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UNVFT Success Stories
The Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK) is a non-governmental organization focussed on creating a world where refugees and other forced migrants can live in dignity and enjoy their rights. RCK does this through provision of legal aid and psychosocial support, advocacy and awareness creation. In 2016 RCK received a grant from the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (UNVFVT). With this grant RCK was able to reach out to clients that have suffered torture in form or another. Below are stories that highlight some of the success RCK has had in the provision of psychosocial support.
Case Profile 1 (Nairobi)
Ahmed* (not his real name) fled his country of origin Ethiopia in January 2010 due to political persecution by the Ethiopian government. Prior to flight, Ahmed was detained and tortured by the Ethiopian soldiers on several occasions on allegations of being a supporter and financier of Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). While in Ethiopia, the client was arrested at night and taken to Dakar military camp where he was tortured; the soldiers kept him awake for 12 hours and occasionally poured frozen water on him. He was also beaten with a rubber cane and was forced to walk on sharp stones. When Ahmed found an opportune time, he escaped and fled in the year 2010. He travelled by bus from Harar to Dire Dawa and then to Addis Ababa. He then proceeded to Moyale and crossed the border on foot. From there he travelled by lorry to Nairobi. He presented himself to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for registration and was registered and issued with an asylum pass.
In 2014, the government of Kenya initiated an operation dubbed Usalama Watch. In this operation, Ahmed and other urban refugees were rounded up and detained for one and a half months. During the detention period, government officials were verifying the identities of urban refugees to be
transported to the camps. Ahmed was almost deported to Somalia after being erroneously identified as a Somali migrant that was unlawfully in Kenya. Ahmed was eventually released by the authorities but the trauma inflicted both in the country of origin and asylum still stuck with him.
To address his traumatic experience, Ahmed was taken through 5 counselling sessions by the Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK) psychosocial counsellor. The sessions were initiated to assist Ahmed cope with the traumatic experiences of detention and torture. During the counselling sessions, the client shared how his past had haunted him to an extent of not having conjugal rights with his wife. His wife – who accompanied him to the sessions – shared that she contemplated divorce owing to this issue. She felt that their relationship was more of brother-sister than that of a wife-husband. She shared how her husband would make funny sounds at night, cry while shouting and woke up sweating and horrified. The counsellor pointed out that this was a result of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occasioned by the physical and psychological torture he had faced in Ethiopia coupled with the detention he faced in Kenya. By the fourth counselling session the client had come to terms with the issues he had faced and the nightmares were reducing in frequency. He also started interacting more and communicating better with his wife and was now more caring and concerned about her wellbeing.
RCK counsellor with a client (across her) and on the left is an RCK interpreter
The couple now has one child and during termination session (last counselling session) the wife shared that they were planning to bear more children. RCK fast tracked their asylum claim and they were able to obtain a mandate (be recognized as refugees by UNHCR). Their case was also profiled and shared with UNHCR for a durable solution. Currently they are awaiting resettlement to USA as a survivor of torture.
Ahmed transformation has been made possible by the generous support of organizations such as the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. Through psychosocial support, Ahmed was able to develop coping mechanism for the trauma and thereby able to function normally in society. Before engaging with the RCK psychosocial counsellor, his marriage was on the verge of collapse. However after the interactions with the counsellor through the sessions, Ahmed is able to live a happier and healthier life as evidenced by the growth of his family. The RCK legal officers facilitated issuance of his identification document with the relevant agency. In addition, the legal officers supported Ahmed to lodge a resettlement case which is being processed.
While in Ethiopia, Fatuma’s* (not her real name) father was working with the government as a police commissioner. Her father was however accused of cooperating with and working for the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). The harassment and persecution by the government became too much and as a result Fatuma’s father fled for his safety. When her father fled, the government troops redirected their persecution towards her mother. This continued until the mother also had to flee. During that time, Fatuma was still a child, hence her mother decided to leave her with her grandfather who took care of her until she finished college and graduated as a teacher.
Fatuma was employed as a teacher at a school in Addis Ababa. A year into her job, the students in the school demonstrated against the then school administration. The following day, on 5th April 2014, Fatuma returned to work as usual but as she was in class, the Director of the school summoned her to the staff room where she was handcuffed by government soldiers and taken for questioning at a police camp. The government soldiers accused her of organizing the school demonstration and further accused her of supporting OLF. She was later informed that her arrest was connected to her father’s disappearance. Fatuma was severely tortured while in detention at the police camp. She was raped by five different soldiers, had cold water poured on her, and was electrocuted. She was held in detention for 6 months and kept in darkness for several days. She was finally released on 15th October 2014.
Fatuma – fearing re-arrest and detention – decided to flee from Ethiopia. Her uncle gave her money to flee. She travelled to Addis Ababa where she met her sister who had also fled on facing similar persecution. They both travelled by bus to Shashamane then to Dilla and finally to Moyale, Ethiopia. In Moyale, Ethiopia they met a Borana lady that understood their language who advised them to run into Kenya. The lady directed them to people who helped them to cross into Moyale, Kenya. From Moyale, Kenya, they travelled straight to Nairobi.
When Fatuma and her sister reached Nairobi they settled at Mlango Kubwa. Her sister had money to meet their basic needs including rent but it ran out after 2 months. They had to search for employment in order meet their needs. Her sister secured employment and shifted residence while Fatuma was employed as a house help and moved in with her employer. One month later, her sister stopped communicating with her, her phone was also out of service. Fatuma decided to inquire about her whereabouts at her work place. She was informed that her sister had not reported to work forone week and neither had she communicated to anyone on her absenteeism. She concluded that her sister had been abducted by the people enquiring on her father since they would make numerous phone calls to her (sister) threatening to abduct her if she did not confess on her father’s whereabouts. She reported the disappearance of her sister to UNHCR who referred her to RCK.
During the 1st and 2nd counselling session by RCK counsellors, it was observed that Fatuma was hopeless and felt unworthy having been raped in her Country of Origin (CoO). Her feelings of vulnerability to further rape heightened after her sister’s disappearance. She felt that her last option was to commit suicide. Fatuma shared how she had a well laid plan to commit suicide which was especially triggered by the challenges she was facing with her employer and flashback from the rape incident she had undergone in her CoO. Fatuma further shared that it was by mere chance that she had not committed suicide before receiving psychosocial assistance. That she had this driving force / strong urge of reporting the disappearance of her sister to UNHCR who then referred her to RCK. RCK legal officer advised her to report the disappearance of her sister to Red Cross before referring
her to RCK officer for counselling services; the client had also presented stress symptoms while reporting the disappearance of her sister.
During her 3rd and 4th counselling session, the client continued to share with the counsellor other challenges she was facing while working for her employer. She narrated how she was allocated sleeping space in the kitchen and her employer’s eldest son often made proposal of wanting to have a sexual relationship with her. Fatuma claimed that she had refused his proposal since she still had fresh memories of her rape incident in Ethiopia, which made her hate men. She shared that four days earlier at midnight; he had sneaked into the kitchen where she slept and had attempted to rape her. She screamed and his mother came and found out what had happened. Fatuma explained to her that her son had tried to rape her but instead of warning her son; she started accusing Fatuma of wanting to spoil her family and her son’s name. She started beating and threatening to kill her if she reported the incident to anyone including her husband. Fatuma was traumatized because of this incident and feared that the son would succeed next time since the mother had done nothing about it.
It was also assessed that besides the client presenting psychological problem she also needed social and livelihood assistance for a holistic support and ultimately to benefit from counselling support. The client was also at risk of staying with her employer since she was more prone to sexual and physical abuse. Fatuma did not want to file charges for the attempted rape since she did not want any form of contact with the employer’s family despite the legal advice she received from a legal officer at RCK. She was referred to IRC where she made an application for 6 months internship for a tutor position and since she had teaching skills her application was successful. She was receiving a monthly stipend for her work and this enabled her to shift to her own residence. On winding up her internship, she secured employed at a local college which enables her to cater for her basic needs.
During the termination session (last counselling session) the client was grateful that now she had overcome her stress and had started viewing life in a positive perspective. She is also engaged and soon will be wedding an Oromo man from her clan. She seems to be more content and appreciated being a Kenyan refugee though she claimed that she did not mind securing resettlement as life in the 3rd country is much better.
RCK counsellor with a client and in the middle is the RCK interpreter
Group therapy session with other survivor of torture
Case Profile 3 (Dadaab)
*Ismail (Not his real name) a survivor of torture came to Kenya in the year 2004 after fleeing from his country, Ethiopia. He had been through the most painful and terrifying experience of his life. In June 2003, Ismail was arrested by the Ethiopian military on accusation of being a member of Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).2 He was detained in Moyale military camp where he was tortured by being beating brutally beaten, threatened with death, and his limbs chained together for days. This left him both physically and mentally wounded.
Ismail was transferred to Yebello prison after two months at Moyale military camp. He was detained for six months and later presented in court to answer to charges of being an OLF member. He was released and warned against participating in any OLF activities. On release, his life continued being threatened and he was under regular military watch. Due to his life being in danger, he fled his country to Kenya through the Moyale border point and arrived in Dadaab refugee camp.
He was withdrawn, felt hopeless, dejected and bitter and had difficulties adapting to the camp life as well as trusting people. This greatly affected his well-being. He had no friends and spent most of his time in isolation, worried and stressed about his safety. His neighbour who was a former counselling beneficiary of the Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK) identified that Ismail was not well and required help. He referred and accompanied him to RCK for assistance.
He was offered legal advice by RCK’s legal officer on his rights as a refugee as well as profiled and assisted in acquiring a legal status in the country. His Refugee Status Determination (RSD) was successful and he became a recognized refugee. With the help of the psychosocial counsellors, Ismail also underwent six individual counselling sessions as well as two group therapy sessions with other torture survivors to enable him cope with the trauma through group support system.
After the counselling sessions, Ismail demonstrated improved coping skills through speaking up/ sharing his story and encouraging other survivors in the community as well as identifying torture survivors in the community and referring them to RCK for specialized counselling support.
Following the work he had been doing in the community in assisting and profiling survivors of torture for assistance, Ismail was recruited to work with RCK as a Community Based Counsellor (CBC) in the camp in 2014 under the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (UNVFVT) project. He was trained on offering basic counselling skills and his main responsibilities are to identify and offer basic counselling to survivors of torture in the camp as well as refer them to RCK for follow up counselling. He has continuously performed his duties diligently and won trust of the community. He also acts as a role model to other survivors and as a source of inspiration to those who feel hopeless. In August, Ismail also represented his community at the annual forced migration course organized by RCK in Nairobi and actively shared about the challenges refugees face.
Ismail is an example of the pain and suffering that survivors of torture go through and the odds they have to overcome. Before Ismael received psychosocial support, he could not work as he felt dejected and hopeless owing to the trauma he went through. His story is reminiscent to other stories of refugees coming from situations of violence and persecution. His story underscores the importance of psychosocial support for torture survivors which enables them move past the trauma and lead meaningful lives.
Survivors of torture during a group therapy session
Children facing different forms of discrimination in the community undergoing a counselling session through art therapy
A group of RCK beneficiaries arriving at a Dadaab police station to make an incident report in a case that RCK was providing legal support
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All soul's trilogy. Headline, 2018. ISBN 9780399564512.
(Ages: 16+) Recommended. Themes: Vampire/Historical fiction. Marcus MacNeil is a centuries-old vampire who was made during the time of the American revolution. This novelis split between Marcus's memories of the past in 18th century America and his presence in the 21st century with his lover Phoebe as she begins to make the transformation from human to vampire. He relives his own trials and turmoils and ultimately discovers what family truly means to him and to those he holds dear.
The characters of Time's convert were authentic to what time frame they were set in and felt realistic and likeable as they acted in ways that were true to what the novel painted them to be e.g. the mentor or the villain. Since many of the characters in this story were vampires the reader was able to see their attitudes and beliefs from a much older time and how these ideas conflicted with modern times. It was satisfying to see how the characters' relationships with each other grow and their thinking shifts to fit with the modern age as the experiences they endure shape them to be wiser and more mature or the opposite. In turn, the reader's relationship grows deeper as we see them struggle and overcome challenges which give us a feeling of being connected to Marcus and Phoebe.
The tone of the novel reads as a diary as Marcus tells us personally the challenges and triumphs he faced as a newly made vampire and Diana's a new mother and then Phoebes a newly made vampire in the 21st century. This creates a feeling of closeness with Marcus as we watch him essentially grow up in front of our eyes. The reader ends up caring deeply about what happens to Marcus and the people he holds dear in the story. The switching point of views in the story was an interesting a much-needed addition as we can see the thoughts, feelings and trails of Diana, Phoebe and Marcus through their own eyes. This was an effective way of driving the message of the story about the meaning of family dynamics and maternal relationships whilst also making it clear to the reader as each character's experience is different and thus the reader can look at the overarching theme from many angles.
The dialogue of Time's convert sounded extremely authentic for the 18th century and modern day. This made it easy for the reader to imagine what life was like in the different time frames and feel more fully immersed in the story itself. Another contributing factor to the story's allure was that each character had a distinctive voice which showed rather than told the reader the age, personality or even what religion the character was. This helped in not only making the characters more memorable but also aided in creating connections with the reader.
Amy Folker (Year 11 student)
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Vicente Fox Threatens "Illegitimate President" Trump: Mexico Will Defend Our People "Wherever They Are"
On Date November 16, 2016
Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico, shares his take on President-elect Donald Trump, and his threat to U.S.-Mexico relations. He says Trump is an "illegitimate president" who "didn't win the general election." Presumably, Fox is referring to the popular vote when he says "general election."
"He's got too many people against him and they have shown out on the street," Fox said.
He continued: "But anyway, in Mexico, we can be rude also. We are strong now. We're going to defend our people wherever they are. Inside Mexico, or outside Mexico in the United States. We're not going to let this guy to offend them anymore. To offend the dignity, and to deny the enormous contribution they make to the U.S. economy."
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Vicente Fox: "Gringo Feo" Donald Trump Doesn't Even Know China's Great Wall Failed; "The Mongols Conquered China!"
Related Topics: Donald Trump, Vicente Fox
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The future is retro: could your old tech be worth a fortune?
Published: 06:00 Sunday 08 January 2017
While shiny new PlayStation 4 Slims and Xbox One S games consoles are likely to be high up on the wish lists of many this Christmas, others would like nothing more than to slip back in time to the golden age of video games, between the late 70s and early 90s.
Our affection for blocky, 8-bit graphics never really went away, it would seem, attested to the fact you can’t find this year’s most-wanted present, the remastered Nintendo NES Mini Classic – complete with 30 games, for love nor money, and positively ancient computers regularly trade hands for thousands of pounds.
An old Apple Mac Computer
In an age when technology has never been more advanced or graphics more realistic, who are the people shunning the glamour and convenience of the present to delve deep into the early days of computing?
Though nostalgia and sentimentality undoubtedly plays a large part, the use of old hardware in modern times, known as retrocomputing, is also driven by the fascination of people too young to have used it in the first place. Ironically, the internet has been a major facilitator in bringing fans of a bygone age together.
“There’s an enormous grassroots community for retro computing online, and there are lots of forums for all the different platforms, including Reddit, and specialist websites like Den of Geek,” says Chris Green, former editor of Computing magazine and collector of computing paraphernalia.
“Gaming back in the 70s, 80s and 90s was very fun and pioneering, it was more challenging. There’s much less choice now with modern consoles, and people tend to hang on to them for much longer, so there’s less innovation. I’ve had much more fun playing Sensible Soccer than I ever did playing the newest FIFA release.”
Mr Green, 40, scours eBay and car boot sales for old consoles and computers, the vast majority of which are in perfect working condition, he says. So extensive is his collection, he has donated Amstrad PCs and Sinclair ZX Spectrum computers to the Computer History Museum in California, which houses the largest collection of computing artefacts in the world.
For a passionate collector, finding a never-opened, boxed product is the ultimate goal. Mr Green dreams of getting his hands on a working Commodore 65 computer, a short-lived version of the 1982 Commodore 64 computer with a built-in disc drive.
However, the desire to keep it as it was the day it was packaged would prevent him from opening it up, he says. “A lot of the mystique disappears the second you crack the box,” he laments.
“As much as you wanna rip it open and play it, you don’t want to take it away from being factory fresh.”
It’s not just the hardcore gamers and computing collectors getting in on the act, either. Older devices have become status symbols and talking points in the home too, says Kate Beavis, author of Style Your Modern Vintage Home, who also sells her vintage finds.
“Six years ago, old technology was being bought mainly by IT city boy collectors who loved their nostalgic gadgets – we sold a Sinclair ZX Spectrum back in 2009 for £250, which felt like a lot at the time. They’re now selling for £500.
“Since then there has been a move towards more generalists buying into the tech they played with when they were young to pass on to our kids at a time when they are heavily influenced by the newest iPhone.”
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This general revival in interest for retro tech has spread into a trend for replicas, particularly for GPO rotary dial phones and record players in vintage-looking cases, and the recent uptick in vinyl sales, she adds.
The trend has also birthed numerous bizarre accessories dedicated to transforming current tablets and smartphones into twee relics, including an iPod boombox, USB-powered wireless typewriters for use with an iPad and a gramophone for iPhones. Liberty Games, which sells arcade machines and multi-game cabinets, has seen a boost in sales recently, while visitor numbers to Britain’s Museum of Computing in Swindon – which houses many computers, calculators, consoles and their packaging – have doubled in the past year, according to curator Simon Webb.
The fact that retro computers and games consoles are getting harder and more expensive to get hold of as the years go by is a large part of their appeal, he suggests. As the iPhone turns 10 in 2017, heralding a decade of touchscreen smartphones, it won’t be that long before the phone in your pocket becomes another relic in a museum. You never know, it might even make you some money.
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All Rights ReservedView Non-AMP Version
Categories: Home2News
Trump birth control rule ignores science
The Trump administration’s new birth control rule is raising questions among some doctors and researchers, who say it overlooks known benefits of contraception while selectively citing data that raise doubts about effectiveness and safety.
“This rule is listing things that are not scientifically validated, and in some cases things that are wrong, to try to justify a decision that is not in the best interests of women and society,” said Dr. Hal Lawrence, CEO of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a professional society representing women’s health specialists.
Two recently issued rules — one addressing religious objections and the other, moral objections — allow more employers to opt out of covering birth control as a preventive benefit for women under the Obama health care law. Although the regulations ultimately address matters of individual conscience and religious teaching, they also dive into medical research and scholarly studies on birth control.
It’s on the science that researchers are questioning the Trump administration. They say officials ignored some recent research and stretched other studies.
“The interpretation is very selective in terms of the science that they use,” said Alina Salganicoff, director of women’s health policy at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. “It’s always possible to find one study that validates your claim, but you have to look at the quality of the study and the totality of the research. You can make an argument that you don’t agree because of your religious or moral objections, but that is a different discussion.”
In a statement, Health and Human Services Department spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley responded to critics, saying: “The rules are focused on guaranteeing religious freedom and conscience protections for those Americans who have a religious or moral objection to providing certain services based on their sincerely held beliefs.”
The administration also says some parts of the rules are meant to illustrate the sorts of concerns that religious objectors may have, and don’t necessarily reflect government policy.
Here’s a look at examples from the Trump administration’s birth control rules that are raising questions:
THE MORNING-AFTER PILL
Emergency contraception is birth control for use after unprotected sex, often called the “morning-after pill.”
Referring to the morning-after pill as well as intrauterine devices or IUDs, the regulations state that the Food and Drug Administration “includes in the category of ‘contraceptives’ certain drugs and devices that may not only prevent conception (fertilization), but also may prevent implantation of an embryo.”
Because of that, “many persons and organizations” believe emergency contraception methods cause “early abortion,” the regulations add.
But Princeton researcher James Trussell said that while studies years ago suggested the morning-after pill might affect the lining of a woman’s uterus and interfere with the implantation of a fertilized egg, more recent studies have not found such an effect.
“The preponderance of the evidence, and certainly the most recent evidence, is that there is no post-fertilization effect,” said Trussell.
That’s not included in the administration’s rule.
“The actual medical evidence is that it blocks ovulation,” or the release of an egg from the ovaries, explained Lawrence, the ob-gyn. “If you don’t ovulate, there is no egg to get fertilized. It’s not blocking implantation.”
EFFECTIVENESS OF BIRTH CONTROL
The Trump administration’s rule takes issue with the science behind the Obama-era decision to require most employers to cover birth control as preventive care.
It suggests that some studies cited in a key 2011 report did not show a direct cause-and-effect link between increased birth control use by women and a decline in unintended pregnancy.
But Adam Sonfield of the Guttmacher Institute said solid research does in fact exist. The organization does studies on reproductive health that are cited by opposing sides in the political debate.
For example, Sonfield cited a Guttmacher report which found that women who used birth control consistently year-round accounted for only 5 per cent of unintended pregnancies in 2008.
“The vast majority of women use birth control at some point in their lives,” said Sonfield. “As a medical service, it’s far more universal than almost anything covered by insurance.”
George Washington University public health professor Susan Wood, a former women’s health chief for the FDA, said there’s very clear clinical data that contraception prevents pregnancy. Why else would the FDA approve birth control pills?
“They are just using this as a smoke screen,” Wood said of the administration. “They are picking out things that they like, and leaving out (studies) that support access to contraception.”
THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION
The Trump administration’s rule suggests there may be a link between birth control and promiscuity.
It cites a study finding that between 1960 and 1990, “as contraceptive use increased, teen sexual activity outside of marriage likewise increased.” (The administration added a caveat that the study did not prove a cause-and-effect link.)
Lawrence, the ob-gyn, said he thinks that’s a stretch.
“There were a whole lot of other things going on in the ’60s,” he said, such as changing social mores about sex before marriage. Also, many people relied on condoms, diaphragms and spermicides.
“The world of birth control in 2018 is about as similar to the world of birth control in 1960 as a Ralph Nader Chevy Corvair is to a space shuttle,” he said.
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, The Associated Press
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A fashionable ode to the sea to be hosted in Victoria
Local sustainable fashion retailers to strut their stuff on Friday
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The New York Times best-sellers
Hardcover Fiction
1. "Under the Dome" by Stephen King
2. "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown
3. "Ford County" by John Grisham
4. "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
5. "The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver
6. "The Gathering Storm" by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
7. "True Blue" by David Baldacci
8. "Ice" by Linda Howard
9. "Kindred in Death" by J. D. Robb
10. "Pursuit of Honor" by Vince Flynn
Hardcover Nonfiction
1. "Open" by Andre Agassi
2. "Have a Little Faith" by Mitch Albom
3. "A Simple Christmas" by Mike Huckabee
4. "Superfreakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
5. "What the Dog Saw" by Malcolm Gladwell
6. "Arguing with Idiots" written and edited by Glenn Beck, Kevin Balfe and others
7. "Last Words" by George Carlin with Tony Hendra
8. "The Book of Basketball" by Bill Simmons
9. "Too Big to Fail" by Andrew Ross Sorkin
10. "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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The G20 in Osaka: all quiet on the Eastern front
GORIMON / Flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0
Florian Horn , 02.07.2019
All is not well with the G20, which lacks democratic legitimacy, is hopelessly divided and is also losing its political influence. The main reason for this is the conflict between the US and China, the EU and the rest of the world. So how should we interpret the predictably surprising outcomes of the meeting of G20 leaders in Osaka, Japan, with respect to the role played by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), US trade wars and EU strategy?
In the run-up to the G20 summit, most of the mainstream media predicted another battle in the US trade war against the rest of the world. The focus of these fears was President Trump's 'America First' policy, which seeks to put paid to 'multilateralism' in international trade policy. Yet once again, that is not what happened. Trump remains true to what we have come to expect: an unpredictable, uncompromising businessman and deal maker. Just a few weeks previously he had announced that the trade dispute with China was a national emergency and imposed sanctions on the Chinese telecommunications supplier Huawei. So it came as a big surprise when a turnaround in the trade dispute was announced in Osaka. There was talk of a truce, with negotiations supposedly now set to resume in the improved atmosphere. Cue jubilation on the trading floor, with stockbrokers jumping for joy and share prices leaping – largely overlooking the persistent downturn in global manufacturing.
Meanwhile, the WTO continues to languish. The Osaka leaders' declaration again advocated reform, raised the problems associated with the WTO dispute settlement system (which, due to the US's refusal to appoint new arbitrators, is on the verge of functional incapacity), and expressed the usual shared commitment to make as much progress as possible on all these issues. However, it still remains unclear what interests the parties to the conflict in the international trade war are pursuing with a WTO reform, precisely because each of them has their own opinion of what 'fair' or 'equitable' trade actually means. Accordingly, for now, multilateralism in its present form is no longer in crisis, though it does remain one of the causes of the present slump. Why? Because the WTO has never been an organisation aimed at regulating international trade for the benefit of the many through negotiations based on solidarity and a level playing field. Rather, it is an agent of liberalisation in which powerful players are striving to impose their free-trade ideology on the whole world.
Trump's partial break with the WTO continues a trend, albeit in a more radical form and at a brisker pace, that began before Obama and is unlikely to undergo fundamental change even when Trump is no longer president. The reason for this is that WTO multilateralism, being governed by consent rules, does not deliver what its neo-liberal US clientele expects, namely comprehensive economic liberalisation driven by US interests. So Trump's 'America First' strategy should be seen in terms of continuity in US policy, albeit without losing sight of deeper reasons rooted in the now distant past, such as the structural US trade deficit. Whenever there is the prospect of a promising bilateral deal, as opposed to a 'lame' WTO, Trump offers such an agreement (an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth). Another thing he does is fuel conflicts, for example with the EU, which he has threatened with customs tariffs on cars, citing national security interests. Elsewhere, especially in a digital commerce context, he seems more inclined to rely on multilateralism, trying to overcome the blockade in the WTO by forming a kind of 'coalition of the willing'. The aim of the game is to prevent both the taxation of electronically traded goods and services and forced data localisation, thereby denying national governments the right to hold data on their citizens. The backdrop to this is the fact that the business models of the 'four horsemen of the Apocalypse' (Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple) hinge on unrestricted access to user data worldwide. In principle, Trump's trade policy agenda is true to his election campaign pledge: to negotiate "the best deals ever" for US corporations. And there is little prospect of this changing, bearing in mind the recent launch of his re-election campaign.
Meanwhile, the European Union is endeavouring to secure and consolidate its own position in the trade war by placing the focus on multilateralism. Despite this, the announcement at the Osaka summit that the EU had concluded a free trade agreement with the Mercosur countries (excluding Venezuela, whose membership has been suspended) came as a surprise. By clinching such deals, the EU is trying to salvage whatever it can from the strategy of concluding "deep and comprehensive trade agreements", which deeply impinge on the national powers of the negotiating partners. In so doing, with the looming impending failure of Osaka, the EU sent a signal to the US that the Europe is capable of going it alone. Ultimately, such a signal was masked by other ongoing conflicts, such as those between the US and Iran (the nuclear deal), the conflict with Russia, but also the 'TTIP lite' negotiations with the US, in which Trump pressured the EU into buying US liquid petroleum gas (LPG).
By the same token, the conclusion of the negotiations on the EU-Mercosur agreement is feted as a great success in defending multilateralism against the threat of Trump-style protectionism. No mention is made of the fact that this agreement constitutes the continuation of a misguided economic and trade policy, which – while ostensibly flying the flag for free trade – effectively sees big corporations emerge as the winners, at the expense of third countries. Another thing the EU fails to mention is the calamitous human rights record in Brazil and its consequences for the Mercosur agreement, which does, after all, include a clause on human rights . So why not stop the deal's ratification right now, instead of suspending it later because of human rights violations?
The Mercosur agreement now awaits ratification by the member states of both economic areas, after formal legal scrutiny. So there is still a chance to block this agreement. However, this will require mobilisation on a scale similar to that which opposed the deals with Canada (CETA) and the United States (TTIP). As with the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) concluded with ACP countries (in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific), fighting the Mercosur agreement threatens to become a cause taken up by just a few dedicated organisations led by the guiding principle of solidarity in international trade. That said, since the major mobilisation against TTIP, many networks critical of globalisation have consolidated their position, so foundations have been laid for a common strategy aimed at preventing the EU-Mercosur agreement. And the focus can now switch to getting serious and enlisting widespread public support.
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Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing & Allied Health
Pharmaceutical Medicine
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Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics
Drugs That Changed the World
How Therapeutic Agents Shaped Our Lives, 1st Edition
By Irwin W. Sherman
Drugs are used in the diagnosis, alleviation, treatment, prevention or cure of disease. This is a book about drugs, how they came to be, and how they exert their ‘magic’. Today we have drugs to protect against infectious diseases, to alleviate aches and pains, to allow new organs to replace the old…
Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) in Trauma and Disease
By Stanley W. Jacob, Jack C. de la Torre
First isolated as a chemical compound by a Russian chemist in 1866, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) proved to be a near-perfect solvent for decades before its remarkable biological and medical activities were discovered. DMSO is one of the most prodigious agents ever to come out of the world of drug…
Advances in the Neuroscience of Addiction
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Understanding the phenomenon of long-lasting vulnerability to addiction is essential to developing successful treatments. Written by an international team of authorities in their respective fields, Advances in the Neuroscience of Addiction provides an excellent overview of the available…
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For drugs with a narrow therapeutic index, therapeutic drug monitoring methods are essential for patient management. Although immunoassays are commercially available for many drugs and most laboratories use these assays for routine therapeutic monitoring, they have many limitations which hinder…
Mechanical Reperfusion for STEMI
From Randomized Trials to Clinical Practice, 1st Edition
Edited by Giuseppe De Luca, Alexandra Lansky
As a leading cause of death in developed countries, ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and its various treatment options are of great concern to those in the cardiology field. This text presents evidence-based chapters that supply clinicians with real-life situations and strategies to treat…
Informal Norms in Global Governance
Human Rights, Intellectual Property Rules and Access to Medicines, 1st Edition
By Wolfgang Hein, Suerie Moon
Hein and Moon take up a serious problem of contemporary global governance: what can be done when international trade rules prevent the realization of basic human rights? Starting in the 1990s, intellectual property obligations in trade agreements required many developing countries to begin granting…
1Series in Pharmaceutical Medicine
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Category Archives: Sidney Blackmer
1941, Don Ameche, Donald Meek, Gordon Jones, Grant Mitchell, Henry Daniell, kay francis, Reviews, Sidney Blackmer, The Feminine Touch, Van Heflin
The Feminine Touch (1941)
July 2, 2014 des 4 Comments
Rosalind Russell on the set of The Feminine Touch (1941)
In The Feminine Touch, Rosalind Russell plays a character with a lower IQ than her usual character. Although she is a great actress and I think she can do anything she puts her mind to, I find it difficult to believe she could ever really be this dense. Roz simply belongs in smart, witty roles. She was intelligent and funny as hell in real life and so she really sparkles in similar roles. However, in spite of this dumb character (not to mention the smart Kay Francis character that I am almost jealous of because Roz wasn’t her), it is a very funny movie. If you like the silly, the sometimes ridiculous, or even physical comedy, please do watch it! Rosalind was simply gorgeous in this movie as well. I loved her outfits and hats, even if she was saying things like “Oh, I wouldn’t inhibit you, even if I was sure what that meant” while wearing them. She exhibits physical comedy here and there and it is enjoyable just for that. She gets great support from her co-stars Don Ameche, Kay Francis and Van Heflin. It was directed by W. S. “Woody” Van Dyke, who also directed four of The Thin Man movies.
Don Ameche, Rosalind Russell and Kay Francis in The Feminine Touch (1941)
John Hathaway (Don Ameche) is an intelligent professor at Digby College, a college that is full of goof-offs much more interested in football than in academics. This, naturally, infuriates him so he enjoys making jokes about his students’ lack of smarts and their beards. All of them have beards (it’s a mens’ college) because if their football team doesn’t beat the rival team at Laurel College, they will not shave. There is one stupid student in particular named “Rubber Legs” Ryan (Gordon Jones, the same actor who plays “Wreck” in My Sister Eileen the very next year) that John likes to pick on. John catches him carving his wife Julie’s initials in his desk surrounded by a heart. He obviously has a crush on Julie and John has no problem with this.
Don Ameche, Rosalind Russell, Van Heflin and Kay Francis in The Feminine Touch (1941)
When John has to stay late to talk to the dean of the college and Rubber Legs overhears this, he drives to the train station to pick up Julie, who had been on vacation. Dean Hutchinson (Grant Mitchell) informs John that he must give Rubber Legs an examination and if he fails, he won’t be able to play on the football team and that is obviously dire news for a college like Digby. John says that he’ll try to give him a test that is “one syllable, no writing, and short.” Meanwhile, as Rubber Legs is driving Julie Hathaway (Rosalind Russell) home, he tries his own methods of making a pass at her. When he puts his arm around her as he says, “Aw, heck, I don’t need no practice,” she immediately pulls his arm away while retorting “Aw, heck… neither do I.”
Don Ameche and Rosalind Russell in The Feminine Touch (1941)
When Julie arrives home, John is already home, clacking away at the typewriter. He has been working on a book for many months now called Jealousy and All Its Aspects and Universal Applications, a title that Julie always gets wrong, even though she is married to the author. They are happy to see each other again, but it doesn’t take long before conflict arises. John doesn’t believe jealousy exists in happy marriages, including his own. However, from Julie’s perspective, she feels he should be jealous and is not flattered when he isn’t. This comes out when he mentions that Rubber Legs is smitten with Julie, but he didn’t do anything to Rubber Legs out of anger. He does not feel a bit jealous and Julie is insulted.
She pretends that she had been dancing every night back home (visiting her mother) and keeps bringing up the name of Bob Jordan, the man she was engaged to before she met John. Of course, John has no recollection of Bob Jordan, which irritates her. She tells him that Bob is jealous of John and would kill him if he met him. She yells out, “He’s jealous because he loves me!” Bob replies, “The one has nothing to do with the other. If you go back far enough, you’ll see we all lived in trees and threw coconuts at each other” and there is no need to go back to those times. This infuriates her and tells him she wants to beat him and throw coconuts at him. She tries to hit him, but hilariously misses as she sinks to the floor awkwardly. This is just a taste of the physical comedy I mentioned earlier, something I think Rosalind was quite adept at.
Kay Francis, Don Ameche and Rosalind Russell in The Feminine Touch (1941)
The next day, John gives Rubber Legs the aforementioned examination. It is really dumbed down for him (which in reality is unfair, but it’s obvious John is beginning to hate his job there). After asking him a few questions like “What do you see on this table?” and “What is this?” while holding up a simple object, Rubber legs complains “I got a headache!” “Somebody kick you in the head?” John asks. “No, I got it from thinking. Thinking always gives me a headache,” Rubber Legs replies. “That’s from using muscles you’ve never used before,” John jokes (but not really). When the dean backs up Rubber Legs by saying he shouldn’t have to take the exam because his head hurts, John goes into a rant and ends up quitting the college. So he and Julie move to New York City to pursue his dream…
John has hopes of publishing his book and has his draft ready to show to the publishing houses. As they have breakfast, ready to tackle the Elliott Morgan Publishing House, it is obvious that while John has book smarts, he doesn’t have street smarts or common sense. For example, Julie always has to tell him when he should drink his coffee because if she doesn’t, he’ll burn his mouth every time. Every. Single. Time. At the Elliott Morgan Publishing House, we first meet Nellie Woods (Kay Francis), a no-nonsense, tell-‘em-like-it-is, very smart woman who works there.
Rosalind Russell in The Feminine Touch (1941)
It isn’t long before the audience gathers that she runs the entire company and Elliott doesn’t do much of anything. Something I always giggle at is the fact that Kay Francis stands a bit taller than Rosalind does. It is not common to see another actress in a film taller than Roz and I love it! Julie doesn’t have a very high opinion of Nellie when she first meets her. She feels insecure about her own intelligence compared to Nellie’s and seems jealous that Nellie will be talking to her husband alone. After they go into her office, we meet the infamous Elliott Morgan (Van Heflin), who has been locked into his office by Nellie. He persuades Julie, who is the only one in the waiting room, to let him out and she does. As soon as she sees Julie, he is quite taken with her. He is very neurotic, always complaining of having psychological ailments. When the four of them are in the same room again, they talk about going outside and Elliott says, “I’m allergic to grass.” And Nellie replies, “And fresh air… and me.” Julie can tell Nellie is in love with Elliott, in spite of his lack of attention to her. But they already fight like married people.
Rosalind Russell and Van Heflin in The Feminine Touch (1941)
Later that night, they all attend a literary “tea” given at Elliott’s apartment. It’s not really a tea though. His apartment is filled to the brim with crazy, neurotic writers who are all drunk. When Julie meets Freddie Bond (Sidney Blackmer), Elliott’s lawyer, for the first time, he exclaims, “You’re the loveliest sight I’ve ever seen!” John replies, “I’m John Hathaway and this is my wife.” “You never told me you were married,” says Freddie. Julie scoffs and says, “That’s silly. I’ve never seen you before in my life.” Then they meet Shelley Mason (Henry Daniell), who is quite a character as well. He has a completely deadpan expression on his face at all times and describes himself as “the most distinguished but hated critic in America.” He tells Julie she “may look, but you mustn’t touch.”
Rosalind Russell, Don Ameche and Kay Francis in The Feminine Touch (1941)
He takes Julie to the dance floor right away after feeling she is fascinated by him and wants them to be together. Meanwhile, Elliott tells John that he is very attracted to Julie and has this compulsion to take wives away from their husbands. John is nonchalant about it and tells Elliott that he should pursue Julie because he knows that Julie would never be attracted to him. Elliott sports a beard and Julie hates beards. So Elliott does just that—he gets Julie alone and starts a conversation with her. She, however, is very distracted by seeing Nellie and her husband together. She describes herself as “not very clever and sort of ‘unmental,’” which is still something I can’t wrap my brain around because it’s Rosalind Russell! But no matter. The four of them go to a nightclub afterwards and while John and Elliott seem contented as the singer sings a song called “Jealous,” Nellie glares at Elliott and Julie frowns, finding Nellie to have too much in common with John. The lyrics reflect exactly what the ladies are feeling.
Kay Francis in The Feminine Touch (1941)
Nellie and John start spending a lot of days together working on the book. Meanwhile, Elliott takes Julie to all the important places in New York City. He hopes to eventually seduce her, but she has no interest in him whatsoever. “Julie, you’re inhibiting me,” Elliott tells her on the top of the Statue of Liberty. Even though she doesn’t know what that means, she’s sure she wouldn’t do it. When Julie comes home, she is shocked to find John drinking champagne with Nellie, his arm around her. Nellie looks just as shocked as Julie does, but John is ecstatic, not realizing he’s done anything wrong. He knows who he is in love with and he bears no jealousy and doesn’t think Julie should either. After Nellie leaves the room, Julie makes John sit next to her and put his arm around her. “Two people in love?” she asks John.
“If ever there were two!” he says. She furrows her brow and lowers her voice, saying, “And what would you think if you found Elliott and I in this position?” “Not what you’re thinking,” he replies. She angrily retorts, “Why not?” He is very calm and collected about it. She informs him she does not want to be rational. “That’s right. You want to throw coconuts,” he says. She starts to cry (kind of reminds me of the way Lucy cries in I Love Lucy) and yells out: “It always winds up like this, with me feeling like a rat!” “I don’t want you feeling like a rat,” says John. Julie responds, “But I am a rat!” They make up, but she still isn’t sure she can act the way John does.
The next day, John introduces Julie to the infamous New York City subway. After all, Julie comes from a “hick town” and doesn’t know anything about it. He calls the people rushing back and forth the “subway dwellers” and even spots what he calls a “subway snake,” a masher who bothers women, using the line with a thick New York accent, “Say, ain’t I seen you somewheres before?” He tells Julie that if it happens to her, she should just look at him and say, “Lay off, bub, or I’ll call the cop!” Even though she is sure she would pop him one, he says this is the way to go. On the subway, they have a few laughs by repeating the subway masher scene to each other, but unfortunately, there is a cop on the subway and he ends up dragging John away, even as they both try to explain they are married.
Rosalind Russell and Don Ameche on the set of The Feminine Touch (1941)
Julie immediately goes over to Elliott’s place to get some help. He had been expecting her that evening anyway because he had hinted to her that he wanted her to come. She just wants help in getting John out of jail and nothing else. In order to get her to stay, he pretends to call up Freddie Bond for his aid. Nellie, knowing that Julie is at Elliott’s apartment, calls all of her friends and tells them to come over to Elliott’s right away. It’s a “come as you are” party, so it isn’t long before people start invading Elliott’s apartment, dressed in their pajamas or party clothes if they had been out all night. When Julie sees Freddie come in, drunk as usual, she figures out that Elliott never called him at all. So she leaves in a huff.
Van Heflin, Sidney Blackmer, Rosalind Russell and Don Ameche in The Feminine Touch (1941)
That night, Julie has a dream that John and Elliott fight over her, literally (with fists). This dream sequence is particularly beautiful because of the lovely, flowing gown Roz wears in it and a crown atop her head. The dream itself is silly, but she looks beautiful. Julie wakes up, disappointed, when she realizes the fight never happened. Julie decides to test John’s affection by going off to Elliott’s cabin on an island somewhere off New York. As Julie reads a bit of John’s book, she struggles with a few of the words. She asks him what “malefic” and “deleterious” mean. He tells her that they mean “evil, bad.” Then she asks him if he thinks she is malefic or deleterious. “You couldn’t be if you wanted to be.” She smiles and responds, “Oh, you’re sweet!” She quietly slips out of the apartment with an overnight bag packed, having told him she is going apartment hunting. As soon as she is gone, it is obvious that John will always need her around as he promptly burns his mouth on his coffee. (doy!)
Meanwhile, on the island, Elliott wants nothing to do with Julie because he had made up with Nellie the night before and decided they would marry soon. Nellie comes over to the Hathaways’ apartment that day, all sunshine and flowers, happily humming because Elliott said he needed her. When a telegram is delivered, she reads it and all happiness is sucked out of her. Julie has gone to Elliott’s island and Nellie thinks she and John should go there right away before something happens. As usual, John thinks there’s nothing to worry about, feeling no jealousy at all. Julie arrives at Elliott’s cabin during a storm and lets herself in. She goes into the bathroom without him knowing she’s there. When she starts humming “Jealousy,” he thinks it’s the radio and tries to turn it off. He sees that doesn’t work and realizes someone is in his bathroom. He is furious that she is there and wants her to leave, but she refuses. When the lights go out due to the storm, Julie tries to light a lantern, but it catches fire and singes Elliott’s face. He is now irate and locks himself in his bedroom.
Don Ameche and Kay Francis in The Feminine Touch (1941)
John and Nellie arrive the next morning and Julie is ecstatic to see him. But when he says that her being there is “not important,” she has had it. John lets Elliott know he doesn’t want him to publish his book and tells Julie they are going. She refuses to go with him, so he grabs her arm and literally drags her outside. When they get to the lake at the end of the property, he accidentally falls in and ends up with a bad cold the next day. Julie tells him that she’s leaving him as he lies in bed, sick as a dog. She thinks they don’t belong together. “I can’t think all the time. Your love is something I don’t understand. It’s got too many syllables for me… or something.” Like she had said earlier, her love “can’t even read.” Before she leaves, she instructs him on how to tell when his coffee is okay to drink. John is very sad to see her go, but he becomes angry when Elliott strolls in, clean shaven. Knowing that Julie could go for him without a beard, he wants to beat him up, his jealousy finally surfacing.
Rosalind Russell while filming The Feminine Touch (1941)
A very silly sequence follows as John chases Elliott around and around a tree outside. Unfortunately, John, in his bare feet, keeps stepping on pine cones and hopping up and down in pain. They get into a fistfight, punching each other’s fists in the process. Eventually, they end up both passed out. As each woman rushes to her man, they insult the other man until both ladies get angry. Then it’s their turn to fight, pushing each other, slapping each other, and pulling each other’s hair. The poor boat captain gets in the middle of it… literally!
Kay Francis and Van Heflin in The Feminine Touch (1941)
It ends with the foursome walking out of a building. A man yells out to Julie, “Hello, sugar!” so John, finally letting himself be jealous, runs back after him, intending to punch him. He comes back with a black eye of his own. What a bad fighter he is! Julie smiles with glee and kisses him on the cheek. All is well as long as everyone is jealous!
IMDB page for The Feminine Touch
the poster for The Feminine Touch (1941)
don amechekay francisthe feminine touch
1930s, 1939, Alan Dinehart, Anthony Allan, Donald Douglas, Etienne Girardot, Fast and Loose, Ian Wolfe, Jo Ann Sayers, Joan Marsh, Ralph Morgan, Reginald Owen, Reviews, Sidney Blackmer, Tom Collins
Fast and Loose (1939)
March 2, 2014 des 16 Comments
Rosalind Russell in Fast and Loose (1939)
A wave of loud, unrestrained laughter crashes through the conversation. The tall, slim young woman possessing black curls and sparkling dark eyes leans back in her chair against the door behind her. She continues to laugh and the man and woman in the other room go silent. The blonde woman asks, “Who’s that?” The dark-haired man, dressed in a silk robe, replies as he gets up, “That’s my wife. She’s delirious.” Who are the people in this scene? Why, it’s none other than Rosalind Russell, Robert Montgomery, and Joan Marsh playing the characters of Garda, Joel, and Bobby in a scene from Fast and Loose (1939). This is only one of many comical exchanges between Rosalind Russell’s and Robert Montgomery’s characters in this comedy, the last time they were paired together.
Rosalind Russell and Robert Montgomery in Fast and Loose (1939)
I think of it as being the end of an era because although when people think of classic film couples, they do not think “Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell,” they are a fun, free-wheeling film couple that are always a joy to watch onscreen. Fast and Loose is filled with cute little romantic gestures and actions between the two stars with plenty of whimsical lines to entertain the audience with. It’s something to watch when you want to forget your worries for a little less than an hour and a half and lose yourself in the world of the goofy Robert Montgomery-Rosalind Russell team.
When the film opens, we (the audience) see a sign on an apartment door that reads “Milkman please leave one quart of aspirin tablets” and as the camera pans inside the apartment, there is another note tacked onto the telephone, which reads “Dear Telephone: One peep out of you and we will cancel all agreements.” The only thing we can gather from this is that the people living here are sleeping and refuse to be disturbed. Unfortunately, the telephone pays no attention to their threatening note and starts to ring.
In the bedroom, clothes are strewn all over the floor and sleeping in twin beds (as was the custom of films, especially comedies, of the day) are a married man and woman named Joel and Garda. It doesn’t take long for Garda to be shaken awake by the sound of the telephone’s racket. She repeatedly calls out to Joel, but he doesn’t wake up. She feels on the ground for a walking stick and pokes Joel in the side, informing him that the telephone is ringing. He retorts, “Well, what did you expect it to do, sing?” She makes a face at him and says, “I do all the work around here while you lie in—“ She pauses to answer the telephone. “Hello?” They find out that it’s Mr. Oates (Etienne Girardot), an extremely absent-minded rich old man who wants to talk business with Joel. Joel is a rare book dealer and Garda also works with him. This opening gives us a glimpse into what kind of a relationship they share—wisecracks before they’re fully awake? Oh, yes!
As they get up to get ready to go to the office, they stand up a little wobbly because they had a huge party last night. Joel asks, “What’d we have to eat last night, fried carpets?” And Garda says shakily, “I feel like I swallowed a jam session—jitterbugs and all.” When they arrive at the office, they walk straight through the door at the same time, but there isn’t enough room for both of them. Garda shoots him a dirty look and he lets her go first. Although his primary occupation is rare book dealer, Joel sometimes plays detective when the books in question get stolen, as they sometimes do. Garda hates it when this happens because he always gets into trouble. When Mr. Oates arrives, and he’s a delightful character, he calls Garda “Joel” and to prove to him that she’s Mrs. Sloane, she lifts her skirt a tiny bit and says, “Look!” He looks down and replies, “Oh, so you are, so you are!” As soon as he sits down, they all stare at each other in silence, and the scatterbrained old man says, “Well, what did you want?” even though he was the one who called them.
When he gets his mind on things, he informs them that Mr. Nicholas Torrent has a very rare Shakespeare manuscript and intends to sell it because he’s having financial difficulties. Oates wants to buy the manuscript and would like to use Joel’s services to do so. One of the running gags in this movie is Mr. Oates losing his train of thought and relying on Joel or Garda to finish his sentences for him. An example: Oates says, “Leave no stone, uh… no stone…” Garda finishes for him: “Unturned.”
Joel and Garda are excited to have a new client because they are having money troubles themselves. As they discuss telephoning an old buddy of his, Phil Sergeant (Anthony Allan), to get an invitation to the Torrent house, Garda sits on his lap. It is adorable when they do these cute little things and one of the reasons why I love this movie. For me, it’s not so much the plot, but the wonderful relationship between Joel and Garda. Joel decides to visit his friend, Dave Hilliard (Alan Dinehart), who is the Torrents’ lawyer. As he lays his head on a pillow on Garda’s lap, she ties a tiny little ribbon in his hair without his knowledge. He leaves and before he does, they “kiss” at each other, which is another thing they continuously do throughout the movie.
When Joel arrives at Dave’s office and takes off his hat, Dave can’t stop laughing at the little bow in his hair (and neither can I!). Joel says, “Oh, one of my wife’s little tricks. Cute, isn’t she?” Dave agrees to get Joel an invitation to the Torrent home if he will do a little searching for him because he thinks there are underhanded goings-on over there. Joel and Garda stay at the Torrent house as guests and as soon as they get there, Joel goes off to discuss business, immediately leaving Garda out (as usual). Vincent Charlton (Reginald Owen, who also had a role in Trouble for Two, also starring Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell) is also there. He is the Torrents’ broker and is a close friend of the family. More members of the family come down and Joel meets them: Christina, Torrent’s daughter (Jo Ann Sayers) and Gerald, Torrent’s son (Tom Collins). That night at dinner, Vincent has joined them and directs this at Joel: “Mr. Sloane, your face has been bother me all through dinner.”
Garda can’t help but interject: “Think of me, living with it for two years, Mr. Charlton!” Later that night as Garda and Joel get ready for bed, they look out the window and discover that Christina and their pal, Phil Sergeant, are a couple and seem to be very much in love. They separate before going inside so nobody thinks they were out there together. Garda smiles and says, “Aw, I think that’s cute. Remember when we used to do things like that to fool my family?” Joel comes back with the eye-rolling reply: “Don’t be ridiculous. Your family practically threw you at my head!” which causes Garda to almost choke on the water she’s drinking. They soon hear a crash downstairs and as Joel runs down to investigate it, Garda sighs and starts blowing air into a circular pool floatie, the same type that Joel had to sit on the last time he went investigating after being shot in the backside.
There seems to have been an altercation between Wilkes (Ian Wolfe), the man who takes care of the Torrent library, and Charlton downstairs. When Joel returns to his bedroom, he lies down in his bed and immediately jumps up, giving his wife a dirty look as he tosses the pool floatie he found in his bed. He then listens to an argument in Gerald’s bedroom, which ends with Torrent (Ralph Morgan) slapping his son’s face.
The next morning, Joel leaves the house before Garda wakes up to check up on a tough girl named Bobby, whom he learns is having some kind of romantic relationship with Gerald. In order to get into Bobby’s room, he pretends to be Gerald Torrent. Not long after he is allowed in to talk to her, police come in and arrest them both. Torrent has been murdered back at the house and Joel was gone around the time it happened. Eventually, they are let go, but the police bring Joel back to the house, handcuffed to Bobby, which leaves Garda suspicious, naturally.
She immediately takes him by the hand and leads him into their bedroom, where she slams the door angrily. She glares at him and starts yelling at him, as any wife would after her husband came home suspiciously handcuffed to another woman. He tries to explain himself, but she only says, “Sure you did… ‘suga’!” which is an imitation of what Bobby had said a few minutes ago. He insists that he was only there to get more information on her for the case. She gives in and puts her arms around him, smiling. When someone knocks on the door, Garda calls out, “Go away!” Joel says, “Nobody home!” And Garda ends with “Come back later!”
Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell between takes on the set of Fast and Loose (1939)
As people start coming in and out of their bedroom to talk to Joel, Garda simply remarks that she’s “so used to excitement, I could go right on sleeping if a Cavalry regiment rode into the room.” During another one of these interviews, Joel doesn’t want Garda in the room. It is a bit reminiscent of The Thin Man movies where the iconic Nick Charles would try his best to get his wife, Nora Charles, out of the room when he’s doing his “detective stuff.” Joel says to Garda, “You got to go and see about the car.” Garda says, “I guess so. What car?” He replies, “Any car.” Barely a minute has passed before Garda is back, declaring, “I’ve seen about the car!” Annoyed, Joel says, “What car?”
Knowing a man named Nolan (Sidney Blackmer), who is also involved with Bobby, may be a suspect, he decides to ask Garda out to his place called Nolan’s. He playfully twirls his finger in her hair, leaving it a big mess, which is both cute and rather funny. Once they are there, Nolan has a couple of his men kidnap Garda and keep her in another room while he talks to Joel. Before he can do anything, however, Joel grabs Nolan’s gun and says matter-of-factly, “Now I’ll tell you what you’re going to do. You’re going to call up and instruct those men to let my wife go. She’s to phone me from outside. I don’t want to sound melodramatic, Mr. Nolan, but to save my wife any discomfort, I would cheerfully kill a dozen guys like you.” Cue the “awwww” from all the ladies in the audience!
As Joel drives Garda home, she starts making up outrageous stories about how the men tortured her by lighting matches to her feet and so on. Suddenly, a man driving a car next to them runs them off the road and they crash into a bed of hay. Feeling delirious, Garda smiles and says, “This must be heaven.” When Joel intends to call for a cab, she says, “Awww, and leave all this swell hay?” When they get back to the house, they both have black eyes and are alleviating them with raw steaks. Garda becomes very hungry and wants to cook the steak, but it is late. When she hilariously tries to light a match to the steak in order to cook it and it doesn’t work, she pouts. Soon, Garda is found downstairs hiding something behind her back. The inspector who has been hired for the case, Forbes (Donald Douglas), demands to know what she is hiding. She slowly pulls out a chicken leg, telling him, “It’s a chicken leg… I was hungry.”
Joel reaches back as if to hit her. She makes a face at him and swings the suit of armor’s arm in front of her. Suddenly, the piece of armor falls off, revealing a real arm underneath it. She screams and they find out there has been another murder—it is Wilkes’ body in the suit.
Even though Garda has warned Joel not to see that Bobby girl again, he does and after he has a talk with her, she playfully sprays him with her perfume in order to make his wife jealous. When he comes back to the house, he knows he will be in big trouble. He walks around the room in circles, constantly backing away from Garda in order to avoid her.
She wants to kiss him because she missed him, but he keeps backing away. Eventually, he finds himself backed up against the door and as she puts her arms around him, she smells the perfume and glares at him, calling him an “unspeakable toad.” However, the inspector suddenly calls for him and he is saved from his wife’s wrath.
A man named Stockton (so many characters to try to keep up with!) has a Shakespeare manuscript that has been sold to him, but he is not sure who it was. There is the confusion over who has the genuine manuscript and who has the fake. Joel, who can tell these things right away, is called in to do this, finding a fake planted in Gerald’s room.
Another situation calls for him to leave Garda at home, not wanting her in any trouble. He asks Oates to keep an eye on her for him. They sit in silence and Garda looks at Oates. She suggests that they play ventriloquist and pats her lap. He looks at her, confused, saying, “Huh?” She replies, “Skip it, Charlie.” The next day, Joel insists on talking to Bobby again, but Garda sits in the other room, listening to them, which is where the “my wife is delirious” line comes in. Joel feels like he’s so close to figuring it out, but he’s not.
Just when it seems like all hope is lost, Charlton comes into Joel’s office, hugging the fake manuscript tightly to his chest. Joel is suspicious of the way he is handling it and discovers he has the real one and was the one who committed the murders. They get into a violent scuffle and Joel tosses his gun to Garda just in case. Watch her brilliant reaction to watching their fight: the way her eyes widen so comically and she makes those faces she would soon become famous for. In order to save Joel from getting hurt, she tries to shoot Charlton, but accidentally shoots Joel instead—yes, in the backside again!
IMDb page for Fast and Loose
1939fast and looserobert montgomery
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Bibi vs. Ban? Israeli PM accuses settlements-slamming UN chief of backing Palestinian ‘terrorists’
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (L) and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. © Jim Hollander © Reuters
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has slammed Israel’s “provocative” settlements, saying the attacks by Palestinians he condemns are a natural reaction to the occupation. This escalated into a war of words as the Israeli PM accused Ban of supporting terrorists.
Speaking before the United Nations Security Council, Secretary-General Ban said he was “deeply troubled” by new reports that the Israeli government has approved plans to build more than 150 new settlements, which he referred to as “provocative acts” by Jerusalem.
This and other activities, such as the declaration of 370 acres in the West Bank south of Jericho as “state land,” according to Ban, “are bound to increase the growth of settler populations, further heightening tensions and undermining any prospects for a political road ahead,” the UN said in a press release.
As he touched upon the volatile situation between the two states, Ban also condemned the growing number of vengeful attacks by Palestinians against Israeli citizens.
“Stabbings, vehicle attacks and shootings by Palestinians targeting Israeli civilians – all of which I condemn – and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, have continued to claim lives,” Ban said, adding that security measures are not going to help. “Palestinian frustration is growing under the weight of a half century of occupation and the paralysis of the peace process.”
#Israel confirms it wants to seize farming land in West Bank https://t.co/vSCSwxu7xFpic.twitter.com/B3lRFB3ijb
— RT (@RT_com) January 23, 2016
Ban said that the attacks by Palestinians are a “human nature” reaction to occupation, which oppressed people have been carrying out throughout the ages, and “often serves as a potent incubator of hate and extremism.”
He also noted “the profound sense of alienation and despair driving some Palestinians – especially young people.”
“Continued settlement activities are an affront to the Palestinian people and to the international community. They rightly raise fundamental questions about Israel’s commitment to a two-state solution,” he said.
Ban used his bully pulpit to urge Israel and Palestine to “act now to prevent the two-state solution from slipping away forever,” warning that the peace process would require “difficult compromises”.
The UN chief’s remarks triggered a swift reaction from the Israeli Prime Minister, however, who accused Ban of essentially supporting terrorists.
“The secretary-general’s remarks provide a tailwind for terrorism. There is no justification for terrorism. Those Palestinians who murder do not want to build a state, they want to destroy a state and they say this openly,” Benjamin Netanyahu said.
URGENT: #Israel strikes #Gaza targets in response to rocket fire – reports https://t.co/xzek784WHCpic.twitter.com/fkR2MAxXpS
The Prime Minister then accused Palestinians of anti-Semitism, which he believes is the main motive of anti-Israeli attacks, rather than Israel’s controversial policies.
“They want to murder Jews for being Jews and they say this openly. They do not murder for peace and they do not murder for human rights,” he said, while also accusing the UN of bias.
“The United Nations long ago lost its neutrality and its moral force, and the secretary-general’s remarks do not improve its standing,” Netanyahu added.
In New York, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, also criticized the UN chief, accusing him of “supporting terrorism instead of fighting it.”
“It’s unacceptable to support terrorism, no matter what the reason,” Danon said.
Despite being widely criticized, not only by the UN, but also by its close ally, the US, Israel continues to expand its settlements in the occupied West Bank regardless.
There are now a total of about 550,000 Jewish settlers living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem according to the Israeli government and think-tank statistics.
About 350,000 Palestinians live in East Jerusalem and 2.7 million in the West Bank, according to estimates in Israeli media.
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Congressmen urge Bush to extend strategic arms treaty
Pressure is building on President Bush to extend a landmark treaty aimed at reducing nuclear arms in the world. The strategic arms reduction treaty was signed back in 1991 between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. However, it's due to expire in two ye
Now a group in Congress is urging Bush to re-evaluate the treaty to ensure it continues into the future.
Highlighting the importance of nuclear arms reduction, nearly 30 members of Congress sent a letter to President Bush urging the extension of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, known as START. The letter signed by 28 congressmen, includes chairmen of three key House committees, asks President Bush to “consider extending START in its current form in order to enable your and President Putin's successors to negotiate a new legally binding agreement that achieves greater, verifiable reductions in each nation's nuclear forces.”
Following nine years of negotiations, the nuclear weapons reductions treaty was signed in July 1991 just five months before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Considered to be one of the largest arms control treaties in history, it has led to the removal of nearly 80% of nuclear weapons in existence.
“The purpose was to reduce the large numbers of stockpiles that both the former Soviet Union had as well as the United States. They each had at least 6,000 and this was seen to be excessive,” explains Jenifer Mackby, arms control expert.
A series of treaties limiting both countries nuclear arsenals followed, the latest signed by President Bush and President Putin in 2002, known as the Moscow Treaty, pledging to further reduce nuclear warheads by 2012. Currently there are seven countries in the world known to possess nuclear weapons. Russia and the U.S., members of the so-called 'nuclear club' have the largest stockpiles, which have been greatly reduced thanks in part to the START treaty, which is set to expire in December 2009.
“The countries are supposed to meet no later than a year in advance of 2009 to figure out what should be the future of it. As you know we both have upcoming elections, so that makes it a little bit complicated. Presumably for the U.S., even should a decision be made before President Bush leaves office, this could be then re-done and re-visited with a new administration,” Jenifer Mackby said.
Russia and the U.S. have already reaffirmed their intentions to continue reducing nuclear weapons stockpiles. However, looming leadership changes in both countries, disagreements over verifications measures and language of the draft have already hindered the discussions of the new arms treaty.
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Chronic Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol during adolescence increases sensitivity to subsequent cannabinoid effects in delayed nonmatch-to-position in rats
Early-onset marijuana use has been associated with short- and long-term deficits in cognitive processing. In human users, self-selection bias prevents determination of the extent to which these effects result only from drug use. This study examined the long-term effects of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta(9)-THC), the major psychoactive constituent of marijuana, in a delayed nonmatch-to-position task (DNMP). Male Long-Evans rats were injected daily with 10 mg/kg Delta(9)-THC during or after adolescence [postnatal days (PN) 21-50 or PN50-79, respectively] or with vehicle. On PN91, training in DNMP was initiated. Successful acquisition and pharmacological challenge began on approximately PN300. Decreases in accuracy were observed at lower doses of Delta(9)-THC in Delta(9)-THC-treated rats (versus vehicle-treated rats). Administration of chronic Delta(9)-THC at a younger age tended to enhance this effect. While anandamide did not decrease accuracy in any group, rats treated with Delta(9)-THC during adolescence initiated fewer trials at the 30 mg/kg dose of anandamide than did rats in the other two groups. To the extent tested, these differences were pharmacologically selective for cannabinoids, as scopolamine (positive control) decreased accuracy at the same dose in all groups and amphetamine (negative control) did not affect accuracy in any of the groups at doses that did not impair overall responding. These results suggest that repeated administration of a modest dose of Delta(9)-THC during adolescence (PN21-50) or shortly thereafter (PN50-79) produces a long-term increase in latent sensitivity to cannabinoid-induced impairment of performance in a complex operant task.
Wiley, J. L., & Burston, J. (2010). Chronic Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol during adolescence increases sensitivity to subsequent cannabinoid effects in delayed nonmatch-to-position in rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 94(4), 516-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbb.2009.11.006
DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2009.11.006
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Home » Telecommunication » Dynamic Spectrum Alliance welcomes the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago?s TV White Space Framework
Dynamic Spectrum Alliance welcomes the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago?s TV White Space Framework
Posted by Publisher Telecommunication Tuesday, 6. February 2018
Trinidad and Tobago, 6 February 2018: The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) has congratulated the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago for publishing the Authorisation Framework for the Accommodation of White Space Radiocommunications Devices. After receiving expressions of interest for the use of White Space devices across the country, the Authority has outlined the technical and operational rules for their deployment. This marks a huge step forward for Trinidad and Tobago and will enable its people to benefit from White Space technology to provide broadband connectivity and other innovative solutions, such as machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, to underserved areas.
The framework protects incumbent services operating in bands that will be made available for White Space device operations and reassures potential users that a carefully planned and regulated environment has been created before deployment begins. Using dynamic spectrum access approaches, White Space devices access spectrum that may be available at a particular location or at a particular time, in bands currently allocated to other radiocommunications services.
?TV White Space technology can play a key part of an overall communications solutions set, largely because of its ability to inexpensively deliver broadband and other forms of connectivity over large geographical areas. It has already been deployed in several projects all over the world, growing in recognition every year. We congratulate the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago for recognising TV White Space technology as being an alternative to mainstream technologies to meet the demand for broadband connectivity, connect the unconnected and provide ubiquitous mobility.?
The framework is a subset of the Authority?s National Spectrum Plan, which provides a structure to regulate the efficient use of spectrum, in an orderly manner, in accordance with the Authority?s mandate. The framework?s objectives include: identifying the frequency bands that can accommodate White Space devices; establish rules for the operation of White Space devices in Trinidad and Tobago; setting rules for the approval of database administrators to operate in Trinidad and Tobago and establish a regulatory framework for licensing White Space devices.
For more information about the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, please visit: http://dynamicspectrumalliance.org/. The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance?s Sixth Annual Global Summit will take place May 1-3, 2018 in London. To find out more, or to register, visit: http://dynamicspectrumalliance.org/global-summit/.
Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Welcomes ViaSat as the First Broadband Satellite Service Provider to Join the Membership One of the Key Innovators and Leaders of the Satellite Industry Joins the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance...
Dynamic Spectrum Alliance announces South African communications regulator as co-host for the 2017 Global Summit and welcomes 11 new members Eleven new organisations from Africa, Asia, North America and Europe join the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance as the fifth annual Global Summit is announced to take place in Cape Town from 9-11 May 2017...
The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance welcomes the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s Consultation on Public Wi-Fi Official response and comment from the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance New Delhi, India, 7 September 2016: The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) applauds the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on issuing the “Consultation Paper on Proliferation of Broadband through Public Wi-Fi Networks” and has submitted recommendations for increasing the amount of license-exempt spectrum. Today in India, over half of all Internet traffic travels over a Wi-Fi connection. Internet traffic is projected to gr...
Dynamic Spectrum Alliance welcomes the Indian Government’s issuing of eight experimental licenses in the 470-582 MHz band for TV white space trials Official response and comment from the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance New Delhi, India, 17 March, 2016: The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) welcomes the Indian Government’s move to issue eight experimental licenses in the 470-582 MHz band. The purpose of these licenses is to carry out experiments at several locations using TV white space-like rules and regulations already adopted (or being adopted) in other countries such as Malawi, Ghana, Singapore, the Philippines, UK, USA and Canada. This decisio...
The DSA welcomes South Africa’s ICASA publishing draft TV White Space regulations as both prepare to jointly host the 2017 Dynamic Spectrum… The DSA welcomes South Africa’s ICASA publishing draft TV White Space regulations as both prepare to jointly host the 2017 Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Global Summit in Cape Town in May...
Posted by Publisher on 6. February 2018. Filed under Telecommunication. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
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Manchester United want Aubameyang
Harry Kettle in English Premier League, Transfer News & Rumours 20 Jun 2019
According to recent reports over in England, Manchester United are gearing up for a potential £70 million bid for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The popular Arsenal forward was one of the Golden Boot winners in the Premier League last season, and is widely considered to be one of the best finishers in world football. Romelu Lukaku’s future at Old Trafford is currently doubtful, with Inter Milan being set to try and lure him over to Serie A. Because of this, Auba is considered to be one of the prime candidates to be United’s landmark summer signing, as they continue to try and claw their way back into the Champions League.
United are willing to make a formal offer and go from there, although you’d have to wonder whether or not Arsenal would even entertain the idea. After all, both Aubameyang and Lacazette are considered to be two of the integral pieces of the puzzle within their first team squad, and it’d seem a bit bizarre for them to let one of them go.
Harry Kettle
Harry is a University of Worcester graduate who has been writing professionally for the last two years. He specialises in several sports such as MMA, pro wrestling and athletics, with football being his primary love. He continues to dream of a life in the Premier League as a Wolves fan.
Categories English Premier League Transfer News & Rumours
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Franklin County, New York Gender Ratios
There are more men than women in Franklin County, New York. Total population of Franklin County, New York is estimated at 51,262 people with 28,118 male and 23,144 female. There are 4,974 more men than women in the county, which is 9.7% of the total population.
The Franklin County, New York Gender Ratio is 121 men to 100 women (121:100) or 1.21. Franklin County, New York's gender ratio is higher than the New York State average of 94 men to 100 women (94:100) or 0.94. The gender ratio is also higher than the national average of 97 men to 100 women (97:100) or 0.97.
Franklin County, New York Gender Ratios By Age
Gender Ratios vary by age group as well as location. The table below shows the gender ratios breakdown in Franklin County, New York by age.
Franklin County Ratio
5 to 9 99 to 100 105 to 100 104 to 100
55 to 59 107 to 100 93 to 100 93 to 100
Cities in Franklin County, New York
Bombay, Brainardsville, Brushton, Burke, Chateaugay, Constable, Dickinson Center, Fort Covington, Gabriels, Hogansburg, Lake Clear, Malone, Moira, North Bangor, Owls Head, Paul Smiths, Rainbow Lake, Saint Regis Falls, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake, Vermontville, and Whippleville.
Brainardsvle, Dickinson Ctr, Ft Covington, Akwesasne, Upper Saint Regis, Upper St Reg, Bangor, West Bangor, St Regis Fls, Massawepie, Loon Lake, and Onchiota.
Source: https://www.states101.com/gender-ratios/new-york/franklin-county
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Order Of Scientific Method
Got a hunch about something but don't know how to prove it? In this BrainPOP movie, Tim and Moby will walk you through the steps of the scientific method,
In order to do that, I teach a wide variety of topics including. that the students understand and appreciate the information. I teach them about the scientific method, lab procedures, and.
In order to understand quantum physics. impossible to replicate results of an experiment—a fundamental validation requirement of the scientific method. “If you can explain this using common sense.
Jan 14, 2019. Scientists search for answers to questions and solutions to problems by using a procedure called the scientific method. This procedure consists.
Capers notes that research does not need to be science-based in order to be an asset in a med school application. Having a solid background in the scientific method is really what matters, not.
Siyavula's open Physical Sciences Grade 12 textbook, chapter 1 on Skills For Science covering Scientific Method.
Steps of the Scientific Method. The steps of the scientific method were developed over millennia, since the time of the ancient Greek and Persian philosophers. Whilst there are always minor variations between different scientific disciplines, they all follow the same basic path.
This method is used by scientists. The scientific method is an important procedure to follow in order for scientists to prove observations that they have about the.
The scientific method developed as a way to weed out human bias. calling on colleagues to put their houses in order. Those who document misconduct in scientific research talk of a spectrum of bad.
S Tag Molecular Weight May 20, 2015. His-tag, over-expression, uneven distribution, immunofluorescence. pH 6.8) and then sonicated for 10 s twice at 4°C. After centrifugation at 14,000 g. Bands corresponding to the calculated molecular masses of proteins. Molecular Characterization of the S-Layer Gene, sbpA, of Bacillus sphaericus. bp encoding a protein of 1,268 amino acids with a theoretical molecular
Apr 10, 2019. The scientific method is a series of steps followed by scientific investigators to answer specific questions about the natural world.
The scientific method usually employs all six of the steps I mentioned, but the steps don't always occur in the same order. Real scientists may go back and repeat.
What does the fossil fish, scientific method, aromatic chemistry. and managing your emotions along with the emotions of others. In order to effectively do this, you have to ensure that you’re.
The Scientific Method (Ordering) Practicing ordering the steps of the scientific method. STUDY. PLAY. Ask questions and identify a problem. Step 1: Make a hypothesis. Put the steps of the scientific method in order 8 terms. Denisemm. SCIENTIFIC METHOD STEPS 1-8 8 terms. KimmiPap. Steps of Scientific Inquiry Method 9 terms.
Consider a person who has heard about a scientific. the facts in order to convince. You lead with the values—so as to give the facts a fighting chance. We recently wrapped up the crowdfunding.
How the scientific method is used to test a hypothesis.
May 23, 2019 · Sometimes the scientific method is taught with seven steps instead of six. In this model, the first step of the scientific method is to make observations. Really, even if you don’t make observations formally, you think about prior experiences with a subject in order to ask a.
Even if you yourself are an expert, you cannot personally check every strut or truss for corrosion, every blueprint, change order and inspection report. lists often state their denial of the.
The scientific method has 5 steps: To help you remember the steps of the scientific method, think of the word "POHEC". State the problem. Make Observations. Form a Hypothesis. Do the Experiment.
But now economic analysis of law, grounded in precise theories and empirically sound methods, provides a scientific method. a criminal act and must be dealt with accordingly. A judicial order.
What are the steps to the Scientific Method? The Scientific Method is an organized way of answering a science question. While different teachers and scientists have different versions of the Scientific Method, here are the typical six parts:
Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012 This concluded what is essentially Trump’s version of the scientific method. There was an observation. before leaning over and pressing it to order some.
Jan 22, 2017. Purpose, research, hypothesis, experiment, analysis, and conclusion.
The scientific method is an empirical method of acquiring knowledge that has characterized the. Unclearly premissed, but deductive, analysis of the hypothesis in order to render its parts as clear as possible. Demonstration: Deductive.
In order to tell if we’re making progress. are the gold-standard here. Following the scientific method gives confidence that the observed behavior was, in fact, caused by the change being tested.
Class 9 Social Science Sample Paper Sa2 Jagranjosh here brings a combo set of CBSE Class 10th Science and Maths Solved Guess Papers for SA 2/ Board. year question papers & latest CBSE sample papers. It includes a collection of extremely. CBSE Sample Papers for Class 9 Social Science PDF Free Download. Central Board of Secondary Education has issued 2016-17-18 Solved Sample
What is the Scientific Method What is the Scientific Method? Scientific Method: A way to solve problems in an orderly, logical way. The Scientific Method is a process that is used to find answers to questions about the world around us.
The scientific method requires that theories be testable. If a theory cannot be tested, it cannot be a scientific theory. Testing of scientific ideas can include the classical experimental method, replication, attempted refutation, prediction, modeling, inference, deduction, induction and logical analysis.
The scientific method is a series of processes that people can use to gather. Research experiments are usually analyzed with statistical software in order to.
The scientific method attempts to explain the natural occurrences (phenomena) of the universe by using a logical, consistent, systematic method of investigation,
The Socratic scientific revolution was thus not so much in the method he pursued but in his. he insisted that ethical.
Most contemporary scientists would agree that there is no single method for doing science. and others that warnings of ongoing scientific shortages were used as rhetorical cover for overproducing.
Both medical groups were encountering a case fatality in the order of 50%, and they were learning from. supported in modern papers analysed by Oxford and Gill, wherein scientific methods, namely.
They are taking this ancient food and applying contemporary scientific methods to it in order to make it even tastier and richer in protein and vitamin B12. The result is an affordable and nutritious.
May 23, 2019. Learn about the scientific method, with these explanations of each step of. you think about prior experiences with a subject in order to ask a.
The duo managed to track the origins of the virus using a combined approach of scientific methods, such as phylogenetics and molecular. nations had installed tough wartime censorship in order to.
L H Morgan Evolutionary Theory Sslc Model Question Paper Social Science “We had 27 students who took up the SSLC exams and all of them have passed. Eighteen students who wrote the Plus 2 exams last year and had to take up the SSLC English paper this year. school and. Apart from the model question paper prepared by the SSLC
Such are the consequences of the modern focus on method and scientific precision. One may ask, don’t we need a kind of.
Otherwise, the scientific method is largely forgotten. and she quite literally has to follow in her father’s footsteps in order to find him. Shuri’s interest in and talent for tech is just as much.
The scientific method is an organized, unbiased process for proving the validity of a theory. Having already made observations about a particular topic, the experimenter asks a question about it. He then forms a prediction of how the question is answered.
The Scientific Method is a logical and rational order of steps by which scientists come to conclusions about the world around them. The Scientific Method helps.
A summary of The Scientific Method in 's Research Methods in Psychology. Researchers make observations in order to describe and measure behavior.
Psychology and the Scientific Method: From Theory to Conclusion. In order to ask an important question that may improve our understanding of the world,
Start studying Put the steps of the scientific method in order. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
Steps of the Scientific Method. In order to be accepted as scientific proof for a theory, an experiment must meet certain conditions – it must be controlled, i.e. it must test a single variable by keeping all other variables under control. The experiment must also be reproducible so that it can be tested for errors.
The Scientific Method. Enjoying simple science projects and experiments is a great way for kids to learn about science in a fun, interactive way. When you want.
The scientific method is a process for experimentation that is used to explore observations and answer questions. Does this mean all scientists follow exactly this.
“What you see is what you have – the effects of the electron forces among the atoms, and even the bond order. You can distinguish single. By utilizing the monumental power of the tried-and-true.
Deep learning is a method of learning a new representation. that can help identify weaknesses of individual tumors, in.
The scientific method begins with a question… “I wonder…?” and can end with amazement and awe. Follow the steps of the scientific method in order.
The aim of my article is to present the scientific method steps in order. If you can discipline your mind to think according to the scientific method, no problem that you need to solve, endures for long. It yields a solution when the razor-sharp scalpels of the scientific method are applied to it.
10-07-2019 admin Theory of Science
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Gold BullionGold CoinsPre-1933 US Gold Coins$5 Liberty Gold Half Eagles
$5 Liberty Gold Half Eagles
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$5.00 Liberty Gold Half Eagle Coins
The $5 Liberty Gold Half Eagle was first struck by the U.S. Mint in 1839 and was produced until 1908. This coin is popular among collectors and investors due to its interesting history and rarity. This coin is one of few left since in 1933 President Franklin Roosevelt discontinued the production of gold currency in the U.S. Each Liberty Half Eagle coin is made with 90% fine gold and contains a total of .24187 troy ounces of pure gold.
History of the Liberty Half Eagle
The Liberty Half Eagle was introduced in 1839, after three earlier designs. The Turban Head design ran from 1795-1798, the Draped Bust design ran from 1807 to 1812, and the Classic Head design was the Liberty Half Eagle’s immediate predecessor, running from 1834-1837.
Christian Gobrecht was chosen to design the obverse design of the Liberty Half Eagle because of his notable rendition of Lady Liberty. Christian Gobrecht held the position of the third chief engraver of the United States Mint from 1840 to 1844. His work was revered and influenced many Liberty renditions after his passing in 1844.
$5.00 Liberty Gold Half Eagle Design
The Liberty Half Eagle design was produced from its design in 1839 to its discontinuation in 1908. Because of its relatively short time in production and its intricate design, the Liberty Half Eagle is popular among collectors, particularly those who collect coins as a hobby or use their collection to diversify their investment portfolio.
The Liberty Half Eagle coin design features Lady Liberty’s profile and the famous crown on intricately styled hair. Gobrecht points to Greco-Roman influence in his art when it comes to the design of her hair and clothing. The ring of stars surrounding the mintage year mimics the design of ancient Roman currency.
The reverse side of the coin contrasts greatly with the Greco-Roman design and draws on American iconography, such as the eagle. The bird is centered on the coin and spreads its wings while carrying a large shield, talons gripping an olive branch and a bundle of arrows. Coins minted after 1866 feature the “In God We Trust” motto.
Cessation of Gold Currency in the U.S.
The amount of gold used in currency began to dwindle in the late 1800s, coming to a halt with President Roosevelt in 1933. Because the amount of gold used in coins shifted, to preserve the quality of the Liberty Half Eagle, the coin was redesigned and released as the $10 Indian Gold Half Eagle in 1908. Designed by Bela Lyon Pratt, the new design featured only stamping in incuse — meaning that the flat surfaces were the highest points of the coin. Many thought that this would create a sturdier, more resistant coin, though those claims are unsubstantiated. Production of any Half Eagle coin halted during World War I, only to be restarted in 1929, the final year of issue.
Buying $5.00 Liberty Gold Half EaglesToday
The Liberty Half Eagle Gold Coin is available in small amounts today, usually from professional coin-trading companies or serious collectors at conferences. The coin is available in both designs — the early design with no motto and the later design with “In God We Trust.” These coins are available in a variety of grades and conditions, all of which affect the price of the coin, the long-term investment value, and resale value. A “G” grade coin of this design could sell for around $575, while a MS 64 grade coin could sell for upwards of $64,000.
The coin is definitely a collector’s item, and collectors often find Liberty Half Eagles by the mint at which they were printed. Collectors will focus on a few of the mints that created the coin and attempt to trace the coins to modern-day, trying to find one available for purchase. Some, more serious collectors will collect Liberty Half Eagles by decade or by year. Having historical knowledge about the mints during the decade of which you are trying to collect is a must when attempting to secure coins this way.
Those wanting to invest in gold often buy these coins as well. However, due to the rarity and high demand from collectors, these coins aren’t a passing investment. Tracking these coins down, choosing one of great quality, and committing to a hefty price tag are all required if you choose to invest in this type of coin.
Whether you’re a first-time precious metal buyer or you’ve been on the scene for years, collectors, investors, and coin enthusiasts alike agree on the $5 Liberty Half Eagle’s beauty, rarity, and historical value. Check out Silver.com today, and see if getting into coin collecting is right for you.
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Celiac disease: the importance of a good diagnosis
7 March, 2013 by Miriam Reyes Leave a Comment
Celiac disease: the importance of a good diagnosis. It is already known that permanent gluten intolerance is caused by celiac disease. It is also a fact that this is one of the most common chronic intestinal diseases in the world, it produces an atrophy of the villi of the intestine which leads to malabsorption of nutrients (protein, fats, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins ).
Good diagnosis in celiac disease
Good diagnosis: To keep in mind
What not well known is the way forward to reach the clear and definitive diagnosis of the disease. In fact, a recent press release states that, for example, is that in Aragon there are 1,300 recognized celiacs, but recent studies indicate that in Spain almost 2 percent of the population has a gluten intolerance, and 9 out of 10 affected have not been diagnosed.
The situation in Aragon: early screening program
The conference presentation“Celiac disease. Keys to diagnosis”, held at the Aragonese Celiac Association to bring healthcare professionals the latest developments related to the subject emphasized the lack of proper and timely diagnosis.
“Celiac disease is more common than we think, it is very difficult to diagnose because symptoms can be masked or resemble those of other common ailments, including” irritable bowel syndrome, “said the president of Aragonese Association, Carmen Tricasa in a news conference.
Thus, according Tricas, the doctor has to propose “looking for it”, performing all the tests outlined in the protocols. This is the only way that all patients remaining at the “tip of the iceberg” without a diagnosis, will be revealed.
For his part, Dr. Miguel Ángel Montoro, scientific director of the conference, explained that “oftentimes, these patients have been diagnosed with a functional digestive disorder, and in many cases, end up being referred to the psychologist or psychiatrist, attributing their symptoms to the effects of stress or anxiety.
According to Montoro, secretary of the Spanish Association of Gastroenterology and specialist in Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit, Hospital San Jorge, celiac disease occurs in genetically predisposed individuals when in contact with gluten, a protein contained in certain grains such as wheat , barley and rye.
“The contact of this element with the intestinal mucosa is able to promote a response from our defensive system that leads to an inflammatory lesion of the intestinal mucosa, leading to, in serious cases, intestial atrophy of the villi, leading to serious state deficiency, “he said.
Some people with iron deficiency anemia, osteoporosis or changes in mood, with a range of other gastrointestinal manifestations such as vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, suffer from the disease that may go undetected for years, “added Montoro.
In this sense, the president of celiacs in Aragon also highlights the importance that those affected be diagnosed in childhood for correct imposition of a gluten free diet.
“The work of the pediatrician is paramount, not only to identify cases with a typical presentation pattern in the form of severe diarrhea with malnutrition and progressive weight loss, but other forms with a more insidious clinical expression, including nonspecific gastrointestinal symptoms, delayed growth, irritability and anorexia, “he added.
Montoro has explained that since the launch of the “Decalogue of recommendations to improve the clinical index of suspicion”, promoted by the Spanish Association of Gastroenterology and sponsored by the Ministry of Health and Consumption, “the number of new cases of adults with gluten sensitive enteropathy is growing exponentially in Aragon.”
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, oats and some other grains.
It affects 1 in 150 live births.
Celiac Disease sufferers are genetically predisposed individuals.
Its genetic basis explains why there may be more than one celiac patient within the same family.
It can affect both children and adults.
The most common symptoms are loss of appetite and weight loss, chronic diarrhea, abdominal distension, abnormal character and growth retardation in children. However, in both children and adults these symptoms may be atypical or absent, hampering diagnosis.
The good diagnosis is made by intestinal biopsy. One should never remove gluten from a person’s diet without previous intestinal biopsy suggestion. Treatment consists of monitoring a strict gluten-free diet throughout life.
The celiac should base their diet on natural foods: vegetables, meats, fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables and grains made without gluten, rice and corn.
Ingestion of small amounts of gluten, on an ongoing basis, can cause major and undesirable disruptions.
A delay in diagnosis and/or lack of proper treatment can lead to complications such as malnutrition, psychiatric disorders, male and female infertility, abortions and increased risk of certain cancers.
Celiac disease may be associated with other chronic diseases like diabetes, epilepsy, dermatitis herpetiformis, etc..
Kowalski, K., Mulak, A., Jasinska, M., & Paradowski, L. (2017). Diagnostic challenges in celiac disease. Advances in Clinical and Experimental Medicine : Official Organ Wroclaw Medical University, 26(4), 729–737.
Byrne, G., & Feighery, C. F. (2015). Celiac Disease: Diagnosis. Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.), 1326, 15–22.
Ediger, T. R., & Hill, I. D. (2014). Celiac disease. Pediatrics in Review, 35(10), 409–15; quiz 416.
Pelkowski, T. D., & Viera, A. J. (2014). Celiac disease: diagnosis and management. American Family Physician, 89(2), 99–105.
Kelly, C. P., Bai, J. C., Liu, E., & Leffler, D. A. (2015). Advances in diagnosis and management of celiac disease. Gastroenterology, 148(6), 1175–1186.
Gibson, P. R., Shepherd, S. J., & Tye-Din, J. A. (2012, August). For celiac disease, diagnosis is not enough. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology : The Official Clinical Practice Journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. United States.
Filed Under: Celiac disease Tagged With: anorexia, celiac, celiac disease, gluten
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Process Design & Economics of Biochemical Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Ethanol
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BiorefineryEPC™
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1. NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC. Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 Process Design and Economics for Biochemical Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Ethanol Dilute-Acid Pretreatment and Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Corn Stover D. Humbird, R. Davis, L. Tao, C. Kinchin, D. Hsu, and A. Aden National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden, Colorado P. Schoen, J. Lukas, B. Olthof, M. Worley, D. Sexton, and D. Dudgeon Harris Group Inc. Seattle, Washington and Atlanta, Georgia Technical Report NREL/TP-5100-47764 May 2011
2. NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC. National Renewable Energy Laboratory 1617 Cole Boulevard Golden, Colorado 80401 303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 Process Design and Economics for Biochemical Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Ethanol Dilute-Acid Pretreatment and Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Corn Stover D. Humbird, R. Davis, L. Tao, C. Kinchin, D. Hsu, and A. Aden National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden, Colorado P. Schoen, J. Lukas, B. Olthof, M. Worley, D. Sexton, and D. Dudgeon Harris Group Inc. Seattle, Washington and Atlanta, Georgia Prepared under Task No. BB07.2410 Technical Report NREL/TP-5100-47764 May 2011
3. NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. Neither the United States government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or any agency thereof. Available electronically at http://www.osti.gov/bridge Available for a processing fee to U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors, in paper, from: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information P.O. Box 62 Oak Ridge, TN 37831-0062 phone: 865.576.8401 fax: 865.576.5728 email: mailto:reports@adonis.osti.gov Available for sale to the public, in paper, from: U.S. Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 phone: 800.553.6847 fax: 703.605.6900 email: orders@ntis.fedworld.gov online ordering: http://www.ntis.gov/help/ordermethods.aspx Cover Photos: (left to right) PIX 16416, PIX 17423, PIX 16560, PIX 17613, PIX 17436, PIX 17721 Printed on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 10% post consumer waste.
4. iii Executive Summary The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) promotes the production of ethanol and other liquid fuels from lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks by funding fundamental and applied research that advances the state of technology in biomass collection, conversion, and sustainability. As part of its involvement in the program, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) investigates the production economics of these fuels. This report describes in detail one potential biochemical ethanol conversion process, conceptually based upon core conversion and process integration research at NREL. The overarching process design converts corn stover to ethanol by dilute-acid pretreatment, enzymatic saccharification, and co-fermentation. Ancillary areas—feed handling, product recovery, wastewater treatment, lignin combustion, and utilities—are also included in the design. Detailed material and energy balances and capital and operating costs were developed for the entire process, and they are documented in this report and accompanying process simulation files, which are available to the public. As a benchmark case study, this so-called technoeconomic model provides an absolute production cost for ethanol that can be used to assess its competitiveness and market potential. It can also be used to quantify the economic impact of individual conversion performance targets and prioritize these in terms of their potential to reduce cost. Furthermore, by using the benchmark as a comparison, DOE can make more informed decisions about research proposals claiming to lower ethanol production costs. Building on design reports published in 2002 and 1999, NREL, together with the subcontractor Harris Group Inc., performed a complete review of the process design and economic model for the biomass-to-ethanol process. This update reflects NREL’s current vision of the biochemical ethanol process and incorporates recent progress in the conversion areas (pretreatment, conditioning, saccharification, and fermentation), optimizations in product recovery, and an improved understanding of the ethanol plant’s back end (wastewater and utilities). The major process updates in this design report are the following: • Feedstock composition is updated to a carbohydrate profile closer to the expected mean. • Pretreatment reactor configuration is revised with significant new detail. • Whole-slurry pH adjustment of the pretreated biomass with ammonia replaced the previous conditioning practice of overliming, eliminating a solid-liquid separation step. • Enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation are modeled as a batch process with a continuous high-solids hydrolysis reactor upstream of the batch reactors. • On-site enzyme production is included to increase transparency on the cost of enzymes. • Wastewater treatment section is redesigned to handle inorganics in the ethanol stillage. The conceptual design presented here reports ethanol production economics as determined by 2012 conversion targets and “nth -plant” project costs and financing. For the biorefinery described here, processing 2,205 dry ton/day at 76% theoretical ethanol yield (79 gal/dry ton), the ethanol selling price is $2.15/gal in 2007$.
5. iv Figure ES-1. Economic summary for ethanol production Minimum Ethanol Selling Price (MESP): $2.15 /gal Gasoline-Equivalent MESP: $3.27 /gal gasoline equivalent Contributions: Feedstock $0.74 /gal Enzymes $0.34 /gal Non-Enzyme Conversion $1.08 /gal Ethanol Production 61.0 MMgal/yr (Ethanol at 68 °F) Ethanol Yield 79.0 gal / dry U.S. ton feedstock Feedstock + Handling Cost $58.50 /dry U.S. ton Internal Rate of Return (After-Tax) 10% Equity Percent of Total Investment 40% Capital Costs Manufacturing Costs (cents/gal ethanol) Pretreatment $29,900,000 Feedstock + Handling 74.1 Neutralization/Conditioning $3,000,000 Sulfuric Acid 2.4 Saccharification & Fermentation $31,200,000 Ammonia 6.5 On-site Enzyme Production $18,300,000 Glucose (enzyme production) 19.3 Distillation and Solids Recovery $22,300,000 Other Raw Materials 12.9 Wastewater Treatment $49,400,000 Waste Disposal 2.5 Storage $5,000,000 Net Electricity -10.8 Boiler/Turbogenerator $66,000,000 Fixed Costs 17.5 Utilities $6,900,000 Capital Depreciation 22.0 Total Installed Equipment Cost $232,000,000 Average Income Tax 12.3 Average Return on Investment 56.6 Added Direct + Indirect Costs $190,500,000 (% of TCI) 45% Manufacturing Costs ($/yr) Feedstock + Handling $45,200,000 Total Capital Investment (TCI) $422,500,000 Sulfuric Acid $1,500,000 Ammonia $4,000,000 Installed Equipment Cost/Annual Gallon $3.80 Glucose (enzyme production) $11,800,000 Total Capital Investment/Annual Gallon $6.92 Other Raw Materials $7,900,000 Waste Disposal $1,500,000 Loan Rate 8.0% Net Electricity -$6,600,000 Term (years) 10 Fixed Costs $10,700,000 Capital Charge Factor (Computed) 0.131 Capital Depreciation $13,400,000 Average Income Tax $7,500,000 Denatured Fuel Production (MMgal/yr) 61.7 Average Return on Investment $34,600,000 Denatured Fuel Min. Sales Price $2.18 Denaturant Cost ($/gal denaturant) $2.10 Specific Operating Conditions Enzyme Loading (mg/g cellulose) 20 Maximum Yields (100% of Theoretical) Saccharification Time (days) 3.5 Ethanol Production (MMgal/yr) 80.3 Fermentation Time (days) 1.5 Theoretical Yield (gal/U.S. ton) 103.9 Ethanol titer (wt%) 5.4% Current Yield (Actual/Theoretical) 76.0% Excess Electricity (kWh/gal) 1.8 Plant Electricity Use (kWh/gal) 3.9 Plant Water Usage (gal/gal) 5.4 All Values in 2007$ Dilute Acid Pretreatment with Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Co-Fermentation Corn Stover Design Report Case: 2012 model DW1102A Ethanol Production Process Engineering Analysis
6. v Table of Contents 1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background and Motivation ................................................................................................1 1.2 Process Overview.................................................................................................................2 1.3 Technoeconomic Analysis Approach ..................................................................................5 1.4 About nth -Plant Assumptions...............................................................................................6 1.5 Review of Related Technoeconomic Studies ......................................................................7 1.6 About the NREL Aspen Model..........................................................................................10 2 Design Basis and Conventions......................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Plant Size ...........................................................................................................................12 2.2 Feedstock Composition......................................................................................................12 2.3 Design Report Conventions...............................................................................................15 2.3.1 Units..........................................................................................................................15 2.3.2 Total Solids Loading.................................................................................................15 2.3.3 Ethanol Density.........................................................................................................15 2.3.4 Theoretical Yields and Conversions .........................................................................15 3 Process Design and Cost Estimation Details.................................................................................. 16 3.1 Area 100: Feedstock Storage and Handling.......................................................................16 3.1.1 Overview...................................................................................................................16 3.1.2 Design Basis..............................................................................................................17 3.1.3 Cost Estimation.........................................................................................................17 3.2 Area 200: Pretreatment and Conditioning .........................................................................19 3.2.1 Overview...................................................................................................................19 3.2.2 Design Basis..............................................................................................................20 3.2.3 Cost Estimation.........................................................................................................22 3.2.4 Achieving the Design Case.......................................................................................23 3.3 Area 300: Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Fermentation..........................................................26 3.3.1 Overview...................................................................................................................26 3.3.2 Design Basis..............................................................................................................27 3.3.3 Cost Estimation.........................................................................................................31 3.3.4 Achieving the Design Case.......................................................................................32 3.4 Area 400: Cellulase Enzyme Production...........................................................................36 3.4.1 Overview...................................................................................................................36 3.4.2 Design Basis..............................................................................................................37 3.4.3 Cost Estimation.........................................................................................................40 3.4.4 Enzyme Cost Discussion...........................................................................................40 3.5 Area 500: Product, Solids, and Water Recovery ...............................................................44 3.5.1 Overview...................................................................................................................44 3.5.2 Design Basis..............................................................................................................45 3.5.3 Cost Estimation.........................................................................................................46 3.6 Area 600: Wastewater Treatment (WWT).........................................................................47 3.6.1 Overview...................................................................................................................47 3.6.2 Design Basis..............................................................................................................48 3.6.3 Cost Estimation.........................................................................................................50 3.6.4 Wastewater Challenges.............................................................................................50 3.7 Area 700: Product and Feed Chemical Storage.................................................................51
7. vi 3.7.1 Overview...................................................................................................................51 3.7.2 Design Basis..............................................................................................................51 3.7.3 Cost Estimation.........................................................................................................51 3.8 Area 800: Combustor, Boiler, and Turbogenerator ...........................................................52 3.8.1 Overview...................................................................................................................52 3.8.2 Design Basis..............................................................................................................52 3.8.3 Cost Estimation.........................................................................................................53 3.9 Area 900: Utilities..............................................................................................................54 3.9.1 Overview...................................................................................................................54 3.9.2 Design Basis..............................................................................................................54 3.9.3 Cost Estimation.........................................................................................................56 4 Process Economics ........................................................................................................................... 57 4.1 About Cost-Year Indices....................................................................................................57 4.2 Total Capital Investment (TCI)..........................................................................................58 4.3 Variable Operating Costs...................................................................................................62 4.4 Fixed Operating Costs........................................................................................................64 4.5 Discounted Cash Flow Analysis and the Minimum Selling Price of Ethanol...................65 5 Analysis and Discussion ................................................................................................................... 70 5.1 Carbon and Energy Balance...............................................................................................70 5.2 Water Balance....................................................................................................................74 5.3 The Cost of Sugar ..............................................................................................................76 5.4 Cost Sensitivity Analysis...................................................................................................79 5.5 State of Technology Back-Casting ....................................................................................81 6 Concluding Remarks.......................................................................................................................... 83 6.1 Summary............................................................................................................................83 6.2 Variance from the 2002 Design.........................................................................................84 6.3 Future Work.......................................................................................................................85 References................................................................................................................................................. 87 Appendix A. Individual Equipment Costs Summary ............................................................................. 96 Appendix B. Discounted Cash Flow Rate of Return Worksheet........................................................ 103 Appendix C. Process Parameters/Operating Summary...................................................................... 106 Appendix D. Aspen Properties .............................................................................................................. 107 Appendix E. Process Flow Diagrams.................................................................................................... 114
8. vii List of Figures Figure 1. Simplified flow diagram of the overall process, PFD-P120-A000 ................................. 4 Figure 2. NREL’s approach to process design and economic analysis .......................................... 5 Figure 3. Adjusting the Kazi et al. base case ($3.40/gal) to NREL 2008 SOT assumptions........ 10 Figure 4. Structural carbohydrate distribution of the feedstock variability study [25]................. 13 Figure 5. Simplified flow diagram of the feedstock receiving system ......................................... 16 Figure 6. Simplified flow diagram of the pretreatment and conditioning process ....................... 19 Figure 7. Horizontal pretreatment reactor design scheme (Andritz, Inc.) .................................... 23 Figure 8. Simplified flow diagram of the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation process ......... 27 Figure 9. Simplified flow diagram of the enzyme production process......................................... 36 Figure 10. Enzyme production cost breakdown ........................................................................... 41 Figure 11. Enzyme contribution to MESP as a function of loading............................................. 42 Figure 12. Simplified flow diagram of the separation process..................................................... 44 Figure 13. Simplified flow diagram of the wastewater treatment process ................................... 47 Figure 14. Cooling duty distribution between major users........................................................... 55 Figure 15. Distribution of plant electricity utilization by process area......................................... 56 Figure 16. Sensitivity of MESP to IRR and % equity (8% interest on a 10-year loan)................ 66 Figure 17. Cost contribution details from each process area (per gallon EtOH).......................... 69 Figure 18. Mass, carbon, and energy balance diagram for the overall process ............................ 73 Figure 19. Economic summary for dilute sugar production ......................................................... 78 Figure 20. Single-point sensitivity tornado charts for (a) MESP and (b) ethanol yield ............... 80 Figure 21. Sugar-based pathways for conventional and advanced biofuels................................. 86
9. viii List of Tables Table 1. Comparison of Technoeconomic Analyses and Market Studies for Existing Biofuels.... 7 Table 2. Survey of Recent Technoeconomic Studies on Biochemical Cellulosic Ethanol ............ 9 Table 3. Summary of Whole Stover Composition Data ............................................................... 13 Table 4. Corn Stover Composition from the 2002 Design [2] and the Present Design................ 14 Table 5. Pretreatment Reactor Conditions.................................................................................... 21 Table 6. Pretreatment Hydrolysis Reactions and Assumed Conversions..................................... 22 Table 7. Research Status and 2012 Targets in the Pretreatment Area.......................................... 24 Table 8. Enzymatic Hydrolysis Conditions .................................................................................. 28 Table 9. Enzymatic Hydrolysis Reactions and Assumed Conversions ........................................ 28 Table 10. Seed Train Specifications ............................................................................................. 29 Table 11. Seed Train Reactions and Assumed Conversions......................................................... 29 Table 12. Co-Fermentation Contamination Loss Reactions......................................................... 30 Table 13. Co-Fermentation Conditions......................................................................................... 31 Table 14. Co-Fermentation Reactions and Assumed Conversions............................................... 31 Table 15. Research Status and 2012 Targets in Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Fermentation .......... 32 Table 16. Summary of Integrated Whole-Slurry Enzymatic Hydrolysis Performance Using an Advanced Enzyme Preparation..................................................................................................... 33 Table 17. Ethanol Yields from Xylose ......................................................................................... 34 Table 18. Area 400 Guiding Design Basis Assumptions.............................................................. 37 Table 19. Specifications of the Enzyme Production Bioreactors ................................................. 39 Table 20. Cellulase Production Nutrient Requirements ............................................................... 39 Table 21. Cellulase Production Electricity Requirements............................................................ 40 Table 22. Wastewater Treatment System Design Basis ............................................................... 48 Table 23. Storage Requirements................................................................................................... 51 Table 24. Cooling Water Users..................................................................................................... 54 Table 25. Installation Factors........................................................................................................ 59 Table 26. Scaling Exponents......................................................................................................... 60 Table 27. Additional Costs for Determining Total Capital Investment (TCI).............................. 61 Table 28. Project Cost Worksheet Including Total Direct Costs and Total Capital Investment .. 62 Table 29. Chemical Costs and Sources......................................................................................... 63 Table 30. Variable Operating Costs.............................................................................................. 63 Table 31. Fixed Operating Costs .................................................................................................. 64 Table 32. Construction Activities and Cash Flow ........................................................................ 67 Table 33. Discounted Cash Flow Analysis Parameters ................................................................ 68 Table 34. Summary of Yields, Rates, and Conversion Costs....................................................... 69 Table 35. Ethanol Plant Overall Carbon Balance......................................................................... 70 Table 36. Ethanol Plant Overall Energy Balance ......................................................................... 71 Table 37. Ethanol Plant Water Balance........................................................................................ 75 Table 38. Individual Contributors to Cooling Water Evaporation ............................................... 75 Table 39. Mixed Sugar Stream Composition................................................................................ 77 Table 40. Assumptions Varied in the Sensitivity Analysis........................................................... 79 Table 41. Back-Casted State of Technology Cases and Future Targets....................................... 82 Table 42. Comparison of the Previous Target Case and the Present Design (2007$/gal)............ 84 Table 43. Individual Contributors to the Change in MESP.......................................................... 85
10. ix Acronyms AFEX ammonia fiber explosion BFW boiler feed water BLS Bureau of Labor Statistics C5/C6 refers to mixtures of xylose (a C5 sugar) and glucose (a C6 sugar) CBP consolidated bioprocessing CIP clean-in-place COD chemical oxygen demand CSL corn steep liquor DAP diammonium phosphate DCFROR discounted cash flow rate of return DOE U.S. Department of Energy FCI fixed capital investment FGD flue gas desulfurization HHV higher heating value HMF 5-hydroxymethyl furfural INL Idaho National Laboratory IRR internal rate of return ISBL inside battery limits (of the plant) LHV lower heating value MESP minimum ethanol selling price MM million (e.g., MMBtu or $__MM) MSSP minimum sugar selling price MYPP OBP’s Multi-Year Program Plan NPV net present value NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory OBP Office of the Biomass Program OTR oxygen transfer rate OUR oxygen uptake rate PCS pretreated corn stover PFD process flow diagram SCFM standard cubic feet per minute SHF separate (or sequential) hydrolysis and fermentation SOT annual State of Technology case SSCF simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation TCI total capital investment TDC total direct cost TE technoeconomic VOC volatile organic compound VVM volume (of gas) per volume (of liquid) per minute WWT wastewater treatment
11. 1 1 Introduction 1.1 Background and Motivation The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of the Biomass Program (OBP) promotes the production of ethanol and other liquid fuels from lignocellulosic feedstocks by sponsoring programs in fundamental and applied research that aim to advance the state of biomass conversion technology. These programs include laboratory campaigns to develop better cellulose hydrolysis enzymes and fermenting microorganisms, detailed engineering studies of potential processes, and construction of pilot-scale demonstration and production facilities. This research is conducted by national laboratories, universities, and private industry in conjunction with engineering and construction companies. As part of its involvement in the program, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) investigates the complete process design and economics of cellulosic ethanol manufacturing in order to develop an absolute plant-gate price for ethanol based on process and plant design assumptions consistent with applicable best practices in engineering, construction, and operation. This plant-gate price is referred to as the minimum ethanol selling price or MESP. The MESP can be used by policymakers and DOE to assess the cost-competitiveness and market penetration potential of cellulosic ethanol in comparison with petroleum-derived fuels and starch- or sugar- based ethanol. The technoeconomic analysis effort at NREL also helps to direct our biomass conversion research by examining the sensitivity of the MESP to process alternatives and research advances. Proposed research and its anticipated results can be translated into a new MESP that can be compared to the benchmark case documented in this report. Such comparison helps to quantify the economic impact of core research targets at NREL and elsewhere and to track progress toward meeting competitive cost targets. It also allows DOE to make more informed decisions about research proposals that claim to reduce MESP. This report builds upon previous issues from 1999 [1] and 2002 [2] written by NREL engineers with Delta-T, Merrick Engineering, Reaction Engineering, Inc., and Harris Group. For the present report, NREL again contracted Harris Group to provide engineering support for estimating and reviewing the equipment and raw material costs used in the process design. This update reflects NREL’s latest envisioned biochemical ethanol process and includes recent research progress in the conversion areas (pretreatment, conditioning, enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation), optimizations in product recovery, and our latest understanding of the ethanol plant’s back end (separation, wastewater, and utilities). NREL worked with Harris Group to identify realistic configurations and costs for critical equipment, the pretreatment reactor system in particular. An on-site cellulase enzyme section was included in this update to permit better transparency of enzyme economics than the fixed cost contribution assumed in the last design report did. The biomass conversion efficiencies used in the design (e.g., cellulose to glucose or xylose to ethanol) are based on a slate of research targets that NREL and DOE have committed to demonstrate by the end of 2012 in a campaign of integrated pilot-scale runs. These 2012 performance targets are discussed in detail in this report. The economics of this conceptual process use the best available equipment and raw material costs and an “nth -plant” project cost
12. 2 structure and financing. The projected 2012 nth -plant MESP computed in this report is $2.15/gal in 2007$. Modifications to the conceptual process design presented here will be reflected annually through NREL’s State of Technology (SOT) reports. These ensure that the process design and its cost benchmark incorporate the most current data from NREL and other DOE-funded research and that equipment costs stay up-to-date. We stress that this design report serves to describe a single, feasible cellulosic ethanol conversion process and to transparently document the assumptions and details that went into its design. This report is not meant to provide an exhaustive survey of process alternatives or cost- sensitivity analyses. These will be investigated in separate papers that extend and reference the present report. Furthermore, the process models and economic tools developed for this report are available to the public, and the authors and members of NREL’s Biochemical Platform Analysis task will provide support to researchers who wish to use them for their own studies. 1.2 Process Overview The process described here uses co-current dilute-acid pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass (corn stover), followed by enzymatic hydrolysis (saccharification) of the remaining cellulose, followed by fermentation of the resulting glucose and xylose to ethanol. The process design also includes feedstock handling and storage, product purification, wastewater treatment, lignin combustion, product storage, and required utilities. The process is divided into nine areas (see Figure 1). • Area 100: Feed handling. The feedstock, in this case milled corn stover, is delivered to the feed handling area from a uniform-format feedstock supply system. Only minimum storage and feed handling are required. From there, the biomass is conveyed to the pretreatment reactor (Area 200). • Area 200: Pretreatment and conditioning. In this area, the biomass is treated with dilute sulfuric acid catalyst at a high temperature for a short time to liberate the hemicellulose sugars and break down the biomass for enzymatic hydrolysis. Ammonia is then added to the whole pretreated slurry to raise its pH from ~1 to ~5 for enzymatic hydrolysis. • Area 300: Enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. Enzymatic hydrolysis is initiated in a high-solids continuous reactor using a cellulase enzyme prepared on-site. The partially hydrolyzed slurry is next batched to one of several parallel bioreactors. Hydrolysis is completed in the batch reactor, and then the slurry is cooled and inoculated with the co- fermenting microorganism Zymomonas mobilis. After a total of five days of sequential enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation, most of the cellulose and xylose have been converted to ethanol. The resulting beer is sent to the product recovery train (Area 500). • Area 400: Cellulase enzyme production. An on-site enzyme production section was included in this design. Purchased glucose (corn syrup) is the primary carbon source for enzyme production. Media preparation involves a step in which a portion of the glucose is converted to sophorose to induce cellulase production. The enzyme-producing fungus (modeled after Trichoderma reesei) is grown aerobically in fed-batch bioreactors. The
13. 3 entire fermentation broth, containing the secreted enzyme, is fed to Area 300 to carry out enzymatic hydrolysis. • Area 500: Product recovery. The beer is separated into ethanol, water, and residual solids by distillation and solid-liquid separation. Ethanol is distilled to a nearly azeotropic mixture with water and then purified to 99.5% using vapor-phase molecular sieve adsorption. Solids recovered from the distillation bottoms are sent to the combustor (Area 800) while the liquid is sent to wastewater treatment (Area 600). • Area 600: Wastewater treatment. Plant wastewater streams are treated by anaerobic and aerobic digestion. The methane-rich biogas from anaerobic digestion is sent to the combustor (Area 800), where sludge from the digesters is also burned. The treated water is suitable for recycling and is returned to the process. • Area 700: Storage. This area provides bulk storage for chemicals used and produced in the process, including corn steep liquor (CSL), ammonia, sulfuric acid, nutrients, water, and ethanol. • Area 800: Combustor, boiler, and turbogenerator. The solids from distillation and wastewater treatment and the biogas from anaerobic digestion are combusted to produce high-pressure steam for electricity production and process heat. The majority of the process steam demand is in the pretreatment reactor and distillation columns. The boiler produces excess steam that is converted to electricity for use in the plant and for sale to the grid. • Area 900: Utilities. This area includes a cooling water system, chilled water system, process water manifold, and power systems.
14. 4 Figure 1. Simplified flow diagram of the overall process, PFD-P120-A000 A100 FEED HANDLING A200 PRETREATMENT & CONDITIONING A400 ENZYME PRODUCTION A300 ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS AND FERMENTATION A500 DISTILLATION DEHYDRATION SOLIDS SEPARATION A700 STORAGE A800 BURNER/BOILER TURBOGENERATOR A600 WASTEWATER TREATMENT A900 UTILITIES PFD-P120-A000MAR 2011 OVERALL PROCESS: CORN STOVER TO ETHANOL FEEDSTOCK RAW FEEDSTOCK RECYCLE WATER NUTRIENTS AUX. FUEL ANAEROBIC BIOGAS STEAM ELECTRICITY STEAM CELLULASE HYDROLYSATE AMMONIA STEAM ACID GLUCOSE NUTRIENTS VENT NUTRIENTS EVAPORATION FLASH CONDENSATE STILLAGE LIGNIN BEER VENT EtOHPRODUCT
15. 5 1.3 Technoeconomic Analysis Approach Figure 2 describes the engineering approach used here for modeling the conversion of biomass to ethanol, including process design, process modeling, and economic analysis. Figure 2. NREL’s approach to process design and economic analysis Starting from the general process flow diagram (PFD) shown in Figure 1 and the more detailed PFDs contained in Appendix E, a process simulation is developed using Aspen Plus software [3]. This process model computes thermodynamically-rigorous material and energy balances for each unit operation in this conceptual biorefinery. The material and energy balance data from the Aspen simulation are next used to assist in determining the number and size of capital equipment items. As process conditions and flows change, baseline equipment costs are automatically adjusted in an Excel spreadsheet using a scaling exponent. These baseline costs come from vendor quotes (favored for larger or non- standard unit operations and packaged or skid-mounted subsystems) or from Harris Group’s Process Flow Diagrams Rigorous Material & Energy Balances (Aspen Plus) Capital & Project Cost Estimation Discounted Cash Flow Economic Model Minimum Ethanol Selling Price Engineering Companies Consulting on Process Configuration Estimates of Other Commercial Technology Cost Estimation Software (e.g., ICARUS) Engineering Company Cost Estimations NREL or other DOE-Sponsored Research Vendor Cost Quotations Outside Engineering Studies (e.g., feed handling, separations)
16. 6 proprietary cost database (for secondary equipment such as tanks, pumps, and heat exchangers). Final equipment costs for this report are tabulated in Appendix A. Once equipment costs are determined, direct and indirect overhead cost factors (e.g., installation costs and project contingency) are applied to determine a total capital investment (TCI). The TCI, along with the plant operating expenses (also developed using flow rates from the Aspen model), is used in a discounted cash flow rate of return (DCFROR) analysis to determine a plant- gate price for ethanol for a given discount rate. This plant-gate price is also called the minimum ethanol selling price (MESP, $/gallon) required to obtain a net present value (NPV) of zero for a 10% internal rate of return (IRR) after taxes. The product of the analysis described above is a technoeconomic model that reasonably estimates a product price for a pre-commercial process. The resultant MESP is unique for the set of process conditions simulated and it should be emphasized that a certain percentage of uncertainty always exists around these chosen conditions, as well as around the assumptions made for capital and raw material costs. Without a detailed understanding of the basis behind it, the absolute computed MESP has limited relevance. While the MESP can be used to assess the marketplace competiveness of a given process, it is best suited for comparing technological variations against one another or for performing sensitivity analyses that indicate where economic or process performance improvements are needed. 1.4 About nth -Plant Assumptions The technoeconomic analysis reported here uses what are known as “nth -plant” economics. The key assumption implied by nth -plant economics is that our analysis does not describe a pioneer plant; instead, several plants using the same technology have already been built and are operating. In other words, it reflects a mature future in which a successful industry of n plants has been established. Because the technoeconomic model is primarily a tool for studying new process technologies or integration schemes in order to comment on their comparative economic impact, we feel it is prudent to ignore artificial inflation of project costs associated with risk financing, longer start-ups, equipment overdesign, and other costs associated with first-of-a-kind or pioneer plants, lest these overshadow the real economic impact of research advances in conversion or process integration. At the very least, these nth -plant economics should help to provide justification and support for early technology adopters and pioneer plants. In previous design reports that targeted 2012 technology, many of the nth -plant assumptions also applied to key 2012 research targets in conversion, e.g., 90% conversion of xylan to xylose, which in 2002 had not yet been experimentally demonstrated. This report will show that through research progress, current conversion performance is approaching the targets set in 2002 and that the 2012 performance targets should no longer be considered speculative. Assumptions in the previous model also extended to enzyme costs and some equipment costs, particularly those items that were not commercially available at the time (e.g., the pretreatment reactor). In the present design report, enzyme and equipment costs are considerably more well-defined. The remaining nth -plant assumptions in the present model therefore apply primarily to the factored cost model used to determine the total capital investment from the purchased equipment cost and to the choices made in plant financing. The nth -plant assumption also applies to some operating parameters, such as process uptime of 96%. These assumptions were agreed upon by
17. 7 NREL and DOE for this report and reflect our best estimates at the time of publication. It should be emphasized, however, that these assumptions carry a large uncertainty and are subject to refinement. 1.5 Review of Related Technoeconomic Studies Tao and Aden [4] performed a survey of technoeconomic models of existing biofuels (corn ethanol, sugarcane ethanol, and conventional soy biodiesel) from the literature. These studies were normalized to a consistent year-dollar value and feedstock cost (where applicable) and compared to published market studies. This comparison, shown in Table 1, indicated that technoeconomic analysis was able to predict the actual cost of production of these biofuels within the expected accuracy of such models. Table 1. Comparison of Technoeconomic Analyses and Market Studies for Existing Biofuels Fuel Market Study TE Model Corn ethanol $1.53/gal a $1.54/gal b Sugarcane ethanol $1.14/gal a $1.29/gal c Soy biodiesel $2.15/gal d $2.55/gal e a F.O. Lichts, 2007 [5]. b Kwiatkowski et al., 2006 [6]. c Rodrigues, 2007 [7]; Seabra, 2007 [8]. d Graboski & McCormick, 1998 [9]. e Haas et al., 2006 [10]. The quantitative agreement in Table 1 is not altogether surprising, because the developers of these models were able to compare their results to real economics and make adjustments as necessary. (Also, for these particular fuels, feedstock makes up the largest part of the production cost, so uncertainty in the remaining non-feedstock conversion costs is not as obvious.) Developing a technoeconomic model for a pre-commercial technology, such as the corn-stover- to-ethanol process described in this report, requires a more ab initio approach, rooted in a thorough understanding of the state of the technology at the time of the analysis and good engineering practice. In the years since the last NREL design report in 2002, several newer technoeconomic studies of biochemical cellulosic ethanol production have been published. Many of these studies were based to varying degrees on NREL’s previous design report, borrowing from its process assumptions, cost information, or both. This was in fact the principal goal of the earlier NREL design reports: to establish a baseline or “zero-point” technoeconomic benchmark from which process alternatives and improvements could be evaluated by others in the public realm. The present report now aims to establish a new zero-point and thereby serve a similar purpose for analyses going forward. A brief survey of MESPs from recent technoeconomic studies of biochemical cellulosic ethanol production is presented in Table 2; note that these studies were not normalized to a consistent cost-year but were all published between 2008 and 2010, so cost-year differences should be minor. Clearly, there is a wide range of published MESP values within this subset of papers. For the most part, these are due to differences in feedstock cost, process assumptions, and co-product values, all of which vary considerably across the studies. For example, the analysis by Laser et al. [11] assumes a fairly low feedstock cost and very high yields (indicating aggressive process
18. 8 assumptions) as well as improved economies of scale (if such a high feed rate can be sustained), while also receiving positive revenue from higher-value co-products such as protein and hydrogen. Furthermore, this study assumes a consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) approach, which—although less developed than separate saccharification and co-fermentation—could further improve economics by reducing enzyme costs. Conversely, studies on the high end of the MESP range such as Kazi et al. [12] and Klein-Marcuschamer et al. [13] assumed higher feedstock costs while achieving much lower ethanol yields. Compared to NREL’s 2002 design report (upon which many of its cost inputs were based), the Klein-Marcuschamer study’s base case assumes much longer batch times for saccharification and fermentation (thus higher associated capital costs), higher enzyme costs, and a lower carbohydrate fraction in the feedstock (contributing to lower yields) [14].
19. 9 Table 2. Survey of Recent Technoeconomic Studies on Biochemical Cellulosic Ethanol Source MESP ($/gal) Feedstock Scale (dry ton/day) Feed Price ($/dry ton) Ethanol Yield (gal/dry ton) Notes NREL 2002 Design Report (2007$) [2] 1.49 Corn stover 2,200 51 90 Dilute-acid pretreatment, SSCF process, electricity co-product NREL 2011 Design Report (this work) 2.15 Corn stover 2,200 59 79 Dilute-acid pretreatment, SHF process, electricity co-product Kazi [12] 3.40- 4.44 Corn stover 2,200 75 42-72 Varying pretreatment options and downstream process assumptions Huang [15] 1.42- 1.87 Aspen, poplar, corn stover, switchgrass 2,200 58-100 83-111 Dilute-acid pretreatment Sendich [16] 1.03- 1.41 Corn stover 2,200 40 70 AFEX pretreatment, SSCF process, varying process conditions Sendich [16] 0.80- 0.95 Corn stover 2,200 40 78 AFEX pretreatment, CBP process, varying process conditions Laser [11] 0.63- 0.83 Switchgrass 5,000 44 97-105 AFEX pretreatment, CBP process, varying pathways and co- products Gnansounou [17] 2.12- 2.91 Straw, eucalyptus, poplar, switchgrass 1,760- 2,200 57-127 70-84 Dilute-acid pretreatment Bals [18] 1.86- 2.20 Corn stover 850 45 78 AFEX pretreatment, varying pretreatment conditions Piccolo [19] 3.43- 4.03 Hardwood 2,200 65 75 Dilute-acid pretreatment, varying financial inputs Klein- Marcuschamer [13] 3.53- 4.58 Corn stover 1,700 60 52-74 Dilute-acid pretreatment, varying feed compositions and process conditions National Academy of Sciences [20] 1.20- 2.70 (COP) Poplar and “high glucan” 1,000- 1,600 50-88 67-106 Hot water pretreatment, Cost of Production analysis (COP<MESP)
20. 10 To further demonstrate the impact of such assumptions, we turn to the study of Kazi et al. [12], a joint effort between Iowa State University, ConocoPhillips, and NREL. While this paper examined a variety of pretreatment and downstream processing alternatives, its baseline was essentially NREL’s 2008 State of Technology (SOT) model (dilute-acid pretreatment, purchased cellulase enzyme, and C5/C6 co-fermentation) [21]. The Kazi et al. study adjusted several key parameters from the 2008 SOT model to incorporate external public data. The feedstock cost, enzyme cost, indirect capital cost factors, and reaction conversions were all modified per data external to NREL analysis. While both analyses were intended to represent near-term or “state of technology” economics extrapolated to an nth plant as discussed previously, the assumptions in the Kazi et al. study were generally more conservative than NREL’s 2008 SOT, raising the MESP considerably. Adjusting for these key economic assumptions, their MESP closely approaches that of the NREL 2008 SOT case, as shown in Figure 3. In many cases, economic variance between technoeconomic studies is easily explained by normalizing for a few important inputs. Figure 3. Adjusting the Kazi et al. base case ($3.40/gal) to NREL 2008 SOT assumptions 1.6 About the NREL Aspen Model The final version of the Aspen model used to generate this design report is named DW1102A; this version will be made publicly available along with this design report. We note that it is not uncommon to find subtle differences in Aspen results between software versions and patch levels. The results presented here were obtained with model DW1102A on Aspen Plus V7.2, patch level 0. While Aspen can be completely rigorous, such detail is not always warranted in our simulation. Some unit operations, particularly solid-liquid separation, were modeled with a fixed $3.40 $2.50 $0.23 $0.38 $0.29 $1.00 $1.50 $2.00 $2.50 $3.00 $3.50 $4.00 Kazi et al. (published) Indirect capital costs (adjust to 2008 SOT) Enzyme cost (70→32¢/gal) Feedstock price ($75→ $60/ton) Kazi et al. (adjusted) MESP(2007$/gal) 2008 SOT = $2.43/gal2008 SOT = $2.43/gal
21. 11 performance determined by vendor testing. Bioreactors were modeled using experimentally- determined conversions of specific reactions (e.g., cellulose to glucose) rather than using rigorous kinetics or rate expressions. This simple stoichiometric model still satisfies mass and energy balances. The Aspen Plus simulation uses component physical properties internal to the software as well as property data developed at NREL or from the literature [22, 23]. Since the 2002 model was created, we have taken steps to reduce the number of custom-defined components and have eliminated the external property databanks. A discussion of the components and properties used is given in Appendix D.
22. 12 2 Design Basis and Conventions 2.1 Plant Size The plant size in the present design is the same as in the 2002 design: 2,205 dry U.S. ton/day (2,000 metric tonne/day). With an expected 8,410 operating hours per year (96% uptime), the annual feedstock requirement is 773,000 dry U.S. ton/year. The 2002 study assumed that an ethanol plant would be responsible for collecting and storing its own corn stover supply for the year, and 2,205 dry ton/day represented a 50-mile corn stover collection radius, assuming that 10% of the biomass within that radius was available to the plant. In the present design, feedstock is assumed to be delivered to the plant from a satellite storage and processing facility like the pioneer uniform-format facility described by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) [24]. That facility is designed to supply 882,000 dry U.S. ton/yr of biomass; enough to supply one of the ethanol plants described here or multiple smaller facilities. We have not repeated the plant-size sensitivity study from the 2002 report, which indicated that only modest cost reductions due to economies of scale could be achieved beyond 2,205 ton/day. Although the absolute MESP is different in the present report, we expect that the plant-size trends observed in the 2002 report are still valid. 2.2 Feedstock Composition The feedstock type and composition can have significant impacts on the overall process design and economics. Feedstock type may influence the design of key components in the conversion process, e.g., the pretreatment reactor. Feedstock composition, from a potential sugar perspective, clearly affects the ethanol yield. The feedstock used for this analysis was corn stover. Stover is a generic term that refers to the “rest” of the corn plant, i.e., everything above the ground that is not a kernel of corn: leaves, stalks, husks, cobs, etc. NREL biochemical conversion research has focused on corn stover primarily because it is the most abundant agriculture residue in the U.S. and is thus readily available. While dedicated energy crops like switchgrass may ultimately have sustainability and yield advantages over agricultural residues like corn stover, these crops are currently not available in the large volumes required for pilot- scale research. Corn stover can vary in composition and moisture content due to corn variety, region, weather, soil type, fertilization practices, harvesting and storage practices, time in storage, and so on. A recent NREL study assessed the compositions of corn stovers from many commercial hybrid corn varieties using a rapid compositional analysis method known as near-infrared spectroscopy/projection-to-latent-structures modeling (NIR/PLS) [25]. This study evaluated the compositions of 508 commercial corn stover samples collected from 47 sites in eight Corn Belt states after the 2001, 2002, and 2003 harvests. From this study, the average concentrations (dry wt %) of the major stover components were 32% glucan, 19% xylan, 18% solubles, and 13% lignin (corrected for protein). These composition results are summarized in Table 3 along with the characteristic variation of each component. Figure 4 shows the distribution of total structural carbohydrate content among the samples.
23. 13 Table 3. Summary of Whole Stover Composition Data Component Average (dry wt %) Min Max Range Ethanol solubles 3.3 1.7 4.1 2.4 Sucrose 3.6 0 10 10 Extractable inorganics (soil) 2.5 0 4.8 4.8 Other water extractables 8.6 1.4 15.7 14.2 Total solubles 17.9 5.7 30.8 25 Glucan 31.9 26.5 37.6 11 Xylan 18.9 14.8 22.7 7.9 Galactan 1.5 0.8 1.9 1.1 Arabinan 2.8 1.6 3.6 2 Mannan 0.3 0 0.7 0.7 Lignin (corrected for protein) 13.3 11.2 17.8 6.6 Structural inorganics 3.9 0.8 6.6 5.8 Protein 3.7 1.1 5.4 4.3 Acetyl 2.2 0.9 2.9 2 Estimated uronic acids 3.1 2.5 3.7 1.2 Total structurals 81.6 70.4 90.8 20.4 Component closure 99.5 93.8 104.9 11.1 Figure 4. Structural carbohydrate distribution of the feedstock variability study [25] Table 4 compares the composition used in the 2002 design to the composition used in the present design. The composition used in the 2002 design was based on an average of nine stover samples obtained from two batches [26]. Compared with the data in Table 3, its glucan, xylan, and lignin concentrations were each higher than the more recent study’s averages for those components and near or above the maximum concentration measured in the 508 stover samples. (The earlier corn stover was handled extremely carefully between the field and the lab, while the samples from the more recent study were collected from the fields well after harvest.) The composition chosen for the present design was based on a single sample taken from the overall distribution. As indicated Total Structural Carbohydrates + Sucrose (dry wt %) 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 Frequency 0 10 20 30 40 50 Design Composition
24. 14 in Figure 4, this composition fits well inside the carbohydrate distribution of the more recent study and therefore provides a more representative design basis. The moisture content value assumed for corn stover was also updated to 20% based on the feedstock logistics specifications table developed by INL and reported in the OBP Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) [27]. Table 4. Corn Stover Composition from the 2002 Design [2] and the Present Design Component 2002 Design (dry wt %) Present Design (dry wt %) Glucan 37.40 35.05 Xylan 21.07 19.53 Lignin 17.99 15.76 Ash 5.23 4.93 Acetatea 2.93 1.81 Protein 3.10 3.10 Extractives 4.68 14.65 Arabinan 2.92 2.38 Galactan 1.94 1.43 Mannan 1.56 0.60 Sucrose - 0.77 Unknown soluble solidsb 1.18 - Total structural carbohydrate 64.89 58.99 Total structural carbohydrate + sucrose 64.89 59.76 Moisture (bulk wt %) 15.0 20.0 a Represents acetate groups present in the hemicellulose polymer; converted to acetic acid in pretreatment. b In the 2002 design, unknown soluble solids were calculated by difference to close the mass balance. This is now included in the extractives component. When converting the analytical composition to components used in the Aspen model, the water- and ethanol-soluble fractions from the compositional analysis were combined under “extractives.” The extractives component is assumed to be organic, with an average composition of CH2O, and consists primarily of sugars, sugar alcohols, and organic acids [28]. The presence of extractives in corn stover depends on the time of harvest and in part to how much microbial degradation of the material occurs after harvest; the amount of extractives in a given sample may therefore be indicative of its age. Additionally, where the mass balance did not sum to 100%, the extractives component was used to close it by difference. (In the 2002 design, the “unknown soluble solids” component performed this function.) Sucrose is another extractive component, but it is measured separately in laboratory analysis and has been added as a feedstock component in the present design; it is therefore excluded from the extractives component. The amount of sucrose present in corn stover is highly dependent on harvesting and handling practices. In pretreatment, this sucrose is assumed to be fully hydrolyzed to glucose and fructose. The fructose is further converted to degradation products in pretreatment, but the glucose resists degradation and thus is available for fermentation [29]. The differences in composition between the 2002 design and the present design have a few notable economic implications. Because the glucan (cellulose) content in the feedstock is lower, the present design has a lower ethanol yield per ton of feedstock. On the whole, the total structural carbohydrate composition (glucan + hemicellulose components) is about 5% lower than in the 2002 composition. Conversely, in the present design, a larger portion of the feedstock is non-carbohydrate organic compounds. These ultimately become process residues that are
25. 15 burned to provide heat and electricity. The amount of electricity generated per ton of feedstock processed is therefore higher than in the 2002 design (though less electricity is exported as a co- product because the present design has a higher internal electricity demand). 2.3 Design Report Conventions 2.3.1 Units The Aspen model we developed is, by legacy, based on the set of units required by Aspen for specifying custom component properties: kg, kmol, atm, °C for materials, and MMkcal (Gcal) for energies. Values in this report that were pulled directly from the Aspen model therefore tend to be reported in these units. Harris Group preferred to use U.S. standards (lb, Btu, °F, gal, etc.) when communicating with equipment vendors. Therefore, equipment specifications tend to be cited in these U.S. units. We have made an effort to cite both sets of units in this report, to the degree that it does not distract from the discussion. Note that in the present report, certain quantities (e.g., yields and costs) are computed and reported in terms of “tons.” To avoid ambiguity, tonne will denote a metric tonne (1,000 kg) and ton will denote a short or U.S. ton (2,000 lb). In general, the U.S. ton is the standard for this document. “Ton” also appears in Section 3.9 in the context of refrigeration, but this usage should be clear from the discussion. 2.3.2 Total Solids Loading The process described here converts a solid feedstock (corn stover) into a liquid product (ethanol). Most material streams in the process therefore have a solid fraction and a liquid fraction. The relative amount of solids in a given stream is called its “solids loading.” Total solids loading is defined as the total weight percent of soluble solids (e.g., sugars and salts) and insoluble solids (e.g., cellulose and lignin) in a given material stream. Where useful, the total solids loading and the insoluble solids loading will be reported together. Note that in our convention, sulfuric acid, acetic acid, and ammonia are not considered soluble solids but ammonium acetate and ammonium sulfate are. Therefore, around some unit operations, e.g., hydrolysate conditioning, total solids loading is not a conserved quantity. 2.3.3 Ethanol Density The most important results from this analysis are reported in terms of volume of ethanol produced: $/gal, gal/yr, gal/ton, etc. To avoid errors in these quantities that may arise from using the ethanol density computed by Aspen Plus, an accepted value was used for anhydrous ethanol at 20°C (68°F): 0.789 kg/L [30]. 2.3.4 Theoretical Yields and Conversions The terms “yield” and “conversion” are used throughout this report to describe the extent of various chemical and biochemical reactions. It should be understood that each of these quantities is a percentage of the theoretical. For example, the statement “95% conversion of glucose to ethanol” means that 95% of the glucose in the system was consumed in the following reaction: Glucose 2 Ethanol + 2 CO2 which has a theoretical yield of 0.51 g ethanol / g glucose.
26. 16 3 Process Design and Cost Estimation Details The process design described in this study was based upon demonstrated performance and planned performance goals from DOE’s core R&D efforts in biochemical conversion. This section describes the process in detail and discusses the influence of specific R&D goals in the decision-making process. 3.1 Area 100: Feedstock Storage and Handling 3.1.1 Overview Area 100 handles incoming biomass feedstock. In contrast to the 2002 design, which assumed bale delivery and yard storage of corn stover followed by milling and washing, the present design assumes that corn stover is delivered according to the specifications detailed in the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) design report for the pioneer uniform-format feedstock supply system [24]. In this envisioned design, biomass is stored in a central depot and is preprocessed and homogenized to a degree before delivery, such that the biorefinery receives feedstock with known, uniform-format specifications including particle size distribution, moisture content, and bulk density. Harris Group designed the receiving and handling system in Area 100 based on this delivery specification, using the INL design report as well as its own experience with the required equipment. The equipment in Area 100 is physically located at the ethanol plant and consists of weighing and unloading stations for incoming biomass supply trucks, short-term queuing storage, and conveyors for feeding bulk feedstock to the pretreatment reactor. A simplified process flow diagram for this area is shown in Figure 5, and more detail is given in PFD-P120- A101 (Appendix E). Figure 5. Simplified flow diagram of the feedstock receiving system To pretreatment Concrete storage dome Dust collection Truck tipper Milled corn stover
27. 17 3.1.2 Design Basis In the uniform-format feedstock supply system design, feedstock would be stored in a satellite depot location with delivery to the biorefinery occurring six days a week by truck or possibly by rail. At the depot, material would be milled to a mean size of 0.16–0.23 in. (with a high content of fines), in order to achieve a mean bulk density of 9–11 lb/ft3 to maximize the biomass load per trailer. The incoming corn stover feedstock is assumed to have 20% moisture when it reaches the biorefinery; this is representative of a mixture of field-dried material having <15% moisture and co-harvested material having >20% moisture. Because the preprocessing operation is designed to lose very little dry matter and does not include any rinsing of biomass, it is assumed that the corn stover composition discussed in Section 2.2 is valid for the delivered material. We also note that the particle size of <0.25 in. is consistent with the material currently used in NREL pretreatment research. The as-received corn stover feed requirement for the plant is 2,756 U.S. ton/day (104,200 kg/h; 229,700 lb/h) including moisture. In the projected design, refinery receiving operates on the same schedule as the biomass depot: 24 hours a day, six days a week. Each truck trailer holds 10 U.S. tons of biomass. To satisfy production and storage requirements, the plant must receive 12 trucks every hour. Incoming trucks are weighed by electronic scale (M-101) and unloaded using a whole-truck dumper (M-102) capable of a 7–10 minute unloading time. The dumpers empty into dedicated hoppers (M-103), which meter the biomass to a series of conveyors (C-101, C- 102, C-103). These carry material from the truck tipper to short-term storage. The minimum receiving rate is 244 ton/h to maintain 114 ton/h of continuous processing. Because trucks are not unloaded continuously, some extra capacity needs to be built into the conveyor that carries material from the truck dumpers to storage (minimum 330–440 ton/h recommended). In order to process 244 ton/h, and assuming a relatively constant flow of trucks, a pair of scales (one inbound and one outbound) and two truck dumpers are required. On-site storage is kept to a minimum of 72 hours to allow for a weekend buffer. Open piles are not favored due to concerns of fire, rodent infestation, and moisture degradation. Instead, the unloaded feedstock is stored in concrete domes (M-104). Two domes (each with a 36-hour capacity) are required so that one can be loaded while the other empties to the conversion process. Conveyors (C-106, C-107, C-108) connect the storage domes to the feedstock receiving bins on the pretreatment reactor in Area 200. A dust collection system (M-106) integrated with the conveyors and domes handles airborne particles released during the unloading and conveying processes. No dry matter is assumed lost in Area 100. In contrast to the 2002 design, the feedstock is not washed, which eliminates a source of evaporative water loss in this area. There is some evidence that feedstock washing may still be desired to reduce any incoming inorganics from fertilized feedstocks like corn stover, and this practice may be revisited in the future. 3.1.3 Cost Estimation The feedstock cost assumed in this report is $58.50/dry ton (2007$). This cost comes from the Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) published by DOE’s Office of the Biomass Program [27]. The total of $58.50/ton includes $23.50/ton for a grower payment (MYPP Table B-1) and $35/ton for all collection, processing, storage, and transportation costs between the field and the receiving
28. 18 bin on the pretreatment reactor (MYPP Table B-2). It should be stressed that these costs are 2012 DOE research targets, like the conversion performance targets used in the Aspen model. Harris Group did obtain vendor quotes or other estimates for the truck unloading equipment, storage domes, conveyors, and dust collectors. Although the final equipment list assembled by Harris Group does not completely match the INL design report, the capital and operating costs for Area 100 are assumed to be included in the MYPP feedstock cost and are not included in the total capital investment (TCI) calculation; therefore they do not affect the MESP. The truck scales were quoted by St. Louis Scale, and the truck dumpers and hoppers were quoted by Jeffrey Rader. The storage domes, each with a 4,400 ton capacity, were quoted by Domtec. The internal reclaim system was quoted by Cambelt. All other connecting conveyors were quoted by Dearborn Midwest Conveyor Co. Sly, Inc. provided a quote for all components in the dust collection system. The belt scales for biomass leaving the storage domes were quoted by Tecweigh.
29. 19 3.2 Area 200: Pretreatment and Conditioning 3.2.1 Overview The pretreatment process converts most of the hemicellulose carbohydrates in the feedstock to soluble sugars (xylose, mannose, arabinose, and glucose) by hydrolysis reactions. Acetyl groups in the hemicellulose are liberated as acetic acid. The breakdown of biomass in pretreatment facilitates downstream enzymatic hydrolysis by disrupting cell wall structures, driving some lignin into solution, and reducing cellulose crystallinity and chain length. The nature and extent of such changes are highly dependent on the pretreatment chemistry and reaction severity (defined by residence time, temperature, and catalyst loading). Sugar degradation products such as furfural and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) can also be formed in pretreatment. These compounds can have adverse effects on the fermenting organisms in sufficiently high concentrations. In the present design, hydrolysis reactions are catalyzed using dilute sulfuric acid and heat from steam. Pretreatment is carried out in two stages in the present design and the reaction severity is fairly mild compared to what has been modeled in the past. This milder pretreatment favors the production of soluble xylose oligomers. Higher-severity pretreatments tend to produce more monomeric xylose but at the risk of forming significant amounts of degradation products if reaction conditions are not well controlled. The first stage in pretreatment is a horizontal screw-feed reactor with a short residence time (5– 10 minutes). The second stage is a lower temperature/longer residence time “oligomer conversion” step that converts most of the xylose oligomers leaving the first stage to monomeric xylose without generating significant additional degradation products [31]. After the pretreatment reactors, the hydrolysate slurry is flash-cooled, vaporizing a large amount of water along with some of the acetic acid and furfural. The flash vapor is condensed and sent to the wastewater treatment area. The hydrolysate slurry is cooled by dilution water and sent to a conditioning reactor, where ammonia is used to raise its pH from 1 to 5–6. Figure 6 shows a simplified flow diagram of the pretreatment area. Figure 6. Simplified flow diagram of the pretreatment and conditioning process Milled corn stover Acid Steam Steam Dilution water & NH3 Vertical presteamer Horizontal reactor Blowdown tank Oligomer conversion Ammonia conditioning To wastewater To enzymatic hydrolysis BFW Hot water
30. 20 In previous designs, the pretreated biomass was separated into washed solid and liquid fractions, and the liquor and wash water were conditioned by an “overliming” process in which the pH was increased from 1 to ~10 with lime and then readjusted to ~5 with additional sulfuric acid. The lime and sulfuric acid precipitated as gypsum, which was removed in another solid-liquid separation step. The conditioned liquid was then re-slurried with the cellulosic solids before enzymatic hydrolysis. In overliming, a significant amount of sugar in the liquor (as much as 13%) could be lost to side reactions occurring at high pH or pressed out with the wet gypsum. The present design uses ammonia in place of lime to avoid these sugar losses. The high miscibility of ammonia also permits conditioning of the whole hydrolysate slurry and eliminates the solid-liquid separation steps. Fermentation studies have indicated that there is no benefit to over-conditioning at high pH when using ammonia, so the hydrolysate is simply adjusted to enzymatic hydrolysis pH in one step. While ammonia is considerably more expensive than lime, the economic benefits of reduced sugar loss and reduced capital cost make ammonia the more economic alternative [32]. It is also possible that the ammonia could reduce nitrogen requirements in fermentation, but this currently is not modeled. 3.2.2 Design Basis The pretreatment reactor system includes a feedstock receiving system, followed by a vertical vessel with a long residence time for steam-heating and potential acid impregnation of the biomass, followed by the horizontal pretreatment reactor, which operates at a higher pressure and a short residence time. PFD-P120-A201 (Appendix E) shows the components in greater detail and PFD-P120-A202 shows the oligomer conversion and conditioning equipment. The horizontal reactor configuration was chosen because it permits tighter residence time distribution control than a vertical reactor. This is important in single-step, high-severity pretreatment to minimize “over-cooking” or “under-cooking” portions of the biomass, either of which would lower the overall yield. Milled corn stover is fed to the receiving bins at the inlet of the pretreatment reactor (M-201). The receiving bins are rectangular with a bottom-drag conveyor that moves the feedstock pile inside the bin toward the doffing rolls (special scraper shafts with radial pins that spread material uniformly onto the discharge belt conveyor). The receiving bins also have a top rake-belt installed just under the bin cover to move incoming material toward the end of the bin, ensuring first-in/first-out material handling. At the discharge of each bin, the transfer conveyor (C-201) lifts material to the distribution screw conveyor (C-202), which supplies slightly (~10%) more feedstock than each pin drum feeder requires. Overfeeding allows the speed of the pin drum feeders to control the flow rate of material into each plug screw feeder. It also ensures that the plug screw feeders maintain a maximum fill. The excess feedstock is conveyed back to the storage bin by a series of screw conveyors (C-203). Each pin drum feeder (M-202) packs feedstock material into separate plug screw feeders (M- 203). The 26-in. plug screw feeder is a rugged, high-compression screw device designed to form a pressure-tight plug of material through axial compression. The compression action in each plug screw feeder may also squeeze out water and some of the water-soluble extractive components. This “pressate” could be handled as a separate, concentrated waste stream but in the present model, it is assumed that the pressate is recombined with the hydrolysate at the outlet of the reactor. Dilute sulfuric acid is injected at the discharge spool of the plug screw feeder. Feedstock drops from the plug screw discharge into a mixing and heating screw (C-204). The heating screw
31. 21 discharges the feedstock into the top of the presteamer (M-204). Hot water is added at this point to control the pretreatment effluent at 30 wt % total solids. The vertical biomass presteamer is designed for a retention time of up to 10 minutes at a temperature of up to 165°C, though in the current model it only operates at 100°C such that no significant hydrolysis reactions occur in the presteamer. With a 2,205 ton/day throughput and 10- minute retention time, a single vertical vessel is adequate. Feedstock flows downward through the vertical reactor with uniform temperature throughout. The reactor is discharged through a dual screw outlet device (C-205) to two plug screw feeders (M-206). The plug screw feeders meter feedstock to the pretreatment reactor and control the pressure and temperature difference between it and the presteamer. Acid for the pretreatment reaction is added at the discharge of each plug screw feeder. The transport conveyors (C-206, C-207) combine feedstock from both plug screw feeders and deliver it to the pretreatment reactor (M-207). The pretreatment reactor is a single horizontal reaction vessel. The reactor is designed for fairly severe conditions of up to 190°C (374°F) and about 1.1 wt % sulfuric acid. In the current design, the reaction conditions are milder at 158°C (316°F) and 18 mg acid/dry g of biomass. Acid is metered to the reaction chamber at a rate proportional to the mass flow rate of feedstock. High- pressure steam is injected into this vessel to maintain temperature. The reactor pressure is held just at the bubble point for the mixture. Heat losses from the reactor are not accounted for in the energy balance calculations. The residence time in the pretreatment reactor is nominally 5 minutes. The reaction conditions are summarized in Table 5. Table 5. Pretreatment Reactor Conditions Sulfuric acid loading 18 mg/g dry biomassa Residence time 5 minutes Temperature 158°C Pressure 5.5 atm (81 psia) Total solids loading 30 wt % a Additional acid is added downstream of the pretreatment reactor. The pretreatment reactor is discharged to a flash tank (T-203). The pressure of the flash is controlled to keep the temperature at 130°C (266°F). The slurry from T-203 goes into the secondary oligomer conversion reaction vessel (T-208), where it is held at 130°C for 20–30 minutes. An additional 4.1 mg/g of sulfuric acid is added in the oligomer conversion step, bringing the total acid loading to 22.1 mg/g dry biomass. (Note that in the Aspen model, all of the acid is added to the pretreatment reactor block.) The oligomer conversion reactor is discharged into another flash tank (T-204) that operates at atmospheric pressure. After this flash, the hydrolysate whole slurry containing 30 wt % total solids and 16.6 wt % insoluble solids is sent to the conditioning tank (T-209). Here, the slurry is diluted with water to slightly greater than 20 wt % total solids to ensure miscibility through enzymatic hydrolysis. Ammonia gas is mixed into the dilution water to raise the hydrolysate pH to 5. The residence time in T-209 is 30 minutes and the dilution cools the slurry to 75°C (167°F). The flash vapor from T-203 is used to preheat the boiler feed water in H-812 or combined with the 100°C (212°F) flash vapor from T-204, which is condensed in H-201 and H-244. This
32. 22 condensate contains volatile, potentially inhibitory organics created in pretreatment and therefore is routed to wastewater treatment (Area 600). Table 6 summarizes the reactions and percent conversions that take place in pretreatment. Glucan contained in the hemicellulose side-chains is converted to glucose along with a small portion of the cellulose. Minor hemicellulose carbohydrates (arabinan, mannan, galactan) are assumed to have the same reactions and conversions as xylan. The xylan-to-xylose conversion is an assumed total hydrolysis that also includes an enzymatic component that will be discussed later. The sucrose reaction to HMF and glucose reflects 100% hydrolysis of sucrose to fructose and glucose, followed by complete degradation of the fructose to HMF, as mentioned in Section 2.2. Table 6. Pretreatment Hydrolysis Reactions and Assumed Conversions Reaction Reactant % Converted to Product (Glucan)n + n H2O→ n Glucose Glucan 9.9% (Glucan)n + n H2O → n Glucose Oligomera Glucan 0.3% (Glucan)n → n HMF + 2n H2O Glucan 0.3% Sucrose → HMF + Glucose + 2 H2O Sucrose 100% (Xylan)n + n H2O→ n Xylose Xylan 90.0% (Xylan)n + m H2O → m Xylose Oligomera Xylan 2.4% (Xylan)n → n Furfural + 2n H2O Xylan 5.0% Acetate → Acetic Acid Acetate 100% (Lignin)n → n Soluble Lignin Lignin 5.0% a Sugar oligomers are considered soluble but not fermentable. 3.2.3 Cost Estimation For the pretreatment reactor system, Harris Group obtained a detailed quote from Andritz, Inc., totaling approximately $20MM for the whole system: feedstock receiving bin, additional size reduction steps (if necessary), pre-steaming, pressurized heating, reaction, and flash cooling. A reactor schematic provided by Andritz is shown in Figure 7. This reactor configuration is similar in principle to the pretreatment reactor assumed in the 2002 design. The reactor system is constructed of carbon steel with all parts in contact with acid (pretreatment reactor, pressurized transporter, and plug screw feeder) clad in Incoloy 825. This met Andritz’s approval but was primarily chosen to be consistent with the 2002 design and a previous NREL corrosion study on reactor metallurgy [33]. This reactor system is actually overdesigned for the pretreatment process conditions considered here and is capable of operating at a significantly higher severity. In the present design, the pretreatment system contributes about $0.14/gal to the MESP; we chose not to adjust the cost of the reactor to account for the lower residence time, temperature, pressure, or acid loading. This will permit continued use of the same reactor cost in our analyses as researchers change the pretreatment severity in their optimization studies. As long as acid is used in any concentration, we believe it is unlikely that the reactor cost would change significantly because Incoloy (or similarly expensive) cladding would still be required. The reactor cost will be revisited in the future if pretreatment conditions change more significantly.
33. 23 Figure 7. Horizontal pretreatment reactor design scheme (Andritz, Inc.) Costs for other equipment, such as pumps, agitators, tanks, conveyors, and heat exchangers, were estimated using Harris Group’s internal database. The holding tank for sulfuric acid (T-201) is plastic, and the rest of the equipment is stainless steel—most of it 316SS to provide additional acid resistance at temperatures below 100°C (212°F). 3.2.4 Achieving the Design Case Table 7 shows demonstrated pilot-scale performance results achieved from 2008–2010 [21, 34–35] as well as the 2012 conversion targets (i.e., those used in the Aspen model) for the pretreatment area. In pretreatment, the 2012 target is 90% conversion of xylan to monomeric xylose with 5% loss to degradation products. An additional 2012 target is to move to a whole- slurry conditioning process and thereby eliminate the need for a solid-liquid separation step in the pretreatment area. Feedstock Feedstock Steam Flush water Flush water Steam Acid Vent Hydrolysate to oligomer conversion Pressate Pressate reinjection Screw feeder Screw feeder Vertical presteamer Horizontal reactor
34. 24 Table 7. Research Status and 2012 Targets in the Pretreatment Area 2008 State of Technology 2009 State of Technology 2010 State of Technology 2012 Targets Pretreatment Solids loading (wt %) 30% 30% 30% 30% Xylan conversion to xylose (%) 75% 84% 85% 90% Xylan conversion to furfural (%) 11% 6.4% 8% 5% Conditioning Ammonia loading (g/L of hydrolysate) 13 10 4.8 4.8 Hydrolysate solid-liquid separation yes yes yes no Xylose sugar loss (% entering conditioning) 2% 2% 2% 1% Glucose sugar loss (% entering conditioning) 1% 1% 1% 0% In NREL’s pretreatment research, significant improvements in the conversion of xylan to xylose by dilute-acid pretreatment were demonstrated at the bench scale in 2007, where conversions of 75% or higher were routinely achieved in bench-scale batch reactors [36]. Efforts to duplicate these results in continuous pilot-scale operation in 2008 proved more challenging. Continuous pretreatment is more difficult than batch pretreatment because process conditions (residence time in particular) cannot be as tightly controlled. Experiments in NREL’s 200 kg/day continuous horizontal pretreatment reactor indicated a xylan-to-xylose conversion limit of ~60% in that reactor configuration, though total conversion to monomeric and oligomeric xylose was around 75%. The mild secondary oligomer conversion step was therefore added to convert the oligomers to monomeric xylose without generating additional degradation products, meeting the 2008 xylose target of 75%. In 2009, the internals of the horizontal reactor were modified to tighten its residence time distribution [37]. Optimization of the operating conditions between the two stages met 2009 targets with an overall xylan-to-xylose conversion of 79.6% with 6.4% loss to furfural. Remaining oligomers were 9.0%, leaving 5% of the xylan unreacted [38]. Further process optimization in 2010 showed little improvement over these conversions but additional xylose yield was obtained in enzymatic hydrolysis using an advanced cellulase preparation that has xylanase and “xylooligomerase” activities. In washed-solids enzymatic hydrolysis, the advanced enzyme preparation converted an additional 82% of the unreacted xylan to xylose. Overall, an 85.3% yield of monomeric xylose was achieved from all thermochemical and enzymatic processes in 2010 experiments [39]. The targeted enzymatic conversion of xylan and xylose oligomers described above is quite promising [40]. It could eliminate the secondary oligomer conversion step used in our design and, in general, permit lower-severity pretreatments that yield more xylose oligomers and fewer degradation products. Lower-severity pretreatments have relaxed residence time control requirements and may be able to utilize lower-cost vertical reactor configurations. (Vertical pretreatment reactors are typically less expensive than horizontal reactors with the same throughput because they have less complex internals, though reduced severity will probably not eliminate the need for exotic reactor cladding on acid-wetted surfaces.) Additionally, lower pretreatment severity would result in lower energy requirements and reduced chemical costs, including reduced cleanup in wastewater treatment.
35. 25 Including these hemicellulase “accessory” enzymes in our technoeconomic analysis is complicated because little to no cost information exists for these highly specialized, pre- commercial enzymes. However, preliminary analysis has shown that if the xylan and xylose oligomer hydrolysis is carried out simultaneously with the cellulose enzymatic hydrolysis, accessory enzymes are probably the more economic option, assuming they can be obtained at a cost per kg of protein similar to that currently assumed for cellulase [41]. Replacing overliming with ammonia conditioning has eliminated significant sugar losses and gypsum disposal cost. Because ammonia can be mixed with the dilution water and applied as an aqueous solution, the whole hydrolysate slurry may be treated at once without a solid-liquid separation step. However, from Table 7, one may note that elimination of hydrolysate solid- liquid separation is not assumed until 2012. This is due not to problems with the conditioning procedure but to conversion limitations in whole-slurry enzymatic hydrolysis caused by end- product inhibition, particularly with respect to the xylanase activities discussed above. Nevertheless, in the present design, which is intended to reflect 2012 technology, a whole-slurry process through conditioning and enzymatic hydrolysis is assumed. Further research topics in the pretreatment area include biomass deacetylation through acid pre- impregnation, use of co-catalysts (e.g., iron salts), and disc-refining of the pretreated slurry. These are designed to reduce sulfuric acid usage in pretreatment and achieve high xylose yields under less severe pretreatment conditions while maintaining high enzymatic digestibility of cellulose in the pretreated solids, with economic benefits as discussed above. In addition, deacetylation and disc-refining may significantly enhance downstream enzymatic hydrolysis and potentially decrease enzyme loading requirements. Acid pre-impregnation is not explicitly modeled in our design, but it is envisioned that it could take place in the vertical presteamer, though the cost of the reactor system would have to be increased to include Incoloy cladding on the presteamer as well as all screw feeders and conveyors between the presteamer and the pretreatment reactor. This design effort is ongoing.
36. 26 3.3 Area 300: Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Fermentation 3.3.1 Overview In this process area, cellulose is converted to glucose using cellulase enzymes. This process is known as enzymatic saccharification or enzymatic hydrolysis. A cellulase enzyme preparation is a mixture of enzymes (catalytic proteins) that work together to break down cellulose fibers into cellobiose and soluble gluco-oligomers and ultimately into glucose monomers. The resulting glucose and other sugars hydrolyzed from hemicellulose during pretreatment are fermented to ethanol. Most fermentation research at NREL has used the recombinant co-fermenting bacterium Zymomonas mobilis because this microorganism and much of its genome are in the public domain [42]. “Co-fermenting” means that the organism can simultaneously ferment glucose and xylose to ethanol. Other co-fermenting ethanologens are also being considered at NREL and elsewhere, e.g., metabolically engineered strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae [43]. The process assumed in this design is known as separate (or sequential) hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF). Enzymatic hydrolysis is initiated while the slurry is still at an elevated temperature after pretreatment and conditioning. At this temperature, the enzyme activity is higher so conversion is faster and a smaller amount of enzyme is required. Once the conversion of cellulose to glucose is complete, the slurry is cooled to fermentation temperature and inoculated with the fermenting microorganism (the “ethanologen”). This deviates from the 2002 process, which was based on a simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) process in which the temperature of the slurry was reduced and fermentation was initiated before enzymatic hydrolysis was complete. In SSCF, the enzyme continues to hydrolyze cellulose even after fermentation is initiated. Fermentation creates a sugar sink (because sugar is being consumed by the ethanologen) that helps drive the enzymatic hydrolysis reactions toward glucose. The 2002 process was also nominally continuous with a total residence time of 3 days. Based on more recent experience with Z. mobilis, a 5-day SHF process with batch fermentation was selected as a more realistic case for the present design. Enzymatic hydrolysis begins in a continuous, high-solids reactor. As the cellulosic solids are saccharified by the enzyme, the viscosity of the mixture drops dramatically, such that it can be pumped to one of several parallel bioreactors. Hydrolysis continues in this vessel until complete, then the slurry is cooled and the ethanologen inoculum is added. The ethanol-containing fermentation broth is emptied to the beer well (storage tank) before being pumped to distillation. Figure 8 shows a simplified flow diagram of the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation process.
37. 27 Figure 8. Simplified flow diagram of the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation process 3.3.2 Design Basis The full process flow is shown in PFD-P120-A301 and -A302 (Appendix E). Enzymatic hydrolysis is initiated in a continuous, high-solids reactor (T-310). Neutralized, diluted hydrolysate is cooled with cooling water in H-301 and fed to T-310 at slightly higher than 20 wt % total solids. A 100-hp inline mixer upstream of the continuous hydrolysis reactor (A-308) mixes the enzyme into the slurry. After the cellulase enzyme stream is mixed in, the total solids loading is 20 wt % (10.6 wt % insoluble) and the temperature is 48°C (118°F). The residence time in this first stage is 24 hours, after which the slurry is batched to one of twelve 950,000-gal vessels (F-300), where enzymatic hydrolysis continues for another 60 hours. Moving pretreated material at 20% (or higher) total solids loading is challenging because this material is not pumpable until the cellulose has been partially enzymatically hydrolyzed. In the present design, the continuous high-solids hydrolysis reactor is envisioned as an empty tower, with the slurry entering at the top and flowing down with gravity. Horizontal mixers with rotating paddles are another design option for performing the initial enzymatic hydrolysis reaction, and NREL will be testing such a reactor in its new Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility (IBRF) in 2011 [44]. These are expected to be more expensive than the plug-flow tower specified here, but not dramatically so given the relatively short residence time expected in the high-solids vessels and when considered in the total equipment scope of the plant. We believe that the tower design is a suitable placeholder. The amount of enzyme used (the enzyme loading) is determined by the amount of cellulose present in the hydrolysate and the specific activity of the enzyme. In the present design, the total cellulase loading is 20 mg enzyme protein/g cellulose to achieve a 90% conversion to glucose. “Protein” here refers to the total concentration of protein in the enzyme broth as determined by assay; not all of this protein has cellulase activity. Although sugar yield generally increases with higher enzyme loading, the additional enzyme obviously comes at a cost. Enzyme loading therefore has a significant and complex impact on process economics. Determining the most economical enzyme loading requires optimization of several process parameters including temperature, residence time, and total solids loading [45]. The design conditions developed based on the recommendations of enzyme manufacturers and NREL researchers are summarized in Table 8. Beer To recovery High-solids hydrolysis (continuous flow) Batch Hydrolysis/Fermentation Seed train (Zymomonas mobilis) Beer well CW Enzyme Hydrolysate
38. 28 Table 8. Enzymatic Hydrolysis Conditions Temperature 48°C (118°F) Initial solids loading 20 wt % total solids (10.6% insoluble/9.4% soluble) Residence time 3.5 days total (84 h) Number and size of continuous vessels 8 @ 950 m3 (250,000 gal) each Number and size of batch vessels 12 @ 3,600 m3 (950,000 gal) each Cellulase loading 20 mg protein/g cellulose The batch reactors are agitated and temperature-controlled using a pump-around loop that consists of a centrifugal pump (P-300) and a heat exchanger (H-300). During enzymatic hydrolysis, the temperature is maintained with cooling water. Temperature control during enzymatic hydrolysis is important. Enzyme studies at NREL have indicated an optimum temperature of 48°C for a number of commercial and development enzymes. A -5°C deviation could result in a dramatically reduced rate of reaction; a +5°C deviation could result in the onset of protein denaturation. Either situation would reduce the cellulose conversion yield for the same residence time. Table 9 lists the reactions and conversions taking place during enzymatic hydrolysis. The saccharified slurry contains 11.7 wt % total soluble sugar (including oligomers), with 6.7% monomeric glucose and 3.7% monomeric xylose. As mentioned in Section 3.2, some of the more advanced enzyme preparations have shown a significant ability to also convert xylan to xylose. This additional conversion is captured in pretreatment so it is not included in Table 9. Note that glucose oligomers are modeled in Aspen as “glucose molecules in oligomeric form”; the actual size distribution of the oligomers is not captured. Table 9. Enzymatic Hydrolysis Reactions and Assumed Conversions Reaction Reactant % Converted to Product (Glucan)n → n Glucose Oligomer Glucan 4.0% (Glucan)n + ½n H2O → ½n Cellobiose Glucan 1.2% (Glucan)n + n H2O → n Glucose Glucan 90.0% Cellobiose + H2O → 2 Glucose Cellobiose 100% After 60 hours of additional enzymatic hydrolysis in F-300, the saccharified slurry is cooled by the pump-around loop and larger heat exchanger H-310 (specific to this task and shared between all the fermentors) to 32°C for fermentation. Recombinant Zymomonas mobilis bacterium is used as the ethanologen. This strain of Z. mobilis can simultaneously ferment glucose and xylose to ethanol. The present design assumes that the minor hemicellulosic sugar arabinose is also fermented to ethanol with the same yield as xylose, although this is a research target for 2012 and has not yet been demonstrated at NREL. The inoculum protocol for Z. mobilis is a direct transfer of cells without a cell concentration step. In order to provide a required 10% inoculum volume back to the production fermentors, 10% of the saccharified slurry is split off to seed production (see PFD-P120-A301, Appendix E). Each seed train consists of five reactors operating in batch mode with a 24-hour batch time and an additional 12-hour turnaround time. The seed fermentors are cooled with chilled water from Area 900 to maintain the temperature at 32°C (90°F). The first vessel (40 gallons) is inoculated with a seed culture from the lab. Its broth is used to inoculate a larger reactor, and so on. After five
39. 29 iterations, the cell mass from the last vessel (200,000 gallons) is sufficient to inoculate the production vessel. Following the 2002 design, it was decided that two trains would be optimal [2]. Using these conditions, the fifth reactor in Train A will complete fermentation at 180 hours. Train B will complete fermentation 12 hours later. Another 24 hours after that, Train A is again complete and the cycle continues. A discussion of seed train cycling can be found in the 2002 report. Table 10 summarizes the seed train design specifications. Additionally, 0.1% (w/v) sorbitol is used in the final seed fermentor to improve cell viability at high sugar concentrations [46, 47]. Sorbitol is not a component in the Aspen model, but it is reflected in the economics by purchasing an amount of sorbitol equivalent to 0.1% (w/v) of the sugar flow to the seed train, at a cost of approximately 0.7 cents/gal ethanol. Table 10. Seed Train Specifications Inoculum level 10 vol % of production vessel size Batch time 24 h Fermentor turnaround time 12 h Number of trains 2 Number of fermentor stages 5 Maximum fermentor volume (F-305) 200,000 gal (757 m3 ) Corn steep liquor (CSL) loading 0.50 wt % Diammonium phosphate (DAP) loading 0.67 g/L fermentation broth (whole slurry) Table 11 gives the reactions and conversions used in the seed fermentors to describe the microorganism growth and sugar metabolism. The fraction of sugar converted to cell mass is rather small. This is typical for Z. mobilis and is economically beneficial as well—most of the sugar entering the seed train is converted to ethanol, which is ultimately added to the production fermentors and recovered. So even though 10% of the saccharified slurry is diverted to produce the seed culture, its ethanol-producing potential is not lost. Other species (E. coli or yeast) could be expected to have cell mass yields about 2 times higher than that of Z. mobilis and thus produce modestly lower amounts of ethanol during seed culture propagation. Table 11. Seed Train Reactions and Assumed Conversions Reaction Reactant % Converted to Product Glucose → 2 Ethanol + 2 CO2 Glucose 90.0% Glucose + 0.047 CSLa + 0.018 DAP → 6 Z. mobilis + 2.4 H2O Glucose 4.0% Glucose + 2 H2O→ 2 Glycerol + O2 Glucose 0.4% Glucose + 2 CO2→ 2 Succinic Acid + O2 Glucose 0.6% 3 Xylose → 5 Ethanol + 5 CO2 Xylose 80.0% Xylose + 0.039 CSL + 0.015 DAP → 5 Z. mobilis + 2 H2O Xylose 4.0% 3 Xylose + 5 H2O → 5 Glycerol + 2.5 O2 Xylose 0.3% Xylose + H2O→ Xylitol + 9.5 O2 Xylose 4.6% 3 Xylose + 5 CO2 → 5 Succinic Acid + 2.5 O2 Xylose 0.9% a Corn steep liquor (CSL) and diammonium phosphate (DAP) are both nitrogen sources required for Z. mobilis growth. The stoichiometry shown above is only used to balance the compositions assumed for nonstandard components like cell mass. Two high-capacity transfer pumps (P-302) are used to transfer the seed to a holding tank (T-301) in a timely fashion (approximately 2.5 h). The seed hold tank (T-301) is sized to hold 20% more
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Home > Oceanography > News Articles
Chesapeake Bay Surface Water Temperature Is Increasing Over Time
By News Staff | October 16th 2015 06:00 AM | Print | E-mail
A new study shows that surface water temperature in the Chesapeake Bay is increasing more rapidly than air temperature, signaling a need to look at the impact of warming waters on one of the largest and most productive estuaries in the world. The study was completed by Haiyong Ding and Andrew Elmore of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Appalachian Laboratory.
"I was surprised that the pattern of increasing water temperature was so clear," said study co-author Andrew Elmore. "If you take any group of five years, they are generally warmer than the previous five years. A consistent warming trend happening over a really large portion of the Bay."
Trends of increasing water temperature were found for more than 92% of the Chesapeake Bay. Water temperature has been increasing more rapidly than air temperature in some areas, particularly in the main stem of the Bay and in the Potomac estuary. The Patapsco River in Baltimore showed the fastest warming of any area of the Bay, implicating urbanization of the watershed and use of the Bay's waters to cool power plants along its shore.
Water temperature is one of the most important factors in understanding the functioning of an aquatic ecosystem. It signals spawning time for fish and warmer water holds less dissolved oxygen than colder water, thereby making estuarine ecosystems experiencing eutrophication or algal blooms more susceptible to dead zones. Many aspects of estuarine management and restoration are dependent on good temperature data.
While warming water temperature in the Bay is not a novel finding, the study used satellite remote sensing data to map a 30-year average minimum and maximum temperatures across the Bay north of the Potomac River. For decades, measurements have been taken from piers, stationary buoys and mobile platforms, which is expensive and time consuming to deploy over large bodies of water.
Elmore and his research team used data from satellites that orbit the earth taking a picture of the Chesapeake Bay every 16 days. Because water emits electromagnetic radiation characteristic of its temperature, each satellite image can be converted to a map of water surface temperature. By analyzing images in consecutive 5-year groups, the researchers were able to separate seasonal variation from long-term trends.
Increasing water temperatures can be driven by climate change, coastal urbanization (since 1975, urban land cover has increased by more than 100% in portions of the coastal plain adjacent to the Bay), runoff from impervious surfaces (imagine the stormwater during a hot afternoon thunderstorm running into a stream at bath-water temperatures), and discharges from industrial processes, such as power plants that use water from the Bay and its tributaries for cooling.
The study compared annual average water surface temperatures for the past 30 years against air temperature records. Increasing trends in air and water temperature were found at all of the stations studied, with rates generally ranging between 0.5 and 1 degree C every ten years.
Pblished in Remote Sensing of Environment.
Source: University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
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The surprising calculation involves the energies of the cloudlike orbitals, like this one, in which the electron in a hydrogen atom hovers.
Geek3/Wikimedia/Creative Commons
Famed number π found hidden in the hydrogen atom
By Adrian Cho Nov. 13, 2015 , 11:45 AM
Three hundred and sixty years ago, British mathematician John Wallis ground out an unusual formula for π, the famed number that never ends. Now, oddly, a pair of physicists has found that the same formula emerges from a routine calculation in the physics of the hydrogen atom—the simplest atom there is. But before you go looking for a cosmic connection or buy any crystals, relax: There is probably no deep meaning to the slice of π from the quantum calculation.
Defined as the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, π is one of the weirder numbers going. Its decimal representation, 3.14159265358979 …, never ends and never repeats. And π can be captured in many disparate formulas. For example, in 1655, Wallis figured out that π can be written as the product of an infinite number of ratios multiplied together: π/2=(2/1*2/3)*(4/3*4/5)*(6/5*6/7)*(8/7*8/9)* …
Deriving that formula didn't come easy for Wallis, says Tamar Friedmann, a mathematician and physicist at the University of Rochester (U of R) in New York. Roughly speaking, he started out by considering the ratio of the areas of a circle and a square that circumscribes it—which turns out to be π/4—she explains. Wallis found a way to write this ratio in terms of infinite sums, such as 1+23+33+43+ … After pages of arithmetic, he was able to replace the sums with the product and achieve his famous formula. Mathematicians have since found simpler ways to derive it involving techniques from probability theory, combinatorics, and trigonometry.
Now, Friedmann and Carl Hagen, a theoretical physicist at U of R in New York, have found a surprisingly easy way to derive the formula using a three-page calculation involving the hydrogen atom. The hydrogen atom consists of a single negatively charged electron bound to a single positively charged proton. According to quantum mechanics, the electron does not circle the proton the way the moon circles Earth but instead occupies cloudlike orbitals that give the probability of finding the electron here or there. Each orbital has a distinct energy.
In their calculation, reported this week in the Journal of Mathematical Physics, the researchers use a technique called the variational principle to come up with an upper limit for the energy of each orbital. They compare that estimate with the exact energy for the orbital, which can be deduced from a more precise calculation. Hagen had been assigning this problem in quantum mechanics class and had found that the approximate value approached the exact one more closely for higher energy states. That was odd, Friedmann says, as approximations tend to work better for lower energy states.
Friedmann proved that for orbitals in which the electron whizzes around the nucleus with a lot of "angular momentum," the ratio of the approximate and exact energies can be rewritten as the ratio of things called gamma functions. As angular momentum increases, the ratio of gamma functions narrows in on 1, explaining the efficacy of the approximation. Moreover, one of those gamma functions gives a value of π, whereas the other ones can be rewritten as the product of ratios in the Wallis formula. So with a bit of rearranging, the Wallis formula tumbles out. "I was completely surprised," Friedmann says. "I wasn't looking for it at all."
The emergence of the formula probably doesn't signal anything profound about quantum theory, cautions Bruno Nachtergaele, a mathematical physicist at the University of California, Davis, and editor of the journal in which the paper was published. "You are entitled to be delighted by this," he says, "but one shouldn't look too deep for meaning." In fact, the emergence of the formula may have more to do with the properties of gamma functions than the physics of the hydrogen atom, Nachtergaele says. Special functions such as gamma functions can often be written out in many ways as sums, products, integrals, etc., Nachtergaele says, so it's possible that Friedmann and Hagen's analysis could lead to other notable formulas, too.
doi:10.1126/science.aad7436
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Hosted by John Horn
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Courtney B. Vance: Johnnie Cochran understood that the Simpson trial was about race
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Courtney B. Vance pays defense attorney Johnnie Cochran in the FX series "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story."
Byron Cohen /FX
Courtney B. Vance as attorney Johnnie Cochran in "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story."
FX Networks
Michelle Lanz and Elizabeth Nonemaker | The Frame® | March 30, 2016
When actors play real people, they'll often study tapes to master character traits or speaking styles. That's how Don Cheadle prepared for his recent portrayal of Miles Davis. Or, like Mark Ruffalo in "Spotlight," they may even meet with their characters for a face-to-face investigation.
Courtney B. Vance, who plays defense attorney Johnnie Cochran in FX's "The People v. O.J. Simpson," chose to go with his instincts. He didn't watch tapes of the Simpson trial, and even if Cochran was alive (he died in 2005), Vance says he wouldn't have sought him out. The actor simply wasn't interested in portraying Cochran with beat-by-beat accuracy.
Vance worried that such an approach would cause him to overthink the role, so he aimed rather to "catch the spirit of the man."
Courtney B. Vance spoke with The Frame's Oscar Garza to talk about his alternative preparations for the role, the artistic goals of the production, and how he's come to understand the O.J. Simpson trial differently.
Did you have an impression of Johnnie Cochran at the time of the trial?
Not so much. I was a working actor so I was trying to make it out here. I knew of him. And I met him about '95 or '96. It was after the trial. At his house — we were invited. My wife, Angela Bassett, was there. We were all just chilling. Glad to be there and watch Mr. Cochran work the room in his own home.
How did this role come to you and what was your reaction at it being offered?
I was at my wife's premiere of "American Horror Story," so I know the [FX network] brass there. Then we went to the after party. Angela and I share a manager. He was walking around with me, and he said, "Courtney, there's one of the writers for 'O.J.' They're doing this mini-series next year, and I think you'd be perfect for Johnnie Cochran. Come with me." So we talked to him. He was very cordial, nice. Of course I didn't have the wig on so you had to use your imagination to see that I could be [Cochran]. So, I didn't think anything of it.
Fast-forward, November of that same year. I was told I had a meeting with Ryan Murphy. And then two to three days later I met with the producer Nina Jacobson. And about three or four days later I got a call from my reps and they said the role was mine. That was it. So I was in a state of shock. I had 10 seconds of Wow!, and then I [thought], How am I going to do this?
What gave you pause?
I know that Johnnie Cochran talked a lot. And if he's talking a lot, and there are 10 episodes, that means I'm going to be doing a lot of talking. And so that means a lot of lines and studying. From the outside, there's a lot of glitz. They see you on the red carpet but they don't see what it takes to get there. I juggle my family — my mother's staying with us and she has ALS. And I have my children and work, so there's a lot that I'm juggling. And so I knew something like this is not just a job where I go in and out. This is going to be six months straight.
Did you watch a lot of tape to catch Cochran's manner and his speech patterns?
You know, I made a decision. When actors have the opportunity to play a larger-than-life icon — my wife did it with Tina Turner, and Jamie Foxx did it with Ray Charles — you have to make a decision how you go in. What do you start with? Where do you begin? And I made the decision, I don't want to imitate, so I'm not going to watch any footage. If I watch footage, I'm going to be in my head judging whatever I'm doing or saying.
How about listening to him, though?
Ah, no. I didn't want to hear him. I [decided] I'm not going to try to imitate him. And the scripts are phenomenal — I knew that by then. I simply had to get my head in the right space. And if I caught the spirit of the man, I'd allow the audience in, and they'd forgive any shortcomings I had because they'd recognize I'm not trying to be him, I'm trying to suggest him.
Johnnie Cochran died in 2005 so you were not able to meet him and pick his brain. Was that an advantage or a disadvantage?
Advantage. I wouldn't have picked his brain initially anyway. Again, it would have been too much for me. That's what the producers encouraged [for] people who were still alive, their characters, to do. To wait, and do it after we're at least midway through.
How did you study for the role, then?
Anything I could get my hands on, I read. What I was trying to do was get a nugget or two. I found one: In Jeffrey Toobin's book I read that [Cochran's] mother had recognized early on that of all her children, this was the one she was going to push out. He would be able to go out into the world and forge a way. They grew up in the time of the Great Migration from the South — all the African-Americans from southern towns. They came from Louisiana. They went out to the West Coast. So his mother recognized: I'm going to put him in white schools. He'll make friends and they'll introduce him to a larger world, and the world is his oyster.
Next thing, he was at UCLA. He's pledging there and one of his pledge buddies was Tom Bradley, who became mayor, who funnels all the police abuse cases to [Cochran's] firm. And he's off and running.
The trial is so rife with overtones of race. There's that scene in episode five in the courtroom where Chris Darden has appealed to the court to disallow the use of racial epithets. After Cochran responds to that appeal to the court, he mutters an aside to Chris Darden: "N-----, please." Did that really happen?
Yes, that really happened. They were in a mentee-mentor relationship. [Darden] was very naive. He wasn't used to the courtroom world. He hadn't tried many cases at all. So he had no idea what was about to happen to him.
And I think that was a problem with the prosecution in general. They had no idea what this case was really about. In a perfect world, it was about the facts. But it very easily and quickly got away from them. They couldn't corral it. Johnnie understood more than anyone that it's about everything, and every little thing should be focused [on].
There are words spoken that are the transcript from the trial. And then there are lines that are really beautifully written. There's one in this week's episode, spoken by Johnnie Cochran's wife. She tells him: "O.J. is an imperfect vessel. But you got your message out there." For me, that was a beautiful distillation of Johnnie Cochran's role.
We've allowed people in. Before, they were just on the periphery, just watching the trial. It was flat. We've allowed them 3-D, to see, potentially, how these decisions were made. And for that, we're rewarding us by their viewing and their passion.
And that's why I applaud trial lawyers, because it's a marathon. For a month, it may be that you have nothing to say. It's the prosecution's turn and it's all verbiage and minutiae and you have to sit there, and make notes and listen, and prepare for when it's your time up there to refute. That's the beauty of our system. Our job, as a defense side, is just to poke holes in this beautiful picture that the prosecution is trying to paint. I don't have to prove guilt or innocence. I just have to make people go, Hmmm...
Does it ever make you wish you'd become a lawyer?
No! Actually, when I was a senior in high school I did an internship with a law firm. And it was very clear that I did not have what it took to do that kind of work.
Has this experience changed the way you think about the Simpson trial?
It was all new and wonderful and educational for me. One of the nuggets was the whole idea that the jury consultant told both sides that the case was about race. And that one side, the prosecution, put their head in the sand. [They needed] an area that reflects Nicole Brown Simpson's environment. It has to be in Santa Monica. They would have fought for that if they'd understood. Those two things would have potentially changed the complexion of the whole trial. That is amazing to me — one decision. It was those kinds of things that Johnnie understood more so than the other side, and that was the difference.
The finale episode of "American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson" airs April 5 on FX.
You can now go to a gallery dedicated to OJ Simpson
Knife found on OJ Simpson property has no link to murder case
More from this episode: The Frame® FOR March 30, 2016
Courtney B. Vance channels Johnnie Cochran on 'The People v. O.J. Simpson
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Sculpture Nature
Mona Hatoum, Jardin suspendu, 2008, FNAC 10-975 © Mona Hatoum / Cnap / Crédit photo : Yves Chenot
Niki de Saint Phalle / Jean Tinguely, Sculpture-fontaine pour la ville de Château-Chinon, FNAC 02-208 © Niki Charitable Art Foundation / Adagp, Paris, © Adagp, Paris / Cnap / Crédit photo : André Morain
Yona Friedman, La Licorne Eiffel, 2009, FNAC 09-604 © Adagp, Paris / Cnap
pause 1/14 Photos
Artworks 2018 06 14
Art in the Rural Sphere at the CIAP, Vassivière island
The seminar Art in the Rural Sphere has been organised in the framework of the Transhumance exhibition-trail and for ...
More Destinations 2018 05 13
CIAP Centre international d’art et du paysage, Vassivière island
Marianne Lanavère, director of the CIAP, and Marc Sautivet, founder of the first sculpture symposium on the Vassivière ...
The CNAP Public Art Collection
Artworks - 05/03/2019
Sculpture Nature met with Philippe Bettinelli, visual arts collection (1961-1990) curator and public art advisor at the CNAP, during the symposium L’art dans l’espace rural organized by the Centre international d’art et du paysage (International Center of Art and Landscape) in 2017, in the context of the exhibition Transhumance and of the Journées nationales de l’architecture. Following his intervention at the symposium, Philippe Bettinelli granted us a few minutes to present the “Art Public” collection of the CNAP, Centre National des Arts Plastiques.
The Centre National des Arts Plastiques is a public institution attached to the French Ministry of Culture that aims at supporting contemporary artistic creation in all its forms and more specifically through a collection called the Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, the French National Contemporary Art Collection. This collection covers all domains of creation from the French Revolution to today and includes approximately 100,000 works. Among these 100,000 works, a few thousands are installed in the public space all over France and constitute what we call the Public Art of the CNAP: a collection of outdoor works in direct contact with a broad audience. Around this collection, we also have a collection of studies and maquettes of public commissions, which includes approximately 3,500 study works, from sketches to research records or maquettes: a great variety of works that allow to follow the history of public art since 1983 _ with the revival of public commissions in the 1980s _ to today.
Today, we are trying to highlight this collection; first through mediation such as visitor guide apps for two sites, one for the Jardin des Tuileries and for the Domaine de Kergéhennec where some of the CNAP’s works are located; and through research that have led to two exhibitions in the past few of years: Le territoire à l’oeuvre at the Galerie Fernand Léger in Ivry-sur-Seine, which focused on public commission studies and maquettes since the 1980s; and Un art d’Etat? at the Archives Nationales, on visual artists’ commissions from 1945 to 1965, from the Liberation to the Malraux years, that showed the significant changes that took place in the perception of modernity during this time period in the public space.
As for possible differences between rural and urban public art, the question is quite complex. The first thing we notice is that, as far as the action of the CNAP is concerned, interventions are less numerous in rural settings. However, this trend has overall been reversed in the past few years: the presence of public art in rural sites has increased. Regarding formal differences, I don’t believe we can truly identify specificities to rural public art. There is of course the important question of the relationship to Nature, but this question could just as well be addressed in sculpture gardens that are sometimes located in urban settings or within protected natural sites that we usually exclude from the common definition of rurality.
Philippe Bettinelli
Artworks 02/06/2019
Paul Ardenne’s new book
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A deeply rich earthy red rug welcomes the visitors in the gallery space. It is made of red ...
Richard Nonas Studio Visit
Immersion in the creative universe of American sculptor Richard Nonas (New York, 1936). On a winter day of ...
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Personal View
Telegraph View
My Telegraph
Why Goldman Sachs is the new Glastonbury
Rather than take drugs and get drunk, today’s teenagers want to work hard and get on
Aaron Parfitt led the '100-strong protest' to the playground of Bispham High School in Blackpool Photo: Mercury Press
By Carola Binney
7:25PM GMT 18 Mar 2014
A 14-year-old boy called Aaron Parfitt was sent home from school last week after organising a mass walkout of pupils over a lack of homework. He’d become disillusioned after failing a maths exam.
To my parents’ generation, this story doesn’t make any sense. Aaron, they scoff, must be a bit of an oddball. What kind of 14-year-old protests about a lack of homework? Teenagers should be smoking behind the bike sheds, not pining for extra Pythagoras practice. Even the way Aaron approached the protest was a bit tame. No megaphones, no graffiti and no nudity – just an orderly procession on to the sports field after first attempting to raise his concerns with Ofsted and the council.
But to me, Aaron is the Moses of the maths classroom. A hundred of his peers followed him out on to the field, and – had I been a pupil at Bispham High School in Blackpool – I would have, too. I’m only four years older than Aaron, and, believe it or not, he’s the voice of our generation. Being a teenager in Britain today is less sex, drugs and rock’n’roll, more exams, debt and internships.
For those of us who grew up with Tony Blair on our TV screens, it really is about education, education, education. We realise we’re in a global race, and if our maths lessons aren’t good enough, we’re going to end up losing. That’s why we care so much. Youth unemployment for the last quarter was 20 per cent, and if you don’t want to be that unlucky one-in-five, only the best grades will save you.
And sadly, being born into the British education system doesn’t give you the advantage it once did. The UK was a mediocre 26th on the OECD’s most recent international league table of Pisa maths scores. If today’s teenagers are going to compete with kids from Shanghai, we have to hit the books hard – but, in that age-old battle-cry of youth, our parents’ generation just doesn’t understand.
STEM skills should be 'integrated across the curriculum'
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Shabana Basij-Rasikh: education is not for an individual alone
It’s not just Aaron’s teachers who are failing to grasp that standards need to be raised – one of my friends has a similar problem. Her first term studying History and Politics at a Russell Group university wasn’t the step up from A-levels she’d been hoping for. “They went on about how much harder it was going to be than school,” she told me, “but I don’t think that’s true.” She thinks, “This is costing me a ton of money, I want to make the most of it”, yet feels her university is holding her back with its spoon-feeding.
My sensible cohort haven’t got time for misbehaving and smoking behind the bike-sheds. Indeed, we’re not keen on smoking at all: a recent NHS study found that the number of pupils who think it’s OK to try a cigarette at least once has fallen from 54 per cent to 31 per cent over the past decade. With employers to impress, we’re definitely not up for anything illegal either. Less than a tenth of schoolchildren believe smoking cannabis is acceptable.
In fact, drugs in general aren’t cool any more. Weed is for slackers, LSD for middle-aged hippies, cocaine for depressed bankers: pick pretty much any drug you can think of, and it’ll be plummeting in popularity among my peers. It’s the same with alcohol. In 1998, according to the Economist, 71 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds admitted drinking in the previous week – in 2010 only 48 per cent did. It’s hard to write a First-worthy essay with a hangover. Tequila, smartphones and Facebook are deadly for career prospects.
So what do today’s goody-goody teenagers get up to once we’ve got the homework in on time? Work experience of course! Internships are the new festival tickets, and Goldman Sachs is the new Glastonbury. For my friends, our student years are for CV-building – the fun comes later. “I definitely want to travel,” a fellow student told me, “but it will have to wait until after uni. Everyone else has all this amazing work experience, and employers expect it now.”
The good news is that we’re not all money-hungry bankers-in-waiting – my cohort has also been termed “Generation Citizen”. Unlike previous post-war generations, we don’t have the luxury of taking our own futures, or anyone else’s, for granted. As a result, we’re more aware of the need for progress in areas such as education, crime and social justice. A recent report by the think tank Demos found that 66 per cent of teachers surveyed thought that the 16- and 17-year olds they taught were more concerned about social issues than had been true of their generation. More than half of teenagers had raised money for charity and two fifths had volunteered in the past year.
More hardworking, more sensible and more caring: British teenagers should be taking on the world in the global race, if only irresponsible adults would stop holding us back. Aaron’s maths teachers, take note – we’re more boring than our parents for good reason.
Secondary education »
Education Opinion »
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”˜LARGEST LIVING CHRISTMAS TREE IN TEXAS’ OFFICIALLY LIT
SCC-Texas Provides More Than $200,000 In Grants To North Texas Organizations And Early Holiday Gifts Of 100 Bikes And Helmets To Underprivileged Fort Worth Children And Homeless Youths
Through Local Chapters At The Eight SMI Tracks, Speedway Children’s Charities Raises Record $3.1 Million For Nearly 450 Children’s Programs And 800,000 Children In 2016
FORT WORTH, Texas (November 29, 2016) – Everyone knows everything is bigger in Texas and Texas Motor Speedway proved that once again with its annual lighting of “The Largest Living Christmas Tree in Texas” on Tuesday evening during the Speedway Children's Charities-Texas Chapter grant ceremony.
A holiday-themed fireworks show, special visit by Santa Claus, distribution of 100 bicycles to less fortunate youth and nearly $200,000 in grants to North Texas organizations highlighted the ceremony that was held at The Speedway Club Circle at Texas Motor Speedway.
A Texas Motor Speedway tradition since the facility opened in 1997, this year's "Largest Living Christmas Tree In Texas" is a 64-foot Norwegian Spruce from Michigan. The tree is decorated with 10,000 LED lights, oversized ornaments and topped with a 4'x4' gold star featuring the Speedway Motorsports, Inc. corporate globe.
Speedway Children's Charities-Texas Chapter has made a lasting impact on children in North Texas since its inception in 1997 by awarding more than $10 million in grants to area children's organizations. The funds are raised through special events held throughout the year, with the majority of them centered on the three major race weeks at Texas Motor Speedway.
This year, Speedway Children's Charities-Texas Chapter distributed nearly $200,000 with the highlight being the awarding of the Founder’s Grant. The $125,000 grant, which is SCC's largest award, was presented to The Parenting Center of Fort Worth. The organization will utilize the grant to construct a therapy playground for abused children. These specialty playgrounds give children a safe place to play and cope with the challenges they face.
The Parenting Center serves close to 20,000 clients each year from all income levels and social groups throughout Tarrant County. The center's core belief is to empower families with the necessary knowledge and skills to lead them to develop and maintain healthy lives. The organization dedicates itself to the prevention of child abuse and neglect and is a leader in the field of parenting education and skills based training. They strive to provide individuals, families, schools and others with the tools they need to succeed together.
“Research indicates that children with any type of disabling condition - intellectual, developmental or physical - are 3.44 times more likely to be abused,” The Parenting Center Executive Director Paul Gravley said. “We are honored and thrilled because the Founder’s Grant provided by Speedway Children’s Charities will allow The Parenting Center to serve children of any age or ability, funding an adaptive playground for individualized or group play therapy. This, in turn, helps The Parenting Center to serve all families; providing the tools and resources to help build successful families.”
Additional grants, ranging between $1,500 and $25,000, were awarded to CitySquare of Dallas, Denton Kiwanis Children’s Clinic, PediPlace, the Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center and a Wish with Wings.
The Chapter also recognized its top volunteers for the year, with Karen Landry receiving the President’s Award and Mike Starr and the Team Texas High Performance Racing School earning the Dick Cerza Award.
The evening concluded with 100 Fort Worth-area children, representing agencies Hispano Exito (underprivileged children in south Fort Worth) and Journey To Dream (homeless youth), receiving bikes and helmets. The early Christmas presents were compliments of Walmart, which donated the bikes and helmets to the event.
Speedway Children’s Charities chapters at Texas Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Sonoma Raceway will distribute a record-breaking $3.1 million in grants to a record 448 charitable organizations across the country this year, bringing the total allocation amount since 1982 to nearly $49 million.
Each chapter provides grants to programs that specifically help children in their respective region. Chapter support comes from providing winter coats and backpack meals to low-income families as well as facilitating clubs that provide healthy after-school activities and aiding hospital cancer research.
“Our impact is felt throughout the nation and none of it would be possible without the invaluable support of race fans and the tireless work from our volunteers who have helped make Speedway Children’s Charities into what it is today,” said Maj. Gen. Chuck Swannack, executive director of Speedway Children's Charities. "On behalf of everyone at Speedway Children's Charities, I give sincere thanks to our many sponsors, donors and volunteers. Through everyone’s gracious assistance, Speedway Children’s Charities will help make the holiday season and beyond brighter for children in need.”
For more information on Speedway Children’s Charities or to learn how to volunteer or make a donation, visit www.speedwaycharities.org.
Posted by Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations on 30 Nov 2016
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NFL's Pushback on Blackout Ruling Amounts to Empty Threats
The FCC is set to vote down a long-standing blackout rule, and the league's claims it could cause games to move to pay TV are overblown.
Alex BrownNational Journal
When the Federal Communications Commission votes to end the NFL's blackout powers, the league will lament the demise of its long-despised policy—and continue to sound warnings that the ruling will open the floodgates for the migration of NFL games from free broadcast TV to cable.
At present, the National Football League prevents local broadcasters from showing games that don't meet a certain attendance threshold. That policy was put in place in 1975, when teams depended on high attendance for revenue. Threatening to withhold TV broadcasts, it was thought, would encourage fans to come to the stadium.
Since then, the league's TV revenues have climbed steadily, to the point where "every single NFL team pays for its entire operation cost by TV," said the University of Michigan's Rodney Fort, whose studies on the economics of blackouts have been presented before the FCC.
An FCC rule that the agency plans to do away with stops cable and satellite carriers in blacked-out broadcast markets from showing the games, either.
Without that rule, the NFL says, pay TV companies will gain leverage with their ability to show games that over-the-air broadcasters can't. Soon, the league's long-touted airing of every game on free TV could be in jeopardy.
Economists disagree.
"There's neither form for logic nor function to what they're claiming," Fort said. "This over-the-air broadcasting thing is a red herring. It's designed to get [broadcast TV viewers] up in arms."
From that standpoint, at least, the NFL's approach seems to have worked. Its pro-blackout site, designed to look like a fan advocacy group, urges fans to "help keep NFL games on free, broadcast television"—and hundreds have filed comments in support of the rule to the FCC. But almost everyone expects the FCC to strike it down anyway—and by a wide margin.
"Tens and tens of thousands of people in any location" watch games over the air, Fort said. "You're not gonna get a substantial portion of those folks to move." Any gains that would be made by switching to cable would be more than offset by the loss of those viewers.
"The logic that they're putting forth is so easy to overcome, and the data they're putting forth is so easy to overcome," Fort said.
Fort was part of a team of nine economists whose studies for the FCC helped undermine the NFL's blackout claims. Another, Daniel Durbin of the University of Southern California, agreed with his assessment of the league's likelihood to switch to cable. "It's a bunch of hyperbole," he said. "It's unlikely that it will start drifting toward pay TV."¦ The NFL is posturing a lot. I wouldn't take that claim seriously."
Having games several nights a week available to everyone with a TV is important for the league's quest to retain its position as America's dominant sport, Durbin said. "The game itself is in everybody's lap, and you can't turn your eyes from it," he said, contrasting football with other sports that have gradually shifted broadcasts to pay TV and faded as a result. "Only people who have enough interest to seek it out will seek it out."
That broadcast dominance, and the billions of dollars networks pay to air the NFL's games, means the NFL's pay-TV play is less of a serious threat than "an appeal to a scared constituency," Fort said. Their hope is that enough broadcast TV viewers will become alarmed at the prospect of losing games that they will raise pressure on regulators to preserve the rule.
While some have indeed followed the NFL's bidding, the general populace seems to be firmly against the rules that have kept dozens of games off the air in just the past few years. That's evidenced by the fact that lawmakers—led by Sens. Richard Blumenthal and John McCain—have been among the most outspoken opponents of the blackout rules, likely in no small part due to pressure from their constituents.
The Sports Fan Coalition is a D.C. lobby that has made blackouts its signature issue. "On my tombstone somewhere it will read, 'Helped get rid of the sports blackout rule,' " said David Goodfriend, the group's chairman.
He, too, doesn't see the logic in the NFL's claims. "They are not going to walk away from millions of dollars in broadcast revenue in order to sell a few thousand more tickets," he said. To Goodfriend, the fact that the NFL is protected by federal rules that prevent fans from seeing games should be an affront to taxpayers who support the league through stadium subsidies and tax exemptions.
"The reason the NFL fought so hard against this effort is that they know it's the first domino to fall," he said. "It is open season to examine public subsidization of professional sports."
And while the NFL is keeping its focus on the possibility of a pay-TV shift, most think the FCC ruling will be the end of blackouts altogether. If fans can watch the games on cable (or their friend's cable or a bar) anyway, why lose advertising money by blocking the over-the-air broadcast?
"It would kill the point of [blackouts]," Durbin said. "If they black it out, they're going to lose a significant amount of revenue."
Fort believes the NFL probably realizes it's fighting a losing battle on blackouts, but it wants to establish the precedent that it's against the government having a say in how it airs its games. "It appears that this is much more about the absolute control of the position of every game in every media space," he said. "They literally are going to make much more money if they have complete control over where every broadcast appears."
The NFL and the National Association of Broadcasters, which has also defended blackout rules, did not respond to requests for comment.
Alex Brown is a Congressional correspondent at National Journal.
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Sign of the (Economic) Times: Relocations Are Up
By John Hollon June 1, 2010 July 23, 2015
It’s tough for learned economists, much less the average HR manager, to get a good fix on how just strong the current economic recovery is, but here’s another small sign that might help: relocation and shipping companies this spring reported their first month over month increase since the Great Recession kicked in.
The American Association of Moving and Storage reports that “household shipments in April were up for the first time since in at least two years,” according to a story in the San Diego Union Tribune, and although the increase was small (0.8 percent), that compares with monthly decreases this year of 20.6 percent (January), 15.6 percent (February), and 3.1 percent (March). And, it’s up from the peak decrease of 33.4 percent that relocation companies reported in October 2009.
Yes, an increase of 0.8 percent isn’t much, but ANY kind of an increase tells you that there is moving and relocating going on – and an increase in moving and relocating is usually driven by an increase in hiring and job growth. That’s a positive economic sign, to say the least.
“In San Diego, Katherine Kennedy, chief executive of Relocation Coordinates, said her corporate clients ordered about 90 moves this month, about double year-ago levels,” the Union Tribune reported. “Half of them involve moves into San Diego, a few out of San Diego and the rest between other corporate locations, including some overseas.”
Bryan Bloom, president of Priority Moving in San Diego and an agent for Wheaton Van Lines, told the newspaper that although most of his moves are people relocating locally or out of the region, “Wheaton’s moves nationally are soaring — up 17 percent for the week of June 6, compared with the same period last year, and up 38 percent for the week of June 13 year-over-year.”
“The overall movement within the industry is coming out of the doldrums,” he said. “The statistics are telling us that the mobility of people has been at an all-time low. How often people move has been the lowest since World War II.”
Make no mistake about it; the numbers surrounding nationwide relocations are small but positive, encouraging but fragile. They’re not enough to say we’re out of the woods yet, economically, but they do indicate that we’ve bottomed out and are starting to grow again — if you believe that increasing relocations are a positive sign of economic activity
“It’s a very, very slow recovery,” said John Bisney, spokesman for the moving and storage association. Told the Union Tribune. “Clearly, we’re not seeing anything of a big jump. That’s what all the economic forecasts and analysts say. They are seeing this as a very tenuous recovery.”
A tenuous recovery yes, but if you hire and relocate people, a positive sign nonetheless. If you work for a company that has cut back on moving and relocating people, you might want to take another look at your budget, because if you believe in these trends, you may just be doing more of that in the months ahead.
John Hollon
John Hollon is Editor-at-Large at ERE Media and was the founding Editor of TLNT.com. A longtime newspaper, magazine, and business journal editor, John has deep roots in the talent management space. He's the former Editor of Workforce Management magazine and workforce.com, served as Editor of RecruitingDaily, and was Vice President for Content at HR technology firm Checkster. An award-winning journalist, John has written extensively about HR, talent management, leadership, and smart business practices, including for the popular Fistful of Talent blog. Contact him at johnhollon@ere.net, connect with him on LinkedIn, or follow him on Twitter @johnhollon.
Compensation & BenefitsHR NewsHR TrendsOrganizational LeadershipStaffing Agencies
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If 7 film directors designed travel posters
Hannah 07 June 2018
Travel posters inspire us to pack our bags and voyage around the world. They give us a tiny glimpse of what it might be like to visit these far off lands. But film directors can transport us to other worlds from the comfort of our own living rooms – no flights required. So naturally, we wondered what might happen if we combined the two.
We’ve taken the signature styles of seven exceptional directors and created a series of travel posters bound to get that wanderlust flowing.
1. Wes Anderson (Jaipur, India)
Having just released his new movie Isle of Dogs, Wes Anderson keeps busting out box office gold. And his films are instantly recognisable, due in large part to his infamous colour palettes and eye for perfect symmetry. In 2007, Anderson applied his unmistakable style to India for The Darjeeling Limited – a tale of three estranged brothers on a train voyage through Rajasthan. Jaipur is the region’s capital – affectionately referred to as the Pink City – and it’s not hard to see the attraction for the director. A fantastic place to visit, and maybe, like the brothers in the film, you’ll also find yourself along the way.
2. Tim Burton (Cornwall, UK)
Tim Burton’s penchant for dark imagery has made him a favourite among goths the world over. From Edward Scissorhands to Alice in Wonderland, his worlds are full of the weird and the fantastical. His 2016 film Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children told the tale of a mysterious children's home, and the tiny Cornwall hamlet of Portholland had a starring role as the island that houses the crumbling school. The surrounding cliffs and beaches of the beautiful Cornwall countryside make this a perfect place to escape your ordinary life.
3. Sofia Coppola (Tokyo, Japan)
Sofia Coppola’s dreamy visual style and explorations of the human condition have established her as one of the best directors of modern times. Lost in Translation is a tale of friendship – and a love letter to the city of Tokyo. Shot entirely on location in Japan, this instant classic received four Oscar nominations and has since inspired countless tourists to visit Tokyo for themselves. Not just an eye popping urban adventure, Tokyo is also a place to relax and rediscover life's possibilities.
4. Peter Jackson (Wellington, New Zealand)
Peter Jackson exploded (or splattered) onto the scene in 1987 with his low budget horror comedy Bad Taste. Nowadays, his budgets are a bit higher and he is best known as the director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, much of which was filmed in Wellington, New Zealand. It’s not difficult to see why Jackson chose this location – the spectacular countryside was exactly what he needed to bring Tolkien's fictional world to life. So just like Sam and Frodo did, be brave and take one more step into Wellington. You won’t be disappointed.
5. Chan-wook Park (Seoul, South Korea)
Chan-wook Park is famous for his painterly sense of composition, dark humour and toe-curling gore. His wildly popular 2016 movie, The Handmaiden, stunned audiences with its jaw-dropping twists and explosive technicolor. But he is perhaps best known for Oldboy, in which a desperate businessman is imprisoned for 15 years and goes on a journey to take revenge on his captors. The chilling film was set in the South Korean capital of Seoul. Whether it’s temples, parks or cutting-edge architecture you’re looking for, this dynamic mashup of a city has something for everyone. You’ll want to stay for fifteen years.
6. Christopher Nolan (Chicago, USA)
Over the course of his 15-year career, Christopher Nolan has gone from making low-budget independent films to directing some of the most popular blockbusters ever made. Known for his cerebral, mind-bending films, his Batman trilogy revived the franchise in spectacular fashion. Choosing the city of Chicago as the location for Gotham was a genius choice. The mega city has all the offerings you'd expect during the day, from museums and vibrant shopping districts to Millennium Park and its famous ‘bean.’ By night, Chicago definitely takes on more of a Gotham vibe. It really is the city that you deserve.
7. Steven Spielberg (Petra, Jordan)
He’s one of the most influential and best known directors in the history of cinema, and he’s taken audiences on more incredible adventures than most. Steven Spielberg’s latest offering, Ready Player One, is doing incredible business at the box office, proving he’s still got it. When he was looking for a location to serve as The Temple of the Sun in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Petra was the obvious choice. It’s one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world and Jordan's most valuable treasure. But if you want to play Indy, make sure you don’t forget your hat.
These film directors have the magic touch when it comes to cinema. And in the unlikely case that they ever need a backup career, we think they’d also make stellar graphic designers.
Which location is next on your list? Hopefully these world-class directors have inspired you to explore the amazing places waiting for you out there, from the bright lights of Seoul to the ancient ruins of Petra. Perhaps you've got somewhere completely different in mind for your future travels, such as France or Greece? Let us know on social media, we'd love to hear from you and don't forget we have the perfect selection on large houses to rent.
Pais, Arthur J. (2007). Capturing India in Darjeeling Limited. rediff.com
Atlas Of Wonders. (2018). Where was Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children filmed? atlasofwonders.com
Dean. R. (2015). Let’s examine the visual aesthetic of Sofia Coppola’s work. avclub.com
New Zealand. (2018). The Lord of the Rings Filming Locations. newzealand.com
Singer. L. (2017). Where to begin with Park Chan-wook. bfi.org.uk
Gomez. L. (2014). Batman's Chicago connection. chicagotribune.com
Hubert, C. (2018). A Portrait of the Bed Stuy Block Where Spike Lee’s ‘Do the Right Thing’ Was Filmed. brownstoner.com
Woolf, C. (2016). There appears to be a secret temple buried in the ancient city where 'Indiana Jones' filmed. pri.org
Time. (2015). The Five Ways To Know You're Watching a Spielberg Movie. time.com
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Home News National Theatre book wins SLA award
National Theatre book wins SLA award
Published November 9, 2016 by Charlotte Eyre
A children’s book about the National Theatre has been announced as the overall winner of the School Library Association (SLA)’s Information Book Award 2016....
A children’s book about the National Theatre has been announced as the overall winner of the School Library Association (SLA)’s Information Book Award 2016.
The National Theatre, written by Marina McIntyre and published by Walker Books, was given the overall award after winning the prize in the over-12 category earlier in the evening.
The winner of the 0-7 prize was Fabulous Frogs by Margin Jenkins and Tim Hopgood, also published by Walker, whilst If… by David J Smith and Steve Adams (Wayland) won the 7-12 prize. If… also won the ‘Children’s Choice' gong, which is voted for by young readers.
The SLA awards, sponsored by Hachette, are given every year to the best non-fiction titles for children.
Chris Brown, chair of the judges, said: “Among the books submitted for the awards we found an abundance of superb books, covering a broad range of subjects. As judges we found this to be a really difficult year in arriving at a reasonable number of titles for our shortlists, and an even greater challenge in making final decisions. It is so gratifying to see so many publishers producing high-quality information-based books for young readers.”
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School LIbrary Association
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Budget leaves schools struggling to buy books, warn librarians
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The Breakthrough
Advanced Nuclear
Responses to the Problem of Nuclear Waste Management
The University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy has recently published a report, entitled “Nuclear Decommissioning: Paying More For Greater, Uncompensated Risks,” that aims to address the enhanced risks and costs associated with waste disposal as nuclear plants face premature retirement. While the author, Christina Simeone, is correct in pointing out the federal government’s failure to permanently dispose of spent nuclear fuel, the report’s recommendations fall short of providing any viable alternatives. In addition, Simeone ignores all the progress—albeit slow—that has been made with regard to spent fuel management, both through traditional geologic repositories and advanced reactors.
The requirements are relatively straightforward: the Department of Energy (DOE) needs to transfer existing spent fuel from commercial power plant sites into interim storage facilities as soon as possible, ultimately moving spent fuel to a permanent geologic repository (or repositories) or reprocessing sites. Most policy makers, local communities, and the nuclear industry would agree. Even DOE agrees. That’s why they’ve already started moving forward with the recommendations of the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission. In 2015, DOE launched a consent-based siting initiative to start the process for selecting a future site or sites for waste storage. Throughout 2016 they held public meetings around the country.
This recommendation, in other words, is nothing new, and much of the rest of the report remains ambiguous. The title of the report tells us we’ll be paying more for greater risk, a claim repeated throughout, but the baseline or comparative scenario isn’t specified. Will communities be paying more than they are now, more than they should be, or more than they would be if DOE took control of the waste? It’s not clear, and none of these scenarios are quantified or compared.
The same goes with risk. How does the risk increase as plants close? Most of these plants are already storing spent fuel in dry casks on-site, and will continue to do so while they decommission, a process that takes decades. Is this riskier than transporting spent fuel around the country? Rather than evaluate the relative risks associated with any alternatives, the report simply stokes fears that these communities will find themselves at greater risk in the future. While local communities and utilities should be aware of the impacts of long-term on-site dry spent fuel storage, other impacts of premature plant closures remain an order of magnitude greater and more immediate, such as the loss of reliable, clean, and affordable power, as well as of tax revenue (often a large proportion of city budgets) and hundreds to thousands of jobs.
Ultimately, managing spent fuel is a long-term problem, and ensuring that the process is democratic and the solutions equitable is going to take longer. As the report states, “U.S. and international experts agree that permanent geologic (i.e. underground) disposal of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel is the safest and most secure way to manage this waste,” but the process preceding disposal, and for building a geological repository, remains up for continued debate. DOE, for instance, conducted a study from 2011 to 2014 that evaluated over 4,000 different fuel cycles across a range of risk and benefit metrics. In the end, their top three choices all relied on continuous fuel recycling with fast reactors, something very different than what we’re doing today.
Yet another question: How should local governments and utilities use the information provided by the report to improve their decision-making, when ultimately the decision is by nature a federal concern? Utilities could lobby the DOE to move faster on a temporary solution for interim waste storage, but DOE is already considering this option, and is simply hindered by the slow-moving democratic site-selection process. Unless utilities move to set up a private waste storage facility (which would also require NRC licensing), it will be difficult to expedite such a complex process that involves a hodge-podge of municipal, state, and federal policies and dozens of different utilities, as well as a muddle of historical precedent.
Finally, the report mentions several times that fuel reprocessing was banned in 1977, but not that the ban was lifted in 1981. Reprocessing could serve as a short-term solution for managing spent fuel, as the first step would involve moving fuel to a central facility or regional facilities. In the longer term, there has been a resurgence of interest in advanced reactor designs that can burn waste as fuel, produce radically less waste, and reduce the lifetime of remaining wastes. We summarize the potential of these reactors in our report, “How to Make Nuclear Cheap,” and there’s been progress in Congress on this front as well.
Overall, the report would have benefited from a more thorough assessment of these and other proposed solutions to the multiplex problem of nuclear waste management.
Jessica Lovering
Jessica Lovering is Director of Energy at Breakthrough.
Less Than Meets the Eye?
by Jessica Lovering
Britain’s Civilian Nuclear Program Is Not a Stealth Military Program
All content © 2018 The Breakthrough Institute
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KatarzynaBialasiewicz/iStock/GettyImages
Limitations of the Conflict Theory
Stephanie Lee - Updated May 17, 2019
The conflict theory originated with German philosopher Karl Marx. It emphasizes the marked differences of varying social classes and the power struggles between capitalist and working class individuals. While the conflict theory suggests that competition and class struggles are natural and necessary for survival, certain limitations also come with the territory.
Lack of Research
There is a lacking presence of the study of conflict theory in mainstream research. Much of the scientific research performed on conflict dealt primarily with individual conflict rather than interpersonal conflict. For this reason, there may not be a scientific basis for upholding the conflict theory.
Obstacles of Integration
The conflict theory is limited to certain environments. Incorporating the conflict theory into environments such as the home has its own set of challenges. While the conflict theory certainly would relate to social class relationships, it is much more difficult to bring that concept into family dynamics as the link between the two is extremely limited.
What Are Marxism Beliefs?
Consensus Vs. Conflict Theory
How to Compare Capitalism & Marxism
Types of Social Rebellion
Negative View of Society
The conflict perspective on society affirms the negative and conflicted state of society as normal behavior. This theory challenges the status quo and firmly believes that the elite class is responsible for enforcing social order on those who are destitute. Furthermore, it discounts all acts of kindness as having an ulterior motive or personal agenda. Humanitarian efforts, acts of altruism, democracy and the civil rights movement, according to the conflict theory, were designed to control the masses rather than to promote peace and social order.
It is suggested via the conflict theory that the division between social classes is ultimately a power struggle, a competitive force in which one group seeks domination and control over the weaker group. The ironic component of this thought process is that even within the weaker group, there may still exist a power struggle. The gap is not required to be so wide as it is not necessarily an issue between capitalism and working class. Also, if conflict is a natural segment of humanity, then topics on conflict resolution or peace integration are obsolete and void of meaning. With that consideration, conflict theory is only applicable in situations of war, famine and political strive. Not in situations of peace and social equality.
Dr. Ronald J. Werner-Wilson: Social Conflict Theory
Ohio State: Conflict Theory
Cliff's Notes: Three Major Perspectives in Sociology
Stephanie Lee began writing in 2000 with concentration on food, travel, fashion and real estate. She has written for Amnesty International and maintains three blogs. Lee holds a Bachelor of Arts in international relations from the University of California, Irvine, and an M.B.A. from Concordia University.
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Gannett launches G/O Digital, the umbrella agency for its digital marketing services
By Jennifer Faull-13 August 2013 18:31pm
Gannett, which owns 80 daily newspapers, the USA Today brand, and 23 local TV stations, has announced the launch of G/O Digital, the new umbrella group for its digital marketing services.
G/O Digital is looking to become a “one-stop-shop” for advertisers, with its new name aiming to embody the "quick, precise impact" the portfolio of companies delivers to its marketers
G/O Digital brings together Gannett’s digital suite of offerings, including: Shoplocal, specialising in turnkey, local, digitised solutions across all platforms; BLiNQ, a proprietary platform that optimises social media planning and audience targeting; Key Ring, a mobile shopping app; DealChicken, a local daily deals site; and GannettLocal, an integrated digital marketing provider to SMBs in more than 100 Gannett markets.
"We are simply responding to the new retail reality. There are many ways to reach consumers and each one wants to be communicated with differently. We realized this is a challenge for marketers and we have the unique ability to get results through an integrated suite of local and national digital solutions," said Vikram Sharma, president and CEO of G/O Digital. "By combining G/O's resources, we are able to deliver winning formulas to our advertising partners that enable them to reach consumers across multiple platforms with measurable results."
Staples has been named the group’s launch brand, after it recently tasked Gannett with creating a marketing campaign that increased in-store foot traffic and sales in just 12 weeks.
Alison Corcoran, Staples senior vice president of marketing for North American Stores and Online said: "Gannett has a unique view on the evolution of digital and print and their insights have strengthened our relationship with our small business customers. This partnership provides the opportunity for Staples to get local at scale, as Gannett provides the technology to localise our messages for each market and speak to our customers across all platforms more effectively than ever."
This article is about: United States, Gannett, Agency, Digital, Digital, Marketing, Marketing Services
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Thousands join Algeria protests in France
Sunday March 10 2019
Protesters wave Algerian and Berber flags during a rally in support of the ongoing protests in Algeria against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term in power, at Place de la Republique in Paris, on March 10, 2019. PHOTO | AFP
Several thousand gathered for the second weekend in a row at the Republique square in central Paris
France is home to the largest population of Algerian-origin people outside of the north African country
Some members of the diaspora want French President Macron to take a firmer stand against ailing 82-year-old Bouteflika
Thousands of Algerian-origin protesters demonstrated in Paris and other cities around France on Sunday against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, calling on him not to seek another term in office.
Several thousand gathered for the second weekend in a row at the Republique square in central Paris, while there were other smaller demonstrations in regional cities Marseille and Bordeaux.
"We need to get rid of the system," 24-year-old protester Ahmed Eddaidj, who was wrapped in the an Algerian flag, told AFP in Paris.
The student, who has been in France for four years, added: "I'd like to go back to Algeria, but there's no work. We're looking for a better life."
France, which ruled Algeria for more than 100 years as a colonial power, is home to the largest population of Algerian-origin people outside of the north African country.
Thousands protest in Algeria as Bouteflika stays defiant
Algerian lawyers march against Bouteflika election bid
Algeria war veterans back 'No' to Bouteflika 5th term demos
No stopping Algerian students protests
Around 1.7 million people of Algerian origin are estimated to live in France, according to national statistics agency INSEE.
Some members of the diaspora want French President Emmanuel Macron to take a firmer stand in support of the peaceful protests against ailing 82-year-old Bouteflika which began more than a fortnight ago.
But the Paris government is wary about being seen to interfere in its former territory and has been extremely cautious in its statements.
The instability
Opposition figure Ali Benflis, a former prime minister of Bouteflika who has called for him to step aside after 20 years in power, urged France to stay out of the crisis.
"France is a major power that we respect as an associate and a partner, but Algeria's problems cannot be resolved from the outside and no-one should interfere," he told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper in an interview.
One of President Macron's close political allies, Mr Francois Bayrou, called the peaceful demonstrations an "Algerian Spring" on Sunday and said it was "in many ways exemplary and essential."
But "it's not because these movements begin well that they end well," he told French media, adding that Islamist parties could try to benefit from the instability.
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Agricultural fungicides are 'bad news for neurons', study suggests
Fungicides caused mouse cells to show changes similar to those seen in autism and Alzheimer’s, although a definite link to the disorders has not been proven
Ian Sample Science editor
@iansample
Thu 31 Mar 2016 09.26 EDT Last modified on Wed 20 Sep 2017 14.28 EDT
Strobilurin fungicides have only been approved for use in the past 20 years, and are sprayed in increasing quantities to protect crops such as cabbages, spinach, lettuce, kale, tomatoes, apples, pears and grapes. Photograph: Ian Dagnall/Alamy
Modern fungicides that are sprayed on fruit and vegetables have come under fresh scrutiny after scientists found they caused similar genetic changes in mouse neurons to those seen in autism and Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers exposed dishes of the brain cells to more than 300 different pesticides and fungicides and found that one class of fungicides, the strobilurins, produced patterns of genetic changes often seen in the human conditions.
Bees feeding on fungicide-dosed flowers develop health issues, studies say
Scientists at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill hoped the experiment might shed light on the kinds of substances in the environment that contribute to cases of autism. To their surprise, they found compounds that produced some genetic hallmarks of autism and neurodegenerative diseases at the same time.
The strobilurins have only been approved for use in the past 20 years, more than half a century after the first individual diagnosed with autism was announced in the medical literature. Since the fungicides arrived on the market, they have been sprayed in increasing quantities to protect crops such as cabbages, spinach, lettuce, kale, tomatoes, apples, pears and grapes.
While the fungicides produced autism-like and Alzheimer’s-like signatures in the way genes are expressed in mouse neurons, the relevance of the changes is unclear: the scientists have no evidence that the chemicals contribute to either condition.
“The study was designed to try and identify chemicals that could cause autism, but we in no way say these things do cause autism,” said lead scientist, Mark Zylka, whose study appears in Nature Communications.
“What this work provides is evidence that these chemicals are bad for neurons. They turn the same genes on or off that you see not only in autism brains, but also in neurodegeneration,” he added.
Strobilurins work by disrupting mitochondria, the tiny structures that live inside cells and ensure they have enough energy to function properly. Tests on the mouse neurons revealed that the compounds dampened down the activity of genes involved in synaptic transmission, the mechanism by which neurons talk to each other. Meanwhile, the activity of other genes linked to inflammation in the nervous system ramped up.
Further tests showed that exposure to the fungicides caused mouse neurons to churn out more free radicals, which are highly-reactive particles capable of damaging cellular machinery around them. The fungicides caused yet more disruption to structures called microtubules, changes that could affect the ability of mature neurons to communicate, and hamper the normal movement of neurons in the developing brain.
“We don’t know what, if anything, exposure to these new chemicals will do for autism risk or neurodegeneration. There are lots of chemicals that are bad for neurons in a dish,” Zylka said. “The question is does it get into our bodies at levels that are sufficient to get into the brain and cause some of the effects we see in these cultures? It’s definitely on our food at pretty high levels.”
Prior to starting the project, Zylka said he did not pay much attention to whether he was buying organic or conventionally grown food. But over the course of the study, his perspective changed. “These fungicides are bad news for neurons. So I now purchase organic whenever possible, and especially for my young kids. I would prefer not to be exposed to chemicals like this, especially after seeing what they do to neurons,” he said.
French wine industry's love affair with pesticides blamed for worker health problems
Far more research is needed to learn whether the fungicides pose any risk to human health, but Zylka’s screening procedure could already help environmental agencies highlight potentially harmful substances for closer study.
Jeannie Lee, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the work, said the study should serve as “a wake-up call to regulatory agencies and the medical community.” She added that the research had “wide-ranging implications, not only for autism and diseases such as Parkinson’s and cancer, but also for the health of future generations.”
Carol Povey, director of the Centre for Autism at the National Autistic Society, said: “This new study confirms again that the causes of autism involve many complex and interacting factors, including genetics, the environment and the development of the brain.
“We urge that the results of this study are digested thoughtfully, and that people do not worry unnecessarily. As the author has made clear, this study absolutely does not mean that chemicals cause autism, nor can we understand fully the risks that these chemicals may have for the human brain until further studies are carried out.
“What is important for the more than 1 in 100 people on the autism spectrum is to make sure that they have access to the right support from people who understand autism. That’s why the National Autistic Society is launching the biggest ever autism awareness campaign this Friday to help the public learn more about the 700,000 autistic people in the UK.”
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Abubakar Adam Ibrahim: Season of Crimson Blossoms
The latest addition to my website is Abubakar Adam Ibrahim‘s Season of Crimson Blossoms. This is a novel set in contemporary Nigeria, against a background of violence, corruption, drug-dealing and religious extremism. Binta is a fifty-five year old Muslim. Her husband was killed in religious riots ten years previously and her son shot by the police fifteen years previously. She has a successful son still alive and two married daughters, though one daughter has just left her second husband. She lives with her niece, who witnessed her father and brother killed in religious riots, and her granddaughter. One day she is attacked by a robber in her house, who has come to steal from her. However, when he sees her face to face, he backs off and the next day returns most of the stolen items. He later comes to apologise. Soon despite the thirty year age difference they have started an affair. She reminds him of the mother he barely knew. He reminds her of her son killed by the police. The robber, Reza, is part of a gang that is involved in drug-dealing and which works for a rich senator who uses the gang to carry out his dirty deeds. When the senator orders the kidnapping of the son of a rival and the kidnapping goes wrong and the affair between the two soon becomes the talk of the town, both of them are in a difficult situation. Ibrahim tells an excellent story of a quasi-Oedipal relationship against the background of a country in turmoil.
Thea Astley: Coda
The latest addition to my website is Thea Astley‘s Coda. This novel is an affectionate tale about an Australian woman, Kathleen, who is getting older and dementia and incontinence are creeping on. Despite this she keeps on going, despite the fact that she gets lost or locked into shops or galleries. We follow her life: marriage to Ronald, just demobbed after the end of the war, in thrall to his father and having to run his father’s store in first in Queensland and then, after the death of his father, running the store in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Ronald cannot cope and the family moves back to Queensland, where Ronald soon dies of cancer. Kathleen brings up her two children, Brian (known as Brain) and Shamrock, both of whom do badly at school though, seemingly, make quite good marriages, even if Kathleen does not take to their respective spouses. Neither of them but particularly her daughter, Shamrock, married to a rich Member of Parliament/property developer, is particularly helpful to their mother in old age. However, it may be the end of her life and she may forget everything, but Kathleen is determined to keep going and keep going she does.
Rodrigo Hasbún: Los afectos (Affections)
The latest addition to my website is Rodrigo Hasbún‘s Los afectos (Affections), a first-class novel, based on the story of a real German family that emigrated to Bolivia. The family is the Ertl family: father, a former cameraman of Leni Riefenstahl, mother, a chain smoker who will die of cancer, and three daughters, one of whom will join Che Guevara’s guerilla group, the second who will return to Germany and the the third who becomes a chain smoker like her mother and remains solitary. The story starts with an expedition, led by Hans, the father, to find a lost Inca city. He takes his two oldest daughters, Monika and Heidi. The expedition is not a success, though Heidi meets and marries a fellow expedition member and Hans runs off with the entomologist. Aurelia, the mother, and Trixi the youngest daughter, thirteen years old, stay behind and smoke. While we follow the fate of the others as well, the focus is on Monika, who joins Guevara’s guerilla group and becomes the most wanted woman in Bolivia. The book, however, is about their relationships, complicated, affectionate to a certain degree, as the title implies, but always fraught. For a relatively short book, the novel packs a real punch and is superbly told by Hasbún.
Max Aub: Campo abierto [Open Field]
The latest addition to my website is Max Aub‘s Campo abierto [Open Field], the second book in Max Aub’s Magic Labyrinth series about the Spanish Civil War, though the third to be published. This one is set in Valencia in the first part (where Aub grew up) and Madrid in the second part, leading up to the fall of Madrid to the Francoist forces. The book is a series of stories about the various individuals caught up in the Civil War, mainly, though certainly not exclusively on the republican side. We follow a revolutionary theatre group, in particular two young people, Vicente and Asunción, who are in love but too involved in their theatre and politics to tell one another. We also follow various individuals who get shot, because they are on the wrong side, in the wrong place at the wrong time or, in a few cases, fighting against the enemy. Summary executions occur all too frequently. When we move to Madrid, we follow the approach of the Francoist forces as they gradually get closer, with the poorly armed republicans unable to resist Franco’s tanks. Vicente and Asunción both move to Madrid, he fighting with the forces defending Madrid, she with the theatre group. The book ends as Madrid is about to fall to Franco. Aub tells an excellent story, showing the dissent within the republican forces, both the enthusiasm of many of the ordinary people as well as the horrors they have to face and the inevitable defeat, which they cannot believe will happen.
Latitude Festival’s Top 20 Books by Women
Apparently not a top novel
The Women’s Prize for Fiction has just posted Latitude Festival’s Top 20 Books by Women. What a disappointing selection! Only one originally written in a language other than English (Allende), only three others by non-UK, non-US writers (Roy, Atwood and Ngozi Adichie) and, FFS, Girl on a Train. May I politely remind them of María Luisa Bombal, Carmen Boullosa, Elizabeth Bowen, Kay Boyle, Mary Butts, A S Byatt, Angela Carter, Maryse Condé, Simone de Beauvoir, Alba de Céspedes, Ellen Douglas, Marguerite Duras, Anne Enright, Rosario Ferré, Elena Garro, Teolinda Gersâo, Natalia Ginzburg, Ellen Glasgow, Nadine Gordimer, Patricia Grace, Almudena Grandes, Han Kang, Marlen Haushofer, Qurratulain Hyder, Elfriede Jelinek, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Hiromi Kawakami, A L Kennedy, Agota Kristof, Doris Lessing, Clarice Lispector, Rosetta Loy, Dacia Maraini, Angeles Mastretta, Ana María Matute, Minae Mizumura, Elsa Morante, Herta Müller, Irène Némirovsky, Amélie Nothomb, Joyce Carol Oates, Yōko Ogawa, Anna Maria Ortese, Park Kyŏng-ni, Aline Pettersson, Elena Poniatowska, Ann Quin, Jean Rhys, Dorothy Richardson, Mercè Rodoreda, Nathalie Sarraute, Joanna Scott, Leïla Sebbar, Leslie Marmon Silko, Susan Sontag, Muriel Spark, Magda Szabó, Esther Tusquets, Ludmila Ulitskaya, Luisa Valenzuela, Marlene van Niekerk, Marina Warner, Eudora Welty, Edith Wharton, Jeanette Winterson, Virginia Woolf and Marguerite Yourcenar, to name but a few? Do Hawkins, Mosse, Moran, Kingsolver, Sebold and Shriver come before Virginia Woolf or, indeed, the other excellent writers in my list above? I think not.
Hendrik Groen: Pogingen om iets van het leven te maken. Het geheime dagboek van Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 jaar (Attempts to Make Something of Life. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old)
The latest addition to my website is Hendrik Groen‘s Pogingen om iets van het leven te maken. Het geheime dagboek van Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 jaar (Attempts to Make Something of Life. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old). This is a hilariously funny diary by an elderly Dutch man in a care home in North Amsterdam. For a long time, the real identity of the author was unknown and various hypotheses were proposed, including Arnon Grunberg, Stijn Aerden, Marcel Verreck, Marcel van Roosmalen, Sylvia Witteman, Remco Campert, Nico Dijkshoorn, Carel Helder, Robert Vuijsje, A.L. Snijders and Youp van ‘t Hek. However, it has since been learned that he is a librarian, born in 1955, who lives in North Amsterdam, called Peter de Smet. Groen claims to be friendly and helpful and often is, but he is very much opposed to the authorities, and mocks them ceaselessly, including the care home management, the government and the police. He is happy to subvert in a way reminiscent of the UK TV programme Waiting for God (shown on PBS in the USA). He and his friends, particularly Evert, are determined to go out with their heads held high, which means both having a good time and causing minor sabotage in the home. Above all, this book is very funny and shows that old age and approaching death can and should be treated light-heartedly and that one does not have to succumb to sitting quietly in the care home chair when one is nearly eighty-four years old
Rosario Ferré: La casa de la laguna (The House on the Lagoon)
The latest addition to my website is Rosario Ferré‘s La casa de la laguna (The House on the Lagoon). Ferré, whose father was a governor of Puerto Rico, writes about a house and family on Puerto Rico, from the arrival of the Buenaventura Mendizabal from Spain at the beginning of the last century to the 1993 referendum on statehood. Buenaventura has a temper and this is passed on to his son Quintín, so much so that Isabel has doubts about marrying him when she sees him lose his temper. But she does marry him and this novel is her attempt to write about the family, hers and his, and an attempt to see how the parents’ behaviour is passed on to the children. Quintín and Isabel build a beautiful house on a lagoon, with the architect having freely stolen his ideas from Frank Lloyd Wright, though this house is one of three houses that are built on the site during the course of the book. Isabel’s manuscript is secret but Quintín finds it and is highly critical of its feminist, Independista and non-historical approach, as Isabel reveals family secrets Quintín would have preferred kept hidden, including murder, suicide, rape, forced abortion and other violent acts. Virtually all of their relatives have colourful and not always worthy pasts and it is these stories of these many characters that make the book so fascinating.
Gérard Bessette: L’incubation (Incubation)
The latest addition to my website is Gérard Bessette‘s L’incubation (Incubation). The novel is entirely narrated in stream-of-consciousness style by a man known as Lagarde, a librarian by profession. He is primarily telling the story Gordon Blackwell, his friend and an English teacher at the university in the small Canadian town of Narcotown. Gordon had met Antinéa (an English woman, despite her name) in London during the Blitz in World War II. They had started an affair, despite the fact that Antinéa was married to Jack, fighting in North Africa, and Gordon was engaged to Maggie back home in Narcotown. When Jack returned, injured, Antinéa paid little attention to him but when he died, she had a nervous breakdown. Gordon returned to Canada, married Maggie and they had two children When Antinéa, ten years later, comes to Canada to find Gordon, thing inevitably do not work out well. The stream-of-consciousness style, a new departure for Bessette, and influenced by the nouveau roman, is surprisingly effective at driving the fairly routine story on but it does seem a bit dated, fifty years plus later.
Claire-Louise Bennett: Pond
The latest addition to my website is Claire-Louise Bennett‘s Pond. This book is subtitled Stories but it is really a novel, as it tells the tale of the unnamed narrator and her three years living in a (fairly) remote cottage in rural Ireland. We learn that she likes nature but not in a too romantic way. She has affairs, but really only finds men attractive and desirable when she is drunk which, as she tells us, is quite a lot of the time. She struggles a bit with life, not always sure what she is doing, lacking organisational and planning skills and not really fitting in anywhere, and not really wanting to. What makes this novel is the skilful writing and the way the narrator examines herself or reveals herself to be a woman who is not quite at one with the world, even as she more or less gets by.
Miguel Gutiérrez dies
Peruvian novelist Miguel Gutiérrez died yesterday, shortly before his seventy-sixth birthday. I can find no reports in English but it has been in announced in Spanish here and here. He is best-known for his novel about incest El mundo sin Xóchitl [The World Without Xochitl], which I thought was an excellent novel. Neither this novel nor any of his others works has been translated into English or, as far as I can determine, any other language. Though well-known as a novelist, he also wrote extensively on literature, Peruvian as well as literature from elsewhere.
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Iggy Azalea Releases ‘Switch’
Iggy Azalea's Digital Distortion maybe dropping soon, she has unveiled her brand new single “Switch” today (May 19), a club-ready collaboration with Anitta that’s eagerly inviting anyone within earshot to head straight to the dancefloor.
Iggy told People in an interview that the song is primarily a battle cry for women.
“I wanted to make a song that could be fun to dance to, but the lyrics when you really listen to them are very powerful,” she said, adding “it’s not a victimized sexualization” but, on the contrary, more a matter of “a woman being in control of what I want to do and when I want to go and when I want to stop.”
Azalea added that Anitta’s feature seemed like a natural fit.
“[The song] has that tropical vibe and a Latin flavor people are really enjoying right now,” she said. “I wanted to find the perfect girl who already had that kind of style and as soon as I saw her videos on YouTube, I was like ‘This is the perfect person!’ She’s very unapologetic and strong but super feminine. We clicked straight away.”
The “Switch” video’s still awaiting release, but Azalea insists it’ll be worth the wait.
“It’s sort of this fantasy safari of badass women,” she said. “Some of the stuff I would see back on camera and think to myself, ‘Wow, this must seem like it’s all green-screen,’ but it’s really happening! I feel really nostalgic thinking about the music videos I liked as a child and not knowing how much was reality or what was computer-generated. I want to be able to give that to the kids and adults of my generation.”
Had so much fun filming the #Switch music video this week & I can't wait for everyone to hear the song May 19th □ #SneakPeek
A post shared by Iggy Azalea (@thenewclassic) on May 13, 2017 at 2:47pm PDT
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Jay Z and Timbaland Are Being Sued Again for ‘Big Pimpin’
Jay Z and Timbaland are being taken back to court for their song “Big Pimpin,” after a judge ruled in their favor in 2015.The case has been going on since 2007 and the plaintiff, Osama Ahmed Fahmy, has yet to get a ruling in his favor.
According to Fahmy, The two unlawfully used his uncle Baligh Hamdy’s song “Khosara, Khosara” for “Big Pimpin,” but U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder said there wasn’t enough evidence to support his claim.
She also said because Fahmy licensed his uncle’s song to local record labels, he lost his rights, but his lawyer Keith Wesley says although Fahmy gave up his right to be financially compensated, he still has a moral right under Egyptian law, which says if “Khosara Khosara” is used, it can’t have any “unauthorized fundamental alterations.”
Evidently, Fahmy didn’t like the lyrical content of “Big Pimpin,” because Jay rhymes about “money, drugs and prostitutes,” as he says.
No date on when the new case will start in court.
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Immigration detention of children and families must end
By Rachel Kronick
Tues., Oct. 4, 2016timer3 min. read
As a psychiatrist who works with children and families, I am not supposed to cry. As a researcher, I strive to engage but remain an observer.
Nevertheless, while sitting across from two parents incarcerated in an immigration holding centre, as they described the agony of being separated from their two young daughters, I felt my throat tighten and tears roll down my cheeks. Their pain filled the small interview room; my job could not insulate me.
The parents told me how they had tried to convince their girls the reason they had not seen them in a month was that the parents were both working overtime. But the Canadian-born children, who were staying with relatives so the girls would not be detained alongside their parents, knew something was wrong and were frightened. They had seen their parents taken away in handcuffs.
“We are never apart,” wept the girls’ mother. The father, defeated and hopeless, told me with shame that he thought of suicide because he could not bear what the family was living through and his feelings of powerlessness.
This was one of hundreds of families who face immigration detention in Canada each year. What happens to young children when their parents are sent to immigration jails? Luckier ones can stay with relatives. Some go into the child welfare system. Others join their parents in detention facilities.
Our research shows all these scenarios have negative consequences for children’s mental health. When separated from their parents, children — who have often lived through war and trauma in their country of origin — deteriorate. Being incarcerated alongside their parents is no better. Some children stop eating, others stop talking, and most have sleep difficulties and show signs of depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic symptoms.
Last month, the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law (IHRP) released a comprehensive report, “No Life for a Child,” on the legal and psychological realities of immigration detention for children and families. The report proposes a way forward for Canada.
Canadians have the opportunity to lead the world, as we have done with our welcome of Syrian refugees, by ending immigration detention of children and families and making sure our own policies do not exacerbate the suffering of those who, in many cases, have already suffered more than most of us can imagine.
Immigration detention is a deeply flawed tool for securing our borders. Evidence shows that community-based alternatives to detention are effective, more fiscally responsible, and far more humane. These alternatives will serve families as well as adults, who, as the IHRP’s 2015 report illustrated, are often caught in a “legal black hole” of indefinite and unnecessary detention.
For these reasons, on Tuesday, medical, legal and community organizations from across the country endorsed a statement calling for the end of immigration detention of children and families.
The voices endorsing the cessation of this practice include the Canadian Paediatric Society, the Canadian Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists, The Office of the Ontario Child Advocate, the president of the Canadian Bar Association, and many other organizations. Hundreds of individual health care providers, lawyers, and child advocates have also endorsed this statement.
The message is clear: stop detaining children, and protect them from harmful separations from their parents or guardians. As François Crepeau, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants asked last month: “Would I accept that my child be treated thus?”
Most Canadians do not face the prospect that their own children will experience incarceration or damaging family separation. What we do face is the question of whether we will accept it for some children in Canada, inflicted in our name.
A growing chorus of organizations — and health care professionals like me who see the consequences of detention up close — believe it is past time for this practice to stop. We call on the government to move quickly to end immigration detention of children and families to protect them from further harm.
Rachel Kronick is a psychiatrist with the child division at Jewish General Hospital and an assistant professor with the department of psychiatry at McGill University.
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UN: Global Warming Threatens to Defeat Effort to Fix World Ills
NEW YORK - Relentless global warming threatens the potential success of a sweeping set of goals established by the United Nations to tackle inequality, conflict and other ills, officials said on Tuesday.
Climate change imperils food supplies, water and places where people live, endangering the U.N. plan to address these world problems by 2030, according to a report by U.N. officials.
Member nations of the U.N. unanimously adopted 17 global development goals in 2015, setting out a wide-ranging "to-do" list tackling such vexing issues as conflict, hunger, land degradation, gender inequality and climate change.
The latest report, which called climate change "the greatest challenge to sustainable development," came as diplomatic, business and other officials gathered for a high-level U.N. forum to take stock of the goals' progress.
"The most urgent area for action is climate change," said Liu Zhenmin, U.N. Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, in the report.
"The compounded effects will be catastrophic and irreversible," he said, listing increased extreme weather events, more severe natural disasters and land degradation. "These effects, which will render many parts of the globe uninhabitable, will affect the poor the most."
Progress has been made on lowering child mortality, boosting immunization rates and global access to electricity, the report said.
Yet extreme poverty, hunger and inequality remain hugely problematic, and more than half of school-age children showed "shockingly low proficiency rates" in reading and math, it said.
Two-thirds of those children were in school.
Human trafficking rates nearly doubled from an average 150 detected victims per country in 2010 to 254 in 2016.
But it was unclear how much of the increase reflected improved reporting systems versus an increase in trafficking, said Francesca Perucci of the U.N.'s statistics division, who worked on the report.
"It's hard to exactly distinguish the two," she said at a launch of the report.
But climate change remained paramount.
Greenhouse gases have continued to climb, and "climate change is occurring much faster than anticipated," the report said.
At this week's goals summit, 47 countries were expected to present voluntary progress reviews. Almost 100 other countries and four cities including New York have done so.
Earlier U.N. reports said the goals were threatened by the persistence of violence, conflict and lack of private investment. Outside assessments have also cited nationalism, protectionism and insufficient funding.
The cost of implementing the global goals has been estimated at $3 trillion a year.
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Your Health: 'Do not resuscitate' orders may seem clear - until the patient reaches the ER
By Judith Graham Special to The Washington Post
Aug 8, 2018 at 2:26 PM Aug 8, 2018 at 2:26 PM
"Don't resuscitate this patient; he has a living will," the nurse told the doctor, Monica Williams-Murphy, handing her a document.
Williams-Murphy looked at the sheet bearing the signature of the unconscious 78-year-old man, who had been rushed from a nursing home to the emergency room. "Do everything possible," it read, with a check approving cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
The nurse's mistake was based on a misguided belief that living wills automatically include "do not resuscitate" (DNR) orders. Working quickly, Williams-Murphy revived the patient, who had a urinary tract infection and recovered after a few days in the hospital.
Unfortunately, misunderstandings involving documents meant to guide end-of-life decision-making are "surprisingly common," said Williams-Murphy, medical director of advance-care planning and end-of-life education for Huntsville Hospital Health System in Alabama.
But health systems and state regulators don't systematically track such mix-ups, which receive little attention amid the push to encourage older adults to document their end-of-life preferences, experts acknowledge. As a result, information about the potential for patient harm is scarce.
A new report out of Pennsylvania, which has the nation's most robust system for monitoring patient-safety events, treats mix-ups involving end-of-life documents as medical errors -- a novel approach. It found that in 2016, Pennsylvania health-care facilities reported nearly 100 events relating to patients' "code status" -- their wish to be resuscitated or not, should their hearts stop beating and they stop breathing. In 29 cases, patients were resuscitated against their wishes. In two cases, patients weren't resuscitated despite making it clear they wanted this to happen.
The rest of the cases were "near misses" -- problems caught before they had a chance to cause permanent harm.
Most likely, this is an undercount, said Regina Hoffman, executive director of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, adding that she was unaware of similar data from any other state.
Asked to describe a near miss, Hoffman, co-author of the report, said: "Perhaps I'm a patient who's come to the hospital for elective surgery and I have a DNR order in my [medical] chart. After surgery, I develop a serious infection and a resident [physician] finds my DNR order. He assumes this means I've declined all kinds of treatment, until a colleague explains that this isn't the case."
The problem, Hoffman explained, is that doctors and nurses receive little if any training in understanding and interpreting living wills, DNR orders and Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms.
Communication breakdowns and a pressure-cooker environment in emergency departments, where life-or-death decisions often have to be made within minutes, also contribute to misunderstandings, other experts said.
Research by Ferdinando Mirarchi, medical director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hamot in Erie, Pa., suggests that the potential for confusion surrounding end-of-life documents is considerable. In various studies, he has asked medical providers how they would respond to hypothetical situations involving patients with critical and terminal illnesses.
In one study, for instance, he described a 46-year-old woman who is brought to the ER with a heart attack and suddenly goes into cardiac arrest. Although she is otherwise healthy, she has a living will refusing all potentially lifesaving medical interventions. What would you do, he asked more than 700 physicians in an Internet survey.
Only 43 percent of those doctors said they would intervene to save her life -- a troubling figure, Mirarchi said. Because this patient didn't have a terminal condition, her living will didn't apply to the situation at hand and every physician should have been willing to offer aggressive treatment, he explained.
In another study, Mirarchi described a 70-year-old man with diabetes and cardiac disease who had a POLST form indicating he didn't want cardiopulmonary resuscitation but agreeing to a limited set of other medical interventions, including defibrillation (shocking his heart with an electrical current). Yet 75 percent of 223 emergency physicians surveyed said they would not have pursued defibrillation if the patient had a cardiac arrest.
One problem is that doctors assumed that defibrillation is part of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. That's a mistake: They're separate interventions. Another problem is that doctors are often unsure what patients really want when one part of a POLST form says "do nothing" (declining CPR) and another part says "do something" (permitting other interventions).
Mirarchi's work involves hypotheticals, not real-life situations. But it highlights significant practical confusion about end-of-life documents, said Scott Halpern, director of the Palliative and Advanced Illness Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine.
Attention to these problems is important but shouldn't be overblown, cautioned Arthur Derse, director of the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities at the Medical College of Wisconsin. "Are there errors of misunderstanding or miscommunication? Yes. But you're more likely to have your wishes followed with one of these documents than without one," he said.
Make sure you have ongoing discussions about your end-of-life preferences with your physician, your surrogate decision-maker if you have one, and your family, especially when your health status changes, Derse advised. Without these conversations, documents can be difficult to interpret.
Here are some basics about end-of-life documents:
A living will expresses your preferences for end-of-life care but is not a binding medical order. Instead, medical staff will interpret it based on the situation at hand, with input from your family and your surrogate decision-maker.
Living wills become activated only when a person is terminally ill and unconscious or in a permanent vegetative state. A terminal illness is one from which a person is not expected to recover, even with treatment -- for instance, advanced metastatic cancer.
Bouts of illness that can be treated, such as worsening heart failure, are considered "critical" not "terminal" illness, and should not activate a living will. To be activated, one or two doctors must certify that your living will should go into effect, depending on the state where you live.
DNRs
Do-not-resuscitate orders are binding medical orders signed by a physician. A DNR order applies specifically to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and directs medical personnel not to administer chest compressions, usually accompanied by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, if someone stops breathing or their heart stops beating.
The section of a living will specifying that you don't want CPR is a statement of a preference, not a DNR order.
A DNR order applies only to a person who has gone into cardiac arrest. It does not mean that this person has refused other types of medical assistance, such as mechanical ventilation, defibrillation following CPR, intubation (the insertion of a breathing tube down a patient's throat), medical tests or intravenous antibiotics, among other measures.
Even so, DNR orders are often wrongly equated with "do not treat" at all, according to a 2011 review in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
POLST forms
A POLST form is a set of medical orders for a seriously ill or frail patient who may die within a year, signed by a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner.
These forms, which vary by state, are meant to be prepared after a detailed conversation about a patient's prognosis, goals and values, and the potential benefits and harms of various treatment options.
Problems have emerged with the increased use of POLSTs. Some nursing homes are asking all patients to sign POLST forms, even those admitted for short-term rehabilitation or whose life expectancy exceeds a year, according to a recent article by Charlie Sabatino, director of the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging. Also, medical providers' conversations with patients can be cursory, not comprehensive, and forms often aren't updated, as recommended, when a patient's medical condition changes.
"The POLST form is still relatively new, and there's education that needs to be done," said Amy Vandenbroucke, executive director of the National POLST Paradigm, an organization that promotes use of the forms. In a policy statement issued last year and updated in April, it stated that completion of POLST forms should always be voluntary, made with a patient's or surrogate decision-maker's knowledge and consent, and offered only to people whose physician would not be surprised if they die within a year.
- This column is produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service and a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
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Curated Collections: Underrated Netflix Gems for Winter Break
Asia Cureton, Contributing Writer
Filed under Culture
PHOTO COURTESY/Youtube Lesbian Lips
When most people think of Netflix, they think of the shows and films with large cult followings like “Stranger Things,” “Black Mirror” and “Orange is the New Black.” However, there are some more obscure films and TV shows that deserve just as much recognition and praise.
If you’re like me, then you were probably a loyal watcher of “Orange is the New Black” during its earlier seasons, but slowly stopped watching as the series progressed. Not interested in “Orange is the New Black” anymore but still want that “women in prison” plotline? Then “Wentworth” is the show for you. “Wentworth” is an Australian television drama that follows the lives of women living in the fictional Wentworth Correctional Facility. “Wentworth” is basically “Orange is the New Black’s” grittier, darker sister. With five seasons available to stream on Netflix, it is definitely worth the watch.
Netflix has some of the best selections of international TV series among all of the major streaming platforms. “Babylon Berlin” is a German crime-drama TV show, with the first 16 episodes available on Netflix. The show follows a police detective attempting to dismantle a complex crime ring in 1920s Berlin while he copes with some inner turmoil. You don’t have to be a German minor (like me) to appreciate it. There is plenty of sex, violence, political turmoil, drugs, crimes and Ragtime music to enjoy. This show will have you hooked the entire time.
“What Happened to Monday”
Remember that novel “Among the Hidden?” It was about a fictional future where families were limited to two children to quell overpopulation, and if there was a third child, they had to hide to avoid capture and execution. “What Happened to Monday” is very similar to this. It follows the lives of septuplets who must avoid detection by the government — which has limited the number of children a family can have to just one — and search for their missing sister, Monday. This film is an absolute thrill ride, and you’ll be holding on to your seat from start to finish.
“The Firefly”
“The Firefly” is another example of Netflix’s amazing selection of international content. In the LGBTQ+ Mexican film, Lucia struggles to come to terms with her estranged brother’s sudden death. While she grieves, she begins to bond with her brother’s fiancee and finds herself falling in love with her. As someone who hates romantic films, this film was completely absent of the usual cliches present in most romantic films. If someone as cold-hearted as I could enjoy this film, you certainly can.
“Train to Busan,” a Korean action-thriller, takes place on a passenger train headed to the city of Busan during a zombie apocalypse. The film is centered on a single dad and his young daughter as they struggle to survive the outbreak. When I first sat down to watch this film with my sister, I was positive it was just going to be another zombie film — I was wrong. I was so wrong. This film has it all, from impressive zombie kills to surprising character development. I promise that no eye will be left dry-eyed by the end of this film.
Tags: culture, Curated Collections, Netflix
Netflix’s “Murder Mystery”
Tribeca Film Festival Presents “A Day in the Life of America”
St. John’s Grad “Veldor” Makes The Billboard Music Charts
Tribeca Film Festival Presents “Crown Vic”
Tribeca Film Festival Presents “Blow the Man Down”
Tribeca Film Festival Presents “Come to Daddy”
Tribeca Film Festival Presents “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile”
Tribeca Film Festival Presents “Flawless”
Tribeca Film Festival Presents “For They Know Not What They Do”
Tribeca Film Festival Presents “Goldie”
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ABS: How to use it properly
News | 12 January 2017 | Story: Adrian Lim, The Straits Times | Photo: Shintaro Tay
Tougher penalties for flouting traffic regulations
ASP Firdous Haniff (left) gestures to a goods vehicle driver and the passenger and orders them both to buckle their seat belts.
Motorists who flout traffic laws, such as illegally modifying their vehicles or driving recklessly, could face harsher penalties.
Under the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill introduced in Parliament yesterday, maximum fines for these offences will increase.
Those caught altering their vehicles illegally can face a fine of up to $5000, a jail term of up to three months, or both. Currently, the maximum fine is only $2000.
For those caught a second and subsequent time, the penalty is a fine of up to $10,000, a jail sentence of up to six months, or both. This is double the current $5000.
The revised punishments will be aligned with similar offences in the Active Mobility Act, which spells out penalties for users who illegally modify their personal mobility devices and bicycles.
Fines for motorists who drive recklessly or dangerously will also be steeper. The current penalty under the Road Traffic Act is a fine of up to $3000 and a jail sentence of up to a year, or both.
The proposed changes to the law will see the fine raised to $5000.
For repeat offenders, the current penalties are a fine of $5000 or a jail term of up to two years, or both. The proposed changes will increase the fine to $10,000.
A specific punishment is also being proposed for motorists who leave their vehicles on the road in a way that can “cause danger, obstruction or undue inconvenience to other users of the road or to traffic”.
Motorists caught will face fines of up to $2000 or a jail term of up to three months, or both. Those convicted a second or subsequent time can be fined up to $5000, given jail time of up to six months, or both.
In the light of the development of self-driving technologies, changes to the law are also being proposed that will make it an offence for an individual to hinder or obstruct any trials involving autonomous vehicles.
As to what constitutes an interference, the text of the draft law says: “For example, curious bystanders may deliberately throw objects or walk in front of autonomous motor vehicles that are on trial, so as to test the reaction of the vehicle’s sensors.” The maximum fine for such an offence will be set at $5000.
Related story: “Stealth” bikers clamping down on traffic offences
Related story: Stiffer penalties for road traffic offences such as drink-driving
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U.S. is being left behind in race for the Arctic as a non-party to UNCLOS
As the global climate is warming up rapidly, leading to ice-free summers in the Arctic Ocean, Arctic nations are confronting the prospect of new rights over the Arctic’s vast natural resources. All Arctic nations— Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia—except for the United States, ratified the Convention and have already submitted, or are preparing to submit, proposed limits for their extended continental shelves to the Commission. The submissions will enable these countries to obtain international recognition over their extended continental shelves in the Arctic, including exclusive rights over oil and gas reserves.
As a nation with an extensive coastline and a continental shelf with enormous oil and gas reserves, the United States has much more to gain than lose from joining the Convention. Furthermore, the uncertainties stemming from the customary law make it a less effective measure to protect American interests. Only a universal regime such as the Convention can adequately safeguard the United States’ interest in the Arctic Ocean. The best way to guarantee access to the Arctic’s resources is for the United States to become a party to the Convention.
[ Page 173 ]
Kolcz-Ryan, Marta. "An Arctic Race: How the United States' Failure to Ratify the Law of the Sea Convention could Adversely Affect its Interests in the Arctic ." University of Dayton Law Review. Vol. 35. (2009-2010): 149-173. [ More (10 quotes) ]
Quicktabs: Evidence
Related argument(s) where this quote is used.
U.S. is losing emerging Arctic race by not being party to UNCLOS
By remaining outside of UNCLOS, the U.S. is ceding its leadership role in the region in a number of ways. First, and most importantly for the U.S. strategic and economic interests, by remaining outside of the treaty the U.S. is not able to submit its claims for the extended continental shelf in the Arctic to the CLCS, preventing U.S. industries from claiming mineral rights. Secondly, existing Arctic governance regimes are based on and rely on UNCLOS and the U.S. non-party status prevents it from contributing as a full partner, weakening the overall Arctic governance regime. Finally, U.S.
Related Quotes:
U.S. has limited time to ratify convention to secure access to Arctic resources
U.S. national interest harmed by remaining outside UNCLOS regime and unable to take advantage of Arctic boom
U.S. should make ratification of UNCLOS a top priority to ensure it doesn't lose out on opening of Arctic
... and 28 more quote(s)
Parent Arguments:
U.S. failure to ratify UNCLOS has been detrimental
U.S. can extend the range of territory under its sovereign control by ratifying UNCLOS
Supporting Arguments:
U.S. has significant interests in untapped mineral wealth in Arctic
Other nations are pursuing Arctic claims to the detriment of the U.S.
U.S. failure to ratify UNCLOS complicates U.S. naval operations in the Arctic
UNCLOS is best regime for Arctic Governance
U.S. can't secure claims to Arctic resources through CLCS as a non-party to UNCLOS
Russia poses a strategic threat to the U.S. in the Arctic
Counter Argument:
U.S. is not losing out in Arctic by not being party to UNCLOS
This is a quote from a news article or citation relevant to the debate over U.S. ratification of UNCLOS. Quotes are used to support arguments and you can see which arguments this quote is related to from the 'arguments' tab below the quote or see more quotes from this source or author by clicking the relevant links in the citation. You can also comment on the quote or view another random quote in the system.
South China Sea arbitration shows U.S. could solve key Arctic arguments over passage through Arctic Council mechanisms
Even after South China Sea ruling, U.S. still best served by ratification of UNCLOS to preserve rights to continental shelf
UNCLOS regime is key component of U.S.-led liberal order
Recent South China Sea case shows how U.S. non-party status to UNCLOS is allowing China to shape international law in ways inimical to U.S. interests
U.S. at dual disadvantage in Arctic due to non-party status as its claims lack legitimacy and it has no claim to challenge others
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2017 Pacific Early Childhood Development Conference
Pacific Regional Council for Early Childhood Care and Education (PRC4ECCE)
UNICEF After Action Review
Humanitarian action and climate change
Cyclone Pam
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
© UNICEF Pacific/2014/Koroi
UNICEF Pacific Volunteers packing school bags, which were sent to Tonga after cyclone Ian in January 2014
Pacific island countries continue to be among the most vulnerable in the world due to their high exposure to natural hazards and limited capacity to mitigate and manage risks. On top of this many of the atoll nations in the Pacific are on the forefront of climate change, and its people already facing the impact in the form of more frequent and longer droughts, floods, erosions of coastal, habitable and agrarian land, and salinization of safe drinking water sources.
Climate change is predicted to increase the frequencies of El Niño and La Niña effects by more than 40% in the Pacific, which in turn will further increasing the incidence of severe droughts, floods and damaging tropical storms. The socio-economic impact of this negative spiral of events are severe. In late 2012 for instance, Fiji and Samoa was hit Tropical Cyclone Evan. In Fiji alone this resulted in serious floods that affected over 250,000 people (more than 29% of the total population), causing the internal displacement of 15,000 people and an estimated economic loss of more than FJD$ 71 million (USD 40 million).
To mitigate and alleviate the impacts of natural hazards and climate change, UNICEF Pacific works with governments and humanitarian partners before, during and after disasters to ensure that quick and effective relief is provided to affected populations, particularly women, children and people with disabilities. Disaster preparedness and response planning and management are integrated into all programme components and link with Pacific National Disaster Management Offices, United Nations and regional agencies under the umbrella of the Pacific Humanitarian Team. Specific focus areas for UNICEF humanitarian action include water, sanitation and hygiene; immunisation; nutrition; child protection; and education.
UNICEF Pacific is also increasingly integrating and addressing climate change and disaster risk reduction across all programmes with reference to the study 'Climate Change Impact on Children in the Pacific' from 2011. A partnership has been established with “350.org” to promote youth participation in regional climate change debate and policy making.
Severe Tropical Cyclone (TC) Pam struck Vanuatu (population 234,000), affecting the capital of Port Vila, as an extremely destructive category 5 cyclone on the evening of 13 March at around 11 p.m. local time. The cyclone’s eye passed close to Efate Islan
Get Ready Disasters Happen
Hard to believe - 29 natural disasters in the Pacific between 2009 - 2014. Get the overview
Working with UNICEF
UNICEF global site
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Entrepreneurial Boards Report - Board Involvement
Board involvement is fairly consistent across industries, despite some swings in both the high and low end of the spectrum. The survey demonstrates considerable diversity in the frequency of board meetings, for example: The number of board meetings at respondent companies ranged from one to 28 meetings per year. However, 80% of companies had 4 to 12 meetings. The median (mean) number of meetings among respondent firms was six (seven) meetings per year. The median number of face-toface meetings was 4 per year. (See Figure 11.)
Figure 11: Number of Board Meetings
Interestingly, the survey reveals that the frequency of meetings at small technologyoriented companies is similar to the frequency of meetings at larger, more complex, organizations. For example, Spencer Stuart’s 2006 survey reports that, among S&P 500 firms, boards had as few as 3 meetings and as many as 39 meetings per year. According to Spencer Stuart, the average S&P 500 company holds 8.4 meetings per year, up from eight meetings per year in 2001.
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CFO - D-Wave
D-Wave Systems Inc., the world's first quantum computing company, announced that Dan Cohrs has joined the team as chief financial officer.
Mr. Cohrs brings an extensive and diverse background to D-Wave, having served in senior positions in corporate strategy, development and finance at Marriott, Northwest Airlines, GTE, Global Crossing and most recently at Rentech, Inc. and Rentech Nitrogen Partners in Los Angeles. With experience at both start-ups and multinational corporations, Mr. Cohrs is an expert in global finance and planning, M&A, IPOs and investor relations. He has also served as a faculty member at Cornell University and Harvard University. Mr. Cohrs earned a B.S. degree in engineering from Michigan State University, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics, finance and public policy from Cornell University's Johnson School of Management.
"Dan's broad expertise in finance and his tremendous success in building capital and leading corporate strategy in companies large and small makes him the ideal CFO for D-Wave," said Vern Brownell, CEO of D-Wave. "Over the course of his career, Dan has raised over $25 billion of capital, successfully executed IPOs and mergers and acquisitions, and has been an outstanding executive known for his integrity and leadership. We are all pleased Dan has joined D-Wave and know he will make important contributions as we continue on this exciting journey into the future of computing."
Prior to joining D-Wave, Mr. Cohrs was executive vice president and chief financial officer of Rentech, Inc. and Rentech Nitrogen Partners, where he led the IPO and refinancing of Rentech Nitrogen and executed a number of acquisitions and partnerships in the fuels technology, fibre and fertilizer businesses. Mr. Cohrs served for five years as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Global Crossing (since acquired by Level 3 Communications), where he built a worldwide finance function to support the global operations of a $5 billion company and raised over $20 billion of capital.
As a visiting senior lecturer at Cornell University, Mr. Cohrs developed and taught an executive course in corporate governance at the Johnson Graduate School of Management. He previously taught corporate finance as an assistant professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business.
"What D-Wave has already achieved as the first quantum computing company is awe-inspiring," said Dan Cohrs. "There are just a handful of companies in the world willing to tackle the most complex challenges, and fewer still that have succeeded. D-Wave has already demonstrated the ability to design, manufacture and sell the only scalable quantum computer ever built. I am very excited to join the team of amazing people who have accomplished this."
About D-Wave Systems Inc.
D-Wave Systems is the first quantum computing company. Its mission is to integrate new discoveries in physics, engineering, manufacturing and computer science into breakthrough approaches to computation to help solve some of the world's most complex challenges. The company's quantum computers are built using a novel type of superconducting processor that uses quantum mechanics to massively accelerate computation. D-Wave's customers include some of the world's most prominent organizations including Lockheed Martin and Google, whose system is hosted at NASA's Ames Research Center. With headquarters near Vancouver, Canada, D-Wave U.S. is based in Palo Alto, California. D-Wave has a blue-chip investor base including Bezos Expeditions, BDC Capital, DFJ, Goldman Sachs, Growthworks, Harris & Harris Group, In-Q-Tel, International Investment and Underwriting, and Kensington Partners Limited.
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Photo: Mackenzie Green (File).
VeloNews.com
Driscoll out for rest of CX season with broken femur
Jamey Driscoll, who has landed on the nationals podium on three occasions is out for the rest of the season after crash while training.
With USA Cycling National Cyclocross Championships looming on December 16, one major contender, Jamey Driscoll, is out of the picture due to a crash Saturday.
The Pivot-Stan’s No-Tubes rider confirmed on Facebook that he had crashed while training and broke his femur.
“After surgery and some additional hardware, I will be sidelined for the remainder of the cyclocross season,” he wrote. “Certainly a bummer, but I’m sure that I’ll be able to come back stronger for next season and already looking forward to it.”
So far, the 2018 season has been hard on the top contenders in the American pro men’s field. Jeremy Powers has been set back by illness. Stephen Hyde broke his sternum at the World Cup opener in Waterloo, Wisconsin.
Tobin Ortenblad also broke his collarbone over the weekend in Sonoma, California.
This seemed to be opening a window of opportunity for Driscoll, who has never won an elite national cyclocross championship.
Over the years, he has come close, finishing second in 2008, his debut at the elite level. He was also third in 2013 and second in 2017.
The Utah resident, originally from Vermont, looked to be building form as well. He won day two of Charm City Cyclocross in early October. He was also on the podium both days at the Major Taylor Cross Cup, November 17-18.
However, a trip to Louisville for nationals will not be in the cards for the 32-year-old.
Cyclocross stars circle North America, chasing points
Driscoll’s path to CX nationals goes through the desert, not Belgium
Youngsters may deliver unpredictable men’s race at ‘cross worlds
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C-ROADS – Climate Simulation for Decision Makers
In partnership with the Sustainability Institute and MIT since 2008, Ventana Systems has developed “C-ROADS”, a decision-maker-oriented international climate simulator. C-ROADS helps users understand the long term climate impacts of various futures for fossil fuel emissions, other emissions, sequestration, and various uncertainties. C-ROADS stands for “Climate Rapid Overview and Decision-support Simulator.” As opposed to most climate models, which take days or weeks to run and are designed for scientists, this simulator will be posted in its 3-region form as freeware on the internet, can be used by non-modelers, and runs in less than .1 second on a laptop. The simulator operates at three levels of regional disaggregation, helping to answer questions such as “what if all countries follow their current commitments?” In practice negotiations and in strategy conversations, C-ROADS has helped both technical and non-technical people quickly understand the long term implications (CO2 concentration, temperature, sea level rise) of climate agreements while considering per capita, cumulative, future, and current emissions as well as GDP, populations, and emissions intensity. In some recent uses, Schlumberger’s science education program, SEED, created an animated simulation using C-ROADS, and Per Andersson of Ericsson in Sweden used the Schlumberger animated simulation in dozens of presentations in his company.
Morgan Stanley’s Office of Sustainability created a video for its employee education program on climate change issues.
Bill Moomaw of Tufts University used a slide deck created from the C-ROADS simulator in a presentation to an IPCC committee.
MIT’s Center for Collective Intelligence is creating an “argumentation and deliberation” program that will call upon C-ROADS, to help users debate climate solutions.
The model was reviewed by an external scientific review committee, chaired by Sir Robert Watson, former Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The reviewers recommended C-ROADS for widespread use. Read a summary of their review here
In 2013 C-ROADS was awarded the System Dynamics Society Award for the best “Real World” Application of System Dynamics
C-ROADS is being used at top government, corporate, and NGO levels, and by individuals participating in or monitoring the UNFCCC negotiations. Read comments by some users at the US State Department and European Environment Agency.
“The C-ROADS model from Climate Interactive was used by me and other members of President Obama’s climate-change team for gaining rapid insights into the consequences of alternative greenhouse-gas-emissions trajectories for the United States and the rest of the world.” -Dr. John Holdren, White House Science Advisor, 2008-2016
Potential uses range from private strategic planning sessions to “mock-U.N.” negotiations (at MIT, for European business leaders in Greenland, and for national security strategists in Washington DC with the Center for a New American Security) to posting the simulator globally in multiple languages to help global citizens understand and influence mitigation approaches. For full information about C-ROADS please see the official C-ROADS website (from which this information is excerpted), or download the two-page informational flyer below. Work on C-ROADS is part of Ventana’s broader efforts on energy, economy and climate policy interactions. More information on Ventana’s climate and energy policy work is also available for download below.
Two-page, non-technical flyer on C-ROADS | c-roads-flier-v5.pdf
"I think it is the best thing going in climate models for decision-makers."
– Dr. Bob Corell, Vice President for Programs, Heinz Center, USA and former chair of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment,on the C-ROADS simulator developed by Ventana with the Sustainability Institute.
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Alejandro Abraham
Writing in the end times—the Guardian interviews Slavoj Žižek
Stuart Jeffries has profiled philosopher Slavoj Žižek for the Guardian. In the lengthy interview, Žižek talks about his latest book, Living in the End Times, his recent encounter with Julian Assange and puts to bed the bogus rumours about his friendship with Lady Gaga.
"What would the Virginia Woolf burger be like?" he asks. "Dried out, topped with parsley, totally overrated. I always preferred Daphne du Maurier." He then launches into a denunciation of the pretensions of James Joyce, arguing that his literary career went downhill after Dubliners, and then into a eulogy to the radical minimalism of Beckett's Not I. Within minutes we're on to German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk's views on the Malaysian economic miracle, the prospects for Žižek's film theory course in Ramallah and Katarina Wagner's production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, in which Hans Sachs is depicted as a Heil Hitler-ing Nazi. One's task as a reader or interviewer of Žižek is rapidly to build a network of mental pontoon bridges to unite his seemingly autonomous intellectual territories.
On the Gaga rumours, about which the Daily Star reported that "pals fear the Lady Gaga's head is being filled with extremist ideas by Slovenia-born Slavoj Žižek " Jeffries rightly notes that "surely he might more plausibly have been corrupted by her extremist ideas?"
On the recent event with Julian Assange:
His performance with Assange and radical American journalist Amy Goodman at the Troxy theatre in east London proved better - part pomposity-deflating vaudeville turn and part devastating critique of contemporary capitalism. "I have to subvert these events," he tells me afterwards. "The pious questions, the solemn speeches. My God, how can you sit through these things without wanting to make a joke?" About 40 minutes into the event he yielded to temptation and mutated briefly into Frankie Boyle
Žižek's signature method of combining pop culture with philosophical theory - mainly Hegelian phenomenology - proves particularly effective in our convulsive, ever-changing times. Jeffries describes his style as:
Marxist, Hegelian and Lacanian thought juxtaposed with critical analyses of cinema and popular culture in a sometimes appealing sometimes exasperating written equivalent of jazz improvisation.
Žižek ends the interview with an open invitation to imagine a new society by reconsidering the legacy of communism. Echoing the ideas of the book he co-edited with Costas Douzinas, The Idea of Communism, he assesses the possibilities for emancipation and discovers that even in our neo-liberal societies imagining a better world is still possible. "I am utterly pessimistic about the future, about the possibility of an emancipated communist society. But that doesn't mean I don't want to imagine it."
Visit the Guardian to read the complete article.
Living in the End Times
by Slavoj Žižek
The Idea of Communism
Edited by Costas Douzinas and Slavoj Žižek
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In 2016, one of the most popular names used by players for their virus was 'Trump', according to the game's developer, Ndemic Creations. This is a reference to presidential candidate Donald Trump.
General, RealLife
James Vaughn, the game's developer, was invited to speak at the Center of Disease Control, or CDC for short, in March 2013. Vaughn spoke about how he modeled the spread of infection in the game as well as how Plague Inc. can raise awareness and educate the public on the spread of disease. The CDC later commented on this by saying "The game creates a compelling world that engages the public on serious public health topics".
Contributed by totallytman
Early in the game, before your infection gets noticed, there is a chance you will receive a message reading, "Pylons 'vital to high-tech society' A new energy report confirmed the need to construct additional pylons in order to ensure a sustainable energy supply in the future"
This is a reference to the Protoss race from Starcraft, who are required to build pylons before they can build more units.
EasterEgg, Reference
Contributed by Psychospacecow
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Judge Changes Mind, Says FBI Doesn’t Have to Reveal Tor Browser Hack
But the reasons why are secret.
by Joseph Cox
In February, a judge ordered the FBI to reveal the full malware code it used to identify visitors of a dark web child pornography site, including the exploit that circumvented the protections of the Tor Browser. The government fought back, largely in sealed motions, and tried to convince the judge to reconsider.
It has succeeded. The government's motion has been granted, and the FBI does not have to provide the exploit code to the defense as previously ordered. That means that the defense in the case will probably be unable to examine how the evidence against their client was collected in the first place.
It is not totally clear why Judge Robert J. Bryan changed his mind. On Thursday, the government and Bryan held a private meeting, where the government presented its reasons for nondisclosure of the Tor Browser exploit. Court filings have indicated that the exploit itself may not be classified, but the reasons for non-disclosure are.
Originally, Bryan had ordered the malware disclosure because, although the case involved highly technical elements, the issue boiled down to a simple, constitutional point.
"You say you caught me by the use of computer hacking, so how do you do it? How do you do it? A fair question," he said during a hearing in February. Despite backtracking somewhat, Bryan still thinks the defense has a reason to see that code, according to audio of the public section of Thursday's hearing provided by activist Phil Mocek. Of course, whether the FBI decides to then provide it is another matter.
Photo: FBI/Wikimedia Commons
The case revolves around the FBI's investigation into child pornography site Playpen. In February 2015 the FBI took over the site and deployed a hacking tool, designed to identify Playpen's users when they clicked on certain areas of the site. One of those was allegedly Jay Michaud, a Vancouver public schools administration worker whose defense argued for the FBI to provide the full malware code under a protective order.
In all, Motherboard has found the FBI obtained over one thousand IP addresses for alleged US-based users, and over three thousand abroad, including in Chile, Denmark, Greece, and the UK.
One reason federal public defenders Colin Fieman and Linda Sullivan, who are representing Michaud, have claimed they require the full NIT code is to verify that the malware did not go beyond the scope of the warrant. That warrant allowed the collection of the target's IP address, MAC address, operating system, and other technical information.
The FBI has maintained, however, that the exploit is not necessary to prove this. FBI Special Agent Daniel Alfin wrote in a declaration in March that the exploit wouldn't explain what information was actually taken by the NIT, and in Thursday's hearing, Assistant US Attorney Matthew Hampton said that the defense has only been able to put forward the theoretical possibility that the NIT went beyond its warrant, rather than any actual evidence.
This battle over access to the Tor Browser exploit is not the only dramatic legal tussle springing from the Playpen investigation. In April, one judge decided to throw out all evidence obtained by the malware because the warrant used to authorise it was invalid, and a second judge recommended the same. And on Wednesday Mozilla, the maintainer of Firefox on which the Tor Browser is based, filed a motion asking the government to disclose the vulnerability used.
Mozilla wanted details of the vulnerability 14 days before the FBI turned it over to the defense. Now with the judge's latest ruling, it looks like the defense won't be getting it at all, unless the FBI has a drastic change of heart.
The government has made it clear that it will "not turn it over under any circumstances," Fieman said during the hearing.
motherboard show
exploits
Internet Insecurity
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Florida Hotels With History
The Breakers Palm Beach, against an ocean backdrop. Sheer luxury.
- Peter W. Cross for VISIT FLORIDA
Kara Franker
If you want to indulge in opulence and elegance, try some of the Sunshine State’s most historic hotels.
"There's something very special about stepping inside one of Florida's grand historic hotels, especially when they've been beautifully preserved, like The Breakers and Boca Raton Resort, or reimagined for the modern day, like the Fontainebleau,” said Shayne Benowitz, a Miami-based hotel expert. “You feel like you're stepping back in time and there's an element of glamour that can't be recreated in new hotels."
Dating to a bygone era, some of Florida’s resorts have attracted the social elite for a century. "Florida's unique history has gifted us with extraordinary hotels that boast hints of various cultures and extravagant styles," said Angela Caraway-Carlton, a Florida-based travel journalist. "I also love that many of our hotels have drawn countless celebrities, performers and politicians throughout history.”
Let’s take a tour of some of these luxurious and historic hotels across the state.
Casa Monica Resort & Spa in St. Augustine
- Casa Monica Resort & Spa
One of the oldest hotels in the country, Casa Monica Resort & Spa is a historic gem in St. Augustine. Nestled on Florida’s Historic Coast, Franklin W. Smith opened the hotel in 1888 then later sold it to railroad tycoon Henry Flagler. The ornate lobby with opulent chandeliers and bubbling fountains will instantly transport you to a bygone era in Morocco.
Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Ponte Vedra Beach
- Ponte Vedra Inn & Club
Located on the coast just outside of Jacksonville, the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club opened in 1928 and quickly became one of the premier vacation destinations for wealthy American families and golf enthusiasts. In fact, the ninth hole on the Ocean Course, designed by Herbert Strong in 1928, is the first island green ever built.
The Breakers in Palm Beach
- The Breakers
One of America’s most legendary resort destinations, The Breakers is a 540-room, Italian Renaissance-style hotel situated on 140 acres of oceanfront property in the heart of Palm Beach. Founded in 1896 by industrialist Henry Flagler, the luxury hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has attracted the who’s who of early 20th-century royalty like the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Carnegies and Astors.
Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton
- Boca Raton Resort & Club
Located on 356 acres in Boca Raton, Waldorf Astoria's luxurious Boca Raton Resort & Club is famous for its history, grandeur and elegance. Designed in 1926 by legendary architect Addison Mizner, the resort is brimming with an impressive list of amenities and activities, including an award-winning spa, championship golf and tennis, gorgeous beach club and expansive marina.
The brainchild of Miami developer George E. Merrick, The Biltmore opened in 1926 to much fanfare in Coral Gables.
- The Biltmore
The Biltmore in Coral Gables
The brainchild of Miami developer George E. Merrick, The Biltmore opened in 1926 to much fanfare in Coral Gables. The hotel was a favorite for Hollywood elite like Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland and Bing Crosby. President Franklin D. Roosevelt even set up a temporary White House office at the hotel when he vacationed on fishing trips. Today the hotel is listed as a National Historic Landmark and has a popular 18-hole golf course.
Fontainebleau in Miami Beach
- Fontainebleau
Located on the oceanfront in the heart of Miami Beach’s Millionaire’s Row, the Fontainebleau opened in 1954. Known for his modernist architecture, Morris Lapidus designed the hotel with significant features like the “Stairway to Nowhere,” six acres of formal gardens paying homage to Versailles and opulent antiques meant to convey the hotel’s French period theme. Entertainers have stayed and performed at the resort for years, including historic headliners like Elvis Presley and Bob Hope to today’s hottest recording artists like Jennifer Lopez and Justin Bieber.
Casa Marina in Key West
- Casa Marina
Another historic resort conceived by Henry Flagler, often referred to as the father of Florida tourism, Waldorf Astoria’s Casa Marina was originally designed to be the last top on the Overseas Railroad, spanning from Miami to Key West. The hotel opened on New Year’s Eve in 1920 after Flagler’s death, so the architects wanted the resort to serve as a memorial to the magnate’s memory. Three days after the grand opening, President Warren G. Harding stayed at the property, cementing the hotel’s reputation as a must-visit hotel for society’s’ elite for years to come.
Loews Don CeSar Hotel in St. Pete Beach
- Loews Don CeSar Hotel
Don CeSar Hotel in St. Pete Beach
The Don CeSar Hotel is situated on the sugary white sands of St. Pete Beach and opened at the height of the Great Gatsby era in 1928. Known affectionately as the Pink Palace, the hotel has hosted well-heeled families from around the world for years. Notable guests throughout history have included American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, baseball great Lou Gehrig and mafia gangster Al Capone. Today families flock to the resort for beach getaways.
The Vinoy Renaissance Resort & Golf Club in St. Petersburg
- The Vinoy Renaissance Resort & Golf Club
The idea to build the Vinoy Renaissance Resort & Golf Club in downtown St. Petersburg started with a friendly wager between businessman Aymer Vinoy Laughner and famed golfer Walter Hagen and the rest is history. Construction began in 1925, and the architect set a construction record for completing the 375-room hotel in just under 10 months, which was just in time for a grand opening gala on New Year's Eve in 1925. Famous guests include Marilyn Monroe, President Calvin Coolidge, Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio. Today many pro baseball players choose this hotel.
The Gasparilla Inn & Club in Boca Grande
Offering a taste of Old Florida, The Gasparilla Inn & Club is a hidden historic gem on Florida’s Gulf Coast in Boca Grande. Construction began in 1911 and expansions followed in the following years in picturesque Gasparilla Island. Boston’s society elite became the first distinguished guests and the hotel soon attracted the likes of Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone and Katharine Hepburn. Today the hotel has been a favorite for political families like the Bushes.
The Belleview Inn's story began in 1897 when railroad and steamship magnate, Henry Plant, constructed the Queen Anne-style Victorian Hotel.
- The Belleview Inn
The Belleview Inn in Belleair
The Belleview Inn's story began in 1897 when railroad and steamship magnate, Henry Plant, constructed the Queen Anne-style Victorian Hotel. In 2018, a portion of the Inn was meticulously restored to its former Gilded Age glory and is now located in a new residential community in the affluent town of Bellair, just minutes from downtown Clearwater and its world famous sugar sand beach.
Check out more great places to stay in Florida.
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Vitiligo is important, treatable, and has an exciting future
This free 1 hour webinar is a summary of the special Vitiligo issue in the April 2017 Dermatologic Clinics. In this webinar Dr. John Harris discusses different presentations of vitiligo, the best treatments for it, genetics, role of diet and supplements, depigmenting therapies, and much more!
Director: John E. Harris, MD, PhD
Dr. Harris is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Dermatology Division, Department of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) in Worcester, MA. Dr. Harris directs the Vitiligo Clinic and Research Center at UMMS, which incorporates a specialty clinic for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with vitiligo, as well as a vitiligo research laboratory. He uses basic, translational, and clinical research approaches to better understand autoimmunity in vitiligo, with a particular focus on developing more effective treatments.
He earned his MD and PhD degrees at UMMS, and his PhD thesis was focused on the loss of autoimmune tolerance in juvenile diabetes. He entered a combined research/residency program in dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, and his postdoctoral research focused on the development of a mouse model of vitiligo with epidermal depigmentation. He now advises multiple graduate students, MD/PhD students, and postdoctoral fellows in his research laboratory at UMMS, and teaches medical students and residents in his vitiligo clinic.
He has authored multiple research publications and textbook chapters on vitiligo and other topics, and serves on a number of advisory boards and committees, including the Dermatology Foundation, Skin of Color Society, Vitiligo Working Group, Vitiligo Research Foundation, National Alopecia Areata Foundation, American Academy of Dermatology and the New England Dermatology Society, among others. He is an advisor and collaborator with multiple pharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie, Combe Inc, Genzyme/Sanofi, and Pfizer.
Dr. Harris is an ad hoc reviewer on grant applications for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dermatology Foundation, and National Alopecia Areata Foundation, as well as multiple research journals, including Science Translational Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research, Experimental Dermatology, the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, JAMA Dermatology, and others. He receives generous grant support from the NIH, Dermatology Foundation, Kawaja Vitiligo Initiative, and the Vitiligo Research Foundation. He has lectured on vitiligo and other topics to local, regional, national, and international audiences.
Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Research: “Development of a Mouse Model to Study Vitiligo Pathogenesis”
Advisors: Dr. Laurence Turka, Dr. John Wherry, Dr. Christopher Hunter
Dermatology Residency, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Medical Internship, UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA
Ph.D., (Molecular Medicine), UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA
Thesis Title: “The Molecular Mechanisms of T cell Clonal Anergy”
Advisors: Dr. Aldo Rossini, Dr. Michael Czech
M.D., UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA
B.S., Premedicine, Gordon College, Wenham, MA
Membership in Vitiligo Societies:
Co-founder and Board Member, Vitiligo Working Group
Member Scientific Committee, Skin of Color Society
Board Member, Skin of Color Society
Basic Research Advisory Council, National Alopecia Areata Foundation
Scientific Advisory Board, Vitiligo Research Foundation
Board Member, New England Dermatology Society
Medical and Scientific Committee, Dermatology Foundation
Fellow, American Academy of Dermatology
Dr. Amit Pandya answers questions from vitiligo patients.
Amit Pandya, M.D., is a Professor in the Department of Dermatology at UT Southwestern. He holds the Dr. J.B. Shelmire Professorship in Dermatology.
Dr. Pandya focuses his clinical work and research on pigmentary disorders such as vitiligo and melasma. He is one of a handful of full-time pigmentary disorder specialists in the country.
After graduating magna cum laude with a degree in biology from the University of Houston, Dr. Pandya received his medical degree from UT Southwestern. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas and his residency in dermatology at UT Southwestern.
With future research in mind, Dr. Pandya has started a vitiligo patient registry that captures over 60 details about vitiligo for each patient. This registry is one of only five vitiligo patient registries in the world.
Dr. Pandya has been recognized as a Best Doctor by D Magazine and a Super Doctor by Texas Monthly for several years consecutively, including in 2018. He is a recent recipient of the American Academy of Dermatology’s Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award and the University of Texas Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award. He has also received an Outstanding Teacher Award from UT Southwestern medical students 14 times.
He is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, the Texas Dermatological Society, the Dallas Dermatological Society, the Texas Medical Association, the Dallas County Medical Society, the International Society of Dermatology, and the Skin of Color Society.
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CoCT commits to working with community to replenish MPlain sports fields
March 22, 2019 • Local, News • No Comments
The City of Cape Town has said it will work with the community of Mitchells Plain to replenish the depilated sports fields in the area, to combat the rising crime in the area.
With crime and gang violence being rife in Cape Town, children are often urged to keep occupied with other activities such as sport to stay off the streets and productive. But the community of Mitchells Plain previously said their calls for proper maintenance on several fields have fallen on deaf ears.
Special mention is made of the Lenteguer sports field which is big enough to host several sporting codes at the same time. But community activist Shahien Van Neilson says it is barren.
“It cannot be used at all for sport, even the parking lot is used for burning tyres and things like that. A cricket pitch, three soccer fields, two rugby fields, a baseball pitch- that’s just lying dormant! Nothing can be played there and the City is not interested.”
Van Nielson explained that because children are not being productive, gangsters take the opportunity to keep them busy… with crime.
“Then we ask ourselves why we have so many social ills in our community. Its because the local government is not looking after the sport complexes.”
Van Neilson also explained that the added burden of travelling elsewhere makes the children despondent.
“Mitchells plain has a population of more than a million and is (like) 40 years old, if not more, but we don’t even have an athletics track. Our schools in our area have to pay busses to go play sports outside of (the area) which place a burden on the parents. Which means even if they want to they have to pay for transport.”
He noted that communication with the City has been minimal.
“I’ve engaged with the Collisions rugby club as they were the only ones who tried to use that sport field. They’ve tried to engage with the councilor of there but to no avail.”
Meanwhile, Mayco member for community services and health Cllr Zahid Badroodien explained that he absorbed a series of problems when stepping into the position. He explained that the recent drought contributed to the fields degenerating.
“As a result of the drought we (City) was not in a position where we’d be able to maintain the fields, in terms if the watering that is required. It goes with out saying that in order to look after the field, the grass needs to grow, and the grass will only grow when watering the field which hadn’t happened in some time.”
Van Nielson acknowledge that there was a water crisis but said “there are other means to save those fields.”
Badroodien explained however that efforts were made to rectify the situation.
“A borehole was installed some time ago, but the irrigation pipes were vandalized and stolen, those were to the value of R800 000. So there is an effort for us to want to invest but it becomes very difficult when there’s this cycle of repair and then damage. All of these facilities have an annual Maintenance Plan but -and I’ve seen this myself- there will be repairs but there is damage done on the same day. But that’s not to say we are not going to make sure there’s at least the minimum maintenance level for all of our fields. What we need to do is bring in an additional water source so we can water the fields and also to maintain the current infrastructure at that field.”
Badroodien highlighted three key issues, the first being a lack of maintenance planning. The second is vandalism of facilities and the third is the safety and security of the staff members that look after these facilities.
Van Nielson explained that security of the facilities themselves is more important.
“I would agree our community needs education. But it is how you secure the complexes- not with thin fences that people can easily break it down- vandalism you’re going to get anywhere. Before we can say “we need to take charge of it” we need to secure it.”
Van Nielson pointed out that lack of proper security is contributing to criminal activities.
“Particularly with the gang shootings, these guys (gangsters) use these places as hide outs. If they really want to look after our people they would put up high walls around it. ”
Badroodien said that three key role players need to co me to the table and make the plans work.
“The first would be political oversight which is your public representatives and I include myself in this. Ward councilors, PR councilors, that looking after the facilities and the community users. The third would be the officials the administrative staff that will have to ensure that the fields are being maintained. One cannot work without the other.”
The councilor went on to explain that the plan which has been presented for this year is marked against the triage system which is used to ascertain at what level these fields can be used, because not all fields can be used the same. Badroodien committed to make contact with Van Nielson in order to find a way forward.
“It’s not too late to make sure there is a budget for all the fields. A good starting point is for me to touch ground with the activist so we can identify what is needed and speak it into the new budget. I don’t want to be a politician who makes promises, I want to be able to engage with the community and give reality to what their needs and concerns are.”
wind: 11m/s NNW
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Short man tackled after tirade about women, rejection in bagel shop
Posted: Thu 11:17 PM, Jul 11, 2019
NEW YORK (News 12 Long Island/CNN) - The video of an irate customer unleashing his anger at Bagel Boss in Bay Shore Wednesday morning has been viewed all over the world.
Morgan, 45 years old and 5 feet tall, claims he lost his temper after a woman behind the counter mocked him because of his size. (Source: News 12 Long Island/CNN)
The bizarre tirade focused on Chris Morgan’s short stature and lack of success in online dating.
Morgan, 45 years old and 5 feet tall, claims he lost his temper after a woman behind the counter mocked him because of his size.
“She's doing this with her mouth, looking at people, smirking, and I started to feel like I was being maligned, made felt like I was less of a person,” Morgan said.
But another worker, Krystal Fedorka, who watched the entire encounter, said Morgan was never provoked and snapped almost instantly.
“He thought that they were talking about him and his height, and they weren't. The girl was just smiling, minding her business,” Fedorka said.
Moments later, he was seen threatening another customer before he was tackled by someone else in line.
One day after the incident, workers said they were still shaken up, but the bagel store took everything in stride. They gave away free mini-bagels to any customer who came in and mentioned the video.
As it turns out, this is not the first time Morgan has displayed a short temper over his height. Back in May, he posted two videos of himself berating workers at a nearby 7-Eleven after he says one of them asked how tall he was.
“What do you gain out of asking me that,” Morgan demanded of the 7-Eleven workers.
Meanwhile, Morgan said he's battled depression through the years and spent two weeks in the psychiatric ward at Stony Brook University Hospital. He said he's not seeking any professional help right now, even after his outburst went viral.
When asked if he has ever received therapy for anger, he said that he went for six years.
“It helped sometimes,” Morgan said. “No. I don’t want to. I’m done with it. I’m tired of it.”
Copyright 2019 News 12 Long Island via CNN. All rights reserved.
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Date: 19.06.19 Written by: Sian Gwenllian Posted in: Articles, Comment
Sian Gwenllian: Welsh History for Welsh Schools
Sian Gwenllian AM, Plaid Cymru Shadow Minister for Education (and the Welsh Language), argues the case for stronger history curriculum for Welsh pupils.
No one should be deprived of learning about their history. Certainly, no pupil in Wales should be deprived of the opportunity to learn about Welsh history. The recent surge of the Cofiwch Dryweryn murals replicated across Wales alongside the recent creative re-telling of the south Wales race riots of 1919 are an indication that there is a real appetite to teach and learn about the history of Wales.
There has never been a real focus on Welsh history in the curriculum in Wales. Arguably, most pupils in Wales learn more about the history of England than of their own country and area. History as a subject has been, for the most part, limited to a narrow range of topics which never offered the Welsh perspective or the Welsh experience in its syllabus. There is now an opportunity to change this – an opportunity that must be grasped by both hands.
The new Curriculum for Wales is a real chance to not only right the injustice of those who were not given the opportunity to learn about Welsh history at school but also ensure that when we do come to teach the history of our country to the next generation, we do so in a way that is representative of the richness and diversity of that history. Neolithic Wales. Romans and Celts. Y Gododdin. Hywel Dda and the first laws of Wales. The age of princes, Owain Glyndwr’s revolt, and the subsequent 1536 act of union which laid the foundations for the modern United Kingdom as we know it.
The industrial revolution which made Wales a leading global industrial nation. Dic Penderyn and the Merthyr Rising of 1831. Reformation. The Rebecca Riots and the race riots of 1919. Wales’s implication in the horrific global slave trade and empire. Somali and Yemeni sailors settling in the docks of Butetown and Barry and the contribution of the Welsh Windrush generation. World wars. Suffrage. Tryweryn. The miner’s strike and LGBT rights. The Welsh language movement. The referendum of 1997 and the establishment of the Welsh Senedd.
The teaching of Welsh history is a key component of helping the next generation to become informed and engaged citizens of not only Wales but of the world.
That’s not being narrow-minded. That’s ensuring that our young people have a solid foundation as they go forward into the world. After all, “How can we know where we’re going if we don’t know where we’ve been?”
The Welsh Government published its draft version of the Curriculum for Wales on 30 April 2019, will be publicly consulting on its contents until July, before publishing a final version in January 2020. That’s why we need this conversation about Welsh history – now.
The draft curriculum confirmed that history will be taught under the broader subject of Humanities. There will be a national framework for maintained schools to build on and develop their own curriculum but there will be no guide or syllabus. Teachers will only have to meet the curriculum’s requirements of ensuring their pupils are:
informed citizens of Wales and the world
ambitious and capable learners
enterprising and creative contributors to society
healthy and confident individuals.
The draft Humanities Area Of Learning and Experience states that it needs to support learners to “develop an understanding of Wales and their own understanding of what it means to be Welsh.”
History is mentioned but not Welsh History in the list of subjects to be taught under Humanities. I want to see ‘History’ changed to ‘The History of Wales and the World’ for clarity. We simply don’t know whether the subsequent guidelines will detail which period of Welsh history, or historic events within Welsh history, will feature within the new curriculum. This would be a better foundation from which to build.
The principle behind the new curriculum is commendable. It has been designed to give teachers the freedom and opportunity to be creative when teaching within their subject fields and demonstrates a recognition of the skills and abilities of our teachers.
However, when it comes to practicalities and implementation, the government’s proposals are arguably too vague and could result in inconsistency and inequality. We need detail on how the new curriculum will be implemented – particularly in a climate of cuts to schools budgets. Teachers must be given adequate time and training to get to grips with the new curriculum. And crucially, for the teaching of Welsh history, adequate teaching resources need to be sourced and developed. Good practice must be harnessed and universities need to play their full part in developing new, exciting tools that teachers can use when planning their lessons.
All pupils should receive the same opportunities to learn about Welsh history in all its forms in a way that challenges and inspires them. The new curriculum must cultivate and deliver an understanding of Welsh history, language and culture, not only to focus on the past, but as a means of helping the citizens of Wales understand their world.
We can make right the injustice of the decades of absence of Welsh history in our classroom by ensuring that the history of Wales is taught to every school pupil in Wales and do so in a way the ensures accessibility and equality. If the aim of the new curriculum is to develop our young people into confident, engaged and informed citizens then that must be reflected in its implementation and delivery.
Where is Today’s Great Football Drama?
Comment | 02.07.19
The Anthropocene: Are We Being Good Ancestors?
Comment: Reviewing Rory Stewart
Failure of Wales: The Departure of Kully Thiarai
Kully Thiarai Resigns as Artistic Director of NTW
Rap, Poetry, and Activism
Wales Arts Review Podcast episode two
Remembering the Newport Race Riots of 1919
Official Cardiff 2019 Homeless World Cup Song
Music | 18.07.19
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Man blackmails lawyer who freed him
By - The Washington Times - Tuesday, January 7, 2003
CHICAGO, Jan. 7 (UPI) — A man wrongly convicted of the murder of a medical student allegedly tried to extort $3,000 from the lawyer who helped free him.
Marcelia Bradford taped a conversation with attorney Kathleen Zellner then allegedly tried to sell her the tape because it was embarrassing. He was arrested after accepting a packet of $10 and $20 bills in a McDonald's parking lot while police watched.
"It is an amazing betrayal," Zellner told the Tuesday's Chicago Sun-Times.
Police said the scheme began Christmas morning with a threatening message left on an answering machine. Bradford reportedly told Zellner she was being replaced as his lawyer by Johnny Cochran in a civil lawsuit against the city of Chicago.
In a subsequent conversation, Zellner allegedly explained in blunt terms why she thought he and his one-time co-defendants should stick with her.
Two of the other men involved also planned to drop Zellner as their attorney. Zellner said the fourth man, Calvin Ollins, is sticking with her. A court hearing is set for Wednesday. A spokesman for Cochran's Chicago office told the Sun-Times the men had not tried to contact Cochran or his partner, James D. Montgomery.
No formal charges have been filed against Bradford.
In 1986, Bradford and three other defendants were convicted of killing medical student Lori Roscetti. As a result of Zellner's advocacy, DNA tests were run, exonerating all four men. The DNA pointed to two other suspects.
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Frontpage » Grants » Publishing and international activities of scientific societies
Publishing and international activities of scientific societies
The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies (TSV) distributes subsidies granted by the Ministry of Education and Culture to scientific societies for their publishing and international activities. Subsidies may also be granted to general scientific societies and science policy associations to cover the costs of high-quality publishing activities. The subsidies are tied to the proceeds of Veikkaus from betting, pools and lottery activity and are granted for one year at a time.
The annual application period is 1–30 September. Applications submitted after this period will not be processed.
Applications are submitted on an online form. The online form requires registration for the service. If a society uses a general e-mail address, we recommend using it for registration. Application forms may be supplemented and edited throughout the application period.
The recipient of a subsidy agrees to submit an accounting statement of the activities for which the subsidy is granted by 15 April of the year following the subsidy. State subsidies are intended as support for publication series that do not generate enough income to cover their expenses. For this reason, part of the subsidy will have to be returned if the difference between the subsidized activity’s income and expenses is more than 10 euros. An invoice for any returns will be sent as soon as possible after the accounting statement has been audited.
An extension to the period of use of a subsidy can be applied for from the Executive Director by 31 October if the completion of the subsidized publications is delayed for a weighty reason.
When deciding on publishing subsidies, the following matters are considered:
(More detailed guidelines can be found in the application instructions, which we recommend reading when submitting an application.)
the subsidy is for a regular scientific publication series
the editors’ salaries and remuneration are reasonable relative to the circulation and printing expenses
the series has sales income or other support so that the state subsidy does not cover the majority of overall expenses. Subscription prices included in membership fees are recorded as income for the series
in the case of open access publishing, it is also required that the society support the online publication in some other way (e.g. a share of membership fees)
the editing of the series is of high quality
the series has an open manuscript submission policy and its scientific content is peer reviewed
printing is submitted to competitive bidding
the income and expenses from publishing activities are separate from other activities in the society’s financial statements. If the society has several publication series, the sales and other income as well as other direct expenses from each publication series must be itemized under separate cost centres. Alternatively, the auditor of the society may issue a separate statement on the use of the subsidy, which must be submitted as an appendix to the application and the accounting statement.
the need for the subsidy for both the publication and the publishing society (publisher)
in the case of a jointly financed series, the role of the partner in the publishing of the series is clearly visible
the publisher commits to promoting open access to scientific texts in the manner it deems suitable. The method of open access may vary from allowing delayed green open access (i.e. with an embargo) to providing full and immediate open access to the entire publication.
The recipient of the subsidy is requested to state on, for example, its website or publication that its activities have received a state subsidy from the Ministry of Education and Culture. For instance: This publication/journal/book has received a subsidy for scientific publishing granted by the Ministry of Education and Culture from the proceeds of Veikkaus and distributed by the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies.
Subsidies for international activities are granted for:
the membership fees of international scientific organizations. Membership should be stated in the operating review and the membership fees must be recognized on the income statement.
travel expenses from trips to the meetings of international scientific organizations when a representative of the society is a member of the board of an international scientific organization. The travel expenses must be recognized on the society’s income statement.
travel expenses from trips to the meetings of the editorial teams of international scientific publications when a representative of the society is a member of the editorial team of an international scientific publication. The travel expenses must be recognized on the society’s income statement.
No subsidies are given for trips to conferences or for TSV’s membership fee. The subsidies only cover travel expenses and accommodation expenses for 1–2 nights, as needed for the conference. Per diems are not covered.
Subsidies for publishing and international activities: Science Secretary Kirsi Siitonen, tel. +358 9 228 69 269, kirsi.siitonen(at)tsv.fi
More information on the granting of subsidies by the administrative branch of the Ministry of Education and Culture can be found in the Guide for applying for, using and supervising the use of state subsidies, which has been published by the ministry on its website.
Updated 27.6.2019 15.23
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Don Chapman
Had several relatives, uncles and aunts, in uniform for WW2. My father was a Captain in Royal Engineers, a great uncle and two uncles in RN, aunt was a sergeant in ATS, three uncles in the army and one in the R.A.F. Lost two uncles, one in Tunisia in 1943 and another, who had survived Dunkirk, died soon after the war on return from the Middle East. Was grateful for site photos for both those uncles - prompting me to volunteer photography services here in Toronto, where many Canadian service personnel are buried. Personally, born 1935 near Croydon, Surrey. Spent the WW2 years living in the centre of the aerodrome triangle of Kenley, Biggin Hill and Croydon so experienced plenty of noisy action - Battle of Britain, Blitz and Doodlebugs (sirens, ackack guns, shrapnel, air raid shelters, barrage balloons, unexploded bombs, bomb craters, near misses etc.). Have lived in Surrey, Cheshire, Hampshire and Sussex before moving to Canada in 1966, where have lived in Montreal, Newfoundland, Calgary and now Toronto. Career was 10 years with P&O as a Radio Officer and then 30 years with IBM.
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Review: The Upside (Carson’s View)
February 20, 2019 Article, Movie Review
The Upside is based on a true story about a rich quadriplegic man who hires an ex-con as his live-in caretaker. The Upside made some changes from the true story. Instead of a son of a wealthy French Duke who was paralyzed, they went with a wealthy American businessman whose father gave him nothing and he earned every penny himself. Instead of an Arabic career-criminal from Algeria, we get the always entertaining Kevin Hart who plays a thief fresh out of prison in New York. While these background changes (along with a few others) could absolutely make for a drastically different story, it seems the rest of the tale stays pretty true to the original.
Going into The Upside, I was prepared for an emotional rollercoaster with minimal comedy. I got the opposite of that. While it could have benefited from a more emotional core, the humor had me rolling. You know when you watch Saturday Night Live and the funniest parts of the show are when the actors break down laughing when they aren’t supposed to? That is what Bryan Cranston’s performance was like throughout the entire movie. It was like he was trying to be serious, but he couldn’t help but laugh at Kevin Hart. There is a scene where neither actor could stop laughing at each other, which was contagious and I could not stop laughing along with them. I laughed harder and longer in The Upside than I have in a movie for a very long time.
It is very possible that The Upside caught me at just the right time for me to appreciate it as much as I did. There are a lot of things I would have changed to help the story hit home a bit better, however, I enjoyed the experience. I am looking forward to the next Kevin Hart/Bryan Cranston collaboration!
Episode 76: Aquaman
January 22, 2019 Movie Review, Podcast 1:14:53
Garrett and Carson wade through Aquaman.
Review: Aquaman (Garrett’s View)
December 29, 2018 Article, Movie Review
With Aquaman, what you saw in the trailer is what you get in the film. But Jason Momoa seems so damn cool that he can make almost anything worth sitting through.
Two Views Movies Podcast is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
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Water Operators Without Borders
Valerie Jenkinson
Canadian water and wastewater operators Jason Mank, Marcel Misuraca, and Glen Ketchum recently made a difference in the lives of the residents of Dominica. The men responded to a request for assistance by the Dominica Water and Sewerage Company Limited (DOWASCO) after the utility was devastated by Hurricane Maria.
Hurricane Maria, regarded as the worst natural disaster on record in Dominica, was the tenth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, the most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017, and the deadliest storm of the hyperactive 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. On September 18, Maria reached Category 5 strength right before it landed on the island of Dominica. It was the first Category 5 hurricane on record to strike the island.
Maria wrought catastrophic damage to the island. Much of the housing stock and infrastructure were left beyond repair and the island’s lush vegetation was practically eradicated. There were 31 known fatalities with dozens more individuals still missing. In the weeks following, most of the island’s population suffered from flooding and lack of resources, compounded by a slow response on the part of the U.S. It was a devastating blow to DOWASCO that had recently undergone a $24 million upgrade and repair following a freak storm that caused major damage to the island in December 2013, and suffered catastrophic damage and was further hampered by the looting of its stores after the hurricane.
Video: Dec. 15, 2017 press briefing with Bernard Ettinoffe, general manager of DOWASCO.
Collaboration needed
At a plenary panel at the recent Caribbean Water and Wastewater conference in Guyana, Bernard Ettinoffe, DOWASCO’s general manager, communicated the need for not only equipment but also trained operators who could assist in the re-establishment of the treatment plants and distribution and collection networks. Hearing this, I made an appeal to Robert Haller, executive director of the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association, who immediately pledged support.
At the CWWA national conference in Newfoundland, I delivered a presentation on these efforts, which resulted in a number of operators coming forward to volunteer and donations totally $4,000 were raised to help cover the airfares of the volunteers. This money was supplemented by a grant from the Caribbean Emergency Disaster Management Agency. Ivan Rodrigues and Ian Lewis of the Antigua Public Utilities Authorities hosted the Canadians when they had to overnight in Antigua en route to Dominica.
Mank, Misuraca, and Ketchum were the first Canadian operators to travel to Dominica as part of the effort over a two week period. Marcel worked with DOWASCO crews to restoring water service to three villages. At times, he says, the work was frustrating and the labour was hard, but ultimately, he found it to be rewarding.
“We were able to plug the main river crossing that was taken away in the storm. This gave us the ability to pump at the plant, and not be processing river water,” said Mank. “We were also able to restore power to both the lift stations in town and test the pumping equipment. With the plugging of the north side of the river, we could bring on and test all equipment at the plant, as well as the northern pump station.”
Mank said that the team was able to restore a wastewater treatment system that had not been running since the storm and get two pumping stations up and running. “There is a high need for maintenance or they will start running into failures that could potentially stop the plant from processing wastewater,” he said.
Based on the need and success of this first volunteer mission, my goal is to establish Operator’s Without Borders, similar to Engineers without Borders and Medicins Sans Frontiers. A list of volunteers is being compiled who could be deployed in future disasters and DOWASCO is providing direction on the best timing for a second cohort to assist.
Canada is blessed with so much and helping our sister utilities is something we have the talent and the resources to do. Giving back to our profession in this way is deeply rewarding.
Water operators who would like to get involved are encouraged to contact jenkinsonv@gmail.com.
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Too much sitting can lead to health risks, study says
A new study finds that excessive sitting can lead to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and a shortened life span.
Too much sitting can lead to health risks, study says A new study finds that excessive sitting can lead to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and a shortened life span. Check out this story on wausaudailyherald.com: http://wdhne.ws/1CACEED
Bob Dohr, Daily Herald Media Published 8:38 p.m. CT Jan. 28, 2015 | Updated 3:25 p.m. CT Jan. 30, 2015
A woman sits on her office chair as she works at her cubicle at a business in Wausau, Thursday, January 29, 2015.(Photo: Dan Young/Daily Herald Media)Buy Photo
Don't just sit there. Do something.
That's the upshot of a recent study that found that people who sit too much on a daily basis have an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and shorter life spans — even if they exercise.
It's a study cheered by a Wausau-area manufacturer of office furniture that lets people stand at work, and by a local doctor who specializes in treating obesity.
"More than one half of an average person's day is spent being sedentary — sitting, watching television or working at a computer," Dr. David Alter, a senior scientist at the University Health Network in Toronto and the study's senior author, said in a statement. "Our study finds that despite the health-enhancing benefits of physical activity, this alone may not be enough to reduce the risk for disease."
The research, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, was completed by reviewing 47 separate studies.
Dr. Olga Barchugova, a family medicine specialist at Ministry Medical Group in Weston who's board-certified in obesity medicine, wasn't involved in the research, but she said its implications are clear.
"Even if you take some separate time to exercise, if your general lifestyle is very sedentary and inactive, you're still at increased risk," Barchugova said.
Company president Bill Knighton on Wednesday demonstrates height-adjustable workstations manufactured at K & A Manufacturing Inc. in Schofield. (Photo: T'xer Zhon Kha/Daily Herald Media)
If your job is one that involves a lot of desk time, Barchugova said it can be beneficial to build in standing or active time at various intervals during the day.
"It may be helpful to find a time when you can get up every 20 to 30 minutes and be active, or at least to stand up for a few minutes," she said.
Bill Knighton, the president of K & A Manufacturing Inc. in Weston, knows a little bit about sitting and standing during the workday.
His company manufactures RightAngle products, including height-adjustable workstations and conference tables, so he keeps a close eye on such research.
"We feel that sitting is only bad if you do it all the time, and standing can be bad if you do it all the time," Knighton said. "We prefer a mix. If you stand all day, you can have issues, too."
Such products have the backing of Barchugova.
"I think that's a great idea to have desks that would allow you to stand, or even maybe to use a small treadmill or stepper while you are working at the desk," Barchugova said. "There may be some work safety procedures involved, but as research shows, people get sick and die early from eight hours of sitting a day."
Aside from the health benefits, Knighton said he believes there's an increase in productivity when employees are on their feet instead of plopped in a chair.
"The (height-adjustable) conference table is really nice that way if you're standing in a meeting versus sitting," Knighton said. "I personally feel more engaged; you're almost kind of closer to everybody because you're closer to the table. The meetings go quicker and you stay on task."
Standing also has it over sitting in another way, Barchugova said.
"Standing involves more muscles working to keep us upright and it burns more calories," she said.
People also can make healthful changes at home, Barchugova said.
"Instead of sitting on your couch watching TV, you can get on the treadmill or elliptical for 10 minutes and then sit down and watch the rest of the show if you cannot commit to an hour of exercise," she said.
Bob Dohr can be reached at 715-845-0660. Find him on Twitter as @BobDohr1.
Read or Share this story: http://wdhne.ws/1CACEED
Motorcycle fun ride, benefit planned for Weston tavern shooting victim
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PA Democrat Gov. Wolf’s Largest Tax Increase In History Rejected By Both Parties In The House 193-0
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf displayed some serious short-sightedness when making his budget address last month. Pennsylvania literally sits atop an abundance of riches: the natural gas in the Marcellus Shale. Rather than leveraging that wealth in a way that would advantage all working Pennsylvanians, Governor Wolf wants to raise the severance tax on the national gas industry. Such a move would have a chilling effect on the state’s fastest-growing sector. Worse, it would drive jobs and workers out of Pennsylvania and into states that offer energy-boom upside without the high-tax downside.
We’re not talking about something that solely affects energy tycoons and “one percenters.” A tax hike on the natural gas industry would set in motion a major loss of integral, supply-chain jobs that help the Pennsylvania middle class thrive. It would also take money that’s now being spent locally and suck it into the black hole that is the state general fund, giving residents far less say over how, where, and why their dollars are spent.
Governor Wolf’s plan does nothing to address the state’s real problem, which springs from the ever-deepening pension crisis. Instead, it makes significant changes to the state tax structure in order to raise an outlandish $4.6 billion in new state spending. In addition to the severance tax that’s essentially a disincentive to extract natural gas in Pennsylvania, the plan includes income- and sales-tax increases that harm workers across every income level.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives liked the governor’s proposal about as much as I do. The proposal failed by a 0-193 vote – not a single state lawmaker wanted to get behind this dud of a plan. As my co-authors and I discuss in Wealth of States, Pennsylvania sits on the precipice between failure and success. Many of its high-tax neighbors (like New Jersey and New York) are losing thousands of residents and millions of dollars to low-tax states, and while Pennsylvania’s losses are not as significant, they are still alarming (the state lost $8.3 billion in net adjusted gross income between 1992 and 2011, the most recent year for which Internal Revenue Service taxpayer data is available).
The 2015 Economic Outlook Rankings from the American Legislative Exchange Council show Pennsylvania with the 10th-worst outlook in the nation. That ranking fell eight spots from 2014 – and would surely slip even further if Wolf were to enact his tax plan. Plus, at a time when federal taxes are hitting Pennsylvanians quite hard, Governor Wolf wants to raise their state taxes, too.
Wolf’s reasoning is that he’s asking the wealthy, who can afford to pay higher taxes, to do so. Yet the reality is that nearly every working family in Pennsylvania would be affected by these increases. Under Wolf’s plan, the state sales tax rate would increase by 10 percent. That means that the tax on necessities like childcare and rent would go up to 6.6 percent, with no form of tax relief to offset it. (The Commonwealth Foundation rightly calls this a “cradle-to-the-grave tax increase,” as it would hike rates on everything from diapers to nursing home care to funeral services.)
Perhaps most alarming, at the heart of Wolf’s plan is a 20 percent hike in personal income taxes. That, combined with the proposed sales-tax increase, represents the largest tax increase in Pennsylvania state history. Jumps in the income tax rate affect nearly every working Pennsylvanian. The tax kicks in when an individual makes just $8,700 annually, or when a family makes more than $36,400. Workers across all sectors – from firefighters to teachers to Millennials trying to start a career in Pennsylvania – would be hurt by this ill-conceived hike. On average, the governor’s proposed tax increase would smack middle-class families of four with an additional $1,400 in state income tax owed.
Apparently eager to embrace a full suite of job-killing policies, Governor Wolf also wants to see an increase in the minimum wage, even though studies reveal that mandated wage boosts often have a negative impact on job creation. This is especially true at small businesses, which cannot afford to increase all salaries and must make hard decisions about layoffs. For the 763,000 small-business owners in Pennsylvania, both the minimum wage hike and the increase in the income tax represent a real threat to their success and survival.
There is so much opportunity in Pennsylvania, with its rich natural resources providing good jobs for thousands of working- and middle-class people. And there are real challenges to be met, like reforming the pension system. The governor will not leave a strong legacy by balancing his budget on the backs of working Pennsylvanians. It’s likely that come next election, voters will be ready to show this Wolf in wolf’s clothing the door.
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Halatau determined to finish strong
Dan Talintyre (Twitter: @dantalintyre)
Thu 2 Jul 2015, 02:59 PM
After missing last week's loss to the Panthers with a groin injury, Dene Halatau is determined to finish the season with a run of strong performances — starting with Monday night's crucial clash against the Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium.
Standing in as captain this week with both Aaron Woods and Robbie Farah away with State of Origin commitments, Halatau said that he understood how tough the last few weeks have been on the players and fans alike, but emphasised his determination to ensure the 2015 season finished on a positive note and with a run of consistent performances.
"We need to go into next week's bye with some positive feelings," Halatau said.
"Getting a win will do that for us. Having a good win on Monday will give us a good platform to come off strong off the bye and finish the season strong.
"Because the reality is that there's still time. We're working hard at training, and that's all we have to do in terms of preparation — work hard at training.
"If we're working hard, the results will come. You can't work hard day in and day out and not expect the results to show, and I think that's going to happen.
"There's still plenty of games left to win and push for the top eight."
Be there at ANY two home games for just $40! Click here to select your two today!
Halatau also said how important a strong supporter base in the final rounds of the year — saying he understands the passion and frustration that comes with a disappointing loss — but urged the Club's Members and fans to hold firm in their support of the side.
"Fans are passionate," Halatau said. "They feel a loss as hard we do, and when they're not happy with what they're seeing, they'll say whatever they think is the right thing to say.
"So I'll never knock a fan's passion.
"[But] we believe in what Jason Taylor's doing here for us and as I said before, we know what we're doing at training and where the work [to be done] lies.
"We've all bought in, and we're willing to work.
"However long it takes to become a more consistent and better-performing side, we'll do it."
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Honorary Consul: Keith W. Martin, PhD
Recognized: February 10, 2011
Keith was recognized by the State Department as an Honorary Consul to Morocco on February 10, 2011. He is Director and Chief Export Officer of International Sales for Martin Door Manufacturing, a Utah Manufacturer of garage doors. His work has brought him to over 60 countries. He earned his Ph.D. in Cultural Foundations of Education from the University of Utah in 1975.
Previously, Dr. Keith has been a Director and Vice President of the World Trade Association, an Adjunct Professor of International Marketing at the University of Utah and Salt Lake Community College, a member of the International Advisory Council for the Business College of Salt Lake Community College, a member of Governor's Middle East Working Group, and Vice President of The American Institute of Arabic Studies under the direction of Dr. Sami Hanna. Keith and his wife Trisa are the parents of six and grandparents of six.
Honorary Consulate of Morocco
2130 So. 750 East
Bountiful, Utah, 84010
Email: moroccoinutah@gmail.com
http://www.moroccanconsulate.com/
Regional Consulate General
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Consulate-General-of-the-Kingdom-of-Morocco-in-the-USA-132639970082415/
1601 21st Street, N.W,
Email(s): http://www.embassyofmorocco.us/
Official Government Page
OCP Corporate
United States Diplomatic Mission in Morocco
MAP: Agence Marocaine de presse
Institut Royal de la culture Amazighe
Morocco Channel
Morocco in Photopia
U.S. Department of State Travel Info
Most public and many private universities and colleges in Utah have Middle and North African language and study programs. Consult each schools catalog and class schedule for details
Utah National Guard and State of Utah Partnership
Moroccan-American Charities
Zahra Charity
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Egely Wheel - Vitality Indicator
Egely Wheel
Egely Wheel device for measuring life energy. The Egely Wheel allows you to check, measure and increase your own vitality level.
Category: Egely Wheel´s
including 19% VAT. , plus shipping (Paket/Brief Int)
The Egely Wheel Vitality Indicator
convinces you that you are able to move an object, rotate this wheel, with your willpower without touching it,
shows you the distance from which you are able to influence this movement,
helps you to improve your ability to concentrate,
teaches you how to mobilize your energies,
helps you to harmonize your brain hemispheres if you rotate two wheels simultaneously, one with each hand,
helps you to learn how to direct your energy flow, how to influence the direction of the rotation of the wheel at wish,
helps you to relax (if you are uptight it will not rotate),
reveals your body/life energy while you entertain yourself,
makes you conscious of your mental power.
What is the use of it, why is it worth trying?
Everybody has the experience of having better and worse-than-average days, when even routine jobs seem tiresome. There is even a feeling of a sort of "vibrating" or "radiating" energy from another person as well, whether we get some added jolt of energy, or quite the opposite, we feel our energy inventory depleted after even a short meeting. The aim of the Vitality Indicator (VI) is to make apparent for everybody that the old-new "life energy", the "fuel of life" does exist indeed. If its level is low, we are barely able to move, if there is more of it, our workload could be higher. This strange sort of energy has been known in each and every culture for ages - but present science cannot answer our questions in this regard. The speed of rotation of the Vitality Indicators wheel is proportional to our vitality level. The higher the rate of rotation, the more energy is flowing through it. (Several years ago we developed an electronic device, the Vitality Meter (VM). It measures the revolutions of the sensor wheel, like an electric power meter. The VI is based on the same principle, but without the electronic revolution sensor. It is worth using the two devices together, one at each hand. This way we can learn to direct the flow of energy from one hand to the other via mental concentration, which is a sort of "mind over matter" exercise.) We get the most reliable results if we do this experiment in a closed room, free of any unwanted noise and air currents. This way we are able to improve our capability for handling our "life energy", to influence the direction of its flow, and its quantity as well. This process has different levels of quality. First level: gauging the quantity of energy At first observe the maximum number of revolutions at our left and right hand, separately. Though only the electronic VM is appropriate to measure the number of revolutions, but even the VI is suitable for an approximate gauge of the number of revolutions: that is to find out whether its movement is slow, medium or fast. We shall see that in general our hands rotate the wheels at significantly different levels. (Attention! The VI is about 30 % more sensitive than the electronic VM, as its sensor wheel had to be partly covered by the plastic house in order to use an infrared measuring beam). Sudden noise, any kind of fear might stop the flow of energy within seconds according to our experiments conducted on hundreds of high school students. Even as a beginner, at the first trials, we can mentally influence the rate of rotation. With some manipulation of our concentration we are able to accelerate the wheel or to slow it down - or even to stop it by blocking our energy flow. Second level: influencing the amount of energy with two wheels. When we try to rotate two wheels with two hands at the same time, we see that one or both wheels rotate at a slower rate as compared to using them separately. After a few days of practice, the revolution will be the same using both hands simultaneously or separately. A number of exercises could be explored to improve our life energy producing capability. The most efficient are the breathing and relaxing practices of different yoga schools, or of mental imaginations. The results of these practices are visible within minutes of the start. Just try to concentrate on the most pleasant, or unpleasant, recent experiences to see the change in the vitality level. Though the physical fitness is also an influencing parameter, up to 20 - 30% of the vitality level, the most important is our mental state - according to our experience. Third level: Influencing the direction of one wheel. One may influence the direction of the rotation of the wheel with a given hand. (Usually the wheel rotates from the palm toward the fingers, especially for right-handed people. Rarely, in about 1% of the cases, the wheel rotates backwards, from the fingers towards the palm.) Those, who are able to influence the direction of the rotation, might try simple healing with the so called "laying on of the hands", but it is better to learn it from an experienced person. Though the main purpose of reaching this level is simply to learn to "refill" or supercharge ourselves quickly, even in case of bad mood, fatigue or smaller illness. Fourth level: Influencing the direction of both wheels. This is the highest possible level, and it is mentioned only as a curiosity, as it is so rare, and probably nonexistent, among stress-filled city dwellers. For the average person only the second level is desirable, i.e. to have some influence with both hands on the energy discharge level. I have met only two people who can rotate the wheels at wish with both hands. The first was a Chinese martial arts teacher in Hong-Kong (school of praying mantis) and the other was a professional healer in the city of Baguio in the Northern Philippines. Certainly there could be other people with this hard-earned gift, but they are not ordinary breadwinners. Only a few of us might devote our lives completely to this way of life. It is not meant for all of us. For most of us reaching level two is enough for a healthier, more successful life. At this stage, one can even influence the energy level of another person. The easiest test is to increase or decrease the vitality level of another person, who is just testing his/her vitality level. By standing behind him/her, the change in the vitality level might commence in less then a minute. It is usually more difficult to increase the other persons level, then to decrease it. ("Shamans" are harder to find than "energy vampires".) This gift of being able to influence energy is useful in many fields of life, whether during talks with kids or business negotiations, where the outcome of a meeting is important. The main purpose is, of course, to learn to handle and improve our own energy level. The VI will help us to quickly learn the merits of different methods which seem to be equally suitable. The identification of "energy bottlenecks" is very useful, as it is the most economic way to find out what method, e.g. acupressure, physical exercise or breathing could increase our level at the fastest pace. A number of factors may influence the vitality level. There are good books on this subject. The simplest methods are summed up in our handbook for the VM, e.g. the effect of food quality, sleep patterns, moon phases or even the effects of some crystals. The advantage of the VI or the VM is that these effects, as well as their combined results, are measurable for each individual, any time. The VM yields a definite value for the rotation number of the wheel. In principle we could also measure the number of revolutions of the wheel of the VI, but we do not recommend this, as it is associated with a different state of mind, and it will decrease the vitality level. Try to solve math examples or other puzzles during the vitality measurement - you will see a definite decrease in performance, even the halt of the rotation. We suggest using the VI instead to test the "thickness" of our aura at our hands. This is the largest distance, where the wheel still rotates. It is better to start the test near the device, then move the hand gradually at a distance until the rotation stops altogether. We do no recommend using the device for more than 10 - 15 minutes at a time, as it might deplete our energy. Rather try it several times for shorter periods. The level of comparison could be that of the maximum value taken on a weekend after a good rest. B. Measuring vitality by rotation and other methods There are several independent methods to measure vitality, though this rotation effect yields the most simple and instant result. Other possible methods are: measuring skin conductivity, or measuring germination speed of different seeds as compared to a control group during a period of 3 - 4 days. But these methods do not yield a reliable, instant value, as e.g. skin resistance depends highly on the air humidity and skin wetness, none of them related to vitality. If one can place electrodes on the two ends of an egg, there is an electric impulse at about each minute. With the help of our life energy, the rate of these impulses can be influenced, accelerated. But the high impedance amplifier, the recording device and the intricacies of conducting electrode gels makes this kind of test rather cumbersome. Why is the device built like this? The cogs of the wheel serve two purposes. They are important for the optical measurement of the number of revolutions of the VM as a small chip calculates the angular velocity of the wheel by counting the number of cogs during a given time internal. The little tips of the wheel also help to get rid of unwanted electric charges if they build up by accidental friction during handling. This might be a nuisance, especially in dry air, but by breathing on it one can accelerate the disappearance of unwanted electrostatic charges. Inside the bell-shaped center of the wheel, there is a tiny pivot developed for the fine mechanical industry, and there is a semi-precious jewel bearing on the support of the wheel. This support is made of aluminum (or copper) as its nuclear spin is an integer number. A plastic support would have resulted in a weaker sensitivity, as carbon and hydrogen have a half nuclear spin not suitable to increase this weak effect. C. What is life energy - indicated by rotation? The field of "life energy" measured by the wheel is a member of the family of electromagnetic fields according to our hypothesis, but not yet recognized by contemporary mainstream science. This unknown field is generated by the intricate processes of life. It is known that there is no life without the very weak electric currents and fields within living cells. When the electric activity of our brain or heart stops, death will inevitably come. The electric fields (currents) can be measured in all tissues with sensitive devices (as EEG, EKG). The test results give an insight into the electric activity and health of our brain or heart. The magnetic field activity of our brain or heart can also be measured, but only in expensive, magnetically shielded rooms by very sophisticated devices. With the help of magnetic field impulses even depression can be treated successfully. Some bacteria, birds and insects are sensitive to ambient magnetic fields. Thus life processes cannot be restricted to biochemical reactions only. The field that rotates the wheel, called simply as life energy, is another member of the large family of electromagnetic fields. How is it generated? It is known that there is an electric field around a static, stationary electric charge. But when the same electric charge starts moving, there is a magnetic field around it. What happens when the charge rotates? Then a new kind of field appears, which is similar to the electric and magnetic field: termed as rotating or rather "spin" field. (It was named by Russian researchers - thus noting its origin. The terms "electric" and "magnetic" have their roots in ancient Greek language, and it has nothing to do with the origin, with the generating symmetries of these fields.) Why is this electromagnetic field unknown? There is a huge, and so far under-appreciated, fundamental difference between our present machines, devices and the life processes. In the body of living cells the movement of electric charges are commenced via rotation, while in most of our machines, charges (electrons) move in a wire, in a crystal lattice, and very slowly (usually the characteristic drift speed is about 0.1 mm/sec), so their angular velocity is negligible even in coils. In the intricate world of life processes the situation is markedly different, as our building materials - proteins, carbohydrates and fats - are all made of extremely tiny, helically wound molecules, sometimes coiled as double or triple helix molecules. Further, their helical shape is uniform - unlike in our artificial machines. This identical kind of helicity is there for a purpose: as only right-handed spirals exist (apart from some exceptions in the sexual organs). When sugar is synthesized artificially, both left-handed and right-handed molecules are generated. But living cells are able to release the energy of only right-handed molecules, so the remaining, left-handed molecules are useless (or sometimes a dangerous byproduct) Moving charges, which are at the lowest level of life processes, move along these helixes. Due to their small size, they are invisible even to the best scanning electron microscopes (which work only in high vacuum), but one can surmise their quality of movement knowing the shape of molecules. There are about 60,000 types of enzymes only, breaking down our food and building our cells. All of them are built of smaller amino acids. All but one of them are helical. Our muscles and skin are also built of long helical structures. Helicity is so pervasive in all living structures, that there is a striking difference between the structure and principles of our non-living machines. Needless to emphasize, life - as a cluster of inventions- is far more sophisticated, complicated even in a single cell than in any of our most sophisticated devices - let it be a fighter plane or a nuclear submarine. The more charge participates in the life processes (for a given volume) with their helical movement simultaneously, the more intensive are the spin field generating processes - the intensity of the spin field. Certainly, the rate of metabolism and mental processes do influence the number of moving, rotating charges, and thus our vitality level. Curiously, the effect of rotating charges has been noted by some physicists, but these small and isolated observations did not catch the attention of biophysicists. Here are some examples for these effects: 1. A. V. Khachaturian and A. O. Wistrom discovered in 2002: when two charged metal spheres (about 5 kV) are approximated by a third sphere, then all of them start to rotate. The asymmetry between the three metal spheres makes possible the appearance of rotation effect, which is otherwise unknown and unexplainable under current textbook physics. 2. When a strong permanent magnet floats above a superconductor, and the magnet is further cooled or heated, it starts to rotate. As a magnet is a collection of small rotating charges, no wonder that a weak effect, the rotation of the magnet, appears due to the change of its own spin field. 3. As I have been interested in finding the explanation for the rotation of the wheel for nearly 20 years, I have started a difficult test series with a colleague in recent years. We wound long, tiny solenoids (external diameter about the size of human hair) of about 1,000 rounds. There were two types of solenoids. The "effect" solenoids were of uniform handedness. In the control solenoid however half of the winds were left-handed, the other half right-handed, so the effect of handedness were thus cancelled. Then identical, 100 V electric impulses were given to both solenoids by discharging a small capacitor. Under the present textbook physics the transients on the solenoids should have been the same - yet in the test series there was a marked, systematic 4 - 5% deviation between the amplitude and the frequency of the current transients. The rotation of the charges in the "effect" solenoid could have been responsible for the discrepancy between the effect and the control solenoids. Certainly, thinner solenoids could have produced a more enhanced effect - but no thinner wire was available commercially. But life does not have this crude limit. Its "helical wires" are everywhere, and so sophisticated that we are unable to match them now. However, at the dawn of nanotechnology, when we shall be able to produce insulated, long carbon nano-tubes, a spiral bundle of them will be able to generate an intensive spin field. Until then even the present micro-technology used for silicon chip production, could be used to mimic natures nano-solenoids - from superconducting materials. Obviously an array of quite different, miniature test devices (switches, oscilloscopes, test cables) should be developed for these tests, which is quite a cumbersome and very expensive proposal. Most researchers are simply not aware of how sophisticated lifes technology is. They just do not know what they do not know. Instead they just escape into denial, denying the existence of life energy, or telepathy. (However, this effect can be more frequently tested with the spread of mobile phones). D. Can we explain the rotation as the effect by body heat? When one encounters with the VM or VI, even unintentionally thinks that the rotation is caused by air currents created by breathing or the heat generated by our hands. But some simple experiments might convince us that the explanation is not that simple. Air currents, due to breathing could be reduced/eliminated if we cover our nose with a hand or with a sheet of paper. We shall see that the rotation will not be affected, but it will be continuous. (Our first series of experiments were carried out under a glass box.) The heat-induced movement is simply not a proper explanation, as air currents move upward, and not sideways. Further, its speed is negligible. It is just not intensive enough to cause even a low value rotation of 2 - 3 revolutions/minute. The heat-induced air current is the so-called natural circulation. Its value depends (in a non-linear manner) on the height of our palm. According to my calculations and test results this upward (not sidewise!) air current is just a fraction of the velocity of the outer perimeter of the wheel, and it does not cause a strong local, horizontal air vortex. This heat-induced vertical, upward air current is limited to a 5 - 10 mm thick band, so-called boundary layer, near our palm. It is important to note that the rotation of the VI can be sustained even from 10 - 20 cm from the palm. There is a further simple experiment that proves: this is not a thermal effect. One can put on a glove, yet the wheel will rotate, though the temperature on the surface of the glove is nearly the same as that of the ambient air. A simple incense stick could help the determined doubter. When the stick burns slowly, a narrow smoke streak will rise vertically. If our hand is near the smoke stream (1 - 2 cm) it will be clear that the air does not rotate, while it rotates the wheel at the same time. During the course of the wheels development I have carried out a number of experiments. I earned my Masters degree in heat transfer and fluid flow at the Technical University of Budapest, and later I continued to work in this field in the Dept. of Thermo-hydraulics at the Nuclear Energy Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for 15 years, I had the necessary background to decide this issue. (Later I earned my Ph.D. in fluid dynamics, too.) Apart from the calculations, which always include some simplifications, I have carried out detailed experimental tests as well. The calculations showed that thermal effects cannot cause rotation as fast as often observed in the experiments. Thermal control tests also proved that the observed rotations are not caused by the body heat. At first the tests of the rotational effect by humans were carried out in flat circular Petri-dishes containing water 1 - 2 cm deep, as this made possible to "map" the force field around the fingers. There was some dust on the surface of water, or small floating objects. Their movements were recorded on 16 mm films during the mid 1980s. Later measurements were recorded on long exposure photographs, then with video cameras. In some experiments thin, 0.05 mm platinum wires were spanned under the surface of an electrolite. Then the wire got a short electric impulse of a modest voltage, and the electrolyte changed its colour from yelow to brown. When this water-based solution started to rotate, the thin brown floating paint showed the vortex structure in vertical as well as in horizontal manner. Thus the force field around the fingers was mapped. Around the finger tips the rotational effects were sometimes extremely strong, and always diminished rapidly. Their diameter seldom exceeded 2-3 cm. The technical details are described in a research report (Experimental Investigation of Biologically Induced Energy Transport Anomalies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Central Research Institute for Physics. KFKI, 1986-94/K). The first 600 tests, recorded on 16 mm black and white film, showed that about 1/3 of the test subjects (high school students) had a strong, observable rotational effect. About half of them showed a definite, but medium level rotational effect. The rest of them did not show any effect. The cloudy, rainy, dull afternoons were the worst. Sometimes 10-15 unsuccessful results were recorded in a row, showing the importance of the ambient environment. The palm temperature was taken with a sensitive thermometer, but it had no correlation with the rotational effect at all. Sometimes during the winter after a break spent throwing snowballs in the schoolyard, the rotational effects were quite good, though the palm temperature was slightly less than usual. After a tiresome math test series, the results were quite low, probably due to mental fatigue. As a general conclusion one can say that the effect is the strongest at acupuncture points or along the "energy meridians". It is strange, but our hand is asymmetric in this respect. There are more acupuncture points on our palm, than on the back of our hand. But there are other large scale "energy centers" on our trunk and head, the so called "chakra points". There are two such energy centers at our hip. If one lies down on a flat surface, placing his/her hands beside the hip, a very strong rotational effect appears, stronger than in a sitting position at the table. (For this test the VM is the most suitable, as it stores the value of maximum rotation). The accumulated experience of many years spent with the research on this effect has shown that the rotation of objects by this "life energy" (or chi, prana etc.) is not a thermal effect or air movement, but a form of energy used to sustain life, but not found yet in textbooks. Later, during the course of technical development, a light solid object ? the plastic wheel - was chosen instead of rotating water, due to its higher sensitivity. E. Lifestyle, Personality. Life energy Though the research of nutrients has been going on for at least half a century now (to find out the effect of trace elements, vitamins, vegetarianism versus meat eating), very few general conclusions have emerged from this debate. Most probably it is because we human beings, and our physical and mental environment are so different. The same food cannot be ideal for a nervous Russian coal miner and for a happy Italian bookkeeper. Everybody has to find out for himself/herself what makes the level of vitality highest, what makes it low, what will improve it. According to our experience, in the short term, the state of mind (calmness, joy, sorrow, fear, empathy etc.) is the most important factor. A sudden wave of panic has always stopped the rotation of the wheel, but even the solution of a mathematical puzzle. At the same time after a couple of minutes of meditation and/or breathing exercise the number of revolutions, the vitality level may increase spectacularly. In general, there is a definite difference in the vitality level of sad, reclusive, or happy, open-minded people for the benefit of the latter. There was no correlation between academic achievement and vitality level among high school students. Though in a given class, the leading, most important person always outperformed the least active, most introverted student at least by a factor of two. In high school classes, the girls, considered to be most beautiful also outperformed the so called "ugly" girls. Most probably a stream of success and failure experience could have caused the difference. Though it is not easy to change beauty and inner spiritual state, it is always possible to change, to improve something, where we are able to act. The improvement and reward is measurable with the help of the Vitality Indicator or Vitality Meter.
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Book for eye-training "Rasterbrille - Das Augentraining - nicht nur für Brillenträger"
Egely Wheel Maxi - Vitality meter
Pill Box Aluminium waterproof with key ring - XS
Colour Glasses "Sport" - orange
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Acetate pinhole glasses 425-ASG, black, covered all over
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althea lethe astraea
photo gallery xenon estate events
the island of spetses contact us press guest book links tips faq
The well known Greek Island of Spetses is the birthplace and home of Laskarina Bouboulina, legendary heroine of the Greek revolution of 1821, and only known female admiral of any naval fleet worldwide. Spetses also enjoys the honour of being the first island to revolt against the 400 year-long Ottoman occupation of Greece, so securing its place at the pinnacle of Greek Naval history.
The great celebration of the Battle of Armata is a week-long commemoration, consisting of events of all natures. The naval battle in question took place on September 8th 1821, when the joint naval forces of Spetses and Hydra accomplished a great victory against the Ottoman fleet. The battle took place in the straits of Spetses, and was won thanks to an act of heroism by Spetses' captain, Kosmas Barbatsis. With his own ship aflame, he managed to approach and blow up the Turkish flagship, destroying it and the hopes of the Turkish occupiers of clinging to power. This act of bravery is splendidly re-enacted as the highlight to the festivities, and every year, tens of thousands of people gather to remember and marvel at the daring of Barbatsis and his men. It's worth noting that, should you so desire, you may take part in the re-enactment by joining the groups aboard one of the many local boats enlisted to play the part of the enemy fleet.
Hearts will surely skip a beat when the fantastic replica of the Turkish flagship is blown sky-high in the most realistic and spectacular way, followed by the fireworks display which turns the summer night into a feast of colour, light and music. This event takes place on the second Saturday of September every year, and is the culmination of the week's festivities, which include theatre, song, and traditional dance performances; photography exhibitions documenting the shipping and shipbuilding industry of the period, as well as art exhibitions, sporting events and concerts by well-known Greek performers.
It is the largest and most important event on the Spetses cultural calendar, and the inhabitants of the island work for many months beforehand in preparation.
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Tourist survives yacht fall by transforming jeans into makeshift lifejacket
Published: 12 March 2019 Category: Author: Nathan Bees
A German tourist who was knocked off a yacht and stranded at sea saved his own life – by using his jeans as a lifejacket.
Arne Murke. © NZ Herald
Arne Murke was travelling with his brother from New Zealand to Brazil aboard a 12-metre (40-foot) sailing yacht when the boom knocked him overboard off Gisborne coast on 6th March. Rough conditions and engine trouble prevented his brother from being able to save him, leaving Murke stranded and at the mercy of choppy seas.
Luckily, Murke was able to put into practice a technique used by Navy Seals whereby a pair of trousers can be transformed into a makeshift buoyancy aide – and this kept him afloat until he could be rescued.
Talking to the New Zealand Herald, Murke said, “Luckily, I knew the trick with the jeans. Without the jeans I wouldn’t be here today, they were really the thing that saved me.
“I saw it many years ago and I always thought if I ever go overboard without a lifejacket I’m going to do that.
“I took a deep breath, took out my jeans, made knots at the end of the legs and inflated the jeans; pull it over water and get air inside and then push it under water. I had like an improvised life vest.”
After three-and-a-half-hours in the water, Murke was eventually spotted by the coastguard helicopter based at Hawke’s Bay that had been deployed to save him.
“Two times it was really close to me but they didn’t see me and flew away,” Murke recalled. “At that moment I was really doubting if they were going to come back for me. It took another 20 minutes but luckily I could see the helicopter again. They let down the rope and I was so glad.”
Despite his ordeal, Murke suggested the experience will not deter him from continuing to sail.
“I know the risk but I’m not scared of it. I’m just going to be super careful in the future. I would never say I’m not going out any more, or I’m too scared.”
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Man who sneaked into his ex-wife's house armed with a knife is jailed after stabbing one of her friends when tackled to the floor
Harry Rutter
harry.rutter@archant.co.uk
@HRCTJ
Christopher Wing (pictured) has been jailed after stabbing one of his ex-wife�s friends in what police are calling a �jealous rage�. Picture: CAMBS COPS / GOOGLE MAPS
CAMBS COPS / GOOGLE MAPS
A man who stabbed one of his ex-wife's friends after he was caught in her home armed with a knife in what police are calling a "jealous rage" has been jailed.
Christopher Wing (pictured) has been jailed after stabbing one of his ex-wife’s friends in what police are calling a “jealous rage”. Picture: CAMBS COPS
Christopher Wing was sentenced to eight years in jail after he sneaked inside his ex-wife's new home in Wicken near Soham during December last year.
The 59-year-old separated from his wife, who is in her 40s, earlier last year and as a result of the break-up, she moved in with three friends at the home in Wicken.
A court heard how over the following months Wing, of Nimbus Way in Newmarket, became increasingly aggressive towards his former partner and one of her friends.
On Friday, December 14, he made his own way into the property wearing latex gloves, armed with a knife, pliers, white spirit and a lighter.
Two of the occupants, both brothers aged 26 and 31, had been out watching a football match and returned home to find Wing on the driveway.
The brothers tackled him to the ground and detained him while his ex-wife's other friend called the police after hearing the confrontation.
However, while the brothers were tackling Wing to the floor, he stabbed the 26-year-old, puncturing his spleen. With all of this going on, they still managed to keep him detained.
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During their initial enquiries officers spoke to a Mr Mark Gambie, 57, who was parked a short distance away in a Land Rover.
He eventually admitted he had "parked here and dropped him off" and told police Wing intended to cut the brake cable of a car at the property.
The victim was taken to Addenbrookes Hospital where he received emergency treatment and discharged four days later but continued to receive follow-up treatment.
Wing was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court today (June 14) after he was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of a bladed article in a public place following a trial.
He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to destroy property in relation to the plan to cut the brake cable.
Gambie, of Victoria Close, West Row, Bury St Edmunds, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, suspended for a year, after pleading guilty to conspiring to destroy property at the same court.
Both men were also made the subject of an indefinite restraining order, preventing them from contacting the victims.
DC Lesley Sonnen said: "The level of violence Wing showed that night, and over the months leading up to it, is frightening.
"I'd like to commend the bravery of the men and I hope the sentence will provide the victims with some closure and the ability to start rebuilding their lives after being tormented by Wing."
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Project Manager-Resettlement
One Friargate, Coventry, CV1 2GN
£30,756 - £37,107 per annum (Pay Award pending)
COVCC000297
Fixed Term Contract
Coventry has a proud record as an International City of Peace and Reconciliation and a City of Sanctuary.
The Council was one of the first to respond to the crisis in the Middle East by supporting the resettlement of the most vulnerable refugees fleeing the violent conflict in Syria. Coventry currently resettles around 100 refugees per year with the support of a partnership of dynamic and innovative voluntary sector agencies working alongside the Council and other statutory partners.
Following an internal promotion, the Council’s Migration Team is keen to recruit a Project Manager with significant experience of project management, partnership working and an understanding of both the challenges and opportunities created by the resettlement of refugees.
The Project Manager will co-ordinate the City’s local partnership which aims to provide a warm welcome to the City along with range of support to refugees arriving in the city under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and the Resettlement of Vulnerable Children.
This post will sit within the Council’s Migration Team which includes project management of the EU funded ‘MiFriendly Cities’ initiative and the CMF funded ‘Building Bridges’ project. Both of these projects are intended to deliver services and test interventions that enable a more holistic model to integration for newly arrived communities to be created. Importantly both projects stress the importance of work with established communities also.
The team supports regional work around the dispersal of asylum seekers to the West Midlands, and liaise with local providers and partners. The team are also part of and support the Coventry Migration Network which represents voluntary sector partners with an interest in refugees and newly arrived communities.
The Project Manager will be key to managing, reviewing and shaping the package of support available to resettled refugees, ensuring that the provision meets clients’ needs and supports their integration. The successful candidate will be proactive in managing and engaging with stakeholders, ensuring the voices of clients are heard as well as managing the resettlement team which provides project support to the provision of ESOL tuition, support with employment as well as links to both local and national partners.
If you have experience of managing people focused projects, have empathy and an understanding of the needs of this varied and complex client group then this may be an exciting opportunity for you. The post will be focused on resettlement work, but will be expected to cover wider responsibilities as part of the team including support to the Programme Manager on a daily basis.
This is an exciting time to live and work in Coventry. Coventry is the European City of Sport for 2019, UK City of Culture for 2021, will be a host city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the Council has been shortlisted for the prestigious Council of the Year Award.The City is fortunate to also be an area of learning with two top-class universities: Warwick and Coventry who are ranked 8th and 12th in the Guardian University Guide 2019, both universities have shared their expertise and research in supporting refugee resettlement in the City.
This post is funded by external grant and is therefore offered as a fixed term contract until 31st March 2021.
Working Hours: 37.0 Hours per Week
Interview Date: 16th and 17th April 2019
In return, we can offer you an excellent pension scheme, 'MyCar' scheme, flexible working, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts at a number of city centre restaurants, shops and other establishments.
Coventry City Council is committed to delivering the best possible services and improving the quality of life for Coventry people. In order to do this effectively we aim to have a workforce that represents the diverse communities we serve, embracing and utilising the broad range of skills, experiences and perspectives this brings.
We are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for all. This includes making adjustments or changes for people who have a disability or long-term health condition.
This Authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
This post is covered by the Code of Practice on the English language fluency for public sector workers.
Please note we will communicate any interview arrangements with you via email, so please check your email and WMJobs account on a regular basis after submitting your application.
This vacancy and advert will be closed as soon as sufficient applications are received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible.
When recruiting, we review candidates against our Behaviour Framework . To find out more information about the Behaviour Framework please click here.
This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Need help with your application?
If you would like support in completing your application, then help is available at the Job Shop.
Coventry City Council’s Job Shop is a free service for all Coventry residents. Come in and see one of our dedicated advisers and receive 1 to 1 support.
We are open Monday-Friday 9.15-4.30pm (Thursday 10.30)
Address: 1 Bull Yard, Coventry, CV1 1LH
Email: jobshop@coventry.gov.uk
Website: http://www.coventry.gov.uk/jobshop
Job Description and Person Specification.pdf
Adult Care & Support Transformation Programme Manager
Council House, Solihull
Senior Project Delivery Lead - (CAMHS, Learning Disability and Neuro-Development)
£39,378-£44,317 per annum (pro-rata) + excellent benefits
West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA)
Senior Project Delivery Lead - (Workforce and Veterans)
Local Councils jobs in Project management
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What Are the Greatest German Cars Ever Made?
We all know about the reputation Germany has for making well-crafted, reliable cars. But what are the best they’ve ever made?
The Beetle is a true classic for a reason. I’m not talking about the more recent update on the classic model; I’m talking about the true original. It might not have been the quickest or most reliable car on the road, but it was one of the most popular cars of its time. It’s easy to forget how long this model was around for though. They were produced between 1938 and 2003.
Only truly great cars stay around for that long. And the style barely changed in all those years. In 1999, it was voted as the fourth greatest car of the entire 20th century. The golden years for the car though were the post-war period and these boom years carried on well into the 1960s.
The Porsche 911 is one of the oldest and most iconic sports car still in production today. The car is now over 50 years old, and those sales figures show no sign of slowing down anytime soon. For a lot of people, the 1960s model will always be the classic 911 and unbeatable today, but the 911 has been very consistent over the years.
One of the trademarks of the classic Porsche 911 was the air-cooled engines they used. This all changed in 1998 when the manufacturer decided to go with an all new water-cooling system instead. This wasn’t the end of the changes though; it marked the point at which a lot of things changed with the 911. The body shell made a significant shift to a new style.
There have been all kinds of iterations of the Audi TT over the years.That means Audi have managed to cover a lot of ground and secure huge sales figures over the years. It’s easy to forget that the TT has been around since 1998, and it remains a very popular car.
The basic model has improved with every new release. It’s a stylish yet practical two-door sports car. It’s a lot cheaper than most of its competitors too; you can pick up a used Audi TT for very low prices nowadays. And if you want something even more speedy and stylish you can buy the Roadster iteration.
For me, one of the best car produced by any country, not just Germany, over the past 20 years is the BMW E39. It’s both practical and stylish and its replacement, the E60, has never really reached the heights set by the E39. But then again, few cars could.
One of the big attraction of the car is its body. And I’m just talking about its appearance. The style of the body has almost become a modern classic in the motoring world now, with its simple elegance. The body also offers great safety though. It’s made entirely of steel and acts as a cage protecting those inside.
Germany has a great automotive heritage, but these cars are certainly some of their best.
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Buzzi Unicem reports rising cement sales
World Cement, Friday, 10 November 2017 10:08
Buzzi Unicem has announced its results for the period ending 30 September 2017, indicating that cement sales were up by 4.1% and ready-mixed concrete volumes were up 4.8% from the previous year.
In the first nine months of the current year, although the operating performance was penalised at the end of August and in September by the impact of hurricane Harvey along the Texas coast, sales volumes of the group continued to grow compared to the previous year, thanks also to the change in scope referring to the first line-by-line consolidation of the Zillo Group (starting from the beginning of July). With the exception of Ukraine, which was slightly declining, favourable variations of shipments to customers were achieved in all the other countries where the group operates, more marked in Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg and more linear in the United States of America, Russia, and Poland. Economic growth in the major advanced and emerging countries showed some signals of consolidation and confirmed more favourable expansion prospects. International trade, albeit moderated after the strong acceleration of the beginning of the year, confirms for the current year the forecast of development at a higher rate than GDP.
In the United States, the economic situation continued to be driven by consumption and investment, while inflation, which stood at 2.2% in September, was surprisingly low, falling below expectations. In Europe the growth, mainly supported by domestic demand, strengthened in the second quarter (+0.6%) and continued at similar rates in the third one. Inflation however stopped at 1.5%, with underlying pressures curbed by wage developments, which are still moderate in many economies of the area and with still wide underutilisation margins. Growth in Italy, both for the service and the industrial sector, appears to be more widespread, and GDP dynamics were still strong in the third quarter as well.
On the basis of the most recent futures contracts, oil prices are expected to be rather stable and close to current prices, after going up from the end of September as a result of the OECD inventory reduction and production discontinuation in some regions.
The Federal Reserve began the process of reducing the budget and markets expect a further interest rate increase in December. The ECB Governing Council, on the other hand, confirmed the need for a high degree of monetary adjustment, considering the conditions for a stable return of inflation to close to 2%.
Although global growth prospects and international trade forecasts further improved, there are still relevant risk factors surrounding the uncertainty about the expansion and revision measures of financial regulation proposed by the US administration and those related to the outcome of the UK exit negotiations from the European Union, which could have negative repercussions on family and business confidence and reflect on spending and investment decisions.
During 3Q17, in the various countries where Buzzi Unicem operates, the construction sector overall maintained a satisfactory growth rate, with still positive figures in Germany and the Czech Republic and some strengthening compared to the first half of the year in the United States, Luxembourg, and Russia, while in Ukraine some signs of discontinuity were recorded compared to the first part of the year.
Cement and clinker sales of the group in the period January-September 2017 amounted to 20.3 million t, up 4.1% over the previous year (+2.6% like for like). Ready-mix concrete sales accounted for a somewhat more pronounced change (+4.8%) compared to the same period of 2016, reaching 9.2 million m3 (9.1 million m3 like for like). Price effect in local currency, compared with the same period of 2016, remained positive in the United States, in Ukraine (driven by inflation) and slightly improved in Poland, while in the other countries no significant variances were registered.
Consolidated net sales improved from €1998.5 to €2133.4 million (+6,7%), gross of a foreign exchange effect which favourably accounted for €23.4 million. On a like-for-like basis, net sales would have increased by 4.5%. The volume and price effect, both favourable, came in at respectively €69.0 million and €35.5 million.
The operating conditions of the first nine months, though affected in the United States of America and Mexico by exceptional weather and seismic events, maintained a positive trend anyway, consistent with the expected developments. Starting from the second half of the year, there has been a sharp and significant reduction in the value of the dollar against the euro, which entails a negative translation effect of net assets denominated in that currency. In addition, over the last few weeks prices increased more than expected in the electricity and fossil fuel market.
All in all the company’s best current guidance, which is consistent with the one already disclosed to the market in the half-yearly report, foresees for the full financial year 2017 an improvement of recurring Ebitda between 5% and 10%, with good probability of achieving the higher end of the range.
With reference to the antitrust sanction imposed in August on Buzzi Unicem and other companies operating in the cement market in Italy, the TAR Lazio has informed Buzzi Unicem today that, also due to the fact that the company has already been granted by the Authority the payment by instalments, the interests of the parties can be safeguarded by the prompt scheduling of the oral hearing on this subject (established on 6 June 2018), thus not deeming it necessary to grant withholding of the payment of the sanction itself. Regarding this lawsuit Buzzi Unicem reaffirms its desire to pursue all the legal channels available for the most determined opposition, knowing that it has acted in full compliance with antitrust legislation and that the allegations made by the Authority are unfounded. The company also specifies that the rejection of the precautionary suspensive payment order, although not prejudicial to the outcome of the appeal, leads to the booking of the entire sanction, pending the result of the judgment.
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/10112017/buzzi-unicem-reports-rising-cement-sales/
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yourdaughtersbookshelf
About yourdaughtersbookshelf
Tag Archives: contemporary
Bronx Masquerade
February 10, 2017 YAblack history, contemporary, Grimes, own voices, poetry, urban, YAyourdaughtersbookshelf
At the end of a month of studying Harlem Renaissance poetry, high school English teacher Mr. Ward assigns an essay to class to break down what they’ve learned. One student, Wesley, hands in poems instead, and Mr. Ward asks him to read aloud one of them. The students’ response to Wesley’s words lead to an open mike poetry reading every week in class, where all students are offered the chance to read their original work. Each student takes advantage of the opportunity to tell the world something personal about themselves and how they see their place in society.
Bronx Masquerade is a novel written in 18 different voices. The story follows a year in the life of a classroom of high school students in the Bronx as they learn to express themselves through poetry and learn to look beyond the facades that their classmates present to the world. Each student has a chapter which ends in their poem, and as the year of poetry progresses the students realize that although on the surface they are all so different – black, white, Latinx, male, female, teen mother, heavy, thin, bold, shy, beautiful, athletic, artistic – they all face similar challenges and experience similar feelings.
The themes of difference and community and future resonate throughout the novel and the poems. Each of these teens experiences individual versions of loneliness and isolation; each has feelings of not fitting in, or of standing out for unwanted reasons (whether it be Janelle’s weight or Devon’s basketball prowess or Judianne’s fashion or Chankara’s black eye or Porscha’s mom dying of an overdose). But as they sit and really listen to each other speak, they all begin to realize that they are part of a community, and have more in common than perhaps they first thought. That said, each poem and poet is unique.
In the beginning, thoughts of the future are hazy for most of the teens. Hope is a foreign concept. Most have lost friends or family members to gun violence, while some have just left. But as the kids come together and see they are not alone, the future becomes something attainable. Dreams are ok. Dreams might come true, with hard work and focus. Hope is ok.
This isn’t a book with a strong plot or story line. With 18 different narrators, it takes a few chapters to get into the flow of the style and keep characters straight, and you aren’t getting a chance to follow one teen through a year of development and change. What you do see, rather, is snapshots of the students’ lives and how they react to the changes and revelations of others.
Coretta Scott King Award winning author Nikki Grimes has written a novel that sends an important message to teens to not judge each other, to get to know people beyond preconceived ideas, and to always hang on to hope. I loved this book, but read a lot of reviews from people (generally adults) who did not. The main criticism seems to be the lack of continuity of a main character. And while I grant that it is a choppy style to read, the book does a fabulous job of showing what lies beneath the surface is not always what the observer expects to find.
Bronx Masquerade was published December 31st, 2001 by Speak.
Dreamers Often Lie
January 31, 2017 YAcontemporary, death, mental illness, romance, Shakespeare, theatre, West, YAyourdaughtersbookshelf
If I had to summarize this novel in a couple of words, it would be intensely trippy. Think Shakespeare and brain damage and hallucinations and then throw in the usual teenage angst and drama, and there you have it.
17-year-old Jaye doesn’t know how she ended up in a hospital bed with a blinding headache, but she’s pretty sure that characters from Shakespeare’s plays shouldn’t be there with her. So probably best not to tell anyone about that little problem. Her one pleasure in life right now is her work in the school play, so as the star of Midsummer Night’s Dream she has to convince her doctors and her family that she is ok to leave the hospital before she loses her prized role.
But she has personal demons to deal with on top of everything else. A broken family and feelings of loss and abandonment fuel her struggles. Her life becomes intertwined with Shakespeare’s plays and she can’t keep the two of them straight. Especially when Romeo walks into class on her first day back to school. Where does reality begin and fantasy end?
Jaye is a totally unreliable narrator, which has possibly become my favourite kind. I love getting into the head of someone who thinks completely differently than I. I even like that I don’t like her. She is extremely self-centred and immature. Where I do have a problem with her is the lack of growths she displays throughout the story. Yes, she has a severe head injury, but it seems like it knocked all the sense out of her. She does not develop or change, and she doesn’t seem to learn from her mistakes, acknowledging them and then going on and repeating the same ones over and over again.
And although I understand why she wants to keep her hallucinations secret, and she is afraid of losing her role in the school play, that motivation loses it’s believability as the story continues. There is a certain point where you have to let it go. Certainly when you can no longer remember what role you are playing and in which play. At some point, healing has to become a priority. There is always another play.
The secondary characters are widely varied, and I found the real ones less believable than the hallucinated ones. Pierce is a bit of a sociopath, and it is never clear whether he is truthful or not. Does he actually like Jaye, or is it an ego thing? Is he telling her the truth about her dad? He is not a likeable character at all. Jaye’s mother and sister are a bit one-dimensional, and her mother is not believable, letting her severely head-injured daughter call the shots about leaving the hospital and going to school.
But the way the Shakespearean characters randomly pop up throughout the novel is unexpected and creepy and so well done, keeping the line between fiction and reality blurred. Ophelia is awesome. She appears soaking wet and cold and white and her mind is distant and confused, straight out of the play. Hamlet fluctuates from mad to lucid and back with each appearance, talking to the ever-present skull, while the Bard himself personally questioned Jaye’s actual desire to return to full health.
The plot explores conflict of many kinds, including the dysfunction present in even a “perfect” family, Jaye’s troubled relationship with her father, her difficulty in facing that conflict, being torn between what you want and what you can have, and of course, reality versus fantasy.
And the storyline itself reflects Jaye’s state of mind. There are secrets and twists and confusion, building tension and leading to an… ending. The story just stops. And I’m not entirely sure what happened. Perhaps everyone died? Perhaps everyone lived happily ever after? It is certainly Romeo & Juliet-esque. (Oh! Maybe it is Newhart all over again! I jest. And show my age.)
I like this novel, but don’t love it. It is not for everyone. You must enjoy being off-balance to get the full effect.
Dreamers Often Lie was published April 5th, 2016 by Dial Books.
If I Was Your Girl
January 19, 2017 YAcontemporary, LGBT, love, own voices, romance, Russo, transgenderyourdaughtersbookshelf
18-year-old Amanda Hardy is the new senior at Lambertville High School in Tennessee. She just moved down there to live with her dad, after her time at her previous school ended in a suicide attempt and left her scarred and too terrified to return. High school should not be dangerous, but for Amanda, it is. Because she was born Andrew.
But Lambertville is a new chance, a new opportunity to fit in and make friends and have a life beyond Saturday evening take-out with her mom. As the new girl, she is automatically intriguing to both boys and girls alike. And not only does she make a circle of friends in the close-knit conservative town, she also meets the boy of her dreams. But how close friends can they be, when she can’t be honest with them?
This is the story of a girl who wants to fit in, have a “normal” high school experience, and not have to look over her shoulder. It is the story of family. And it is a fun boy-meets-girl-and-they-fall-in-love story. It is the story of a girl who hasn’t received a lot of love and respect in her life, and is now surrounded by friends and family who give it to her. And what is awesome is she realizes she deserves it.
Despite a suicide attempt and some quite graphic violence, the novel isn’t that dark. It has moments of light and joy and humour, and real-life high-school experiences that took me back to those years, hanging out with friends, shopping for prom dresses with giggling girls, first kisses.
There are tons of characters that surround Amanda in the novel – her mom and dad, the girls who make up her circle, Bee, Grant, Parker, and so many more. The friends run the gamut from religious to fashionista to closeted lesbian to bi. Some are judgey, some accepting. Grant is sweet and protective. Her parents are present throughout, and although her mom struggles at first to understand, in the end just wants her child alive and happy. Dad takes longer to accept her and vacillates between feeling self-righteously unsupportive one moment, and in the next, trying to find a way to accept and protect his child.
The big reveal was well done and not in the way I expected. And as much as I always want closure, the open ending is perfect for this story.
This is a story about a trans girl written by a trans woman, with a cover that features a beautiful trans model. Read the author’s notes at the end. She writes separate messages to both the trans and the non-trans community and explains her motivations for writing the novel the way she did. Incredible.
Is the portrayal of Amanda’s life as a trans woman realistic? Not totally, according to author Meredith Russo, but life can be difficult enough for trans teens, and perhaps reading something that is not 100% true to most experiences can give hope, and offer the belief that life can get better and there can be acceptance.
If I Was Your Girl was published May 3rd, 2016 by Flatiron Books.
One Half from the East
January 3, 2017 middle gradeAfghanistan, bacha posh, contemporary, Hashimi, middle grade, own voicesyourdaughtersbookshelf
Happy 2017, everyone!! Here’s to a great year of reading.
In many places, life is just easier if you are a boy. For you and for your family. Afghanistan is one such place.
10-year-old Obayda lives in Kabul with her mother, father and three older sisters. She loves to go to school and wear dresses and dance and swing her beautiful hair around. Her father is a respected policeman, and the family is content and prosperous. Her future looks bright. But the future cannot always be predicted.
One day, as she waits outside the pharmacy for her father to pick up a prescription for her illness, a bomb blows up and changes everything. Her father lost a leg and his will to live, and the family had to leave their life in Kabul to move in with his family in a small village. Life is so different now. Her father refuses to leave his room and barely speaks to the girls.
Obayda’s aunt, the nosy, bossy one, has an idea to change the family’s luck. Obayda is to becomes Obayd, a bacha posh, or girl who dresses and acts and becomes, for all intents and purposes, a boy. Because a boy in the family brings luck. And maybe, just maybe, Obayd can turn the family’s bad fortune around.
This is a fascinating story, and I wasn’t sure whether it was based in fact, or was just an incredible idea. I had never heard of such a thing. But a quick google search gave me a ton of information. (I do miss the trek to the library to research, I have to admit, although my would-rather-spend-a-snowy-day-inside-in-pyjamas self has no complaints about the internet). Having a bacha posh in the family is not an unusual practice in Afghanistan. Not to say that every family does it, but it is not uncommon.
In Afghanistan, decisions are made by men. Women and girls have comparatively less value, and an Afghan girl is born with little control over her own life. She looks forward to a life of essentially servitude, having her life in the hands of first her father, then her brothers or husband. This would affect a family with no sons. So in some families, mothers dress a daughter as a boy, give her a short haircut and boys’ clothing, and treat her as a son. To the world outside the home, and even within the home, bacha posh are boys.
For the Afghan girl chosen to become a boy, a whole new world is before her. She can now get a job, run around without an escort, play sports, go to school. She gets to live a life unknown to Afghan women.
Obayd is one such bacha posh. She becomes he, not only in the eyes of the village, but in her family’s as well. He is given the first choice of meat at the table at dinner, is not expected to help with chores, but to run off and explore and play. He goes to school with boys, he is a boy. But at first, it is not that easy. Obayd is sure that everyone knows, and, having no brothers and an absentee father, is unsure how to behave. But then he meets Rashim, who knows at a glance what he is, and the two become inseparable. Rashim teaches Obayd how to be a boy, how to embrace the freedom, and Obayd enters a world he never knew existed.
Author Nadia Hashimi got right into the mind of a young girl and her portrayal of the conflicts that Obayd/a faces are honest and poignant. With Obayda’s change of clothes and hairstyle, she also gets a change in perception and potential. She can now do things that before no one thought her capable of trying. Sports, designing and building a crutch for her father, shopping in a store by herself. But with the new advantages also comes a certain loss; she can no longer be one of the sisters, she is now more worthy than they and their former close comradery is ruined. Obayda sees the oppression she lives under with new eyes, as she gets the rare chance to leave it behind and live it from the other side. Her character has the true flaws and childishness that makes her authentic, she has the excitement of trying something otherwise forbidden. The new experience also gives her a new maturity to face her life when she realizes the freedom may end.
The other characters were as well drawn and real as Obayda, and round out her experience beautifully. Her sisters go from close confidants to remote roommates. Her father takes a new pride in her, her mother sees the problems and the rewards. Her friends are wonderful; while they may suspect her true nature, they treat her as a boy without question.
Hashimi also transports the reader right into Afghanistan with her impeccable and polished prose. The story is told without ever obviously dumping information, but rather minute details are woven throughout about the culture and traditions and landscape that bring the novel and the people within to life. She draws vivid pictures of the dusty roads and crowded market, the separate buildings for boys and girls to attend school, the religious practices, the mealtimes and division of chores, and the visceral terror the population has of the warlord that reigns over the village.
The pacing of the novel is equal to the characters and setting; it moves quickly through Obayda’s transformation and education as a bacha posh, the freedoms attained as a boy, the realization that it might not last, and the desperation to make the newfound liberty permanent.
The questions this book raises about gender and perception and equality are relevant for any age to consider. While this is a middle-grade novel, it is a fantastic read for everyone. I couldn’t put it down.
One Half from the East was published September 6th, 2016 by HarperCollins.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
November 22, 2016 YAalcoholism, Alexie, contemporary, humour, Native American, own voices, YAyourdaughtersbookshelf
This book has been around for about a decade and probably doesn’t need my feeble attempts to review it, but I read it in one sitting and then couldn’t get it out of my mind for days afterwards. Alternating between hilarity and heartbreak, this novel covers every emotion out there. The very things that make you laugh also make you cry.
Junior is 14 years old, part white, mostly Indian, and living on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington. Born with hydrocephalus, he has a large head and weird eyesight and big hands and feet. He has faced mental and physical challenges his whole life, but he knows he is smart and that there is more to his life than the mocking and beatings he takes daily at the reservation school. The other Indians on the rez call him retard and faggot and after he transfers from Wellpinit High to a high school in Reardon, an apple – red on the outside, white on the inside. He’s the only Indian at Reardon, an all-white town school 22 miles from home. Well, the high school mascot is an Indian, and the name of the school sports teams is the Redskins. You can imagine how welcome he feels.
But the one thing that Junior has is hope. He doesn’t want to spend his life in an alcoholic haze, he doesn’t want to attend funerals every other week, he doesn’t want to settle for a life that is laid out bare in front of him. And he manages, through his brains and basketball skills, to make a name for himself at his new school. Which, by the way, is Arnold there.
Through it all, the good and the bad, Junior never loses his sense of humour and irony. The story of this one year in his life is about strength in the face of adversity, resilience when he is emotionally and physically knocked down once again, and finding the joy and laughter in life, even in times of sorrow and tragedy. Junior faces poverty and prejudice and death, and survives with his sense of self intact. He understands that poverty begets poverty, which in turn leads to hopelessness and belief that the life is deserved and can never be challenged or changed. He knows there is no dignity in it; the dignity must come from within the person.
Author Sherman Alexie is Spokane. He grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, and attended Reardon High as the only Native student. This story is based on his life, and is written with a humour and honesty that so beautifully shows Junior’s relationships to his family and friends (both new and old) and the people on his reservation. His love and understanding for his family and his devotion to friends are just facets of the kindness and strength that hold him up. The reservation itself, with the generations that have lived on it and those to come, plays a prominent role in his development and outlook on his life and future.
The illustrations done by Ellen Forney throughout bring the story to life even more so. Junior spends his life drawing to express himself, and I love the various styles – the more realistic portraits of his family, honest depictions of how he views each member, and slightly more cartoonish ones for situations when he wants to express feelings and impressions.
This book is full of mature themes, and may be tough for readers at the younger end of the YA range. But it offers educators and parents the opportunity to open many avenues of discussion. It should be on everyone’s to-read list.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was published September 12th, 2007 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Twenty Questions for Gloria
November 11, 2016 YABedford, contemporary, romance, suspense, YAyourdaughtersbookshelf
15-year-old Gloria Jade Ellis is bored. Bored of school, bored of a family that seems disconnected, bored of friends that do the same thing every day, bored of a predictable future of university, marriage, job, and 2 kids. But what is there to do but drift?
Then one day Uman walks into class. He is different than anyone she has ever known, a breath of fresh air in a life that seems so stifling. And Gloria discovers that are things she can do to change things. She can challenge authority, she can bend the rules, she can rediscover the girl that was a free spirit and did her own thing, once upon a time. But is that a realistic way to live a life? And will it be too late when she decides yes or no?
I sat on this review for quite awhile. It took me some time to form an opinion about this novel, and I’m not sure that I have come to a concrete conclusion yet. It is not quite what it starts out as, but it finds its way regardless.
It would be easy to dismiss this as a story about a spoiled bored teen who isn’t getting what she wants, feels ignored, and selfishly takes off to “find herself,” and escape an unremarkable existence. And there are elements of that in the story. Both Uman and Gloria are self-absorbed and not entirely likeable. But it does go deeper. Gloria is finding her voice, finding a way to be who she is, finding her path to the future.
She is an interesting character. Bored and unable to see beyond a life of predictability, she is also recognizable. Who hasn’t stood at a train station or airport or sat in the driver’s seat of the car and thought about buying an open ticket or randomly picking a flight or not taking the turn-off to home? Who hasn’t thought about what it would be like to leave behind responsibility and start fresh if there were no consequences?
But of course there always are.
The book does not hide anything. Told from Gloria’s point of view through a police interview after she returns from her two-week disappearance, she is first questioned as a victim. But as details are revealed through her answers, it becomes apparent that events are not what they first appeared to be – a theme that runs throughout the story. The questions Gloria must answer reveal not only her motivations for her absence and disenchantment with her life, but also force her family members to confront their own directions and decisions.
The connection between Uman and Gloria is at the heart of the story. Their immediate attraction and growing relationship, the chemistry that is evident in their banter, how they run away together and discovered their own paths while ultimately looking for the same place.
I liked that even though Gloria knew it was right to come home when she did, she still acknowledged, at least to herself, that had Uman waited for her, had woken her and asked her one more time, she quite likely would have gone with him.
I hesitate to label the parts of the story I didn’t connect with as weaknesses. Rather, I think the story was unexpected, although not suspenseful or dramatic. There are no real surprises except maybe that there are no real surprises. It is a story of a girl and a boy each escaping their pasts and discovering their path to maturity.
The ending is perfect for the story. Completely open to interpretation, it is up to the reader to decide what Gloria learned from her adventure, and what she is willing to risk.
This book is appropriate for the entire YA range. It is a compelling read that looks at the time in our lives when we think we are grown-up enough to make all our own decisions, but maybe still too young to recognize the consequences.
Twenty Questions for Gloria was published April 12th, 2016 by Wendy Lamb Books/Random House.
Saving Hamlet
November 9, 2016 YABooth, contemporary, fantasy, historical fiction, LGBT, time travel, YAyourdaughtersbookshelf
Something fun to help me recover from a month of reading horror – theatre nerds, Shakespeare, time traveling, a bisexual BFF, and a plethora of cute boys to crush on, gay and straight. What more could a girl ask for?
15-year-old Emma is hoping to forget her freshman year at BHS. She started last year as a soccer star with long red hair and a bright future. But then the Hallowe’en party happened and she quit the soccer team and lost her friends. Life looked pretty bleak. Then Lulu sat at her lunch table one day and asked her to join the drama club, and suddenly life looked up again. She had a new best friend and a purpose.
So sophomore year looks good. Emma has changed her look and she has changed her life. She has a sleek short haircut and a drama appropriate all-black wardrobe, is the assistant stage manager for the school production of Hamlet, the hottest boy in school is directing the play, what could go wrong? Well, how about a fight with her best friend, a sudden promotion to stage manager (a position she has just begun to learn), bad casting for the play, and a hole in the centre of the stage that she trips over and falls through.
And lands in Hell. Otherwise known as the basement below the stage at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Yes, that one. The one in London, in 1601. And the players are preparing to stage Hamlet for the first time. And Emma is mistaken for a boy (how flattering) and as the assistant to the stage manager Mr. Wick, who is known as the book keeper.
Emma is NOT an actor in a story that is set in the theatre. I like that. She is self-conscious and endearing, funny and conflicted, and seems on the edge of losing control at all times. Thrust into the spotlight when the stage manager quits, she has to juggle fragile egos and a disastrous production in the making. Not to mention her no-longer-best friend’s life is imploding, and there is nothing Emma can do to help.
Emma (known as Master Allen in the Globe) encounters Shakespeare himself in her travels back to his theatre, and soaks up the atmosphere of the original production and studies his methods and motivations. She brings that knowledge and new-found confidence in her ideas back to her present day production, and back to her relationships.
Every kid in the novel is misunderstood and melodramatic and, therefore, a totally authentic teen. Small things become huge, and huge things actually become easier to handle. Who would have thought that traveling back in time 400 years would actually be preferable to working on a high school drama club production? (I may have just answered my own question there.)
Stanley and Lulu, Emma’s two best friends, are gay and bi and possibly two of the best-written characters I have read in ages, if not ever. They are beautifully developed with individual personalities and quirks and jealousies, they are complex and not “token”, which I have found so many of the diverse characters in other novels to be lately. And, to top it all off, they are sarcastic and funny, which pretty much made them my favourites.
But all the present-day characters in the novel are strong. I d0n’t necessarily like each one, but my reasons for not liking them are because of their personalities, not because they are poorly written. They aren’t. They are all so real and familiar to me, I am pretty sure I went to school with at least half of them. (Or, given my age, their parents.) And the characters from Shakespeare’s troupe of players and stagehands are exactly how I would picture each and every one, from Will himself to Burbage and Wick. Their humour and egos are spectacular.
The plot is FABULOUS. Author Molly Booth weaves Shakespearean facts and literature throughout the novel, illustrating all the magic that is present in his writing. This isn’t a novel that is filled with action, but rather with subtext and stories and growing up and learning all of life’s fun and not-so-fun lessons. The drama playing out in Emma’s life is mirrored in the theatre, as is the drama in each of her co-workers’ and friends’ lives. Who can be trusted, who is real, what is their motivation for their actions? It is as hilarious as it is poignant and adventurous.
Booth’s world-building showed meticulous research and thorough understanding of the time. Her attention to detail in both the Globe’s and the present day’s productions is impeccable, making me feel like I was breathing in the sawdust of the old theatre and smelling the rank odors of the costumes and players. 17th century London was full of interesting characters and Em’s adventures in that century had me on the edge of my seat.
This is a great novel for anyone with a yen for adventure and romance. And while knowledge of Shakespeare isn’t a requirement to understand the story, it certainly adds to the enjoyment. LOVE this one.
Saving Hamlet was published November 1st, 2016 by Disney-Hyperion.
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Kevin Smith - Quotes
There are 53 quotes by Kevin Smith at 95quotes.com. Find your favorite quotations and top quotes by Kevin Smith from this hand-picked collection about life, time. Feel free to share these quotes and sayings on Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr & Twitter or any of your favorite social networking sites.
There's something to be said for failing. It's not the failure you feel, it's the failure that people project when something disappoints. You're back to ground zero, where there's no expectations, and that's where I like to be.
I sympathize far more with heavier people than I ever will with thin. I'll never be thin. Let's be honest. ---->>>
Any book is a self-help guide if you can take something from it. ---->>>
Don't let anybody tell you different, man: The main goal in life careerwise should always be to try to get paid to simply be yourself. ---->>>
I grew up in a pretty gay world - my brother's gay and he's been married to a man for 20 years, which is like 60 in straight-people years. ---->>>
Everybody's got one killer story. It doesn't take talent to tell that story, it just takes experience. ---->>>
Haven't two hundred years of failed missionary work overseas taught anybody anything? You can't convert people to anything - whether religion, or something as inane as our flicks. ---->>>
Dudes know I'm not a threat. Chicks know I'm not a threat. ---->>>
I saw Richard Linklater's film 'Slacker' for my twenty-first birthday. That was the moment when it all seemed possible. This guy gave me hope. ---->>>
People like to set the bar high. I like to put the bar on the ground and barely step over it. I like to keep the expectations really low. ---->>>
The first few films I made didn't look good at all, and I wasn't trying to make them look good. People dig 'em because they like the content. ---->>>
When you're an artist, all you're trying to do is self-express. ---->>>
I know what it feels like to carry a lot of weight in a society that's very image-conscious. It's a thin person's world, and we try to navigate within it without being made fun of. ---->>>
Storytelling is my currency. It's my only worth. The only thing of value I have in this life is my ability to tell a story, whether in print, orating, writing it down or having people acting it out. ---->>>
The only thing of value I have in this life is my ability to tell a story, whether in print, orating, writing it down or having people acting it out. That's why I'm always hoping society never collapses because the first ones to go will be entertainers.
Generally, I wake up, honestly it's creepy, but I wake up around 4:20. ---->>>
It's taken me 15 years to step behind a camera and make something everyone agrees looks like a movie. ---->>>
I feel like if you're in Jersey, you have to be a Jersey Devils fan. Anybody born within the confines of the border of the state of New Jersey, I feel, should be a Jersey Devils fan. ---->>>
You can have 10 bucks to 10 million bucks and if you got a crew, imagination and a lot of people willing to turn in some work next to nothing, you going to have a feature. But you can't get beyond how expensive marketing the movie is, it's so crushing.
I think the advent of the Internet gave us all a big boost, because by the time the Internet became mainstream and you could get it in your home, a lot of us were used to dealing in fan culture, writing to magazines or anything at the back of comic books. ---->>>
I've always kind of ripped from real life to some degree or at least how I'm feeling in the moment. In fact, maybe that's really it. In anything I've ever written, all the characters sound like me, which I don't think is a bad thing. ---->>>
In anything I've ever written, all the characters sound like me, which I don't think is a bad thing. It makes sense. But I had always admired filmmakers who made movies that didn't sound like them at all. ---->>>
The writer crafts their ideal world. In my world, everyone has really long conversations or just picks apart pop culture to death and everyone talks in monologue. ---->>>
I say what other people won't. ---->>>
If you grow up fat, you have to try harder. ---->>>
I didn't get into film to win Academy Awards. I wanted to have a conversation with the audience. ---->>>
I always wanted to see if I could sell a movie to the public without doing any marketing because my philosophy was like, 'Hey man, I'm reaching my audience everyday. I'm twittering with them. I'm in direct contact with them on the podcast.' ---->>>
And George Carlin was a guy that the more he aged the younger he seemed. ---->>>
I'd see movies, comedies, and I loved 'Animal House', I loved all the John Hughes stuff, but I never saw me and my friends totally represented. ---->>>
It's too expensive, that's the thing nobody wants to talk about. It is too expensive to make movies. That's not true, it is too expensive to market movies. Making movies is not. ---->>>
I liked hockey, and I still like hockey. ---->>>
I've always kind of ripped from real life to some degree or at least how I'm feeling in the moment. ---->>>
If there was no Internet, my career would have ended in 1995. ---->>>
It's kind of debatable whether or not the advertisement model is effective. Like whether Nielsen works. ---->>>
It's like a dream come true. When somebody is paying you to talk about yourself, you've won. ---->>>
It's silly that anyone in this world tells you that there are only certain people that can marry you. ---->>>
Oh, I'm online all the time now. I'm not an outdoorsy type. ---->>>
Other filmmakers make their movies and put them out and that's that. For me, for some odd reason, it goes deeper than that. ---->>>
So I know how I watch movies which is on my laptop, man. And that's how I suspect a lot of people do it. ---->>>
The older you get, the more you realize you cannot win on the Internet. ---->>>
And the podcasting - I swear to you - on its worst day, the podcasts are better than our best films. Because they're more imaginative, and there's no artifice, and it's far more real. ---->>>
I think: 'Wouldn't it be great to work with Bill Murray?' And then I'm like, 'You know what, just appreciate Bill Murray from afar, don't find out that maybe he's not the dude you want to work with.' ---->>>
It's kind of debatable whether or not the advertisement model is effective. Like whether Nielsen works. For years, Nielsen has been based on sampling. It's not like an electronic bullet that hits your house that tells the people at networks at all times what you're watching. ---->>>
If you're lucky, you go from being a movie fan to a movie maker. ---->>>
Long time no see. I only pray the caliber of your questions has improved. ---->>>
I just love movies, so suddenly, you're political about movies, and that's dark. It's just not fun when something you love becomes calculated. ---->>>
In Hollywood you just fail upwards. ---->>>
You know, comics and movies, even if you take a comic and turn it into a movie, we can't all be Joss Whedon. ---->>>
All these people who say success changes people; well, no, it just magnifies what's there. ---->>>
Indie film isn't dead, it just grew up. ---->>>
People wanted more advice. So I finally thought I could totally put this advice into a book. ---->>>
When you're a filmmaker you're part of a very expensive art form. ---->>>
From now on, any flick I'm ever involved with, I conduct critics screenings thusly: 'You wanna see it early to review it? Fine: pay like you would if you saw it next week.' ---->>>
Name: Kevin Smith
Birthplace: Red Bank, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation: Director
Website: http://viewaskew.com
Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, public speaker, comic book writer, author, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy film Clerks (1994), which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and acted in as the character Silent Bob of stoner duo Jay and Silent Bob (wikipedia)
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Meshach Taylor - Quotes
There are 2 quotes by Meshach Taylor at 95quotes.com. Find your favorite quotations and top quotes by Meshach Taylor from this hand-picked collection . Feel free to share these quotes and sayings on Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr & Twitter or any of your favorite social networking sites.
That's one of the problems with Hollywood. It'll say 'policeman,' and an unless it says 'black policeman,' a lot of times you won't even get the opportunity to read for it, which is kind of crazy, but that's the way it is.
As far as being a deliveryman is concerned, I see nothing wrong with being a delivery man. You know, black or white or Hispanic or Chinese or whatever, you know? It's a job. ---->>>
Name: Meshach Taylor
Die: 06-28, 2014
Meshach Taylor (April 11, 1947 – June 28, 2014) was an American actor. He was Emmy-nominated for his role as Anthony Bouvier on the CBS sitcom Designing Women (1986–93). He was also known for his portrayal of Hollywood Montrose, a flamboyant window dresser in Mannequin. He played Sheldon Baylor on the CBS sitcom Dave's World (1993–97), appeared as Tony on the short-lived NBC sitcom Buffalo Bill opposite Dabney Coleman, and appeared as the recurring character Alastair Wright, the social studies teacher and later school principal, on Nickelodeon's sitcom, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (wikipedia)
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IQ, or Intelligence Quotient, is a general determination of the capacity of individuals to think and reason. An IQ level indicates how one is positioned compared to the majority of individuals in a given age bracket.
For example, it is said that an adult who obtains a score of 100 has a normal level of intelligence compared to the majority of people. Psychologists have in fact determined that an IQ ranging between 90 and 110 is the norm.
Since it is difficult to calculate your IQ with extreme precision over the Internet (certain questions can sometimes lead to confusion for certain individuals), the test results that are calculated must be interpreted with a +/-3 margin of error.
It should also be understood that other factors could affect the results of this test. If you are tired, distracted or feeling ill, your IQ will probably not be correct. Finally, it must be recognized that this test does not, in any way, determine your artistic or manual capabilities, nor can it accurately evaluate your level of general culture.
This test of your IQ will, however, give you invaluable knowledge of your capacity to reason, find solutions and solve problems. It is undoubtedly a critical component of your success in life.
The statistical results obtained by this test on its first 10,000 respondents are just slightly higher (from 0.8 to 1.2%) than those noted in the general "Calculation of IQ Level" tests organized in colleges, universities, and both specialized and military organizations. Those statistics are detailed in our chapter devoted to the analysis of the results. This variation in favor of an elevated IQ score is explained by the fact that certain respondents took the same test twice in succession. Thus one can be assured of the validity of the test results.
If you take this test just once, the result will give you a fair estimation (margin of error: -/+3) of your IQ level. Moreover, if you wish to verify the validity of your result, a validation test has been especially designed for those who have already carried out this first test.
This test has been specially prepared by psychologists and tested with more than 1,000 respondents before it was offered on-line; we had asked certification from a capable international organization.
The organization in question has validated the general tenor of the test but has required us to give it a guarantee concerning the impossibility of candidates cheating during the test. Since access to this service is freely available and anonymous on the Internet, we obviously have no way to guarantee that a candidate will take the test only once.
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This test consists of 50 questions. In less than 1% of the time the test is interrupted while being worked on. That can occur as a result of a temporary connection problem attributable to our server or to your Internet provider. In extremely rare cases, there may be some incompatibility with the user’s operating system (certain old versions of Mac or PC!).
If such mishaps occur during your test, you need only to email us your ticket number in order that we can identify your call and carry out a validity check. We guarantee that we will transmit you a new ticket as soon as this validation has been carried out.
Yes, we do. Our mission is to offer as many new interactive tests as possible. Our tests are designed to allow users to evaluate themselves in various disciplines. Such monthly new additions include Calculate Your IQ, Take The IQ Expert Challenge, Calculate your IQ (for children between 8 and 14 years old), Calculate Your EQ, What's Your True Color?, What's The Right Job For You?, Test Your General Knowledge, Calculate Your XQ (Men) and Calculate Your XQ (Women) .
The IQ test was conceived under the supervision of psychologists. It was tested with more than 10,000 users, and certain questions that often posed problems were replaced. The current version of the test is accurate and correct.
If, in all good faith, you cannot understand a question, or that our explanation does not satisfy you, do not hesitate to send us a message. Your general score could then be raised by 1, 2 or 3 points, which, in the final analysis, should not appreciably change your IQ level.
Certain respondents, who are afraid of losing time or who are sometimes nervous during the test, give a wrong answer although they actually had the right one.
It should be noted that since the IQ test is competitive in nature, the scoring system is reliable when the candidate is relaxed, attentive and feeling well. If you are tired, anxious or under pressure, we recommend that you take the test at a later time.
Certain users dispute the fact that our interactive tests are charged for. The added value of this service is real: the content is relevant because professionals in the disciplines concerned created it. Technical support is available 24/7 and is managed by an international call center.
The cost of access by credit card is about US$2.99. The fee is based on a market survey conducted by the Eurobytes agency of nearly 1,765 respondents in June 2001. The respondents overwhelmingly confirmed (78.4%) that they preferred to pay a minor charge (below US$3) to access a reliable, fast and quality service as opposed to a similar ad-financed free service that is slower, poorly organized and less stable.
It is obvious that people who had access to explanations of the errors they made while carrying out the test will obtain a higher result (maximum score) if they take that same test a second time. The principle of self-evaluation works only if candidates do not have prior experience with this type of test.
It is with this in mind that a second control test was developed, offered in the same format (50 questions in 35 minutes), that takes into account the fact that candidates have already taken part in the first test. In this second test, the principles of deliberation in responding to questions, and the mechanisms for the analysis of identified problems, are somewhat different. They take account of the mental reflex actions of people having taken part in the first test. The required level of intellectual acuity is higher than that required of the first test.
In this test, each question (logic, mental calculation, series, equation, association, etc...) scores an equal number of points. The level of difficulty of the questions posed varies substantially from one candidate to another: a question considered to be difficult by a very logical individual may be interpreted as easy by another whose character is less logical but more intuitive. And vice-versa…
It is wise to point out that we strongly recommend that respondents not carry out the test if they are tired, distracted or feeling ill. This test of thoughtfulness and concentration requires 35 minutes of undivided attention.
This test has been especially prepared by psychologists and tested with more than 1,000 respondents before being offered on-line; its validity cannot be questioned. We have since asked for outside certification from two capable international organizations.
This test is truly valid, but only under the condition that the respondent does not take it twice in succession. In fact, candidates who would pass the test a second time would have the answer list right before their eyes! Indeed, we have taken it upon ourselves to forward to respondents the list of their errors as well as the solutions to those problems. We believe that this seriousness is the best guarantee to candidates who would doubt the scoring system used.
In addition, it is important to note that we do not retain any files (other than for strictly statistical purposes) on the tests carried out and the results obtained by respondents. It appears to us fundamental indeed to respect the provisions of all laws relating to the confidentiality of personal data.
Several organizations or independent psychologists can offer people, for profit, evaluations of their intelligence quotient.
The most reputable international association in this area is, without doubt, Mensa, an international club founded in Oxford in 1946 whose specific objective is to make it possible for intelligent people of all horizons to meet.
We direct you to the Internet address of Mensa International. As an indicator, the supervised tests cost approximately US$55.
EQ or Emotional Quotient measures the emotional intelligence or the capacity of an individual to acknowledge his or her sentiments and that of the others, to account for him or herself and to manage his or her emotions and relationship with others.
The emotional intelligence includes both distinct and complementary abilities of that of academic intelligence, capacities which are purely cognitive and measured by the IQ. Many people who have abstract intelligence lack the emotional intelligence and end up working for those who have low IQ but have excellent EQ.
The service Calculate your General Knowledge is not a quiz. It is a serious test, laid out by a group of educators and requires exact answers from the respondents by entering them and not choosing from the options given. It is, therefore, neither chance nor luck….
All the questions appearing in the test have been selected according to the degree of difficulty (from easy to difficult, according to the category given: American History for the US market/ British History for the UK market, Politics, etc.) This standardization of the levels of difficulty distinguishes the respondents who know nothing about the category from those who have more interest in the topic and from those who mastered it at their own fingertips. Thus, the total of the specific knowledge of the respondent establishes his or her General Knowledge level.
The goal of this site is to offer regularly new interactive tests to allow users to evaluate themselves in different disciplines. New services are launched monthly.
You can also refer to the complete list of our services by clicking here. The tests, which are mostly taken by our clients are Calculate your IQ, Calculate your EQ, Test your General Knowledge and What’s the right job for you?
There exist several independent organisations and private practising psychologists who offer EQ evaluations. We recommend the Q-Metrics company , whose famous test is the EQ Map® which has already conducted applicant testing for more than 1,000 international business companies and other interested entities.
After finishing the test of 50 questions, after knowing the result and your place in the population, you now have the chance to go further than just a simple test: know more about the test you took and in the process, know yourself better. We offer you on the results page of the test the chance to discover the personalized report of 20-30 pages of your test. The report, based on the difficulties you have encountered while answering the test, establishes a true portrait of your strengths and weaknesses in the discipline concerned.
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Most of the time people are not able to access their personalized reports right away because they still have to wait for their personal code to arrive by email. This one, however is sent as soon as the test is finished and the results are shown. It happens that e-mail servers of certain domains ( Hotmail.com, AOL.com, etc. ) are overloaded during peak hours of visits.
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Artificial Intelligence Helps Predict The Likelihood Of Extraterrestrial Life
Press Release - Source: RAS
Posted April 4, 2018 4:07 PM
The inputs represent values from a spectrum of a test planet's atmosphere. The output layer contains a 'probability of life', which is based on a measurement of the input's similarity to the five Solar System targets. The inputs pass through a series of hidden layers in the network, which are interconnected and enable the network to 'learn' which patterns of spectral lines correspond to a specific planet type. Credit: C. Bishop / Plymouth University
Developments in artificial intelligence may help us to predict the probability of life on other planets, according to new work by a team based at Plymouth University.
The study uses artificial neural networks (ANNs) to classify planets into five types, estimating a probability of life in each case, which could be used in future interstellar exploration missions. The work is presented at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS) in Liverpool on 4 April by Mr Christopher Bishop.
Artificial neural networks are systems that attempt to replicate the way the human brain learns. They are one of the main tools used in machine learning, and are particularly good at identifying patterns that are too complex for a biological brain to process.
The team, based at the Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems at Plymouth University, have trained their network to classify planets into five different types, based on whether they are most like the present-day Earth, the early Earth, Mars, Venus or Saturn's moon Titan. All five of these objects are rocky bodies known to have atmospheres, and are among the most potentially habitable objects in our Solar System.
Mr Bishop comments, "We're currently interested in these ANNs for prioritising exploration for a hypothetical, intelligent, interstellar spacecraft scanning an exoplanet system at range."
He adds, "We're also looking at the use of large area, deployable, planar Fresnel antennas to get data back to Earth from an interstellar probe at large distances. This would be needed if the technology is used in robotic spacecraft in the future."
Atmospheric observations - known as spectra - of the five Solar System bodies are presented as inputs to the network, which is then asked to classify them in terms of the planetary type. As life is currently known only to exist on Earth, the classification uses a 'probability of life' metric which is based on the relatively well-understood atmospheric and orbital properties of the five target types.
Bishop has trained the network with over a hundred different spectral profiles, each with several hundred parameters that contribute to habitability. So far, the network performs well when presented with a test spectral profile that it hasn't seen before.
"Given the results so far, this method may prove to be extremely useful for categorising different types of exoplanets using results from ground-based and near Earth observatories" says Dr Angelo Cangelosi, the supervisor of the project.
The technique may also be ideally suited to selecting targets for future observations, given the increase in spectral detail expected from upcoming space missions such ESA's Ariel Space Mission and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
TAGS: Astrobiology
FILED UNDER: Astrobiology (general)
SOURCE: RAS Press Release
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Free-Agent-To-Be Tobias Harris Wants to Remain with Los Angeles Clippers
admin November 9, 2018 Headlines, NBA No Comments on Free-Agent-To-Be Tobias Harris Wants to Remain with Los Angeles Clippers
Tobias Harris is going to make a lot of money this summer when he hits free agency. He’s apparently hoping that windfall comes from his current team, the Los Angeles Clippers.
From The Athletic’s Shams Charania:
Tobias Harris is off to the best start of his career, averaging 21.3 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 53 percent from the field over 10 games. The 26-year-old is entering the prime of his career and wants to stay in Los Angeles as he plays in a contract season, sources said. The Clippers had resisted the inclusion of Harris in discussions surrounding Butler.
Harris’ future in Los Angeles is complicated. The Clippers offered him an extension over the summer, which he turned down. They now have dreams of landing two max stars.
To get the necessary cap space, though, they’ll need to renounce Harris. There might be a path towards carrying his free-agent hold and opening two max slots, but they’ll need to dump the final year of Danilo Gallinari’s contract for that to be a possibility.
Should the Clippers strike out in free agency, it could increase the likelihood of Harris’ return. It also might not. Along with Khris Middleton, he figures to be one of the primary consolation prizes for teams that whiff on the superstar names. Just as Middleton could field offers right around the max, Harris could play himself into $25 million or more per year. It sounds like a lofty number for someone who’s never made an All-Star team, but there will be plenty of squads with money to burn this summer, and aggressive suitors have always been willing to spend on scorers.
Wherever he ends up, Harris’ foray into free agency figures to be one of the most fascinating market studies of the offseason.
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Blowin' in the Wind - Bob Dylan
folk classic rock 60s singer-songwriter acoustic
"Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan and released on his 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Although it has been described as a protest song, it poses a series of philosophical questions about peace, war, and freedom without supplying concrete answers. The refrain "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind" has been described as "impenetrably ambiguous: either the answer is so obvious it is right in your face, or the answer is as intangible as the wind". The song makes no reference to a specific event. There are many famous covers of Blowin' in the Wind, and it is often regarded as one of the most covered songs of all time.
Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota, United States) is an American musician, poet and artist whose position in popular culture is unique. Dylan started his musical odyssey in 1959 when he began playing in Dinkytown, Minneapolis while attending the University of Minnesota. Shortly after starting to play he changed his stage name to Bob Dylan, after being influenced by the poetry of Dylan Thomas before legally changing his name in 1962. Show more ...
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you can call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Yes, how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn't see?
Yes, how many times must a man look up
Before he can really see the sky?
Yes, how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
Bob Dylan and The Band
1) Like a Rolling Stone
2) The Times They Are a-Changin'
3) Blowin' in the Wind
4) Mr. Tambourine Man
5) Knockin' on Heaven's Door
6) Hurricane
7) Tangled Up in Blue
8) Subterranean Homesick Blues
9) Lay Lady Lay
10) Just Like a Woman
11) I Want You
12) All Along the Watchtower
13) Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
14) Shelter from the Storm
15) Girl From the North Country
16) Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
17) Forever Young
18) Maggie's Farm
19) It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
20) Ballad of a Thin Man
21) Visions of Johanna
22) Highway 61 Revisited
23) Desolation Row
24) Tombstone Blues
25) Positively 4th Street
1) Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man
2) Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
3) Simon & Garfunkel - The Boxer
4) Neil Young - Heart of Gold
5) John Lennon - Imagine
6) Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence
7) Neil Young - Old Man
8) The Beatles - Yesterday
9) Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
10) The Who - My Generation
11) Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising
12) The Beatles - Let It Be
13) Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son
14) The Doors - Light My Fire
15) The Kinks - You Really Got Me
16) The Doors - People Are Strange
17) The Band - The Weight
18) Cat Stevens - Wild World
19) The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black
20) The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil
21) Jefferson Airplane - Somebody to Love
22) Cream - Sunshine of Your Love
23) The Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning
24) Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
25) Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven
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Brad Lemos
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Weekend R&R: Whitehack
There are so many 'OSR' attempts to re-create a perfect version of the classic version of Dungeons & Dragons but the definition of what one considers classic or perfect is so subjective. As such, they just seem to keep coming despite that this is already so much to choose from. Somehow, I don't think the trend is likely to stop anytime soon either. Many seem determined to either reinvent to wheel or offer something perceived to be 'better' somehow than what came before it. The problem with all this sort of development is that sometimes people will miss them.
It wasn't until the second edition of Whitehack, which was released earlier this year, that I took notice. Whitehack came out originally in 2013 but it was August that I started noticing a few people on social media talking about the new edition that they had just received via the POD service provided by Lulu. Curious, I do a bit of research and got a bit excited at what people were saying about it. I was a bit dismayed at the lack of PDF option and more so when people were clamoring for one since the prior edition was released. Just the same, as I was placing an order on Lulu for something else, I decided to give it a shot and got the least expensive option. I seriously doubted it would replace my go-to FRPG anyway but I always like fresh and innovative ideas.
I felt let down a bit.
I suppose my disappointment isn't directed at the author in this case. The reviews gave it more hype than I think was warranted and I think it was because some of the innovations being raved about were already a bit 'old-hat' to me. For example, the system does not use an itemized skill system and given it's 0e roots, that's hardly surprising but you can effectively get a bonus on that skill roll or task based on the species, vocation, or even affiliation of the character if associated with that particular ability. One of the examples given in the book is a character with the vocation of 'priest' associated with Charisma doing a check to try and calm a crowd. Conversely, if the character had the vocation of 'assassin' associated with the same attribute, it really wouldn't help improve that character's odds. The reason being that a priest would be trained to address groups of people where as an assassin would not.
To a degree, it reminds of Castles & Crusades and its Siege mechanic. As a system, it doesn't have any skills outside of specific class skills and there will be times where characters will attempt to do something that is not specifically itemized. A character's archetypes will help define what a character knows or doesn't know very well much like a vocation would. If this is something that they would be trained to do, and if the associated attribute is a prime attribute, they get a bonus to that check.
The difference is the bonus. In C&C, this works out to a +6 bonus. However, Whitehack keeps it simpler and you get what is referred to a 'double positive roll'. These days, this is more popularly known as the Advantage mechanic (or rather the Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic). You roll two d20 and take the best one. With Whitehack, this would be the lower of the two rolls as you want to roll equal to or below the relevant attribute score. With that in mind, there are also circumstances where you would do double negative rolls and take the worse (higher) result.
But while doing this isn't revolutionary (it pre-dates WOTC's use of this sort of mechanic in 5th Edition), it *IS* elegant in its simplicity. It's also why I have thought of trying out this instead of the +6 bonus in C&C a couple years back. However, there is a lot of other stuff that is just as elegant in Whitehack as well.
Before we explore other aspects of the game, a few more words need to be devoted to the concept of vocations in the game. These are NOT actual classes. There are at it's core just three classes. The Brave, the Deft, and the Wise which is much like True20 and its three classes -- the Warrior, the Expert, and the Adept. The vocations are one thing that help refine the archetype and character you are trying to create for yourself. This feels much more 'free form' and something that one might be more accustomed to seeing in a game like Fate.
Magic is something I was curious at seeing to see how it was implemented as I heard that it was a bit different. The good news? Forget spell lists, the ever-familiar Vancian sytems, or even a variant spell point system for the magic! However, if you are accustomed to a bit of structure in your games, forget about that too. Interestingly enough, spellcasting taxes a character's hit points and some people will like or hate that. What's interesting is HOW many hitpoints. There is no itemized spell list to choose from in this game which means there are also no itemized spell effects that you can read up. How powerful of an effect and how much it costs / taxes the spellcaster is effectively a negotiation between the player and the DM. Characters who are part of the Wise class can perform miracles. These could range from magic to some sort of science and anything in between. Each level has a number of slots and you effectively create (word) the miracles you can perform (as best related to that character's vocation presumably). These can be specific or broad but the broader it is, the higher cost it will likely be to perform. Hit point costs will be anywhere from 1 hp to 14 hp as, once again, negotiated, along with whether a save is needed or not and so on. Creating magical items also will cost hit points but this loss is permanent. There is an interesting twist to this though -- characters re-roll all of their HD when they advance a level.
One interesting concept introduced in Whitehack is an Auction system for dealing with things like chases or other circumstances where multiple checks might be required (such as gambling). It's an interesting choice to go with and does streamline the process. Along with this, the game has other interesting 'quirks' which are sure to charm some gamers out there. Whitehack certainly has a more 'collaborative' feel to game which is, in part, because of the less rigid or restrictively style it supports.
For all of its charm, the book is also relatively complete. There is a host of critters to choose from as well as some magical artifacts to quest for. You've got a small setting and a couple of adventures along with some pre-gens and advice on running your game. There are even three other 'rare' classes to presented among the various odds and ends. In short... a little bit of everything and more than enough to be self sufficient.
As far a presentation is concerned, I will say that the overall work is elegant. The two column layout, table presentation, and the headings and fonts used are all beautiful yet simple. There are no illustrations in the book but, somehow, you don't feel as if it needs it. The cover of the book is fantastic as it looks like a regular oldschool notebook and even reminds me of the sort I had in elementary school and high school. I really like the look. The writing is clear, concise, and very readable too and, given that the main rules (the player's section) occupies all of 18 pages, quite an accomplishment. The entirety of the book is 64 pages in a 6x9 format.
However, the work isn't as original or as much of a breath of fresh air as I had hoped for. I'm not unhappy to have picked it up but I'm irked that such a work was not available as a PDF either. Frankly, there isn't much of an excuse in my mind for this kind of restriction either. At $10, it isn't a hefty investment but I don't think the base print-cost would be very high. It is a work that is built upon the shoulders of others but whose innovations could easily be distilled for other purposes as well.
In the end, it becomes an interesting hack blending the love of OD&D, the OGL, and a couple of great concepts.
As no PDF is available, those interested in picking up Whitehack can do so via Lulu HERE or you can read about it at the source over HERE.
Tools of the Miniature Painter: Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner & Restorer
A few months back, I was having a terrible time with some of my Games & Gears Ichiban brushes. They were part of a Kickstarter that I took part in and I was lucky enough to get in on the early birds. My original review of them were favorable (can be read HERE) but I did run into problems with them after continual use (as I wrote HERE). I am happy to say that they DO stand behind their product though, and I got a full replacement set and then some. However, in the interim, I did have a chance to try Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner & Restorer in an attempt to try and fix, or at least improve on some of the issues I had been having.
Up to this point in time, I've been using The Master's Brush Cleaner and Preserver soap which easily did the job. However the belly of my brush heads on the Ichiban brushes were much thicker than what I had been accustomed to using. These brushes were nice to paint with but the thicker head could mean that some of my pigments were not getting cleaned out properly and could have been responsible for some of the issues I had been experiencing. In any event, I didn't have much to lose by trying. I new replacements were coming but I didn't just want to throw these problem brushes away either.
Well, the first thing I did when I opened to bottle to pour a bit was spill it naturally. I have a habit of painting over a cutting mat and, cursing my misfortune, I quickly went to the next room to get sufficient paper towels to clean up the mess. Boy did I get an interesting little surprise. You see, I've tried cleaning little spots of paint here and there -- sometimes a drop of paint will miss that mat entirely end end up on the table surface instead. Some of this paint is stubborn to clean up. When I wiped up the spill off the mat, I had paint that had been there for a couple of years just come off. Hell, the mat has a printed grid pattern of lines (it is a cutting board afterall), and this came off as well. I was simply blown away with how well it worked and what it did in a mater of less than 20 seconds.
In true form, I then looked at the instructions on the bottle just to be on the safe side. The stuff is labeled as non-hazardous, biodegradable, emitting low vapor. Sounds perfectly fine and even safe. The cautionary note on the side of the bottle reads as:
Use a non-plastic container for soaking. May damage painted, varnished, or plastic surfaces. Avoid contact with brush handles; finish may be removed.
In any event, I had a small container that I soaked the brushes in question in... overnight. They seemed better and some of the brushes actually did improve. I didn't miraculously fix my problems with the brushes but they weren't as bad. I decided to do the same with my older sable brushes but wasn't as careful. Some of the handle ended up soaking in the cleaner. Needless to say, the warning was correct. I have three brushes that basically have 'bald' spots. I cleaned them up as best as I could and, while the handles now look a bit 'funky' the brushes themselves are fine.
I even have some game science dice that had some permanent ink or paint applied that was NOT coming off. They essentially had to be re-inked and I soaked this a bit to help dislodge the unwanted numbering still in place. It was a bit of work but it did work and fairly well. Due to the nature of the plastic, exposure to the liquid was kept to a minimum.
In short, it is a great tool for the painter. I wouldn't say it replaces my brush soap but it's a great way to restore certain brushes after prolonged use to extend the life of your brushes.
Happy Painting!
Weekend R&R: Yoon-Suin - The Purple Land
Yoon-Suin... the Purple Land. A short while ago, I had absolutely no clue what this was. But, it was released earlier this year and I stumbled upon it quite accidentally as I was searching for something else that happened to be game related -- likely some other bit of old-school or indie press material. I was immediately intrigued and, coming off the relative high of 'A Red & Pleasant Land', I made a note of it and recently ordered a copy.
Upon receiving it, I was somewhat irked and disappointed. For starters, the book itself is an unusual one but I knew that before I ordered it. However, given the odd 9x7 choice for the book, I think the layout could have been better. As a campaign kit, the tables are laid out poorly in some cases and tables do form up a large portion of the book. Sometimes, the simplest of problems are immediately apparent just by flipping through. Page 87 for instance has in the Noble House table and under the NPCs column for dice result 1, you have 'Patriarch/Matriarc' with the last 'h' on the next line down albeit also centered. In the bestiary section, you have another different layout choice being a two column decision for different texts. One portion is two-thirds the width of the page and the remaining third has other text presenting different but complementary information to what else is on the page. This isn't a bad idea but this smaller bar of text could have been boxed or at least formatted a bit different in terms of the text itself. All the text is the same font and size. Of course, trying to find a good way to place it on the shelf is a whole other challenge with the way it will stick out in both size and very pink color. I really think a different shade might have worked better given that this book is about the 'purple land' and all.
But that is all cosmetic and a lot of this can be forgiven if one takes the time to actually review the content of the book. As the reader begins to the the book and go through it with some time and care, it becomes apparent why this book has gotten the praise it has.
The introductory section of the book is written in the guise of a traveler to the Yellow City and the lands surrounding it. It is an ideal way to deliver a broad overview of what you can expect in this setting and, most importantly, convey a sense of wonder and stir up the imagination -- very important if you are looking to run a new and evocative campaign. On the whole, it's a decent read that could have used just a tad more polishing (like the rest of the book for that matter). Thankfully, since this book is meant to be a toolkit, the author also provides step-by-step instructions on how to actually and effectively use the book. Examples are also given and the beauty is, there is little need to go beyond these examples to realize who brilliant this toolkit is.
I can think of no higher praise than say that this book will give you material to create a fantastic and engaging campaign and, even if Yoon-Suin or the Purple Land isn't your ultimate destination, these ideas could and SHOULD be used in other campaigns or at least be an inspiration. You start off by defining the character's Social Circle: groups, conflicts, and rivalries. Within these, you have your various NPCs and rumours or hooks concerning them. Beyond this you have tables for general rumors and hooks, a variety of encounter tables for all he general areas the book covers, and everything from politics to personalities is touched upon. Personally, starting something like a new campaign, a good network of 'background information and links' can make all the difference.
All these tables and related lore makes up the majority of the book but the book has a couple other chapters of note that precedes that material. There is a small chapter on character creation that is suited to the setting as well as a bestiary to compliment it as well. It should be noted that the book, while not designed for any particular system, will work with any compatible game with a D&D lineage. This character creation chapter also features a new character class called the Crab-man (a racial class like you would find in Basic D&D). As for the critters in the monster section, they're just fun and the greatest regret is the lack of art to help conjure an image of these curiosities.
The appendices deserves mention as well. There are multiple and many which could be readily adapted for other campaigns. They range from Appendix A through to Appendix N and which ranges from Tea and Opium to poisons and dungeon generation. The majority of these will just help detail your campaign in Yoon-Suin that much more.
Yoon-Suin, as a campaign toolkit is an interesting piece of work. There is a lot in there that commands your attention and will inspire the reader to potentially create a memorable campaign. More importantly, it will help you to create YOUR OWN Yoon-Suin campaign. It is well put together and logically organized but it is also a series of steps which the GM will need to take to get the most of this tool kit. It is not however, something you can just pick up and run even through without adequate prep. It is not a ready-made campaign adventure.
It is a decent book and, while off putting at first glance, has a lot to offer. It is a diamond in the rough and one worth picking up. If, like me, you might find a 9x7 landscape a bit awkward to work with, you can just pick up the PDF over HERE on RPGNow (OBS) for $9.24 USD. However, if you like the feel of a book in your hands, you get get a physical copy from Lulu with their POD services (HERE) for $20.66 USD.
Mechanics of Magic Items
Two things have brought about today's 'reflective' post:
My recent review on the Cypher System Rulebook by Monte Cook Games (which you can read HERE)
The 'Classic Treasure' stretch goal in the current Classic Monsters Kickstarter (which you can find HERE)
My recent examination of the Cypher System and, in particular how the game places particular importance on what they refer to Cyphers in the game did refresh my memory regarding how we gamed and, in some cases, how we *used* to game. Monte Cook emphasized the importance of giving Cyphers, which are basically 'game changers' that are meant to be used and are very much 'limited' in terms of number of uses. Basically, the translate into short-term power ups that can give access to abilities or powers that would normally not be available to a given character.
In a Fantasy type game, this could be as simple as a potion that can heal, allow a person to become invisible, or even fly! Likewise, a Science Fiction type game can do the same things but instead of a potion, it could easily be in the guise of an alien device.
In the end, what they do isn't as important as how they are given out and, more importantly, used. We forget that, before the trend of a desire for greater character customization in our various roleplaying games, 'customization' came in the form of magic items. You went down a dungeon, defeated the monster, and sometimes got some treasure. Aside from anything monetary, some of those were magical items and these helped further customize and define characters. As someone who was playing earlier editions of D&D, this wasn't ever a problem. When you consider ever popular video games today, this is very much still a thing and looking towards Diablo, you will find this tried formula still in play. But somewhere along the way, the plots and motivations became more of a goal than just loot and killing monsters and customization was more about building a character with a history, motivations, and a personality. Magical gear is always cool -- just not the end game.
However in that shift, how these items were treated changed as well. Magic should be a bit more special so maybe the decision is made to scale back. Or the desire to 'save' something for when you really need it when it comes to a potion or scroll. At which point, these might just end up as a collection of magical a character happens to have.
Perhaps 'disposable' things should like potions or scrolls and other limited use items be put into play a bit more often. Yeah... that potion of Spider Climb might be viewed as 'meh' but that wizard in the party with a certain lack of upper body strength and genuine skill for the task at hand could find it useful if you know the next adventure could have some difficult climbing challenges ahead. Encourage the use of these tools and maybe have an expiration date of some of these things. Potions could easily have a limited shelf life and when parties find all these potions and some of these are duds due to age, they may react differently when the find a couple that are still good.
As for bigger and more lasting items ... nothing changes there depending on the game you play. The new edition of D&D now limits enchanted weapons and armor up to +3 items in part because of how the game is design and scales now as far as the system is concerned. It is still a concrete way to give the party a bit more to work with by making things a bit easier to hit and damage or making them a bit tougher to hit.
But those special items could be the objective of certain quests themselves if you prefer having magic restricted in your campaign. With all these years of gaming, it's a special item that can still surprise a player. It needn't be powerful... just a bit unusual or fun. Over the years, I have managed to reduce my collection of gaming books but, for my second edition books, besides the core and options books that I have decided to keep (the black ones), I have kept my four volume set of Encyclopedia Magica because it just collected so many diverse magical items all in one source. Frankly I should use it more given what I have just written and am thinking about.
The Case of James M. Ward
James Ward's work is beloved by many gamers as one of the TSR Alumni. His earliest published work was one he co-authored for the original D&D boxed set, "Gods, Demi-Gods, and Heroes". More importantly (perhaps), he is known for "Metamorphosis Alpha". He has been sick on and off the past few years, and recently there have been problems that have sent him back to the hospital. Health Care is expensive in the States and, even if some of that is covered by some sort of insurance, other bills still have a way of piling up.
Since the latest bit of news has become news, there have been attempts to raise funds from the gaming community to help out Mr. Ward with all his bills to a varying degree of success. However, there have been two things I have seen that I was displeased with.
1) Not everyone is a fan of Ward, or his work. The reasons for this do not matter but bashing these charitable efforts or the man himself is just not warranted.
2) I have heard of instances where other small (indie) publishers in the OSR were almost being pressured to give a percentage of sales or simply to give. That's just not cool even if intentions were good.
But it occurred to me, quite simply, one of the good ways to possibly support Ward and gaming in general.
Thanks to the effort of Goodman Games, there has been a recent resurgence of interest in Metamorphosis Alpha. They ran a successful Kickstarter last year and another one to expand the quantity of in-print material this year. This is great news of course but MA isn't just available through Goodman Games or those Kickstarters.
You can get a PDF copy of the over at RPGNow (OBS services) right HERE if you are so inclined. At at $5.99, it's a great deal and the majority of that money all goes to 'WardCo' -- so potentially speaking, right in his pocket. If you like that idea, there are other stuff if you look under WardCo, like the 4th edition of MA and a few other inexpensive PDFs supporting MA too.
Already have it or maybe you crave something a little more tangible? You can get a print-on-demand copy of Metamorphosis Alpha for $14.99 USD over HERE. Like the RPGNow version, it's got corrections and is cleaned up a bit and since he's the one making it available, he's the one that will be getting a cut from each sale. So, buy a copy for yourself... better yet... buy multiple copies and give them to other gamers that haven't had the opportunity to pick up a copy.
Most importantly... play the game.
I really do applaud the efforts of some that are directly raising funds and there is nothing wrong with that but, in my mind, buying these PDFS or POD books will put some money in his pocket too with the added benefit of getting people talking and even playing his stuff.
Anyway, it's what I did. About 3 weeks ago or so, I ordered a copy off of Lulu which now sits along with my Gamma World stuff. And, for my convenience, I will be grabbing the PDF as well. The next step will be running a session (hopefully) and, if it goes well, maybe there will be a few more copies ordered off Lulu.
To date the GoFundMe page has raised over $15,000 (the campaign can be found HERE) and that's great. But in my mind, supporting his work which is why the community has come to care in the first place, is equally as important. If enough people do this, these sales won't be a small drop in the bucket either and, every dollar counts right?
Kickstart This: Classic Monsters (2nd print)
It is no secret that I love Castles & Crusades. Once in a while when the stars align, I even publish material for the game. It is my go-to FRPG of choice largely due to its lineage to D&D and rules light approach and ease of play that presents itself withing the pages of its books.
Needless to say, I am happy with it and while it's been a long road from that horrid 1st printing of the Player's Handbook, each printing bought massive improvements to the editing, layout, and just the overall look of the books. The most recent printing of the books have elevated Castles & Crusades to a higher level of publishing as well. The latest incarnations of the Players Handbook, Monsters & Treasure book, and the Castles Keepers Guide have an expanded page count and improved layout with a slightly bigger font (for our aging eyes). More importantly, each book are have beautiful, full color pages much like one expects to see in a top-shelf Paizo product or something from Wizards of the Coast.
An increasing fanbase helped bring this about, largely thanks to their continued success with Kickstarter as a platform to simply do more and produce something that they have always envisioned.
Now, this newest campaign is to reprint the Classic Monsters book for C&C. The first printing of the book was, interestingly enough, the first project that TLG funded via Kickstarter (and the first project I personally backed). It was good campaign and was backed by 166 backers and raised $9108 back towards the end of 2011. The book was a 144 page hardback with B/W interiors -- the same as all the other books in their line. If you want to read more about it, I have three posts about it HERE, HERE and HERE.
The present campaign has a modest goal of $3000 and is running in a shorter time frame than the usual project (12 days). The text will be cleaned up, inconsistencies, corrected, and that sort of thing. It should have NO problem funding but it's the stretch goals we should all concern ourselves with:
At $5000, the book is expanded to include 'Classic Treasure'
At $7000, the book is getting new cover art (the old art was very nice actually)
At $9000, there's a full color poster.
Ok... I don't care about the poster. It's nice to have but I understand what they are doing here by ramping up the goals. The next one is the big one and the one EVERYONE who loves the game and the book should care about:
At $12,000, the books goes full color.
Beyond that? Who knows. Honestly, I think the shorter campaign might mean that it won't go much higher than 12k and that is assuming it does go that high.
As for value, there is plenty here are the very start. $10 gets you a digital copy and $25 gets you a physical copy as well as a digital one. I expect those two pledge levels to do well enough given it's not a brand new book but a new printing. There is a $49 level that gets you all that the $25 level has to offer plus a nice T-Shirt and other goodies (including whatever they 'throw in' as the campaign moves). There are only two higher tiers... one at $99 which gives you an additional leather copy of the book and the upper tier at $125.
Both these tiers also include free domestic shipping but that $125 tier is the one that will be the 'best value' and if you know someone who might want to get into C&C or haven't gotten the new books, this is the one you should consider. At $125, not only do you get the Classic Monsters book but the PHB, M&T, and CKG as well! Those three books alone would retail $110 so I really think this is a great deal.
In any event, I highly suggest you check it out if you are remotely interested. This thing has barely just started but there is less than two weeks to go! You can find more info about the campaign HERE.
Weekend R&R: Cypher System Rulebook
It has been a HOT weekend here in Montreal and unseasonably so considering we find ourselves during the Labor Day Weekend. It doesn't feel like a sunny day in September but a sunny day at the peak of summer! It's been too hot to do any serious writing or painting for the better part of the long weekend but, nonetheless, I'm taking the time to put down my thoughts on the Cypher System Rulebook I picked up at GenCon just over a month ago. The book is quite the brick.
Now, I have never played Numenara or The Strange but I haven't been living under a rock -- I know that there is a great following for both of these games. I'd only looked at bits of pieces of the game in the past and it looked very promising. When I found out that Monte Cook was putting out a universal system book for the Cypher Sytem which is what makes both these RPGs work, I was immediately interested. Besides, I do like some on Cook's work so anything he puts out is worth a look in my opinion.
Of course, not everything is perfect. At $60 USD, I had to think twice because I live in Canada. There was a pre-order for the book and your $60 got you the book, the PDF, and I signed bookplate if I remember correctly. Factoring shipping to Canada looked to be an extra $40. A hundred dollars!? And that's before the exchange rate and the Canadian dollar hasn't been doing so well the past couple of months. It would about to about $130 in Canadian funds and let's face it... at that price, it isn't an 'impulse buy' by any means. At the $100 mark, it becomes an 'investment'.
Naturally, fans will go on to say that it's a beautiful, full-color, 416-page hardcover so the price tag is warranted. Perhaps it is but it doesn't change the fact that unless you are already invested in the system (thanks to Numenara or The Strange), new comers are just not likely to pick up the book out of the blue. The entry price is just a bit too daunting for the person who is curious but otherwise has had no prior experience with it. This is perhaps my biggest criticism about the book in general. Thankfully, the price for the PDF is very reasonable and will only set you back $20.
For a 'generic system book' that page count does sound like a lot and... it is. The system and workings itself is actually very well covered in a mere six pages with helps to ease the reader into the wealth of information that follows. The rules are greatly detailed and expanded up later in the book once the character creation material is largely dealt with. As the reader presses on, they will likely be struck at how simple the system is built up. In short, the Cypher system is a rules-light game which places story about rules but manages to do so without sacrificing character detail.
In fact, just flipping through the book might prompt some to think of FATE as far as game philosophy is concerned. Difficulties are determined on a scale from 1 to 10 for instance and characters are defined by a descriptor, type, and focus. This might end up looking a 'Doomed Barbarian who Hunts Outcasts". The character is basically built up from there.
The character type is basically the archetype... this could be a Warrior of some sort (anything from a knight, police officer, or a merc for example) and will also go to serve to define the base abilities (there are three: Might, Speed, and Intellect) and detail the different tiers (or levels) of that character type. Along with the type, you have the descriptor that helps define the character further and provides mechanical aspects for the game (be it bonuses to abilities, skills, etc). And then, you have the focus which serves to flesh out the character even further but is also broken up into various tiers.
Aside from a chapter that explains the stats and how they work (the three stats each have a pool and an edge) and another on equipment, the majority of this section of the book is devoted to character type, descriptor, and focus to end up being over 170 pages of the rulebook before you come to the second part of the book.
The next section of the book simply details the rules a lot more concisely, provides examples, and offers a host of optional rules as well. While the rulebook briefly explains the central mechanic that the game works on, the expanded section don't make things anymore complicated. Basically, the player wants to do an action with his character and the GM determines a difficulty on a scale of 1-10 (easiest to basically impossible). Character skills may reduce this number (up to a max of 2 steps) and other factors called assets (like someone helping or some special equipment) can further reduce this number. Lastly, the character can expend effort to further reduce the difficulty. Effort expended is taken from the related ability's pool. If between these three things, the difficulty is reduced to 0, then the task is automatically succeeded. Otherwise, the remaining difficulty is multiplied by three and pass or fail is determined by the roll of a d20.
Combat is equally simple. The level of the opponent becomes that base difficulty number. A character will have to attack or defend against that difficulty. On a hit, damage is actually fixed based on the weapon's rating -- nothing is rolled. Armor will simply reduce damage as well as opposed to making someone harder to hit. Depending on the nature of the attack, a character inflicts (or takes if they are defending) damage which is applied to one of the three ability pools.
Of course, the GM is at liberty to throw in what is called an intrusion to the game. Basically, this is a complication for the character but to do so, XP is awarded to the characters. However, a player can spend XP to cancel that complication. Intrusions is one way to gain XP which is used for to gain character benefits in-game or possible advancement as long as it fits in with the story. Aside from that, the GM may award XP for the completion of a special goal or a discovery made. No XP for monsters.
At this point, I admit I was really intrigued and actually excited about how this game works.
Part III of the books is all about genres. It is a generic book and the book certainly does a good job at covering all the bases. Specifically, it covers Fantasy, Modern, Science Fiction, Horror, and Superheroes. However, it is relatively 'basic' with the actual content in each respective genre. They make for a great building block but are, by no means, pre-made settings. These are great for one-shorts or short stints in a genre; sort of a break away from the regular gaming routine. None of these exceed eight pages but, most of the relevant info is elsewhere in the book. These summarize and suggest what you should be using to fit the genre in question.
Part IV is the last significant section of the book and it intended for the GM. You have creatures and NPCs and, more importantly, the thing that the game derives its name from: Cyphers. Cyphers are basically one-use items that happen to be some sort of 'game-changer'. These could be potions or alien technology and meant to be frequently discovered and used. They aren't meant to be like 'treasure' and hoarded as a result and characters can only have a maximum number that they can have in their possession at any one time. The purpose of these items is to provide and ever changing set of variables so that the game never feels dull and predictable. Why are these important? Well, given that a characters abilities, skills, and powers are pretty much set once they have been created, the regular use of different cyphers from game to game will actually help with the overall game experience for the players and the evolution of the story told by the GM. These Cyphers are like temporary abilities they wouldn't normally have access to. Admittedly, this is also something that some people who have played in other games might have problems adjusting to this at first but the concept makes sense.
The book finishes off with an index, and campaign planning sheet, and a character sheet. Needless to say it is an impressive book.
There is a LOT to like in the book and there are a LOT of pages to go through. And yet... the book and content seems simple enough. It almost seems like the book SHOULD be smaller given the rules-light feel to it and there is a part of me that wishes it was smaller. Smaller might mean more economical but, at the same time, I'm not certain what could be cut in order to do this. It is a beautiful tome but at $60 USD, it might be difficult for some people to drop the cash on the book. However, there is some fantastic potential with it and, thankfully they have built up a base of support due to the success of their previous Cypher games. Ultimately, the book is a giant toolkit but one which is very approachable. People with a clear story they want to tell and run as a campaign may find exactly what they need with this game if they are ready to break away from their comfort zones to try something a bit different.
If you want to save a bit of money and get the PDF version of the book, you can find a copy HERE (on RPGNow which is part of OBS).
Censorship and the OBS
Since I've starting blogging here on the 'Under Siege' blog, I have rarely delved into the issues of censorship much. With the recent news about OneBookShelf's "Offensive Content Policy" (which can be reviewed HERE), some publishers who distribute through them (being sites like RPGNow and Drivethru) have started to speak out and, in some cases, freak out a bit.
It's only understandable that they do and it's only understandable that OBS has decided to try and institute this policy and figure out how to best 'police it'. More importantly, I support the OBS position on this. While people may decry censorship, a large factor here is the simple fact that OBS is a business which caters to a niche market.
However, what will harm OBS more? Potential loss of customers who are offended by a single title out of hundreds? Or the loss of a successful publisher who delivers 'edgy content' intended for a mature audience because some of these titles could get flagged and removed?
Let's be pragmatic about this for a moment. You, the customer, see something that makes you really uncomfortable. You've bought dozens of PDFs in the past year and even more since you started using the service. Do you really think you can see something that offends you so much as to want to avoid browsing through their constantly updated digital catalog? Let's say that you do. Where would you get your PDF fix if not using OBS. A handful of other places offer options though these tend to be straight from the publisher themselves. If they are truly a small publisher, they may not have their own setup for PDF distribution.
But if you ARE a regular user of their services, I seriously doubt you would stop using them. You just won't buy from or support that one publisher that put out that offensive crap and move on with your life.
Publishers have a bit more of a moral obligation but, only up to a small point. There is something to be said about freedom of expression though art and written word as well as context. The Lamentations of the Flame Princess material is brilliant and well put together and definitely intended for a mature audience. I can imagine that some people not knowing any better *could* be offended by some of that material.
I am not one of them.
A few years ago, Geoffrey McKinney released 'Carcosa' which was intended as an OD&D supplement. Comments and opinions were split and extreme. Some gamers considered the work 'filth' where as others appreciated the Lovecraft / Chambers angle. I immediately ordered it. A 'censored' version was released to appease certain elements in the community (or at least, that is how I saw it) and, at some point later, an expanded second edition was released by Lamentations of the Flame Princess. The book has done very well and this is just one of their titles that might be deemed 'controversial'. I have a few of them.
No matter how this ends up working out with OBS now, I doubt there is any cause for concern. The material is very popular and the nature of the material is clearly stated and these are factors that a sensible business wont' be able to ignore. Anyone who flags the content as being a problem would likely be going out of their way to target these products in this matter but I'm sure OBS is aware that too. How OBS decides to react to these situations as they arise will be very important.
I don't like the idea of a single and final say by one man but judgement by committee isn't much of a solution either. I admire that they don't want to specifically itemize what is objectionable but I'm equally convinced that a small measure of commonsense all around will be needed going forward. At the end of the day, the loss of a couple of customers is less damaging than the loss of successful and contributing sales.
But... what if...
What if Lamentations of the Flame Princess is forced to pull their catalog. What if other publishers decide to pull away from OBS because of this perceived censorship. Frankly, that doesn't seem to be as much of a problem as some publishers have made it to be. If these items are in demand, people will seek them out and follow. And really... if there is a need for a new alternative to OBS, maybe this is a chance for a new one to stake their claim and rise up as a competitor.
Because, in the end, this isn't really about censorship. It's just business as usual.
Tools of the Miniature Painter: Winsor & Newton Br...
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Fred Berry
Fred Berry was an actor famed for his role as Rerun Stubbs in the 1970's TV Show What's Happening!! which he played for over a decade. Berry was also a founding member of the renowned street dance group The Lockers, an official member of the group from 1973-76 prior to his work on TV.
Street Dance NY to LA: Toni Basil Presents a Decade of Los Angeles Street Dance
Fred Berry, Pete Solomon, The Lockers, Toni Basil, Dance, 1980s
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Exhibition presents a compelling and nuanced portrait of the unprecedented changes unfolding in Mecca
Ahmed Mater (Saudi, born 1979). Gas Station Leadlight, 2013. C-print, 60 x 90 in. (152.4 x 228.6 cm). Courtesy of the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana. © Ahmed Mater.
BROOKLYN, NY.- The Brooklyn Museum presents Ahmed Mater: Mecca Journeys, an unprecedented look into the changes unfolding in Mecca, by one of the most significant cultural voices documenting the realities of the iconic city. Saudi artist Ahmed Mater began his monumental documentary project in 2008, bearing witness to the extraordinary expansion, demolition, and new construction transforming the city. The exhibition features large-scale photographs of Mecca, as well as more intimate images of its diverse inhabitants, alongside six videos, a sculpture, and an installation piece. Focusing on the site of the annual hajj pilgrimage for millions of Muslims, as well as the living and working conditions of Meccas permanent residents, Ahmed Mater: Mecca Journeys presents a complex portrait of extreme urban redevelopment and the direct effects of the ongoing reconstruction of the holy city.
Ahmed Mater: Mecca Journeys is curated by Catherine J. Morris, Sackler Senior Curator for the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. The exhibition, on view from December 1, 2017, through April 8, 2018, is organized by the Brooklyn Museum in partnership with the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) and is produced in collaboration with CULTURUNNERS.
What started as a desire to show only the changes taking place has ended with a full and exhaustive depiction of a site that can be accessed only by those of the Islamic faith, states Mater. This collection of images, with their diverse and extreme points of reference, represents the deliberately experimental, meandering, and serendipitous nature of my journey to the heart of Mecca. They are testaments to the cultural and political conditions of contemporary Saudi society.
The presentation is anchored by a suite of photographs from the series Desert of Pharan, published as a book, Desert of Pharan: Unofficial Histories behind the Mass Expansion of Mecca (Lars Müller Publishers, 2016), the artists monumental, multiyear documentary project that captures the voices and experiences of Meccas inhabitants and hajj pilgrims. For Mater, Desert of Pharan is an unofficial history of the social and political life of the city within the global context of the Muslim diaspora. Photographs on view document the influx of wealth into the city, including images of luxury hotel rooms with views of the Mecca Royal Clock Tower, as well as the lives of workers on construction sites, among them the large population of Rohingya who have immigrated to the city from Myanmar (formerly Burma) for decades.
Catherine Morris states, As Mecca is a city that can be visited only by Muslims, I was drawn to Maters work as a window into a place and a cultural experience many people in the world will never have the opportunity to see first-hand. Before becoming an artist, Mater practiced as a medical doctor who specialized in community health, and his sensitivity to the implications of social well-being on an individual and a communal level, as reflected in the rapidly changing city, makes Mecca Journeys both a monumental cultural document and a highly personal exploration.
Ahmed Mater: Mecca Journeys also presents the sculpture Magnetism (2009) and the installation piece Mecca Windows (2013ongoing), as well as six videos that focus on the complex cultural dynamics at work in Mecca today. Fusing Maters scientific, religious, and cultural interests, Magnetism uses a black magnet surrounded by iron filings to suggest the congregation of pilgrims around the Kaaba, the holiest site in the Islamic world. On view for the first time, Mecca Windows is a floor-to-ceiling installation of windows saved from historical buildings, which are progressively being demolished in the city. During his time residing in Mecca, Mater befriended many immigrant workers and asked them to record their everyday encounters with the city. The resulting video, Leaves Fall in All Seasons (2013), stitches together mobile-phone footage that captures what these men considered pivotal moments, including the captivating image of a worker installing the golden crescent atop the Mecca Royal Clock Tower.
Ahmed Mater (born 1979, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia) is a multidisciplinary artist who creates work that investigates Islamic culture at the intersection of consumerism and religion. Mater grew up in Abha in the capital of Aseer, a region in southwest Saudi Arabia, near the Yemeni border. Trained as a physician, Mater studied at King Khalid University in Abha. In an artistic practice that combines interests in photography, film, performance, and sculpture, Mater creates work at once aesthetically masterly and politically engaged, utilizing scientific methodologies learned in his medical training to blend conceptual practices with Islamic subjects, themes, and aesthetics. He is also a manager and director of projects on international and regional platforms and, in 2017, was appointed Executive Manager, MiSK Art Institutepart of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Foundation. Mater lives and works between Riyadh, Jeddah, and Abha, Saudi Arabia.
Two Gustav Klimt masterpieces on loan to the National Gallery of Canada
Van Abbemuseum opens the first comprehensive survey of Rasheed Araeen's work
Helmut Newton Foundation opens exhibition of works by Guy Bourdin, Helmut Newton, and Angelo Marino
Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon opens "Los Modernos. Dialogues France/Mexico"
Glenstone Museum announces late 2018 expansion opening
Looted Angkor jewellery returned to Cambodia
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac exhibits a new series of paintings by Alex Katz
Anita Rogers Gallery presents a selection of drawings and paintings by British painter Jack Martin Rogers
Exhibiion explores the lives and work of a number of women from the early history of psychoanalysis
Andrew Edlin Gallery presents exhibitions by Vahakn Arslanian and a new project, Et Tu, Art Brute?
Albertz Benda opens a solo exhibition of works by artist TR Ericsson
Almine Rech Gallery opens exhibition of works by Ryoji Ikeda
Museum de Fundatie exhibits photos taken by Humberto Tan during his visit to refugee camps
Raha Raissnia creates two series of charcoal drawings for exhibition at the Drawing Center
The Danysz Gallery opens Abdul Rahman Katanani's first monographic exhibition in France
New Museum with creative agency Droga5 launches "New Museum LIVE"
Brad Delp's concert grand piano and memorabilia to be auctioned
Historic animation birthday milestones lead Heritage Auctions' 1,000-lot Vintage Animation Art Sale
Schmell Part II realizes $1.4+ million at $8.75 million Heritage Comics & Comic Art Auction
Live online sale offers intriguing selection, including fossils, historical nautical items, etchings & more
Famous Donegal artist's paintings up for auction
Exhibition of works by the British artist Rose Finn-Kelcey opens at Firstsite
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Music Concepts, Terms & Theory
Key: The core set of notes on which a piece is based. Think of this as “home base”. A piece in B-flat will usually begin and end on B-flat. Sometimes the music will modulate (change) into a new key in the middle of a piece, which becomes the new “home base”.
Major: This describes the key. In its basic form, a major key sounds “happy”.
(C major is C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C)
Minor: This also describes the key. In its basic form, a minor key sounds “sad”.
(C minor is C-D-Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-C)
Tempo: how fast or slow the music is played.
Metronome Marking: Specifies speed as “beats per minute”. A metronome marking of 60 means that the music has one beat per second.
Beat: The basic pulse or “heartbeat” of the music. These beats are grouped into basic units (measures or bars) that form the basic rhythmic track of the piece. A LOT of music, especially pop and rock, uses four beats to a measure.
Meter: Displayed as two numbers, which tell the musician how many and what kind of notes make up each measure. A waltz is usually in 3/4 (three beats per measure; thequarter note gets the beat). Here’s an interesting video that plays a snippet of a song in a few different meters.
Syncopation: when the rhythm gives a bit of a “hiccup”, or “trip”. If you’ve listened to anyragtime, you’ve heard syncopation.
Off-beats: The “pah” in “oom-pah”
Triplet: Basically, it’s dividing one beat into three equal parts. A lot of music divides that beat into two parts. Think “an-i-mal an-i-mal an-i-mal”, where “an” falls on your beat. Say it with a steady pulse.
Interval: Distance between two notes. C–>D is a second, C–>E is a third, etc.
Chord: Notes played simultaneously as a harmonic unit. Probably the first chord that comes to mind is a triad, which has three notes based on thirds. C-E-G is a triad (C to E is a third, and E to G is a third).
Suspension: In a progression of chords, one note of a chord stays put for a beat or so while the other notes have moved to the next chord. The lagging note will then move into its proper position. So instead of going from C-F-A directly to C-E-G, the F might stay for a beat before resolving down to E.
Melody: The tune. A series of musical notes that forms the primary “narration” of a song. The melody is what you go home whistling – it’s typically the first thing you remember when thinking about a song.
Countermelody: This is the ice cream to the apple pie. Both are great on their own, and can stand alone. But when combined, they produce an extra level of deliciousness. The countermelody is another tuneful phrase like a melody, but it is used to support the melody, not to be the star (though a good countermelody can sometimes upstage the star!)
(thanks to the husband for the a la mode analogy)
Theme: A musical idea of a piece (or section of a piece). It’s similar to how a theme works in a novel. There can be multiple themes, they can be short or long, and they can be manipulated (i.e. starts out in three but you hear it in four later on). When analyzing a piece of music, themes are mapped out and designated A, B, C, D, etc. in the order in which they appear in the piece. There are various ways to indicate if and how a theme has changed, such as using an apostrophe after the letter (A’)
Motif: A musical idea. It can be rhythmic, melodic or harmonic. Motifs help to create unity throughout the piece. Perhaps the most recognizable is the “da-da-da-dummm” of Beethoven’s fifth symphony. Themes and motifs are related; I think of a motif as more of a fragment or phrase and a theme as a sentence.
Movement: A section of a piece of music, usually self-contained. Symphonies and concertos typically have 3-4 movements. There is usually a break after each movement, although that line gets blurred sometimes. Movements often have different moods and themes from the other movements in the piece.
Arpeggio: Chords that are played one note at a time, instead of all at once.
Form: The song’s blueprint. Probably the most familiar would be a pop song, which often has a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, verse, chorus. Or something very similar. Mid-South Community College (AR) has a nice page outlining musical form.
Sonata: A composition for piano alone, or for another instrument with piano accompaniment, usually consisting of three to four movements.
Woodwinds: Clarinet, flute, oboe, bassoon, saxophone, etc.
Brass: Trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba, euphonium, baritone, etc.
Keyboards: Piano, organ, harpsichord, etc.
Percussion: Drums, timpani, xylophone, gong, and many other fun toys. Basically anything you smack or shake (more thanks to my husband for supplying that last bit)
Range: This describes how high or low an instrument or voice reaches. Flutes are high-range, tubas are low-range. Saxes and French horns are in the middle.
Tone color: The particular qualities of an instrument’s sound. Is it nasal? Mellow? Bright? Differences happen not only between instruments, but also within the same instrument. For example, a trumpet often sounds quite different when played for jazz than when played for orchestra.
Dynamics: The volume of music.
Piano: In this case, it means “soft”, not to be confused with the keyboard instrument.
Forte: Loud
Mezzo: Medium, middle. Mezzo piano is medium soft, mezzo forte is medium loud.Mezzo doesn’t stand on its own, it’s used as a modifier.
Crescendo: Gradually get louder
Decresendo: Gradually get softer.
Articulation: How the notes are played in terms of length, smoothness, etc.
Staccato: Separated, usually interpreted as “short”
Legato:Long, connected, smooth
Accent: There are several different types, but they commonly have some sort of emphasis on the front end of the note
Trill: A rapid back-and-forth between two adjacent notes. Listen to any march, and you’ll probably hear some trills in the flutes and piccolo.
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Home • Schedule • Archives • About • Members • Links
Kim Varnadoe
Kimberly Varnadoe, Associate Professor of Art at Salem College, is an active printmaker/photographer who exhibits her work frequently in North Carolina and throughout the Southeast. She specializes in innovative studio techniques, which often combine experimental photography, printmaking and book arts. Kim received her M.F.A with a concentration in Printmaking from The University of Memphis in 1991 and her BFA from The University of South Alabama in 1983.
Kimberly Varnadoe’s recent work consists of large-scale Polaroid emulsion lifts of angel statues photographed on Porte Sant’Angelo in Rome (Bridge of Angels). Kim traveled to Italy in 2005 where she first encountered these Angel statues. She then traveled to New York in the spring of 2009 to attend the 20 x 24 Studio and shoot images using the large-scale Polaroid camera. This was possible due to the support from the 2008-09 Regional Artists Project Grant from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.
Savannah Angel
Attic Doorway
Memory - White House Hotel
Yellow Angel, Rome
Long Garden Doorway with Veil
The Damsel
Click on image for a larger view
Artworks exhibits: November 2018 September 2017, October 2016, October 2015, October 2014, September 2013, June 2012, November 2010, July 2009, May 2008, August 2007, February 2006
© 2007-2017 Artworks Gallery, Inc. All rights to images in this site remain with the respective artists. Images may not be displayed, printed, published or reproduced without permission of the artist. Webmaster Public Relations: Alix Hitchcock
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All Manchester Final On The Drift
Manchester City and United have never met in a European final and the odds on that happening in the Champions League this season are bigger after City lost to Tottenham. The possibility could be even more remote after United play Barcelona at Old Trafford tonight. The Spanish club have won eight and drawn one of their last nine matches and could leave Manchester with another win under their belt. United must avoid defeat to keep in the hunt for a semi-final place and a goalless draw would not be a bad outcome. The ALL MANCHESTER FINAL is 20/1 with BetVictor.
The omens are not good for tonight’s meeting because United have scored just one goal in four matches at home in the current Champions League campaign. Lionel Messi has scored 47 goals in all competitions while Luis Suarez has scored seven times in nine starts. On the other hand Barca have not won in six away knockout matches in the Champions League. However, in La Liga the Catalans are playing exceptionally well. United have lost three of their last four matches and are sixth in the Premier League. BARCELONA must be backed at Evens with Ladbrokes.
Ajax meet Juventus in Amsterdam in the other quarter-final first leg match in the Champions League. The Italian champions are big favourites to qualify for the last four and slight favourites to win the first match. However, Ajax played wonderfully well when beating Real Madrid in the last 16 and have lost just one home match in all competitions this season. Juve are about to win the Italian title for the 35th time but have not impressed when opponents have attacked the defence with relish. Therefore, the best bet is a win for AJAX at 11/5 with Ladbrokes.
There is a decent card at Nottingham today with £109,000 in prize money up for grabs which is not bad for a midweek fixture at a minor track. The highlight and most open contest in the Class 3 handicap over one mile and half a furlong at 3.35. Qaysar is the top weight and could have something in hand but this is a first start in 293 days. Ryan Moore has been booked to ride NEW GRADUATE and he has a good record for the stable and his mount is the selection at 4/1 with Betfair.
Filed Under: Betfan, Horse Racing, Soccer Tagged With: BARCELONA, Champions League, La Liga, Lionel Messi
March 5, 2019 By admin Leave a Comment
A Night Of Goals In The Champions League
Tottenham’s season seems to be unraveling but a crisis will become a drama if they are knocked out of the Champions League tonight. They have a 3-0 lead over Borussia Dortmund heading into the second leg of the last 16 tie in Germany. It would be unthinkable if Borussia managed a turnaround but they have never come back from three-nil down in Europe. The stadium will be rocking if the hosts score early.
The home team have scored in 26 of their last 27 outings but that they have conceded in all but two of their last 12 matches. If Tottenham score an away goal Borussia need five to progress and they have conceded 13 times in six fixtures. The Bundesliga leaders will go for broke in the first half and that should create space for Kane so the bet is BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE at 1/2 with Ladbrokes.
Real Madrid have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the last eight years. Things are going badly wrong in domestic football but with a 2-1 lead from the away leg Madrid should progress again at the expense of Ajax in the Spanish capital tonight. History is on the side of the home team because Ajax have won just two of their last 15 meetings with Spanish sides and lost all seven against Real.
Madrid have played three matches at home since the first leg in Amsterdam and suffered three defeats. They are too far off the pace in La Liga and Barcelona got rid of them in the Spanish Cup. Ajax are above average scorers in the Eredivisie and Champions League and can score tonight. An early goal for the visitors would put a cat among the pigeons and nicely set up OVER 3.5 GOALS at Evens with Coral.
The highest grade and most lucrative race today is the Class 3 novices’ limited handicap chase over three miles and a bit and Exeter (4.15). Spring Wolf is a progressive horse but unproven over the distance while Garrane’s best form is earlier in his career. THE OGLE GOGLE MAN goes well on the projected soft going and the distance won’t be an issue so is the selection at 5/1 with Ladbrokes.
Filed Under: Betfan, Horse Racing, Soccer Tagged With: Champions League, La Liga, Spanish Cup, Spring Wolf
December 12, 2018 By admin Leave a Comment
Dead Rubbers For City And United
Manchester City and Manchester United have already qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League ahead of tonight’s fixtures on match day six. Both their opponents cannot finish in the top two so in theory the matches at home to Hoffenheim and at Valencia are dead rubbers. Liverpool and Tottenham qualified last night so all four teams from the Premier League will be playing in the knockout stages.
There is nothing to be gained from winning the group rather than finishing second so City and United have very little to play for other than pride. Valencia can only finish third so are already heading for the Europa League and there is only a small chance of Hoffenheim overhauling Shakhtar in third place. The double on two DRAWS pays 22/1 with Ladbrokes.
Last weekend’s Premier League match at Chelsea did not go well for City. They lost for the first time this season and the atmosphere was toxic. Abuse of any type is still prevalent in English football and there is a line between passionately supporting your team and acting like a brat. City have a long injury list and being competitive at home against Everton is the priority. In the meeting with Hoffenheim UNDER 2.5 GOALS is 13/5 with Paddy Power.
In the last 20 Valencia matches in La Liga and the Champions League only three have produced more than two goals. The reverse fixture at Old Trafford was a goalless draw. Jose Mourinho’s squad suggests the match is an inconvenience ahead of the away match with Liverpool in the league on Sunday. Team selection and motivation will be key but the circumstances point to BOTH TEAMS NOT TO SCORE at 11/10 with Betfair.
The racing is more than ordinary with no standout race that is worth three figures to the winner. The nap of the day is running in the maiden hurdle at Leicester (1.30) over just less than two miles. There are only two winners in the 12 runner field and Cardigan Bay has something to find with the favourite. That horse is EBONY GALE who won a bumper last season and is 6/4 with William Hill to win this race today
Filed Under: Betfan, Horse Racing, Soccer Tagged With: Champions League, DRAWS, La Liga, Premier League
Atletico Madrid had the best defence in La Liga statistically last season but tonight’s Super Cup match against Real Madrid has goals written all over it if you take the evidence of recent outcomes. The match that brings together the winners of the Champions League and Europa League is basically a pre-season friendly but when rivals from the same city meet there will be a competitive edge to the match. The last eight Super Cup meetings have produced 28 goals at an average of 3.5 goals per match. However, Atletico’s mean defence and Real’s weakened starting 11 may make this a relatively tight contest so UNDER 2.5 GOALS is the bet at 4/6 with Coral.
At the end of last season’s Champions League final Gareth Bale basically said “I want to leave Real Madrid. Are you interested in buying me?” The departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus has changed the dynamic and Bale could be the beneficiary. Ronaldo scored 451 goals for Real Madrid so there is an opportunity for another player to fill the void. BALE can be backed at 7/4 with bet365 to score at any time against Atletico tonight.
It seems strange that any type of cricket fixture in Britain should be between Birmingham and Lancashire. The T20 Blast has rebranded Warwickshire to call them the name of the second city but that won’t change the likely outcome of tonight’s match at Edgbaston. Birmingham must win to have any chance of finishing in the top four while a win for Lancashire would increase the chances of a home match in the next round. LANCASHIRE should be backed to extend their run to four wins at 4/5 with Betfair.
Salisbury is the most lucrative of five meetings in Britain today and the six races offer £100,000 in prize money which is a decent pot. The richest race by far is the Listed fillies’ stakes for horses aged three and older over one mile and two furlongs at 3.40pm. On form and ratings CHAIN OF DAISIES can win the race for the second time and that outcome is 3/1 with William Hill.
Filed Under: Betfan, Cricket, Horse Racing, Soccer Tagged With: Champions League, La Liga, Real Madrid, Super Cup
Are City’s Wheels Beginning To Come Off?
Manchester City can now not win the quadruple as the fabled romance of the FA Cup gave them a nasty shock. The champions-elect were humbled at Wigan and that is the team that caused another major upset by beating City in the 2013 final. The betting market has been totally rehashed and punters taking fancy prices about the other teams are now sitting pretty.
One of the big guns will probably win the Cup but Wigan’s odds have been slashed and they are now 66/1 with bet365. The new favourites are Manchester United but dark horses LEICESTER are 8/1 with Ladbrokes. City can now concentrate on the EFL Cup, league and Europe and they are now 10/1 to win all three trophies.
They are still the favourites to win the Champions League and Barcelona are second in the betting. The Spanish club can be backed at odds-against to win at Chelsea tonight and that looks a steal. Barcelona have not lost in 24 matches in La Liga and conceded just 11 goals. They also let in just one goal in six Champions League group matches.
There are two statistical anomalies related to tonight’s match: Lionel Messi has not scored in eight appearances against Chelsea and Barcelona have only scored two goals in the first 15 minutes in the league and Champions League out of a tally of 71. For betting purposes you should keep it simple and back BARCELONA to win tonight’s match in London at 23/20 with William Hill.
It seems quite strange that amongst the typical moderate Tuesday racing fare a Grade 3 hurdle at Clonmel offers over €23,000 in prize money. No other race on the card is worth more than €10,000 and in 20 races in Britain there is only £168,000 up for grabs. The 2.50pm race at Clonmel is an open contest and only one of the six runners is not a potential winner. MOONSHINE BAY does not have the best form but is an improver with the potential to reward punters who back the horse at 5/1 with Coral.
Filed Under: Betfan, Horse Racing, Soccer Tagged With: Champions League, La Liga, LEICESTER, Lionel Messi
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Repeal Fails--Should Ryan Resign? Can GOP Govern? Is There A Real Political Solution?
The New York Times headline blared across the country and the world this weekend, "In Major Defeat For Trump, Push To Repeal Healthcare Law Fails."
Two questions have arisen from the dust of defeat:
Should Ryan resign as Speaker?
Can The GOP actually govern?
I would add a third: Is there a real political solution to this and other transformative challenges America faces in 2017? Or should politicians continue to, as they say, "Kick the can down the road for the next class of politicians?"
"In a day of high drama," the NYT says, "Mr. Ryan rushed to the White House shortly after noon to tell Mr. Trump he did not have the votes for a repeal bill that had been promised for seven years---since Mr. Obama signed a landmark health care law. During a 3 PM phone call, the two men decided to withdraw the bill rather than watch its defeat on the House floor."
At 3:30 PM, Ryan called Republicans into a closed door meeting to deliver the news that the bill would be withdrawn. Rep. Greg Walden (Ore), one of the main architects of the bill, said bluntly, "This bill's done."
The bill would have repealed tax penalties for people without health insurance, rolled back federal insurance standards, reduced subsidies for the purchase of private insurance and set new limits on Medicaid spending.
The bill would have repealed hundreds of billions of dollars imposed by Obamacare and would have cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood for one year.
This is generally the storyline that has been reported by other newspapers, following the lead of the NYT, concerning the details of the defeat.
Beyond that, millions are speculating on, "Who is responsible for the defeat?"
Should Speaker of the House Paul Ryan resign as Speaker?
The Times says, "A major reason for the bill's demise was the opposition of members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which wanted more aggressive steps to lower insurance costs and to dismantle federal regulation of insurance products."
Yesterday on Fox News, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus publicly and strongly defended Speaker Paul Ryan--- when asked if President Trump wants him to resign, Priebus said, "No, he doesn't."
Priebus said President Trump doesn't blame Paul Ryan.
However, the question arose, in part because Judge Jeanine Pirro, on her very popular Saturday evening Fox News show, was calling for Ryan to resign. Pirro is a close friend to Trump, thus her comments took on more weight than the comments of others on the matter.
Yesterday morning, President Trump sent out a "tweet" blaming the Freedom Caucus members for not supporting the bill. However, yesterday it became public that even more moderates were also planning to not support the bill. The educated estimation was that as many as 100 House Republicans would have likely voted against it.
Those on the inside say the reason Ryan urged Trump to call off the vote was to cover the fact that he had not been telling the president the truth about how many, and whom opposed it.
Senators Rand Paul and Tom Cotton have both said they believe Speaker Ryan has been purposefully misleading the president on this matter. A floor vote would have demonstrated that fact in that as many as 100 Republicans were prepared to vote against the bill.
There is also a story among conservatives that Vice President Pence has been counseling the president to refer to the bill as Ryancare, not Trumpcare. Many feel he sensed the bill was doomed and this was an effort to somewhat protect the president, yet Pence stood with the president calling for lawmakers to support it.
McClatcly, an international news organization that also owns 30 daily newspapers, including The Bellingham Herald (WA), said this weekend, "But a spectacular stumble on the first agenda item amid intra-party squabbles begs the question of whether the party will be able to get anything done if it can't deliver on a promise it has made for nearly a decade."
They, as others are also saying, "This was the biggest defeat of Ryan's career."
Paul Ryan told the press Friday evening, "We were a 10 year opposition party, where being against things was easy to do. And now in three months' time we tried to go to a governing party. We will get there, but we weren't there today."
Indeed they were not.
On our live radio program Friday morning, not yet knowing what the day would bring regarding this matter, I mentioned briefly an event in the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
It was not unlike this episode. To our regular readers and listeners, "May I mention it again in a bit more detail?"
With the Constitutional convention going very badly, some of the delegates left in disgust believing there could be no consensus---therefore no constitution, at that time in our early history.
Ben Franklin, then 82 years old but highly respected by chairman George Washington and his other colleagues, stood and said, "The small progress we have made after four or five weeks' close attendance & continuing reasonings with each other our different sentiments on almost every question...most producing as many noes as ayes, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the Human Understanding. We indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have been running about in search of it."
He noted that they had studied and examined ancient history for models of government, and had examined different kinds of Republics which, "had been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution, now no longer exist."
Franklin said, "In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented"...why have we not "thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understanding?"
Some say Franklin was a deist, most agree he was not known to be a religious leader among our Founding Fathers.
In fact, in calling our Founders to prayer, he reminded them of the time a decade ago when the British were convened to destroy the revolution for freedom, saying in those days "we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection, Our prayers sir, were heard."
He told the politicians, the longer he lives the more convinced he had become that "God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"
Franklin continued, "We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that 'except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it'" [PS. 127:1a].
"I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel; We shall be divided by our partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages."
He then requested a clergy be brought in every day to lead in prayer before they began their deliberations.
Even in that they were divided. Finally, it was agreed that a preacher would be brought in to preach a sermon from the Bible---but even that didn't happen until the 4th of July.
The delegates were then dismissed. Some went home for awhile, some attended a prayer meeting led by Rev. William Rogers at the Old First Reformed Church.
The minutes of the meetings reflect that later, "We assembled again; and...every unfriendly feeling had been expelled, and a spirit of conciliation had been cultivated."
Although all couldn't even agree to pray together, the "call" to prayer by a respected politician and leader created an environment that created the Constitution of the United States---the greatest document ever written by humans in the history of the world.
Prayer is powerful. Even a call to prayer can change the course of human events and the course of history.
Political restoration will follow spiritual restoration.
Be Prayerful. Be Informed. Be Blessed.
Anonymous 5:10 AM, March 27, 2017
What people get for free they will consume more of. I don't see how funding socialized medicine on a 20 Trillion dollar debt helps promote domestic tranquility. Maybe they should vote to cut their salary in half since they doubled the national debt.
Nutty woodworker 6:53 PM, March 28, 2017
Maybe congress men and women should immediately be forced to drop their own privileged health care and live with obama care like the rest of us. Then they MIGHT feel the need to act.
Has Congress shown us that it is fiscally responsible? Obama care was designed to put America over the brink, for it's destruction.
Obama care is controlling congress, not the other way around. It has a voracious appetite. It's consuming them. What they need to do is get rid of the individual mandate, and defund it permanently, allowing it to die it's natural death. They should all pitch in together and make it a tombstone, to put on the front lawn, with a short history lesson on it.
After having worked on computer systems for decades am frequently ask which is best. Which is a loaded question since it depends on what you want it to do for you, but in that everyone really wants the same thing.
For it to give more things they want and less things they don't
Then when they see all the wonderful things it can do for them they use it for everything and complain when it does not work.
Never realizing it never was made to do everything and the problem is how big of a part of their life they have made it.
The major difference between government problems and computer problems, or any problem, really, is we don't have to look for low cost solutions we can just reach into other people's pockets and make them pay for it, then go deeply into debt for something which still does not work.
Which begs the question, what is so wrong with government not working? Why do we need G-d to fix it, isn't it enough we have him?
Anonymous 10:39 AM, March 27, 2017
The best argument for congressional and senatorial term limits ever.
Bob 12:33 PM, March 27, 2017
The Republican Party is, and has been, divided. It needs to be united around honoring God, upholding the US Constitution and contending for liberty. Because Article I, Section 8, of the US Constitution grants no power to Congress to regulate or dispense healthcare, then the only thing that Republicans can do that would not violate their oath of office, would be to completely repeal Obamacare and replace it with nothing - all else is an act of lawlessness. If the Republican Party had been enforcing its own platform over the years, then perhaps its elected office holders would be accustom to obeying the Constitution and a complete repeal could be passed. I would say the R Party has sown the seeds of its own dissolution through many years of not looking to God as the sovereign and not requiring strict adherence to the Constitution among its office holders.
Anonymous 1:09 PM, March 27, 2017
So glad those divisive Obama years are over with and Trump is using his 36% approval to unite Americans again.
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About CHO & Marva Griffiths Herman
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Paula Williams Madison
Paula Williams Madison is a partner in Williams Group Holdings LLC, a Chicago-based, family-owned company, which has significant investments in media (The Africa Channel), a sports franchise (the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks), and various real estate, consumer, financial and trading businesses.
Chairman and CEO of the Sparks, she’s also a member of the WNBA Board of Governors.
Madison recently retired from NBCUniversal, where she had been Executive Vice President of Diversity as well as a Vice President of the General Electric Company (GE).
During her 22 years with NBCU, she held a number of successful leadership roles, including President and General Manager of NBC4 Los Angeles, Los Angeles Regional General Manager for NBCU’s Telemundo TV stations and Vice President and News Director of NBC4 New York.
In 2007, she was appointed to lead diversity for NBCU. It was the first time a company officer assumed a full-time responsibility as the business-lead for diversity. That same year, Madison was named a Company Officer for GE, then the parent company of NBCU, now operated by the Comcast Corporation.
After Vassar College, her early career was spent as a newspaper reporter in New York and Texas, then a TV news manager and executive in Dallas, Tulsa and Houston. Finally, she returned to her native New York City as NBC4’s Assistant News Director, becoming the station’s Vice President and News Director in March 1996.
Her career as a journalist led to a 1996 Peabody Award for NBC4 New York’s investigation, “A License to Kill.” Madison’s continued dedication to quality journalism helped NBC4 Los Angeles earn numerous Emmy, Golden Mike and Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards.
In June 2012, she was featured on the cover of Broadcasting & Cable magazine’s “Women in the Game,” which profiled the twelve most powerful women in sports television. She was recently honored for her philanthropy by the Jenesse Center, a shelter for families plagued by domestic violence.
Honored for corporate leadership and community outreach, Madison was named one of the “75 Most Powerful African Americans in Corporate America” by Black Enterprise Magazine in 2005 and included in the Hollywood Reporter’s “Power 100.” She has received awards from the NAACP, Organization of Chinese Americans Greater LA Chapter, Asian Pacific American Legal Center and New York’s 100 Top Minority Executives to name a few.
A marathoner, Madison also received the “Citizen of the Year Award” from the City of Los Angeles Marathon in 2004 and the Anti-Defamation League’s “2003 Deborah Award.” Ebony magazine listed her in the “Power 150 in Media.”
In 2010, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa appointed her one of five Library Commissioners for the nation’s second largest public library system.
Madison is a Board Member of Greater Los Angeles United Way, a past Chairman of the California Science Center Foundation, Vice Chair of National Medical Fellowships, the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, the Los Angeles Public Library Commission, Cardinal Spellman High School, and Chair of The Nell Williams Family Foundation.
Of Black and Chinese Jamaican heritage, Paula Madison was born in Harlem, New York, to Elrick M.Williams, Sr., who was a tool and die maker and Nell Williams (nee Lowe), who was a homemaker. She is married to artist Roosevelt Madison.
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What in the World Do They Want, Anyway? The Myth of the Friendly Alien
— by Mark Cole —
It was one of those typical open line nights on Art Bell’s late night radio show, the talk drifting easily between the serious, the bizarre and the ludicrous. Somehow—perhaps the recent release of both Independence Day and Mars Attacks! started it—it settled into a discussion of how the movies have portrayed aliens. Why did so many films feature alien invasions one caller wondered, and so few peaceful aliens? Why weren’t there more SF films like The Day the Earth Stood Still? He argued that it took a lot more imagination to come up with a convincing reason for a friendly visit.
Perhaps. But wasn’t that far too simple an answer?
And was Klaatu’s mission really all that peaceful?
This is a very familiar problem, one that many SF authors have tried to wrestle into submission. When we think of contact with other intelligent beings, we most often envision alien invasions of one sort or another—unless they are outnumbered by all those stories of UFO abductions. However, they hardly count as they are more mythic than SF (and who knows what the Grays’ real motives are, anyway?).
Even when aliens aren’t invading, they usually are up to no good, whether they’re harvesting us (Nigel Kneale’s ITV serial Quatermass, the Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man”); or using our bodies for transplants (Gerry Anderson’s series UFO); or collecting our blood (Not of This Earth); or stealing our endorphins for recreational drugs (I Come in Peace, Liquid Sky, Children of Earth); or using us in their experiments (Dark City, The Forgotten); or stealing our women (Mars Needs Women); or hunting us for sport; or using us as pawns in their galactic politics (as Kirk and the Klingons do to an undeveloped alien planet in “A Private Little War”); or expecting us to worship them (Stargate); or just dropping by to annoy the hell out of us (as in Fredric Brown’s classic novel, Martians Go Home).
Even something as innocuous as trying to understand love can get perverted into something terrible in the hands of an alien who thinks it will give her a military advantage (Ole Bornedal’s “scary movie for children,” The Substitute).
Nor is it always obvious whether the aliens have come in peace or not. The Village of the Damned (1960) and its sequel The Children of the Damned (1963) demonstrate how little difference there can be. The situation is nearly identical: an unseen alien presence has impregnated women around the world, and these children have extraordinary mental powers. However, in the first film, they are terrifying, very alien, and destroy anyone who they think is trying to harm them. We learn nothing of their intentions, or why they’ve come. While they have murdered quite a few people, they have done so to defend themselves, although with a total, unrestrained ruthlessness. Clearly, whether they are hostile or not, they are a terrible threat—and not just to those around them but to the whole world.
In the sequel, however, the children seem more like ordinary children (and, it’s interesting to note, they no longer look alike). While they are still feared and the government still tries to destroy them, they decide in the end not to kill those who intend to harm them, even though it costs them their lives. Ultimately, those who plot to use them as weapons seem far more dangerous.
It would be easy to blame H.G. Wells. After all, while it wasn’t quite the first alien invasion story (earlier ones include J.-H. Rosny’s 1887 short story Les Xipéhuz and Robert Potter’s The Germ Growers (1892)), The War of the Worlds painted a stunning vision of an England devastated by a rampaging alien army. However, Wells had borrowed his basic concept from the wave of invasion novels that followed in the wake of the stunning German victory in the Franco-Prussian war. The Germans had shocked the world by smashing the largest army in Europe in a mere two months, thanks to an array of new technologies, including breech loading cannon and steam trains. Within the year The Battle of Dorking burst into publication, shocking England with a vision of a successful invasion. Some four hundred similar novels followed before the beginning of World War I.
Ironically, it was not the fear of the alien, of things different from us, the fear that is so often blamed for such portrayals of alien beings, that inspired Wells, but a very real fear of real enemies, and of the danger posed by advanced technology in the hands of such an enemy.
It was a similar fear—although of an even more devastating weapon, in the hands of an even more dangerous enemy—that haunted the golden age of SF cinema. While the Fifties began hopefully, with tales of journeys to other planets, darker, more paranoid efforts soon followed. Ultimately, in Quatermass 2 and The Invasion of the Bodysnatchers (and even such schlock as The Invisible Invaders), we are taken over and become the invaders ourselves.
But, as strange as it may seem, the bomb seems to have brought almost as many peaceful aliens, bent on saving us from our own folly in such films as Stranger from Venus, The Cosmic Man, The Twenty-Seventh Day, and The Cosmic Monsters. Or perhaps it wasn’t that strange as most of them were retreads of The Day the Earth Stood Still.
The problem is that, on closer examination, the alien visitors in The Day the Earth Stood Still aren’t all that peaceful. Klaatu does not offer us peace, but a warning (one might even be tempted to call it a threat). His race created robot peacekeepers which are completely independent of their control, and which vaporize anyone who poses even the slightest threat to their “peace.” We have a temporary respite, but if we continue using nuclear weapons, they will destroy us all—despite the fact that we never agreed to be policed by Gort and his friends in the first place.
One has the horrible suspicion that, rather than make peace, a lot of panicky leaders, driven by fear and desperation, would lash out at this threat, whether they had any hope of winning or not. On the whole, the most likely result would leave the Earth a charred cinder.
The Twenty-Seventh Day gives us an even more frightening “peaceful” option: the aliens give us the means to destroy each other and twenty-seven days to use it or not. But they actually have another, hidden plan: we can reprogram the capsules and use them to selectively kill every enemy of human freedom in the world. Exactly what qualifies them as threats to freedom is never explained, but in theory we can make peace by eliminating a few thousand people.
Despite the film’s anti-Communist reputation, this sounds far more like the Leninist belief that they could usher in the Workers’ Paradise if they simply eliminated all the “wreckers.” It shocked the revolutionaries that they had to keep killing and killing, but it was one of those projects that, once started, they had to follow to the end. Somehow one suspects that using such a weapon would kill most of mankind—particularly if it eliminated those who objected to the solution.
Arthur C. Clarke (with a little help from Olaf Stapledon) created an entirely different breed of friendly alien visitor in his 1946 story, “Guardian Angel.” Their mission is to help us evolve into bodiless superbeings. The story became the basis for his novel, Childhood’s End, and it underlies his collaboration with Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Even within Childhood’s End, this is at best a mixed blessing, as the transformation results in the death of all the remaining normal humans and the destruction of the Earth itself. But virtually the same goal drives the colossal evil of the demonic Martians of Quatermass and the Pit. Like the monoliths in 2001, their spaceship sparked the evolution of man from ape and it is now giving us extrasensory powers. They did this to recreate their dying race and transfer their race memories into the new beings they made. They then plan to “cleanse the hive” of those who do not measure up.
Even a well-intentioned evolutionary intervention is not necessarily that welcome. In Babylon Five, we eventually learn that the horrific Shadows have had exactly the same goal as the seemingly angelic Vorlons: both want to encourage the young races to evolve. The difference is that the Shadows have more of an Ayn Rand philosophy, and think the best way to do this is through conflict. Or, in other words, they’ve been fomenting galactic wars just to help us.
Gee, thanks.
However, while both races do want to help us (well, they think it’s help), their underlying motives aren’t quite so noble: they have a running feud with each other (it seems far too personal to be called a “Cold War”), and are using us as their pawns in a massive struggle over a philosophical point (or perhaps theological might be closer).
Evolutionary interventions rarely come with clearly stated motivations, however, beyond some idea that they act out of a more evolved morality. Obviously, we can have no experience of such a moral code, but the problem is that real moral philosophies aren’t the products of “pure” reason. Instead, they are deduced from first principles, and the end result depends on where you started (something that can be seen all too clearly in most of the moral debates of our age). Even those which claim to be “scientific,” ultimately rest on metaphysical assumptions, for example that what is most useful for the most people is also the most moral. As someone once pointed out, the statement that there are no metaphysics is, in fact, a metaphysical statement.
A less extravagant type of superior alien race appears in Carl Sagan’s novel Contact (and in Robert Zemekis’ fine film version). They haven’t overseen our evolution (or if they did, they aren’t letting on) nor do they seem much interested in our future evolution. Instead, they want us to join their galactic civilization to trade with them and share our culture.
This is one of the more plausible reasons yet offered for a visit from benevolent aliens. Even what the aliens tell us about their reasons for making contact sound right: in the novel, they emphasize that even relatively primitive cultures like ours have interesting things to offer to their intergalactic community—unique gifts like “lovingkindness.” In the movie, connecting to other intelligent beings throughout the universe is the only thing that makes their emptiness bearable—in effect, both a substitute for religion and a cure for boredom.
But one has to wonder what the status of a new member entering this vast community would be. Would we be “equals” with societies whose accomplishments we could barely grasp, or would we end up becoming more of a colony, or perhaps a vassal state?
An even more plausible reason for alien contact appears in the Spierig Brothers’ splatter comedy Undead. What appears to be an invasion is instead a medical mission, sent to quarantine and cure a spaceborne zombie plague. We regularly send medical teams to fight diseases in some of the poorest and most remote regions of the world. While we do so out of a genuine desire to help others, it is also very practical to set up teams like this, ready to be sent anywhere in the world and stop a disease before it has a chance to spread.
There is, in fact, a common thread in the alien visits we find most plausible, whether they be cops in pursuit of alien criminals (Hal Clement’s Needle, The Hidden); or refugees (Alien Nation, District 9); or tourists (the human time travelers in Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore’s “Vintage Season” probably got here first); or even Douglas Adams “teasers,” rich kids who visit planets that haven’t made alien contact and strut around in front of some poor boob no one will ever believe “wearing silly antennae and going beep-beep”: all of them speak to situations we recognize and drives we know we have.
Crossing the appalling wastes of deep space to stop by for a visit isn’t something anyone would attempt lightly. Even if they have the fastest FTL drives, luxury accommodations, fully automated ships with regenerative buffets and ramscoop engines, such a trip still represents a huge investment of time and effort. It leaves us with the question, why here and not somewhere else? What can be attractive enough to convince someone to sacrifice perhaps years of his life for the trip?
This, ultimately, is why invasion and conquest seem so likely to us. We know who we are and our own history. We know that we are never satisfied with what we have; we know that, even when we go out of our own way to help other people, we never entirely forget our own interests. We know that, throughout history, people have fought for wealth, lands and power—or sometimes just for fame and glory. Even when good men have tried their best to respect the people and customs of the new lands they visited—like the Jesuit missionaries who went to China and then spent years studying its culture and philosophies, and gave them new artistic techniques like Cloisonné enamel in return—worse men followed them and took advantage of the good will they worked so hard to build. We remember that it was always the honest, decent men who negotiated the treaties with the Native American tribes, but it was left to the politicians to enforce them.
Why do we fear the aliens have come to vaporize our cities, steal our women and stomp on our flowerbeds? It isn’t a lack of imagination. Rather, it is because we know ourselves far too well. While we like to think they can’t possibly be as bad as we are, we can’t ever complete lose that fear—and yet that very fear can make even the best-intentioned first contact deadly. Ray Bradbury can try to convince us that a bodiless alien would have no reason to sin (“The Fire Balloons”) but we know very well that people can be envious or proud of almost anything—even of how humble they are. The Outer Limits can show mankind evolving out of hatred and violence not long after we gain that “Sixth Finger” but we sure haven’t see any sign of it happening yet.
Let’s face it: we are the only intelligent species we happen to know intimately. And we wouldn’t want to invite ourselves around to visit if we could help it.
So, please, keep trying to think of reasons the good aliens might come to visit. It won’t be easy. There are quite a few out there, but they aren’t easy to find. After all, only the demented Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo can get away with the explanation Julio gives at the end of Extraterrestrial—
“There’s no reason.”
“You came for the hell of it?”
“We extraterrestrials are like that.”
Mark Cole hates writing bios. Despite many efforts he has never written one he likes, perhaps because there are many other things he'd rather be writing. He writes from Warren, Pennsylvania, where he has managed to avoid writing about himself for both newspaper and magazine articles. His musings on Science Fiction have appeared in Clarkesworld and at IROSF.com, while his most recent story, "Let's Start from the Top..." appeared in Daily Science Fiction.
Melon Farmers! Science Fiction Stumbles on the Way to the Theater by Mark Cole - November 2018
Metallic Mayhem in the Movies: Giant Mecha, Then and Now by Mark Cole - May 2018
Why Science Fiction Detective Stories Aren't Impossible by Mark Cole - January 2018
Science Fiction and the Fall of the Evil Empire by Mark Cole - November 2017
Cut, Fold, and Conquer the Universe: The Best Models in the Galaxy by Mark Cole - May 2017
Kubrick to Scott: Relevancy and Realism in Cinematic Science Fiction by Mark Cole - November 2016
Méliès to Bonestell: Relevancy and Realism in Cinematic Science Fiction by Mark Cole - October 2016
The Age of the Excessive Machine: Psychedelic SF, On-Screen and Off by Mark Cole - March 2016
You Wouldn't Be Reading This If It Weren't For Buck Rogers by Mark Cole - November 2015
"Fans Are Slans": A Study in Campbellian Influence by Mark Cole - August 2015
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Fifth monkey has signs of deadly bacteria in lab mishap
Posted By: HotCoffee
Date: Thursday, 5-March-2015 01:23:56
Tests indicate a fifth monkey had been exposed to deadly bacteria that was somehow released from a high-security lab at the Tulane National Primate Research Center near New Orleans, according to an e-mail circulated among federal and state investigators. The monkey, like the others before it, was not part of an experiment. How the dangerous pathogen got out of its lab remains a mystery.
Preliminary tests on a sample taken from the monkey, a rhesus macaque known as IL88, indicates a possible infection with Burkholderia pseudomallei, the potential bioterror bacteria that was being used in vaccine development research elsewhere on the primate center's 500-acre campus in Covington, La.
A confirmation test is being done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Results are expected later this week or early next week, Tulane spokesman Michael Strecker said Tuesday evening.
Strecker said this fifth macaque, like the others that were confirmed as testing positive in recent weeks, had been in the facility's veterinary hospital around the same time late last year. The hospital is the leading suspect for where the primates were exposed to the bacteria — which was supposed to be securely contained inside a laboratory located in another building on the sprawling campus.
Federal and state officials from multiple health, environmental, agriculture and homeland security agencies have spent weeks trying to determine how the bacteria got out of that secure biosafety level 3 lab – but have not yet determined what happened. Research with the bacteria has been halted as the investigation continues. The CDC has said there is no evidence of a public health threat. The bacteria can cause a potentially fatal disease called melioidosis in humans and animals, with a wide range of non-specific symptoms such as fever, headache and joint pain.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/03/fifth-monkey-tulane-lab-incident/24344585/
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Switzerland – Land Of Beauty And Mystery
CULTURE | May 2, 2019
Swiss Flag. Source: (imagui.eu)
Switzerland is a small country centrally located in Europe surrounded by France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Italy. It is a unique country in comparison to other countries.
Switzerland was founded in 1848, forming a modern constitution that made a federal state of the confederation. Their government is a parliamentary democracy in which the voters elect the parliament, who then forms the government. The Federal Assembly has a bicameral parliament, which is one that contains two separate assemblies (House of Lords and House of Commons) and both must agree on new laws that are made. Citizens have an active role in influencing the government with direct participation in making decisions.
Switzerland is known as a neutral country and did not directly take part in large wars. Since the end of World War I, Geneva has been the location for the League of Nations symbolizing their desire for peace.
Castle of Chillon. Source: (picture-newsletter.com)
Part of Switzerland’s history includes old medieval castles. Chillon Castle is one of them and sits near Lake Geneva, Switzerland. It was built in the 9th century and was occupied for 1,000 years. From the 12th century until the 16th century, the Counts of Savoy occupied it and also used it a tool for controlling trade along the shore of the lake. After that, the Bernice took it over and used it as a prison from 1536 until the latter part of the 18th century. From 1532 to 1536, the monk named François Bonivard was a prisoner in the dungeon. A romantic poem, “The Prisoner Of Chillon,” was written about him by Lord Byron, the English poet who visited the castle one summer. It inspired him to write a poem about Bonivard’s experience. The castle is now an attraction where visitors come from all over to view it with its medieval kitchens and rooms as well as the dungeon.
Rapperswil Castle. Source: (wikipedia.org)
Another medieval castle in Switzerland is the Rapperswil Castle that was built in the early 13th century and is located in Rapperswil, Switzerland along the Obersee and Zurichsee lakes. Count Rudolf II and his son, Rudolf III built it using sandstone from the Lutzelau island. The town walls and city were also built from this sandstone. In 1350, a coup was attempted in the city of Zurich and, consequently, Rudolph Brun destroyed the town walls of Rapperswil and the castle. It was rebuilt by the Duke of Austria, Albrecht II. In 1442, the castle was given to the Rapperswil citizens with the Swiss Confederation controlling it until 1798. By then it was in desperate need of repair and was leased for 99 years by Count Wladyslaw Broel-Plater, who restored it at his own expense establishing it as a museum in 1870.
Arosa, Switzerland. Source: (livingnomads.com)
There are many beautiful resort areas and places to visit in Switzerland. One of the many beautiful sights in Switzerland is a little village called Arosa.
In 1883, Arosa was established as a health resort by a German doctor and the first sanatorium was opened in 1888. During the early 1900s, Arosa gradually developed into a winter resort. The first ski lifts were built in 1938, and in 1956, the Weisshorn cable car was opened and chair lifts followed.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes series wrote of his skiing adventures in a British magazine, The Strand, in 1894, and the story attracted British skiers to Switzerland.
Arosa is well-known for its safe skiing area and boasts over 37 miles of slopes. It is both a summer and a winter tourist resort.
Devil’s Bridge. Source: (ghmhotels.com)
An interesting resort is this mountain hideaway in the Swiss Alps, a luxurious resort that sits in a place called Andermatt. According to the story, about 800 years ago, a deal went down with the devil. After completing this bridge that is now known as Devil’s Bridge, the Devil would own the soul of the first one to cross it. Once the bridge was completed, a goat was chased across rather than letting a person cross. Because the Devil was angry at being tricked, he picked up a stone weighing 220 tons to smash the bridge, but a woman with a crucifix stopped him. As he fled away, he dropped it and it is now known as Devil’s Stone.
Swiss Chocolate. Source: (swissinfo.ch)
Besides the beauty and history of Switzerland, there are many products they produce and are famous for which people all over the world enjoy.
Switzerland is famous for its various types of chocolate. Chocolate production began in Switzerland as far back as the 17th century. From the 19th century to the end of World War II, the Swiss chocolate industry heavily exported their chocolate. After the war, they moved to commercial outsourcing to export their chocolate products.
Today, the Swiss are the largest consumers of the chocolate produced within their own country and export 50% of their chocolate products, with the top five markets being Germany, Britain, France, Canada, and the USA. Together they account for over half of all exports.
Tags: switzerland
Penny Chavers
Penny, besides writing, loves to spend her time with family and friends. In her spare time, she also enjoys playing the piano, board games, and taking online classes on topics that interest her.
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Felicia Nimue Ackerman, a philosopher at Brown, has had over 200 letters to the editor published in the New York Times, The New Yorker reports. “She responds to articles on a variety of topics—ageism, fatism, ‘society’s tendency to medicalize virtually everything’—but her underlying interest is in personal freedom.” She was also profiled in an earlier article in the..
Pretty Penny Paid for Plato
Blackwell’s bookshop in Oxford has sold its most expensive book ever: a two volume edition of the complete works of Plato, in the original ancient Greek, published in 1513. The price? £75,000. The mystery is: who bought it? The only clue the article gives is that the purchase was made by “an overseas institution.”
Anthony Brueckner (1953-2014)
Anthony Brueckner, a professor of philosophy at UC Santa Barbara, has died. Professor Brueckner worked mainly in epistemology. He is the author of Essays on Skepticism and many articles (I recall a time when it seemed like every issue of Analysis had at least one article by him in it). Those interested may care to read an article Brueckner wrote with John Martin Fis..
AAUP’s Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession
There’s lots of information and analysis in the AAUP’s Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, which was released today. Find it here.
UPDATE: Analysis at Inside Higher Ed and a searchable table at The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Nancy Snow (Marquette) Wins $2.6 Million to Study Virtue
Nancy Snow (Marquette University) has won a $2.6 million grant from the Templeton Religious Trust for a project called “The Self, Motivation, and Virtue.” More info here and on the Marquette Philosophy Department’s home page.
A ____________ of Philosophers (Friday Fun)
A pride of lions, a murmuration of starlings, a dazzle of zebras, an eloquence of lawyers, a pack of lies — the English language has some unusual names for collectives. Sometimes the collective names apply only when the members of the groups are engaged in certain actions, for example, a group of ducks swimming is a raft of ducks, while a group of ducks flying is a..
April 4, 2014 28 1
New Appointments in Philosophy, from the PhilJobs Folks
David Bourget and David Chalmers have announced a new service at the PhilJobs website called “New Appointments in Philosophy,” through which people can post information about the jobs they’ve obtained or the people they’ve hired, as well as search through the data. In an announcment at the APA website, Bourget, Chalmers, and APA Executive Director Amy Ferrer write, ..
Searle Awarded Lifetime Achievement Hat (Daily Mousse)
John Searle was recently bestowed with a lifetime achievement hat by SCALP (Skull Covering Association for Lively Philosophers). SCALP, one of the oldest philosophical societies, is known for its unusual choices, and it lived up to its reputation this time with its selection of a deerstalker, which Searle is sporting in this photo. Previous awards include a shower c..
From Nous to Mousse
A recent argument from David Killoren (Coastal Carolina) has convinced me to shift the direction of the blog. He writes:
Case 1: You’re looking at the Daily Nous banner logo. Case 2: You’re looking at a hair salon’s logo circa 1986. How can you distinguish these experiences? A skeptical problem.
I have tangled privately with this for some time, but now it is time to..
William Harper Wins Prize from American Philosophical Society
William Harper, a philosopher at the Rotman Institute of Philosophy at Western University (London, Ontario), and one of the few philosophers (I’m assuming) to have an asteroid named after him, is the recipient of the 2014 Patrick Suppes Prize in Philosophy of Science. The philosophy of science prize, which includes a $10,000 honorarium, is awarded once every three y..
When Do You Write?
This informative and well-designed poster illustrates the work habits and daily routines of a number of famous “creatives,” including Kant. If it is to be believed, Kant wrote from 6-7am. Wait, what? One hour a day? Well if you add up enough days…
How about philosophers today? When do you typically get your writing done? Answer in the poll below, picking the on..
1. A philosophy undergrad reflects on anxiety and racial stereotypes in philosophy teaching (via Carrie Ichikawa Jenkins, who shares her thoughts on the post here.)
2. At North Idaho College, the philosophy club arranged an event at which “impassioned students met with faculty to discuss the possibility of adding three classes into the curriculum.” The meeting and ..
The APA’s New Journal
Amy Ferrer continues her series of guest posts at NewAPPS with some details about the new Journal of the American Philosophical Association. Among other things, she writes:
As our editorial statement indicates, we favor clear, succinct papers that go out on a limb, papers that take a chance, papers exhibiting fresh perspectives on familiar problems. This is of a pi..
“Waiter, There’s A Fly In My Soup!”
“Yes, I see him, trapped, floating helplessly on the surface of the broth, spinning slowly near the vortex left by your quickly withdrawn spoon, much as humanity rides atop the surface of life, unable to escape its predicament yet unwilling to dive in and explore it, instead knocked about by uncomprehended forces, heads set spinning by God’s hasty retreat, mere obse..
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Foreign Fighters: preventative action (UK mainly)
Thread: Foreign Fighters: preventative action (UK mainly)
davidbfpo
Moderators Note: Title changed today from 'May 1940 Dad's Army, April 2014 Mum's Army' to 'Foreign Fighters: preventative action (UK mainly)' (ends).
There is a long running thread on UK CT, but today CT took a new twist. Which is neatly labelled 'safeguarding'.
Historical passage to explain the title. Following our defeat in France in May 1940 a volunteer local defence force was created, popularly known after a BBC comedy series as 'Dad's Army'.
One headline 'Syria crisis: stop your sons joining war, urges Met police' from The Guardian:http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...olitan-police?
On the BBC the senior UK CT police officer was interviewed, along with a critic, Keith Vaz MP (6 mins):http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27137743
From one report her comments:
We want to ensure that people, particularly women, who are concerned about their loved ones are given enough information about what they can do to prevent this from happening. We want to increase their confidence in the police and partners to encourage them to come forward so that we can intervene and help. This is not about criminalising people. It is about preventing tragedies.
Keith Vaz, whose Select Committee is looking at CT:
There is no evidence that families know. Young people are just leaving without telling families and their families are the last to know...The evidence we received is that the police don't know how to stop this.
A view from the "grass roots" by a respected youth worker in Birmingham:
Atif Iqbal, of the United Birmingham campaign, who travelled to Syria to deliver food, said clarity was needed about how people could provide humanitarian help while staying within the law. "What is the legal framework – that is what we need some clarity on. It's very ambiguous, the goalposts keep changing,"...
The Daily Telegraph has a similar story:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...jihadists.html
The Quilliam Foundation is supportive, but calls for more efforts:http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/pr...ight-in-syria/
How will Muslim mothers react? That is to the say the least very unclear. The media often rely on very little known women to speak, so the BBC has one who is critical:
..there was so much mistrust of the police in her community that many people would be too afraid to report friends and family to authorities.
Link to short video clip:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27137889
Last edited by davidbfpo; 08-09-2014 at 02:53 PM. Reason: Add note
Some official context:
The number of people travelling to Syria from the UK is judged to be in the low hundreds and available information shows that the number of Syria-related arrests increased substantially in 2014. The figure for the whole of 2013 was approximately 25 yet for the first three months of 2014 alone it is approximately 40.
Since January five people from Birmingham have been charged with Syrian-related offences and are currently awaiting trial.
Link:http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/l...ws.aspx?id=729
The main, eight page publication:http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/d...t_04.04.14.pdf
A BBC reporter, Catrin Nye, who specialises in reporting on the UK Asian scene, tweeted today:
Just spoke to Brit Muslim currently fighting in Syria, he says family didn't know he was going, not even his mother could have stopped him.
A "lurker" has responded, based on their "hands on" experience in IW and knowledge of Syria:
Opportunities:
- Syria is not a Western occupation, and it is difficult to paint it as such. The most convincing way of directing ire towards the west in relation to the situation in Syria is to accuse Washington, London etc of "doing nothing"
- Syrians dont like ISIS. This means potential volunteers, find it difficult to avoid the reality that the Muslim v. West narrative is overly simplistic
- The sectarian nature of the Syrian war is unavoidable, so it is difficult for extremists to maintain traction for the "Muslims vs West" narrative. or, at least harder than it is when it comes to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq etc
- Scant knowledge amongst volunteers of Syria's political, social or cultural context. ie. it is easier to paint the conflict as whatever you want - for a period of time, at least
- The rise of "doomsday prophecies" around the conflict. (ie that its part of a long foretold religious prediction about the coming of the mehdi/jesus) and heralds the end of the world. Both the Iranians and AQ are using this according to their (slightly) differing religious traditions.
- Fighting in Syria can be seen by volunteers as a duty that does not contradict their loyalty to the UK. This means that UK government efforts to stop them then become seen as a sinister plot to stop them helping Syrians. (Such conspiracies already exist amongst Syrians who believe the only explanation for the lack of military support is due to the West's desire to keep a weak dictator in place so that Israel is not challenged as the regional power)
- Extremely limited trust in HMG following Iraq (and domestic trust scandals)
A Canadian mother who didn't know
A taster for this Calgary, Canada mother's journey
His mother, Christianne Boudreau, noticed the change as well. The year before her son left, he became secretive and argumentative. He peddled 9/11 conspiracy theories and said the media weren’t telling the truth about what was happening to Muslims around the world. “He would get pretty worked up about it and conversations could get pretty heated,” she said. He started working out at the gym and would go on hikes with his prayer group. But Mrs. Boudreau thought it was just his nature to immerse himself in his interests. “Certain things, he’d get really zestful about,” she said. “And then he’d get bored and move on to the next thing."
When her son told her he would be travelling to Egypt to study Arabic, Mrs. Boudreau never thought he’d actually go through with it. He was always a big talker. The night before he was supposed to leave, in November 2012, the family went out for dinner and he came back to her townhouse and played video games with his little brother. He seemed relaxed and happy-go-lucky. Only when he called from the plane in the morning did she realize he was actually going to do it...I had no idea,” Mrs. Boudreau said.
Link:http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/04...dead-in-syria/
So what can Muslim women say to loved ones?
A column by a British Muslim activist:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/wom...-early-on.html
First UK fighter in Syria convicted: a liar and a fantasist
A strange case and one wonders if the threat at home is real. The BBC's detailed commentary opens with:
A Portsmouth man accused of trying to join Islamist fighters in Syria has become the first person in the UK to be convicted of a terrorist offence relating to the conflict. A jury at Kingston Crown Court found Mashudur Choudhury guilty of preparing for acts of terrorism after a two-week trial. But what exactly was Choudhury up to - and why does this conviction matter?
If there is one thing that is true about Mashudur Choudhury, it is that he is a liar and a fantasist.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27491066 and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27488006
I note his conviction is for:
...engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts....The court heard he had travelled to Syria to attend a terrorist training camp. He was arrested at Gatwick Airport on his return to the UK......Prosecutors at the trial said Choudhury had wanted to be trained in the use of firearms and intended to pursue a "political, religious or ideological cause".
One wonders if a conviction can be secured if someone claims their fight was to protect the civilian population.
The later BBC report asks:
The outcome also raises another question: what will happen to the large numbers of British men still in Syria? Will these men ever come back?
Yesterday I caught part of an excellent WoTR online discussion and Shiraz Maher, of ICSR, stated that two hundred and fifty "fighters" had already returned to the UK. I will listen again this evening:http://warontherocks.com/2014/05/the...aeda-and-isis/
Background on SWC
There are two recent, relevant threads Today's Wild Geese: Foreign Fighters in the GWOT and a smaller one Foreign fighters in Syria: a crime minus a motive?
Last edited by davidbfpo; 08-09-2014 at 02:36 PM. Reason: Merged to here, was in a two post thread
Legal or illegal to fight in Syria
A fascinating glimpse into the "shades of grey" over the legality and illegality of fighting in Syria, for UK nationals / residents. Under the headline:
Syria conflict: British jihadists are nothing like the freedom fighters of the Spanish Civil War
Prosecutorial discretion:
For example, let’s imagine a Briton is visiting family in Syria and the neighbourhood comes under attack by regime forces, or indeed rebel ones. If said Briton were to subsequently use weapons to help defend family members or other innocent people, he would not necessarily be prosecuted in the UK. However, those who join terrorism-linked groups and proactively engage in militant activity are far likelier to be prosecuted.
Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...Civil-War.html
I suspect discretion was used when many exiles returned to Libya, to my knowledge no-one was arrested.
Mum reported her son missing
Which led to a CT investigation, with two young B'ham men being charged with terrorism in Syria; in part:
Yusuf Sarwar .. and Nahin Ahmed ... both aged 22 - pleaded guilty to preparing for acts of terrorism, at Woolwich Crown Court today.
In May last year the men purchased one-way tickets to Turkey and later went on to cross the Syrian border. When they returned to the UK after eight months away, officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit were waiting at Heathrow to arrest them.
Traces of military grade explosives were found on their clothing and pictures on their camera showed them brandishing weapons. Detectives used satellite imaging to establish from the photographs that the men had been in and around Aleppo - one of the main conflict zones.
Link:http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/l...s.aspx?id=1214
foreign fighters in Syria: the rise of women and the challenge of prevention
Rachel Briggs of the London-based think tank, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), has studied counter-radicalisation for a long time and blogs occassionally.
Her blog 'Foreign fighters in Syria: the rise of women and the challenge of prevention' appears to be UK-orientated, but has a wider application in Europe and maybe beyond. Especially over the absence of a counter-narrative:http://rachelbriggs.wordpress.com/20...of-prevention/
Readers will be familiar with my viewpoint that there is no counter-narrative, so now here is Rachel, with my emphasis:
There is also an urgent need to compete with violent extremists for the attention of our young people. Extensive social media analysis conducted by my team at ISD reveals that there is almost no counter-narrative activity occurring online. There is no shortage of talk at expensive international conferences about the need for counter-narratives, but there is very little action. Governments are on safe and familiar ground funding meetings, but struggle to get effective counter-messaging campaigns signed off by risk-averse Ministers.
She cites some private work, have a peek - it is for a young Muslim audience:http://www.youtube.com/user/abdullahx
FAST (Families Against Stress and Trauma)
A private group whose sons have left to fight in Syria:
Families matter because they are torn apart when young people travel to Syria and Iraq. Families make a difference because they have the power to reach out and stop this. All families should feel empowered to reach out if they are worried about a loved one who might be thinking of travelling to the region.
We believe families are not alone. That’s why we’ve made a short film with three people talking openly about the impact of a family member travelling. They each speak of the pain and anguish they felt when their loved one left the UK. It’s hard for us to convey the heartbreak, which is why we let them speak for themselves.
Link to website, the 9 minute video is there:http://www.familiesmatter.org.uk/
Hat tip to WoTR for the article 'The Dangerous Nexus Between Radicalism in Britain and Syria’s Foreign Fighters', the author Roger Farhat, a private sector analyst:http://warontherocks.com/2014/08/the...eign-fighters/
We can’t legislate our way out of the Isis crisis
As the UK debates what next, with some frankly bizarre proposals, an academic who has watched has a column:http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...sation-britons
Instead, government focus needs to be upon enabling the messy, unpredictable and contingent “dirty work” of local counter-terrorism on the ground, and learning the lessons about what works and what doesn’t from recent experience. This reflects what we know from a growing body of research about the radicalisation process....In sum, what the more successful police forces had worked out was that soft power was more effective in solving problems than an over-reliance on the hard power of coercive law enforcement. It is this understanding that should be developed.
Prevent is a tainted brand and a failed strategy
Alyas Karmani, a British Muslim based in Bradford, Yorkshire has long been involved in counter-radicalisation and was interviewed in The Independent on Sunday. He starts with:
What the recent events in Syria show is the abject failure of a counter-messaging and counter-narrative strategy – it just isn't there. We've been talking about this de-radicalisation strategy for many years and yet there's nothing in place.
(Later) Prevent is a tainted brand and a failed strategy; you can't keep on giving life to something which is fundamentally broken. It is disproportionate in that is focuses on Muslim extremism. Prevent is defunct now as far as I'm concerned. It has no credibility whatsoever.
Prevent being part of the UK national CT strategy.
Link:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...m-9687897.html
Jihadis cannot be turned unless they are ready, professor warns
A short article by Professor Andrew Silke, whilst it may apply beyond the UK his focus and examples are British:
A rather sharp passage:
We have to be realistic about how effective it is going to be. There has never been an equivalent programme, for example, for the IRA or other paramilitary groups. And part of the reason is people don’t think it will work for the IRA. But they think it may work on Jihadis because there has been some success in countries like Saudi Arabia.
This week both David Cameron and Ed Miliband have referred to extending counter-radicalisation schemes - with mandatory participation = so this comment is noteworthy:
But one of the key issues of these programmes is they are voluntary. You can’t force people to do it and one third of prisoners referred to the Healthy Identities Programme have refused to take part
I missed this report's publication in July 2014 by an unconventional advocacy group, once known as Caged Prisoners,, now simply Cage:http://cageuk.org/publication/blowba...reat-they-pose
It is a measure of how this group has moved that a press release this week stated:
Returning fighters from Syria should be allowed to return to the UK and be granted an amnesty. However, where police have found clear evidence of war crimes, then those crimes should be prosecuted accordingly.
Link:http://cageuk.org/article/british-fo...rs-way-forward
Last edited by davidbfpo; 07-12-2018 at 10:29 AM.
A twelve minute long Sky News Special which has some new material, notably an ex-jihadist's explanation of what is involved and the role of gangs, social media and the need to do something:http://news.sky.com/story/1336298/br...s-uk-extremism
The UK’s Counter-Radicalization Strategy Just Failed; What Now?
James Brandon, a British observer of the CT scene has this long column on WoTR, which is rather surprising given his past affiliations to UK "think tanks" who sought a change in the direction of 'Prevent', not that is was a failed strategy:http://warontherocks.com/2014/09/uk-...iled-what-now/
Significantly, the causes of Prevent’s failure share much in common with other Western attempts to strengthen liberal and democratic Muslim forces in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and elsewhere over the past decade. These include: Choosing the wrong partners, Islamist subversion of new organizations and highly effective Islamist counter-campaigning.
MoorthyM
Sharia as a platform for jihad in Britain
"The significant support for sharia among the younger generation of British Muslims and the spreading of Wahhabism in the United Kingdom has two consequences: One, clerics find themselves in an influential role as the primary interpreters of sharia, and two, many young Muslims are exposed to the idea of armed jihad through their local mosques. As a result, local jihadist clerics such as Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal and foreign- based ones such as Anwar Al-Awlaki (now deceased) were able to reach out and encourage young Britons into waging armed jihad."
http://www.albanygovernmentlawreview...sue=2&page=347
The Danish way
A short UK C4 News report on the Danish approach when fighters return home:http://www.channel4.com/news/can-ret...d-into-society
The C4 News website does not have the relevant video clip.
A police officer's explanation:
Everybody is in agreement, early prevention of terrorism is needed. And so we start out with dialogue. We screen each fighter, we assess their needs. We engage with their families and friends, and their mosque, so that they have a well-functioning network around them. This can reduce the risk of them being further radicalised....There is always a risk but the flaw would be to apply tough measures to soft targets, people who are not that radicalised. We believe there are fighres we can still turn around. If you apply harsh measures to them it would be counter-productive, because you risk producing the very violent extremists you are trying to prevent.
Quick Navigation Law Enforcement Top
Today's Wild Geese: Foreign Fighters in the GWOT
By SWJED in forum Adversary / Threat
Foreign fighters in Iraq & Syria
By davidbfpo in forum Middle East
Africa's Commandos - new book on the RLI
By davidbfpo in forum Historians
We need less Chemo and Surgery and more "Voom."
By Bob's World in forum Catch-All, GWOT
counterterrorism, prevention, radicalisation, syria, terrorism, united kingdom
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Motifs: January/February 2018
We'd love to hear from you! Submit your own motif.
Chris Czukor (IAC/NMC 66-67, 69, IAA 67-70, IAA St 70) had five books published in 2017, including her nonfiction book, “How to Have Fun With Your Aging Parents,” which is an Amazon bestseller and a Book Excellence Award Finalist. She also published all four books of her Edwardian novel series, “His Majesty’s Theatre,” through Endeavour Press.
Roslee Blooston (IAC/NMC 69, IAA 69-70) just finished a whirlwind 15-month tour for her first book, “Dying in Dubai: A Memoir of Marriage, Mourning and the Middle East” (Apprentice House Press), which was a 2016 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year winner and a 2017 Eric Hoffer Book Awards finalist.
David Harris (IAC/NMC 69, IAA 75-77) was appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Ontario in August 2017 after 30 years as a criminal defense lawyer specializing in appeal work.
Daniel McCarthy’s (IAC/NMC 69, IAA 70-74, IAC St 73, IAC Fac 95-06) Chamber Symphony No. 1 for Marimba and Winds is being re-released by The North Texas Wind Symphony on GIA Records, featuring Mark Ford on marimba and conductor Eugene Corporon. McCarthy’s music theory texts, "Theory Essentials" and "Theory for Today's Musician" (3rd Edition, featuring the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra) are being published in early 2018 by Routledge.
Kathy Manning (IAC/NMC 68-73, UNIV 74) is running for Congress in North Carolina’s 13th district.
Kathleen (Kaska) Perez (IAC/NMC 75-76, IAC St 84-89, 96-02, ICA St 02-13) has accepted the position of Director of Marketing, Communications and Publications at Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Matthew Nosanchuk (IAC/NMC 76-78, 80) is now Vice President at Quadrant Strategies.
Starr Parodi (IAA 76-77) received the 2016 "Best Piano Album - Solo" award for her album "The Heart of Frida" from the ZMR Music Awards. Starr was commissioned for the ninth consecutive year to write music for the Laguna Pageant of the Masters Orchestra, and recently co-produced and arranged the "To All The Little Girls" music video with two-time Oscar winner Terry Sanders.
Adam Levin (IAC/NMC 77, UNIV 78) was accepted into the Long Island Composers Alliance (LICA). Co-founded by composer and electronic music pioneer Herbert Deutsch, LICA is "the only organization devoted to creating, promoting, presenting, recording and preserving the best original contemporary music by composers working and living on Long Island." Its luminaries have included Lukas Foss and Elie Siegmeister. Levin's induction was based on several works, including “Things Left Unsaid” and “Islands: I. Pandora's Box II. Needle's Eye III. Testament,” released by Different Drum Music (ASCAP).
Marna Seltzer (IAC/NMC 78-81) and Carla Dirlikov Canales (AS 96) were included in the Musical America 2017 Movers and Shapers.
Chicago-based composer Jim Stephenson (IAC/NMC 79-84, 86, IAA 83-83, IAC Fac 04, 08) was recently commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to compose a bass trombone concerto featuring Charlie Vernon. Stephenson’s low brass concerto, "Pillars,” is set to premiere in June 2018 with the Minnesota Orchestra. Other recent works were premiered by the St. Louis and Montreal Symphonies. His second symphony for band, VOICES, won the National Band Association’s Revelli Award for best composition of 2017, and was recorded by the U.S. "President's Own" Marine Band.
Emily (Gloger) Bracale (IAC/NMC 81, IAA 81-85) won the $3,000 grand prize in the Winning Writers North Street Book Competition for her book, "Our Last Six Months."
John Marshall (IAC/NMC 82, IAA 83-86, IAC St 85, IAC Fac 94-95, 07-17) recently released two innovative and amusing music videos of jazz and rock classics with his wife and musical partner, Lynne Feller-Marshall. The videos, “Take Five” and “Purple Haze” may be accessed on YouTube.
Rachel Zinman (IAA 83-84) has just released her first book, “Yoga for Diabetes, How to Manage your Health with Yoga and Ayurveda” with Monkfish Publishing. Rachel was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2008 and has since become an advocate for yoga and diabetes. She credits her passion for writing from taking a "Man and Destiny" class at Interlochen with instructor Howard Hintze in 12th grade.
Denise Tryon (IAC/NMC 88, IAA 88-89, IAC St 89) was recently named the new Associate Horn Professor of University at Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. Tryon also released a new album, “A Pair of Aces,” with Karl Pituch, Principal Horn at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Teresa Anne Volgenau (IAA 89-91) will have an art installation of her current collection, "Contemporary Romance," at Dazzle in Denver, Colorado from Jan. 23 through Feb. 28, 2018. Much of her work on canvas pulls from her extensive career in the performing arts as a dancer, actress and choreographer.
Ana Velasco (IAA 89-91, IAC St 91) married her longtime partner, Paul Styles III, on Dec. 16 in an intimate ceremony that took place in Merrillville, Indiana. The couple and their daughter reside in Bloomington, Indiana, where Ana works as the Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Research at Indiana University.
Rufus Wainwright (IAC/NMC 90) will premiere his second opera, Hadrian, on Oct. 13, 2018.
Beth Poquette Drews (AS 93-94, IAC 95-97) has been named Teacher of the Year for the Dallas Independent School District. Poquette Drews teaches orchestra, mariachi and guitar (Modern Band) for LV Stockard Middle School. Dallas ISD is located in Dallas, Texas and employs 10,000 teachers.
Cellist Jeremiah Shaw, IAA (96-98) played at Carnegie Hall on Feb. 6 with the Naumberg Chamber Music Award-winning Telegraph Quartet.
Eve Fairbanks (IAC 96-00) had an article published in The Washington Post in January of 2018.
Richard Hinds (IAC/NMC 96-97, IAA 97-00) is currently the Associate Choreographer for Come From Away on Broadway. He was the Associate on the Broadway productions of Newsies and Jekyll and Hyde. Richard worked on the Off-Broadway production of Here Lies Love as well as the National Tours of 9 to 5 and High School Musical.
Stanford Thompson (IAC 00-03, IAC St 05-06, 08) returned as a guest lecturer with Drexel University's Arts Administration Program, University of Pennsylvania's Urban Studies Program and as a faculty member of the Global Leaders Program. New assignments included lectures at the University of Michigan's Arts Leadership Program and Carnegie Hall's Ensemble Connect. Thompson was also profiled in Forbes and was named one of Ebony’s Power 100 Community Crusaders.
Katie Curatolo (IAC 00, IAA 02-04, IAC St 04) is now the Manager of Artistic Operations at Princeton Symphony Orchestra.
Edward McPherson (IAA 02-04) is now the Executive Director of the Island Moving Company of Newport, Rhode Island.
Miles Mykkanen (IAC 02-04, IAA 08-09) played the title role in Candide in the Arizona Opera's production, and will reprise the role in the Palm Beach Opera's production, which opens Feb. 23.
Zach Goldbaum (IAC 04-06) had an article published on Racked in January 2018.
Chad Goodman (IAC 06-07) was appointed Music Director of the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra in Walnut Creek, California.
Anne Malin Ringwalt (IAC 08-10, IAA 11-13) is a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry candidate at the University of Notre Dame, and specializes in translation theory and the phenomenology of religion. Ringwalt and her partner, Will Johnson (IAA 11-13), are in a musical duo called Fawn; their music video "Good Earth" premiered on NPR's All Songs Considered in January 2017, and their debut LP is forthcoming.
Catherine Andre (IAC 09, IAA 09-13) directed the hilarious restoration comedy The Recruiting Officer at The Center at West Park in New York City with fellow Arts Academy alumni Kendall Cafaro (IAC 11-12, IAA 12-13), Tony Macht (IAC 07-10, IAA 11-13) and Sheridan Stevens (IAC 07-08, IAA 10-12, IAC St 12). The show ran Feb. 1-3 and 6-10.
Garrett Law (IAC 10, IAA 10-13) was appointed Assistant Organist-Choirmaster at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is also the Assistant Director of the Choir School at St. Peter's, an after-school music education program that serves approximately 100 young choristers from the Charlotte area.
Isolde Fair (IAC 14-16) wrote and performed "To All The Little Girls" and was asked by The New York Times to perform it at the Women in the World Summit at Lincoln Center. Fair also performed the song with 180-voice Seattle Women's Chorus and placed first in the Kiwanis competition for violin. She is the concertmaster of her middle school orchestra.
Jimena Caballero (IAC 15-16) and Maria Vertiz (IAC 11-12), along with Berklee College of Music and Mexico's General Consulate in Boston, are taking part in a support initiative for Oaxaca Mexico, which was struck by several earthquakes in September.
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Examples of Injuries
Semi Truck Accidents
Theme Park/Tourist Accidents
Sexual Crimes and Offenses
Florida Theme Park/Tourist Lawyer
Theme park cases present a unique challenge for both the law firm prosecuting them and the injured client. We have handled as a matter of public records many cases against Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We have also handled cases against Universal Studios of Orlando, Florida and Sea World of Orlando, Florida.
It is often a sad day for the theme park victim when they’re injured while visiting Orlando on vacation. Our primary concern is that injured theme park clients receive proper medical attention as well as a full discussion of their legal rights against these entities.
We, at Crews & Pesquera have handled many high profile theme park cases in the past and are currently involved with several cases. Other than what is open for public view at the Orange County Courthouse, Crews & Pesquera is under confidentiality agreements not to discuss theme park settlements.
Our firm has the capacity to obtain the services of a theme park safety consultant located in the Central Florida area on relatively short notice to evaluate theme park cases. They investigate the accident and substantiate the dangerous condition or negligence.
If you have an injury from a theme park case, contact Crews & Pesquera immediately for a free consultation. We have represented victims of theme park negligence from the United States, Europe, Central and South America. In fact, one of our attorneys traveled to England to pursue justice for an injured British citizen. This case was written up in the Liverpool newspaper The Daily Post.
The following cases illustrate our confidence and experience in handling tourist claims:
In the Estate Of Cole/Babson v. U.S. Rental Car Company, Several British citizens were killed and several children injured in an automobile crash near Walt Disney World of Orlando, Florida. A pre-suit mediation occurred at the offices of Crews & Pesquera with the national risk manager of the U.S. rental car company where a settlement was reached. The settlement was for the policy limit of $2,750,000.00. The last we heard, the surviving families had purchased a new home in London and the children were back in school doing reasonably well. Substantial monies were set aside for each of the children which will go towards their medical care, health and educational expenses as well as provide support for the family.
At Crews & Pesquera, we always recommend that our clients consider structured settlements in addition to receiving lump sum monies so that families may be adequately cared for over an extended period of time. From a lawyer’s standpoint, there is nothing worse than a substantial settlement occurring which is not managed and preserved. At Crews & Pesquera, we strive to obtain the best possible settlements and to protect families when a tragedy occurs.
In Fagan and Clark v. A Rental Car Company, 2 British citizens on holiday were injured in an automobile accident near Walt Disney World. After returning to the United Kingdom, Mr. Fagan and Mr. Clark both continued to receive medical care and treatment. Our firm arranged for each client to be seen by a private doctor in Liverpool. One of our attorneys traveled to Liverpool to conduct videotaped depositions of the treating British doctors and a private doctor who performed a medical evaluation. This case was reported in the Liverpool newspaper entitled: “A U.S. Court Fight Hits Town.” We are happy to report that the case was amicably resolved for a confidential amount.
Dien Le v. Theme Park; Dien Le was a passenger on a water ride. A malfunction in the ride caused a dangerous condition in which our client was injured. The injury resulted in Mr. Le taking a life flight to Shands teaching hospital in Gainesville, Florida where he underwent emergency neck and spine surgery. The client recovered more than a half a million dollars. We, as Florida tourist lawyers, are often asked to help injured tourists obtain justice, as we did with Mr. Le.
Bottoroff v. Water park; A design defect in the construction of the water slide caused our client to skip over the water like a stone and slam into a wall instead of landing in the pool. Our client underwent spinal surgery consisting of a lumbar fusion. Unfortunately, the settlement amount is confidential, but again, it is in the high 6 figures.
Pardoe v. Scherzer; When the father of a British teenager and college student, Victoria Parode, was tragically killed on a motorcycle in Ft. Myers, Florida and after calls to many other attorneys, reached Crews & Pesquera just days before she would have been barred forever from claiming interest in her father’s estate. Miss Pardoe’s step mother took the position that she was entitled to all of the accident insurance money. Attorney Bryan Crews had Miss Pardoe travel from England to Florida and travel with him to Ft. Myers Florida to fight the step mother’s claim. After vigorous cross examination in open court of the step mother, the judge ruled favorably on behalf of Victoria Pardoe. Attorney Bryan Crews told the judge that the step mother’s position was, “just plain wrong and indicative of pure greed”. After the zealous cross examination by Attorney Crews of the step mother, she dropped her claim against the family’s estate in England, which includes the family home left to Victoria and her brother. Although Attorney Bryan Crews did not receive a lot of money for attorneys’ fees, he did this as a father and parent of 4 children.
Florida Tourists Lawyer
Crews & Pesquera has handled many injury cases for tourists in Central Florida, many on behalf of tourists from England/United Kingdom. We have represented tourists from Venezuela and Columbia injured at Walt Disney World; Mexican tourists injured in a semi truck accident; Vietnamese tourists injured at Universal Studios; Chinese tourists injured near Cape Canaveral and Russian tourists injured in an automobile accident.
We have also represented people from Korea and the Carribean Islands, Vietnam, Kuwait and Egypt.
If you are a tourist who has been injured in Florida, please call us or e-mail us as soon as possible for a free consultation. Even if you are not sure whether you have a case or not, we may be able to assist you by providing information on local doctors and hospitals. We prefer that you contact us before leaving the States, but even if you have returned to your home, please feel free to contact us.
We are on the British embassy’s approved lawyers list in Orlando.
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It Can Happen Again—The Big Short Movie
December 23, 2015 by Bill Hennessy in Economics and Economy, News
“You know how when you walk into a post office you realize there is such a difference between a government employee and other people,” said Vinny. “The ratings agency people were all like government employees.”
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine (movie tie-in) (Movie Tie-in Editions) (p. 156). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition.
I wanted to blame the government.
Like millions of American conservatives, I had developed a powerful narrative of the way the world works.
Big banks got big because they did things right.
Investments banks made money because they hired top MBAs and lawyers and accountants (sometimes all three in one person) who worked their asses off, took intelligent risks, and kept going even after they’d earned “enough.”
Big corporation got big by producing great products that people loved because the products made real lives better.
The American economy grew because of ingenuity and hard work.
And when the system didn’t work right, when big inequalities emerged, it was because of government interference. Postal workers shouldn’t interfere with Masters of the Universe, to borrow Tom Wolfe’s line.
I’ve believed and recited that narrative (in excruciating detail with reams of supporting documentation) since I was a high school freshman.
The Big Short opened in theatres today. The movie explains the poison that's enveloped the kernel of truth. Despite many laughs, you'll leave the theatre mad as hell.
That narrative, which I’ll call The American Design, is so powerful because it’s true.
More accurately, the narrative contains truth. There’s a kernel of truth in The American Design. And that kernel is firm enough and large enough and well-known enough that whenever a socialist challenges the narrative, we on the right slap down their heresies by hurling the kernel back at the heretic like a pea spat through a straw.
But the kernel of truth is like a healthy seed surrounded by rotting fruit. The flesh of the fruit is poisonous. And we eat from it every damn day.
The Bursting Bubble
In 2007, I was taking macro economics. My instructor was an executive at a small regional bank. (Maybe a community bank.) He went off script a few times to warn us that there was a housing bubble that would soon burst and take the whole financial system with it.
That banker worked for a bank that didn’t sell its mortgages and didn’t offer fraudulent no-doc subprime loans with teaser rates to people without jobs. They offered some subprime, but only if they were willing hold the loan themselves. They wouldn’t sell a shit loan to Goldman Sachs or Bank of America or Merrill Lynch just because the big banks begged for the shittiest paper it could buy.
None of us in class really understood what he was talking about. Like 99.999% of Americans, we trusted that the big banks got big because of smart, hardworking people. We figured this night college instructor was a Midwestern buffoon who envied his New York brethren and $50 million bonuses. Human nature.
Within a year, we all knew that the night college instructor who worked at a bank with a balance sheet smaller than Goldman Sachs’s annual catering bill knew more about banks, money, and the economy than Lloyd Blankfein, Ben Bernanke, Vikram Pandit, and the faculty of Harvard Business School combined.
If our instructor explained how shitty loans became mortgage bonds which became collateralized debt obligations which balanced out credit default swaps which inspired synthetic CDOs, I didn’t understand his story well enough to remember it. It wouldn’t be on the test.
Interest-Only Express Cruisers in Party Cove
About this time, I met up with Chris, my insurance agent, for happy hour at The Country Club in Town & Country. Chris told me that something bad was about to happen.
His agency was busy as hell in early 2007, busy writing new homeowners and boat policies for long-time customers. Longtime customers with good income and enough birthdays under their belts to know better.
“They’re refinancing for a hundred and ten, hundred and twenty percent of value on interest-only loans with options to skip four payments a year,” he told me. "They’re using the refi checks and their low mortgage payments to buy express cruisers for their second homes at the lake."
“If you’re paying only interest and skipping four payments a year, when is the loan paid off?” I asked.
These subprime borrowers were otherwise responsible, successful, educated St. Louisans, most with kids in high school or college or beyond. They had high FICO scores but not high enough to get $450,000 for a $400,000 house with a payment of $520 a month. So they went to Countrywide and Wachovia and other criminal mortgage houses, signed no-doc variable APR notes, and pumped all their newfound (borrowed) cash into $500,000 boats to cruise Party Cove.
Not all subprime borrowers were strippers.
The Wealth Effect: Your Government at Work
From the 1990s to 2007, millions of Americans fell victim to a cruel and unusual scam operated by the United States government and Wall Street. The name of the scam: The Wealth Effect.
The wealth effect is the theory that people borrow and spend more when they believe the economy will get better in the near future. So a rising stock market, a rosy jobs report, and inflating home values will all drive people to borrow and spend—just like government.
Those otherwise upstanding St. Louisans who took out subprime loans believed Jim Cramer and Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner and Milton Friedman and Allen Greenspan and everyone else who said real estate can only go up in value “because God ain't making anymore land,” chuckle, chuckle.
So from 1990s to 2007 (and again since 2010) CNBC and Fox Business News paraded out analysts, economists, professors, advisors, Treasury Secretaries, former Reagan advisors, and anyone else willing to look into the camera and tell the American public “The Dow will double in the next four years, and housing prices will continue their trend of ten to twenty percent annual increases.”
Some of these pundits and experts actually believed what they were saying. People are wired to believe that the future will be a linear progression of the recent past. If it’s not a documented psychological fallacy, it should be. (Howe and Strauss explained this fallacy in The Fourth Turning. But did we listen?)
Others who spoke about the unstoppable American economy were paid to lie. Or they lied because they could make more money on the lie than they could by telling the truth.
But the people in charge of the banks and the government either knew or should have known that the wealth effect was a mirage and perpetuating people’s belief in the mirage was a crime. They perpetuated the lies, anyway.
“The impact on the broader economy and the financial markets of the problems in the subprime markets seems likely to be contained,” U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke was quoted as saying in the newspapers on March 7.
We all know what happened next.
About $5 trillion of the wealth effect was wiped out from 401(k)s, retirement funds, stock portfolios, and home values
Eight million people lost their jobs
Six millions homes were foreclosed on
The labor force participation rate returned to 1976 levels and continues to fall every month
GDP growth has never been weaker following a recession
A malaise wraps the country
[Tweet "The name of the scam: The Wealth Effect."]
Save the Rich and Powerful--From Themselves
You and I and most of the people we will see or meet or talk to between now and the day we die took a step back in standard of living because of the subprime debacle.
The people who caused the debacle only profited. As Michael Lewis writes in The Big Short:
The CEOs of every major Wall Street firm were also on the wrong end of the gamble. All of them, without exception, either ran their public corporations into bankruptcy or were saved from bankruptcy by the United States government. They all got rich, too.
I don’t spit that kernel of truth about the American Design at heretics any longer. Not because I’ve defected to their side—I have not. But while watching the movie version of The Big Short tonight I realized that the rotting flesh surrounding the kernel of truth is so rancid, so poisonous, and so large that I risk my own life putting the kernel in my mouth. I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to defend the financial system without succumbing to its lethality. Or maybe increasing that lethality.
Back to the book:
The people in a position to resolve the financial crisis were, of course, the very same people who had failed to foresee it: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, future Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack, Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit, and so on. A few Wall Street CEOs had been fired for their roles in the subprime mortgage catastrophe, but most remained in their jobs, and they, of all people, became important characters operating behind the closed doors, trying to figure out what to do next. With them were a handful of government officials— the same government officials who should have known a lot more about what Wall Street firms were doing, back when they were doing it. All shared a distinction: They had proven far less capable of grasping basic truths in the heart of the U.S. financial system than a one-eyed money manager with Asperger’s syndrome.
Or, for that matter, an officer at a tiny Midwest community bank who teaches night college to make ends meet.
Sliding Down the Hanlon's Razor of Life
Hanlon’s Razor instructs us:
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
When Ben Bernanke gave America the “all’s clear” from the subprime meltdown before the meltdown had really started, he probably wasn’t lying. He simply didn’t understand how the system worked. (Frankly, he still doesn’t have a clue how the system works. It’s both too simple and too complex.) As Lewis wrote in The Big Short:
The big Wall Street firms, seemingly so shrewd and self-interested, had somehow become the dumb money. The people who ran them did not understand their own businesses, and their regulators obviously knew even less.
Most of the Wall Streeters depicted in The Big Short didn’t become criminals until after they realized they’d been stupid all along. That was in June 2007 when for five days all the banks refused to answer phone calls from the heroes of the movie—because of a power outage or server failure or phone failure or whatever feeble lies they told them. Lewis described this period in The Big Short, which is also depicted, frustratingly, in the movie:
On Friday, June 15, Burry’s Goldman Sachs saleswoman, Veronica Grinstein, vanished. He called and e-mailed her, but she didn’t respond until late the following Monday— to tell him that she was “out for the day.” “This is a recurrent theme whenever the market moves our way,” wrote Burry. “People get sick, people are off for unspecified reasons.” On June 20, Grinstein finally returned to tell him that Goldman Sachs had experienced “systems failure.”
That was funny, Burry replied, because Morgan Stanley had said more or less the same thing. And his salesman at Bank of America claimed they’d had a “power outage.”
“I viewed these ‘systems problems’ as excuses for buying time to sort out a mess behind the scenes,” he said. The Goldman saleswoman made a weak effort to claim that, even as the index of subprime mortgage bonds collapsed, the market for insuring them hadn’t budged. But she did it from her cell phone, rather than the office line, on which the conversations would have been recorded.
I believe that in those five days the banksters committed the greatest robbery and cover-up in history, and the Bush administration and the Fed became willing accomplices. No one could admit he’d been wrong for 20 years — wrong in every way about money, banking, economics, credit, and risk. No one in Washington or New York could stomach admitting that my macro economics instructor at Fontbonne who worked at a community bank in the Midwest understood money, banking, economics, credit, and risk better than the Masters of the Universe. And all those bankers and economists and Bush appointees were willing to risk prison or riots or lynching to avoid admitting the truth.
Of course, the banksters and their government accomplices were not prosecuted or hanged by mobs: they paid themselves billions in bonuses with taxpayers’ money.
Remember the TARP bailout that Senator Roy Blunt and Representative (now Speaker of the House) Paul Ryan championed?
Once handed the money, Paulson abandoned his promised strategy and instead essentially began giving away billions of dollars to Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and a few others unnaturally selected for survival.
And nothing has changed. Not a damn thing.
But it will. And this time, the Fed and the government are out of weapons. There will be no cover-up, no QE, no TARP, because this time the government itself will be insolvent.
Before the new year, see The Big Short. If it makes you mad as hell, you get it. If it doesn’t, spit out the kernel before you die.
Read Jim Quinn's review of The Big Short here.
December 23, 2015 /Bill Hennessy
capitalism, Michael Lewis, Movie, The Big Short
Economics and Economy, News
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Our Politics / Nuestra Política
Declaración de la Misión
Role of the Revolutionary Organization
El Rol de la Organización Revolucionaria
Points of Unity / Puntos de Unidad
With Allies Like These: Reflections on Privilege Reductionism
Posted on April 20, 2018 - Federation Tags: feminism, intersectionality
We reprint this essay as important contribution to critical discussions around privilege and identity first published in 2014. Although it is hard to say the concepts discussed are “relatively hegemonic” anymore as the article leads with given the fierce debates the left has had more recently, nonetheless the piece presents a number of important and early criticisms around privilege and identity. This text was originally published in Mortar: Revolutionary Journal of Common Cause, Volume 2. Common Cause was an anarchist political organization based in Southern Ontario, Canada that was active from 2007 to 2016. Image by Emory Douglas, former Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party, and with the slogan “All Power to the People” is an example of the Panther’s politics of solidarity.
By 2 Hamilton members and 1 Toronto member of Common Cause
Over the course of the last several decades, anti-oppression politics have risen to a position of immense influence on activist discourse in North America. Anti-oppression workshops and reading groups, privilege and oppression checklists and guidelines, and countless books, online blogs and articles make regular appearances in anarchist organizing and discussion. Enjoying a relatively hegemonic position in Left conversation, anti-oppression politics have come to occupy the position of a sacred object—something that expresses and reinforces particular values, but does not easily lend itself to critical reflection. Indeed, it is common for those who question the operating and implications of anti-oppression politics to be accused of refusing to seriously address oppression in general. A political framework should be constantly reflected upon and evaluated—it is a tool that should serve our struggles and not vice versa.
Against this backdrop, this article aims to critically engage with the dominant ideas and practices of anti-oppression politics. We define anti-oppression politics as a related group of analyses and practices that seeks to address inequalities that materially, psychologically, and socially exist in society through education and personal transformation. While there is value in some aspects of anti-oppression politics, they are not without severe limitations. Anti-oppression politics obfuscates the structural operations of power and promotes a liberal project of inclusion that is necessarily at odds with the struggle to build a collective force capable of fundamentally transforming society. It is our contention that anti-oppression furthers a politics of inclusion as a poor substitute for a politics of revolution. The dominant practices of anti-oppression further an approach to struggle whose logical conclusion is the absorption of those deemed oppressed into the dominant order, but not to the eradication and transformation of the institutional foundations of oppression.
I. Historical Context
The Defeat of Liberation and the Rise of anti-oppression
In the Global North, the 1960s and 1970s marked a high point in social movement struggle. Today, when revolution can seem impossible, it is difficult to imagine a time when militants spoke of “the revolution” not cynically, but as something that was happening, or would happen in the near future. Subdued using old-fashioned strategies of incarceration, murder, sexual assault, espionage and surveillance, blacklisting, and other forms of direct physical, economical, and emotional violence, beginning in the 1980s, the Left found itself entombed in a sophisticated system of control and co-option. In describing this, our goal is to illustrate how anti-oppression politics are neither radical, nor revolutionary. In fact, the prominence of anti-oppression in activist circles is both a symptom of, and contributing factor to, the ongoing victory of the ruling elite over our movements.
Dylan Rodriguez (2007), in The Revolution Will Not Be Funded, elaborates this reality:
Indeed, the US state learned from its encounters with the crest of radical and revolutionary liberationist movements of the 1960s and early 1970s that endless, spectacular exercises of military and police repression against activists of colour on the domestic front could potentially provoke broader local and global support for such struggles—it was in part because they were so dramatically subjected to violent and racist US state repression that Black, Native American, Puerto Rican, and other domestic liberationists were seen by significant sectors of the US and the international public as legitimate freedom fighters, whose survival of the racist State pivoted on the mobilization of a global political solidarity. On the other hand, the US state has found in its coalition with the Non-Profit Industrial Complex a far less spectacular, generally demilitarized, and still highly effective apparatus of political discipline and repression that (to this point) has not provoked a significant critical mass of opposition or political outrage.
Strategies previously employed by State-Capital interests to dispose of a fighting trade union movement were modified and extended to control the heterogeneous New Left movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Rather than being crushed by outright military force, elements of the resistance movements are subsumed into the inner workings of State and Capital, and ultimately come to reinforce the overarching structures of exploitation and oppression. In the 1950s in Canada, what is known as ‘labour peace’ was declared by a subsection of the labour movement, Capital and the State. The process of establishing labour peace involved some key elements which could be seen as analogous to the pacification of other movements.
The process begins with legitimizing a section of the antagonistic movement, and propping them up as leaders or representatives of the whole. This representation requires funding and a bureaucracy to maintain itself. In the case of labour peace, funding was guaranteed by the Rand Formula, a policy which requires employers whose workers are unionized to collect dues and hand them over to the union, which serves to put the union in a dependent position to the legislative framework, and therefore the State. The maintenance of power and outside legitimacy by those placed on the top of the hierarchy is contingent on their discipline of the rank and file.
Finally, other systems of domination are mobilized to keep everyone in check—for example, white union workers enforcing a racial hierarchy among their co-workers.
The One-Two Punch: Destroy and Replace
While the co-option of revolutionary movements was no new insight on the part of the ruling class, the scale of this project was novel. Understanding that every new generation would bring with it a “new” awareness that revolutionary change is desirable, the ruling class sought to create infrastructure not just to contain existing movements, but to redirect the energies of future ones. Destroy existing movements by way of violence, infiltration, etc., and replace all aspects of people’s movements with institutions that are in line with the interests of the ruling class. For our purposes, it is on this latter point that we focus.
In the 1980s, substantial inroads were made for new areas where people’s organizations previously enjoyed a monopoly: the creation of revolutionary theory, the internal movement and popular education by which that theory is shared and elaborated upon, the provision of services to marginalized people and the creation of progressive social spaces. In these four areas, liberalism posturing as an emancipatory politics has thoroughly washed the revolutionary potential away.
Development of Analysis and Theory
While analysis and theory were historically produced by radicals in the context of struggle, this task has largely been shifted into the realm of academia. Over the course of the last several decades, entire bodies of literature and corresponding vocabularies have been developed, turning radical theory and analysis into a highly specialized undertaking. Coming out of the 1970s, many liberation movements sought to create homes for themselves within the university through the creation of ‘Progressive Studies’ departments (eg. Gender Studies, Critical Race Studies, Disability Studies, Queer Studies, Labour Studies, etc.).
At the time, some activists thought that obtaining space within universities was an important goal because of its potential to organize collectively, and because of the large amount of resources within the university. However, in hindsight, the channeling of resistance into the universities facilitated the destruction of the grassroots movements, and created a space in which people could build careers off of the backs of past struggles. Despite ostensibly radical beginnings, Progressive Studies function to hinder (rather than further) the interests of revolutionary movements.
The gravitation of would-be revolutionaries to the university for an “education”, where radical theory is subject to bourgeois pressures more than an accountability to humanity, harnesses our radical traditions and erases collective memory of struggle. There exists a fundamental misunderstanding (to be generous regarding motivation) of a radical education: that the classroom can serve as a foundation for transformative politics, rather than an adjunct to learning and development focused on real-world struggle.
“Research” conducted by students on marginalized constituencies, which is the closest thing to grassroots work that may be seen, is often based on such exploitative assumptions and power relationships that value may only occasionally be derived from it. The demobilizing effects of the alienation of theory from action cannot here be overstated.
In the creation of Progressive Studies, the passing of stories, information, theory, and practice was very smartly removed from organizations where work was happening. The blossoming of the historical study of people’s movements by academia in the past thirty years has had some key effects. Those with the best access to university have the best access to people’s history. Simply having access to university, being competent working within it, and having an interest in people’s history, is enough to facilitate access to the history.
Therefore, there is no correlation between access to history, the framing and development of that history, and being engaged in struggle oneself. Lacking intimate knowledge of the context of organizing, students of people’s history are rarely capable of understanding the material they study. Therefore, we have noticed that historians who consider themselves “radicals” because they have an interest in liberation stories are often stumped when it comes to extracting the value from their work.
While people’s history was a people’s pursuit in the 1960s and 1970s, its movement into the university effectively removed people’s access and contributions to it. In this sense, history is back to being written by the victors – the liberal bourgeoisie, and those who are able to adapt their studies to their criteria for inclusion. Despite this, it manages to maintain a veneer of subversiveness, which is misleading and unhelpful.
Popular and movement education
Popular education has been almost entirely abandoned by the Left, from radical to reformist. Here we focus on internal movement education, and how it is done.
Movement education continues in the form of mentoring, book-fairs, workshops, literature, online forums, and formal training programs. This stands in contrast to the pedagogy employed by successful movements in the past and contemporarily: education of individual militants is best done in the midst of work, struggle, and action.
James P Garrett worked extensively on the creation of Black Studies at San Francisco State University, a program which was exemplary in the creation of Progressive Studies departments around North America. Interviewed by Ibram Rogers (2009) in Remembering the Black Campus Movement: An Oral History Interview with James P. Garrett, he recounts his own political education, beginning when he “got involved in the sit-in movements. We demonstrated and I was arrested seven times that summer and I was hooked. My life changed… by the time I got to [San Francisco] State I was ready. I was trained and prepared. I came there as a veteran of the movement.”
Here we contrast the militant who arrives at university “trained” (not in manners, but in the manipulation of power for radical ends) and then proceeds to organize, instead of arriving hoping to be educated.
Describing the goals of the creation of Black Studies as the redirection of university resources “to benefit or ameliorate the Black community,” he is critical of modern careerists “who consolidated the attire of Black consciousness” and “owe a tremendous amount — they don’t pay — but they owe a tremendous amount to the sacrifices of people who lost their hands their fingers, their eyes, people who spent time in prison who were killed—students.” Pragmatically, Garret is not wedded to the continuation of the institution he helped to create, but hopes younger militants will “develop a worldview about what education should be in the twenty-first century for young Blacks and then move to organize around that.”
Even in forms of movement education which were later depicted as individualized, such as Consciousness Raising (CR), people actually emphasized the collective creation and distribution of knowledge by those affected. CR, borrowed by the Women’s Movement from Chinese revolutionaries, was a self-education process in groups of women who articulated the truthful realities of their lives to one another, thereby creating a new knowledge of their collective situation.
Of course, the term consciousness raising is now used more to describe awareness of issues faced by oneself or others. The original meaning of the term was not an individual intellectual exercise or imposition. Instead, CR was a deliberate tactic whose goal was to provide a tool with which people could raise themselves from the destitutions in which they found themselves to become militants with agency, by fostering a class-consciousness, based on their experiences (in this example) as women.
The development of class-consciousness, history and identity by a vast collective, in contrast to representatives of given groups who are seen as having authority to speak is perhaps subtle, but important. We see most often in anti-oppression an emphasis on the latter.
In researching this article, we found The Combahee River Collective Statement (1978) to be one of the most frequently cited documents in the origin stories of anti-oppression. Often mentioned in the first paragraphs of modern writing and workshop outlines, it was not obvious to us that this document had in fact been read by most authors.
The Combahee Collective takes great pains to describe a process by which its members, all Black Lesbians, educated themselves, and got them to the conclusion that they should continue the creation of a Black Lesbian consciousness and analysis, rather than individualizing insights regarding their condition, as is done contemporarily. The Collective describes the effect that the group-based generation of knowledge had on their development:
There is also undeniably a personal genesis for Black Feminism, that is, the political realization that comes from the seemingly personal experiences of individual Black women’s lives. Black feminists and many more Black women who do not define themselves as feminists have all experienced sexual oppression as a constant factor in our day-to-day existence … Black feminists often talk about their feelings of craziness before becoming conscious of the concepts of sexual politics, patriarchal rule, and most importantly, feminism, the political analysis and practice that we women use to struggle against our oppression.
Practitioners of anti-oppression have been heard to say, “a white person cannot be an expert on racism.” In practice, especially in combination with the Non-Profit Industrial Complex (NPIC), where paid jobs increasingly demand a university education, a degree in any Progressive Study functions to make viable the prominence/importance/leadership of individuals within movements where they would otherwise not be central. Using academic credentials, an “ally” can obtain employment at an agency, where services are provided to a constituency in which the worker may or (more often) may not have “lived experience.” This helps to propagate systems of domination within marginalized communities by entitling non-members to important roles in their maintenance. Alisa Bierria (2007), in The Revolution Will Not Be Funded, gives the following example of the progression in the ways education is viewed:
Organizers often understood themselves as belonging to a mutual community of women who had suffered from patriarchal violence. Seattle Rape Relief, for example, began from a speak-out, a mutual sharing of stories about the experience of abuse. As the movement developed and became increasingly professionalized, workers were expected to be not “battered women” but experts with a master’s degree in social work.
The Provision of Services
In the past, many revolutionary groups provided services to those who were unable to obtain them elsewhere due to their marginalization. Examples of this would be the development of shelters by radical feminists for women being subjected to violence, and the Black Panther Party’s free breakfast program. These services, provided by grassroots organizers, posed important political questions: Why do women need shelters? Why do Black children need breakfast? Then they proposed responses: patriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism.
Service provision was a valuable method for the recruitment, training, and retention of militants. It served as a form of “prefigurative practice” via direct action, as a way to develop organizing skills, and a venue to sharpen revolutionary analysis. Also, every action taken by an organization or social movement is also a form of outreach and recruitment. Different forms of action attract people with different goals. Symbolic action may attract those interested in representation. Lobbying attracts those who are invested in the power of the State. The direct service provision served to attract high quality new recruits who were interested in immediate results, but as they were constructed with revolutionary goals in mind, served as a way to demonstrate the viability of alternative economic and social arrangements.
Social interactions
In recent years we have seen an emphasis placed on the role of anti-oppressive practice in regulating social interactions on the left. As manners go, anti-oppression is not a bad try at a moral code that seeks not to brutalize and disempower each other. Perhaps this is the best that can be said about it. However, it does not in and of itself constitute anything other than a bare minimum standard of behaviour, certainly not a politics.
Decades ago, in yet another work that has been left unread by those who invoke it, the value of such interventions were questioned by Carol Hanisch (1970) in The Personal is Political. Discussing CR she states, “personal problems are political problems. There are no personal solutions at this time. There is only collective action for a collective solution.” Soon after, Hanisch dismisses lifestylism as without political merit:
The groups that I have been in have also not gotten into “alternative lifestyles” or what it means to be a “liberated” woman. We came early to the conclusion that all alternatives are bad under present conditions… There is no “more liberated” way; there are only bad alternatives.
Reading and Waiting for the Anti-Globalization Movement
When the Anti-Globalization Movement saw a groundswell of activism, action and organizing, the capacities of the NPIC and Progressive Studies to contain potential revolutionary forces were put to the test.
Hungry to learn more about the world and how to change it, fresh activists turned to the remnants of the last generation of high struggle. Only instead of finding the history in their neighbourhoods, grandparents, political organizations and prisons, they found them in books written by university-educated people, themselves overwhelmingly disengaged from struggle, published in academic journals and university-affiliated presses.
Infused in this purportedly radical press was the ideology of anti-oppression. Explicitly claiming heritage in the 1960s and 1970s liberation movements on the one hand, anti-oppression theory on the other hand discourages direct connection with these movements. Referencing and critiquing works of past generations while not making those works directly available to new activists, academics and their allies on the one hand stood on the backs of (often still-living) organizers of decades gone, while dismissing their work as a whole as “problematic.”
Black Power can be dismissed as anti-feminist and homophobic. Labour struggles are racist, colonialist, and patriarchal. Radical feminism is anti-trans*, anti-sex, and sometimes homophobic. Other feminisms are pro-capitalist, and white-centred. Gay liberation was dominated by white, affluent men. Components of all movements sought to integrate themselves in political power structures and Capital. In order for an idea to be worth considering, the generator of the idea must be politically pure. And since the purity has to do with strict adherence to a code of speech and conduct which was developed and is learned primarily through universities in the past twenty years, which are accessible only to a portion of workers (and in departments which are desirable to far, far fewer than even have access) the pool of people who are able to speak with any authority is quite small. Interestingly, it does not include many on-the-ground organizers, past and present, but is dominated by those who have access or desire to pursue a formal education in Progressive Studies.
The Anti-Globalization Movement, as it became known, thus came to serve as the means by which anti-oppression politics would come to imbed itself in the theory and activity of the Left, the activist milieu, etc. Now, a decade and a half later it is held as the hegemonic, almost innate, orientation of most of the Left—radical, progressive, reformist, or otherwise. We now will look at what this entails in day-to-day practice, and what we understand the implications of this to be.
II. Practices
In order to situate our critique, it is useful to consider some of the common practices associated with anti-oppression politics. Although a homogenous grouping of practices does not exist, there are dominant trends that can be observed. There are common customs and rules that constitute the lived practices of anti-oppression politics. The descriptions we provide here are not exhaustive but representative.
Workshops, Workshops & More Workshops!
Workshops are a foundational component of anti-oppression politics. Anti-oppression workshops are mandatory in many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and activist groups. Workshops attempt to provide an overview of the ways in which power operates in society, outline different forms of oppression, and encourage participants to reflect on the ways in which they experience privilege. Group exercises such as “Step Forward, Step Back” and “Mainstream/Margin” are used to draw on personal experiences to highlight the different ways in which oppression and privilege affect participants.
In Pursuit of Safe(r) Spaces
Safe or “safer” space policies are a standard outcome of anti-oppression politics. Organizations and groups incorporate into their mission statements or basis of unity documents a policy that expresses their commitment to anti-oppression via the construction of safe spaces. These statements present a laundry list of oppressions (racism, sexism, homophobia, “classism,” ableism, ageism, etc.), and cover guidelines for appropriate behaviour. Common features of these policies include using inclusive language (i.e. avoid gendered language), being respectful towards others, and the provision of “active” listeners.
Call-out Culture & “Working on Your Shit”
The “checking of privilege” is a fundamental component of anti-oppression practice.
The analogy of “unpacking the knapsack” first used by Peggy McIntosch in White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack has been widely adopted by anti-oppression advocates, who centralize recognizing and thinking about privilege. Part of this practice includes the use of the qualifier—people preface statements with an acknowledgement of the ways in which they are privileged ( i.e. “As a white able-bodied settler who is university educated…”). If someone is not adequately “checking their privilege,” the retaliation is “the call-out”—an individual or group is informed (often publicly) that they need to “work on their shit” in order to realize the ways in which they benefit, and are complicit in x oppression.
The “Good Ally”
The identity of ally (as someone who primarily identifies as engaging in struggle in support of others) is another cornerstone of anti-oppression politics. According to a popular anti-oppression guide, an ally is “…a person who supports marginalized, silenced, or less privileged groups.” The fundamental pursuit of someone with privilege is the quest to become a “good ally.” It is considered fundamental to take leadership (usually unquestionable) from representatives of oppressed groups and act as an ally to their struggles. Innumerable lists, guides, and workshops have been produced to outline the steps and necessary requirements for being an ally. The individual focus of the idea of “ally” in contrast to the collective response of “solidarity” which used to occupy a similar place is symptomatic of the general denigration of collective action by anti-oppression politics.
III. Implications
Championing Individual Over Collective Action
While anti-oppression theory acknowledges that power relations operate at both the micro and macro level, it places a disproportionate focus on the level of individual interactions. Emphasis is placed on individual conduct and personal improvement, with little attention given to challenging oppression at a structural level. Widely used by activist groups and NGOs, the document Principles and Practices of Anti-Oppression is a telling example of this trend. The statement describes the operation of oppression and outlines steps for challenging the unequal distribution of power solely in terms of individual behaviour. It puts forth the following suggestions for confronting oppression: “Keep space open for anti-oppression discussion… Be conscious of how your language may perpetuate oppression…promote anti-oppression in everything you do…don’t feel guilty, feel motivated.”
In a similar vein, the popular blog Black Girl Dangerous in a recent post 4 Ways to Push Back Against Your Privilege offers a simple four-step model. The first step is to make the choice to relinquish power—if you are in a position of power, relinquish this position. Step two is “just don’t go”—”If you have access to something and you recognize that you have it partly because of privilege, opt out of it”. The third step is to shut up—if you are an individual of privilege who is committed to anti-oppression you will “…sit the hell down and shut up.” And finally, step four is to be careful with the identities that you claim. The strategy for ending oppression is articulated as a matter of addressing power dynamics between individuals in a group context, but within the confines of the State and Capitalism.
For the privileged subject, struggle is presented as a matter of personal growth and development—the act of striving to be the best non-oppressive person that you can be. An entire industry is built on providing resources, guides, and trainings to help people learn to challenge oppression by means of “checking their privilege.” The underlining premise of this approach is the idea that privilege can be willed away. At best this orientation is ineffective, and at worst it can actually work to recenter those who occupy positions of privilege at the expense of wider political struggle. Andrea Smith reflecting on her experiences with anti-oppression workshops, describes this issue:
These workshops had a bit of a self-help orientation to them: “I am so and so, and I have x privilege.” It was never quite clear what the point of these confessions were…It did not appear that these individual confessions actually led to any political projects to dismantle the structures of domination that enabled their privilege. Rather, the confession became the political project themselves.
Resulting in what Smith terms the “ally industrial complex,” the approach of challenging oppression via the confession of one’s privilege leads to a valorization of the individual actions of a “confessing subject”. Acknowledging the ways in which structures of oppression constitute who we are and how we experience the world through the allocation of privilege is a potentially worthwhile endeavour. However, it is not in and of itself politically productive or transformative.
Privilege is a matter of power. It equates benefits, including access to resources and positions of influence, and can be considered in terms of both psychological or emotional benefits, as well as economic or material benefits. It is much more than personal behaviours, interactions, and language, and can neither be wished, nor confessed away. The social division of wealth and the conditions under which we live and work shape our existence, and cannot be transformed through individual actions. We must organize together to challenge the material infrastructure that accumulates power (one result of which is privilege). Anything less leads to privilege reductionism—the reduction of complex systems of oppression whose structural basis is material and institutional to a mere matter of individual interactions and personal behaviours.
Relentless Articulation of Difference
As a component of anti-oppression politics, intersectionality accounts for the complexity of domination by outlining the various ways in which different forms of oppression intersect and reproduce each other. Rooted in feminist discussions of the 1970s and 1980s that sought to problematize the notion of universal “womanhood,” intersectionality provides a framework for conceptualizing the ways in which different “positionalities” (eg. gender, sexuality, race, class, ability, etc.) shape people’s subjective experiences, as well as material realities. Patricia Hill Collins describes intersectionality as an “…analysis claiming that systems of race, social class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nation, and age form mutually constructing features of social organization.” In sum, intersectionality provides a lens through which we can view people’s social locations as mutually constitutive and tied to systemic inequalities.
Intersectionality is often evoked in a manner that isolates and reifies social categories without adequately drawing attention to common ground. Crucial to its analysis is an emphasis on a politics of difference—it is asserted that our identities and social locations necessarily differentiate us from those who do not share those identities and social locations. So, for example, a working class queer woman will not have the same experiences and by extension, the same interests as an affluent woman who is straight. Similarly, a cis-man of colour will not have the same experiences and by extension the same interests as a trans* man of colour, and so on and so forth. Within this framework, difference is the fundamental unit of analysis and that which proceeds and defines identity. This practice works to isolate and sever connections between people in that it places all of its emphasis on differentiation.
There are seemingly endless combinations of identities that can be articulated. However, these articulations of difference do not necessarily get at the root of the problem. As Collins argues: “…Quite simply, difference is less a problem for me than racism, class exploitation and gender oppression. Conceptualizing these systems of oppression as difference obfuscates the power relations and material inequalities that constitute oppression.”
It is absolutely true that our social locations shape our experiences, and may influence our politics. Acknowledging difference is important, but it is not enough. It can obscure the functioning of oppression, and act as a barrier to collective struggle. The experiences of a female migrant who works as a live-in caregiver will not be the same as a male worker who has citizenship and works in a unionized office. These differences are substantial and should not be ignored. However, in focusing only on difference we lose sight of the fact that both are exploited under capitalism, and have a shared interest in organizing to challenge Capital. To be clear, this is not to say that divisions can be put aside and dealt with “after the revolution”, but to highlight the importance of finding common ground as a basis to bridge difference and organize collectively to challenge oppression. In the words of Sherene Razack: “speaking about difference…is not going to start the revolution.” Moving beyond a politics of difference, we need an oppositional politics that seeks to transform structural relations of power.
The Subcultural Ghetto and Lifestylism
The culture of anti-oppression politics lends itself to the creation and maintenance of insular activist circles. A so-called “radical community” — consisting of collective houses, activist spaces, book-fairs, etc. — premised on anti-oppression politics fashions itself as a refuge from the oppressive relations and interactions of the outside world. This notion of “community”, along with anti-oppression politics’ intense focus on individual and micro personal interactions, disciplined by “call-outs” and privilege checking, allows for the politicization of a range of trivial lifestyle choices. This leads to a bizarre process in which everything from bicycles to gardens to knitting are accepted as radical activity.
Call-out culture and the fallacy of community accountability creates a disciplinary atmosphere in which people must adhere to a specific etiquette. Spaces then become accessible only to those who are familiar with, and able to express themselves with the proper language and adhere to the dominant customs. Participation in the discourse which shapes and directs this language and customs is mostly up to those who are able to spend too much time debating on activist blogs, or who are academics or professionals well versed in the dialect. As mentioned previously, the containment of radical discourse to the university further insulates the “activist bubble” and subcultural ghetto.
In addition to creating spaces that are alienating to those outside of our milieu, anti-oppression discourse, call-out culture, and the related “communities” leads activists to perceive themselves as an “enlightened” section of the class (largely composed of academics, students, professionals, etc. who have worked on their shit and checked their privilege) who are tasked with acting as missionaries to the ignorant and unclean masses. This anarchist separatist orientation is problematic for any who believe in the possibility of mass liberatory social movements that are capable of actually transforming society.
One example of this orientation is a recent tumblr blog maintained by Toronto activists entitled Colonialism Ain’t Fashionable. The blog encourages activists to use their smart phones to snap photos of people wearing Hudson Bay jackets in public and submit them. Hudson Bay is a Canadian retailer which played a historically significant role in colonialism, and the jacket in particular is seen by activists as an example of cultural appropriation. Photos are then published in a strange act of attempted public shaming, justified with some high-minded language about “challenging colonialism at a cultural level,” or “sparking discussion.” What we actually see on display here is the arrogant glee with which those within the activist bubble shake their finger at those outside it.
The retreat to subcultural bohemian enclaves and activist bubbles acknowledges that revolutionary change is impossible, and as a substitute offers a counterfeit new society in the here and now. We understand that such a proposition is appealing given the day-to-day indignity and suffering that is life under our current conditions, but time and time again we have seen these experiments implode on themselves. Capitalism simply does not offer a way out and we must face this reality as the rest of the class that we are a part of faces it everyday. No amount of call-outs or privilege checking will make us into individuals untainted by the violent social relationships that permeate our reality.
Privilege, Militancy & Implicit Pacifism
As a pacifying feature of anti-oppression politics, the assertion is frequently made that militancy is a luxury for the privileged. In the context of a meeting in which a militant action is proposed, proponents of anti-oppression politics will often critique the proposal on the basis that only those with x or y privilege can participate in such an action. Due to the increased risks associated with militant action, it is argued that confrontational politics are largely the domain of those who occupy a social location of privilege, mainly cis-men. This line of argument is then used to criticize confrontational actions as exclusionary and to gender such actions as masculine (i.e. the framing of a tactic as “manarchist”). For example, the Autonomous Workers’ Group notes that black bloc actions in their city of Portland are often critiqued on the basis of furthering a “…mentality of masculine, white privilege.” In a similar vein, another article critiques property destruction and illegal strike action, stating:
There are many problems with this. Some people cannot get arrested (immigration status or compromise of professional licensing)…Other issues that warrant consideration are people who may have had traumatic experiences around violence or the police (or both). People with health issues (mental or physical) may also not be able to participate in these kind actions…
Noting that it is not feasible for everyone to participate in high-risk actions, the article concludes that peaceful protest provides an opportunity for anyone, regardless of privilege, to participate. The end result of this logic is an aversion to risk that breeds an implicit pacifism.
The avoidance of risk is a logical impossibility. To engage in revolutionary struggle is necessarily to put yourself at risk. To be against Capital, the State, colonialism, white supremacy, patriarchy, etc., is to declare yourself an enemy of these systems. Risk, discomfort, conflict are unavoidable. The history and ongoing reality of resistance movements is radically unsafe. Furthermore, for a lot of people simply going through their daily life is not safe. Marginalized communities aren’t safe going about their daily lives because of institutions of oppression—police, prisons, individual, and systemic violence, etc. To ignore this reality is to abandon revolutionary organizing. Jackie Wang notes: “…removing all elements of risk and danger reinforces a politics of reformism that just reproduces the existing social order.”
If we accept that a) confrontation is relegated to privileged social positions, and that b) inclusivity is an uncompromising imperative, it follows that pacifism is the only acceptable approach to struggle. There exists an essential contradiction. Within the framework of anti-oppression politics it is only the most oppressed who are considered to be legitimate actors in struggle (the role of the privileged is the ally). Yet, it is argued that militancy is for the privileged alone. Thus, the only option available is passive resistance. The framing of confrontational forms of resistance as belonging to the realm of privilege acts to relegate necessary tools — actions, tactics, strategies, etc. — to a domain that is inaccessible. It re-inscribes, rather than challenges the unequal distribution of power in society, acts to erase militant histories in which oppressed peoples have engaged in violent resistance, and further thrusts a role of hapless victim onto those who are oppressed. There is nothing liberatory about this.
IV. Moving Forward
We have identified the current regime of anti-oppression politics as inadequate in providing a way forward in the task of developing a revolutionary movement capable of meaningfully challenging systems of oppression and exploitation. Not only are these politics inadequate, but ultimately regressive and counter productive. Attempts to address the inadequacies of anti-oppression are often met with accusations of class reductionism. While we acknowledge that class reductionism exists as an incorrect political orientation, the accusation of such can be used as a strawman attack on those who transgress the dominant discourse within anarchist/radical circles.
Reducing the Class
As an actual political orientation, class reductionism can be largely described as a tendency on the Left which prioritizes the economic struggle in the workplace as the primary terrain of revolutionary or progressive action. Often this will go further to fetishize a particular segment of workplace struggle, namely that of blue collar, industrial workers. Whether or not it is implicitly stated, the belief is held that the struggle against other oppressions — white supremacy, hetero-patriarchy, ableism, etc. — are incidental to the class struggle, to be engaged in as secondary, or that they are simply prejudices concocted by the ruling class to be dealt with “after the revolution.”
On the other hand, we have the proponents of anti-oppression politics attempting to amalgamate “class” as another oppression alongside the rest, which “intersect” with one another at various times and places in a person’s life. Here we are presented with the grotesque notion of “classism”—the result of an attempt by anti-oppression theory to reconcile inadequate politics with the entirety of capitalist social relations. The School Of the Americas Watch Anti-Oppression Toolkit section on classism offers a prime example:
The stereotype is that poor and working class people are unintelligent, inarticulate, and “overly emotional.” A good ally (a non-working class committed supporter) will contradict these messages by soliciting the knowledge and histories of poor working class people, being a thoughtful listener, trying to understand what is being said…
Putting aside for a second the conflation of “poor” and “working class” which indicates this writer’s lack of insight into the matter they seek to educate about, there is truth in the descriptions of the “stereotype”.
We are reminded of the 2010 movie, Made in Daginham, where Eddie O’Grady attempts to ingratiate himself to his wife by pointing out that he does not beat her or their children. Frustrated by her husband’s lack of consideration of her struggle, Rita replies, “That is as it should be…You don’t go on the drink, do ya? You don’t gamble, you join in with the kids, you don’t knock us about. Oh, lucky me. For Christ’s sake, Eddie, that’s as it should be! You try and understand that. Rights, not privileges. It’s that easy. It really bloody is.”
Similarly, for all the back-patting going on with regards to “allies” most of what is advised and done constitutes nothing more than a minimal standard of behaviour. We do not feel respected when someone in a position of power “consults” us before making a decision regarding our lives, no matter how attentive and probing they may be. We see this emphasis on listening to rather than creating-with as uncomradely and tokenizing.
In their essay Insurrections at the Intersections anarchists Jen Rogue and Abbey Volcano address so-called classism by writing:
Since everyone experiences these identities differently, many theorists writing on intersectionality have referred to something called “classism” to complement racism and sexism. This can lead to the gravely confused notion that class oppression needs to be rectified by rich people treating poor people “nicer” while still maintaining class society. This analysis treats class differences as though they are simply cultural differences. In turn, this leads toward the limited strategy of “respecting diversity” […] This argument precludes a class struggle analysis which views capitalism and class society as institutions and enemies of freedom. We don’t wish to “get along” under capitalism by abolishing snobbery and class elitism.
Both of these instances of reductionism point to a fundamental misunderstanding of class and class struggle, as well as to the limits of intersectionality in understanding social relationships under capitalism. The class reductionism we should be critical of is that which attempts to reduce the class to a mere section of it (whether it is simply the poorest, or the most blue collar), and that which attempts to hold up the interests of that section as that of the entire class. The reality is that the majority of the planet is working class, and we must recognize that the material obstacles within our class, and the manner by which they reproduce themselves must be attacked as a matter of necessity. Not because we are good allies or because we want to check privileges or because we want to reduce everything to “class first!” but because we are fucking revolutionaries and we have to.
The (Re)production of Division
If our intention is not strictly limited to maintaining activist enclaves, we are required to look for the means to understand the development of identity and division under capitalism. In Caliban and the Witch, Silvia Federici examines the position of women throughout the rise of capitalism. With an emphasis on the incredibly violent subjugation necessary, witch burnings being an especially stark example, Federici outlines the historical process that fostered the patriarchal social relationships which uphold, and define capitalism.
This process is one which ran alongside the period of primitive accumulation in the transition from feudalism to capitalism. The enclosure of the commons by a fledgling bourgeoisie and the imposition of private property was the material basis for the proletarianization of populations—without the land base necessary for subsistence, peasants became workers who must sell their labour for a wage in order to survive. Primitive accumulation is the subsumption of life into the rubric of Capital — land into property, time into wages, things into commodities — and by extension the transformation of social relationships necessary to maintain and reproduce these categories. The subjugation of women to patriarchal capitalism was a crucial element of this process. The construction of the nuclear family, the assignment of domestic and reproductive labour as “women’s work”, and the subsequent devaluation and erasure of that labour, were historic tasks achieved through the development of capitalism. Attempting to understand patriarchy as limited to individual attitudes or actions, or somehow isolated from capitalism (regardless of patriarchal or gendered divisions of labour in pre-capitalist history) is therefore impossible. Speaking to the accomplishment of the implementation of these new social relationships, Federici writes:
… in the new organization of work every woman (other than those privatized by bourgeois men) became a communal good, for once women’s activities were defined as non-work, women’s labor began to appear as a natural resource, available to all, no less than the air we breathe or the water we drink.
The social, economic, and political position of women was thus defined under capitalism. This new reality meant that the class struggle, that is the struggle for the emancipation of the working class, takes on a particular character whether or not this is recognized by its would-be partisans. Federici further explains:
With their expulsion from the crafts and the devaluation of reproductive labor, a new patriarchal order was constructed, reducing women to a double dependence: on employers and on men.
This “double dependence” thus implies that the oppression of women under capitalism is not something that is incidental, nor something that can be addressed in isolation. As having particular features and the product of (ongoing) historic development, attacking patriarchy demands that we attack the conditions which allow the perpetuation of the social relationships by which it is constituted. As class struggle anarchists then we identify the class struggle as one against this “double dependence” as we struggle against the conditions which are necessary for capitalism to reproduce itself.
Struggling at the Barricades, Struggling at Home
In 2006, the Mexican state of Oaxaca became engulfed in a popular uprising that lasted several months. What began as an annual teachers strike developed into a popular conflict. Barucha Calamity Peller’s Women in Uprising: The Oaxaca Commune, the State, and Reproductive Labour looks at the revolt and the particular role women played. The essay shows us both what the disruption of the reproduction of patriarchal social relations can look like and how the reinforcement of those relations from within the movement ultimately contributed to its limitation and defeat.
On April 1st, 2006, a march of the Cacerolas (later imitated in Quebec and across Canada) consisting of over ten thousand women, initiated the takeover of TV station Canal Neuve. Several hundred women from the march occupied the building, which was repurposed as a communication hub and resource to the ongoing struggle. Peller writes:
Besides transmitting, producing daily programming, and holding workshops, long hours were spent during nightly patrols of the transmitter and defensive barricades in which the women of Canal Nueve spoke to each other while huddled around small fires drinking coffee to stay awake. The dialogue and solidarity that emerged between the women was perhaps one of the most potent results of the takeover. What was before “private” and “personal” became a site for resistance. It was during these conversations that women for the first time experienced a space not dominated by men, in the absence of the market, in which they could organize freely and relate experiences, and talk to other women. This is where the idea of women’s autonomy emerged in Oaxaca, and it was to this formation of women, where there was no exploitation of their labor, no dominance of the market or the family, that the women would refer throughout the struggle.
What we find important here is the implication that the creation of new, anti-capitalist, anti-patriarchal relations requires the creation of the material basis to do so. The creation of such a basis requires the negation and disruption of the conditions that produce the old ways of interacting. Here, the occupation of the Canal Neuve could be understood as what a revolutionary women’s movement in embryo might look like—where the conditions were created for the creation of a new subjectivity and the destruction of the former identity.
In the case of Oaxaca, patriarchy still persisted within the movement. Women who attempted to challenge traditional gender roles were subjected to domestic abuse and/or forced to continue to take on the full burden of reproductive labour.
Rather than rely on limited class reductionist understandings, either limiting itself to the factory floor or sociological definitions of “proles,” we must strive for a class struggle which directs us towards the abolition of the divisions within our class that are necessary to uphold capitalism. We find the example of the Oaxaca uprising useful insofar as it provides us with a glimpse of both the undoing of oppressive social relationships, and the defense of those relationships in a period of intensified struggle.
While this section has focused primarily on gendered division and oppression under capitalism, our intention is to emphasize that these categories and identities are historically constructed, and have a material basis to their continued reproduction. We see the process of their destruction as one that is necessarily part of the class struggle. To paraphrase Marx, this is the process of moving towards a class that is conscious of itself, and able to act in its own interest—a class for itself.
It is our belief that the ways in which humans are exploited, assaulted, pitted against one another, and robbed of individual and collective agency must (and furthermore, can) be overcome and replaced with a liberatory existence. While some see anti-oppression politics as contributing to this endeavour, we see these politics as a substantial hindrance to revolutionary organizing. We would like to challenge our comrades and fellow travellers to do better than this half-hearted liberal project that facilitates the reduction of complex social and economic problems to interpersonal dynamics and individual privileges. Our struggle is collective, and so too must be our tools and analysis.
If you enjoyed this piece we recommend reading “Breaking the Waves, Challenging the Liberal Tendency Within Anarchist Feminism” by Romina Akemi and Bree Busk, which discusses a working class and social movement oriented feminist strategy. We also recommend “Refusing to Wait: Anarchism and Intersectionality” by J. Rogue.
Refusing to Wait: Anarchism and Intersectionality
Insurrections at the Intersections: Feminism, Intersectionality, and Anarchism
Feminist Readings and Resources
Feminism is Everywhere: Building a Multisectoral, Transversal Movement in Chile
Statement: Puerto Rican Feminists Demand Governor’s Resignation Due to Remarks
Has SYRIZA’s “Long March Through the Institutions” Come To An End?
The Electoral Road to Power?
The Counter-revolution of 1776, the Genocide of 1779 and the “Village Destroyer” Washington
©2019 Black Rose Anarchist Federation / Federación Anarquista Rosa Negra.
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Welcome to the online home of:
Dr Richard J. Wild
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In our modern day culture, we enjoy the concept of snow and Christmas as a religious holiday as being inextricably linked. However, this has not always been the case. In respect of the Bible, we learned that Jesus Christ was born on the day now referred to as Christmas Day, yet there seems to be no mention of snow, even though snow has been evident in Israel, including Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Perhaps this is just an ideal – to blend grand narrative and scientific climate reality. So where does a White Christmas come from?
The romantic and sentimental concept of snow falling at Christmas is rooted within British culture, ostensibly as depicted from scenes that began in the Victorian era. It was Queen Victoria's German husband, Prince Albert, who advocated and encouraged having Christmas Trees, and also sending Christmas Cards that invariably portrayed snowy scenes.
Snow falling at Christmas was also noted in some of the literary works of Charles Dickens; the novels, 'A Christmas Carol', and 'The Pickwick Papers', are two such examples. During the Victorian era when Dickens was young, the United Kingdom experienced plenty of snowfalls. So, with a royal endorsement, reinforced by such a literary scholar the image of snow and Christmas were securely cemented within our cultural history and mindset.
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The origins of a snowy Christmas may have also come from the 'Little Ice Age' that occurred across the United Kingdom within the period 1550-1850. Winters were particularly persistent and severe within this period, with frequent 'frost fairs' being held on the River Thames in London (the last one occurred in the winter 1813-1814).
The calendar change in 1752 from the Julian to Gregorian style meant that Christmas Day, January 6th now fell 12 days earlier on December 25th. However, in many eastern areas of Europe, adopting the Orthodox branch of the Roman religion, January 6th remains as Christmas Day. From a climatological perspective this change of date is important; records show that generally snowy weather is more likely to occur in the first week of January then the last week of December.
What is a White Christmas? In statistical terms and for those wishing to place a wager, a White Christmas is when snow or sleet actually falls at some stage during the 24-hours from midnight to midnight on Christmas Day at a particular and recognised location. A White Christmas has occurred across the United Kingdom in 1906, 1927, 1938, 1970, 1995, 1996 and 2001. One of the worst snowstorms that occurred over Christmas was back in 1836. An avalanche at Lewes, East Sussex, demolished two houses and caused eight fatalities. To this day the disaster is commemorated in the name of a local pub called The Snowdrop (Roberts 1998).
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The last actual recorded White Christmas across many locations in the United Kingdom was in 2004. If snow falls on Christmas Eve or before and is still lying on the ground this does not constitute as a true White Christmas. This situation occurred in 1981 when snow was lying over much of the United Kingdom on Christmas Day from previous snowfalls, though on Christmas Day itself it was dry and sunny across most districts. Statistics show that in the United Kingdom, an official 'White Christmas' occurs approximately every 4 or 5 years.
Many would conclude that the definition of a White Christmas falls within the joy in children's eyes at the excitement of playing safely in the snow, with snowball fights, and building snowmen. It can draw us back and reinforce the importance of family gatherings. Others may just enjoy a time to reminisce when hearing Bing Crosby sing, Irving Berlin's, 'I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas' taken from the film Holiday Inn.
Roberts, S. K. (1998) Dreaming of a White Christmas? Weather, 53, pp. 438.
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Snowcast
Snow forecast for the period 23-29 December 2018 across the UK
23rd - Northern Scotland
24th - None
26th - Nothern Scotland
Copyright 2005-2019 Dr Richard J. Wild | AcknowledgementsThursday 18 July 2019 21:17
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More Resilient Flood Control
By Chris Clayton
OMAHA (DTN) -- In the wake of flooding that has inundated the Midwest, people offer different perspectives calling for more investment in flood control infrastructure as recovery begins along the Missouri River and in much of the Mississippi River watershed.
Some point to the need for upgraded flood control to improve climate resiliency, while others see a need to refocus the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers more on flood control and less on environmental rehabilitation.
Michael Walsh, a retired Army Corps of Engineers major general, said in an interview with DTN he thinks the center of the country is losing on critical infrastructure investment, partly because of a stubbornness to address climate resiliency. Meanwhile, coastal communities respond to disasters such as hurricanes to increase their resiliency to sea-level rise. That typically comes by setting up a long-term federal study or task force to examine new infrastructure needs.
"Never waste a good emergency." Walsh said. "Certainly the flooding this year has meant the high water is going to last longer than it has in the past. I think the center of our country needs to have a massive plan at the watershed scale that most folks just don't recognize."
Walsh was in the Corps of Engineers for 36 years and commanded the Mississippi Valley Division during the 2011 flood. Walsh made the difficult decision during that flood to blow up Birds Point levee in southeast Missouri, which saved Cairo, Illinois, from more extreme flooding but also flooded more than 100,000 acres of Missouri crops.
Walsh explained the states with large inland river watersheds flowing into the Mississippi need to be looking out longer term to consider what it will take to manage the Mississippi River watershed over the next century.
"The coastal areas are putting together plans that spend hundreds of millions or billions of dollars. If the middle part of the country doesn't pick up the pace, we're going to be in trouble. So we have to figure out how to use this emergency to create the political will, not to solve the five-year problem, but how do we solve the 100-year problem," Walsh said.
The latest National Climate Assessment released last fall highlights that the Midwest will continue to be more susceptible to increased rainfall and flooding events, especially in winter and spring. And yet, the same models that show 9% more spring precipitation as midcentury approaches also show declining summer precipitation by an average of 8% in portions of the Midwest. The climate assessment highlights, "Water infrastructure for flood control, navigation, and other purposes is susceptible to climate change impacts and other forces, because the designs are based upon historical patterns of precipitation and streamflow, which are no longer appropriate guides."
Click here to read the National Climate Assessment: https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/…
Pointing to Missouri River flooding, Walsh noted, "The challenge that you have on the Missouri is that there is no infrastructure master plan. So when something like this happens, people say, 'OK, how do we fix it?' And there is no plan there, so you fix it as it was."
Cathy Crain, mayor of Hamburg, Iowa, doesn't have the luxury to examine the root causes that led her town to flood. Hundreds of residents lost their homes and Hamburg went months this spring without potable water after flooding hit in mid-March.
"Things have changed in the world, and now we have to fight the Missouri River that's five miles away that we didn't have to fight from 1952 to 2011," Crain said.
Hamburg residents are bitter because the town built an emergency levee in 2011 that held off floodwaters during the height of that flooding. The town tried to keep that levee but Corps officials said it didn't meet federal regulations on issues such as compaction per square inch. Hamburg didn't have the funding to improve the levee to federal specifications, so the town had to take down it down. Recovery will cost significantly more for local residents.
"It wasn't a test drive. It was the real deal, and it would have worked. And we think it would have worked this time," Crain said. "We had to tear it down because it did not meet all of the requirements of Congress' perfection. We are about performance, not perfection and that's what hurt this town."
QUICKER RESPONSE
Some politics have changed in the 2019 floods. The governors of Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas have called for more say in how the Corps of Engineers manages the Missouri River. It's unclear though, what the sustaining power those early meetings will translate into.
In Southwest Iowa, the state Department of Transportation has responded to a critical pinch point on the river that led to significant flooding in both 2011 and this year. Earlier this month, the Iowa Department of Transportation quickly awarded a $34.3 million project to build new bridges from Sidney, Iowa, to Nebraska City, Nebraska. The levee-to-levee distance at that point is one of the most narrow along that area of the Missouri River. The project will get rid of a u-shaped setback levee that creates a choke point for the river during floods. The two overflow bridges will have space between pillars for water to flow under during floods. That will relieve pressure on the levee system upstream. The completion date is set for early March 2020 to get it open before next spring's thaw.
"This is a project that would normally take four to six years and we went through the entire process in just a few months," said Scott Schram, a district engineer for Iowa DOT. "It's going to be a fast-moving project."
REFOCUS ON FLOOD CONTROL
The 2019 floods were highlighted last week at a House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment hearing. The subcommittee is in the early stages of reauthorizing the next Water Resources Development Act. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., said the anticipated costs of this year's flooding will be several billion dollars. Thousands of river bottom acres in his district have been underwater for more than four months. Graves said he thinks the Corps has to "balance too many priorities" and noted funding for annual levee maintenance -- before the flooding -- was only $13 million while spending $30.7 million was appropriated for wildlife and habitat reclamation.
Army Corps of Engineers officials said they were dealing with record discharges on a number of rivers this spring due largely to heavy rainfall events. Floodwaters remain too high for the Army Corps of Engineers to provide a full assessment of damages to levees on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, but the known costs right now for levee repairs have reached $1.9 billion just for levee damage between Omaha and St. Louis. The Corps has counted 160 levee breaches on the Missouri River. Some breaches gouged 50- to 70-foot deep holes stretching a quarter-mile in length. New levees may have to be set back from such damage.
"We can start work on some areas pretty soon, but doggone it, the rivers are still just so high there's not a lot of work we're going to be able to do," said Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James.
Major General Scott Spellmon, the Corps' deputy commander for Civil and Emergency Operations, told lawmakers it was too early to determine damages on the Mississippi River south of St. Louis because the flood events continue. "It's still raining," he said.
The costs of this year's flood will continue to rise. James also said he thinks another supplemental funding package will be needed beyond the $19 billion disaster package passed last month. "If I were a betting man, I would bet we will need more money to attack the damage that's been done," James said.
When asked about climate change as a reason for more intense flooding, James said he's not a scientist but the Corps is using climate models and engineers recognize they can't rely on historical data to forecast future flood risks. "We're making every effort as far as I am concerned, as far as I know, to build sustainable infrastructure," James said.
Spellmon told lawmakers the Midwest is seeing changing precipitation patterns in both number of intense rain events and overall volumes of rainfall.
Tom Waters, a Missouri farmer and chairman of the Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association, testified the current Missouri River flooding is not over because the reservoirs are full in North and South Dakota and Montana. Reservoirs in Kansas and Missouri are full as well. All three basins have to release water before next year.
"So that is going to keep the river high. We know it is going to be high above flood stage throughout the summer, into the fall and probably into the winter."
The flood risk will remain beyond 2019 because Waters noted the Corps is projecting it will take two years or more to fix the levees. Waters said he thinks it will more likely be three to five years. Waters also said roughly one-third of crops in Missouri are produced in the 100-year floodplain. "This thing is going to drag on a long time and it just trickles through the economy of the state, not just the state, but when you put Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska in there -- the whole Midwest -- it really will affect food production food and trickle through the United States economy," Waters said. "I really believe that."
On the $1.9 billion in preliminary estimates for repairs, "That number is going to continue to increase," Waters said.
Waters also stressed that flood control needs to be the top priority for the Corps. He believes some of the restoration projects for endangered birds or fish in the Missouri River have damaged the ability to defend against floods.
"We have to get back to flood control as the top priority," Waters said. He added the situation has reached a tipping point. "Missouri and Iowa farmland was not meant to be the Fish and Wildlife Service laboratory, and Midwestern farmers no longer wish to be their guinea pigs."
Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com
Follow him on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN
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