps someone else will be able to build on the topic with further study.
Piaget’s Description of Cognitive Development
As humans grow from infancy toward old age, they go through various phases, which often fall in predictable patterns. We have general expectations of how 3-year-olds act, how 16-year-olds act, and how 80-year-olds act. We do not expect the elderly to act like adolescents, nor vice versa. If a 3-year-old acts wisely, we might say she is “very mature for her age.” Maturity is relative to age-based expectations.
The common wisdom is that humans develop over time. Psychologists have attempted to categorize and give more precise descriptions to the way humans typically develop. They list “stages of development” — a progression on the way toward greater maturity. Jean Piaget was a pioneer in this field, beginning in the 1920s.2 He focused on children’s cognitive development — changes in the thinking ability of children. He described cognitive growth in four major stages:
Age Stage Development
0-2 sensorimotor Infants see, hear and touch the world. At first, they don’t even think about things they do not see (e.g., toys, people). They progress rapidly toward using language and experimenting with the way things work.
2-7 preoperational Thinking is based more on feelings than on logic. They have a good imagination about things, but often find it hard to see situations from the perspective of another person.
7-11 concrete operational Children can use logic, but tend to be literalistic. Abstract concepts (including many spiritual truths) are not easily understood.
12 and up formal operations Abstract concepts can be understood and reasoned with.3
Piaget also sketched a simple scheme for the way children develop morally, from heteronomy (a law outside of self) to autonomy (internalized laws, beginning at age 7 or 8, becoming well formed by age 11 or 12) to equity, “which includes benevolence and an understanding of universal love and forgiveness.”4
Piaget’s observations are relevant to Christian ministry in several ways. I do not have space to explore them or explain them in detail, but I will mention a few to invite the readers to study this in more detail:
· Since young children are more emotional than logical, we need to be aware of the emotional environment we give youngsters. Although we want children’s ministry workers to be able to teach, the most important quality of a children’s ministry worker is that the person loves children. The child learns to love the people in the church before learning to love the God they teach about.
· Children need age-appropriate education. A metaphor that can help an adult to understand salvation (e.g., “washed in the blood of the Lamb”) may be confusing for a child. This is one reason a well-designed curriculum is helpful — it has already been checked by people who know children’s vocabulary and conceptual abilities.
James Plueddemann also credits Piaget as accenting these two points:
· People learn best from interacting with other people. Information is understood best when it is discussed. People can see how other people integrate the information into their practical lives. They can ask questions to see how it is relevant.
· Learning often comes at times of disequilibrium. When we realize that something doesn’t make sense, we become open to learning more about it. We ask questions and resolve them to reach a new state of equilibrium. Crisis, frustration, and trials can be learning opportunities.5 “When individuals become aware of discrepancies between their experiences and their perceptions, a kind of disequilibrium is created which motivates them to restructure their views.”6
Piaget provided the foundation for the work of later developmental theorists, such as Erikson, Fowler, and Kohlberg.7 In this article, I want to focus on Kohlberg.
Kohlberg’s Theory
Lawrence Kohlberg noted that people often come to similar decisions for very different reasons. Some people do good to avoid punishment; others in hope of reward. Some do it simply to conform to peer pressure; others think in more abstract concepts of what is best for society as a whole.
As Kohlberg studied the reasoning that leads to moral decisions, he noted age-related developmental patterns. He described three levels, each with two stages. Most people function at two or three stages at any given time in their lives. A stage 4 person, for example, will reason in stage 4 half the time, stage 3 part of the time and stage 5 part of the time. But such people would still be categorized as stage 4 because that approach is most typical for them.
Level and stage Description
Level I – the preconventional level
Level I, Stage 1
obedience Whatever is rewarded is good; whatever is punished is bad.
instrumental egoism and simple exchange I’ll do something good for you if you do something good for me. Fairness means treating everyone the same.
Level II — the conventional level
Level II, Stage 3
personal concordance Good is conformity to a stereotype of “good” people, or to peer approval.
law, and duty to the social order Good is defined by the laws of society, by doing one’s duty. A law should be obeyed even if it’s not fair.
Level III — the postconventional (principled) level
Level III, Stage 5
societal consensus Good is understood in terms of abstract principles that the society has agreed upon. An unfair law ought to be changed.
universal ethical principles Good is understood in terms of abstract principles whether or not societies agree with them. An emphasis on human rights.
Kohlberg theorized that all people begin at stage 1 and progress stage by stage toward maturity. They can usually understand the reasoning of a person one stage above them, and exposure to that next higher stage encourages them to move upward themselves. However, they are usually unable to understand reasoning that is two stages up.8 So a discussion one stage up is helpful; a discussion two stages up is impossible. Most people in society stop at stage 3 and 4: they are law-abiding citizens, conforming to the general expectations of society around them.9 Very few reach stage 6.10
A closer look at the six stages
To see how Kohlberg’s theory might be helpful to us in our ministries, let us look closer at each stage. The three levels are compared to “convention” — what is normal for society. For people at the conventional level, conformity is important. It is good to meet the behavioral expectations of the group(s) to which one belongs. It is good to be loyal to the group(s), to support the social structure(s).
A person (usually a child) at a preconventional level is not motivated by social conventions, even though he may be aware of them. The primary motive is his own situation — whether a specific course of action is going to cause pain or pleasure. He may be aware, for example, that society does not approve of theft, but he may interpret a particular theft as “good” for himself. Negative reinforcers (punishments) help the child choose acceptable behavior until he becomes aware of better reasons for being good. Parental commands often define good and bad, and might makes right.
A child at stage 2 is motivated more by reward than by punishment. She may behave well because it serves her own interests. She may share her toys with Sally because then Sally will share her toys in return. Other people are evaluated by what she can get out of them. Fairness means equal treatment. The child gets upset if adults get more ice cream or get to stay up later than she does.
As children grow, they learn that it is in their self-interest to conform to society. They transition into stage 3 thinking: “I’ll have more pleasure and less pain if I act like other people do, if I help other people, if I do things that they like.” Teenagers are usually in this stage11 — they are strongly influenced by peer pressure. They spend more time with their peers and seek the approval of that group.12
As people grow older, their circle of social interactions continues to grow. They interact with people they work with, people who live in the neighborhood, people who have children the same age as theirs, people in the same church, people in similar business situations, people with similar hobbies, sports, entertainment, etc. They see themselves as members of society, and the pressure for conformity moves from peer expectations to the broader expectations of society, defined in modern societies by laws. Laws provide a basis for getting along with people we do not know and even those we do not like. Right and wrong are defined by the law, and stage 4 people work to do their duty, to respect authority, to maintain the social order.
However, the laws of society are not always good. I think for example of the discriminatory laws of the United States and Germany in the 1930s. Some people realized that a majority vote was not the final authority for morality. It is not right for the majority to oppress a minority. People who think like this are postconventional. They realize that morals have validity that is not dependent on the consensus of the groups to which one happens to belong. Stage 5 people then try to work within legal procedures to try to change the law. They realize that laws do not cover all aspects of morality, and it is possible to be immoral even when obeying the law.
Stage 6 people go further: They do not obey a law they consider unjust. A stage 5 person might obey even while working to repeal the law; a stage 6 person will disobey even at great personal cost, because the universal principle matters more than the self.
Let me repeat at this point that each stage is an average. One act of stage 6 behavior does not mean that the person is typically at stage 6. Also, stage 6 thinking on one ethical issue does not always mean stage 6 thinking on other issues. More likely, the person is at stage 5 and sometimes thinks at stage 6, and sometimes at stage 4, too. “Research studies indicate that from 2 percent to 10 percent of the adult population make statements indicative of this stage”13 — but it is a rare person who operates at stage 6 most of the time — such a person sees the unethical aspects of our societies, challenges the status quo, breaks social conventions, and is a nuisance to the authorities who support the status quo. (And we note also that just because someone is breaking social conventions does not mean that she is at stage 6!)
How people develop in moral thinking
If a toddler does not understand abstract thought, he cannot think in terms of ethical principles, either, for they are also abstract. He cannot know enough about society to think in terms of laws that are voted in by a majority. He cannot empathize with people he does not know. His sense of morality will depend largely on what his parents teach him.
But we as parents want our children to mature so that they can make their own decisions. How can we help them make progress? For one, by expanding their circle of awareness. First, we help them understand one other person, then a small group, then a larger group, then a society with many interrelated groups, then a world with many societies. It takes time to understand each stage and to perceive morality in progressively larger contexts. It is also helpful to deal with children not only at the stage they respond to best, but also at the next higher stage.
A stage 1 child may be told, “When you finish picking up your toys, I’ll read you your favorite story” [a stage 2 reward], rather than being told, “If you don’t get your toys picked up, you’ll wish you had!” [stage 1 punishment] A stage 2 child who takes the attitude, “Make it worth my while,” when asked to help around the house needs to understand that being a member of a household includes mutual consideration and responsibility…. Once the child is strongly entrenched at stage 3, the next step is to realize that the maintenance of order goes beyond the seeking of approval. Rules for behavior are established in the home, the school, and the society for the smooth functioning of the group.14
Growth comes through modeling and through discussion of the principles involved in ethics. Exposure to one-stage-up thinking invites the person to a better understanding. Experience is also helpful:
The more involved persons are in decision-making responsibilities, the more they must take the roles of others. Then they better comprehend the perspectives of others, which stimulates development. Families and groups that encourage interaction and communication enhance development.15
However, moral development is not automatic. It cannot be forced, no matter how intelligent the person is,16 no matter how much experience or education is given. Kohlberg and other educators were initially optimistic that a better understanding of moral development would enable them to help children mature faster and further in their moral thinking. In 1968 Kohlberg hoped to bring many people to stage 6. In 1976 he thought that stage 5 was a more realistic goal, and in 1980 he scaled his expectations downward again — stage 4 as the educational goal.17 The fact remains that most people do not get beyond stage 4, which means that they are able to understand ethical principles and operate at stage 5 part of the time, but it also means that they regress to stage 3 group-think part of the time.
As an example, consider why parents send their children to college. The usual answer is, “So you can get a good job.” And why does one want a good job? “To make more money.” If this is all the further it goes, it is a selfish goal. But this is the motivation that many adults are modeling for high-school graduates. It may not be the bestmotivation, but it is often the one that communicates best to this age.
A particularly interesting transition occurs between stage 4 and stage 5. As the person realizes that ethical principles sometimes conflict with laws, and they realize that social injustices sometimes allow for civil disobedience, they become less obedient to conventional authority and become an authority to themselves. Some of their decisions may be ethically correct, but some of them are motivated more by selfishness than by morality. Sometimes “the behavior cannot be differentiated from stage 2 egocentrism.”18 Yeatts calls this a “regression”; Clouse more optimistically calls it stage 4½.19
Contributing to the problem may be that many people enter college at stage 4, but they leave behind the social structure on which they have based their morality. Also, they are often confronted by both professors and students who inform them that blind allegiance to authority is immature. Thus they find their basis of morality undermined before they have had time to understand the principles on which they should base moral decisions. Considering these circumstances, a period of confusion is not surprising.
Furthermore, many people enter college at stage 3, and are simply unable to understand the stage 5 abstractions that they are taught, and they are confronted with a bewildering variety of moral and immoral behavior. The message they receive is that we should each decide for ourselves whether and when to obey laws and rules. In these circumstances, regression is not surprising.
Fraenkel…argues that children may take rules too lightly if adults discuss with them the conditions in which rules should be obeyed and in which rules should not be obeyed. He indicates that getting a child to a conventional level may be as much as we can hope for and that discussions at the postconventional level serve to confuse the child and may result in socially unacceptable behavior.20
Another interesting dynamic occurs when a parent is at stage 4, and a teenage child begins to explore stage 5 thinking. The parent tends to think that laws ought to be obeyed, and the child begins to question this approach. The parent is disturbed — “Moral reasoning that is either lower or higher than that of the populace must be limited or it will be perceived as a threat”21 — and the adolescent is confused.22
Developmentalism in Christianity
How are the observations and insights of moral developmental relevant to Christian ministry? I would like to make ten points:
1) Our audience is at all different stages, even without considering children. We work with a wide spectrum of people: some who have been in the church for many years and are still immature in their thinking; some who are new to the church but experienced in ethical thought; others are in between.
2) We should preach or teach at all stages. If our messages are always stage 1 — obey or else be punished — we are not helping people grow toward maturity. On the other hand, if our messages are always stage 5 — abstract principles each of us can apply in our own situations — part of the audience will not be able to understand, part will find it intellectually difficult, and part will think it unbiblical.
Ideally, each message can offer something for everyone. Whenever we teach about Christian behavior, we can describe the consequences of disobedience, the blessings of obedience, the consensus of the Christian community, the commands of Scripture, the way those commands are rooted in principles of love and faith, and how those principles critique even ourselves. I am not suggesting a mechanical outline, point by point, equal time for each stage. Rather, comments at various levels can be woven throughout the message for better communication.
3) Scripture deals with all different stages. The Bible warns us that disobedience will be punished and obedience will be rewarded (stages 1 and 2); it encourages us to be loyal to the community of faith and to obey rules (stages 3 and 4); it encourages us to see principles underlying those laws, principles we should obey even to our own hurt (stages 5 and 6). As we preach from Scripture, we will automatically be teaching at a wide variety of ethical levels — sometimes we will even be teaching above our own ability to understand! People at each stage will be able to profit from Scripture.
When God first brought the Israelites out of Egypt, he dealt with them at stages 1 and 2. He encouraged clan loyalty (stage 3) and required obedience to numerous commandments (stage 4). The prophets spoke at stages 5 and 6 — ethical principles — as well as stage 1 — threats of punishment.
The Pharisees were stuck in stages 3 and 4; Jesus called them toward a more principled morality, but they refused to come. Jesus, at stage 6, challenged the injustices of the status quo so much that the authorities put him to death. Although Jesus himself was at stage 6, he taught at all levels of moral thinking. He frequently warned about hell; he taught about rewards;23 he commanded obedience based on his own authority; he advocated the highest of principles. He taught at all levels.
4) Stories offer a multi-level teaching tool. Scripture contains many stories with complex ethical lessons. The stories of Rahab, Samson, David, Josiah and others present us with diverse situations. When the stories are told, children hear certain lessons; adults may hear different lessons. We are all invited to bring our own level of moral thinking to the situation, and we are all invited to think again. Modern stories often have the same multi-level possibilities.
5) Developmental theory is good for downscaling our teaching, not for hurrying people up the scale. Kohlberg tried to get people to move further and faster, with little success. We can’t speed people up, because moral development is not a matter of simply acquiring more information. Growth in moral thinking must come from within and must be motivated from within, based on a person’s own circumstances. A Christian teenager may be at moral stage 3, and yet just as validly Christian as someone at stage 4.
Developmental theory is descriptive, not prescriptive. It is a misuse of the theory to try to manipulate people into faster growth. The best we can do is provide a climate in which growth can take place, and we can provide teaching that isn’t over the heads of our audience. “Giving the right questions may be more productive than giving the right answers.”24
Moral development theory may be helpful for leaders, but it should not be dumped on the congregation. It doesn’t need to be a secret, but it doesn’t need to be preached. A significant part of the audience won’t understand it, will misunderstand it, and/or will disagree with it. People could easily (mis)perceive it as intellectual arrogance, as “I’m better than you are.”
6) People at different stages tend to judge one another. Stage 4 people (who form the majority) tend to label stage 5 people as liberal, as not having enough allegiance to the law. Stage 5 people tend to look down on stage 4 folks as unthinking conformists or as Pharisees. Indeed, sometimes stage 5 people are too loose with the law, and sometimes stage 4 people are too rigid with it. However, a climate of suspicion is not healthy.
Stage 4 Christians…are often suspicious of Christians at stages 5 and 6 because postconventional believers are less dogmatic, less structured, and sometimes deviate from the rules…. By contending for the faith, the conventionals become contentious, forgetting that the Bible says love is greater than faith (1 Cor. 13:13).25
Stage 6 believers [should not] consider that they are better Christians than those who reason at other stages of moral development. All people have equal worth in God’s sight, and God uses Christians at all stages…. One is not a better Christian for reasoning at a higher level. Rather, the advantages come in being able to function at more levels at a time.26
7) The person at the higher level bears the most responsibility for communication. If a stage 5 person is talking to a stage 3 person, it is unrealistic to expect the stage 3 person to rise to the occasion and talk more profoundly than she can. She cannot describe stage 5 thought because she has never been there. The stage 5 person, on the other hand, has been at stage 3 herself. She can figure out how the other person is thinking (“where she’s coming from”) and phrase her comments in a way that will be understood by the other person.
Most Christians are at stage 4. If they put their minds to it, they can function in stage 5, but stage 4 is more comfortable for them. It is easier to follow rules than to analyze complex situations. A stage 5 leader can get frustrated at this reliance on laws and rules, but it is futile to get frustrated. A more realistic approach is to teach and preach primarily at level 4,27 as well as teaching the principles behind the rules, thus inviting people to develop whenever they are ready. The leader must teach at all stages. If we want people to understand, we have to meet them at their level and talk their language. They will probably develop faster in a climate of affirmation than one of criticism.
Many pastors are also at stage 4. That might be just fine with most of the congregation, but it can pose problems. The pastor may not encourage anyone to grow beyond conventional thinking, and a consistent diet of stage 4 messages may cause some people to leave. Young people exploring the boundaries (stage 4½) may be judged harshly by stage 4 leaders. The stage 4 pastor needs to be aware of stage 4 tendencies, and to compensate by working to think in terms of broader principles behind the laws of the community.
8) People may leave the church at stage 4½, especially when they feel criticism from the conventional majority. But peer pressures will not make their questions go away. They need a safe environment in which questions can be dealt with. It would be helpful if the pastor and lay leaders would see questions not as a sure sign of rebellion, but possibly only a temporary stage needing extra grace.
9) Small groups are helpful. Small groups provide an environment in which people can ask questions and explore ethics. They can be exposed to one-stage-up reasoning. Higher stages can become more attuned to the way lower stages process moral questions and how to communicate with them more effectively. In small groups, individual questions and needs can be taken care of with a tailor-made approach. Discussion can facilitate cognitive growth.28 (Sermons and lectures can simulate this with a mock dialogue. Both Jesus and Paul used rhetorical questions as catalysts for teaching.)
Groups can also help defuse some of the tensions between conventional and postconventional Christians. People get to know one another better in small groups, and through helping one another, become bonded to one another. When Stage 5 Sam helps Stage 4 George deal with a trial, George is less likely to label Sam a liberal. He knows from personal experience that Sam’s preference for principles rather than laws does not make him unethical and does not make him selfish. Similarly, Sam realizes that George is doing the best he can, and that is admirable. Again, the burden of bridging the gap falls primarily on the more matured person. Christians do not have to hide their different approaches, but they learn to love each other despite those differences.
10) Developmentalism reminds us that humans always have potential for further growth in grace and knowledge. Children grow in their abilities to think about faith and behavioral issues, and the church facilitates growth not only in its children’s activities, but also in the childrearing information that is given to parents in the church. Parenting classes could include general information about children’s cognitive and moral development. Parents of teenagers may appreciate knowing some of the typical stages, even if those stages are not presented in psychological terminology.
But growth does not stop once the young adults settle down and have children of their own. Our goal in Christianity is not compliance with a set of external behaviors — the goal is the maturity that is in Christ. Behavior is part of the goal, but the heart must also be involved. We need to become more and more like Christ in compassion for the downtrodden and in zeal for righteousness in the heart. We need to imitate how his faith translated itself into decisions — specifically his willingness to disregard the values of this life when they conflict with the eternal values God reveals to us. True maturity will support and edify the body of Christ, not create people who remove themselves from the body.
How can we help adults continue growing in moral reasoning? In teaching and preaching, we can continue to observe the principled basis of biblical commands. Just as we look at the principle involved in “Greet one another with a holy kiss,” so also we should look at the principle involved in other commands. We are challenged by Jesus’ observation that David did something that was not lawful, and yet was not condemned (Matt. 12:4). God looks on the heart — he wants us to act out of conviction, not out of social conformity.
People are most likely to examine their presuppositions when bad things happen to good people. In times of stress, old ways of thinking may reveal their insufficiency, creating an opportunity for a new approach. This is facilitated in small groups, for in such an environment people may be exposed to the one-stage-up thinking of a person who loves them and can be trusted, and who is there for them when they are ready to learn.
Problems with the theory
Let me conclude with a few observations about the weaknesses of developmental theory. First, Christianity stresses conversion, but developmentalism has no place to put it. The converted person may have the same kind of moral thinking, but a different table of authorities. Developmentalists may call this a lateral move, but Christians perceive it as significant, of highest importance. Developmentalists generally assume that humans can be fully moral on their own; Christianity asserts that God must transform the heart.
Second, developmentalism focuses on thinking, not on emotion or behavior. Persons who think well about the issues do not always do well — they do what they know is wrong. Both emotion and behavior are important in morality. “Christians must go beyond Kohlberg…. Concern for how the child processes right from wrong is to be combined with concern for the content of that rightness and wrongness…. Morality is more than rules — it is a relationship.”29
Third, Kohlberg focused on justice as the highest good, but compassion is sometimes a competing morality. He did not have a logical reason to elevate one above the other. Our goal in Christ is multifaceted, not reducible to a single term.
Fourth, developmentalism generally assumes that people always progress and do not regress. It assumes that higher stages are better than lower ones. Since theorists often choose to ignore the supernatural, however, they do not have a logical basis for saying that any morality is good, or that humanity itself is any good.
Fifth, developmentalism is based on subjective studies. Motives are not easily measured, and the role of the theorist/observer may be significant. Although many studies have been done using Kohlberg’s theory, women have been underrepresented, and the elderly almost excluded.30
I hope that this introduction has been interesting, and perhaps that it has sparked a few thoughts of your own. Perhaps you from your own experiences can write some ideas and observations about the usefulness or the limitations of developmental theory.
1 Bonnidell Clouse, Moral Development: Perspectives in Psychology and Christian Belief (Baker, 1985).
2 Piaget worked in Switzerland from the 1920s to the 1970s. See a brief biography of him in Bonnidell Clouse, Teaching for Moral Growth (Victor, 1993), pp. 224-225.
3 Chart created from information in James E. Plueddemann, “The Power of Piaget,” in James C. Wilhoit and John M. Dettoni, eds., Nurture That Is Christian (Victor, 1995), pp. 52-54. See this book and Clouse, Teaching, for further details about Piaget and his theory.
4 Clouse, Teaching, p. 226.
5 Ibid., p. 59.
7 Erik Erikson studied social relationships; James Fowler studied faith. I might comment on them in a future article. Those who are interested in Erikson and Fowler will find analyses in Clouse and Wilhoit and Dettoni.
8 “Messages tend to be misinterpreted if they are two stages or more beyond the reasoning a person uses with ease” (Wilhoit and Dettoni, p. 71). “If the material…is too mature, the people will misunderstand the material, consider it irrelevant, discard it” (ibid., pp. 252-4).
9 “Stage 3, along with stage 4, remains the dominant stage for most people during adulthood” (Clouse, Teaching, pp. 230-231).
10 “Kohlberg found very few examples of this mature moral reasoning, so few that he had to acknowledge his Stage 6 within Level III to be a theoretical possibility needing further empirical study” (Catherine Stonehouse, “The Power of Kohlberg,” in Wilhoit and Dettoni, p. 68).
11 “Stage 3 usually begins in preadolescence and is a dominant stage during the adolescent period” (Clouse, Teaching, p. 264).
12 It becomes important for parents to give attention to a child’s choice of companions. It is easier to help children in their choice of friends during the early years than when they are in adolescence and spend more time away from home. The key is to guide rather than tell…. Discussion of possible consequences of friendships with certain types of people sets the stage for cognitive decisions that enable moral development to take place” (Clouse, Teaching, p. 275).
13 Clouse, Moral Development, p. 115.
14 Ibid., p. 131.
15 Stonehouse, p. 72.
16 “Although people who are more intelligent also tend to be higher in moral judgment, there are many exceptions…. The level of moral development is only moderately correlated with IQ” (Clouse, Teaching, p. 243).
18 Clouse, Teaching, p. 290. The difference is that a stage 5 person breaks the law to benefit others; a stage 2 person breaks the law to benefit himself. One person breaks down the neighbor’s door to warn him that the house is on fire; the other breaks down the neighbor’s door to steal his goods.
19 John R. Yeatts, “Helpful But Inadequate; a Critique of the Developmental Paradigm,” Christian Education Journal 13 (fall 1990): 54; Clouse, op. cit.
20 Clouse, Teaching, p. 251.
22 “It is a confusing time for many adolescents who feel fear, anger, and alienation while at the same time experiencing the emotions of freedom, anticipation, and excitement” (Clouse, Teaching, p. 290).
23 The rewards he offered were usually eternal rewards, not those of this life. But in at least one story, he offered crass self-advancement as a motive for doing something right (Luke 14:10).
24 “Seven Assumptions and Seven Applications,” class handout, Dynamics of Christian Formation, Azusa Pacific University, November 6, 1997.
27 This may mean that stage 5 people sometimes get bored with the message. However, they should realize that the message is designed to communicate with the majority, not with the few. The more mature must accept the responsibility of seeking additional discussion at a higher level, rather than insisting that the general discussion be at their level and thereby neglecting the needs of the majority.
28 “People must interact with each other in order to grow. Education that merely fosters passive reception of information will seldom develop people” (Wilhoit and Dettoni, p. 59).
29 Julie Gorman, in Wilhoit and Dettoni, p. 154.
30 These and other weaknesses are discussed in much greater detail in Yeatts, op. cit. His critiques apply not only to the moral development theory of Kohlberg, but also the faith development theory of Fowler.
Author: Michael Morrison
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Home » Business » Transport
Airbus steps up competition
By Winny Wang | February 1, 2009, Sunday | Online Edition
Airbus SAS plans to deliver its first Chinese-assembled A320 jet in June as part of its efforts to compete with Boeing Co for orders in the world's second-largest aviation market.
The jet, completed in the plane maker's assembly line in Tianjin, will be delivered to Sichuan Airlines through Dragon Aviation Leasing Co after conducting a test flight in May, an industry source told Shanghai Daily today.
The Airbus A320 Family Final Assembly Line in Tianjin is expected to deliver 11 jets this year and more than 20 jets in 2010. It is scheduled to assembly 4 aircraft a month in 2011.
Airbus is committed to forging a long-term strategic partnership with China. The total value of industrial cooperation between Airbus and the Chinese aviation industry is expected to reach US$200 million annually in 2010 and US$450 million in 2015.
Yesterday, Airbus signed a contract with a group of Chinese industrial partners to establish a joint venture in Harbin to manufacture composite material parts and components for A350 XWB program and Airbus A320 Family aircraft.
Manufacturing operations of the Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing Center Co Ltd will start in September and a new plant should be ready for operations by the end of 2010.
Harbin Aircraft Industry Group Co Ltd will hold a 50-percent stake in the venture and Airbus will hold a 20-percent stake. Hafei Aviation Industry Co Ltd, Avichina Industry & Technology Co Ltd and Harbin Development Zone Heli Infrastructure Development Co Ltd will each hold a 10-percent stake.
The venture will produce major components for the A350 XWB program to achieve Airbus' target of manufacturing 5 percent of the A350 XWB airframe in China. These components will be manufactured using the latest composite manufacturing technology based on Airbus standards and processes.
"The joint venture is another step forward in our cooperation with Hafei, as Hafei was one of the founding members of our Airbus Engineering Center in Beijing. We are very confident in the prospects for our joint venture with our Chinese partners in Harbin," said Laurence Barron, President of Airbus China.
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Please note that the original language version of this page has been amended recently. The language version you are now viewing is currently being prepared by our translators.
1 Should I apply to an ordinary civil court or to a specialised court (for example an employment labour court)?
2 Where the ordinary civil courts have jurisdiction (i.e. these are the courts which have responsibility for such cases) how can I find out which one I should apply to?
3 Where specialised courts have jurisdiction how can I find out which one I have to address?
In Poland, civil cases are dealt with by ordinary courts (sądy powszechne) and the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy) (see: Judicial systems in Member States - Poland), unless they fall within the competence of specialised courts.
Provisions concerning court jurisdiction are laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP, Kodeks Postępowania Cywilnego), in Articles 16-18 and Articles 27-46.
In district courts (sądy rejonowe), civil law cases are examined by the following divisions:
Civil;
Family and Juvenile (family courts, sądy rodzinne) – for family and guardianship cases; cases concerning moral corruption of minors and punishable acts committed by them; cases concerning the treatment of persons addicted to alcohol, drugs or psychotropic substances; as well as cases which, in accordance with other legislation, fall within the competence of a guardianship court;
Labour and Social Security (labour courts, sądy pracy) – for labour law and social security cases;
Commercial (commercial courts, sądy gospodarcze) for commercial law and civil law cases between business entities, concerning their business activities; cases concerning company or partnership relationships; cases against members of management boards of companies, concerning claims arising from false declarations submitted by members of management boards to the National Court Register; cases against business entities for issuing an order to cease environmental damage; and bankruptcy cases;
Land Registry – for keeping land registers and dealing with other civil matters related to land registry proceedings;
Regional courts (sądy okręgowe) in Poland have corresponding divisions, except for land registry divisions and family and juvenile divisions. Regional courts in Poland have civil family divisions competent to hear, in particular, cases for divorce, legal separation and termination of legal separation, for the annulment of marriage, for establishing the existence or non-existence of marriage, or for declaring the enforceability of judgments of foreign courts in family cases.
Furthermore, the Regional Court in Warsaw has the following additional units operating as divisions:
Competition and Consumer Protection Court (Sąd Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów), whose scope of operation includes hearing cases concerning prevention of monopolistic practices and energy regulatory cases;
Court for Community Trade Marks and Industrial Designs (Sąd Wspólnotowych Znaków Towarowych i Wzorów Przemysłowych), hearing cases concerning infringements, threatened infringements or the absence of infringements of industrial designs and trade marks, the invalidation of a Community design, the expiry or invalidation of a trade mark, and the effects of a trade mark infringement.
Additionally, on 1 January 2010 the District Court in Lublin was designated as the competent court for hearing cases falling within the jurisdiction of other district courts in an electronic procedure by writ of payment.
As a general rule, district courts have jurisdiction in civil cases at first instance. District courts have jurisdiction in all cases except for cases reserved by law (Articles 16 and 507 of the CCP) for regional courts.
Regional courts have first instance jurisdiction over the cases listed in Article 17 of the CCP, namely:
1) for non-property rights and property claims pursued together with those rights, except for cases for establishing or disputing a child’s parentage, cases for annulling an acknowledgment of paternity and for dissolving adoption;
2) for the protection of copyrights and related rights, as well as cases concerning inventions, utility models, industrial designs, trade marks, geographical indications and integrated circuit topographies, and cases for the protection of other intangible property rights;
3) for claims under the Press Law;
4) for property rights where the value of the subject of the dispute exceeds seventy-five thousand zlotys, except for maintenance cases, cases for infringement of possession, cases for establishing the separation of property of spouses, for aligning the content of a land register with the actual legal status, and cases examined in an electronic procedure by writ of payment;
5) for issuing a judgment in lieu of a resolution to divide a co-operative;
6) for repealing, annulment of or establishing the non-existence of the resolutions of the governing bodies of legal entities or organisational units which are not legal persons but which have been granted legal personality by law;
7) for preventing and combatting unfair competition;
8) for compensation on account of damage caused by issuing an unlawful final judgment.
Furthermore, the jurisdiction of regional courts covers for example:
1) incapacitation cases;
2) cases for resolving disputes concerning the operation of state-owned enterprises: between the enterprise’s board and the enterprise’s director, the enterprise’s governing bodies and its founding bodies, and between its governing bodies and the body exercising supervision over the enterprise;
3) for recognising judgments of foreign courts and declaring them enforceable (Article 11481 and Article 11511 of the CCP).
In cases for property rights, the claimant is obliged to specify the value of the subject of the dispute in the statement of claim, unless the subject of the dispute is a specified amount of money.
In cases concerning monetary claims, even if raised as an alternative to another claim, the specified amount of money constitutes the value of the subject of the dispute.
In other property cases, the claimant is obliged to specify the value of the subject of the dispute by indicating the amount of money in the statement of claim, in compliance with Articles 20-24 of the CCP.
2.1 Is there a distinction between lower and higher ordinary civil courts (for example district courts as lower courts and regional courts as higher courts) and if so which one is competent for my case?
See paragraph 2.
2.2 Territorial jurisdiction (is the court of city/town A or of city/town B competent for my case?)
The Polish Code of Civil Procedure distinguishes among four types of court jurisdiction: general (Articles 27-30), alternative (Articles 31-37), exclusive (Articles 38-42) and special (Articles 43-46).
Territorial jurisdiction has been described in detail in paragraphs 2.2.1 to 2.2.3
2.2.1 The basic rule of territorial jurisdiction
General territorial jurisdiction
Actions must be brought before the court of first instance with territorial jurisdiction over the defendant’s domicile (Article 27 of the CCP).
In accordance with Article 25 of the Civil Code, the domicile of a natural person is the town/city in which this person stays with the intention to stay on a permanent basis. If the defendant is not resident in Poland, general jurisdiction is determined according to his or her place of stay, and where that place is unknown or is outside Poland, actions must be filed according to the defendant’s last domicile in Poland.
Actions against the State Treasury must be filed in the court with jurisdiction over the registered office of the organisational unit which the dispute concerns. Where the State Treasury is represented by the General Counsel to the Republic of Poland (Prokuratoria Generalna Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), actions must be filed in the court with jurisdiction over the registered office of the Counsel branch responsible for the organisational unit which the claim concerns.
Actions against other legal persons and other entities which are not natural persons are to be filed in the court with jurisdiction over their registered office (Article 30 of the CCP).
2.2.2 Exceptions to the basic rule
See paragraph 2.2.2.1.
2.2.2.1 When can I choose between the court in the place where the defendant lives (court determined by the application of the basic rule) and another court?
Alternative territorial jurisdiction allows the claimant to choose the court in certain cases. The claimant may then bring an action before the court of general jurisdiction or before another court specified in Articles 32-371 of the CCP.
Alternative territorial jurisdiction is provided for in the following cases:
for maintenance claims and for establishing a child’s parentage and related claims – actions may be brought in the court with jurisdiction over the domicile of the entitled party;
for a property claim against a business entity – actions may be brought before the court with jurisdiction over that entity’s headquarters or branch, if the claim is connected with the activities of the headquarters or branch. This, however, does not apply to cases in which, under the law, the General Counsel to the State Treasury represents the State Treasury;
for establishing the existence of an agreement, for the performance, termination or invalidation of an agreement, as well as for damages due to a failure to perform or properly perform an agreement – actions may be brought before the court having jurisdiction over the place of performance of the agreement under dispute; should there be any doubts, the place of performance of the agreement should be confirmed by a document;
for a tort claim – actions may be brought before the court in the territorial jurisdiction of which the event causing the damage occurred;
for the payment of an amount due for handling a case – actions may be brought before the court having jurisdiction over the place where the legal representative handled the case;
for a claim under real estate lease (najem or dzierżawa) – actions may be brought before the court having jurisdiction over the place where the real estate is located;
against a party obliged under a promissory note or cheque – actions may be brought before the court having jurisdiction over the place of payment. Several parties obliged under a promissory note or cheque may be sued jointly before the court having jurisdiction over the place of payment or before the court of general jurisdiction for the acceptor or issuer of the promissory note or cheque;
concerning labour law – actions may be brought before the court in the territorial jurisdiction of which the work is, was or was to be carried out, or before the court in the territorial jurisdiction of which the employment establishment is located (Article 461§1 of the CCP).
2.2.2.2 When do I have to choose a court other than that in the place where the defendant lives (court determined by the application of the basic rule)?
Exclusive jurisdiction of a court means that the case may be heard only by the court specified in the Code. Exclusive jurisdiction is provided for in the following cases:
concerning the ownership or other rights in rem over real estate, as well as concerning the possession of real estate – actions can be brought only before the court having jurisdiction over the location of the real estate; if the subject of the dispute is a land easement, jurisdiction is determined according to the location of the encumbered property;
concerning succession, a reserved share, as well as bequests, instructions or other testamentary dispositions – actions are to be brought only before the court having jurisdiction over the testator’s last place of habitual residence, and if the testator’s domicile in Poland cannot be established, before the court having jurisdiction over the location of the inheritance or part thereof;
concerning membership in a co-operative, partnership, company or association – actions may be brought only in the court with jurisdiction over the registered office;
concerning a relationship of marriage – actions may be brought only before the court in the territorial jurisdiction of which the spouses were last resident if even one of them is still domiciled or habitually resident within that jurisdiction. In the absence of such a basis, the court with exclusive jurisdiction is the court with jurisdiction over the domicile of the defendant, and in the absence also of that basis - the court with jurisdiction over the domicile of the claimant;
concerning a relationship between parents and children and between the adopter and the adoptee – actions may be brought only before the court with jurisdiction over the domicile of the claimant, provided there are no grounds for filing an action under general jurisdiction provisions.
2.2.2.3 Can the parties themselves attribute jurisdiction to a court that would not be competent otherwise?
Special jurisdiction means that court jurisdiction may be defined differently in cases specified in special legislation:
The right to choose the court has been granted to the claimant.
If the jurisdiction of several courts is justified or if the action is brought against several parties for which various courts are competent under the legislation on general jurisdiction. The same applies if the real estate whose location is the basis for determining court jurisdiction is situated in several court jurisdiction areas.
The right to choose the court has been granted to both parties on the basis of an agreement or a joint request.
The parties may agree in writing to submit an already existing dispute, or any disputes that may arise in the future out of a specified legal relationship, to a court of first instance which does not have territorial jurisdiction under law. That court will then have exclusive jurisdiction, unless the parties have agreed otherwise or unless the claimant has filed a statement of claim in an electronic procedure by writ of payment. The parties may also limit, by means of a written agreement, the claimant’s right to choose from among several courts competent for such disputes.
The parties may not, however, change exclusive jurisdiction.
Agreements on court jurisdiction must be in written form. They may form part of a substantive law agreement (a jurisdiction clause) or constitute a separate agreement.
In labour law and social security cases, the competent court may, at the joint request of the parties, refer the case for hearing to another, equivalent court dealing with labour law and social security matters, where this is justified by reasons of expediency.
The competent court is designated by the superior court or the Supreme Court.
If the competent court cannot hear the case or undertake another action due to an obstacle, its superior court will designate another court. The reason for such designation may only be an obstacle preventing the case from being heard, e.g. the exclusion of a judge or force majeure.
The Supreme Court is obliged to designate the court before which the action is to be brought if territorial jurisdiction cannot be determined in accordance with the Code on the basis of the circumstances of the case (Article 45 of the CCP).
Specialised courts are administrative courts (sądy administracyjne) and military courts (sądy wojskowe).
The operation of military courts is regulated by the Military Course Organisation Act of 21 August 1997. Generally, these courts examine criminal cases in the Polish Armed Forces. Other cases may be referred to their jurisdiction exclusively by way of an Act.
The operation of administrative courts is regulated by the Administrative Courts Organisation Act of 25 July 2002. Administrative courts dispense justice by monitoring the activities of public administration authorities, as well as by resolving competence disputes and jurisdiction disputes between local government authorities and government administration authorities. It cannot be excluded that in exceptional cases an administrative court, as part of its supervisory duties with respect to the activities of public administration authorities, may decide in a civil case.
https://www.ms.gov.pl/en/about-the-ministry-of-justice/
List of ordinary courts in Poland (address details)
http://bip.ms.gov.pl/pl/rejestry-i-ewidencje/lista-sadow-powszechnych/
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Biblia Arabica
The Bible in Arabic among Jews, Christians and Muslims
Camilla Adang
Camilla Adang is Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Tel Aviv University, where she teaches classical Islamic thought. She studied Languages and Cultures of the Middle East and Spanish at Catholic University Nijmegen, The Netherlands (now Radboud University Nijmegen), where she also defended her PhD thesis entitled Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm, a revised version of which was published in 1996 by Brill. She has held research fellowships in Madrid, Jerusalem, Leiden, Wassenaar and Göttingen and has published widely on social and intellectual (including polemical) encounters between Muslims and Jews in the Middle Ages and the Ottoman period, as well as on the controversial legal scholar and theologian Ibn Ḥazm of Cordoba. She is one of the editors of the two Brill series, Studies on the Children of Abraham and Biblia Arabica: Texts and Studies and serves on the editorial or advisory boards of various other book series and scientific journals.
Selected publications relevant to the project
— Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm (Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science, 22); Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1996.
— ‘A Jewish Reply to Ibn Ḥazm: Solomon b. Adret’s Polemic against Islam’, in: Maribel Fierro (ed.), Judíos y musulmanes en al-Andalus y el Magreb: Contactos intelectuales. Madrid: Casa de Velázquez, 2002, pp. 179-209.
— ‘The Chronology of the Israelites according to Ḥamza al-Iṣfahānī’, Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 32 (2006), pp. 286-310.
— ‘Biblical predictions of Muḥammad in al-Munqidh min al-taqlīd by the Imāmī Muʿtazilī Sadīd al-Dīn al-Ḥimmasī al-Rāzī (d. after 600/1204)’, in: C. Adang, S. Schmidtke & D. Sklare (eds.), A Common Rationality: Muʿtazilism in Islam and Judaism; Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2007, pp. 297-330.
— ‘A Polemic against Judaism by a Convert to Islam from the Ottoman Period: Risālat Ilzām al-Yahūd fīmā zaʿamū fī l-Tawrāt min qibal ʿilm al-kalām’, Journal Asiatique 297.1 (2009), pp. 131-151.
— ‘Guided to Islam by the Torah: The Risāla al-Hādiya by ʿAbd al-Salām al-Muhtadī al-Muḥammadī’, in: C. Adang and S. Schmidtke (eds.), Contacts and Controversies between Muslims, Jews and Christians in the Ottoman Empire and Pre-Modern Iran. Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2010, pp. 57-71.
— ‘Intra- and interreligious controversies in 3rd/9th century Qayrawān: The polemics of Ibn Saḥnūn’, Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 36 (2009), pp. 281-309 (published 2011).
Most of these and various other publications can be accessed via https://telaviv.academia.edu/CamillaAdang.
Meira Polliack
Meira Polliack is Professor of Bible at the Department of Biblical Studies, Tel Aviv University. She received her BA cum laude from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1988), and MPhil (1989) and PhD (1993) from Cambridge University, England. Her professional experience includes a research assistantship at the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, Cambridge University Library (1992-5); Lady Davis post-doctoral fellowship, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1995-6) and the Alon Fellowship Lectureship, Department of Bible, Tel Aviv University (1996-9). Polliack served as head of the Bible Program at the Department of Hebrew Culture Studies, Tel Aviv University, and Chair of the Teaching Committee of the D Department of Biblical Studies, Tel Aviv University (2006-9). She was Jacob and Hilda Blaustein visiting professor of Judaic Studies at Yale University (2009-10), and was head of the Interdisciplinary Program in Jewish Studies at the Department of Biblical Studies, Tel Aviv University (2010-13). She was chair of the Teaching Committee of the Faculty of Humanities, Tel Aviv University (2011-2014). Since 2008 she is the senior academic coordinator of the research project on the culture of Jews of the medieval Islamic world at the Center for Diaspora Research, Tel Aviv University.
Polliack’s Research Interests are Medieval Bible translation and exegesis; modern literary approaches to the Bible; Judaeo-Arabic literature; Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic sources in the Cairo Genizah; intellectual and cultural history of the Jews in the medieval Islamic world; historical development of biblical hermeneutics and notions of biblical narrative.
Select Publications
— The Karaite Tradition of Arabic Bible Translation: A Linguistic and Exegetical Study of the Karaite Translations of the Pentateuch from the Tenth to the Eleventh (Leiden: Brill, 1997). http://www.brill.com/karaite-tradition-arabic-bible-translation.
— Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, Arabic Old Series (T-S ar.1a-54) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001 [with C.F. Baker]). http://www.cambridge.org/il/academic/subjects/religion/judaism/arabic-and-judaeo-arabic-manuscripts-cambridge-genizah-collections-arabic-old-series-t-s-ar1a-54.
— (Ed.) Karaite Judaism: A Guide to its History and Literary Sources (Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2003. http://www.brill.com/karaite-judaism.
— (With Eliezer Schlossberg.) ‘Historical-literary, Rhetorical and Redactional Methods of Interpretation in Yefet ben Eli’s Introduction to the Minor Prophets’. In Exegesis and Grammar in Medieval Karaite Texts (ed. Geoffrey Khan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 1-39. http://global.oup.com/academic/product/exegesis-and-grammar-in-medieval-karaite-texts-9780198510659?lang=en&cc=us#.
— ‘Arabic Bible Translations in the Cairo Genizah Collections’, in Jewish Studies in a New Europe (ed. Ulf Haxen et al. Copenhagen: C. A. Reitzel A/S International Publishers, 1998, pp. 595-620.
— ‘Bible Translations: Judeo-Arabic (Ninth to the Thirteenth Centuries), in Encyclopedia of the Jews of the Islamic World, Volume One (ed. Norman A. Stillman. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2010), pp. 464-469. http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/bible-translations-SIM_000115.
— with Ilana Sasson: ‘The Book of the Law in the House of the Lord is a Copy (‘nuskha’) Written by Moses: Yefet ben Eli’s Commentary on 2 Kings 22:1-23:3’, Ginzei Qedem 10 (2014): 157-190.
— with Marzena Zawanowska: “‘God Would not Give the Land, but to the Obedient’: Medieval Karaite Responses to the Curse of Canaan (Genesis 9:25)”, in The Gift of the Land and the Fate of the Canaanites in Jewish Thought, from Antiquity to the Modern Period, eds. K. Berthelot, J. E. David and M. Hirshman, Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 112–152.
— With Sivan Nir: “Many Beautiful Meanings can be Drawn from such a Comparison”: On the Medieval Interaction View of Biblical Metaphor in Exegesis and Poetry in Medieval Karaite and Rabbanite Texts, Karaite Texts and Studies Volume 9. ed. J. Yeshaya and E. Hollender. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2016,forthcoming), pp. 51-100.
— “Biblical Narrative and the Textualization of Oral Tradition: Innovations in Medieval Judaeo-Arabic Biblical Exegesis,” in A.A. Hussein and A. Oettinger (eds.), Ben ‘Ever la-‘Arav, Contacts between Arabic Literature and Jewish literature in the Middle Ages and Modern Times,Vol. VI, A Collection of Studies dedicated to Prof. Yosi Tobi on the Occasion of His Retirement (Haifa: The University of Haifa, 2014), 109-152 [in Hebrew].
— “On the ‘Literal Sense’ in Medieval Jewish Exegesis and Daniel Al-Qumisi’s Contribution to the Semanitc Study of the Hebrew Bible” in M. Avioz, E. Assis and Y. Shemesh (eds.), Zer Rimonim: Studies in Biblical Literature and Jewish Exegesis Presented to Professor Rmon Kasher (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature), 2013, pp. 390-415 [in Hebrew].
— “Semantics of Hebrew in Medieval Arabic Bible Translation and Interpretation”, in: Geoffrey Khan et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics (EHLL), Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2013, 1-10.
— “The Unseen Joints of the Text’: On the Medieval Judaeo-Arabic Concept of Elision (Ikhtiṣār) and its Gap-filling Functions in Biblical Interpretation” in: A. Brenner and F. H. Polak (eds.), Words, Ideas, Worlds in the Hebrew Bible – The Yairah Amit Festschrift , Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2012, 179-205.
— “Concepts of Scripture among the Jews of the Islamic World” in: Benjamin D. Sommer (ed.), Jewish Concepts of Scripture, A Comparative Introduction, New York: New York University Press, 2012, 80-101.
From 2006 – Section Editor (Medieval Arabic Speaking World), Encyclopedia of the Jews in the Islamic World (Executive editor: Norman A. Stillman. Brill). www.brill.nl/ejiw.
From 2007—General Editor (with Michael G. Wechsler) of the Series Karaite Texts and Studies, in association with the series Études sur le judaïsme médiéval (editor: Paul Fenton, Brill).
From 2012 — Area Editor (Arabic Translations) of The Handbook of the Textual History of the Bible (general editors: Armin Lange, Emmanuel Tov. Brill).
Ronny Vollandt
Ronny Vollandt (PhD, Cambridge), who was recently appointed Professor of Judaic Studies at LMU, originally joined the project in 2013 as a Postdoc Fellow at Freie Universität Berlin. His research focuses not only on Arabic translations of the Bible by Jews and Christians, but also on exegetical works in Arabic. At present he is working on a monograph on Sa‘adya Gaon’s Judaeo-Arabic Pentateuch translation. Within the Biblia Arabica project, Vollandt’s responsibilities include the charting, description, and analysis of Christian-Arabic translation traditions of the Bible. Moreover, he is preparing a comprehensive bibliography of studies on the Bible in Arabic, which will be an indispensable tool for current and future scholars working in this field.
Photo Credit: LMU, Munich
— Orientalische Bibelhandschriften aus der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – PK / Oriental Bible Manuscripts from the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – PK (Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2016).
— “An unknown medieval Coptic Hebraism? On a momentous junction of Jewish and Coptic biblical studies”, inCanonical Texts and Scholarly Practices: A
Global Comparative Approach, A. Grafton and G. Most (eds.) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016, forthcoming).
— “Translations as linguistic commentaries? On the exegetical dimension of early Bible translations into Judaeo-Arabic”, in Commentary Cultures: Technologies of Medieval Reading, Philological Encounters 2, I. Dayeh (ed.), (2016, forthcoming).
— “The Conundrum of Scriptural Plurality: The Arabic Bible, Polyglots, and Medieval Predecessors of Biblical Criticism”, in Editing the Hebrew Bible in the Variety of its Texts and Versions, Armin Lange, Andres Piquer, Pablo A. Torijano and Julio Trebolle Barrera (eds.) (Leiden: Brill, 2016).
— “Making quires speak. An analysis of Arabic multi-block Bibles and the Creation of a Canon“, Intellectual History of the
Islamicate World 4 (2016): 173–209.
— Coptic Hebraists in The Middle Ages? On the Transmission of Rav Saʿadiah Gaon’s Tafsīr. Tarbiz 83 (1/2) (2015): 71-86 [in Hebrew].
— علم التأريخ اليهوديّ في ما بعد الزمن الكتابيّ. “كتاب يوسف ابن كُريون” بصيغته العربية وصداه في الأوساط اليهوديّة والمسيحيّة , al-Machriq 89 (2015): 249-267.
— ‘From the Desks of a Coptic-Muslim Workshop: Paris, BNF, MS Ar. 1 and the Large-scale Production of Luxurious Arabic Bibles in Early Ottoman Cairo’, in Patronage, Production, and Transmission of Texts in Medieval and Early Modern Jewish Cultures, eds. E. Alfonso and J. Decter, Turnhout: Brepols, 2014, pp. 231-265.
— ‘Ancient Jewish historiography in Arabic garb: Sefer Josippon between South Italy and Coptic Cairo’, Zutot 11 (2014): 70-80.
— ‘Whether to capture form or meaning: A typology of early Judaeo-Arabic Pentateuch translations’, in A Universal Art. Hebrew Grammar across Disciplines and Faiths, eds. N. Vidro, I. Zweip and J. Olszowy-Schlanger, Leiden: Brill, 2014, pp. 58-83.
— “The Arabic Pentateuch of the Paris Polyglot: Saadiah Gaon’s advent to the republic of letters,” in Linguistic and Cultural Aspects of Arabic Bible Translations, ed. S. Binay and St. Leder (Beiruter Texte und Studien No. 131, Beirut:Orient Institut Beirut, 2012): 19-35.
— “1.1.5. Biblia judia en arabe. Localizacion: Madrid, BNE, MS 5475”, in Biblias deSefarad: Vidas cruzadas del texto y sus lectores, ed. Javier del Barco, Madrid: Biblioteca Nacional de Espana, 2012.
— with Miriam Lindgren: ‘An Early Copy of the Pentateuch and the Book of Daniel in Arabic (MS Sinai—Arabic 2):
Preliminary Observations on Codicology, Text Types, and Translation Technique’, IHIW 1 (2013): 43-68.
— with Miriam Lindgren: “Arabic versions, secondary, five scrolls,” in The textual History of the Bible, vol. 1. Edited by A. Lange (general editor); E. Tov (volume editor); M. Polliack (area editor), Leiden: Brill, 2016.
— with Miriam Lindgren: “An Early Copy of the Pentateuch and the Book of Daniel in Arabic (MS Sinai—Arabic 2): Preliminary Observations on Codicology, Text Types, and Translation Technique,” Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 1 (2013), pp. 43-68.
— ‘Some Historiographical Remarks on Medieval and Early-Modern Scholarship of Biblical Versions in Arabic: A Status Quo’, IHIW 1 (2013): 25-42.
— ‘Che portono al ritorno quì una Bibbia Arabica integra: A history of the Biblia Sacra Arabica (1671–73)’, in Græco-latina et orientalia. Studia in honorem Angeli Urbani Heptagenarii, eds. J.P. Monferrer-Sala and S. Kh. Samir, Beirut: CEDRAC, 2013, pp. 401-418.
— ‘Jewish literature in the Arabic language’. in Rethinking the Diaspora: Jewish Minorities in the Past, Present and Future, eds. V. Lepper and S. Koller, forthcoming 2015.
— ‘Translations as linguistic commentaries? On the exegetical dimension of early Bible translations into Judaeo-Arabic’. in Commentary Cultures: Technologies of Medieval Reading, Philological Encounters 2, I. Dayeh (ed.), forthcoming 2015.
— ‘Une Historiographie juive post biblique: Le Sefer Josippon en langue arabe, sa réception parmi les chrétiens et les musulmans’. in: Revue des Études Juives (forthcoming 2015).
— ‘More on Christian books in Jewish libraries: Biblical translations into Christian-Arabic preserved in the Cairo Genizah collections’. in The Semitic Languages of Jewish Intellectual Production, eds. M. Angeles Gallego and J. P. Monferrer-Sala. Leiden, New York: Brill, forthcoming.
— ‘An unknown medieval Coptic Hebraism? On a momentous junction of Jewish and Coptic biblical studies’. in Canonical Texts and Scholarly Practices: A Global Comparative Approach, eds. A. Grafton and G. Most, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.
Research Associates and Post-Doctoral Researchers
There are no team members found.
Doctoral Researchers
Iqbal Abd El-Raziq
Doctoral Fellow
Iqbal Abd El-Raziq received her BA degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies (1997) and her Master degree (2012) from Tel Aviv University. She has written her Master’s thesis under the supervision of Prof. Uri Rubin, with the title “Idolatry and Idols in the Quran and Early Muslim Tradition”.
Abd El-Raziq is now enrolled for the first phase of her PhD studies within Biblia Arabica project. Her dissertation will be carried out under the supervision of Prof. Camilla Adang and Prof. Meira Polliack at Tel Aviv University. The dissertation topic will be, “The Revelation of Jewish Scriptures according to Early and Classical Islamic Sources”, where she will examine how the Muslim scholars have perceived the process of revelation and the mediums in which God has brought his books and messages to the Jewish prophets. She will also examine the Muslim scholars’ attitudes toward the Jewish scriptures and the way they have related to them.
Besides researching the Quran and the development of the early Islamic tradition in relation to it, Abd El-Raziq is also interested in the interactions and relationship between the Abrahamic religions (i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam), mainly as they are reflected in early and classical Muslim sources.
Sivan Nir
Sivan Nir is a PhD student of the Bible program in the Department of Biblical Studies at Tel-Aviv University. He started working on his PhD dissertation last October (2013). Its title is, “The development of the literary character from late Midrash literature to medieval exegesis, as exemplified in the characters of Balaam, David, Jeremiah Ruth and Esther”. This dissertation expands upon the methods of his earlier MA thesis, “The Character of Ruth in Medieval Jewish Exegesis”.
Nir holds a Bachelor’s degree in Bible and Talmud (2011) and a Master’s degree in Bible (2013). Both degrees were awarded, summa cum laude, by the Department of Biblical Studies. During his studies he was part of the Dean’s Honors List (2009) as well as being awarded the “Bimat Hachoker” prize (2012).
Nir’s scholarly pursuits include: Medieval hermeneutics, possible connections between Jewish Arabic Medieval Exegetes and their European counterparts, the Influence of later midrashic Collections upon Medieval Jewish commentaries, and also the Minor Prophets in all aspects of modern research.
Nir’s contribution to the DIP project focuses mainly on translating exegetical texts relating to his dissertation from manuscript form, mostly of the important Karaite exegete Yefet Ben Eli. Currently, Nir is assisting Prof. Meira Polliack and Prof. Eliezer Schlossberg with preparations for their future edition of Yefet ben-Eli’s commentary on Zephaniah. Nir created this website with the assistance of Prof. Athalya Brenner. He updates and maintains the site on a regular basis.
— with Meira Polliack: “Many Beautiful Meanings can be Drawn from such a Comparison”: On the Medieval Interaction View of Biblical Metaphor in Exegesis and Poetry in Medieval Karaite and Rabbanite Texts, Karaite Texts and Studies Volume 9. ed. J. Yeshaya and E. Hollender. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2016,forthcoming), pp. 51-100.
Yolanda Yavor
Yolanda Yavor started her academic studies (2006) in the Department of Arabic and Islamic studies at Tel Aviv University, and received the BA degree with highest honor in this Department (2009), where she also undertook her MA studies. She wrote her Master’s thesis, for which she received the MA degree with highest honor (2014) under the supervision of Prof. Camilla Adang. The thesis contains a textual and philological analysis of the story of the intended sacrifice of Abraham’s son in the Qurʾan (Q 37: 100-113) – Qiṣṣat al-dhabīḥ.The methodology used is a comparison between the Qurʾanic version of the story and its biblical parallels and versions of Jewish origin – post-biblical and pre-Qur’anic – with reference to other verses in the Qur’an, the early Sunni tradition and conclusions reached in Western studies.
Yavor is now enrolled for the first phase of her PhD studies within the DIP Biblia Arabica project. Her dissertation, which will be written under the supervision of both Prof. Camilla Adang and Prof. Meira Polliack, will be dedicated to a textual and philological analysis of materials from the Qurʾān and early post-Qurʾānic Muslim tradition that deal with the destruction of Judea (and related issues), in order to uncover the significations of this issue in early Islam. This is in keeping with Yavor’s general interest in the Qurʾan and the early Muslim traditions, as well as in the interactions between these corpora and the holy scriptures of Jews and Christians.
Affiliated Researchers
Miriam Lindgren Hjälm
Miriam Lindgren Hjälm holds an MA in Semitic Studies from the University of Uppsala and is in the process of submitting her PhD thesis at the same university in cooperation with Tel Aviv University. Her PhD thesis focuses on early Christian Arabic versions of the Book of Daniel with special attention paid to their translation techniques. As a point of departure, the method worked out by Professor Meira Polliack with regard to Judaeo-Arabic translations (1997) is used and the thesis offers a partial comparison between early Christian Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic (Sa’adya Gaon and Yefet ben Eli) techniques. Polliack supervised the project.
Apart from translation techniques, Miram’s interests include the use of the Christian Old Testament in the Byzantine and Oriental liturgy, ecclesiastical languages, and the perception of holy scriptures in these communities.
Within the DIP project, she intends to rework and publish her doctoral thesis. She also aims to write articles on the reception of other early Christian Arabic Old Testament books as well as on early liturgical Bible material in Arabic and the use thereof vis-à-vis texts in the traditional liturgical language(s) among Near-Eastern Christians.
— Christian Arabic Versions of Daniel: A Comparative Study of Early MSS and Translation Techniques in MSS Sinai Ar. 1 and 2. Leiden: Brill, 2016.
— ed. Senses of Scripture, Treasures of Tradition: The Bible in Arabic among Jews, Christians and Muslims. Leiden: Brill, 2017.
— “Arabic versions, primary, Daniel”,”Arabic versions, secondary, Daniel”, “Arabic versions, secondary, Proverbs”, “Arabic versions, secondary, Chronicles”, “Arabic versions, secondary, Latter Prophets”,”Arabic versions, secondary, Job,” inThe textual History of the Bible, vol. 1. Edited by A. (general editor); E. Tov (volume editor); M. Polliack (area editor), Leiden: Brill, 2016.
— “The Christian Arabic Book of Daniel Extant versions, canonical constellations, and relation to the liturgical practice, with an Appendix of ‘The Song of the Three Young Men,’” Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 12 (2015): 115-178.
— “The changing face of the Arabic Bible: Translation techniques in early renditions of Ezekiel,” Open Theology 2 (2016): 832-848, https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2016-0062.
— “The Major Prophets in Arabic: The authorship of Pethiōn revisited in light of the Sinai Findings,” in Senses of Scripture, Treasures of Tradition: The Bible in Arabic among Jews, Christians and Muslims, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004347403_020.
— “Overview of the Arabic Manuscript production”,”Arabic, Letter of Jeremiah”, “Arabic, 1 Baruch”,”Arabic, Additions to Daniel”, in The Textual History of the Bible, vol. 2. Edited by A. Lange (general editor); M. Henze (volume editor). Leiden: Brill, forthcoming.
Geoff Martin
Dr. Martin is a specialist in the history of medieval Iberia’s Arabic-speaking Christians, a group many scholars now call Mozarabs. His essay, “A Mozarab Translator at Work,” will appear in the forthcoming volume Senses of Scripture, Treasures of Tradition. Since completing his dissertation, he has begun revising the work into a monograph, under the working title “The Mozarabs’ Bibles”. His project offers a thorough look at the Mozarabic translators who rendered the Psalms from Latin into Arabic, as well as the Mozarabic scribes/annotators who wrote hundreds of Arabic notes in Latin biblical manuscripts. Broadly speaking, he demonstrates that the Mozarabs employed Qurʿānic phrasing in their Arabic translations, but also that they drew upon Latin culture to a greater degree than many scholars have realized. Furthermore, rather than trying to determine whether the Mozarabs were Muslims who converted to Christianity or Christians who became Arab, as some scholars have attempted, Dr. Martin argues that the Mozarabic translators and annotators whom he studies get as close to the literal meaning of Mozarab—one who acts like an Arab—as we are going to get. He has won grants and fellowships from The Medieval Academy of America, The Warburg Institute at the University of London, and the University of Tennessee Humanities Center, among others.
Dr. Martin has also begun thinking about a second project. While he plans to continue interpreting the Mozarabs’ manuscripts, such as an eleventh-century canon law manuscript in Arabic, he also wants to learn and write about the Arabic-speaking Christian communities of North Africa. He is grateful to contribute his scholarship to the Biblia Arabica project, from which he has learned much about the medieval Mediterranean world.
Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala
University of Cordoba
University Profile Page
Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala (M.A. 1995, Ph.D. 1996, University of Granada) is currently a Full Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Cordoba. His courses deal with Arabic language and literature, and Islamic history. He teaches Master courses in the University of Granada as invited professor in the Department of Semitic Studies. His research focuses on Christian Arabic literature in the Near East and in al-Andalus. He is the founding co-editor together with Prof. Samir Khalil Samir of Collectanea Christiana Orientalia, and member of scientific committee of the Series Biblia Arabica in Brill.
Recent publications relevant to the project
— “The Lyre of Exegesis: Ibn al-Ṭayyib’s Analytical Patters of the Account of the Destruction of Sodom”, in Exegetical Crossroads: Understanding Scripture in Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the Pre-Modern Orient, ed. Georges Tamer, R. Grundmann, A. Elias Kattan, abd K. Pinggéra, Berlin-Boston: De Gruyter, 2018, pp. 119-143.
— “The Testament of Adam in Arabic Dress: Two Coptic-Arabic Witnesses of the Narrative Type ‘b’”, in The Embroidered Bible: Studies in Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Honour of Michael E. Stone, ed. Lorenzo DiTommaso, Matthias Henze and William Adler, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2017, pp. 736-757.
— “Wandering Mythical Stories. Once again on Enoch 6:1-6 and Michael the Great”, Mediterranea: International Journal on the Transfer of Knowledge 1 (2016), pp. 107-115. https://doi.org/10.21071/mijtk.v0i1.5175
— “Translating the Gospels into Arabic from Syriac: Vatican Arabic 13 Restored Section, Strategies and Goals”, Arabica 62 (2015), pp. 435-458.
— “The Pauline Epistle to Philemon from Codex Vatican Arabic 13 (Ninth Century CE). Transcription and Study”, Journal of Semitic Studies LX:2 (2015), pp. 341-371.
— Lecturas hexaplares y posthexaplares en la versión árabe del libro de Números de al-Ḥāriṯ b. Sinān b. Sunbāṭ (c. s. X AD), «Colección Benito Arias Montano», Serie Monografías, Arabica 1, Madrid: Editorial Sindéresis, 2017.
— Evangelio árabe fragmentario de Marcos (Ms. Qarawiyyīn 730). Una traducción árabe andalusí del siglo X. Edición diplomática y estudio preliminar, Córdoba: UCOPress, 2016.
Athalya Brenner
Prof. Athalya Brenner holds a BA in Biblical Studies and English Language and Literature (University of Haifa), MA in Biblical Studies (Hebrew University), and PhD in Biblical Studies (department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Manchester, England). She is Professor Emerita of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Chair at the Universiteit van Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and currently in Biblical Studies, Department Department of Biblical Studies, Tel Aviv University, Israel. She has a honorary PhD (2002) from the University of Bonn, Germany. This year (2014) she serves as the Vice President of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL; http://sbl-site.org). She has worked in Israel, Europe, the US and Hong Kong; and has published widely in the fields of Semitic philology, feminist criticism, and literary and cultural analysis, and Early Judaism and its literatures, mainly as related to the Bible and its reception history across ages, places and religions. For more details of her scholarly activities see her Internet site, Athalya-Morah-leTorah.com.
Within the Biblia Arabica Project she will work on two research issues: 1. The links between the biblical stories about Abraham, Sarah and Hagar as they developed in their Jewish and Islamic afterlives through contacts and mutual dependencies, mainly as correlated to questions of territory; and 2. The development of the Islamic concepts on prophecy and list of prophets, from the biblical notions through the Qur’an and onwards, as reflected in literature of the first millennium CE. An additional task will be to support and enhance the visibility of the Project and its aims with international scholarly organizations, such as the SBL.
Peter Tarras
Peter Tarras is currently writing his PhD thesis in the field of Arabic philosophy at the Munich School of Ancient Philosophy (MUSAΦ), mainly focusing on the relation between the problem of evil and conceptions of free will in Arabic Neoplatonism in the period from the 8th to 10th century CE. Methodologically this work seeks to investigate the history of Arabic philosophy from an integrative perspective, taking serious intellectual exchange between philosophical and non-philosophical discourses as well as between Jewish, Christian and Muslim intellectuals in the Islamicate world. His research interests further include medieval Jewish philosophy in Arabic and Hebrew, Oriental Christian literature, especially Christian-Arabic and Syriac, as well as Judeo-Arabic literature. As an affiliated member of the Biblia Arabica project, he works on biblical quotations in Christian-Arabic apologetical literature, Bible commentaries, and the history of modern manuscript collections.
“The Spirit Before the Letter: Theodore Abū Qurra’s Use of Biblical Quotations in the Context of Early Christian Arabic Apologetics.” In Senses of Scripture, Treasures of Tradition: The Bible in Arabic among Jews, Christians and Muslims, edited by Miriam Lindgren Hjälm, 79–103. Biblia Arabica 5. Leiden: Brill, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004347403_005.
Nathan Gibson holds an MA (2011) and PhD (2015) in Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures with an emphasis in Arabic and Syriac from the Catholic University of America. His PhD dissertation, supervised by Sidney Griffith, explored the situation of Muslim-Christian relations in ninth-century Iraq through the lens of “The Refutation of Christians,” a polemical work by the Arabic prose master Amr ibn Bahr al-Jahiz (c. 776–868/869).
He is currently assisting with the creation of the Bibliography of the Arabic Bible: A Classified and Annotated History of Scholarship. With over a thousand entries tagged by subject, manuscript, and biblical book, this resource is intended to be a comprehensive digital tool for navigating scholarship on the Arabic Bible, including its Christian, Jewish, and Samaritan translations and Muslim reception.
“A Mid-Ninth-Century Arabic Translation of Isaiah? Glimpses from Al-Jāḥiẓ.” In Senses of Scripture, Treasures of Tradition: The Bible in Arabic among Jews, Christians and Muslims, edited by Miriam Lindgren Hjälm, 325–69. Biblia Arabica 5. Leiden: Brill, 2017. http://doi.org/10.1163/9789004347403_015.
Zafer Tayseer Mohammad
Dr. Zafer Tayseer Mohammad holds a BA in English Language and Literature from An-Najah National University in Nablus, West Bank (1996), a Master’s degree in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana (2004), and a Master’s degree in Biblical studies from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago (2006). He was awarded a doctoral scholarship from the Swiss government (2012) and successfully defended his doctoral dissertation: “the dismal depictions of Jerusalem and her transformation in the book of Isaiah” (December 2016), written at the University of Zurich under the academic supervision of Prof. Konrad Schmid. His dissertation’s fundamental purpose was to explore Jerusalem’s centrality and significance in the book of Isaiah with particular emphasis on its transformation from the ruination and demise of former times to its deliverance and restoration.
His academic endeavors are guided by a vision that education is a vital instrument in fostering peaceful coexistence, in building mutual respect, and in promoting understanding between Jews and Muslims. As a pioneer in the academic context of the West Bank, Zafer believes that Palestinian Muslim students and scholars need to know more about Jewish and Christian scriptures to better understand the rich heritage they have in common with them.
To that end, he primarily focuses on two interrelated goals. The first includes enhancing the West Bank academic curricula by including two elective courses; namely, “Introduction to the Old Testament” and “Introduction to Biblical Theology,” in some academic departments to further the establishment of Bible studies in the departments of history and faculties of Islamic theology. The second Goal is the creation of a cadre of Palestinian scholars who are trained in Biblical studies. He also has plans for undertaking a future research project titled “Introducing Bible Studies as an Academic Discipline in the Islamic Academic Settings of the Middle East” and, hopefully, founding an Arabic publication that will be a groundbreaking resource in the area.
As a post-doctoral fellow within the Biblia Arabica project, Dr. Zafer concentrates on examining and analyzing the references to Jerusalem in the Arabic versions of the book of Isaiah, especially the Jewish translations. It would be exegetically beneficial to illustrate how Isaiah’s references to Jerusalem have been expressed in Arabic, the sacred language of Islam, in order to elucidate Jerusalem’s theological significance in non-biblical language and even in the sacred language of the Qur’an. Dr. Zafer’s research primarily focuses on the Genizah collections, Karaite translations, and the Tafisr of Saadiah Gaon. He will also study the Christian translations, the West and East Syriac and the Coptic translations, while comparing those to other ancient versions such as the Targums, Vulgate, and Septuagint.
In dealing with the Jewish translations of and commentaries on the book of Isaiah (especially the ones by Saadia Gaon and the Karaite translations), he is interested in understanding and analyzing the theological and political perspectives of Jewish communities on Jerusalem; the dwelling city of Yahweh on earth, which was under a non-Jewish rule when these translations were produced. As for the academic outcome of his fellowship, Dr. Zafer intends to publish two papers: the first deals with the Jewish translations of the references to Jerusalem in the book of Isaiah and the other focuses on the Christian translations.
Arik Sadan
Dr. Arik Sadan holds a BA in Linguistics and Arabic Language and Literature (2001) and an MA (2004) and PhD (2010) in Arabic Language and Literature, all from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He wrote both his MA and PhD theses under the supervision of Prof. Aryeh Levin, receiver of the Israel Prize for Linguistics (2010). Both theses deal with Arabic grammatical thought in general and the verbal system of Classical Arabic in particular. Having submitted his PhD thesis, Sadan traveled to Paris and Jena, Université Paris 7 and Friedrich-Schiller-Universität respectively, where he spent two years of post-doctoral research. His post-doctoral research project focuses on editing and analyzing an ancient treatise in the field of Arabic grammar which deals not only with grammar and syntax but also with Rhetoric and Logic, based on eleven different manuscripts. In 2012 Sadan published the scientific edition of this work with Harrassowitz Verlag (http://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/dzo/artikel/201/004/4123_201.pdf?t=1328168239), as well as a revised English version of his PhD thesis with Brill (http://www.brill.com/subjunctive-mood-arabic-grammatical-thought).
Sadan’s research fields are Arabic grammatical thought, Arab grammarians, Classical, Modern and Colloquial Arabic linguistics and manuscripts in Arabic grammar and other fields. In the framework of the DIP project Sadan is working on preparing a scientific edition on the Judeo-Arabic translation and commentary of the Karaite Yefet Ben Eli to the book of Job, an edition that will be based on a few dozens manuscripts. This work will be published by Brill in two volumes: one for the scientific edition, and one for its translation into English. In addition, Sadan deals with various aspects related to the linguistic characteristics of Karaite manuscripts in Judeo-Arabic and with the comparison between these and manuscripts of other groups, for example Christian groups.
— Yefet b. Eli’s Translation and Commentary on the Book of Job: Preliminary Linguistic Observations Based on the Manuscripts in Arabic and Hebrew Letters. Proceedings of the the sixth Conference on Semitic languages organized by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Semitistik in der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, the Chair of Semitic Languages at the University of Heidelberg and by the Chair of Hebrew Linguistics at the Hochschule für Jüdische Studien, the University of Heidelberg, 9–11 February 2015.
— The Arabic Translation and Commentary of Yefet ben ‘Eli the Karaite on the Book of Job. Forthcoming. Karaite Texts and Studies, Meira Polliack and Michael G. Wechsler (eds.). Leiden: E. J. Brill.
— The Arabic Translation and Commentary of Yefet ben ‘Eli the Karaite on the Book of Job – Translated into English. Forthcoming. Karaite Texts and Studies, Meira Polliack and Michael G. Wechsler (eds.). Leiden: E. J. Brill.
— ‘Translation into Hebrew of the second part of the introduction of the Arabic Translation and Commentary of Yefet ben ‘Eli the Karaite on the Book of Job’ (in Hebrew). in Anthology of Hebrew translations of Karaite texts, eds. E. Yoram and M. Polliack, forthcoming.
— ‘Differences and similarities between Christian and Karaite translations of the Bible into Arabic: the case of the book of Job’. in Clivaz, Claire et al. (ed.). Proceedings of the international conference on current research in the field of the Arabic manuscripts of the Bible, Leuven, 22–24 April 2015.
Marzena Zawanowska
Dr. Marzena Zawanowska graduated from the Departments of Hebrew and Arabic Studies at the University of Warsaw (2001). She received her PhD in Bible exegesis from the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the same University (2008) in cooperation with Tel Aviv University. A significantly revised and largely expanded version of her dissertation, devoted to the Karaite Yefet ben Eli and his Arabic commentary on the Abraham’s cycle, and including a scientific edition of this commentary, was published by Brill in the series “Karaite Texts and Studies” (2012, http://www.brill.com/arabic-translation-and-commentary-yefet-ben-eli-karaite-abraham-narratives-genesis-1110-2518). Apart from Bible exegesis, her research interests include Hebrew Literature and Jewish Philosophy. Among other things, she was head of a major project in publishing all of Ch. N. Bialik’s (Hebrew and Yiddish) poetry in bilingual–Polish-Hebrew and Polish-Yiddish–editions, which appeared in 2012.
Within the DIP project Zawanowska is preparing a second volume of the afore-mentioned book, devoted to Yefet ben Eli’s interpretation of the Abraham’s cycle. The book will include an English translation of the text edited in the first volume. In addition, she is also working on a series of articles, in which she explores the complex attitudes of Medieval Karaite exegetes, active in the tenth and eleventh centuries in Jerusalem, to the question of biblical anthropomorphisms.
— Reading Divine Attributes into the Scriptural Text in Medieval Karaite Bible Translations,” in , Senses of Scripture, Treasures of Tradition: The Bible in Arabic among Jews, Christians and Muslims, Miriam L. Hjälm(ed.) (Leiden: Brill, forthcoming, 2017).
— The Bible Read through the Prism of Theology: The Rendering of Explicit Anthropomorphisms in the Medieval Karaite Tradition of Arabic Bible Translation,” Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 24 (2016): 1–66.
— “The Limits of Literalism in Medieval Karaite Translations of the Hebrew Bible into Arabic,” in Commentaria, Leiden: Brill, 2016, pp. 241–262.
— “‘Where the Plain Meaning is Obscure or Unacceptable…’: The Treatment of Implicit Anthropomorphisms in the Medieval Karaite Tradition of Arabic Bible Translation,” European Journal of Jewish Studies 10 (2016): 1–49.
— ’Was Moses the mudawwin of the Torah? The Question of Authorship of the Pentateuch According to Yefet ben ‘Eli’, in Studies in Judaeo-Arabic Culture:Proceedings of the Fourteenth Conference of the Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies, eds. H. Ben-Shammai, A. Dotan, Y. Erder and M. A. Freidman, Tel Aviv University, 2014, pp. 7*–35*.
— ‘Review of Scholarly Research on Yefet ben ‘Eli and His Works’, Revue des études juives 173 (1/2) (2014): 97–138.
— with Meira Polliack: “‘God Would not Give the Land, but to the Obedient’: Medieval Karaite Responses to the Curse of Canaan (Genesis 9:25)”, in The Gift of the Land and the Fate of the Canaanites in Jewish Thought, from Antiquity to the Modern Period, eds. K. Berthelot, J. E. David and M. Hirshman, Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 112–152.
— ’Islamic Exegetical Terms in Yefet ben ‘Eliʼs Commentaries on the Holy Scriptures’, Journal of Jewish Studies 64 (2013): 306–325.
— ‘In the Border-Land of Literalism: Interpretative Alterations of Scripture in Medieval Karaite Translations of the Bible into Arabic’, IHIW 1 (2013): 179–202.
— “‘Where the Plain Meaning is Obscure or Unacceptable…’: The Elimination of Implicit Anthropomorphism in Medieval Karaite Translations ofthe Biblical Verses into Arabic”. in: European Journal of Jewish Studies, forthcoming.
— ‘The Limits of Literalism: Yefet’s Approach to Bible Translation’. in Commentaria, Brill, Leiden, forthcoming.
Project Alumni
Andreas Kaplony
Andreas Kaplony is Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, LMU Munich (www.naher-osten.lmu.de). He has published widely on Arab-Islamic history, including Umayyad-Byzantine diplomacy (1996), Muslim, Jewish and Christian pre-crusade conceptions of the Ḥaram of Jerusalem (2002), pre-Mongol Arabic and Persian geography and cartography of Central Asia (2008) and 13th century Arabic business letters from the Red Sea (2014). He serves as a managing director of the Arabic Papyrology Database and the Archive of Arabic Talk shows.
Roni Cohen
M.A. Fellow
Roni Cohen received his BA degree in Jewish History and Biblical Studies (2012) from Tel Aviv University with honors. Cohen is currently composing his MA thesis (2013-) on the structure, origins and hermeneutic elements of “Midrash Va-Yosha” under the supervision of Prof. Meira Polliack and Prof. Elchanan Reiner.
His major academic interests encompass exposing the presence of hermeneutic elements in texts that are not considered to be exegetic, such as late Midrashic texts, medieval folklore and other types of Jewish literature. Within the DIP project Cohen deals with the administrative aspects of creating an anthology of Karaite works produced in the Islamic domain, including a serious amount of Karaite Bibilcal exegesis of great commentators such as Jacob Qirqisany, Yefet Ben Ali and David Ben Boaz. The anthology project is led by Prof. Yoram Erder and Prof. Meira Polliack and will contain a wide range of works from medieval Karaites in the Islamic milieu all translated into Hebrew, as well as introductions and commentaries by prominent researchers of Karaite literature.
Amir Ashur
Dr. Amir Ashur received his PhD in the Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies at Tel Aviv University (2006). His doctoral dissertation topic was ‘Engagement and Betrothal Documents from the Cairo Geniza’ under the supervision of Prof. M.A. Friedman from Tel Aviv University.
Dr. Ashur’s research focuses on the ‘documentary Geniza’ – letters, legal documents and other documents that represent the daily life of the Geniza world. Being a former student of Prof. M.A. Friedman, he continues working with him on various projects relating to Geniza research, among them the celebrated ‘india Book’.
In the DIP project, Dr. Ashur will serve as an expert for identifying scribes, whenever it will be possible, and will examine the use of Biblical quotations in letters and other documentary materials, in order to determine the popularity of Biblical books in different times and places. For more details of his scholarly activities, see his site.
Meir Bar-Maymon
Dr. Meir Bar-Maymon has a BA and MA degrees in Biblical Studies from Tel Aviv University (2009, 2011). His Master’s thesis is on masculinization and de-masculinization processes in the Book of Judges. His PhD dissertation (2015), “Mythologies of Masculinities and the Search of the [Male] Israelite Self in the Book of Ezekiel”, was written at Tel Aviv University and the Sciences Po Paris, under the supervision of Prof. Athalya Brenner-Idan and Dr. Michael Mach.
He approaches the Hebrew Bible through the prism of cultural studies, political theology and post-structuralism, with emphasis on the construction of the subject and the relations to his/her sovereign.
In the DIP project, Bar Maymon intends to work on Sa‘adia Gaon’s translation to the Book of Job, and to study the links between Sa‘adia’s translation and his theology. Bar Maymon’s main premise is that Jewish perception of self-subjectivity underwent a profound change as a response to Islamic challenges. Such a change will be looked for in Sa‘adia’s translation to Job, based on the understanding that translation is always a form of interpretation and theological updating. Sa‘adia’s translation will also be compared with Yefet Ben Eli’s work, and different aspects of Jewish subjectivity that may be reflected from the translations of both will be examined.
Nabih Bashir
Dr. Nabih Bashir holds a BA in Sociology, Anthropology and Political Science (1994) and a Master’s degree in Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2005). Before further pursuing his advanced studies, he published several books in Arabic dealing with Israeli religio-political culture, the Shas Movement, Haredi society in the 20th century, and the formation of the Arab society in Israel in the shadow of the establishment of the State of Israel and its varieties of policies.
Later on, he took intensive courses related to Jewish Thought, Arabic Language and Biblical Criticism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2008/9). Throughout the academic year 2009/10, he studied for an MA degree in Jewish Thought at Ben Gurion University of the Negev (his Master’s Thesis was entitled “The Synthetic Approach of Karaite Ya’qub Al-Qirqisani (~880 – ~950, Iraq) and his Biblical Exegesis: Genesis 18, 1-19 As a Case Study”, advisor: Prof. Daniel Lasker). In 2012 he published a new edition of “the Kuzari” of Judah ha-Levi in Arabic characters with rich and elaborate footnotes. In 2010 he started his doctoral studies focusing on the angels as a theological dilemma in the writings and exegesis of R. Saadia Gaon (882-942, Iraq), at Ben Gurion University (PhD advisor Prof. Daniel Lasker). He submitted his doctoral thesis in 2015, entitled “Angels in the Theology and Exegesis of Saadia Gaon: Human Being as the Purpose of Creation” (2015). His doctorate sought to elaborate the exact position of Saadia regarding angels in relation to human beings and elucidate Saadia’s argument that the human being is the goal of the whole process of creation.
Currently, Dr. Bashir serves as adjunct lecturer at Birzeit University. He teaches an introductory course on the history of Jews, Judaism and Jewish thought with a special focus on Judaeo-Arabic culture. Generally, his research focuses on the development of Jewish theology and biblical exegesis through the Middle Ages.
As a post-doctoral fellow within the Biblia Arabica project, Dr. Bashir intends to prepare a new annotated edition of Saadia’s Judaeo-Arabic commentary on Genesis with an English translation, including references to Christian and Islamic comparative sources and an Introduction covering the history of academic research in this field.
Ora Brison
Dr. Ora Brison holds a BA (Cum Laude) in Archaeology and Ancient Near East Cultures (2002), MA (Summa Cum Laude) in Archaeology and Ancient Near East Cultures (2007), and a PhD in Biblical Studies (2015), all from Tel Aviv University.
Her research focuses on literary and multidisciplinary analysis including cultural-anthropology as well as literary feminist biblical criticism of female figures associated with the religious, magical and divinatory sphere in the Bible and Ancient Near East Cultures. Currently, she is also engaged in researching the changes in gender behavior in Jewish traditional religious communities in contemporary Israel. Her dissertation: “Between Biblical Heroines and the Divine Sphere: Female Heroics as Intermediaries between the Human and the Divine in the Bible and Ancient Near East Literature”, was supervised by Professor Athalya Brenner-Idan. Dr. Brison is currently a post-doctoral fellow at Tel-Aviv University under the co-guidance of Prof. Meira Polliack of the Department of Biblical Studies, and Prof. Rachel Zelnick-Abramovitz of the Department of Classics Studies.
Dr. Brison has participated in a number of international research groups within the SBL (Society of Biblical Literature) and lectures in various international conferences. Several of her articles appeared in the texts & contexts series and in A Feminist Companion to the Bible series, published by Bloomsbury T&T Clark.
Within the Biblia Arabica Project Dr. Brison will focus on Yefet ben Eli’s commentaries and examine his exegetical and literary approach to various biblical female figures.
Ilana Sasson (Z”L)
Dr. Ilana Sasson received her MSc from the Department of Genetics of the Hebrew University at Hadassah Ein Karem. She wrote a Master’s thesis that dealt with a mutation that causes a G6PD deficiency and its ramifications for certain Jewish populations of Iraqi descent. She received her MPhil as part of her doctoral studies, from the Department of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York (2007), and her PhD from the same institution and department (2010). The title of her doctoral thesis is: “Methods and Approach in Yefet ben Eli’s Translation and Commentary on the Book of Proverbs.” She has been a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Biblical Studies, Tel-Aviv University, under the guidance of Prof. Meira Polliack.
Her major academic interests are medieval translations and commentaries on the Bible, Karaism, Medieval Judeo-Arabic literature, Yefet ben Eli, and the Cairo Genizah. Her DIP projects include the preparation of a scientific edition of Yefet ben Eli’s translation and commentary on the Book of Proverbs; publication of studies in Yefet’s commentaries, and, in the next stage, the translation of his work on Proverbs into English.
— The Arabic Translation and Commentary of Yefet Ben Eli on the Book of Proverbs, Volume 1: Edition and Introduction (Leiden: Brill, 2016).
— “The Mudawwin Revisited: Yefet ben Eli on the Composition of the Book of Proverbs,” JJS lxvii no. 2 (fall 2016): 327-339.
— “Ibn Balaam, Judah (Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā) ben Samuel”, “Ibn Quraysh, Judah”, “Ibn al-Tabbān, Levi (Abū ‘l-Fahm) ben Jacob”. in Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception, Edited by Dale C. Allison Jr. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016.
— “The Judaeo-Arabic Translations of the Book of Psalms”, “The Judaeo-Arabic Translations of the Book of Job”, “The Judaeo-Arabic Translations of the Book of Proverbs”, “The Judaeo-Arabic Translations of the Five Scrolls.” in Textual History of the Bible, Vol. 1, Edited by Armin Lange and Emanuel Tov. Leiden: Brill, 2016.
— “‘The Matter Applies Not Only to Man’: Gender Equality in Yefet ben Eli’s Biblical Commentary and in the Karaite Legal System” [in Hebrew], Ben Ever La-Arav 6 (2014): 71-96.
— ‘The Book of the Law in the House of the Lord is a Copy (‘nuskha’) Written by Moses: Yefet ben Eli’s Commentary on 2 Kings 22:1-23:3’, Ginzei Qedem 10 (2014): 157-190.
— ‘Masorah and Grammar as Revealed in Tenth Century Karaite Exegesis’, JSIJ 12 (2013): 1-36.
— “The Book of Proverbs between Saadia and Yefet,” in IHIW 1(2013): 159-178.
— ‘Gender Equality in Yefet ben Eli’s Commentary and Karaite Halakhah’, AJS Review 37,1 (2013): 51-74.
Sabine Schmidtke
Sabine Schmidtke is Professor of Islamic Intellectual History at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. She has a BA (summa cum laude) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1986), an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London (1987), and a D. Phil. from the University of Oxford (1990). She did her Habilitation at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn (1990). From 1991 to 1999 she was a diplomat at the German Foreign Office. After teaching Islamic Studies in Bonn (1997-1999) and Berlin (1999-2001), she was offered the Chair in Islamic Studies at the University of Vienna (2002), which she declined in favour of a professorship in Berlin. She held fellowships at the Institutes of Advanced Study in Princeton (2008-2009), Jerusalem (2002, 2003; 2005-2006) and Tel Aviv (2011), the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies in Philadelphia (2010) and the Scaliger Institute in Leiden (together with C. Adang, 2007) and is the recipient of an 1,86 million Euro Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (2008-2013), as well as various other grants from the Henkel Foundation (2006-2007, 2008), the Fritz Thyssen Foundation (2005-2007, 2010-2011), the Einstein Foundation Berlin (2011-2015), the DFG together with the NEH (2010-2013), the German Foreign Office (2010) as well as a Koselleck grant (DFG). She has been coordinating a number of international research groups and convened a number of international conferences in Berlin, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Princeton and Madrid.
Schmidtke’s main research interests are Islamic Studies; Jewish and Christian Oriental Studies; and the Intellectual History of the Islamicate World.
Her publications can be accessed at: https://ias.academia.edu/SabineSchmidtke.
Rachel Hasson
Rachel Hasson holds a BA (2001) in General Studies and Arabic Language and Linguistics, an MA (2006) and PhD (2016) in the Arabic Language and Literature, all from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her PhD dissertation was written under the supervision of Prof. Simon Hopkins. The topic of her thesis was “New manuscripts written in late Judaeo-Arabic from the Firkovitch collection – Description, classification and sample texts”. The work provided ten critical editions of unknown Judaeo-Arabic folk stories and poems from the Firkovitch collection, followed by a translation and relevant content-related introduction. Moreover, the work included a quantity estimation of the material and general details concerning folk literature in the Genizah, a classification of the corpus of folk literature in the Firkovitch collection, a description of some oral characteristics and main qualities of said material and a general linguistic description of the main late Judaeo-Arabic features of the texts. Her dissertation is a pioneering work in the field of Judaeo-Arabic folk literature in the Geniza.
Rachel Hasson was a Researcher at The Center for the Study of Judaeo-Arabic literature of the Ben-Zvi Institute in Jerusalem (2001–2013). Her work focused on identifying, cataloging and researching Judaeo-Arabic manuscripts from the Geniza. Her first main projects dealt with the reconstruction On the basis of manuscripts of Ya’qub al-Qirqisani’s commentary on Genesis and Tanhum HaYerushalmi’s commentaries on the Bible and his introduction to the Prophets. Later, she worked on all popular literature found in Judaeo-Arabic manuscripts from the main Geniza collections.
Within the DIP project Rachel Hasson works on comparative aspects of Ya’qub al-Qirqisani’s commentary on Genesis. From this commentary she gleans the translated sections which she compares with the translation of Rabbi Sa’adia Gaon, to whom al-Qirqisani refers plainly or indirectly in his commentary, and to that of Yefet ben ‘Eli, whose translation reflects the Jerusalem Karaite tradition of translation. Moreover, she will work on two other topics: 1. Early Judaeo-Arabic folk literature from the Geniza, i.e. from the classical period of the Geniza (untill the 15th century); she will focus on the connections between these texts to the later folk literature materials from the Geniza, (from the 15th century onward). 2. She will investigate reflections of Muslim influences in popular Judaeo-Arabic Biblical stories from the Geniza; this research intends to clarify the medieval intercultural relationships between Jews and Muslims in the context of shared narratives.
Meirav Nadler-Akirav
Dr. Meirav Nadler-Akirav is a graduate of the Department of Arabic Studies in Bar Ilan University, where she received her BA, Teaching Certificate (1998), MA (2000) and PhD (2010). Her PhD thesis focuses on The Arabic Commentary of Yefet ben Eli the Karaite on the Book of Amos: a scientific edition of chapters 1 to 4, with the Hebrew translation, an introduction and interpretations. The PhD research was conducted under the supervision of Prof. A. Schlosberg and Prof. D. Doron. Her research focuses on Medieval biblical commentary, mainly the one written in Jewish Arabic in the 10th and 11th centuries.
Within the DIP project Nadler edits Yefet ben Eli’s commentary on the Book of Haggai, and also focuses on several other publications. She is currently working on two articles on Biblical commentary: on the literary-historical approach of Yefet ben Ali the Karaite, in his commentary on the Book of Amos; and on the translation of the words ulai and ulam in Yefet’s biblical commentaries, while comparing it to other biblical commentators. In addition, Nadler is also working on two entries for the THB: the first, together with Prof. M. Polilack, on Jewish Arabic translations of the early and latter Prophets; and the second, together with Prof. M. Polliack and Mr. Y. Zoran, on Jewish Arabic translations of the books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles.
— with M. Polliack and Y. Zoran: ‘Arabic Translations of the Books Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles’. in The Textual History of the Bible, ed: A. Lange, E.Tov, Leiden:Brill, vol. 1 , 2016.
— with M. Polliack: ‘Arabic Translations of the Early and Latter Prophets’. in The Textual History of the Bible, eds. A. Lange, E.Tov, Leiden:Brill, vol. 1, 2016.
— The Arabic Commentary of Yefet Ben ‘Ali on The Books of Haggai and Malachi.
— ‘The Literary-Historical Approach of Yefet Ben ‘Eli in his Commentary of the Book of Amos’. in: European Journal of Jewish Studies (forthcoming).
David Sklare
Dr. David Sklare received his BA from Yale University (1976) in the Department of Religious Studies. His PhD is from Harvard University (1992), Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, in the program for post-Biblical Jewish History and Hebrew Literature. His doctoral dissertation topic was “The Religious and Legal Thought of Samuel Ben Hofni Gaon: Texts and Studies in Cultural History.” The dissertation includes the edition of two previously unknown works by Samuel Ben Hofni Gaon in Judeo-Arabic, dealing with topics in legal theory.
Sklare’s research focuses on the culture (or cultures) of the Jews living in Arab lands in the Middle Ages and their literature in Judeo-Arabic. Among other topics, he has done work in the areas of legal literature and legal theory (both Rabbinate and Karaite), theology/philosophy, Jewish-Muslim polemics, Rabbinate-Karaite polemics, and biblical exegesis. Sklare directed the Center for the Study of Judeo-Arabic Culture and Literature of the Ben-Zvi Institute in Jerusalem. The Center’s projects have included cataloging manuscripts of the Firkovitch collections (held by the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg), most of the Judeo-Arabic fragments from the Genizah of the Ben-Ezra Synagogue in Cairo, as well as reconstructing, editing and translating Judeo-Arabic works in the areas of Jewish law and biblical exegesis.
Within the framework of the DIP Biblia Arabica project Sklare is working on two projects. The first is a catalog of the Firkovitch manuscripts containing biblical translations in Judeo-Arabic, of which Sklare has cataloged ninety shelfmarks so far. The second project is an investigation of the literary genre of biblical questions. The latter are very early Judeo-Arabic works from the beginning stages in the development of literal exegesis of the biblical text. The earliest surviving works of this sort are evidently from the middle of the ninth century. Sklare is preparing an edition and translation of the surviving fragments of two anonymous works of this genre as well as working on other tenth century fragments related to Sa’adya Gaon.
Roy Vilozny
Dr. Roy Vilozny holds a BA in Arabic Language and Literature and Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2000). His Master’s thesis, which describes the way early Imamate sources depict the life cycle of the Shi’ite believer — from his inception and until the end of time — was written under the supervision of prof. Etan Kohlberg of the Hebrew University (2004). In his doctoral dissertation (2012), supervised by prof. Meir M. Bar-Asher of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the Hebrew University, Vilozny delineates some fundamental theological principles and religious concepts of the Imamate Shi’a in its formative period (the 9th-10th centuries CE).
As a fellow at the DIP Biblia Arabica project, Vilozny examines the way early Isma’ili authors approached the Bible. His main focus is on the their unique interpretation of biblical prophetic stories and their significant role in shaping the Isma’ili cyclical history of the world and of humankind.
— A 10th Century Isma’ili Guide to the Secrets of the Prophets (in preparation).
— ‘Some Antecedent Biblical Occultations according to the Shiite ghayba Genre’ (in preparation).
Doron Ya’acov
Dr. Doron Ya’acov graduated with a BA in the Bible and Hebrew Language from Herzog Teachers’ College (2001). He received an MA in Hebrew Language from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2005). The title of his Master’s Thesis is “Plural Suffixes in Mishnaic Hebrew as Seen in the Kaufmann Manuscript”. He wrote his dissertation, “The Hebrew Language of the Jews of Southern Yemen (the Sharʻab and ʻAdan [Aden] Communities): Phonetics and Morphology of the Noun in the Mishnah”, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, under the guidance of Prof. Moshe Bar-Asher, and it was completed this past year.
Currently, he works in the academic secretariat of the Academy of the Hebrew Language and teaches in the Department of Hebrew language at Herzog College. He is interested, and engaged in, the study of the Hebrew language in all its periods, particularly Mishnaic Hebrew. He also studies the Arabic of the South-Yemenite Jews, on which he is currently editing a dictionary.
In the DIP project, Ya’acov intends to work on a traditional Yemenite Jewish reading of Rav Sa’adia Gaon’s translation of the Bible, including analysis of thetext’s grammar and special phenomena relating to the Yemenite oral tradition of Judeo-Arabic.
— The Tifsīr – Rav Saadia Gaon’s Translation of the Bible according to The Yemenite Jewish Oral Tradition: Critical Edition with an Introduction, (forthcoming).
— ‘The Yemenite Jewish Reading Tradition of Rav Saadia Gaon’s Translation of the Bible – Phonology, Morphology and other Characteristics’, forthcoming.
Yair Zoran
Mr. Yair Zoran completed his B.A. degree (Biblical Studies; Arabic language and literature) and M.A. degree (Arabic language and literature) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His M.A thesis (supervised by Dr. Miriam Goldstein) was on Yefet ben Eli’s translation and commentary on the book of Obadiah. His critical edition of the text appeared as an article in Ginzei Qedem.
Within the Biblia Arabica project Yair is engaged in preparing a critical edition of Yefet’s commentaries on the books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles (with the help of Prof. Meira Polliack). Being blind from early childhood Yair is assisted by Mr. Shammai Fishman, a colleague and Judeo-Arabist himself, who reads the manuscripts out loud to Yair. Upon hearing the texts, Yair types them into a computer, which is connected to a braille monitor and a Braille vocal program. These enable Yair to see the texts and to translate them into Hebrew.
Of late, Yair has published an article called “The Great Name and its Merits in Islam and their Parallels in Jewish Literature” (Hebrew) in Bein Ever le-Arav 9 edited by Prof. Joseph Yuval Tobi. This is only a first part of his research on this topic, the second part of which will hopefully appear in the next volume of the periodical. On the 22 May 2017 at 18:15 he will be lecturing at the Hebrew University’s Kister-Banet forum, in connection to his work on the Yefet editions.
The Qurʾānic Subtext of Early Arabic Bible Translations 16. July 2019
Oriental Languages and Scholarly Collaboration in Seventeenth-Century Europe: Étienne Hubert and the Arabic Gospels 28. May 2019
The “Psalms of David” as reimagined and rewritten by Muslims 14. May 2019
Biblical translations into Christian Arabic preserved in the Cairo Genizah collections 30. April 2019
Can manuscript headings prove that there were Arabic Gospels before the Qurʾān? 3. April 2019
© 2019 Biblia Arabica. Maintained by the Biblia Arabica Munich team.
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Spin, Bounce and the Old Swingometer
In About the Game by Bill Ricquier 29/04/17
Theresa May has called a general election which is going to be held on 8 June.
It is relatively unusual for a Prime Minister to go to the country during what might be called the business end of the cricket season , when a Test series is likely to be in progress. Mrs. May is known to be a cricket person.
Theresa May, a keen cricket fan, watches over the action at Lord’s Credit: Reuters
As Rosa Prince confirmed in her recent biography of the Prime Minister, her hero was , and remains, the great Yorkshireman, Geoffrey Boycott. Bearing that in mind Mrs May is probably quite content to have polling day in the middle of the one- day Champions Trophy: India are scheduled to play Sri Lanka at The Oval – almost within a Sanath Jayasuriya smite of Westminster – on 8 June.
1945 was a special case. There was felt to be a need to go to the country as soon as possible after VE Day and the election was held in July – and we all know the result.
Since then there has been relatively little interference with the cricket season. Of course, in ” normal” times there is never going to be an election in July or August. It is important that our political masters are able to soothe their furrowed brows in Tuscany. But on four occasions Prime Ministers have chosen to cast the die in June. On the whole , the precedents are reasonably good for Mrs May, but slightly less so for England’s new captain , Joe Root.
In 1983, it probably never occurred to Margaret Thatcher, still basking in the glow of her Falklands triumph , that Election Day coincided with the first game in the World Cup. Thatcher won the election – not exactly a landslide as her share of the popular vote was actually down from 1979, but her parliamentary majority was considerably enhanced. Bob Willis’ s England easily beat New Zealand at The Oval – as they were to do in the four match Test series that occupied the second half of the summer – but lost to eventual champions India in the semi-final of the World Cup.
In 1987 Thatcher secured her third successive election victory, becoming the first Prime Minister to achieve this since Lord Liverpool in the early nineteenth century. This time , though , not only was the share of the popular vote slightly down , but the House of Commons majority was reduced as well.
Election Day was 11 June , when the touring Pakistanis were , believe it or not, beating Scotland in a one – day game in Glasgow. England won the one-day series two – one but lost a hard fought Test series one- nil. Both captains led from the front but Imran Khan always had the edge over Mike Gatting, despite the latter’ recent success in Australia.. In the innings win at Headingley the magnificent Imran took ten wickets , including seven for 40 in the second innings. Now , of course, he has attained renown as the leader of Pakistan’s Movement for Justice.
In 2001, Tony Blair called an election on 7 June. Turnout was at an historic low – 59 percent – but such was the disarray in the Tory party that Blair had no difficulty maintaining his overwhelming Commons majority.
This was a modern English summer ; the first Test series , a two- match drawn series against Pakistan , was already over by polling day. England , Pakistan and Australia were engaged in a one – day tournament: there was no game on 11 June. After that came the Ashes . England lost.
I said earlier that the portents were reasonably good for May. We now have to look at the ” problem” case.
In 1970 , Labour’s Harold Wilson appeared to be on a roll . In 1964 , his party had famously brought an end to ” thirteen years of Tory misrule”. ( England’s charismatic captain , Ted Dexter, had stood , rather optimistically , as the Conservative candidate for Cardiff South, a seat held by a senior shadow cabinet member and one destined to be the only person to hold all four great offices of State, James Callaghan. )
Wilson had a tiny majority in 1964 but called an election in 1966 and secured a much bigger one then. All must have looked rosy for him when he decided to go to the country in June 1970.
The polls were all in the government’s favour. According to Alan Watkins’ book ” The Road To Number Ten : from Bonar Law To Blair”( the dust jacket has a picture of a small boy, in short trousers and a cap, standing in front of Number 10 Downing Street: it’s Wilson) the Sunday Times on the weekend before polling day said all the major pollsters gave Labour a lead of between 2 and 13 percent.
After the event Wilson said he had always had his doubts. In any event Edward Heath and the Conservatives swept to power in a result which almost nobody expected.
General elections always take place on Thursdays. Traditionally that is when Test matches start.( This is no longer necessarily the case as the bean counters try to cram in as many games as possible.) Wilson was even less of a cricket person than Thatcher – what can one say of a Yorkshireman ( the second Prime Minister, after H H Asquith , to be born in Huddersfield) who has a constituency in Liverpool ? Heath was , if anything, even less of a cricket person but , inevitably, this did not prevent him from turning up, armed with his trademark grin , to celebrate his native Kent’s winning of the county championship a couple of months after the election . Anyway, Wilson was probably unaware of the fact that the date of the election , 18 June, happened to be the first day of the first match between England and the Rest of the World at Lord’s.
As a result , the start of the match was brought forward to Wednesday and Thursday was a rest day. Sunday, of course , was also a rest day: in fact the game was over in four playing days , a triumph for the World XI’s captain, the incomparable Gary Sobers. He took six for 21 in England’s first innings , and two for 43 in the second and scored 183 in the World XI’s only innings.
England won the next game , at Edgbaston, and , although the Rest of the World won the remaining three games, they were reasonably close encounters. A magnificent collection of the world’s best players had been assembled for the series. The cricket was genuinely exciting. I watched one day live, the Monday of the fourth game at Headingley, when John Snow, undoubtedly the best fast bowler in the world at the time, tore into the World XI: it was exhilarating stuff. It is ludicrous that these games , described and marketed at the time as Test matches, subsequently had that status removed, unlike the utterly pointless and lacklustre contest between Australia and an ICC World XI in Sydney in October 2005.
England owed much to their captain, the gritty Yorkshireman , Ray Illingworth, who scored 476 runs at an average of fifty two. ( Sobers made 588 runs and took twenty one wickets.) There was a bit of a captaincy ” issue” going on – nothing compared to the internecine strife that beset successive Wilson cabinets, but a peculiarly English kerfuffle.
At the beginning of 1969 the man in possession had been Colin Cowdrey, a classic England captain, not actually terribly good at it but , well, Tonbridge, Oxford , captain of Kent since 1957, and with all the right credentials. Illingworth, on the other hand, a no – nonsense professional from Pudsey, near Leeds , had had no captaincy experience until he had joined Leicestershire from Yorkshire in 1969. But before the Test series against the West Indies had even started , that year, Cowdrey damaged his Achilles’ tendon and was out for the season. Illingworth , a fine county performer with a modest Test record, was an inspired choice to replace him.
Illingworth kept the job in 1970 ; the real prize though was the trip to Australia the following winter. Illingworth was chosen , Cowdrey being vice- captain for the fourth successive Ashes tour. With Boycott and Snow to the fore , it was one of England’s greatest victories .
But why were England playing the Rest of the World in 1970 ? This goes back to one of the grimmest episodes of English cricket history, the shambolic omission and then equally shambolic selection of the ” Cape Coloured ” all rounder , Basil d’ Oliveira , to tour his native South Africa in 1968-69. Nobody involved in this sorry episode, Cowdrey included, emerges with any credit from it, apart from d’ Oliveira himself. The short term consequence was the cancellation of that tour. It was not immediately apparent that sporting links with apartheid South Africa were terminally concluded. South Africa were indeed due to tour England in 1970. But a nationwide campaign, orchestrated by a young, white South African activist, Peter Hain – later to be a Cabinet minister in Blair’s government – persuaded the Cricket Council to withdraw the invitation to South Africa. The Rest of the World side, which included South Africans Barry Richards, Eddie Barlow, Graeme Pollock and Mike Procter , was a more than adequate replacement.
One figure peripherally involved in the d’ Oliveira affair was the shadow foreign secretary Sir Alec Douglas – Home, who had been Wilson’s predecessor as Prime Minister. Douglas – Home was the only British Prime Minister to play first – class cricket , not , of course , as Prime Minister, but as Lord Dunglass, playing ten games as a medium- paced outswing bowler for various teams , including Middlesx , MCC and Oxford University , in the mid 1920s. He then became the fourteenth Earl of Home and devoted more time to politics: he accompanied Neville Chamberlain to Munich , so he was no stranger to the more inglorious aspects of public life. He gave up his title to become party leader and this gave rise to one of the best one- liners of the 1964 campaign. Fed up with being constantly berated for his aristocratic lineage, Home observed; ” well, I suppose if it comes down to it, Mr Wilson is the fourteenth Mr Wilson.”
Other Prime Ministers have been equally keen on the game. Clement Attlee , Winston Churchill’s wartime deputy, who won that 1945 election with a staggering 71% share of the popular vote , installed a newswire service in Downing Street so that he could follow the cricket scores.. John Major famously went to his beloved Oval after leaving Downing Street in 1997( it was In May but well before the start of the Ashes series so it does not feature in this deeply forensic analysis). Major wrote an accomplished history of cricket.
Going further afield , Michael Manley , Prime Minister of Jamaica, wrote a history of West Indies cricket. John Howard, of Australia , was a genuine cricket tragic.
Sir Robert Menzies, Australia’s longest-serving Prime Minister, probably tops the list for sheer enthusiasm. It was he who instituted the traditional opening match of the touring side against the Prime Minister’s XI.
His wife was slightly less keen. Jack Fingleton – Bodyline opener, Bradman critic , one of the five best cricket writers of all time and for many years the parliamentary correspondent of Radio Australia – had a nice story about that.
The first time Menzies took his wife to a Test match , at the MCG in 1925, legendary England openers, Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe batted all day. The next time was at Lord’s in 1926. The Australian fielders came out and behind them, emerging from the darkness of the Pavilion , came – Hobbs and Sutcliffe.
” Goodness,” exclaimed Mrs Menzies, ” haven’t we got these two out yet ?”
Bill Ricquier, 29/04/2017
This article was published in The ScoreLine: https://scoreline.asia/spin-bounce-and-the-old-swingometer/. Feature image: Basil d’Oliveira in action for England.
About the Game (13)
Batting (10)
Books and Movies (3)
Hail and Farewell (6)
Some Cricket Matches.. (21)
Some Cricketers.. (24)
The Ashes (4)
The World Cup, 2015 (3)
“From The Pavilion End” focuses on current cricketing events, using current events as a peg to examine cricketers and matches of the past. Bill Ricquier has been writing about cricket since his first visit to Hampshire’s County Ground as a ten year old. Read more..
Copyright © www.billpavilionend.com
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Sea-preneurs
Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the French oceanographer and pioneer of marine conservation, once said, “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” It is not just our love for the ocean that keeps us in awe of our marine environment. It is our instinct for survival that pushes us to work with the ocean and all things that rely on it to live.
Modern marine conservation became globally recognised in the 1970s in an era known as the “marine revolution”. Through the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), established in the 70s, nations could communicate and make agreements about marine conservation. After the formation of the IUCN, new independent organisations known as non-governmental organisations started to appear. These organisations were self-governed and had individual goals for marine conservation.
While there is a myriad of non-government and not-for-profit groups all over the world focused on marine conservation practices and techniques with various levels of involvement, recent developments show that the goal of marine conservationists can also be achieved through an entrepreneurial (even corporate) perspective. Multinational corporations have included environmental conservation and awareness in their corporate social responsibility programs, even if the main corporate goal has nothing to do with the environment. Over the decades, social entrepreneurship has evolved into a powerful tool for creating awareness on social (including environmental) issues, and relying on a company’s business profits to entirely support the objective of addressing these problems.
Two companies based in Southeast Queensland are what we can call “sea-preneurs”. They are run by profit-driven entrepreneurs, whose main goal is to create awareness about our marine environment and to address the problems of plastic pollution in our oceans.
Bins for the sea
Andrew Turton started to draft the premise of the Seabin concept seven years ago. Boat builder and sailor by trade, he spent years sailing and traveling around the world and it all stemmed from a simple thought of, “If we can have rubbish bins on land, then why not have them in the water?”
In 2014, Andrew teamed up with fellow boat builder Pete Ceglinski, and the two launched the Australian company Seabin Pty Ltd in 2015. Pete has a background in product design but switched to boat building after becoming disillusioned by designing single-use plastic products with short life spans. An upbringing of surfing, swimming, fishing and diving in Australia combined with design and “hands on” experience has given Pete the life skills and respect for the ocean that reflects in the Seabin Project’s vision and direction.
The V5 Seabin unit is a floating debris interception device designed to be installed in the water of marinas, yacht clubs, ports and any water body with a calm environment and services available. It can catch an estimated 1.5 kg of floating debris per day (depending on weather and debris volumes) including micro plastics down to 2mm small.
The Seabin moves up and down with the range of tide collecting all floating rubbish. Water is sucked in from the surface and passes through a catch bag inside the Seabin, with a submersible water pump capable of displacing 25,000 liters per hour, plugged directly into a 110/220V outlet. The water is then pumped back into the marina leaving litter and debris trapped in the catch bag to be disposed of properly. It is installed in a specific “debris problem area” in the marina on a floating dock. (seabinproject.com)
Bikinis for the ocean
Steph Gabriel founded OceanZen bikini, a swimwear business that is helping to clean up the oceans. The range was created after Gabriel spent years seeing first-hand just how much plastic makes its way into the sea. Having spent time cleaning up beaches in Australia also alerted Gabriel to how much plastic we use in daily life that we do not even notice.
When participating in a clean-up of Chilli Beach in Cape York, alongside the Clean Coast Collective, Gabriel saw not just thousands of bottles, which had actually drifted from countries all over the world, but other items she did not expect to see en masse. “We cleaned up 7.1 tonnes of waste from a 6.7 kilometre stretch of beach.”
Having also spent five years working on a whale-watching boat in Mooloolaba, Gabriel has seen how the boating community can have a negative impact on the oceans. “Lots of plastic is blown overboard from boats,” says Gabriel. “Plastic cups [and bags] can very easily blow overboard. Understand that if you sit things down while you’re fishing, for instance, they may not stay where you left them.”
In 2014, during her final year at university taking up Environmental Marine Science, Gabriel created OceanZen bikini. “I wanted to be a voice for sustainability,” she says. “I wanted to help people have an ‘aha’ moment. I wanted to launch something with an impact.”
Today, each bikini sold from the OceanZen range is made from fabric crafted from recycled plastics, mainly bottles and fishing nets collected from the oceans. “Marine debris is collected, cleaned and shredded,” says Gabriel. “Then, it’s recreated into fine yarn. That yarn is shipped to Italy, where it’s mixed with Lycra to make it stretchy.”
The company has also recently launched the Sea Bottle, a 750ml stainless steel eco-bottle. The big benefit of this is that it is completely free of hard plastic (the lid is made from bamboo instead). Plus, the bottle is double walled, vacuum-sealed, which means it can store both hot and cold beverages. Gabriel notes, “I wanted another way to explore sustainable products. Another avenue for sharing ways to be more sustainable.” (www.oceanzenbikini.com)
By Kellie Byrnes and Roselle Tenefrancia
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August 10, 2015 / 10:55 PM / 4 years ago
Some Quebec rivers, lakes may be renamed to drop racial epithet
Allison Lampert
MONTREAL (Reuters) - As the United States debates public display of the Confederate battle flag, the Canadian province of Quebec is considering changing the names of 11 locations, including lakes and rapids, that contain a racial epithet.
The Quebec Toponymy Commission, which manages place names in the mostly French-language province, is due to meet later this year to discuss whether to rename sites like Nigger Rapids, a stretch of the Gatineau River about 120 kilometers north of Ottawa, said Julie Letourneau, a spokeswoman for the commission.
“The commission is very sensitive to what is happening around us and people’s perceptions,” said Letourneau.
According to a Canadian Broadcasting Corp report, the rapids were named in memory of a black couple who drowned there in the early 1900s.
The CBC quoted Jean-Pierre LeBlanc, a spokesman for the commission, as saying, “It was meant to describe the people who died. There was no pejorative connotation then as there is now.”
The June 17 shooting of nine black people inside a South Carolina church by a white man who had been photographed with the Confederate flag triggered a debate over public display of the U.S. civil war relic. The flag is considered by many to be a symbol of slavery and racism.
Charmaine Nelson, an art historian who teaches about slavery at McGill University in Montreal, said she has mixed feelings about changing the place names.
Nelson said that while the term “nigger” is deeply offensive, these names also serve as a reminder that slavery existed in Canada. “It you start to wipe out these place names, it makes it easier to say it didn’t happen here.”
According to the CBC report, the commission has recognized six place names that include the N-word in English and five that include the word nègre, which in French can mean both Negro and the N-word.
The report cited a commission reference to a hill 50 kilometers south of Montreal that contains the N-word in its name. Black slaves were buried at the site from 1794 until slavery was abolished in 1833.
In Quebec’s Laurentides region, the commission has recognized three rapids along the Red River that have the N-word in their names but it does not detail the origin of the names on its website, according to the CBC report.
Reporting By Allison Lampert
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Ex-Guantanamo inmate Khadr engaged to be married
Kelsey Cheng
TORONTO (Reuters) - Former Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Khadr, who was once the youngest prisoner in the U.S. military jail, is engaged to be married to a human rights activist, a friend of the couple confirmed on Tuesday.
Omar Khadr smiles as he answers questions during a news conference after being released on bail in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, May 7, 2015. REUTERS/Dan Riedlhuber/File photo
Khadr, 29, was returned to Canada in 2012 to serve the rest of his sentence for killing a U.S. soldier. A Canadian court later ruled that he could be released on bail and he left jail last year.
Khadr is now engaged to Edmonton, Alberta-based Muna Abougoush, according to the couple’s friend Kathleen Copps.
Nathan Whitling, a lawyer who worked on Khadr’s case, said the engagement is “a happy thing.”
Abougoush was a founder of the online campaign “Free Omar Khadr Now” and also wrote to and paid many visits to Khadr while he was in prison in the Canadian province of Alberta, according to local media reports.
Khadr’s case has divided Canadians. The former Conservative government opposed his release.
But the recently elected Liberal government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dropped a bid to return him to jail, and said the Canadian citizen should remain free while he appealed his murder conviction by a U.S. military tribunal.
Khadr had pleaded guilty to charges that included murdering a U.S. Army medic in a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002, when Khadr was 15.
He later recanted, saying he pleaded guilty to get out of the Guantanamo base in Cuba.
Khadr was taken to Afghanistan by his father, a senior al Qaeda member who apprenticed the boy to a group of bomb makers who opened fire when U.S. troops came to their compound. Khadr was captured in the firefight, during which he was blinded in one eye and shot twice in the back.
Editing by Chris Reese
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Home / News / Lighting The Torch
Lighting The Torch
The first professional ultimate game...ever!
On May 12th, 2018, a significant step is being taken towards the inception of a professional women’s ultimate league. The Austin Torch—one of the professional women’s teams created in the United States in efforts to promote women in ultimate—is set to square off against the Medellin Revolution, one of the favourites to win WUCC after an impressive performance at the US Open last year.
Torch vs. Revolution Hype Video
Although both teams are looking for a victory, winning isn’t the goal of the game. Dre Esparza, co-owner and captain of The Torch, highlighted the importance of this event: “Making this happen has been first and foremost about getting the Texas female ultimate players the recognition they deserve. Through this platform, and with the overwhelming support of the community, these athletes get to showcase their talent to the people of Austin and beyond.”
But it doesn’t stop at just one game for Dre and The Torch: “Ideally, this event will lead to an entity stepping up to become a full-time financial backer so that we can rely on funds on a more permanent basis, instead of having to fish out of the community for every game. Our long-term goal is just that: to build a sustainable league.”
Mauricio Moore, the head coach of Revolution, shares Dre’s enthusiasm: “It’s the first step for us in the professional ultimate world. It’s a door opening for a new women’s ultimate culture, and it’s an honor to represent one small step for Revolution that will become a giant leap for women’s ultimate.” When asked what the overarching goal of this game was for Revolution, Mauricio simply said that creating a new paradigm for women’s ultimate was key.
Medellin Revolution set to take on The Torch May 12th
A tremendous feat of kindness by The Torch made this all possible: the Austin team is paying for Revolution’s plane tickets to and from the game. $3500 has been paid so far, but the team is hoping to raise money to help cover the rest. If you’d like to donate, visit their PayPal at PayPal.me/GiveATorch.
“None of this would have happened without the help of the community,” says Dre. “UPLA, members of the Austin Sol, and the general public have been incredibly supportive of this endeavor. We hope to put on a good show for them. Lastly, a very special thanks to Adriana and VC Ultimate for sponsoring our uniforms and keeping us looking sharp.”
To that, the team at VC wants to say thank you, Dre, The Torch, and Revolution. Thank you for showing the world that there is a market for professional women’s ultimate and that all we need are a few people willing to take action and instigate change. The Future Is Female and it will be clear this weekend.
Tune in on YouTube at 5 PM Central on Saturday, May 12th, to see these two talented teams make history, and don’t forget to donate to help support this event.
Tune in to the livestream at 5 PM Central on Saturday!
Join our community and be the first to receive updates on our newest gear, special offers & sales, tournaments, community initiatives and all things VC Ultimate.
WFDF WU24 2019 Spotlight: Day 4 Highlights July 18, 2019
WFDF WU24 2019 Spotlight: Opening Ceremonies Highlights July 13, 2019
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Tag: Kamasi Washington
Top Ten Albums of 2018
Here it is, ladies and gentlemen! My picks for the top 10 albums of 2018! Thanks to everyone for a great year, and here’s to a fantastic 2019!!
10. John Prine – The Tree of Forgiveness
2018 has been a year full of legacy records, and few were more enjoyable than that of country and americana icon, John Prine. The Tree of Forgiveness is many things, not the least of which is a masterclass in traditional country songwriting. Each track is well-formed and buries its formulaic nature in a heap of heart and wit. We even get a fun feature from Amanda Shires on backing vocals early in the record.
Above all, the album is a showcase for a beloved figure in country music. Prine’s vocals hold the character of his many years atop the charts and his guitar work is as proficient as ever. Importantly, he avoids many of the trappings of legacy record, forgoing the sad longing for the past in favor of upbeat, enjoyable stories. There are heartfelt moments, notably in tracks like “Summer’s End,” and “When I Get to Heaven,” but they’re each softened by Prine’s persistent charm.
9. Kamasi Washington – Heaven and Earth
The follow up to Washington’s 2015 debut, The Epic, Heaven and Earth is a sprawling jazz epic which fills a nearly three hour runtime to the brim. Intimidating, right? Luckily, Kamasi finds a way to make his music relatively accessible as well. The record ranges from fun and danceable to breathtaking in scope, never really feeling like a slog, despite the length. With the jazz genre having fallen off in popularity over many years, Kamasi is bringing the sound back to the mainstream better than maybe an other artist.
The instrumental pallet is a real pleasure on this one, pulling in choirs, theremins, congos, and a multitude of horns. On the other hands, the staples of his band turn in incredible work as well. The drums never stop and utilize cymbals better than any album I’ve heard all year, the piano is reserved, yet peaking in at the most opportune times, Thundercat’s bass drives each track along with a flare and Kamasi’s saxophone is just undeniably powerful. This is a forceful but gentle sophomore project from one of the most exciting artists in the jazz world today.
8. Post Malone – Beerbongs & Bentleys
Every time I start to think that trap is fully dead with no more quality records left to be made in the style, a record like Beerbongs & Bentleys comes along to reinvigorate it. On one of the catchiest and most successful albums of this decade, Post Malone delivers one fantastic hook after another, separated by well written verses and some excellent instrumentals. Tracks like “Zack and Codeine,” “Better Now,” and “Psycho,” will likely be large parts of our musical landscape for many years, thanks in no small part to Post’s vocal performances and several well placed features.
Perhaps the highlight of this album, however, is the production by a massive team, lead by Louis Bell and Frank Duke. Each track is so well layered and benefits from a clear understanding of the sound they’re trying to achieve. This an especially apparent on the highlight of the entire tracklist, “Stay,” which wonderfully blends folk music with trap production. In the end, it’s an extremely listenable album with high replay value which we’ll talk about for many years to come.
7. Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Following a long and critically acclaimed career, the Monkeys announcement of an upcoming 2018 album left me wondering if they’d continue in the vain of their traditional, blues-inspired garage rock or pull in a few outside influences. I could’ve never expected something like this. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino takes a hard left turn into psychedelic and glam rock territory with full confidence and the new sound benefits the band well.
Alex Turner’s vocals are especially excellent here, channelling his inner David Bowie to deliver a smokey and intriguing performance on every track. Additionally, much of the band took something of a backseat, trading in the guitar heavy sound of the past for a more atmospheric tone, which means that when the guitar finally roars in, each solo is impactful and well placed. Chiefly, TBHC has a tangible space to it and feels like a sonic profile of a real place.
6. Florence + The Machine – High as Hope
Another simple album, High as Hope is the fourth studio album from Florence + The Machine, having established themselves as alt-rock powerhouses in the previous, indie-centric era. Here, they don’t aim to reinvent the wheel, but instead craft an enjoyable piece of orchestral pop-rock. The drums are very well produced and, though the pallet leaves a bit to be desired, the majority of instrumentation is quite excellent.
All of this is secondary, however, to Florence Welch’s remarkable performance as lead vocalist. She’s remarkably powerful on tracks like “Big God,” and yet sweet and gentle on “June.” Her phenomenal control lets her bring her Irish influences to the front in the form of a multitude of tight runs and she’s so dynamic that she’s able to paint thoughtful melodies over the various tracks, never once seeming to repeat herself or run out of ideas. The group doesn’t let their ambition outrun themselves, but instead create a high quality version of the sound that’s brought them massive success.
5. Noname – Room 25
One of the most surprising releases of the year, Noname’s theme heavy, jazz-rap album is starkly gorgeous. Her poetry background means that every single verse is jam-packed with wordy soliloquies that rely on a softer tone and flow to fit in the timing. After finding some mainstream acclaim with a feature on Chance the Rapper’s 2016 LP, Coloring Book, Noname finally realizes her potential two years later with this album.
Themes like race, feminism, and inequality bleed through this album, boldly informing her writing throughout, as is the case with much of the art that comes out of Chicago. The drum work is nothing short of incredible, setting complex grooves throughout and leading along an impressive team of instrumentalists, all of whom sound incredible thanks to great production, especially for an independent release. In an oddly weak year for rap music, Room 25 was a thoughtful commentary on the modern world and a fun listen all in one.
4. Richard Edwards – Verdugo
After ending his supremely successful run as the frontman of the indie rock outfit, Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s and recovering from worrisome medical issues, Richard Edwards finally returned in 2017 with Lemon Cotton Candy Sunset, his first solo release which promised the release of a sister album this year. While I expected a lot from the follow up, Verdugo crushed every expectation and stands as one of my favorite Edwards project to date.
The album continues, stylistically, where LCCS left off, but this time fleshing out the unique, orchestral folk sound much better. The songwriting is excellent here as well, both in terms of lyricism and hooks, with each song taking turns sticking in your head. Richard’s vocals are simply stunning on this record, especially on the more intimate second half, with “Something Wicked,” being one of my favorite tracks in his entire catalog. Last year’s project landed in the top ten of my 2017 list, but with Verdugo, he cracks my top five for the first time.
3. Father John Misty – God’s Favorite Customer
His fourth studio record and less than a year after his 2017 masterpiece, Pure Comedy, Father John Misty has established himself as one of the foremost songwriters of this decade. While Comedy took a frigid and cynical dive into the horrors of the modern world, God’s Favorite Customer is self-reflective and contemplative. He touches on alcoholism, maturity, loneliness, and much more in a terse runtime that never once feels either bloated or underdeveloped.
Misty is one of the best lyricists writing right now, and he proves that repeatedly on this album. “The Songwriter,” is a moving tribute to the medium of songwriting itself, while “Mr. Tillman,” is a snarky retelling of his own bender is through the eyes of a hotel employee. The way he toys with metaphor, point of view, and tone is fascinating and shows him to be a seriously elite writer. Ultimately, God’s Favorite Customer may not feel quite as prescient as its predecessor, but it’s still a masterclass in songwriting and a remarkable achievement, considering the quick turnaround time.
2. Daughters – You Won’t Get What You Want
When it came to ranking this years releases, there were exactly two albums that had a shot at the top spot and, in the end, You Won’t Get What You Want came up just a hair short. Once an extreme metal band with songs lasting about 60 seconds, Daughters had blossomed into one of the most unique acts in all of hard rock by the time of their self-titled farewell record eight years ago. Upon their revival this year, however, the band gave us one of the inexplicable music experiences of 2018.
You Won’t Get What You Want incorporates elements of doom, industrial, grunge, punk and a multitude of other sounds to craft an unforgiving soundtrack with a particularly bleak outlook on the world. The lyrics are almost poe-esque horror stories, each conveying some vague sense of impending annihilation, telling succinct tales in of themselves while also having far reaching implications on the political and social landscape of our time. It’s unpredictable, it’s engulfing, it’s terrifying, and yet somehow it’s intensely personal. Easily the best paced album of the year, Daughters slowly and methodically unveil a brutal hellscape that is every bit as sprawling as and psych-rock piece and will remain forefront in the minds of listeners long after the first listen.
1. IDLES – Joy as an Act of Resistance
When it came down to it, there was just no other record that could occupy this spot. No other band has so adequately recognized the state of the world in all its glory and shame while providing a fun, singable piece of work. After bursting onto the scene last year with Brutalism, IDLES continued this year with the best punk record in 30 years. This may seem like sacrilege, but I would put Joy as an Act of Resistance up against the seminole efforts of groups like The Clash, The Dead Kennedys, and The Ramones without hesitation. It’s that good and that important.
The overarching purpose of Joy is to examine modern masculinity, worts and all, to see what is worth keeping and what needs to be changed. Short of quoting large sections of lyrics, it’s difficult to explain how well Joe Talbot addresses this topic, following as it spirals through topics like immigration, violence, racism, love, and change. The instrumentation is thrashing and powerful, but it’s somehow still overpowered by the lyricism and Talbot’s performance. In the end, having aggressively hacked away the blocks that exist in society, the record stands simultaneously as a touching celebration of the beauty in the world and a visceral attack on that which robs us of this beauty.
Joy as an Act of Resistance the first album to ever receive a 10/10 score from Brendon’s Beats, and for my money, it’s the undisputed best album of the year.
Author brendonsbeatsPosted on December 31, 2018 February 1, 2019 Categories Yearly ListsTags 2018, albums, Arctic Monkeys, best, best albums of the year, Daughters, Father John Misty, Florence and the Machine, Idles, John Prine, Joy as an Act of Resistance, Kamasi Washington, noname, post malone, Richard EdwardsLeave a comment on Top Ten Albums of 2018
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Home › Top News
Video Shows Man Shot By New Jersey Police Raising His Hands
BRIDGETON, N.J. (AP) — A newly released video shows a tense traffic stop last month in which a man stepping out of a car with his hands raised at shoulder height was fatally shot by police.
The video from a police car dashboard camera shows Bridgeton officers Braheme Days and Roger Worley in a Dec. 30 traffic stop that escalates quickly after Days warned his partner about seeing a gun and then saying that the vehicle’s passenger was reaching for something in the car. It ends with passenger Jerame Reid disregarding Days’ order to not move, getting out of the car and being shot to death.
The officers had pulled over the Jaguar for rolling through a stop sign, and the encounter started friendly. But after Reid tells Days that they had stopped at the sign, Days suddenly steps back, pulls his gun and tells them, “Show me your hands.” Days tells his partner that there’s a gun in the glove compartment and then appears to reach in and remove a handgun.
The driver, Leroy Tutt, is seen showing his hands atop the open window on his side of the car. It’s not clear what Reid is doing, though Days repeatedly warns him not to move during an interaction that lasts less than two minutes.
“I’m going to shoot you,” Days shouts in a speech laced with profanity. “You’re going to be … dead. If you reach for something, you’re going to be … dead.”
“I ain’t got no reason to reach for nothing, bro, I ain’t got no reason to reach for nothing,” Reid says as Days continues to yell to his partner that Reid is reaching for something.
Reid then says, “I’m getting out and getting on the ground.” Days tells him not to move, but Reid repeats that he’s getting out.
The passenger door then pops open, but it’s not clear whether Reid or Days opens it. Reid then emerges from the vehicle. His hands are at about shoulder height, and they appear to be empty. As he steps out, the officers fire at least six shots, killing him.
Days is out of the frame when the shots ring out. It’s unclear how many times each officer shoots.
After the shooting, there are shouts from people who are in the area and other police and emergency vehicles arrive. Tutt follows officers’ commands, gets out of the vehicle and calmly lies down on the street.
The video was first obtained through open records requests from the South Jersey Times and the Press of Atlantic City.
The shooting has sparked protests in the southern New Jersey city. The case came after some high-profile killings of unarmed black men by white police officers across the country last year. Reid, Days and Tutt are black; Worley is white.
Activists are calling on the Cumberland County prosecutor to transfer the case to the state attorney general. County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McCrae has recused herself from the case because she previously knew Days. First Assistant Prosecutor Harold Shapiro said Wednesday that he could not comment on the investigation.
“The video speaks for itself that at no point was Jerame Reid a threat and he possessed no weapon on his person,” said Walter Hudson, chair and founder of the civil rights group the National Awareness Alliance. “He complied with the officer and the officer shot him.”
Hudson said Days had options other than firing his weapon, but “he didn’t take the other options.”
The National Awareness Alliance & National Action Network’s Atlantic City chapter scheduled a news conference on the shooting for Wednesday afternoon.
Both officers have been placed on administrative leave while the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office investigates the case.
Reid, 36, had spent about 13 years in prison for shooting at New Jersey State Police troopers when he was a teenager. He was also arrested last year on charges including drug possession and obstruction; Days was one of the arresting officers then. Relatives said he had a baby son.
(Photo Source: NJ.com)
Jerame Reid , Jerame Reid killed by police , National , New Jersey police shoot man , news , police brutality
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21 thoughts on “Video Shows Man Shot By New Jersey Police Raising His Hands”
Ans on January 23, 2015 at 7:14 am said:
Fan of the show. Thank you al, for proving US a voice… regarding the news of this story reported on the radio this morning between 6:15 -6:30, the young woman’s report contradicts some of the visible facts in the video. Please watch the video. Both parties envolved, the shorter and the young man who is now home with God, in some way shape or form, are the victims. I personally feel our officers need up training in tactical procedures, emotional inteligence, and modern cultural differences. Any decision could have been made by the officer to deescalate. That’s his job, peace officer. Look at alaska state troopers: there is an etiquette of law that is needed. The old way of policing is no more. We need reform to deal with the new age
Concerned Party on January 23, 2015 at 12:55 am said:
Linda: if you don’t like America (assuming you live here), MOVE!. If you can’t for some reason, learn to respect her, and at minimal, learn to spell her name.
All of the above posts (except for Linda’s disrespectful post) are spot-on, and that is to LISTEN to the cops when they are giving you orders, – you aren’t in the ‘hood’ anymore when you are being ordered by the law to do something.
I’ll add my comment and simply say this: Gig’s up, – no longer is this “hands up, don’t shoot” cowardly bull-crap line gonna work for you anymore. He forced his way out of the car, – you can clearly see the officer “gyrating” trying to hold the car door closed to keep him in. In his mind (officer), he KNEW that if the perp got out, there was a GOOD chance that the ex-con passenger would try to “bull-rush” the officer, just like Michael Brown did in Ferguson.
The right thing happened here, a useless ex-con was shot and killed, and it took a black officer to drive the message home, and that message is the same as I just said: Gig’s up, – “hand up, don’t shoot” is no longer gonna work for ya, – you arrogant basturd black thugs are “naked” now with NOTHING to hide behind as an excuse for ignoring authority that your fellow gangsters in the “hood” taught you was so “kwel” to do. Slowly but surly law and order will “de” program that out of the black community.
Connie Fisher on July 11, 2017 at 8:29 pm said:
you are an ignorant, no IGNORANT asshole…take your ass somewhere else, you move shit!
americanize on January 22, 2015 at 9:23 am said:
Theirs some questionable shit in this video but the bottom line is if ur stop by police do what the say,if you don,t you could be killed over dumb shit like a traffic stop.
guest on January 22, 2015 at 8:31 am said:
Well, they know they can get away with it now.
jerome white on January 22, 2015 at 6:23 am said:
murder plain and simple, but no one will go to jail because the police that killed him is the same police that will be protected by a corrupt leagal system
Concerned Party on January 23, 2015 at 1:02 am said:
And no one NEEDS to go to jail either (they already DID). Apparently 13-years wasn’t enough jail time for the cop-shooting thug, and he didn’t learn to listen to the authority when ordered to do something. Apparently also didn’t read the fine-print in his jail graduation/exit packet/paperwork: Felons are *NOT* allowed to possess a gun, or be anywhere NEAR a gun. (this is what happens when you don’t learn to read in grade-school).
Emile Regan on January 21, 2015 at 6:08 pm said:
before I saw the bank draft 4 $9517 , I have faith that…my… friends brother woz trully bringing in money part time from there new laptop. . there aunt has been doing this for only about 12 months and just paid the mortgage on there place and purchased a top of the range Porsche 911 . you can find out more…… http://tiny.cc/w74tsx
Honestly on January 21, 2015 at 5:42 pm said:
The cave n!@@er day murdered this brother for his pass transgression against the police. These mayonnaise monkeys should have never been let out of the caves of Europe.
kay on January 21, 2015 at 5:09 pm said:
Why in the hell did he insist on getting out of the car? You spent 13 years in the pen for shooting at cops, they know it, and you disobey an order not to move? WTF?!!!
nicholascarter on January 21, 2015 at 4:02 pm said:
my father inlaw recently got a new red Nissan Frontier by working from a computer. look at this web-site http://tiny.cc/y9ytsx
ElB on January 21, 2015 at 4:02 pm said:
These unjust police shootings, are beyond an anger mentality. … Then this country is wondering why it is being attacked by terrorists.
“What Goes Around, Also Comes Around;” America!
Candy on January 21, 2015 at 3:48 pm said:
If someone tells you NOT to get out of the car and NOT to move, then why would you do the opposite of what you are being told???? I think black males have a really hard time with taking orders and authority or authority figures in general…many do not believe they have to listen..this is a clear case of someone not taking orders and really believing he had the right to exit his vehicle when asked not to. Officer Days knew this nut job spent 13 years in prison for shooting at cops..so why would he trust this same person who ignored his command to stay in the car?????
Dee-Dee Grayson on January 21, 2015 at 4:30 pm said:
STOP THE BS on January 21, 2015 at 3:26 pm said:
Black men, please do yourselves a favor and listen to what the officer is telling you to do. YOU ARE NOT IN CHARGE AT THIS TIME. This will continue to happen as long as black men do not follow the police instructions. You know they’re already scared of you; one little move and they start shooting. If you want to die, get out of the car, when the officer is clearly stating “STAY IN THE CAR.”
jhuf on January 21, 2015 at 2:52 pm said:
So Reid had a propensity to fire upon police and with Days being one of the arresting officers of past indecent Days was mindful of that, 13 yrs in prison he spent most of his adult life behind bars
Monica on January 21, 2015 at 2:35 pm said:
I’ve watched the video and it seems Days knew exactly who was in the car and intented to shot him. Days even called Jerame by his name. And why did Days go to the passenger side where Jerame was sitting and ask for his drivers license? Isn’t it protocol to ask the driver for his license if he supposedly ran a stop sign, not the passenger. Something is just not right.
specialt757 on January 21, 2015 at 2:17 pm said:
No doubt officer Days will be indicted for murder and Worley will not.
Linda on January 21, 2015 at 1:33 pm said:
So sad-however, these killings by PIGS will continue across Amerykah as long as grand juries exonerate them.
Murder by PIGS is the 21st century version of lynching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
kay on January 23, 2015 at 12:45 pm said:
Soooo, I guess they have to worry about dialing 911 for any reason. Right?
Leave a Reply to kay Cancel reply
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‘I Can’t Die, I Got Kids, I Can’t Die’ – Man Shot 18 Times Goes Back To Work [Video]
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Cellhire – News
Global Mobile Service Provider
Events Newsletter
Travel, UK News, US News
Cellhire is extremely proud to support St Leonard’s Hospice again at The Sunflower Ball 2018
August 28, 2018 April 2, 2019 Chloe Acland
August 28th 2018. York, UK. Global telecommunications provider Cellhire is once again proud to support The Sunflower Ball, in aid of St Leonard’s Hospice, as a charity event to raise money for patient care. Cellhire has supported The Sunflower Ball for a number of years and this year is no different; as the main sponsor of the event, Cellhire has made a significant donation towards the Ball’s goal of the £45,000 needed to help cover day-to-day running costs at the Hospice.
About The Sunflower Ball
It promises to be a night of fantastic entertainment, hosted at York Racecourse on Saturday 22nd September and is themed ‘A Night at the Oscars’. The evening will include a red carpet entrance with a champagne reception, and a four course meal successively ending with a Grand Prize Draw with the chance to win one of 5 weekend breaks, ensuring revellers will be entertained up until the 2am close.
The Sunflower Ball, held every two years, hopes to be a significant driver in helping St Leonard’s Hospice raise the money needed to aid patients. The Hospice celebrated its 30th year in 2016 and provides care to people with life threatening diseases. Although free of charge to both patients and their families, the care is not free to provide, and as a charity, the Hospice relies heavily on the generosity of the public to help raise just over £5 million it costs to run St Leonard’s Hospice every year. While St Leonard’s does get some public funding, the majority of running costs have to be raised from donations and fundraising by the local community, businesses and individuals; The Sunflower Ball is just one example of a significant fundraiser.
The Ball is inclusive to groups and individuals alike, offering both tables of 10 and individual tickets. To enquire about the different tickets or to make a booking, please call the St Leonard’s Fundraising Team on 01904 777 777.
About Cellhire
Founded in York in 1987, Cellhire is a specialist global service provider. The company’s success is built on providing the very best mobile solutions available anywhere and the company prides itself on being easy to do business with. Cellhire is a leading supplier to organisers, businesses and attendees during events such as the Olympics, Paralympics and Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cups, UEFA Euro Finals, the Tour de France, Wimbledon and Cannes Film Festival.
In 2005 Cellhire won the Queen’s Award for International Enterprise as a result of its success as a specialist in the delivery of communications solutions for events around the world. The company’s commitment to delivering the highest standards of customer service is underlined by its continued attainment of ISO 9001:2015, the internationally recognised quality standard. Cellhire has service agreements with more than 50 network partners in more than 40 countries, ensuring coverage is truly global. More at cellhire.info.
Note to the press:
Chloe Acland, Junior Marketing Executive, Cellhire plc,
t: +44 (0)1904 610610 e: chloeacland@cellhire.com
w: www.cellhire.info
Published by Chloe Acland
Marketing Executive, Cellhire plc View all posts by Chloe Acland
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Events Newsletter – Spring 2019
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Twins release 2012 schedule
The Minnesota Twins have released their 2012 schedule. They'll open on the road in Baltimore on April 6, with the first homestand at Target Field starting on April 9 against the L.A. Angels. As for their interleague opponents coming to town: The Cubs, Phillies and Brewers will all be here in June.
The Minnesota Twins have released their 2012 schedule. They'll open on the road in Baltimore on April 6, with the first homestand at Target Field starting on April 9 against the L.A. Angels. As for their interleague opponents coming to town: The Cubs, Phillies and Brewers will all be here in June.
uncategorizedSports
Vikings release 2012 preseason schedule
The Vikings have released their 2012 exhibition schedule. They’ll face San Francisco and Houston on the road on Weeks 1 and 4. Home games will be against Buffalo and San Diego during the second and third weeks of the preseason.
Wild release 2012-13 regular season schedule
The Minnesota Wild's regular season schedule for 2012-13 was released today. Among the highlights: A long seven-game homestand in mid-December and a meeting with the Stanley Cup champion L.A. Kings at XCel Energy Center on Jan. 22.
Gophers release 2012-13 basketball schedule
The Gophers basketball schedule came out today. Minnesota will play 13 non-conference games and 18 Big 10 games. They open up against American University on November 9, and start the Big 10 schedule at home against Michigan State on New Year’s Eve.
Twins release 2012 Spring Training schedule
The Spring Training countdown is on for the Minnesota Twins. Pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers, Fla., on Feb. 18 (Just 89 days from now). The club also announced the spring schedule, which features 17 games at Hammond Stadium.
Vikings to learn 2012 schedule Tuesday
The NFL will release dates and times of the 2012 regular season schedule Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. The Vikings already know their opponents, but they have no idea when they'll be playing them.
Twins television schedule released
Fox Sports North will show 150 regular-season games and five exhibition games. The Fox Network will carry six additional games. The six games that won't be televised are weekday afternoon games.
Twins 2015 schedule released; open on the road at Detroit
2012 Gophers' hockey schedule released
Next season will be the Gopher men's hockey team's last season in the WCHA, and their schedule is looking very glamorous. Minnesota plays 36 games, 20 at at Mariucci Arena. Two of the non-conference home games are against Notre Dame and defending national champion, Boston College.
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Historic Battlefields Across Britain
Scott Reeves | @brit_heritage Feb 20, 2018 Print
Britain has been no stranger to bloody conflict throughout it's history. The fields where war was waged are historic and poignant.
Today, it's hard to imagine that these green and tranquil landscapes were once scenes of some of the bloodiest battles to ever be fought in Britain, fields where tens of thousands of men perished.
Time has healed the scars and swallowed up the blood, returning the land to its tranquil state. But historians have not forgotten what happened on these hallowed grounds, preserving and presenting them for this and future generations.
Here, then, are five of the most historic British battlegrounds you can visit on your next trip.
Read more: Why is Winston Churchill so fondly remembered in Missouri?
1066 And All That • Hastings • East Sussex, 1066
Every English child leaves school with one particular date ingrained in their memory: 1066, the Battle of Hastings, the most famous date in British history.
The last successful invasion of these islands, the battle saw Duke William of Normandy defeat Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon King, and go on to claim the throne of England. In doing so, the French Duke became known to the ages as William the Conqueror. It was a considerable improvement on his previous nickname: William the Bastard.
Hastings has been a place of pilgrimage ever since Harold got an arrow in his eye. King William built an abbey at the top of Senlac Hill, the prominent rise that the Saxons failed to defend, with the high altar supposedly sited on the exact spot where Harold died. Battle Abbey did not survive intact, but the ruins, under the control of English Heritage, are a haunting place to visit. Your first stop should be the informative visitor center.
Afterward you can walk the battle-field itself with a recorded audio guide that will bring the 1,000-year-old conflict back to life. If the weather turns foul, find cover under a covered terrace.
Hastings Castle ruins which date from the Norman invasion of 1066 AD
Flower of Scotland • Bannockburn • Stirling, 1314
As with many ancient battlefields, there is not a lot left to see at Bannockburn, where a decisive fight for Scottish independence took place over two days in June 1314.
However, the National Trust for Scotland has built a radical new visitor experience just outside Stirling, on the very spot where Robert the Bruce planted his standard and gathered his army before taking on the might of King Edward II and defeating an army nearly twice the size of his.
The Battle of Bannockburn Center may not look like much from the outside—a brick building surrounded by houses beside a main road into the town—but once inside, you'll find impressive 3-D graphics and visual effects bringing the battle to life from both the Scottish and English points of view.
The culmination of each visit is the Battle Room, where budding Scots heroes and English conquerors have the chance to rerun the violent battle, which is commemorated in the unofficial Scottish anthem, “Flower of Scotland.” There's no bloodshed here though—the reenactment takes the form of a computerized game.
The flashy audiovisual show and computer gaming won't be to everybody's taste; traditionalists might prefer to wander the nearby parkland and view the bronze statue of the Bruce. However, the center is certainly proving popular so far—be sure to book your tickets online beforehand; otherwise, you may face a long wait to enter the 3-D experience.
The Battle of Bannockburn batllefield near Stirling
Read more: Games of Thrones prequel starts filming in the UK
The Bloody Meadow Towton • North Yorkshire, 1461
If the 15th century was England's grimmest period, dominated by the decades-long Wars of the Roses, then Towton was its bleakest. On Palm Sunday, March 29, 1461, the soldiers of two rival armies, each numbering around 30,000, gathered on a vast meadow.
There they slogged it out in the bloodiest battle fought on British soil—nearly half the soldiers were killed. In the village of Towton, so many fleeing Lancastrians were killed that the bodies formed a bridge across the water of Cock Beck.
For such a monumental encounter—it resulted in the crowning of new King, Edward IV, Towton flies under the radar in comparison to some of the other battlefields in this list. There is no grand visitor center, only a small exhibition on the grounds of the Crooked Billet pub. You'll probably have to ask behind the bar to gain access, but stopping in for a quick pint should prove no chore!
The lack of a visitor center matters little because the Towton battlefield is best explored on foot, although hopefully in better weather than the snow with which the medieval soldiers had to cope.
Many of the Victorian era's agricultural enclosures have been removed in recent years, returning the landscape to how it would have looked to the future Edward III and Warwick the Kingmaker on that fateful day. There's a clearly marked trail around much of the battlefield with boards explaining what happened where.
Bosworth • Leicestershire, 1485
In 2005, Leicestershire County Council celebrated being awarded a grant of money to help revamp the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre. Four years later, new research emerged that left the councilors with red faces—it turned out that the visitor center was actually in the wrong place, and the true site of the Battle of Bosworth was a mile to the southwest!
Despite the mistake, Bosworth's primary attraction is still worth a visit. It tells the story of how the Wars of the Roses were eventually brought to a close from the point of view of four characters involved in the battle: a local child, the wife of a mercenary soldier, a farmer long-bowman and the enigmatic Lord Stanley.
Together they reveal how Henry Tudor won an unlikely victory and how Richard III suffered a bloody death. With the exhibition fresh in your mind, follow the walking trail leading from the center to the actual field where the Tudor dynasty began.
It wasn't just the Bosworth battlefield that was lost; so was its defeated victim, Richard III, whose body also disappeared into the mists of time only to be famously rediscovered under a car park in 2012. The deposed King's burial site is in Leicester Cathedral, about half an hour away, as is the Richard III Visitor Center.
Read more: How much do you know about the man who tried to steal the Crown Jewels?
Battling on the Border Flodden • Northumberland, 1513
Despite being married to Henry VIII's sister, James IV of Scotland was happy to raid over the border into northern England, hoping to prove a distraction from the Tudor monarch's campaigns in France.
However, James did not consider the threat of the Earl of Surrey, who had been left to defend England. The two armies clashed at Branxton Hill, less than five miles from the modern border.
Despite holding the defensible higher ground, the Scots charged the English lines and were routed; among the dead were nine earls, 13 barons, three bishops, two abbots and James IV himself—the last British monarch to die in battle. James's 1-year-old son succeeded him, negating the threat to the English throne for a few years.
In 1513 next to Branxton Village the Battle of Flodden Field took place. The cross is a Monument on Pipers Hill
Read more: Ramble the Fosse Way
Related: January/February 2018, Scott Reeves
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Thomas A. Vizzini Sr., 93, retired postal letter carrier served during two wars
By Dale Anderson|Published Tue, Oct 30, 2018 |Updated Tue, Oct 30, 2018
Sept. 18, 1925 – Oct. 27, 2018
Thomas Angelo Vizzini Sr., a retired postal letter carrier and a veteran who served during two wars, died Saturday in Mercy Hospital. He was 93.
Born in Jamestown, the son of Sicilian immigrants, he was one of seven children. His family moved to Buffalo’s West Side when he was a boy and he attended Grover Cleveland High School.
He left school in 1942 to join the Navy during World War II. Assigned to the Seabees, he served in the Pacific and was deployed to Guam after it was recaptured in 1944.
Returning from service, he worked in an auto repair shop before re-enlisting in the Navy in 1951 during the Korean War. He served as a seaman aboard the destroyer USS Keppler.
Following his discharge in 1955, he worked for DuPont before taking a job with the U.S. Postal Service. Assigned to the former Station G on West Ferry Street, he delivered mail to homes and businesses on the same route for many years. Before retiring at the age of 70, he also was a supervisor at the Main Post Office on William Street.
In retirement, he worked part time at a corner store at Auburn and Baynes avenues.
Active in Annunciation Catholic Church, now Our Lady of Hope, he was a lector, a Eucharistic minister and a volunteer for bingo and other fundraising activities.
He was a fourth-degree member of the Knights of Columbus, an officer in Our Lady of Hope Council 3076 and was honored with the designation of “Sir Knight.”
He also was a member of Italian Sons and Daughters of America.
In 1951, he married Carmen Incao, his next-door neighbor. They raised three children. She worked as a department store clerk, a hairdresser and a teacher aide at School 45.
Survivors also include a son, Jim; a brother, Sam; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31, in Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church, Lafayette Avenue and Grant Street.
Dale Anderson – Dale Anderson has been a Buffalo News staff reporter since 1968. He was the chief rock and pop writer for 20 years and helped establish the weekend entertainment magazine Gusto.
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Home » Vol. 68, No. 4: Winter 2016
Interview with David Evans
CINF Officers and Functionaries
Behind-the-scenes conversation with a new CINF Awards Chair David Evans
In this bulletin we continue the “Meet your new CINF functionary” series of interviews. David Evans took over the helm of the CINF Awards Committee from Andrea Twiss-Brooks in January 2016. Mindful of the confidential nature of the committee work, Dr. Evans has graciously agreed to discuss his passion for giving professional prizes as well as his leadership of the Reaxys Inspiring Chemistry program and chairmanship of the InChI Trust.
Bio: Dr. David Evans is a Scientific Affairs Director for RELX Intellectual Properties SA. He has been with RELX Group (parent company of Elsevier) in a variety of roles, including journals and books publishing, and software product management, for over 15 years. Dr. Evans has led Reaxys Inspiring Chemistry efforts since the program’s inception in 2009. His previous work experience includes positions as Executive Publisher at Elsevier (2004–2009), Senior Product Manager at MDL Information Systems, Inc. (1999–2004), Applications Scientist at Oxford Molecular Group (1998–1999), and a Research Fellow at New York University (1996–1998). David Evans has earned BSc and PhD degrees in chemistry at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom.
Svetlana Korolev: Greetings David! Let’s begin our conversation with an overview of your career path. When did you first realize you have an interest in chemistry? Have you considered specializing in other professions? Who or what influenced your transition to the field of scientific publishing?
David Evans: From an early age I have been (and remain) fascinated by how things work. I remember successfully pulling several radios apart as a child and then rather unsuccessfully trying to put them back together again afterwards. At school I was good at and enjoyed science and mathematics, and, despite occasional diversions into the arts, I have remained true to that calling. What pushed me into a chemistry degree was the passion, energy, and eloquence of my chemistry teachers when I was at school. One thing that motivates me today is communicating about science and chemistry. I am very lucky even today to be surrounded by people who have a passion and desire to learn to explore and to communicate about science.
I started out after my post-doc working for a contract research organization. After a short stint there I moved to MDL. The company had been recently purchased by Elsevier. After about five years with MDL in San Leandro, CA, I moved to Elsevier’s headquarters in Amsterdam for a publishing role managing the toxicology portfolio. Then after time in Amsterdam, New York, and Paris for Elsevier, I moved to Switzerland for RELX.
SK: You have been with RELX Group for over 15 years. How has your job evolved in that time? Can you describe the main activities of the “Scientific Affairs Director”? Which scientific, technical, and medical solutions do you oversee? Can you share with us more details about the Reaxys Inspiring Chemistry program and its team?
DE: I have been very lucky to be a part of RELX Group (the new name for Reed Elsevier). The business transformation in that time has been extraordinary (not a surprise for members of the ACS Division of Chemical Information) with the changes from predominantly print and advertising to predominantly digital products. In the future, I think, we will see even more changes as RELX Group continues to develop information-based analytics and decision-support tools. It is an exciting time and area to be involved with.
My role is a combination of communication, awareness, networking, and engagement. I work across a number of areas mostly in the life sciences. Product teams I work closely with are Reaxys, PharmaPendium, and Embase. I also work with other groups within Elsevier and other RELX Group companies.
The Reaxys Inspiring Chemistry program has three main aspects: 1) the Reaxys PhD Prize, 2) the Reaxys Prize Club, and 3) the Reaxys Advisory Board. The prize is intended to celebrate some of the very best chemistry being performed around the world by some of today’s brightest young chemists. We wanted to create something that was aimed squarely at those folks who are the future of science and of the world! The Prize Club is a networking alumni club for finalists and winners of the Reaxys PhD Prize. Finally, the Reaxys Advisory Board provides the Reaxys team with insights and advice on future directions.
The Reaxys Inspiring Chemistry program is one piece of the action here. There is a lot more that goes on besides. There are a bunch of really great people here who all make this a great place to work and live. I am very lucky to work with Anna, Coralie, Fabian, Fred, Ingrid, Ivana, Laure, and Robert, who are all part of the RELX team here in Switzerland. Some people who are involved in the program and known to the readers of this bulletin are: Pieder Caduff, Thibault Géoui, Tim Hoctor, and, of course, Jürgen Swienty-Busch.
SK: The name “Reaxys Inspiring Chemistry” sounds fascinating. May I ask you here a personal question of who or what inspires David Evans in life?
DE: When we were creating the program we liked the nuance the word “inspiring” had in that phrase. Who inspires me? Well gosh, a difficult question! I take inspiration from many different places. I said that I am passionate about how we communicate our science and the role science plays in our current and future lives. Not communicating properly does our science a disservice. There is an art to storytelling, I am blown away by those people who can capture an audience holding their rapt attention while they talk, those who can transform your mind through a single written phrase. They inspire me to go for it again every day. For example, the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals are “a call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity”. Science, and chemistry in its many forms, will be key to the future of our planet and us on it. We need great scientists and we need great communicators to secure our future.
SK: In collaboration with Alexander Lawson, Jürgen Swienty-Busch, and Thibult Géoui, you wrote a chapter “The Making of Reaxys - Towards Unobstructed Access to Relevant Chemistry” (http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bk-2014-1164.ch008) for the 2014 ACS CINF symposium series book “The Future of the History of Chemical Information”. The chapter described the history leading to the launch of Reaxys in 2009 with its subsequent development until 2014 concluding the steps for better text-based searches by additional indexing supported by a chemical dictionary and searchable structures, enabling natural language query, integrating of the Reaxys repository into commercially available electronic lab notebooks, and linking to other information products (Scopus, ScienceDirect, PubChem, and eMolecules). Can you highlight some of the recent developments of Reaxys since 2014? What are the evolving steps looking forward to 2017?
DE: Reaxys is evolving all the time. There is an amazing group of people in the product team in Frankfurt. I guess Jürgen Swienty-Busch is the best known in the Division of Chemical Information, but there are a number of other people who all make this happen. A lot has happened since we wrote that chapter. We regularly perform “market research” studies, where we attempt to understand how people go about searching for information. Across all types of chemistry, about 70% of a researcher’s searches are text-based and 30% are structure-based. We also know that generic search engines (Google) are the first place people go. This kind of information is helping us decide which critical new features to include in Reaxys. The “Ask Reaxys” query box is an example, which involved an awful amount of work that has gone on in the background and the backend to structuring the data, ReaxysTree, understanding the query correctly, and then, of course, to returning the results—all in order to make the answers you get from “Ask Reaxys” meaningful. We are continuing to add experimental procedures from articles to enable users to see the “cooking instructions” when they see their results.
We’re also developing the medicinal chemistry features of Reaxys. I think the new data we’ve collected are outstanding, and the “heat map” capabilities really enable users to see their search results and to quickly find the answers they need.
I could go on (and on and on and on) but …well, there a great deal of work is going on for the future developments. One thing that I hope people are aware of is the work on the new Reaxys user interface. We’ve been working with a number of development partners on creating something that is really special. Over the past few months we’ve been in beta-testing, and (even though I say it) it is looking really nice and very special. I can’t wait for the release and to be able to show it off!
SK: Let’s move along from the evolution of Reaxys to the Reaxys PhD Prize, which has been awarded to the three most original and innovative researchers every year since 2010. There was a recent announcement of the ten shortlisted candidates for oral presentations at the 2016 Reaxys PhD Prize Symposium to be held on September 22-23, in London, U.K. All 45 finalists are invited to join the Reaxys PhD Prize Club. Can you reveal more information about the Club, its benefits, the communication channels of its network, and the symposium? Was it possible to observe an influence of the Reaxys PhD Prize on the careers of the “rising chemistry stars”?
DE: We wanted the Prize to be special. It has become acknowledged as the premier chemistry prize for PhD students, and we work hard to maintain and develop it. We imagined the Club back in 2009 when we launched a call for the Prize for 2010, the year of the first finalists and winners. We thought back then that inviting the finalists to join an alumni club for the Prize would be a great way for them to keep in touch with their fellow finalists and also to grow a network with finalists from other Prize years over time. We felt that networking and knowledge-sharing was something that we could offer to young scientists as they start their careers. We’ve set up a dedicated Internet site, which enables the Club members to find contact details for each other. We’ve set up groups on Facebook and LinkedIn too. In addition to providing travel bursaries for conferences, we’ve also supported travel amongst Club members to learn new chemistry and techniques in a couple of instances. We really want to help them to build a network and communicate with each other.
The symposium is the culmination of each year’s Prize. It is a special time for the finalists to come together and meet each other for the first time, meet members of the Reaxys Advisory Board, and usually a few members of the Club. It is always a harrowing time for me and the folks on the organizing team: we are running around making sure it all flows smoothly (or at least appears to!). We’ve been to some great places: from Nuremberg (Germany) to Bangkok (Thailand), to Philadelphia (USA), Grindelwald (Switzerland), Hong Kong, and this year to London, where we are being hosted by New Scientist Live (the U.K.’s biggest festival of science, technology, ideas, and discovery). It should be a great experience. And next year? Well, I know but I can’t say just yet …
We now have 315 Club members going back to 2010. We try to keep in contact and to know where people are and how their careers have evolved. We have over 60 people who are now in their first independent research positions in academia and close to 80 people who are in industrial research. And, of course, we have a number of people finishing their PhD work and in post-doc positions. I hope that the recognition of being a finalist or a winner of the Reaxys PhD Prize is something that helps people to stand out of the crowd!
SK: David, let’s make a connection from your leadership expertise with the Reaxys PhD Prize to becoming a chair of the CINF Awards Committee in 2016. How come this committee attracted you? Please highlight some non-confidential aspects of the CINF awards and scholarships. CINF has had some irregular success for the Herman Skolnik Award announcements to be published in Chemical & Engineering News. Is there a cost or other obstacle for a division to move up its prestigious award to the ACS national level of recognition? Who is the 2017 winner of the Herman Skolnik Award?
DE: I was invited to join the Awards Committee by one of the former chairs, Phil McHale. Phil had been my boss at MDL, and it was difficult to refuse when he asked! I thought that working on the Awards Committee would be a good way for me to contribute something back towards the Division of Chemical Information. After Phil, Andrea Twiss-Brooks become the chair, and then she twisted my arm into becoming chair. I must admit that I now know that she and Phil made the job of being chair seem effortless, and it is not! I am doing my best to live up to expectations. I am very lucky to have people on the committee who are doing an excellent job, and really ensure that the work of the committee gets done. We meet at every ACS national meeting, on the Saturday afternoon, immediately prior to the CINF Executive Committee meeting. We make decisions on the various Division awards like the Lucille M. Wert Scholarship and Val Metanomski Meritorious Service Award. The Herman Skolnik Award is handled differently as it is judged by a jury made up of the Awards Committee Chair, CINF Division Chair, and Division Chair-Elect.
I must admit I am still working on how best to promote or pitch the Herman Skolnik Awards to Chemical & Engineering News. I’d be happy for any thoughts and ideas from readers!
Am I allowed to announce the 2017 Skolnik Winner? I guess I am as there should be an announcement somewhere else in this bulletin. The 2017 recipient is Prof. Dave Winkler from CSIRO, in Australia, for his seminal contributions to chemical information in the development of optimally sparse, robust machine learning methods for QSAR, and in leading the application of cheminformatics methods to biomaterials, nanomaterials, and regenerative medicine.
SK: In addition to your involvement in recognizing excellence of division members and supporting students, you have been steadily contributing to the CINF technical program over many years. At the Fall 2015 ACS National Meeting you collaborated with Wendy Warr for organizing a full-day CINF symposium “Retrosynthesis, Synthesis Planning, Reaction Prediction: When Will Computers Meet the Needs of the Synthetic Chemist?” and then wrote a summary of it (/node/812) for the Chemical Information Bulletin. Reviewing your presentations1 one may notice that the recent titles imply a sense of direction like in “navigating the sea of scientific information,” “from publishing to recognition,” “moving the standard ever onwards,” “digital transformation: the long and winding road,” “bridging worlds,” “from searching to finding,” “enabling information workflow”. Can you comment on such commonality and a scope of your presentations overall?
DE: I grew up watching Star Trek. It seemed so natural how Kirk et al. could ask the computer a question, and the answer was immediately forthcoming. Sandy Lawson in his Skolnik Award lecture described some of his ideas for an intelligent search (maybe support) assistant. Where is it not just you asking for answers, but the assistant actually knows what is going on, so maybe some analytical results have come in overnight and, based upon the calculated results, something is wrong. Your assistant is able to provide you with some background information, compare the results with others, and assist you to sort out what is going on!
We are a long way from being there, but I hope we’re getting there. A theme that runs through these and other presentations is all the hard work that goes into making that vision a reality. There is an awful lot of hard work that has, and continues to go into understanding customer’s needs, understanding data and its structure, understanding technology (and its limitations), and then there are some really clever people who are working to pull all of this together and make the magic happen.
SK: Let’s continue our conversation about your presentations with a focus on “moving the standard ever onwards” devoted to the InChI, the IUPAC International Chemical Identifier, and the InChI Trust, a U.K.-based charity founded in 2009 in support of the standard’s continued development. You are the current Chairman (2012-2017) elected to the Board of Directors (2010-2017) of the InChI Trust. The ACS Division of Chemical Information became a (non-paying dues) supporter of the InChI Trust promptly after the trust’s establishment and has organized several symposia at ACS national meetings with several reports in the Chemical Information Bulletin written by Keith Taylor (Winter 2015), Carmen Nitsche (Winter 2014; Winter 2011), and Alex Tropsha and Antony Williams (Summer 2012). Can I ask you the same question as in the title of Carmen’s report “What’s Up InChI?” Please discuss some features of the current InChI projects. What are the main activities conducted by the Board of Directors? How do supporting organizations, including yours, help in moving the InChI standard forward?
DE: The InChI Trust was set up in order to provide support for the ongoing maintenance and development of the InChI algorithm. In conjunction with IUPAC, we are also involved in extending the definition of the standard. The Board of Directors oversees the work of the Trust and we try to step in and ensure that things are moving ahead continually. The Trust is supported by some of the largest chemistry publishers, and some of the world’s largest government research institutions, as well as by an amazing group of associate members and supporters: it really is a great group of people to be part of. The InChI is a crucial part of “Internet plumbing” and it is our duty to ensure that it is fit for purpose, helping link together chemistry information all around the Internet world.
There is a lot going on at the moment. The IUPAC working groups are defining InChI standards for large molecules, mixtures, some aspects of complex coordination chemistry and organometallics. There is a group working on creating QR codes for InChIs: you can imagine how this and the mixtures group can really help make a difference in lab safety, where easy retrieval is vital.
A shameless plug here…next year immediately before the Fall ACS National Meeting in Washington, D.C., there will be a three-day meeting focusing on the future directions for the InChI. The NIH is graciously hosting us. Evan Bolton, Steve Heller, and Alan McNaught are developing the agenda and themes as we speak. So, if anyone has any ideas or wants to get involved please let me, Evan, Steve, or Alan know!
SK: Going a few years back in time, you co-authored a CINF talk titled “Beyond the Journal: Innovation in 21st Century Publishing” presented by Martin Tanke at the 2011 Herman Skolnik Award Symposium honoring Alexander Lawson. (A symposium report by Wendy Warr is at: /node/256/.) Are you currently involved in journal publishing at any part? Can you point to some of the prominent technological advances for “smarter content” and added-value functionality links with Reaxys, or other enhancements at the article level in the last five years?
DE: I still regularly work with my colleagues in Elsevier’s journals publishing group, but I am not directly involved in publishing. I think over the last few years we’ve all seen some leaps and bounds in terms of what we can read and do online with journal articles. Some of the molecular viewers, and some of the interlinking between articles and other resources (including Reaxys) are creating a new environment for the reader. There is a great deal of work going on behind the scenes at Elsevier in the areas of smarter content and content enrichment, some of which I and others have spoken about at ACS national meetings. This work to enhance the reader journey is happening not only in the chemistry arena, but also across all of STM. And, of course, Elsevier is not alone in this regard. I think all publishers realize that enabling readers to find more relevant information is crucial. Here is also where initiatives like the InChI, and the work of the InChI Trust and IUPAC, are so important by providing standards.
SK: David, let me conclude our conversation on a personal note. You have lived in many countries: the United Kingdom, United States of America, and Switzerland, and travelled around the world. Are there any favorite places you liked living? Please tell us something about yourself beyond your professional life. Do you have hobbies?
DE: Wow. I am lucky that my job enables me to travel around the world. I get to visit some great places and to meet some great people. I always try to live where I live. I’ve lived in New York, Amsterdam, and Paris, and now I live in a small village in Switzerland. I loved those cities and the city life, but now I live in the countryside, and I love living here. I try to do all the things one can do here and now.
About four years ago my wife and I put all hobbies on hold, and started a new project. The project codename is William. It has pretty much taken over our lives. The project provides us with a sense of purpose, and an awful lot of headaches, but a lot of happiness and joy. We recently released William 4.0 into the local environment, enabling interactions with some other local projects. So far it seems to be going OK.
In addition to school, our son enjoys taking us to the local lake for swimming and ice-cream, cycling around the countryside, and running and running and running. Last winter, we put him on skis for the first time. It is now early September and he is asking when we can go to mountains to ski! I guess you get the idea, we are two very proud parents, who have a wonderful little boy!
SK: Thank you for your great sense of humor and time for this interview. What would be your final words of advice for young scientists wishing to explore alternative careers in chemistry like yours?
DE: Go for it! Science has so many different aspects to it. Take all the opportunities you can, explore many different paths until you find what makes you tick! Don’t be afraid to go for it.
David Evans’s presentations at recent ACS national meetings:
Navigating the sea of scientific information. David Evans, Pieder Caduff, Thibault Géoui, Jürgen Swienty-Busch. 144-CINF, spring 2015. Slides /PDFs/251nm/2016_spring_CINF_144.pdf
From publishing to recognition - indexing literature for natural products. David Evans, Pieder Caduff, Jürgen Swienty-Busch. 2-CINF, fall 2014.
Moving the standard ever onwards: The role of the InChI Trust in supporting and developing the InChI. David Evans. 31-CINF, fall 2014.
Digital transformation - the long and winding road. David Evans, Pieder Caduff, Jürgen Swienty-Busch. 90-CINF, fall 2014.
Bridging worlds: Speaking multiple scientific languages. Jessica Peterson, Pieder Caduff, David Evans, Jürgen Swienty-Busch.1-CINF, spring 2014.
From searching to finding: New developments for managing large data sets. Jürgen Swienty-Busch, David Evans. 67-CINF, spring 2014.
Enabling the translational medicine and drug discovery information workflow. David Evans, Timothy Hoctor, Jacqui Mason, Pieder Caduff. 61-CINF, fall 2013.
Reaxys as an information resource for food chemistry. David Evans, Jürgen Swienty-Busch. 49-CINF, spring 2013.
Chemical science that underpins the Reaxys database. Jürgen Swienty-Busch, Pieder Caduff, David Evans. 92-CINF, spring 2013.
Helping you make the right choices for your next synthetic route! Jürgen Swienty-Busch, David Evans. 92-CINF, spring 2012.
InChI here, InChI there, InChIs everywhere. Jürgen Swienty-Busch, David Evans.105-CINF, spring 2012.
Useful and fun chemistry on the go. David Evans, Pieder Caduff. 14-CINF, fall 2011.
Beyond the journal: Innovation in 21st century publishing. Martin Tanke, Rafael Sidi, David Evans, Philippe Terheggen. 22-CINF, fall 2011.
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