pred_label
stringclasses 2
values | pred_label_prob
float64 0.5
1
| wiki_prob
float64 0.25
1
| text
stringlengths 112
978k
| source
stringlengths 37
43
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__cc
| 0.741781
| 0.258219
|
Attention scarcity is driving a shift from “rented attention” to “owned attention”. Historically, most marketing has been about renting attention other people have built. An example of this would be if you purchased an ad in a magazine or rented a tradeshow booth. But in the noisy, crowded market that today’s buyers live in, rented attention becomes less effective as attention becomes even scarcer. Of course, this is not an either-or proposition; you will ideally use a mix of rented vs. owned attention for your lead generation efforts to be affective.
We’ve learned a lot since our very first post that featured just a simple embed of an MVP video demo of Close.io. Fast forward to today, and we’re regularly publishing pieces like a 5,000 word guide to closing a sale, case study breakdowns of the most effective selling strategies at work in top B2B SaaS startups, and detailed takeaways from how several early stage startups are using cold calling to generate millions in sales.
As their name suggests, these emails are used to nurture leads through the marketing funnel into a position of sales readiness. For example, let's say you sent your list a marketing offer email. You might then set up a lead nurturing workflow that triggers another email about a complementary offer or piece of content to everyone who converted on that initial offer. The logic is simple: By identifying a particular group of contacts that you already know are interested in a specific topic, you and can follow up with more relevant and targeted content that makes them more likely to continue their relationship with you.
One of the greatest advantages of email marketing is that it allows marketers to send targeted messages. Print, radio and television ads are broadcast indiscriminately and frequently reach consumers who have no interest in the product offered. But email marketing allows companies to tailor certain ads to certain customers. If a customer has shopped for a brand of shoes in the past, companies can email them coupons for that same brand knowing that they have already expressed an interest.
Because search engines equate high-quality content with a high-quality website, creating content with value is very important. Conduct a content audit to see how many of your assets fall into the thought leadership vs. promotional category. That means making sure that your thought leadership content has substance to it. Lots of companies are jumping on the content bandwagon, so do it right: focus on quality over quantity, and on providing useful – not promotional – information.
Organisations are required to comply with various data protection legislation, including The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Enforcement action may be taken against any organisations that do not comply with their obligations under PECR and GDPR and substantial fines may be issued and contractual liability may arise.
Email marketing is a practical, low-cost marketing tool that combines convenience with technology. It provides small business owners with the ability to reach more customers, which in turn can result in increased sales. Most business owners today use email marketing campaigns to promote all sorts of services and products, from babysitting services to mobile phones and beyond.
Brand Awareness: Similar to newspapers, newsletters create a certain anticipation in readers. Whether it is a daily newsletter or a weekend communication, you get into the habit of receiving it. If you enjoy the content, you will most likely stay subscribed to the newsletter and look forward to getting the next email. By building a habit in your email subscribers, you enable them to recognize your brand and associate it with a positive sentiment.
Or let’s say you’ve had an active customer who has purchased from you every 45 days or so for the last six months. Recently, he’s been MIA. No orders from the last 44 days. This is where a win-back campaign goes to work. An email would automatically be sent out after 45 days of no activity because you know, according to your store’s unique situation, that’s unusual for a healthy, active customer.
Jordy Solos have long lists of subscribers and provide you fresh list of subscribers through constantly building our list. The subscribers are people who have chosen to sign up from our campaigns that pertain to promotions and offers in specific niche (and your niche, too!) By using our solo ads, you are taking advantage of the targeted audience from our buyers list.
An eBook acts as a great incentive to get people to sign-up and provide you with their contact details and other useful information that you previously would not have access to. For instance, you could ask them to describe their biggest pain point and provide their mobile phone number in addition to their name and email address. Remember, website visitors are only willing to give up so much information, so the better the value offer, the more information they will give.
With the growth of the internet, the world has changed from one of information scarcity to one of information abundance. In fact, according to Google chairman Eric Schmidt “there was 5 Exabytes of information created between the dawn of civilization and 2003, but that much information is now created every two days and the pace is rapidly increasing”.
Within these roundup emails, it's a good idea to use an image paired with a headline, a brief summary or introduction, and a CTA for recipients to read more. This simple format will allow you to use visuals to attract the reader to each article while still giving you the ability to feature multiple articles -- without sending a super lengthy email.
According to Clutch, even though 90 percent of marketers say it's important to optimize emails for mobile devices, just 59 percent of companies say optimization is part of their email marketing efforts. Yet in 2016, more than 50 percent of email opens took place on a mobile device, and that number is only going to grow with time. Moreover, if an email is difficult to read or just doesn’t look good on their device, 71 percent of people will delete it, and 16 percent will hit unsubscribe. While it’s great to see marketers focusing on personalization and segmentation (both extremely important tactics in an email strategy), it’s surprising that more aren’t looking at mobile. It doesn’t matter how great the content in your email is, if it’s not mobile optimized, most people won’t even bother to read it, and some will opt out altogether – not the results you’re looking to get from your email strategy.
Email is often the lifeblood for new content. If you use content marketing to educate current customers and reach new ones, consider including that content in a regular newsletter, or have new content sent out automatically over email, through RSS. When you’re able to make the investment, consider creating content that provides additional context for your new or updated products (e.g., grooming tips for beauty products).
Every now and then, you may want to send a dedicated email to a certain group of people. For example, if you're hosting a conference or event, you might want to send a dedicated email just to event registrants to alert them of any new event updates they should be aware of (like in the screenshot above). Or if your business is community based, it might be a good idea to send a monthly email to welcome all your new members.
Oftentimes, companies are tempted to ask for way too much information in the lead generation form, either to better filter and address the leads or to know as much as possible about them before replying. However, they forget that this can hurt your conversion rates A LOT and you might be missing out good leads. Most of the time, information such as number of employees, industry, revenue, website address, etc., can be added to the lead with a quick Google or LinkedIn search.
Social media platforms and search engines have algorithms that filter out content according to particular metrics. Email, on the other hand, is a freely flowing platform. People on your email list subscribed to your content and want to receive your information, so there are no algorithms or filters to obey. With email, you know that your message will get delivered and that you will enjoy the benefits of regular communication with your audience.
Sometimes the relationship results in a strategic announcement; other times it's as simple as a joint webinar. Let's use the latter for an example of how co-marketing emails work, and why they're so beneficial: Let's say you and another company decide to do a webinar together on a particular subject. As a result, that webinar will likely (pending your arrangements) be promoted to the email lists of both of your companies. This exposure to a list that is not your own is one of the key benefits of co-marketing partnerships.
Authentic insights from other organizations that have used your service in the past help to kill some of the doubts that B2B buyers might have about investing money with a new company. In fact, 92% of customers will read online reviews before they even consider a purchase, and around 50 or more reviews can lead to a 5.6% increase in conversion rates.
Now open a new browser tab and log into your Gmail account. Click Compose to open a new message. Type a title in the subject field and compose the body of your message. Then type $%headername% anywhere you want to insert column data from your spreadsheet. For example, type Dear $%First Name% if you want each email to use the recipient’s first name in the greeting. Once you’re done, click X to close the message, and it will automatically save to your Drafts folder.
While this might seem surprising at first, think about your own online behavior: When you sign up for a website (like an online store), you have to enter your email address to create the account. You even need an email address to create a Facebook or Twitter account. What’s more, Facebook and Twitter email to notify users of activity, like when someone is tagged in a photo.
As advertisers have shifted more and more of their efforts online, they have tried to find ways to use the strategies developed in print advertising in new online environments. Most of the traffic once handled by the postal service now happens over email, creating a new method of direct marketing. Today, the average marketer sends 64 emails to their customers every year.
In order to sell, you need to convert and the key to email conversions is to nurture them using content. Like #2 above, the key lies in email list segmentation however, it helps to know what type of content to use at each stage of the sales process. Once you nail that, your nurturing efforts will be much more effective and, your overall conversion rates will increase.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14294
|
__label__cc
| 0.651164
| 0.348836
|
114 (2015-2016) — 115 (2017-2018) 109 (2005-2006) Senate Senate Committee : Armed Services
1. S.3786 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to require the Secretary of Defense to conduct a study on cyberexploitation of members of the Armed Forces and their families, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen. Sasse, Ben [R-NE] (Introduced 12/19/2018) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 12/19/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
2. S.3774 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to establish the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] (Introduced 12/18/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 12/18/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
3. S.3623 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to prohibit the use of funds appropriated for the Department of Defense for aerial refueling of aircraft of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Sponsor: Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (Introduced 11/14/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 11/14/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
4. S.3620 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Chiropractic Health Parity for Military Beneficiaries Act Sponsor: Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] (Introduced 11/14/2018) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 11/14/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
5. S.3448 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Hold the LYNE Act Sponsor: Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (Introduced 09/17/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 09/17/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
6. S.3426 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) END Network Abuse Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] (Introduced 09/06/2018) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 09/06/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
7. S.3299 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) IMPROVE Transition for Servicemembers Act Sponsor: Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] (Introduced 07/30/2018) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 07/30/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
8. S.3201 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Purple Heart and Disabled Veterans Equal Access Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] (Introduced 07/12/2018) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 07/12/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
9. S.3181 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Burn Pits Accountability Act Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] (Introduced 06/28/2018) Cosponsors: (17) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/28/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
10. S.3044 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) National Defense Accelerator Network Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 06/11/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/11/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
11. S.3043 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) United States Transportation Command Infrastructure Assessment Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 06/11/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/11/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
12. S.2999 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) National Cybersecurity Exercise Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 06/06/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/06/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
13. S.2998 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Quantum Computing Research Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Harris, Kamala D. [D-CA] (Introduced 06/05/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/05/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
14. S.2987 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 Sponsor: Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK] (Introduced 06/05/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Committee Reports: S. Rept. 115-262 Latest Action: Senate - 06/05/2018 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 439. (All Actions) Tracker:
Array ( [actionDate] => 2018-06-05 [displayText] => Committee on Armed Services. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator Inhofe. With written report No. 115-262. [externalActionCode] => 14000 [description] => Introduced )
15. S.2980 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Integrated Missile Defense Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK] (Introduced 05/24/2018) Cosponsors: (4) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/24/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
16. S.2954 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Guardians of America's Freedom Medal Act Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ] (Introduced 05/24/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/24/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
17. S.2949 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations Readiness Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Perdue, David [R-GA] (Introduced 05/24/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/24/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
18. S.2914 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to require a Comptroller General of the United States report on certain personnel matters in connection with Air Force remotely piloted aircraft. Sponsor: Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] (Introduced 05/22/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/22/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
19. S.2913 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Better Military Housing Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] (Introduced 05/22/2018) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/22/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
20. S.2893 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to provide for prompt payments to small business contractors, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD] (Introduced 05/22/2018) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/22/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
21. S.2890 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to improve the prosecution of criminal offenses committed by juveniles on military installations, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] (Introduced 05/21/2018) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/21/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
22. S.2887 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Major General Tim Lowenberg National Guard Cyber Defenders Act Sponsor: Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] (Introduced 05/21/2018) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/21/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
23. S.2883 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Blast Exposure and Brain Injury Prevention Act Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (Introduced 05/17/2018) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/17/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
24. S.2867 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) JROTC Act Sponsor: Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS] (Introduced 05/16/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/16/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
25. S.2846 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Military Family PROTECT Act Sponsor: Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (Introduced 05/15/2018) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/15/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
26. S.2841 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Gambling Addiction Prevention Act Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (Introduced 05/15/2018) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/15/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
27. S.2840 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Department of Defense Training Ranges Strategic Planning Improvement Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 05/15/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/15/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
28. S.2805 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) START Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (Introduced 05/09/2018) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/09/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
29. S.2801 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) National Guard Promotion Accountability Act Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (Introduced 05/08/2018) Cosponsors: (6) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/08/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
30. S.2798 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Defense Officer Personnel Pay Reform Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 05/08/2018) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/08/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
31. S.2797 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) White Sands National Park Establishment Act Sponsor: Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (Introduced 05/07/2018) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/07/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
32. S.2766 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Protecting Our Military Installations from Recurrent Floods Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] (Introduced 04/26/2018) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 04/26/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
33. S.2668 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to require a pilot program on the earning by special operations forces medics of credits towards a physician assistant degree. Sponsor: Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC] (Introduced 04/12/2018) Cosponsors: (3) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 04/12/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
34. S.2534 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) CERTIFY Heroes Act Sponsor: Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (Introduced 03/12/2018) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 03/12/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
35. S.2452 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Surface Warfare Enhancement Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS] (Introduced 02/26/2018) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 02/26/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
36. S.2416 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) National Guard and Reserves Benefits Parity Act Sponsor: Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS] (Introduced 02/12/2018) Cosponsors: (21) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 02/12/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
37. S.2408 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to prohibit the use of funds for an exhibition or parade of military forces and hardware for review by the President outside of authorized military operations or activities. Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD] (Introduced 02/08/2018) Cosponsors: (4) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 02/08/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
38. S.2398 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to amend title 31, United States Code, to provide that activities relating to the training and readiness of the reserve components of the Armed Forces during a lapse in appropriations shall constitute voluntary services that may be accepted by the United States. Sponsor: Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND] (Introduced 02/07/2018) Cosponsors: (5) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 02/07/2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
39. S.2379 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Military Spouse Employment Act of 2018 Sponsor: Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (Introduced 02/06/2018) Cosponsors: (6) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 02/14/2018 Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel. Hearings held. (All Actions) Tracker:
40. S.2149 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to make a technical correction to the provision of law authorizing a withdrawal and reservation of public land at Limestone Hills Training Area, Montana. Sponsor: Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (Introduced 11/16/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 11/16/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
41. S.2141 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Military Justice Improvement Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (Introduced 11/16/2017) Cosponsors: (29) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 11/16/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
42. S.2129 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Military Domestic Violence Reporting Enhancement Act Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (Introduced 11/15/2017) Cosponsors: (18) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 11/15/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
43. S.2094 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Domestic Violence Loophole Closure Act Sponsor: Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ] (Introduced 11/08/2017) Cosponsors: (3) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 11/08/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
44. S.2088 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Gold Star Family Support and Installation Access Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE] (Introduced 11/07/2017) Cosponsors: (14) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 11/07/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
45. S.1856 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act Sponsor: Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY] (Introduced 09/25/2017) Cosponsors: (4) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 09/25/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
46. S.1820 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to provide for the retention and service of transgender members of the Armed Forces. Sponsor: Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (Introduced 09/14/2017) Cosponsors: (3) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 09/14/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
47. S.1813 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Military Retirement Credit for Distance Learning Act Sponsor: Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] (Introduced 09/14/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 09/14/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
48. S.1800 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Securing the Electric Grid to Protect Military Readiness Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (Introduced 09/12/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 09/12/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
49. S.1765 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Department of Defense Depot Maintenance Best Practices Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 09/06/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 09/06/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
50. S.1727 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) NATS Act Sponsor: Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (Introduced 08/02/2017) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 08/02/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
51. S.1721 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) MOMS Leave Act Sponsor: Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM] (Introduced 08/02/2017) Cosponsors: (5) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 08/02/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
52. S.1629 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) DEPSCoR Reauthorization Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI] (Introduced 07/25/2017) Cosponsors: (9) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: 07/25/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
53. S.1543 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Protecting Military Honor Act Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (Introduced 07/12/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 07/12/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
54. S.1519 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 Sponsor: Sen. McCain, John [R-AZ] (Introduced 07/10/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Committee Reports: S. Rept. 115-125 Latest Action: Senate - 03/22/2018 Motion to proceed to consideration of measure made in Senate. (All Actions) Tracker:
Array ( [actionDate] => 2017-07-10 [displayText] => Committee on Armed Services. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator McCain. With written report No. 115-125. Additional views filed. [externalActionCode] => 14000 [description] => Introduced )
55. S.1515 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Expand and Strengthen Defense Network of Partners Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS] (Introduced 06/29/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/29/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
56. S.1478 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Defense Siting Clearinghouse Improvement Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] (Introduced 06/29/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/29/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
57. S.1471 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Servicemember Debt Collection Reform Act Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (Introduced 06/28/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/28/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
58. S.1470 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Countering Foreign Interference with Our Armed Forces Act Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (Introduced 06/28/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/28/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
59. S.1468 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Preventing Civilian Casualties in Military Operations Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (Introduced 06/28/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/28/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
60. S.1466 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Wounded Warrior Research Enhancement Act Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (Introduced 06/28/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/28/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (text of measure as introduced: CR S3832) (All Actions) Tracker:
61. S.1461 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) HEARTS Act Sponsor: Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (Introduced 06/28/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/28/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
62. S.1443 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Department of Defense Software Management Improvement Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 06/27/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/27/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
63. S.1440 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Contractor Accountability and Workplace Safety Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (Introduced 06/26/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/26/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
64. S.1439 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Preventing and Treating Gambling Disorder in the Military Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (Introduced 06/26/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/26/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
65. S.1434 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) ACCESS Act Sponsor: Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (Introduced 06/26/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/26/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
66. S.1414 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) SHIPS Act Sponsor: Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS] (Introduced 06/22/2017) Cosponsors: (19) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/22/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
67. S.1411 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for a five-year extension of the payment of the special survivor indemnity allowance under the Survivor Benefit Plan. Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 06/22/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/22/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
68. S.1408 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to enhance effective prosecution and defense in courts-martial, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (Introduced 06/22/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/22/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
69. S.1388 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to repeal the requirement for voting assistance officers for members of the Armed Forces. Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 06/21/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/21/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
70. S.1387 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) TRICARE Expedited Evaluation and Treatment for Prenatal Surgery Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 06/21/2017) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/21/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
71. S.1382 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Department of Defense Talent Management Improvement Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 06/20/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/20/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
72. S.1381 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to require a report on the extension of authorities to the United States Special Operations Command for the development, acquisition, and sustainment of special operations-peculiar technology, equipment, and services, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 06/20/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/20/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
73. S.1380 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Promotion Board Opt-Out Opportunity Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 06/20/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/20/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
74. S.1378 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Caregiver Program Information Improvement Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 06/19/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/19/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
75. S.1366 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Restore Honor to Service Members Act Sponsor: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] (Introduced 06/15/2017) Cosponsors: (31) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/15/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
76. S.1365 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes Act Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (Introduced 06/15/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/15/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
77. S.1349 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Leadership Recognition Act Sponsor: Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (Introduced 06/14/2017) Cosponsors: (3) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/14/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
78. S.1346 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Protecting Servicemembers Online Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (Introduced 06/13/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/13/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
79. S.1316 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for a one-year extension of the suicide prevention and resilience program for the National Guard and Reserves. Sponsor: Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (Introduced 06/08/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/08/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
80. S.1296 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) PRIVATE Act Sponsor: Sen. McCaskill, Claire [D-MO] (Introduced 06/06/2017) Cosponsors: (4) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 06/06/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
81. S.1283 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Atomic Veterans Service Medal Act Sponsor: Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (Introduced 05/25/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/25/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
82. S.1243 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) E-STOP Act Sponsor: Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (Introduced 05/25/2017) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/25/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
83. S.1235 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures Act Sponsor: Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (Introduced 05/25/2017) Cosponsors: (3) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/25/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
84. S.1196 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Advancing America's Missile Defense Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK] (Introduced 05/22/2017) Cosponsors: (27) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/22/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
85. S.1154 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Military Family Stability Act Sponsor: Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO] (Introduced 05/17/2017) Cosponsors: (7) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/17/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
86. S.1097 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Armed Forces Reserve and National Guard Dual-Status Review and Modernization Act Sponsor: Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (Introduced 05/11/2017) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: 05/11/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
87. S.1086 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to remove the prohibition on eligibility for TRICARE Reserve Select of members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces who are eligible to enroll in a health benefits plan under chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code. Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT] (Introduced 05/10/2017) Cosponsors: (14) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 05/10/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
88. S.957 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Access to Contraception for Women Servicemembers and Dependents Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] (Introduced 04/27/2017) Cosponsors: (34) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 04/27/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
89. S.901 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to prohibit any reduction in the amount of the per diem allowance to which members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps or civilian employees of the Department of Defense are entitled based on the duration of temporary duty assignments or official travel, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (Introduced 04/07/2017) Cosponsors: (10) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 04/07/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
90. S.891 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) American Jobs Matter Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT] (Introduced 04/07/2017) Cosponsors: (4) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 04/07/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
91. S.766 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to amend titles 10 and 32, United States Code, to improve and enhance authorities relating to the employment, use, status, and benefits of military technicians (dual status), and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV] (Introduced 03/29/2017) Cosponsors: (13) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 03/29/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
92. S.726 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Gary Deloney and John Olsen Toxic Exposure Declassification Act Sponsor: Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS] (Introduced 03/27/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 03/27/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
93. S.667 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Reserve Component Benefits Parity Act Sponsor: Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN] (Introduced 03/15/2017) Cosponsors: (10) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 03/15/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
94. S.592 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship Program Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (Introduced 03/09/2017) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: 03/09/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
95. S.574 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Nuclear Cruise Missile Reconsideration Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (Introduced 03/08/2017) Cosponsors: (10) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 03/08/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
96. S.498 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) BEST Practices Act Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (Introduced 03/02/2017) Cosponsors: (5) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 03/02/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
97. S.437 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Red Hill Oversight and Environmental Protection Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] (Introduced 02/16/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 02/16/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
98. S.394 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Protect Our Military Families' 2nd Amendment Rights Act Sponsor: Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (Introduced 02/15/2017) Cosponsors: (11) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 02/15/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
99. S.373 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) A bill to require the Secretary of Defense to submit to Congress a report on hearing loss, tinnitus, and noise pollution due to small arms fire. Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT] (Introduced 02/14/2017) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 02/14/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
100. S.339 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) Military Widow's Tax Elimination Act of 2017 Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL] (Introduced 02/07/2017) Cosponsors: (51) Committees: Senate - Armed Services Latest Action: Senate - 02/07/2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
1234Next PageLast Page
Legislation [345]
Bills (H.R. or S.) [290]
Resolutions (H.Res. or S.Res.) [40]
Concurrent Resolutions (H.Con.Res. or S.Con.Res.) [10]
Amendments (H.Amdt. or S.Amdt.) [2]
Senate amendment submitted [2]
Armed Forces and National Security [307]
Government Operations and Politics [5]
Transportation and Public Works [2]
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues [1]
Intelligence (Select) [2]
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs [1]
Rounds, Mike [R-SD] [28]
Warner, John [R-VA] [13]
Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] [13]
Ernst, Joni [R-IA] [11]
McCain, John [R-AZ] [10]
Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] [31]
Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] [27]
Tester, Jon [D-MT] [27]
Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] [26]
Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] [26]
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14295
|
__label__cc
| 0.651924
| 0.348076
|
115 (2017-2018) 107 (2001-2002) Legislation Subject — Policy Area : Commerce House Sponsor : Andrews, Robert E. [D-NJ]
1. H.R.1888 — 107th Congress (2001-2002) Corporate Welfare Elimination Act of 2001 Sponsor: Rep. Andrews, Robert E. [D-NJ-1] (Introduced 05/17/2001) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Resources, Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, Transportation and Infrastructure, Budget Latest Action: House - 06/01/2001 Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Chairman. (All Actions) Tracker:
2. H.R.1063 — 107th Congress (2001-2002) Drug Competition Act of 2001 Sponsor: Rep. Andrews, Robert E. [D-NJ-1] (Introduced 03/15/2001) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Judiciary Latest Action: House - 03/22/2001 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
3. H.R.1046 — 107th Congress (2001-2002) To require cigarette products to be placed under or behind the counter in retail sales. Sponsor: Rep. Andrews, Robert E. [D-NJ-1] (Introduced 03/15/2001) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 03/22/2001 Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. (All Actions) Tracker:
4. H.R.736 — 107th Congress (2001-2002) To provide that a person who brings a product liability action in a Federal or State court for injuries sustained from a product that is not in compliance with a voluntary or mandatory standard issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission may recover treble damages, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Andrews, Robert E. [D-NJ-1] (Introduced 02/27/2001) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: House - Judiciary, Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 03/14/2001 Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Chairman. (All Actions) Tracker:
5. H.R.730 — 107th Congress (2001-2002) Children's Sleepwear Safety Act of 2001 Sponsor: Rep. Andrews, Robert E. [D-NJ-1] (Introduced 02/27/2001) Cosponsors: (34) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 03/14/2001 Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. (All Actions) Tracker:
6. H.R.528 — 107th Congress (2001-2002) Children's Sleepwear Safety Act of 2001 Sponsor: Rep. Andrews, Robert E. [D-NJ-1] (Introduced 02/08/2001) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 03/14/2001 Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. (All Actions) Tracker:
Commerce Remove
Andrews, Robert E. [D-NJ] Remove
Maloney, Carolyn B. [D-NY] [2]
Blagojevich, Rod R. [D-IL] [1]
Boucher, Rick [D-VA] [1]
Brown, Sherrod [D-OH] [1]
Capuano, Michael E. [D-MA] [1]
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14296
|
__label__wiki
| 0.706721
| 0.706721
|
Following is a summary of the topics discussed by the trustees at their March 12, 2014 meeting.
The chairman reported that, while he had to focus on some other matters in the period following the January meeting and had therefore not been able to advance the process for the trustee committee to develop a contemporary mission statement for The Cooper Union, that remains high on his priority list and he is hopeful of having it significantly advanced before the next board meeting. Given the multitude of viewpoints throughout the Cooper community, the chairman is seeking to engage an independent facilitator to ensure that this process is inclusive and transparent.
President’s Report
A group including the president, the dean of the engineering school, faculty members from architecture and engineering, and a student will visit Mumbai in furtherance of The Cooper Union’s new relationship with IIT Bombay. Among the goals will be to promote the planned student exchange, which will begin with two students per semester. IIT Bombay is the most selective engineering school in India and a source of talent for American industry from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. It could become an important source of students for our master’s programs.
A recent meeting of New York State college and university presidents from independent schools focused on the governor’s proposal to provide funding for New York high school graduates interested in studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics to attend college in-state. The governor’s proposal is limited to public colleges and universities, but the group will seek to persuade the legislature to include the independent sector.
In connection with the updating of The Cooper Union’s mission statement, it will be important to consider the role the statement plays in accreditation. Federal education policy is focusing increasingly on colleges’ and universities’ accountability to demonstrate specific educational outcomes. At The Cooper Union, each school goes through a process of accreditation, and so does the institution as a whole. In the next accreditation process, it will be necessary to provide data that demonstrates that The Cooper Union accomplishes the objectives to which it claims to aspire in its mission.
The president has asked Teresa Dahlberg to take on new responsibilities as chief academic officer for The Cooper Union. These responsibilities include compliance with regulatory requirements, coordination of the accreditation process, and setting up the administrative processes to manage research grants in compliance with federal requirements. These are functions that at many universities are managed by a provost and, indeed, that had been suggested by the accreditation panel in our last review. Given The Cooper Union’s financial situation, however, the president did not want to add a new level of administration with its attendant costs. He also wished to maintain direct reporting relationships with the deans of art, architecture and the humanities.
As part of a continuing effort to control expenses by distributing functions among senior administrators already in place, the president has asked Steve Baker to take responsibility for community relations and buildings and grounds, in addition to student affairs. Dean Baker will serve as vice president for student affairs and community relations.
Robert Spencer reported that projections for the close of FY 2014 show that the year will conclude substantially within the overall budget framework approved by the board. Operating units are preparing proposed budgets for FY 2015 to be submitted at the end of March. Following administrative review, an overall budget will be presented to the board Finance Committee in April. The board will approve a final budget in May.
The board Finance and Investment committees are reviewing parameters for the bridge loan that will be needed to fund the anticipated deficits in the next three fiscal years, while revenues from tuition and the new programs ramp up. The borrowing will be sized to avoid any risk of invading the endowment corpus, as well as to be manageable with existing revenue streams.
The annual Form 990 will be posted by May 15. The Audit Committee will be looking to include better information about the use of resources for instruction, academic support and public service. In the first iteration, these changes will be introduced in an appendix. The 990 also will include the traditional mission statement, though with added language to document the board’s action to reduce the tuition scholarship to 50 percent. A revised mission statement will be provided next year.
The trustees heard a presentation by Christy Faison, a vice president of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Ms. Faison observed that the federal Higher Education Opportunity Act is due to be be reauthorized, and it is likely there will be additional requirements that will affect The Cooper Union’s next accreditation. Ms. Faison reviewed the 14 existing standards as applied by Middle States and stressed the need for outcomes-based evidence for each standard as they relate specifically to The Cooper Union’s mission and goals. Middle States seeks what she called “convincing evidence in substantial measure demonstrating compliance” with each standard. She noted the board’s intention to reframe the institution’s mission statement in consultation with faculty, students, staff, and others and said that, for accreditation purposes, The Cooper Union community should consider the skills, value and knowledge it expects students to have upon graduation.
Report from the Alumni Association
John Leeper, president of The Cooper Union Alumni Association, noted that the association has affirmed its desire to desire to see the full tuition scholarship restored, as well as stated its intention to participate fully in the development of a revised statement of mission. He observed that the leadership of the association had developed a draft revision of its constitution, which is intended to give the association greater flexibility in responding to the institution’s current circumstances. This draft constitution is being sent to alumni along with a ballot for ratification. The association next will turn its attention to the memorandum of agreement with Cooper Union that frames the terms of their relationship.
Mr. Leeper reported that the association is working on plans for its Founder’s Day celebration, with a goal of keeping the event revenue-neutral for the school. He noted that most alumni he has spoken with are proud to have gone to Cooper and that Cooper needs its alumni. The association hopes to use the Founder’s Day event to celebrate the school and its alumni. He also noted plans for an event at the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse on March 25.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14298
|
__label__cc
| 0.67047
| 0.32953
|
Events and exhibitions >
Supporting Feminist Movement Building
Friday, March 17, 2017, 5 - 8pm
This free, public event features leaders and activists from civil society, global institutions, and local and national governments reflecting on and discussing the challenges and emerging opportunities for strengthening movement building to ensure the achievement of gender equality and the women’s rights agenda – Planet 50-50 – by 2030.
As a side event to the 61st meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) the evening's program includes:
Film and Arts Festival: “The Personal is the Political”
Thirteen young filmmakers and photographers from eleven countries will tell the stories of feminist activists and civil society leaders participating in the first week of CSW61 (13-17 March 2017), and produce short artistic pieces (in video and multi-media formats) that showcase their contribution to gender equality in their communities and countries. The multi-media pieces will be shown at this special event to celebrate the importance of supporting feminist movement building and the role played by civil society in achieving women’s rights.
From “Me” to “We”: A testament to movement building
Testimonies from civil society leaders will elaborate how feminist movement building as an expression of political solidarity has advanced the gender equality and social justice agenda. Activists will share succinct, powerful testimonies in a TED Talk style.
This segment will include reactions/ interaction from the floor.
Leaders’ Commitment to Support Movement Building for Planet 50-50 by 2030
Discussion: representatives of global institutions including the United Nations and local and national government officials will reflect on the civil society leaders’ testimonies, and discuss their own commitments, in their roles as leaders and policy makers, to support movement building for gender equality and social justice at the global, national and local levels. This segment will have a panel discussion format and be followed by interventions from the floor.
Co-sponsors: UN Women, OHCHR, the City of New York’s Commission on Gender Equity, ICRW, CIVICUS and Cooper Union; in partnership with Made in NY Media Center by IFP, Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) and 30under30 Film Festival
Located in The Great Hall, in the Foundation Building, 7 East 7th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues
Help Us Create More Inspirational Events.
To learn about new events and exhibitions Join our
More Events & Exhibitions
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14299
|
__label__wiki
| 0.621162
| 0.621162
|
Here Come the Brides - part I
I’ve been working on this analysis for quite a while and it’s grown very lengthy as I uncover more and more insights to (and from) this mostly-forgotten TV show. Remember, I work best on non-fiction when I’m 1) in edits, 2) have too many outside, real-life events that keep me from entering the world of my book. As a result, I’m breaking this up over several blog posts and will publish each section separately over the next few weeks.
One of my must-see TV series as a young teen was Here Come the Brides. It aired for two seasons (1968-69 and 1969-70), each episode airing again during summer repeats and then forgotten. It didn’t even hit syndication until January 2011. By then, the first season had already been released on DVD for five years; the second season didn’t release until April of 2012.
I, of course, bought both seasons.
So what it is like, watching a beloved favorite of one’s youth, through the prism of time? Both fun and embarrassing. The show promoted the drinking of whiskey (often), gambling (occasionally) and fighting as a way to solve one’s problems (once in a while). It also promoted no sex before marriage, racial equality and women’s rights at a time when all the norms of modern American society were in flux.
Today I’ll cover the inspiration for the show, the show’s creators and the brothers (each of whom could get a post all by himself – and may yet!).
Jason, Joshua and Jeremy Bolt (played by Robert Brown, David Soul and Bobby Sherman, respectively) own a logging camp just outside 1860’s Seattle, Washington. The small town has an overabundance of men, so these three stake their family property, Bridal Veil Mountain, as collateral on a bet that they can go East and bring back a hundred women as brides. Aaron Stemple is set up as the “villain” – the man on the other side of the bet who will gain the mountain if they don’t succeed.
This part began as a sidenote but I when I went to cite my sources, I discovered there was far more to where this show came from than a casual glance revealed. Hence, it deserves it’s own section.
There seems to be some disagreement as to whether or not this premise was taken from the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. IMDB says it was and I’ll admit, I worked from the same idea for years. Then I read Gangway, Lord! (The) Here Come the Brides Book by Jonathan Etter and discovered not everyone believed that.
Bridget Hanley (who played Candy Pruitt, the spokesperson for the brides) is originally from the Seattle area and makes mention of the “Mercer Girls” (Etter 180). A little further digging tells us about real-life Ada S. Mercer who went to Lowell, Massachusetts and brought back eleven ladies to level-out the male/female ratio in that part of the Washington territories.
So the show was (loosely) based on historical facts. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers also used the Mercer girls as inspiration. So did Calico Cargo, another musical treatment of the same event (Etter 419 and Kitsap Forest Theatre). It is also worth noting that the more famous musical spun off its own television series that aired in the early 1980’s (IMDB). Something tells me Hollywood is not done with this idea yet!
(Note: There is a website devoted to the stories of these individual women. Unfortunately, many of the links off that main page are broken.)
So who was it who said, “Let’s take the idea of the Mercer girls and turn it into a TV series? Well, that’s harder to answer than you might expect.
The credits in the opening for the show feature a slide with two statements: “Developed for television by N. Richard Nash” and “Based on a story by Alan Marcus”. Jonathan Etter makes note of the fact that Mr. Nash was working on a made-for-film musical of Here Come the Brides as early as 1960 with some of the same characters that later appear in the television series (although the musical was much rougher in both characterizations and language) (Etter 49-50).
So at first glance, one would assign Mr. Nash the lion’s share of the credit, especially when, according to IMDB, Mr. Nash worked on all 52 episodes as writer (developer), if it were not for one thing: neither Mr. Nash’s official biography page, nor his Wikipedia page mention this television series at all. Why? Was he ashamed of it? Or did he really only come up with the idea and then turn it over to others for implementation?
I then turned my attention to Alan Marcus, who, according to that title slide, wrote the story the series was based on. I first found him as a member of the Board of Directors for the Duende players, an acting company that brings theatre into schools. His biography refers to him as the creator of Here Come the Brides.
Wait. Creator? Two creators? Knowing Hollywood and how convoluted writing credits can get, I almost stopped there. But I persisted, returning again to Etter’s history of the series for information.
There wasn’t much. Two references only. One in a story told by Robert Brown (Jason Bolt) who was friends with Mr. Marcus. According to Mr. Brown, he told Alan Marcus to make sure he put his name on a story he’d written and still had rights to. As a result, Mr. Marcus received royalties each time Here Come the Brides played on television (Etter 138).
The second reference was one made by Bridget Hanley basically stating that she thought it was Nash who came up with the character of Jeremy (Etter 180), not Mr. Marcus.
Two sources now claiming Alan Marcus as the creator, two sources claiming N. Richard Nash as creator, with Etter’s book as a source for each, giving credit to both (although Nash gets an entire chapter to himself and Marcus only gets two one-liners*).
My conclusion? As often happens, two separate people came up with the same idea pretty much at the same time. This time, instead of making competing projects (which often happens), both men ended up at the same studio, working on the same project.
And I, for one, am glad they did. :)
The Brothers
You’ve got to love the very names of the characters, starting with the Bolt brothers. The strong alliteration formed when they are referred by that moniker (and they often are) immediately plants the idea that these are powerful men. Their surname sounds similar to the word “bold” and, when spoken quickly, the words can be jumbled together, further deepening our understanding that these are men to be reckoned with.
In addition, the word “bolt” stands for an object that holds things together, that’s dependable; its a fixed point in a moving world. Giving the brothers this surname gives them all those same traits. Remember, in the late 1960’s, America was a country in turmoil with an unpopular war, sexual and drug experimentation gone rampant, and feminists pushing for more equality. The Bolt brothers serve as a constant amid the chaos; they are strong men of principle the people of Seattle (and the viewers) can count on each and every week.
The brothers’ first names, however, provide a contrast to all that testosterone: Jason, Joshua and Jeremy all start with a soft sound. The “J” sound makes them human, willing to listen. It brings out the side of men many women want to see: the sensitive, caring side.
Jason Bolt is played with gusto on the part of Robert Brown. The character is larger-than-life, bold, a leader of Seattle as well as of his brothers. Other characters warn of his honey-tongue that can charm the birds out of the air and the fish out of the sea.
Unfortunately, his strength becomes his brothers’ weakness. Neither Jeremy nor Joshua can make a single decision without running to big brother Jason. Small problems or large, off they go, tracking Jason down and asking, “What do we do?”
Jason, of course, has the answer. He always does. He’s wiser, more experienced, trusted.
That’s not to say he doesn’t make mistakes. He does that, too. But he always owns up to them, taking blame when it belongs to him, showing everyone (including the viewers) what it means to be a Real Man.
Apparently, being a Real Man doesn’t include taking a wife. While Jason has his share of romances throughout the two seasons of the show, each time the two part (with regret, of course), leaving Jason free to flirt again in the next episode.
Joshua Bolt is played by David Soul (who would go on to play Hutch in the cop show, Starsky and Hutch). As the middle brother, Joshua has trouble fitting in and finding his place. Eventually, he’s established as the financial wizard of the brothers Bolt. Jason occasionally bows to Joshua's expertise on buying and selling, but, even here, the hierarchy is firm. Joshua gives input to the decision—Jason, however, is the ultimate decider, Joshua is simply a giver of information. He is, after all, the ultimate middle child.
Like Jason, Joshua has his affairs of the heart that come to a close by the end of the episode. Unlike Jason, Joshua wears his heart on his sleeve and love often makes him rash and foolish. He’s the quintessential Man in Love, which works because of David Soul’s real-life heartthrob status. Female viewers want to be on his arm and looking into those dreamy blue eyes as they walk into the pines together.
Which brings up his physical appearance. David Soul has the stereotypical Aryan look: blond hair and blue eyes. The producers knew they had to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, so cast the part of Joshua to pull in a specific segment of the population: women who like tall, blond men and gentle blue eyes. He certainly wasn’t cast for any physical resemblance to the other actors playing Bolt brothers (both of whom have dark hair although one does have blue eyes).
Jeremy Bolt is played with coyness by Bobby Sherman, a singer who brought with him a built-in fan base of teen-age girls. Jeremy is the youngest brother, the one who never seems to do things right, the one the other two are afraid to trust because of his age and inexperience. That said, the older brothers are very protective of Jeremy, and are leery of putting him in harm’s way—because they understand harm often comes for the youngest and smallest.
Jeremy has another trait that sets him apart from the others, not only his brothers, but from the others in town—he stutters. This was an interesting choice on the part of the writers because recurring characters with disabilities were mostly ignored by American TV in the 1960’s (Ironside being the notable exception). What is laudable about this choice for the character is that the disability wasn’t played for comedy. No one laughed at Jeremy when he had trouble speaking. Instead, they showed patience and understanding – one of several ways this show bridged the roles of TV as pure entertainment and of social responsibility.
Jeremy has something to prove to the world. He occasionally whines when Jason chooses Joshua over him to go on an errand or do something dangerous and so, when he does get the opportunity, he is determined to make sure it goes right so Jason will see he’s a grown man and can handle the responsibility. Of course, whatever the task, it usually does not go right and big brother Jason has to get him out of the scrape.
Jeremy, however, the only brother who has a steady romantic relationship. While he and Candy have their share of arguments, the two always make up and serve as role models to American traditional marriage. There is no hanky-panky before the wedding (which we never get to see—the series was cancelled before the writers could get to that point).
I cannot end this discussion of the brothers and their roles without a nod to their respective heights.
An actor’s height often influences the way an audience reacts to the character he/she plays. While we all know, for example, that Tom Cruise is on the short side (5’7”), he is often filmed in such a way that he appears taller. Taller men get more respect and the casting directors of Here Come the Brides were well-ahead of the studies that prove it (you can read those studies here, here and here).
Until I started writing this paper, I truly thought Jason was the tallest of the brothers, followed by Joshua in the middle and Jeremy as the shortest. While that is true of the real-life actors, it isn’t true by as much as you might think.
As the eldest brother, Joshua tends to tower over the other two and Robert Brown, the actor who plays him, is broad-chested and six-foot two, a respectable height for any man. Joshua, as the middle brother, is the middle height—but David Soul, who plays him, is six-foot one—not a whole heck of a lot shorter than his character’s older brother.
Yet look at publicity stills from Here Come the Brides and you will see, in every case, Joshua appears MUCH shorter than Jason. For one thing, Soul is thinner than Brown, which helps force the perspective. For another, he’s often shown seated when next to the eldest Bolt brother, or when filmed, standing lower on the hill. The viewer is helped along with the idea that Jason is the more powerful by use of height.
Jeremy, of course, is the youngest brother and therefore, the shortest. Bobby Sherman clocks in at a respectable 5’9” tall – a scant three inches shorter than David Soul. Yet here, too, the filmmakers “force” the idea that younger is smaller with camera angles and actor placement.
The second season DVD has a publicity shot on the cover that perfectly shows this artifice: Jason stands tall in the center between Candy and Lotte, his arms crossed and his body leaning back as if he is the master of his domain. Joshua and Jeremy are seated below, Joshua to the right with his shoulders slightly slumped and Jeremy to the left, leaning in. The positions of these two imply a height difference closer to a half a foot rather than a scant three inches.
LOL! Okay, okay...I'll stop here for now. I could write on this forever, but will settle for this much today. Look for more Here Come the Brides posts in the future!
*I have some issues with the balance of reporting in Etter’s book that I’ve blogged about here. He has definite biases toward some of the characters and actors and favors them with more detailed accounts and a more thorough investigation. Because his book shows favoritism in some areas, I cannot be sure that the matter here between Nash and Marcus isn’t more of the same.
Edited to make correction: Bobby Sherman has gorgeous blue eyes as well. See here if you need proof.
Part II can be found here.
at Friday, March 29, 2013
Labels: Here Come the Brides, passion
Nice analysis...looking forward to the next installment!
29/3/13 8:13 AM
No workshop this week
The next few months...
Get the facts straight
One last post...
Writing prompt!
Business nuts and bolts
Under His Spell near a record!
Reading!
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14301
|
__label__cc
| 0.557157
| 0.442843
|
Hindi’s stature as a language that connects a majority of people in India has also taken a toll. Globalization has opened up a lot of opportunities and English has come to be the most important language of the century, observes Mohit Bansal, Founder and CEO, iChamp.
Mohit Bansal, Founder and CEO, iChamp
With around half a billion native speakers, Hindi is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Even though it is quite common in North India, a large section of the population can speak it well but find it difficult to write in it. This stands true for kids as well, most children today speak in Hindi with their friends and at home but when it comes to writing in the language, it becomes surprisingly hard to pen down words and expressions. It is a pain-area for parents also, because they find it challenging to teach the language to their kids and search for Hindi tutors. A survey conducted by iChamp also showed that Hindi is a big challenge for students in metros.
Hindi-speaking masses are looked down upon owing to a rather unpopular opinion that it signifies a sense of backwardness while English gives a sense of superiority and high-class. But that shouldn’t stop us from learning a language that has historical and cultural roots in our country and helps us connect with most of them.
The following are a few reasons why children today are weaker in Hindi –
Script is different from most Western languages
The Hindi script appears similar to the Arabic style of writing and is often considered difficult because the characters are quite unique, and kids require some time and practice to master their strokes and lines unlike the English alphabet.
Grammar is tough
Many kids complain about Hindi grammar as it is confusing for them because they are learning English also. In English, they learn the format SVO (Subject+Verb+Object) while in Hindi it is SOV (Subject+Object+Verb) and the gender usage in Hindi requires extra efforts as well. One of the biggest reasons is that parents themselves have forgotten Hindi grammar and are not capable of teaching kids. This leads to kids not being very comfortable with Hindi from a very early age itself.
Reading is now limited to English
Reading in Hindi has also gone down substantially. In a typical middle class family in urban india, from newspaper to magazines, hoardings on roads, signage on top of shops – everything is in English. Kids are not exposed to hindi at all in their day to day life.
Emphasis on English
Hindi may be India’s most widely spoken language, but the language of the government and business is resolutely English. Parents often emphasize more on English as they think their kids would do better in life if they become fluent in the global language early. Another reason is that Hindi speaking people are often looked at as inferior and English has come to denote class and elitism which is why most urban parents want their kids to speak in English even at home and when communicating with them.
Hindi is not “cool” anymore, as far as the younger generation is concerned, Hinglish is considered a more viable option.
Reasons alone cannot constitute solutions so here are some tips to help improve Hindi for your kids –
Hindi grammar may not be easy to grasp at once. But you can make it fun for your child by giving Hindi worksheets for practice after school.
Multilingual children may get confused with gender usage or other conflicting grammar concepts if they don’t use the Hindi language on a regular basis. Explain the differences by answering your child’s queries with patience.
Encourage Hindi conversations and get good Hindi comics for reading and also read them bedtime stories from Hindi story books.
We should understand that in today’s time, being multilingual is more beneficial. Research has shown that learning multiple languages challenges the brain and improves cognitive and social-emotional development. This is why there is a need to emphasize and focus on other languages including Hindi for your kids.
Related Items:Hindi Education
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14302
|
__label__wiki
| 0.526949
| 0.526949
|
Category Archives: US Economy
Trump’s Most Worrisome Legacy
April 13, 2019 by dinobeano
The US president’s attacks on America’s truth-seeking institutions jeopardize its continued prosperity and very ability to function as a democracy. As corporate giants capture the institutions that are supposed to protect ordinary citizens, a dystopia once imagined only by science fiction writers is emerging before our eyes.
NEW YORK – Kirstjen Nielsen’s forced resignation as US Secretary of Homeland Security is no reason to celebrate. Yes, she presided over the forced separation of families at the US border, notoriously housing young children in wire cages. But Nielsen’s departure is not likely to bring any improvement, as President Donald Trump wants to replace her with someone who will carry out his anti-immigrant policies even more ruthlessly.
Trump’s immigration policies are appalling in almost every aspect. And yet they may not be the worst feature of his administration. Indeed, identifying its foulest aspects has become a popular American parlor game. Yes, he has called immigrants criminals, rapists, and animals. But what about his deep misogyny or his boundless vulgarity and cruelty? Or his winking support of white supremacists? Or his withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, the Iran nuclear deal, and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty? And, of course, there is his war on the environment, on health care, and on the rules-based international system.
This morbid game never ends, of course, because new contenders for the title emerge almost daily. Trump is a disrupting personality, and after he’s gone, we may well reflect on how such a deranged and morally challenged person could have been elected president of the world’s most powerful country in the first place.
But what concerns me most is Trump’s disruption of the institutions that are necessary for the functioning of society. Trump’s “MAGA” (Make America Great Again) agenda is, of course, not about restoring the moral leadership of the United States. It embodies and celebrates unbridled selfishness and self-absorption. MAGA is about economics. But that forces us to ask: what is the basis of America’s wealth?
Adam Smith tried to provide an answer in his classic 1776 book The Wealth of Nations. For centuries, Smith noted, standards of living had been stagnant; then, toward the end of the eighteenth century, incomes start to soar. WhySmith himself was a leading light of the great intellectual movement known as the Scottish Enlightenment. The questioning of established authority that followed the earlier Reformation in Europe forced society to ask: How do we know the truth? How can we learn about the world around us? And how can and should we organize our society?From the search for answers to these questions arose a new epistemology, based on the empiricism and skepticism of science, which came to prevail over the forces of religion, tradition, and superstition. Over time, universities and other research institutions were established to help us judge truth and discover the nature of our world. Much of what we take for granted today – from electricity, transistors, and computers to lasers, modern medicine, and smartphones – is the result of this new disposition, undergirded by basic scientific research (most of it financed by government).
The absence of royal or ecclesiastical authority to dictate how society should be organized to ensure that things worked out well, or as well as they could, meant that society had to figure it out for itself. But devising the institutions that would ensure society’s wellbeing was a more complicated matter than discovering the truths of nature. In general, one couldn’t conduct controlled experiments.
A close study of past experience could, however, be informative. One had to rely on reasoning and discourse – recognizing that no individual had a monopoly on our understandings of social organization. Out of this process emerged an appreciation that governance institutions based on the rule of law, due process, and checks and balances, and supported by foundational values like individual liberty and justice for all, are more likely to produce good and fair decisions. These institutions may not be perfect, but they have been designed so that it is more likely that flaws will be uncovered and eventually corrected.
That process of experimentation, learning, and adaptation, however, requires a commitment to ascertaining the truth. Americans owe much of their economic success to a rich set of truth-telling, truth-discovering, and truth-verifying institutions. Central among them are freedom of expression and independent media. Like all people, journalists are fallible; but, as part of a robust system of checks and balances on those in positions of power, they have traditionally provided an essential public good.Since Smith’s day, it has been shown that a nation’s wealth depends on the creativity and productivity of its people, which can be advanced only by embracing the spirit of scientific discovery and technological innovation. And it depends on steady improvements in social, political, and economic organization, discovered through reasoned public discourse.
The attack by Trump and his administration on every one of the pillars of American society – and his especially aggressive vilification of the country’s truth-seeking institutions – jeopardizes its continued prosperity and very ability to function as a democracy. Nor do there appear to be checks on corporate giants’ efforts to capture the institutions – the courts, legislatures, regulatory agencies, and major media outlets – that are supposed to prevent them from exploiting workers and consumers. A dystopia previously imagined only by science fiction writers is emerging before our eyes. It should give us chills to think of who “wins” in this world, and who or what we might become, just in the struggle to survive.
Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics, is University Professor at Columbia University and Chief Economist at the Roosevelt Institute. His latest book, People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent, will be published in April.
Posted in Economic and Public Policy, Economics, fiscal Policy, Global Issues, Human Rights, Human Security, Leadership, Political Economy, Project-Syndicate.org, Social Policy, Trumpianism, US Economy, US foreign policy.
POTUS His Excellency Donald J. Trump 2019 State of the Union Address
February 6, 2019 by dinobeano
President Donald Trump delivered his 2019 State of the Union address on Tuesday. Read the President’s speech as prepared for delivery and released by the White House.
Madam Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, the First Lady of the United States, and my fellow Americans:
We meet tonight at a moment of unlimited potential. As we begin a new Congress, I stand here ready to work with you to achieve historic breakthroughs for all Americans.
Millions of our fellow citizens are watching us now, gathered in this great chamber, hoping that we will govern not as two parties but as one Nation.
The agenda I will lay out this evening is not a Republican agenda or a Democrat agenda. It is the agenda of the American people.
Many of us campaigned on the same core promises: to defend American jobs and demand fair trade for American workers; to rebuild and revitalize our Nation’s infrastructure; to reduce the price of healthcare and prescription drugs; to create an immigration system that is safe, lawful, modern and secure; and to pursue a foreign policy that puts America’s interests first.
There is a new opportunity in American politics, if only we have the courage to seize it. Victory is not winning for our party. Victory is winning for our country.
This year, America will recognize two important anniversaries that show us the majesty of America’s mission, and the power of American pride.
In June, we mark 75 years since the start of what General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the Great Crusade — the Allied liberation of Europe in World War II. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, 15,000 young American men jumped from the sky, and 60,000 more stormed in from the sea, to save our civilization from tyranny. Here with us tonight are three of those heroes: Private First Class Joseph Reilly, Staff Sergeant Irving Locker, and Sergeant Herman Zeitchik. Gentlemen, we salute you.
In 2019, we also celebrate 50 years since brave young pilots flew a quarter of a million miles through space to plant the American flag on the face of the moon. Half a century later, we are joined by one of the Apollo 11 astronauts who planted that flag: Buzz Aldrin. This year, American astronauts will go back to space on American rockets.
In the 20th century, America saved freedom, transformed science, and redefined the middle class standard of living for the entire world to see. Now, we must step boldly and bravely into the next chapter of this great American adventure, and we must create a new standard of living for the 21st century. An amazing quality of life for all of our citizens is within our reach.
We can make our communities safer, our families stronger, our culture richer, our faith deeper, and our middle class bigger and more prosperous than ever before.
But we must reject the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution — and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good.
Together, we can break decades of political stalemate. We can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions, and unlock the extraordinary promise of America’s future. The decision is ours to make.
We must choose between greatness or gridlock, results or resistance,vision or vengeance, incredible progress or pointless destruction.
Tonight, I ask you to choose greatness.
Over the last 2 years, my Administration has moved with urgency and historic speed to confront problems neglected by leaders of both parties over many decades.
In just over 2 years since the election, we have launched an unprecedented economic boom — a boom that has rarely been seen before. We have created 5.3 million new jobs and importantly added 600,000 new manufacturing jobs — something which almost everyone said was impossible to do, but the fact is, we are just getting started.
Wages are rising at the fastest pace in decades, and growing for blue collar workers, who I promised to fight for, faster than anyone else. Nearly 5 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps. The United States economy is growing almost twice as fast today as when I took office, and we are considered far and away the hottest economy anywhere in the world. Unemployment has reached the lowest rate in half a century. African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian-American unemployment have all reached their lowest levels ever recorded. Unemployment for Americans with disabilities has also reached an all-time low. More people are working now than at any time in our history — 157 million.
We passed a massive tax cut for working families and doubled the child tax credit.We virtually ended the estate, or death, tax on small businesses, ranches, and family farms.
We eliminated the very unpopular Obamacare individual mandate penalty — and to give critically ill patients access to life-saving cures, we passed right to try.
My Administration has cut more regulations in a short time than any other administration during its entire tenure. Companies are coming back to our country in large numbers thanks to historic reductions in taxes and regulations.
We have unleashed a revolution in American energy — the United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world. And now, for the first time in 65 years, we are a net exporter of energy.
After 24 months of rapid progress, our economy is the envy of the world, our military is the most powerful on earth, and America is winning each and every day. Members of Congress: the State of our Union is strong. Our country is vibrant and our economy is thriving like never before.
On Friday, it was announced that we added another 304,000 jobs last month alone — almost double what was expected. An economic miracle is taking place in the United States — and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations.
If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. It just doesn’t work that way!
We must be united at home to defeat our adversaries abroad. This new era of cooperation can start with finally confirming the more than 300 highly qualified nominees who are still stuck in the Senate — some after years of waiting. The Senate has failed to act on these nominations, which is unfair to the nominees and to our country.
Now is the time for bipartisan action. Believe it or not, we have already proven that it is possible.
In the last Congress, both parties came together to pass unprecedented legislation to confront the opioid crisis, a sweeping new Farm Bill, historic VA reforms, and after four decades of rejection, we passed VA Accountability so we can finally terminate those who mistreat our wonderful veterans.
And just weeks ago, both parties united for groundbreaking criminal justice reform. Last year, I heard through friends the story of Alice Johnson. I was deeply moved. In 1997, Alice was sentenced to life in prison as a first-time non-violent drug offender. Over the next two decades, she became a prison minister, inspiring others to choose a better path. She had a big impact on that prison population — and far beyond.
Alice’s story underscores the disparities and unfairness that can exist in criminal sentencing — and the need to remedy this injustice. She served almost 22 years and had expected to be in prison for the rest of her life.
In June, I commuted Alice’s sentence — and she is here with us tonight. Alice, thank you for reminding us that we always have the power to shape our own destiny.
When I saw Alice’s beautiful family greet her at the prison gates, hugging and kissing and crying and laughing, I knew I did the right thing.
Inspired by stories like Alice’s, my Administration worked closely with members of both parties to sign the First Step Act into law. This legislation reformed sentencing laws that have wrongly and disproportionately harmed the African-American community. The First Step Act gives non-violent offenders the chance to re-enter society as productive, law-abiding citizens. Now, States across the country are following our lead. America is a Nation that believes in redemption.
We are also joined tonight by Matthew Charles from Tennessee. In 1996, at age 30, Matthew was sentenced to 35 years for selling drugs and related offenses. Over the next two decades, he completed more than 30 Bible studies, became a law clerk, and mentored fellow inmates. Now, Matthew is the very first person to be released from prison under the First Step Act. Matthew, on behalf of all Americans: welcome home.
As we have seen, when we are united, we can make astonishing strides for our country. Now, Republicans and Democrats must join forces again to confront an urgent national crisis.
The Congress has 10 days left to pass a bill that will fund our Government, protect our homeland, and secure our southern border.
Now is the time for the Congress to show the world that America is committed to ending illegal immigration and putting the ruthless coyotes, cartels, drug dealers, and human traffickers out of business.
As we speak, large, organized caravans are on the march to the United States. We have just heard that Mexican cities, in order to remove the illegal immigrants from their communities, are getting trucks and buses to bring them up to our country in areas where there is little border protection. I have ordered another 3,750 troops to our southern border to prepare for the tremendous onslaught.
This is a moral issue. The lawless state of our southern border is a threat to the safety, security, and financial well‑being of all Americans. We have a moral duty to create an immigration system that protects the lives and jobs of our citizens. This includes our obligation to the millions of immigrants living here today, who followed the rules and respected our laws. Legal immigrants enrich our Nation and strengthen our society in countless ways. I want people to come into our country, but they have to come in legally.
Tonight, I am asking you to defend our very dangerous southern border out of love and devotion to our fellow citizens and to our country.
No issue better illustrates the divide between America’s working class and America’s political class than illegal immigration. Wealthy politicians and donors push for open borders while living their lives behind walls and gates and guards.
Meanwhile, working class Americans are left to pay the price for mass illegal migration — reduced jobs, lower wages, overburdened schools and hospitals, increased crime, and a depleted social safety net.
Tolerance for illegal immigration is not compassionate — it is cruel. One in three women is sexually assaulted on the long journey north. Smugglers use migrant children as human pawns to exploit our laws and gain access to our country.
Human traffickers and sex traffickers take advantage of the wide open areas between our ports of entry to smuggle thousands of young girls and women into the United States and to sell them into prostitution and modern-day slavery.
Tens of thousands of innocent Americans are killed by lethal drugs that cross our border and flood into our cities — including meth, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl.
The savage gang, MS-13, now operates in 20 different American States, and they almost all come through our southern border. Just yesterday, an MS-13 gang member was taken into custody for a fatal shooting on a subway platform in New York City. We are removing these gang members by the thousands, but until we secure our border they’re going to keep streaming back in. Year after year, countless Americans are murdered by criminal illegal aliens. I’ve gotten to know many wonderful Angel Moms, Dads, and families — no one should ever have to suffer the horrible heartache they have endured.
Here tonight is Debra Bissell. Just three weeks ago, Debra’s parents, Gerald and Sharon, were burglarized and shot to death in their Reno, Nevada, home by an illegal alien. They were in their eighties and are survived by four children, 11 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren. Also here tonight are Gerald and Sharon’s granddaughter, Heather, and great‑granddaughter, Madison.
To Debra, Heather, Madison, please stand: few can understand your pain. But I will never forget, and I will fight for the memory of Gerald and Sharon, that it should never happen again. Not one more American life should be lost because our Nation failed to control its very dangerous border.
In the last 2 years, our brave ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of criminal aliens, including those charged or convicted of nearly 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 killings.
We are joined tonight by one of those law enforcement heroes: ICE Special Agent Elvin Hernandez. When Elvin was a boy, he and his family legally immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic. At the age of eight, Elvin told his dad he wanted to become a Special Agent.
Today, he leads investigations into the scourge of international sex trafficking. Elvin says: “If I can make sure these young girls get their justice, I’ve done my job.” Thanks to his work and that of his colleagues, more than 300 women and girls have been rescued from horror and more than 1,500 sadistic traffickers have been put behind bars in the last year.
Special Agent Hernandez, please stand: We will always support the brave men and women of Law Enforcement — and I pledge to you tonight that we will never abolish our heroes from ICE.
My Administration has sent to the Congress a commonsense proposal to end the crisis on our southern border.
It includes humanitarian assistance, more law enforcement, drug detection at our ports, closing loopholes that enable child smuggling, and plans for a new physical barrier, or wall, to secure the vast areas between our ports of entry. In the past, most of the people in this room voted for a wall — but the proper wall never got built. I’ll get it built.
This is a smart, strategic, see-through steel barrier — not just a simple concrete wall. It will be deployed in the areas identified by border agents as having the greatest need, and as these agents will tell you, where walls go up, illegal crossings go way down.
San Diego used to have the most illegal border crossings in the country. In response, and at the request of San Diego residents and political leaders, a strong security wall was put in place. This powerful barrier almost completely ended illegal crossings.
The border city of El Paso, Texas, used to have extremely high rates of violent crime — one of the highest in the country, and considered one of our Nation’s most dangerous cities. Now, with a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is one of our safest cities.
Simply put, walls work and walls save lives. So let’s work together, compromise, and reach a deal that will truly make America safe.
As we work to defend our people’s safety, we must also ensure our economic resurgence continues at a rapid pace.
No one has benefited more from our thriving economy than women, who have filled 58 percent of the new jobs created in the last year. All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before — and exactly one century after the Congress passed the Constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in the Congress than ever before.
As part of our commitment to improving opportunity for women everywhere, this Thursday we are launching the first ever Government-wide initiative focused on economic empowerment for women in developing countries
To build on our incredible economic success, one priority is paramount — reversing decades of calamitous trade policies.
We are now making it clear to China that after years of targeting our industries, and stealing our intellectual property, the theft of American jobs and wealth has come to an end.
Therefore, we recently imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods — and now our Treasury is receiving billions of dollars a month from a country that never gave us a dime. But I don’t blame China for taking advantage of us — I blame our leaders and representatives for allowing this travesty to happen. I have great respect for President Xi, and we are now working on a new trade deal with China. But it must include real, structural change to end unfair trade practices, reduce our chronic trade deficit, and protect American jobs.
Another historic trade blunder was the catastrophe known as NAFTA.
I have met the men and women of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Hampshire, and many other States whose dreams were shattered by NAFTA. For years, politicians promised them they would negotiate for a better deal. But no one ever tried — until now.
Our new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement — or USMCA — will replace NAFTA and deliver for American workers: bringing back our manufacturing jobs, expanding American agriculture, protecting intellectual property, and ensuring that more cars are proudly stamped with four beautiful words: made in the USA.
Tonight, I am also asking you to pass the United States Reciprocal Trade Act, so that if another country places an unfair tariff on an American product, we can charge them the exact same tariff on the same product that they sell to us.
Both parties should be able to unite for a great rebuilding of America’s crumbling infrastructure.
I know that the Congress is eager to pass an infrastructure bill — and I am eager to work with you on legislation to deliver new and important infrastructure investment, including investments in the cutting edge industries of the future. This is not an option. This is a necessity.
The next major priority for me, and for all of us, should be to lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs — and to protect patients with pre-existing conditions.
Already, as a result of my Administration’s efforts, in 2018 drug prices experienced their single largest decline in 46 years.
But we must do more. It is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place. This is wrong, unfair, and together we can stop it.
I am asking the Congress to pass legislation that finally takes on the problem of global freeloading and delivers fairness and price transparency for American patients. We should also require drug companies, insurance companies, and hospitals to disclose real prices to foster competition and bring costs down.
No force in history has done more to advance the human condition than American freedom. In recent years we have made remarkable progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Scientific breakthroughs have brought a once-distant dream within reach. My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years. Together, we will defeat AIDS in America.
Tonight, I am also asking you to join me in another fight that all Americans can get behind: the fight against childhood cancer.
Joining Melania in the gallery this evening is a very brave 10-year-old girl, Grace Eline. Every birthday since she was 4, Grace asked her friends to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She did not know that one day she might be a patient herself. Last year, Grace was diagnosed with brain cancer. Immediately, she began radiation treatment. At the same time, she rallied her community and raised more than $40,000 for the fight against cancer. When Grace completed treatment last fall, her doctors and nurses cheered with tears in their eyes as she hung up a poster that read: “Last Day of Chemo.” Grace — you are an inspiration to us all.
Many childhood cancers have not seen new therapies in decades. My budget will ask the Congress for $500 million over the next 10 years to fund this critical life-saving research.
To help support working parents, the time has come to pass school choice for America’s children. I am also proud to be the first President to include in my budget a plan for nationwide paid family leave — so that every new parent has the chance to bond with their newborn child.
There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our Nation saw in recent days. Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth. These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world. And then, we had the case of the Governor of Virginia where he basically stated he would execute a baby after birth.
To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb.
Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: all children — born and unborn — are made in the holy image of God.
The final part of my agenda is to protect America’s National Security. Over the last 2 years, we have begun to fully rebuild the United States Military — with $700 billion last year and $716 billion this year. We are also getting other nations to pay their fair share. For years, the United States was being treated very unfairly by NATO — but now we have secured a $100 billion increase in defense spending from NATO allies.
As part of our military build-up, the United States is developing a state-of-the-art Missile Defense System.
Under my Administration, we will never apologize for advancing America’s interests.
For example, decades ago the United States entered into a treaty with Russia in which we agreed to limit and reduce our missile capabilities. While we followed the agreement to the letter, Russia repeatedly violated its terms. That is why I announced that the United States is officially withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF Treaty.
Perhaps we can negotiate a different agreement, adding China and others, or perhaps we can’t — in which case, we will outspend and out-innovate all others by far.
As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in 15 months. If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea with potentially millions of people killed. Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong Un is a good one. And Chairman Kim and I will meet again on February 27 and 28 in Vietnam.
Two weeks ago, the United States officially recognized the legitimate government of Venezuela, and its new interim President, Juan Guaido.
We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom — and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair.
Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. America was founded on liberty and independence — not government coercion, domination, and control. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.
One of the most complex set of challenges we face is in the Middle East.
Our approach is based on principled realism — not discredited theories that have failed for decades to yield progress. For this reason, my Administration recognized the true capital of Israel — and proudly opened the American Embassy in Jerusalem.
Our brave troops have now been fighting in the Middle East for almost 19 years. In Afghanistan and Iraq, nearly 7,000 American heroes have given their lives. More than 52,000 Americans have been badly wounded. We have spent more than $7 trillion in the Middle East.
As a candidate for President, I pledged a new approach. Great nations do not fight endless wars. When I took office, ISIS controlled more than 20,000 square miles in Iraq and Syria. Today, we have liberated virtually all of that territory from the grip of these bloodthirsty killers.
Now, as we work with our allies to destroy the remnants of ISIS, it is time to give our brave warriors in Syria a warm welcome home.
I have also accelerated our negotiations to reach a political settlement in Afghanistan. Our troops have fought with unmatched valor — and thanks to their bravery, we are now able to pursue a political solution to this long and bloody conflict.
In Afghanistan, my Administration is holding constructive talks with a number of Afghan groups, including the Taliban. As we make progress in these negotiations, we will be able to reduce our troop presence and focus on counter-terrorism. We do not know whether we will achieve an agreement — but we do know that after two decades of war, the hour has come to at least try for peace.
Above all, friend and foe alike must never doubt this Nation’s power and will to defend our people. Eighteen years ago, terrorists attacked the USS Cole — and last month American forces killed one of the leaders of the attack.
We are honored to be joined tonight by Tom Wibberley, whose son, Navy Seaman Craig Wibberley, was one of the 17 sailors we tragically lost. Tom: we vow to always remember the heroes of the USS Cole.
My Administration has acted decisively to confront the world’s leading state sponsor of terror: the radical regime in Iran.
To ensure this corrupt dictatorship never acquires nuclear weapons, I withdrew the United States from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. And last fall, we put in place the toughest sanctions ever imposed on a country.
We will not avert our eyes from a regime that chants death to America and threatens genocide against the Jewish people. We must never ignore the vile poison of anti-Semitism, or those who spread its venomous creed. With one voice, we must confront this hatred anywhere and everywhere it occurs.
Just months ago, 11 Jewish-Americans were viciously murdered in an anti-semitic attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. SWAT Officer Timothy Matson raced into the gunfire and was shot seven times chasing down the killer. Timothy has just had his 12th surgery — but he made the trip to be here with us tonight. Officer Matson: we are forever grateful for your courage in the face of evil.
Tonight, we are also joined by Pittsburgh survivor Judah Samet. He arrived at the synagogue as the massacre began. But not only did Judah narrowly escape death last fall — more than seven decades ago, he narrowly survived the Nazi concentration camps. Today is Judah’s 81st birthday. Judah says he can still remember the exact moment, nearly 75 years ago, after 10 months in a concentration camp, when he and his family were put on a train, and told they were going to another camp. Suddenly the train screeched to a halt. A soldier appeared. Judah’s family braced for the worst. Then, his father cried out with joy: “It’s the Americans.”
A second Holocaust survivor who is here tonight, Joshua Kaufman, was a prisoner at Dachau Concentration Camp. He remembers watching through a hole in the wall of a cattle car as American soldiers rolled in with tanks. “To me,” Joshua recalls, “the American soldiers were proof that God exists, and they came down from the sky.”
I began this evening by honoring three soldiers who fought on D-Day in the Second World War. One of them was Herman Zeitchik. But there is more to Herman’s story. A year after he stormed the beaches of Normandy, Herman was one of those American soldiers who helped liberate Dachau. He was one of the Americans who helped rescue Joshua from that hell on earth. Almost 75 years later, Herman and Joshua are both together in the gallery tonight — seated side-by-side, here in the home of American freedom. Herman and Joshua: your presence this evening honors and uplifts our entire Nation.
When American soldiers set out beneath the dark skies over the English Channel in the early hours of D-Day, 1944, they were just young men of 18 and 19, hurtling on fragile landing craft toward the most momentous battle in the history of war.
They did not know if they would survive the hour. They did not know if they would grow old. But they knew that America had to prevail. Their cause was this Nation, and generations yet unborn.
Why did they do it? They did it for America — they did it for us. Everything that has come since — our triumph over communism, our giant leaps of science and discovery, our unrivaled progress toward equality and justice — all of it is possible thanks to the blood and tears and courage and vision of the Americans who came before.
Think of this Capitol — think of this very chamber, where lawmakers before you voted to end slavery, to build the railroads and the highways, to defeat fascism, to secure civil rights, to face down an evil empire.
Here tonight, we have legislators from across this magnificent republic. You have come from the rocky shores of Maine and the volcanic peaks of Hawaii; from the snowy woods of Wisconsin and the red deserts of Arizona; from the green farms of Kentucky and the golden beaches of California. Together, we represent the most extraordinary Nation in all of history.
What will we do with this moment? How will we be remembered? I ask the men and women of this Congress: Look at the opportunities before us! Our most thrilling achievements are still ahead. Our most exciting journeys still await. Our biggest victories are still to come. We have not yet begun to dream.
We must choose whether we are defined by our differences — or whether we dare to transcend them.
We must choose whether we will squander our inheritance — or whether we will proudly declare that we are Americans. We do the incredible. We defy the impossible. We conquer the unknown.
This is the time to re-ignite the American imagination. This is the time to search for the tallest summit, and set our sights on the brightest star. This is the time to rekindle the bonds of love and loyalty and memory that link us together as citizens, as neighbors, as patriots.
This is our future — our fate — and our choice to make. I am asking you to choose greatness. No matter the trials we face, no matter the challenges to come, we must go forward together.
We must keep America first in our hearts. We must keep freedom alive in our souls. And we must always keep faith in America’s destiny — that one Nation, under God, must be the hope and the promise and the light and the glory among all the nations of the world!
Thank you. God Bless You, God Bless America, and good night!
Posted in China, Civil Rights, Democracy, Donald J Trump, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Freedom, Geo-Politics, Human Rights, Human Security, International Relations, Japan, Politics, Rule of Law, US Congress, US Economy, US Presidency.
Trump vs. the Economy
December 30, 2018 by dinobeano
December 30, 2018 by Nouriel Roubini
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/trump-behavior-causes-stock-market-drop-by-nouriel-roubini-2018-12
Between publicly chastising US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and escalating his trade war with China, US President Donald Trump has finally rattled the markets. While investors were happy to look the other way during the first half of Trump’s term, the dangerous spectacle unfolding in the White House can no longer be ignored.
NEW YORK – Financial markets have finally awoken to the fact that Donald Trump is US president. Given that the world has endured two years of reckless tweets and public statements by the world’s most powerful man, the obvious question is, What took so long?
For one thing, until now, investors had bought into the argument that Trump is all bark and no bite. They were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as long as he pursued tax cuts, deregulation, and other policies beneficial to the corporate sector and shareholders. And many trusted that, at the end of the day, the “adults in the room” would restrain Trump and ensure that the administration’s policies didn’t jump the guardrails of orthodoxy.
These assumptions were more or less vindicated during Trump’s first year in office, when economic growth and an expected increase in corporate profits – owing to forthcoming tax cuts and deregulation – resulted in strong stock-market performance. In 2017, US stock indices rose more than 20%.
But things changed radically in 2018, and especially in the last few months. Despite corporate earnings growing by over 20% (thanks to the tax cuts), US equity markets moved sideways for most of the year, and have now taken a sharp turn south. At this point, broad indices are in correction territory (meaning a 10% drop from the recent peak), and indices of tech stocks, such as the Nasdaq, are in bear-market territory (a drop of 20% or more).
Though financial markets’ higher volatility reflects concerns about China, Italy and other eurozone economies, and key emerging economies, most of the recent turmoil is due to Trump. The year started with the enactment of a reckless tax cut that pushed up long-term interest rates and created a sugar high in an economy already close to full employment. As early as February, growing concerns about inflation rising above the US Federal Reserve’s 2% target led to the year’s first risk-off.
Then came Trump’s trade wars with China and other key US trade partners. Market worries about the administration’s protectionist policies have waxed and waned throughout the year, but they are now reaching a new peak. The latest US actions against China seem to augur a broader trade, economic, and geopolitical cold war.
An additional worry is that Trump’s other policies will have stagflationary effects (reduced growth alongside higher inflation). After all, Trump is planning to limit inward foreign direct investment, and has already implemented broad restrictions on immigration, which will reduce labor-supply growth at a time when workforce aging and skills mismatches are already a growing problem.
Moreover, the administration has yet to propose an infrastructure plan to spur private-sector productivity or hasten the transition to a green economy. And on Twitter and elsewhere, Trump has continued to bash corporations for their hiring, production, investment, and pricing practices, singling out tech firms just when they are already facing a wider backlash and increased competition from their Chinese counterparts.
Emerging markets have also been shaken by US policies. Fiscal stimulus and monetary-policy tightening have pushed up short- and long-term interest rates and strengthened the US dollar. As a result, emerging economies have experienced capital flight and rising dollar-denominated debt. Those that rely heavily on exports have suffered the effects of lower commodity prices, and all that trade even indirectly with China have felt the effects of the trade war.
Even Trump’s oil policies have created volatility. After the resumption of US sanctions against Iran pushed up oil prices, the administration’s efforts to carve out exemptions and bully Saudi Arabia into increasing its own production led to a sharp price drop. Though US consumers benefit from lower oil prices, US energy firms’ stock prices do not. Besides, excessive oil-price volatility is bad for producers and consumers alike, because it hinders sensible investment and consumption decisions.
Making matters worse, it is now clear that the benefits of last year’s tax cuts have accrued almost entirely to the corporate sector, rather than to households in the form of higher real (inflation-adjusted) wages. That means household consumption could soon slow down, further undercutting the economy.
More than anything else, though, the sharp fall in US and global equities during the last quarter is a response to Trump’s own utterances and actions. Even worse than the heightened risk of a full-scale trade war with China (despite the recent “truce” agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping) are Trump’s public attacks on the Fed, which began as early as the spring of 2018, when the US economy was growing at more than 4%.
Given these earlier attacks, markets were spooked this month when the Fed correctly decided to hike interest rates while also signaling a more gradual pace of rate increases in 2019. Most likely, the Fed’s relative hawkishness is a reaction to Trump’s threats against it. In the face of hostile presidential tweets, Fed Chair Jerome Powell needed to signal that the central bank remains politically independent.
But then came Trump’s decision to shut down large segments of the federal government over Congress’s refusal to fund his useless Mexican border wall. That sent markets into a near-panic, and the government shutdown was soon followed by reports that Trump wants to fire Powell – a move that could turn a correction into a crash. Just before the Christmas holiday, US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin was forced to issue a public statement to placate the markets. He announced that Trump was not planning to fire Powell after all, and that US banks’ finances are sound, effectively highlighting the question of whether they really are.
Recent changes within the administration that do not necessarily affect economic policy making are also rattling the markets. The impending departure of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Secretary of Defense James Mattis will leave the room devoid of adults. The coterie of economic nationalists and foreign-policy hawks who remain will cater to Trump’s every whim.
As matters stand, the risk of a full-scale geopolitical conflagration with China cannot be ruled out. A new cold war would effectively lead to de-globalization, disrupting supply chains everywhere, but particularly in the tech sector, as the recent ZTE and Huawei cases signal. At the same time, Trump seems to be hell-bent on undermining the cohesion of the European Union and NATO at a time when Europe is economically and politically fragile. And Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump’s 2016 election campaign’s ties to Russia hangs like a Sword of Damocles over his presidency.
Trump is now the Dr. Strangelove of financial markets. Like the paranoid madman in Stanley Kubrick’s classic film, he is flirting with mutually assured economic destruction. Now that markets see the danger, the risk of a financial crisis and global recession has grown.
Nouriel Roubini, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business and CEO of Roubini Macro Associates, was Senior Economist for International Affairs in the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton Administration. He has worked for the International Monetary Fund, the US Federal Reserve, and the World Bank.
Posted in American Politics, Donald J Trump, Economic Performance, Economic Policy, Economics, Federal Reserve Board, Finance, Foreign Policy, Geo-Economics, Geo-Politics, Global Issues, Governance, Leadership, Politics, Project-Syndicate.org, Trade and Finance, Trade and Investment, US Economy, US Presidency.
Harapan entering a grey area, a year before 2020
Opinion | by Phar Kim Beng
https://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/457606
COMMENT | As I write this, Malaysia, as governed by Pakatan Harapan, is entering both a festive occasion – marked by Christmas and the New Year – and a festering one too. There are five telltale signs of the latter:
The tragic death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim in the Seafield temple riots.
The 55,000 who gathered in Kuala Lumpur for the rally against the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd).
Authorities seemingly forgetting about M Indira Gandhi’s missing daughter, and about Teoh Beng Hock’s death nearly ten years ago.
Close to 15 percent of Malaysia’ population will be above 60 years of age by 2023.
About 38,000 Felda settlers getting cost of living aid and deposits for replanting.
In any one of the above, Harapan has at best either been silent, or belatedly proactive. Meanwhile, the world continues to change in five ways:
US President Donald Trump deciding on two simultaneous withdrawals from Syria and Afghanistan, signalling the end of American presence in two of the most conflict-prone regions in the world.
Russia staying quiet on the pullout of American troops, although this strategic withdrawal is akin to the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
Islamic State and the Taliban also staying quiet, suggesting a deeper motivation to push deeper into the Western world, or perhaps Asia, to wreak more havoc;
China’s One Belt, One Road initiative, which appeared to be all but irreversible, has been challenged by the Quad (United States, Japan, Australia and India).
Japan, one of the key powers in the Indo-Pacific region, continuing to shrink in terms of population, thus further heightening its insecurity.
These are dangerous times. There are some quaint parallels: the elan of the Vietnam War, when Communist forces pushed forward from the north to south in 1975; the fall of Kabul in 1989; the Russian incursion in Georgia in 2008; and the slow but organic militarisation of South China Sea from 2011 onwards when China, for the first time, referred to the area as its “core interest,” a term previously only reserved for Taiwan and Tibet.
But there is no telling if Harapan is aware of the whiplash effects of these world events. Political scientist Arthur Stein once warned of the importance of “relative gains” in international relations, wherein all great powers see gains and losses in zero-sum terms.
Granted, Malaysia has a foreign and defence policy that seems to be geared towards the centrality of ASEAN. But there is no telling if it wants to adjust to a post-US-Japanese world and the emerging Sino-Russian world order.
East Asia is entering this post-US-Japanese world. The US had always made it a point to keep Tokyo informed of any dramatic moves.
But now, at the speed of a tweet, Trump proceeded to announce the withdrawal of the US from the theater of the Middle East and South Asia, without notifying its staunchest East Asian allies Japan and South Korea.
Japan got its first taste of the ‘Nixon shock’ when the then-US president announced his plan to visit China in 1971, before Nixon announced his New Economic Programme, which included abandoning the gold standard.
The country would be shocked again when it received no thanks from Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait for its financial contribution to Operation Desert Storm led by then-president George Bush.
What Trump did in recent weeks must constitute a third shock for Japan – a major ally pulling out of two regions at the same time, even with the opposition of outgoing Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
By pulling out of Syria and Afghanistan, Japan must be reeling from the fear that its security relationship with Washington can be subject to the same forces that catapulted Trump to power – populism and the American far right.
China and Russia must also be smiling in glee, with the American admission of the impossibility of conducting simultaneous conflicts in two regions.
Malaysia is entering a world of uncertain geopolitical realities and flux.
What adds to the instability is the fact that it is ruled by a new coalition of four parties now beset by infighting – and one still due for a possibly messy transition at the top.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad still looks set to hands over the reins to Anwar Ibrahim, although there are signs that things are less than rosy behind the scenes – such as when the daughter of the latter quit her posts in government.
The new year seems likely to put Malaysia in a pinch as it looks ahead to 2020.
PHAR KIM BENG is a multiple award-winning head teaching fellow on China and the Cultural Revolution at Harvard University.
Posted in Anwar Ibrahim, ASEAN, ASEAN Economic Community, ASEAN-China Relations, Asia, China -One Belt One One Road Policy, Donald J Trump, Human Rights, ketuanan melayu, Malaysia, Malaysia's Look East Policy 2.0, Malaysiakini, Middle East, National Unity, Pakatan Harapan, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, The Malaysian Constitution, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, US Economy, US Presidency.
Apocalypse Trump
by Elizabeth Drew
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/trump-syria-withdrawal-mattis-shutdown-by-elizabeth-drew-2018-12
With no compromise in sight to end the federal government shutdown, and no one left in President Donald Trump’s cabinet who can restrain him, Americans and their allies are staring into the abyss that has been looming since the 2016 election.
WASHINGTON, DC – For those who hadn’t yet figured it out, the price of having a US president who disdains expert opinion and who is impulsive, mendacious, not very smart, disturbed, uninformed, incurious, incompetent, intemperate, corrupt, and a poor negotiator became irrefutably clear in recent days. Three large developments from last Wednesday through Saturday unnerved even some of Donald Trump’s Republican protectors, who had rationalized that, after all, he had cut taxes (mainly on the rich and corporations) and put two conservatives on the Supreme Court bench. But the dangers of having such a person in the Oval Office were now becoming harder to ignore.
All three big events were alarming, and on a bipartisan basis: each was damaging to US national interests, and each was avoidable. Worse, because they came in rapid succession, they created the sense that now (as opposed to previous alarms) the Trump presidency was truly spinning out of control.
On the morning of Wednesday, December 19, Trump tweeted that ISIS had been defeated and that the US would, therefore, withdraw its troops from Syria. The decision came as a bolt from the blue for all but a small number of government officials – every one of whom had tried to dissuade him. Key members of Congress hadn’t been informed, much less consulted; nor had America’s allies, some of whose troops have been dependent on the presence of the US military. Major foreign policy decisions simply aren’t made that way: allies are consulted beforehand; relevant congressional figures are at least informed before any such announcement. Such precautions are about more than good manners: an administration might learn something as it consults and informs.
The decision was immediately and widely denounced. Trump’s usual Senate ally, Lindsey Graham, said, “ISIS has been dealt a severe blow but are not defeated. If there has been a decision to withdraw our forces in Syria, the likelihood of their return goes up dramatically.” The withdrawal, to begin immediately, abandons the Kurds, whom the US had been protecting from Turkey, and preempted a planned joint attack on ISIS. The withdrawal leaves Syria to the mercies of Bashar al-Assad, Russia (Assad’s patron), and Iran.
The only foreign leaders who welcomed the decision were Turkey’s authoritarian leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. It later emerged that Erdoğan had persuaded Trump, who had said earlier, as a general proposition, that he wanted to withdraw US troops from Syria, to do so). Then came the news that Trump had also decided – again with scant consultation – to withdraw half the US troops in Afghanistan, despite the US being in the midst of negotiations with the Taliban.
The announcement of the sudden withdrawal from Syria was too much for defense secretary James Mattis, the most respected member of Trump’s cabinet – though it was far from the only provocation. On Thursday, Mattis, widely seen as the only hope for reining in Trump’s most dangerous impulses, stunned almost everyone by resigning. His eloquent resignation letter made clear that he objected not just to the Syrian blunder, but to a pattern of behavior: Trump’s confusion of allies and opponents; his willingness to abandon friends, such as the Kurds; and his trashing of alliances, such as NATO. Mattis’s friends explained in television interviews that what most troubled the retired four-star Marine general and defense intellectual was not just that he could no longer affect policy, but also that his remaining in the cabinet was taken as an affirmation of Trump, a position he could no longer bear.
Even that doughty loyalist, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, issued a statement on Thursday afternoon that he was “distressed” by the departure of Mattis (a significant sign, many believe, of McConnell’s private worry about Trump’s effect on the Republican Party.) Members of Congress expressed outright fear of a Trump presidency without any guardrails.
The list of departures from Trump’s administration is unprecedentedly long. Though some were forced out for blatant corruption (and shouldn’t have been hired in the first place), others have been fired because Trump has turned against them, and some left because of the president’s abusive treatment. He screams at subordinates at will and scapegoats them with abandon. At first, Trump treated Mattis with respect and even some affection; but he gradually tired of his most distinguished cabinet member’s almost across-the-board disagreement with his policies.
So fickle are Trump’s loyalties that he reportedly “soured” on his third chief of staff before his pick had even started in the position. To fill the job, which no one else seemed to want, Trump had turned to Mick Mulvaney, a conservative former congressman who had already held two high government positions simultaneously. Mulvaney, it turned out, had said in a televised debate during the 2016 election that he would vote for Trump over Hillary Clinton, even though Trump is “a terrible human being.”
Then, at midnight on Friday, a large part of the federal government shut down because Trump had been seeking a fight over the refusal of the Congress (albeit Republican-controlled) to spend billions of dollars to fund his campaign promise to build a wall across the long US-Mexico border. (Trump’s midterm election stunt of ordering troops to the border, purportedly to fend off approaching immigrants from Central America, had deeply rankled Mattis.)
The wall is very unpopular among the public, and only Trump’s most devoted followers view it as the answer to illegal immigration (or drug smuggling). But by using it to cultivate his political base – at most around 35% of the electorate – Trump could corner himself. In a televised White House meeting, he fell into a trap set by Democratic leaders by angrily insisting he would be “proud” to own a government shutdown if he couldn’t get billions to fund at least part of the wall. Under strong pressure from right-wing media figures to keep his promise, Trump made and abandoned budget deals until time ran out.
So, just before Christmas, hundreds of thousands of federal workers – real people all over the country with bills to pay – were either furloughed or forced to work without knowing when they would be paid. And Trump is now a hostage in the White House, because even he understands that it would be terrible “optics” to be seen playing golf and hobnobbing with his rich friends at his Palm Beach estate while, just before Christmas, government workers were idled.
But while Trump must figure out how to climb down from his fanciful wall, so far he has ratcheted up his pettiness, removing Mattis two months ahead of schedule and tweeting insults to politicians who have criticized his recent blunders. His mood is reportedly fouler than ever, and the holiday season has become suffused with an increased sense of danger emanating from the White House.
Elizabeth Drew is a Washington-based journalist and the author, most recently, of Washington Journal: Reporting Watergate and Richard Nixon’s Downfall.
Posted in American Politics, Donald J Trump, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Leadership, Project-Syndicate.org, Trumpianism, US Economy.
Trump’s uncanny political instincts and his ruthless “amorality”—A Formidable Challenge
October 28, 2018 by dinobeano
Trump’s uncanny political instincts and his ruthless “amorality”—A Formidable Challenge to Blue Democrats.
by Dr. Fareed Zakaria
ttps://fareedzakaria.com/columns/2018/10/25/trump-owns-the-bloody-crossroads-of-american-politics
“Democrats create mobs, Republicans create jobs” has become a rallying cry for Republicans ahead of the midterms
For those who believe that President Trump is a clownish know-nothing who somehow tapped into the mood of the electorate, or just got lucky in 2016, the last month has been instructive. Trump has demonstrated uncanny political instincts. When combined with his ruthless “amorality” — a term used by one of his own senior officials in an anonymous New York Times op-ed — he presents a formidable challenge to his opponents.
Trump faces a familiar landscape. The party that holds the White House traditionally has low turnout and does badly in the midterm elections. But rather than accept this as inevitable, Trump has been aggressively trying to beat the odds. He’s turned what are usually disparate races in the House and Senate into a single national election, fought on an agenda that he has defined.
Item one on his agenda is immigration. The reason is obvious: The issue rouses his voters like no other. Trump campaigns relentlessly on it, making the false accusation that if the Democrats win, they will open up the borders and let everyone in.
He has used the current caravan of Central American migrants to highlight his case against the Democrats. Since Republicans are also still highly motivated by fears of terrorism, Trump threw in the accusation that there are “Middle Easterners” in the caravan. (First, there is no evidence for that claim, which Trump himself even admits; and second, if there were, it is an ugly slur to imply that any Middle Easterner is a terrorist.) As the media eagerly fact-checks his rhetoric, Trump seems well aware that they are incidentally repeating his claims and reinforcing the suspicion and fear in the public’s mind.
The second way Trump has turned the midterms into a national vote is by raising the specter of impeachment. Nothing would anger his base more than the notion of an elitist conspiracy (of lawyers, journalists and judges) determined to undo the results of the 2016 election. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders declared that impeachment is “the only message [the Democrats] seem to have going into the midterms.”
Trump’s midterm strategy was foreshadowed by Stephen K. Bannon several months ago, when he explained, in an interview with me on CNN, that the Republicans needed to turn the midterms into a referendum on Trump. “Trump’s second presidential race will be on Nov. 6 of this year,” Bannon said. “He’s on the ballot, and we’re going to have an up-or-down vote.”
How does one counter this campaign? Many Democrats angrily maintain that they do not, in fact, favor open borders and impeachment — that their positions are more nuanced. But when you are explaining nuance in politics, you are losing. The Democratic Party has not found a way to go on the offensive and get Trump to explain that he has, in fact, a more complicated position on any given topic.
But there is a substantive problem in addition to one of style and tactics. The Democratic Party is insisting that recent election results are an unmistakable sign that it needs to change course and become far more populist on economics. But the data clearly show that the American public is very comfortable with where the party is on issues such as health care and inequality.
The challenge for the Democrats is a set of cultural issues — chiefly immigration, but also things such as transgender bathroom laws and respecting the flag — on which a key group of Americans thinks the Democrats are out of touch. An excellent study by the Democracy Fund found that people who had previously supported Barack Obama and then voted for Trump in 2016 (a crucial segment that Democrats could win back) agreed with the Democrats on almost all economic issues but disagreed with the party on immigration and other cultural matters.
Put simply, the study makes clear that the challenge for the Democratic Party politically is not whether it can move left economically but whether it can move right on culture. I say this as someone who agrees with the Democrats on almost every one of these cultural issues. But a large national party must demonstrate that it can accommodate some people who disagree with it on some issues. Doing this without abandoning one’s core principles is a challenge, but it is a challenge Democrats will have to embrace if they seek a durable governing majority.
Eventually, the electorate will be more young and diverse, but in the meantime, the Republican Party is utterly dominant in American politics because it owns the bloody crossroads where culture and politics meet.
(c) 2018, Washington Post Writers Group
Posted in American Politics, Democracy, Donald J Trump, Fareed Zakaria, Foriegn Affairs, Leadership, Trumpianism, US Congress, US Economy, US Presidency.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14303
|
__label__cc
| 0.679902
| 0.320098
|
Tag: Heterodyne
1970s TV was usually not distributed on videotape.
I am detecting that our present, retro-style depiction of how life worked in the 1970s, often assumes details which may not be 100% accurate historically. And one such detail would be, that if television stations in the 1970s were disseminating an analog signal, that signal must have been recorded on videotape.
Videotape existed at a much earlier point in time, but was hamstrung in its conception, to not being able to cover color signal-formats. This was due to an inability of the playback-device, to ensure a stable frequency for the color sub-carrier. It was only a much later development, that color videotape formats became possible, because of the ability to use VCOs, PLLs, and other elements of a feedback loop, to Heterodyne the frequency of the color information on the tape, and then to produce an output which had strict control over its frequencies, based on the accuracy of a single quartz crystal in the playback device. We needed numerous Integrated Circuits to accomplish that, and the earliest videotape machines only had tubes.
Early radio-transmitters also needed to have one quartz crystal, for every frequency it was licensed to transmit on. It required later technology, to be able to transmit on numerous accurate frequencies, yet only to possess one quartz crystal. And quartz crystals tended to be expensive, before they started to be mass-produced to resonate at one standard frequency.
What TV stations in the 1970s had was a device, into which 16mm emulsion film was fed, which was also a standard photographic film-format at the time, and that captured video from this photographic movie-film, translated it into an analog video signal – in color – that signal to be transmitted as it was being output from this machine. So content was actually distributed to the TV stations, on film.
And the notion did not exist yet, that in order to capture the film content would require scanning it with a laser. Instead, the same type of video-capture tubes were used in this machine, that were used in video-cameras for live broadcasting, which were also quite large and bulky. And Yes, this required one video-capture tube for each primary color – in practice though not in theory.
For TV, the image on one frame of the film was brought into focus – using a lens – on 3 capture-tubes, the light-input to which was split by reflectors.
This also affects how we watch the old movies today.
Continue reading 1970s TV was usually not distributed on videotape.
Posted on February 9, 2017 February 9, 2017 Tags 16mm Film, 1970s TV, 1977 Film, Analog TV, Feedback Loop, Heterodyne, Integrated Circuits, Interlaced Scan, Internet TV, NTSC, Quartz Crystal, TV Distribution, VideotapeLeave a comment on 1970s TV was usually not distributed on videotape.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14304
|
__label__cc
| 0.687459
| 0.312541
|
Tag: Pandora – The World of Avatar
iTunes is Celebrating the Opening of Pandora – The World of Avatar
In Celebration of the opening of Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park, iTunes is providing a limited time offer that is “out of this world”!
The Avatar Extended Collector’s Edition on iTunes is available at the reduced price of $7.99 (reg. $19.99) through June 5th. Exclusively on iTunes, the Extended Collector’s Edition will include a video behind the scenes look inside the Land. The over eight minute piece features an in-depth look at how this dream world became a reality through the collaboration between Lightstorm Entertainment, led by James Cameron (Creator/Director of Avatar) and Jon Landau (Producer of Avatar), and the Walt Disney Imagineering team led by Joe Rohde, Creative Executive.
The Extended Collector’s Edition also offers a look at the filmmakers’ journey in the documentary Capturing Avatar, featuring interviews with the creative team behind the film. The set includes three versions of the film including a Family Friendly Audio version, plus over 45 minutes of never-before-seen footage, the Exclusive Alternate Opening on Earth, The Art of Avatar and more!
Visit apple.co/Avatar for this very special, limited time offer and share with Avatar fans
Author RayPosted on May 29, 2017 Categories NewsTags Avatar, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Pandora - The World of Avatar, Walt Disney WorldLeave a comment on iTunes is Celebrating the Opening of Pandora – The World of Avatar
#DisneyParksLIVE Will Stream Pandora – The World of Avatar Dedication Live May 24 at 9:25 AM ET
This Wednesday, May 24, Disney’s Animal Kingdom will host a very special dedication moment for this new land – and our #DisneyParksLIVE cameras will be there to live stream the amazing moment!
The #DisneyParksLIVE stream of the dedication will begin at 9:25 AM ET on the Disney Parks Blog. A fresh post containing the live stream will appear at the top of the blog at that time.
Pandora – The World of Avatar will give guests the chance to explore an interactive world filled with bioluminescent rainforests, floating mountains and surprising flora. Here, guests can experience Avatar Flight of Passage, an attraction that sends guests flying over Pandora on a banshee, and Na’vi River Journey, a family-friendly boat ride that travels down a mystical river.
Tune in to our #DisneyParksLIVE broadcast on May 24 for a very special look at this new land.
Author RayPosted on May 22, 2017 May 22, 2017 Categories Walt Disney WorldTags #DisneyParksLive, Anaheim Garden Walk, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Pandora - The World of AvatarLeave a comment on #DisneyParksLIVE Will Stream Pandora – The World of Avatar Dedication Live May 24 at 9:25 AM ET
Disney Introduces Na’vi Translator for Pandora – The World of Avatar
Walt Disney World will sell a “Na’vi Translator” when it opens Pandora: The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in May.
Visitors using the translator can learn how to pronounce 90 Na’vi words using interchangeable translation cards. The devices will also light up at night.
The Avatar land will depict Pandora, the mythical moon where the fictional Na’vi people live in the 2009 movie “Avatar.”
The Na’vi Translator Device costs $19.99. It will come packaged with 15 translation cards. The device has a clasp that extends up to 12 inches and can be attached to a belt or backpack.
Additional translation cards will be sold in trading card packs, each containing eight randomly selected cards. Other cards will be sold in trading card packs for $6.99 each. Each pack will contain 8 randomly selected cards.
There are a total of 90 trading cards to collect.
Disney said when selecting words and phrases, creators thought about the most essential words necessary to explore another country here on this planet.
Disney merchandise product developer Cody Hampton partnered with Lightstorm Entertainment and Dr. Paul Frommer, creator of the Na’vi language for “Avatar,” to acquire audio recordings of spoken Na’vi words for the translator.
From The Orlando Sentinel
Author RayPosted on March 31, 2017 Categories Walt Disney WorldTags Disney's Animal Kingdom, Pandora - The World of Avatar, Walt Disney WorldLeave a comment on Disney Introduces Na’vi Translator for Pandora – The World of Avatar
D23’s Behind-the-Scenes Experience: An Afternoon Adventure to Pandora with Joe Rohde
GOLD MEMBER EVENT
FRIDAY MAY 19
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park
$250 per person, plus a $5 per person processing fee. Tickets on sale Wednesday, April 5 at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. EDT). Please check back here for the ticketing link.
Not a Gold Member? Join
Be among the first to explore Pandora – The World of Avatar not only before it opens to the public, but with Joe Rohde, Portfolio Creative Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering! In addition to a guided walk-through of the exotic new land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park with Joe, attendees will enjoy lunch at Tiffins with Mr. Rohde and fellow D23 Members.
Experience begins at 11:00 a.m. and will last approximately three hours. Check-in will begin in front of Tiffins restaurant at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Please do not arrive before 10:45 a.m.
Attendees are invited to return to Pandora – The World of Avatar to join an exploration window on their own from 3 – 5 p.m. the same day.
Available to Gold and Gold Family Members
You will be required to show a photo ID. Members will be required to show their D23 Membership Card.
Before Pandora – The World of Avatar opens May 27 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, D23 is thrilled to transport a limited number of members to the all-new land for a once-in-a-lifetime afternoon with Joe Rohde, Portfolio Creative Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering!
Guests will travel to Pandora – The World of Avatar with Joe to explore the Valley of Mo’ara, a verdant terrain sprawling beneath mountains that appear to float in the sky. Throughout the guided tour, guests will learn how the thriving Pandoran landscape conveys intrinsic park messages of the value of nature, transformation through adventure, conservation and stewardship.
In addition to the D23-exclusive tour, guests will join Joe for lunch at Tiffins—a restaurant that celebrates the adventures of traveling.
That afternoon, attendees are invited to return to Pandora to join an exploration window on their own from 3 – 5 p.m. During this time, guests will also have the opportunity to soar on the back of a mountain banshee during Avatar Flight of Passage, and venture deep into the bioluminescent rainforest during the Na’vi River Journey.*
This once-in-a-lifetime experience wouldn’t be complete without a custom gift, created exclusively for you.
*Event is subject to cancellation in the event of inclement weather. As this is an early exploration of Pandora – The World of Avatar, please note that access to some areas of the Valley of Mo’ara on Pandora may be limited during your visit.
D23 Gold and Gold Family Members may reserve a ticket for themselves and one (1) guest.
Due to the nature of this experience, all attendees must be at least 21 years of age or older to partake in this D23 event.
This event does not include admission to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Guests will need to have or purchase admission to Disney’s Animal Kingdom to attend. If planning to use a Walt Disney World Annual Passport to attend, each guest should check blockout dates to verify that the pass is valid for admission on Friday, May 19.
A very limited number of tickets are available. D23 Members will be required to provide their membership number when reserving tickets. Tickets may be picked up only with a valid photo ID AND D23 MEMBERSHIP CARD. D23 Members who do not bring their membership card may not be admitted to the event. Ticketed Members who do not attend the event forfeit their place as well as all experiences, benefits, and gifts associated with the event.
All D23 Special Events are subject to change without notice. There are no cancellations or refunds, and tickets are not transferable.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: Filming, photography, and other recording will take place at Walt Disney World Resort during the event you will be attending. By entering the premises, you irrevocably consent to and authorize The Walt Disney Company, its affiliates, successors, and assigns (collectively “Producer”), to photograph you, make sound recordings of you, and use such photographs and recordings throughout the world, for any purpose whatsoever in perpetuity, including, but not limited to, television broadcasts and home entertainment products, including, but not limited to, home video and DVD. All such photographs and sound recordings will be the sole property of Producer.
Author RayPosted on March 24, 2017 March 25, 2017 Categories D23Tags D23, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Joe Rohde, Pandora - The World of Avatar, Walt Disney WorldLeave a comment on D23’s Behind-the-Scenes Experience: An Afternoon Adventure to Pandora with Joe Rohde
FastPass+ for Pandora – The World of Avatar Opens to Walt Disney World Resort Hotel Guests, Special Extra Magic Hours to be Offered
Great news for those of you anxiously counting the days until the opening of Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on May 27 – FastPass+ reservations are now open to experience the land’s never-before-seen attractions for guests staying at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels.
As you may know, Pandora – The World of Avatar will transport guests to a visually stunning world with floating mountains, bioluminescent plants and more. It’ll also feature two one-of-a-kind attractions: Avatar Flight of Passage, which will allow guests to fly on a banshee over the world of Pandora and the family friendly Na’vi River Journey, which will send guests down a mystical river hidden within a bioluminescent rainforest.
Guests at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels can reserve FastPass+ selections for the two attractions up to 60 days prior to check in, beginning today. For all other guests who have pre-purchased valid park admission, reservations will be available starting 30 days prior to their visit, beginning May 27, 2017. You may select one of these two attractions in your first set of Disney FastPass+ selections, depending on availability.
And beginning May 27 (through July 4), guests staying in select Walt Disney World Resort hotels will have the opportunity to experience Pandora — The World of Avatar with special nighttime Extra Magic Hours. Guests of select Walt Disney World Resort hotels with a valid theme park admission can fly on the back of a banshee, navigate a mystical river and walk under floating mountains beyond regular park hours – from 11 p.m. until 1 a.m. This benefit is in addition to the Extra Magic Hours already available to you at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Author RayPosted on March 24, 2017 Categories Walt Disney WorldTags Disney's Animal Kingdom, Pandora - The World of Avatar, Walt Disney WorldLeave a comment on FastPass+ for Pandora – The World of Avatar Opens to Walt Disney World Resort Hotel Guests, Special Extra Magic Hours to be Offered
Satu’li Canteen in Pandora to Offer Mobile Ordering – Disney Gives First Look at Menu
With an entire new land taking shape to open on May 27, Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom will transport guests to the visually stunning land of floating mountains and bioluminescent plants. And of course there’s a culinary chapter to the story of the Na’vi.
Guests can enjoy creative, flavorful dishes based on the healthful bounty of Pandora, with wholesome grains, fresh vegetables and hearty proteins at Satu’li Canteen, where an on-stage grill is a prominent feature in the colorful dining room.
The Satu’li Canteen was once the main mess hall of the Resources Development Administration (RDA) base located in the Valley of Mo’ara. Now the canteen is owned and operated by Alpha Centauri Expeditions (ACE) tour company and has been redesigned into a beautiful museum-like dining room.
The interior has been transformed with colorful Na’vi items filling the walls and hanging from the ceiling — hand-woven tapestries, natural Pandoran elements and even cooking tools decorate the restaurant.
Look for familiar dishes with a twist in the fast-casual restaurant, with bowls that allow diners to customize their lunch or dinner. Diners start with a base of quinoa and vegetable salad; red and sweet potato hash; mixed whole-grain and rice or romaine and kale salad. Next is either with wood-grilled chicken, slow-roasted beef, sustainable fish or chili-spiced fried tofu. And the bowl is finished with charred onion chimichurri, black bean vinaigrette or creamy herb dressing.
The menu also offers steamed “pods” – bao buns with either cheeseburger or vegetable curry and served with root vegetable chips and crunchy vegetable slaw.
For little ones, there’s an option of grilled chicken or beef, fish or tofu with greens or rice; a hot dog wrapped in Parker House dough; cheese quesadilla, or a steamed “pod” (cheeseburger bao bun).
The fast-casual restaurant will also be the first to offer Mobile Order, a new convenient option to order and pay for meals on-the-go within the My Disney Experience app, allowing guests to bypass the queue to order when they arrive at the restaurant. Using the app, guests can select menu items, customize their order and pre-pay for their meal. When they arrive at the restaurant they will tap an “I’m here” button in the app, which will notify the kitchen to prepare the meal. When ready, guests will be alerted through the app to pick up their meal at a designated window. Additional fast-casual and quick-service restaurants will begin to offer Mobile Order later this year.
Disney Dining Plan is accepted at Satu’li Canteen but, at this time, Mobile Order only accepts credit cards.
Author RayPosted on March 20, 2017 Categories Walt Disney WorldTags Disney's Animal Kingdom, Pandora - The World of Avatar, Satu’li Canteen, Walt Disney WorldLeave a comment on Satu’li Canteen in Pandora to Offer Mobile Ordering – Disney Gives First Look at Menu
Tune into ABC March 9 for an inside look at Pandora – The World of Avatar
Four ABC shows will offer sneak peeks into the new land coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
As “The View” broadcasts from Disney’s Animal Kingdom this week, several other ABC shows will be joining forces on Thursday, March 9, for a look into the highly-anticipated Pandora – The World of Avatar.
The day of sneak peeks kicks off with “Good Morning America,” where viewers are introduced to Pandora – The World of Avatar including a first look at the thrilling attraction, Avatar Flight of Passage. After that, viewers can tune in to “The View,” where James Cameron will take Whoopi Goldberg into the immersive new land, including a look at the Na’vi River Journey. Rounding out the daytime segments, the hosts of “The Chew,” true to their culinary stylings, will introduce viewers to the Lumpia, a unique and delicious snack found on Pandora.
Later that night “Nightline” will offer an in-depth look at Pandora – The World of Avatar in a unique segment inspired by the stories of the land.
Pandora – The World of Avatar opens May 27, 2017.
Author RayPosted on March 8, 2017 Categories ABC, Walt Disney WorldTags ABC, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Good Morning America, Nightline, Pandora - The World of Avatar, The Chew, The View, Walt Disney WorldLeave a comment on Tune into ABC March 9 for an inside look at Pandora – The World of Avatar
Walt Disney World Sets Height Requirements for Attractions in Pandora – The World of Avatar
Walt Disney World has made the height requirements for the new rides in Pandora – The World of Avatar available.
Avatar Flight of Passage, will have a 44″ height requirement. This will put it in line with Expedition Everest, Mission Space and Space Mountain, and significantly higher than the similar Soarin’ attraction at Epcot, which is 40″.
Disney’s description of Flight of Passage:
Get a banshee’s-eye view of the beauty and grandeur of Pandora on a rite of passage you won’t soon forget!
Deep in the heart of the Valley of Mo’ara, discover Avatar Flight of Passage—an all-new expedition that lets interstellar explorers like you climb atop a mountain banshee for a breathtaking, first-person flight over the moon’s incredible landscape.
Bonding with a mountain banshee is a crucial step in the life of a Na’vi hunter—and flying on the back of one of these powerful winged creatures represents an important rite of passage.
Now, as a visitor to Pandora, you’ll finally have the chance to test yourself in a similar way!
Pandora’s second attraction, Na’Vi River Journey will not have a height requirement, as was expected.
Glide down a gentle, mysterious river and feel a sense of wonder as the full beauty of Pandora reveals itself. Located within the Valley of Mo’ara, Na’vi River Journey offers explorers an experience that has to be seen—and heard—to be believed!
As your expedition begins, climb aboard a reed boat and drift downstream. After coasting through a series of caves, and passing by exotic glowing plants and amazing creatures of the rainforest, you’ll soon find yourself face-to-face with the Na’vi Shaman of Songs.
The adventure comes to a conclusion as the Shaman demonstrates her deep connection to the life force of Pandora—and sends positive energy out into the forest through the power of her music!
Author RayPosted on March 7, 2017 Categories Walt Disney WorldTags Avatar Flight of Passage, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Na'Vi River Journey, Pandora - The World of Avatar, Walt Disney WorldLeave a comment on Walt Disney World Sets Height Requirements for Attractions in Pandora – The World of Avatar
Disney Opens Website Pandora.com – Your Portal to Pandora – The World of Avatar
Have you ever dreamed of exploring Pandora – The World of Avatar coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom later this spring?
Well, now is your chance with VisitPandora.com.
Guests of VisitPandora.com can learn about the floating mountains, flying banshees and other flora and animals of the exotic world.
VisitPandora.com was created by Alpha Centauri Expeditions (ACE), the exclusive provider of tours to Pandora – The World of Avatar – taking you inside this extraordinary environment – up close and personal.
Visiting this site, you can see first-hand how the team at ACE can transport you to Pandora to check-out the experiences that await you there.
In addition, you also will be able to get more information about travel to Pandora through Visit Pandora’s Twitter and Instagram accounts. There ACE’s field experts, scientists and others from the land sharing photos and videos of their expeditions.
And coming soon to VisitPandora.com will be your official ACE “experts,” who will take questions from guests about their future journeys through Pandora.
If you’re wondering – how do they do it? Well, that’s proprietary.
But, the result, is a breathtaking journey to another world!
Author RayPosted on February 9, 2017 Categories Walt Disney WorldTags Alpha Centauri Expeditions, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Pandora - The World of Avatar, Walt Disney WorldLeave a comment on Disney Opens Website Pandora.com – Your Portal to Pandora – The World of Avatar
The World of Avatar Will Open May 27 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Today during The Walt Disney Company Q1 FY17 Earnings call, CEO Bob Iger shared the exciting news that Pandora – The World of Avatar will open at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on May 27.
This new land will transport guests to the visually stunning world of Pandora. Here, guests will wonder at floating mountains and bioluminescent plants, and can join the Na’vi on two excursions that take adventure to the next level.
First, the family friendly Na’vi River Journey will send guests through a bioluminescent rainforest. Their journey will end in an unforgettable encounter with a Na’vi Shaman, a figure who has a deep connection to the life force of Pandora. And second, Avatar Flight of Passage will offer guests the jaw-dropping experience of exploring the world of Pandora atop a Banshee.
Guests will also be able to dine at Satu’li Canteen, grab a drink at Pongu Pongu or shop for Na’vi cultural items, toys, science kits, and more at Windtraders.
Author RayPosted on February 7, 2017 Categories Walt Disney WorldTags Disney's Animal Kingdom, Pandora - The World of Avatar, Walt Disney WorldLeave a comment on The World of Avatar Will Open May 27 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Disney News Today Blog at WordPress.com.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14305
|
__label__wiki
| 0.676577
| 0.676577
|
Kiribatia and the EU
EEAS homepage > Kiribati > Statement by EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, and UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict
Statement by EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, and UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict
Brussels/New York, 18/06/2019 - 12:00, UNIQUE ID: 190617_18
Joint Statement by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict
On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, the European Union and the United Nations join their voices to call on the international community to accelerate its efforts to eliminate the scourge of all forms of sexual violence, including as a strategy and tactic of war and terror.
Sexual violence in conflict constitutes a grave human rights violation with devastating physical, psychological and social consequences, which impede economic development, social cohesion and sustainable peace and security. While women and girls are disproportionately the first targets both in times of war and peace, men and boys are also affected.
Sexual violence is a crime that is preventable, not inevitable. This is why the United Nations and the European Union are committed to further strengthen their work in terms of prevention, protection and prosecution, as well as in terms of holistic support to survivors to help them rebuild their lives and livelihoods within their families and communities.
To this end, the United Nations Security Council has called for a survivor-centred approach to guide both the prevention and response to conflict-related sexual violence in order to empower the resilience of affected individuals and minimise the risk of social ostracism, stigma and reprisals. Ensuring access to comprehensive quality services, including medical care, sexual and reproductive health care, psychosocial support, legal advice and livelihood assistance for victims is therefore key.
Together, the EU and the UN have collaborated on concrete projects, such as an initiative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that supported the creation of Prosecution Support Cells to help military authorities to bring perpetrators of serious offences, including sexual violence, to justice. This project helped to identify and prosecute offenders from both the national security forces and armed groups who would otherwise have continued to operate with impunity.
Ultimately, our actions can only make a lasting difference if they are accompanied by a shift in social attitudes that can be achieved through raising awareness by amplifying victims' voices, and ensuring women’s participation in decision-making and peace processes. States, international and regional organisations, private sector and civil society all have a role to play in challenging harmful gender norms and preventing sexual violence.
Today, we commit to continue working together to end impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict and to guarantee access to justice, protection and services for survivors. Their voices, rights and needs must guide our response to foster more equitable and peaceful societies.
Spokesperson of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Brussels
maja.kocijancic@ec.europa.eu
Géraldine Boezio
Office of the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, New York
geraldine.boezio@un.org
+ 1 917 367-3306
Follow us on social media: @endrapeinwar
DR Congo (Kinshasa)
Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs)
South Georgian and South Sandwich Islands
St Pierre and Miquelon
Vatican City and the Holy See
Saint-Lucia
Saint-Vincent and the Grenadines
UN New York
UN Rome
Vienna - international organisations
Speech on behalf of High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini in the European Parliament plenary session: urgency debate on human rights breaches at the US-Mexican border
Speech on behalf of HR/VP Federica Mogherini at the EP plenary session urgency debate on Russia, notably the situation of environmental activists and Ukrainian political prisoners
Speech on behalf of High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini in the European Parliament plenary session: urgency debate on human rights breaches in Hong Kong
Joint Statement by the High Representative and the European Commission on the occasion of the World Day against Child LabourToday, an estimated 152 million children are victims of child labour worldwide. These 152 million children are being denied their right to have access to education and to a safe living environment. On the occasion of the World Day against Child Labour on 12 June, the European Union, alongside its
EU and partners fostering youth skills- young people's real storiesActive engagement of youth in sustainable development efforts is key to achieving sustainable, inclusive and stable societies and to preventing challenges to sustainable development, including climate change, unemployment, poverty, gender inequality, conflict, and migration. However, truth be told,
Joint Statement by the European Commission and the High Representative on the occasion of World Refugee Day, 20 June 2019World Refugee Day
Statement by the Spokesperson on the occasion of the International Albinism Awareness Day, 13 JuneStatement by the Spokesperson on the occasion of the International Albinism Awareness Day, 13 June
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14313
|
__label__wiki
| 0.828055
| 0.828055
|
Mumbai Football Arena
Mumbai Football Arena is a multi-use stadium in Mumbai, India. It is located in the Andheri Sports Complex and is primarily used for football matches and tournaments.
Andheri Sports Complex
Former names
Shahaji Raje Krida Sankul
Veera Desai Road, Andheri West, Mumbai
Azad Nagar metro station (metro)
Andheri railway station (suburban railway)
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
Natural Grass
India national football team (2016–present)
Mumbai City FC (2016–present)
It serves as the home stadium of Mumbai City FC of the Indian Super League. The football stadium holds 7,960 spectators and was expected to be one of the venues for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[1] The India national football team played a FIFA international friendly on 3 September 2016 beating Puerto Rico national football team 4–1 in front of a packed stadium. This was the first international friendly hosted by the city in 61 years.
In June 2018, the stadium hosted all 7 matches of the 2018 Intercontinental Cup, in which the Indian men's football team played against Kenya, New Zealand, and Chinese Taipei in a four-way tournament[2]. India beat Kenya 2-0 in the final to win the tournament[3].
Aditya Thackeray, a local politician, and Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor are known to have played an important role in the redevelopment of the stadium.[4]
It hosted the 2019 Indian Super League Final featuring Bengaluru FC and FC Goa. Bengaluru F.C won the match due to a late goal from defender Rahul Bheke. This was Bengaluru F.C's first Indian Super League after losing in the final the previous year.
^ "Mumbai to get world-class football stadium in Andheri sports complex". The Times of India. 9 January 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
^ Noronha, Anselm. "2018 Intercontinental Cup: Teams, fixtures, TV guide & venue". Goal.com. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
^ "Constantine Lauds Sunil Chhetri and Boys After Winning Intercontinental Cup". News18. Press Trust of India. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
^ "Indian Football: Aaditya Thackeray - The brain behind Mumbai Football Arena". goal.com. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mumbai_Football_Arena.jpg
This article about an Indian sports venue is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumbai_Football_Arena&oldid=903305219"
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14319
|
__label__wiki
| 0.776989
| 0.776989
|
Robert Bryce (writer)
Robert Bryce is an American author and journalist in Austin, Texas.[1] His articles on energy, politics, and other topics have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Counterpunch, and Atlantic Monthly.
Robert Bryce
Robert Bryce, pictured in 2011
Writer and Journalist
Manhattan Institute
Notable work
Power Hungry (2010) Gusher of Lies
RobertBryce.com
Bryce has been writing about the energy business for more than two decades. He spent twelve years writing for The Austin Chronicle.[1] In 2006, he began working as the managing editor of the online magazine, Energy Tribune.[2] From October 2007 to February 2008 he was a fellow at the Institute for Energy Research, and is now a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute,[3] a conservative think tank. He regularly appears on TV and radio shows ranging from the BBC to PBS and CNBC to Fox Business.
Writing on the energy industry and species protectionEdit
Bryce has written frequently about the infeasibility of the United States becoming energy independent.[4][5]
In March 2009, he testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources to discuss the limits inherent in renewable energy, saying "no matter how you do the calculations, renewable energy by itself, can not, will not, be able to replace hydrocarbons over the next two to three decades, and that's a conservative estimate".[6]
Bryce writes regularly about energy and power systems. In 2007, he criticized the dangers of cheap oil.[7]
In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal in March 2009 he denounced the energy policies of former United States President George W. Bush and the current president Barack Obama, claiming their rush for renewable energy will not be sufficient to cover the country's future energy needs.[8]
Bryce has criticized special exceptions to wildlife protection laws given to renewable energy facilities in the United States. Oil producers and electric utilities have repeatedly been charged and fined under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for killing birds; meanwhile, wind-power companies are not prosecuted despite routine violations of the MBTA. In the Wall Street Journal, he wrote,
Yet there is one group of energy producers that are not being prosecuted for killing birds: wind-power companies. And wind-powered turbines are killing a vast number of birds every year. A July 2008 study of the wind farm at Altamont Pass California, estimated that its turbines kill an average of 80 golden eagles per year. The study, funded by the Alameda County Community Development Agency, also estimated that about 10,000 birds—nearly all protected by the migratory bird act—are being whacked every year at Altamont.
He also wrote about the health problems caused by low-frequency noise emitted from wind turbines.[8]
In June 2010, in an article for Slate he expressed dismay at the corn ethanol industry's attempts to use the blowout of the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico as an basis to pursue more subsidies.[9]
Bryce is an advocate for increased shale gas consumption in the US. In a June 13, 2011 piece published in the Wall Street Journal he posited that the "shale revolution now underway is the best news for North American energy since the discovery of the East Texas Field in 1930."[10]
Bryce opposes federal corn subsidies for ethanol, citing high costs.[11][12] He has argued that American farmland should be used to grow food rather than fuel.[13] In addition he has opposed the EPA's considerations to raise the volume of ethanol mixed in gasoline, arguing that vehicles could be damaged by higher ethanol blends, and warranties would be voided.[14]
He has criticized the Obama administration for "attempting to pick winners in the car business" with electric vehicles subsidies.[15] He has also argued that electric vehicles have failed to date due to the lack of energy density in batteries, safety concerns, and relatively few sales.[16]
Writing on climate changeEdit
Bryce describes himself as an agnostic about global warming and climate change. He frequently points out that the climate "alarmists" have no credible plans to replace the hydrocarbons that now provide the overwhelming majority of the world's energy. In chapter 15 of 'Power Hungry: The Myths of "Green" Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future, Bryce writes: '"There's no question that carbon dioxide plays a significant role in the atmosphere. Just how significant, we don't know ... For me, in many ways, the science no longer matters because discussions about the science have become so vituperative and politicized. Thus, my position about the science of global climate change is one of resolute agnosticism. When it comes to climate change, the key issues are no longer about forcings, albedo, or the ideal concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Instead, the key question is about policy, namely: if we are going to agree that carbon dioxide is bad, what are we supposed to do? And that question—as the Duke of Bilgewater memorably put it in Huckleberry Finn—'is the bare bodkin."
N2NEdit
Bryce recently argued that renewable energy remains unready to meet real-world energy needs at a scale that can save the climate.[17]
Accordingly, he has long favored "N2N" (natural gas to nuclear), as the logical way forward for energy policy and insurance against the potential risk of climate change.[18]
Carbon capture and sequestrationEdit
In May 2010, he published an op-ed in The New York Times that underscored the difficulties associated with large-scale carbon capture and sequestration.[19] He has recently extended this line of argument in National Review Online[20]
Writings on politics and current eventsEdit
George W. BushEdit
In 1993, Bryce wrote a piece for the Christian Science Monitor about George W. Bush's jump into the Texas gubernatorial race arguing that Bush would "pose a formidable challenge" to then Democratic Governor Ann Richards. Bryce also referred to Karl Rove a "savvy political consultant."[21]
Bryce predicted that Bush would win the White House in a 1999 piece for The Austin Chronicle,[22] and was the first journalist to report on how Bush's ownership of the Texas Rangers would become a financial asset.
Bryce also analyzed how Bush and his partners used the power of eminent domain to profit off of land they did not own.[23]
"I am Sullied-No More"Edit
In 2007, Bryce featured 44-year-old Colonel Theodore S. Westhusing's suicide note in an article for the Texas Observer titled, "I am Sullied-No More." In it he argues that Westhusing chose death over dishonor while faced with the Iraq war's corruption.[24]
Funeral industryEdit
In 1999, Bryce wrote about corruption in the funeral industry, reporting on how Robert Waltrip, C.E.O of the world's largest death-care company, Service Corporation International "used the [Texas] governor's office and a state senator in an effort to crush an investigation into S.C.I.'s operations."[25]
V-22 TiltrotorEdit
Bryce has been an outspoken critic of the troubled V-22 tiltrotor, or Osprey, for its safety and cost record.[26]
ControversyEdit
In October 2011 a petition was addressed to The New York Times complaining about Bryce. It asked the paper's public editor, Arthur Brisbane,[27] to address the issue of how op-ed writers are identified and asked that the paper be more transparent with regard to any financial support the op-ed writers may get from various industries.[28] On October 29, 2011, Brisbane responding to the petition, writing "I don't think Mr. Bryce is masquerading as anything: experts generally have a point of view". Regarding the issue of funding from energy-related interests, Brisbane wrote that "the Manhattan Institute's dependence on this category of funding is slight – about 2.5 percent of its budget over the past 10 years."[29]
In June 2013, TheAutoChannel.com published a 60-page rebuttal of Robert Bryce's "Gusher of Lies" written by Marc J. Rauch, co-founder of The Auto Channel. The rebuttal challenges Mr. Bryce's negative claims about ethanol. Mr. Bryce has not responded to Rauch's criticisms.[30]
Published booksEdit
Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper: How Innovation Keeps Proving the Catastrophists Wrong. ISBN 978-1610392051 (2014).
Power Hungry: The Myths of "Green" Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future, published 2010 by PublicAffairs, ISBN 978-1-58648-789-8. Bryce argues that the practical potential of green energy using the currently employed technology is greatly exaggerated and that natural gas and nuclear power are the only realistic alternatives to coal and oil.[31] A review published by the Wall Street Journal called the book "unsentimental, unsparing, and impassioned; and if you'll excuse the pun, it is precisely the kind of journalism we need to hold truth to power".[32]
Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of Energy Independence, published by PublicAffairs 2008, ISBN 978-1-58648-321-0. In this book, Bryce focuses on the desire for energy independence. The New York Times describes it as "a savage attack on the concept of energy independence and the most popular technologies currently being promoted to achieve it".[4][19] Kirkus Reviews' review states, "In a voice ardent and beseeching, Bryce urges Americans to educate themselves about the world's biggest enterprise, to have at least a modest grasp of thermodynamics, to rationally assess the costs and potential benefits of available resources.[33]
Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the rise of Texas, America's Superstate, published by PublicAffairs in 2004, ISBN 978-1-58648-188-9.[5]
Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron, published by PublicAffairs in 2002, ISBN 978-1-58648-201-5.[34]
^ a b "About Bryce". Robert Bryce. p. 1. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
^ Bryce, Robert (January 30, 2006). "Robert Bryce". Energy Tribune. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
^ "Robert Bryce". Manhattan Institute. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
^ a b Bryce, Robert (March 5, 2008). Gusher of lies: The dangerous delusions of energy Independence. PublicAffairs. p. 384. ISBN 978-1-58648-321-0.
^ a b Bryce, Robert (5 May 2004). Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the rise of Texas, America's Superstate. PublicAffairs. p. 352. ISBN 978-1-58648-188-9.
^ Bryce, Robert (March 17, 2009). "Full committee oversight hearing: on energy development on public lands and the outer Continental Shelf". Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
^ Bryce, Robert (2007-01-19). "Energy Tribune – The dangers of cheap oil". Retrieved 2011-10-23.
^ a b Bryce, Robert (March 5, 2009). "Let's get real about renewable energy". Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 May 2010. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Wall Street Journal" defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ Bryce, Robert (June 10, 2010). "The ethanol trap". Slate. Slate. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
^ Bryce, Robert. "America needs the shale revolution". Retrieved 2011-10-16.
^ "Corn Dog". Slate. 2005-07-19. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
^ "The Unraveling of the Ethanol Scam". CounterPunch. 2009-02-05. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
^ "The Ethanol Scam". CounterPunch. 2007-03-02. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
^ "The Ethanol Scammers Rent a General". CounterPunch. 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
^ "Obama's Electric Vehicle Fetish". CounterPunch. 2010-11-10. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
^ "Fire Sale on Electric Cars!". National Review Online. 2011-12-01. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
^ "Four Numbers Say Wind and Solar Can't Save Climate". Bloomberg.
^ http://www.energytribune.com/11441/renewable-energys-incurable-scale-problem#sthash.IUQslvdW.dpbs
^ a b Bryce, Robert (May 12, 2010). "A bad bet on carbon". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 June 2010. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "New York Times" defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ http://www.nationalreview.com/article/359133/epas-carbon-capture-delusion-robert-bryce
^ Bryce, Robert. "Texas Sprouts New Bush As Son Enters State Race". Christian Science Monitor.
^ Bryce, Robert. "The Can't-Miss Kid". Austin Chronicle.
^ Bryce, Robert. "Bush's Big Score: Bank on it: The Rangers sale will haunt the governor's run for president in 2000". Houston Press.
^ Bryce, Robert. "I am Sullied-No More". Texas Observer.
^ Bryce, Robert. "Burying the Opposition". Texas Observer.
^ Bryce, Robert. "Texas' Deadly $16 Billion Boondoggle". Texas Observer.
^ "Times chooses Arthur S. Brisbane, grandson of Arthur Brisbane as public editor, giving him a 3-year term." The New York Times, June 22, 2010 p. B6.
^ "Letter To The New York Times – True Ties". Retrieved 2011-10-16.
^ Brisbane, Arthur S. (2011-10-29). "The Times Gives Them Space, but Who Pays Them?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-02-22.
^ http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2013/06/10/082044-gusher-lies-book-review-and-reply-to-robert-bryce.html
^ Bryce, Robert (April 27, 2010). Power hungry. PublicAffairs. p. 416. ISBN 978-1-58648-789-8.
^ Butterworth, Trevor (April 30, 2010). "The Wrong Way To Get to Green". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
^ Kirkus Reviews: Gusher of lies.
^ Bryce, Robert (October 8, 2002). Pipe Dreams: Greed, ego, and the death of Enron. PublicAffairs. p. 416. ISBN 978-1-58648-138-4.
Robert Bryce on Sourcewatch
Personal website of Robert Bryce
Robert Bryce: Senior Fellow with the Center for Energy Policy and the Environment at the Manhattan Institute
List of articles published by Robert Bryce in Energy Tribune
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Bryce_(writer)&oldid=897236626"
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14320
|
__label__wiki
| 0.717478
| 0.717478
|
(Redirected from Sociobiologist)
For the book by E. O. Wilson, see Sociobiology: The New Synthesis.
Sociobiology is a field of biology that aims to examine and explain social behavior in terms of evolution. It draws from disciplines including ethology, anthropology, evolution, zoology, archaeology, and population genetics. Within the study of human societies, sociobiology is closely allied to Darwinian anthropology, human behavioral ecology and evolutionary psychology.
Sociobiology investigates social behaviors such as mating patterns, territorial fights, pack hunting, and the hive society of social insects. It argues that just as selection pressure led to animals evolving useful ways of interacting with the natural environment, so also it led to the genetic evolution of advantageous social behavior.
While the term "sociobiology" originated at least as early as the 1940s, the concept did not gain major recognition until the publication of E. O. Wilson's book Sociobiology: The New Synthesis in 1975. The new field quickly became the subject of controversy. Critics, led by Richard Lewontin and Stephen Jay Gould, argued that genes played a role in human behavior, but that traits such as aggressiveness could be explained by social environment rather than by biology. Sociobiologists responded by pointing to the complex relationship between nature and nurture.
DefinitionEdit
E. O. Wilson defined sociobiology as "the extension of population biology and evolutionary theory to social organization".[1]
Sociobiology is based on the premise that some behaviors (social and individual) are at least partly inherited and can be affected by natural selection. It begins with the idea that behaviors have evolved over time, similar to the way that physical traits are thought to have evolved. It predicts that animals will act in ways that have proven to be evolutionarily successful over time. This can, among other things, result in the formation of complex social processes conducive to evolutionary fitness.
The discipline seeks to explain behavior as a product of natural selection. Behavior is therefore seen as an effort to preserve one's genes in the population. Inherent in sociobiological reasoning is the idea that certain genes or gene combinations that influence particular behavioral traits can be inherited from generation to generation.[2]
For example, newly dominant male lions often kill cubs in the pride that they did not sire. This behavior is adaptive because killing the cubs eliminates competition for their own offspring and causes the nursing females to come into heat faster, thus allowing more of his genes to enter into the population. Sociobiologists would view this instinctual cub-killing behavior as being inherited through the genes of successfully reproducing male lions, whereas non-killing behavior may have died out as those lions were less successful in reproducing.[3]
E. O. Wilson, a central figure in the history of sociobiology, from the publication in 1975 of his book Sociobiology: The New Synthesis
The philosopher of biology Daniel Dennett suggested that the political philosopher Thomas Hobbes was the first sociobiologist, arguing that in his 1651 book Leviathan Hobbes had explained the origins of morals in human society from an amoral sociobiological perspective.[4]
The geneticist of animal behavior John Paul Scott coined the word sociobiology at a 1948 conference on genetics and social behaviour which called for a conjoint development of field and laboratory studies in animal behavior research[5][6]. With John Paul Scott's organizational efforts, a "Section of Animal Behavior and Sociobiology" of the ESA (acronym stands for?) was created in 1956, which became a Division of Animal Behavior of the American Society of Zoology in 1958. In 1956, E. O. Wilson came in contact this emerging sociobiology through his PhD student Stuart A. Altmann, who had been in close relation with the participants to the 1948 conference. Altmann developed his own brand of sociobiology to study the social behavior of rhesus macaques, using statistics, and was hired as a "sociobiologist" at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center in 1965.[6] Wilson's sociobiology is different from John Paul Scott's or Altmann's, insofar as he drew on mathematical models of social behavior centered on the maximisation of the genetic fitness by W. D. Hamilton, Robert Trivers, John Maynard Smith, and George R. Price. The three sociobiologies by Scott, Altmann and Wilson have in common to place naturalist studies at the core of the research on animal social behavior and by drawing alliances with emerging research methodologies, at a time when "biology in the field" was threatened to be made old-fashioned by "modern" practices of science (laboratory studies, mathematical biology, molecular biology).[7][6]
Once a specialist term, "sociobiology" became widely known in 1975 when Wilson published his book Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, which sparked an intense controversy. Since then "sociobiology" has largely been equated with Wilson's vision. The book pioneered and popularized the attempt to explain the evolutionary mechanics behind social behaviors such as altruism, aggression, and nurturance, primarily in ants (Wilson's own research specialty) and other Hymenoptera, but also in other animals. However, the influence of evolution on behavior has been of interest to biologists and philosophers since soon after the discovery of evolution itself. Peter Kropotkin's Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, written in the early 1890s, is a popular example. The final chapter of the book is devoted to sociobiological explanations of human behavior, and Wilson later wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning book, On Human Nature, that addressed human behavior specifically.[6][8]
Edward H. Hagen writes in The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology that sociobiology is, despite the public controversy regarding the applications to humans, "one of the scientific triumphs of the twentieth century." "Sociobiology is now part of the core research and curriculum of virtually all biology departments, and it is a foundation of the work of almost all field biologists" Sociobiological research on nonhuman organisms has increased dramatically and continuously in the world's top scientific journals such as Nature and Science. The more general term behavioral ecology is commonly substituted for the term sociobiology in order to avoid the public controversy.[9]
TheoryEdit
Sociobiologists maintain that human behavior, as well as nonhuman animal behavior, can be partly explained as the outcome of natural selection. They contend that in order to fully understand behavior, it must be analyzed in terms of evolutionary considerations.
Natural selection is fundamental to evolutionary theory. Variants of hereditary traits which increase an organism's ability to survive and reproduce will be more greatly represented in subsequent generations, i.e., they will be "selected for". Thus, inherited behavioral mechanisms that allowed an organism a greater chance of surviving and/or reproducing in the past are more likely to survive in present organisms. That inherited adaptive behaviors are present in nonhuman animal species has been multiply demonstrated by biologists, and it has become a foundation of evolutionary biology. However, there is continued resistance by some researchers over the application of evolutionary models to humans, particularly from within the social sciences, where culture has long been assumed to be the predominant driver of behavior.
Nikolaas Tinbergen, whose work influenced sociobiology
Sociobiology is based upon two fundamental premises:
Certain behavioral traits are inherited,
Inherited behavioral traits have been honed by natural selection. Therefore, these traits were probably "adaptive" in the environment in which the species evolved.
Sociobiology uses Nikolaas Tinbergen's four categories of questions and explanations of animal behavior. Two categories are at the species level; two, at the individual level. The species-level categories (often called "ultimate explanations") are
the function (i.e., adaptation) that a behavior serves and
the evolutionary process (i.e., phylogeny) that resulted in this functionality.
The individual-level categories (often called "proximate explanations") are
the development of the individual (i.e., ontogeny) and
the proximate mechanism (e.g., brain anatomy and hormones).
Sociobiologists are interested in how behavior can be explained logically as a result of selective pressures in the history of a species. Thus, they are often interested in instinctive, or intuitive behavior, and in explaining the similarities, rather than the differences, between cultures. For example, mothers within many species of mammals – including humans – are very protective of their offspring. Sociobiologists reason that this protective behavior likely evolved over time because it helped the offspring of the individuals which had the characteristic to survive. This parental protection would increase in frequency in the population. The social behavior is believed to have evolved in a fashion similar to other types of nonbehavioral adaptations, such as a coat of fur, or the sense of smell.
Individual genetic advantage fails to explain certain social behaviors as a result of gene-centred selection. E.O. Wilson argued that evolution may also act upon groups.[10] The mechanisms responsible for group selection employ paradigms and population statistics borrowed from evolutionary game theory. Altruism is defined as "a concern for the welfare of others". If altruism is genetically determined, then altruistic individuals must reproduce their own altruistic genetic traits for altruism to survive, but when altruists lavish their resources on non-altruists at the expense of their own kind, the altruists tend to die out and the others tend to increase. An extreme example is a soldier losing his life trying to help a fellow soldier. This example raises the question of how altruistic genes can be passed on if this soldier dies without having any children.[11]
Within sociobiology, a social behavior is first explained as a sociobiological hypothesis by finding an evolutionarily stable strategy that matches the observed behavior. Stability of a strategy can be difficult to prove, but usually, it will predict gene frequencies. The hypothesis can be supported by establishing a correlation between the gene frequencies predicted by the strategy, and those expressed in a population.
Altruism between social insects and littermates has been explained in such a way. Altruistic behavior, behavior that increases the reproductive fitness of others at the apparent expense of the altruist, in some animals has been correlated to the degree of genome shared between altruistic individuals. A quantitative description of infanticide by male harem-mating animals when the alpha male is displaced as well as rodent female infanticide and fetal resorption are active areas of study. In general, females with more bearing opportunities may value offspring less, and may also arrange bearing opportunities to maximize the food and protection from mates.
An important concept in sociobiology is that temperament traits exist in an ecological balance. Just as an expansion of a sheep population might encourage the expansion of a wolf population, an expansion of altruistic traits within a gene pool may also encourage increasing numbers of individuals with dependent traits.
Studies of human behavior genetics have generally found behavioral traits such as creativity, extroversion, aggressiveness, and IQ have high heritability. The researchers who carry out those studies are careful to point out that heritability does not constrain the influence that environmental or cultural factors may have on those traits.[12][13]
Criminality is actively under study, but extremely controversial. There are arguments that in some environments criminal behavior might be adaptive.[14] The novelist Elias Canetti also has noted applications of sociobiological theory to cultural practices such as slavery and autocracy.[15]
Support for premiseEdit
Genetic mouse mutants illustrate the power that genes exert on behaviour. For example, the transcription factor FEV (aka Pet1), through its role in maintaining the serotonergic system in the brain, is required for normal aggressive and anxiety-like behavior.[16] Thus, when FEV is genetically deleted from the mouse genome, male mice will instantly attack other males, whereas their wild-type counterparts take significantly longer to initiate violent behaviour. In addition, FEV has been shown to be required for correct maternal behaviour in mice, such that offspring of mothers without the FEV factor do not survive unless cross-fostered to other wild-type female mice.[17]
A genetic basis for instinctive behavioural traits among non-human species, such as in the above example, is commonly accepted among many biologists; however, attempting to use a genetic basis to explain complex behaviours in human societies has remained extremely controversial.[18][19]
Steven Pinker argues that critics have been overly swayed by politics and a fear of biological determinism,[a] accusing among others Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin of being "radical scientists", whose stance on human nature is influenced by politics rather than science,[21] while Lewontin, Steven Rose and Leon Kamin, who drew a distinction between the politics and history of an idea and its scientific validity,[22] argue that sociobiology fails on scientific grounds. Gould grouped sociobiology with eugenics, criticizing both in his book The Mismeasure of Man.[23]
Noam Chomsky has expressed views on sociobiology on several occasions. During a 1976 meeting of the Sociobiology Study Group, as reported by Ullica Segerstråle, Chomsky argued for the importance of a sociobiologically informed notion of human nature.[24] Chomsky argued that human beings are biological organisms and ought to be studied as such, with his criticism of the "blank slate" doctrine in the social sciences (which would inspire a great deal of Steven Pinker's and others' work in evolutionary psychology), in his 1975 Reflections on Language.[25] Chomsky further hinted at the possible reconciliation of his anarchist political views and sociobiology in a discussion of Peter Kropotkin's Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, which focused more on altruism than aggression, suggesting that anarchist societies were feasible because of an innate human tendency to cooperate.[26]
Wilson has claimed that he had never meant to imply what ought to be, only what is the case. However, some critics have argued that the language of sociobiology readily slips from "is" to "ought",[22] an instance of the naturalistic fallacy. Pinker has argued that opposition to stances considered anti-social, such as ethnic nepotism, is based on moral assumptions, meaning that such opposition is not falsifiable by scientific advances.[27] The history of this debate, and others related to it, are covered in detail by Cronin (1993), Segerstråle (2000), and Alcock (2001).
Biocultural anthropology
Biosemiotics
Cultural selection theory
Darwinian anthropology
Dual inheritance theory
Evolutionary developmental psychology
Evolutionary ethics
Evolutionary neuroscience
Genopolitics
Human behavioral ecology
Social evolution
Sociophysiology
^ Biological determinism was a right wing philosophy underlying the social Darwinian and eugenics movements of the early 20th century, and controversies in the history of intelligence testing.[20]
^ Wilson, E. O. (1978). On Human Nature. Harvard. p. x. ISBN 978-0674016385.
^ Wilson, David Sloan Wilson; Wilson, Edward O. (2007). "Rethinking The Theoretical Foundation of Sociobiology". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 82 (4): 327–348. doi:10.1086/522809.
^ Packer, Craig; Pusey, Anne E. (1983). "Adaptations of Female Lions to Infanticide by Incoming Males" (PDF). Am. Nat. 121 (5): 716–728. doi:10.1086/284097.
^ Dennett, Daniel (1995). Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Simon and Schuster. pp. 453–454. ISBN 978-0140167344.
^ "The Life of J.P. Scott". Bowling Green State University. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
^ a b c d Levallois, Clement (2018). "The Development of Sociobiology in Relation to Animal Behavior Studies, 1946–1975". Journal of the History of Biology. 51 (3): 419–444. doi:10.1007/s10739-017-9491-x. PMID 28986758.
^ Dobzhansky, Theodosius (September 1966). "Are Naturalists Old-Fashioned?". The American Naturalist. 100 (915): 541–550. doi:10.1086/282448.
^ Walsh, Bryan (17 August 2011). "All-TIME 100 Nonfiction Books".
^ The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology, edited by David M. Buss, John Wiley & Sons, 2005. Chapter 5 by Edward H. Hagen
^ Wilson, 1975. Chapter 5. "Group Selection and Altruism"
^ Tessman, Irwin (1995). "Human altruism as a courtship display". Forum: 157.
^ Johnson, Wendy; Turkheimer, E.; Gottesman, Irving; Bouchard, Thomas (2009). "Beyond Heritability: Twin Studies in Behavioral Research" (PDF). Current Directions in Psychological Science. 18 (4): 217–220. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01639.x. PMC 2899491. PMID 20625474. Retrieved 29 June 2010. Moreover, even highly heritable traits can be strongly manipulated by the environment, so heritability has little if anything to do with controllability. For example, height is on the order of 90% heritable, yet North and South Koreans, who come from the same genetic background, presently differ in average height by a full 6 inches (Pak, 2004; Schwekendiek, 2008).
^ Turkheimer, Eric (April 2008). "A Better Way to Use Twins for Developmental Research" (PDF). LIFE Newsletter. 2 (1): 2–5. Retrieved 29 October 2010. But back to the question: What does heritability mean? Almost everyone who has ever thought about heritability has reached a commonsense intuition about it: One way or another, heritability has to be some kind of index of how genetic a trait is. That intuition explains why so many thousands of heritability coefficients have been calculated over the years. . . . Unfortunately, that fundamental intuition is wrong. Heritability isn't an index of how genetic a trait is. A great deal of time has been wasted in the effort of measuring the heritability of traits in the false expectation that somehow the genetic nature of psychological phenomena would be revealed.
^ The Sociobiology Of Sociopathy: An Integrated Archived 2002-10-26 at the Wayback Machine
^ Elias Canetti, Crowds and Power. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1981, p. 444-445.
^ Hendricks TJ, Fyodorov DV, Wegman LJ, Lelutiu NB, Pehek EA, Yamamoto B, Silver J, Weeber EJ, Sweatt JD, Deneris ES. Pet-1 ETS gene plays a critical role in 5-HT neuron development and is required for normal anxiety-like and aggressive behaviour]. Neuron. 2003 Jan 23;37(2):233-47
^ Lerch-Haner, JK; Frierson, D; Crawford, LK; Beck, SG; Deneris, ES (Sep 2008). "Serotonergic transcriptional programming determines maternal behavior and offspring survival". Nat Neurosci. 11 (9): 1001–3. doi:10.1038/nn.2176. PMC 2679641. PMID 19160496.
^ Fisher, Helen (16 October 1994). "'Wilson,' They Said, 'Your All Wet!'". New York Times. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
^ Gould, Stephen Jay (16 November 1978). "Sociobiology: the art of storytelling". New Scientist. 80 (1129): 530–533.
^ Allen, Garland E. (1984). "The Roots of Biological Determinism: review of The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould". Journal of the History of Biology. 17 (1): 141–145. doi:10.1007/bf00397505. JSTOR 4330882.
^ Pinker, Steven (2002). The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature. New York: Penguin Books. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-14-200334-3. A surprising number of intellectuals, particularly on the left, do deny that there is such a thing as inborn talent, especially intelligence. Stephen Jay Gould's 191 bestseller The Mismeasure of Man was written to debunk 'the abstraction of intelligence as a single entity ... and the use of these numbers to rank people in a single series of worthiness'
^ a b Richard Lewontin; Leon Kamin; Steven Rose (1984). Not in Our Genes: Biology, Ideology, and Human Nature. Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-0-394-50817-7.
^ Gould, Stephen Jay (1996). The Mismeasure of Man. p. Introduction to the Revised Edition.
^ Segerstråle 2000, p. 205.
^ Chomsky, Noam (1975), Reflections on Language:10. New York: Pantheon Books.
^ Chomsky, Noam (1995). "Rollback, Part II." Z Magazine 8 (Feb.): 20–31.
^ Pinker, Steven (2002). The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature. New York: Viking. p. 145
Alcock, John (2001). The triumph of sociobiology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514383-6.
Barkow, Jerome, ed. (2006). Missing the Revolution: Darwinism for Social Scientists. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513002-7.
Cronin, Helena (1993). The ant and the peacock: Altruism and sexual selection from Darwin to today. Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-521-45765-1.
Etcoff, Nancy (1999). Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty. Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0-385-47942-4.
Kaplan, Gisela; Rogers, Lesley J. (2003). Gene Worship: Moving Beyond the Nature/Nurture Debate over Genes, Brain, and Gender. Other Press. ISBN 978-1-59051-034-6.
Richard M. Lerner (1992). Final Solutions: Biology, Prejudice, and Genocide. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-00793-9.
Levallois, Clement (2017). "The Development of Sociobiology in Relation to Animal Behavior Studies, 1946–1975". Journal of the History of Biology. 51 (3): 419–444. doi:10.1007/s10739-017-9491-x. ISSN 0022-5010. PMID 28986758.
Richards, Janet Radcliffe (2000). Human Nature After Darwin: A Philosophical Introduction. London: Routledge.
Segerstråle, Ullica (2000). Defenders of the truth: The sociobiology debate. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-286215-0.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sociobiology.
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Sociobiology
Sociobiology (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) - Harmon Holcomb & Jason Byron
The Sociobiology of Sociopathy, Mealey, 1995
Speak, Darwinists! Interviews with leading sociobiologists.
Race and Creation - Richard Dawkins
Genetic Similarity and Ethnic Nationalism - An Attempted Sociobiological Explanation of the scientific basis for Political Group Formation.
Scientist at Work | Edward O. Wilson | Taking a Cue From Ants on Evolution of Humans by Nicholas Wade
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sociobiology&oldid=906836364"
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14322
|
__label__wiki
| 0.8424
| 0.8424
|
Royal Navy sends Type 45 destroyer to Persian Gulf amid escalating tension
Trump and Kim cut short summit with no agreement reached on denuclearization
Thursday, February 28th 2019 - 09:34 UTC
Full article 1 comment
Sitting beside Kim on Thursday morning, Trump said the pair had enjoyed very good discussions and “importantly, I think the relationship is, just very strong.”
President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un abruptly cut short their two-day summit on Thursday after the two leaders failed to reach an agreement to dismantle that country’s nuclear weapons. Although Kim said he was ready in principle to denuclearize, he and Trump ended their meetings without sitting for a planned lunch and without participating in a joint signing ceremony.
In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said, “The two leaders discussed various ways to advance denuclearization and economic driven concepts. No agreement was reached at this time, but their respective teams look forward to meeting in the future.”
Trump planned to address the state of negotiations at a news conference, which was moved ahead by two hours, before he departs Vietnam on Thursday evening to return to Washington.
For Trump, the surprising turn of events amounted to a diplomatic failure after he had hoped his second summit with Kim, following their meeting last summer in Singapore, would produce demonstrable progress toward North Korea’s denuclearization.
Sitting beside Kim on Thursday morning, Trump said the pair had enjoyed very good discussions over dinner the night before, with “a lot of great ideas being thrown about,” adding that “importantly, I think the relationship is, you know, just very strong.”
The Washington Post’s David Nakamura asked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if he felt confident about the meeting with President Trump.
“And when you have a good relationship, a lot of good things happen. So, I can’t speak necessarily for today, but I can say this that, a little bit longer-term, and over a period of time, I know we’re going to have a fantastic success with respect to Chairman Kim and North Korea.”
Trump repeatedly stressed there was “no rush” to make a deal. “Chairman Kim and myself, we want to do the right deal. Speed is not important,” he said.
And Kim said he was ready to denuclearize, at least in principle. “If I’m not willing to do that, I wouldn’t be here right now,” he said through an interpreter.
Both Kim and Trump also said they would welcome the idea of opening a U.S. liaison office in the North Korean capital. Washington does not have direct diplomatic representation in Pyongyang.
Asked if he was confident the pair would reach a deal, Kim was equally guarded.
President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un opened their second summit Wednesday with hopeful words and a private chat before sitting down for dinner and further talks about North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
“It’s too early to tell. I won’t prejudge,” Kim said in reply to the question from a Washington Post reporter, a rare response from a North Korean leader to an independent journalist. “From what I feel right now, I do have a feeling that good results will come.”
Kim also said the whole world was watching them.
“There would be people welcoming, and people viewing our meeting with skepticism, but there would also be people who would look at us spending a great time together, like a scene in a fantasy movie,” he said.
On Wednesday night, Trump offered a public embrace of Kim, referring to the authoritarian ruler as “my friend” and stating that he is “satisfied” with the progress of their negotiations.
“Some people would like to see it be quicker. I’m satisfied; you’re satisfied,” Trump told Kim before a private, one-on-one meeting, followed by a social dinner with a small group of aides at the luxurious, five-star Metropole hotel. “We want to be happy with what we’re doing.”
Trump said he believed their first summit, in Singapore, was a success and added that their meetings in Hanoi “will be equal to or greater than the first.” He held up Vietnam as a model for economic growth for North Korea, which he said has “unlimited” potential.
“I look forward to watching it happen, and we will help it happen,” Trump said, sitting next to Kim in front of a row of American and North Korean flags. The president wore a dark suit and striped tie, while Kim wore his traditional Mao-style suit. The North Korean leader smiled as Trump spoke.
On Thursday morning, Trump and Kim arrived in separate motorcades for the second day of summit talks at the hotel. After speaking to reporters seated in front of U.S. and North Korea flags, they strolled briefly through the hotel, pausing to chat briefly with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Yong Chol, by the pool.
Trump’s warm greeting of Kim on Wednesday night suggested that the president was hopeful that their personal rapport can help bridge gaps in the negotiations among lower-level aides ahead of the summit.
Trump said the biggest area of progress since Singapore was their “relationship,” and in a tweet after the dinner he said the two had “very good dialogue.”
Kim smiled warmly as the two men shook hands, but looked uncomfortable in the glare of television cameras and the loud clicking of shutters from photographers. He praised Trump for his “extraordinary and courageous political decision” that allowed their reunion to take place after 261 days and hinted that he had his own doubters to overcome at home.
But if there was one thing the two men agreed on, it was that this summit was going to be a success.
“Disbelief and misunderstandings were everywhere, and old hostile habits were getting in our way, but we’ve overcome it well, come face to face and walked all the way to Hanoi in 260 days,” Kim Jong Un said in the photo op with Trump. “I think it’s been a time period that took me more agony, effort and patience than ever. I am confident a great result will be produced this time to be welcomed by everyone, and I will do my best toward that goal.”
Categories: Politics, International, United States.
Tags: Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un, North Korea, summit, trump summit, United States, Vietnam, White House.
:o))
REF: no agreement reached:
A serious case of a severe shortage of Toilet-Papers?
Mar 01st, 2019 - 12:25 pm 0
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14323
|
__label__wiki
| 0.786287
| 0.786287
|
SILK ROADS Dialogue, Diversity & Development
About the Silk Road
The UNESCO Silk Road Online Platform
The International Network for the Silk Road Online Platform
Documentary Heritage
World Cultural Heritage
Movable Heritage and Artifacts
Cities alongside the Silk Roads
World Natural Heritage, Biosphere Reserves and Geoparks
Underwater Heritage alongside the Silk Roads
Countries ›
While all efforts have been made to present an accurate account of the status of the Silk Road in the countries covered, some part of the information provided and the analyses thereof are those of the contributors, and does not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The contributors are responsible for the choice and representation of the facts contained in this portal and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization.
Along the traces of Great Silk Roads
The Great Silk Roads bringing together two different worlds – the East and the West – could not but leave a trace in the history of political, economic and cultural development of the countries through which it passed. Travelers, merchants and missionaries exchanged cultural, scientific, educational and spiritual values. Azerbaijan was on the path of the Roads and made a significant contribution to the development of this global transit network. The goods and products of Azerbaijani towns and settlements spread along the Silk Roads with great success, and its towns had long been known to act as centres of culture, science and education. Oil, carpets, raw silk, silk fabrics, cotton, weapons, dried fruits, salt, precious stones, jewellery, alum, saffron, natural dyes, polychrome pottery, wooden utensils, non-ferrous metals, sturgeons, and caviar ironwood were the main exports of Azerbaijan. Bilateral land and sea routes linked Azerbaijan with China, Syria, India, Asia Minor, Iran, Egypt, Russia, the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa and Europe. The British used to lay their routes to India via Azerbaijan, Indian merchants traded in spices and cashmere fabrics with Baku and Shamakhi. For this reason, actually, one of the medieval caravanserais in Baku has the name of the Indian origin, “Multani”. Baku used to serve as a transit point for goods passing from China and India through the Black Sea to Constantinople.
©UNESCO
The Silk Roads in Azerbaijan passes several cities in the north-western direction. Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, located on the crossroads of the East and West, has always been and even today remains the main administrative, political, cultural, ideological, handicraft and trade centre of the region. The city is also known as a major seaport. A 1375 Catalan map highlights the Caspian Sea as “Sea of Baku”. The 13th century sea fortress “Sabail” in the Bay of Baku guarded entrance into the port city. The capital itself and its surroundings have preserved numerous buildings known since the days of the Great Silk Roads, like for example “Icherisheher”, the old city, which compromises in its boundaries the 15th century Palace of Shirvanshahs, Maiden Tower – a unique monument of the 5th-12th centuries, as well as mosques, caravansaries, baths, mausoleums and madrasa. The Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower is now included into the UNESCO World Heritage List. The temple of “Atashgah”, erected at the expenses of Indian followers of Zoroaster, known as Parsi, is another wonderful example of the intercultural exchanges in this city. Atashgah or “Fire Temple”, a castle-like religious temple in Surakhani, was a pilgrimage and philosophical centre for fire worships. According to the Persian and Indian inscriptions, this temple was used as Hindu, Sikh and Zoroastrian place of fire worship. The Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, included also in UNESCO World Heritage List, represents rock art cultural reserve, which covers areas of a plateau of rocky boulders rising out of the semi-desert of central Azerbaijan, with an outstanding collection of more than 6000 rock engravings bearing testimony to 40 000 years of rock art. The site also possesses remains of inhabited caves, settlements and burials, dated to the period from the Upper Palaeolithic to the middle Ages.
Shamakhi, located on the crossroads of caravan routes linking Europe with Asia, the city played an important role in the international silk trade. Merchants from all over the world would go to numerous bustling bazaars there. Shamakhi was a major commercial centre and the commodities exported from here were silk, carpets and rugs. According to the testimonies of travellers, Shamakhi supplied the best silk, which used to produce fabrics such as brocades, darai, diba and zarbaft. The city was also famous for its wine, exported mainly to Western Europe. Basgal (an Ismayilli region) is one of the oldest settlements situated on the Silk Roads and in the 16th- - 17th centuries it was one of the most important silk-weaving centres. The other distinctive feature of Basgal is that already in the Middle Ages this settlement had a sophisticated sewage system and every household had a bath. Lahij is a monument of the ancient urban and architectural art, protected by the State. Lahij is a well-known craft centre for production of cold steel arms, copper ware decorated with engraved design and etc. Gabala is a city that became known 2400 years ago. The city was surrounded by strong defensive walls, behind which palaces, houses of the nobility, pavilions, bazars and places of worship were being developed. The city was famous for silkworm breeding and horticulture.
Shusha is a unique town that has left an enormous cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, and is located in the centre of Karabakh – an ancient region of Azerbaijan. Situated in the strategic and economic part of Karabakh, it became the capital of the Karabakh Khanate. The town was surrounded by stone walls with round towers protecting the gates. The khan and his court lived in a rectangular citadel surrounded by bazaars, a Friday Mosque and residential quarters. Each quarter was centred around a mosque surrounded by small squares containing a source of drinking water. Town estates incorporating a garden and vegetable plot were separated from the street by stone walls. The southern part of Shusha has a very famous plain called “Jidir duzu”, which used to be the main location for festivities and sporting events in Shusha, such as, for instance, Chovqan or Chovken, a traditional Karabakh horse riding game, now included into the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. Shusha was famous for its trade in carpets and silk products.
Sheki, the architectural reserve of the country, is one of the most ancient cities nestling in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountain. The citadel and the Khan’s Palace, built between the 18th and 20th centuries are situated in the historic centre of Sheki. The structure of the Palace was made of combination of red brick with red cobblestone and does not contain a single nail. The facade of the palace, facing to the South, has a lattice frame with a set of colourful shabaka (traditional mosaic). The historic centre, with the main shopping street, public buildings, bath houses, shops and workshops of craftsmen, silk production factories, cooperatives, individual residential houses, has retained a historic townscape of high quality and authenticity. In the northern part of the city, there are ruins of the once impregnable fortress “Galarsan-gorarsan” (“Come and See”) dated to the 15th-18th centuries. The Upper and Lower Caravanserais were built in the 18th century. The people travelling along the Silk Roads used to hold negotiations, as well as stay overnight in the caravanserais of Sheki. With the spread of Christianity, early Christian Albanian churches appeared in the city and its surroundings. The best known temple is located in a small mountainous village, Kish (1st-2ndcenturies). The Kish shrine became “ancestress of the churches in the East”.
Another architectural treasure of Azerbaijan is its ancient bridges. The most famous ones include “Sinig Korpu” in Gazakh district, Khudaferin bridges across the Aras River in Jabrayil district. These bridges used to serve as the main route for the migration of different peoples and ethnic groups, and represents one of the key components of Silk Roads.
The exchange of information, religion, cultural values and traditions, as well as migration of peoples was fostered with the development of the Silk Roads. Commercial towns of all sizes and villages emerged along this route, which stimulated the important social and cultural processes, large-scale commercial operations, diplomatic agreements and even military alliances.
Azerbaijani intangible heritage along the Silk Roads
Since ancient times, Azerbaijan has played the role of a melting pot of civilizations, serving as a venue and major transfer point of different cultural traditions and customs. The intangible heritage of Azerbaijan, diverse and rich, continues to live and to be transmitted from generation to generation. From a cultural and historic point of view, Azerbaijan has close ties with the Silk Roads history and was strongly affected by its development. One point of reference of this strong link between the Silk Roads and Azerbaijan is “Seven Beauties” by the great poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1209, Ganja, Azerbaijan), in which he allegorically describes the countries lying along these great Roads.
The location on the Silk Roads promoted the growth of handicrafts in the country. For example in 1834 there were more than 400 shops of the craftsmen on the streets and the bazaars in the city of Sheki. Among the products of handicrafts manufactured in Sheki, there are products that are unique to the region, such as “tekelduz” – the embroidery featuring coloured thread silk tambour on dark velvet with a special needle called “garmach”. This embroidery method is also used in Central Asia and the Middle East countries, however the “tekelduz” made in Sheki are distinct by their design and embroidery technique. A variety of crafts were developed in Sheki, like blacksmithing, weapons manufacturing, silk weaving, decorative and artistic shabaka, jewelery items, silk and artistic embroideries. The small wooden trunk boxes called “mujru” are another famous handicraft product. Mujrus were used by women for jewelry or embroidery thread storage. These small boxes are made of local hardwoods, such as chestnut and walnut, and are decorated with hammered copper. Since ancient times and still today, the small “mujru” boxes are the major attribute in the dowry of brides from this region.
Rooted in traditions found along the Silk Roads, the art of Kelaghayi is concentrated in two locations in Azerbaijan - in Sheki and Basgal. “Kelaghayi” is a woman’s headscarf and is made of thin silk threads and its colors are tied to specific social occasions. The art of making Kelaghayi is transmitted exclusively through non-formal apprenticeship and is primarily an intra-family occupation. The traditional practice of making and wearing headscarves is an expression of cultural identity, religious traditions and serves as a symbol of social cohesion, reinforcing the role of women and strengthening the cultural unity of Azerbaijani society.
Carpet-weaving is another popular tradition in Azerbaijan. The patterns of Azerbaijani carpets are a characteristic of the various regions of the country. Carpet making is also a family-run business tradition, transferred orally and through practice. Carpet weaving is closely connected with the daily life and customs of the communities involved, its role reflected in the meaning of the designs and their applications. Thus, the carpet is widely used for home decor and furniture. There are special carpets woven specifically for medical treatment, wedding ceremonies, the birth of a child, mourning rituals and prayer. The carpets are also used by young girls who sit on them while telling fortunes and singing traditional songs during Novruz.
Celebration of Novruz Bayram (the regional New Year) on the occasion of the 1st day of spring is one of the outstanding traditions that have been transmitted along the Silk Roads . It traveled widely, from Central Asia to Turkey by passing from, Indian sub-continent, Afghanistan, Iran, Azerbaijan and other countries. Novruz marks the New Year and the beginning of spring. It is celebrated on 21 March every year. Novruz is associated with various local traditions and numerous tales and legends. Songs and dances are common to almost every regions, as are semi-sacred family or public meals. Novruz promotes the values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families, as well as reconciliation and neighbourliness, thus contributing to cultural diversity and friendship among peoples and various communities.
In the field of sport, the traditional wrestling, Gulash, can be mentioned as a common sport activity among Silk Roads countries. Gulash is a competition in body force, as well as in willpower and spirit. The tournaments are accompanied by music, as in ancient times, normally by the sounds of the traditional wind instrument called zurna and rumbling of drums. The wrestlers of Gulash are known as pekhlevans. During Novruz Bayram, pekhlevans prepare impressing shows to present their living art and traditions.
It is important to note that “Traditional art and symbolism of Kelaghayi, making and wearing women’s silk headscarves”, “Traditional art of Azerbaijani carpet weaving in the Republic of Azerbaijan” and “Novruz” have all been included into the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Tolerance and hospitality were the main features for the countries along the Roads, including Azerbaijan. The country has passed various stages of spiritual life over its long history. Initially it was dominated by beliefs and cults, then by Zoroastrianism, which was replaced by Christianity in the 4th century. Since the 7th century, most of the country’s population practises Islam. Azerbaijan is a perfect example of the country with high religious tolerance. Nowadays, like many years ago, along with mosques, there are synagogues, Christian churches, and Zoroastrian temples. Tolerance is one of the features that was reinforced during the times of the Silk Roads. The same can be mentioned about the hospitality of the Azerbaijani people, where pilgrimages, merchants, strangers were always warmly welcomed.
The Great Silk Roads is a history of civilizations and its role can hardly be overestimated. It is shrouded with all sorts of legends and folk tales. All countries through which this longest transcontinental trade route passed gained immensely and inherited the most advanced achievements of those years. Azerbaijan served as one of the most important links of the Silk Roads and an integral part in the development of mankind.
Azerbaijan Carpet Museum Land Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani Carpets Land Azerbaijan
Metal Graphics Land Azerbaijan
Medieval manuscripts on medicine and pharmacy Land Azerbaijan
Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower Land Azerbaijan
Art of Azerbaijani Ashiq Land Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani Mugham Land Azerbaijan
Chovqan, a traditional Karabakh horse-riding game in the Republic of Azerbaijan Land Azerbaijan
Craftsmanship and performance art of the Tar, a long-necked string musical instrument Land Azerbaijan
Nawruz Land Azerbaijan, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan
Traditional art of Azerbaijani carpet weaving in the Republic of Azerbaijan Land Azerbaijan
Languages & endangered languages
Azerbaijani (Azeri) Languages Land Azerbaijan, Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Baku (Bakı) Land
Knowledge Bank Articles
Language of article
Alexander and his Successors in Central Asia English
Central Asia under Timur from 1370 to the Early Fifteenth Century English
Central Asia – Transcaucasia – Rome: the significance of the Amu Darya water route via the Caspian Sea to Transcaucasia. English
Languages and Scripts in Graeco-Bactria and the Saka kingdoms English
Nomads and Azerbaijan English
Oral Tradition and the Literary Heritage English
The book-illumination under the Il-Khanid rulers and the Mongolian influence on further miniature-styles M. Stucky English
The Ghaznavids English
The Seljuqs and the Khwarazm Shahs English
Type of institute
الاتحاد العالمي لشباب طريق الحرير العظيم Cultural & Artistic institutions
The Great Silk Way International Youth Union Cultural & Artistic institutions
theatre_in_centre_of_baku_city.jpg
the_shirvanshahs_palace_walled_city_of_baku.jpg
ex-communist_architecture_from_the_ussr_in_baku_city_centre.jpg
azerbaijan_national_academy_of_sciences_baku.jpg
architecture_baku_city_centre.jpg
rock_petroglyphs_qobustan.jpg
mud_volcanoes_qobustan_azerbaijan.jpg
large_ock_formations_qobustan.jpg
architecture_in_baku_city_centre.jpg
Azerbayjan.jpg
Silk Road On the Map
Azerbaijan.jpg
Name: Azerbaijan
Capital: Baku
Region: Europe and North America
Route: Land
This platform has been developed and maintained with the support of:
china_flag.png
Flag of Kazakhstan.jpg
Flag_of_Germany.svg_.png
Oman.jpg
Republic of Azerbaijan
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14328
|
__label__wiki
| 0.871569
| 0.871569
|
Find sources: "Headbangers Ball" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Not to be confused with The Headbangers Ball.
Classic logo
Music (Heavy metal)
Kevin Seal (1987–1988)
Adam Curry (1988–1990)
Riki Rachtman (1990–1995)
Vanessa Warwick (1990–1997 in Europe only)
Jamey Jasta (2003–2007)
Jose Mangin (2011–present website only)
Danny Hinnenkamp
90 mins. (1988–1989)
120 mins. (1989–2008)
60 mins. (2011–present)
MTV2, MTV
April 18, 1987 (1987-04-18)–January 28, 1995 (1995-01-28) (MTV)
May 10, 2003 (2003-05-10)–September 13, 2012 (2012-09-13) –
(MTV2)
Heavy Metal Mania
Headbangers Ball was a music television program consisting of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV, MTV2 (its sister channel), MTV Australia, MTV Rocks (formerly known as MTV2 Europe), MTV Adria (the MTV subsidiary covering the former Yugoslavia), MTV Brand New, MTV Portugal, MTV Finland, MTV Arabia, MTV Norway, MTV Sweden, MTV Denmark, MTV Greece, MTV Türkiye, MTV Israel, MTV Hungary and MTV Japan. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987,[1] playing heavy metal and hard rock music videos late at night, from both well-known and more obscure artists. The show offered (and became famous because of) a stark contrast to Top 40 music videos shown during the day.
However, with the mainstream rise of alternative rock, grunge, pop punk and rap music in the 1990s, the relevance of Headbangers Ball came into question, and the show was ultimately canceled in 1995. Over eight years later, as new genres of heavy metal were gaining a commercial foothold and fan interest became unavoidable, the program was reintroduced on MTV2. It has remained in varying degrees on the network's website, but is no longer shown on television.
Many of the videos that aired on the first incarnation of the series would find a home on the similarly themed Metal Mayhem on sister channel MTV Classic.
1.1 Hosts
1.2 Popularity and influence
1.3 Road trips
1.4 Death of The Ball
1.5 Rebirth
1.5.1 Removal of the show from Headbangers Ball
Hosts[edit]
"The Ball," as it is commonly called, replaced Heavy Metal Mania (which began airing monthly in June 1985), helmed by Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame.[1] In doing so, MTV expanded the format and added more live interviews with bands. At its premiere it was hosted briefly by Kevin Seal, then by VJ Adam Curry, before ultimately settling on Riki Rachtman, who to many viewers became the most identifiable host of the show.[1]
Popularity and influence[edit]
The name "Headbangers Ball" was originally invented and used by DJ John Brent of Bury, Lancashire and was used on his rock and metal roadshows from 1980 onwards and toured throughout the UK with great success. John's Headbangers Ball Rock charts were also regularly featured in the pages of Rock publications Kerrang! and Sounds along with many features on the show in local periodicals.
Headbangers Ball was one of the most popular music shows ever to air on MTV, on the air for nearly 8 years, and for a time, it was one of the network's flagship shows. For some time in 1988 and 1989, the show was increased to 3 hours.[1] One hour added, plus Hard 60, a daily version of the ball that aired for an hour every weekday afternoon.
Its influence was made widespread with the rise of heavy metal in the 1980s and early 1990s. While the program primarily showed videos from the mainstream friendly "hair metal" during the 1980s, it gave an equal amount of time to the often more aggressive-sounding heavy metal music scene active in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[2] This level of popularity also resulted in North American tours presented by Headbangers Ball; one took place in 1987 and featured Helloween, Armored Saint and Grim Reaper, while the lineup of the 1989 tour consisted of Anthrax, Exodus and Helloween[1] and the 1992 version had Megadeth and Suicidal Tendencies.[3] Heavier alternative acts, spearheaded by the likes of The Cult, Faith No More, Primus and Jane's Addiction, were finding increased residence on Headbangers Ball at the dawn of the 1990s,[2] but it was earlier that decade that grunge and alternative rock bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains began to uproot the "hair metal" scene and led to its final decline. Bands such as Stone Temple Pilots, White Zombie, Tool and Blind Melon would follow suit, resulting in a major shift in identity for the show, where metal mainstays such as Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Testament, Suicidal Tendencies and Dream Theater shared airspace with the new crop of alternative hard rock acts.[2] Several punk rock bands, including the Ramones, The Offspring, Rancid, Bad Religion and Sick of It All, also received airplay on the show, which, by 1995, would continue to focus on less mainstream forms of heavy metal.[1][2]
Other notable TV programs have emulated Headbanger's Ball, such as Fuse TV's Uranium and VH1's Rock Show. Indeed, the popularity and effectiveness of Uranium in the early 2000s (decade) may be cited as a strong influence to the revival of The Ball in 2003.
Road trips[edit]
Bands would visit the set for interviews, and in some instances, the show would follow bands on trips to assorted locations across the world. Memorable road trip episodes include the Moscow Music Peace Festival with Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Cinderella and Gorky Park, Monsters of Rock in Donington, Alice in Chains' trip to Action Water Park, bowling with Soundgarden, skydiving with Megadeth, Oktoberfest in Munich with Danzig and Van Halen's adventure at Cabo Wabo.[2]
Death of The Ball[edit]
The show remained on the air until January 1995, when MTV abruptly canceled the show without any prior warning to viewers, host Riki Rachtman, or the production staff. The European version, hosted by Vanessa Warwick, was on the air until 1997, but limited to an hour and a half (as opposed to the three hours given in past years).
Rachtman was informed of the cancellation days afterward when, after filming what would end up being the final episode, he was simply informed via phone call that he would not have to show up to work the following week.[citation needed] No official reason was given for the show's cancellation, but it is suspected[by whom?] to be because MTV was then playing grunge and alternative more often during its main programming, although they did not play a lot of metal or interview the bands.
Many MTV fans were outraged at the show's abrupt cancellation,[citation needed] as well as denying Rachtman and the production staff the chance to inform viewers that the show was going off the air, or to allow them to put together a "farewell show" for the loyal viewers of Headbangers Ball. Some regular-citizen critics of MTV even cite the cancellation of Headbangers Ball as one of the key decisions which caused the network to "jump the shark"[citation needed]. The demise of The Ball also came in at #4 on VH1's 40 Least Metal Moments in 2005.[4] In mid-February The Ball would be replaced by the short lived Superock, a show featuring videos and interviews with metal, alternative and rap artists.
Over the years, MTV Europe attempted to fill the void left by the cancellation of Headbangers Ball with other rock-themed block programs such as the Julia Valet hosted Superock, but all have failed for various reasons – including MTV Europe's addition of pop, dance and alternative videos to some of the shows which made them not much different from the rest of the day.
Rebirth[edit]
Headbangers Ball volume 2 logo
After nearly a decade of the show being off the air, MTV2 started up the series again on Saturday, May 10, 2003 at 11 p.m. The revived Headbangers Ball initially had the same type of playlist as its latter "sister shows" in MTV Europe, as well as interviews with metal artists (current and classic). The debut episode was hosted by Metallica,[5] a trend which continued with various artists. Later on, Hatebreed vocalist Jamey Jasta became a permanent host. However, the show still continued to have guest host artists at times. The show eventually returned to its roots (in types of music) of showing underground music, as well as metalcore, death metal and thrash.
During VH1's 40 Least Metal Moments countdown, musicians criticized the 2003 incarnation of Headbangers Ball in comparison with the original, citing its "scripted" studio feel and lack of excitement. The new version mostly shows only music videos and in-studio interviews, which was not true of the original show.
When asked in September 2015 about a possible return of Headbangers Ball, former host Riki Rachtman stated, "It's not gonna happen. I tried, I told them I would do it for free, they never even returned my calls."[6]
Although the show is currently no longer on the air, there have been European tours called "MTV Headbangers Ball" since 2016; this tour package traditionally takes place from late November to mid-December, and features four metal bands. The European "MTV Headbangers Ball" tour has included mostly thrash metal bands such as Exodus, Overkill, Death Angel, Sodom and Suicidal Angels ‒ as well as other acts like Max + Igor Cavalera, Iced Earth, Kataklysm, Insomnium, Ensiferum, Unearth, Deserted Fear, Whitechapel, Fleshgod Apocalypse and Dyscarnate ‒ as a headlining or opening act; the only band so far that has taken part of the tour more than once is Kataklysm.[7][8][9][10]
Removal of the show from Headbangers Ball[edit]
Since the January 13, 2007, episode, Headbangers Ball simply became the title for a block of metal videos, rather than an actual show.[11] However, the June 23, 2007, episode went behind the scenes of the induction of Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, including segments covering the event in between music videos.[12] Also, brief interview segments still frequently air before and after commercial breaks, typically re-airing on several consecutive episodes for a long period.
On April 14, 2007, MTV2 began to air the show from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. and put Saturday Rock the Deuce, a hard rock–alternative show, at 10. The week's episode was also re-aired on Tuesday mornings from 4:00 to 6:00 a.m.[13]
Starting in 2008, Headbangers Ball had been aired erratically, sometimes airing several hours later than its normal airtime or not being aired at all. Its last on-air time slot was Tuesdays 3AM-4AM.
Since July 21, 2011, Jose Mangin took over as host of Headbangers Ball, which is now a web only show.
Headbangers Ball labeled products, including a guitar tabs book and three CD sets including artists such as Hatebreed, Opeth, DevilDriver, God Forbid, Chimaira, Dirge Within, Sevendust, Lacuna Coil, Atreyu, Mushroomhead, Shadows Fall, Children of Bodom, Lamb of God, A Life Once Lost, Cradle of Filth, Deftones, and Godsmack have also been sold.
Each album has at least one live song. The first Headbangers Ball compilation featured "Raining Blood" by Slayer as its live track,[14] the second compilation used an in-studio performance of "My Tortured Soul" by Probot,[15] and the latest compilation had two live tracks: "A Bid Farewell" by Killswitch Engage and "Now You've Got Something To Die For" by Lamb of God.[16] The earliest-released CD has famous bands, and the second has obscure ones. Songs featuring Slipknot band members Corey Taylor and Joey Jordison appeared on all three CDs through their other bands. Other bands that have appeared on all three compilations include Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God, and In Flames.[14][15][16]
MTV2 Headbangers Ball (2003)
MTV2 Headbangers Ball Volume 2 (2004)
MTV2 Headbangers Ball: The Revenge (2006)
^ a b c d e f "30 Years Ago: MTV's Headbangers Ball Premieres With Motorhead Mirth". ultimateclassicrock.com. May 2, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
^ a b c d e "Headbangers Ball- The Unofficial Tribute Site - Episode Database". headbangersballunofficialtributesite.com. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
^ "Headbangers Ball- The Unofficial Tribute Site - History & Facts of the Ball". headbangersballunofficialtributesite.com. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
^ http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/86677/episode_featured_copy.jhtml
^ New Headbangers Ball RoughEdge.com (2003).
^ "Riki Rachtman Says There's No Chance Of Headbangers Ball Being Resurrected". bravewords.com. September 20, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
^ "ICED EARTH To Headline 'MTV Headbangers Ball' European Tour With ENSIFERUM, KATAKLYSM, UNEARTH". Blabbermouth.net. April 22, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
^ "MAX + IGOR CAVALERA To Tour Europe With OVERKILL, INSOMNIUM". Blabbermouth.net. April 5, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
^ "EXODUS To Headline European 'MTV Headbangers Ball Tour'". Blabbermouth.net. July 14, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
^ "KATAKLYSM To Tour Europe With WHITECHAPEL And FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE". Blabbermouth.net. July 3, 2019. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
^ "January 13, 2007". Headbangers Ball. 2007-01-13.
^ "June 23, 2007 - Dimebag Darrell Induction". Headbangers Ball. 2007-06-23.
^ MTV2 Weekly Schedule
^ a b "MTV2 Headbangers Ball - Overview". AllMusic.com. Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
^ a b "MTV2 Headbangers Ball, Vol. 2 - Overview". AllMusic.com. Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
^ a b "MTV2 Headbangers Ball: The Revenge - Overview". AllMusic.com. Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
Official show sites
Official site for albums spawned from Headbangers Ball
Headbangers Ball on IMDb
MTV Europe's Headbangers Ball on IMDb
Headbangers Ball at TV.com
Jump The Shark - Headbangers Ball
Music-based programs on MTV
Alternative Nation
PostModern MTV
Behind the scenes programs
Making the Video
Chart programs
Dial MTV
Total Request
Dance and Electronic music
We're Dancin'
General blocks
AMTV
FNMTV
MTV Beach House (MTV Malibu Beach House)
Hip-hop and R&B music
Direct Effect
MTV Jams
The Week in Jams
Say What? Karaoke
Live performance shows
I.R.S. Records Presents The Cutting Edge
MTV Live
Camp MTV
MTV Icon
MTV New Year's
MTV2 programs
Misc. subjects
Controversies/criticisms
12 Angry Viewers
Censorship on MTV
Buzz Bin
First music videos aired on MTV
VJs
MTV original programming
TRL Top 10 (1998–2008, since 2017)
Catfish: The TV Show (since 2012)
MTV Cribs (since 2000, now on MTV's Snapchat Discover content)
Ex on the Beach (since 2018)
Floribama Shore (since 2017)
The Hills: New Beginnings (since 2019)
How Far Is Tattoo Far? (since 2018)
Jersey Shore: Family Vacation (since 2018)
The Real World (since 1992, now on Facebook Watch)
Ridiculousness (since 2011)
Siesta Key (since 2017)
Teen Mom OG (since 2009)
Teen Mom 2 (since 2011)
Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant (since 2018)
True Life/Now (since 1998)
Are You the One? (since 2014)
The Challenge (since 1998)
The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars (since 2017)
Double Shot at Love (since 2019)
Fear Factor (since 2017)
Game of Clones (since 2019)
Singled Out (1995-1998, 2018- revival on YouTube)
Girl Code (since 2013, now on MTV's Snapchat Discover content)
Too Stupid to Die (since 2018)
Wild 'n Out (2005-2007, since 2013)
SafeWord (since 2017)
MTV New Year's (1981–2014)
We're Dancin' (1982–1983)
I.R.S. Records Presents The Cutting Edge (1983–1987)
Al TV (1984–1999)
Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes (1985–1987)
Heavy Metal Mania (1985–1987)
Dial MTV (1986–1996)
120 Minutes (1986–2000)
Headbangers Ball (1987–1995)
Club MTV (1987–1992)
Remote Control (1987–1990)
Stevie and Zoya (1987–1989)
Yo! MTV Raps (1988–1995)
Just Say Julie (1989–1992)
House of Style (1989–2012)
Camp MTV (1989)
Street Party (1989–1992)
Totally Pauly (1989–1994)
PostModern MTV (1989–1990s)
MTV Unplugged (1989–2000, intermittent revivals thereafter)
MTV Malibu Beach House (1990s)
Turn It Up! (1990)
Pirate TV (1990)
Sex in the '80s (1990)
The Idiot Box (1990–1991)
MTV Rock N' Jock (1991-2001)
Liquid Television (1991–2014)
Æon Flux (1991–1995)
MTV Sports (1992–1997)
Lip Service (1992–1994)
The Grind (1992–1997)
The Ben Stiller Show (1992–1993)
Catwalk (1992–1994)
Sex in the '90s (1992–1994)
Alternative Nation (1992–1997)
Like We Care (1992)
You Wrote It, You Watch It (1992–1993)
Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–2011)
The Jon Stewart Show (1993–1994)
The State (1993–1995)
MTV Beach House (1993)
Trashed (1994)
Dead at 21 (1994)
The Brothers Grunt (1994–1995)
The Head (1994–1996)
MTV News: Unfiltered (1994–1998)
Squirt TV (1994–1996)
The Maxx (1995)
Road Rules (1995–2004, 2007)
Buzzkill (1996)
Amp (1996–2001)
Idiot Savants (1996–1997)
Daria (1997–2001)
The Jenny McCarthy Show (1997)
Oddville, MTV (1997–1999)
Apartment 2F (1997)
Austin Stories (1997–1998)
12 Angry Viewers (1997–1998)
Cartoon Sushi (1997–1998)
MTV Live (1997–1998)
The Sifl and Olly Show (1997–1999)
Total Request (1997–1998)
Celebrity Deathmatch (1998–2002, 2006–2007)
Wanna Be a VJ (1998–2000)
Say What? Karaoke (1998–2003)
FANatic (1998–2000)
The Cut (1998)
Say What? (1998–1999)
Super Adventure Team (1998)
The Blame Game (1999–2000)
Station Zero (1999)
Making the Video (1999–2009)
Undressed (1999–2002)
webRIOT (1999–2000)
The Tom Green Show (1999–2000, 2003)
The Lyricist Lounge Show (2000–2001)
Spy Groove (2000–2002)
Fear (2000–2002)
Jackass (2000–2002)
WWE Heat (2000–2003)
Live Through This (2000)
Kathy's So-Called Reality (2001)
Diary (2001–2014)
The Andy Dick Show (2001–2002)
Undergrads (2001)
Spyder Games (2001)
WWE Tough Enough (2001–2003)
Sex 2K (2001–2004)
Becoming (2001)
Dismissed (2001–2003)
MTV Icon (2001–2004)
The Osbournes (2002–2005)
The Sausage Factory (2002)
Made (2002–2014)
I Bet You Will (2002)
Sorority Life (2002–2004)
Clone High (2002–2003)
3 South (2002–2003)
Doggy Fizzle Televizzle (2002–2003)
Carmen and Dave: An MTV Love Story (2002)
Making the Band (2002–2009)
Scratch and Burn (2002)
Fraternity Life (2003–2005)
Punk'd (2003–2007, 2012)
Surf Girls (2003)
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003)
Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica (2003–2005)
Viva La Bam (2003–2005)
Wildboyz (2003–2004)
Rich Girls (2003)
Room Raiders (2003–2009)
Boiling Points (2004–2005)
'Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen and Dave (2004)
High School Stories (2004–2006)
Pimp My Ride (2004–2007)
I Want a Famous Face (2004–2005)
Wanna Come In? (2004)
The Ashlee Simpson Show (2004–2005)
The Assistant (2004)
Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County (2004–2006)
Battle for Ozzfest (2004–2005)
Date My Mom (2004–2006)
Damage Control (2005)
PoweR Girls (2005)
Trippin' (2005)
My Super Sweet 16 (2005–2009, 2017)
Meet the Barkers (2005–2006)
Next (2005–2008)
The Andy Milonakis Show (2005–2007)
MTV's The 70s House (2005)
Run's House (2005–2009)
Miss Seventeen (2005)
Homewrecker (2005)
Trick It Out (2005–2007)
There & Back (2006)
The Gamekillers (2006)
Parental Control (2006–2010)
8th & Ocean (2006)
Tiara Girls (2006)
Call to Greatness (2006)
Yo Momma (2006–2007)
Blowin' Up (2006–2007)
The Hills (2006–2010)
The Adventures of Chico and Guapo (2006)
Final Fu (2006)
Two-A-Days (2006–2007)
Rob & Big (2006–2008)
My Own (2006)
Sucker Free (2006–2008)
twentyfourseven (2006)
Why Can't I Be You? (2006)
DanceLife (2007)
Maui Fever (2007)
Engaged and Underage (2007–2008)
Bam's Unholy Union (2007)
Wrestling Society X (2007)
Exposed (2007–2008)
I'm from Rolling Stone (2007)
Juvies (2007)
Taquita + Kaui (2007)
Hilary Duff: This Is Now (2007)
Adventures in Hollyhood (2007)
Human Giant (2007–2008)
Nick Cannon Presents: Short Circuitz (2007)
Scarred (2007)
The X Effect (2007–2009)
Room 401 (2007)
Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County (2007–2008)
Life of Ryan (2007–2008)
Celebrity Rap Superstar (2007)
A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila (2007)
Pageant Place (2007)
Kaya (2007)
Barrio 19 (2007)
America's Best Dance Crew (2008–2015)
That's Amore! (2008)
Rock the Cradle (2008)
The Paper (2008)
A Shot at Love II with Tila Tequila (2008)
Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Woods (2008)
FNMTV (2008)
From G's to Gents (2008–2009)
Buzzin' (2008)
MTV's Top Pop Group (2008)
Paris Hilton's My New BFF (2008–2009)
50 Cent: The Money and the Power (2008–2009)
A Double Shot at Love with the Ikki Twins (2008–2009)
Bromance (2008–2009)
The City (2008–2010)
Daddy's Girls (2009)
How's Your News? (2009)
Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory (2009–2015)
The CollegeHumor Show (2009)
T.I.'s Road to Redemption (2009)
Dogg After Dark (2009)
Taking the Stage (2009–2010)
Bully Beatdown (2009–2012)
Music Feed (2009–2017)
College Life (2009)
The Phone (2009)
$5 Cover (2009)
16 and Pregnant (2009–2014)
DJ & the Fro (2009)
It's On with Alexa Chung (2009)
Silent Library (2009–2011)
Nitro Circus (2009)
Pranked (2009–2012)
Popzilla (2009)
Disaster Date (2009–2011)
Valemont (2009)
Gone Too Far (2009)
Jersey Shore (2009–2012)
My Life as Liz (2010–2011)
The Buried Life (2010)
Hired (2010)
When I Was 17 (2010–2011)
Downtown Girls (2010)
The Hard Times of RJ Berger (2010–2011)
Warren the Ape (2010)
If You Really Knew Me (2010)
The Seven (2010–2011)
I Used to Be Fat (2010–2013)
World of Jenks (2010–2013)
Cuff'd (2011)
Skins (2011)
Teen Wolf (2011–2017)
Awkward (2011–2016)
I Just Want My Pants Back (2011–2012)
Death Valley (2011)
Plain Jane (2011)
Good Vibes (2011)
Friendzone (2011–2014)
Caged (2012)
The Pauly D Project (2012)
Savage U (2012)
Snooki & Jwoww (2012–2015)
The Inbetweeners (2012)
This Is How I Made It (2012–2013)
Underemployed (2012–2013)
The Alectrix (2013)
Buckwild (2013)
Nikki & Sara Live (2013)
Kesha: My Crazy Beautiful Life (2013)
The Show with Vinny (2013)
Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous (2013)
Teen Mom 3 (2013)
Big Tips Texas (2013)
Scrubbing In (2013)
Faking It (2014–2016)
Finding Carter (2014–2015)
Snack-Off (2014–2015)
Virgin Territory (2014)
Happyland (2014)
House of Food (2014)
Slednecks (2014)
Are You the One?: The Aftermatch Live (2014–2017)
Broke A$$ Game Show (2015–2016)
Eye Candy (2015)
Follow the Rules (2015)
Kingin' with Tyga (2015–2016)
Todrick (2015)
Middle of the Night Show (2015)
One Bad Choice (2015)
Scream (2015–2016)
Acting Out (2016)
The Almost Impossible Game Show (2016)
The Shannara Chronicles (2016)
Fast Food Heights (2016)
Greatest Party Story Ever (2016)
Owning It (2016)
Loosely Exactly Nicole (2016)
Mary + Jane (2016)
Sweet/Vicious (2016–2017)
Are You the One: Second Chances (2017)
Dare to Live (2017)
90's House (2017)
Stranded with a Million Dollars (2017)
Promposal (2017)
Undressed (2017)
Teen Mum (2017)
Amazingness (2017-2018)
Winter Break: Hunter Mountain (2018)
Pretty Little Mamas (2018)
Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club (2019)
Made in Staten Island (2019)
Teen Mom: Young Moms Club (2019)
No Filter: Tana Turns 21 (2019)
MTV2 original programming
Ain't That America (2013–2014)
Artist Collection (2002)
Burnout: The Ultimate Drag Race Challenge (2011)
Celebrity Deathmatch (2006–2007)
Converse Band of Ballers (2011)
Crank Yankers (2007)
Definitive (2002–2004)
Friday: The Animated Series (2007–2008)
Funk Flex Full Throttle (2010–2011)
Guy Code (2011–2015)
Guy Court (2013)
Hip Hop Squares (2012)
Mac Miller and the Most Dope Family (2013–2014)
MTV2 Hip Hop (2001–2003)
Nitro Circus Live (2012–2014)
Stankervision (2005–2006)
Subterranean (2003–2011)
The Week in Jams (2012–2013)
Ultimate Parkour Challenge (2009–2010)
Video Mods (2004–2005)
Where My Dogs At? (2006)
Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'n Out (2005–2007; 2013–2016)
Wonder Showzen (2005–2006)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Headbangers_Ball&oldid=906327029"
MTV television series
Heavy metal television series
1987 American television series debuts
1980s American music television series
1995 American television series endings
American television series revived after cancellation
Pages using infobox television with editor parameter
Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from July 2010
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14329
|
__label__wiki
| 0.606906
| 0.606906
|
(Redirected from Order of Friars Preachers)
Roman Catholic religious order
For the Anglican religious order, see Anglican Order of Preachers. For other uses, see Dominican (disambiguation).
This article needs more complete citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding missing citation information so that sources are clearly identifiable. Citations should include title, publication, author, date, and (for paginated material) the page number(s). Several templates are available to assist in formatting. Improperly sourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Ordo Praedicatorum
Coat of arms of the order
December 22, 1216; 802 years ago (December 22, 1216)
Mendicant Catholic religious order
Institute of Consecrated Life
Santa Sabina,
Membership (2017)
5,742 (including 4,302 priests)[1]
Gerard Francisco Timoner III
op.org
The Order of Preachers (Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum, postnominal abbreviation OP), also known as the Dominican Order, is a mendicant Catholic religious order founded by the Spanish priest Dominic of Caleruega (also called Dominic de Guzmán) in France, approved by Pope Innocent III via the Papal bull Religiosam vitam on 22 December 1216. Members of the order, who are referred to as Dominicans, generally carry the letters OP after their names, standing for Ordinis Praedicatorum, meaning of the Order of Preachers. Membership in the order includes friars,[2] nuns, active sisters, and affiliated lay or secular Dominicans (formerly known as tertiaries, though recently there has been a growing number of associates who are unrelated to the tertiaries).
Founded to preach the Gospel and to oppose heresy, the teaching activity of the order and its scholastic organisation placed the Preachers in the forefront of the intellectual life of the Middle Ages.[3] The order is famed for its intellectual tradition, having produced many leading theologians and philosophers.[4] In the year 2018 there were 5,747 Dominican friars, including 4,299 priests.[1] The Dominican Order is headed by the Master of the Order, as of 2019, Gerard Timoner III.[5] Mary Magdalene and Saint Catherine of Alexandria are the co-patronesses of the Order.
Saint Dominic (1170–1221), portrayed in the Perugia Altarpiece by Fra Angelico. Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia.
A number of other names have been used to refer to both the order and its members.
In England and other countries, the Dominican friars are referred to as "Black Friars" because of the black cappa or cloak they wear over their white habits.[6] Dominicans were "Blackfriars", as opposed to "Whitefriars" (i.e., Carmelites) or "Greyfriars" (i.e., Franciscans). They are also distinct from the "Austin friars" (i.e., Augustinian Friars) who wear a similar habit.
In France, the Dominicans were known as "Jacobins" because their convent in Paris was attached to the Church of Saint-Jacques, now disappeared, on the way to Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas, which belonged to the Italian Order of Saint James of Altopascio[7] (St. James) Sanctus Iacobus in Latin.
Their identification as Dominicans gave rise to the pun that they were the "Domini canes", or "Hounds of the Lord".[8]
1 Foundation
1.1 Saint Dominic
1.2 Albigensian Crusade on Cathars
1.3 Dominican convent established
2.1 Middle Ages
2.1.1 Women
2.1.2 English Province
2.2 Reformation to French Revolution
2.3 19th century to present
2.4 Missions Abroad
3 Divisions
3.1 Nuns
3.2 Sisters
3.3 Priestly Fraternities of St. Dominic
3.4 Laity
4 Dominican spirituality
4.1 Blessed Humbert
4.2 Mysticism
4.3 Albertus Magnus
4.4 English Dominican mysticism
4.5 Charity and meekness
4.6 Rosary
5 Mottoes
6 Notable members
7 By geography
8 Educational institutions
Foundation[edit]
Saint Dominic on the front cover of Doctrina Christiana catechism in Spanish and Tagalog with an eight-pointed star (a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary) over his head. Woodcut cover. Printed in Manila in 1593
The Dominican Order came into being in the Middle Ages at a time when men of God were no longer expected to stay behind the walls of a cloister. Instead, they travelled among the people, taking as their examples the apostles of the primitive Church. Out of this ideal emerged two orders of mendicant friars: one, the Friars Minor, was led by Francis of Assisi; the other, the Friars Preachers, by Dominic of Guzman. Like his contemporary, Francis, Dominic saw the need for a new type of organization, and the quick growth of the Dominicans and Franciscans during their first century of existence confirms that the orders of mendicant friars met a need.[9]
Dominic sought to establish a new kind of order, one that would bring the dedication and systematic education of the older monastic orders like the Benedictines to bear on the religious problems of the burgeoning population of cities, but with more organizational flexibility than either monastic orders or the secular clergy. The Order of Preachers was founded in response to a then perceived need for informed preaching.[10] Dominic's new order was to be trained to preach in the vernacular languages.
Dominic inspired his followers with loyalty to learning and virtue, a deep recognition of the spiritual power of worldly deprivation and the religious state, and a highly developed governmental structure.[11] At the same time, Dominic inspired the members of his order to develop a "mixed" spirituality. They were both active in preaching, and contemplative in study, prayer and meditation. The brethren of the Dominican Order were urban and learned, as well as contemplative and mystical in their spirituality. While these traits affected the women of the order, the nuns especially absorbed the latter characteristics and made those characteristics their own. In England, the Dominican nuns blended these elements with the defining characteristics of English Dominican spirituality and created a spirituality and collective personality that set them apart.
Saint Dominic[edit]
Main article: Saint Dominic
Saint Dominic (1170–1221), portrait by El Greco, about 1600
As an adolescent, he had a particular love of theology and the Scriptures became the foundation of his spirituality.[12] During his studies in Palencia, Spain, he experienced a dreadful famine, prompting Dominic to sell all of his beloved books and other equipment to help his neighbors.[13] After he completed his studies, Bishop Martin Bazan and Prior Diego d'Achebes appointed Dominic to the cathedral chapter and he became a Canon Regular under the Rule of Saint Augustine and the Constitutions for the cathedral church of Osma. At the age of twenty-four or twenty-five, he was ordained to the priesthood.[14]
Albigensian Crusade on Cathars[edit]
In 1203, Dominic de Guzmán joined Diego de Acebo on an embassy to Denmark for the monarchy of Spain, to arrange the marriage between the son of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and a niece of King Valdemar II of Denmark.[15] At that time the south of France was the stronghold of the Cathar movement. The Cathars (also known as Albigensians, due to their stronghold in Albi, France) were a heretical neo-gnostic sect. They believed that matter was evil and only the spirit was good; this was a fundamental challenge to the notion of the incarnation, central to Catholic theology. The Albigensian Crusade (1209–1229) was a 20-year military campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, in southern France.
Dominic saw the need for a response that would attempt to sway members of the Albigensian movement back to mainstream Christian thought. Dominic became inspired into a reforming zeal after they encountered Albigensian Christians at Toulouse. Diego immediately saw one of the paramount reasons for the spread of the unorthodox movement- the representatives of the Holy Church acted and moved with an offensive amount of pomp and ceremony. In contrast, the Cathars generally led ascetic lifestyles. For these reasons, Diego suggested that the papal legates begin to live a reformed apostolic life. The legates agreed to change if they could find a strong leader. The prior took up the challenge, and he and Dominic dedicated themselves to the conversion of the Cathars.[16] Despite this particular mission, Dominic met limited success converting Cathars by persuasion, "for though in his ten years of preaching a large number of converts were made, it has to be said that the results were not such as had been hoped for".[17]
Dominican convent established[edit]
Dominic became the spiritual father to several Albigensian women he had reconciled to the faith, and in 1206 he established them in a convent in Prouille, near Toulouse.[18] This convent would become the foundation of the Dominican nuns, thus making the Dominican nuns older than the Dominican friars. Diego sanctioned the building of a monastery for girls whose parents had sent them to the care of the Albigensians because their families were too poor to fulfill their basic needs.[19] The monastery in Prouille would later become Dominic's headquarters for his missionary effort. After two years on the mission field, Diego died while traveling back to Spain.
Dominic founded the Dominican Order in 1215 at a time when men of God were no longer expected to stay behind the walls of a cloister. Saint Dominic established a religious community in Toulouse in 1214, to be governed by the rule of Saint Augustine[20] and statutes to govern the life of the friars, including the Primitive Constitution.[21] (The statutes borrowed somewhat from the Constitutions of Prémontré). The founding documents establish that the order was founded for two purposes: preaching and the salvation of souls.[3]
Middle Ages[edit]
Saint Dominic's room at Maison Seilhan, in Toulouse, is considered the place where the Order was born.
Dominic established a religious community in Toulouse in 1214, to be governed by the rule of Saint Augustine[20] and statutes to govern the life of the friars, including the Primitive Constitution.[21]
In July 1215, with the approbation of Bishop Foulques of Toulouse, Dominic ordered his followers into an institutional life. Its purpose was revolutionary in the pastoral ministry of the Catholic Church. These priests were organized and well trained in religious studies. Dominic needed a framework—a rule—to organize these components. The Rule of Saint Augustine was an obvious choice for the Dominican Order, according to Dominic's successor Jordan of Saxony, in the Libellus de principiis, because it lent itself to the "salvation of souls through preaching".[22] By this choice, however, the Dominican brothers designated themselves not monks, but canons-regular. They could practice ministry and common life while existing in individual poverty.[23]
Dominic's education at Palencia gave him the knowledge he needed to overcome the Manicheans. With charity, the other concept that most defines the work and spirituality of the order, study became the method most used by the Dominicans in working to defend the Church against the perils that hounded it, and also of enlarging its authority over larger areas of the known world.[24] In Dominic's thinking, it was impossible for men to preach what they did not or could not understand. When the brethren left Prouille, then, to begin their apostolic work, Dominic sent Matthew of Paris to establish a school near the University of Paris. This was the first of many Dominican schools established by the brethren, some near large universities throughout Europe. The women of the order also established schools for the children of the local gentry.
The Order of Preachers was approved in December 1216 and January 1217 by Pope Honorius III in the papal bulls Religiosam vitam and Nos attendentes. On January 21, 1217, Honorius issued the bull Gratiarum omnium[25] recognizing Saint Dominic's followers as an order dedicated to study and universally authorized to preach, a power formerly reserved to local episcopal authorization.[26]
On August 15, 1217, Dominic dispatched seven of his followers to the great university center of Paris to establish a priory focused on study and preaching. The Convent of St. Jacques, would eventually become the order's first studium generale. Saint Dominic was to establish similar foundations at other university towns of the day, Bologna in 1218, Palencia and Montpellier in 1220, and Oxford just before his death in 1221.[27]
Doctor Angelicus, Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), considered by the Catholic Church to be its greatest medieval theologian, is girded by angels with a mystical belt of purity after his proof of chastity.
Allegory of the Virgin Patroness of the Dominicans by Miguel Cabrera.
In 1219 Pope Honorius III invited Dominic and his companions to take up residence at the ancient Roman basilica of Santa Sabina, which they did by early 1220. Before that time the friars had only a temporary residence in Rome at the convent of San Sisto Vecchio which Honorius III had given to Dominic circa 1218 intending it to become a convent for a reformation of nuns at Rome under Dominic's guidance. In May 1220 at Bologna the order's first General Chapter mandated that each new priory of the order maintain its own studium conventuale, thus laying the foundation of the Dominican tradition of sponsoring widespread institutions of learning.[28] The official foundation of the Dominican convent at Santa Sabina with its studium conventuale occurred with the legal transfer of property from Honorius III to the Order of Preachers on June 5, 1222.[29] This studium was transformed into the order's first studium provinciale by Saint Thomas Aquinas in 1265. Part of the curriculum of this studium was relocated in 1288 at the studium of Santa Maria sopra Minerva which in the 16th century world be transformed into the College of Saint Thomas (Latin: Collegium Divi Thomæ). In the 20th century the college would be relocated to the convent of Saints Dominic and Sixtus and would be transformed into the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum.
The Dominican friars quickly spread, including to England, where they appeared in Oxford in 1221.[30] In the 13th century the order reached all classes of Christian society, fought heresy, schism, and paganism by word and book, and by its missions to the north of Europe, to Africa, and Asia passed beyond the frontiers of Christendom. Its schools spread throughout the entire Church; its doctors wrote monumental works in all branches of knowledge, including the extremely important Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. Its members included popes, cardinals, bishops, legates, inquisitors, confessors of princes, ambassadors, and paciarii (enforcers of the peace decreed by popes or councils).[3]
The order's origins in battling heterodoxy influenced its later development and reputation. Many later Dominicans battled heresy as part of their apostolate. Indeed, many years after Dominic reacted to the Cathars, the first Grand Inquistor of Spain, Tomás de Torquemada, would be drawn from the Dominican Order. The order was appointed by Pope Gregory IX the duty to carry out the Inquisition.[31] Torture was not regarded as a mode of punishment, but purely as a means of eliciting the truth. In his Papal Bull Ad extirpanda of 1252, Pope Innocent IV authorised the Dominicans' use of torture under prescribed circumstances.[32]
The expansion of the order produced changes. A smaller emphasis on doctrinal activity favoured the development here and there of the ascetic and contemplative life and there sprang up, especially in Germany and Italy, the mystical movement with which the names of Meister Eckhart, Heinrich Suso, Johannes Tauler, and Saint Catherine of Siena are associated. (See German mysticism, which has also been called "Dominican mysticism".) This movement was the prelude to the reforms undertaken, at the end of the century, by Raymond of Capua, and continued in the following century. At the same time the order found itself face to face with the Renaissance. It struggled against pagan tendencies in Renaissance humanism, in Italy through Dominici and Savonarola, in Germany through the theologians of Cologne but it also furnished humanism with such advanced writers as Francesco Colonna (probably the writer of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili) and Matteo Bandello. Many Dominicans took part in the artistic activity of the age, the most prominent being Fra Angelico and Fra Bartolomeo.[3]
Women[edit]
Although Dominic and the early brethren had instituted female Dominican houses at Prouille and other places by 1227, houses of women attached to the Order became so popular that some of the friars had misgivings about the increasing demands of female religious establishments on their time and resources. Nonetheless, women's houses dotted the countryside throughout Europe. There were seventy-four Dominican female houses in Germany, forty-two in Italy, nine in France, eight in Spain, six in Bohemia, three in Hungary, and three in Poland.[33] Many of the German religious houses that lodged women had been home to communities of women, such as Beguines, that became Dominican once they were taught by the traveling preachers and put under the jurisdiction of the Dominican authoritative structure. A number of these houses became centers of study and mystical spirituality in the 14th century, as expressed in works such as the sister-books. There were one hundred and fifty-seven nunneries in the order by 1358. After that year, the number lessened considerably due to the Black Death.[34]
In places besides Germany, convents were founded as retreats from the world for women of the upper classes. These were original projects funded by wealthy patrons, including other women. Among these was Countess Margaret of Flanders who established the monastery of Lille, while Val-Duchesse at Oudergem near Brussels was built with the wealth of Adelaide of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant (1262).[35]
Female houses differed from male Dominican houses in that they were enclosed. The sisters chanted the Divine Office and kept all the monastic observances.[36] The nuns lived under the authority of the general and provincial chapters of the order. They shared in all the applicable privileges of the order. The friars served as their confessors, priests, teachers and spiritual mentors.[37]
Women could be professed to the Dominican religious life at the age of thirteen. The formula for profession contained in the Constitutions of Montargis Priory (1250) requires that nuns pledge obedience to God, the Blessed Virgin, their prioress and her successors according to the Rule of Saint Augustine and the institute of the order, until death. The clothing of the sisters consisted of a white tunic and scapular, a leather belt, a black mantle, and a black veil. Candidates to profession were questioned to reveal whether they were actually married women who had merely separated from their husbands. Their intellectual abilities were also tested. Nuns were to be silent in places of prayer, the cloister, the dormitory, and refectory. Silence was maintained unless the prioress granted an exception for a specific cause. Speaking was allowed in the common parlor, but it was subordinate to strict rules, and the prioress, subprioress or other senior nun had to be present.[38]
As well as sewing, embroidery and other genteel pursuits, the nuns participated in a number of intellectual activities, including reading and discussing pious literature.[39] In the Strassburg monastery of Saint Margaret, some of the nuns could converse fluently in Latin. Learning still had an elevated place in the lives of these religious. In fact, Margarette Reglerin, a daughter of a wealthy Nuremberg family, was dismissed from a convent because she did not have the ability or will to learn.[40]
English Province[edit]
In England, the Dominican Province began at the second general chapter of the Dominican Order in Bologna during the spring of 1221. Dominic dispatched twelve friars to England under the guidance of their English prior, Gilbert of Fresney. They landed in Dover on August 5, 1221. The province officially came into being at its first provincial chapter in 1230.[41]
The English Province was a component of the international order from which it obtained its laws, direction, and instructions. It was also, however, a group of Englishmen. Its direct supervisors were from England, and the members of the English Province dwelt and labored in English cities, towns, villages, and roadways. English and European ingredients constantly came in contact. The international side of the province's existence influenced the national, and the national responded to, adapted, and sometimes constrained the international.[42]
The first Dominican site in England was at Oxford, in the parishes of St. Edward and St. Adelaide.[43] The friars built an oratory to the Blessed Virgin Mary[44] and by 1265, the brethren, in keeping with their devotion to study, began erecting a school. Actually, the Dominican brothers likely began a school immediately after their arrival, as priories were legally schools.[45] Information about the schools of the English Province is limited, but a few facts are known. Much of the information available is taken from visitation records.[46] The "visitation" was a section of the province through which visitors to each priory could describe the state of its religious life and its studies to the next chapter. There were four such visits in England and Wales—Oxford, London, Cambridge and York.[47] All Dominican students were required to learn grammar, old and new logic, natural philosophy and theology. Of all of the curricular areas, however, theology was the most important. This is not surprising when one remembers Dominic's zeal for it.[48]
Dartford Priory was established long after the primary period of monastic foundation in England had ended. It emulated, then, the monasteries found in Europe—mainly France and German—as well as the monastic traditions of their English Dominican brothers. The first nuns to inhabit Dartford were sent from Poissy Priory in France.[33] Even on the eve of the Dissolution, Prioress Jane Vane wrote to Cromwell on behalf of a postulant, saying that though she had not actually been professed, she was professed in her heart and in the eyes of God. This is only one such example of dedication. Profession in Dartford Priory seems, then, to have been made based on personal commitment, and one's personal association with God.[49]
As heirs of the Dominican priory of Poissy in France, the nuns of Dartford Priory in England were also heirs to a tradition of profound learning and piety. Strict discipline and plain living were characteristic of the monastery throughout its existence.[50]
Reformation to French Revolution[edit]
Bartolomé de Las Casas (c.1484–1566)
Bartolomé de Las Casas, as a settler in the New World, was galvanized by witnessing the brutal torture and genocide of the Native Americans by the Spanish colonists. He became famous for his advocacy of the rights of Native Americans, whose cultures, especially in the Caribbean, he describes with care.[51]
Gaspar da Cruz (c.1520–1570), who worked all over the Portuguese colonial empire in Asia, was probably the first Christian missionary to preach (unsuccessfully) in Cambodia. After a (similarly unsuccessful) stint, in 1556, in Guangzhou, China, he eventually returned to Portugal and became the first European to publish a book devoted exclusively to China in 1569/1570.[52]
The beginning of the 16th century confronted the order with the upheavals of Revolution. The spread of Protestantism cost it six or seven provinces and several hundreds of convents, but the discovery of the New World opened up a fresh field of activity. In the 18th century, there were numerous attempts at reform, accompanied by a reduction in the number of devotees. The French Revolution ruined the order in France, and crises that more or less rapidly followed considerably lessened or wholly destroyed numerous provinces.[3]
19th century to present[edit]
During the early 19th century, the number of Preachers seems never to have sunk below 3,500. Statistics for 1876 show 3,748, but 500 of these had been expelled from their convents and were engaged in parochial work. Statistics for 1910 show a total of 4,472 nominally or actually engaged in proper activities of the order.[3] By the year 2013 there were 6058 Dominican friars, including 4,470 priests.[1]
Portrait of Lacordaire
In the revival movement France held a foremost place, owing to the reputation and convincing power of the orator, Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire (1802–1861). He took the habit of a Friar Preacher at Rome (1839), and the province of France was canonically erected in 1850.[53] From this province were detached the province of Lyon, called Occitania (1862), that of Toulouse (1869), and that of Canada (1909). The French restoration likewise furnished many laborers to other provinces, to assist in their organization and progress. From it came the master general who remained longest at the head of the administration during the 19th century, Père Vincent Jandel (1850–1872). Here should be mentioned the province of Saint Joseph in the United States. Founded in 1805 by Edward Fenwick, afterwards first Bishop of Cincinnati, Ohio (1821–1832). In 1905, it established a large house of studies at Washington, D.C.,[3] called the Dominican House of Studies.
The province of France has produced a large number of preachers. The conferences of Notre-Dame-de-Paris were inaugurated by Père Lacordaire. The Dominicans of the province of France furnished Lacordaire (1835–1836, 1843–1851),[3] Jacques Monsabré,[54] and Joseph Ollivier. The pulpit of Notre Dame has been occupied by a succession of Dominicans. Père Henri Didon (1840-1900) was a Dominican. The house of studies of the province of France publishes L'Année Dominicaine (founded 1859), La Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Theologiques (1907), and La Revue de la Jeunesse (1909).[3] French Dominicans founded and administer the École Biblique et Archéologique française de Jérusalem founded in 1890 by Marie-Joseph Lagrange (1855–1938), one of the leading international centres for biblical research. It is at the École Biblique that the famed Jerusalem Bible (both editions) was prepared. Likewise Cardinal Yves Congar was a product of the French province of the Order of Preachers.
Doctrinal development has had an important place in the restoration of the Preachers. Several institutions, besides those already mentioned, played important parts. Such is the Biblical school at Jerusalem, open to the religious of the order and to secular clerics, which publishes the Revue Biblique. The Pontificium Collegium Internationale Angelicum, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum established at Rome in 1908 by Master Hyacinth Cormier, opened its doors to regulars and seculars for the study of the sacred sciences. In addition to the reviews above are the Revue Thomiste, founded by Père Thomas Coconnier (d. 1908), and the Analecta Ordinis Prædicatorum (1893). Among numerous writers of the order in this period are: Cardinals Thomas Zigliara (d. 1893) and Zephirin González (d. 1894), two esteemed philosophers; Alberto Guillelmotti (d. 1893), historian of the Pontifical Navy, and historian Heinrich Denifle (d. 1905).[3]
During the Reformation, many of the monasteries of Dominican nuns were forced to close. One which managed to survive, and afterwards founded many new houses, was St Ursula's in Augsburg. In the seventeenth century, monasteries of Dominican women were often asked by their bishops to undertake apostolic work, particularly educating girls and visiting the sick. St Ursula's returned to an enclosed life in the eighteenth century, but in the nineteenth century, after Napoleon had closed many European women's monasteries, King Louis I of Bavaria in 1828 restored the Religious Orders of women in his realm, provided that the nuns undertook some active work useful to the State (usually teaching or nursing).[55] In 1877, Bishop Ricards in South Africa requested that Augsburg send a group of nuns to start a teaching mission in King Williamstown.[56] From this mission were founded many Third Order Regular congregations of Dominican sisters, with their own constitutions, though still following the Rule of Saint Augustine and affiliated to the Dominican Order. These include the Dominican Sisters of Oakford, KwazuluNatal (1881),[57] the Dominican Missionary Sisters, Zimbabwe, (1890)[56] and the Dominican Sisters of Newcastle, KwazuluNatal (1891).[58]
The Dominican Order has influenced the formation of other Orders outside of the Roman Catholic Church, such as the Anglican Order of Preachers which is a Dominican Order within the world wide Anglican Communion.
Missions Abroad[edit]
The Pax Mongolica of the 13th and 14th centuries that united vast parts of the European-Asian continents enabled western missionaries to travel east. "Dominican friars were preaching the Gospel on the Volga Steppes by 1225 (the year following the establishment of the Kipchak Khanate by Batu), and in 1240 Pope Gregory IX despatched others to Persia and Armenia."[59] The most famous Dominican was Jordanus de Severac who was sent first to Persia then in 1321, together with a companion (Nicolas of Pistoia) to India. Father Jordanus' work and observations are recorded in two letters he wrote to the friars of Armenia, and a book, Mirabilia, translated as Wonders of the East.
Another Dominican, Father Recold of Monte Croce, worked in Syria and Persia. His travels took him from Acre to Tabriz, and on to Baghdad. There "he was welcomed by the Dominican fathers already there, and with them entered into a disputation with the Nestorians."[60] Although a number of Dominicans and Franciscans persevered against the growing faith of Islam throughout the region, all Christian missionaries were soon expelled with Timur's death in 1405.
By the 1850s, the Dominicans had half a million followers in the Philippines and well-established missions in the Chinese province of Fujian and Tonkin, Vietnam, performing thousands of baptisms each year.[61]:211,213
Divisions[edit]
The Friars, Nuns, Sisters, Members of Priestly Fraternities of Saint Dominic, Dominican Laity and Dominican Youths together form the Order of Preachers.[62]
Nuns[edit]
The Dominican nuns were founded by Saint Dominic even before he had established the friars. They are contemplatives in the cloistered life. Properly speaking, the friars and nuns together form the Order of Preachers.[63] The nuns celebrated their 800th anniversary in 2006.[64]
Sisters[edit]
Women have been part of the Dominican Order since the beginning, but distinct active congregations of Dominican sisters in their current form are largely a product of the nineteenth century and afterwards. They draw their origins both from the Dominican nuns and the communities of women tertiaries (lay women) who lived in their own homes and gathered regularly to pray and study: the most famous of these was the Mantellate attached to Saint Dominic's church in Siena, to which Saint Catherine of Siena belonged.[65] In the seventeenth century, some European Dominican monasteries (e.g. St Ursula's, Augsburg) temporarily became no longer enclosed, so they could engage in teaching or nursing or other work in response to pressing local need. Any daughter houses they founded, however, became independent.[66] But in the nineteenth century, in response to increasing missionary fervor, monasteries were asked to send groups of women to found schools and medical clinics around the world. Large numbers of Catholic women traveled to Africa, the Americas, and the East to teach and support new communities of Catholics there, both settlers and converts. Owing to the large distances involved, these groups needed to be self-governing, and they frequently planted new self-governing congregations in neighboring mission areas in order to respond more effectively to the perceived pastoral needs.[67] Following on from this period of growth in the nineteenth century, and another great period of growth in those joining these congregations in the 1950s, there are currently 24,600 Sisters belonging to 150 Dominican Religious Congregations present in 109 countries affiliated to Dominican Sisters International.[68]
As well as the friars, Dominican sisters live their lives supported by four common values, often referred to as the Four Pillars of Dominican Life, they are: community life, common prayer, study and service. Saint Dominic called this fourfold pattern of life the "holy preaching". Henri Matisse was so moved by the care that he received from the Dominican Sisters that he collaborated in the design and interior decoration of their Chapelle du Saint-Marie du Rosaire in Vence, France.[69]
Priestly Fraternities of St. Dominic[edit]
The Priestly Fraternities of St. Dominic are diocesan priests who are formally affiliated to the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) through a Rule of life that they profess, and so strive for evangelical perfection under the overall direction of the Dominican friars. The origins of the Dominican fraternities can be traced from the Dominican third Order secular, which then included both priests and lay persons as members.[70] Now existing as a separate association from that of the laity, and with its own distinct rule to follow, the Priestly Fraternities of St. Dominic continues to be guided by the Order in embracing the gift of the spirituality of Saint Dominic in the unique context of the diocesan priests. Along with the special grace of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, which helps them to perform the acts of the sacred ministry worthily, they receive new spiritual help from the profession, which makes them members of the Dominican Family and sharers in the grace and mission of the Order. While the Order provides them with these spiritual aids and directs them to their own sanctification, it leaves them free for the complete service of the local Church, under the jurisdiction of their own Bishop.
Laity[edit]
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Siena (1347–1380) by Giovanni di Paolo, c. 1460 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Lay Dominicans are governed by their own rule, the Rule of the Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic, promulgated by the Master in 1987.[71] It is the fifth Rule of the Dominican Laity; the first was issued in 1285.[72] Lay Dominicans are also governed by the Fundamental Constitution of the Dominican Laity, and their provinces provide a General Directory and Statutes. According to their Fundamental Constitution of the Dominican Laity, sec. 4, "They have a distinctive character in both their spirituality and their service to God and neighbor. As members of the Order, they share in its apostolic mission through prayer, study and preaching according to the state of the laity."[73]
Pope Pius XII, in Chosen Laymen, an Address to the Third Order of St. Dominic (1958), said, "The true condition of salvation is to meet the divine invitation by accepting the Catholic 'credo' and by observing the commandments. But the Lord expects more from you [Lay Dominicans], and the Church urges you to continue seeking the intimate knowledge of God and His works, to search for a more complete and valuable expression of this knowledge, a refinement of the Christian attitudes which derive from this knowledge."[74]
The two greatest saints among them are Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Rose of Lima, who lived ascetic lives in their family homes, yet both had widespread influence in their societies.
Today, there is a growing number of Associates who share the Dominican charism. Dominican Associates are Christian women and men; married, single, divorced, and widowed; clergy members and lay persons who were first drawn to and then called to live out the charism and continue the mission of the Dominican Order – to praise, to bless, to preach. Associates do not take vows, but rather make a commitment to be partners with vowed members, and to share the mission and charism of the Dominican Family in their own lives, families, churches, neighborhoods, workplaces, and cities. They are most often associated with a particular apostolic work of a congregation of active Dominican sisters.[75]
Dominican spirituality[edit]
The Dominican emphasis on learning and on charity distinguishes it from other monastic and mendicant orders. As the order first developed on the European continent, learning continued to be emphasized by these friars and their sisters in Christ. These religious also struggled for a deeply personal, intimate relationship with God. When the order reached England, many of these attributes were kept, but the English gave the order additional, specialized characteristics.
Blessed Humbert[edit]
Humbert of Romans, the master general of the order from 1254 to 1263, was a great administrator, as well as preacher and writer. It was under his tenure as master general that the sisters in the order were given official membership. He also wanted his friars to reach excellence in their preaching, and this was his most lasting contribution to the order. Humbert is at the center of ascetic writers in the Dominican Order. He advised his readers, "[Young Dominicans] are also to be instructed not to be eager to see visions or work miracles, since these avail little to salvation, and sometimes we are fooled by them; but rather they should be eager to do good in which salvation consists. Also, they should be taught not to be sad if they do not enjoy the divine consolations they hear others have; but they should know the loving Father for some reason sometimes withholds these. Again, they should learn that if they lack the grace of compunction or devotion they should not think they are not in the state of grace as long as they have good will, which is all that God regards".[76]
The English Dominicans took this to heart, and made it the focal point of their mysticism.
Mysticism[edit]
By 1300, the enthusiasm for preaching and conversion within the order lessened. Mysticism, full of the ideas Albertus Magnus expostulated, became the devotion of the greatest minds and hands within the organization.[77] It became a "powerful instrument of personal and theological transformation both within the Order of Preachers and throughout the wider reaches of Christendom.[78][incomplete short citation]
Although Albertus Magnus did much to instill mysticism in the Order of Preachers, it is a concept that reaches back to the Hebrew Bible. In the tradition of Holy Writ, the impossibility of coming face to face with God is a recurring motif, thus the commandment against graven images (Exodus 20.4–5). As time passed, Jewish and early Christian writings presented the idea of 'unknowing,' where God's presence was enveloped in a dark cloud. All of these ideas associated with mysticism were at play in the spirituality of the Dominican community, and not only among the men. In Europe, in fact, it was often the female members of the order, such as Catherine of Siena, Mechthild of Magdeburg, Christine of Stommeln, Margaret Ebner, and Elsbet Stagl,[79] that gained reputations for having mystical experiences. Notable male members of the order associated with mysticism include Meister Eckhart and Henry Suso.
Albertus Magnus[edit]
Painting of Albertus Magnus (1206–1280) by Justus van Gent, ca. 1475
Another who contributed significantly to the spirituality of the order is Albertus Magnus, influence on the brotherhood permeated nearly every aspect of Dominican life. One of Albert's greatest contributions was his study of Dionysius the Areopagite, a mystical theologian whose words left an indelible imprint in the medieval period. Magnus' writings made a significant contribution to German mysticism, which became vibrant in the minds of the Beguines and women such as Hildegard of Bingen and Mechthild of Magdeburg.[80] Mysticism refers to the conviction that all believers have the capability to experience God's love. This love may manifest itself through brief ecstatic experiences, such that one may be engulfed by God and gain an immediate knowledge of Him, which is unknowable through the intellect alone.[81]
Albertus Magnus championed the idea, drawn from Dionysus, that positive knowledge of God is possible, but obscure. Thus, it is easier to state what God is not, than to state what God is: "... we affirm things of God only relatively, that is, casually, whereas we deny things of God absolutely, that is, with reference to what He is in Himself. And there is no contradiction between a relative affirmation and an absolute negation. It is not contradictory to say that someone is white-toothed and not white".[82]
Albert the Great wrote that wisdom and understanding enhance one's faith in God. According to him, these are the tools that God uses to commune with a contemplative. Love in the soul is both the cause and result of true understanding and judgement. It causes not only an intellectual knowledge of God, but a spiritual and emotional knowledge as well. Contemplation is the means whereby one can obtain this goal of understanding. Things that once seemed static and unchanging become full of possibility and perfection. The contemplative then knows that God is, but she does not know what God is. Thus, contemplation forever produces a mystified, imperfect knowledge of God. The soul is exalted beyond the rest of God's creation but it cannot see God Himself.[83]
English Dominican mysticism[edit]
Concerning humanity as the image of Christ, English Dominican spirituality concentrated on the moral implications of image-bearing rather than the philosophical foundations of the imago Dei. The process of Christ's life, and the process of image-bearing, amends humanity to God's image.[84] The idea of the "image of God" demonstrates both the ability of man to move toward God (as partakers in Christ's redeeming sacrifice), and that, on some level, man is always an image of God. As their love and knowledge of God grows and is sanctified by faith and experience, the image of God within man becomes ever more bright and clear.[85]
English Dominican mysticism in the late medieval period differed from European strands of it in that, whereas European Dominican mysticism tended to concentrate on ecstatic experiences of union with the divine, English Dominican mysticism's ultimate focus was on a crucial dynamic in one's personal relationship with God. This was an essential moral imitation of the Savior as an ideal for religious change, and as the means for reformation of humanity's nature as an image of divinity. This type of mysticism carried with it four elements. First, spiritually it emulated the moral essence of Christ's life. Second, there was a connection linking moral emulation of Christ's life and humanity's disposition as images of the divine. Third, English Dominican mysticism focused on an embodied spirituality with a structured love of fellow men at its center. Finally, the supreme aspiration of this mysticism was either an ethical or an actual union with God.[86]
For English Dominican mystics, the mystical experience was not expressed just in one moment of the full knowledge of God, but in the journey of, or process of, faith. This then led to an understanding that was directed toward an experiential knowledge of divinity. It is important to understand, however, that for these mystics it was possible to pursue mystical life without the visions and voices that are usually associated with such a relationship with God.[81] They experienced a mystical process that allowed them, in the end, to experience what they had already gained knowledge of through their faith only.[87]
The centre of all mystical experience is, of course, Christ. English Dominicans sought to gain a full knowledge of Christ through an imitation of His life. English mystics of all types tended to focus on the moral values that the events in Christ's life exemplified. This led to a "progressive understanding of the meanings of Scripture—literal, moral, allegorical, and anagogical"[88]—that was contained within the mystical journey itself. From these considerations of Scripture comes the simplest way to imitate Christ: an emulation of the moral actions and attitudes that Jesus demonstrated in His earthly ministry becomes the most significant way to feel and have knowledge of God.[88]
The English concentrated on the spirit of the events of Christ's life, not the literality of events. They neither expected nor sought the appearance of the stigmata[89] or any other physical manifestation. They wanted to create in themselves that environment that allowed Jesus to fulfill His divine mission, insofar as they were able. At the center of this environment was love: the love that Christ showed for humanity in becoming human. Christ's love reveals the mercy of God and His care for His creation. English Dominican mystics sought through this love to become images of God. Love led to spiritual growth that, in turn, reflected an increase in love for God and humanity. This increase in universal love allowed men's wills to conform to God's will, just as Christ's will submitted to the Father's will.[90]
Charity and meekness[edit]
As the image of God grows within man, he learns to rely less on an intellectual pursuit of virtue and more on an affective pursuit of charity and meekness. Thus, man then directs his path to that One, and the love for, and of, Christ guides man's very nature to become centered on the One, and on his neighbor as well.[91] Charity is the manifestation of the pure love of Christ, both for and by His follower.
Although the ultimate attainment for this type of mysticism is union with God, it is not necessarily visionary, nor does it hope only for ecstatic experiences; instead, mystical life is successful if it is imbued with charity. The goal is just as much to become like Christ as it is to become one with Him.[81] Those who believe in Christ should first have faith in Him without becoming engaged in such overwhelming phenomena.
The Dominican Order was affected by a number of elemental influences. Its early members imbued the order with a mysticism and learning. The Europeans of the order embraced ecstatic mysticism on a grand scale and looked to a union with the Creator. The English Dominicans looked for this complete unity as well, but were not so focused on ecstatic experiences. Instead, their goal was to emulate the moral life of Christ more completely. The Dartford nuns were surrounded by all of these legacies, and used them to create something unique. Though they are not called mystics, they are known for their piety toward God and their determination to live lives devoted to, and in emulation of, Him.
Rosary[edit]
Devotion to the Virgin Mary was another very important aspect of Dominican spirituality. As an order, the Dominicans believed that they were established through the good graces of Christ's mother, and through prayers she sent missionaries to save the souls of nonbelievers.[92] Dominican brothers and sisters who were unable to participate in the Divine Office sang the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin each day and saluted her as their advocate.[92]
Throughout the centuries, the Holy Rosary has been an important element among the Dominicans.[93] Pope Pius XI stated that: "The Rosary of Mary is the principle and foundation on which the very Order of Saint Dominic rests for making perfect the life of its members and obtaining the salvation of others."[94]
Histories of the Holy Rosary often attribute its origin to Saint Dominic himself through the Virgin Mary.[95] Our Lady of the Rosary is the title related to the Marian apparition to Saint Dominic in 1208 in the church of Prouille in which the Virgin Mary gave the Rosary to him. For centuries, Dominicans have been instrumental in spreading the rosary and emphasizing the Catholic belief in the power of the rosary.[96]
On January 1, 2008, the master of the order declared a year of dedication to the Rosary.[97][98]
Mottoes[edit]
To praise, to bless and to preach
(from the Dominican Missal, Preface of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
Contemplare et contemplata aliis tradere
To study and to hand on the fruits of study (or, to contemplate and to hand on the fruits of contemplation)
One in faith, hope, and love
Notable members[edit]
The following people belonging to the order have been proclaimed saints throughout history:
Death of Peter of Verona (1206–1252) by Girolamo Savoldo, ca. 1530–35
Louis Bertrand (1526–1581), portrait by Francisco de Zurbarán, 1640
Francisco Coll Guitart (1812–1875)
Saint Dominic (d. 1221)
Peter Martyr (d. 1252)
Zedislava Berkiana (d. 1252)
Hyacinth (d. 1257)
Margaret of Hungary (d. 1271)
Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274)
Raymond of Peñafort (d. 1275)
Albert the Great (d. 1280)
Agnes of Montepulciano (d. 1317)
Catherine of Siena (d. 1380)
Vincent Ferrer (d. 1419)
Antoninus (d. 1459)
Pope Pius V (d. 1572)
Louis Bertrand (d. 1581)
Catherine de Ricci (d. 1590)
John of Cologne (d. 1600)
Rose of Lima (d. 1617)
Domingo Ibáñez de Erquicia (d. 1633)
Lorenzo Ruiz (d. 1637)
Martin de Porres (d. 1639)
John Macias (d. 1645)
Thomasian Martyrs (Asia and Spain, 17th and 18th centuries)
Louis de Montfort (d. 1716)
Francisco Coll Guitart (d. 1875)
Numerous Dominicans were included in the canonization of the 117 martyrs of Vietnam and a group of martyrs in Nagasaki, including Saint Lorenzo Ruiz.
Numerous Dominicans have been beatified, including:
Jordan of Saxony
Blessed Mannes de Guzman
Alanus dela Rupe
Peter González
Giles of Santarém
Margaret of Castello
Sadok and 48 Dominican martyrs from Sandomierz
Ceslaus
Pier Giorgio Frassati
Henry Suso
Innocent V
Benedict XI
Robert Nutter, English Reformation martyr
Reginald of Orleans (also known as Reginald of Saint-Gilles)
Jan Franciszek Czartoryski
Gonçalo de Amarante, priest and hermit
Joan of Aza, mother of St. Dominic de Guzmán
Giuseppe Girotti
Joanna, Princess of Portugal
Bartolo Longo
Imelda Lambertini
Catherine of Racconigi
Lucy Brocadelli
Bartholomew of Braga
Jordan of Pisa
Adrian Fortescue (martyr)
Columba of Rieti
Stephana de Quinzanis
Osanna of Mantua
Osanna of Cattaro
Anthony Neyrot
John of Vercelli
Blessed Margaret of Savoy
Five Dominican friars have served as Bishop of Rome:
Pope Innocent V
Pope Benedict XI
Pope Nicholas V
Pope Pius V
Pope Benedict XIII
There are two Dominicans in the College of Cardinals:
Christoph Schönborn, Austrian, Archbishop of Vienna
Dominik Duka, Czech, Archbishop of Prague
Other notable Dominicans include:
Gabriel Barletta
Matteo Bandello
Conradin of Bornada
James of Lausanne
Vincent of Beauvais (c.1184–c.1264) author/compiler of the encyclopedic text The Great Mirror (Speculum Maius)
Meister Eckhart (c.1260–c.1328) German mystic and preacher
Giordano Bruno (1548–1600), scientist as a haeretic condemned and burned in Rome
Edward Ambrose Burgis (c.1673–1747), historian and theologian
Elias Burneti of Bergerac, 13th century theologian
Anne Buttimer, University College Dublin
Oliviero Carafa
Diego Carranza, (b.1559), Mexican missionary
Brian Davies (Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Fordham University; former Regent of Blackfriars, Oxford)
Francisco de Vitoria (one of the founders of International Law)
Nicholas Eymerich
Bernard Gui (1261–1331) French bishop and inquisitor of the Cathars
Henrik Kalteisen, the 24th Archbishop of Nidaros
Heinrich Kramer (1430–1505) German author of the Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches), handbook of witch hunting
Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498) Italian pre-reformation theologian, dictatorial ruler of Florentine Republic, burned by the Inquisition
Bartolomé de las Casas (1484–1566) Spanish bishop in the West, Protector of the Indians
Johann Tetzel
Richard Luke Concanen (1747–1810) First Bishop of New York
Vincent McNabb (1868–1943) Irish scholar, apologist and ecumenist
Réginald Marie Garrigou-Lagrange (1877–1964) Leading 20th century Thomist
Marie-Dominique Chenu (1895–1990) French theologian of the Nouvelle Théologie
Dominique Pire (George) (1910–1969) Nobel Peace Prize
Edward Schillebeeckx (1914–1998) Belgian theologian
Jean Jérôme Hamer (1916–1996) Belgian theologian and Curia official, cardinal
Yves Congar (1904–1995) French theologian of the Nouvelle Théologie, later cardinal
Herbert McCabe (1926–2001) English theologian and scholar
Gustavo Gutierrez (1928) Peruvian liberation theologian
Jeanine Deckers (1933–1985) briefly famous Belgian singer-songwriter
Frei Betto, (1944- ) Brazilian friar, theologian, political activist and former government adviser
Timothy Radcliffe (1945- ) 85th Master of the Order of Preachers
Anthony Fisher, (1960) Archbishop of Sydney, Australia
Osmund Lewry
Aidan Nichols, (b.1948) English theologian.
By geography[edit]
Croatian Dominican Province
Dominicans in Ireland
Dominican Order in the United States
Educational institutions[edit]
Young Dominican in 2012
Universidad Santo Tomas de Aquino, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, est. 1538 – First University of the New World
Albertus Magnus College, New Haven, Connecticut, United States – est.1925
Angelicum School Iloilo, Iloilo City, Philippines – est. 1978
Aquinas College (Michigan), Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States – est. 1886
Aquinas Institute of Theology, St. Louis, Missouri, United States – est. 1939
Aquinas School, San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines – est. 1965
Barry University, Miami Shores, Florida, United States – est. 1940
Bishop Lynch High School, Dallas, Texas, United States - est. 1963
Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, United Kingdom
Blackfriars Priory School, Prospect, South Australia, Australia – est. 1953
Blessed Imelda's School, Taipei, Taiwan – est. 1916
Cabra Dominican College, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia – est. 1886
Caldwell University, Caldwell, New Jersey, United States – est. 1939
Catholic Dominican School, Yigo, Guam – est. 1995
Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Intramuros, Philippines – est. 1620
Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Calamba, Philippines
Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Bataan, Abucay, Bataan, Philippines
Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Manaoag (formerly Our Lady of Manaoag College), Manaoag, Pangasinan, Philippines
Colegio Lacordaire, Cali, Colombia – est. 1956
Dominican College of San Juan, San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines
Dominican College of Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines – est. 1994
Dominican College of Tarlac, Capas, Tarlac, Philippines – est. 1947
Dominican Convent High School, Harare, Zimbabwe – est. 1892
Dominican Convent High School, Bulawayo, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe – est. 1956
Dominican International School, Kaohsiung, Taiwan – est. 1953
Dominican International School, Taipei City, Taiwan – est. 1957
Dominican School Manila, Sampaloc, Manila, Philippines – est. 1958
Dominican School of Calabanga, Calabanga, Metro Naga, Camarines Sur, Philippines
Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, Berkeley, California, United States – est. 1861
Dominican University (Illinois), River Forest, Illinois, United States – est. 1901
Dominican University College,[99] Ottawa, Ontario, Canada – est. 1900
Dominican University of California, San Rafael, California, United States – est. 1890
Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin, United States – est. 1927
Emerald Hill School, Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
Fenwick High School, Oak Park, Illinois, United States – est. 1929
Holy Trinity University, Puerto Princesa City, Philippines – est. 1940
Holy Rosary School of Pardo, El Pardo, Cebu Ciyy, Philippines – est. 1965
Marian Catholic High School, Chicago Heights, Illinois, United States – est. 1958
Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York, United States – est. 1955
Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, New York, United States
Newbridge College, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, Republic of Ireland
Ohio Dominican University, Columbus, Ohio, United States
Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas
Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island, United States
San Pedro College, Davao City
Santa Sabina Dominican College, Dublin
Siena College of Quezon City
Siena College, Camberwell, Victoria, Australia
Siena College of Taytay, Taytay, Rizal
St Agnes Academy, Houston, Texas, United States – est. 1905
St Dominic's Chishawasha, Zimbabwe
St Dominic's College, Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand
St Dominic's College, Wanganui, New Zealand
St. Catharine College, St. Catharine, Kentucky, United States
St. John's High School (Harare), Zimbabwe
St. Mary's Dominican High School, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
St. Rose of Lima School, Bacolod City, Philippines
St. Michael Academy, Northern Samar, Philippines
Superior Institute of Religious Sciences of St. Thomas Aquinas
UST-Angelicum College (formerly Angelicum College), Quezon City, Philippines – est. 1972
The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines – est. 1611
University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi (formerly Aquinas University of Legazpi), Legazpi City, Albay – est. 1948
Universidad Santo Tomas de Aquino, Bogota, Colombia
Anglican Order of Preachers
Blackfriars (disambiguation), many name places in Britain testifying to former Dominican presence
Community of the Lamb, a new branch of the Dominican Order, founded in 1983
Dominican Rite, the Separate Use for Dominicans in the Latin Church
Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist
Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia
Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary
Master of the Order of Preachers
Sainte Marie de La Tourette, modernist Dominican monastery designed by Le Corbusier
St Dominic's Priory Church, the residence of the Provincial of the Dominican friars in England and Scotland
The Blackfriars of Shrewsbury
Third Order of Saint Dominic
Thomistic sacramental theology
Thought of Thomas Aquinas
^ a b c "Order of Friars Preachers – Dominicans". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
^ The word friar is etymologically related to the word for brother in Latin. "friar – Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". Retrieved 2008-10-21.
^ a b c d e f g h i j One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Mandonnet, Pierre (1911). "Order of Preachers". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 12. New York: Robert Appleton. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
^ Marshall, Taylor. "Scoreboard for the Doctors of the Church". Taylor Marshall. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
^ "Il filippino Gerard Timoner III eletto nuovo maestro dei domenicani". Vatican News (in Italian). 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
^ Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "Black friar"
^ Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "Jacobin"(1)
^ The reference to "hounds" draws on the tradition that Saint Dominic's mother, while pregnant with him, had a vision of a black and white dog with a torch in its mouth; wherever the dog went, it set fire to the earth. It was explained that the vision was fulfilled when Dominic and his followers went forth, clad in black and white, setting fire to the earth with the Gospel. In English, the word "hound" has two further meanings that may be drawn upon. A hound is loyal, and the Dominicans have a reputation as obedient servants of the faith.
^ Little, Lester K. (March 1983). Religious Poverty and the Profit Economy in Medieval Europe. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9247-5. argues the Dominicans and other mendicant orders were an adaptation to the rise of the profit economy in medieval Europe.
^ "History of the Order of the Preachers, the Dominican Friars".
^ Hinnebusch, The History of the Dominican Order, 7.
^ Hinnebusch, The History of the Dominican Order, 17.
^ Tugwell, 53
^ O'Connor, John Bonaventure. "St. Dominic." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 23 December 2017
^ Hinnebusch, The History of the Dominican Order, p. 23.
^ Butler, Edward Cuthbert (1911). "Dominic, Saint" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 401–402.
^ "St. Dominic - Order of preachers". www.op.org.
^ Tugwell, 54–55
^ a b Rule of Saint Augustine (pdf) Archived December 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
^ a b "Primitive Constitution". Domcentral.org. Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
^ Hinnebusch, The History of the Dominican Order, 44. See also Tugwell, 55.
^ Bennett, 52.
^ Duggan, Anne; Greatrex, Joan; Bolton, Brenda; Boyle, Leonard E. (2005). Omnia disce: medieval studies in memory of Leonard Boyle, O.P. p. 202. Retrieved 2011-02-07 – via Google Books.
^ J.-P. Renard, La formation et la désignation des prédicateurs au debut de l'Ordre des Prêcheurs, Freiburg, 1977.
^ Weisheipl, James A., "The Place of Study In the Ideal of St. Dominic", Dominican House of Studies River Forest, Illinois, 30 August 1960
^ William Hinnebusch, The Dominicans: A Short History, 1975, Chapter 1: "By requiring that each priory have a professor it laid the foundation for the Order's schools." "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2012-09-03. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) See also Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Volume 10, p. 701. "In each convent there was also a studium particulare." Accessed 6-9-2011
^ Pierre Mandonnet, St. Dominic and His Work, Translated by Sister Mary Benedicta Larkin, B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis/London, 1948, Chapt. III, note 50: "If the installation at Santa Sabina does not date from 1220, at least it is from 1221. The official grant was made only in June, 1222 (Bullarium O.P., I, 15). But the terms of the bull show that there had been a concession earlier. Before that concession the Pope said that the friars had no hospitium in Rome. At that time St. Sixtus was no longer theirs; Conrad of Metz could not have alluded to Saint Sixtus, therefore, when he said in 1221: "the Pope has conferred on them a house in Rome" (Laurent no. 136). It is possible that the Pope was waiting for the completion of the building that he was having done at Santa Sabina, before giving the title to the property, on June 5, 1222, to the new Master of the Order, elected not many days before." "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2013-02-07. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) Accessed 2012-5-20.
^ Morgan, Kenneth O. (Ed.) (1993). The Oxford History of Britain. Oxford University Press. p. 179. ISBN 0-19-285202-7. CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
^ Van Helden, Al. "The Inquisition". The Galileo Project. Rice University. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
^ Blötzer, Joseph. "Inquisition". The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 23 December 2017
^ a b Lee, Nunneries, Learning, and Spirituality, 13.
^ Lee, Nunneries, Learning, and Spirituality, 14.
^ Hinnebusch, History of the Dominican Order, 337.
^ Lee, Nunneries, Learning, and Spirituality, 70–73.
^ Hinnebusch, History of the Dominican Order, 382
^ William Hinnebusch. The Early English Friars Preachers, 1.
^ Hinnebusch, Early English Friars Preachers, 6. There was a dispute over this oratory in 1228.
^ Hinnebusch, Early English Friars Preachers, 8–9.
^ Maura O'Carroll, The Educational Organisation of the Dominicans in England and Wales 1221–1348: A Multidisciplinary Approach, Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 50 (1980): 32.
^ O'Carroll, 33
^ O'Carroll, 57.
^ Lee, Monastic and Secular Learning, 61.
^ "Friaries: The Dominican nuns of Dartford". A History of the County of Kent Volume 2. (William Page, ed.). London: Victoria County History, 1926. 181–190. British History Online
^ Wagner, Henry Raup; Parish, Helen Rand (1967). The Life and Writings of Bartolomé de Las Casas. University of New Mexico Press. p. 11
^ Lach, Donald F. (1965), Asia in the making of Europe, Volume I, Book Two, The University of Chicago Press, pp. 742–743
^ Scannell, Thomas. "Jean-Baptiste-Henri Dominique Lacordaire." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 21 November 2015
^ Schroeder, Henry Joseph. "Jacques-Marie-Louis Monsabré." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 23 December 2017
^ [1][permanent dead link]
^ a b "Dominican Missionary Sisters - of the Sacred Heart of Jesus". Dominican Missionary Sisters.
^ "Dominican Sisters of Oakford - Our Congregation". oakforddominicans.org.
^ Sisters, Dominican (25 February 2010). "Mother Rose Niland".
^ Marsh-Edwards, J. C. "Dominicans in the Mongol Empire" in Blackfriars, Vol. 18, No. 209 (August 1937), p. 599.
^ Marsh-Edwards, J. C., p. 603.
^ Bowring, Sir John (1859). A Visit to the Philippine Islands. London.
^ http://www.dominicanwitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/RULELatinEnglish_2007.pdf
^ "Dominican Charism". Order of preachers. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
^ "OP 800 – Home". 800.op.org. 2006-03-16. Archived from the original on 2006-06-14. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
^ "Catherine of Siena". Available Means. Ed. Joy Ritchie and Kate Ronald. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001. Print
^ Mariette Gouws, All for God's People, chapter 1
^ Columba Cleary, Eleanora Murphy, Flora McGlynn, Being Driven Forward: The Story of Mother Rose Niland and the Foundation of Newcastle Dominican Sisters, Boksburg, 1997
^ "Dominican Sisters International". Archived from the original on 2016-08-23. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
^ Billot, Marcel, ed.; Henri Matisse: The Vence Chapel, The Archive of a Creation, (Skira:1999)
^ "Who We Are - Order of preachers". www.op.org.
^ "Information from the Laity Office at Rome" (PDF).
^ See also the Lay Dominican Web Library. Archived August 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Dominican Laity - Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic - Dominican Third Order". Dominican Laity - Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic - Dominican Third Order.
^ "Chosen Laymen". Wayback Machine. See the official transcript, in French "Acta Apostolicae Sedis" (PDF). The Holy See. beginning at page 674.
^ Woods, 37. Quoted from Benedict Ashley, The Dominicans (Collegeville, MN, 1990).
^ Bennett, 71. This was especially true of the Dominicans in Germany and France.
^ Woods, 44. Albertus Magnus helped shape English Dominican thought through his idea that God is knowable, but obscure. Additionally, the English friars shared his belief that wisdom and understanding enhance one's faith in God. The English Dominicans also studied classical writers. This was also part of his legacy.
^ Woods, 110.
^ Woods, 39.
^ a b c Ross, 162
^ Tugwell, 153. See also, Wood, 41.
^ Hinnebusch, History of the Dominican Order, 299. See also, Tugwell, 40–95, 134–98.
^ Clark, 90–98. See also, Ross, 165
^ Ross, 166–167
^ Ross, 160
^ a b Ross, 164
^ The appearance of Saint Francis's and Catherine of Siena's stigmata is well known.
^ Clark, 83
^ Ross, 169.
^ a b Lee, Nunneries, Learning, and Spirituality, 152.
^ See Guy Bedouelle, Saint Dominic. The Grace of the Word (Ignatius 1987).
^ Robert Feeney, The Rosary: "The Little Summa" ISBN 0-9622347-1-0
^ Catherine Beebe, St. Dominic and the Rosary ISBN 0-89870-518-5
^ History of the Dominicans "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-07-27. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
^ Re-discovering the Rosary as a means of contemplation International Dominican Information Archived May 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
^ Randal, Felix (2008-01-06). "Dominican Year of the Rosary". Felixrandal.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
^ Dominican University College
Tugwell, Simon, ed. (1982). Early Dominicans : selected writings. Classics of Western Spirituality. London: SPCK. ISBN 0-281-04024-9.
Hinnebusch, William A. (1975). The Dominicans : a short history. New York: Society of St Paul. ISBN 0818903015. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dominican Order.
Order of Preachers Homepage – Available in English, French and Spanish
"Roman Catholic Saints of the Dominican Order". domenicani.net (in Italian). Archived from the original on Oct 9, 2018.
The Dominican Monastery of St. Jude in Marbury, Alabama
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Monastery in Buffalo NY (A Dominican contemplative monastery with Latin chant)
Lectures in Dominican History
Greyfriars and Blackfriars, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Henrietta Leyser, Anthony Kenny & Alexander Murray (In Our Time, Nov.10, 2005)
Catholic religious institutes
Alexians
Assumptionists (AA)
Augustinian Recollects (OAR)
Basilian Aleppians (BA)
Basilian Chouerites (BC)
Benedictines (OSB)
Bridgettines (OSsS)
Canossians (FDCC)
Carmelites (OCarm)
Carthusians (OCart)
Cistercians (OCist)
Congregation of Our Lady of Sion (NDS)
Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (SSCC)
Congregations of the Heart of Mary
Discalced Carmelites (OCD)
Dominicans (OP)
Franciscans (OFM)
Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE)
Maryknoll (MM)
Mercedarians (O de M)
Missionaries of Charity (MC)
Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo (CS)
Premonstratensians (OPraem)
Servants of Charity (SC)
Servite Order (OSM)
Society of the Atonement (SA)
TOR Franciscans
Trappists (OCSO)
Trinitarian Order (OSST)
Adorno Fathers (CRM)
Albertine Brothers
Augustinians (OSA)
Barnabites (B)
Basilians (CSB)
Brotherhood of Hope (BH)
Brothers of Our Lady of Mercy (FDM)
Camillians (MI)
Canons Regular of Saint John Cantius
Capuchins (OFM Cap)
Christian Brothers (Irish) (CFC)
Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM)
Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (SSS)
Claretians (CMF)
Companions of the Cross (CC)
Congregation of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (CST)
Conventual Franciscans (OFM Conv)
Crosiers (OSC)
De La Salle Brothers (FSC)
Discalced Augustinians (OAD)
Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFR)
Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word (MFVA)
Gabrielites
Holy Cross (CSC)
Holy Ghost Fathers (CSSp)
Josephite Fathers (SSJ)
Legion of Christ (LC)
Little Brothers of Jesus
Marians of the Immaculate Conception (MIC)
Society of Jesus (Jesuits) (SJ)
Society of Mary (Marianists) (SM)
Society of Mary (Marists) (SM)
Society of the Divine Word (SVD)
Society of Saint Edmund (SSE)
Marist Brothers (FMS)
Mechitarists (CAM)
Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCI)
Missionaries of La Salette (MS)
Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales (MSFS)
Missionaries of the Poor (MOP)
Missionaries of the Precious Blood (CPPS)
Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC)
Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI)
Missionary Society of Saint Paul of Nigeria (MSP)
Missionary Society of St. Columban
Oblates of the Virgin Mary (OMV)
Oblates of St. Francis de Sales (OSFS)
Oratory of Saint Philip Neri (CO)
Order of Friars Minor (OFM)
Pallottines (SAC)
Passionists (CP)
Pauline Fathers (OSPPE)
Paulist Fathers (CSP)
Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP)
Redemptorists (CSsR)
Rogationists of the Heart of Jesus (RCJ)
Sacred Heart Brothers
Salesians (SDB)
Servants of Jesus and Mary (SJM)
Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer (FSSR)
Vincentians (CM)
White Fathers (MAfr)
Xaverian Brothers (CFX)
Society of St. Pius X (SSPX)
Sulpicians (PSS)
Adorers of the Blood of Christ (ASC)
Apostolic Carmel (AC)
Basilian Aleppian Sisters
Basilian Chouerite Sisters
Brigidines
Congregation of the Franciscan Hospitaller Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (FHIC)
Daughters of Charity
Daughters of Divine Love
Daughters of Mary of the Immaculate Conception
Faithful Companions of Jesus
Felicians (CSSF)
Filippini Sisters (MPF)
Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Hijas de Jesús
Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters
Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Institute of the Maids of the Poor (MOP)
Little Sisters of Jesus
Little Sisters of the Poor
Lovers of the Holy Cross
Marianites of Holy Cross (MSC)
Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God (SMIC)
Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (ICM)
Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart
Oblate Sisters of Providence
Oblates of Jesus the Priest
Oblate Sisters of the Virgin Mary of Fatima (OMVF)
Order of Our Lady of Charity (ODNC)
Order of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Poor Clares (OSC)
Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (RCSJ)
Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM)
Servants of St. Joseph (SSJ)
Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
Sisters of Charity
Sisters of Charity of Saints Bartolomea Capitanio and Vincenza Gerosa (SCCG)
Sisters of Christian Doctrine of Nancy (DC)
Sisters of the Cross and Passion
Sisters of the Destitute
Sisters of the Good Shepherd (RGS)
Sisters of Holy Cross
Sisters of the Holy Cross
Sisters of the Holy Family-Louisiana
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
Sisters of the Immaculate Conception
Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Sisters of Life (SV)
Sisters of Mercy (RSM)
Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
Sisters of Saint Francis
Sisters of Saint Joseph
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace
Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (RSJ)
Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls
Sisters of Social Service (sss)
Servants of the Blessed Sacrament (SSS)
Ursulines (OSU)
White Sisters
See also: Third orders of Catholic laity
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dominican_Order&oldid=906191594"
Catholic religious orders established in the 13th century
Christian religious orders established in the 13th century
Catholic orders and societies
Articles incorporating text from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia without Wikisource reference
Articles with dead external links from March 2018
All articles with incomplete citations
All pages needing cleanup
Articles needing more detailed references
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14330
|
__label__wiki
| 0.836526
| 0.836526
|
Pentagram (design firm)
International design studio
1972; 47 years ago (1972) in Notting Hill, London, United Kingdom
Alan Fletcher, Theo Crosby, Colin Forbes, Kenneth Grange, and Mervyn Kurlansky
Design consultancy, graphic design, corporate identity, architecture, interiors and products
pentagram.com
The former Pentagram building in Manhattan, at 204 Fifth Avenue, was designed by C.P.H. Gilbert. On top of the building at the time this image was taken (2010) is a statue by Antony Gormley, part of his Event Horizon installation on buildings around Madison Square
Pentagram is a design firm. It was founded in 1972, by Alan Fletcher, Theo Crosby, Colin Forbes, Kenneth Grange, and Mervyn Kurlansky at Needham Road, Notting Hill, London. The company has offices located at London, New York City, San Francisco, Berlin and Austin, Texas.
2 Scope and clientele
3 Partners
Pentagram was founded on the premise of collaborative interdisciplinary designers working together in an independently owned firm of equals. Theo Crosby claimed the structure was suggested to him by his experience of working on the seminal late-1950s exhibition This Is Tomorrow: "it was my first experience at a loose, horizontal organisation of equals. We have brought it ... to a kind of practical and efficient reality at Pentagram".[1] The firm currently comprises 23 partner-designers in five cities, each managing a team of designers and sharing in common overhead and staff resources. The partners in each office share incomes equally and all the partners own an equal portion of the total firm. This equality, along with the tradition of periodically inviting new members to join, renews the firm while giving even the newest members an equal footing with the partners of long standing. This 'flat' organisation (there are no executive officers, CEO, CFO or board, other than the entire group) along with the self-capitalised finances of the business, allows equal participation and control of the group's destiny by the member. In 1978 Colin Forbes formed the New York office, eventually adding both graphic designers Peter Harrison and Woody Pirtle as partners. In 1990-91 Michael Bierut, Paula Scher, graphic designers, and James Biber, an architect, joined the New York office and eventually moved to a building at 204 Fifth Avenue, a building designed by C. P. H. Gilbert, where the office resided until 2017. Now in the New York office there are eight partners.[2]
In London, all the founding partners, along with David Hillman and John McConnell have departed, leaving a second and third generation of partners working in the Needham Road office. John Rushworth, Daniel Weil (an industrial designer), Angus Hyland, Justus Oehler (running the Berlin branch), Harry Pearce, Domenic Lippa, Naresh Ramchandani, Marina Willer,[3] Jody Hudson-Powell, Luke Powell and Sascha Lobe, along with industrial designer Jon Marshall now comprise the London office.[4]
Notable alumni of Pentagram include Kit Hinrichs.
Scope and clientele[edit]
Pentagram does work in graphic design, identity, architecture, interiors and products. They have designed packaging and products for many well known companies. They have also developed identities for Sam Labs,[5] Citibank,[6] United Airlines, and The Co-operative brand in the UK, winning a silver award from the Design Business Association.[7] In 2007, they updated the visual identity of Saks Fifth Avenue.[8]
In addition to graphic design work, the firm has partners working on architectural projects such as the Harley-Davidson Museum, the Alexander McQueen shops, Citibank interiors, the Adshel and Clear Channel buildings in London, a host of private residences including the Phaidon Atlas of Architecture listed Bacon Street Residence, the new London club Matter, along with a host of interior, retail, restaurant and exhibition projects.
Pentagram was hired to redesign the American cable television programme, The Daily Show's set and on-screen graphics in 2005.[6]
Outside of commercial work, Pentagram also does pro bono work for non-profit organisations. On 12 February 2008 the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation awarded Pentagram the "DNA" award for incorporating pro bono services into business culture. Recently, Pentagram has done work for the One Laptop per Child.[9]
Pentagram supports up-and-coming artists. Angus Hyland was a notable early supporter of illustrator Christine Berrie, and organised a display of her work at the Pentagram main office.[10]
On 13 December 2010, the Big Ten Conference unveiled their new logo designed by Pentagram.[11]
In 2016 Pentagram were commissioned to design the packaging for the Pink Floyd box set, The Early Years 1965–1972. The set was released in November 2016.
Partners[edit]
Michael Bierut, New York
Michael Gericke, New York
Luke Hayman, New York
Jody Hudson-Powell, London
Angus Hyland, London
Natasha Jen, New York
Domenic Lippa, London
Sascha Lobe, London
Giorgia Lupi, New York
Jon Marshall, London
Abbott Miller, New York
Emily Oberman, New York
Justus Oehler, Berlin
Eddie Opara, New York
Harry Pearce, London
Luke Powell, London
Naresh Ramchandani, London
John Rushworth, London
Paula Scher, New York
Astrid Stavro, London
DJ Stout, Austin
Yuri Suzuki, London
Daniel Weil, London
Marina Willer, London
“Pentagram.” The Design Encyclopedia. Ed. Mel Byars. 2nd ed. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2004. 431.
“Pentagram.” The Thames and Hudson Dictionary of 20th-Century Design and Designers. Ed. Guy Julier. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1999. 153.
Profile: Pentagram Design, by Rick Poynor and Susan Yelavich, Phaidon Press Ltd, 2004. (978-0714843773)
^ Theo Crosby, "The Painter as Designer", Edward Wright graphic work and painting, Arts Council, 1985, pp.49-50
^ "Pentagram's Newest Partner is Eddie Opara" on CoDesign. Accessed: 2010-11-18
^ Marina Willer joins Pentagram
^ "List of current Pentagram partners". www.pentagram.com. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
^ Banks, Tom. "Pentagram brand for SAM "never stands still"". Design Week.
^ a b Vanderbilt, Tom. "The Daily Show: Satire Restyled." BusinessWeek. Accessed on September 26, 2006.
^ Design Business Association. "The Co-operative Brand Identity". Retrieved 2008-05-21.
^ Rawsthorn, Alice. "The new corporate logo: Dynamic and changeable are all the rage." International Herald Tribune. Accessed on May 5, 2007.
^ Scott, Sandy."Six Organizations Honored for Outstanding Pro Bono Service." Archived 2008-02-15 at the Wayback Machine USA Freedom Corps. Accessed on February 26.2008.
^ Stones, John (January 20, 2005). "Out of the ordinary". Design Week.
^ New Work: Big Ten Conference Logo Archived 2010-12-16 at the Wayback Machine
Official Pentagram website
Pentagram Book Five
The fellowship of Pentagram
CYAN magazine: Domenic Lippa interview
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pentagram_(design_firm)&oldid=901262693"
Graphic design studios
Architecture firms based in London
Design companies established in 1972
British companies established in 1972
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14331
|
__label__wiki
| 0.66847
| 0.66847
|
Sriram, Chandra (2010) Unfinished Business: Peacebuilding, Accountability, and Rule of Law in Lebanon. London: SOAS School of Law Research Paper No. 16/2010.
Text - Draft Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
Alternative Location: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id...
Much of the time, transitional justice measures are developed alongside the implementation of peace agreements and peacebuilding efforts, and are expected by their framers and advocates to contribute to peace. The claim is that accountability measures can help to deter future violence and prevent revenge attacks, demonstrate and help to reinstall the rule of law and democracy, and contribute in so doing to longer-term stability. And indeed, transitional justice measures are expected to work alongside specific measures of peacebuilding, such as rule of law promotion, security sector reform, and disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of excombatants, and increasingly those developing such measures of peacebuilding are expected to take transitional justice measures into account. What happens, however, when a transitional justice measure is developed decades after the end of the conflict, where such standard measures of peacebuilding were not pursued, or are incomplete? Can a transitional justice mechanism have the desired effects? And what if that mechanism is not designed to address the wide range of past crimes, but a more recent subset? This chapter considers the prospects for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) to have any serious impact on the country itself, against the backdrop of long-term, but unconsolidated, peacebuilding or reconstruction efforts. It argues that while Lebanon has undergone extensive reconstruction since the end of its brutal civil war, no serious peacebuilding efforts were undertaken, meaning that many of the changes a post-conflict society is expected to undergo, arising from demobilization of large numbers of fighters, reform of the justice and security sector, did not take place. In this context, accountability for the abuses of the war and in the 15 years after it in which the country was under Syrian occupation has yet to take place and seems unlikely. The STL is nonetheless often expected to operate as a mechanism analogous to ordinary transitional justice mechanisms, yet it does not have the remit to address the legacy of conflict and occupation, but rather only the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and related assassinations. It seems unlikely that it can have the effect expected of transitional justice mechanisms and ascribed by its advocates to it as well, of promoting human rights and accountability, and even peacebuilding, in the affected country. Rather, after two decades of reconstruction, the tribunal is unlikely to contribute to peace, and may run the risk of promoting conflict should it try defendants, whether in person or in absentia.
Monographs and Working Papers (Working Paper)
SOAS Working Papers > School of Law Working Papers
K Law > KL Asia and Eurasia, Africa, Pacific Area, and Antarctica
121Downloads
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14333
|
__label__cc
| 0.584136
| 0.415864
|
Eritrea at a Crossroads
Eritrea: The Struggle for Democratic Governance
Held in Toronto (and Ottawa), Canada, the public seminar on “Eritrea: The Struggle for Democratic Governance” focused on three main themes:
The first theme highlighted the programmatic objective of the armed struggle for self-determination as a nation and as a people.
As the outcome of the exercise of the right to self-determination as a nation, independence embodied a historic victory that enabled Eritrea to join the community of free nations. However, inability to constitute a government of their choice has put on hold the exercise of the right to self-determination of Eritrea as a people. After all, independence was sought not as an end in itself but as a springboard for the fundamental socio-economic transformation of Eritrean society, embedding the values of democracy, justice, equality and prosperity for all.
The second theme assessed the performance of the post independence government. It recounted the series of events that unfolded post independence, including the betrayal of the original objectives of the armed struggle, the internal divisions within the historical leadership of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), the concentration of power and the rise of dictatorship. Among the crucial elements contributing to the personalisation of power were:
- the adoption of the Dergue’s kebele as a local administrative unit;
- the suspension of the legislative and executive organs of the Front;
- the systematic suppression of internal debate and criminalisation of dissent;
- the institution of indefinite active national service;
- the closure of the University of Asmara;
- the introduction of the coupon economy; and
- the regimentation of society.
The third theme focused on the future of Eritrea, the drive to reclaim the original objectives of the armed struggle and the imperative for peaceful transition to democratic governance.
The audio recording of the seminar on "The Struggle for Democratic Governance" in Tigrinya (ትግርኛ) is available below or directly on our youtube channel.
Slow Internet Connection
ኣብ ድኹም ኢንተርነት
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14334
|
__label__wiki
| 0.849211
| 0.849211
|
Ford Research Group - UC Santa Barbara
Peter C. Ford
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California Santa Barbara
Office: PSBN 4649C
Labs: PSBN 3638, 3638A, 3650, 3650A, 3668, 4637
ford@chem.ucsb.edu
Professor Ford joined the University of California, Santa Barbara faculty of Chemistry after earning his Ph.D. with Professor Kenneth B. Wiberg at Yale U. and a postdoctoral fellowship with Professor Henry Taube at Stanford U. He has served as a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National U., Guest Professor at the U. Copenhagen , A v Humboldt -Stiftung US Senior Scientist at U. Regensburg and U. Muenster and Guest Investigator at the US National Cancer Institute. Dr. Ford was awarded the 1992 Richard C. Tolman Medal of the American Chemical Society, the 2008 Inter-American Photochemical Society Award in Photochemistry, the 2013 American Chemical Society National Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry, and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He recently was awarded the 2015 Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Inorganic Mechanisms Award for his fundamental contributions to the mechanisms of inorganic photochemistry, homogeneous catalysis and the bioinorganic chemistry of nitric oxide and related nitrogen oxide species. He has served as research advisor for >65 Ph.D. graduates and numerous B.S., M.S. and postdoctoral students at UC Santa Barbara.
Professor Ford's research has encompassed topics related to the photochemistry, catalytic reactions and mechanisms of transition metal complexes. These interests are currently reflected in studies related to (i) quantitative reactions of coordinated nitrogen oxides relevant to mammalian biology, (ii) the photochemical delivery of small molecule bioregulatory molecules to physiological targets and (iii) the catalytic conversion of biomass feedstocks to chemicals and fuels. He has over 410 publications and 7 patents.
Ford Research Group
Third Floor Lab: 805-893-8469
Laser Lab: 805-893-4732
Ford (PI): 805-893-2443
Labs & Offices
PSBN 3638, 3638A, 3650, 3650A, 3668, 4637
The Regents of the University of California.
UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14346
|
__label__wiki
| 0.598255
| 0.598255
|
Fairytalez.com » The Chinese Fairy Book » Rose of Evening
Rose of Evening
The Chinese Fairy Book February 3, 2015
On the fifth day of the fifth month the festival of the Dragon Junk is held along the Yangtze-kiang. A dragon is hollowed out of wood, painted with an armor of scales, and adorned with gold and bright colors. A carved red railing surrounds this ship, and its sails and s are made of silks and brocade. The after part of the vessel is called the dragon’s tail. It rises ten feet above the water, and a board which floats in the water is tied to it by means of a cloth. Upon this board sit boys who turn somersaults, stand on their heads, and perform all sorts of tricks. Yet, being so close to the water their danger is very great. It is the custom, therefore, when a boy is hired for this purpose, to give his parents money before he is trained. Then, if he falls into the water and is drowned, no one has him on their conscience. Farther South the custom differs in so much that instead of boys, beautiful girls are chosen for this purpose.
In Dschen-Giang there once lived a widow named Dsiang, who had a son called Aduan. When he was no more than seven years of age he was extraordinarily skilful, and no other boy could equal him. And his reputation increasing as he grew, he earned more and more money. So it happened that he was still called upon at the Dragon Junk Festival when he was already sixteen.
But one day he fell into the water below the Gold Island and was drowned. He was the only son of his mother, and she sorrowed over him, and that was the end of it.
Yet Aduan did not know that he had been drowned. He met two men who took him along with them, and he saw a new world in the midst of the waters of the Yellow River. When he looked around, the waves of the river towered steeply about him like walls, and a palace was visible, in which sat a man wearing armor and a helmet. His two companions said to him: “That is the Prince of the Dragon’s Cave!” and bade him kneel.
The Prince of the Dragon’s Cave seemed to be of a mild and kindly disposition and said: “We can make use of such a skilful lad. He may take part in the dance of the willow branches!”
So he was brought to a spot surrounded by extensive buildings. He entered, and was greeted by a crowd of boys who were all about fourteen years of age.
An old woman came in and they all called out: “This is Mother Hia!” And she sat down and had Aduan show his tricks. Then she taught him the dance of the flying thunders of Tsian-Tang River, and the music that calms the winds on the sea of Dung-Ting. When the cymbals and kettledrums reechoed through all the courts, they deafened the ear. Then, again, all the courts would fall silent. Mother Hia thought that Aduan would not be able to grasp everything the very first time; so she taught him with great patience. But Aduan had understood everything from the first, and that pleased old Mother Hia. “This boy,” said she, “equals our own Rose of Evening!”
The following day the Prince of the Dragon’s Cave held a review of his dancers. When all the dancers had assembled, the dance of the Ogres was danced first. Those who performed it all wore devil-masks and garments of scales. They beat upon enormous cymbals, and their kettledrums were so large that four men could just about span them. Their sound was like the sound of a mighty thunder, and the noise was so great that nothing else could be heard. When the dance began, tremendous waves spouted up to the very skies, and then fell down again like star-glimmer which scatters in the air.
The Prince of the Dragon Cave hastily bade the dance cease, and had the dancers of the nightingale round step forth. These were all lovely young girls of sixteen. They made a delicate music with flutes, so that the breeze blew and the roaring of the waves was stilled in a moment. The water gradually became as quiet as a crystal world, transparent to its lowest depths. When the nightingale dancers had finished, they withdrew and posted themselves in the western courtyard.
Then came the turn of the swallow dancers. These were all little girls. One among them, who was about fifteen years of age, danced the dance of the giving of flowers with flying sleeves and waving locks. And as their garments fluttered, many-colored flowers dropped from their folds, and were caught up by the wind and whirled about the whole courtyard. When the dance had ended, this dancer also went off with the rest of the girls to the western courtyard. Aduan looked at her from out the corner of his eye, and fell deeply in love with her. He asked his comrades who she might be and they told him she was named “Rose of Evening.”
But the willow-spray dancers were now called out. The Prince of the Dragon Cave was especially desirous of testing Aduan. So Aduan danced alone, and he danced with joy or defiance according to the music. When he looked up and when he looked down his glances held the beat of the measure. The Dragon Prince, enchanted with his skill, presented him with a garment of five colors, and gave him a carbuncle set in golden threads of fish-beard for a hair-jewel. Aduan bowed his thanks for the gift, and then also hastened to the western courtyard. There all the dancers stood in rank and file. Aduan could only look at Rose of Evening from a distance, but still Rose of Evening returned his glances.
After a time Aduan gradually slipped to the end of his file and Rose of Evening also drew near to him, so that they stood only a few feet away from each other. But the strict rules allowed no confusion in the ranks, so they could only gaze and let their souls go out to each other.
Now the butterfly dance followed the others. This was danced by the boys and girls together, and the pairs were equal in size, age and the color of their garments. When all the dances had ended, the dancers marched out with the goose-step. The willow-spray dancers followed the swallow dancers, and Aduan hastened in advance of his company, while Rose of Evening lingered along after hers. She turned her head, and when she spied Aduan she purposely let a coral pin fall from her hair. Aduan hastily hid it in his sleeve.
When he had returned, he was sick with longing, and could neither eat nor sleep. Mother Hia brought him all sorts of dainties, looked after him three or four times a day, and stroked his forehead with loving care. But his illness did not yield in the least. Mother Hia was unhappy, and yet helpless.
“The birthday of the King of the Wu River is at hand,” said she. “What is to be done?”
In the twilight there came a boy, who sat down on the edge of Aduan’s bed and chatted with him. He belonged to the butterfly dancers, said he, and asked casually: “Are you sick because of Rose of Evening?” Aduan, frightened, asked him how he came to guess it. The other boy said, with a smile: “Well, because Rose of Evening is in the same case as yourself.”
Disconcerted, Aduan sat up and begged the boy to advise him. “Are you able to walk?” asked the latter. “If I exert myself,” said Aduan, “I think I could manage it.”
So the boy led him to the South. There he opened a gate and they turned the corner, to the West. Once more the doors of the gate flew open, and now Aduan saw a lotus field about twenty acres in size. The lotus flowers were all growing on level earth, and their leaves were as large as mats and their flowers like umbrellas. The fallen blossoms covered the ground beneath the stalks to the depth of a foot or more. The boy led Aduan in and said, “Now first of all sit down for a little while!” Then he went away.
After a time a beautiful girl thrust aside the lotus flowers and came into the open. It was Rose of Evening. They looked at each other with happy timidity, and each told how each had longed for the other. And they also told each other of their former life. Then they weighted the lotus-leaves with stones so that they made a cozy retreat, in which they could be together, and promised to meet each other there every evening. And then they parted.
Aduan came back and his illness left him. From that time on he met Rose of Evening every day in the lotus field.
After a few days had passed they had to accompany the Prince of the Dragon Cave to the birthday festival of the King of the Wu River. The festival came to an end, and all the dancers returned home. Only, the King had kept back Rose of Evening and one of the nightingale dancers to teach the girls in his castle.
Months passed and no news came from Rose of Evening, so that Aduan went about full of longing and despair. Now Mother Hia went every day to the castle of the god of the Wu River. So Aduan told her that Rose of Evening was his cousin, and entreated her to take him along with her so that he could at least see her a single time. So she took him along, and let him stay at the lodge-house of the river-god for a few days. But the indwellers of the castle were so strictly watched that he could not see Rose of Evening even a single time. Sadly Aduan went back again.
Another month passed and Aduan, filled with gloomy thoughts, wished that death might be his portion.
One day Mother Hia came to him full of pity, and began to sympathize with him. “What a shame,” said she, “that Rose of Evening has cast herself into the river!”
Aduan was extremely frightened, and his tears flowed resistlessly. He tore his beautiful garments, took his gold and his pearls, and went out with the sole idea of following his beloved in death. Yet the waters of the river stood up before him like walls, and no matter how often he ran against them, head down, they always flung him back.
He did not dare return, since he feared he might be questioned about his festival garments, and severely punished because he had ruined them. So he stood there and knew not what to do, while the perspiration ran down to his ankles. Suddenly, at the foot of the water-wall he saw a tall tree. Like a monkey he climbed up to its very top, and then, with all his might, he shot into the waves.
And then, without being wet, he found himself suddenly swimming on the surface of the river. Unexpectedly the world of men rose up once more before his dazzled eyes. He swam to the shore, and as he walked along the river-bank, his thoughts went back to his old mother. He took a ship and traveled home.
When he reached the village, it seemed to him as though all the houses in it belonged to another world. The following morning he entered his mother’s house, and as he did so, heard a girl’s voice beneath the window saying: “Your son has come back again!” The voice sounded like the voice of Rose of Evening, and when she came to greet him at his mother’s side, sure enough, it was Rose of Evening herself.
And in that hour the joy of these two who were so fond of each other overcame all their sorrow. But in the mother’s mind sorrow and doubt, terror and joy mingled in constant succession in a thousand different ways.
When Rose of Evening had been in the palace of the river-king, and had come to realize that she would never see Aduan again, she determined to die, and flung herself into the waters of the stream. But she was carried to the surface, and the waves carried and cradled her till a ship came by and took her aboard. They asked whence she came. Now Rose of Evening had originally been a celebrated singing girl of Wu, who had fallen into the river and whose body had never been found. So she thought to herself that, after all, she could not return to her old life again. So she answered: “Madame Dsiang, in Dschen-Giang is my mother-in-law.” Then the travelers took passage for her in a ship which brought her to the place she had mentioned. The widow Dsiang first said she must be mistaken, but the girl insisted that there was no mistake, and told Aduan’s mother her whole story. Yet, though the latter was charmed by her surpassing loveliness, she feared that Rose of Evening was too young to live a widow’s life. But the girl was respectful and industrious, and when she saw that poverty ruled in her new home, she took her pearls and sold them for a high price. Aduan’s old mother was greatly pleased to see how seriously the girl took her duties.
Now that Aduan had returned again Rose of Evening could not control her joy. And even Aduan’s old mother cherished the hope that, after all, perhaps her son had not died. She secretly dug up her son’s grave, yet all his bones were still lying in it. So she questioned Aduan. And then, for the first time, the latter realized that he was a departed spirit. Then he feared that Rose of Evening might regard him with disgust because he was no longer a human being. So he ordered his mother on no account to speak of it, and this his mother promised. Then she spread the report in the village that the body which had been found in the river had not been that of her son at all. Yet she could not rid herself of the fear that, since Aduan was a departed spirit, heaven might refuse to send him a child.
In spite of her fear, however, she was able to hold a grandson in her arms in course of time. When she looked at him, he was no different from other children, and then her cup of joy was filled to overflowing.
Rose of Evening gradually became aware of the fact that Aduan was not really a human being. “Why did you not tell me at once?” said she. “Departed spirits who wear the garments of the dragon castle, surround themselves with a soul-casing so heavy in texture that they can no longer be distinguished from the living. And if one can obtain the lime made of dragon-horn which is in the castle, then the bones may be glued together in such wise that flesh and blood will grow over them again. What a pity that we could not obtain the lime while we were there!”
Aduan sold his pearl, for which a merchant from foreign parts gave him an enormous sum. Thus his family grew very wealthy. Once, on his mother’s birthday, he danced with his wife and sang, in order to please her. The news reached the castle of the Dragon Prince and he thought to carry off Rose of Evening by force. But Aduan, alarmed, went to the Prince, and declared that both he and his wife were departed spirits. They examined him and since he cast no shadow, his word was taken, and he was not robbed of Rose of Evening.
Note: “Rose of Evening” is one of the most idyllic of Chinese art fairy-tales. The idea that the departed spirit throws no shadow has analogies in Norse and other European fairy-tales.
Next Story The Frog Princess
Prev Story The Ape Sun Wu Kung
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14347
|
__label__wiki
| 0.987869
| 0.987869
|
Albany County, New York
Pick a county New York State Total Albany County, New York Allegany County, New York Bronx County, New York Broome County, New York Cattaraugus County, New York Cayuga County, New York Chautauqua County, New York Chemung County, New York Chenango County, New York Clinton County, New York Columbia County, New York Cortland County, New York Delaware County, New York Dutchess County, New York Erie County, New York Essex County, New York Franklin County, New York Fulton County, New York Genesee County, New York Greene County, New York Hamilton County, New York Herkimer County, New York Jefferson County, New York Kings County, New York Lewis County, New York Livingston County, New York Madison County, New York Monroe County, New York Montgomery County, New York Nassau County, New York New York County, New York Niagara County, New York Oneida County, New York Onondaga County, New York Ontario County, New York Orange County, New York Orleans County, New York Oswego County, New York Otsego County, New York Putnam County, New York Queens County, New York Rensselaer County, New York Richmond County, New York Rockland County, New York Saint Lawrence County, New York Saratoga County, New York Schenectady County, New York Schoharie County, New York Schuyler County, New York Seneca County, New York Steuben County, New York Suffolk County, New York Sullivan County, New York Tioga County, New York Tompkins County, New York Ulster County, New York Warren County, New York Washington County, New York Wayne County, New York Westchester County, New York Wyoming County, New York Yates County, New York New York NRCS
Pick a district 1st District of New York (Rep. Lee Zeldin) 2nd District of New York (Rep. Peter King) 3rd District of New York (Rep. Tom Suozzi) 4th District of New York (Rep. Kathleen Rice) 5th District of New York (Rep. Gregory Meeks) 6th District of New York (Rep. Grace Meng) 7th District of New York (Rep. Nydia Velazquez) 8th District of New York (Rep. Hakeem Jeffries) 9th District of New York (Rep. Yvette Clarke) 10th District of New York (Rep. Jerrold Nadler) 11th District of New York (Rep. Daniel Donovan) 12th District of New York (Rep. Carolyn Maloney) 13th District of New York (Rep. Adriano Espailat) 14th District of New York (Rep. Joseph Crowley) 15th District of New York (Rep. Jose Serrano) 16th District of New York (Rep. Eliot Engel) 17th District of New York (Rep. Nita Lowey) 18th District of New York (Rep. Sean Maloney) 19th District of New York (Rep. John Faso) 20th District of New York (Rep. Paul Tonko) 21st District of New York (Rep. Elise Stefanik) 22nd District of New York (Rep. Claudia Tenney) 23rd District of New York (Rep. Tom Reed) 24th District of New York (Rep. John Katko) 25th District of New York (Rep. Louise Slaughter) 26th District of New York (Rep. Brian Higgins) 27th District of New York (Rep. Chris Collins)
Commodity subsidies in Albany County, New York totaled $6.6 million from 1995-2017.
Programs included in Subtotal, Farming Subsidies payments
Total Direct Payments $1,663,792
Production Flexibility Contracts $1,327,775
Total Dairy Program $1,021,453
Mkt. Loss Asst. - Commodity Crops $685,752
Total Agricultural Risk Coverage $496,083
Total Counter Cyclical Payments $362,856
Loan Deficiency Payments $341,305
Market Loss Assistance - Non-commodity $257,730
Deficiency Payments $220,010
Misc. Farm - Subsidies $196,562
Total Lamb Payments $23,651
Total Livestock Indemnity Program $20,903
Total Price Loss Coverage $13,481
Wool And Mohair Programs $9,963
Marketing Loan Gains $8,301
Oilseed Program $61
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14349
|
__label__wiki
| 0.944484
| 0.944484
|
Craven County, North Carolina
Pick a county North Carolina State Total Alamance County, North Carolina Alexander County, North Carolina Alleghany County, North Carolina Anson County, North Carolina Ashe County, North Carolina Avery County, North Carolina Beaufort County, North Carolina Bertie County, North Carolina Bladen County, North Carolina Brunswick County, North Carolina Buncombe County, North Carolina Burke County, North Carolina Cabarrus County, North Carolina Caldwell County, North Carolina Camden County, North Carolina Carteret County, North Carolina Caswell County, North Carolina Catawba County, North Carolina Chatham County, North Carolina Cherokee County, North Carolina Chowan County, North Carolina Clay County, North Carolina Cleveland County, North Carolina Columbus County, North Carolina Craven County, North Carolina Cumberland County, North Carolina Currituck County, North Carolina Dare County, North Carolina Davidson County, North Carolina Davie County, North Carolina Duplin County, North Carolina Durham County, North Carolina Edgecombe County, North Carolina Forsyth County, North Carolina Franklin County, North Carolina Gaston County, North Carolina Gates County, North Carolina Graham County, North Carolina Granville County, North Carolina Greene County, North Carolina Guilford County, North Carolina Halifax County, North Carolina Harnett County, North Carolina Haywood County, North Carolina Henderson County, North Carolina Hertford County, North Carolina Hoke County, North Carolina Hyde County, North Carolina Iredell County, North Carolina Jackson County, North Carolina Johnston County, North Carolina Jones County, North Carolina Lee County, North Carolina Lenoir County, North Carolina Lincoln County, North Carolina McDowell County, North Carolina Macon County, North Carolina Madison County, North Carolina Martin County, North Carolina Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Mitchell County, North Carolina Montgomery County, North Carolina Moore County, North Carolina Nash County, North Carolina New Hanover County, North Carolina Northampton County, North Carolina Onslow County, North Carolina Orange County, North Carolina Pamlico County, North Carolina Pasquotank County, North Carolina Pender County, North Carolina Perquimans County, North Carolina Person County, North Carolina Pitt County, North Carolina Polk County, North Carolina Randolph County, North Carolina Richmond County, North Carolina Robeson County, North Carolina Rockingham County, North Carolina Rowan County, North Carolina Rutherford County, North Carolina Sampson County, North Carolina Scotland County, North Carolina Stanly County, North Carolina Stokes County, North Carolina Surry County, North Carolina Swain County, North Carolina Transylvania County, North Carolina Tyrrell County, North Carolina Union County, North Carolina Vance County, North Carolina Wake County, North Carolina Warren County, North Carolina Washington County, North Carolina Watauga County, North Carolina Wayne County, North Carolina Wilkes County, North Carolina Wilson County, North Carolina Yadkin County, North Carolina Yancey County, North Carolina North Carolina NRCS
Pick a district 1st District of North Carolina (Rep. G.K. Butterfield) 2nd District of North Carolina (Rep. George Holding) 3rd District of North Carolina (Rep. Walter Jones) 4th District of North Carolina (Rep. David Price) 5th District of North Carolina (Rep. Virginia Foxx) 6th District of North Carolina (Rep. Mark Walker) 7th District of North Carolina (Rep. David Rouzer) 8th District of North Carolina (Rep. Richard Hudson) 9th District of North Carolina (Rep. Robert Pittenger) 10th District of North Carolina (Rep. Patrick McHenry) 11th District of North Carolina (Rep. Mark Meadows) 12th District of North Carolina (Rep. Alma Adams) 13th District of North Carolina (Rep. Ted Budd)
in Craven County, North Carolina totaled $0 from 1995-2017.
Programs included in
Total USDA - Subsidies $109,699,510
Subtotal, Farming Subsidies $69,632,639
Cotton Subsidies $40,801,552
Crop Insurance Premium Subsidy $26,288,868
Corn Subsidies $19,364,230
Tobacco Subsidies $15,480,501
Soybean Subsidies $11,824,731
Subtotal, Disaster Payments $10,120,529
Crop Disaster - Program $7,414,397
Subtotal, Conservation Programs $3,657,474
Wheat Subsidies $3,353,625
CRP - Annual Land Rental $2,675,863
SURE - Program Payments $1,617,947
Peanut Subsidies $703,700
Emergency Conservation - Hurricane $285,955
Emergency Conservation - Stafford $280,128
Natural Disaster - 1995 $182,978
CRP - Cost Share $173,769
Non-insured Assistance $171,294
Emergency Conservation - FY17 $153,041
EQIP - Regular $146,879
Sorghum Subsidies $121,537
2009 Crop Disaster Program $114,891
SURE - 2010 Recovery Act Payments for Crop Year 2008 $93,532
Programmatic Environmental Assistance - Hurricane Indemnity $71,246
Livestock Subsidies $67,009
ACP - Regular $32,055
Trade Adjustment for Farmers $32,000
ACP - Long Term Agreement $17,020
CRP - Signing Incentive $14,880
Emergency Forestry Restoration Program $12,658
EQIP - Acp $10,724
Quality Losses Program $7,444
Disaster Supplemental $6,761
CRP - Practice Incentive $6,435
Emergency Conservation - Other $4,952
Oat Subsidies $4,659
CRP - Incentives $4,211
Tree Subsidies $3,875
Barley Subsidies $1,344
Interest Penalty Payments $998
WRP - Cost Share $727
Fish Subsidies $218
Safflower Subsidies $142
Sunflower Subsidies $9
Canola Subsidies $7
Direct Payment - Late Fees $-700
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14350
|
__label__wiki
| 0.901343
| 0.901343
|
Int’l court prosecutor reports progress in Palestinian probe
By MIKE CORDER
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — International Criminal Court prosecutors intend to complete “as early as possible” a long-running preliminary investigation into allegations of crimes in the Palestinian territories, according to a report issued Wednesday.
The annual report by ICC prosecutors on progress in nine so-called preliminary examinations underway at the court, said that the Palestinian territories probe “has advanced and significantly progressed” analysis of whether legal conditions for opening a case have been met.
Those legal conditions include whether alleged crimes were serious enough to be dealt with at the global tribunal and whether local authorities are investigating and prosecuting the crimes. The ICC is a court of last resort that only takes on cases when local courts cannot or will not prosecute.
ICC prosecutors have been conducting a preliminary inquiry since 2015 in the Palestinian territories, including Israel’s settlement policy, crimes allegedly committed by both sides in the 2014 Gaza conflict and Hamas rocket attacks aimed at Israeli civilians.
Israel is not a member of the court and doesn’t accept ICC jurisdiction. But Israeli forces could face charges if they are suspected of committing crimes on Palestinian territories. The court has accepted the “State of Palestine” as a member.
In another high-profile preliminary examination, prosecutors said they expect to finish “in the near future” their assessment of possible cases arising from a probe into alleged crimes by British forces in Iraq, “with a view to reaching a final determination within the best possible timeframe.”
The prosecutor’s office currently has nine preliminary probes underway. Others focus on Colombia, Guinea, Nigeria, the Philippines, Ukraine, Venezuela and Bangladesh, where prosecutors are looking at alleged crimes committed by Myanmar forces against Rohingya Muslims.
Judges are expected to shortly rule on a request by chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s request, made more than a year ago, to open a full-scale investigation into Afghanistan that also would cover alleged crimes in CIA secret detention facilities in Europe.
Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
Government News World News
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14351
|
__label__cc
| 0.695055
| 0.304945
|
Tag: Wall Street
Book: Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt
book, high frequency trading, iex, michael lewis, public markets, Wall Street
A cliche I’ve heard many times is “Wall Street Always Wins.” The first week of 2016 in the public markets has been an entertaining reminder of this.
In 1998, when I started ending up with lots of shares in public Internet companies, I came up with a formulaic approach for any public equities that are distributed to me (either from our funds or other VC funds). The approach was mathematic, dispassionate, and easy for me to execute. Over the past 18 years this strategy served me well.
In 2002, I decided not to own any public company stocks except for companies that I directly invested in as private companies. I sold whatever remaining public company shares I still had post Internet bubble and took an entirely different approach to the public markets.
While I have still have plenty of public equity, it is through either index funds, equity fund managers that I have a long term relationship with, or a few companies that I invested in when they were private companies. And, for the last category (the shares I own personally), I still use the long-term formulaic approach I came up with in 1998.
I’m a big believer in the Bogle school of thought about owning the market, rather than trading stocks. As a result, I don’t have to pay attention to the public markets on a daily basis. Or a weekly basis. Or an monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Or basically, at all. That lets me focus all of my mental energy on what I like and what I think I’m good at (which is not being a stock picker or trader.)
The first finance course I took at MIT was 15.401: Finance Theory I and was taught by Stewart Myers. I remember the cover of the textbook, fondly called Brealey and Myers, what the Capital Asset Pricing Model is, and a few other things. Even though my future business partner Dave Jilk told me that he enjoyed the finance classes he had taken, I didn’t, and after taking 15.402 (which was required for my masters degree), I was done with corporate finance after taking the final exam.
Except – not really – since a big part of my job is corporate finance, just for startups and fast growing companies. However, unlike the evolution of the 15.4xx finance classes, and the extreme amount of financial engineering and financial innovations (both good, bad, and questionable) that came out of MIT research and MIT professors, most of the math involved for a venture capitalist can be done in one’s head, as long as you are decent at arithmetic.
But, for some reason, I occasionally like reading about Wall Street and corporate finance. Some of it is akin to watching the inevitable train wreck that surfaces in books like The Big Short. Some of it is to try to understand human motivation and behavior in a sphere that I don’t encounter often. And some of it is just to learn something that, in some parallel universe, I might be participating in.
Flash Boys was a good capstone to the last week of wallowing in the global financial crisis of 2008, which I began by watching the movie The Big Short. Once again, Michael Lewis took a hard topic and made it accessible, fun, interesting, and character heavy. After reading the book and then poking around IEX, the alternative trading system at the center of the story, I got a fun bonus by discovering that Spark Capital and Bain Capital Ventures are both investors in IEX.
I’m probably done for a while reading about Wall Street. But, once again, after reading Flash Boys, the cliche “Wall Street Always Wins” rings true in my brain.
Why Every Company Needs A DevOps Team Now
business, Cloud Computing, DevOps, management, Wall Street
An increasing number of companies we are investors in are focused on DevOps. A year or so ago I read an early draft of a new book titled The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win. I really enjoyed it and asked Gene Kim, one of the authors to write a guest post on DevOps. He wrote it a while ago and it has sat in my draft queue waiting for the perfect moment to emerge. That moment is now. Following is a guest post on DevOps by Gene Kim, Multiple Award-Winning CTO, Researcher, Visible Ops Co-Author, Entrepreneur & Founder of Tripwire.
Since 1999, my passion has been studying high performing IT organizations. On this journey, we benchmarked 1,500 IT organization to understand what differentiated the highest performing organizations and allowed them to do what the others only dreamed of. Our findings went into a book that we published in 2004 called The Visible Ops Handbook, which described how these organizations made their “good to great” transformation.
Since then, this journey has taken me straight into the heart of the DevOps movement. Although I initially dismissed DevOps as just another marketing fad, my friend John Willis corrected me, in the way that only true friends can do, saying, “Don’t be dense. DevOps finally proves how IT can be a strategic advantage that allows a business to beat the pants off the competition. This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for.”
In that moment, I saw the light. Over the years, I’ve come to believe with moral certainty that everyone needs DevOps now, especially software startups where the successful execution of Development and IT Operations preordain success or failure.
Today, we can see how DevOps patterns enable organizations like Etsy, Netflix, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter and Google to achieve levels of performance that were unthinkable even five years ago. They are doing tens, hundreds or even thousands of code deploys per day, while delivering world-class stability, reliability and security.
DevOps refers to the emerging professional movement that advocates a collaborative working relationship between Development and IT Operations, resulting in the fast flow of planned work (i.e., high deploy rates), while simultaneously increasing the reliability, stability, resilience of the production environment.
The culture and practices that enable DevOps to happen cannot be delegated away. In a growing startup where teams start to specialize and multiply, the chaos of daily work often starts to slow down the smooth flow of work between Development and IT Operations, sometimes even resulting in outright tribal warfare.
In this blog post, I’ll describe what this downward spiral looks like, and what everyone in the company must do to break this destructive pattern and ensure that Development and IT Operations work together in a way that creates such a competitive advantage that it may almost seem unfair.
Why Everyone Needs DevOps
There is currently a core, chronic conflict that exists in almost every IT organization. It is so powerful that it practically pre-ordains horrible outcomes, if not abject failure. It happens in both large and small organizations, for-profit and non-profit, and across every type of industry.
In fact, this destructive pattern is the root cause of one of the biggest problems we face as an industry. But, if we can beat it, we’ll have the potential to generate more economic value than anything we’ve seen in the previous 30 years.
I’m going to share with you what this destructive pattern is in Three Acts, that will surely be familiar to you. (You can get the whole story in my book, The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win).
Act I begins with IT Operations, where we’re supporting a large, complex revenue generating application. The problem is that everyone knows that the application and supporting infrastructure is… fragile.
How do we know? Because every time anyone touches it, it breaks horrifically, causing an epic amount of unplanned work for everyone.
The shameful part is how we find out about the outage: Instead of through an internal monitoring tool, it’s a salesperson calling, saying, “Hey, Gene, something strange is happening. Our revenue pipeline stopped for two hours.” Or, “the banner ads in my market are being served upside down and in Spanish.”
There are so many moving parts that it takes way too long to figure out what caused the problem du jour, which means we’re spending more and more time on unplanned work and increasingly unable to get our planned work done.
Eventually, our ability to support the most important applications and business initiatives goes down. When this happens, the organization suddenly finds itself unable to achieve the promises and commitments made to the outside world, whether it’s investors, customers, analysts or Wall Street.
Promised features aren’t delivered on time, market share isn’t going up, average order sizes are going down, specific revenue goals are being missed…And that’s when something really terrible happens.
In Act 2, everyone’s lives gets worse when the business starts making even bigger promises to the people we let down, to compensate for the promises we previously broke. Often, the entire organization starts dreaming up bigger, bolder features that are sure to dazzle the marketplace, but without the best grasp on what technology can and can’t do, or fully realizing what caused us to miss our commitments in the first place.
Enter the Developers. They start seeing more and more urgent date-driven projects put in the queue, often requiring things that the organization has never done before. Because the date can’t be moved (because of all those external promises made), everyone has to start cutting corners.
Development must focus on getting the features done, so the corners that get cut are all the non-functional requirements (e.g., manageability, scalability, reliability, security, and so forth). This means that technical debt starts to increase. And that means increasingly fragile infrastructure in production.
It is called “technical debt” for a reason—because technical debt, like financial debt, compounds.
When technical debt begins to accumulate, something very insidious starts happening. Our deployments start taking longer. What used to take an hour now takes three hours, then a day, then two days—which is okay, because it can still get it done in a weekend. But then it takes three days, and then a week, then two weeks!
Our deployments become so expensive and so difficult that the business says that we have to lengthen the deployment intervals, which goes against all our instincts and training. We know that we need to shrink the batch sizes, not make them bigger, because large changes make for larger failures.
The flow of features slows to a trickle, the deployments take even longer, more things go wrong, and because of all the moving pieces, issues take even longer to diagnose. Our best Dev and Ops people are spending all their time firefighting, and blaming each other when things go wrong.
I’m guessing that most of you can relate to at least some portions of this story? As I said, this happens both in large enterprises and growing startups alike. In my fifteen years of research in this area, I’ve found almost all IT professionals have experienced this cycle.
Act 3: How DevOps Breaks Us Out Of Our Downward Spiral
We know that there must be better way, right? DevOps is the proof that it’s possible to break the core, chronic conflict, so we can deliver a fast flow of features without causing chaos and disruption to the production environment.
When John Allspaw and Paul Hammond gave their seminal “10+ Deploys Per Day: Dev and Ops Cooperation at Flickr” presentation at the 2009 Velocity Conference, people were shocked and amazed, if not outright fainting in the aisles at the audaciousness of their achievement.
It wasn’t a fluke. Other organizations such as Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and the ever-growing DevOps community have replicated their performance, doing hundreds, and even thousands, of deployments per day. DevOps is not only for large, established companies. It’s for any company where the achievement of business goals rely upon both Development and IT Operations. These days, that means almost every company.
We all need to be putting DevOps-like practices into place. This is why Kevin Behr, George Spafford, and I wrote The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win.
A novel, you might ask? How is a novel going to solve my problems?
As a friend once told me, “Before you can solve a complex problem, you must first have empathy for the other stakeholders. And story-telling is most effective means of creating a shared understanding of the problem.”
Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt demonstrated the power of a novel as a teaching tool through his book, The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement. It’s a novel written in the 1980s about a plant manager who has 90 days to fix his cost and due date issues or his plant will be shut down. When I read this book nearly 15 years ago, I knew that this story was important, and that there was much I needed to learn, even though I never managed or worked in a manufacturing plant.
It isn’t an overstatement to say that The Goal and Dr. Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints changed my life—in fact, it probably was one of the biggest influences on my professional thinking. For eight years, my co-authors and I wanted to write The Phoenix Project, because we all believed that IT is not a department, but a strategic capability that every business must have.
As you can imagine, I was incredibly honored and thrilled when Jez Humble, author of the award-winning book Continuous Delivery recently told me, “This book is a gripping tale that captures brilliantly the dilemmas that face companies which depend on IT. The Phoenix Project will have a profound effect on IT, just as The Goal did for manufacturing.”
Prescriptive Steps
For those of you are looking for some places to start your DevOps journey, here are my three favorite DevOps patterns:
Make sure we have environments available early in the Development process. Enforce a policy that the code and environment are tested together, even at the earliest stages of the project.In the ideal, IT Operations is able to create an environment (that is, everything except for the application code: databases, operating system, networking, virtualization layer, etc.) with one step. That can be as simple as copying a virtual machine, or as complex as an automated build system that generates the environment from scratch (e.g., puppet, chef, etc.)Furthermore, use the same build mechanism to build the Production, Test and Dev environments at the same time. If we modify the Agile sprint policy so that instead of merely having shippable code, we have shippable code and the environment that it runs within, we’ll have done code deployments many, many times when it’s time for the real-life production deployment.
“Wake up developers up at 2 a.m. when they break things.” Yep, you heard me. This quote came from Patrick Lightbody, the CEO and founder of BrowserMob. He continued, “When we woke up developers, we found that defects got fixed faster than ever.”The goal is to shorten and amplify feedback loops, and to bring Development closer to the customer experience. In DevOps work streams, developers often deploy their own code, and fixes forward when things go wrong. By doing this, developers can see the consequences of their decisions and actions.(Note the symmetry here: the previous pattern #1 about making environments available early is all about embedding IT Operations into Development, while this pattern is about putting Development into IT Operations.)
Create reusable deployment procedures: When every deployment is done differently, every production environment can become different, like snowflakes. When this occurs, no mastery is ever built in the organization in procedures or configurations. As Luke Kanies said, “If your infrastructure is special, you’re doing it wrong.”To make this reality, create reusable user story for IT Operations, such as “Deploy app into high availability environment,” which then goes on to define exactly the steps to build the environment, as well as how long it takes, what resources are required, etc.By doing this, we codify the deployment and engineering procedures requires to build reliable, resilient and properly configured environments, and can then factor that into our planning processes, such as in the PMO.
If you enjoyed this taste of DevOps and believe it can help achieve your goals, “The Phoenix Project” is available now, or you can download a free 170 page excerpt of the book. And of course, you can always find the latest writings on DevOps at the IT Revolution blog, where you can get our free whitepaper “The Top 11 Things You Need To Know About DevOps.”
Long live DevOps!
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14352
|
__label__wiki
| 0.677937
| 0.677937
|
Practice, not a game
Ed. note: The following was slated to run on the special CSN 10th Anniversary Web site, but was spiked because the content, I was told, was a sore spot with certain folks. I'm not sure who those folks are (actually, I am, but I'm not going to tell you), but I was also told to save the essay for my blog. I never felt like it fit until now because Allen Iverson will play in Philadelphia for the first time since his trade to Denver. When Comcast SportsNet hit the cable airwaves in these parts on Oct. 1, 1997 it literally changed how diehard sports fans watch their games. Actually, it changed nothing about how we sit around and watch a routine ballgame on any given Tuesday night on the calendar. No, Comcast SportsNet changed how we watch the games. Emphasis, as stated, on watch. What changed wasn't a person's rudimentary knowledge of the sport or the rules or whatever. It's a little more nuanced than that. Instead, what Comcast SportsNet did was take the pre- and post-game media scrums and turned on a camera. Sounds simple, huh? Well, sometimes the smartest move is the most obvious one. Yet by making that simple, smart move, CSN gave the viewers at home essentially the same vantage point as most of the reporters covering the games - only without the player interaction and clubhouse towel-snapping and whatnot. And trust me, that is no great perk. Nevertheless, by turning on the cameras for the press conferences and locker room action, Comcast SportsNet gave the intuitive fan something a little more breathable than the five-second sound byte on the evening news mixed in with 90-seconds of highlights. It also made the quotes in the newspaper a little more tangible. Instead of reading between the lines of a quote for the deeper meaning, or relying on the analysis of desk jockeys breaking down the game on the post-game show, fans were given the chance to deconstruct a player's words. Body language, facial expressions and inflection of voice were all there to be translated in any manner a fan chose. Sure, it is still true that the best quotes and the best stories are still the dominion of the print media. This little caveat of the sports media is unlikely to change and there are many reasons why. One, of course, is that a conversation between one player and one scribe is typically more revealing than the one between a player, an interviewer, a cameraman and the thousands of folks watching at home. Players are human and humans prefer the intimate nature of a quiet conversation between small groups of people. When those camera lights go on sometimes even the most seasoned player sweat, shake and quiver with nervousness. Being on TV, even in this age of media over-saturation, is still a big deal. Until everyone is wired (wireless) with a microphone for their own web site(s), the dichotomy between TV and newspapers covering sports is not going to change. But as for the everyday press conference with the players and the coaches, Comcast SportsNet changed the game. It's all there, unedited and unfiltered. Now it's hard to discern whether or not turning the basic press conference into reality television is an act of genius or not. After all, it doesn't take Stephen Hawking to figure out that sports fans want as much access to their sports heroes as possible. Genius, of course is in the eye of the beholder - one man's Picasso is another man's velvet Elvis. However, one of the greatest moments in the history of television (at least in the last 10 years) was aired live on Comcast SportsNet - unbleeped. That moment was on May 8, 2002 when Allen Iverson delivered his famous "practice" press conference. OK. I know what you're thinking. You are questioning the hyperbolic notion that Allen Iverson talking about practice (not a game) was some sort of transcendent TV moment like the last episode of MASH or something like that. I guess in that regard, you are right. But not by much. Here's why the Iverson moment was touchstone event: It transcended mere sports and became an actual figment of the pop culture. The phrase, "We're talkin' ‘bout practice, man," has entered the popular lexicon and become a significant slab of cultural wallpaper. Still not buying it? OK, try this: In July of 2006 I was walking with my family on the Pearl Street pedestrian mall in Boulder, Colo., which is that town's version of South Street only it's cleaner, more eclectic and filled with vagabonds begging for change wearing $250 peasants' shirts and $125 Merrell sandals. About 10 minutes into a walk past falafel stands, smoothie shops and kiosks advertising the gigs for the latest touring jam band, a kid on a skateboard wiped out right at my feet. I gave him a moment to catch his breath (my son chased down his board) and then offered a hand to get the kid back on his feet. Once I realized he was OK and would live to skate (or die!) another day, I said, "Looks like you need a little more practice." "Practice," he said, without hesitation and as he brushed a well-coifed dread from his face. "We're talkin' about practice." Then he smiled and skated away. Has anyone ever heard of a skateboard kid quoting Jim Mora's "Playoffs" screed, another famous post-game rant that was captured on live TV? How about Howard Dean's demented rebel yell? I sincerely doubt it. But Allen Iverson, thanks to Comcast SportsNet's foresight, gave that wannabe Neil Blender in Boulder a quipy line to throw back at some smart-alecky, 30-something from Pennsylvania. And we are all the better for it. OK, you concede, the Iverson press conference was a cultural phenomenon. But didn't the Terrell Owens press conferences from his driveway - including the one where he invited everyone over to watch him do sit-ups - supersede Iverson's, "Practice"? No, and here's why: If you go to the circus and see a man swallow a two-foot sword engorged with flames, it isn't news. It's odd and maybe a bit disturbing when one wonders about how that circus performer (is "freak" the proper nomenclature?) discovered he had the innate ability to swallow fiery objects. Just how does he practice? Certainly the swallower has made mistakes while honing his act... what happened as the result of those sessions besides a few new scars and an interest in the stock performance of Bactine? The point is that the dude swallowing the sword at the circus is simply doing his job. That's it. He's punching the clock. When Terrell Owens and his agent were doing their little song and dance in the driveway it was the same exact thing as the guy in the circus - it wasn't news, it was just a performance-art piece. But what set Comcast SportsNet apart on May 8, 2002 was that it could tell a story better than anyone else simply by turning on the cameras and getting the heck out of the way. The second coming of Damon Runyan or Red Smith could never do justice to Iverson's words. Actually, you be the judge. First, here's is the video from that press conference. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI&hl=en] And here is the transcript of the press conference:
"If Coach tells you that I missed practice, then that's that. I may have missed one practice this year, but if somebody says he missed one practice of all the practices this year, then that's enough to get a whole lot started. I told Coach Brown that you don't have to give the people of Philadelphia a reason to think about trading me or anything like that. If you trade somebody, you trade them to make the team better... simple as that. I'm cool with that. I'm all about that. The people in Philadelphia deserve to have a winner. It's simple as that. It goes further than that... If I can't practice, I can't practice. It is as simple as that. It ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about practice. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last, but we're talking about practice man. How silly is that? ... Now I know that I'm supposed to lead by example, and all that, but I'm not shoving that aside like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I honestly do, but we're talking about practice. We're talking about practice man. We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We're not talking about the game. We're talking about practice. When you come to the arena, and you see me play -- you've seen me play right -- you've seen me give everything I've got, but we're talking about practice right now. ... Hey I hear you; it's funny to me too. Hey it's strange to me too, but we're talking about practice man, we're not even talking about the game, when it actually matters, we're talking about practice ... How the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing?"
See what I mean. The video was so much better. Watching it again all these years later still makes me laugh because it's one of the greatest rants ever. But it also makes me remember how Allen Iverson played when he was with the 76ers. Sure, there were other issues with Iverson that will be deciphered and agonized over for decades to come, but no one can deny that Iverson was entertaining. He played hard, he played to win and, yes, even gave us a good show. Yeah, maybe people wanted Steve Nash as the undersized guard leading the title run, but when Iverson was here no one ever complained about being bored. Better yet, we got to see the whole act, live, on Comcast SportsNet.
Posted at 12:00 AM in Allen Iverson, CSN | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
Ed. note: The following was slated to run on the special CSN 10th Anniversary Web site, but was spiked because the content, I was told, was a sore spot with certain folks. I'm not sure who those folks are (actually, I am, but I'm not going to tell you), but I was also told to save the essay for my blog. I never felt like it fit until now because Allen Iverson will play in Philadelphia for the first time since his trade to Denver.
When Comcast SportsNet hit the cable airwaves in these parts on Oct. 1, 1997 it literally changed how diehard sports fans watch their games.
Actually, it changed nothing about how we sit around and watch a routine ballgame on any given Tuesday night on the calendar. No, Comcast SportsNet changed how we watch the games. Emphasis, as stated, on watch.
What changed wasn't a person's rudimentary knowledge of the sport or the rules or whatever. It's a little more nuanced than that. Instead, what Comcast SportsNet did was take the pre- and post-game media scrums and turned on a camera.
Sounds simple, huh? Well, sometimes the smartest move is the most obvious one. Yet by making that simple, smart move, CSN gave the viewers at home essentially the same vantage point as most of the reporters covering the games - only without the player interaction and clubhouse towel-snapping and whatnot. And trust me, that is no great perk.
Nevertheless, by turning on the cameras for the press conferences and locker room action, Comcast SportsNet gave the intuitive fan something a little more breathable than the five-second sound byte on the evening news mixed in with 90-seconds of highlights. It also made the quotes in the newspaper a little more tangible. Instead of reading between the lines of a quote for the deeper meaning, or relying on the analysis of desk jockeys breaking down the game on the post-game show, fans were given the chance to deconstruct a player's words. Body language, facial expressions and inflection of voice were all there to be translated in any manner a fan chose.
Sure, it is still true that the best quotes and the best stories are still the dominion of the print media. This little caveat of the sports media is unlikely to change and there are many reasons why. One, of course, is that a conversation between one player and one scribe is typically more revealing than the one between a player, an interviewer, a cameraman and the thousands of folks watching at home. Players are human and humans prefer the intimate nature of a quiet conversation between small groups of people. When those camera lights go on sometimes even the most seasoned player sweat, shake and quiver with nervousness. Being on TV, even in this age of media over-saturation, is still a big deal. Until everyone is wired (wireless) with a microphone for their own web site(s), the dichotomy between TV and newspapers covering sports is not going to change.
But as for the everyday press conference with the players and the coaches, Comcast SportsNet changed the game. It's all there, unedited and unfiltered. Now it's hard to discern whether or not turning the basic press conference into reality television is an act of genius or not. After all, it doesn't take Stephen Hawking to figure out that sports fans want as much access to their sports heroes as possible. Genius, of course is in the eye of the beholder - one man's Picasso is another man's velvet Elvis. However, one of the greatest moments in the history of television (at least in the last 10 years) was aired live on Comcast SportsNet - unbleeped. That moment was on May 8, 2002 when Allen Iverson delivered his famous "practice" press conference.
OK. I know what you're thinking. You are questioning the hyperbolic notion that Allen Iverson talking about practice (not a game) was some sort of transcendent TV moment like the last episode of MASH or something like that. I guess in that regard, you are right. But not by much.
Here's why the Iverson moment was touchstone event: It transcended mere sports and became an actual figment of the pop culture. The phrase, "We're talkin' ‘bout practice, man," has entered the popular lexicon and become a significant slab of cultural wallpaper.
Still not buying it? OK, try this:
In July of 2006 I was walking with my family on the Pearl Street pedestrian mall in Boulder, Colo., which is that town's version of South Street only it's cleaner, more eclectic and filled with vagabonds begging for change wearing $250 peasants' shirts and $125 Merrell sandals. About 10 minutes into a walk past falafel stands, smoothie shops and kiosks advertising the gigs for the latest touring jam band, a kid on a skateboard wiped out right at my feet. I gave him a moment to catch his breath (my son chased down his board) and then offered a hand to get the kid back on his feet. Once I realized he was OK and would live to skate (or die!) another day, I said, "Looks like you need a little more practice."
"Practice," he said, without hesitation and as he brushed a well-coifed dread from his face. "We're talkin' about practice."
Then he smiled and skated away.
Has anyone ever heard of a skateboard kid quoting Jim Mora's "Playoffs" screed, another famous post-game rant that was captured on live TV? How about Howard Dean's demented rebel yell? I sincerely doubt it.
But Allen Iverson, thanks to Comcast SportsNet's foresight, gave that wannabe Neil Blender in Boulder a quipy line to throw back at some smart-alecky, 30-something from Pennsylvania. And we are all the better for it.
OK, you concede, the Iverson press conference was a cultural phenomenon. But didn't the Terrell Owens press conferences from his driveway - including the one where he invited everyone over to watch him do sit-ups - supersede Iverson's, "Practice"?
No, and here's why:
If you go to the circus and see a man swallow a two-foot sword engorged with flames, it isn't news. It's odd and maybe a bit disturbing when one wonders about how that circus performer (is "freak" the proper nomenclature?) discovered he had the innate ability to swallow fiery objects. Just how does he practice? Certainly the swallower has made mistakes while honing his act... what happened as the result of those sessions besides a few new scars and an interest in the stock performance of Bactine?
The point is that the dude swallowing the sword at the circus is simply doing his job. That's it. He's punching the clock. When Terrell Owens and his agent were doing their little song and dance in the driveway it was the same exact thing as the guy in the circus - it wasn't news, it was just a performance-art piece.
But what set Comcast SportsNet apart on May 8, 2002 was that it could tell a story better than anyone else simply by turning on the cameras and getting the heck out of the way. The second coming of Damon Runyan or Red Smith could never do justice to Iverson's words.
Actually, you be the judge. First, here's is the video from that press conference. And here is the transcript of the press conference:
"If Coach tells you that I missed practice, then that's that. I may have missed one practice this year, but if somebody says he missed one practice of all the practices this year, then that's enough to get a whole lot started.
I told Coach Brown that you don't have to give the people of Philadelphia a reason to think about trading me or anything like that. If you trade somebody, you trade them to make the team better... simple as that. I'm cool with that. I'm all about that. The people in Philadelphia deserve to have a winner. It's simple as that.
It goes further than that... If I can't practice, I can't practice. It is as simple as that. It ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about practice. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last, but we're talking about practice man. How silly is that? ...
Now I know that I'm supposed to lead by example, and all that, but I'm not shoving that aside like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I honestly do, but we're talking about practice. We're talking about practice man. We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We're not talking about the game. We're talking about practice. When you come to the arena, and you see me play -- you've seen me play right -- you've seen me give everything I've got, but we're talking about practice right now. ...
Hey I hear you; it's funny to me too. Hey it's strange to me too, but we're talking about practice man, we're not even talking about the game, when it actually matters, we're talking about practice ... How the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing?"
See what I mean. The video was so much better. Watching it again all these years later still makes me laugh because it's one of the greatest rants ever. But it also makes me remember how Allen Iverson played when he was with the 76ers. Sure, there were other issues with Iverson that will be deciphered and agonized over for decades to come, but no one can deny that Iverson was entertaining. He played hard, he played to win and, yes, even gave us a good show. Yeah, maybe people wanted Steve Nash as the undersized guard leading the title run, but when Iverson was here no one ever complained about being bored.
Ever since the baseball season ended, I've been asked by more than a few people what I have planned -- as if I only have to work when the baseball season is in bloom.
Seriously, I plan on staying busy with our web site at CSN -- a.k.a. the Little Engine that Could. I also plan on branching out by writing about anything and everything that catches my fancy. Hey, I'm no one-trick pony.
Hopefully, I can complete a few creative projects I've been working on as well as some longer fiction. As far as writing goes, developing those creative ideas and working out new and interesting ideas and concepts is my short and long-term goal.
As far as sports goes, keep checking back here to be updated on my observation and musing on baseball and everything else. I don't plan on closing up shop just because the seasons change. Not at all. The NFL is heating up and another NHL season is underway. Plus, the NBA and Big 5 are just around the corner. Most interestingly -- to me, anyway -- is the Fall marathon season, which will feature a big -time race in new York and Chicago. In fact, the NYC marathon could have its deepest field ever.
Along those lines, the big Harrisburg Marathon is set for Nov. 12. Let's hope for nice temperatures, no rain and a tailwind.
Elsewhere, the Phillies Scribes Football League is heading for the midway point of the season with the Lancaster entry leading in the points category... if only we can string a few more victories in there, too.
Besides, baseball season never really ends anymore. It just enters different phases.
So, yeah, it will be busy around here. A little less rushed, but busy nonetheless.
Kenny Moore's biography on legendary Oregon track coach and Nike co-founder, Bill Bowerman, is excellent. So much so that the book is difficult to put down and I haven't even gotten to the deep Nike or Prefontaine parts yet.
I also picked up Bob Woodward's latest on the strength of the reviews and the fact that I really enjoyed his Nixon and Watergate epics. Yes, there was a time when I thought I was going to be a presidential historian.
On another note, Jonathan Safran Foer's first two novels still haunt me. Wow, he can write.
Is that really Keith Jones as the analyst for Flyers telecasts? You mean he's watching the entire game? We'll dig deeper into that one soon.
Check this out -- a story about how bad the Philadelphia fans are in The New York Times and not a single mention of Santa Claus.
Posted at 12:00 AM in CSN, Jonesy, misc. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14357
|
__label__wiki
| 0.758467
| 0.758467
|
I think a genealogist would be able to help, at least a little? If you decide to go down that route I can recommend one who won't rip you off, overcharge, invent stuff or whatever No relation and I'm not on commission!
Thanks Frides
My eldest Brother went down the genealogy route a few years back and drew a blank.
The issue being is that the old girls’ (we always referred to the great aunt as the old girl) family were Yiddish, we believe that the family came to England and settled in the Eastend at some time in the 1870’s, and it’s probable that in keeping with the common practice of the time, they angelized their names, so to find out anymore we would need to know the angelized name, and that we don’t.
In any case the above is only what my eldest brother (he’s 10 years older than me) could remember of the old girl telling him back in the 1960’ when he was a kid, so any information we do have is coming from a memory from 50 years ago..
Likes: ramonmercado and Frideswide
Part of mine arrived in Hull in about 1913 - the name is/was "Colbeck" but we have no idea what they were before
Quite often frides, the name was changed to a more English sounding name, but still had some elements of the original.
For example, the family name of Lew and Michael Grade (of ITV and Channel 4 fame) was originally Winogradsky, they were also Eastend Jews, who originated from Russia, and later settled in the Bethnal Green slum of the Old Nichol (where both my wife and myself are originally from)
any ideas for "Colbeck"? I wondered about Cohen; european jewish friends have suggested that it may be a translation of something...
Colbeck's a place name, so it could be near where they settled.
That's interesting. Lincolnshire....
Do you know the address, what number Brady Street?
Might be some information on a census?
Your family sound unusual immigrating in the 1870's...most Jews in that area had been there since early 1700's (Sephardim), early 1800's (a few from Germany) or after 1881 (from Eastern Europe.)
Part of family also come from the site of the Old Nichol rookery, or more accurately the Boundary Estate as it became.
Then I’m in good company Victory, as kids we always referred to the Boundary estate as the Nichol, the flat I grew up in (Abingdon House) was on old Nichol Street, and the future wife, lived in the flat below – mother in law is still in the area, although now just round the corner from the Nichol in Colombia Road, bless her.
How far back did your family live there, perhaps I knew them.
And no sadly we know nothing of the original family name or the assumed Anglian one it changed to, or any house numbers in Brady St that they may have lived in – we always assumed they were fleeing the pogroms.
Likes: Victory
Way back in 1911 Dick!
By the 30's they had moved further East to Bow.
They left Eastern Europe after Jack The Ripper's time.
I was round Old Nichol Street a couple of weeks ago, and Colombia Road.
When I am there I often wonder what my great-grandparents would have made of the organic vegan cafes and pop-up clothes stores around there now.
Probably would have tried to get a job in them.
Likes: Dick Turpin and Frideswide
1911, I’m not that old Vic lol. Ha ha
I don’t like going back to be honest with you, although it’s changed for the better, it just doesn’t seem like a place I recognise any more.
The last time I was in Colombia road was the 5th February 2006, I was in the Royal Oak, (of Goodnight sweetheart fame, and lock stock and the final One foot in the grave and many others ) and the wife rung my mobile and told me she was in Labour.
OMG I said, shall I call an ambulance, and she said no it’ll be hours before we need to go to the hospital, so I ordered another pint of Guinness…lol
Anyway back on topic – I think I’ve asked this question before on this board, so sorry if I have but - has the diary 100% been exposed as a fake, and if so any details as to who exposed it and how it was exposed…?
Likes: Victory, Yithian and Frideswide
DNA aside, isn't the provenance of the shawl questionable?
Likes: MorningAngel and Dick Turpin
GerdaWordyer said:
According to the new study, a silk shawl was found by the body of Catherine Eddowes, a victim killed by Jack the Ripper during the early morning hours of Sept. 30, 1888.
Acting Sgt. Amos Simpson reportedly took this 8-foot-long (2.4 meters) shawl from the crime scene; the shawl was reportedly passed down through his family for generations until it was sold in 2007 to amateur sleuth Russell Edwards, who made it available to scientists for study.
Did the analysis [of the] shawl just provide a major clue in one of London's coldest cases, the identity of Jack the Ripper?
No. It doesn't. Not at all. That's according to two experts, a geneticist and a Ripperologist (a Jack the Ripper historian), who spoke with Live Science about the new study.
In fact, this study has so many holes in it — including the provenance of the shawl, contamination of genetic material on the shawl, and the methods used to analyze this genetic material — that it's a wonder it was published at all, said Turi King, a reader in genetics and archaeology at the University of Leicester, who was not involved in the study.
First and foremost, it's doubtful that the shawl belonged to Eddowes, Jack the Ripper's fourth victim.
London has two police forces. Most of the Jack the Ripper murders happened under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police Service, a force that operates out of Scotland Yard. But Eddowes was killed in an area overseen by the City of London Police.
Acting Sgt. Simpson worked for Scotland Yard, so it's unclear why he would have been working on Eddowes' case, given that it was a City of London Police case, said Paul Begg, a U.K.-based author who has written six historical books about Jack the Ripper, and was not involved with the new study. What's more, Simpson's patrolling area wasn't anywhere near the spot where Eddowes was murdered, so it's strange he would have gone out of his way to travel to the scene of the crime and take the shawl, Begg said.
On top of that, "there's no evidence that a shawl was connected with Catherine Eddowes' murder anyway," Begg told Live Science. "Effectively, the provenance of the shawl is extremely bad."
https://www.livescience.com/65034-jack-the-ripper-shawl-evidence.html
Last edited by a moderator: Mar 25, 2019
Likes: MorningAngel, Ravenstone, Coal and 4 others
Somewhere...out there...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...a-Fox-proof-Jack-Ripper-killed-six-women.html
Vida Loca said:
Can you give a couple of sentences about the link @Vida Loca ? it helps if the link becomes redundant later
Likes: Vida Loca
Oops sorry will do Frideswide.
A new BBC One documentary hosted by Silent Witness star Emilia Fox has applied cutting-edge forensic techniques to re-examine the murders and finally solve them.
Working with criminologists, she believes Polish barber Aaron Kosminski was Jack the Ripper after fresh DNA tests were taken from a blood-stained shawl.
The programme also found evidence that the Ripper had six victims, not five, with Martha Tabram murdered on August 6, 1888 - before the other women.
Fox also uses cold case technology such as the world's first virtual reality dissection table and a bespoke computer system to analyse criminal activity patterns.
She is joined by criminology expert David Wilson to investigate who the killer could have been, what motivated his crimes and how he avoided justice.
Fox said: 'Having worked on crime drama for many years this project has been a truly fascinating insight into how current real police procedure, forensics and technology can be applied to the most famous of unsolved historical crimes.
Likes: Dick Turpin, ramonmercado and Frideswide
woooooHOO!
Likes: Dick Turpin and Vida Loca
That's fine, except Aaron Kosminski isn't JtR. The alleged shawl isn't even a shawl.
If he is JtR you have to explain why he was never arrested, why his hospital notes state he was non violent, and what he was doing during the 18 months between the last murder and his final commitment to an asylum.
Likes: Dick Turpin, Vida Loca and Frideswide
The alleged shawl isn't even a shaw
why? what makes it not a shawl?
Shawly it's obvious?
Likes: pandacracker, Dick Turpin, GerdaWordyer and 2 others
It's a tablecloth as several people have pointed out.
I should repeat what I have previously posted - there is simply not enough evidence to accuse someone of the crimes. Sure, like every other 'ripperologist' I have my favourite suspects but the fact is that there is not, and never will be, enough evidence to resolve the perpetrator.
I would say it's 50/50 whether the real JtR is one of the alleged suspects or someone that no-one has ever heard of.
*attempts to look like a woman who knows the difference between a shawl and a tablecloth*
Likes: GerdaWordyer and Cochise
I honestly think we haven't a clue who JtR was and never will. Like any otter 'Ripperologist' I have my favourite suspects but there is minimal credible evidence against anyone .
My suspects in no particular order:
William Bury
And a wild card :
Francis Thompson
But above all I suspect the actual killer is some anonymous east end dweller we know nothing about.
Likes: Dick Turpin and Coal
*Waitress comes in and covers @Frideswide with plates and cutlery*
Likes: GerdaWordyer and Frideswide
For me, it rather depends on whether it was worn, not the purpose of its design.
If I kill you with a fire poker, it's a weapon. And my headgear is made of tinfoil, but it's still a hat.
So back to fishy provenance.
Well, that's part of the fishy provenance. Yes, someone could have used a tablecloth as a shawl - but it's unlikely.
This was a middle-aged, derelict Victorian prostitute. She might well have used a hessian sack as a shawl.
Likes: pandacracker, Dick Turpin and Frideswide
Crankyoldgit62
Morning, saw the trailer for the BBC documentary, which looked good,but it didn't say when it was going to be shown. Even looked on their website but no joy!!!!
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14370
|
__label__cc
| 0.61282
| 0.38718
|
Skadi Forum > Social Sciences > Politics & Geopolitics > Parties, Organizations, & Activism > Which Party System Do You Believe In?
View Full Version : Which Party System Do You Believe In?
Dagna
Saturday, February 7th, 2009, 04:40 PM
Which party system do you believe in and why?
A party system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_system) is a concept in comparative political science (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_science) concerning the system of government by political parties (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party). The idea is that political parties control the government, have a stable base of mass popular support, and create internal mechanisms for controlling funding, information and nominations.
A single-party state (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-party_state), one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_system) government (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government) in which a single political party (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party) forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election). Sometimes the term de facto single-party state is used to describe a dominant-party system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominant-party_system) where laws or practices prevent the opposition from legally getting power. Some single party states only outlaw opposition parties, while allowing subordinate allied parties to exist as part of a permanent coalition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition) such as a popular front (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_front). Within their own countries, dominant parties ruling over single-party states are often referred to simply as the Party.
A dominant-party system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominant-party_system), or one party dominant system, is a party system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_system) where only one political party (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party) can realistically become the government (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government), by itself or in a coalition government (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_government). Under what has been referred to as "electoralism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoralism)" or "soft authoritarianism", opposition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_Opposition) parties are legally allowed to operate, but are too weak or ineffective to seriously challenge power, perhaps through various forms of corruption (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_corruption), constitutional quirks that intentionally undermine the ability for an effective opposition to thrive, institutional and/or organizational conventions that support the status quo, or finally, and most controversially, inherent cultural values averse to change.
A two-party system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-party_system) is a form of party system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_system) where two major (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_party) political parties (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_parties) dominate voting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vote) in nearly all elections (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election), at every level. As a result, all, or nearly all, elected offices end up being held by candidates endorsed by one of the two major parties. Coalition governments (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_government) occur only rarely in two-party systems.
A multi-party system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-party_system) is a system in which three or more political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition.
Unlike a single-party system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-party_system) (or a non-partisan democracy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-partisan_democracy)), it encourages the general constituency (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituency) to form multiple distinct, officially recognized groups, generally called political parties (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party). Each party competes for votes from the enfranchised (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffrage) constituents (those allowed to vote). A multi-party system is essential for representative democracies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_democracy), because it prevents the leadership of a single party from setting policy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policy) without challenge.
Non-partisan democracy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-partisan_democracy) (also no-party democracy) is a system of representative government (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_democracy) or organization such that universal and periodic elections (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election) take place without reference to political parties (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party).
TheGreatest
I guess single, dominant and non-partisan.
I don't really care about an election between the parties. As the saying goes, we're voting in one Presidential Dictator and cabinet every four years. I think democracy (as it was like in Rome and Greece) would be more efficient if we kept the voting along a non-partisan line, and restrict the elected seats to the institutional bodies (I.E. Senate)
But that's because I am very frustrated to be living in a country in which we have an ineffective multi-party system system, seems we must have a coalition government and very little happens. And when something does happen, it can be very hard to change even decades later
Siebenbürgerin
I'm not so sure. Because a single-party system is in danger of abuse, like it happened with the communistic systems, and a multi-party system proves to be ineffective nowadays. Maybe a two-party system as compromise?
Gustavus Magnus
One party. NSDAP. The one party that was never corrupted or infiltrated, and stayed true.
There can always be factions, though. Competition is good. But one party with core beliefs that you never alter.
Hierwend
I'm pro monarchy.
Norrøn
Multi-party system with a longer timeperiod for each gouvernment. Four years are not long enough to make a difference. The goal for the gouvernment will in that case be re-election instead of real change. Popualistic, short changes and party-loyalty are the results. What we need are more veterans in politics, who have a broader perspective and represent the nation instead of political parties.
And as a sidenote. Political parties are not the way for ethnic, cultural and moral survival of Germanics. There are other and far better ways of achieving our goals. The project called nations will soon cease to excist, and from the ashes a more tribal/regional form of identity will arise.
Koenigsberg
I agree. One party system or no party system.
forkbeard
Sunday, February 8th, 2009, 10:16 AM
I used to like National Socialism when I was a kid but now I think the Soviet system was the best ever devised system. (of course it had a messy start)
In Soviet Russia you had a free health care system, eugenics, ethnic segregation in various republics, national government working in the interests of the people. Everybody had a job. Everybody had two homes; A flat in the city for working during the week, a country Dacha for the weekend and land for growing vegetables.
You had a command economy, a command system to get things done and good environmental credentials. A first class education system with free education for all up to and beyond degree level.
The whole system was based on Platos Republic. In that; the best qualified people to produce pottery are potters. The best qualified people to produce furniture are carpenters.
You don't appoint potters to run the nation. For the task of running the nation you appoint people that love the nation the most (from the gaurdian class). I.E The military, security services, patriots etc. You don't allow capitalists, money worshippers, foreigners and professional conmen (democrats) to run the nation and be gaurdians of the people.
Fortunately Russia now has leaders from the "gaurdian caste" again.
I think Americans in particular have to get through the pavlov dog "anti-communist" programming that they are fed since birth. If you look at all the communist countries now, they are the only ones that don't permit immigration. They all have their own brand and nominally hate each other thereby neutralising the original Marxist intent on internationalism.
Thusnelda
Sunday, February 8th, 2009, 01:07 PM
Maybe a two-party system as compromise?
I don´t think the USA are running that well with their two-party system. :|
I prefer a multi-party sytem, but it should be balanced. And the elected government should be able to run a clear course without any compromises. Because the biggest disadvantage of multi-party systems is the possibility that the opposition blocks everything and ruins the smoothness.
Ashera
I think we need more democracy at the basis of political administration, such as communal and district layers - and to motivate people to get more interested in their environment.
The more ascending to the top of political hierarchy, the more stringency is needed to cope for example better with suddenly "catastrophic" changes of environment, economic and/or social conditions etc.
To do so more pragmatism and less belief/ideology is needed; and my utopia would be that political discussions could become obsolete one day, and be replaced by humanistic and "anthropic" sciences.
Love is the Law,
Have you ever been to Soviet? My dad was to Soviet, and he didn't see all of that lovely stuff you're writing about.
I voted non-partisan. I am very sceptical about parties and the party system in general. I am not a supporter of democracy, but I would not want to see a situation like the one they had back in NSDAP Germany either where a political party dominates all fields of society, with its symbols and rituals, identity and all the rest. There is a real danger there of the party replacing the nation, even if at first the party claims to be in the service of the nation. Once it becomes a "state-bearing party", the nation and the party often begin to merge, becoming one unseparable unit. You can see this taking place in supposedly democratic countries such as Sweden where the social democratic party has had a state-bearing position for decades and has shaped and influenced almost all aspects of Swedish society, the Swedish nation, to the point where few things today in Swedish society can be said to be actually Swedish. Sweden has become a product of the social democratic workers party manifesto.
Now, if you think that NSDAP in fact embodied Germany and everything German, authentic and genuine, then you might not see a problem with this. In my opinion, many things about the NSDAP were good and sound, but it was still a party, and parties are still the product of a group of individuals that have taken on the task of interpreting the needs of the nation and tailoring a political party and political program based on these percieved needs. Politics are needed but when a political party starts to define a nation, it has gone too far in my opinion. At the same time I do not see that there is really a viable alternative to today's parliamentary politics, the days of the Monarchy are passed us I'm afraid.
It seems to me that Democracy is all about vested interests persuing corruption. It is about fraud, lies and the wealthy lining their own pockets. No wonder nothing is ever changed or achieved.
What the world needs now is an eco fascism.
http://www.penttilinkola.com/pentti_linkola/ecofascism/
Its just a question of who should be eliminated. The West should initially sever funding the third world population explosion then engage in its own eugenic programme.
Monday, February 9th, 2009, 12:09 AM
I am not a believer in "party politics" as it were. Even within the democratic framework that we have today, they are clearly not the best option: If you are going to have a parliament, then MPs should be elected as representatives of their constituents rather than as members of a certain ideological faction, who get into parliament on a quota system.
The British were the pioneers in enacting such a system - but it was then hindered and stifled by the advent of party politics and whips to make sure party policy is followed, which is probably the stage when the First Past The Post system's advantages effectively became useless.
Of course parties will be needed to further our interests in the present system - but in the long run, a state on the basis of a Folkish ideology at large, at the stage when it comes directly from the blood of the people --- as any organic ideology will --- there is no need for partisanism and all partisanisms can be kept to pro/contra lobbies for each issue at discussion.
But beyond that, I am not a pure believer in democracy. Whilst I am a great fan of the "pure democracy model" - the will of the people, for good or for ill - there must be a way to control that the will of the masses do not go against common deceny, morality or the nation itself. Which is where the monarchistic "leader principle" comes into play.
I must say that I am a bit of a believer in the Philosopher King in the position of an overseer. This Philosopher King need not concern himself with local matters immediately or petty matters immediately, but he should be in a position to act as a mediator, and to have the final say when the population votes for its ill. This should stretch from a Philosopher King to a Philosopher Village Chieftain, perhaps even.
Basically the people of a village vote upon a matter concerning that village. The will should not usually be interfered with, but the Philosopher Chieftain can veto a bad move, or offer to take an unsettled matter to a more regional meeting.
Let's say maybe 10 of these Chieftains then meet with each other. Again, they debate as a "Moot of the Wise" the matters of regional importance. Presiding over this meeting is yet another man, the Philosopher Chieftain of Philosopher Chieftains, let's call him the Philosopher Earl.
Then any matters not yet settled are taken by these Earls to a more national assembly. Again, they debate these matters and settle them as they please. Here they are heard by the Philosopher King who shall act as a mediator if anything goes amiss or if he decides that this is not conducive to this Tribal Commonwealth.
Technically the Philosopher King, as the highest and rightful leader of the pack - accountable in how he has gotten himself into that position amongst the Philosopher Earls when the old Philosopher King has died - has any right to veto any bad decision at a lower level, but he can assume that this has been dealt with by the Philosopher Chieftains and the Philosopher Earls: As the Wisest amongst the Wisest of the Wise, these Philosopher Earls should have been able to settle most of this.
In short, you take combinations between old Germanic democracy, old Irish Kingship, and to some extent the supreme Philosophic Leader Principle of the NS State - based itself upon this platonic idea of the Philosopher King ... and there you go: You have democracy in matters between neighbours, efficient one at that - and the matters of grand scale are taken on in "Elder Moots" as it were, all with a type of "Philosopher King" presiding thereover.
Or in even shorter - it is a mixture between local democracy and philosopher kingship under the natural leader principle. This to me would seem the most organic way of dealing with matters. :)
PS: I am still unsure though about the amount of "democratic levels" and the amount of "council of kings" levels needed to make this work efficiently, but ideas can always be expanded upon. :P
harl
A single party system that recruits members at the lowest ranks through democratic means, as to still allow a certain degree of choice for the general citizenry. These members would then rise through the ranks by virtue of their merit and accomplishments. The highest seat of governance would be that of a dictator who would be able to serve a maximum of one six-year term. Members of the party would of course be obliged to conform to a strict policy of germanic preservation and national loyalty, with any deviation resulting in termination from the party and banishment from any political process. This tough standard would be essential in keeping out judeo-bolshevik subverters. Although it is my belief that a single, strong party should control things in the national stage, I advocate more democratic means for smaller municipalities and townships since it would be much easier to manage and localization would ensure more participation and less corruption. Of course there are a lot of other details I have left out, but this is just a general outline of my ideal form of government.
triedandtru
I tend to believe that either 1 or 2 would be very effective, but 4 or 5 would be more ideal sorts of party systems for the people.
SwordOfTheVistula
Monday, February 9th, 2009, 03:15 PM
It would have eventually though, after Hitler died. Every power-hungry dickwad would have joined the NSDAP and done his damnest to move through the ranks.
But who decides who is the 'best carpenter' and so on? Maybe my cousin is the deputy assistant commissar for the region, and therefore I am 'the best' for sitting at my desk issuing orders and drinking vodka all day?
The contest seems perhaps the best system to resist entropy, the one to prolong the most the inevitable stagnation, decay, and violent rebellion and destructive conflict.
Various attempts at control have been made, representative democracy with a voting class strictly limited seems to have been the best mode to allow those from 'underneath' to rise up without letting the system descend into 'mob rule'. The US in particular made a good run of this for a while, before anything & everything was allowed the vote, all but ensuring the descent into 'rule by the underclass'.
Several authorities would have prevented that. NSDAP wasn't the only authority, a new leader would've been approved by OKW, SS, SD, Gestapo, NSDAP, etc. I'd reckon the political will of Adolf Hitler would've been higher than law, like his word, and complied as such.
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009, 01:42 PM
But did not Borman infiltrate himself next to Hitler preventing even Himmler having access? Where not the nazi leaders often in conflict and full of contempt for each other? In the long term it would have been a repetition of the ambitious princes of medeival times.
In his table talk Hitler speculated that in the future the Nazi party could loose its way and become corrupt and fossilised in which case a counter revolution would have to be initiated again. The problem then is how is this possible in a police state.
I don't think proper Germanics are comfortable with anyone having authority over them. I certainly would not submit to a police state. Nor permit a militaristic state to conscript my children to fight in a war, the outcome of which was doubtful.
Ideally I believe in a combination of Kingship, theocracy, meritocracy. A pacifist, eugenic ecological society. Folk based but with a techno military just in case.
Yes, but Hitler's word was higher than law, and I believe his political will would have been effective when he died and appointed a successor.
... Hitler's word was higher than law, and I believe his political will would have been effective when he died and appointed a successor.
In such a system a successor is not appointable, because this would imply deduction. As well it would be unkownable what a self-emergent successor would do...
As Crowley once stated: "beyond the word and the fool"
How come Hitlers will did not survive defeat then? How come Germans are so anti-Hitler now? If Hitlers will had taken root in the German people they would not be in the crisis they are now.
At minimum they could have carried on three generations of racial expansion. If all Germans had a habit of having four children the population of Germany would have doubled every 25 years. In 1970 there would have been 140 million. In 1995 280 million and growing.
What was missing was enshrining Germanism as a Religious system so that people could obey on autopilot.
You do not really understand the principle of evolution. You cannot deduce an evolutionary event, because that would imply that you could take in a future position to judge a present state. But this is logically and empirically impossible. It only functions within a system of belief. But what is a system of belief good for when we have to deal with real problems and their solutions?
Today*s problems are mainly the result of the inertial thinking you demonstrate above.
I personally prefer quality to quantity.
60 years of brainwashing. Hitler was in power for nearly 12 years, and most of those years was occupied by the war.
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009, 02:13 AM
Quantity has a quality of its own.
http://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp234/wilhelmII/cj6cz8.jpg
It only functions within a system of belief. But what is a system of belief good for when we have to deal with real problems and their solutions?
That does seem to be the main purpose of religion though, to get people to follow along with a set of principles set in the past, often at the expense of short term gratification.
I would say, often at the expense of reality loss. But I have to remark that I distinguish religion and myth, understood as an emergent structure based in primordial dreamtime.
... if individual consciousness is involved.
Eoppoyz
Monday, February 23rd, 2009, 12:46 AM
I should have read before I voted. Now I voted wrong. I voted for "Dominant-party" when I should have voted for "Multi-party".
Frank_Tutone
Friday, February 27th, 2009, 03:57 AM
Multi-party parliament or advisory council,
(with or without an Official National Party to which the parliamentary parties are in some way accountable - I'm not sure about this yet),
- with guaranteed seats (as in Germany) for any party receiving a certain percentage of votes nation-wide regardless of whether they otherwise win any actual seats;
- with qualifications to include direct experience in manual labor for a given number of years, and probably in some other type of work for a given period of time;
- as well as intense study of history, the nation's political foundation and reasons therefor (in America, that would be the Federalist Papers, all of them, and memorize some of them so you're not getting some ignorant, brain-dead buffoon like Barney Frank or Jo Biden in there), economics, the nation's cultural history and values;
selected not from career politicians but from well-educated (yet to be defined) successful businesspeople, entrepreneurs, researchers (not do-noting propaganda-professors), farmers, clerics (!), no attoneys - they can serve as secretaries to help phrase legistlation but not vote on it;
balanced intellectually and through experience, by "functional senators" from at least the areas of
1. Agriculture,
2. Industry,
3. Military,
4. Local Police
5. Universities,
and perhaps:
6. Ranching,
7. Fishing,
8. Information Technology (Computers, etc.),
9. Forestry and Mining,
10.Medical Field.
11. Churches (maybe);
also balanced - patriotically (presumably) - by allowing past Chief Executives and "vice chief executives", Independent "Senior Senators for Life";
and balanced geographically by strong provincial governorships.
Okay, I've gone beyond the party question. Parties and government structure are inseparable, to me.
Friday, January 22nd, 2010, 08:43 PM
A little explaination of how the party system works here in the UK and probably all over the so called free democratic world for those of you who might not know.
A whole bunch of people in a given area who dont agree with the Iraq war for instance, vote for thier MP who is in one of the major political parties, the MP himself also doesnt agree with a war in Iraq.
Said MP gets elected to represent the people who elected him, enters Parliament where he finds there is a vote going on as to wiether we should go to war with Iraq or not.
The MP doesnt want too, nor do his electors, but he is a member of a political party who do want to go to war so they employ a 3 line whip that means said MP has to vote yes for war, weither he likes it or not, if he doesnt do what he is told, he will lose his carreer with that party or even worst, skeletons will be brought out of the cupboard.
Now who does the political party want to please?, how about its big money financiers, without which they will not be able to finance thier next election.
So the backers control the whips, the whips control the elected MPs, the backers back and control both partys.
Sound like democracy to you?
"The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy." ~Woodrow Wilson
Vote independant!
Friday, April 9th, 2010, 07:49 PM
Single party. A homogenous country has no need for warring party politics.
Ragnar Lodbrok
A homogenous country is a happy country. :)
you have the right idea...
Méldmir
Parlimentary democracies seem to lead to corruption. I would prefer a more straigt-forward democracy, either direct-democracy like in Switzerland, or some sort of democracy inspired a bit by the old Germanic Things, where people from different families/villages would get together and discuss problems. Of course it would need some changes to fit into the society today. Political parties aren't really necessary.
Drottin
No party system on the planet is good, none!
First of all, the people must own the law. All laws and regulations are to be made by the people for the people. Laws made by lawyers, politicians, UN, strangers, capitalists, judges and such can never be the basis of governance.
Local people must choose their leader in the community. And the people must find a common king for the land to be managed. But even the king must obey the law. One of the laws is that if the king does not follow the law he must die. It must be prohibited, to change the law. Only the people can change the law.
A system for governance must always start with the laws, not party system i think.
KasparHauser
Monday, July 26th, 2010, 01:23 PM
One party, one direction!
Lone Rebel
Thursday, October 7th, 2010, 03:17 AM
Non Partisan for me. I would rather elect someone based on what they stand for rather than what party they are with
SpearBrave
I don't much like the idea of a single party system, because if that single party becomes corrupt then you have to most likely have a violent revolution to make them accountable to the people.
There should be term limits on all politicians, parties and judicial appointments. I like the idea of multi party system, but all politicians, parties,and judges should be held accountable to the laws of the people.
An example of would be if a political party over a period of generations constantly tries to go against the laws of the people the whole party should be held accountable. If they place a person in power who is not of the nation or has questionable birth they should be tried by the people as criminals. If they appoint judges that are activist and don't follow the rule of law, they should be tried by the people as criminals.
You may ask how do you try a whole party? Easy you have a separate judicial branch that is not appointed by any party but elected by the people and has term limits. If the party in question is found guilty then they should be de-funded and not allowed to participate in politics for set number of years. If the offense is real severe they( like supporting a marxist negro ) they should face criminal charges and serve prison time or execution for treason.
NatRev
Saturday, December 4th, 2010, 08:05 PM
I'd opt for a referendum based policy rather than a representative one.
It's not an ideal system but in theory you would vote on a series of policies; education, welfare, immigration, health etc. and your vote for them goes to shape the policies of the leading government instead of you voting for party X, Y or Z.
I also believe that people should have a greater say in their local community and their representatives should come from that respected community.
“The law is an adroit mixture of customs that are beneficial to society, and could be followed even if no law existed, and others that are of advantage to a ruling minority, but harmful to the masses of men, and can be enforced on them only by terror.”
Peter Kropotkin
Caledonian
Tuesday, December 28th, 2010, 08:38 AM
What are the advantages of a single party system?
What are the disadvantages of a single party system?
Would it make sense for a nation to have a single party system?
Why are multiple party systems desirable?
What do multiple party systems accomplish?
How are multiple party systems needed?
Don't multiple party systems revolve around dominant party systems anyways where one political party dominates?
Wouldn't it be easier to have a single party system?
If not, what is ever accomplished in multiple party systems?
For me multiple party systems revolve around ineffective forms of democracy.
Rev. Jupiter
A single party system negates itself by still acknowledging partisanship as politically legitimate. This instill in it a witch-hunt mentality that eventually causes its own demise.
A truly functional State doesn't acknowledge the very notion of a "party" as legitimate.
Tuesday, December 28th, 2010, 08:30 PM
I wasn't speaking in terms of opinion. I was observing a historical fact.
See: pre-French Revolution Europe
Northern Paladin
for me one is better than "multi"
I prefer homogeneity to a mix, since a mix is like a septic tank. One race and one political ideology (meritocricy)
Ardito
Further to what Rev. Jupiter said, the existence of a political party implies that anyone can join it, and thus anyone can rise to power. It inevitably leads, therefore, to people moving away from their proper social ranks and roles and into improper positions. Thus, it necessarily breeds social disharmony.
You mean a one-party system as in the Soviet Union & the Waraw Pact nations? As in Nazi Germany & North Korea? A single-party system means no freedom of political expression. A two-party system is not much better. A one-party system (or two-party) exists to protect the status quo. And the current status quo isn't working to well for preservationist interests, it is working against it.
If the status quo of multiple parties isn't working, how would adding more multiple parties change anything?
The solution is to have one single national party where there is one voice and reason for all disputes.
Or, you know, we could get rid of the whole bullshit concept of partisan politics.
You seem to think that petty modern dictatorships, like those of the one-party states of the past century or so, are representative of a non-partisan unified State, when in fact they are nothing but a crude mockery.
Wynterwade
I'd like to see the party system done away with- and instead let each individual run based solely upon his own views.
And a few other things....
1) Campaign financing halted to bare minimum.
2) I'd like to see more multi-hour long debates between candidates about high level economics, finance, government, laws, foreign policy and goals for the future. (the debates we have on TV today are childish ridiculousness)
3) We also need a group to catalog clearly and concisely the different views of each candidate on a website, and media debates recorded and posted online for all to easily see.
Politics should be based upon ideas not upon personal looks, image or cheap catch phrases.
Schattenjäger
In none. I believe that society is one living organism and everyone must learn his place in the order of things. There is always one state, one race and one leader and they are holy entity. Parties are unnecessary, the racial consciousness of the people, their military discipline and their education performance is what decides about the future.
While that could work that way, or it could also work this way:
" One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them ..."
I think the better idea would be have multiple parties that are all pro Germanic race and culture, meaning get rid of the racial others and their influences. You need a system of checks and balances.
Wednesday, December 29th, 2010, 12:20 AM
There is no modern political party worth supporting. I would rather support a basic authoritarian government, one which doesn't even recognize concepts as a "party"
activate TL;DR
Authoritarianism, as I see it, goes hand in hand with meritocracy, since it is hierarchical and meritocracy works through hierarchies. It is a system that allows the best in their fields to run respected branches of power, while the hierarchical order keeps the system together and everyone knows their place and responsibilities.
And take a look at the main opposition to authoritarianism - democracy, be it direct or representative. Direct democracy is impossible unless every person in a society is an expert in ALL fields that touch society as a whole and it's various groups and individuals specifically, so that includes economics, sociology, jurisprudence, psychology, history, politics in general and so on and so forth. Direct democracy is impossible unless all people are polymaths. That is actually one of the key goals of communism, as it is a direct democracy, so the infamous new breed of man that Marx referred to was a polymath that could successfully exist and prosper under such a system, hence where the Party as the Vanguard of the people concept comes from - a group that inspires people to be like them, to become polymaths. If you introduce direct democracy on a national scale (the smaller the group of people the easier it is to maintain a direct democracy full of idiots and average people as opposed to polymaths) you will get ochlocracy and an eventual fractionation of society and everyone fighting for their own little groups, so a society will eventually fall into anarchy.
And take representative democracy. It supposedly allows everyone a voice but in reality it, as any system, will want to preserve itself as it is, so in actuality nothing really changes. And if such a representative democracy, that does allow real drastic change, exists, it is soon enough turned into a different system altogether (how Hitler came to power). At best representative democracies allow political parties to "play with power" for a little while, due some minor legislations and laws and etc that don't change the grand scheme of the system, because it is not interested in such. And if you think about it, why would the parties want to change anything unless they are dedicated to some ideal? They will be happy with switching places so long as they can pretend to have power. Corneliu Zelea Codreanu also said something in this regard:
"... divided into parties, which rule for a year, two or three, it is incapable of conceiving and realizing long-time plans. One party will nullify the plans and work of another. That which was started and erected today by some, tomorrow will be destroyed by others. In a country, where construction is required, at this historical moment it is not a benefit of democracy - it is a danger, which changes ownership, each year coming with new plans, changing that, which was done by one and undertaking other goals, which also will be broken by those who come tomorrow."
The basic and strongest advantages of authoritarianism is that it provides unity through vision, order through hierarchy, a professional elite through meritocracy and clarity through all of those combined. Would one rather live in a system where he knows damn well what he can achieve and what the ultimate goal is, or in a system that just jogs in place in virtually all aspects that matter? The only reason people choose the latter is because it allows people to be lazy slobs, to lead a hedonist lifestyle and it provides distractions to make people feel good (entertainment, personal luxuries and such) in a system that achieves nothing, other than making sure that it keeps on working.
By getting rid of partisan politics, wouldn't we not be creating a single party system?
That is only conceivable in a existence of anarchy.
That will never happen considering with whatever system you have the wealthy will always be affluent to some degree.
Most people are idiots so this will never happen either because the reason they make it basic instead of more indepth in political discussions is in order to make it more consumable for larger audiences who don't know any better in what they are being presented with.
They already do this on youtube.
Agreed it's just that again most people are too stupid to understand what is being put in front of them which is one of the reasons why the democratic concept is ineffective because it assumes the majority of people will be reasonable in their voting choices or political perceptions.
Poetic but I don't see how Tolkien has anything to do with this subject.
The more parties you have the more slower things are resolved to the point of being stalled in political theater and debate.
With more parties also comes the opportunity of even more infiltration by opposition forces who wish do a nation harm kinda like all those liberal political parties in the United States.
[Or with all those new political parties being formed by foreigners who are starting to make the new voting block in the democratic process when it concerns multiple parties.]
I say make it impossible for opposition to even exist in the first place by getting rid of multiple parties altogether.
As another user said here already one voice equals one direction.
One voice also equals one prime directive and objective for a nation too.
With all of this I believe a government revolving around command control to be the most efficient one.
The only problem with this is the ability in finding competent leaders to lead the single party system.
In order to fix that problem every chairman of the single party system should be chosen by a select level of qualifications, background, and intelligence limiting any chance of dictorial misuse in the hands of a party panel.
A single party system is inherently partisan. While there may only be one ruling ideology, it got into that position by coming out on top in political battles.
This is not a legitimate way of determining who rules and who doesn't, thus invalidating the entire system.
The difference between a partisan system and a non-partisan system is the difference between a pack of feral dogs and a pack of wolves.
I would suggest reading Evola's Men Among the Ruins to get a clearer idea.
That's pretty much true, look at the intra-party fights which we still have. The Chinese Communist Party for another, had big changes when Deng got control after Mao, probably some people got executed along the way, to say nothing of the periodic purges of executions of rivals in the USSR and Communist China. Even the NSDAP had this, with Hitler purging the SA 'brownshirts' and the Strasser faction.
Thursday, March 24th, 2011, 09:19 PM
1 or 5 works for me. I don't see a reason for a political party in a NS state.
norseking
Friday, June 24th, 2011, 04:14 AM
multiple party system so discussion can be formed and people can have opinions other than single party systems that are normally led by a centralized government that creates the minds of the people rather than allowing them to chose there own minds.
Eugen Hadamovsky
Wednesday, June 29th, 2011, 03:51 PM
I voted for the Single-Party system, but I mean NSDAP only! It is not a typical party, it is much more a Movement for unity and prosperity of the folk, the commandments of this movement are the foundation for a strong and healthy society!
A true revolution in the thinking and the mind of the masses could be achieved only by a Single-Party NS system! Of course it needs many years to complete this process, minimum one generation. Unfortunately the Third Reich had only 12 years, and only 6 years of peace. Nevertheless the achievements of the NS State were without analogue! Now we could only dream for such society and state. :(
DasWilhelm
Sunday, September 4th, 2011, 04:21 PM
I completely agree and sympathize with you. If another NS-Revolution happens in the future, I hope to be a part of that. It would be perhaps the most beautiful thing to happen to Germany in a very long time. It would be the re-birth of Germany.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14371
|
__label__cc
| 0.556602
| 0.443398
|
Category - Administration
Glad to cooperate, states former aviation minister Praful Patel after ED calls him
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the alleged roles of some government officials in awarding favorable air traffic rights to foreign airlines...
‘Will fight BJP every day’: Rahul,a Sonia Gandhi rally groups
A combative Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday vowed to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) every inch of the way and attempted to talk up the...
BJP to deposit 10 lakh ‘Jai Shri Ram’ post cards to Mamata Banerjee
The BJP will send 10 lakh postcards with “Jai Shri Ram” written on them to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a party leader said Saturday, in a move...
Administration • Law & Justice
Amid TMC-BJP tussle, Left seems to regain Bengal ground
As the face-off between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) takes center stage in Bengal, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)...
Administration • Finance
On first day, Home minister Amit Shah takes stock of state affairs
First-time cabinet minister Amit Shah took charge of the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Saturday afternoon, after which he met senior officials and...
Amit Shah, Jaishankar among first-timers in PM Modi’s council of ministers
There are 19 first-time ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 58-member council of ministers. Six of the first-timers consisting BJP president Amit Shah...
Team a blend of youthful energy, administrative experience
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday night that his team “is a blend of youthful energy and administrative experience” and includes people who have had...
Celebs at PM Modi’s oath ceremony
The who’s who of business, cinema, politics, and sports gathered to be a witness of the return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and formation of his new cabinet...
In PM Modi’s new cabinet, master strategist Amit Shah is massive entry
Amit Shah, the BJP’s master strategist who scripted the party’s expansion over the last few years, is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new team that has...
10 important faces in PM Narendra Modi’s new cabinet
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new cabinet has quite a few several familiar names. After a meeting with Modi, BJP president Amit Shah called several leaders of...
Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 7 … 132 Next
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14377
|
__label__wiki
| 0.593183
| 0.593183
|
Cherry Picked - Two students win Fulbright Hays awards
Two students win Fulbright Hays awards
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas is the only institution in the state to receive Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Awards.
Joshua Homan, a doctoral student in anthropology, will study the social life of the Pastaza Quechua in Peru.
Jacob Longaker, a doctoral student in political science, will use his award to study how gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Brazilians achieve substantive representation in public policy. They will receive a total of $77,352.
The graduate students are two of the 80 people at 34 institutions of higher learning who won more than $3 million from the U.S. Department of States’ Fulbright Hays International Education programs.
“The selection of Homan and Longaker for the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Awards reflects the excellence of their research proposals. Both awardees have strong academic and experiential background, as well as the language skills necessary to fulfill their goals in Peru and Brazil,” said Sue Lorenz, director, Fulbright Programs & International Agreements in the Office of International Programs.
Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad grants are part of the larger competitive Fulbright-Hays Program, which dates to 1961 when the late U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright sponsored legislation for several programs that aim to increase mutual understanding between America and the rest of the world. Since the program’s inception in 1946, 445 KU students, including these two awardees, have been awarded Fulbrights.
Homan earned a master’s degree in summer 2011 and a bachelor’s degree in 2006 from KU. He is a Salina Central High School graduate. This fall Homan assisted in the Field Museum of Natural History’s Rapid Inventory program, working with Shawi indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon.
Longaker earned a master’s degree in political science in 2013, a graduate certificate in women, gender and sexuality studies in 2012, and a bachelor’s degree in political science and international studies from KU in 2009. He is a De Soto High School graduate. Currently he is a doctoral research fellow at the KU Institute for Policy and Social Research.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14379
|
__label__wiki
| 0.509074
| 0.509074
|
Mascots on the offense?
Jeffrey Larsen, Reporter
Sports teams today often have logos and mascots based upon two things: animals and history. In the three major American sports – football, baseball, and basketball – 34% of all teams’ logos/mascots are animal based. History driven logos tend to be associated with the city or region the team is located in, and this may influence the way teams are named. History has inspired names such as the New England Patriots, derived from the region’s efforts in the American Revolution, or the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is based on the city’s vast steel industry.
Many of these teams have positive and accurate historical depictions, but some do not. Some teams have inaccurate and even racist depictions of certain cultures. The culture depicted the most, though, is that of Indigenous Americans.
“We (as a people), need to be sensitive to any language or images offending all cultures, including Native Americans,” said Ms. Itasha Montgomery, Spanish teacher.
The example dominating headlines is that of the Washington Redskins, a professional football team that has been in existence since 1933. For many teams now being criticized for cultural insensitivity, the offensive part of their image is the logo, and not the language. With Washington, the imagery isn’t seen as being too offensive; rather, it is the name that is the part that offends many. The name has been traced back to several different origins; some say it was derived from a European term for face painting, while others say it is a reference to scalping. Either way, these are not fondly remembered origins for Native Americans. But Washington’s owner, Dan Snyder, has vowed to never rebrand the team.
“A Redskin is a football player,” said Snyder, “A Redskin is our fans, the Washington Redskin fan base. It represents honor, represents respect, represents pride, hopefully winning.” (www.washingtonpost.com).
Conversely teams like the Florida State Seminoles and the University of Utah Utes, both received Native American blessing for their existing names and imagery.
“If the depiction is negative or portrays a certain people in a negative light, then it shouldn’t be,” said senior Lance Hainchek, a die-hard Florida State Seminoles fan.
Other teams have received outcries to change their logo. An example of this would be the University of Illinois, who, for some, is perfectly fine, and for others, need to completely cut ties with Chief Illiniwek, the team’s mascot.
“Hononegah Indians and Chicago Blackhawks are fine,” said Maya Peynetsa, Junior, who is half Zuni Pueblo, a northwest New Mexican Tribe. “But Washington Redskins is a bit offensive knowing that we were discriminated against and called ‘Redskins.’ it’s a racial slur.”
The Voyager Facebook
Which of the following do you prefer?
Lady Vikings reach new heights
The Volleyball Boys are back
The price of compettion
Committed… to the game
Reeling in the BIG ONE
Seniors at the Bottom of the Ninth: A Senior-heavy team, the baseball boys enjoy their last season as Vikings
Guilford’s Olympians
The Voyager’s Superbowl LII recap
An emotional night in swimming
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14381
|
__label__wiki
| 0.537985
| 0.537985
|
Using the power of good food to advance gender equity
Quick Order HERE
Harvest Fair was born out of the need to take action to achieve gender equality in Australia.
We strongly believe that change is needed to make our workforce more inclusive and flexible so that everyone has the opportunity to contribute and meet their potential. When everyone can contribute, the benefits flow through to the individual, the family, the community and the overall economy.
Change has to happen at the grassroots level and work its way up the chain – and that is where you can help! As consumers, we all hold such power in our wallets and we can vote for the type of world we want to live in by purchasing from businesses that take active steps to make our world a better place.
With more women in our workforce and equitable models of working that support women’s economic empowerment, we can move closer to achieving gender equality in Australia.
Why support Harvest Fair
The gender pay gap in Australia remains at over 14% and has only reduced by 2.5% in the last decade.
A report by the World Economic Forum indicated that gender equality would take 200 years to achieve if we maintain the status quo.
The long term impact of gender inequity is that women earn less, retire with 50% less superannuation, and as such are more vulnerable to poverty, homelessness, mental health issue and violence across the lifespan.
The number of older women experiencing homelessness has increased by over 30% in the last six years.
Lack of financial security is a key contributor to women staying in domestic violence relationships.
By purchasing a Harvest Fair meal, you are providing employment opportunities to empower women in our local community.
1,075 meals sold since October 2017
790 hours of employment provided for women who would otherwise be unemployed
Five women supported into employment with Harvest Fair since October 2017
Amy Orange – Founder and Director
Amy is a social entrepreneur who holds an MBA and an Honours degree in psychology – she is frustrated by traditional models which no longer fit our modern society, and is passionate about social justice, gender equality and redefining business practices in accordance with the triple bottom line. Throughout a decade of working and volunteering in the not for profit community services sector Amy has seen many women who have been unable to access or meet their potential in mainstream employment due to a lack of flexibility in working conditions and a lack of understanding from employers. Amy recognised a need for businesses to look at a new flexible way of operating which meets the needs and celebrates the values of women, and Harvest Fair was created to explore this very concept.
Amy was the proud 2017 winner of the Women in Innovation SA Award in the category of Women’s Initiative in Business for Harvest Fair, and was also recently recognised as one of the InDaily Top 40 Under 40 business leaders in South Australia.
Feel free to connect with Amy on LinkedIn
Culinary Creator
Heaven was born in Ethiopia and moved to Australia when she was 12, and shortly after that had a baby girl.
Heaven’s childhood in Ethiopia and upbringing was rich with love, family and togetherness. The culture and influences of watching her grandparents cook traditional Ethiopian food, with their recipes and techniques that have been passed down the generations, has shaped her cooking style today.
Family, coffee and food, is central to Heaven’s happiness. She has a special interest in the nutrition of food, the origins and how good healthy food not only fuels your body, but also feeds your mind and soul.
The strong values her family installed in her from childhood, has lead her in good stead for the struggles, heartbreak, and loneliness that was to come in her teens and into adulthood. Heaven is now passionate about helping other people improve their lives and happiness, and believes in the importance of hard work and education.
Culinary Assistant
Joy came to Harvest Fair as a Culinary Assistant through the Royal Society for the Blind. Born in the early 1970’s, Joy was born albino with only 10% vision but she has not let this stop her from doing the things she loves. With a passion for music she plays piano, guitar and saxophone, and performed in many school and church choirs. Her love of live music inspired her to create Adelaide LIVE, an online community to support, encourage and promote live music in South Australia which has over 1500 followers.
Joy is a single mother of five children, and she has prided herself on supporting her children to become the best they can be through offering them support, stability and love, and seeing them blossom through life’s challenges. Joy puts the needs and wellbeing of her children above all else, in particular the needs of one of her children who has severe autism and who requires constant care and supervision.
Joy brings over 30 years of experience in various hospitality and customer service roles, and has enormous potential; however, she has been very challenged in finding flexible employment which offers her the necessary balance between work and family, particularly as she is unable to drive due to her vision impairment.
The Harvest Fair team are inspired by Joy’s resilience and strength and feel lucky to have Joy on board with the support of the Royal Society for the Blind and technology aids that assist Joy to undertake her role effectively. Joy enjoys cooking and is excited to be part of a unique team who inspires and contributes to a better community.
The Harvest Fair team works under the guidance of two very experienced advisors who share their knowledge and connections across Government, non-profit and private sectors, including the food industry.
Moira Were
Founder of Chooks SA
Moira has worked from the kitchen table as a direct service social worker through to the cabinet table as a Chief of Staff to a Minister. She has extensive strategic and operational experience in the not-for-profit sector and in government at state, regional, national & international levels. As Founder of Chooks, Moira is passionate about applying a gender lens to business and social enterprise, and aims to increase the number of female-led enterprises in Australia. Chooks is a network of over 2,000 people who support and contribute to Moira’s vision.
Dr Darren Oemcke
Director of Hydra Consulting
Darren is leader in business model modernisation, digital impacts on value chains, immersive learning environments and product development. He has developed and utilises tools for customer facing business models. He is a co-founder of consultant network Icons Alliance, knowledge management software developer Bowerbase and tourism business Invina. He is a partner in advisory firm Hydra Consulting, specialising in competitive business models and operational improvement with a focus on value chains with clients in the food manufacturing industry.
Harvest Fair wouldn’t have been able to launch without the support of our community.
In 2016 we ran a crowd-funding campaign through StartSomeGood in which over 30 people generously donated. As part of this crowdfunding campaign we also undertook a live pitch at Pitch4Good during Open State in which we raised more funds from our audience, which was generously matched by Open State.
Our Patrons of Equity who donated to our campaign include:
Hannah Wheaton
Kate Orange
Nina Mekisic
Vincenza Pearce
Jane & Neil Orange
Marie Sloan
Would you like to be part of the Harvest Fair movement?
As our business grows we will be opening applications for our Culinary Creators so please watch this space and follow our Facebook page for announcements.
Stay in touch. Sign up to our Newsletter
"using the power of good food
to advance gender equity"
using the power of good food
to advance gender equity
Website built by Millie Miller - Web Designer
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14384
|
__label__cc
| 0.579528
| 0.420472
|
Barack Obama’s war on cyber espionage has not stopped theft of trade secrets
Washington: Two years ago, the Obama administration announced a new strategy to curb online espionage.
The White House said it would increase public awareness of the threat, encourage the private sector to increase its defences, focus diplomacy on protecting trade secrets overseas, improve trade secret theft legislation and make investigations and prosecutions of corporate and state-sponsored trade secret theft a top priority.
Since then, public awareness is up and so is spending. But the hacking continues.
The private sector spent $US665 million ($837 million) on data loss prevention last year, according to the technology research firm Gartner, with a 15 per cent increase expected this year. On the legislative front, Congress strengthened penalties for those convicted under the Economic Espionage Act, raising the maximum fine for individuals convicted to $US5 million from $US500,000. And in terms of law enforcement, the FBI lists digital crime, including intrusions that result in trade secret theft, as its third priority, just behind terrorism and counter-intelligence. The agency reported a 60 per cent increase in trade secret investigations from 2009 to 2013.
But diplomatic efforts to engage China on the topic have largely failed. China’s response has simply been that it, too, is a victim of online attacks. And online espionage shows little sign of abating.
Last year, 18 per cent of the 1598 confirmed breaches analysed by telecommunications company Verizon were used for online espionage, compared with 22 per cent of 1367 attacks in 2013. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse told a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last year that 1 to 3 per cent of US gross domestic product was still lost, every year, through trade secret theft.
“There hasn’t been any change,” James Lewis, a digital security expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said.
“There’s a lot more we can do. But we haven’t reached our pain point for taking more drastic steps on cyber espionage, and the Chinese haven’t reached their pain point for stopping it.”
Full article: Barack Obama’s war on cyber espionage has not stopped theft of trade secrets (The Age)
This entry was posted in Axis Powers, Barack Obama, Business & Economics, China, Cyberwarfare, Economic Warfare, Government Corruption, National Security & Terrorism, Politics, USA and tagged barack obama, Barack Obama's war on cyber espionage has not stopped theft of trade secrets, Business & Economics, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, China, cyberwarfare, Economic Espionage Act, economic warfare, Espionage, FBI, government corruption, hacking, James Lewis, National Security & Terrorism, online attacks, politics, Senate Judiciary Committee, Sheldon Whitehouse, United States, Verizon, Washington. Bookmark the permalink.
Russia and China Vow Not to Hack Each Other
Chinese bought division of IBM that manufactures computing servers for U.S. Navy Aegis cruisers
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14385
|
__label__wiki
| 0.874479
| 0.874479
|
Three-Point Attack Lifts Redlands Men's Basketball to 80-77 Victory over St. Katherine
St. Katherine (3-10) 37 40 77
Redlands (4-2) 42 38 80
Photo credit: Maya Brito
Pts: Kane Daniels - 19
Reb: Austin Armstead - 9
Ast: Kaipo Villeza - 5
Pts: Joey Sponheim - 22
Reb: Kameron Wright - 9
Ast: Gary Menary - 3
In an exciting back-and-forth battle, the University of Redlands men's basketball team pushed past the Firebirds of the University of St. Katherine in a tight 80-77 decision during the nightcap of the Lee Fulmer Memorial Classic in Currier Gym on Friday night.
The opening minute foreshadowed the rest of the game, as both teams matched each other's three-pointers on their respective first possessions. Senior guard Joey Sponheim (Redlands, CA) not only hit the Bulldogs' first trey-ball but connected on two more from deep for the home team's early 9-5 advantage.
Junior forward David Menary (Grass Valley, CA) joined the three-point attack with one of his own to create the Maroon and Gray's largest lead of the game at 15-5 with 16:00 remaining in the first half.
Although Redlands held the Firebirds at bay for the next few minutes, St. Katherine launched a three to take a 24-22 lead with less than eight minutes to go. The Firebirds extended that to five before Sponheim hit his fourth three-pointer of the game to trim it down to two.
After first-year forward Kameron Wright (Fontana, CA) knotted the game at 29-all, first-year forward Gary Menary (Grass Valley, CA) found the hot hand in Sponheim, who drained another ball from deep to put the Bulldogs back in front with 3:46 to go in the stanza.
The teams traded leads again and again before D. Menary stole the ball and laid it up and in as time expired for the Maroon and Gray's 42-37 advantage as the teams headed into the halftime break.
The second half began in similar fashion to the first, with the Firebirds knocking down a three-pointer in the first minute of action. Despite Sponheim's layup on the other end, St. Katherine re-gained the lead by the 16:40-mark. Nonetheless, it did not take long for Redlands to storm back with buckets from four different players to overtake the lead at 52-51.
The Firebirds' three-point presence shifted the momentum of the game and allowed the visitors to go up by a score of 71-65 with 5:18 remaining in the game.
However, a motivated Redlands team swiped the energy right back after a tip-in and back-to-back three-pointers from Sponheim and D. Menary with 2:32 left in the game.
Tangled at 75-75, D. Menary ignited the spirited home crowd with a three-point dagger to control a 78-75 lead and force a Firebird timeout with just over a minute left on the clock.
The Bulldogs' plan to stop St. Katherine's three-point attack came to fruition, as all four attempts in the final minute were thwarted by the defense. Although the Firebirds moved within one, G. Menary came up clutch with a pair of made free-throws with only three seconds left to ice the game at 80-77.
Sponheim and Menary stepped up in a big way to account for 55% of the Bulldogs' overall offense. Sponheim commanded the attack with 22 points while also providing four rebounds and two assists. He matched his career-high with 6-for-9 shooting from deep, five of which came in the first half. D. Menary complemented him with 20 points, seven rebounds, and two steals. He proved to be a perimeter threat as well by matching his career-high with three three-pointers. Junior guard Hass Berry (Riverside, CA) and G. Menary led the Bulldogs' bench, which outscored the Firebirds' by a 35-22 margin. G. Menary posted 11 points, along with seven rebounds and three assists. As a team, the Maroon and Gray executed its most effective game from deep by shooting at an 11-for-21 clip for 52.4%.
In the opening game of the night, Pacific Union College jumped on Bethesda University early to ultimately win, 96-63. The Pioneers dominated the glass with a 56-42 advantage, leading to 21 second-chance points. Scoring down low was a point of emphasis for PUC, managing 50 points in the paint to Bethesda's 32. In addition to sharing the ball with 19 assists as a team, the Pioneers shot 42% from the field.
For PUC, junior forward Tim Ford led six players in double-figures with an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double. Senior forward Wayne Englestad chipped in 16 points and four rebounds.
For the Flames, senior guard Branden Charbonier led all scorers with 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds. First-year guard Dallin Takairangi added 12 points, three assists, and two steals, while senior guard Mehran Nazarian produced 11 points and four rebounds off the bench.
The action of the Lee Fulmer Memorial Classic continues on Saturday, December 1, as Redlands (4-2) takes on Pacific Union at 7 p.m., following the St. Katherine-Bethesda matchup at 5 p.m.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14390
|
__label__cc
| 0.744505
| 0.255495
|
FTR Now
Preparing the Municipal Sector for the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan
February 9, 2016 By: Jordan N. Fremont, Natasha D. Monkman
The Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (“ORPP”) is coming and all municipal sector employers need to consider and prepare for the potential of ORPP participation and associated additional payroll costs commencing as early as January 1, 2017.
In this FTR Now we provide an overview of the ORPP and highlight key issues that you should be aware of, including:
the application of the ORPP to municipal sector employers and employees, and potential costs and payroll implications;
the ORPP implementation date that will apply to your organization;
how participation in OMERS or other retirement arrangements may impact your ORPP obligations; and
considerations and potential options your organization should be examining now.
ORPP COVERAGE AND CONTRIBUTION DETAILS
The ORPP was first announced in the 2014 Ontario Budget as a major initiative to help address the government’s concerns around retirement income adequacy for middle income earners. Since then, the Ontario government has been developing the legislative and regulatory framework to support the implementation of the ORPP beginning in January 2017. That development work is still ongoing as of the date of this FTR Now, but some of the known details concerning coverage and required contributions are as follows:
the ORPP will be mandatory for Ontario employees between ages 18 and 70, whose annual earnings exceed $3,500, and who do not participate in a “comparable workplace pension plan”;
there will be a target combined contribution rate of 3.8%, to be phased-in, which will be shared equally by employers and Ontario employees (i.e. the target employer contribution will be 1.9%); [1] and
contributions will be required on earnings up to a maximum of $90,000 (adjusted to reflect increases in the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings under the federal Canada Pension Plan (“CPP”) between 2014 and 2017).
For purposes of determining the scope of employee coverage, the Ontario government has indicated that the ORPP will apply to (i) employees who report to work at an employer’s establishment in Ontario, and; (ii) employees who are not required to work at an employer’s place of business but whose wages are paid from an Ontario-based employer (i.e. mobile employees and those who work from home). Also, since the Ontario government has stated that the ORPP is to provide coverage for all Ontario employees who do not participate in a comparable workplace pension plan, we expect that such coverage will be extended beyond full-time and part-time employees, and apply to temporary, casual and other categories of employment. We expect that this will be clarified over the coming months.
Employees who are not immediately enrolled in a comparable workplace pension plan but who will become eligible, subject to a waiting period and/or upon the employee’s election, will nonetheless be required to participate in the ORPP during any period during which they are not participating in that comparable pension plan.
Finally, employers who do provide a comparable workplace pension plan and are therefore exempt from the ORPP in respect of participating employees will be permitted to opt-in to the ORPP. An opt-in, however, will apply for all employees and not just a specific group. In other words, if an employer elects to opt-in to the ORPP, then participation in (and full contributions to) the ORPP will be required even for employees participating in the comparable workplace pension plan. [2]
For additional information on these and other ORPP design details please see our FTR Now of January 28, 2016 and our FTR Now of August 11, 2015.
PHASED IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ORPP
Another significant feature of the ORPP is that implementation will be phased in over several years, commencing in 2017. Employers who provided a registered pension plan (or were in the course of registering a pension plan) as of August 11, 2015 will be the last to be enrolled, beginning in 2020. Other employers will be required to participate earlier, in one of three “Waves,” as outlined below:
Wave 1 – effective January 1, 2017, for employers with 500 or more employees;
Wave 2 – effective January 1, 2018, for employers with 50 to 499 employees; and
Wave 3 – effective January 1, 2019, for employers with 50 or fewer employees.
Contributions to the ORPP will be phased in over two to three years for Wave 1, Wave 2 and Wave 3, up to the target 3.8% combined employer-employee contribution rate beginning in January 2020.
ISSUES FOR MUNICIPAL SECTOR EMPLOYERS
As stated above, if an employer provides a comparable workplace pension plan then the employer will not be required to participate in the ORPP in respect of those employees who participate in that comparable plan.
For Ontario municipal sector employers, the opportunity to participate in a registered pension plan is subject to certain limitations prescribed by the Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System Act, 2006 (“OMERS Act, 2006“). In general, these limitations provide that municipalities cannot contribute to any pension plan except for the Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (“OMERS”) and/or the CPP.
The vast majority of Ontario municipal sector employers do, in fact, participate in OMERS, although there are some that provide a group registered retirement savings plan or that do not provide any form of registered retirement plan. From amongst the permitted forms of retirement arrangements that may be provided by municipal sector employers who are governed by theOMERS Act, 2006, only OMERS satisfies the conditions for the ORPP’s comparable workplace pension plan exemption. [3]
The Ontario government has previously indicated its intention to extend the ORPP to all Ontario employees who do not participate in a comparable workplace pension plan. To achieve this result, we anticipate that complimentary legislative amendments will be made to the OMERS Act, 2006, to permit participation in and contributions to the ORPP. Assuming that that this change is made,
Ontario municipal sector employers who were participating in OMERS as of August 11, 2015 will be required to participate in the ORPP as early as January 1, 2020; and
other Ontario municipal sector employers will, depending on employee population, fall into Wave 1, Wave 2 or Wave 3, and be required to participate in the ORPP as early as January 1, 2017, January 1, 2018 or January 1, 2019, respectively.
In other words, it is expected that all Ontario municipal sector employers will be required to participate in the ORPP by January 1, 2020, at least with respect to those employees who are not participating in OMERS. Also, this obligation to participate in the ORPP will extend to employees who are not yet eligible to participate in OMERS (i.e. because of service or earnings criteria), or who are eligible but have declined OMERS enrolment.
As indicated above, ORPP coverage will likely include temporary, casual and other categories of employment. However, it is anticipated that there will be further clarification on this issue of coverage, including whether, in the municipal sector for example, volunteer firefighters and council members are also potentially subject to the ORPP.
Finally, although participation in the ORPP will not be required for municipal sector employers in respect of employees who participate in OMERS, these employers are nonetheless permitted to opt-in. However, employers should be aware that an election to opt-in to the ORPP will very likely require that contributions be made both for the ORPP and OMERS, and increase overall payroll costs.
It is anticipated that there will be additional legislation, regulations and related guidance respecting the ORPP over the coming months. In addition, the ORPP Administration Corporation (the corporation established to collect contributions and administer the ORPP) will be rolling out an assessment of Ontario employers to support the implementation of the ORPP and to identify the applicable Wave (i.e. date) for each employer’s enrolment. Further details about this assessment process are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, municipal sector employers should consider the following:
Municipal sector employers participating in OMERS as of August 11, 2015 (for at least some employees), will have just under four years to budget for additional payroll costs respecting employees not in OMERS. These additional costs will come from a potential increase in optional participation in OMERS (for other than continuous full-time employees, following eligibility), or from required ORPP contributions (for those who are not eligible or who decline enrolment in OMERS). While municipal sector employers might consider expanding mandatory OMERS enrolment to all employees to access the comparable workplace pension plan exemption more broadly, the costs of this approach will likely be much greater.
Municipal sector employers not participating in OMERS as of August 11, 2015 will be subject to ORPP participation on an earlier date (as early as January 1, 2017). These employers will want to consider current retirement and savings programs and whether to substitute or supplement these by enrolling in OMERS, or through participation in the ORPP.
All municipal sector employers should consider the ORPP-related implications for any joint ventures and/or subsidiary companies and entities.
To help mitigate against additional payroll costs, employers may wish to consider and plan for potential offsets (e.g. to compensation, benefits and/or other programs).
In all cases, if considering any changes to help address ORPP-related costs, employers should account for relevant employment and labour relations issues (i.e. terms and conditions of employment, including collective bargaining agreements for unionized employees).
Our Pension, Benefits and Executive Compensation practice group continues to monitor developments relating to the ORPP. If you have any questions, please contact Jordan N. Fremont at 416.864.7228, Natasha D. Monkman at 416-864-7302, or any member of our practice group. For additional insight into these matters and to discuss the implications for municipalities, please attend our conference call in conjunction with OMHRA on March 3, 2016. Please contact Mark H. Mason at 416.864.7280 or your regular Hicks Morley lawyer for more details.
[1] In the event of ORPP funding shortfalls, the combined contribution rate could be increased by up to 0.2% (for a total combined rate of 4.0%).
[2]The government has not yet provided information with respect to how a buy-back of eligible service (i.e. relating to a waiting period or a period during which an employee was eligible to participate in a comparable pension plan but chose not to) is to be treated for purposes of the ORPP. Further details are expected regarding these and other technical issues.
[3]The comparable workplace pension plan exemption applies exclusively to registered pension plans, and only those that meet certain thresholds (i.e. an annual benefit accrual rate of at least 0.5% of base salary in the case of a defined benefit pension plan). OMERS is a registered pension plan and has an accrual rate that exceeds the stated threshold for a comparable workplace pension plan.
The articles in this Client Update provide general information and should not be relied on as legal advice or opinion. This publication is copyrighted by Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP and may not be photocopied or reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the express permission of Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP. ©
Practice Areas: Pension, Benefits & Executive CompensationIndustries: Municipalities & Municipal AgenciesTags: Bill 56 - ORPP, Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14396
|
__label__cc
| 0.68638
| 0.31362
|
Beastie Boys Slapped With Copyright Infringement Lawsuit One Day After Adam “MCA” Yauch’s Death
Written By Latifah Muhammad
As the remaining two members of the Beastie Boys mourn the loss of Adam “MCA” Yauch, a new lawsuit has been brought to light. All Hip Hop is reporting that, one day after Yauch’s death, Tuf America filed a copyright infringement suit against the trio and their label, Capitol Records, over the unlawful use of music on a total of four songs. The group is accused of illegally using two-track on their 1986 debut, Licensed to Ill, and 1989’s, Paul’s Boutique.
According to the suit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Beastie Boys illegally used the records “Say What” and “Drop the Bomb,” from R&B funk band Trouble Funk. Although they licensed a portion of Trouble Funk’s music for “Drop the Bomb,” Tuf America alleges that they used more songs than they paid for. Tuf America also claims that both the Beastie Boys and Capitol Records are still reaping financial benefits from the music, which will likely increase since Yauch’s passing. The 47-year-old lost his battle with cancer on May 4 , prompting many in the music industry to publicly send their condolences.
Tuf America is potentially seeking punitive and exemplary damages and has requested that trial date be set in the matter.
MORE ON HIP-HOP WIRED!
• LeBron James Rocks Nike Air Yeezy 2 During Press Conference [PHOTOS]
• Bangin Candy: Floyd Mayweather Jr’s Fiancé Shantel Jackson [PHOTOS]
• A Journey Into Adam Yauch & The Beastie Boys’ Stylistic Legacy [PHOTOS]
• 8 Things You Must Know About The Avengers Before Watching The Movie
• Bangin Candy: Gorgeous Looking, Ridiculously Bodied UK Model Tabby Brown [PHOTOS]
beastie boys , copyright infringement , lawsuit , Tuf America
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14400
|
__label__cc
| 0.630043
| 0.369957
|
Holbergprisen
Holberg Prize
About the Holberg Prize
The Holberg Board
The Holberg Committee
Holberg Prize Laureates
Cass R. Sunstein
Onora O'Neill
Marina Warner
Jürgen Kocka
Natalie Zemon Davis
Ian Hacking
Fredric R. Jameson
Shmuel N. Eisenstadt
Holberg Prize News
Nils Klim Prize
About the Nils Klim Prize
About Nils Klim
The Nils Klim Committee
Nils Klim Prize Laureates
Francesca Refsum Jensenius
Katrine Vellesen Løken
Sanja Bogojević
Rebecca Adler-Nissen
Terje Lohndal
Ingvild Almås
Sara Hobolt
Jørn Jacobsen
Johan Östling
David Bloch
Anne Birgitta Pessi
Carina Keskitalo
Linda Wedlin
Dag Trygve Truslew Haug
Claes de Vreese
Nils Klim Prize News
The Nils Klim Conversation with Francesca R. Jensenius
About the School Project
School Prize Winners
Manuel Castells' speech at the Holberg Prize award ceremony 2012
Your Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Minister, representatives of the Ludvig Holberg Fund, members of the Holberg Prize Academic Committee, my fellow laureate Dr. Sara Hobolt, my dear family and friends, respected colleagues, ladies and gentlemen.
Holberg Prize laureate 2012 Manuel Castells. Photo: Holbergprisen / Marit hommedal / Scanpix
Allow me to express, from my heart, how grateful and humbled I feel for the distinction the Ludvig Holberg Memorial Fund has bestowed upon me in recognition of my scientific work. I am particularly moved and honored by being associated with the name Ludvig Holberg, a native of Bergen, who exemplified academic excellence and artistic creativity in a multidisciplinary perspective, while dedicating much of his effort to assert the culture and language of the Scandinavian societies without yielding to cultural domination of powerful states. I will always have in mind the continuation of his intellectual and ethical legacy as my contribution to the values that the Holberg Prize represents.
Indeed, as it was the case for Ludvig Holberg, my life has been dedicated to academic teaching and research since my first job as an assistant professor at the University of Paris when I was 24 years old. During my long journey across research universities around the world, I have investigated many different topics and grounded my analysis in the observation of social processes from many different countries. I started my career as an urban sociologist, I then studied social movements, economic development in Latin America and Asia, the origins and consequences of the revolution in information and communication technologies, the process of globalization that has changed economies and societies throughout the planet, the rise of the network society as the social structure of the Information Age, the transformation of communication by digital networks, mobile communication, and the Internet, and the impact of this transformation of communication on power relationships. Yet, in spite of this thematic diversity, at the heart of my research for over four decades, there has always been one overarching theme studied in the plurality of its manifestations: power.
My research on cities contributed to the creation of what came to be known as “the new urban sociology”, whose defining feature was to shift the emphasis from urban integration, in the tradition of the Chicago School, to urban conflict and urban politics as the key processes in shaping urban space and the delivery of urban services. My studies in economic development in Latin America and the Asian Pacific showed the critical role of the state, both in growth and crisis, in contrast to the misplaced emphasis on the predominant role of international market mechanisms. Indeed, the success of a Communist state in leading China to become the most dynamic economy in global capitalism vindicates this approach. And of course state policies are rooted in politics, as I also showed in my studies on Chile (in 1970s and in the 2000s), Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. I approached the analysis of globalization by showing that the process of this late globalization was initiated by policies of states, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom, and therefore was shaped according to the economic interests supported by these countries, such as the deregulation of finance and the asymmetrical liberalization of trade and services. So, globalization is now irreversible, however, it was not a structural necessity but the result of a complex set of policies and politics. This is why millions of people around the world are currently not opposing globalization, but opposing this particular form of globalization and arguing that another globalization is possible. By closely studying the information and communication technology revolution in Silicon Valley from my vantage point in Berkeley, I also showed how the culture of freedom shaped the kind of technologies that emerged from this revolution and how countries, such as the Soviet Union, who could not incorporate this freedom of information and innovation, were stalled in their economic development and ultimately in their military power. This was a defining process that we documented in our field work based on the study of the collapse of the Soviet Union I did with Emma Kiselyova. I also showed the interaction between technological change and social change, mediated by policies and politics, as a guiding approach to understanding the rise of the network society, the society where we live. In return, these technologies of freedom decisively contributed to the spread of social movements, challenging unjust politics and policies, the networked social movements, which are my current research theme. Within all of these diverse areas of inquiry, I always pursued the same analytical thread: cherchez le pouvoir
This is not just a matter of personal taste, but a research strategy focused on understanding the primary source of social structuration and dynamics. Power relationships are the foundational relationships of society because those who have power construct the institutions that organize and regulate social life according to their values and interests. I see power relationships as the DNA of society, with a specific configuration for each society, derived from its history, geography and culture.
I understand power as the relational capacity that enables certain social actors to asymmetrically influence the decisions of other actors in ways that favor the empowered actors’ will, interests and values. Power is exercised by means of coercion (the monopoly of violence, legitimate or not, by the control of the state) and/or by the construction of meaning in people’s minds through mechanisms of symbolic manipulation. Power relationships are embedded in the institutions of society and particularly within the state, although they permeate all key dimensions of human activity, particularly in finance, production, consumption, trade, media, communication, culture, health, education, science, and technology. However, since societies are contradictory and conflictive, wherever there is power there is also counterpower, which I understand to be the capacity of social actors to challenge the power embedded in the institutions of society for the purpose of claiming representation for their own values and interests. All institutional systems reflect power relationships, as well as the limits to these power relationships as negotiated by an endless historical process of conflict and bargaining. The actual configuration of the state and other institutions which regulate people’s lives depends on this constant interaction between power and counterpower.
Coercion and intimidation, based on the state’s monopoly of the capacity to exercise violence, are essential mechanisms for imposing the will of those in control of the institutions of society. However, the construction of meaning in people’s minds is a more decisive and more stable source of power. The way people think determines the fate of the institutions, norms and values on which societies are organized. Few institutional systems can last long if they are based just on coercion. Torturing bodies is less effective than shaping minds. If a majority of people think in ways that are contradictory to the values and norms institutionalized in the laws and regulations enforced by the state, the system will change, although not necessarily to fulfil the hopes of the agents of social change. This is why the fundamental power struggle is the battle for the construction of meaning in the minds of the people.
Humans create meaning by interacting with their natural and social environment, by networking their neural networks with the networks of our natural environmental and with social networks. This networking is operated by the act of communication. Communication is the process of sharing meaning through the exchange of information. For society at large, the key source of the social production of meaning is the process of socialized communication. Socialized communication exists in the public realm beyond interpersonal communication. The ongoing transformation of communication technology in the digital age extends the reach of communication media to all domains of social life in a network that is at the same time global and local, generic and customized in an ever-changing pattern. The process of constructing meaning is characterized by a great deal of diversity. There is, however, one feature common to all processes of symbolic construction: they are largely dependent on the messages and frames created, formatted and diffused in multimedia communication networks. Although each individual human mind constructs its own meaning by interpreting the communicated materials on its own terms, this mental processing is conditioned by the communication environment. Thus, the transformation of the communication environment directly affects the forms of meaning construction, and therefore the production of power relationships. In recent years, the fundamental change in the realm of communication has been the rise of what I have called mass-self communication – the use of the Internet and wireless networks as platforms of digital communication. It is mass communication because it processes messages from many to many, with the potential of reaching a multiplicity of receivers, and of connecting to endless networks that transmit digitized information around the neighbourhood or around the world. It is self-communication because the production of the message is autonomously decided by the sender, the designation of the receiver is self-directed and the retrieval of messages from the networks of communication is self-selected. Mass self-communication is based on horizontal networks of interactive communication that, by and large, are difficult to control by governments or corporations. Furthermore, digital communication is multimodal and allows constant reference to a global hypertext of information whose components can be remixed by the communicative actor according to specific projects of communication. Mass self-communication provides the technological platform for the construction of the autonomy of the social actor, be it individual or collective, vis-à-vis the institutions of society. This is why most governments are afraid of the Internet, and this is why corporations have a love-hate relationship with it and are trying to extract profits while limiting its potential for freedom (for instance, by controlling file sharing or open source networks).
In our society, which I have conceptualized as a network society, power is multidimensional and is organized around networks programmed in each domain of human activity according to the interests and values of empowered actors. Networks of power exercise their power by influencing the human mind predominantly (but not solely) through multimedia networks of mass communication. Thus, communication networks are decisive sources of power-making.
Networks of power in various domains of human activity are networked among themselves. Global financial networks and global multimedia networks are intimately linked, and this particular meta-network holds extraordinary power. But not all power, because this meta-network of finance and media is itself dependent on other major networks, such as the political network, the cultural production network (which encompasses all kinds of cultural artefacts, not just communication products), the military/security network, the global criminal network and the decisive global network of production and application of science, technology and knowledge management. These networks do not merge. Instead, they engage in strategies of partnership and competition by forming ad hoc networks around specific projects. But they all share a common interest: to control the capacity of defining the rules and norms of society through a political system that primarily responds to their interests and values. This is why the network of power constructed around the state and the political system does play a fundamental role in the overall networking of power. This is, first, because the stable operation of the system, and the reproduction of power relationships in every network, ultimately depend on the coordinating and regulatory functions of the state, as was witnessed in the collapse of financial markets in 2008 when governments were called to the rescue around the world. Furthermore, it is via the state that different forms of exercising power in distinct social spheres relate to the monopoly of violence as the capacity to enforce power in the last resort. So, while communication networks process the construction of meaning on which power relies, the state constitutes the default network for the proper functioning of all other power networks. Power in each one of these networks is in the hands of those who design the performance of the networks according to goals and procedures that favor their interests, such as financial laws to protect primarily financial institutions or electoral laws to favor the interests of the dominant parties at the time when the law was elaborated. The programmers of the critical networks that organize human activity are the power holders in the network society. However, networks are multiple, and therefore there is a plurality of power holders, as programmers of each network do not coincide. And so, how do power networks connect with one another while preserving their sphere of action? I propose that they do so through a fundamental mechanism of power-making in the network society: switching power. This is the capacity to connect two or more different networks in the process of making power for each one of them in their respective fields. Switching power is, for instance, the power of media over politics via the framing of the public debate (an extreme case being the manipulation of public opinion by the media owned by Rupert Murdoch), or the government’s policy of regulating or deregulating environmental protection, or the influence of financial corporations over the main media conglomerates.
If power is exercised by programming and switching networks, then counterpower, the deliberate attempt to change power relationships, is enacted by reprogramming networks around alternative interests and values, and/or disrupting the dominant switches while switching networks of resistance and social change. Actors of social change are able to exert decisive influence by using mechanisms of power-making that correspond to the forms and processes of power in the network society. By engaging in the production of mass media messages, and by developing autonomous networks of horizontal communication, citizens of the Information Age become able to invent new programs for their lives with the materials of their suffering, fears, dreams and hopes. They build their projects by sharing their experience. They subvert the practice of communication as usual by occupying the medium and creating the message. They overcome the powerlessness of their solitary despair by networking their desire. They fight the powers that be by identifying the networks that are.
Indeed, social movements, throughout history, are the producers of new values and goals around which the institutions of society are transformed to represent these values by creating new norms to organize social life. Social movements exercise counterpower by constructing themselves in the first place through a process of autonomous communication, free from the control of those holding institutional power. Because mass media are largely controlled by governments and media corporations, in the network society communicative autonomy is primarily constructed in the Internet networks and in the platforms of wireless communication. Digital social networks offer the possibility for largely unfettered deliberation and coordination of action. However, this is only one component of the communicative processes through which social movements relate to society at large. They also need to build public space by creating free communities in the urban space. Since the institutional public space, the constitutionally designated space for deliberation, is occupied by the interests of the dominant elites and their networks, social movements need to carve out a new public space that is not limited to the Internet, but makes itself visible in the places of social life. Then a new public space is created, a hybrid of cyberspace and urban space. I call this third space the space of autonomy. From this space of autonomy, new projects are created to transform social life and enhance our capacity to live together, and in peace with our natural environment, when the old institutions of society are exhausted in their legitimacy and in their efficiency in managing our lives.
We are currently at one of these historical crossroads. The financial crisis that has shaken global capitalism is not simply an economic crisis. It is a crisis of the values underlying the flows of capital creating virtual wealth out of speculative maneuvers enacted with the help of powerful computer networks and mathematical models. It is a crisis that results from the disregard of human well being and natural conservation, counting on the bail out of these cynical lords of the space of financial flows by the powers of the state using the real wealth produced by their subjects. Furthermore, the financial crisis is coupled with a crisis of crisis management, as the crisis of political legitimacy spreads around the world. The data show that in most countries in the world (although less so in Scandinavia) the majority of citizens do not trust their governments, their parliaments, and their political parties. They, in fact, despise what has come to be known as “the political class”.
The combination of an untractable financial crisis with a deep crisis of political legitimacy opens a period of uncertainty in the lives of people at large, particularly in Europe and in the United States. In such periods, the old tricks of fundamentalist nationalism, bigotry, racism, xenophobia and intolerance are played by demagogues to conquer the state over the ruins of a fatigued democracy. But these are also periods in which new social movements rise to assert human values and to reconstruct democracy, real democracy from the bottom up, grassrooting participatory institutions. This is the practice of the networked social movements that sprung around the world in the last two years, and that I have investigated and analyzed in my last book, Networks of Outrage and Hope, to be published in September 2012. What I have observed gives indeed reasons to hope for a better world in the aftermath of the crisis. Because millions of people are actively and peacefully engaged in finding new ways of sharing, living together, and searching for a meaningful life. The fundamental issue still unsolved is the reaction of the current political institutions, vis-à-vis these waves of goodwill that do not recognize themselves in the bureaucratized and sometimes corrupted channels of our aging democratic institutions. If our current leaders give priority to the defense of their obsolete political system tailored for their own interests, we will descend in a maelstrom of social disintegration. Instead, if they accept the challenge and decide to learn new politics by joining, in good faith, the effort of finding alternative economic policies and ways of participatory democracy, then we may be at the threshold of a true humanistic revolution, supported by our extraordinary technological capacity, that we have not truly tapped into until now because of our lack of audacity in reinventing society.
These are times of trouble. And it is in these times when rigorous social science, committed to the betterment of humankind, must rise to the occasion and deliver its promise of understanding our world to help those daring to imagine a better one, and who are willing to fight for it.
Follow The Holberg Prize
Holbergprisen - Universitetet i Bergen
Postboks 7800, 5020 Bergen
info@holbergprisen.no
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14401
|
__label__wiki
| 0.692116
| 0.692116
|
Friday May 24, 2019 - 15:57:35 in Latest News by Super Admin
by Ahmednor Ugas Thursday, May 24, 2019 It is time for the Somali government to ask the African Union (AU) that Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) are no longer needed to be part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Kenya sent its military
Photo of AHmednor Ugas
by Ahmednor Ugas Thursday, May 24, 2019 It is time for the Somali government to ask the African Union (AU) that Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) are no longer needed to be part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Kenya sent its military to Somalia in October 2011 in the pretext of defending its security interests and "pursuing al-Shabaab across the border." It is worth mentioning Kenya did not get approval for the invasion from the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia at the time.
Somalia’s former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said "The Somali government and its people will not be pleased with Kenya’s intervention”. This was a deliberate attack on the sovereignty of a neighboring nation. Kenya requested to join AMISOM a year later as it could not afford continue the operation because of the costs associated. Kenyan troops now serve as AMISOM’s sector 2 comprising 3664 troops based in Kismayo and other nearby cities.
The motives of Kenya’s invasion to Somalia was different from what it said when Kenya launched its operation as secret cables revealed by WikiLeaks showed Kenya has been planning to invade to Somalia since 2007and occupy Jubba land region in southern Somalia long before the threat of al-Shabaab existed. The cables also showed that the United States warned Kenya not to launch the offensive in southern Somalia fearing back lash and bad consequences.
The main goal of Kenya’s invasion was to create a mini state with in the Somali republic that serves its Interests and to explore oil and gas in the territorial waters of Somalia which Kenya claimed for years to be within its maritime boundary. Kenya has claimed the maritime area in the Indian ocean that belongs to Somalia and it sold mining licenses to international companies. It sent its military to defend those interests not to fight against al-Shabaab. Somalia protested and took the case to the International Court of Justice in The Hague which will decide who owns the sea by end of this year.
Realizing the ruling of the ICJ might give victory to Somalia, Kenya started to bully Somalia and recalled its ambassador in Mogadishu and ordered Somali ambassador to leave the country in February this year. The tension was later eased when Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abi Ahmed, intervened and led Somali president Mohamed Farmajo to Nairobi where they held talks with Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta. Its understood Kenya wanted to solve the maritime boundary dispute with negotiations outside the ICJ which Farmajo refused.
It is obvious the talks did stop Kenya to continue bullying Somalia to coerce compromise. Kenya denied entry Somali government minister and lawmakers to Kenya who were planning to attend a meeting in Nairobi. The officials were carrying diplomatic passports when they were denied entry and deported back to Mogadishu. There was no explanation of why it did so.
This is the right time for Somalia to protest to AU, UN and the international community to demand the complete withdrawal of KDF from Somalia. The troops continue to defy the mandate of AMISOM under theUN Security Council Resolution 2372(2017). KDF forces targeted and destroyed several times masts of Hormuud, Somalia’s leading telecommunication company and killed many innocent civilians. Kenyan forces continue air raids on villages and towns near the border and killed many innocent civilians. No one was held accountable for these heinous actions. Kenyan troops do not even take orders from the AMISOM task force commandment.
The Somali government must immediately take and implement these steps.
To ban the importation of Khat (Miraa). This drug is illegal in most countries in the word. This drug falls under the Controlled Substances in many countries and is illegal to consume, sell or buy. Kenya sends 20 cargo planes carrying Miraa (Khat) to Somalia daily. These Khat exports worth of $400,000 daily. The government has to ban Khat permanently and the Somali parliament should immediately make it illegal.
The Somali government should demand the immediate withdrawal of KDF from Somalia. They should not be part of AMISOM.
The Somali government must request conferences concerning Somalia to be held in Somalia or somewhere other than Nairobi.
Somalia can no longer tolerate the bullying of Kenya. It is impossible for Kenya to be part of peace keeping operations in Somalia and at the same time pursue its wicked and greedy interests against the Somali people. It is time for Somalis to wake up!
This article originally posted in the Author's blog post
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14406
|
__label__wiki
| 0.599475
| 0.599475
|
Some history of the treatment of epidemics with Homeopathy
by Julian Winston
Some history of the treatment of epidemics with Homeopa
From its earliest days, homeopathy has been able to treat epidemic diseases with a substantial rate of success, when compared to conventional treatments. It was these successes that placed the practice of homeopathy so firmly in the consciousness of people world-wide.
There is a story told about Joseph Pulte, one of the earliest homeopaths in Cincinnati. When he began his practice, many people were so angered by a homeopath being in town that they pelted the house with eggs. He was becoming discouraged enough to think of leaving. His wife said, “Joseph, do you believe in the truth of homeopathy?” He replied in the affirmative. “Then,” she said, “you will stay in Cincinnati.”
Shortly after, when the Cholera epidemic swept through, Pulte was able to boast of not having lost a single patient– and he was accepted into the community. In the Epidemic of 1849, people crowded to his door and stood in the street because the waiting room was full.
In 1900, Thomas Lindsley Bradford, MD, wrote a book called “The Logic of Figures” in which he collected the statistics he could find that would compare the conventional therapeutics with homeopathic ones. Many of the figures cited below are derived from Bradford’s work.
One of the earliest tests of the homeopathic system was in the treatment of Typhus Fever (spread by lice) in an 1813 epidemic which followed the devastation of Napoleon’s army marching through Germany to attack Russia, followed by their retreat. When the epidemic came through Leipzig as the army pulled back from the east, Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, was able to treat 180 cases of Typhus– losing but two. This, at a time when the conventional treatments were having a mortality rate of over 30%.
In 1830 as the cholera epidemic was reported coming from the east, Hahnemann was able to identify the stages of the illness, and predict what remedies would be needed for which stages.
When Cholera finally struck Europe in 1831 the mortality rate (under conventional treatment) was between 40% (Imperial Council of Russia) to 80% (Osler’s Practice of Medicine). Out of five people who contracted Cholera, two to four of them died under regular treatment. Dr. Quin, in London, reported the mortality in the ten homeopathic hospitals in 1831-32 as 9%; Dr. Roth, physician to the king of Bavaria, reported that under homeopathic care the mortality was 7%; Admiral Mordoinow of the Imperial Russian Council reported 10% mortality under homeopathy; and Dr. Wild, Allopathic editor of Dublin Quarterly Journal, reported in Austria, the Allopathic mortality was 66% and the homeopathic mortality was 33% “and on account of this extraordinary result, the law interdicting the practice of Homeopathy in Austria was repealed”.
Homeopathy continued to be effective in the treatment of Epidemic Cholera. In 1854 a Cholera Epidemic struck London. This was a historically important epidemic in that it was the first time the medical community was able to trace the outbreak to a source (a public water pump), and when the pump was closed, the epidemic soon ceased. The House of Commons asked for a report about the various methods of treating the epidemic. When the report was issued, the homeopathic figures were not included. The House of Lords asked for an explanation, and it was admitted that if the homeopathic figures were to be included in the report, it would “skew the results”. The suppressed report revealed that under allopathic care the mortality was 59.2% while under homeopathic care the mortality was only 9%.
It is hard today to comprehend what kind of scourge such an epidemic was. As was seen in the later Flu Epidemic of 1918, one could be healthy in the morning and be dead by evening– it moved that rapidly. Many books were written about the Homeopathic treatment of Cholera during these times, among them: Cholera and its Homeopathic treatment, F. Humphreys (1849); Homeopathic Treatment of Cholera, B.F. Joslin (1854); Homeopathic Domestic Treatment of Cholera, Biegler (1858); Epidemic Cholera, B. F. Joslin (1885); Asiatic Cholera, Jabez Dake (1886).
The success of homeopathic treatment continued with the later cholera epidemics. In the Hamburg epidemic of 1892, allopathic mortality was 42%, homeopathic mortality was 15.5% During the 1850s, there were several epidemics of Yellow Fever in the southern states. This disease was eventually found to be transmitted by mosquito. Osler says that the allopathic mortality from Yellow Fever is between 15-85%. Holcome, a homeopath, reported in 1853 a mortality of 6.43% in Natchez, and Dr. Davis, another homeopath in Natchez, reported 5.73%. In 1878 the mortality in New Orleans was 50% under allopathic care, and 5.6% (in 1,945 cases in the same epidemic) with homeopathic care.
The two best books on this topic were: Yellow Fever and its Homeopathic Treatment, Holcome, (1856) and The Efficacy of Crot. Horridus in Yellow Fever, C. Neidhard, (1860).
Another epidemic disease which was treatable with homeopathy was Diphtheria. Since the advent of widespread vaccination, it is a disease not often seen in our modern world. Diphtheria appeared periodically, and rarely had the same presentation. It was, therefore, very important for the practitioner to individualize the treatment in each specific case or generalized epidemic. A remedy which had been effective in treating it one year might not be the same remedy needed the next year.
In the records of three years of Diphtheria in Broome County, NY from 1862 to 1864, there was a report of an 83.6% mortality rate among the allopaths and a 16.4% mortality rate among the Homeopaths. (Bradford)
Perhaps the most recent use of homeopathy in a major epidemic was during the Influenza Pandemic of 1918. The Journal of the American Institute for Homeopathy, May, 1921, had a long article about the use of homeopathy in the flu epidemic. Dr. T A McCann, from Dayton, Ohio, reported that 24,000 cases of flu treated allopathically had a mortality
rate of 28.2% while 26,000 cases of flu treated homeopathically had a mortality rate of 1.05%. This last figure was supported by Dean W.A. Pearson of Philadelphia (Hahnemann College) who collected 26,795 cases of flu treated with homeopathy with the above result.
The most common remedy used was Gelsemium, with occasional cases needing Bryonia and Eupatorium reported. Dr. Herbert A. Roberts from Derby, CT, said that 30 physicians in Connecticut responded to his request for data. They reported 6,602 cases with 55 deaths, which is less than 1%. Dr. Roberts was working as a physician on a troop ship during WWI. He had 81 cases of flu on the way over to Europe. He reported, “All recovered and were landed. Every man received homeopathic treatment. One ship lost 31 on the way.”
Closer to our present time, there were the Polio epidemics in the mid-1950s. Dr. Alonzo Shadman, a homeopath in the Boston area, emphasized that until *actual paralysis* was observed, it was hard to distinguish the prodromal symptoms of Polio from those of the common cold– and he treated many “summer colds” during the time. Were they incipient polio? No one can tell.
Dr. Francisco Eizayaga or Argentina, tells of a polio epidemic in Buenos Aires in 1957, where the symptoms of the epidemic resembled those of the remedy Lathyrus sativa. The homeopathic doctors and pharmacies prescribed Lathyrus 30c as a prophylactic, and “thousands of doses” were distributed. “Nobody registered a case of contagion.” Eizayaga points out that in other epidemics of polio, Gelsemium was the indicated remedy– emphasizing, again, the need for individualization.
Homeopathy has been very effective in treating many of the epidemics during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Why the successes are not better known is a subject for conjecture. It could be that, like the physician quoted below, most would rather not see the ineffectiveness of the conventional therapeutics nor accept the efficacy of homeopathy. From “Homeopathy In Influenza-A Chorus Of Fifty In Harmony” by W. A. Dewey, MD (Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy, May 1921):
One physician in a Pittsburgh hospital asked a nurse if she knew anything better than what he was doing, because he was losing many cases. “Yes, Doctor, stop aspirin and go down to a homeopathic pharmacy, and get homeopathic remedies”. The Doctor replied: “But that is homeopathy.” “I know it, but the homeopathic doctors for whom I have nursed have not lost a single case.”–W. F. Edmundson, MD, Pittsburgh.
Reprinted with the gracious permission of Gwyneth Winston, from the Julian Winston Archives. http://julianwinston.com/
Editors note: Julian Winston was considered the foremost historian of homeopathy and his website is rich with homeopathic archives.
Julian Winston
Julian Winston was considered the foremost historian of homeopathy and his website is rich with homeopathic archives.
A Second Look at the Online Database Provings.info
by Joerg Wichmann
Joerg Wichmann, developer of the Provings.info website shares updates on the website. Provings...
A Case of Cervical Cancer
by Sybil Ihrig
The author presents a case of cancer which responded rapidly to the right remedy in the right...
Thoughts about Homeopathy and Life – The Bond Between...
by Greg Meyer
The author reviews the peaceful company of his Golden Retriever Poohbear and the bond between...
Rob Totten says:
Enjoyed reading your article very much as it seems a shame Homeopathy is not more used worldwide. My website has a health page where I comment a bit on the subject and I was wondering if I could use any of your articles but for the time being I can post a link to this site.
Regards, Rob.
how is ovarian cyst cured for secondary infertility ? can it be cured by homeo pathy medicines and is it possible to con ceive?
Homeopathic medicine for Insomnia, Sleeplessness
Homeopathic Medicine for Acne
Homeopathic Medicines for Cough
Crohn’s Disease Treatment with Homeopathy
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14408
|
__label__wiki
| 0.563421
| 0.563421
|
Le Peletier
Le Métro
Photo: © Simon Law
If you’ve ever spent much time in Paris, you know that the Paris Métro is enormous: 16 lines, 381 stops in 297 stations (of which 62 provide correspondence between lines), and 132 miles of routes. It’s not as large as New York’s subway system, of course, which has 24 lines, 468 stops in 421 stations, and 209 miles of routes, but it is much bigger than the Metro system of my hometown of Washington, DC: the DC Metro has 5 lines, 118 stops in 86 stations, and 106 miles of routes.
© RATP — The Paris Métro is enormous.
Paris’s Métro is one of the densest subway systems in the world, with 245 of its stations located within the 34 square miles of the city of Paris itself. Since the Métro was designed at the end of the nineteenth century to comprehensively serve the city, the stations are very close together: only 548 meters apart on average (about a third of a mile or 600 yards), ranging down to 424 meters (a quarter of a mile or 465 yards) on line 4 and up to one kilometer (about six tenths of a mile or 1,100 yards) on the newest line 14. With all these Métro stations and their maze-like transfer tunnels, it’s no wonder that Paris has been described as a véritable gruyère.
Continue reading Le Métro
Posted in living in franceTagged 4 Septembre, Étienne Marcel, Bastille, Châtelet, France, je parle américain, je parle american, Le Peletier, Les Halles, Métro, Métropolitain, New York subway, Paris, RATP, RER, subway, véritable gruyère, Washington, Washington MetroLeave a comment
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14410
|
__label__wiki
| 0.711246
| 0.711246
|
10 Things to Do in Houston in a Day
What is Houston Most Famous For?
Houston offers a cool mix of urban scenes imbued with American culture and history. While the city’s name closely relates to the breakthroughs of manned space flight, you can enjoy a wealth of historical and modern sightseeing here on Earth. It’s home to great museums, and there’s even an urban park filled with well-preserved, centuries-old buildings.
Most of Houston’s attractions cater to families with kids, and there are fun nightspots where grownups can have a blast. Here’s a list of things to do in Houston in a day, showing you some of the highlights you can enjoy, taste, and experience in one of the greatest American cities.
Start your day at Market Square Park
The hub of Downtown Houston’s historical district
Hangout with Houston locals and fellow visitors at this vibrant public park in the city’s historical district. Although it’s compact, Market Square Park is filled with flower gardens and decorative art, and it’s where you can expect a variety of community events held throughout the year. It features walls and elevated pathways covered in colourful mosaics. The mosaic fountain and the mosaicked benches along Preston Street are also eye-catching. There are plenty of shaded spots within the park to sit back and people-watch or enjoy the shows.
Location: 301 Milam St, Houston, TX 77002, USA
Open: Daily from 6am to 11pm
Good for:
photo by Brian Reading (CC BY-SA 3.0) modified
Must-See: Space Center Houston
Inspiring the next generation of space explorers
Houston is inseparable from the history of manned space flight. It’s home to the Space Center Houston, which is the Official Visitor Center of NASA Johnson Space Center. Between the carpark and its massive facility, you can see its main landmark in Independence Plaza: a replica of the space shuttle Independence, riding piggyback on top of the historical NASA 905 shuttle-carrier jumbo jet. Inside the space centre, you’ll find a series of scientific exhibits related to space exploration, suitable for all ages.
Location: 1601 E NASA Pkwy, Houston, TX 77058, USA
Open: Daily from 9am to 6pm
photo by Romain2k (CC BY-SA 4.0) modified
Learn to skydive indoors at iFly
Pick up some freefall manoeuvres
You don’t need to don a parachute or hop on a plane to enjoy the freefall sensation of skydiving. Houston has iFly, a specially designed indoor skydiving facility where both kids and adults can learn the moves and enjoy the sensation in a safe and controlled environment. The flight chamber is basically a high-powered, upright wind tunnel. Overseen by a team of professional skydiving instructors, and after some brief tutelage and motivation, you can live your dream of flying in no time. Special gear includes a flight suit, a helmet, and protective goggles.
Location: 9540 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX 77055, USA
Open: Monday – Thursday from 10am to 9pm, Fridays from 10am to 10pm, Saturdays from 9am to 10pm, Sundays from 9am to 9pm
Take the kids to SplashTown
For a splashing fun day out in Houston
To beat the summer heat, you can take the family to Wet'n'Wild SplashTown, Houston’s largest waterpark. You can reach SplashTown within a half-hour’s drive north from Downtown Houston. For ultimate thrills, try exhilarating rides such as the 6-stories-tall Alien Chaser mega-slide, in which you can ride in tubes for 2, whiz through tunnels and whirl into 3 gigantic “saucers”. Milder rides, good for all, include the Paradise River lazy river pool and the Wild Wave Pool with its artificially generated waves.
Location: 21300 Interstate 45 N, Spring, TX 77373, USA
Open: Daily from 10am to 7pm (Friday – Sunday until 8pm)
Must-See: The Houston Museum of Natural Science
Where you can see massive dinosaur fossils and watch IMAX movie
There’s plenty going on in The Houston Museum of Natural Science. You can expect special exhibits held here throughout the year, ranging from scientific exhibitions of Sherlock Holmes’ crime-solving methods, to impressive photographic showcases from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Permanent exhibitions include an amazing butterfly exhibit, the Hall of Ancient Egypt, the Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals, and the Morian Hall of Palaeontology, that’s filled with towering dinosaur fossils. The Wortham Giant Screen Experience shows stunning IMAX documentaries, suitable for all ages.
Location: 5555 Hermann Park Dr, Houston, TX 77030, USA
photo by Ed Schipul (CC BY-SA 2.0) modified
Try the fajitas at Ninfa’s
A Houston diner serving legendary Tex-Mex
Try out some original Houston Tex-Mex flavours at Ninfa’s, a rustic restaurant at Houston’s 2704 Navigation Boulevard. Among the tasty signature delights that you can order here are their tacos, jumbo lump crab cakes, and fajitas. The fajitas, particularly, are legendary and have long been the main draw here. It uses select skirt steak, and Ninfa’s own original recipe is said to date back to 1973. Accompanying its Tex-Mex selections are an assortment of handcrafted cocktails. Try the famous Ninfarita, its signature Margarita that uses Agave Tequila Blanco.
Location: 2704 Navigation Blvd, Houston, TX 77003, USA
Open: Monday – Thursday from 11am to 10pm, Fridays until 11pm, Saturdays from 10am to 11pm, Sundays from 10am to 10pm
photo by WhisperToMe (CC BY-SA 3.0) modified
Shop at The Galleria
Houston’s main shopping mall
For one of Houston’s best modern shopping experiences, head up to The Galleria in the city’s Uptown District. It’s the largest of its kind in whole Texas and one of the largest in the States. Inside its massive complex you can find notable anchor stores such as Neiman Marcus and a Macy's. The mall also houses some world-renowned restaurant franchises, including Houston’s own Nobu Sushi and Japanese. You can check out its indoor ice rink that occupies most of its massive main atrium.
Location: 5085 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77056, USA
Open: Monday – Saturday from 10am to 9pm, Sundays from 11am to 7pm
photo by Jerald Jackson (CC BY 2.0) modified
Visit historical houses at Sam Houston Park
A beautiful walk that takes you back in time
Part of Houston’s colourful heritage is well-preserved at Sam Houston Park. This green space in Downtown Houston features neat pathways and lakes, with several historical homes throughout. These include old wooden cabins, a 19th-century church that was built by early German and Swiss immigrants, and the prominent Kellum-Noble House which is Houston's oldest known brick house. The park is overseen by Houston’s Heritage Society, from where you can book for guided tours of the park and its interesting structures.
Location: 1000 Bagby St, Houston, TX 77002, USA
Watch a show at the Music Box Theater
Broadway musicals and comedies in Houston
You can enjoy great evening entertainment in Houston at the Music Box Theater. It offers an intimate setting, and puts on a good variety of Broadway shows and cabarets that are backed by its highly talented cast and band. Most of its shows are original musical productions. Some of its shows present a blend of comedy and drama, with hits from some of the greatest bands greatest like The Beatles. Other shows are themed around nostalgic songs of the 50s, 60s, and 70s.
Location: 2623 Colquitt St, Houston, TX 77098, USA
Open: Tuesday – Thursday from 10am to 4.30pm, Friday – Saturday 10am to 7pm, Sundays from 11am to 2pm (closed on Mondays)
End the day singing along at Pete's Dueling Piano Bar
For a Texan Rock n’ Rolling night out
Enjoy a night out in Houston that’s filled with music where you can sing along with your old friends and make new ones. Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar is Houston’s most famous piano bar, where 2 pianists on stage get into a “piano battle” almost every night. They play portions of well-known songs in a fun and exhilarating sequence, while you and the rest of the whole audience shout along. Their playlist can include anything from the 70s to the latest modern hits that seniors may find difficult to follow.
Location: 1201 Fannin St #310, Houston, TX 77002, USA
Open: Wednesday – Saturday from 7pm to 2am
Ari Gunadi | Compulsive Traveller
Start planning your trip
I don’t know my dates
10 Things to Do with Your Family in Houston
Ari Gunadi, 20 Feb, 2019
10 Things We Love About Houston
Houston Travel Kit
, 10 Feb, 2019
10 Free Things to Do in Houston
10 Romantic Things to Do in Houston
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14412
|
__label__wiki
| 0.763857
| 0.763857
|
Sorbonne, Paris, France
5 images Created 11 Sep 2018
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter of Paris, which was the historical house of the former University of Paris.
The name is derived from the Collège de Sorbonne, founded in 1257 by the eponymous Robert de Sorbon as one of the first significant colleges of the medieval University of Paris.
The university predates the college by about a century, and minor colleges had been founded already during the late 12th century. During the 16th century, the Sorbonne became involved with the intellectual struggle between Catholics and Protestants. The University served as a major stronghold of Catholic conservative attitudes and, as such, conducted a struggle against King Francis I's policy of relative tolerance towards the French Protestants, except for a brief period during 1533 when the University was placed under Protestant control.%0A%0AThe Collège de Sorbonne was suppressed during the French Revolution, reopened by Napoleon in 1808 and finally closed in 1882.
Today, it houses part or all of several higher education and research institutions such as Panthéon-Sorbonne University, Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris Descartes University, École pratique des hautes études, and Sorbonne University.
Sorbonne, Paris, France1.jpg
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14419
|
__label__wiki
| 0.896399
| 0.896399
|
Watch Kristin Chenoweth’s Spunky, Hilarious Reba McEntire Tribute at the Kennedy Center Honors
Kristin Chenoweth was among the stars who turned out to pay tribute to Reba McEntire at the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors, and she had the black-tie crowd in stitches with a rousing, comical performance of "Doin' What Comes Naturally" from Annie Get Your Gun.
McEntire conquered Broadway when she starred in Annie Get Your Gun in 2001, and Chenoweth — a veteran Broadway star and Tony Award winner — honored McEntire with her humorous selection, singing in front of a Western-themed set and hamming it up as she delivered a high-spirited, fun performance of the light-hearted song.
Before she sang, she put her hands together in the shape of a heart and mouthed "I love you" to McEntire, who took in her performance from the balcony, blowing a kiss back to her friend and beaming throughout the song.
The 41st Kennedy Center Honors Gala took place on Sunday, Dec. 2 in Washington, D.C., and aired on CBS on Wednesday night (Dec. 26). In addition to McEntire, Cher, composers Wayne Shorter and Phillip Glass, Hamilton co-writer Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler and music director Alex Lacamoire were also recognized for their cultural contributions.
Kelly Clarkson, Lady Antebellum and Brooks & Dunn were also on hand to pay tribute to McEntire with her songs, and Little Big Town honored Cher with a medley of her hits.
Clarkson also gave an emotional speech about McEntire before delivering a powerful performance of her 1990 hit "Fancy" that was one of the evening's highlights.
NEXT: 5 Must-See Moments From Reba's Kennedy Center Honors
See the Best Photos from the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors
Source: Watch Kristin Chenoweth’s Spunky, Hilarious Reba McEntire Tribute at the Kennedy Center Honors
Filed Under: Kristin Chenoweth, reba mcentire
Categories: Country Music News, Country Music Videos
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14428
|
__label__wiki
| 0.834452
| 0.834452
|
← Scottish Trade Union Congress condemns Histadrut and supports BDS
Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for BDS (PTUC-BDS) formed at historic conference →
Palestinians in the US Celebrate International Workers’ Day – May Day
From the US Palestinian Community Network – May 1, 2011 – On May Day, International Workers’ Day, the US Palestinian Community Network – and Palestinian workers in Palestine and in exile – join workers around the world in celebration of the incredible achievements of laborers for their just rights. On its 125th anniversary, we pay special tribute to the eight Haymarket martyrs and to their immense sacrifices. Their voice will never be strangled so long as we continue to fight for labor justice.
In Palestine as elsewhere, workers continue to struggle for and are deprived of their rights, including the right to work and the right to organize. Palestinian workers in the West Bank and Gaza are under siege and occupation, and under the chokehold of neoliberal policies aimed at further disenfranchising them; Palestinian workers in Israel face systematic discrimination and suppression of their independent organizations, and Palestinian workers in exile continue to confront discrimination, racism, and barriers to employment, particularly in Lebanon where Palestinians continue to face extensive legal barriers to employment.
From the earliest days of the Zionist movement in Palestine, Zionist settler colonialism has consistently and continually attacked Palestinian labor. In the 1920s and 1930s, as the Zionist movement, in collaboration with British colonialism, worked to expand its colonization of Palestine, policies and prohibitions against hiring Palestinian workers proliferated and Palestinian small businesses were systematically forced out of business by larger Zionist enterprises, increasing Palestinian unemployment in an attempt to drive Palestinian workers from their homelands in search of work and therefore dispossess them of their land. Palestinian organizing has also been ruthlessly suppressed – before and after the Nakba, in Palestine and in exile. Palestinian labor leaders languish in Israeli prisons, and Palestinian workers’ organizations are heavily suppressed in Jordan.
Even now, Palestinian workers are subject to collective punishment by Israel, including checkpoints, siege, closure and other policies that deepen poverty and increase unemployment, driving Palestinians to leave their homes in search of livelihoods whilst maintaining a reserve force of Palestinian unemployed labor for Zionist exploitation.
Palestinian workers have always been the backbone of the Palestinian national movement. From the strikes in the factories of Haifa in the early resistance to British colonialism, to the labor movements of the 1950s inside Israel, to their continued role as organizers and agitators, Palestinian workers propel the Palestinian struggle. In 1936, as part of the great Palestinian revolt against Zionist settler colonialism, Palestinian workers waged a historic general strike – the longest general strike in the history of the world. Palestinian workers’ organizations also played a key role in resisting occupation – as seen in the first Intifada, when labor organizations, unions, and workers’ popular committees coordinated general strikes, mass closures of stores and factories, and workers’ mobilizations.
International workers’ solidarity with the struggle of Palestinian workers and the Palestinian people is crucial. An increasing number of labor unions around the world have adopted Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. From South Africa to the UK to Canada to Italy to Norway to Brazil to Australia, and elsewhere around the world, trade unions are affirming their commitment to the rights of the Palestinian worker.
At the same time, the Histadrut, the official Israeli labor organization, dating from the earliest mobilizations of “Hebrew labor” to counter Palestinian workers, continues to present itself as a progressive or legitimate part of the international labor movement. To the contrary, the Histadrut is instrumentally connected to the Israeli state, playing a key role in building settlements, stealing and refusing to return millions of dollars in Palestinian workers’ dues, supporting the assault on Gaza and the attack on the Freedom Flotilla, and refusing to combat racism and discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel. The Histadrut is not a labor union – it is a racist arm of a settler-colonial apartheid state. We reiterate the Palestinian BDS call, “We are thus asking the international trade unions to boycott the Histadrut…” and salute the international labor unions, including the Scottish Trade Union Congress and the Congress of South African Trade Unions who have announced their boycott of the Histadrut.
As Palestinian workers in exile, we call upon workers and trade unions in the US to support the BDS call and boycott the Histadrut. The historic action of June 2010 at the Port of Oakland, where International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10 workers refused to unload an Israeli Zim ship in protest at the assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, was a groundbreaking moment in the U.S. labor movement’s steps toward solidarity with Palestine. “This action stands in the proud tradition of West Coast dock-workers who refused to handle cargo for Nazi Germany (1934) and fascist Italy (1935); those in Denmark and Sweden (1963), the San Francisco Bay Area (1984) and Liverpool (1988), who refused shipping for apartheid South Africa; those in Oakland who refused to load bombs for the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile (1978); and those at all twenty-nine West Coast ports who held a May Day strike against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (2008),” said Labor for Palestine. ILWU Local 10 is currently under attack and facing a lawsuit by the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), after the rank and file dock workers’ voluntary action on April 4 in solidarity with the Wisconsin public workers. USPCN expresses its strongest support and solidarity with ILWU Local 10 and its members and commits itself to joining in their defense, as they have joined with us and so many before.
USPCN reaffirms that the voices of Palestinian workers must be heard. Palestinian workers are united in their call for BDS and we demand that any trade union leaders who claim to speak for Palestinian workers reaffirm their full support for the demands and objectives of Palestinian workers in Palestine and in exile – including BDS and the boycott of the Histadrut. The Palestinian labor movement – like the Palestinian national movement as a whole – must be rebuilt on a democratic and inclusive basis. Palestinian workers have an important role to play in the Palestinian national movement, and just as the unions of Palestinian students and women must be reborn, so too must the organizations of Palestinian workers. In this way, the will of Palestinian workers will be legitimately represented, rather than allow appointed and undemocratic leaders to speak in their name.
We are also very conscious of the role of the Palestinian Authority in undermining Palestinian workers’ rights – from political pressure by refusing to pay salaries, to the Ramallah PA’s neoliberal policies of “economic peace” and “industrial zones.” Salam Fayyad, a former representative of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund – known internationally for their anti-worker “austerity” policies – serves as Prime Minister of the Ramallah PA. Despite the recent announcement of a unity agreement between Hamas and Fateh in the West Bank and Gaza, it is clear to us that the PA can never represent the Palestinian people as a whole, and that the PA’s institutional structures are deeply entwined with the interests of the Palestinian capitalist class to the detriment of Palestinian workers or meaningful Palestinian economic popular development.
As Palestinians and Palestinian workers in the U.S., we are particularly appalled by the obvious relations of Palestinian and Palestinian American large capitalists in undermining the Palestinian national movement, and Palestinian labor. We condemn the choice of Bashar Masri, a Palestinian capitalist responsible for the “Rawabi” gated community in the West Bank to speak before the America-Israel Chamber of Commerce in Chicago on May 12, and to therefore encourage greater trade and economic cooperation between the US and Israel. While the Palestinian people are calling for full boycott of Israel, Masri and his ilk are working to undermine that call, and to support their and the Israeli economy’s profiting from occupation and settler colonialism. We call upon all supporters of Palestinian workers to protest in Chicago on May 12 against Masri’s economic collaboration with Israel at the expense of Palestinian workers and the Palestinian people.
In Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and across the Arab world, the movement of Arab workers for dignity and social justice have been central to toppling dictatorships and demanding radical change. We salute our fellow Arab workers for their inspiring victories and pledge to continue the struggle together.
In the United States, recognizing that the demands of justice for immigrants are central to any movement for justice for workers in the U.S., May Day has become a day of workers’ as well as migrants’ struggle. As a result of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, there are now over five million Palestinian refugees, many of whom live without status, all over the world. Issues of status, forced migration and refugee rights have always played a central role in the fight for justice for Palestine, including Palestinian refugees’ right to return home. The migrant struggle is therefore our own; we are indivisible from the call of undocumented workers for their rights.
Indeed, Israel is not only a settler colonial state responsible for dispossession and oppression of Palestinians in Palestine; Israel is also a world leader in ‘homeland security’ and border technology. Israeli technology and weaponry can be found at border fences and immigration detention centers in the U.S. and around the world, with the wall the U.S. government is building on the border with Mexico mirroring the Apartheid wall in Palestine. This technology as made the lives of migrants unbearable, cruelly depriving them of a right to work.
We stand today for full justice, legalization, and rights for immigrants in the US and around the world, an end to federal policies such as “Secure Communities” and 287(g) that create unsafe communities for immigrants and people of color across the U.S., and an end to the racist anti-immigrant policies in Arizona, Georgia and elsewhere that target the Latino, Black community, and Arab community, and other communities of color.
On International Workers’ Day 2011, we stand in solidarity with the international workers’ movement, and call upon that movement to continue and expand its efforts in solidarity with Palestine, including a full embrace of BDS and boycott of the Histadrut, and support for Palestinian workers’ struggles. We salute the workers of our community and commit ourselves to building and organizing Palestinian workers in the U.S. as part of the Palestinian national movement, and as part of the international labor, immigrant justice, and antiracist movements.
Workers’ solidarity can end exploitation and injustice – and will bring down occupation and colonialism in Palestine.
This entry was posted in LFP Statements, Palestinian Labor. Bookmark the permalink.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14433
|
__label__wiki
| 0.718232
| 0.718232
|
Truth Will Prevail! UK Mormons Sponsor First Pageant Outside of US
By Official Church Newsroom · August 5, 2013
See the article at the LDS Newsroom here
Wednesday 31st July saw the first of nine performances of The British Pageant, the first of its kind in Europe and the first to be held outside of North America. Over 300 volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of all ages and backgrounds will perform in this live musical production that tells the story of their British heritage and deep roots in Christianity. The Pageant will be performed in Chorley, on the Preston England Temple site, under an impressive marquee built to house a 480 square feet stage in front of audiences of 1,500.
After a nineteenth century-themed festival of activities the whole family can enjoy, including games, crafts and a parade, the dramatic production will be performed to ticket-holders. Traditional and original music sung by a 200 person choir will accompany a cast of 100 British members of the Church, who have been rehearsing since auditions ended in March.
Stephen Kerr, President of the Pageant, said: “We Latter-day Saints have a tremendous good news story to share with the whole world and a major part of the beginnings of this dramatic story takes place in [Britain].”
Audiences will hear the British stories of sacrifice and commitment that preceded the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Martyrs such as William Tyndale and Thomas More gave their lives so that every person in Britain could have the Bible in their own language. Audiences will also witness a re-enactment of the arrival of the first Mormon missionaries in Britain in 1837, and hear the message that changed the lives of large numbers of people who flocked to the United States after being baptised as Mormons. It will be a story told in music, acting, and readings from 150 year-old journals.
“It is the story of those who seek for truth and having found it are loyal and true to it,“ said President Kerr. “It is our story and in telling it in the words of our [ancestors] we believe we are also sharing our own personal testimonies of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Members of the Mormon faith of all ages and backgrounds will tell the story. This large cast and choir are all amateur performers from all over Britain, who have volunteered their time in the past months to rehearse together, learning lines and choreographed folk dances.
Elizabeth Roberts, from Gloucestershire, once danced with the Royal Ballet. She and her granddaughter Caitlin, 10, are performing in the Pageant. She said, “Though the cast are all volunteers, most of whom have little professional experience, the difference is made up by willing hearts and the presence of the Spirit.”
For volunteers like Bishop Simon Munday from North Yorkshire, the Pageant is a family affair – all five of his children (ages 8-16) are performing in the show, and his wife is in the choir.
The Beasley family from Leicestershire is likewise abuzz with enthusiasm for the Pageant. Describing the preparation for their roles in the Pageant and learning their lines, Carol Beasley said, “Our kitchen, lounge and dining room are often filled with the voices of Heber C. Kimball, George Q. Cannon, Alexander Baird and others [who served as early missionaries in Britain].”
“We are so looking forward to this great event, to making wonderful friends. We’re looking forward to giving all we’ve got and sharing our most precious feelings about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The Pageant was written by Alexandra Mackenzie Johns, from Jersey, who also directs the Pageant, organising a larger cast than most Broadway shows; Beth Trebilcock, from Lancashire, directs the music; Amy Robinson, from London, has perhaps undertaken the biggest challenge – at eight months pregnant, she choreographed traditional folk dances that even teenage boys could participate in!
Clifford Herbertson, ecclesiastical leader who presides over Britain, said: “The rich history of the Church in [Britain] is something most people are not familiar with, even for many of our own members. With dramatic conversions and tens of thousands of British and Irish people joining the Church in the nineteenth century, the British Pageant brings the early history of Mormonism in the British Isles to life.”
1 Comment | Post or read comments
LeonardAugust 6, 2013
It would be nice to see a youtube clip on that pagent
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14435
|
__label__wiki
| 0.856973
| 0.856973
|
‘Halo: Reach’ release may break video game records
Posted by Lauren Ramsdell ⋅ September 7, 2010 ⋅ Leave a comment
Filed Under gaming, Halo, Halo: Reach, video games, Xbox
For nine years, Xbox gamers have marched with the Spartans in the world of “Halo”: reveling in victory and sinking in defeat and guided by Cortana against waves of the Flood and the Covenant.
Soon the journey will be over – at least for a while.
Bungie, the developers now owned by Microsoft, announced that the forthcoming “Halo: Reach” will be the last game in the Halo canon made by the studio. Future “Halo” games will be developed by 343 industries, a newly formed in-house Microsoft studio.
Over time, gamers passionate about the series have grown attached to Halo’s main protagonist, the Spartan Petty Officer John-117 – better known as the Master Chief.
In “Reach” the Master Chief is not the main character, rather the player assumes the role of “Noble 6,” the latest addition to a group of Spartans charged with, as in many of the “Halo” games, finally defeating the alien Covenant threat.
“Halo: Reach” has grossed more than 1.5 million pre-orders, according to video game data website VGChartz.com, with over 200,000 new orders placed in a single week. Excitement has been building for Halo fans since June 1, when Bungie announced “Reach” at the gaming convention E3. The release date is Sept. 14.
“Halo: Reach”‘s full-length predecessor was the highest-grossing video game of both 2007 and of all time, until “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” knocked it out of the top slot in 2009. But overall, the Halo franchise has introduced many features in video games that make it at least a contender for top video game of the decade.
“Halo” games introduced the concept of a recharging health shield, rather than hunting all over the map for health packs. The saved film and screenshot feature introduced in “Halo 3,” while not unique, at least brought the familiar PC concept to the console. And even from the start, machinimas like “Red vs. Blue” brought “Halo” to the mainstream – something video games have been trying to achieve from the days of Mario.
“Halo: Reach” has been in development since 2007, and while that does not preclude a superior game, the developers elected to rebuild graphic assets from the ground up rather than re-use or update old textures.
Based on hype and previous releases, “Halo: Reach” was selected by game industry professionals to likely be the top game release of 2010, even though the release is not spurred on by the powerful buying push of the holiday season. The game retailer GameStop (located on University Drive in the same shopping center as Target) will hold a midnight release of the game on the evening of the Sept. 13 and into the morning of the 14, a party to say farewell to Bungie’s control over the Halo universe, for better or for worse.
« How-To: Get back in the swing of things
‘The Record’ takes viewers back to the days of vinyl »
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14437
|
__label__wiki
| 0.876214
| 0.876214
|
All of Travis Tritt’s Studio Albums, Ranked
Rick Diamond, Getty Images
Across Travis Tritt's nearly 30-year career, he's recorded just 10 studio albums. It's a modest count for a tried-and-true country singer considering that, in the 1970s alone, Columbia issued 17 Johnny Cash albums.
After deep-diving into Tritt's recordings, his habit of cutting a long-player every three years, as opposed to every few months, feels like a positive. It limits filler, allowing for such start-to-finish classics as Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof, It's All About to Change, The Restless Kind and other impressively strong albums from a genre driven by hit singles.
Read on to find out how The Boot ranks a catalog of albums without a total dud. The list focuses on Tritt's mainstream studio output, skipping compilations, live recordings, Tritt's 1992 Christmas album and his hard-to-find, independent release from 1987, Proud of the Country.
NEXT: The 10 Best Country Albums of the '90s
Source: All of Travis Tritt’s Studio Albums, Ranked
Filed Under: Editor's Picks, Travis Tritt
Categories: Albums, Taste of Country Nights
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14439
|
__label__wiki
| 0.629727
| 0.629727
|
Bruce Springsteen Confirms Album & Tour With E Street Band Next Year
(Photo by Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP, File)
Bruce Springsteen has confirmed that he has new music and a new tour in the works with the E Street Band. “I’ll record with the E Street Band in the autumn, and when we are done, we’ll go on tour [next year],” Springsteen tells Italy’s Repubblica in a new interview. According to Consequence of Sound, the confirmation comes after the rocker told Martin Scorsese earlier this month that he “wrote almost an album’s worth of material for the band.” The album will follow up the group’s last record five years ago, 2014’s High Hopes, while the 2020 tour will mark the ensemble’s first time on the road since their 2016–17 jaunt in support of The River box set.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14446
|
__label__wiki
| 0.929595
| 0.929595
|
Watch Live NFL Football Game News
Tv On PC
Manchester City vs Hoffenheim
Kevin De Bruyne Returns to Manchester City Training Ahead of Hoffenheim Match Manchester City‘s star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has returned to training ahead of the team’s clash with Hoffenheim in the UEFA Champions League Tuesday.
Click Here To Watch Now
Rich Fay of the Manchester Evening News confirmed the Belgium international is back in action and provided a positive update on the fitness of Sergio Aguero:
Per Tony Mogan of the Evening Standard, after the 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday, Guardiola had said Aguero was doubtful for the match against Hoffenheim and the weekend’s showdown with Liverpool.
“Sergio is struggling a bit with some problems in his foot,” noted the City boss. “He is not 100 per cent. He has not recovered from what happened against Newcastle, and we spoke about playing 60 minutes and we were lucky he scored at the right moment.”
De Bruyne has only made one appearance for City in the Premier League this season, coming on as a substitute in the away win at Arsenal.
Manchester City vs Hoffenheim Football Free Game Signup Tv
Following that game De Bruyne suffered a lateral collateral ligament lesion in his right knee in training and was anticipated to be absent for around three months of the campaign despite the fact he didn’t require surgery, per BBC Sport.
However, it appears as though the former Wolfsburg man is set to return ahead of schedule in what will be a huge boost for City.
During the 2018-19 campaign, in which Pep Guardiola’s side won the Premier League with a record points total, De Bruyne was the standout man.
So too has Aguero, who has started this campaign in particularly potent fashion. The 30 year old, who recently agreed a contract extension with City, has netted five times in the top flight already this season, including the second in the 2-0 win over Brighton on Saturday.
City will be out to bounce back in the Champions League on Tuesday, as they suffered a shock 2-1 loss to Lyon in their first game of the group stage. On Sunday the Premier League champions then face a huge clash against Liverpool, with the two sides level on points at the top of the table heading into the game at Anfield.
While these two crunch games may come too soon for De Bruyne, it’d be a massive boost for Guardiola if he had Aguero available for the clashes to come.
TagsManchester City vs Hoffenheim
Previous PostPrevious Bayern Munich vs Ajax
Next PostNext Manchester United vs Valencia
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14448
|
__label__cc
| 0.673329
| 0.326671
|
© Simon Menges
Sir Concrete
INTERVIEW PATRICK HEIDMANN
… is one of the world’s top architects. He founded David Chipperfield Architects in London in 1985 and also has offices in Berlin, Shanghai and Milan. Now 65, Chipperfield received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 2010. Many of Chipperfield’s designs are virtuoso combinations of new and existing architectural styles, as his remodeling of the New Museum in Berlin and the extension to the Folkwang in Essen illustrate.
David Chipperfield’s James-Simon-Galerie stands out and blends in on Berlin’s Museum Island. The British architect spoke with Lufthansa Magazin in advance of the gallery’s opening.
The James-Simon-Galerie designed by David Chipperfield opens on Berlin’s Museum Island on July 12. The building is the new central access point for five major museums. The British star architect opted for sublimely clean lines, colonnades and flights of steps – his contemporary interpretation of elements of Classical architecture. His ideas, as he says in the interview, do not come to him “at night over a bottle of whisky,” instead, they are born of dialogue, teamwork and complex processes. Lufthansa Magazin spoke with him on site about architecture, quality of life in Berlin and young parents’ talent for organization.
Sir David, what’s special about the James-Simon-Galerie?
First of all, it was a challenge to find the right architectural idiom for a building that would form part of such an important historical ensemble. And plus, it’s not just an entrance building, but the connecting element between the individual museums – and also an additional venue for events on the museum island.
The gallery took two decades to plan and build, and your Berlin office celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. How important is time to you?
It’s true that time sometimes stands still in architecture. The processes are always protracted. As an architect, you have to learn to deal with that and to make the most of it. Architecture is not like painting, where a momentary dynamic arises between thought and canvas. Although in the end, it is perhaps even less a question of time than of processes: permits, approvals, fine tuning with clients, construction companies, suppliers – these mechanisms, from the idea to the finished building, are what make the job of an architect unique.
With offices all over the world and many projects to oversee, you are always on the move. How much do you travel as a rule?
I certainly move from one place to the next twice a week and am rarely longer than three days in any one place.
What do you need to be able to enjoy traveling?
Routine. It’s easier to travel if you know your way around, repeatedly use the same airports. It has a lot to do with habits. When I’m away, for instance, I always go to the same place for a coffee, eat the same salad at Zurich Airport. That way, you form habits. I don’t like having to hurry. It’s a very different matter when I board a plane with my family: That’s always far more enjoyable.
© Ute Zscharnt für David Chipperfield Architects
This way to art: the upper lobby of the James-Simon-Galerie
Will an answer to the housing question be found in the cities or the countryside?
We certainly neglected the periphery for a while and focused too much on urban developments. The exodus of young people from rural areas is a European problem that we need to address. And whatever solution we find is unlikely to satisfy everyone. It will be important to concentrate on something like quality of life and with the timeframe of the next 30 years in mind. I think the upcoming generations will define themselves less by their work environment and be much more flexible.
What does quality of life mean to you?
As an architect, I would say it’s the quality of a place. Berlin stands as a kind of metaphor for that because it is surprising that Berlin, which can be pretty ugly, is so popular. Its popularity is not based on wealth, a prospering economy or good job prospects, but on its particular quality of life – even if people are worried that this could soon be lost thanks to Berlin’s ever-increasing popularity. We need to be clearer in our minds about the growing importance of leisure time. Consumerism, on the other hand, needs to become less important. We cannot continue to consume on the same level as we have to date. There is a quality of life beyond material things.
What does it take for you to feel at home?
My family, familiar everyday things … (considers). The notion of “home” is a little tricky. We are often in Berlin for quite a stretch, but also in London. And we’ve had a house on the Spanish coast for 25 years. I guess I feel most at home there – because everything is very simple and uncomplicated.
Do you work there, as well?
Yes, there’s a studio there, too, and we’ve been working with the town on environmental projects for a long time. What I particularly like there is that the people have a clearer system of values. Quality of life is less dependent on complex things. Friends, who visit us there, but also my family and I – we all feel inspired by the simplicity of shared life.
Concrete elegance: Chipperfield's Hepworth Museum in Wakefield, England (2011)
The Royal Academy extension in London (2018)
to be honest, I don’t cope at all well with criticism
David Chipperfield, architect
How does David Chipperfield work best?
I need time, a quiet place, perhaps some music. If I have a few hours to spare, it’s good to mull things over. But architecture is teamwork. You don’t sit with a bottle of whisky on the table designing a building overnight. That’s impossible. You can perhaps solve a problem on your own or sketch out a concept, but everything else is born of dialogue.
How do you cope with criticism?
To be honest, not well at all. I do my best not to take it personally, but it’s hard. I can deal with criticism that’s professional, well thought through, but what you see in social media … Sometimes I make the mistake of reading not just an article about our work but also the comments underneath, as well: so venomous! Social media seems to encourage people to express base, hurtful thoughts. You can simply ignore them. But it can also be very painful.
As an architect, do you have a role model?
The architect’s profession is divided into two groups: There are the “studio architects,” people like Álvaro Siza, whom I greatly admire, who produce very fine, artistic work with just a handful of staff. And there are architects like Renzo Piano, who take on major projects with large teams. Both work on very different scales and have their respective qualities. In our offices, we try to foster a creative studio atmosphere, but we still want to be able to think and work on large-scale projects.
Where do you stand on the current feminist debate?
I believe the time has come to correct the way things are often seen from a western European male perspective. Women are neither better nor worse architects than men. We have parents working at our office in Berlin, some of them part time. They are amazingly well organized and often use their time better than other people, and that benefits our office.
You have four children yourself. What have you learned from them?
(smiles) They keep my feet firmly on the ground.
Finger food!
Gourmet burgers at the trendy Potato Head Folk on Keong Saik Road in Singapore taste best eaten in one piece, with your hands.
Blue adventure
Although the Cuevas de Mármol in Patagonia, Chile, are not exactly easy to reach, the beauty of these caves in the middle of Lago General Carrera more than makes up for the effort
Gate Check: Paris
Gate Check
We went to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and indulged in a little personal style spotting
Join the merrymaking!
For some, it’s a final frolic before Lent, for others, a way to scare away winter spirits. Fools become kings, the vixen cavorts with the witch – at carnival time the world turns upside down in many cultures around the world
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14457
|
__label__cc
| 0.737848
| 0.262152
|
Doing Fiverr gigs are a great way to build up a portfolio while still making money at the same time. Fiverr is mostly used for marketing purposes, which can be a great way to show off your graphical skills, or even write content. The website will take 20%, leaving you with $4 for the average gig, but doing a few a day adds up to substantial money by the end of the month.
Not all direct sales is about your online presence, though. There’s a big element of in-person interaction, which why direct sales can be so much fun for so many people. Jennifer Tegnerud is one woman who has a really interesting direct sales success story. She quit her job to be a stay-at-home mom and then decided that she needed to do something “grown up” to keep in touch with her “pre-mom” self and make staying home more feasible. What that turned into is a fascinating success story that you can read about right here. Jennifer works part-time hours as a Stella & Dot Stylist to make a full-time income doing something creative and exciting, that really taps into her strengths and interests.
You do not have to be a singer to become a YouTube star. If you are lucky, you could shoot a video of your child, pet, or a double rainbow that strikes a chord and goes viral. YouTube might then get in touch asking you to become a partner, meaning the site will run ads along with your clip and share over 50% of the revenue with you. The father of "David After Dentist" has made more than $100,000 from YouTube ads alone. As well as advertising, viral video celebrities can diversify into TV appearances, merchandise and even iPhone apps, as the creator of "Charlie Bit My Finger" has done.
5.Watch Small Expenses: Warren Buffett invests in businesses run by managers who obsess over the tiniest costs. He one acquired a company whose owner counted the sheets in rolls of 500-sheet toilet paper to see if he was being cheated (he was). He also admired a friend who painted only on the side of his office building that faced the road. Exercising vigilance over every expense can make your profits — and your paycheck — goes much further.
Get-rich-quick schemes that operate entirely on the Internet usually promote "secret formulas" to affiliate marketing and affiliate advertising. The scheme will usually claim that it does not require any special IT or marketing skills and will provide an unrealistic timeframe in which the consumer could make hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars.
It was grueling, but it paid off. Eventually, Zubia had a 2,800-item catalog of designs, slogans, and illustrations online that people could purchase on T-shirts and hoodies. That work spurt earned him $120,000—enough to move out of his parents’ house and buy his own home in El Paso. Even more remarkable, he’s still pocketing roughly $3,000 a month today from those years-old designs.
Now, it’s time to start creating and uploading content. Make sure you’re using a high-enough quality camera (most smartphones will work but I’d suggest at least having a tripod so your footage isn’t shaky), but don’t worry about being perfect at first. The beauty of YouTube is that you can continue to test out different content and styles as you find what works for you. Instead, stick to a regular schedule to build up your subscriber base.
If you own a car, you can make some spare cash as an Uber driver or delivery person. If you don’t own a car, you can still be a delivery person using your bicycle. Uber drivers looking to make even more money off their car can turn their car into an advertisement using Free Car Media. Your car will be wrapped with a removable vinyl decal. There have also been cases of Uber drivers selling products in their car. As a driver, you’ll often times start talking about what you and your passenger do for a living.
Host a giveaway on your store. Run a Facebook ad to a giveaway landing page on your store. Use a tool like Rafflecopter to add multiple contest entries like sharing on Facebook, Twitter, and more. You want this giveaway to get maximum reach. You’ll want to make sure you have a retargeting ad running on your store at the same time. The retargeting ad isn’t going to be the only way you’ll monetize the contest though. When sending high numbers of traffic to your website, you always want to have a retargeting ad running. The giveaway page has to be located on your store website – do not put it on another site or on social media. Otherwise retargeting won’t work. After the contest for the giveaway prize has ended, you’ll send the winner the prize they won. However, you’ll also send everyone who lost a runner up prize. The runner up prize can be a $5 gift card for your store. Make sure that all of your products cost over $30 and have more than $15 profit so you don’t lose money. The gift card almost acts like a discount code.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14458
|
__label__wiki
| 0.751483
| 0.751483
|
“Vintage Tomorrows,” the Book, the Film, and the Golden Age of Steampunk
July 19, 2016, 4:09 pm PDT
The steampunk craze has calmed quite a bit since the aughts when there was general and widespread enthusiasm for the genre. Things like Jake von Slatt’s and Datamancer’s (RIP) beautiful and brassy tech mods, Abney Park’s airship pirate music, and happenings like the Contraptor’s Lounge, the steampunk salon we hosted at the 2008 Maker Faire Bay Area, delighted and inspired many. It was undeniably exciting to put Jake von Slatt on the cover of Make: Volume 17 with his Wimshurst Influence Machine (aka static electricity generator) — that you could make yourself! At home! With parts from Home Depot!
Steampunk began as an alternative history sci-fi sub-genre in the 1990s. At its core, it posited alternative Victorian histories in which steam-powered computation had created a digital revolution 100 years ahead of time. But the steampunk “meme” didn’t really take off as a full-fudged art, cosplay, and tech-modding culture until the early 21st century. Once really impressive case mods by Jake von Slatt, Datamancer, and others began going viral, interest in all things steampunk became extremely high, with popular sites like Boing Boing, Wired, Gizmodo, and Make: embracing the genre. People seemed to be having a good time outdoing each other (and themselves) with more elaborate and characterful steampunk creations. Sales of steampunk art and coffee table books, original fiction and fiction anthologies spiked. Steampunk aesthetics quickly found their way into film, music videos, art, even onto the runway fashions of the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier and John Galliano. It seemed as thought, overnight, steampunk was everywhere.
But, as quickly as it emerged and spread into many corners of our culture, it seems to have just as quickly lost much of its er… steam. Steampunk cosplay, art-making, tabletop and roleplaying gaming, tech modding, and of course, steampunk fiction, all still enjoy committed, albeit much smaller, followings. And steampunk has now become one of many style and aesthetic choices for a whole host of design disciplines. But one would suspect that history will crown the aughts as the golden age of steampunk.
Regardless of what you think of steampunk as an idea, as an aesthetic, one thing that I hope people can agree on is that it represents a fantastic example of taking an imagined world and applying your skills as a maker to giving birth to that world. When Jake von Slatt gave his keynote at the 2008 California Steampunk Convention, he began with: “I am first and foremost a maker” and went on to say that steampunk was simply the subject, the currently preferred theme of his making, but it was the making part that was most important to him.
I personally hope that the big takeaway from steampunk is that it showed people just how much fun you can have bringing elements of a beloved fantasy world, an imagined world, to life. Just as with von Slatt, for many, steampunk became a carrier wave upon which so much amazing making, community building, and art creation happened. Steampunk was also a reaction to the “gray box syndrome” of the boring, depersonalized tech of the turn of the century. Just like Make:’s original core mission of “Technology on your time,” steampunk was a way of taking control of the tech in your life, modifying it, making it your own, and even making it whimsical, a means for creative self-expression. I think that spirit is still very much alive in all sorts of high-tech making and modding that has come since.
I am proud to say that one of the best books to try and understand and celebrate steampunk is Brian David Johnson and James H. Carrott Vintage Tomorrows, published by Maker Media in 2013. Brian David Johnson is a futurist and James H. Carrott is a historian. The book represents a sort of quest the two of them went on to fully understand the steampunk phenom and what it meant to futurism, the history of technology, tech and maker culture, and our ongoing personal relationship with technology. The book is surprisingly deep, while also being playful and capturing some of the whimsy that was infusive of early 21sy century steampunk. If you want to fully understand what steampunk was all about, and you still want to find yourself inspired by what the genre has to offer, this book is highly recommended.
What you may not be aware of is the fact there is also an excellent, award-winning, and equally inspiring documentary that was created as a companion to the book. The Vintage Tomorrows film contains many of the same cast of characters that are interviewed and featured in the book, folks like Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Cory Doctorow, Cherie Priest, Jake von Slatt, Libby Bulloff, Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, the Neverwas Haul crew, and many more. The film is beautifully shot, and like the book, really does an admirable job of presenting the steampunk genre in such a way that, even if it’s not an aesthetic you particularly like, you can understand its allure to those for whom it resonates. As Make:’s Dale Dougherty is fond of reminding us, at their heart, makers are enthusiasts. And this film does a fine job of capturing the enthusiasm that one group of makers found in this thought-provoking, retro-futuristic genre.
The Vintage Tomorrows documentary is available for viewing on iTunes starting today. You can also buy the DVD on Amazon.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14459
|
__label__wiki
| 0.766181
| 0.766181
|
Chinese Internet Users Call for an Edward Snowden of Their Own
Lily Kuo for Quartz 2013-06-10 16:51:52 UTC
Follow @QZ
Edward Snowden has fans among the Chinese, who know a thing or two about Internet surveillance.
In leaking information about a top-secret U.S. government data collection program, Snowden argued that an increasingly authoritarian government could use such intelligence against citizens—exactly the situation Chinese nationals face.
Chinese Internet users today hailed Snowden, the ex-CIA employee who leaked information on the National Security Agency’s PRISM operation last week. “This is the definition of heroism,” one blogger wrote (paywall). “Doing this proves he genuinely cares about this country and about his country’s citizens. All countries need someone like him!”
Chinese citizens are among the most monitored in the world. Companies and individuals must get any Internet access through the Chinese government or state-owned companies. That helps the state to run one of the largest digital surveillance and censorship regimes in the world, nicknamed the Great Firewall.
As of early March, 30 journalists and 69 bloggers had been jailed, more than anywhere else in the world, according to nonprofit Reporters Without Borders. Private Internet companies also help track and censor citizens or else face government sanctions.
Some in China see Snowden as an example for Chinese people to stand up for Internet freedom. Wen Yunchao, a Chinese blogger in Hong Kong wrote on Twitter, “I hope that an Edward Snowden comes out of China’s Great Firewall system, exposes it, and goes down in the annals of history as a hero.”
Others see Snowden’s exile in Hong Kong as a rare opportunity for the Chinese government to stand up for digital civil liberties. (Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the U.S. that Beijing can override.) One blogger wrote, “He must be protected…This is one of the few opportunities the Communist Party has to contribute to world good.”
Image via MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images
This article originally published at Quartz here
Topics: censorship, china, edward snowden, government censorship, Great Firewall of China, internet censorship, Politics, privacy, U.S., World
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14462
|
__label__wiki
| 0.884426
| 0.884426
|
HomePosts tagged 'Paranoid'
The Secret Sabbath Songs: A Listener’s Guide
January 9, 2019 January 22, 2019 mayobat Music 'Master of Reality, A Bit of Finger, Bassically, Black Sabbath, Death Mask, I don't Know If I'm Up or Down, Jack the Stripper, Killing Yourself to Live, Luke's Wall, Paranoid, Prelude to a Project, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Step Up, The Elegy, The Haunting, The Wasp, Volume 4
I first heard Black Sabbath at a friend’s house, sometime in 1978. I was 14 years old. That same year, I saw them get utterly destroyed by a young and hungry Van Halen, who opened for them on Sabbath’s ‘Never Say Die’ Tour. Behind the scenes, Ozzy had previously quit the Sabs, but was coaxed back to celebrate the band’s 10th Anniversary with one final album & tour. But somebody must have said ‘Die’, as for all intents and purposes, Black Sabbath as we knew them were over, seemingly the very moment I discovered them.
Although I started buying Sabbath records with 1980’s ‘Heaven and Hell’, I back-filled all of the Ozzy-era albums over the next few years. By the time I started collecting records, all of the Ozzy-era Black Sabbath albums were into their umpteenth pressings, and so I unfortunately missed out on some neat features found only in the initial production runs: UK copies of ‘Black Sabbath’ originally shipped in a gatefold sleeve with a creepy poem lurking inside; ‘Master of Reality’ originally came in an embossed cover and included a full-color poster; the early run of ‘Volume IV’ was not only produced as a gatefold, but also had several pages of color pics bound within, like a book. By the early 1980s, none of these features were still in production.
Since I completed my Ozzy Sabbath collection in the pre-internet age, I had no idea that any of these earlier variants existed, until I found a gatefold copy of the debut at a flea market at the local mall. But the most mind-blowing revelation was finding a dilapidated copy of ‘Master of Reality’ at a used record store in Boston in the late 80s. The copy was sans poster, but the vinyl within sported the old khaki green Warner’s label. Cool. I examined those labels closely. What the—
On those labels were titles of songs I had never seen before… ‘The Elegy’… ‘The Haunting’… ‘Step Up’… ‘Deathmask’…?? The room spun around me. Was this some kind of bootleg? Nope, the Warner’s logo was front & center. Did the original version of Master of Reality contain extra songs that had for some reason been removed from subsequent pressings?? Then, like a 5-pound sledgehammer: WERE THERE OZZY-ERA SABBATH SONGS THAT I HAD NEVER HEARD BEFORE???
Well… kinda. Actually, no.
Follow me, if you will, as we ascend downward and backward, into the murky darkness of Black Sabbath’s early years, where we’ll attempt to unravel one of the greatest mysteries of their classic Ozzy-era catalog… We’ll explore musty and worn album covers, moldy old books and faded record labels for the keys to unlock the keys to the Sabbath Code… We’ll travel to that to that cursed and unholy place where Art meets Commerce in an eternal battle for our musical souls. Because it’s true what they say: the Devil is in the details.
On their landmark 1970 debut, Black Sabbath put their live set down on tape as-is, almost completely live, including Iommi’s guitar solo showpiece. Parsing these recordings for a proper track listing was likely a bit problematic in such a free-flowing, jam-like presentation, particularly during the final third of the album. When the original European ‘Black Sabbath’ was released in Europe in February 1970, this arrangement was listed as just two songs: ‘Sleeping Village’ and ‘Warning’, with an extensive untitled guitar solo section occurring inside of ‘The Warning’; four months later, when the album was released in the US, the solo section was given a title: ‘A Bit of Finger’, and all three ‘songs’ were grouped together into one single 14-minute track.
If this was an attempt to clarify this convoluted cluster of music, it failed, because while ‘Finger’ is listed first, the album’s 14-minute climax actually begins with ‘Sleeping Village’. With the last guitar note from ‘Village’ still ringing, ‘Warning’ begins with bass and drums, with no clean break between the songs. Then at around the 7-minute mark, ‘Warning’ transitions into ‘A Bit of Finger’, Iommi’s 6-minute lead guitar showcase, after which the rhythm section re-enters at around 13:00, providing a brief musical bridge for the band to reprise ‘Warning’ and give it a proper ending. Exactly why ‘Finger’ appears first in the track list is a mystery. So, if not to clarify, why alter the track listing at all?
Side One features the same phenomenon: The UK version lists ‘Behind the Wall of Sleep’ and ‘N.I.B.’ as two songs; the US version listed this music as four separate works combined into one track, adding something called ‘The Wasp’, and also gave Geezer Butler’s solo intro to ‘N.I.B.’ a clever title: ‘Bassically’. These changes to how this music was identified resulted in two songs becoming four. Again: Why were intros, and other sections of songs broken out and given their own titles for the US market, identifying them as distinct pieces of music?
Simple answer: Money. The Warner’s deal for the US afforded band an opportunity to negotiate a new publishing deal, and more songs = more publishing money, for both band and publisher. Bill Ward has himself once responded to an interview question regarding these titles by stating that the band needed a minimum of 10 songs per album to satisfy the requirements of their publishing agreement; Ward was likely referring to their US publishing deal, as each Sabbath album that had less than 10 titles listed on the UK version contained 10 or more titles when released in the US.
For confirmation that these ‘extra’ titles were added after the albums were recorded, one only need to check out the handwritten track notes on the original tape boxes for the Sab’s first three albums (reproduced in Sanctuary’s 2009 CD reissues), indicating that these titles were not in use during the recording sessions. So: Extra song titles were added to each of Sabbath’s first five US releases to satisfy a stateside publishing deal. Mystery solved?! Probably.
Now that we have surmised the origin of these phantom titles, nagging questions remain: Were these titles just conjured out of nothing and slapped onto record labels for mere monetary gain? Or are they connected to any of the music on these records in some way? We can only guess… Um, hold on a minute… Besides also appearing on early cassette or 8-track tape runs, these song titles actually DID appear in one other notable place…
Hal Leonard Publishing, the music notation juggernaut, produced ‘easy guitar’ songbooks that were published concurrently with each of the Sab’s first five albums, and are still in print today. All of our phantom songs are included in these books, each of which provides ultimate confirmation of exactly where these musical mysteries reside. Where does ‘The Elegy’ end and ‘After Forever’ begin? Through the precise language of music notation, the Hal Leonard songbooks express these delineations explicitly, marking exactly where all of these ‘songs’ begin, end, and in some cases, reprise. While the titles and their sequencing on the early WB record labels provided clues, understanding exactly where these ‘songs’ reside is a futile exercise… Unless you can read music.
To save you the trouble of learning how to read music notation and/or spending fifteen bucks a pop on the HL songbooks, I’ve provided a rundown of Sabbath’s mystery songs, along with some pointers to understand exactly where and when they occur on each album. As you’ll see, some of these tags make perfect sense, while others seem quite random… the intro riff from ‘Lord of This World’ gets a title, but the intro riff from ‘Under the Sun’ doesn’t…? But again, the band only needed to choose two or three sections to name in order to reach that magic number of ten titles per record. Anyway, here we go:
I’ve already dissected ‘A Bit of Finger’, and ‘Bassically’ is pretty self-explanatory, but ‘The Wasp’ is a little tougher to nail down; Hal Leonard confirms that this piece of music acts as the intro to ‘Behind the Wall of Sleep’, it initially ends at the :32 mark and then kicks back in again at 2:30.
‘Luke’s Wall’ is the two-minute section that closes ‘War Pigs’. It starts at approx. 5:40 and ends the song by speeding up the tape to the point where this Black Sabbath masterpiece sounds like an Alvin and the Chipmunks song. Like, wow, man.
‘Jack the Stripper’ is the intro to ‘Paranoid’ album-closer ‘Fairies Wear Boots’. It wraps up it’s initial appearance at about 1:10, where the drum break carries us into the classic ‘Fairies’ riff; it reprises again at around 3:30 and repeats its lead-in to the main song.
‘The Elegy’ is the section of music that introduces ‘After Forever’, coming in immediately after that ominous phased tape loop that bookends the song. ‘Elegy’ reprises several times within ‘Forever’, and early Warner’s pressings listed this grouping as ‘AFTER FOREVER (Including ‘THE ELEGY’)’.
‘The Haunting’ is nothing more than the ghostly edge-of-feedback bent note that soars and dives throughout the slow fade at the close of ‘Children of the Grave’. Ozzy whispering the song title as the section fades was undoubtedly the inspiration for the iconic sounds that signal the arrival of Jason in the Friday the 13th movies. I can’t be the first one who’s noticed that…
‘Step Up’ is the riff that repeats for 30 seconds at the start of ‘Lord of This World’. It’s listed on the original solid green Warner Bros label as occurring before ‘Lord’ and its duration is time-stamped at :30, although it does appear again within the song, just after the chorus.
‘Death Mask’ is not only the greatest/heaviest muthafuckin’ riff of all time, but it’s also the intro to ‘Into the Void’. It’s likely that this was conceived as an song idea and given a title before it was attached to ‘Void’, as this segment was played live by itself as part of an extended jam inside an elongated ‘Wicked World’ in 1973 (See: ‘Live at Last’).
‘The Straightener’ is the instrumental section that quickly fades in and closes ‘Wheels of Confusion’ on the ‘Volume 4’ album.
‘Every Day Comes And Goes’ is the section in ‘Under the Sun’ where the song breaks down into a new riff, at double speed. The vocals start with the line ‘Everyday just comes and goes/Life is one long overdose’ etc, before moving into some jazzy soloing from Iommi and solo bits for Ward.
‘You Think That I’m Crazy’ is tacked onto ‘Killing yourself to Live’ and occurs between 2:45 – 4:08 (ish); while ‘I Don’t Know If I’m Up Or Down’ kicks off directly after that and winds up the song. These two pieces were likely written separately (and perhaps even assigned titles?) and connected during the songwriting process. The recognition of these two ‘ghosts titles’ imposes some structure on this somewhat-meandering piece of music and reveals ‘Killing Yourself to Live’ as a 3-part suite. Mind = Blown.
‘Prelude To A Project’ is the 45-second solo acoustic intro to ‘Spiral Architect’, the gorgeously epic finale to the ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ album. The ‘Crazy’, ‘Up or Down’, and ‘Prelude’ titles never made it onto any official release, not even on any of the record’s labels, and have only ever appeared in the official songbook from Hal Leonard in 1973.
So there you have it: we’ve cracked the Sabbath Code, solved a decades-old riddle and uncovered hidden dimensions in the understanding of Black Sabbath’s essential catalog. These troublesome titles have caused confusion and consternation among fans and collectors for decades– at least for those who were aware of their brief existence– but no more.
The inexplicable disappearance of these titles from subsequent US pressings, and the fact that these titles never appeared on any album covers (just on the labels) has made these ‘songs’ the stuff of legend and added to the dark mystique of early Black Sabbath. For you skeptics and/or agnostics who would prefer your Sabbath remain dark and mysterious, I will submit that I have not examined these titles for any secret messages, biblical codes or mathematical formulas… If anyone out there wants to take a crack at it, go for it. Let me know what you come up with. But please, be careful…
Legal Discliamer: This blog exists for infotainment purposes only. Consume at your own risk. In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from the summoning of demons, initiation of Armageddon, loss of soul, or insanity, arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this blog.
(This article copyright 2019. All rights reserved. Not to be republished without the express permission of the copyright holder.)
Special Thanks to my bud Monte Conner for instigating, inspiring, and informing this article with his November 25, 2018 Facebook post about this phenomenon, and to all who contributed to the thread. Oh, and to Hal Leonard!
Ramones Leave Home
February 16, 2017 February 16, 2017 mayobat Uncategorized (I wanna be) sedated, Black Sabbath, Dee Dee, Eddie Money, Foreigner, Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Monte Melnick, Paranoid, Ramones, Ramones Leave Home, Road to Ruin, Rocket to Russia, Runaways, The Tubes, Toronto World Music Festival, Toto, Van Halen
January 23rd, 1977. Punk Poet Priestess Patti Smith trips over a stage monitor and falls 8 feet, breaking her leg. Smith cancels her next few dates, including a February 4th date opening for fellow New Yorkers Blue Oyster Cult at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island. A frantic search begins for a last-minute replacement to open the show; preferably a local NYC-area act.
It probably made sense on paper. Just a few weeks after releasing their second album, ‘Leave Home’, the Ramones had barely left home themselves, with only about 20 gigs outside of the Tri-Sate Area under their belts. Outside of New York, reactions to their music and their …presentation were mixed; while at home they were spearheading a music scene that would literally change the course of Rock and Roll. Such was the unprecedented nature of their act that venturing outside of their comfort zone of CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City proved troublesome, as their version of Rock n’ Roll was considered either too avant garde or just plain terrible. But this last minute fill-in gig with BOC on Long Island was close to home, everything will be fine, they said…
Turns out that it’s not just where you play, it’s also who you play with. Or for. Fans in attendance that night had no idea they were witnessing world-changing genius; here’s an eyewitness account from an online Blue Oyster Cult fan site:
“Ramones opened up the show and a near riot broke out in our section as a guy tried to advance towards the stage to throw a chair he had separated from the row. He was stopped but nearly everyone was shouting/cussing and giving the Ramones the middle finger, it was a crazy atmosphere during their set. The Ramones played music that none of us had listened to before, it was fast, loud and really short songs but the sound was really crappy and garbled. A guy in our row later told me it was “that fucking punk rock!”
Ah, yes, that fucking Punk Rock. The Ramones practically invented the genre, which had just begun the process of turning Rock music on its ear.
To promote ‘Leave Home’, Ramones management had decided that the band needed to do just that; to break out of NYC and tour the country. The band spent the rest of 1977 spreading their minimalist musical message headlining clubs and small theatres, concentrating almost exclusively on the East and West Coasts, where the Punk movement was having the most impact.
A national tour promoting their third LP ‘Rocket to Russia’ at the start of 1978 with the Runaways was a step up, with the band playing slightly larger venues and proving that a ‘Punk’ tour could be a viable, money-making endeavor, lending credibility to the Punk movement in America. Fourth album ‘Road to Ruin’ was a deliberate attempt to get the band on the radio. But management felt that to truly break the band in America, Ramones needed to nab an opening slot with a major Hard Rock band… But who do you tour with when the music you’re playing seems to piss everyone outside of NYC right off? When the aesthetic you’re pioneering threatens the relevance of most of the arena-level bands of the day?
Since nobody was beating down the door at Ramones HQ with invitations to tour, the band’s management informed their booking agency, Premiere Talent, that it would take any available gig, and so a tour was assembled where the Ramones would either headlined a club or open for a more established act… Which resulted in some truly bizarro pairings, or truly memorable evenings, depending on your point of view. And so, before they became recognized as one of the most important bands of the Rock era, the Ramones bravely ventured outside the insular confines of NYC, and into the wider world of mainstream Hard Rock… where they were compatible with absolutely no one.
November 13, 1978: Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, GA w/Black Sabbath and Van Halen. It was the Sab’s 10th anniversary tour, and Van Halen’s first-ever world tour. Black Sabbath were trying their hardest not to say ‘Die’, but finding it hard with young upstarts VH blowing them off the stage every night. How both bands felt about The Ramones, with their machine gun attack of chainsaw bubblegum punk, hopping onto this date on the final leg of the tour, is unknown.
November 18, 1978: St Paul Arena, St Paul, MN w/Foreigner. Foreigner was riding high with their ‘Double Vision’ album sitting at #3, and ripping up Hard Rock radio with the ‘Hot Blooded’ and ‘Double Vision’ singles peaking at #3 & #4 respectively. Who better to open their gig in St. Paul than… The Ramones? A one-off fill-in set, much to the relief of the headliners, one may reasonably surmise.
December 1, 1978: Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino CA, w/Black Sabbath (Van Halen had dropped off the tour, as they could book their own arena gigs in the Cali area). Ramones hop on to Sabbath’s NSD tour once again. The local promoter of this concert advertised it in print ads, posters, and on local radio as “Punk Rock vs Heavy Metal”, getting it all wrong and exactly right simultaneously. The members of the Ramones actually felt their lives were in danger that night, and they were probably right.
Tour manager Monte Melnick says of that show: “Playing with Sabbath was dangerous. Their audience didn’t want to have anything to do with us. It was scary. It was bad.” Joey Ramone added: “We didn’t fit in. Our new booking agent thought it would expand our audience. The local promoter booked it like a battle of the bands. 20 minutes in and everything started coming at us. We were able to dodge it all, and no one got hurt, but we said fuck you and got off the stage.”
December 4, 1978: Long Beach Arena, Long Beach CA, w/Sabbath. A popular bootleg recording of the Ramones set from this, their third show on the Sabbath/VH tour, showcases the *ahem* ‘warm’ welcome the Ramones received during their brief opening sets. Where the audience can be heard during what little space there is between the songs, a rising level of hostility and impatience is apparent. At least they were able to complete their set. Barely.
December 5, 1978: Phoenix Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, AZ. Their final show with the Sabs. Three of the remaining four Never Say Die shows were to take place in Texas… The Ramones wisely opted out of the remainder of the tour.
December 28-31, 1978: Four more West Coast dates; two nights with The Tubes, one with Eddie Money, and one with Derringer. Happy New Year?!
January 26, 1979: Louisianna Civic, Lake Charles, LA. Some idiot booked The Ramones to open for Toto. Toto? Toto! Hit single ‘Hold the Line’ was sitting at #5 on the Billboard singles chart; what a great opportunity for the Ramones to widen their…. NOPE. Here’s what a Ramones fan had to say about the event on a Punk Rock message board:
“Three songs before the crowd had a chance to process what they were witnessing. Once they did, a wave of bottles, cups, shoes and other debris rained down on the band, which only caused them to play faster and louder. Johnny stood on a monitor yelling “F**K YOU!” at the bottle throwers and Joey flipped them the bird. Bobby Kimball, lead singer for Toto and a Lake Charles native, came out and profusely apologized to the crowd for having to endure such a ‘horrible band.’”
July 2, 1979: Canadian World Music Festival, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Johnny Winter, AC/DC, and Nazareth. I’ll let Johnny explain the debacle:
“We played on a bill with Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Johnny Winter, AC/DC, and Nazareth to a crowd of forty-six thousand people in Toronto… I saw the other bands we were playing with and I thought, “This isn’t gonna work.” I complained to Premier, our booking agency, about it, and they said, ‘We’ve been in the business a long time, we know what we’re doing’…”
“About five or six songs into the set, the whole crowd stood up, and I thought it had started to rain. Dee Dee thought the same thing, but they were throwing stuff at us – sandwiches, bottles, everything. Then, all of a sudden, I broke two strings on my guitar in one strum. I thought it was a sign from God to get off the stage, because I’d rarely break a string, maybe once a year. So I just walked to the front of the stage, stopped playing, and gave the audience the finger – with both hands. I stood there like that, flipping them off, with both hands out, and walked off. The rest of the band kept playing for another ten or fifteen seconds until they’d realized I was walking off, and then they did too. I wasn’t gonna stand there and be booed and have stuff thrown at us without retaliating in some way. We had to come off looking good somehow, and there was no good way to get out of that.”
Tour Manager Monte Melnick: “We were happy to be playing these big festivals, but as soon as they started playing, all this food and junk gets thrown onstage. It was horrible. They played an abbreviated set and walked off in a hail of sandwiches. It was depressing.”
Changing the world is dangerous business.
By the summer of ’79, fellow Bowery denizens Blondie topped the singles chart with ‘Heart of Glass’ and Talking Heads hit the Top 30 with ‘Take me to the River’… while the Ramones battled projectiles hurled by an angry mob of 46,000 stoned air guitarists. But Blondie had ‘gone disco’, and that Talking Heads song was a cover… The Ramones, however, never took the easy way out of the underground, as many of their fellow CBGB alumni did. Consider the courage and commitment it took for the these guys to present their act under these harsh circumstances.
The Ramones’ radically minimalist reinvention of Rock music made them critical darlings in the US (and conquering heroes in the UK) but in mainstream middle America, ‘that fucking Punk Rock’ was generally rejected as an obnoxious annoyance. And so the Ramones travails also illustrate the single-mindedness of the average 70’s rock fan; the same passionate rejection of the Ramones was levelled at Disco during the ‘Disco Sucks’ era. Peaceful coexistence was just not possible. But was the gulf between the Punks and the Hard Rockers really so wide? Hopping on to the Black Sabbath/Van Halen tour, where the band that invented Heavy Metal appeared with the group that was re-inventing it, may have seemed a bit misguided, but take a quick listen to both ‘Paranoid’ and ‘(I Wanna be) Sedated’ back to back and tell me what you think.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14464
|
__label__cc
| 0.569812
| 0.430188
|
Home Perspectives Steps the US Should Take
Steps the US Should Take
James Zogby
James Zogby’s Column
Washington –With the United States’ standing in the Arab world at an all time low, President George W. Bush met with Arab leaders at Sharm el Shaikh and renewed his pledge to implement his vision of a viable Palestinian State. The President’s commitment, while viewed with skepticism by many Arabs, comes with great political risk to his Administration.
Despite having the support of the majority of the American people, many components of Bush’s electoral base oppose his Middle East peace plan. Already significant pressure has been forthcoming. Republican congressional leaders have harshly criticized the “Road Map” and fundamentalist Christian spokespersons have termed it the “Road Map to Death”.
So far, Bush has showed a dogged determination to advance his Middle East plan. His public comments both at Sharm al Shiekh and after the next day’s U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian summit in Aqaba set a positive and constructive tone. And the comments made by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, having been carefully negotiated with Bush Administration emissaries, laid out each side’s initial steps which, though modest, were balanced and reciprocal.
And so, while some skepticism can be justified, support is also in order. The Bush Administration may face some domestic political fallout if it continues to press Israel on the Road Map. But it risks even more dangerous fallout internationally and especially in the Arab world if this process fails. With Afghanistan in tatters and Iraq in chaos, there are those in the Administration who recognize the necessity of getting this one right.
It was in this context that I was honored to accept an invitation to address the “Secretary’s Open Forum” (SOF) at the U.S. Department of State. The SOF, founded in 1966 by then Secretary of State Dean Rusk, was created to gather broader information and inject independent thinking into foreign policy formulation and decision-making. Through presentations of differing viewpoints, visions and ideas solicited from both inside and outside the State Department, the SOF encourages free expression and democratic debate.
I have had the opportunity to address the Department of State’s SOF on a number of other occasions during the past 25 years. In the late 1970s after the signing of the Camp David Accords, I was invited to speak on Palestinian rights. Again in the midst of the long war in Lebanon, I addressed the critical issues affecting that country. Shortly after Oslo, I was invited to speak to economic measures that were needed to bring the benefits of peace to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. And in the dark days that followed September 11, I was asked to discuss how the community had fared in the wake of the tragedy.
But, as I noted in my remarks during this appearance, at no other time, in my recollection, had the U.S.-Arab relationship been so troubled or had the stakes been so high as they are now.
A new global attitudes poll conducted by the Pew Charitable Trusts, released just this week, makes clear the degree to which unfavorable attitudes toward the United States have dramatically risen in many counties around the world-and especially in the Arab world. What the Pew study also establishes is that a principle factor behind these negative ratings is not hostility to America or Americans, but the policy of the Bush Administration.
And so in the face of continuing global antipathy to U.S. policy, concern over the U.S.’s handling of the war and post-war situation in Iraq and combination of renewed hope and skepticism with which many are greeting the Road Map, I offered my State Department audience a few recommendations, some of which were:
On Iraq
At this point, the U.S. should find ways to lower its profile in Iraq. It is time to bring the United Nations and our regional allies into the effort to rebuild post-Saddam Iraq.
Miscalculations were made in the lead up to the war. The neo-conservative fantasy of a quick war, stability and a flowering of democracy did not pan out. Our friends in the region cannot afford a further unraveling of the situation in Iraq. Inviting other countries in this critical nation building and reconstruction exercise, under the auspices of the United Nations, would create legitimacy for the effort. Such an action would receive strong support from the American people, the international community and the long-suffering people of Iraq.
At this point, U.S. public diplomacy (PD) efforts should be reconfigured. We should listen more. Too often PD efforts are only supply driven. We have sent out messages that are not well received because they are unresponsive to the concerns of those with whom we are seeking to communicate.
Instead we should lower our own rhetoric and do more listening. Fortunately, the United States is blessed with a group of career diplomats who know the Arab world and who are invested in rebuilding the U.S.-Arab relationship. On too many occasions they have not been provided the opportunity to develop communication strategies they know would contribute to better understanding.
Instead of pursuing a top-down approach, if we listened more and developed more regional partnerships we would be better able to build ties that would serve the long-term objective of improving U.S.-Arab relations.
For example, instead of creating an American TV channel for the Arab world-a project that will waste millions and be of limited use-it would be far more beneficial to promote joint productions between U.S. and Arab TV networks and to make available already existing U.S. facilities and programs to Arab companies in order to assist them in developing their capabilities.
Finally, the tried and tested visitors programs and educational grant programs ought to be enhanced and better focused to assist each country in the region. Teachers, social workers, journalists, legislators, and individuals in other critical sectors can be better served by such efforts. And these types of programs can better achieve the objectives of public diplomacy than the wasted advertising efforts used in the recent past.
Another observation: it is important to recognize that what others in the Administration do and what friends outside of the Administration say has had a devastating impact on U.S. public diplomacy. Everything we say and do in the U.S. reaches worldwide audiences. For example, the immigration practices and civil liberties violations of the Department of Justice have taken a real toll. So too the anti-Arab and anti-Muslim comments by those allied with the White House, when left unchecked, have done real damage.
All this must be factored into any refurbishing of a public diplomacy effort.
Israel-Palestine Road Map
When all is said and done, however, what is central to rebuilding the frayed U.S.-Arab relationship is a just resolution of the Middle East conflict. What is needed, at this point, is not merely a “vision”, or a “process”, but an actual outcome.
Having begun on this path, the President cannot now fail to bring it to a just conclusion. The risks of failure are too great not only to the Palestinians and Israelis, but to U.S. allies in the region and to the United States itself.
What is clear is that neither side can do what is required of them to move this process forward without both support and pressure from the United States. But the pressure and support must be balanced-not support for Israel and pressure on the Palestinian Authority. The strongest party in this equation, the United States, must press the strongest party in the regional equation to undo the damage done since September of 2000. For the Palestinian Authority to be an effective agent for governance and progress, the benefits of peace must finally come to the Palestinian people.
Throughout the entire decade of the 90s, while Palestinians achieved limited freedoms, they lost more land to settlements (that more than doubled in size) and to road construction, they lost jobs (unemployment increased), became poorer and lost hope.
Israel can’t have peace and keep settlements, the roads that connect them, the resources of the West Bank and control of the external borders of the Palestinian lands.
To make this process work and to press Israel to relinquish control and grant real sovereignty to a viable Palestinian State will require an enormous effort from the United States. In the end we will be judged not by our vision or intentions, but by our follow-through and the final outcome. It may be risky-but it is even more of a risky if we fail.
Dr. James J. Zogby is President of Arab American Institute in Washington, DC.
addressed
anti-Muslim
Previous articleWhat can we learn from this decision?
Next articleUS media ignore Israeli violence after Aqaba summit
Dr. James J. Zogby is President of Arab American Institute in Washington, DC and a regular contributor to Media Monitors Network (MMN).
A Muslim calls for sanity
Illegal, Immoral Invasion of Iraq to Carve up the Middle East
Osama Bin Laden’s Terrorism the Western Media
Hajj: The Zalimun and Throwing of Pebbles
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14467
|
__label__cc
| 0.524392
| 0.475608
|
5th Ave. Grill Inc. – Unpaid Overtime/Wages, Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), Employee.
By ABW Law Firm
U.S. DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
ORLANDO DIVISION
CARL PYPERS,
v. CASE NO.:
FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC.,
DEFENDANT.
______________________________/
COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
Comes now PLAINTIFF, CARL PYPERS by and through undersigned counsel and sues DEFENDANT, FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC., and states as follows:
1. This is an action by CARL PYPERS against his former employer for unpaid overtime and unpaid wages, pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). CARL PYPERS seeks damages and reasonable attorneys fees and costs.
2. This action arises under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 201, et. seq. The Court has original jurisdiction over the FLSA claims pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) and 28 U.S.C. § 1331.
3. The venue of this Court over this controversy is proper based upon the claims arising in Brevard County, Florida.
4. At all times material hereto CARL PYPERS has resided in Brevard County, Florida.
5. At all times material hereto, CARL PYPERS was the employee of FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. within the meaning of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. 203(e)(1).
6. CARL PYPERS was employed by FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. as a cook.
7. CARL PYPERS was employed by FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. for the time period September 6, 2006 through October 27, 2006.
8. At all times material hereto, FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. has been a valid Florida corporation and has conducted business in Florida.
9. At all times material hereto, FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. was engaged in commerce within the meaning of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. §203(b).
10. At all times material hereto FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. was an employer within the meaning of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. §203(d).
11. At all times material hereto, FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. was an enterprise within the meaning of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. §203(r), (s).
12. At all times material hereto, FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. had an annual gross dollar volume of sales made or business done of not less than $500,000 (five hundred thousand) per 29 U.S.C. § 203(s).
13. At all times material hereto FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. was engaged in interstate commerce per 29 U.S.C. § 203(s).
14. CARL PYPERS does not possess the complete records relating to his respective work hours and compensation; FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. is in possession of such records.
15. All conditions precedent to the institution and maintenance of this cause of action have been met or waived.
16. CARL PYPERS has retained the law firm of Allen & Arcadier, P.A. to represent him in this matter, and CARL PYPERS has agreed to pay, said firm a reasonable attorney’s fee for its services.
VIOLATION OF THE OVERTIME PROVISIONS OF
THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT UNDER FEDERAL LAW
17. Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates herein the allegations contained in paragraphs 1 through 16.
18. Pursuant to 29 U.S.C. §207(a)(1), FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. was required to pay CARL PYPERS overtime compensation at one and one-half times his regular rate of compensation for any hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week.
19. CARL PYPERS periodically worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week.
20. FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. failed to pay CARL PYPERS overtime compensation at one and one-half times CARL PYPERS regular rate of compensation for hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week in violation of 29 U.S.C. §215(a)(2).
21. FIRST QUALITY PLUMBING’S actions were willful and not in good faith.
22. FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. is liable to CARL PYPERS for actual damages, liquidated damages, and equitable relief, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. §216(b).
23. FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. is liable for CARL PYPERS’S attorney fees and costs incurred, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. §216(b).
WHEREFORE, CARL PYPERS demands judgment against FIFTH AVENUE GRILL INC. for the following:
a. Unpaid overtime found to be due and owing;
b. An additional amount equal to the unpaid overtime wages found to be due and owing as liquidated damages;
c. Prejudgment interest;
d. Award of reasonable attorney’s fee and costs; and
e. Such other relief as this Court deems just and equitable.
DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
CARL PYPERS demands a trial by jury.
Dated: March ___, 2007 Respectfully submitted,
ALLEN & ARCADIER, P.A.
Wayne L. Allen, Esquire
Florida Bar No. 0110025
Email: allenlaw@cfl.rr.com
Maurice Arcadier, Esquire
Florida Bar No. 131180
Attorneys for Plaintiff
700 N. Wickham Road, Suite 107
Melbourne, Florida 32935
Attorney: Maurice Arcadier
Date Filed: 3/27/2007
Our Melbourne office is centrally located in Brevard County, enabling our lawyers to serve clients throughout “the Space Coast”, including Cocoa Beach, Palm Bay and Vero Beach.
Meetings and Minutes: How Often Should They Be Updated?
ADEA Law, Explained by Attorney
Damages in Defamation Cases
Business Valuation Attorney
Non Disclosure Agreements / NDA Attorney / Lawyer
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14468
|
__label__wiki
| 0.652332
| 0.652332
|
Mensa has three stated purposes
Mensa is an international society, free from all social distinctions (racial, religious, etc).
Famous Mensans include Scott Adams, Geena Davis and General Norman Schwarzkopf.
Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. The only qualification for membership is having an IQ in the top 2% of the population.
The history of the organization
Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill, a barrister, and Dr. Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ. The original aims were, as they are today, to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or religious distinctions. The society welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population, with the objective of enjoying each other’s company and participating in a wide range of social and cultural activities.
What are Mensa’s goals?
Mensa has three stated purposes: to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity, to encourage research in the nature, characteristics and uses of intelligence, and to promote stimulating intellectual and social opportunities for its members.
How many members does Mensa have?
Mensa South Africa has over 3,000 members. Internationally, there are over 120,000 Mensans in 100 countries throughout the world. We have active chapters in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Cape Winelands and Kwa-Zulu Natal.
What kind of people are Members of Mensa?
There is simply no one prevailing characteristic of Mensa members other than high IQ. There are Mensans for whom Mensa provides a sense of belonging, and others for whom it is a casual social activity. There have been many marriages made in Mensa, but for many people, it is simply a stimulating opportunity for the mind. Most Mensans have a good sense of humor, and they like to talk. And, usually, they have a lot to say.
Mensans range in age from 2 to more than 100, but most are between 20 and 60. In education they range from preschoolers to high school dropouts to people with multiple doctorates. There are Mensans on welfare and Mensans who are millionaires. As far as occupations go, the range is staggering. Mensa has professors and truck drivers, scientists and firefighters, computer programmers and farmers, artists, military people, musicians, laborers, police officers, glassblowers — the diverse list goes on and on.
What does “Mensa” mean?
The word “Mensa” means “table” in Latin. Mensa is a round-table society, where race, color, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational or social background are irrelevant.
What opinions does Mensa have?
Mensa takes no stand on politics, religion or social issues. Mensa has members from so many different countries and cultures with differing points of view, that for Mensa to espouse a particular point of view would go against its role as a forum for all points of view. Of course, individual Mensa members often have strong opinions–and several of them. It is said that in a room with 12 Mensans you will find at least 13 differing opinions on any given subject!
Dispute Resolution Process
Members having a dispute with another member or a committee arising out of a Mensa related matter or activity, shall exhaust all avenues of settlement and redress within the Society before taking the dispute to any external authority.
We recommend talking to the person or group with whom you disagree as a first step. Failing that, please record the issues in email for ease of reply, and ensure that all relevant parties have received the email(s). If the matter is regional, it must be addressed with the regional committee next, and only escalated to National if no resolution is reached at a local level.
MENSA SA OMBUDSMAN
The Society may appoint an Ombudsman who may or may not be member of the Society, and who shall mediate in any disputes within the Society. Any dispute that has not been settled to the satisfaction of a party within the Society may be taken to the duly appointed Ombudsman provided that:
The dispute has followed the prescribed course of attempting internal settlement.
The aggrieved party has notified the other party to the dispute of the intention to seek arbitration.
The Ombudsman has set a reasonable time for all parties to make written representation.
Details of the reasons for the dispute have been set out, in writing, by each party in the dispute.
The Ombudsman shall not be obliged to call for witnesses, but may make a decision based on the written representations before him. The Ombudsman’s decision shall be final.
MENSA INTERNATIONAL
Although the Ombudsman’s decision shall be final, a matter can also be escalated to the International Director for Smaller Mensas or the International Ombudsman after it has gone through the local process if the parties still feel strongly that justice was not done.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14469
|
__label__wiki
| 0.757274
| 0.757274
|
Search: Band Album Track Title Label Year
Deicide - [ Official Web Site ] - [ Tour Dates ]
Insineratehymn United States
Bible Basher
Forever Hate You
Standing In The Flames
Remnant Of A Hopeless Path
Halls Of Warship
Suffer Again
Worst Ememy
Apocalyptic Fear
Refusal Of Penance
Type: Full-Length
Release Date: June 27th, 2000
Label: Roadrunner Records
Categories: Death
MetalBite Review by Death8699 on 10/30/2018 2:01:03 PM
Despite the negative feedback that Deicide was given for the quality of this release, I still think that it's underestimated. Sure the riffs are less complex and there's a limited amount of leads, but I think everything flowed throughout this whole album. We can do without the lyrics, but that's what makes Deicide Deicide. When I originally heard this album, I too had a negative opinion about it. Now with repeated listens to, I beg to differ.
Compared to past releases, the album is way less technical. That doesn't make it unworthy of praise. The riffs go well along with the vocals and backup vocals as well even though I think that it's only Glen doing the backup screams. His voice is burley as usual but this time, you can somewhat understand what he's saying without looking at the lyric sheet.
The Hoffman brothers put forth quality music when writing this and I don't think that they got lazy, I just think that they wanted to put forth something less technical riff-wise. For Insineratehymn, it's back to the basics with the guitar playing. Still good leads, just a lot less of them. Tons of tremolo picked riffs mixed with basic picking. Glen's bass guitar could've been a little bit louder, but I think that it was good enough. I really liked the creativity on Deicide's part. They have had previous albums way more technical than this one, but overall, Insineratehymn hits home with me. Nothing wrong with the music, it flows. Sure they took a long while from their previous release to make another 30 minute album, but still I think that it's good. For guitarists like myself, we tend to be pretty critical when it comes to sub-par album releases. Just because this release isn't as technical as previous ones, there's no need to put this one down as a flop. Deicide tried to make it more basic when they wrote this album, nothing more. The leads could've been more incorporated in the mix, but what they put forth was enough I think.
Songs such as "Bible Basher" and "Standing In The Flames" are quite memorable. The production was decent. Jim Morris did a good job with the mixing of this album. For the most part, all of the instruments were mixed evenly even though like I said the bass could've been a bit louder. Everything else was finely heard, the guitar, drums and vocals.
Give it a try to accept this album that did so poorly with the feedback from fans. I think it's another good one to add to their discography. It's not too technical, but still catchy as all hell so try listening to it a few more times before you judge it. One hell of a sick album!
Copyright © MetalBite 2001 - 2019
MetalBite Magazine
4901 Bonsai Circle Apt 101
E-mail: info@metalbite.com
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14470
|
__label__wiki
| 0.603856
| 0.603856
|
JIS: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, has hailed 2018 Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) Roll of Honour Awardee, Sadie Comrie, for her exemplary leadership and service to the sector.
He noted that she has set an excellent example for others to follow, from New Works All-Age School in Westmoreland, where she established a Reading Club, to Lacovia High School in St. Elizabeth, where she served as a Teacher/Librarian for 13 years.
“Sadie became President of the JTA in 2002, and then serving the JTA and the Ministry of Education as a liaison officer [from] 2008 to 2010; and in all these capacities you have shown exemplary leadership within our schools and the wider Jamaican society,” Senator Reid said.
He was addressing the award presentation ceremony held on February 12 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.
The JTA Roll of Honour Award recognises outstanding contribution to education, consistent with the Association’s Code of Ethics.
The Honour Roll demands of the awardee the highest level of probity, integrity and professional conduct. It also seeks to emphasise excellence in performance.
Senator Reid noted that in honouring one of its long-serving members, the JTA is showing not just “an appreciation for the long and dedicated service of the awardee, but also of the values that that individual, Mrs. Comrie, embodies”.
A passion for excellence in education, an enduring commitment to the mission of the JTA, and selfless service to community and country are the hallmarks of the professional journey that took Mrs. Comrie from her initial teaching job at Belfont Basic School in St. James, more than 50 year ago, to the pinnacle of the education system in Jamaica.
‘Lady Sadie’, as she is fondly called by her colleagues because of her impeccable deportment and fashionable style of dressing, is widely respected throughout the profession.
She is the recipient of the JTA’s Golden Torch; and the R.C. Tavares, and W.B.C. Ben Hawthorne Awards; the Association’s 50th Anniversary Award; as well as the JTA Lasco Salute to Teachers’ Award for Excellence in Education.
For his part, JTA President, Dr. Garth Anderson congratulated Mrs. Comrie for her contribution to education in the classroom, as an administrator, and for her 50 years as a member of the profession.“Her impact and legacy as a stalwart to the sector will live on for generations to come,” he said.
In her response, Mrs. Comrie expressed appreciation for the award and gave an undertaking “to be a vessel of cooperation [and] to continue to be a vessel of kindness and love”.
CAPTION 1: Jamaica Teachers’ Association 2018 Roll of Honour Awardee, Sadie Comrie, addresses the presentation ceremony on February 12 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.
CAPTION 2: Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (right), shares a moment with (from left: President, Moravian Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Rev. Phyllis Smith-Seymour; Retired Teacher, Arthur Comrie; and the Jamaica Teachers’ Association 2018 Roll of Honour Awardee, Sadie Comrie. They were at the presentation ceremony held on February 12 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14472
|
__label__cc
| 0.679176
| 0.320824
|
The signaling deadline for the econ job market is tomorrow, Tuesday, at midnight
If you are an economist on the jobmarket, planning to be interviewed at the ASSA meetings in January, and if you haven't submitted your two signals yet, now is the time. You can register and select your signals here.
(For everyone else, here is a description of signaling, it's a process by which job candidates can have the American Economic Association send an indication of particular interest to two potential employers out of the many they have sent applications to. The idea is that a limit to two special signals helps employers sort through the many applications they receive when it is time to decide who to interview at the national meetings in January.)
The deadline is tomorrow, Tuesday, at midnight (2400 EST).
The December JOE is out, so there won't be any new job listings before tomorrow.
Now is the time to chat with your advisor, and send your two signals. (It can't hurt and might help, see the paper linked to in yesterday's post.)
Labels: academic economics, job market, signaling
The job market for new economists: preliminary report
I chair the AEA ad hoc committee on the job market, and a preliminary version of a report we're writing may be of interest to those on the job market this year (and in particular to those who should be signaling by the end of the day Tuesday). The bottom line for the moment? Don't forget to signal.
The paper is
Peter Coles, John Cawley, Phillip B. Levine, Muriel Niederle, Alvin E. Roth, and John J. Siegfried , " The Job Market for New Economists: A Market Design Perspective," preliminary draft, Nov. 25 2009.
A link to it (which will be updated as the paper proceeds towards completion) is on my market design page here.
Posted by Al Roth at 9:03 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: academic economics, academic marketplace, job market, signaling
Internet resources for the homeless
Being homeless does not necessarily mean being cut off from the internet. The Boston Globe reports Online sites offer a fertile venue for some in need
"On Homelessforums.org, thousands of people post questions and comments about everything from how to stay safe on the streets to where to camp for free. There are pleas for money on CyberBeg.com, which compares itself to a lottery, and Begslist.blogspot.com, which describes itself as a “source for free . . . e-panhandling, online donations, debt help, finding financial resources, and a great place to ask for financial help from the kindness of others.’’
Labels: charity, internet, online
Rules of the road for cars and bikes
In many places where cars and bikes share a road, they customarily (if not legally) follow different rules. In England, a trial program will allow bikes to travel the wrong way down some one-way streets: Cyclists will be given green light to ignore one-way signs.
"Cyclists will be permitted to ride the wrong way along one-way streets under a change intended to encourage more people to give up their cars or use them less.
The Government will announce today that cyclists will be permitted to ignore no-entry signs: a practice already followed by many, including David Cameron, the Conservative leader.
The Department for Transport is authorising a trial in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, Mr Cameron’s home authority in West London, in which a small plate saying “Except cyclists” will be attached to poles carrying no-entry signs.
If the trial is successful, the department intends to extend the policy to the rest of Britain and permit thousands of one-way streets to become two-way for bikes. It believes that long diversions around one-way systems are a significant deterrent to new cyclists, who might be less confident about breaking the rules."
On this side of the pond, Brookline MA is trying something similar, although not on the roads that I ride to work: Right way or wrong way? Brookline tries out new bike lanes
Lynne Kiesling at KP has a nice post on whether cars and bikes should obey the same rules of the road: Roads and paths as common-pool resources, and the problem of governing them
The rules of the road are a relatively recent invention: 2009 marks the 100th anniversary of Boston’s first traffic regulations, as issued by the Board of Street Commissioners. Peter DeMarco of the Boston Globe reports A century ago, driving laws tamed Boston’s wild streets.
"Back then there were no street signs, no stop signs, no traffic lights, no double center lines, no traveling lanes, and no yield signs. Automobiles had to battle horse-drawn carriages and wagons, bicyclists, trolleys, and pedestrians for space on the road. And while we joke today about how infrequently we obey traffic laws in Massachusetts, a century ago, there were scarcely any laws to obey."
Of the new laws adopted in 1909 he says:"A number of the laws are still very much in use today. Boston got its first one-way streets, adopted a new rule requiring drivers to “signal if about to turn,’’ and began requiring drivers to pass on the left - all in 1909. Parking within 10 feet of a curb was prohibited, double parking was outlawed (well, at least on paper), and police, fire, and other emergency vehicles (including postal carriers and doctors) were given the right of way.
But the rules also show how little our state’s first motorists actually knew about driving, and how Boston streets were really a free-for-all. Drivers had to be told not to stop in the middle of the street, not to park on sidewalks, and not to drive in reverse. The regulations include basic diagrams, reprinted in newspapers for all to study, explaining how to properly make a right turn, a left turn, and a U-turn - revolutionary stuff in 1909, when license exams consisted of a paltry 12 questions."
"Most cars were rudimentary, lacking not only turn signals, brake lights, and treaded tires, but also speedometers, windshields (thus the need for driving goggles), roofs, shock absorbers, power steering, and heat (necessitating leather driving coats and gloves). Steam-engine cars could explode, while hand-crank starter rods could spin back and break your arm. To apply brakes, you pulled hard on a lever. Seat belts, alas, didn’t exist."
Update: a column in the London Times suggests that bike riders will have to become more law abiding if London is to become more like Amsterdam, with high volume bike traffic: Time’s up, bike bandits
Labels: bikes, cars, coordination, traffic
The market for fresh turkeys
Frozen turkeys can be produced year round, but fresh turkeys for Thanksgiving all need to be brought to maturity at around the same time. This column from last year's Slate puts the picture into focus: The Turkey-Industrial Complex--How do farmers produce so many birds for Thanksgiving?
"Producing fresh turkeys takes more planning. Market leader Butterball, for example—which grows about one fresh bird for every nine frozen ones—has already begun the production cycle for next year's holiday season. Eggs for breeder birds have been purchased from one of the world's two major genetic suppliers, Hybrid and Nicholas. Those eggs will then be hatched and placed in turkey farms so that they can grow and become sexually mature during the winter. (Butterball needs roughly 28,000 laying hens and 1,700 "stud" toms each year to produce the right amount of fresh turkeys.) Come springtime, these birds will produce the eggs that are destined to become the turkeys we actually eat. Hens produce eggs in 25-weeklong cycles: The first five weeks' worth go toward fresh turkey production, the rest toward the frozen turkey market. Breeder hens are normally used for a single cycle before being slaughtered and processed themselves."
Labels: peak-load, turkeys
Two edited volumes
Two edited volumes recently arrived in the mail:
Better Living through Economics, edited by John Siegfried; and Studies of Labor Market Intermediation, edited by David Autor.
Here's a link to one chapter:
Niederle, Muriel, and Alvin E. Roth,''The Effects of a Central Clearinghouse on Job placement, Wages, and Hiring Practice'', in Labor Market Intermediation, David Autor, Editor, The University of Chicago Press, 2009, 273-306.
Early and late matching to career choices
A recent NBER paper by Ofer Malamud finds that students (in Scotland) who get to choose their academic specialty later in their educational careers have fewer changes of career than students who must choose earlier (in England). So, it provides some evidence about why unraveled markets are sometimes inefficient, i.e. on how early matching can result in lower match quality.
Discovering One's Talent: Learning from Academic Specialization by Ofer Malamud
Abstract: In addition to providing useful skills, education may also yield valuable information about one's tastes and talents. This paper exploits an exogenous difference in the timing of academic specialization within the British system of higher education to test whether education provides such information. I develop a model in which individuals, by taking courses in different fields of study, accumulate field-specific skills and receive noisy signals of match quality to these fields. Distinguishing between educational regimes with early and late specialization, I derive comparative static predictions about the likelihood of switching to an occupation that is unrelated to one's field of study. If higher education serves mainly to provide specific skills, the model predicts more switching in a regime with late specialization because the cost of switching is lower in terms of foregone skills. Using survey and administrative data on university graduates, I find that individuals from Scotland, where specialization occurs relatively late, are less likely to switch to an unrelated occupation compared to their English counterparts who specialize early. This implies that the benefits to increased match quality are sufficiently large to outweigh the greater loss in skills from specializing early, and thus confirms the important role of higher education in helping students discover their own tastes and talents. http://papers.nber.org/papers/W15522
An ungated version is here.
Labels: college admissions, matching, unraveling
Designing a course grading system
Noam Nisan at Algorithmic Game Theory tells a funny story about grades for a game theory class. (Don't try this for other subjects...)
Worldwide university rankings, compared to GNP
Rankings have lots of problems, but here is an ambitious attempt to look at universities all around the world.
"The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) was first published in June 2003 by the Center for World-Class Universities and the Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, and then updated on an annual basis. ARWU uses six objective indicators to rank world universities, including the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Scientific, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index - Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, and per capita performance with respect to the size of an institution. More than 1000 universities are actually ranked by ARWU every year and the best 500 are published on the web. "
Here are the 2009 rankings.
Two of the top ten are from England (#4 Cambridge and #10 Oxford), the rest are in the U.S. The difference in the "overall score" between #2 and #10 is smaller than the difference between #1 and #2, but this may just have to do with how the scales are normalized. The highest ranked university from a country other than the U.S. or England is University of Tokyo, at #20.
Here is a table of Percentage Distribution of Top Universities by Country with Their Share of Global Population and GDP
Only 15 countries have universities ranked in the top 100, and an additional 24 countries have at least one university ranked in the top 500. The top producers of universities are producing them disproportionately to their share of world GDP or population, for example the U.S. has 55.0% of the top 100 universities, and 30.3% of the top 500, but only 23.6% of GDP and 4.5% of population. (Israel is a big outlier, with 1.0% of the top 100 and 1.4% (i.e. 7 universities ) of the top 500, from an economy with 0.3% of world GDP and 0.1% of population.
I have taught at the universities ranked #1, 25, and 50, and studied at #2 and 7. Based on this limited and skewed sample, and on other universities I know well, I can see that both wealth and the quality of the students are big components of university quality, not always perfectly correlated. (What makes the #1 university so extraordinary is the extent to which it succeeds in assembling so much of both in the same place, and what makes the Israeli universities so remarkable is certainly not their wealth.)
Based on the quality of students from various countries who we see in the U.S., I would guess that, if student quality were the main thing being measured, both Turkey and Iran (each with one university in the #400-500 range) are not getting the credit they deserve. (Many of our students from those places had their undergraduate education at home, and apparently got it at pretty good places; even those who come to the U.S. for their undergraduate education are obviously being drawn from pools of students for whom education is a priority.)
Similarly, there may also be countries where wealth rather than student quality is doing most of the work in putting one of their universities into the top 500, and talented and committed students there might be better advised to study overseas if they can. I'm thinking of Saudia Arabia, with one university in the 400-500 range. A number of Gulf countries have been investing in universities, and it will be interesting to see how well they succeed, and how that changes them if they do.
(A very interesting paper by my colleague Eric Chaney looks at the history of scientific productivity in the Muslim world, and gives some food for thought about what aspects of the general culture might promote vibrant universities: "Tolerance, Religious Competition and the Rise and Fall of Muslim Science")
Labels: academic marketplace, universities
Final remarks in our market design class
Harvard's new academic calendar and Thanksgiving combined to produce an early end to the lecture part of our Market Design class. I ended with some concluding remarks (here are the accompanying slides: 12.3 concluding remarks ).
One remark is that market design is an eclectic field, drawing on game theory, experiments, computation, and field observation of all sorts (rules are data!).
Teaching the class over the last not-quite-a-decade has been an invigorating intellectual experience. When Paul Milgrom and I began the class (when he spent a year at Harvard in 2001), he had the FCC spectrum auction experience under his belt, and I had the redesign of the National Resident Matching Program under mine, and we had plenty of ideas.
I entertained a faint worry that, at the end of the decade, those might still be the only major applications we had to talk about. But, as things turned out, we can no longer fit all the newly implemented market designs into one course (and Susan Athey will again teach a second semester of Market Design, focused on many recent auction applications, in the Spring). Among the designs we talked about this semester are other health care labor markets, Kidney Exchange, School choice mechanisms, signaling for new economists, internet ad auctions, and more.
I've also been gratified by developments in market design as a field of study. Not only have there been successful applications, there's starting to be an academic literature focused on practical market design, and the theoretical and empirical questions it raises. While there are still some special obstacles that have to be overcome to publish market design papers in general economics journals, we've come a long way since I worried about that in my 2002 paper "The Economist as Engineer: Game Theory, Experimentation, and Computation as Tools for Design Economics.
As I remarked in two earlier posts (see Market design is coming of age, and Market design courses this Fall at Harvard and MIT) another sign that the field is healthy is that it is attracting some of the most creative young minds. Some alumni of Harvard and the course who are presently active in market design and/or matching are Estelle Cantillon (with whom I taught the course for two years), Muriel Niederle, John Asker, Nicole Immorlica, Mohammad Mahdian, Michael Ostrovsky, Parag Pathak, Fuhito Kojima, Robin Lee, Mihai Manea, Eric Budish, and Scott Kominers.
Labels: market design
Who gets deceased-donor kidneys? Thinking about changes in the rules.
A lot of thought and politics goes into changing the rules for which patients get which kidneys, how long they wait, and how much that should play a role in the allocation decision, as opposed to other criteria having to do with how well each kidney fits each patient, what is the age difference between deceased donor and recipient, etc.
John Faherty at the Arizona Republic has written an informative account of the ongoing debate: New rules change who gets donated kidneys
"Dr. Kenneth Andreoni, chairman of the United Network for Organ Sharing Kidney Transplantation Committee, has been working to develop a better way to distribute kidneys since 2004.
"The current allocation system went in decades ago," Andreoni said. "It was based on good science, but it was a different time."
The system was built to balance utility with fairness.
For utility, doctors required that donated kidneys and recipients be a close biological match. It was the only way to ensure that the recipient's body wouldn't reject the organ, wasting a precious donation.
For fairness, they established a waiting list. The people on the list the longest were first in line for the next matching kidney.
But in the 1980s and 1990s, things began to change. Better anti-rejection drugs helped a recipient accept a kidney even if they weren't a perfect match. Before long, the allocation system that was supposed to balance utility - the likelihood of a successful transplant - with fairness - time on the waiting list - was out of whack.
All that mattered was the wait time.
Frustration grew among transplant doctors. Without the criteria of a tissue match, the system was no longer using science to make the best choices.
Doctors were sometimes putting healthy young kidneys into recipients with only a few years left to live."
"The committee is recommending at least two key elements that are almost certain to be part of the new system.
• The first is dialysis time. The current waiting-list system is less fair than it seems, Andreoni said, because some doctors list patients early, at the first sign of kidney failure, while other doctors wait until after other treatments to list their patients. This puts patients in the second group at a disadvantage.
A dialysis-time list would put all patients on equal footing. The longer you have had to endure the treatment, the sooner you can get a kidney.
• The second element is a complex grading system called the Donor Profile Index. Doctors would measure the quality of a donated kidney to determine how well it will work and how long it will last. Then, they would give that kidney to the patient who would most benefit from it.
That means factoring, to a still-undetermined degree, who would get the most use of a new kidney - who would live the longest.
"Right now, whoever is next in line gets the kidney," Andreoni said. "It does not make the best use of the organ." "
Of course, changes like this, when allocating a scarce resource, involve benefits from some people, but not for everyone.
"With the proposed changes to the allocation system, a patient like Ramirez will be more likely to receive a kidney from a younger person, and probably sooner.
"It's a conundrum. A change would be a really good thing for me," she said. "But if I was older, I might be angry. Maybe they have been waiting for a long time." "
That's what makes some changes politically hard. Sometimes phasing such changes in over time may ease the path.
Update: for those of you who don't click on comments, Michael Giberson said... Why not favor patients with an unmatched donor, and so use deceased donor kidneys to trigger a exchange chain. ?
Mixing the deceased donor kidneys with the kidney exchange pool also involves some complicated political issues, since deceased donor organs are regarded as a shared public resource, but live donor kidneys are of course private property.
But in New England we have permission to do something like what Giberson has in mind, called list exchange: see
Roth, Alvin E., Tayfun Sönmez, M. Utku Ünver, Francis L. Delmonico, and Susan L. Saidman, ''Utilizing List Exchange and Undirected Good Samaritan Donation through 'Chain' Paired Kidney Donations," American Journal of Transplantation, 6, 11, November 2006, 2694-2705.
Here's the first paragraph of the abstract of that paper:
"In a list exchange (LE), the intended recipient in an incompatible pair receives priority on the deceased donor waitlist (DD-waitlist) after the paired incompatible donor donates a kidney to a DD-waitlist candidate. A nondirected donor’s (ND-D) kidney is usually transplanted directly to a DD-waitlist candidate. These two established practices would help even more transplant candidates if they were integrated with kidney paired donation (KPD)."
The paper goes on to report an early NDD chain conducted at the New England Program for Kidney Exchange that passed through the exchange pool, i.e. that included patients with incompatible donors in the middle, with the final link being a donation to someone on the DD-waitlist. We have also done exchanges that may be closer to what Giberson suggests, in which a deceased donor kidney goes to someone in the kidney exchange pool, whose incompatible donor gives to someone else in the pool...whose donor gives to someone on the DD-waitlist.
Labels: kidneys, matching, organs, transplantation, waiting
Incentives for buying health insurance when healthy
My colleague Marty Feldstein worries in the Washington Post about potential incentive mis-alignments in new health care legislation: Obamacare's nasty surprise-Fewer insured, higher costs might be the result
"Here's why: A key feature of the House and Senate health bills would prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to anyone with preexisting conditions. The new coverage would start immediately, and the premium could not reflect the individual's health condition.
This well-intentioned feature would provide a strong incentive for someone who is healthy to drop his or her health insurance, saving the substantial premium costs. After all, if serious illness hit this person or a family member, he could immediately obtain coverage. As healthy individuals decline coverage in this way, insurance companies would come to have a sicker population. The higher cost of insuring that group would force insurers to raise their premiums. (Separate accident policies might develop to deal with the risk of high-cost care after accidents when there is insufficient time to buy insurance.) "
HT: Mankiw
Labels: incentives, insurance
An interesting paper by Alexei Alexandrov and Martin A. Lariviere asks Are Reservations Recommended?
From the abstract:
"We examine the role of reservations in capacity-constrained services with a focus on restaurants. Although customers value reservations, restaurants typically neither charge for them nor impose penalties for failing to honor them. However, reservations impose costs on firms offering them. We highlight ways in which reservations can increase a firm’s sales by altering customer behavior. First, when demand is uncertain, reservations induce more customers to patronize the restaurant on slow nights. The firm must then trade off higher sales in a soft market with sales lost to no shows on busy nights. Competition makes reservations more attractive as long as enough customers will consider dining at either restaurant. When there are many firms in the market, it is rarely an equilibrium for none to offer reservations. Second, we show that reservations can increase sales by shifting demand from a popular peak period to a less desirable off-peak time. This is accomplished by informing diners when all peak reservations have been given out. "
And from the Introduction:
"Restaurant reservations are a curious phenomenon. Customers value them, but restaurants give them away. Indeed, firms such as Weekend Epicure have stepped in to profit from the resulting arbitrage opportunity. These “scalpers” reserve tables at popular spots under fictitious names that they share with the first paying party. (Fees are on the order of $35 to $40.) What makes offering reservations even more remarkable is that they are costly to provide. Fischer (2005) identifies three costs to offering reservations. These include additional staff needed to take reservations and added complexity from having to balance the needs of walk-in customers with commitments made to reservation holders. The final consideration is no shows.
Customers can generally fail to keep reservations without penalty, but restaurants suffer if they hold capacity for customers that never come. No shows represent a real problem. Bertsimas and Shioda (2003) report a no-show rate of 3% to 15% for the restaurant they studied. More generally, rates of 20% are not unusual (Webb Pressler, 2003) and special occasions such as New Year’s Eve can push rates to 40% (Martin, 2001).
Why then should restaurants offer reservations? One reason is the operational benefits they provide. Reservations regulate the flow of work. By staggering seatings, a restaurateur can assure that waiters are not overwhelmed by a rush of customers followed by the bartender and kitchen being swamped with orders. Reservations thus allow fast service without excessive capacity (Fischer, 2005). Reservations would then be appealing when either customers are delay sensitive or the firm’s costs increase with arrival variability. Further, reservations may allow a restaurant to estimate demand and improve staffing and sourcing decision."
Labels: restaurants, scalping, unraveling
Environmentalists seek to wipe out plush toilet paper (headline in Boston Globe)
They advocate products made of recycled fibers
"And, activists say, there’s just the foolish idea of the thing: old trees cut down for the briefest and most undignified of ends.
“It’s like the Hummer product for the paper industry,’’ said Allen Hershkowitz, senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “We don’t need old-growth forests . . . to wipe our behinds.’’
"The reason for this fight lies in toilet paper engineering. Each sheet is a web of wood fibers, and fibers from old trees are longer, which produces a smoother and more supple web. Fibers made from recycled paper - in this case magazines, newspapers, or computer printouts - are shorter. The web often is rougher.
So, when toilet paper is made for the “away from home’’ market, the no-choice bathrooms in restaurants, offices, and schools, manufacturers use recycled fiber about 75 percent of the time.
But for the “at home’’ market, the paper customers buy for themselves, 5 percent at most is fully recycled. The rest is mostly or totally “virgin’’ fiber, taken from newly cut trees, according to the market analysis firm RISI Inc."
Egyptian Lawmakers Want to Ban Fake Hymen
"CAIRO (AP) -- Conservative Egyptian lawmakers have called for a ban on imports of a Chinese-made kit meant to help women fake their virginity and one scholar has even called for the ''exile'' of anyone who imports or uses it.
The Artificial Virginity Hymen kit, distributed by the Chinese company Gigimo, costs about $30. It is intended to help newly married women fool their husbands into believing they are virgins -- culturally important in a conservative Middle East where sex before marriage is considered by many to be illicit. The product leaks a blood-like substance when inserted and broken."...
"Kotb noted that a medical procedure that reattaches a broken hymen by stitching is illegal in Egypt and can cost hundreds of dollars -- prohibitively expensive for the poor. But many women still secretly seek it out in fear of punishment for pre-marital sex.
Such punishment could include slayings at the hands of relatives, a practice more commonly referred to as honor killings and common in the more conservative tribal areas of the Middle East."
Labels: repugnance
Harvard housing
Harvard sophomores, juniors and seniors are assigned housing randomly, with some details that require strategic thinking. The objective seems to be to make the Harvard undergraduate houses fairly homogeneous (while allowing friends to form small groups). But it wasn't always so.
An unpublished paper that recounts some of the history, and the previous market designs for housing allocation, is THE HARVARD HOUSING LOTTERY: RATIONALITY AND REFORM, by Susan M. Collins and Kala Krishna
It's an interesting read, and an important kind of market design paper. Rules are data, and histories of rule changes, and how they succeed and fail, are often one of the clearest windows through which to view the obstacles that allocation processes have to overcome to work well.
Labels: houses
Non-simultaneous kidney exchange chains
Quite a few kidney exchange chains, starting with a non-directed (altruistic) donor, have been done non-simultaneously, since the first non-simultaneous extended altruistic donor (NEAD) chain went through so successfully. The idea is that the need for simultaneity is reduced when a chain starts with a non-directed donor, since no incompatible patient-donor pair is left waiting for a kidney after giving one.
Here's an article about a recent non-simultaneous chain in Maryland: the article gives a good idea of the multiple reasons why non-simultaneity might be desirable. First, it relieves logistical constraints involved with scheduling multiple operating rooms (not to mention waiting rooms and recovery rooms), and second, it allows the chain to continue in the future.
""Four people who otherwise would not have had matching donors now have lifesaving kidneys - from people they've never met. And this transplant chain was set in motion by a man who simply wanted to donate a kidney to someone in need," says Matthew Cooper, MD, director of kidney transplantation at UMMC and associate professor of surgery at the School of Medicine, who oversaw the series of surgeries.
Only a handful of hospitals in the country have performed large kidney transplant exchanges such as this one. The procedures, which took place over two days in four operating suites at the medical center, required extensive coordination and planning not only in the operating rooms, but also in the waiting rooms.
Because the right to privacy for the donors and recipients is protected throughout the process, transplant coordinator Debbie Iacovino arranged separate waiting areas in different parts of the hospital for their families to ensure anonymity.
The kidney exchange started with a 59-year-old man from a suburb of Boston, Mass., who offered to donate a kidney to someone in need. His kidney was given to a Maryland man who was not a match with his intended donor, a woman who is also from Maryland. The woman was matched with a 10-year-boy from Catonsville whose kidneys were failing because of a congenital abnormality.
A friend of the boy's family, a 50-year-old lawyer from Catonsville, gave his kidney to a 64-year-old Florida man, whose wife was a donor for 74-year-old man from Virginia Beach, Va. The Virginia man's son-in-law will be a "bridge" donor, who will give his kidney to a yet-undetermined recipient at a later date, which will allow the chain of transplants to continue."
Here's a video interview:
Video FourWay Kidney Exchange An Interview with Dr Matthew Cooper
http://www.spokenword.org/program/865751 21 minutes
"UMMC's director of kidney transplantation Dr. Matthew Cooper provides an overview of the four-way kidney exchange that involved eight patients from four states on November 2 and 3. Dr. Cooper talks about paired kidney exchanges, how this four-way exchange came about, what happened during the two days of surgery, the significance of this procedure for the people involved and much more."
Labels: chains, kidney exchange
Gaming the Liver Transplant Market (by Jason Snyder)
When my colleagues and I began talking to transplant surgeons about the design of kidney exchanges, it was initially sometimes hard to convince them that incentives played a big role in organ allocation. (I sometimes heard a variation of "Professor, incentives may be important in economics, but not in medicine; no one chooses to become sick.") But explanations were made easier by a 2003 legal settlement in which some hospitals paid fines for pretending their patients were sicker than they were, to give them increased priority on the waiting list for deceased donor liver transplants: Illinois: Prosecutor's Diagnosis Is Fraud.
By the time of the settlement, the rules for determining priority on the waiting list for livers had already been changed to depend on more objectively verifiable criteria, to reduce the ability of hospitals to game the system on behalf of their patients. A recent paper by Jason Snyder of the UCLA Anderson School of Management looks at the effect of this change:
"Gaming the Liver Transplant Market" Forthcoming at The Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization
"Approximately 6,000 transplants are performed annually and, on average, 2,500 people die while waiting for a liver. There is substantial variation in the number of transplant centers across markets; some markets have only one firm while other markets have multiple participants. Prior to March 1, 2002, a major determinant of whether a patient would obtain a liver was whether they were in the intensive care unit (ICU). Patients in the ICU jumped to the top of the priority list regardless of how sick they actually were. There is considerable anecdotal evidence suggesting that in order to obtain livers for their patients the transplant centers created faux-ICUs where relatively healthy people were put in the ICU to strategically advance their positions on the waiting list. After March 1, 2002, the allocation of livers changed to a system where livers were allocated solely on clinical indicators of sickness. ICU status was no longer a factor in determining whether a patient obtained a liver or not. This policy resulted in, if anything, an increase in the sickness of the average patient at transplant and a dramatic discontinuous decrease in the number of patients who were in the ICU at the time of their transplant. This seemingly contradictory behavior is consistent with centers strategically misrepresenting the health of their patients prior to the policy reforms.
"Using the policy change to examine changes in ICU admission behavior, I find that after the policy changed the use of the ICU decreased more in markets with more firms. I also find that after the policy changed the percentage of relatively healthy people in the ICU decreased more in markets with more firms. Finally I show that these results are non-linear in the number of firms in the market. Moving from one firm to two firms in the marketplace is associated with dramatic changes gaming behavior, but there is little difference between two firms and three or more firms."
Labels: incentives, liver, organs, transplantation
Louis Menand on the market for PhDs in English
Louis Menand, in Harvard Magazine, has many interesting things to say about the Ph.D. in English literature and the market for Ph.D.s in English and the humanities. The Ph.D. Problem: On the professionalization of faculty life, doctoral training, and the academy’s self-renewal
"English was one of the fields surveyed in the two studies of the Ph.D. It is useful to look at, in part because it is a large field where employment practices have a significance that goes beyond courses for English majors. What the surveys suggest is that if doctoral education in English were a cartoon character, then about 30 years ago, it zoomed straight off a cliff, went into a terrifying fall, grabbed a branch on the way down, and has been clinging to that branch ever since. Things went south very quickly, not gradually, and then they stabilized. Statistically, the state of the discipline has been fairly steady for about 25 years, and the result of this is a kind of normalization of what in any other context would seem to be a plainly inefficient and intolerable process. The profession has just gotten used to a serious imbalance between supply and demand."
"The Berkeley study, “Ph.D.s—Ten Years Later,” was based on lengthy questionnaires sent to just under 6,000 people, in six fields, who received Ph.D.s between 1982 and 1985. One of those fields was English. People who received their Ph.D.s in English between 1982 and 1985 had a median time to degree of 10 years. A third of them took more than 11 years to finish, and the median age at the time of completion was 35. By 1995, 53 percent of those with Ph.D.s that had been awarded from 10 to 15 years earlier had tenure; another 5 percent were in tenure-track positions. This means that about two-fifths of English Ph.D.s were effectively out of the profession as it is usually understood. (Some of these people were non-tenure-track faculty, and some were educational administrators. Most of the rest worked in what is called BGN—business, government, and NGOs.) Of those who had tenure, less than a fifth had positions in the kind of research universities in which they had been trained—that is, about 5 percent of all English Ph.D.s. "
"The placement rate for Ph.D.s has fluctuated. Between 1989 and 1996, the number of starting positions advertised in history dropped 11 percent; in art and art history, 26 percent; in foreign languages, 35 percent; and in political science, 37 percent. Yet every year during that period, universities gave out more Ph.D.s than they had the year before. It was plain that the supply curve had completely lost touch with the demand curve in American academic life. That meant if not quite a lost generation of scholars, a lost cohort. This was a period that coincided with attacks on the university for “political correctness,” and it is not a coincidence that many of the most prominent critics of academia were themselves graduate-school dropouts: Dinesh D’Souza, Roger Kimball, Richard Bernstein, David Lehman. Apart from their specific criticisms and their politics, they articulated a mood of disenchantment with the university as a congenial place to work.
There were efforts after 1996 to cut down the size of doctoral programs, with apparently some positive effect on the job market. But time-to-degree numbers did not improve. In the sixties, the time-to-degree as a registered student was about 4.5 years in the natural sciences and about six years in the humanities. The current median time to degree in the humanities is nine years. That does not include what is called stop-time, which is when students take a leave or drop out for a semester or longer. And it obviously does not take into account students who never finish. It is not nine years from the receipt of the bachelor’s degree, either; it is nine years as a registered student in a graduate program. The median total time it takes to achieve a degree in the humanities including stop-time is 11.3 years. In the social sciences, it is 10 years, or 7.8 as a registered student. In the natural sciences, time-to-degree as a registered student is just under seven years. If we put all these numbers together, we get the following composite: only about half of the people who enter doctoral programs in English finish them, and only about half of those who finish end up as tenured faculty, the majority of them at institutions that are not research universities. An estimate of the total elapsed time from college graduation to tenure would be somewhere between 15 and 20 years. It is a lengthy apprenticeship."
"... The system works well from the institutional point of view not when it is producing Ph.D.s, but when it is producing ABDs. It is mainly ABDs who run sections for lecture courses and often offer courses of their own. The longer students remain in graduate school, the more people are available to staff undergraduate classes. Of course, overproduction of Ph.D.s also creates a buyer’s advantage in the market for academic labor. These circumstances explain the graduate-student union movement that has been going on in higher education since the mid 1990s. "
"The key to reform of almost any kind in higher education lies not in the way that knowledge is produced. It lies in the way that the producers of knowledge are produced. Despite transformational changes in the scale, missions, and constituencies of American higher education, professional reproduction remains almost exactly as it was a hundred years ago. Doctoral education is the horse that the university is riding to the mall. People are taught—more accurately, people are socialized, since the process selects for other attributes in addition to scholarly ability—to become expert in a field of specialized study; and then, at the end of a long, expensive, and highly single-minded process of credentialization, they are asked to perform tasks for which they have had no training whatsoever: to teach their fields to non-specialists, to connect what they teach to issues that students are likely to confront in the world outside the university, to be interdisciplinary, to write for a general audience, to justify their work to people outside their discipline and outside the academy. If we want professors to be better at these things, then we ought to train them differently."
Labels: academic marketplace, job market
Humanities job market: priming the pump
The American Council of Learned Societies has decided to give the job market for humanities Ph.D.s a boost, in the face of the tough job market expected this year. It looks like their stimulus package is well designed:
"The American Council of Learned Societies announces a new initiative to address the serious employment challenges faced by many of today’s new Ph.D.s while also supporting teaching at universities and colleges. The ACLS New Faculty Fellows program will allow 50 recent Ph.D.s in the humanities and humanistic social sciences to take up two-year positions at universities and colleges, where their particular research and teaching expertise will benefit the receiving institution. Awardees will commit to teaching three semester-length courses each year and receive an annual stipend of $50,000, a $5,000 annual research and travel allowance, health insurance, and a $1,500 one-time moving allowance. The program is supported by a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Applicants for this program must be nominated by the university that awarded their Ph.D. In this first iteration of the program, nominations are limited to the 60 U.S. members of the Association of American Universities, each of which has designated a liaison for the ACLS New Faculty Fellows program. Possible applicants at participating institutions are encouraged to contact their advisor or department or program chair for further information on the program.
Read more: Stimulus for Humanities Job Market "
The link gives the following additional information:
"All 60 U.S. members of the Association of American Universities have been invited to nominate candidates who do not have a tenure-track position and who will have received a Ph.D. between January 2008 and December of 2009 in the humanities or the "humanistic social sciences," defined as including history, anthropology and such areas as political theory, historical sociology and economic history. The AAU members may nominate between 5 and 40 individuals, based on the size of the Ph.D. classes they produce each year in the humanities.
From these nominees, 50 finalists will be selected based on statements about their teaching and research interests.
Then the AAU universities and a few dozen liberal arts colleges (the latter group is still being defined) will be able to offer positions to the finalists, provided that the universities agree to pay one-third of the costs and the colleges one-fourth of the costs. The AAU institutions will not be allowed to offer positions to their own Ph.D.'s. Any finalists who don't get a job offer will get a one-year stipend of $35,000."
HT: Itay Fainmesser who will be at the ASSA meetings in Atlanta
Market for lesson plans
College professors sell textbooks, business school professor can profit from case studies, and now there's a market for lesson plans for elementary and middle school classes: Selling Lessons Online Raises Cash and Questions .
The "cash" in the headline is clear enough, while the "questions" seem to be of two kinds. The first is about intellectual property, who owns what:
"While some of this extra money is going to buy books and classroom supplies in a time of tight budgets, the new teacher-entrepreneurs are also spending it on dinners out, mortgage payments, credit card bills, vacation travel and even home renovation, leading some school officials to raise questions over who owns material developed for public school classrooms."
The other kinds of questions involve the repugnance we sometimes see raised by markets for things that used to be given away or handmade:
"Beyond the unresolved legal questions, there are philosophical ones. Joseph McDonald, a professor at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University, said the online selling cheapens what teachers do and undermines efforts to build sites where educators freely exchange ideas and lesson plans.
“Teachers swapping ideas with one another, that’s a great thing,” he said. “But somebody asking 75 cents for a word puzzle reduces the power of the learning community and is ultimately destructive to the profession.” "
The internet is a big facilitator here:
"Just about every imaginable lesson for preschool through college is now up for sale — on individual teachers’ blogs as well as commercial sites where buyers can review and grade the material.
Teachers Pay Teachers, one of the largest such sites, with more than 200,000 registered users, has recorded $600,000 in sales since it was started in 2006 — $450,000 of that in the past year, said its founder, Paul Edelman, a former New York City teacher. The top seller, a high school English teacher in California, has made $36,000 in sales.
Another site, We Are Teachers, went online last year with a “knowledge marketplace” that includes lesson plans and online tutoring."
Labels: entrepreneurial market design, repugnance, schools
Signaling for interviews in the Economics Job Market: Registration opens tomorrow
Here is the American Economic Association's announcement of the 2009 mechanism for Signaling for Interviews in the Economics Job Market
"The AEA coordinates a mechanism through which applicants can signal their interest in receiving an interview at the January meetings. From November 16, until December 1, shortly after the December JOE comes out, each applicant on the economics job market can register and designate no more than two departments (or other employers) to whom to send a signal of particular interest. On December 3, the AEA will transmit these signals to the departments a candidate has chosen. (Signals will not be made public.)
Please see Signaling for Interviews in the Economics Job Market for a detailed description as well as the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. "
Those already registered may select or update signals until Midnight, EST on December 1, 2009. This is a firm deadline.
In each of the years when signaling has been available (2006-9), about 1,000 signalers have used the system (almost all choosing to send 2 signals). Around 25% of JOE listings have received at least one signal in each of those years. So signaling has been pretty widespread, with lots of senders and receivers.
So, that said, should you signal? Or perhaps there's some reason not to signal?
In a December 2008 survey of those appearing on departmental lists of job candidates, 66% of respondents reported signaling. Of the remaining 33% of respondents, 26% reported that they missed the deadline, 21% reported they didn’t know about the mechanism, 41% thought signaling wouldn’t help their chances of getting a job, and 5% thought signaling would hurt their chances of getting an interview.
On this last point I can offer some reassurance; in our surveys of department recruiting committees, there is no indication whatsoever that anyone regards a signal as a negative indicator in deciding whether to offer an interview.
There is also some indication that signals help, at least sometimes (again from survey data, since we don't have direct access to data on who gets interviews), particularly for signals sent to employers who don't receive an excessive number of signals. (The 21 employers receiving the most signals received about 1/6 of all signals: ten of these employers are in the Boston, NY, and D.C. metropolitan areas.) Overall, a signal seems to increase the likelihood of an interview by around 6 percentage points.
I think it is sensible for most candidates to send the two signals they are allotted. I think the most you can expect a signal to do is to cause someone at the signaled department to take one more look at your dossier, and consider whether it makes sense to include you on their already pretty full schedule of interviews, given your interest. So, choose your signals with that in mind, and they may work for you.
(I hope to have a paper ready for circulation reasonably soon, with my colleagues on the AEA job market committee...)
Nothing human need be foreign to economics
Economists like to think of Economics as a broad church that welcomes investigation of a wide range of human activity from many viewpoints. Nothing human is foreign to us. Non-economists (and perhaps some economists as well) take a much narrower view of what economists can and should investigate, and how well we can do so.
An inadvertently hilarious juxtaposition of those two views comes in a column in The Guardian: Our speechless outrage demands a new language of the common good--Market theory closed down public discourse about injustice. But we urgently need to describe what we should value
The author opines: "But don't look to economists to get us out of this hollow mould of neoliberal economics and its bastard child, managerialism – the cost-benefit analysis and value-added gibberish that has made most people's working lives a mockery of everything they know to value."
She then goes on to suggest that the evils of economics may be remedied by philosophers, and praises Amartya Sen's new book The Idea of Justice.
The joke of course is that the author of the column is blissfully unaware that Amartya is an eminent economist, and the winner of the 1998 Nobel prize in economics.
Needless to say, justice is an excellent thing for economists to study, and strive to understand and achieve.
Labels: economic research
A grave problem of supply and demand
Grave sites, once sold and occupied, are intended to be occupied for a very long time, and their sale can't easily be negotiated if more valuable uses turn up. So there is less turnouver than in other kinds of real estate, with predictable consequences, as this Globe article attests: Supply limited, demand eternal, graveyards fill up.
"Provincetown’s shortage, while unusually acute, underscores a broad and burgeoning problem in the crowded Northeast. With land expensive and limited acreage available in large swaths of Eastern Massachusetts, budget-crunched communities are struggling to buy sites for new burial grounds as their existing cemeteries fill up."
"In Provincetown, many who have reserved burial plots are relative newcomers to the town, and in response, town officials this week passed a rule restricting burial plots to those who have maintained a principal residence for at least two years. Still, that was a short sojourn, some said, for a chance to spend eternity in a slice of heaven.
Said Lemme, the cemetery supervisor: “We might have to make that a little stricter.’’ "
Labels: cadavers, queuing
School choice, and separation of church and state
As a beneficiary of both a democratic and a religious tradition, I think that separation of church and state is good not just for states (if they happen to be liberal democracies), but also for religious communities (if they aspire to be self governing). In Britain, there are state funded religious schools, so school choice issues for religious schools get resolved by secular courts: Who Is a Jew? Court Ruling in Britain Raises Question .
"Britain has nearly 7,000 publicly financed religious schools, representing Judaism as well as the Church of England, Catholicism and Islam, among others. Under a 2006 law, the schools can in busy years give preference to applicants within their own faiths, using criteria laid down by a designated religious authority. "
The case in question is wending its way through the appeals court process. But it appears that, by accepting state funding, Britain's religious communities have let the state into the church, so to speak.
Update:Dec. 15. British High Court Says Jewish School’s Ethnic-Based Admissions Policy Is Illegal
Update: January 10: Faith schools facing admissions curb
Labels: Britain, religion, school choice
Incentives in Chicago school choice
The Chicago Sun Times reports:
"Poring over data about eighth-graders who applied to the city's elite college preps, Chicago Public Schools officials discovered an alarming pattern.
High-scoring kids were being rejected simply because of the order in which they listed their college prep preferences.
"I couldn't believe it,'' schools CEO Ron Huberman said. "It's terrible.''
CPS officials said Wednesday they have decided to let any eighth-grader who applied to a college prep for fall 2010 admission re-rank their preferences to better conform with a new selection system.
Previously, some eighth-graders were listing the most competitive college preps as their top choice, forgoing their chances of getting into other schools that would have accepted them if they had ranked those schools higher, official said.
Under the new policy, Huberman said, a computer will assign applicants to the highest-ranked school they qualify for on their list.
"It's the fairest way to do it," Huberman told the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board Wednesday."
This is the same issue that led to the redesign of the Boston school choice system.
HT Parag Pathak
update: see earlier stories on the changes in the Chicago magnet school program here and here.
Labels: incentives, school choice
Morality of buying kidneys (and brokering them)
Robby Berman, the founder and director of the Halachic Organ Donor Society (www.hods.org ), has an opinion piece in today's YNet: Buying kidneys is moral
It begins:
"I am responsible for the needless deaths of more than 100 Jews. All were victims of kidney disease, literally and figuratively dying on dialysis. They pleaded with me to introduce them to people willing to sell their kidneys, and I refused to do so because it is illegal.
If media reports are true, however, Sammy Shem-Tov and Dimitry Orenstein of Jerusalem did work as a kidney shadchanim (matchmakers) - saving hundreds of lives. Their motives weren’t pure. It took lots of money to get them to break the law and risk prison. So who acted morally and who did not? To me the answer is obvious. They are heroes even if they became wealthy in the process. "
It goes on to make some arguments related to repugnance.
Labels: compensation for donors, kidneys, repugnance, transplantation
School choice and school capacity
Deciding what is the capacity of a popular high school is tricky in a city that uses school choice. Here's an article from the NY Times about Francis Lewis high school in Queens, in NYC. It is way over 'capacity' because it is popular: At School in Queens, Success Draws Crowd.
(To put it another way, capacity is flexible, and so are students; some eat lunch at 9am, since the lunchroom has to be scheduled all day...)
Following the publication of the story, the Times published some letters to the editor from proud former teachers and students at Francis Lewis (including one from a famous economist).
More Milgrom
Northwestern has put up a page of material following the 2009 Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics Lecture and Conference, including Paul's slides, and a video of his lecture.
There are also links to the slides and bibliographies of the talks given on Friday (including the 10 minute presentations given by panelists; now I'm working on my 1 minute talk...)
Vijay Krishna (Pennsylvania State University): Auctions and Information[Presentation and Bibliography - PDF]
Larry Ausubel (University of Maryland): Auctions with Multiple Objects[Presentation - PDF] [Bibliography - PDF]
Panel Discussion: Market Design.Moderated by Rakesh Vohra (Northwestern University)
Susan Athey (Harvard University) [Slides]
Preston McAfee (Yahoo! Inc.) [Slides]
Paul Milgrom (Stanford University) [Slides]
Alvin Roth (Harvard University) [Slides]
Stephen Morris (Princeton University): Trade and Information[Presentation - PDF] [Bibliography - PDF]
Bengt Holmstrom (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): Agency Models[Presentation - PDF] [Bibliography - PDF]
John Roberts (Stanford University): Organizational Economics[Presentation - PDF]
And here is my previously posted unofficial conference photo.
Labels: market designers, Milgrom
College admissions: the costs of having too many acceptances
The Chronicle of Higher Education has a story on Ithaca College which illustrates some of the difficulties of the college admissions process from the colleges' point of view: Ithaca College Overshoots Its Admissions Mark and Pays a Price. (This link may need a subscription, so here's a longish excerpt that gives the idea...)
"In a year of unusually high uncertainty over admissions at private colleges, Ithaca College appears to have missed its target by a larger margin than most.
Now it is dealing with the financial consequences—even paying 31 students up to $10,000 each to defer their enrollment for a year—and adjusting its admissions policies and financial-aid spending plans in response.
Ithaca had aimed to enroll 1,700 to 1,750 new freshmen but found itself with an incoming class of 2,027 for this fall.
Ending up with a class that is 20 percent larger than expected is certainly better than having to operate with a class that is 20 percent under target. But "coming in heavy" with a class, as this circumstance is known in the field, can often bring its own short-term and long-term costs, and create some added financial instability.
"They have to feed that animal for four years," said George Dehne, a longtime consultant to colleges, whose firm does not count Ithaca as a client. "It looks like someone took their hands off the wheel."
The feeding includes extra spending for financial aid, for additional instructors (Ithaca had to hire several dozen), and for a new temporary residence hall, constructed in six weeks at a cost of $2.5-million."
"Ithaca had suffered a decline in freshman enrollment in 2008, falling 11 percent below its budgeted target of 1,600. Many of the steps it took over the past year to enroll the entering class in 2009 were designed to compensate. The steps included lowering selectivity (Ithaca accepted 73 percent of its 2009 applicants, compared with 59 percent in 2008) changing its merit-aid policy so money could be spread among more applicants, and intensifying "yield" efforts to get more admitted students to attend.
Other colleges did the same things, according to a survey released last month by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling.
But Ithaca lacked some of the levers colleges traditionally use to give themselves more control over admissions, most notably the early-decision option.
Many colleges use early decision to lock in a portion of their class early in the admissions cycle, which helps reduce some of the risks inherent in later stages of the process, when institutions decide how many students to admit outright and how many to place on the waiting list."
"Mr. Maguire, Ithaca's new enrollment-management chief, ... said the college is reinstating early decision, two years after dropping it. Without it, he said, Ithaca didn't have a solid picture of its admissions situation until very late in the process. Freshman deposits came in with a "huge spike at the very end of April.""
"The Cost of Too Many Freshmen
Ithaca College made several adjustments in policies and spending after enrolling 20 percent more students than it expected to this fall. These included:
Reinstituting early decision, to give the college more control over admissions earlier in the process.
Raising admissions selectivity for the fall of 2010 to reduce the admit rate.
Erecting a temporary residence hall in six weeks at a cost of $2.5-million.
Allocating up to $1.2-million in additional funds to hire nearly 50 part-time faculty members, two new full-time faculty members, and to pay 30 current full-time professors overload pay for teaching extra courses.
Providing 20-percent reductions on room charges, and paying the cable-TV bills, for students who had to be housed in lounges.
Offering admitted students up to $10,000 each to defer their enrollment for a year (Ithaca says 31 students took the offer, at a total cost of about $250,000).
Providing $2,000 in incentives to upperclassmen to move off campus. "
Labels: college admissions
College admissions in the UK, update
The Times offers British students a Good University Guide, with some advice on navigating the various parts of the British college admissions process, including the scramble known as "clearing," and the difficulties of taking advantage of re-graded exams.
Act fast to snap up a place
Competition to make it to university through clearing will be more intense this year as applicants chase fewer places
Guide to Clearing: essential information on universities in the clearing system
John O’Leary outlines some of the pros and cons of 40 UK universities likely to be offering the most places through clearing this year
A-level system will not help students 'trade up'
Pupils who do better than expected in exams will miss out on places at leading universities because courses are already full.
"Those who are unfairly marked down in A-level exams could lose their place, even if they successfully appeal and later get a higher grade. Some courses are closed to British applicants even though they still have places for foreign students. This is because for financial reasons the Government restricts the number of British students that universities can recruit. Overseas students pay higher fees and do not receive the grants or subsidised loans available to home students. "
There's also a guide to the mysteries of college admissions on this side of the pond: How to get into an American university
Students are increasingly looking across the Atlantic for university – but the application system can seem daunting.
"One of the main differences between the US and here is that there is no central body that handles the admissions, as Ucas does in the UK. "
Here are my earlier posts on British college admissions:
University admissions in the UK, and University admissions in the UK: admissions formulae
Labels: Britain, college admissions, scramble
Mazel tov to Methodist Hospital in San Antonio
A Methodist milestone: 50th paired donor kidney exchange transplant
"The transplant team at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital performed their first exchange procedure in March 2008 and completed the 50th procedure just 19 months later, with 42 of the exchange transplants performed in just the past 10 months. "
Update: here's a link to the hospital's news release, which makes clear that they are performing all these exchanges primarily among patients in Texas: Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital Reaches National Milestone with 50th Paired Kidney Exchange Transplant
Labels: kidney exchange, transplantation
Competition among stock exchanges
The NY Times has a story about how New Rivals Pose Threat to New York Stock Exchange.
"While the exchange has been under assault since the beginning of the decade, its decline has accelerated in recent years as aggressive competitors have emerged. Today, 36 percent of daily trades in stocks that are listed on the New York Stock Exchange are actually executed on the exchange, down from about 75 percent nearly four years ago. The rest of are conducted elsewhere, on new electronic exchanges or through dark pools. "
..."Unlike the Big Board, the new electronic exchanges are virtually unknown outside financial circles. Direct Edge, the largest, is in Jersey City. Another, the BATS Exchange, is based in Lenexa, Kan. Both are only about five years old. But each now accounts for about a 10th of daily United States stock trading. "
I'm reminded of Estelle Cantillon's paper with Pai-Ling Yin on a battle between London and Frankfurt exchanges: Competition between Exchange: Lessons from the Battle of the Bund
Labels: financial markets, thick markets
Market designers at the Milgrom/Nemmers Prize conference
A multitude of market designers. Here's a photo of
Bob Wilson, Paul Milgrom; and Parag Pathak in the near background: Faces to recognize, and names to conjure with.
Here's my pre-conference post: Paul Milgrom: Nemmer's Prize Lecture and Conference
Labels: market designers, Milgrom, Pathak, Wilson
The wholesale market for iPhone Apps
Joshua Gans reports: The Wholesale App Market opens.
Labels: entrepreneurial market design, telephones
Fraud in online auctions
Losing Out After Winning an Online Auction
NY Times article discusses deadbeat sellers and fraudulent escrow services.
Labels: auctions, crime
More on repugnant language
While the Federal Communication Commission continues to regard the broadcast of some words as repugnant, language scholars continue to trace how taboo terms gradually become more acceptable. (See my earlier post Fleeting expletives and wardrobe malfunctions: FCC vs Fox Television and CBS.)
Oxford University Press has just issued a new edition of The F-Word. Their blurb begins:
"We all know what frak , popularized by television's cult hit Battlestar Galactica , really means. But what about feck ? Or ferkin ? Or foul --as in FUBAR , or "Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition"? In a thoroughly updated edition of The F-Word , Jesse Sheidlower offers a rich, revealing look at the f-bomb and its illimitable uses. Since the fifteenth century, no other word has been adapted, interpreted, euphemized, censored, and shouted with as much ardor or force..."
Labels: litigation, repugnance, sex
Peer effects in learning and teaching, but not in golf
The October '09 issue of the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics contains three papers on peer effects.* The first of these begins "Is an employee's productivity influenced by the productivity of his or her nearby co-workers? The answer to this question is important for the optimal organization of labor...and for the optimal design of incentives." It then goes on to say that it detects no such effects from the random groupings of golfers in professional golf tournaments.
The second paper does find peer effects in random groupings of cadets at West Point, and the third paper finds that students do better when their teachers have better colleagues, i.e. they find that the teachers experience peer effects as measured by the performance of their students.
*The three papers are:
"Peer effects in the workplace: Evidence from random groupings in professional golf tournaments," by Jonathan Guryan, Kory Kroft, and Matthew J. Notowidigdo.
"The Effects of Peer Group Heterogeneity on the Production of Human Capital at West Point," by David S. Lyle.
"Teaching Students and Teaching Each Other: The Importance of Peer Learning for Teachers," by C. Kirabo Jackson and Elias Bruegmann.
Labels: learning, peer effects, sports
Paul Milgrom: Nemmer's Prize Lecture and Conference
If the creeks don't rise, I'll be at Northwestern this afternoon, listening to Paul speak about "The Promise and Problems of Market Design"
His talk will be followed by a conference in his honor tomorrow.
Here's the abstract of Paul's talk:
"Market design has become an exciting area of economics research, with many of its findings useful for setting detailed rules in real markets. For matching markets, most proposed designs aim to be "straightforward" - making it a dominant strategy for participants to report information truthfully. But some recent matching and auction designs sacrifice incentive-compatibility conditions to give priority to various other desiderata. This lecture reviews the goals of market design and the unavoidable trade-offs that are sometimes required, and explores how economists should seek to resolve these trade-offs. "
Here's the conference lineup:
Vijay Krishna (Pennsylvania State University): Auctions and Information
Larry Ausubel (University of Maryland): Auctions with Multiple Objects
Panel Discussion: Market Design.Moderated by Rakesh Vohra (Northwestern University): Susan Athey (Harvard University), Preston McAfee (California Institute of Technology), Alvin Roth (Harvard University), Paul Milgrom (Stanford University)
Stephen Morris (Princeton University): Trade and Information
Bengt Holmstrom (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): Incentives
John Roberts (Stanford University): Organizational Design
Labels: market design, market designers, Milgrom
Voters find same sex marriage repugnant in Maine
Maine voters overturn state’s new same-sex marriage law.
"Maine voters overturned the state’s same-sex marriage law yesterday, delivering a potentially crushing blow to gay-rights advocates after a year when their cause seemed to be gaining momentum with legislative and legal victories in four states."...
"The “people’s veto’’ came six months after Maine’s law was approved, and one year after California voters rejected gay marriage by a similar margin."
So same sex marriage has been moved out of the repugnant category in several states by courts, and by legislatures, but not yet by voters. As the AP report notes (ungrammatically),
"Gay marriage measures have lost in every state, 31 in all, in which it has been put to a popular vote. "
Labels: marriage, repugnance, same sex marriage
The DARPA network challenge
DARPA will pay $40,000 to whoever (whichever team) first reports the locations of ten weather balloons to be inflated December 5, around the U.S. Here is the announcement: DARPA Network Challenge.
Noam Nisan has some thoughts on this at AGT, and points out that very quickly some people started to offer to share the prize among those who would notify them of individual balloon's locations, conditional on the team formed in this way winning. Here's a wiki for people to share market design ideas on how to form a winning team.
Note that this is an aggregation of information problem a little like a prediction market, even though it is for postdiction rather than prediction...
Labels: prediction markets
Build your own prediction market
Build your own, using the platform at http://inklingmarkets.com/
Blackmail, legal and illegal
Reflecting on the recent Letterman case, the NY Times ponders The Art of Blackmail
Doing it on your own is illegal, but if you do much the same thing by threatening a lawsuit, it is legal.
"Blackmail is a “wonderfully curious offense,” to use the phrase of Paul H. Robinson, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his coauthors in a recent paper. A threat to tell the truth is no crime, and neither is asking someone for money. But if you demand money to prevent the truth from being told, Professor Robinson said, you’ve crossed the line. At its core, he explained, the offense is “a form of wrongful coercion.” "
However you can threaten to sue if a settlement is not reached first, and that isn't blackmail.
"Those confrontations, however, did not cross the line into the criminal realm, he said, because they had been sanitized by lawyering. Attorneys, he noted, can create a legal filing that promises to bring out unpleasant facts in depositions or during trial; a settlement is not, technically, a payoff. He called it “wrapping an extortion threat in a legal cloak.”
It happens all the time, said Gerald B. Lefcourt, a criminal defense attorney in Manhattan. “Threatened lawsuits, and even filed lawsuits, are often no more than blackmail,” he said.
Labels: crime, lawyers
Compensating donors: how about bone marrow?
The National Law Journal reports: Cancer patients seek to overturn ban on paying for bone marrow
"Prohibiting someone from making money for donating an irreplaceable kidney is one thing. But what about donating bone marrow, which replenishes itself within weeks?
That question is at the heart of a new lawsuit, filed Monday, challenging the constitutionality of the federal law that prohibits compensating bone marrow donors. The plaintiffs want to make modest recompense for such donors legal — say, paying partial tuition for a college student or making a mortgage payment for a first-time home buyer.
In the lawsuit filed Oct. 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, cancer and blood disease patients and health care advocates are suing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. to enjoin enforcement of provisions of the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 that criminalize compensating donors. They argue the statute violates due process rights and interferes with public health.
"This constitutional challenge is about an arbitrary law that criminalizes a promising effort to save lives," the complaint states. A bone marrow transplant is often the "only hope" for tens of thousands of Americans diagnosed with a deadly blood disease such as leukemia. "There is a desperate shortage of unrelated marrow donors, particularly for minorities," the complaint says.
Offering modest incentives to attract more donors could end that shortage, argued Jeff Rowes of the Arlington, Va.-based Institute for Justice, who is the lead attorney for the plaintiffs. "
Megan McArdle links to the Institute of Justice press release, and suggests that inclusion of bone marrow in the National Organ Transplant Act was simply a mistake.
A paper on bone marrow donation recently appeared in the American Economic Review, you can find an ungated version here: One Chance in a Million: Altruism and the Bone Marrow Registry
by Ted C. Bergstrom, Rod Garratt, and Damien Sheehan-Connor.
The paper argues that (because of the need for bone marrow matches to be perfect on the 6-vector of Human Leukocyte Antigens, and because of different distributions of these by race and ethnicity), we would get more bang for the buck by investing in recruiting more minority donors than additional random donors.
As it happens, for non-minority donors, the present policy in many places is just the opposite of compensating donors; if you want to register as a bone marrow donor you may have to pay the costs, presently around $65.
HT: Mary O'Keeffe and Steve Leider
Update, 11/4/09: Some comment on the legal theory of the case over at the Volokh Conspiracy, with a second and third post here and here and more to come...
Labels: compensation for donors, repugnance, transplantation
The signaling deadline for the econ job market is ...
The job market for new economists: preliminary rep...
Who gets deceased-donor kidneys? Thinking about ch...
Incentives for buying health insurance when health...
Gaming the Liver Transplant Market (by Jason Snyde...
Signaling for interviews in the Economics Job Mark...
College admissions: the costs of having too many a...
Market designers at the Milgrom/Nemmers Prize conf...
Peer effects in learning and teaching, but not in ...
Paul Milgrom: Nemmer's Prize Lecture and Conferenc...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14474
|
__label__wiki
| 0.8748
| 0.8748
|
Mikel Rouse Profile
RENAISSANCE MAN ROUSE by Seth Colter Walls 4/8/2014
“I always believed—because I’m not a snob—that the structures I was working on were interesting because they could be heard. Not because I could prove they were interesting through mathematics or something, but… where multiple metric combinations would come together and would actually feel like the kind of resolution that you normally get with harmonic resolution.”
Mayan Yours by Mikel Rouse
Singer-songwriter Mikel Rouse may have concluded his indie-rock touring career 25 years ago, when his band Tirez Tirez—which started by opening for Talking Heads—recorded their last album. But over the last quarter century, Rouse’s productivity has hardly fallen off: in addition to the chamber operas (Dennis Cleveland) and multimedia pieces (Gravity Radio) that have been presented at Lincoln Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the classically-trained composer has continued to churn out an impressive catalog of rhythmically complex, melodically catchy avant-pop songs. With a host of stellar, independently released albums like the street-sound-sampling Recess and the beat-mad Boost/False Doors, as well as Rouse’s latest run of singles, it’s fair to say the artist is experiencing a late-career renaissance.
Boost|False Doors by Mikel Rouse
Now, even as Rouse is at work packaging up his career archives for the New York Performing Arts Library, he’s also started posting new compositions to Bandcamp, building a vast library of musical material for a planned 13-hour art installation based on a midcentury behavioral science text titled One Boy’s Life.
“It’s at the very beginning stages of the process—and I thought: how am I going to keep myself interested [and] still keep my work out there?” Rouse recently told me, as he put the finishing touches on “Mayan Yours”/“I Dry Gin,” his latest two-song single. “A lot of the music that you might hear from these Bandcamp releases, some of these might be changed for the piece; some of the lyrics might be taken away. You’ll notice for example on ‘The Law of Average,’ I [included] a couple different versions, including an instrumental version. … I can explore this thing, in public, as I play around with it.”
The Law Of Average by Mikel Rouse
On the three-song Law of Average EP, Rouse for the first time offers up a deconstruction of his famously busy arrangements. Moving from the clattering, use-everything-in-the-kitchen-sink “composite” version, to the largely acoustic “Version 1” and then the beat-focused “Version 2,” makes for a highly enjoyable suite-like experience. Rouse calls this his first purposeful “song within a song” effort, even though “many folks think I’ve been doing this for decades.”
While sifting through his archives for the New York Performing Arts Library, Rouse recently came across an old article from the New York Times “that talked about my pop band’s music as sounding something like multiple conversations in an elevator” going on at the same time. “I think it really has to do with the fact that a lot of the stuff I work with—with isorhythms and polyrhythms—would have multiple tempos going on within the same song. Even if it sounded like a very simple pop song, you could see these different tempos moving together, through time. With ‘The Law of Average,’ I think it’s much more distinct, because one sounds like sort of a strummed, very lush acoustic pop song—and then the other one has all these multi-layered beats. But once the composite version is happening, the different structure points [are] very plotted out on a grid, so it will make sense. … It’s not just as if they were meshed together, as if you heard them both playing in a bar at the same time. But I like the idea that they could be perceived that way.
“As I was working on it, I thought: Wow, I almost could really think of this as two completely separate songs. So in a weird way, the ‘composite’ version of ‘The Law of Average,’ to me, is the most disturbing—because it really, in a way, doesn’t work, to put those two things together. Unless you remember things like Charles Ives, in which case it actually works incredibly well. … It sounds to me like the way New York sounds. You go into a post office or a waiting room nowadays, and you hear two different songs. I was just in a hotel, and they have CNN on the television, but in the very same room they’re playing music over their sound system. So the whole world has become the way I think I was writing 20 or 30 years ago.”
The Demo (Live Excerpts) from Mikel Rouse on Vimeo.
When I told Rouse that, among his recent singles, I particularly enjoyed placing that three-song version of “The Law of Average” on loop, he said that was very much by design. “I think it’s because there’s an internal logic there. And I always believed—because I’m not a snob—that the structures I was working on were interesting because they could be heard. Not because I could prove they were interesting through mathematics or something, but…where multiple metric combinations would come together and would actually feel like the kind of resolution that you normally get with harmonic resolution.”
Rouse’s rhythmic antennae—which seem always primed to hear some new pattern out in the world—went on high alert during a recent trip through the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, Mexico. After listening to a tour guide offer up a series of handclaps that resonated across the ruins in an echoing delay pattern, Rouse read up on how that the partially restored, ancient sports stadium he was touring was built to allow for “very precise numerical acoustic delays, similar to the numeric delays that are used in the buildings to represent workers and gods and all sorts of stuff.”
“The architects and the preservationists that came in and rebuilt the ruins… had no idea about the sound stuff. They were just rebuilding architecture based on what they knew about architecture. But then the NASA scientists come in, and they discover the acoustic phenomenon afterward. And that, to me, is like discovering a 2000 year old audiotape that still works. And it blew my mind.” The handclaps of Rouse’s tour guide figure into the final mix of “Mayan Yours,” Rouse says, while “a lot of the precision of the beats in that song also follows delay patterns based on the 7-beat delay.”
Of course it’s far too soon to know how much of the Mayan hand-clap inspiration will be of use to his upcoming art installation project. But for the moment, Rouse knows he just has to start creating enough material to fill up a 13-hour art installation. “There’s going to be a long long arc of theme and variation that goes on with this piece. … I think the section in ‘Ambulance Chaser,’ where you hear the string and choral section, way in the background? Within the context of the installation, that may be an entire wash of sound that live musicians play against or play with.”
Ambulance Chaser by Mikel Rouse
“‘Ambulance Chaser’ was the first [single], and I wanted to keep it—at least in my vocabulary—really simple. I think I put some wah-wah guitar on it, but for the most part I was just using programmed beats similar to the programmed beats I used in Boost. But using them you know in a multi-rhythmic way, as opposed to just straight-ahead beats.” With as many as 50 or 100 multi-tracked parts going into some of his recent singles, Rouse is well on his way to having plenty of material to cull and adapt for his half-day-long project. Thankfully, though, Rouse has decided there’s nothing wrong with giving us access to the work-in-progress.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14480
|
__label__wiki
| 0.827906
| 0.827906
|
Tag: fahmy hassan
Civil Court reinstates policeman dismissed on witness statement dispute
The Ciivl Court has ordered the reinstatement of a police officer who was dismissed for allegedly attempting to modify witness statements.
Police Constable Ahmed Haisham was dismissed from the police force in 2009 after he confessed to calling two Lance Corporals and asking them to change witness statements against a man suspected of stabbing another police officer.
However, the Civil Court said Haisham cannot be dismissed from his job unless he is found guilty by a court of law.
The ruling referred to the Supreme Court ruling 2012/SC-C/35 which reinstated the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chair Fahmy Hassan who was dismissed by the parliament after he allegedly sexually harassed a female staff working at the commission.
The Supreme Court said Fahmy cannot be dismissed unless found guilty by a court of law, claiming that if Fahmy was dismissed from the position without being investigated and proven guilty, as per the criminal justice procedure, then his dismissal was to be considered as double jeopardy.
Referring to Fahmy’s case, the Civil Court said Haisham must be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Further, the ruling said the Employment Act does not apply to Haisham as he is a police officer.
The ruling noted that although the police had carried out investigations, a case had not been forwarded to the Prosecutor General (PG) for prosecution.
The Civil Court has ordered the police to compensate Haisham for lost wages since December 2009, clear his record and grant him promotions he may have received had he remained with the police force.
In October 2013, the Civil Court also ordered the reinstatement of a police offices and a soldier who were dismissed on criminal charges.
Civil Court Judge Maryam Nihayath said that the Supreme Court (ruling 2012/SC-C/35) had brought into existence important procedures to follow when dealing with such cases.
The court ordered former Intelligence Chief Mohamed ‘MC’ Hameed to be reinstated in 2013. He had been dismissed from the police after the controversial transfer of power on allegations that he had abused his authority as the chief of police intelligence for the benefit of a certain political party and that he had leaked secret information obtained by the police.
An MNDF officer Ahmed Althaf who was dismissed from the force on allegations that he lost a compressor valve and asked a lower rank officer to replace it with an older one was also ordered to be reinstated in October 2013.
Posted on April 29, 2014 April 29, 2014 Author Ahmed NazeerCategories PoliticsTags 2012/SC-C/35, ahmed haisham, constable, csc chair, fahmy hassan, maldives, maldives news, Maldives Police Service, police, supreme court ruling2 Comments on Civil Court reinstates policeman dismissed on witness statement dispute
Police and military officers reinstated based on precedents set in CSC Fahmy case
Civil Court Judge Maryam Nihayath yesterday (30 September) ordered the reinstatement of a police officer and a Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officer, previously dismissed on criminal charges.
The decision was based on the precedent set by the ruling on former Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chair Fahmy Hassan, whose dismissal by parliament was recently reversed by the Supreme Court.
Former Intelligence Chief Mohamed ‘MC’ Hameed has also been reinstated this week based on the Supreme Court ruling 2012/SC-C/35.
MC Hameed was dismissed from the police after the controversial transfer of power on allegations that he had abused his authority as the chief of police intelligence for the benefit of a certain political party and that he had leaked secret information obtained by the police.
The Supreme Court ruling stated that if Fahmy Hassan was dismissed from the position without being investigated and proven guilty, as per the criminal justice procedure, then his dismissal was to be considered as double jeopardy.
Regardless of the ruling, subsequent disagreements between the court and the Majlis resulted in Fahmy’s replacement.
Judge Maryam Nihayath’s ruling stated that the Supreme Court (ruling 2012/SC-C/35) had brought into existence important procedures to follow when dealing with such cases.
The judge also stated that MNDF officer Ahmed Althaf was dismissed from the force on allegations that he lost a compressor valve and asked a lower rank officer to replace it with an older one.
Nihayath’s ruling stated that the court had found he was dismissed without completing the criminal justice procedure, which the Supreme Court ruling had argued violated articles 42, 50 and 51 of the constitution.
Yesterday’s ruling stated that the legal precedent had determined that a person was dismissed from his job in a criminal offence without having completed the criminal justice procedure could not be charged with the same case offence in a court of law without constituting double jeopardy.
In a separate case yesterday, where a police officer was dismissed from his position on allegations that he stole MVR 241,215 (US$15,640) from a safe in the police tow yard, the same Supreme Court ruling was cited.
Judge Nihayath noted that the police officer was not dismissed after completing the criminal justice procedure, and that even if he were, the precedent set in the Fahmy case would still not allow him to be charged and sentenced by a court of law.
In November last year parliament voted 38 – 32 in favour of removing the CSC chair after the Independent Institutions Committee investigated the complaint of sexual harassment lodged by a female CSC employee.
On 14 March 2013 the Supreme Court ruled that parliament’s decision to remove Fahmy from his position was not based on reasonable grounds and invalidated the decision.
In spite of this, the parliament appointed a new member to the Civil Service Commission to replace Mohamed Fahmy Hassan – 51 out of 54 MPs present in the parliament voted in favor of appointing Fathimath Reenee Abdulsathar.
On August 15, the Supreme Court issued an injunction to halt parliament’s appointment just as the President’s Office prepared to give credentials to Reenee.
Posted on October 1, 2013 Author Ahmed NazeerCategories PoliticsTags civil court, civil service commission, fahmy hassan, maldives, maldives news, MNDF, police, supreme court3 Comments on Police and military officers reinstated based on precedents set in CSC Fahmy case
New CSC head asks president to resolve issue with Mohamed Fahmy Hassan
The new chair appointed to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Dr Mohamed Latheef has sent a letter to President Dr Mohamed Waheed asking him to find a solution to ongoing issues with previous commission chief Mohamed Fahmy Hassan.
Former CSC Chair Fahmy was dismissed by the parliament over allegations of sexual harassment against a female staff member.
In the letter, Dr Latheef stated that the issue of former CSC Chair Fahmy coming into work after his dismissal by the parliament was still unresolved and that it was an obstruction to the running of the institution.
Latheef told the president that this issue affected both the civil servants themselves and the services being provided to the public.
He referred to constitution Article 196(c) 116, stating that it was the responsibility of the president to solve the issues within government institutions and to uphold the constitution and laws.
Article 196(c) states that “the principles of governance of the state being determined by this constitution, the president shall uphold, defend and respect the constitution, and shall promote the unity of the state.’’
Parliament Yesterday (21 August) sent a letter to President Waheed informing him of the decision made to appoint Dr Mohamed Latheef as the new chair of the CSC.
On August 13, the parliament appointed a new member to the CSC to replace Fahmy, who was dismissed in November 2012 over allegations that he sexually harassed a female member of staff.
51 out of 54 MPs present in the parliament at the time voted in favor of appointing Fathimath Reenee Abdulsathar as Fahmy’s replacement, while the remaining three MPs abstained.
In November last year, parliament voted 38 – 32 in favour of removing the CSC chair after the Independent Institutions Committee investigated a complaint of sexual harassment against him lodged by a female CSC employee.
On 14 March 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that parliament’s decision to remove Fahmy from his position was not based on reasonable grounds and invalidated the decision.
However, the following day Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain accused his own court of issuing the injunction without his knowledge.
Former Judicial Services Commission (JSC) member Aishath Velazinee has argued that the Majlis was given authority over CSC appointments in 2010, describing the Supreme Court’s move as a “mutiny”.
During a visit to Fuvahmulah this week, President Waheed expressed his disappointment with the court’s dispute, whilst maintaining that his hands were constitutionally tied.
“All institutions are independent. Although the head of state is the president, there are no arrangements in place for him to take action against other institutions. There is not much authority. The president has quite ceremonial powers,” he is reported to have said.
Posted on August 22, 2013 August 22, 2013 Author Ahmed NazeerCategories PoliticsTags Chair, civil service commission, fahmy hassan, maldives, maldives news, mohamed luthfy, parliament, sexual harassment, supreme court5 Comments on New CSC head asks president to resolve issue with Mohamed Fahmy Hassan
Dr Mohamed Latheef appointed CSC Chair
Parliament has appointed Civil Service Commission (CSC) member and former chair Dr Mohamed Latheef as the new chair of the commission.
According to media reports, of the 75 MPs present, 60 voted in favour of appointing Latheef as chair of the commission. The remaining 15 MPs abstained from voting.
The parliament this morning discussed the two names proposed to the parliament by the majority and minority parties for the position of CSC Chair.
According to local newspapers, majority party, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) proposed current member of the CSC Dr Mohamed Latheef – the former chair of the commission – and the minority Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) proposed Ahmed Hassan Didi to be appointed as chair.
Today’s parliament session was chaired by Speaker of the Majlis Abdulla Shahid.
On August 13, the parliament appointed a new member to the Civil Service Commission to replace Mohamed Fahmy Hassan, who was dismissed in November 2012 over allegations that he sexually harassed a female member of staff.
51 out of 54 MPs present in the parliament voted in favor of appointing Fathimath Reenee Abdulsathar as Fahmy’s replacement, while the remaining three MPs abstained.
However, the following day Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain accused his own court of issuing the injunction without his knowledge. Former Judicial Services Commission (JSC) member Aishath Velazinee has argued that the Majlis was given authority over CSC appointments in 2010, describing the Supreme Court’s move as a “mutiny”.
The President of Anti-Corruption Commssion (ACC) Hassan Luthfy yesterday (19 August) told local media that the case had now been filed at the commission as its members found that it could be a case of Supreme Court Justices working for the benefit of an individual.
Hassan Luthfy noted that Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed was on the bench that issued the injunction, and that Hameed had an ongoing case – regarding a leaked sex tape – in the JSC, of which the dismissed chair of CSC Fahmy is a member.
Correction: An earlier version of this article named Dr Ibrahim Luthfy as the new CSC chair. This had been corrected to Dr Mohamed Latheef.
Posted on August 20, 2013 August 20, 2013 Author Ahmed NazeerCategories PoliticsTags aishath velazinee, civil service commission, csc, fahmy hassan, JSC, judicial service commission, maldives, maldives news, MPs2 Comments on Dr Mohamed Latheef appointed CSC Chair
Supreme Court issues injunction blocking appointment of new CSC head
The Supreme Court has issued an injunction to halt parliament’s appointment of a replacement president for the Civil Service Commission (CSC), after parliament voted to appoint Fathimath Reenee Abdulsathar of Maafannu Unimaage to the commission.
Renee had been due to replace CSC Head Fahmy Hassan, after the Majlis’s decision to dismiss the CSC chair last year over allegations of sexual abuse. His termination was likewise blocked by a Supreme Court injunction.
The latest injunction came just as Reenee was due to take the oath in the President’s Office and receive her credentials from President Dr Mohamed Waheed this afternoon. A special ceremony to present credentials and take the oath of office had been scheduled at the President’s Office at 2:30pm, local media reported.
According to newspaper Haveeru, the Supreme Court’s injunction stated that the court’s majority had determined that appointing a new member to the commission when the Supreme Court had already decided that the dismissal was in violation of the constitution, was itself unconstitutional.
Local media reports said Attorney General Azima Shukoor had in her legal advice to the president in the matter stated that the president did not have any responsibility for determining members to the CSC, and that the only responsibility for the president was to appoint or dismiss appointees as determined by parliament.
On 13 August, 51 out of 54 MPs present in the parliament voted in favor of appointing Reenee as Fahmy’s replacement, while the remaining three abstained.
In November last year parliament voted 38 – 32 to remove the CSC chair after the Independent Institutions Committee investigated a complaint of sexual harassment lodged by a female employee of the CSC.
Local newspaper Haveeru reported that the alleged sexual harassment incident occurred on 29 May 2012, and that the victim was a female senior research officer.
On June 17, Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee launched an investigation into the alleged harassment.
Fahmy was alleged to have called a female staff member over to him, taken her hand and asked her to stand in front of him so that others in the office could not see, and caressed her stomach saying ”it won’t do for a beautiful single woman like you to get fat.”
According to local media, the woman told her family about the incident, who then called Fahmy. Fahmy then sent her a text message apologising for the incident, reportedly stating, ”I work very closely with everyone. But I have learned my lesson this time.”
Posted on August 15, 2013 Author Ahmed NazeerCategories PoliticsTags civil service commission, csc, fahmy hassan, maldives, maldives news, Reenee Abdulsathar, supreme court3 Comments on Supreme Court issues injunction blocking appointment of new CSC head
JSC meetings with Fahmy in attendance “not valid,” concedes Attorney General
Attorney General Aishath Bisham told parliament’s Government Oversight Committee yesterday (June 4) that official meetings of a state institution would not be valid if a member with disputed legal status was in attendance.
In response to a question by MP Ali Waheed, the committee’s chair, Bisham insisted that Mohamed Fahmy Hassan would not have to be reinstated as chair of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) after the Supreme Court ruled that his removal by parliament was unconstitutional.
“My stand on this has not changed at all,” she said.
While Fahmy returned to work following the Supreme Court judgment, both Bisham and her predecessor Aishath Azima Shukoor had contended that he could not remain in the post.
Despite the previous Attorney General informing Fahmy of her legal opinion, the CSC later revealed that Fahmy resumed work after a letter from the President’s Office authorised him to do so.
Fahmy also began participating in meetings of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) as an ex-officio member in his capacity as CSC chair.
Bisham told the oversight committee last night that she had shared her concerns with the JSC but refused to answer further questions on the issue.
Fahmy was in attendance at a JSC meeting on May 29 where a petition by Bisham to indefinitely suspend High Court Chief Judge Ahmed Shareef was voted through with three votes in favour and one against. Fahmy reportedly abstained in the vote.
Local media meanwhile reported yesterday that the JSC nominated Fahmy to represent the commission on the 13-member Zakat Committee, which was set up to oversee the Zakat trust fund.
At last night’s committee meeting, MP Ali Waheed asked Bisham whether a meeting of any state institution or independent commission with the participation of a member whose legal status was disputed could be valid.
“It would not [be valid],” she replied.
Following her concession, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP for Thohdhoo in Alif Alif atoll thanked the Attorney General and immediately adjourned the committee meeting.
Supreme Court ruling
Fahmy was dismissed from his CSC post in November 2012 in a no-confidence vote in parliament following an inquiry by the Independent Institutions Committee into allegations of sexual harassment against a CSC employee.
Both Fahmy and the victim were summoned to committee after the complaint was lodged in the first week of June.
Fahmy was alleged to have called the female staff member over to him, taken her hand and asked her to stand in front of him so that others in the office could not see, and caressed her stomach saying ”it won’t do for a beautiful single woman like you to get fat.”
MPs voted 38-32 to approve the committee’s recommendation to remove Fahmy from the post.
The Supreme Court however ruled 6-1 in March 2013 that Fahmy would receive two punishments for the same crime if he was convicted at court following his dismissal by parliament (double jeopardy).
The apex court contended that the Independent Institutions Committee violated due process and principles of criminal justice procedure in dealing with the accused.
Delivering the judgment, Supreme Court Justice Abdulla Saeed reportedly said that a person should be considered innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law and was entitled to protect his reputation and dignity.
In his dissenting opinion, Justice Muthasim Adnan – the only Supreme Court justice with a background in common law – however noted that article 187(a) of the constitution authorised parliament to remove members of the CSC “on the ground of misconduct, incapacity or incompetence.”
Article 187(b) meanwhile states, “a finding to that effect by a committee of the People’s Majlis pursuant to article (a), and upon the approval of such finding by the People’s Majlis by a majority of those present and voting, calling for the member’s removal from office, such member shall be deemed removed from office.”
Justice Adnan argued that an inquiry by a parliamentary committee into alleged misconduct would not be a criminal investigation. Therefore, he added, the oversight committee would not be required to prove guilt to the extent required at trial before making a decision.
He further noted that parliament’s dismissal under the authority of article 187 and a possible conviction at a late date could not be considered meting out two punishments for the same offence.
Posted on June 5, 2013 Author Ahmed NazeerCategories PoliticsTags csc, fahmy, fahmy hassan, Government Oversight Committee, judicial service commission, maldives, maldives news, MPs, parliament6 Comments on JSC meetings with Fahmy in attendance “not valid,” concedes Attorney General
Police send CSC Fahmy’s sexual harassment case to Prosecutor General
Police have concluded their investigation into the alleged sexual harassment of Civil Service Commission (CSC) head Mohamed Fahmy, and have forwarded the case to the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef told Minivan News that the case was forwarded to the Prosecutor General yesterday afternoon, after closing the investigation into the case.
Haneef said the police requested the PG press charges against Fahmy.
In June, Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee launched an investigation into alleged harassment of a female staff member by the CSC Chair after a senior research officer at the CSC accused him of sexually harassing her.
Speaking to Minvian News at the time, Fahmy said the allegation was false “and a blatant lie.”
“The female staff member concerned did not win a scholarship to Singapore, and that is why she is doing this in return,” Fahmy said.
The Independent Institutions Oversight Committee of the parliament concluded an investigation into the case and found Fahmy guilty, and asked him to resign within 14 days.
However Fahmy decided not to resign and the committee opted to forward the case to the parliament floor.
Posted on August 2, 2012 August 2, 2012 Author Ahmed NazeerCategories Society & CultureTags civil service commission, fahmy hassan, maldives, maldives news, police, prosecutor general, sexual harassment5 Comments on Police send CSC Fahmy’s sexual harassment case to Prosecutor General
Police investigating Fahmy’s alleged sexual harassment of a female staff
Police have said they are investigating the Chair of Civil Service Commission (CSC) Fahmy Hassan on allegations that he had sexually harassed female senior research officers working at the CSC.
Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef today said that the case was lodged at police and police were investigating.
He said the investigations were still ongoing and did not disclose further information.
Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee has also launched an investigation into alleged harassment of a female staff member by Fahmy.
Local newspaper Haveeru reported that the incident occurred on May 29 and the victim was a female senior research officer.
According to the paper, both Fahmy and the victim were summoned to committee after the complaint was lodged in the first week of June.
In response to the allegations Fahmy told Minivan News that the female staff made up the allegation after she knew she did not win a scholarship to Singapore offered by the CSC.
He alleged the claim was politically motivated issue, as she would have otherwise filed the case with police and not parliament.
Posted on June 28, 2012 Author Ahmed NazeerCategories Society & CultureTags csc, fahmy hassan, harassment, maldives, maldives news, police, sexual abuse5 Comments on Police investigating Fahmy’s alleged sexual harassment of a female staff
Independent Institutions Committee investigating CSC Chair for alleged sexual harassment
Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee has launched an investigation into alleged harassment of a female staff member by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chair, Mohamed Fahmy.
Speaking to Minvian News today, Fahmy said the allegation was false “and a blatant lie.”
“All I have to say is that it isn’t true,” he added.
Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef said the police cases database did not show that the case had been reported.
Posted on June 17, 2012 June 17, 2012 Author Ahmed NazeerCategories Society & CultureTags civil service commission, csc, fahmy hassan, maldives, maldives news, sexual harrasment12 Comments on Independent Institutions Committee investigating CSC Chair for alleged sexual harassment
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14482
|
__label__wiki
| 0.561428
| 0.561428
|
Russia Provided Iraq With Details Of U.S. Plans Right Before Invasion
Russia was one of Iraq’s strongest supporters dating back to the 1950s after the monarchy was overthrown. The Baathists and Saddam Hussein made the Soviets one of their closest allies early on. They would later diversify their relations reaching out to Western Europe, but Moscow always remained a close friend. When it came to the U.S. invasion in 2003, Saddam believed that President Vladimir Putin would stop it. That didn’t happen, but the Russians did provide intelligence on the American plans to Baghdad.
Right before the start of the war, the Russian Ambassador to Iraq gave the regime details of the Bush administration’s plans. A captured Iraqi document dated March 5, 2003 said that the Russian ambassador provided information on the U.S. troop deployments, equipment, and their locations to Saddam’s government. Another captured file from March 25 stated that the ambassador relayed the U.S. invasion plans. He said that the Coalition would attack through Basra and then head up the Euphrates River to Baghdad. Another thrust would also come from the north via Turkey. The Russian claimed his country had a source at the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) in Doha, Qatar, perhaps hinting at a spy. Some Iraqi military officers who received this information caused a diplomatic faux pas when they went to the Russian embassy asking for more details of the U.S. plans and disclosed that the ambassador had already given them some. The intelligence had no discernable impact upon the war as Saddam made his own plans, but it highlighted the close relationship between Russia and Iraq.
Saddam actually believed that Moscow would stop the U.S. invasion. He thought the Russians would block the war via the United Nations. Saddam had plenty of evidence that would happen. In the autumn of 2002 Russia said that diplomacy should be used to deal with Iraq not war. On October 4, 2002 Russia’s ambassador to Iraq sent a letter to Baghdad saying that his country was going to oppose the war. At the start of 2003 President Vladimiar Putin called President Bush to personally relay the same message. Then in March, the Russian ambassador told the Iraqis that Moscow, along with France and Germany had offered a resolution to the United Nations to counter the U.S. and British one that would authorize war. In the end, Russia’s efforts failed, but it showed that it wanted to maintain its ties to Saddam to the very end. Relations between the two governments started as soon as the Baath took power. A friendship treaty was signed in 1972 with President Ahmed al-Bakr, which had been negotiated by Saddam. Moscow would then become Iraq’s largest arms supplier, which proved crucial during the Iran-Iraq War. Even after Baghdad diversified its ties reaching out to countries like France, Russia remained an important friend.
ABC News, “Did Russian Ambassador Give Saddam the U.S. War Plan?” 3/23/16
BBC, “Iraqi documents: Saddam’s delusions,” 3/25/06
The Bulletin, “Iraq inks friendship pact With Soviet Union,” 4/10/72
McGeary, Johanna “6 Reasons why So Many Allies Want Bush To Slow Down,” Time, 2/3/03
Ratnesar, Romesh, “Inspections: Can They Work This Time?” Time, 9/22/02
Woods, Kevin with Pease, Michael, Stout, Mark, Murray, Williamson, and Lacey, James, “A View of Operation Iraqi Freedom from Saddam’s Senior Leadership,” Iraqi Perspectives Project, 3/24/06
Labels: Russia, Saddam, U.S. Invasion
WESTMINISTER INSTITUTE VIDEO: Kanan Makiya What We...
Hawija The Moment Iraq’s Insurgency Was Reborn
Iraq’s Parliament Confirms Some Of Abadi’s New Cab...
Iraq’s Ramadi Blows Up On Returnees And Anbar Lead...
Security In Iraq Apr 15-21, 2016
AUIS VIDEO: Conference on Economic Reforms In Iraq...
BOSTON UNIV VIDEO: Graeme Wood On the Resistance t...
WVPTPUBLIC TV VIDEO: Rise Of ISIS The New Enemy
Iraq Displacement Continues To Outpace Returns And...
US Increasing Troops & Operations In Iraq Once Aga...
Origins Of Iraq’s Ethnosectarian Quota System
Security In Iraq Apr 8-14, 2016
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES VIDE...
Russia Provided Iraq With Details Of U.S. Plans Ri...
Abadi’s Reform Plan Leads To Chaos In Iraq’s Parli...
What Will Become Of Iraq’s Hashd When The War is O...
Security In Iraq, Apr 1-7, 2016
Collapse Of Iraq’s Kurdish Oil Economy
STANFORD VIDEO: Baghdad's Deep Dilemma Sectarinais...
BYU VIDEO: ISIS and the Middle East
Candidates For Iraq Cabinet Reshuffle Withdrawing
Babil Government Still Not Allowing Citizens Of Ir...
Iraq’s Oil Exports Reach New Plateau
Violence In Iraq, March 2016
Complaints About Iraq PM Abadi Undermine His Cabin...
BOSTON UNIV VIDEO: William McCants ISIS & The Abse...
RUMI FORUM VIDEO: Ethno-Religious Dynamics In Iraq...
Syria Still Had Ties To Iraq’s Insurgency In 2011
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14489
|
__label__wiki
| 0.788638
| 0.788638
|
Trump says the media isn't covering North Korea sanctions. It is
by Danielle Wiener-Bronner @dwbronner August 7, 2017: 10:42 PM ET
Haley: Sanctions are a gut punch to N. Korea
President Trump says the media is ignoring the U.N.'s sanctions against North Korea. He's wrong.
In a tweet sent out at 4:15 PM EST on Monday, the president wrote that "The Fake News Media will not talk about the importance of the United Nations Security Council's 15-0 vote in favor of sanctions on N. Korea!"
CNN and other news outlets have offered robust coverage of the resolution, which passed on Saturday.
It was a lead story on Saturday afternoon and evening newscasts. CNN's Ana Cabrera interviewed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley about the resolution shortly after it was passed. Portions of the interview were re-played several times.
Related: New North Korea sanctions are unlikely to make Kim blink
Transcript searches show that the sanctions news was also a frequent topic of discussion on Sunday newscasts.
Many analysts and commentators, even those who frequently deride Trump, credited his administration with the victory at the U.N.
The coverage continued at the start of a new workweek.
Related: North Korea vows to 'make the U.S. pay dearly' as sanctions tighten
On CNN's "New Day" morning show, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, talked to CNN's Brianna Keilar about the sanctions. That appearance apparently prompted a series of tweets sent by the president attacking Blumenthal.
At the moment that Trump tweeted his criticism of the "Fake News Media," CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" was covering the impact of the sanctions.
CNN's "The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer," discussed the sanctions on Monday, as well.
The Fake News Media will not talk about the importance of the United Nations Security Council's 15-0 vote in favor of sanctions on N. Korea!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017
On Monday evening, CNN.com's Top Stories section was led by a story about the sanctions.
CNN is not the only news outlet reporting on the sanctions. To cite just a few notable examples: On Monday, an article on the resolution was published on the front page of the physical copy of the Wall Street Journal. The Washington Post and USA Today also published front-page pieces on the resolution and its implications.
ABC's "Good Morning America," discussed the resolution.
WATCH: North Korea's new nuclear threat; vows "thousands-fold" revenge after sanctions: https://t.co/NLUoLTlTwi pic.twitter.com/7cifIKEBd6
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 7, 2017
As did NBC's "Today."
WATCH: North Korea says it will launch "thousands-fold" revenge against US following new UN sanctions https://t.co/Iv15p6mOgH pic.twitter.com/7kRqJbYwCj
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 7, 2017
NPR included the topic in its Morning News Brief on Monday. Mainstream outlets have also published a number of articles on the resolution and what it could mean for the U.S. and internationally.
- Brian Stelter contributed to this report
CNNMoney (New York) First published August 7, 2017: 7:51 PM ET
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14491
|
__label__wiki
| 0.990139
| 0.990139
|
Birth Name: Kensaku Watanabe
Height: 6' 0½" (1.84 m)
Ken Watanabe was born on October 21, 1959 in Uonuma, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Both of his parents were teachers: his mother taught general education and his dad taught calligraphy. He became interested in acting at the age of 24, when a director of England’s National Theatre Company, where he was studying, told him that acting was his special gift. In 1978, he moved to Tokyo to pursue acting. He drew the attention of the critics when Yukio Ninagawa, a famous Japanese director, chose him for the lead role in one of his plays, even though Ken was still an acting student. He made his first TV appearance in 1982, and his big career breakthrough came when he was chosen to play the lead in the Japanese national TV drama series called “Dokugan ryu Masamune”; he played a samurai leader hero, making him a household name in Japan. In 1989, when he was shooting a movie in Canada, he collapsed because of leukemia. He made a miraculous comeback and, in 2003, co-starred with Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai (2003), which pushed him to the center stage of Hollywood. “The Last Samurai” was his 15th movie, and Ken is mostly known in Japan for playing samurais, though he has also starred as a gangster, a businessman, and a general. Ken has a daughter, Anne Watanabe, who is a model, actress, and singer, and a son. He is a fanatic fan of Hanshin Tigers (Japanese professional baseball team) and Kobe Steel rugby team. He loves noodles.
Trailer: Pokémon Detective Pikachu
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14493
|
__label__cc
| 0.59515
| 0.40485
|
You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘David Malouf’s The Complete Stories’ tag.
Everything and nothing is sacred
May 10, 2013 in General sprays | Tags: Australian short stories, David Malouf, David Malouf's The Complete Stories, maybe one day David Malouf could actually come to my place and sit in the corner of the library and read to me - now that would be bliss!, reading, reading David Maloud, reading literature | 13 comments
David Malouf’s ‘Complete Stories’: grandly handsome, in every possible way.
Empty days
There are times – like these last two days – when I feel as though I’m the luckiest man alive, because I’ve been starting the mornings reading on the couch in my library room. For some, luck might be scoring that high-paid job, or travelling overseas, or being able to fill the house with the boundless rush of children, but for me it’s reading, it’s stillness, it’s silence, a book in my lap, a real book, one that needs to be held, one that has pages that have to be turned.
I’m in a writing lull, which sounds bad, as in I’ve lost some kind of fire. But the fire is there; it’s still burning, raging even, it’s just that a manuscript has been completed and sent to my publisher and I’m not yet ready to start a new project. So I’m filling these deliciously long, slow empty days with reading.
Where reading happens
Reading happens all over the house: there’s lap-top and iPad reading at the breakfast-/lunch-/dinner-table; there’s living-room couch reading; there’s writing-room reading, the conscientious, studious sort; and there’s bed-time reading. But the reading I enjoy the most is the sort that happens in the library room, which I also sometimes call ‘the front room’ or ‘the fireplace room’. When it’s really good, both the reading and the room, it’s cold and wet and windy outside, and I light the fire, pour myself a coffee, and cover my body with my grandmother’s black and red and yellow mohair blanket and get lost in the words.
David Malouf and the smell of smoke
Yesterday and this morning the words have been written by David Malouf: The Complete Stories (Knopf 2007). It’s a grandly handsome book, in every possible way, and, at over 500 pages, it’s big, it has such weight – you need two hands to read these stories. Sometimes, when the story is a long one, almost novella length, and I’m far too engrossed to rise for a break, I prop up the top of the book on the repositioned piano stool, which is the perfect height for the task.
Ah, the words on the page, Malouf’s words: searching, circling, yearning, but they’re always so warm; they take you in and have you. Crafted but not overly crafted; satisfying, so very satisfying – days after living for such a brief period with these stories, the people of the stories stay with the reader, demanding just a little more time, a little more understanding, because they’re complex, and their predicaments are complex too – but they don’t wallop you; they’re intelligent, but never clever; they’re absolutely finished but not always perfect. All the while there’s the fire crackling and hissing and popping and creaking away, the heat coming before waning, a thin fog in the room, sometimes even a sting in the eyes, but always the smell of smoke on my hands from getting the fire going in the first place.
When it’s as good as this
Perhaps it’s the stillness I love the most, and the silence, the sort of silence that seems to embrace that which is made by the fire, even enhanced by the fire. And enhanced by the words, David Malouf’s words. What does it mean to read like this? Yes, it’s transportation, and communication, entertainment even. It’s a good, worthy, even noble pursuit. And, with the fire, there’s a kind of romance to the whole practice. But there’s much more to it. There’s depth, great depth, and illumination, everything stripped bare, everything and nothing is sacred, you can’t hide, the words will come for you – yes, you – in the end. Exposed, that’s it; we’re all made raw. Despite the fire and the blanket and the coffee and the couch, it’s uncomfortable to read. When the reading is as good as this.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14495
|
__label__cc
| 0.678202
| 0.321798
|
Africa Subcommittee
Task Force on the Americas
Cuba Subcommittee
Environmental Human Rights Committee
Haiti Subcommittee
Hawaiian Kingdom Subcommittee
Human Rights Framework Project
Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Committee
International Labor Justice Working Group
MENA (Middle East North Africa) Task Force
Palestine Subcommittee
Philippines Subcommittee
Puerto Rico Subcommittee
Agent Orange Working Group
Article 9 Working Group
NLG International Committee
IC Co-Chairs
Debra Evenson Venceremos International Award
International Association of Democratic Lawyers
CLE Registration: ” The Use of International Law to Confront the Trump Agenda” – join us August 3!
Posted on July 23, 2017 Categories: Activity, International Committee, International Law and Peace, News No comments yet
International Committee CLE: The Use of International Law to Confront the Trump Agenda
This CLE will take place on Thursday, August 3 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law:4340 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008. (Map). NLG Convention participants, non-participants and all interested lawyers, legal workers and law students are welcome to join.
Join the International Committee for this informative and incisive CLE program in which active practitioners will present on the use of international law in domestic courts, as well as recourse to international forums, in order to defend human rights under attack in the United States. From resisting the “Muslim Ban” to defending undocumented people to advancing the right to a job and the right to health care, international law provides tools and argument that can help to advance our cases in domestic courts. The CLE will include active examples of the use of international law in relevant contexts to defend human rights in the United States.
Sliding Scale Registration:
CLE Registration for those earning over $50,000/yr – $50:
CLE Registration for those earning $35-50,000/yr – $25:
CLE Registration for those earning under $35,000/yr – $15 :
CLE Registration for those who are unemployed or have no income is free. Please email international@nlg.org and we will register you!
Click here for your total check-out:
CLE Faculty:
Jeanne Mirer is Co-Chair of the International Committee. She is currently President of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, a founding Board Member of the International Commission for Labor Rights and a Board Member of the Sugar Law Center. Additionally, Jeanne is a member of the Core and the National Board of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign. She has been a member of the NLG for 42 years and has held numerous positions in the Guild. She practices labor, employment and civil rights law in New York City. Among her clients are Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange who have taken to court the U.S. chemical companies that profited from manufacturing the poison. In addition to the Guild and the IADL, she is a member of the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, the National Employment Law Association, and the NAACP. Jeanne has a deep and extensive history of work in both the international and domestic sphere, including the application of international laws, standards and treaties to the United States. She has authored and co-authored countless white papers, briefs, and articles on everything from the human right to peace, to Agent Orange, to drones, to women’s rights, to labor law and international law. She is admitted to practice law in New York, Massachussetts, and Michigan.
Micol Savia is the permanent representative of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers to the United Nations Human Rights Council. She is a law graduate of the University of Turin, Italy and has worked as a civil lawyer in Italy, working mainly in the areas of international law and human rights. She is an active member of the Italian Association of Democratic Jurists and is also a member of the European Association of Lawyers for Human Rights. In 2008, she was appointed as the general vice-secretary of the IADL.
Aaron Fellmeth is a professor of law and the William H. Pedrick Distinguished Research Scholar at Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. He has studied international law from an interdisciplinary perspective since 1991. His research and teaching focus on international law jurisprudence and the formation of rules of customary international law in contested subjects, such as evolving human rights issues, espionage and covert action, psychological manipulation, new technologies in conventional and asymmetrical armed conflict, and the internationalization of intellectual property rights. Professor Fellmeth also is a leading expert on the law and regulation of international business transactions and intellectual property with a special focus on patent law and technology. Professor Fellmeth’s work has been cited several times by federal courts and in testimony before Congress. He has served as an Executive Advisory Committee member of International Legal Materials and is currently chair of the International Law Association (American Branch) International IP Law Committee.
Feb. 27, NYC: Defeating Lawfare – Palestine, Academic Freedom and Activism
Watch video: U.S. imperialist intervention in Latin America: Strategy and Analysis
Urgent – Act Now to Stop the Deportation of Cambodian Refugees
All items Creative Commons license Attribution - CC BY
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14497
|
__label__cc
| 0.565456
| 0.434544
|
Hungarian Prime Ministervisits Olympiastadion Berlin
Hungarian Prime Minister visits Olympiastadion Berlin
First the prime minister visited the Hertha BSC main offices, where he met fellow Hungarian Pal Dardai. The minister – a football fan – was then escorted to the Olympiastadion Berlin by Dardai.
Once Viktor Orban arrived at the stadium, he was welcomed by Olympiastadion Berlin GmbH CEO Joachim E. Thomas. After a short talk on the pitch that is usually reserved for the footballers, Orban had to continue his journey to Berlin-Mitte. Equipped with a piece of the original World Cup 2006 final turf, the current President of the Council of the European Union continued from the Olympiastadion Berlin on to his next meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Hertha's Champion's partyon hold
Hertha’s fine ten game unbeaten run was ended on Monday evening, as they lost 1-2 at home to 1860 München, in a division two round 32 encounter at the Olympic stadium in Berlin. Pierre Michel Lasogga fired the home side ahead fifteen minutes into the second half, but goals by Aygün and Buck proved too much for the capital city side, who won promotion last time out by way of a 1-0 win in Duisburg. Lasogga and Raffael both picked up fifth bookings, so they will miss the penultimate game of the season away to Erzgebirge Aue next Sunday.
Two world leadsat BIG 25 Berlin
The BIG 25 Berlin have confirmed its position as the world’s leading 25 k race. Despite the warm weather world leads for the men and women were established at the Olympiastadion Berlin. While a year ago both world records were broken at the BIG 25 Berlin this time Mathew Kisorio (Kenya) clocked 1:12:13, which is the third fastest time ever run at the distance. The 21 year-old missed the world record of his fellow countryman Samuel Kosgei, who had finished with 1:11:50 in 2010, by just 23 seconds. Women’s winner Filomena Chepchirchir clocked 1:23:22, the fastest time so far in 2011. Adding other running events organisers of BERLIN RUNS registered 10,423 entries for the 31st edition of the BIG 25 Berlin.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14503
|
__label__cc
| 0.512934
| 0.487066
|
Biden's Trip: What Is Going On?
Vice President Biden has been taking some heat for the very harsh line he took against Russia over the weekend; his words had the effect of muddling the administration's "message" to the Putin-Medvedev regime. The Times has the story here. Biden's comments to a Georgian audience earlier in the week have received less attention. From the Times' Friday report:
At the gathering with displaced Georgian children from South Ossetia, Mr. Biden saved his harshest words for Russia.
He said he believed that Moscow “used a pretext to invade your country,” weighing in confidently on the question of whether Mr. Saakashvili should be blamed for ordering the Aug. 7 shelling of Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital. He said Russia had paid dearly for invading Georgia, arguing that “all the countries that surround them are now saying very harsh things to Russia.” He promised the children that the United States would press Russia to comply with the French-brokered cease-fire agreement, and that if they continued to defy it, “it is a problem for them.”
He noted the largess of Americans — “they said, ‘It’s O.K., take my money, raise my taxes’ ” — in pledging $1 billion in aid to Georgia after the war.
“You should understand, America cares about you, cares about you personally,” Mr. Biden said. “We care about all of you, and we’re not going to leave you. It’s a hard journey, but we’re not going away.”
This is certainly a nice sentiment, but should the vice president be going so far in promising support to Georgia? If Russia does not comply with the ceasfire, the United States is going to make trouble? Really? And Americans are perfectly willing to see their taxes raised to help the Georgian people? The stakes are currently much lower, but this does put one in mind of the CIA's efforts (via Radio Free Europe) to encourage serious resistance in Hungary in 1956, only to then inevitably abandon the Hungarians.
--Isaac Chotiner
The Plank, Politics, Person Career, Biden
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14505
|
__label__wiki
| 0.698344
| 0.698344
|
Class of 2017: Chemistry Major Seized Opportunity From Hardship
Fariss Samarrai, farisss@virginia.edu
The first time David Dent flew on a plane was when he came to the University of Virginia from his hometown of Las Vegas for “Days on the Lawn,” an introduction to the University for newly accepted students.
When he arrived in Charlottesville, there was snow on the ground – the first he had seen. He admits that, at the time, he barely knew where Virginia was. But he got a good vibe on Grounds, even if everything was so different from where he came from, and realized immediately that he was excited to come to UVA.
Some might say Dent was disadvantaged as a triplet raised by a single mother on a low income. But that’s not what Dent would say. He has taken advantage of every good opportunity that has come his way, and every opportunity he has made for himself.
One opportunity that he grabbed hold of was the QuestBridge scholarship that brought him to the University without having to worry about finances. Dent is turning that into a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, and he will walk the Lawn to receive it in May.
“I had not ever even heard of QuestBridge until my sister Sara happened to bring home a brochure about the program one day,” Dent said. “It sounded too good to be true – that recipients would receive full four-year scholarships covering all expenses – but I applied anyway. It changed my life.”
While in high school, Dent worked part-time as a bagger at a supermarket. His mother had lost a well-paying job and was struggling to make ends meet; Dent began giving his paycheck to his mom to keep the family going.
“She was working odd jobs to pay the bills and keep food on the table,” Dent said. “She never said I should help out. She didn’t want me to have to help. But I said, ‘No, Mom, you’ve done so much for us. It’s the least I can do.’ I was happy to do my part. She had always put her four kids first, and I wanted to do the same for her.”
The family got through, little by little, a process of hanging tough for long enough.
“I worked hard for this, and I want others to know there are opportunities for hard-working people who don’t have socioeconomic advantages. It’s not a handout; it’s an opportunity. I’ve had an awesome experience.” – David Dent, May degree candidate
Dent’s mother made sure her kids stayed in school, despite the hardships, and she emphasized that they must study hard to better their lives. Dent took it to heart. He had always liked science, and he did well in all of his classes. With good grades and great financial need, he earned his scholarship.
UVA is one of several institutions that partner in the QuestBridge program, which connects the nation’s brightest students from low-income backgrounds with leading institutions of higher education that provide scholarships. Dent said he had to adjust to UVA’s culture, which includes many students who are financially well off.
“UVA is definitely a different environment from Las Vegas and where I went to high school,” he said. “But I came here focused on succeeding, and it helped that I didn’t have to hold down a job while in school. The scholarship gave me my own economic power and connected me with other QuestBridge Scholars at the University with similar economic backgrounds, including my housemate, which has helped me make the transition. It has allowed me to connect with people here with similar interests and enjoy everything Virginia has to offer.”
Dent loves the outdoors, and that he can “experience all four seasons” at Virginia’s latitudes and altitudes.
A serious skateboarder since age 10, he and his “older” triplet brother (by two minutes), Kenneth, and his eldest brother, Daniel, once considered opening a skateboard shop and designing their own boards. Dent’s love for the sport has continued, and he takes breaks from school by skating often at a Charlottesville park.
And he has transitioned to snowboarding, something he had not done prior to coming to Virginia. He’s spent a lot of winter weekends on the slopes at Wintergreen and elsewhere being a member of UVA’s Virginia Alpine Ski and Snowboard Team since his first year.
Another “first” he’s experienced since coming to the University is a study-abroad marine biology course he took in the Bahamas, the first time he’d been out of the U.S and the first time he snorkeled on vibrant reefs.
“That was an incredible, life-changing experience,” he said. “I plan to take more trips like that in the future.” He also wants to try fishing and kayaking.
Academically, Dent has focused on science and biotechnology courses, and has come to realize he wants a career in chemistry. He has worked two years in the lab of chemistry professor James Landers, conducting research on new body fluid analysis methods for forensic science. He is a co-author on two soon-to-be-published papers in leading chemistry journals.
uc162_1617_aviator_c.jpg
“As a second-year [student], David was tenacious in requesting a research position in my lab – I like that kind of persistence – and he hasn’t disappointed,” Landers said. “He brought an upbeat attitude to the lab and worked hard to contribute solid data to our research, demonstrating curiosity and determination. Whether it’s his humble beginnings, the constitution of his DNA, or some combination of both, David is destined to be successful in a way that will make the chemistry department, UVA and his family proud.”
In the summers, Dent has returned home to work in the same store where he bagged groceries as a high schooler. But with his chemistry training, he earned Nevada pharmacy technician certification and began work in the pharmacy. And in his fourth year at UVA he has been working 25 hours a week in the pharmacy department at a Charlottesville Kroger.
This summer, he plans to take clinical pharmacy courses at Virginia Commonwealth University, then apply to the pharmacy graduate program there. “I’ve already got my foot in the door at Kroger, and it would be great to eventually become a pharmacist with the company,” he said.
Wherever he works or goes, Dent plans to “spread the word” about QuestBridge and the value of college for low-income students with the ability to achieve. He already has made several visits to local high schools.
“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for this great scholarship and the people who’ve helped me along the way, especially my mom, who’s been my inspiration,” he said. “I worked hard for this, and I want others to know there are opportunities for hard-working people who don’t have socioeconomic advantages. It’s not a handout; it’s an opportunity. I’ve had an awesome experience.”
He’ll soon add another experience at UVA: his mother seeing him walk the Lawn on Finals Weekend.
Fariss Samarrai
farisss@virginia.edu (434) 924-3778
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14506
|
__label__wiki
| 0.935717
| 0.935717
|
French President Macron wants Notre Dame rebuilt within 5 years
by IANS Updated on Wednesday 17th April 2019, 04:58 PM
Conjoined twins from Pakistan separated after 55-hour-long surgery in London Thursday 18th July 2019
Several dead in arson attack on Japan animation studio Thursday 18th July 2019
Mumbai 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed arrested by Pakistan counter terrorism department Wednesday 17th July 2019
Paris: French President Emmaunel Macron has announced that he wants to see fire-ravaged Notre Dame cathedral rebuilt “more beautiful than before” within five years even as experts say its reconstruction could take decades and involve substantial challenges.
A massive fire on Monday ravaged the 850-year-old building, destroying much of its roof and causing its steeple to collapse. The officials say that the cathedral was minutes away from destruction.
In a televised address on Tuesday evening, Macron suggested he wants it rebuilt by the time Paris hosts the Summer Olympics in 2024. “We’ll rebuild Notre-Dame even more beautifully and I want it to be completed in five years, we can do it,” said the President, who already pledged to launch an international fundraising scheme for the reconstruction.
“It’s up to us to convert this disaster into an opportunity to come together… It’s up to us to find the thread of our national project.”
But experts say that the main problems in rebuilding the cathedral include the sourcing of materials and painstaking work to preserve elements of the church that survived the fire but might have been badly damaged by it, the Guardian reported.
Fifty people will investigate the cause of the fire. Paris public prosecutor Remy Heitz said there was no obvious indication of arson and that the blaze was being treated as an accident.
A combined 800 million euros have been pledged by a number of companies and business tycoons to help rebuild the Unesco World Heritage site.
Eric Fischer, who heads a foundation restoring the 1,000-year-old Strasbourg Cathedral that underwent a three-year facelift, said rebuilding Notre Dame could probably take several decades.
“The damage will be significant,” he said.
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of Unesco, the UN cultural organisation, said restoring Notre Dame “will last a long time and cost a lot of money”.
Experts have not yet been allowed on site to assess the damage and firefighters have sent a drone to survey the scale of the destruction, according to the BBC.
It was still too early to estimate the cost of the damage, said the Fondation du Patrimoine, an independent non-profit heritage group.
Deputy Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the structure was in good condition “overall” but that “some vulnerabilities” had been identified in the stone vaults and the remainder of the ceiling.
The main structure, including the two bell towers, was saved in a time window of 15 to 30 minutes by a team of 400 firefighters, he said.
In his speech Macron praised the fire services, saying they took “extreme risks” to tackle the blaze.
Photos of the fire appear to show that at least one of the famed rose windows survived but there were concerns for some of the other stained-glass windows. The 18th Century organ was not burned but it was not clear whether it was damaged, reports say.
Manabadi TSBIE TS Inter 1st, 2nd Year Result 2019 expected to release tomorrow – latest updates
Work on getting the perfect skin for D-Day
Conjoined twins from Pakistan separated after 55-hour-long surgery in London
Several dead in arson attack on Japan animation studio
Mumbai 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed arrested by Pakistan counter terrorism department
12-year-old skips Heathrow Airport security check, boards flight without ticket and boarding pass
Pakistan reopens airspace, permits all airlines to fly through nearly after five months post Balakot strike
California girl’s shooting death: Police release body-camera footage
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14507
|
__label__wiki
| 0.98688
| 0.98688
|
Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson endorses ‘juiced up’ app — and anti-doping officials aren’t amused
'It's tested positive for speed and power, again and again,' says Johnson in the 90-second Australian TV spot
Tristin Hopper
Australia’s official anti-doping authority is up in arms after an Aussie bookmaker hired disgraced Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson to endorse their new “juiced up” version of their Sportsbet smartphone app.
“It’s tested positive for speed and power, again and again,” says Johnson in the 90-second commercial broadcast on Australian TV.
Johnson won gold for Canada in the men’s 100 metres at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, breaking what was then the world record. However, he was later disqualified when it emerged that Johnson had used anabolic steroids.
Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images
statement, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority said that the Sportsbet ad “makes light of the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport and sends the completely wrong message that the use of drugs in sport is normal.”
The agency then noted it had lodged a complaint with the “relevant authority.”
In addition to featuring Johnson, the 90-second ad is packed with tongue-in-cheek references to performance enhancing drugs.
“Sportbet’s new cutting-edge feature-injected Android app puts the ‘roid’ in ‘Android!’” declares a narrator over contemporary footage of Johnson sprinting while checking his phone.
Johnson is credited as the “1988 Games 100m Gold Medalist*” and is seen sitting in an office hung with the ribbon of an Olympic gold medal — although the medal itself is conspicuously absent.
The commercial also includes an actor playing an obvious parody of Lance Armstrong, the U.S. cyclist who was found to have been blood doping during his seven consecutive Tour de France wins.
“Everyone’s on it,” says parody-Armstrong.
Australia’s anti-doping authority said the ad “belittles the achievements of clean athletes and denigrates those who work to protect clean sport across the world.”
Sportsbet, in turn, has held firm to the ad, saying it’s only a joke.
”Sportsbet have no plans to pull the adverts from air – we’ve received overwhelmingly positive support from the public and they see it for what it is, a tongue-in-cheek joke,” a company spokesperson told Australian and New Zealand media.
• Email: thopper@nationalpost.com | Twitter: TristinHopper
U.S. lawmakers urge Trump to sanction Turkey
Winnipeg man charged with mischief in alleged threat to bomb pipeline
Federal government to pay $900M settlement in lawsuits over sexual misconduct in military
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14511
|
__label__wiki
| 0.930547
| 0.930547
|
How a 'charming' Halifax researcher stole more than 1,300 historical treasures from unsuspecting galleries
John Tillman stole letters, an antique tea kettle, a door, a sextant and a first edition of On the Origin of Species, later sold for tens of thousands of dollars
Andrew Vaughan / The Canadian Press
Joe O'Connor
12:16 PM EST
It was a precious historical document, a personal letter capable of making Canadian history nerds and university archivists feel all soft and squishy, a note, written in looping cursive, by James Wolfe to his uncle, Major Walter Wolfe, posted from Halifax on May 19, 1758.
HE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Bonhams
War was in the air. Victory and ultimately death for the young British commander, in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, still a year or so away.
“The French have thrown succour into Louisbourg,” James Wolfe wrote. “If they had thrown twice as much, we shouldn’t hesitate to attack them; & for my own part, I have no doubt of the Success.”
For more than half a century, the letter sat in the Dalhousie University archives, filed away amid acres of files that today occupy the fifth floor of the Killam Memorial Library. It was an object of interest that, to be frank, not all that many people were interested in.
But John Mark Tillmann was.
“I think Tillmann really fancies himself as a historical researcher, as a historian,” says Michael Moosberger, Dalhousie’s chief archivist.
“He was an average-looking guy with brown hair and a slight build, and he was very pleasant to deal with — charming and unassuming.
“There was no reason to be suspicious.”
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
But the “unassuming researcher” was actually casing the joint, a joint that wasn’t a jewelry store, or a bank, or even equipped with a decent security system, but a storehouse of treasures for a particular breed of treasure hunter — a self-styled history buff with a criminal intent.
Tillmann stole letters, sheet music, books, an antique tea kettle, a door, a sextant, a miniature steam engine, a commission signed by George Washington, a breastplate of armour and a first edition of On the Origin of Species, later sold at auction at Sotheby’s in New York for tens of thousands of dollars. (The Wolfe letter was valued at $18,000).
There was no reason to be suspicious
He stole from universities, public libraries, art galleries and antique dealers throughout Atlantic Canada. He stole, and stole, transforming his lakefront home in Fall River, N.S., into a curiosity shop, a warehouse of dusty old stuff that in many cases the rightful owners didn’t even realize they were missing.
He drove a BMW and a Porsche, and had $300,000 in the bank when a Halifax police officer pulled him over in the summer of 2012 on an unrelated matter and took a look in his car.
Courtesy National Gallery
There was a letter in a plastic sleeve with funny-looking writing on it. It was signed “J. Wolfe” and it led to the unraveling of an illicit antique empire. Wednesday morning Tillman pleaded guilty in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax to 40 criminal charges including possession of stolen property, fraud, theft and trafficking in stolen property.
He has been sentenced to nine years in prison.
“It is done,” says Mark Heerema, the Crown attorney on the case. “This was a pretty unique case.”
It was also one of a kind for Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant Colin MacLean, head of Halifax’s street crime enforcement unit. A typical day involves interviewing people about a stolen TV, then finding someone trying to sell a stolen TV to a pawnshop.
Investigations last three days, tops.
It was like shoplifting, but on a huge scale
Thanks to Tillmann, the street crimes crew’s turnover rate ground to a halt. Officers drove all around the province, visiting universities and antique dealers, trying to determine who was missing a breastplate along with 1,300 other items seized from Tillmann’s home.
Suzanne Plunkett/Bloomberg News
The thief may have appeared wise and well-read, but his criminal technique wasn’t exactly genius level. He would distract a target, perhaps get them to look for something in the back of their shop, then grab whatever he had come to grab but hang around long enough, chatting amiably, so as not to seem suspicious.
“It was like shoplifting, but on a huge scale,” Sgt. MacLean says.
Several hundred stolen items have been reunited with their owners. Several hundred more are waiting to be claimed. Several hundred might never be claimed, a potentiality that, in jest, had Sgt. MacLean contemplating a giant RCMP garage sale.
Meanwhile, at Dalhousie, Mr. Moosberger was just getting in from lunch, fielding phone calls, reminiscing about more innocent times in the life of the university archivist.
“This has certainly made us more wary,” he says. “But there is a limited market for this stuff, and that’s why I think they found him with so much in his possession.
“Provenance is a huge factor in establishing value for this material, and with the Wolfe letter people were going to want to know where he got it. If you have ever watched the show Pawn Stars one of the first questions they ask is, ‘So, where did you get this from?’ ”
• Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites
U.S. House Homeland Security panel head says Trump words endanger lawmakers
U.S. House Speaker Pelosi to meet with Representative Ocasio-Cortez next week
Appeal for calm as tensions mount in Oka over land transfer to Kanesatake
Indigenous residents forced to cross border to reach rest of Canada seek $150M for 'systemic discrimination'
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14512
|
__label__wiki
| 0.850344
| 0.850344
|
Mount Union rallies to shock UW Oshkosh 43-40 in D-III semis
PMN Football
OSHKOSH, Wis. — Josh Petruccelli and Jawanza Evans-Morris ran for two touchdowns each and second-seeded Mount Union rallied from 25 points down in the second half to defeat No. 3 Wisconsin-Oshkosh 43-40 on Saturday when the Titans missed a 46-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the D-III semifinal.
The Purple Raiders (14-0), in the semifinals for the 23rd straight year, go after their 13th title on Friday in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Salem, Virginia. They face top-seeded Mary Hardin-Baylor (13-0).
D’Angelo Fulford threw for a touchdown and ran for another for Mount Union, who trailed 35-10 after the Titans (12-1) scored two quick touchdowns in the third quarter.
The Raiders rallied quickly with three touchdowns in less than five minutes but trailed 35-30 on a failed two-point conversion.
Oshkosh responded with a 35-yard field goal by Turner Geisthardt to make it 38-30 with 14:51 to play. Again Mount Union responded with Petruccelli scoring on a 1-yard run but Fulford fumbled on the tying two-point attempt and Derrick Jennings Jr. took it all the way back for a two-point defensive PAT and Oshkosh led 40-36 with 9:36 left.
A wild sequence set up the win with Louis Berry returning a Brett Kasper interception 20 yards to the Oshkosh 45. He fumbled but recovered the ball at the Oshkosh 40. Evans-Morris cashed in with a 1-yard run at 5:41.
Kasper was picked again but the defence held and the Titans got the ball back at their 15 with 2:24 to go. Converting two fourth downs and a third down, they got to the 28, where Geisthardt’s field goal attempt came up short.
Fulford was 28 of 42 for 330 yards. Jared Ruth had 11 catches for 130 yards and Just Hill six for 102. Petruccelli ran for 132 yards and the Raiders finished with 542 yards.
Kasper, who entered the game with 32 touchdown passes and just four interceptions, threw for 297 yards and two scores but had the two late picks. Sam Mentkowski had seven receptions for 190 yards, including an 86-yard touchdown that helped Oshkosh take a 21-10 lead at the half.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14513
|
__label__cc
| 0.655987
| 0.344013
|
“Age-Less” Medicine: Interview With Ronald Klatz, MD, DO
In Anti-Aging, Geriatrics
“Age-Less” Medicine: Interview With Ronald Klatz, MD, DO2011-05-262015-12-21https://ndnr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ndnr-logo-with-web1-300x169-copy.pngNaturopathic Doctor News and Reviewhttps://ndnr.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/32147919_ml.jpg200px200px
Mark Swanson, ND
Our distinguished guest for this month’s segment of the Expert Report is Dr Ronald Klatz, MD, DO. He is widely regarded as the physician founder of the new clinical science of antiaging medicine. As a world-recognized authority on preventive medicine and advanced biotechnologies, Dr Klatz is an innovator of new medical treatments, technologies, and therapeutics focused on forestalling the diseases of aging. Dr Klatz is cofounder and president of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M [www.worldhealth.net]), the world’s largest nonprofit scientific society of physicians and scientists dedicated to improving and extending the healthy human life span.
Dr Klatz, please share with us your educational background and current position.
I received my doctor of osteopathic medicine and surgery (DO) degree in 1981 from the University of Osteopathic Medicine & Health Sciences, Des Moines, Iowa, and doctor of medicine (MD) degree in 1997 from Belize Medical College at the Central America Health Sciences University. As president of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, overseeing our AMA/ACCME [American Medical Association/Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education]–approved continuing medical education programs plays a major role. Over 100 000 physicians, health practitioners, and scientists from 110 countries worldwide have participated. I am also the medical advisor to the A4M educational Web site, www.worldhealth.net, with an Internet audience exceeding 500 000 viewers.
As a foremost authority in antiaging medicine, please share the official definition.
Antiaging medicine is a clinical specialty founded on the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for the early detection, prevention, treatment, and reversal of age-related dysfunction, disorders, and diseases. It is a healthcare model promoting innovative science and research to prolong the healthy life span in humans. As such, antiaging medicine is based on principles of sound and responsible medical care that are consistent with those applied in other preventive health specialties. The phrase “anti-aging” as such relates to the application of advanced biomedical technologies focused on the early detection, prevention, and treatment of aging-related disease.
What does antiaging medicine seek to achieve?
The goal of antiaging medicine is not to merely prolong the total years of an individual’s life but to ensure that those years are enjoyed in a productive and vital fashion. When I cofounded the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine in 1992, we established the field of antiaging medicine as a direct extension of sports medicine. Just as sports medicine aims to keep the athlete’s body functioning at its optimum level, antiaging medicine seeks to keep the body functioning at its peak. In other words, the similar principle of extending and maximizing the healthy human life span is at the core of both antiaging medicine and sports medicine.
Why is antiaging medicine now one of the hottest trends in healthcare today?
The exponential growth in the popularity of antiaging medicine is largely a result of the global demographics shift towards a swelling aging population. Around the world, people are seeking medical guidance for ways to stay healthy, active, and vital well into their older years. As a result, the principles of the antiaging medical model are gaining rapid and widespread acceptance as a framework for lifelong habits for healthy living.
Why are more physicians and health practitioners joining the antiaging medical movement?
In simplest explanation without elaborating on each, there are 3 primary reasons:
The disease-based approach to medicine is not only costly, it is ineffective.
Physicians are discontent with the business of medicine’s shortcomings for its lack of prevention and health focus opting more for a philosophy of disease fixation.
The climate of the practice of medicine is daunting and overwhelming in its traditional model.
How can antiaging therapies beneficially affect the aging process?
As we age, changes take place in our body systems. Cellular processes slow down, and our organs and tissues become less robust in performing their tasks and functions. From head to toe and beginning as early as the second decade of life, our body systems begin to demonstrate senescence signs of old age. An understanding of these age-related declines enables us to better grasp the potential for contemporary medical discoveries and applications of biomedical technology to retard or reverse the otherwise inevitable process of senescence. In other words, if we choose to sit back and do nothing about it, we let the process of aging engulf and ultimately end our lives long before necessary.
The 10 key systems in the body that age are metabolic, endocrine, immune, cardiovascular, GI [gastrointestinal], reproductive, nervous, brain, muscular, and sensory. While until now the declining performance in these biological processes has been accepted as a “natural” part of aging, in the antiaging medical model we no longer consider the declines as inevitable. Antiaging medicine addresses aging as a treatable medical condition, aiming to reduce or eliminate the disabilities, diseases, and dysfunctions we have grown used to assuming are a part of growing older.
What are the primary antiaging therapeutic interventions?
Antiaging medicine is a lifestyle; there are no “magic bullet” medicines. As we age, a series of biological changes take place in the body. Antiaging physicians seek to understand these age-related declines in order to enable a better grasp of the potential for contemporary medical discoveries and applications of biomedical technology to retard or reverse the otherwise inevitable process of senescence.
The antiaging lifestyle can add 24.6 more years of productive life span.1,2 I propose that the distinguishing characteristic of this study population’s [Asian-American women residing in Bergen County, New Jersey] added longevity is the subjects’ ability to avail themselves of the armament of state-of-the-art biomedical technologies in advanced preventive care, including preventive screenings, early disease detection, aggressive intervention, and optimal nutrition—all of which are cornerstones of the antiaging medical model. Not smoking is an obvious major factor in achieving longevity as well.3
A4M is the leading organization spearheading the acceptance and accessibility of antiaging medicine worldwide. Please elaborate on this.
The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine is among the fastest growing medical societies in the world today. Founded in 1992, the A4M serves as an advocate for the new clinical specialty of antiaging medical science and acts as a conduit to physicians, scientists, and the educated public who wish to benefit from the almost daily breakthroughs in biotechnology which promise both a greater quality as well as quantity of life. As far as the global culture of adoption of antiaging medicine, the A4M has been a major force in advancing the medical specialty worldwide. The A4M has been responsible for positioning the antiaging clinical medical specialty as a leading innovative paradigm for healthcare in the aging nations around the world.
How is naturopathic medicine currently a part of antiaging medicine?
The A4M supports the practice of natural health therapeutics by licensed physicians of all medical specialties. At the A4M congresses on antiaging medicine, the world’s premier continuing medical education programming in advanced preventative medicine, many internationally renowned speakers have presented extensive data reaffirming the validity of natural medicine, including nutritional therapies and other nontoxic approaches, such as those advanced by naturopathy. As such, our delegates embrace naturopathic therapies, and many of them return to their practices and engage these approaches safely and effectively, to the benefit of their patients.
How do you see the involvement of naturopathic medicine in antiaging medicine growing?
Natural medicine, including nutritional therapies and other nontoxic approaches, such as that advanced by naturopathy, is a cornerstone of antiaging medical therapeutics. Because these approaches have proven to be extremely effective and absent of significant contraindications or adverse effects that would justify further restrictions to their availability, natural medicine upholds the antiaging medical commitment to safe and responsible patient-centric medical care. The A4M welcoming supports the exploration of educational programming in naturopathic principles, as well as the potential for academic affiliations with the leading accredited naturopathic colleges across the country.
Can naturopaths become members of A4M? Where may NDs receive education and training in the antiaging medical specialty?
We encourage NDs to become members. The A4M’s Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine and Biomedical Technologies, now in its 19th consecutive year, is the premier in-session learning environment for physicians and health practitioners seeking to expand their knowledge in this area of advanced preventative medicine.
What are the postgraduate programs in antiaging medicine that naturopathic physician members can attend and receive certifications?
Through the American Board of Anti-Aging & Regenerative Medicine (ABAARM) and the American Board of Anti-Aging Health Practitioners (ABAAHP), the A4M credentials physicians and health personnel, including licensed naturopaths, in the antiaging medical specialty. Today, there are more than 3000 physicians and health practitioners certified by, or in process with, the ABAARM and ABAAHP programs. We also invite ND members to enroll in the Fellowship in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine, the Fellowship in Integrative Cancer Therapy, and the Aesthetic Anti-Aging Fellowship, each of which provide intensive hands-on training from experts in these fields. Today, there are more than 5000 physicians and health practitioners involved in these A4M cosponsored postgraduate medical education programs.
One hundred years from now, what will we say was the antiaging medical specialty’s greatest contribution to medicine?
A prolonged healthy and vibrant life span. In that antiaging medicine is a healthcare model promoting innovative science and research to prolong the healthy life span in humans, I believe that the field’s most important contribution will be in the reduction of disabilities, diseases, and dependencies otherwise associated with our aging populations.
Thank you, Dr Klatz, for “anti-aging” our readers with this very informative interview on A4M and the opportunities for our profession to participate in and become educated about this important and dynamic healthcare model and the encompassing specialty.
1. Pérez-Peña R. Bergen County, N.J., is long in longevity. New York Times. September 12, 2006. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/12/nyregion/12longevity.html. Accessed March 24, 2011.
2. Groves B, Hsu E. Asian women in Bergen have nation’s top life expectancy. Free Republic. September 12, 2006.
3. van Dam RM, Li T, Spiegelman D, Franco OH, Hu FB. Combined impact of lifestyle factors on mortality: prospective cohort study in US women. BMJ. 2008;337:a1440. doi:10.1136/bmj.a1440. Medline:18796495.
Aging, Interview, Klatz, Swanson
Proteoglycans: A Turnkey Anti-Aging Solution?
Muscle Deep: A Precision Medicine Approach in Treating Sarcopenia
Heart Rate Variability: The Why, What, and How of HRV and Its Importance in Private Practice – Part 2
Evidence-Based Strategies for Prevention and Treatment of Age-Related Cognitive Decline – Part OneAnti-Aging
Down On Her KneesAnti-Aging, Homeopathy, Pain Medicine
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14515
|
__label__cc
| 0.733439
| 0.266561
|
FILM OF THE MONTH
FILM OF THE YEAR
1950's 1960's 2010's Article
WIDESCREEN WEEKEND 2015 @ BRADFORD ~ REVIEW
Posted on October 21, 2015 by nEoPOL
A young man made his way through the crowd which had assembled outside the single Pictureville screen, the only Cinerama screen left in the England, carrying a large 35mm spool, giving us a taste of what we where in for that night. The film which was about to be presented was an original three-strip Cinerama movie held in the archives of Bradford’s Media Museum, How The West Was Won (1962).
We were only able to attend two days of the four day festival, with was primarily held at the Pictureville Cinema at the National Film and Media Museum in Bradford from the 15th – 18th of October, so it would be unfair for me to pass judgement on the whole festival.
We arrived for the Saturday (17th) evening showing of How The West Was Won and stayed over to catch the 9:30am showing and World Premier of the 1963 The Best Of Cinerama, the 2015 restoration, one lead as usual by David Strohmaier. We had hoped to be able to attend the 70mm curved screen showing of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) but no such luck but Douglas Trumbull, who was already at the festival to deliver a talk about his effects work 2001, stepped in at the last minute to introduce his 1970’s classic, Silent Running, which took the place of a Screen Talk with Lesley Caron, which was planned to take place before the 35mm exhibition of her movie, Gigi (1958), as she was unable to attend.
The atmosphere was great, with a collective buzz and passion for these old films celluloid and the Cinerama process itself was palpable. The crowd and delegates were friendly appreciative of the work carried out by so many to bring up these shows.
I will be reviewing this particular showing of How The West Was Won (1962) and that of The Best Of Cinerama (1963), which in contrast to the original 3-panel print of HTWWW, was a 2k digital presentation, over the next couple of days.
I really enjoyed this event, one which I wish I had been able to attend sooner, but like they say, better late than never!
Photography by ©nEoPOL 2015 All rights reserved
bradfordcineramafestivalpicturevillewidescreen weekendLeave a comment
WHERE’S MY HOVER-BOARD?
HOW THE WEST WAS WON 3-STRIP REVIEW (CINERAMA)
STAR WARS: EPISODE IXDecember 15th, 2019
Follow Film Reviews on WordPress.com
THE WICKER MAN (1973) – REVIEW
QUICK REVIEWS – WEEK ENDING 7/7/18
BLACK HAWK DOWN (2001) – REVIEW
BATMAN: THE MOVIE (1966) – REVIEW
THE BLACK PIRATE (1926) – REVIEW
WIDESCREEN WEEKEND (NATIONAL MEDIA MUSEUM, BRADFORDOctober 11th, 2018
Film lives!
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14517
|
__label__wiki
| 0.76206
| 0.76206
|
Brazil on the Brink
Lula's persecution represents a narrowing of Brazilian democracy with far-reaching consequences.
Victor Marques and Maria Caramez Carlotto
This article is part of a special roundtable forum on the Lula conviction. Click here to read the rest!
On January 24, 2018, former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sentenced to twelve years in prison by a court of appeal that maintained Judge’s Moro’s decision from last year. The judgment was an extremely controversial one, the evidence deemed fragile and formally inadequate by a number of Brazilian law experts and international observers. It has been in fact a highly unusual judicial process: politically charged from the beginning, with judges acting publicly as moral crusaders against corruption, and moving impressively fast by Brazilian standards, indicating that the case has been fast-tracked for political reasons.
All this reinforces the impression, strong in large sections of the Brazilian population, that the purpose of the process was to prevent Lula from running as a presidential candidate in October. Lula still leads every poll, with Jair Bolsonaro, the authoritarian pro-dictatorship right-wing candidate, running in a distant second place. If Lula is, in fact, barred from running, it is easy to see it as another chapter of an extended soft coup, following the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff — dubbed a parliamentary coup by its critics—in August 2016.
In that case, the aim was to remove the Workers’ Party (PT) from government, applying a radicalized neoliberal agenda that PT itself was not willing to pursue — at least not at the pace and intensity demanded by capital. Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment, unconstitutional and divisive as it was, has perhaps struck a fatal blow to Brazil’s relatively young democracy. Preventing Lula from running and sending him to jail, on such a weak and disputed basis, is even more serious. It escalates the institutional crisis and jeopardizes the political arrangement that has prevailed for the last three decades.
Lula as a Symbol
Lula, the man, is now the emblematic synthesis of the political crisis of the Brazilian Republic. Lula was already, in fact, something like an organizing element of the political system—a constant and polarizing figure during all the presidential elections since the end of the military dictatorship, including those in which he himself was not a candidate.
As its most prominent politician, Lula became a symbol for the whole period of the so-called “New Republic” and the political arrangement established after the constitution of 1988. Now his compulsory exclusion from the 2018 election marks an end to that period of representative liberal democracy in Brazil.
But Lula is a symbol for more than that. As a former militant trade union leader and founder of the Workers Party, Lula also represents the entrance of the working class into the political sphere as an autonomous collective subject. Around the core of an industrial workers leadership, a complex web of social demands for rights and recognition coalesced into a mass party of the working class, with Lula, from the beginning, playing the role of a catalyst and unifier.
In this sense, his condemnation is inherently political: an attempt to retrospectively punish this impertinent daring of the working class, a reaffirmation of the oligarchic creed that electoral politics is the exclusive domain of the upper classes. What is really at stake in Brazil is thus not only the fate of the New Republic period, but the recognition of the laboring classes as a legitimate political actor. What is condemned with Lula is the very idea of mass democracy.
Lula is no radical—as he constantly emphasizes. In Brazil there was never a clear break from neoliberalism, although there was a hesitant and gradual drifting away from Washington Consensus orthodoxy. In government, the PT adopted “class conciliation” in the most strict sense: social antagonism was reduced by bringing the working class into government, and allowing for social movements and unions to be represented in diverse ministries. Since the end of the 1990s, the party was moving, slowly but steadily, towards a Brazilian variant of Third Way politics, before it was hit by a series of crises—including the corruption scandals of Lula’s first term, the global financial crisis, and a representation crisis of the whole political system ignited by the mass rallies of June 2013.
But the PT was, as it remains now, the largest party in Brazil identified with the Left, with a militant mass base and strong links with labor unions and social movements. And in office it did in fact alleviate poverty, nearly eradicating hunger and pursuing a policy of full employment which pushed wages upward. That is why even now, after years of unrelentingly bashing on all major media outlets, Lula remains, by far, the most popular politician in the country and PT is the number one party in electoral preference. PT, a party built by working-class mobilization, has won all of the last four presidential elections, and unprecedented result for the Brazilian left. In order to keep the PT away from presidency, the Right has had to resort to other means.
The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism
Intellectuals such as Nancy Fraser, Wendy Brown, Slavoj Zizek, and Wolfgang Streeck have highlighted what seems to be as a global trend of a parting ways of capitalism and democracy, in what may well be a permanent divorce. The unresolved international economic crisis, beginning a decade ago, produced an authoritarian radicalization of neoliberalism, manifesting the incompatibility between the participation of the masses in politics and the demands of an “efficient” management of the economy, which imply austerity policies and a further wave of privatizations and curtailing of social rights.
Elites are no longer willing to compromise: as a result, even weakened forms of citizenship and popular sovereignty must be sacrificed in the name of “structural reforms.” And if the people are unable to accept the reforms—as the labor union reform, recently voted on by the Brazilian congress, or the radical reform of social security scheduled for February — so much the worse for the people. The parliamentary coup against Dilma is the Brazilian expression of a global trend. The coup supported by Brazil’s corrupt and reactionary parliament was actually a hostile corporate takeover: in a “disaster capitalism” fashion, an anticorruption frenzy was exploited in order to pursue a deeply unpopular policy agenda, which would never be endorsed by the polls.
No Plan B?
The day after Lula’s conviction, the Workers Party gathered in São Paulo to launch Lula as candidate for the next elections. The words of the PT president, Senator Gleise Hoffmann, could not be clearer: “I want to reaffirm that we have no Plan B. Lula is our only candidate in 2018.” Senator Lindbergh Farias took the same tone: “If they want to arrest Lula they will have to arrest millions of Brazilians.” The official discourse within the party now is that the constitution has been ripped up and that the democratic pact has been broken. In the march of more than fifty thousand people who took the streets of São Paulo in defense of Lula on the night of the 24th, the biggest banner said "Do not let them condemn. Do not let them arrest (Lula).”
Lula and the PT do not represent a revolutionary wing of the Brazilian left. On the contrary, the radical left often vocalizes the critique that the PT has been too soft on the Brazilian elite throughout their thirteen years in government.
The irony is that the PT, as the leading organization of the Left, has adopted up until now an extremely conservative stance: they are the ones trying desperately to save the social pact of the 1988 constitution, to preserve the New Republic’s political arrangement, effectively begging for a return to the negotiating table. It is the propertied class, on the other hand, that has behaved like uncompromising revolutionaries, refusing any agreement, stating that there is no possible compromise, deposing a government, persecuting the most popular leader on the Left and launching a full assault on the working class and rural poor.
But maybe we are now approaching a breaking point. For a growing number of Brazilians — both from the Left and from the Right—the political system lacks any legitimacy. The more the institutional field narrows, the more transformative the solution to the political crisis will have to be. When institutional paths of liberal democracy are closed, popular fury will be forced to look for other avenues to express itself—with unpredictable consequences.
Victor Marques is a militant and a philosophy professor at the Federal University of ABC, in Brazil.
Maria Caramez Carlotto is a sociologist, militant, and social science professor at the Federal University of ABC, in Brazil.
operation car wash
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14519
|
__label__wiki
| 0.557988
| 0.557988
|
The Nashville Berklee Jam Goes Public
Published July 5, 2012 | By Eric
Today I want to tell you all about an exciting monthly event I have been hosting – The Nashville Berklee Jam, and its new accessibility to everyone in the Nashville music community. The beginnings of this idea came to me a few years ago when I first attended the annual Nashville Berklee Alumni Reception. On my way home that night, I remember thinking how great it was to meet so many musicians in one night who were so passionate about their musical ambitions and so hungry for knowledge. These musical comrades were a mix of Berklee alumni residing in middle Tennessee and Berklee students who came down for the annual Nashville field trip. At this reception I made connections with other like-minded alums and students who came down on the field trip, the latter peppering me with questions about my experiences in Music City. This event was a very stimulating night as the energy of three hundred musical minds meeting and conversing seemed to create an air of camaraderie and untapped potential! Then I went home and another year passed before I got this fix again.
So this past winter I decided to create a monthly event to try to emulate this musical networking hoedown on a smaller scale, and The Nashville Berklee Jam was born. Held on the first or second Tuesday of the month from 7 PM to 11 PM at The Fillin’ Station in Kingston Springs, TN, these events start out with an informal meet and greet, followed by a Nashville music industry guest speaker, and end with an open jam. So far the reception has been very positive, here’s a recap (with links to their corresponding blogs):
February – A-list session bassist, Mike Chapman gave a great talk about being a session musician, outlining key concepts in what he calls, “the essential slices of the session player pizza”. He also jammed with several alums after the talk.
March – award-winning vocal coach, producer, and hit songwriter, Judy Rodman gave an insightful talk about career paths for vocalists. She also performed a couple of songs with the house band and then critiqued and coached several vocal performances, helping vocalists make instant improvements.
April – Stevie Ray Vaughan keyboardist, Reese Wynans shared his fascinating story about being a lifelong-career musician, the life-changing moment that came on his last night with Delbert McClinton that landed him the SRV gig, and the whirlwind years that followed. After his talk, he joined us for a few inspired performances.
May – fellow alum, musician, and author of “The Nashville Number System”, Chas Williams gave an introductory class on this subject. After the class, he charted one of alum, Sarah Tollerson’s originals and performed it with Sarah and the house band with everybody reading the chart off a dry erase board.
June – drummer, producer, and clinician, Rich Redmond gave an inspiring talk on “Navigating the Nashville Music Industry” speaking candidly about his early “lean years” in Music City and different approaches to finding success here. After his talk he sat in for a few tunes and stuck around to chat with others in attendance.
For our next event, to be held on Tuesday, July 10, I will be giving a talk that continues last month’s theme – “Navigating the Nashville Music Industry – Part Two”, during which I will explore some of the concepts I write about in my book “The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide”. And, this just in, for our event in August we are proud to announce that the guest speaker/performer will be none other than Nashville guitar ace, Jack Pearson, formerly of the Allman Brothers, Vince Gill and many others.
All of the guest speakers have given great talks, sharing their knowledge and providing inspiration, and these talks have been interactive with many great questions and comments from alums. My band, Skinny Buddha (comprised of Berklee alumni and others from the Nashville music community) provides backline and a starting point for the laid back jams which have covered everything from originals to classic rock to blues tunes to two-chord jams. All of these events have been great friendship building and networking experiences for all involved, as well as educational. So far, the attendance has been mostly comprised of Berklee alumni, but as there seems to be a growing interest from others in Nashville, we are now officially making this event open to the Public. Nashville is a diverse and complex music community in which a Berklee alumni community also resides, and it is my goal to help these two worlds intersect and meld together.
So come on out to our next “Nashville Berklee Jam” On Tuesday, July 10. I hope to see you there!
P.S. if you have any comments, thoughts, or questions, please feel free to e-mail me at eric@ericnormand.com
Posted in Nashville Berklee Alumni Events | Tagged Berklee, Berklee alumni, blues, Community, Fillin' Station, jam, Judy Rodman, Music, Music Industry, Musician, Nashville, Nashville Number System, nightclub, Recording Artist, Songwriter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Vocalist | Leave a comment
Stevie Ray Vaughan keyboardist, Reese Wynans talks at Nashville Berklee Jam
Published April 19, 2012 | By Eric
Some of my earliest childhood memories are of my dad playing records and, dare I say, reel to reel tapes of the music of Paul Butterfield, John Lee Hooker, Santana, and Derek and the Dominoes. I guess this music made an impression, because by my early teens in the early 1980’s I was buying my own records, not of the pop-based FM radio music of my generation, but of the previous generations more blues-based artists. While everyone else was listening to E.L.O. and Michael Jackson, I was discovering Jimi Hendrix, the Allman Brothers, BB King and Bobby Bland. Sure, I liked some of the 80’s guitar rock of the day, but always kept digging back to a more rootsy sound. Then right smack in the middle of 80’s hair band mania came Stevie Ray Vaughan, and I immediately related to his music.
Stevie’s music influenced a generation of guitarists and, at a moment where rock and pop music was winding itself up, almost single-handedly brought blues music back into the light. You couldn’t go see a club band during the late 80’s and early 90’s without hearing his music. I found myself covering his renditions of blues classics like “The Sky Is Cryin’”, “Empty Arms”, as well as originals like “Cold Shot” and “Walkin’ the Tightrope”, as did many others at that time. Stevie’s instrumental “Riviera Paradise” from the album ‘In Step’ is a beautiful piece of American roots music, and I always loved the spooky vibe created by his magical band on that song in particular.
I’ll never forget the day I heard of his tragic passing, how sad it was that we had to lose such a wonderful artist at such a young age. But his music, and the influence of his music, lives on, and I, like many others, will always appreciate everything Stevie did for music, and everything his music has done for the world.
So that’s why when I began hosting the Nashville Berklee Jam I felt compelled to have Reese Wynans, the keyboardist who played with Stevie for the last five years of the great guitarist’s life, as a special guest speaker/performer. Reese was kind enough to share his story with me and a room full of alums at our monthly Nashville Berklee Jam last Tuesday at The Fillin’ Station.
Almost 20 years before he began working with SRV he was playing in cover bands in his home state of Florida, and he recounted one of his first bands playing five sets a night, six nights a week. Two of the other members were Dickey Betts and Berry Oakley and on their one day off they would play a weekly free jam, adding Duane Allman and Butch Trucks to the mix. Eventually Duane decided to start his own band and stole these key members to form The Allman Brothers.
After spending a few years in San Francisco and working with a still-unknown artist at this time, Boz Scaggs, he returned to Florida for a brief period and then worked the East Coast in a show band for a few years. Reese then migrated to Austin, Texas, a booming town full of blues-infused music by this point of the mid-70s. Of this time, Reese spoke passionately.
“It was really great for me living in Austin…everything was so rootsy…they had a great music scene back there in the 70’s. They had a great blues scene, and a great blues club called ‘Antone’s’…and I would go and sit in at Antone’s anytime I had a chance. I was ending up really lovin’ the blues during this time.”
By 1980 he found himself working for Delbert McClinton, playing on four of his records and touring extensively for the next five years. By 1985, Reese was ready to get off the road, and would have if not for a fateful encounter at the end of his final gig with Delbert. Apparently, Delbert’s sax player had been invited to play on one song of a Stevie Ray Vaughan recording session after Delbert’s concert, and at the last minute Reese was asked to join in as the other keyboardist did not show up. Things went very well at this particular recording session, one which produced the hit, “Look at Little Sister” and Reese was asked to come back and record the following day. By the end of that recording session he was asked if he wanted to join the band. Reese summed up a life lesson from this critical moment,
“When a door opens for you, you’ve got to be willing to walk through it, and then be able to deliver once you get through there.”
The next five years would yield three Grammys, several world tours, and a reintroduction of the blues to the masses –
“We were spokesman for Texas blues…as much as Stevie didn’t want to, BB King had to open for us, because we were just more popular than him. He said “no we can never, BB’s always closing the show”… but finally, we had to headline…I loved playing in that band…we were all totally immersed in the blues, and we felt like were the vanguard of the blues. We were dragging Buddy Guy and Otis Rush into the light and presenting them out on our shows to people who were just hungry for that music…the stuff that we played I thought was shining a light on all the huge blues guitar players that had come before us, and that was a wonderful thing to do, I felt like it was really worthwhile.”
After Stevie’s tragic passing, Reese wound up in Nashville, TN, a place where he has continued to record and perform on a national level. During the talk, Reese passed around his All Music Discography, which reveals a staggering body of work, including Brooks and Dunn’s 2006 single of the year “Believe”. He offered us some thoughts about the differences between studio and live performance –
“I like being in the studio, I like playing gigs, I like playing clubs…all you people who do studio work know it’s two different things. Playing a club is really a chance to experiment…a chance to reach out in different directions and really find yourself. The studio isn’t really a place for that. The studio is where you don’t have to play it safe, but you’ve got to do something that’s exactly right for the song…it’s a place for finding something that works, finding something unique that works.”
After his talk was finished, Reese was gracious enough to perform a set with our house band – a performance that was nothing short of inspired. I’ve heard his playing on many records, but there’s something intangible that you can feel in the heat of live performance that goes beyond a recording, and that was evident on this night. One of the songs we played together was “Little Wing”, a song that he had played on tour with Stevie, back in the day. On this song, Reese seemed to really stretch out in one of those magical musical moments in which time seems to stand still (see video below).
Eventually, this special night had to end, and we said goodbye after a quick photo op. Thanks, Reese, for sharing your wisdom, and for continuing to shine some light on that crown jewel of American music we call the blues.
Posted in Nashville Berklee Alumni Events | Tagged Allman Brothers, Austin, Berklee, Berklee alumni, blues, Community, Fillin' Station, jam, Music, Music Industry, Musician, Nashville, nightclub, Recording Artist, Stevie Ray Vaughan, studio | 1 Comment
Eric Normand
Visit EricNormand.com
Judy Rodman on “Singing in the Studio” at the Nashville Berklee Jam
‘Perspiration not Inspiration’ Ben Hayslip talks Songwriting at the Nashville Berklee Jam
Nashville Performance Coach, Diane Kimbrough speaks at the Nashville Berklee Jam – October 28, 2013
The Nashville Berklee Jam presents “Inside the Nashville Music Industry” with Eric Normand and Mike Chapman – August 26, 2013
Nashville Berklee Jam with Bryan Beller – April 29, 2013 – Videos
Kate Taylor
Ben Hayslip
Diane Kimbrough
DavePomeroy
BryanBeller
Dallas Davidson
Jack Pearson
Rhett Akins
Designed by Just Ducky Designs.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14522
|
__label__wiki
| 0.885203
| 0.885203
|
Supportive Care Calendar
Calendar RSS Feed
Supportive Care Coffee Morning, Balclutha
Add this to Calendar
Jul 29 10:30am — 11:30am
Breast Cancer Support Group, Dunedin
Jul 29 7:00pm — 8:00pm
Aug 26 7:00pm — 8:00pm
Carers Support Group, Dunedin
Jul 26 12:00pm — 1:00pm
Aug 09 12:00pm — 1:00pm
Daffodil Day Friday 26th August 2016
Cancer Chat Group, Dunedin
Prostrate Cancer - Women's Support Group
Prostate Cancer - Men's Support Group
Jul 23 11:00am — 12:00pm
Aug 06 11:00am — 12:00pm
Sep 03 11:00am — 12:00pm
Look Good Feel Better Women's Programme
Sep 04 9:30am — 12:00pm
Oct 16 9:30am — 12:00pm
Nov 27 9:30am — 12:00pm
Gala Events
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14524
|
__label__cc
| 0.670629
| 0.329371
|
Tag: Black Love
Berry – Light Skin vs. Dark Skin
Be sure to follow the Berry Instagram Page for more updates and other posts. https://www.instagram.com/berry.dates/ Kind of a touchy subject, but let me start by saying this is not a “versus” thing as to say it’s a “fight” because one isn’t better than the other. I just feel like there’s this divide within the black…
Berry – Date Ideas (Activities) [Part One]
Make sure to follow the Berry Instagram Page for more posts https://www.instagram.com/berry.dates/ I Previously wrote about date spots in London, but those were more restaurants, so for part two of one, I’ve decided to add activities that you can do with just your partner, or with the addition of a couple of friends. 1….
Black Love In… (Devon Franklin & Meagan Good)
Make sure to follow The Berry Instagram Page for more posts and updates https://www.instagram.com/berry.dates/ Next up in “Black Love In…” Is Devon Franklin & Meagan Good. They have a more religious take on finding true love which might be beneficial for some, so take a look. Do you think they are right? Do you think…
#BerryQuotes (Kelly Rowland)
Make sure to follow the Berry Instagram Page for more posts like this, and many others. https://www.instagram.com/berry.dates/ In association with the Berry Dating App dedicated to Black Love #BlackLoveMatters https://www.instagram.com/berry.dates/
Berry – The Art of Conversation
Remember to follow the Berry Instagram Page for posts and updates https://www.instagram.com/berry.dates/ The art of conversation. Such a major thing in life let alone talking to someone you’re interested in. For me anyway it’s hard to get someone who you can talk to freely without overthinking each step because of past circumstances, but even when…
Black Love In… (Denzel & Pauletta Washington)
Make sure to follow The Berry Instagram Page for more posts and updates https://www.instagram.com/berry.dates/ The next pair in this segment is Denzel & Pauletta Washington. Hear what the pair have to say about their relationship. What has made your love stand the test of time? Is there anything you’ve learned from Denzel & Pauletta? What…
Black Love In… (Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith)
Make sure to follow the Berry Instagram Page for more of this and EVEN MORE! https://www.instagram.com/berry.dates/ “Black Love In…” Is a segment on Berry where we showcase black love in a certain field of entertainment, work, etc. To start off this series on my blog, I have decided to start with none other than Will…
Berry – Black Fathers
Make sure to follow the Berry Instagram Page for the lowdown on the app and engaging posts https://www.instagram.com/berry.dates/ There’s this negative stigma around black fathers about how they “leave their children” and etc. And though this happens across every single race, it’s mostly just centered around black men, which isn’t right. There are plenty…
Berry – Date Spots In London
Of course, make sure to follow the Berry Instagram Page for updates and new posts. https://www.instagram.com/berry.dates/ 1. Fulham Beach Club Beach club-style lounge open seasonally for cocktails & light bites amid day beds, huts, cabanas AND MANY MORE! 2. Fancy Crab Marylebone Funky-chic spot offering a seafood-focused menu along with brunch, bar bites, cocktails…
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14525
|
__label__cc
| 0.706561
| 0.293439
|
John Roberts man of business : an account of John Roberts and the establishment of Murray, Roberts and Company Ltd.
Harraway, Helen
Master thesis (6.085Mb)
Cite this item: Harraway, H. (1967). John Roberts man of business : an account of John Roberts and the establishment of Murray, Roberts and Company Ltd. (Thesis, Master of Arts). University of Otago. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/8318
It seems to me that justice has not been done to the part played by John (later Sir John) Roberts in the business community of Otago. Little, if any, reference is ever made to him in local history books, or to his wide influence in the commercial, political and farming life of the province. This thesis is an attempt to right the wrong.
When a man has so many diverse interests, the task of documenting them all becomes almost impossible. I have selected, consequently, what I feel to be his most important contributions to the development of Otago, namely the founding of Murray, Roberts and Company through which his influence was felt in dealings in the wool trade. In the development of the Otago Central Railway, and in the frozen meat trade.
The role of private and public companies in opening up the country developing new industries, and as money suppliers appears to have been little touched upon by New Zealand historians[…]
[Extract from Preface]
Advisor: Ross, Angus
Degree Name: Master of Arts
Degree Discipline: History
History and Art History [238]
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14526
|
__label__wiki
| 0.963484
| 0.963484
|
Abbetira
About Abbetira
MERRY CITOLI is a talented singer/songwriter and keyboard player, learning her craft under the tutelage of RCA Records’ producer Bob Harrington. She has since released a solo CD “Phantoms,” which secured a publishing contract for two songs off the CD with DMS Producers, a New York Publishing firm that places for Film and T.V. Phantoms has also made the quarter finalists at ourstage.com along with several of her other songs, a site where the fans select the winners.
Merry’s talent is wide ranging. She wrote and recorded a single “Someday When Christmas Never Ends,” with her sister Gina for a Minneapolis DJ. Just one airing of the song lit up the KJO-104 switchboard. “Someday” became the hottest record of the season on a rock and roll station! The girls’ hot single was later aired by dozens of stations stretching from Chicago to Seattle. Said K-JO program director Gary Rawn, “Someday” has tremendous potential as an American holiday standard.”
Some of Merry’s most recent accomplishments include an Honorable Mention in a songwriters contest for The International Singer/Songwriter’s Association. Her song The Shadow was produced by Wade Martin, Merry Citoli and Co-Engineered by Joseph Rusinek who has engineered work with Alice Cooper. Karnal Promotions recently picked up the Shadow for soundtrack placement in film and TV.
Merry also made the finalists for singer of the month in the Singer’s Studio vocalist talent contest, and the semi finals for Mike Pinder’s (The Moody Blues) Songwars Contest. Other recent accomplishments include a runner up position in The Song of The Year Contest, judged by number major labels, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood and Paul McCartney to name a few. Her Song Can’t Go Back made the finals in the Sandra James Songwriting contests. Both of these recent rewards were quoted as “having been some of the hardest contests to judge do to the level of excellence in literally more than thousands of songs that are entered.”
Follow Abbetira on
www.Merry-Citoli.com
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14527
|
__label__wiki
| 0.685662
| 0.685662
|
Eu Integration Theories-Neofunctionalism
Essay Topic: Integration
EEU Integration Theories:Neo-Functionalism “Any comprehensive theory of integration should potentially be a theory of disintegration. ” (Schmitter, 2002: 4) Introduction Neo-functionalism, as the first integration theory of EU to form a regional cooperation, is a theory of collective security and collective development but there was a compromise, a negative side: interdependence; sometimes `excessively? to a supranational authority and the risk of by-passing of nation state.
The balance of the scale was rather sensitive and it was both supported and rejected by many passionately. This paper tries to find an answer to the question “What is the significance of the neo-functionalist theory for integration process of the EU and what are the dynamics and causes of the decline in mid 1960s and its renaissance after 1980s? ” and deals with the theory from a very limited perspective. Its predecessors and successors will be kept out of discussion but a closer view to the phases of neo-functionalism will be provided.
The main argument of this paper is that, in its first phase between 1950s until the mid 1960s, neo-functionalism suffered from abstraction of the power of nation state in a period in which supranational governance was not thoroughly internalized; whereas, with the deepening of integration process and theoretical contributions by scholars, enabled neo-functionalism to see the reality of integration through a more realist and mature perspective and to be more comprehensive in terms of realizing the power of myriads of actors in the integration process during its second phase after mid 1980s.
In the first part, definition of neo-functionalism and its importance in the post WW II context will be given.
We will write a custom essay sample on Eu Integration Theories-Neofunctionalism
In the second part, the theory will be elaborated with its core concepts and in the third part, criticisms of the theory will be given from both empirical and theoretical grounds. In the fourth and last part, the recent history of neo-functionalism will be evaluated and the revival period will be elabotared in connection with the recent aspects of European integration. 1. Definition of Neo-functionalism and its importance in the post WW II context The Europe after the two world wars had a catastrophic burden.
Although numbers vary, around 35 million in the first and around 55 million casualties depicted the highest number of losses in the history of mankind. As a precursor to United Nations, League of Nations failed to prevent the road to the second world war primarily due to lacking an armed forces of its own; moreover, nation states hardly had the enthusiasm to support any formation that limited their sovereignty. The pain and destruction after the two wars created an incentive to cooperate for further economic and human losses.
Neo-functionalism is conceptualized by Ernst B. Haas in this context to explain boosting of regional cooperation and create interdependence in such a way that any conflict would result in great economic losses, which prevents rational states from further conflicts. “Then came along the political project of creating a united Europe, which had the result of creating a myriad of institutions in which very, very many people participated. … These institutions developed a permanence through which both French and German … learned to do routine business with each other every day.
A problem which they experienced was a common problem. … first comes the traumatic lesson, then comes the institution for learning to deal with each other” (Haas, 2000: 16 in Risse, 2004:1). The case of European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was the example that Haas took to exemplify this cooperation to integration process. The ECSC was the first organisation based on supranational integration, with the states that composed them pooling a whole range of national powers (European Nagivator, The European Communities).
Until it was merged to the European Commission in 1967, The High Authority governed the ECSC to provide a common market in terms of coal and steel. “The Six (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) opted for integration and supranationalism as the means of unification. ” (Henig, 1997:12) For Haas, political integration is “the process whereby political actors in several distinct national settings are persuaded to shift their loyalties, expectations, and political activities toward a new centre, whose institutions possess or demand jurisdiction over the pre-existing national states” (Haas 1958,16).
According to neo-functionalist thinking “the fundamental idea was that international relations shouldn`t be seen as a zero sum game, and that everybody wins when countries become involved in processes of economic and political integration” (Stroby-Jensen in Cini, 2007:84). The main reason for this arguments is one of the key concepts of neo-functionalism, namely spillover, which will be substantiated in the next part. 2. Main concepts of Neo-functionalist theory The Spillover thesis
Neo-functionalist theory assumes that cooperation in a certain area triggers cooperation in several other areas areas (sometimes not previously planned ones) to achieve a through integration in the original area and creates new political goals (Stroby-Jensen in Cini, 2007:84). According Neo-functionalism the logic of spillover is central to explain the expansive logic of European integration and in this part three main types of spill over will be briefly identified to understand this expansive logic with a closer view.
The first type of spill over is the functional or technical spillover, which suggests some sectors are so interdependent to each other that, it is impossible to isolate them and further integration is the key to prevent further problems. In other words, it takes place “when integration in one industry/sector creates its own impetus and necessitates further integration both in the same, and in other industries/sectors” (Howell, 2002:17).
The second type is the political spillover according to which policy areas are purposefully linked together due to ideological reasons, sometimes as “package deals” (Stroby-Jensen in Cini, 2007:85). With such integration, the actors will realise their benefits in the international level instead of national one and form international coalitions (Haas, 1968:34). So the elites will learn to pursue their benefits in the international level and “refocus their activities, expectations and even loyalties to the new center” (Tranholm-Mikkelsen, 1991:4).
The third type of spillover is the cultivated spillover which puts emphasis on central institutions like the Commission especially when nation states aren`t willingful for further integration. So it is assumed “that the European Commission will be pro-active in the management of European integration” (Howell, 2002:17). But the important point here is that the central institutions such as the Commission act “not only as mediators, but also more directly as agents of political integration or as `policy enterpreneurs`” (Stroby-Jensen in Cini, 2007:85).
Elite Socialization and Supranational Interest Group Thesis The second and the third thesis of neo-functionalism are elite socialization thesis and supranational interest group thesis. “The elite socialization thesis describes that over time civil servants and politicians involved on a regular basis in the supranational policy process will tend to develop European loyalties and preferences” (Mailand, 2005:6). This loyalty would result in prioritizing the European interests rather than the national ones in the framework of pan-European norms and ideas.
This formation of European-minded agents result in a common European identity. The latter one, the supranational interest group thesis, argues the presence of interest groups putting pressure on governments to accelerate the integration process based on their economic and political interests. “Organized interest groups are also expected to become more European, as corporations and business groups formulate their own interests with an eye to the supranational institutions” (Stroby-Jensen in Cini, 2007:87).
They “may ally themselves with supranational institutions like the European Commission in pursuing their agendas” (Ozcan, 2008:8). 3. Main criticisms for the Neo-functionalist theory The power of a theory is closely related with its accuracy of prediction. That is why neo-functionalism was considered to be quite convincing around 1950s and 1960s. From the middle of 1960 the theory suffered a great deal due to the incompatibilities with reality until its renaissance around mid 1980s due to the developments in integration process.
But in this part the main criticisms towards neo-functionalism before its revival will be elaborated with its imperfections under empirical and theoretical grounds. From an empirical grounds perspective, due to its attempt for being a grand theory, neo-functionalist school put forward some great assumptions, the most attention drawing of which is the emphasis on incremental integration rather than with fluctuations during the integration process of Europe.
On the one hand, compared to its predecessor functionalism (as mentioned at the beginning of the paper, due to the limitations, the contextual approach to neo-functionalism is abstracted from this paper), neo-functionalism takes into consideration the non-automated integration; but on the other hand, ironically, based on spill over concept, neo-functionalism did not take into consideration the possibility of spill-back until the middle of 1960s, which can shortly be defined as the process of disintegration and “withdraw from joint obligations” (Schmitter, 2002:20), and downgrading their commitment to mutual cooperation.
The most explicit example would be the Empty Chair Crisis “From 30 June 1965 to 29 January 1966, in disagreement with the Commission of the European Communities on the financing of the common agricultural policy (CAP), France’s representatives refuse to attend any intergovernmental meetings of the Community bodies in Brussels” (European Navigator, The Empty Chair Crisis). The French president Charles de Gaulle who had a military background created a huge crisis which ended up with the Luxembourg Compromise in 1966.
The main reason for this was the gradual transition from unanimous voting to qualified-majority voting as provided for in the Treaty of Rome with effect from 1966 (Europa Glossary, Luxembourg Compromise). The crisis due to the intergovernmental view of French government formed the end of the first phase of neo-functionalism, leaving its place to a nation-state dominated
perception of integration. From a theoretical grounds perspective, neo-functionalist school was criticized for the inability to predict the nature of integration.
Concerning this, even Haas himself acknowledged that “What once appeared to be a distinctive `supranational? style now looks more like a huge regional bureaucratic appendage to an intergovernmental conference in permanent session. ” (Haas, 1975:6). As it is mentioned in the empirical grounds part, the concept of spill over was seen not to reflect the realities of integration process all the time. The second important critique from a theoretical point of view is towards the elite socialization thesis, which mainly assumes the development of supranational loyalties and identities.
This criticism argues that in fact it is not possible to separate the servants from their national roots and even if they are paid and appointed by a supranational authority, they may still have a “larger ear” (Dihm, 2010: Field Trip to Brussels Meeting) for their national backgrounds either due to due their previous networks or nationalist sentiments. The third criticism focuses on the nature of neo-functionalism, which gives the main importance on the supranational character of international relations.
Again taking into consideration the empirical criticism, the intergovernmental aspect was underestimated in case of national interests by the neo-functionalist school and the main criticism was towards an analysis which is more centered on intergovernmental aspects. 4. The revival of Neo-functionalism in the late 1980s and early 1990s Although Neo-functionalism lost its popularity after the middle of 1960s (after a period of popularity in 1950s and first half of 1960s), it started to gain its popularity due to the revitalization of EU integration process.
This renewed interest is closely associated with the Single European Act (1986) which brought forward creation of an internal market in EU until 1992. “To facilitate the establishment of the internal market, the act provides for increasing the number of cases in which the Council can take decisions by qualified majority voting instead of unanimity” (Europa. eu, Single European Act). This accelerated the integration process in many ways besides removing trade barriers only, making the concept of spillover frequently referred to once again after a long slumber.
Nevertheless according to some, this renewal would not be sufficient to understand the linear progression of social events. “As social scientists, we wish for theories about the social world to build on each other in some linear fashion but more often than not we observe, instead, a cyclical pattern by which different schools of thought replace each other in commanding out attention over time. Leading figures in the various theoretical traditions follow this same pattern” (Orru, 1988:115).
But this was merely a cyclical pattern in fact when a closer analysis is made concerning the main theoretical aspects of the renaissance of neo-functionalism. After the theory strengthened by the developments in EU, the most significant contribution came from Alec Stone Sweet and Wayne Sandholtz`s “European Integration and Supranational Governance”. Their main argument is given at the beginning of their article as “We argue that European integration is provoked and sustained by the development of causal connections between three factors: transnational exchange, supra-national organization, and European Community (EC) rule-making. (Stone-Sweet, Sandholtz, 1997:297) and their main emphasis is on “cross-border transactions and communications that generate a social demand for EC rules and regulation” and institutionalization due to EC rules and as endresult “this process provokes further integration” (Stone-Sweet, Sandholtz, 1997:297). As seen above, their theory is based on a sense of causality and their position is in between the intergovernmental and supranational politics which is seen as a continuum and “the continuum measures the increasing influences of three factors on policy-making processes and outcomes within any given policy sector.
These factors are: (1) supranational organizations; (2) supranational rules; and (3) transnational society” (Stone-Sweet, Sandholtz, 1997:303). Bargaining takes place between a number of actors to decide on which end of the continuum is more predominant during the decision making process; nevertheless, since they also take into consideration the intergovernmental aspect, they argue “the grand bargains are, by definition, intergovernmental” (Stone-Sweet, Sandholtz, 1997:307).
They not only take into consideration the intergovernmental policies, but also accept them existing in all stages and parts of the decision making system by saying “ In fact, intergovernmental decision-making is ubiquitous in the EC, present even at the far right-hand pole of our continuum [which is Supranational Politics]” (Stone-Sweet, Sandholtz, 1997:306).
What they take as their starting point to their theory constitutes the core point of their argument, which is the society as the determinant actor especially “non-state actors who engage in trans-actions and communications across national borders, within Europe” (Stone-Sweet, Sandholtz, 1997:306). It will be the people to demand a certain standard of European rules standards and “as transnational exchange rises, so does the societal demand for supranational rules and organizational capacity to regulate” (Stone-Sweet, Sandholtz, 1997:306).
Stone-Sweet and Sandholtz also make a check of their argument by looking at “Eurosclerosis”. “The period from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s in the context of European integration is often referred to as an era of stagnation or eurosclerosis. ” (Awesti, 2006:2). Stone-Sweet and Sandholtz argue that during this period starting from the Empty Chair Crisis to The Single European Act in other words “ In the worst days of ‘Eurosclerosis’ in the 1970s, levels of intra-EC trade and other forms of exchange soared” and they point out a direct correlation between the integration process and the exchanges that take place.
As seen, transaction based integration theory is depicted as a process which is mainly driven by the volume of transactions taking place for a thorough integration process by triggering a vast extent of regulations in myriads of areas. Conclusion Mentioned as the first words of this paper “Any comprehensive theory of integration should potentially be a theory of disintegration” (Schmitter, 2002:4), Schmitter highlights that the strength and weakness of neo-functionalism is rather similar and what creates integration may end up with disintegrative consequences.
Being accepted as the first of the integration theories, neo-functionalism has had a very debated place due to its defying characteristics against the sovereignty of nation states. When all the information given above is summed up, it would be possible to say that the time span in which a theory exists in, is crucial for its existence. In other words, the perceptions and conditions of its age is of great importance to decide on the consistency of a theory.
Neo-functionalism suffered due to the theoretical assumptions and the realities of integration process in its first phase; nevertheless, the notion of supranationality seemed to be better absorbed and digested by the nation-states in its second phase. Another significant determinant factor about the life of a theory that one can deduct by looking at the example of neo-functionalism is the level of abstractions. How much a theory shall abstract and accept is a major question and although in the first phase Haas didn`t totally deny the authority of nation-states, due to the sensitivities of the age, the theory weakened considerably.
Even if they don? t define themselves as neo-functionalists, Stone-Sweet and Sandholtz`s approach to integration process as a continuum between the two poles of sovereignty brought a fresh start for the decision-making and integration process of EU. All in all, today neo-functionalism with its renewed form, is one of the most significant theories to observe and understand the dynamics of integration process of EU together with all the bargaining process that takes place between the actors involved.
Eu Integration Theories-Neofunctionalism. (2018, Sep 29). Retrieved July 18, 2019, from https://phdessay.com/eu-integration-theories-neofunctionalism/.
A.P. Art History 250 Descriptions
Nationalism and Transnationalism in the Context of the European Union
AP Art History 250 Required Images
Sweet Basil Marketing Plan
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14529
|
__label__cc
| 0.602188
| 0.397812
|
QSI school visit to Gavar Special School Oct 2007
For the past eight years, Mission East has worked to help the Special School in Gavar, where children with special needs from the large region of Gegharkunik come to go to school, and many of whom to live. Gavar Special School is the only one of its kind in the entire region. Unfortunately, the school only accommodates some 100 students. Surveys however show that there are around 700 special needs children in the entire region – in other words, 600 children are still living at home with their parents or elsewhere, often hidden away from the rest of their communities – a legacy of the Soviet era where having a disabled child was considered a great shame.
Since 1999 Mission East has carried out a number of interventions aiming to improve the lives of the children in Gavar:
• Self-help program with community inputs, painting all the classrooms in the school
• Painting the corridors, classrooms and floors
• Renovating bathrooms, toilets, washing facilities, and the kitchen
• Facilitating the provision of a vehicle for fetching children in far-away villages
• Renovating laundry room and showers
• Assisting in other fundraising activities
• Introducing a new curriculum of teaching special needs children based on their individual abilities and educational needs
And finally, last year, together with students from QSI, we started a service project, encouraging students from QSI to provide assistance to the children at Gavar Special School. After our first trip there in November of last year, the students from QSI made great efforts to collect toys and educational materials for the children in Gavar, and in March of this year, during our second visit, the many donations were handed over to the 92 students at Gavar who were thrilled to receive the gifts, but who were equally thrilled to have found new friends from other parts of the world.
Finally, on October 16th, 21 students from QSI travelled to Gavar in order to hand over sports equipment purchased with funds raised through a bake sale and an ice cream sale at QSI.
Here below, four students from QSI each give their description of this very special day, and at the bottom of this gallery, pictures tell the entire story.
Kim Hartzner, MD,
Managing Director of Mission East
On October 16th all of us from the QSI school in Yerevan were excited to go on yet another trip to Gavar.
When we arrived in Gavar, my father made a couple of speeches and spoke about the work Mission East had carried out in the school since we were there last time.
The director of the school, Lavrik Arevshatyan, also made a speech and told us about the program for the day.
We started by touring the premises, which by now were quite familiar to us. We also saw some of the classrooms that Mission East had renovated and met some of the new children that had come to the school.
Then we were divided into three groups: The girls were to attend either sewing or embroidery classes, and all the boys first went to join the shoe-making class. There were some really, really nice shoes. And then we went to the woodcrafts class, where we tried to make some crosses and also learnt how to use a saw.
Then we were gathered again and went to the dining hall where we ate with all the students from Gavar and were treated to the same lunch that they got.
Then we were divided into two teams, mixing students from Gavar and QSI, and we had a really good game of football, with my team (the orange) winning 5-4.
At last we were called together one more time, because all of us from QSI had gathered money through a bake sale and an ice cream sale, and for the money we had collected we had bought a lot of sports equipment with fine Nike balls and other good things for the Gavar students.
We had had a great day in Gavar and had learnt a lot about the lives of others, and how we ourselves should be better at appreciating what we have.
We said our goodbyes to the Gavar students, and went back to our bus and hoped we would soon be able to go to Gavar again.
Philip Hartzner, 11 year-old class
Trip to Gavar 2007
After the visit to Gavar School during 2006, the second trip was easier. The flowers were still in bloom and the trees still had some of their leaves. The weather was windy when we left and during the ride however, the weather softened and even became warm after the tour!
The tour was started by a couple of speeches, one by Dr. Hartzner and another by the director of Gavar school both translated by an Armenian American. After the speeches were held outside, we were let into a dark hallway which I remember from last year’s trip. All the children seemed amazed. Some of them knew us, and others were just extremely happy about our visit. I don’t think they have seen so many people visit at once for a year. They all knew Dr. Hartzner, though, and were delighted to greet him again. He had changed their lives to something enjoyable, instead of risks and boredom and in some cases, suffering.
We all were led through the building, the director talking to Dr. Hartzner who was walking very fast. I guess we had a lot to see. We were all let into one room. It was enough for 4-5 first grade students. There were two new if I remember right and already the director had memorized the whole class’ names. The director is extremely caring for the children! It was told to the speech and it entered our minds when he calmly strode his hand on the new boy’s head, announcing his name and telling us that he was new. I had to translate a couple of times, as it wasn’t told very loud. But even my translation was interrupted when we were divided into boys and girls. The girls had two groups as they were twice as many girls than boys. We, the boys, followed Dr. Hartzner into the shoe-crafting room, while the girls were led to some other place. In the shoe-crafting room, children had the opportunity to design and create shoes. Max was the first to sit beside a boy. Lucky! He was told to carefully cut a piece of cloth which had been glued onto the leather of the shoe while the photograph took pictures of the event. Alain and I were looking at made shoes. Some of them looked like boots that had been damaged from playing soccer in the snow or something like that. They were missing a rubber bottom part of the shoe. Otherwise the front of the shoe needed to be painted yellow or the leather had to be changed. Then we were called to be seated beside a professional twelve year old shoe maker, or at least that’s what I noticed about him. He was quick and at the same time knew what he was doing. He was gluing the first layer of cloth to the inner side of the shoe to the leather. He passed me the glue and a brush. He said something to me that I didn’t quite catch because of Dr. Hartzner’s explanation of the room. And so Alain who sat beside me translated and I was to use as little glue as possible; it must have been expensive! I glued the all the sides on the leather except one which the by told me not to glue. When I finished, he firmly stomped the piece of glued leather onto a layer of cloth which was in front of me on the table. Now it was Alain’s turn. He was told to cut the cloth carefully as to not cut into the leather. It must also have been expensive; for it was real!
After ten minutes or so of working with the kids on making shoes, the tour went on into a room which I had seen before, but in a worse condition. It was the crafting room where the children made objects, manly crosses, and small stools. I both helped saw five pieces of wood with Gurgen using a two handed, two personed saw, and made a cross from pieces of wood off the ground.
Then it was time to eat, so we hurriedly went down the stairs into the dining room, children already starting to ask if we wanted to play soccer, just like last year. Fanta and a quick put-together of bread, meat and vegetables was served and it was forbidden, Dr. Hartzner said, to sit beside someone you knew. And so I placed myself close to someone whom I met last year. He was 12 and his name was Hovannes. He was very Christian, he said, and loved when we, the QSI school of Yerevan, came to visit. He was very poor and therefore lives and eats at the school because his parents couldn’t supply food.
Finally it was time for the match, and so everybody hurried outside to make their teams. It was all mixed so that it would be fair, but it never was in my opinion. And so after the match, everybody was called together and the supplies, all different sorts of balls, were given out and some speeches were made. I had to translate a lot because there were some students going around collecting all our names. There was one very nice kid who asked if we were going. I sadly answered “yes” or “ha” in Armenian. Then we slowly went into the bus, shaking hands with the soccer players, either enemy or allay, and went into the bus. We all shouted bye in Armenian and the bus started to move. Another trip to Gavar was ending; we were all quiet for a moment, whishing that we could go again tomorrow.
Sebastian Pedersen, 13 year-old class
Gavar School
Today was our trip to Gavar Special School which is a very nice school for children with special needs. Children that have been treated unfairly and left on the streets by their parents or relatives also live there. Since the last time I visited Gavar School, I noticed progress. Now, the building looks cleaner and many of the rooms have now been renovated.
As we approached the building, many of the students were standing in the entrance waiting for us to visit their school. They all looked very happy. I was myself delighted to see the smiles on their faces. Next, we went on a tour around the school. Most the classrooms appeared to be the same, but the playroom and one of the bedrooms had been renovated and looked as pretty and neat as a new pin. The renovated rooms both had light pink walls, which looked very attractive, and there were also new beds in the bedrooms. The playrooms even had a new T.V, and music system. Gavar Special School had changed a lot. We were then separated in two groups to attend some of the classes. My group went to the sewing class. It was very fun to sew on pictures. At first, I didn’t quite understand how to sew, and I was horrible at it. But, after a while, I began to get better at it, and could sew properly. The students there were very kind and helped us when we needed their aid.
Next, we had lunch with the Gavar students. Although all of us had brought our own lunches, we ate what the school gave us, and not our lunches. After that, we went to play soccer with the Gavar students, but the teams were mixed, so it wasn’t QSI against Gavar School. Even though I did not play, I could notice that the Gavar students were excellent at the game. They even had professional soccer shirts, so we knew that they were really into the game. Just before leaving, we gave the school brand- new sports equipment that we had earned money for by the “Bake Sale” and the “Ice- cream sale”. They were all delighted. Lastly, we all said our “byes” to the students of Gavar and set off towards our school.
Our trip to Gavar Special School was a very successful one. I had a lot of fun to get to know the students more thoroughly, since they were all very kind and generous. And, since I enjoyed this trip so much, I wish that we could visit the wonderful school again.
Kirti Pujari, 12 year-old class
When we went to Gavar Special School
On Tuesday October, 16 we went to Gavar Special School. This school helps orphans, children with disabilities, and children with learning problems. Mission East is the organization that is helping the school get everything it needs.
As a QSIY school representative I am delighted to see the school take so much process and endeavor to make it a better place. When we first arrived there last year, it was incredulous. The weather was freezing and there were no heating systems. The kids had 3 playrooms that were being renovated, but they didn’t have toys. The rooms were VERY dirty and dusty; the children had to sleep in army cots that didn’t keep them warm in the winter. We all felt very unhappy for the kids, so we decided to make a change.
First we decided on collecting as many toys as possible, the whole school helped by bringing their old toys (they had to be in good shape). When we first got them there the kids were SO happy that they started getting us and taking us to see their school and rooms. Then we thought of doing a bake sale to gain as much money as possible. We got a lot of money, about 60,000 drams. After that we did an ice cream sale that was a really BIG hit. Mr. Gillis’ class girls did a LOT of posters regarding this ice cream sale. The 6 representatives met at lunch time to talk about, and organize this sale. With that we got a lot of money, and with the help of Tomas ( my brother) who found a 50 dram coin in the floor and gave it to the fund raiser, we could buy a lot of sport equipment for the kids.
We were in the bus thinking of what the kids were doing at that time. When we arrived the kids were very anxious to see us .They came and shook our hands and even stare at us with their big brown eyes. We all got inside. Arevshat, the principal whose last name means a lot of sun, showed us how the school has changed a lot. There was a room that last time was being fixed, that when we came this time it was all done and painted, and the kids were already sleeping on it. The Principal Arevshat told us that the kids that would stay to sleep would fight to sleep in this warm cozy room. In the room I even saw some of the toys I gave, that told me that these kids really take care of their toys and personal objects. Then Mr. Harzner broke us into three groups sewing, that was the one I was in, knitting, and woodwork. Since there were no seats left I had to sit next to two girls, they told me what their names were, Lucine and Marine, I don’t quite remember the names correctly, but I do remember how they looked. Lucine asked me where I was from and when I told her I was from Argentina she gasped, surprisingly thought. Then when went to have lunch. All the kids were so exited to sit next to us that in our table one of them nearly spilled their fanta cup! I was sitting next to a boy who, I guess, was sad or angry. So I tried to cheer him up asking him if he wanted some sandwich or some fanta, but he said “che”, no in Armenian. Lucine, who was sitting next to Kyle, asked me once more where I came from, I told her again, she scuttled to catch up with another little girl and told her were I came from.
After a while when all of us had finished eating, we went to play soccer. The kids at Gavar School are GREAT at soccer. There was a boy about my age, or more, that kicked the soccer ball while in the air. The orange team won, but we didn’t get mad or anything because we didn’t want to get the kids sad. When we finished the soccer game, we went to catch up with Mr. and Mrs. Gillis. We were going home. So now it was time to give the sports equipment to Aravshat, the principal, Margaret ( Maggie) Ryan said a little speech about how we gained the money and why we gained it. When we gave the sports equipment to the principal and P.E teacher, the kids were jumping up and down, they were REALLY exited. The kids were rummaging around the bags.
We said good bye, and then I thought “will we ever see them again?”
~Mercedes Alvarez, 12 year-old class
Mr Gillis from QSI with one of the girls at Gavar Special School
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14530
|
__label__cc
| 0.644967
| 0.355033
|
SDO sees partial eclipse in space
by Lina Tran, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
On May 25, 2017, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, experienced a partial solar eclipse in space when it observed the moon passing in front of the sun. The lunar transit lasted about an hour, between 2:24 and 3:17 p.m. EDT, with the moon covering about 89 percent of the sun at the peak of its journey across the face of the sun. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO/Joy Ng, producer
On May 25, 2017, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, saw a partial solar eclipse in space when it caught the moon passing in front of the sun. The lunar transit lasted almost an hour, between 2:24 and 3:17 p.m. EDT, with the moon covering about 89 percent of the sun at the peak of its journey across the sun's face. The moon's crisp horizon can be seen from this view because the moon has no atmosphere to distort the sunlight.
While the moon's edge appears smooth in these images, it's actually quite uneven. The surface of the moon is rugged, sprinkled with craters, valleys and mountains. Peer closely at the image, and you may notice the subtle, bumpy outline of these topographical features.
Later this summer on Aug. 21, 2017, SDO will witness another lunar transit, but the moon will only barely hide part of the sun. However, on the same day, a total eclipse will be observable from the ground. A total solar eclipse—in which the moon completely obscures the sun—will cross the United States on a 70-mile-wide ribbon of land stretching from Oregon to South Carolina. Throughout the rest of North America—and even in parts of South America, Africa, Europe and Asia—a partial eclipse will be visible.
The moon's rough, craggy terrain influences what we see on Earth during a total solar eclipse. Light rays stream through lunar valleys along the moon's horizon and form Baily's beads, bright points of light that signal the beginning and end of totality.
The moon's surface also shapes the shadow, called the umbra, that races across the path of totality: Sunlight peeks through valleys and around mountains, adding edges to the umbra. These edges warp even more as they pass over Earth's own mountain ranges. Visualizers used data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, coupled with NASA topographical data of Earth, to precisely map the upcoming eclipse in unprecedented detail. This work shows the umbral shape varies with time, and is not simply an ellipse, but an irregular polygon with slightly curved edges.
LRO is currently at the moon gathering data and revolutionizing our understanding of Earth's nearest celestial neighbor. Knowing the shape of Earth and the moon plays a big part in accurately predicting the umbra's shape as it falls on Earth, come Aug. 21.
SDO will see its partial eclipse in space just after the total eclipse exits the United States.
Image: NASA satellite spots moon's shadow over Patagonia
Provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Citation: SDO sees partial eclipse in space (2017, May 26) retrieved 18 July 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2017-05-sdo-partial-eclipse-space.html
Probability distribution: exponential of a quartic
NASA moon data provides more accurate 2017 eclipse path
SDO witnesses a double eclipse (w/ video)
See a flirtatious lunar eclipse this Friday night
Touch new stamp and presto, total solar eclipse becomes moon
Brief moon eclipse coming April 4
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14531
|
__label__cc
| 0.574889
| 0.425111
|
Tag Archives: broadcast
KUAR Arts and Letters The Boy and the Firefly
Posted on August 20, 2017 by lksukany
We recorded a show with KUAR Arts and Letters about The Boy and the Firefly It’s called “A Fractured Fairytale.” The following is a transcription of the interview.
KUAR Arts and Letters
A Fractured Fairytale
Narrator: Once there was a boy named Calipso. He was small even for a little boy. His family told him so. Calipso never liked hearing that he was small, but he was good-natured about it. And polite to his seven brothers and sisters, except at dinner when they would steal his carrots and he would pout.
J. Bradley Minnick: Today on Arts and Letters, we’ll be talking with musicians and writers Lauren and Micah Sukany. Their children’s story, “The Boy and the Firefly” is a multimedia bedtime story featuring original music and illustrations. Lauren and Micah Sukany, the Damsels in Distress, and the fractured fairytale of “The Boy and the Firefly” on Arts and Letters. This podcast will also be available with an accompanied slideshow. From the studios of KUAR in Little Rock, I’m J. Bradley Minnick and welcome to Arts and Letters, a program providing opportunities for the celebration of the arts and humanities.
Narrator: One evening after a bad day of school and all of his delicious carrots had been stolen, Calipso could take no more. He whistled, then he shouted, then slammed his fists on the table, and then pinched his sister. It seemed as if to the family a noisy ghost had come to dinner. They looked underneath the kitchen table, then behind the door, and then in the cupboards and the pantry. Who had made all that fuss?
Song: The Flight of the Firefly
Wish so long for great to happen.
Now it’s here, I’m here with you.
Show me worlds and so much more.
Things are changing, that’s for sure.
Narrator: “It was I,” said Calipso standing on the table. “Oh!” said his mother and father. Calipso was sent to bed without any dessert.
J. Bradley Minnick: Today we’ll be talking with Lauren and Micah Sukany, husband and wife, creators of the band The Damsels in Distress. Their multimedia children’s book “The Boy and the Firefly” is a fractured fairytale, a postmodern bedtime story for our modern times, complete with original music and illustrations.
Narrator: Calipso trudged up the long, long flight of stairs to his bedroom. However, Calipso’s bedroom was not a room at all. It was more of a windowsill partitioned off from the garret stairwell by pale curtains. Settling into his wicker basket, Calipso peered out a small window at the moon, “Oh, that I was a beam of light too.” Then Calipso noticed a lovely thing. Off in the distance he recognized a faint glimmering light. Slowly that tiny, white bulb floated up to his window like the reverse flight of a lazy paper airplane. Amazed, Calipso watched as the light drifted through a crack in the window and landed on his nose. “Oh!” “Hello,” said the firefly, “Are you ready?” “Ready for what?” “Your flight of course.” Without answering, Calipso took hold of the firefly and they flew off into the night sky glowing ever so dimly.
J. Bradley Minnick: Lauren and Micah Sukany, musicians, artists, writers, welcome.
Lauren: Oh, it’s so good to be here.
Micah: Hello Sir. Thanks for having us.
J. Bradley Minnick: This is a beautiful concept. Where did you guys get the idea?
Micah: At the time I had written several prose poems and a number of parables. I shared a few drafts with Lauren.
Lauren: I was also inspired. Though I had been reading a lot of fairy tales at the time and had just finished one called “The Dragon and the Rose.” It’s by David Scott Daniell and Sheila Stratton. And, it’s where a somewhat frustrated apprentice adventures alongside a princess. So, I told Micah I wanted us to write a fairytale story together with accompanying illustration.
Micah: And we were already writing and performing music as The Damsels, so the idea of putting together a soundtrack came together pretty naturally for us.
Lauren: And then we were offered a show at a gallery called Good Girl Art Gallery. It was really fresh, kind of inventive, innovative place, so we wanted to come up with something that was just really different.
J. Bradley Minnick: So this brought all of your talents together – art, music, and storytelling.
Lauren: And it was something we could do together.
Micah: Yeah, we wanted a complete work of art.
J. Bradley Minnick: And it’s kind of fractured. There are series of stories and they’re all related to the main story, but they’re not all connected directly.
Micah: Yes, um, that was part of from the prose poems. In which I found that if you stack a bunch of images, like collage them, they start forming associations of their own. And it can be very evocative without you actually having to say anything. And then going back to the concept of a dream – dream episodes are connected by the subconscious, if you believe in that kind of thing, and so each of the stories are somehow related. They are related to whatever the subconscious is trying to work out, but the actual content is not at all connected.
J. Bradley Minnick: So, it’s a dream. It’s literally putting us into the mindset of a dream.
Micah: Yeah, it’s about dreams in the style of a dream.
Narrator: Together they flew over wide rivers of clouds and around dense mountains of light into the Land of Dreams. Despite the great distance they traveled, Calipso felt as if he had been there many times before. Everyone has for everyone dreams. Stepping down under the shadow of a tall tree, Calipso felt a bit. “I felt a bit, well, cotton-headed, but all better for being back on the ground.” Looking around he saw seven bridges stretching from one bank of a river to another. “Those are the seven bridges into the Land of Dreams. Before your grandfather’s grandfather’s time there was one bridge, but now there are seven.” Seven. Then all around him, Calipso saw a great multitude of people. He giggled, for they were all in their pajamas. “Those are the dreamers. They wait for Grog.” “Who is Grog?”
Song: Giant Song (Grog)
I am Grog from the land of Nod.
The land of mist and the land of fog.
I am the seven bridges keeper.
I am the way and you are the sleeper.
Seven bridges, seven secret words.
Heads, shoulders, knees, and toes.
Arms and legs and torsos.
Seven bridge, seven secrets heard.
Each body part knows one secret word.
J. Bradley Minnick: So, looking at this book Lauren, it’s beautifully hand done.
Lauren: Thank you.
J. Bradley Minnick: Could you talk a little bit about creating the handmade book.
Lauren: Basically, they are linoleum block prints. And some of them are multi-colored. That means that, well, I used a wooden spoon transfer cause I didn’t have access to a press. So, each one of the blocks were inked up, and then a piece of paper was put over it, and then I rubbed a wooden spoon across the back of it. And that’s how the prints’ made. so, if it’s multi-colored, that means I did that twice. And there are I think 13 or 14 illustrations, so as you can imagine, there was just ink and paper all over our little studio apartment at the time. And then I also wanted to hand bind the books, so it was a lot of work, but I feel like that’s kind of what we like. We like a challenge.
Narrator: Calipso was curious, but his curiosity turned to fear when he saw a towering giant. The boy watched as Grog lifted one of the sleepers, placed him on a large, white stone, and dismembered him!
Axes, knives, hammers, and cleavers.
I am the giant and you are the sleepers.
Chop, chop, on the chopping block.
Timers, roosters, set alarm clocks.
By the time you wake up, I’ll put you back together.
But there’s no need to worry cause the dream land last forever.
I am the way and you are the sleepers.
Narrator: “Oh, how horrible!” As Grog reached for another sleeper, Calipso, turning away, noticed a twitch in the arm of the dismembered man and another twitch in the man’s leg. And then an eye blinked. And then a head rolled upright. And then a toe twitched. Slowly each part began to stir and make it’s way across one of the bridges. “How peculiar, I wonder what a toe dreams?” “A toe dreams what an eye dreams, what an arm dreams. Grog the giant puts them all back together.” “How can I get across the bridge?” “Oh, you are quite safe. You are too small for anyone to notice.” Relieved, Calipso crossed unnoticed into the Land of Dreams.
J. Bradley Minnick: So, this story’s taken a turn. Here, we have a, dismemberment, and then a toe dreaming.
Micah: All of the Grimm’s fairytales are fairly violent. And fairytales in general, or at least the older ones, contain a lot of violence. But I think more than anything, it was just a joke to explain how you feel so disconnected when you first wake up. It’s like, “Are these my legs? Are these my eyes?” It’s because you’ve been cut apart and then you’ve come back together. And there’s also kind of an allusion, I think the Egyptians would bury their dead with each of the organs in its own jar, kind of giving it honor. It has a kind of soul.
J. Bradley Minnick: And we talked a little bit about how they’re told in sections. How do you see the sections working together? They are dreamlike, but at the same time they forward the story.
Lauren: I feel like it’s kind of just the idea of just wanting adventure. So, in Calipso’s story, he’s having an adventure and then he’s happening in to other adventurers’ dreams and seeing how their adventure plays out. So, it is dreams, and it is connected through adventure.
J. Bradley Minnick: You’re listening to “The Boy and the Firefly,” a multimedia children’s story written and performed by Lauren and Micah Sukany. Let’s listen to the Land of Dreams.
Narrator: There once was a boy who wanted a bicycle. “Not just any bicycle.” He needed one that would take him on adventures to faraway places. He needed a bicycle that would take him through the sky and to the nearest star where the great princesses lived. He imagined a great and brave quest. He would lay under the almond tree dreaming of these things.
One day an old woman hobbled past. The boy heard her approach, so he opened his eyes and looked at her. “I saw your dreams and I know them.” The boy looked away ashamed of his vulnerability. But, inside her cloak was a red bicycle. The boy’s shame was turned to delight, but at what price? “No money, but if you take the bicycle, your life now will not be your own.” The boy took the red bicycle and peddled and peddled. Some days were tiring and other days weak, but most days were filled with joy–the joy of fulfillment and familiarity.
J. Bradley Minnick: So, we have bicycles and shady deals. The familiar made strange.
Micah: Like a dream, adventure is desired and adventure is achieved.
Lauren: And there can’t be a fairytale without a little old lady hobbling along a road.
J. Bradley Minnick: Or a bicycle maybe. I like the red bicycle. Any reason for red bicycle.
Lauren: I had bought Micah a red bicycle for his birthday. And, that was before I realized that he didn’t actually ride bicycles.
Micah: So, I crashed pretty quickly.
Lauren: Yeah, but there’s something nice about a shiny, red bicycle. You think radioflyer and all that.
Micah: Also, I think adding random details makes it seem as though there were some sort of significance to them. And, it’s just random.
J. Bradley Minnick: So, tell us about this second picture. Would you describe it for us?
Lauren: Yeah, it’s Calipso, the boy, sitting on a little jar, his little stool. And the firefly comes and starts explaining to him what they’re going to go be doing. And, so it’s this little bedroom with the little window and the bright shining star. And he’s listening to what the firefly has to say.
J. Bradley Minnick: It has kind of an Aladdin feel.
Lauren: I wanted to do that kind of golden color because of the firefly. But, I wasn’t sure. I ended up resolving it by doing the whole image that color versus just the firefly.
J. Bradley Minnick: And Calipso is so small and the firefly is his size.
Lauren: But, I guess then he even shrinks at some point in the story.
Micah: Yeah, that’s one of the things I love about Calipso’s size. It varies wildly depending on what we need him to be scaled at.
J. Bradley Minnick: J. Bradley Minnick, you are listening to a postmodern fairytale, “The Boy and the Firefly” on Arts and Letters
Song: The Boy with the Broom
So my mom gave me a broom
She told me to go sweep my room.
But I sweep all day, I sweep all night.
I sweep the mountains, beach, and sky.
I love to sweep. It’s the thing to do.
I would sweep for them, and I’ll sweep for you.
Cause I sweep all day, I sweep all night.
I sweep the walls both low and high.
I sweep a lot.
J. Bradley Minnick: This is “A Boy with the Broom”
Narrator: Once upon a time there was a boy with a broom. His mother told him “your chore for the day is to sweep your room.” The boy did not grumble. Nor did he stop there. He swept out his room and swept throughout the house. He swept the house and swept right out the door. He swept the whole front porch, and he swept the stone walkway. He just kept sweeping right on into the forest. And, after he swept the whole forest, he moved down into the valley. And, after he was done with that, he moved on towards the desert. He swept and he swept. He swept the mountains, the ocean, as well as the beach. He swept the caves and the underworld. He swept high and low, near and far, deep and wide.
As he finished up a canyon, he stopped at a tall tower. He looked up and saw two damsels in distress. “Hullo” “Hello.” “Nice weather we’re having today, eh?” “Oh yes, quite lovely.” After sweeping around the tower, the boy waved goodbye and continued on sweeping toward the morning light.
And when I sweep I feel complete.
No matter where I sweep for free.
Cause I sweep all day and sweep all night.
I sweep the dark. I sweep the light.
J. Bradley Minnick: Sweeping and sweeping and sweeping.
Micah: The best traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving. In order to have an adventure or purpose or meaning, the first boy has to receive something that he himself desires – the red bicycle. This boy just is given a broom, anything at all, whatever life hands the boy, i.e., you the reader, is sufficient to make a life’s work of worth – or work.
Lauren: I just like the image of someone taking something to an extreme level.
Micah: There’s a little bit of insanity to it.
Lauren: And then writing this song was really fun. When we ended up performing this song, Micah got a broom and so I played guitar and sang it while Micah swept.
J. Bradley Minnick: What’s the relationship between work and art in the Sukany household.
Micah: I feel like the relationship could be called culture. In which we have a kind of culture between the two of us and we try to create works of art that would document the culture. So, that was why having a complete work like this was so attractive because it has visual components and auditory components. Like, if you were an anthropologists and you came upon our family, it would be the Sukany tribe. And, they would have their own folktales and their own folk music and their own way of thinking about the world and interpreting what sleep means and what dreams are and all of that stuff.
J. Bradley Minnick: Right, so it’s about sleep and dreams and magic.
Micah: For our little tribe.
J. Bradley Minnick: Tell us a little bit about some of the songs – “The Flight of the Firefly.”
Lauren: Yeah, “The Flight of the Firefly” was a really cool song for us because it involved Micah being on multiple instruments at once.
Micah: Yes, I had a kick drum with my right foot, um I had a guitar in my lap, and a clarinet right next to me. And, each of the sections I’d have to quickly grab it. It was supposed to be kind of like a show piece.
J. Bradley Minnick: That’s great.
Micah: Vaudevillian. Feat of strength.
Lauren: But it would build. It went from kind of being like, “We’re going to go on this adventure to a very full sound towards the end of now “We’re flying and this is the big adventure.
Micah: Yes, it was definitely to see how full we could get with just the two of us.
Lauren: Which has always been a struggle actually.
J. Bradley Minnick: So, let’s hear “The Lantern Dance.”
The Flight of the Firefly
Narrator: Long ago there was a beautiful girl, a princess-to-be. She was polite and demure, but enjoyed nothing more than running the hills and forests at night. She kept late hours, dancing wild and barefooted with the woodland creatures. But she grew from a girl into a woman. Soon a prince came out from the palace and took her back as his wife. She exchanged summer dresses for gowns and meadows for ballrooms.
Everyone marveled at her grace and poise, but like a flower pulled by its roots, she began to fade. Seeing this, the prince summoned all of the wisest doctors and apothecaries, but none could find a cure. Hope was gone until one day an old seamstress came to the palace and talked with the prince. “Go away, she is dying and has no more need for gowns now.” So, without a word, the old woman left, but she left behind a gossamer gown. Intrigued, the princess picked up the garment and recognized its patterns at once. She threw the garment on and burst from the palace onto the gardens outside.
As she ran, the summer fireflies rose up around her–flashing and falling, some clinging to her, others rising again. Those in her gown cast out the shadows of the shapes embroidered there. And around her the woodland shadows gathered. She danced and the prince watched in the courtyard.
J. Bradley Minnick: A little different feel. We’ve had bicycles, we’ve had old women, we’ve had brooms sweeping the world, and now we have a kind of traditional fairytale?
Micah: I like the placement because the preceding tale is the boy taking on a nature of the sweeper and then that sort of fills him. So, it’s a self-recognition. In this case, it’s the prince, the outsider, who recognizes “Oh, this is the princess’s real nature. She must be in the wild. She must dance. She must do these wild things.”
J. Bradley Minnick: Do we have a picture that accompanies this? Okay, yes, so this is very abstract.
Lauren: It is the prince watching from the doorway and the princess dancing. And I used two colors, so that it would look like a shadow and then a shadow of the shadow. The woodland creatures would be very abstract. Are they in her dress? Are they on the outside and their shadows are reflected on her dress?
Micah: Yeah, I just thought it would be really pretty to think of a dress that allowed light to pass through with the images of woodland creatures placed into it, so that they cast a shadow out onto the palace walls around her. So, as she dances, the fireflies, which are there because you can’t keep them out are flashing lights. And they’re shining and projecting out the images that she is so familiar with around her. So, she feels that she is in her native environment, even though she really isn’t. She’s still in the palace. And then it was the way of using the image of the firefly again, so stacking that image of the firefly.
J. Bradley Minnick: This is Arts and Letters. You’re listening to “The Boy and the Firefly.” We’re going to talk about the little boy who loved to play the flute, “The Flautist.”
Narrator: Once there was a little boy who loved to play the flute. He practiced whenever he could. He practiced after working in the factory, before bed, and again in the morning before work. He played every day because he loved it. And, when he slept, he dreamed of being a master flautist. However, the boy’s family was poor, so when he woke up, he went to work.
During the same time, there was another boy. He was taught to play the flute; however, he was not an interested student, and paid little attention to his instructor. He would skip out on his lessons to run with older boys and to fish. Despite years of study, the boy had learned only one simple tune.
It was his father’s dream to play the flute, to be a flautist, not his. Every day the father asked his son, “Play for me.” And every day the boy would play the same weak tune. This continued until one day, his father did not ask his son to play. “I’m too weak and too tired to ask you to play for me.” The next day, the father died. The boy missed his father very much.
J. Bradley Minnick: Sad. Kind of sad.
Lauren: A little bit, yeah. Whenever you (Micah) wrote that part, I was like “really, he just dies?”
Micah: I thought it was funny. It’s like the joke at the end. Like, “where are they going? Oh gosh, is this a lesson about art, the nature of art? Is it like that old Japanese story where a student learns the simple tune and it takes him to the very end of his life before he actually plays it with his spirit and then finally he gets approval at the end after mastering the instrument?” No, no. The real thing is that the father dies. That’s it.
J. Bradley Minnick: So, he says, “I’m too weak and too tired to ask you to play for me,” but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want him to play.
Micah: That’s true. He still has those desires.
J. Bradley Minnick: And then he dies.
Micah: And then he dies. That’s it.
J. Bradley Minnick: Could we talk a little bit about the flute itself and what kind of images it conjures up in this story.
Micah: Well, literally, the Japanese story was what I had in mind when I was writing this. So, I was hoping the flute would tip the reader off to think about that story. About how it takes a lifetime of suffering and joy to move beyond simple technical mastery to artistic mastery. And, so I was hoping that the reader would think, “Oh, flute, okay, there’s that tale. There’s a very similar structure. The boy is playing. It’s discipline and all of that stuff. Master.” And then be surprised that the real heart of the story is about a father and son being distracted by some sort of pursuit, when their relationship and the death of the father is really the crux. That’s everything. Or, I mean, in also kind of like a dream, in which it seems to be going in one direction and then an event happens and then that’s the thing. It’s kind of like nonsense or not meaning. There’s no meaning here. Boom.
J. Bradley Minnick: Um, I do like though the meaning is a little bit about mastery. Because despite years of study, the boy had only learned one simple tune.
Micah: I also wanted you to be able to read in to the simple tune that the father and sons relationship is one note at this point.
J. Bradley Minnick: So, just tell us about wrapping this up. You have, and they’re not disparate tales, but they’re loosely connected “Jungian” moments. How do we wrap something like this up?
Lauren: That’s what I kept saying. “Micah, is Calipso going to be changed? Will he go back and his brothers and sisters respect him? Like, how should we finish this thing?”
Micah: I was really hoping that the final conversation between Calipso and the firefly would clue people in to what they should take from it. The final story gives you an indication of what it’s all about. Yes, it could have been really good for the son to have mastered the flute. It would have helped the father and son relationship, but that’s really not what it’s about. In the sense that, it doesn’t really matter once he’s dead. It all disappears. It’s important, but it’s not important. A dream feels so vivid and real because you both believe that it’s real, but know that it’s not. If you approach life with the same perception “this is important and it’s not,” you’re going to do well. It will have all the vividness and excitement of a dream being both attached to it and also with bearing in mind that none of it really matters.
J. Bradley Minnick: We imagine we have a dream and that we can attain that dream, but in some ways you’re saying I think that we have the dream life and we have real life, and sometimes they cross over. And, sometimes they don’t.
Micah: I think we try to resolve that in the stories by saying that, that your nature is what matters. So, there’s your dreams and there are dreams that are against your nature and there are dreams that are with your nature. The characters that do well are the characters that dream along the lines of their own natures.
Narrator: Stepping back onto the bridge, Calipso felt that he was somehow different. He felt bolder and more alive. “I love to dream. I can be or do anything.” “So many people feel that way, but a dream is something that just happens to you. Like life, it is little more than that.” “Then why do I feel so free here?” “Because you believe so well, and yet you do not believe at all. It is a paradox, but you will understand more as you grow.” Calipso and the firefly left the way they came. They passed through the clouds and fields of white–flying over the clouds beneath the moon.
Twinkle, twinkle little star.
Up above the world so high.
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle twinkle little star.
Starlight, star bright, the first star I see tonight.
I wish I may, I wish I might.
Have this wish I wish tonight.
Narrator: Calipso saw the towns and villages twinkling like fireflies. He began to understand. Looking ahead Calipso saw a bright star hovering in the eastern sky. It was the last star before morning. Without hesitation, Calipso closed his eyes and made a wish.
J. Bradley Minnick: Broadcast from the studios of KUAR in Little Rock, you’ve been listening to Arts and Letters. Thanks for joining us. If you’d like to listen to this broadcast with accompanying “The Boy and the Firefly” illustrations, go to kuar.org. Leave us a comment there, and let us know what you thought about the program. Thank you to writers, illustrators, musicians, and songwriters Lauren and Micah Sukany. Whose fractured fairytale, “The Boy and the Firefly” collects our dreams, reconstitutes our true natures, and reconsiders the dream traveler in all of us. Thanks to the sound engineering of Mr. Chris Hickey, who helps us produce these shows. Generous funding for this episode provided by the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. For Arts and Letters, I’m J. Bradley Minnick. Let’s heed the words of Carl Jung, “Dreams are the guiding words of the soul. Why should I henceforth not love my dreams and not make their riddling images into objects of my daily consideration.”
You can read The Boy and the Firefly online at paperopera.com/2017/08/13/the-boy-and-the-firefly/
You can listen online at KUAR Arts and Letters The Boy and the Firefly at ualrpublicradio.org/post/fractured-fairytale
You can listen to The Boy and the Firefly Story and Songs at thedamselsindistress.bandcamp.com/album/the-boy-and-the-firefly
Posted in Art, Art Show, Art Studio, Art Supplies, Artist Interview, KUAR Arts & Letters, Music, Publications, Stories, The Boy and the Firefly, The Damsels in Distress Tagged #kuar, #kuar arts and letters, #printmaking, #the damsels, A Fractured Fairytale, Arkansas Humanities Council, art, artist, beam of light, book, bookbinding, broadcast, Calipso, Calipso closed his eyes and made a wish, Carl Jung, children's book, children's story, Chris Hickey, delicious carrots, dream paradox, dream traveler, dreams, Drow the giant, Edited by J. Bradley Minnick, fairytale, firefly, flautist, flute, folk, folk tale, folksong, folksongs, fractured fairytale, Good Girl Art Gallery, grog, Grog the giant, Illustrate, Illustration, Illustrations by L.K. Sukany, illustrator, ink, J. Bradley Minnick, Japanese story, Jungian, KUAR Arts and Letters about The Boy and the Firefly, kuar.org, linoleum blocks, Music, musicians, National Endowment for the Humanities, old woman hobbled near, paperopera.com, paradox, pinched his sister, seven bridges, seven bridges into the Land of Dreams, storytelling, The Boy and the Broom, The Boy and the Firefly, The Damsels in Distress, the end, The Land of Dreams, The Land of Nod, The Lantern Dance, The Red Bicycle, thedamselsindistress.bandcamp.com, Two Boys and Two Fathers, violence in fairytales, Written by Micah and L.K. Sukany 2 Comments
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14532
|
__label__cc
| 0.672719
| 0.327281
|
ŌPEDIA
OMINA CITIES SEMINAR
OMINA SUMMIT 2018
CR FASHION SUMMIT
OMINA TV
Rethinking Fashion
The global fashion industry is one of the most important sectors of the global economy. It creates jobs and clothes for people all over the planet, but it is also one of the most polluting industries in the world.
The over-consumption of fashion items, the rising demand for synthetic fibers, the amount of waste produced by discarded garments, the chemicals used in the dyeing processes, and the agriculture pollution of fashion crops used for textiles are some of the main contributors to the industry’s pollution levels.
In addition to the environmental issues, the fashion industry’s lack of transparency in the manufacture processes is a serious hazard to social development. The industry employs over 25 million workers in over 100 countries, mostly in the developing world, and many of them work long hours under strenuous conditions for a dire salary. An estimated 75% of garment laborers worldwide face poverty.
The alarming condition of this multibillion industry requires an urgent multisectoral compromise from policy makers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers. Since August 2017, OMINA has been tackling these issues from a solution-oriented, educational perspective, aiming to raise awareness and spread knowledge in order to foster active and well-educated entrepreneurs and consumers able to make smarter, cleaner and better choices.
COSTA RICA FASHION SUMMIT
The Costa Rica Fashion Summit was created as a launchpad to make “made in Costa Rica” synonymous with sustainability and social justice…
ECO-INNOVATIONS UPTAKE
New materials for a new world.
COPYRIGHT © OMINA FOUNDATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRIVACY POLICY
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Are you ok with this? Accept Read More
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14539
|
__label__wiki
| 0.7032
| 0.7032
|
Agents of SHIELD 1.20 “Nothing Personal”
This is probably going to be short and sweet, because, well, it was just so spot-on.
I mean, come on folks, even S.H.I.E.L.D. legend Jim Steranko is now on–board, so you know the creative hive-mind behind Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is finally on the right page. And viewership has picked up, so hopefully this means some of the folks who gave up early are coming back to the fold. Because, without a doubt, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is becoming must-see-TV.
With two episodes left in the season.
While watching this episode I found myself saying out loud, “This is just perfectly constructed.” And it was. Every scene hit its mark, the pacing was excellent, the dialogue was snappy and fun, and even the action scenes did exactly what they needed to do. Sure the CGI during Lola’s flight was a little dodgy, but dammit, LOLA FLEW AGAIN!
I’ve been missing that.
But seriously, it’s not just the flying car. We got a Man-Thing name drop, Agent May digging up Coulson’s empty grave like it’s no big thing, Skye invoking Godwin’s Law with Ward, Coulson freaking out (on the inside), Deathlok being Deathlok, May being badass, Coulson being badass, and Maria Hill being badass. Plus we found out who was in charge of the TAHITI project.
Really there’s just so much good stuff here, I just feel like a review is unnecessary.
But if there was one thing that should be highlighted above all else, it was the interactions between Skye (Chloe Bennet) and Ward (Brett Dalton). The two characters that most vocal viewers had an aversion to right from the start, get the spotlight and a chance to really bring their characters’ relationship to a new level that makes you wonder where these actors were all along.
Did we really need all that build-up to make these scenes pay off like they do? I don’t know. Probably not. But in the diner, watching Skye make subtle digs at Ward while he tries not to react, there’s just this groundswell of emotional support. We want her to say these things. We want her to knock the bastard down a peg or two. And she does.
While she doesn’t actually escape (at that point), it is just a fantastic moment for the characters and for the performers. We’re finally getting to see what they can do, now that the scripts have emotional weight. And when she calls him a Nazi and he tries to backpedal, it is priceless. Dalton plays Ward perfectly in that moment, allowing us a glimpse into the sociopath behind his eyes. When he hugs her and tells her that his feelings for her were real, I think we all reacted the same way she does.
We all want to vomit.
That was a perfect moment in one of the most effectively crafted episodes of the season.
Agents of SHIELD 1.20 "Nothing Personal"
Agents of SHIELDBrett DaltonChloe BennetClark GreggDeathlokHYDRAMan-ThingMing-Na WenPaul Brian McCoy
The Originals 1.20 “A Closer Walk with Thee”
All Binge… No Purge: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Two
Unnatural Selections: Bering Sea Beast (2013) by Brooke Brewer
Lost in Translation 151: The Green Hornet by Scott Delahunt
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14553
|
__label__wiki
| 0.816333
| 0.816333
|
Tag: will modi become pm in 2019
#Elections2019: Left could soon be left out of Kerala if BJP continues to bat on front foot
The Bharatiya Janata Party under its strategy of expansion in east and south India is betting on Kerala. The party finally managed to open its account in Kerala with veteran leader OP Rajagopal winning from Nemom in the 2016 Assembly elections. In another seat in Manjeshwar, it lost by a whisker – just 89 votes. The BJP-led NDA recorded 15% vote share, almost three times its 2011 tally. In many seats, the BJP managed to convert bipolar contest into triangular.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Pinarayi Vijayan-led CPM government at a BJP rally in Thrissur on January 25. He reassured the people of the state that the BJP would continue to uphold the religious and cultural traditions of Kerala, and spiritedly face the violence of the CPM.
“For every bomb they throw on us, for every stone they hit at out workers, for each form of their violence, our resolve turns stronger to end their undemocratic rule,” Modi said. He also exposed the hypocrisy of the Congress on the issue.
Caste and religion matrix
Hindus account for 55% of the population and Muslims and Christians form 45%. Muslims and Christians have traditionally supported the Congress while Ezhavas and Dalits have backed the Left. The upper caste Nair vote has been split between the Congress and Left. The BJP’s entry has left both the Congress and Left worried, more so Left because the BJP’s target is Left vote blocks. Upper caste and OBCs are anchor voting segments of the BJP in North and West India. That is why we have witnessed bloody violence in the state where hundreds of BJP / RSS workers have been killed in the past decade.
With the Left’s influence reducing drastically in Indian politics, it being out of power of Bengal and after having lost its fortress Tripura to the BJP, it is naturally worried. The people of the state who had no choice except to vote alternatively for the Left and Congress now have an alternative.
Kerala has one of the highest minority population in India after Northeastern states and Jammu and Kashmir. It accounts for the highest Christian population (61 lakh), and sixth highest Muslim population (89 lakh) in the country. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, 64% of the UDF vote share and 39% of LDF vote share was accounted for by minorities’ support.
BJP increasingly challenging Left’s hold over Hindu voters
In the past two elections, the BJP has expanded its voter base to impact both the Left as well as Congress. Around three-fourths of the BJP’s vote share came from Ezhavas and Nairs in 2014 and 2016.
The BJP hopes that the Sabarimala issue could help it woo a larger number of Nair and Ezhavas votes from both the Congress and LDF significantly boosting its vote share. This could add another 10-15% to the BJP’s kitty. With a strong push for Dalits and strategy to woo Christian community in line with Goa, the BJP can reach the 25-30% mark which is enough to put it in contention given that 30% vote share in a tripartite environment can deliver numerous seats (30-40) for the BJP.
Karnataka and Assam model
The party became a force to reckon with in Karnataka by targeting urban voters, Lingayats, upper caste, and border districts. In Assam, its strong push on immigration issue helped consolidate the Hindu voters in favor of the majority. In Kerala, a strong push on Hindutva, re-iterating party is a natural claimant of this voting block, together with highlighting the anti-Hindu stance of Left parties nationally in other states, could help party wean away a large section of Left front voters over time.
Sabarimala issue provides ammunition to BJP
Modi in Thrissur rally thundered, “The conduct of Kerala’s LDF government on Sabarimala issue will go down in history as one of the most shameful behaviour by any party and government. We knew that communists do not respect Indian history, culture, and spirituality but nobody imagined that they will have such hatred.” The Congress’s guarded stance and Rahul’s new statement that traditions should be respected shows that it also wants to walk on a balanced path on this tricky issue.
BJP’s inroads could force UDF-LDF to have an under-the-table deal
The Left and Congress forged an alliance for Bengal and failed miserably. Can they come together in Kerala to thwart competition from the BJP? The Left didn’t attend the Mamata rally in Kolkata, but the Congress did. Any formal communists and Congress collaboration could spell trouble for both parties, especially Left, keeping the 2021 state polls in mind.
With a strong trend of the public overthrowing incumbent governments, the BJP could push to make it a contest between the Congress and the saffron party in 2021. Even during the 2016 state elections, there were reports of under-the-table deals between the LDF and UDF to ensure the BJP doesn’t open its account in Kerala. This could be exploited by the BJP to the hilt to gain an advantage.
However, significant challenges remain
The path to opening its account in 2019 is not all rosy and easy. The lack of strong leadership on the ground, issues with allies and its perception of Hindi heartland party pose challenges. Kerala is the most literate state in India, and the politics of polarisation has chances of backfiring as well, so it cannot be pushed beyond a certain level. Interesting times ahead.
This article was first published On mynation.com on 27 Jan. 2019.
#Elections2019: Mamata Banerjee’s mahagathbandhan initiative the real ‘sabka saath, sabka vinash’
Mamata Banerjee held a rally of Opposition parties in Kolkata on Saturday in which leaders from more than 20 parties were present. Those present at the ‘United India’ rally at the Brigade Parade Ground included former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, BJP rebels Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Shatrughan Sinha, chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Chandrababu Naidu and HD Kumaraswamy and former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Akhilesh Yadav and Gegong Apang.
“Badal do, badal do, Delhi mein sarkar badal do,” Mamata proclaimed from the rally. The Trinamool Congress chief, however, skirted around on the question of who will lead the mahagathbandhan and said it will be decided after the general elections. Yashwant Sinha rephrased BJP’s slogan of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’ and said the actual slogan was ‘sabka saath, sabka vinash’. Shourie emphasised on putting up a single Opposition candidate against the BJP.
Let’s look at which parties and groups attended the Kolkata rally and which parties gave it a miss.
The rally is being seen as merely a show of strength by Mamata. She nurses prime ministerial ambitions and is trying to emerge as the natural choice for the regional parties.
However, she has competition from Mayawati who had stayed away from the event. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who has said in the past that he would not shy away from any responsibility, also gave the event a miss. Their representatives were, however, present.
The mahagathbandhan has not yet been formalised and is bereft of any structure and is not expected to project any prime ministerial candidate. At a time when elections in India are approximating the presidential style more and more, not having a prime ministerial candidate and clear leadership could prove to be costly for this loose aggregation of parties.
In 2014, 28% of the electorate gave importance to the prime ministerial candidate while voting for the Lok Sabha according to CSDS National Election Studies. Having confusion over leadership will exclude this set of voters from the target voter group of this alliance.
The internal differences and contradictions in this so-called mahagathbandhan are also coming to the forefront. Many parties and leaders have fought the Congress, Samajwadi Party, BSP, TDP and so on their entire lives. For them to now share the stage with these parties causes uneasiness.
Sharad Yadav scored an own goal by talking about the “dacoity” in the Bofors deal, while what he wanted to criticise was the Rafale deal. While the DMK has been rooting for Rahul as the Prime Minister, its leader MK Stalin didn’t mention it during his speech. A day after the event, RJD’s Tejaswi Yadav rooted for Rahul as the Prime Minister.
While Shourie was rooting for a one-to-one contest, there were leaders sitting on the dais, who have excluded the Congress from an alliance in their backyard, like Uttar Pradesh. Parties like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have now and again denied any sort of pact with the Congress in Punjab and Delhi.
The table below shows the status of one-on-one contests in states for which regional parties were present at the rally.
The event was more pomp, show and noise than substance. No seat-sharing details emerged. Nor any common manifesto. It was clearly an attempt to organise forces to remove Narendra Modi from power.
The mahagathbandhan includes leaders and parties well past their prime and don’t have much presence left in their respective states. The mahagathbandhan, if formalised, would be the real ‘sabka saath, sabka vinash’. And it may have just provided a powerful narrative to Modi for the general election: all corrupt leaders have ganged up to throw an honest person like me out of power!
This article was first published on mynation.com on Jan. 21st 2019.
#Elections2019: Pumping up party organisation
The last two months have not brought good news for the BJP. The party lost elections in the three Hindi heartland states. The CBI and Justice Sikri episodes have created unnecessary controversy.
It is facing a spirited Congress attack on social media. To top it all, the SP and the BSP have announced a formidable alliance for the forthcoming polls in Uttar Pradesh, which accounted for one-fourth of BJP’s tally in 2014.Suddenly, what looked like an easy sail through for the party in 2019, has turned into a tight, wide open contest.
BJP recognizes it has an uphill task at hand and the stupendous verdict 2014 could be termed as an outlier. The party has affected big organisational changes recently. The most important among them is the appointment of the three ex-chief ministers – Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh as national vice-presidents.
The party strategy is to use the experience and charisma of these leaders, especially in the Hindi heartland and reduce the load of Narendra Modi to some extent, who can then focus on greenfield areas like East and South of India.
This step also helps soothe the taut nerves of upper caste and OBCs who form the core vote bank of the party.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, these sections accounting for 60 per cent of the population, voted overwhelmingly for the BJP and its allies.
After the losses, notes of dissent have come out in the open with party veterans questioning the approach of the Modi-Shah duo.
These appointments may have been done to quell such noises. With Sushma Swaraj announcing that she will not contest 2019 polls, BJP now lacks a pan-India woman leader with mass appeal. Raje fills this gap. With many flagship schemes of the government — Ujjwala, Awas, Swachch Bharat, Saubhagya — to name only a few aimed at women beneficiaries, this strategy may pay rich dividends.
The Modi-Shah duo now wants to win at any cost and the Prime Minister has not been shy of campaigning extensively even in state polls.
Another appointment, which has caught everyone’s attention is of Gordhan Zadafia, once a bitter critic of Modi belonging to the rival Sanjay Joshi camp, who has been made in-charge of the most important state of Uttar Pradesh.The party faced a lot of flak, especially from the upper castes, for nullifying the Supreme Court order on SC-ST Atrocities Act.
The SC-STs overwhelmingly voted against the party recently in the three states where it was in power. BJP won 128 SC-ST reserved seats in these states in 2013, which fell by more than half to 59 in 2018.
A section of upper caste disillusioned with the party pressed NOTA, stayed at home, some even voting for Sapaks, a party championing upper caste rights.
The party had to face reversals in belts where upper caste formed a significant proportion of population like Gwalior-Chambal in Madhya Pradesh.
Even OBCs, staunch supporters of the BJP, switched sides in Chhattisgarh.
With this step, BJP hopes to keep its anchor voting segment in good humour especially when Congress is trying to play the Brahman card and revive its traditional vote bank of upper caste, Dalits and Muslims.
In the national convention held over the weekend, Modi exhorted the BJP cadre not to be complacent and work hard on the ground. They shouldn’t just hope Modi will come, hold rallies and swing votes. They need to take the welfare schemes of the government door to door and highlight the achievements.
As per CSDS National Election Studies (NES) 2014, 27 per cent of BJP supporters would not have voted for party if Modi was not the prime ministerial candidate.
The dip in popularity ratings of Modi and a corresponding increase in Rahul’s has cautioned BJP against over-reliance on the Modi factor.
Though a lot of credit is given to Modi for the 2014 victory, it was also a result of effort and leadership of many state leaders like Chouhan, Raman, Raje, Parrikar, mini Modis in their own might.
The call is also to them and to new leaders like Yogi and Fadnavis to work hard to realize their common dream.
The party is seeking suggestions from the public on various issues like implementation of schemes, impact of proposed grand alliance and three most popular party leaders in their constituencies, among other things.
To negate anti-incumbency, BJP is likely to deny tickets to 30-40 per cent of existing MPs, around 100 in total.
This exercise will provide information on the popularity of MPs and suggest alternatives. Though elections in India are increasingly becoming presidential in style, one-fourth of the voters gave importance to the local candidate while voting in 2014, according to NES.
The unfavourable verdict in the three states brought to the forefront rural and agri distress. It also highlighted growing urban apathy among the middle class, staunch supporters of BJP. The party is likely to come up with schemes to ease the nerves of these crucial segments.
For farmers, the party could roll out a programme on the lines of Ryathu Bandhu Scheme of Telangana, where per hectare amount will be paid out to them. The middle class could see an increase in the income exemption limit from the current Rs 2.5 lakh per annum to Rs 5 lakh per annum.
For the rural population, the possibility of doling out a UBI scheme, where Rs 2-2,500 per month will be given to BPL category, is being mentioned. The party is now pulling out all stops.
This article was first published on dnaindia.com on 18 Jan, 2019.
#Elections2019: Congress strategy of cementing state-level alliances could dent Rahul Gandhi’s chances of becoming prime minister
At the extended Congress Working Committee meeting on 22 July, the All India Congress Committee authorised Rahul Gandhi to seal alliances with like-minded parties for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. While the Congress hopes to checkmate the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Narendra Modi government with this strategy, it could have far-reaching implications for the party’s presence as a pan-India entity as well as Rahul’s chances of fulfilling his dream to become prime minister of the country in 2019.
Before the coalition era from 1951 to 1996, the Congress contested nearly all Lok Sabha seats. During this period, it was only in 1971 that the party fielded candidates from only 85 percent of the constituencies. This was the result of a split in the Congress, when Morarji Desai and other members of the “Syndicate” left the party to form the Indian National Congress (Organisation), or INC(O). In this election, former prime minister Indira Gandhi had entered into strategic alliances in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and backed a few candidates in other states to defeat Desai’s Syndicate and establish her dominance over the party organisation and machinery.
The lowest number of seats the Congress contested was in 2004 (77 percent of the total) when it tied up with several regional parties to defeat the National Democratic Alliance. In 2014, the Congress contested from 464 constituencies.
2019 Alliance story
The Congress’ alliance strategy for the 2019 general elections is two-fold: One, it aims to tie up with regional parties in states where it is weak to defeat the BJP. This would be in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The second is to form alliances with regional parties in states where there is a triangular, quadrangular, or multi-corner contest to strengthen its chances of victory. This would be in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir.The four states where the Congress is weak are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, which account for 200 Lok Sabha seats. Here, the party is likely to get not more than 40 seats to contest.
In other states where the Congress will probably seal alliances, it could get another 70 to 80 seats to contest, according to the table below. On an average, the party is likely to contest from 115 constituencies in these 10 states.
State Alliance Partner Total No. of Seats No. of Seats Congress is likely to contest
Bihar RJD, HAM 40 8-10
Uttar Pradesh BSP, SP, RLD 80 8-10
West Bengal Trinamool Congress 42 8-10
Tamil Nadu DMK 39 7-9
Andhra Pradesh Telugu Desam Party 25 8-10
Telangana Telugu Desam Party 17 10-12
Maharashtra NCP 48 24-26
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference 6 3
Jharkhand JMM 14 10-12
Karnataka JD(S) 28 20-22
Total 339 106-124
Congress could contest considerably fewer seats in 2019
If the Congress can firm up these alliances, it is likely to field candidates from 319 constituencies — its lowest contesting tally ever at just 59 percent of the Lok Sabha seats.
While it all looks good, with the Congress making compromises for a united Opposition and the larger cause of defeating the BJP, it jeopardises the party’s hopes of leading the grand alliance. The number of seats it is likely to contest in 2019 in around 150 lower than the figure from 2014.
No. of Seats % of Seats No. of Seats % of Seats
Congress 464 85% 319 59%
Allies 79 15% 224 41%
Total 543 100% 543 100%
Possibility of rebellions and end of Rahul’s prime ministerial hopes
This strategy is fraught with risks as it encourages rebels (150 odd in number) who could jump boat to contest on tickets from other parties, or as independents, and harm the party and its alliances. The figure is around one-third of total number of candidates the party fielded in 2014.
With its plan, the Congress also faces the potential risk of conceding that it is no longer a pan-India party and has lost significant base to regional outfits.Contesting from a significantly lower number of Lok Sabha seats also raises the risk of the party ending up with fewer seats than the regional parties it joins hands with. The Congress needs to win around 150 seats (+100 vs 2014) to seek the prime minister’s chair in case the grand alliance wins the polls. It requires a very high strike rate of 47 percent (150 of 319) to achieve this.
Since 1996, the average strike rate of the Congress has been 29 percent. Even after removing the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from the count — considering it an outlier — its average strike rate comes to only 33 percent. In 2009, the party did manage this figure, but the conditions were much different at the time. Back then, the Congress was in the driver’s seat, not the allies, contesting from 440 seats.
With Congress being the main Opposition party, what complicates matters are the regional outfits that may not join the grand alliance. This includes the Shiv Sena, Communist Party of India, Aam Aadmi Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Biju Janata Dal and Telangana Rashtra Samithi. If such a scenario does arise, many may not back the Congress because of the dynamics in their backyard.
To sum up, the strategy of sealing state-level alliances could put a significant dent in the Congress’ ability to push for Rahul as the prime ministerial candidate for the grand alliance.
This article was first published on firstpost.com on Aug. 6th 2018.
#Elections2019: Rahul Gandhi and Congress apart, triple anti-incumbency looms as major threat to Narendra Modi’s return in 2019
BJP is hopeful of bettering its 2014 Lok Sabha performance in 2019. It has formed governments in 13 states which have held elections after May 2014 and retained two states. Along with its allies, the party now rules 20 states which send 63 percent of total MPs to the Lower House. Narendra Modi’s approval ratings remain high and he enjoys a lead of over 30 percent versus Rahul Gandhi in India Today Mood of the Nation Survey.
However, all is not hunky dory for the party. BJP has lost four Lok Sabha by-polls held in 2018, all in the Hindi heartland. The Opposition has smelled blood and Congress is leading discussions to form a grand alliance. Whereas, regional parties like TMC and TRS have initiated a discussion to form a Federal Front. Amidst this background, a number of commentators have started questioning BJP’s ability to repeat its historic performance in 2019.
These alliances, formed purely on an anti-Modi plank, may not worry the prime minister at this stage too much.
While it is no mean feat to lead a majority government at the Centre, having chief ministers in two-third states and 274 MPs in Lok Sabha — the highest tally of any party since 1984 — could act as a double-edged sword. In addition to this, BJP now has 35 percent of all India MLAs and controls many municipalities across the country. This heightens the risk of BJP facing triple anti-incumbency in 2019. It is the biggest threat to Modi making a comeback in 2019 in my opinion.
People feel Modi factor was the only reason BJP won in 2014. However, his popularity alone doesn’t explain the full story of BJP’s historic mandate. Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) carried out a National Election Study 2014 and asked respondents the following question:
“While voting some people give importance to the local candidate, others to the state level leadership of the party and some others to the prime ministerial candidate. How would you describe yourself?”
In response to the question, 28 percent voters gave importance to the prime ministerial candidate, 26 percent to the local candidate and 18 percent to the state-level leadership. And therein lies the biggest headache for BJP. A good 44 percent of people gave due consideration to the local candidate and top leadership of parties in contention in the states while casting their vote.
One of the primary reasons for UPA’s loss in 2014 was that it suffered from similar triple anti-incumbency. UPA was in power for 10 years at the Centre, UPA had chief ministers in 16 states and Congress had 206 MPs. A section of people were fed up with the corruption scandals under Manmohan Singh’s government and the falling economy, some were unhappy with the performance of the state governments of UPA and others with the non-performance of its MPs. All this led to a significant built-up of anger among public resulting in a humiliating loss for Congress, down from 206 to a historic low of 44 MPs and less than 20 percent vote share.
Politicians are adept at shifting blame. In state elections wherein Opposition rules at the Centre, ruling party pins the blame on the central government for non-cooperation and non-release of funds. This strategy has been effectively utilised by Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat BJP governments over the decades. We are now witnessing similar strategy being employed by Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh.
In state elections after 2014, BJP blamed Opposition governments for not utilising funds released by the Modi government and won many states. However, now the states where BJP is in power cannot shift the blame to the Centre for not fulfilling their manifesto promises. Similarly, during the campaign in 2019, Modi can’t shift the blame on state governments for not delivering on his pet projects. This puts BJP campaign strategists in a quandary.
BJP will likely deny tickets to many sitting MPs like in MCD polls where it replaced all corporators. As per my sources, this number could range from 50-80. This way BJP hopes to negate the local candidate level anti-incumbency. This way BJP will try to sell that it’s being proactive and will not tolerate non-performance.
BJP hopes that since many MPs are lightweights, replacing them will not give rise to any big rebellion. But as we have seen above, local candidates played almost similar role as Modi factor in 2014.
Additionally, national elections are not corporation elections. Federal Front / Third Front which may not have candidates in many seats can give tickets to some of these candidates.
BJP also may not be able to hold on to declaring the names of the candidate till the last moment, especially if a grand alliance and or a third front announces candidates early to exploit the three levels of anti-incumbency.
To conclude, BJP’s electoral success of the last four years that has seen it control almost two-thirds of India could become its own enemy, hobbling prospects of a slam dunk victory in 2019. Unlike in the past, it will not be able to assign blame for not fulfilling promises to others. Moreover, opponents’ barbs of the government failing on the jobs and agrarian front are finding their targets and Rahul Gandhi is surely albeit slowly climbing in the leadership league tables. If all these weren’t enough, there’s anti-incumbency against state governments and BJP MPs, all of which could complicate matters.
this article was first published on firstpost.com on 26th March 2018.
#Elections2019: Congress Will Be the Biggest Loser in Mamata’s ‘Formula’ for 2019
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is leading efforts to form a Third Front of regional parties. To that end, she recently met Sonia Gandhi in Delhi and invited Congress to join the proposed ‘grand alliance’.
Mamata has mooted the idea of ‘one-to-one’ contests, implying that parties which are strong in respective states should contest against BJP in those seats, and other parties of the Front should not put up a candidate and support them wholeheartedly.
She is hoping to create a 1977 like situation when big Opposition parties contested under the common banner of the Janata Party to defeat Indira Gandhi.
Theoretically it appears to be a fantastic strategy to beat Modi in 2019. BJP just received 31 percent vote share and non-BJP parties 69 percent in 2014. The sheer arithmetic puts odds hugely in favour of such an alliance. However, it is easier said than done. And for the Congress, it is a particularly difficult decision to take.
On a pan India basis, Congress is in contention in 70 percent of seats.
46 percent of the seats have either a ‘direct Congress’ or ‘Congress allies vs BJP’ or ‘BJP allies contests’ (Maharashtra, Bihar, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh),
19 percent of the seats have a triangular Congress vs BJP vs regional party contest (Delhi, Punjab, West Bengal etc.)
16 percent of the seats have a BJP vs regional party contests (Uttar Pradesh, Odisha)
12 percent of the seats have regional parties competing against themselves (Tamil Nadu, Andhra) and
6 percent of the seats have Congress versus regional party contests (Kerala, Telangana)
Congress party won 44 seats in 2014, where one-third of its victories were against regional parties. It finished runner up in 224 seats and in 17% of such seats, regional parties emerged winners.
Source: http://www.politicalbaba.com
Issues With Congress Joining a ‘Third Front’
There are significant issues with the Congress entering any such alliance with the Federal or Third Front. Here are some of these issues:
1. Risk of ceding space to regional parties as well as BJP: How will Congress leave out its claim for seats in predominantly regional, Congress vs regional and triangular contests? If Congress agrees, then it risks ceding its space to regional parties in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. Also there is a risk of BJP latching on to this opportunity and becoming the main opposition in these states. This will create issues for the Congress when Assembly elections are held in these states in due course. In states like Kerala, if Congress agrees to a one-to-one in alliance with CPI (M), then BJP can get entry in the state.
2. Regional parties do not bring anything to the table for the Congress:The regional parties do not bring any votes to the Congress party where it is locked in direct contest with BJP in states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, etc. Neither Trinamool nor TDP nor other parties have any votes there. On the other hand, Congress, in all probability would be able to transfer a section of its votes to Mamata, CBN, KCR, Naveen etc.
Most of the regional parties didn’t even contest outside of their states like AIADMK, DMK, TDP, YSRCP, TRS, BJD to name a few. Only a few parties, namely TMC, SP, BSP, JDU and AAP contested outside the states in which they are in power/have influence. However, they received more than 95 percent of the votes from their stronghold states. Only AAP and BSP have some presence outside their home state as seen in table below.
3. Congress will have to lead this alliance, regional parties may not agree: The question of who will lead the alliance is a tricky one. Congress, which is a national party, would not like to be seen playing second fiddle to regional parties. It would do its perception a lot of damage, especially when Rahul Gandhi is witnessing an increase in popularity. It will be seen as the Congress party under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi not having the confidence to beat Narendra Modi. This is why Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary of Congress has asked Mamata to join a Congress-led alliance and not vice-a-versa. On the other hand, the regional satraps see Rahul as a novice and may not agree to his leadership.
4. Some regional parties can desert alliance after results in case of a hung Parliament: There is no guarantee these parties won’t flock to BJP after results if it emerges as the single largest party. TDP, TMC, TRS have all been part of NDA previously. But in order to maintain a better state and Centre relations, they might budge.
5. Congress should prefer state level strategic alliances: The Congress party should instead opt to have state-level strategic alliances where it is weak and try to replicate the model it has in Bihar with Lalu’s RJD. A similar template can be adopted in states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
To conclude, Congress has more to lose than to gain in agreeing to the one-to-one formula proposed by Mamata. Apart from bringing like-minded anti-Modi, anti-BJP parties on a common platform, it isn’t of much use to Congress as it has to fight a lone battle with the BJP in most seats where regional parties can’t contribute much. State level alliances will help to maintain its national party character and will serve the party better in the long run.
This article was first published on thequint.com on 6th April 2018.
UP-Bihar Bypolls Point to Potential ‘Grand Alliance’ Against BJP
In a huge blow to the BJP just a year before the next Lok Sabha elections, the party has lost Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls to the SP-BSP duo in Uttar Pradesh. BJP also failed to wrest the Araria Lok Sabha seat in spite of all their big claims and a weakened RJD after Lalu’s jail term.
What is more humiliating is the fact that both the seats in UP were represented by their top two men, the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and the Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, and were both won by huge margins (3 lakh+).
After the big losses in Ajmer and Alwar Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan in February, this comes as a rude jolt to BJP and throws the contest for 2019 wide open.
Mahagathbandhan Poses Stiff Challenge
In UP, bua (Mayawati) and bhatija (Akhilesh) joined hands to take on the BJP, with BSP extending support to SP candidates. Both the parties ran a pilot project which could take the shape of a mahagathbandhan in UP for 2019. BJP, which was leading in Gorakhpur by 1.36 lakh votes in 2014, after aggregating BSP and SP votes, lost the seat by 21,881 votes. In the Phulpur seat, BJP, which was leading by 1.44 lakh votes in 2014, still lost the seat by 59,613 votes.
(Source: http://www.politicalbaba.com)
BSP has again proved its ability to transfer its votes to its alliance partners. The grand alliance has made a dent in the BJP’s vote share: -5 percent in Gorakhpur and -13 percent in Phulpur, indicating the loss of a section of its anchor – the OBC support base.
Some Dalits who voted for BJP in 2014 appear to have gone back into the BSP fold. It has a dedicated set of voters in each constituency, which is its biggest strength.
This victory may finally give shape to a SP-BSP grand alliance in which the Congress may also join. BJP won one-fourth (71) of its overall tally (282) from UP in 2014. Any loss of seats in UP will directly affect BJP’s ability to cross the halfway mark in Lok Sabha in 2019 and also Modi’s chances to return as Prime Minister even if BJP emerges as the single largest party.
The fact that the alliance partners BSP and SP were able to transfer their votes seamlessly will pose greater difficulties for the BJP.
SP and BSP on a combined basis got just 1.5 percent less votes than BJP and allies in 2014. If one adds Congress, the grand alliance could lead BJP by 6 percent vote share. While the alliance is not all about arithmetic but also about chemistry, BJP’s experience in Bihar and now UP suggest otherwise.
The social coalition of Dalits, Adivasis, Yadavs and Muslims, (51 percent of the population) which this grand alliance hopes to create, would pose a significant challenge to the upper caste, Jat and OBC vote block of BJP (49 percent of the population).
Vote share in 2014 Lok Sabha elections
‘Grand Alliance’ Still in the Reckoning in Bihar
In Bihar, the RJD and Congress alliance have held onto the Araria Lok Sabha seat (by 61,988 votes) and Jehanabad (by 35,036 votes) assembly seat despite the RJD party patriarch Lalu being in jail. While Jehanabad is a minority-dominated seat, BJP was hopeful of winning the Araria Lok Sabha seat (15 percent Muslim voters) which it had won in alliance with JDU in 2004 and 2009.
BJP and JDU were leading by 75,265 votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.The results suggest Nitish has lost significant support among the minority community because of his re-entry into NDA. JDU lost 1/3rd of its votes to RJD.
While the RJD candidate benefited from the ‘sympathy factor’ owing to his father’s death, Lalu has been able to consolidate his vote base among the minorities, Yadavs and OBCs, alleging a ‘witch hunt’ by the BJP as is evident from a 5 percent increase in vote share in Jehanabad.
NDA won 31 out of 40 seats from this state and is the key to the party’s fortunes in 2019.
Jehanabad Vote Share
Anti-BJP United Opposition Could Repeat 1977
BJP’s loss in these bypolls gives a fillip to the efforts of the Opposition to form a broad anti-BJP alliance. Sonia Gandhi hosted a dinner for leaders of 20 regional parties yesterday at her residence to kickstart the process. These parties (excluding Left) together recorded 36 percent vote share in 2014, higher than the NDA’s vote share of 34 percent (excluding TDP and Shiv Sena). BJP’s consecutive wins, state after state, and its recent performance in Northeast has made regional parties jittery.
A 1977-like situation, wherein the entire Opposition came together to take on Indira Gandhi, cannot be ruled out. This time though, BJP and Congress would reverse their roles. Congress could lead this front against Modi. The time is ripe for any such alliance. Mamata Banerjee as well as Naveen Patnaik are facing the challenge of a rising BJP in their states.
In Karnataka, Congress is sweating it out against BJP to save one of its last big turfs. In Kerala, BJP’s strategy is to up the ante against the communists, like in Tripura. Two of the top allies of the BJP – Shiv Sena (18 seats) and TDP (15 seats) – may contest independently. The entry of the JD(U) in NDA will complicate the seat-sharing arrangement in Bihar which could force smaller allies like LJP and RLSP to leave. Jitan Ram Manjhi has already left.
Takeaways for BJP in 2019
The BJP cannot ignore these warning signals. It struggled in Gujarat. It has marketed its Northeast victory as historic, but the fact of the matter is that these three states have only five Lok Sabha seats. Big sections of society – traders, farmers and youth – are increasingly losing patience with the BJP.
Its claims of ‘achche din’ have not translated into reality, with these groups protesting all across India. The majority of the population doesn’t understand and care about GDP growth, FDI, fiscal deficit etc, which PM Modi boasted about in the two interviews he gave. The BJP has got its messaging wrong and risks falling into a fiasco similar to ‘India Shining’.
The fact that it rules 22 out of 31 states is a double-edged sword. It risks facing double anti-incumbency in these states. State leaders can’t push blame to the Centre for non-performance, and similarly, Modi can’t push blame on party’s/ally’s state leadership for not delivering.
To conclude, one year is a long enough time in politics. Everything was hunky-dory for the BJP till about a month ago. Two consecutive losses in its den have turned things upside down and thrown open the contest for 2019. Nothing is certain in politics. If the Opposition is able to overcome its differences and form a mahagathbandhan at the national level, it could pose a serious challenge to Modi.
This article was first published on thequint.com on 21st March 2018.
#Elections2019: BJP, Hold Onto Allies – Regional Parties Will Call Shots in 2019
The regional parties can smell blood after a tight contest in Gujarat and bypoll results in Rajasthan. They see the prospect of a hung Parliament and the return of true coalition governments which would enhance their bargaining power.
Even some right-wing columnists like Minhaz Merhant, Swapan Dasgupta, and recently, Rajesh Jain have voiced their apprehensions about a Narendra Modi sweep of the scale of 2014 being repeated in 2019.
I have been saying this for long that since BJP has peaked in many states, it is difficult for the party to maintain its previous tally, and there isn’t enough scope to compensate for the loss of seats. This means we are staring at a depleted BJP in Lok Sabha in 2019, though it may continue to be the single largest party.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which has 15 Members of Parliaments (MP), is on the verge of leaving the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Its MPs have been at odds with the government on the granting of special status to Andhra Pradesh. Even though truce has been achieved for now, the alliance stands on shaky grounds.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), BJP’s oldest allies, have also voiced concerns advising PM Narendra Modi to practice Atal coalition dharma.
BJP has also dumped Naga People’s Front for the newly floated Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party just few days before the state polls. Some of the allies are apprehensive of BJP’s ambition to grow in their backyard, and are even fed up with their arm-twisting tactics.
Why Regional Parties Are A Threat To BJP-Congress Dominance?
The performance of the regional parties has been stable over the years. Since 1952 to 2014, in the Lok Sabha elections, the aggregate vote share of the two parties, Congress and BJP, has averaged 51 percent, while that of regional parties and independents has averaged 49 percent.
While Congress maintained its centrist position in Indian polity in earlier years after Independence, parties like SAD, Bangla Congress, and DMK demanding regional autonomy sprang up to challenge Congress’ dominance.
In 1967, out of 21 states, non-Congress governments were installed in nine states (43 percent). This assault was massive, and hit at the core of Congress’ one party dominance since its formation in 1885.
The seeds of a first non-Congress government at the Centre were sown in many ways in 1967, and in a decade’s time, the nation saw its first non-Congress PM when a united opposition, consisting of many regional parties, contested under Janata Party banner.
The entire east coast from West Bengal to Orissa to Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu has been a den of regional parties.
Vote Share of Congress, BJP and Regional Parties in Lok Sabha Elections
(Source: indiavotes.com, politicalbaba.com)
From 1989 to 2009, regional parties played a key role in each government formation at the Centre, as any single party failed to get a majority. Regional parties have recorded 220 odd seats in all elections except for 1991, when Congress got a boost post Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination.
The combined seat tally of BJP and Congress has been in the range of 280-320, except for 1991.
(Photo: indiavotes.com)
The Resurgence of NDA and Where They Are Failing Now
Regional parties usually want to be in the good books of the powers at the Centre, and that’s why we have seen many parties jumping ship from NDA to UPA, and are now back in NDA.
The NDA was formed just before the 1998 Lok Sabha Elections, and comprised 14 parties, which increased to 17 parties in 1999. However, in 2004, allies such as Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, Omar Abdullah’s National Conference and the DMK, started to desert NDA.
Many parties changed sides after Vajpayee’s loss, prominent ones being Trinamool Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Rashtriya Lok Dal.
After the loss of 2004, the NDA was reduced to just three parties – BJP, Shiv Sena and SAD until mid 2013, when Modi was announced as PM candidate. With conditions building in favour of Modi and BJP in the run up to the elections, the number of parties in NDA swelled back to more than 20.
In 2014, after 30 years, a single party, the BJP, got an absolute majority which ended 2.5 decades of influence of regional parties on governance.
Although ministries have been allocated to NDA allies, the BJP is running the show without consulting them on key issues. This has been brought to the fore by the two oldest allies, Shiv Sena and SAD, who have stood rock solid behind BJP for all these years.
Power at the Centre has moved from Congress to the BJP, but the increase in BJP’s vote share has largely been at the expense of the latter. The two parties together bagged 50.8 percent vote share in 2014, which is similar to their combined long term average of 51 percent.
Regional parties and independents won 49.2 percent near to their long term average of 49 percent, with independents having a small share of 3.2 percent. While the BJP and Congress bagged approximately 27.8 crore votes in 2014, serious regional players bagged 23.6 crore votes, with independents at 1.7 crores and hopeless contestants recorded the balance of 1.7 crore votes.
The sheer size and die-hard vote block of regional parties shows that they may play a key role in government formation at the Centre in 2019.
Congress performance is bound to improve in 2019, which will likely be at the expense of BJP, going by the past trends. A hung Parliament cannot be ruled out, though it is difficult to ascertain the degree of shortfall.
It’s because of this arithmetic that regional parties see themselves as kingmakers again. BJP should be nervous, start treating allies with respect, and keep them in good humour. As SAD MP Naresh Gujral recently quipped, “It is in BJP’s interest to not ride roughshod over the interests of its allies.”
Allies are not lifelong partners and are itching to hit back.
This article was first pblished on thequint.com on 15 Feb 2018
#Elections2019: क्या उत्तर प्रदेश का महागठबंधन 2019 में मिशन मोदी का बाधक है?
उत्तर प्रदेश में बुआ और बबुआ की जोड़ी ने शनिवार को मायावती के जन्मदिन पर राज्य में गठबंधन की घोषणा की। बहुजन समाज पार्टी (बीएसपी) और समाजवादी पार्टी (एसपी) दोनों 38-38 सीटों पर चुनाव लड़ेंगीं जबकि अन्य के लिए चार सीटें छोड़ी हैं पर किसके लिए छोड़ी हैं, यह स्पष्ट नहीं है। मायावती ने गरजते हुए कहा कि यह गठबंधन नरेंद्र मोदी और भारतीय जनता पार्टी (भाजपा) की रातों की नींद हराम कर देगा।
भाजपा विरोधी दल और विपक्ष अपने गढ़ में भाजपा को हराने के लिए इस जोड़ी पर अपनी उम्मीदें लगा रहे हैं। नोट करने वाली बात है कि भाजपा ने 2014 में उत्तर प्रदेश में अपनी कुल सीटों की एक-चौथाई सीटें ही जीती थीं। प्रधानमंत्री मोदी वाराणसी से सांसद हैं। जहाँ एक तरफ महागठबंधन उत्तर प्रदेश में भाजपा को हराने और दिल्ली से मोदी को बाहर करने की उम्मीद कर रहा है, वहीं पार्टी अध्यक्ष अमित शाह ने भाजपा के राष्ट्रीय सम्मेलन में कहा कि राष्ट्रीय जनतांत्रिक गठबंधन (राजग) अपने रिकॉर्ड को बेहतर करेगी और 2019 में 74 सीटें जीतेगी जो 2014 की टैली से एक अधिक।
उप-चुनावों में महागठबंधन की जीत से इसका सही मूल्यांकन नहीं किया जा सकता
पिछले साल हुए उप-चुनावों में गोरखपुर, फूलपुर और कैराना की तीन सीटों पर एक अनौपचारिक महागठबंधन ने भाजपा को करारी हार दी जिससे विपक्ष का विश्वास बढ़ा और उन्हें साथ आने की ज़रूरत महसूस हुई। महागठबंधन को उम्मीद है कि वह राज्य भर में भाजपा को हराने में सक्षम है जैसा कि उन्होंने उपचुनावों में किया था। उनके रणनीतिकार यह भूल जाते हैं कि उप-चुनाव स्थानीय मुद्दों पर लड़े जाते हैं।
जब मतदाता अपने मताधिकार का प्रयोग करने गए तो उन्हें केंद्र सरकार और प्रधानमंत्री का चयन नहीं करना था केवल उनके स्थानीय प्रतिनिधि का चुनाव करना था। फूलपुर और कैराना को किसी भी तरह से भाजपा का गढ़ नहीं कहा जा सकता क्योंकि 2014 में चुनावी इतिहास में पहली बार भाजपा ने फूलपुर को जीता। लोग मुख्यमंत्री और उपमुख्यमंत्री राज्य सरकार के लिए अपनी लोकसभा सीट छोड़ने की वजह से भी नाखुश हो सकते हैं।
अंकगणित में महागठबंधन एक खतरा पैदा कर रहा है लेकिन इसे कई चुनौतियों का सामना भी करना पड़ सकता है
महागठबंधन का संयुक्त वोट शेयर 2014 के वास्तविक आधार पर लगभग एनडीए के बराबर है। दोनों गठबंधनों को देखें तो भाजपा की उच्च जाति और गैर-यादव व अन्य पिछड़ा वर्ग के वोट ब्लॉक का अनुपात महागठबंधन के दलितों, आदिवासियों, अल्पसंख्यकों और यादवों के बराबर है। यदि 2014 में सपा और बसपा ने एक साथ चुनाव लड़ा होता तो एनडीए को 41, महागठबंधन को 37 और कांग्रेस दो सीटों पर बँटी होती।
हालाँकि, यह बात राजनीति के नए छात्रों को भी पता है कि किसी भी गठबंधन को वोटों का पूरा हस्तांतरण होने का पूर्वानुमान लगाना खतरनाक है। 5 प्रतिशत-10 प्रतिशत वोटों के एक छोटे रिसाव से भी अंकगणित बदल सकता है। बसपा ने पिछले गठबंधनों में वोट हस्तांतरण करने की अपनी क्षमता दिखाई है लेकिन बसपा उम्मीदवारों को सपा के वोटों के मिलने के बारे में कुछ नहीं कहा जा सकता है।
सपा और बसपा दोनों ने 2014 में अधिकांश सीटों पर चुनाव लड़ा था। अब लगभग आधे सपा और बसपा के उम्मीदवारों को इस बार मौका नहीं मिलने की संभावना है जिससे महागठबंधन को बड़ा झटका लग सकता है। उनमें से कुछ को शिवपाल यादव की पार्टी द्वारा चुना जा सकता है जिन्होंने घोषणा की है कि वे सभी सीटों पर चुनाव लड़ेंगे।
कुछ को कांग्रेस द्वारा भी समायोजित किया जा सकता है जिन्हें राज्य में महागठबंधन से बाहर रखा गया है। सपा ने एकजुट होकर 2014 के लोकसभा चुनाव लड़े थे। चाचा शिवपाल के पास पुरानी समाजवादियों का समर्थन है जबकि भतीजा अखिलेश नई समाजवादी पार्टी का प्रतिनिधित्व कर रहे हैं। भले ही शिवपाल यादव की पार्टी 2-3 फीसदी वोट शेयर हासिल करने में सक्षम हो लेकिन महागठबंधन के लिए यह नुकसानदेह होगा।
सपा का वोट शेयर उप्र के कुछ हिस्सों में केंद्रित है जबकि बसपा का वोट शेयर तुलनात्मक रूप से अधिक फैला हुआ है इसलिए बसपा 2014 में एक भी सीट जीतने में नाकाम रही थी। इसका मतलब है कि सपा बसपा से ज्यादा सीटें जीत सकती है जिससे तनाव बढ़ेगा और मायावती के साथ साझा मतदान के बाद अखिलेश पर वोटों का हस्तांतरण नहीं करने का आरोप भी लगा सकते हैं।
मायावती की चमक पहले से कम हुई है। जबकि उन्होंने जाटव मतदाताओं (12 फीसदी-14 फीसदी आबादी) को बनाए रखने का प्रबंधन कर रखा है और गैर-जाटव मतदाताओं (7 फीसदी-9 फीसदी आबादी) पर अपनी पकड़ खो दी है जो की भाजपा में स्थानांतरित हो गए हैं।
महागठबंधन से अजीत सिंह की राष्ट्रीय लोकदल गायब है जिसकी पश्चिमी उत्तर प्रदेश में जाटों के बीच बहुत बड़ी उपस्थिति है। प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस में मायावती भाजपा के साथ-साथ कांग्रेस की भी बहुत आलोचना करती नज़र आ रही हैं लेकिनअखिलेश ने कांग्रेस पर सवाल से अपना मुँह फेर लिया जिससे इस मुद्दे पर दोनों की असहमति झलकती है।
यदि वे कांग्रेस की आलोचना करते हैं तो इससे इस पुरानी बड़ी पार्टी को उत्तर प्रदेश में जमकर चुनाव लड़ने का प्रोत्साहन मिलेगा। 2014 में उप्र में कांग्रेस को 7.5 प्रतिशत वोट मिले, दो सीटों पर जीता और छः सीटों पर उपविजेता रही। इसका आठ से 10-विषम सीटों पर प्रभाव है, जो महागठबंधन के अंकगणित को खराब कर सकता है।
…और यह 2019 के लिए भाजपा को कथात्मक (नैरेटिव) प्रदान करता है
सपा और बसपा जिन्होंने आखिरी बार 1993 में गठबंधन किया था और पिछले दो-ढाई दशकों से इनकी एक-दूसरे के साथ अनबन थी जहाँ मायावती मुलायम सिंह यादव और कंपनी पर उनकी (कुख्यात गेस्टहाउस मामला) हत्या का प्रयास करने का आरोप लगाया करती थीं। वे दोनों ही शीर्ष दावेदार रहे हैं और इसलिए कई वर्षों से विरोधियों के रूप में जमकर प्रतिस्पर्धा की है।
मोदी को रोकने और उनकी विश्वसनीय छवि को धूमिल करने का प्रयास करने के लिए बने अवसरवादी गठबंधन को भाजपा जल्द ही करारा जवाब देगी। पार्टी महागठबंधन से युवा दलितों और यादवों को हटाने की कोशिश करेगी। अल्पसंख्यक वोट 2014 लोकसभा चुनाव में बसपा (18 प्रतिशत), सपा (58 प्रतिशत) और कांग्रेस (11 प्रतिशत) के बीच विभाजित हुए थे।
महागठबंधन को उम्मीद है कि अल्पसंख्यक वोट (20 फीसदी) उनके लिए मज़बूत और पक्के हैं। इससे भाजपा को यह आरोप लगाने का अवसर मिलता है कि महागठबंधन अल्पसंख्यक तुष्टिकरण की राजनीति में उलझा हुआ है। यह भाजपा के पक्ष में हिंदू वोटों को अच्छी तरह से समेकित कर सकता है और उसी तरह का परिणाम मिल सकता है जैसा कि 2014 में मिला था।
मायावती को इंतजार है अपने ‘गौड़ा’ पल का?
मायावती जो उप्र से बड़ी सीटें जीतने की उम्मीद करती हैं, वे 1996 में देवेगौड़ा की तरह त्रिशंकु संसद की स्थिति में भारत का प्रधानमंत्री बनने के लिए प्रेरित हो सकती हैं। यह उस पार्टी के नेता के लिए एक कठिन काम है जिनका वर्तमान में लोकसभा में एक भी सांसद नहीं है।
मायावती की दृष्टि में ये चुनाव बसपा के अस्तित्व के लिए बहुत महत्वपूर्ण हैं। यदि इस बार फिर से स्थितियाँ अनूकूल नहीं होती हैं तो पार्टी विलुप्ति की कगार पर भी खड़ी हो सकती है। इसलिए उन्होंने दाँव लगाने के लिए मुलायम के बेटे अखिलेश को हाथ पकड़ा है।
देखा जाए तो सपा-बसपा का एक साथ आना भाजपा के लिए चुनौती प्रस्तुत करता है और उसे अपना दबदबा बनाए रखने के लिए अपना किला मज़बूत करना होगा।
हालाँकि गठबंधन का नाता मात्र अंकगणित से ही नहीं है बल्कि इसमें रसायन विज्ञान का भी योगदान है। उप्र में एक आकर्षक प्रतियोगिता चल रही है और दोनों पक्षों में संबंधित ताकत और कमजोरियाँ हैं जिसका मतलब है कि प्रत्येक सीट पर ज़ोरदार टक्कर देखने को मिल सकती है।
This article was first published on hindi.swarajyamag.com on 16 Jan, 2019.
#Elections2019: Can The UP Mahagathbandhan Put The Brakes On Mission Modi In 2019?
The bua and babua jodi in Uttar Pradesh announced their alliance in the state on Mayawati’s birthday on Saturday. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) will contest on 38 seats each, leaving four seats for the others, not clear for whom. Mayawati thundered that this alliance will give sleepless nights to Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Anti-BJP parties and opposition are placing their hopes on this duo to defeat BJP in their stronghold. To note, BJP won one-fourth of its total tally in 2014 from Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Modi is a member of Parliament from Varanasi. While the mahagathbandhan hopes to defeat BJP in Uttar Pradesh and unseat Modi from Delhi, party president Amit Shah thundered at BJP national convention that National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would better its record and win 74 seats in 2019, one more than 2014 tally.
By-Poll Victories Not An Honest Measure Of Mahagathbandhan
In by-polls held last year, an informal mahagathbandhan handed defeat to BJP in three seats of Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana, giving a boost to opposition confidence and necessitating the need for them to come together. Mahagathbandhan hopes that it will be able to defeat BJP across the state like they did in by-polls. Their strategists forget that by-polls are contested on local issues.
When voters went to exercise their franchise, they didn’t have to select central government and prime minister, only their local representative. Phulpur and Kairana cannot, by any standards, be called BJP strongholds, with party winning Phulpur for the first time in electoral history in 2014. People might also have been unhappy at the chief minister and deputy chief minister leaving their Lok Sabha seats for roles in state government.
Arithmetically, Mahagathbandhan Poses A Threat But It Faces Many Challenges
The combined vote share of mahagathbandhan is almost equal to NDA based on 2014 actuals. The proportion of vote blocks of both alliances, BJP’s upper caste and non-Yadav Other Backward Classes are equal to mahagathbandhan’s Dalits, tribals, minorities and Yadavs. If the SP and BSP would have contested together in 2014, the honours would have been split with NDA at 41, mahagathbandhan at 37 and Congress at two seats.
However, even the new students of politics know that it is dangerous to assume full transfer of votes in any alliance. Even a small leakage of 5 per cent-10 per cent could change the arithmetic. While BSP has shown its ability to transfer votes in previous alliances, same cannot be said about SP votes to BSP candidates.
Source: CSDS NES 2014.
Both SP and BSP contested on most of the seats in 2014. Now almost half of SP and BSP candidates are likely to not get a chance this time, this could lead to big rebel headache for mahagathbandhan. Some of them could be latched up by Shivpal Yadav’s party, which has announced that it will contest all seats.
Some could even be accommodated by Congress, which has been excluded from mahagathbandhan in the state. A united SP contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Chacha Shivpal has the backing of the old Samajwadis while bhatijaAkhilesh represents the new Samajwadi Party. Even if his party is able to get 2 per cent-3 per cent vote share, it will be damaging for mahagathbandhan.
SP’s vote share is concentrated in some parts of UP while BSP vote share is comparatively more spread out, that’s why BSP failed to win a single seat in 2014. This means that SP could end up winning more seats than BSP, which will increase tensions between partners post polls with Mayawati accusing Akhilesh of not reciprocating transfer of votes.
Mayawati is well past her prime. While she did manage to retain the Jatav voters (12 per cent-14 per cent of population), she has lost her grip over non-Jatav voters (7 per cent-9 per cent of population), who have shifted to BJP.
Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal was missing from the alliance, which has a sizeable presence among Jats in western Uttar Pradesh. While Mayawati was very critical of BJP as well as Congress at press conference, Akhikesh ducked the question on Congress, already showing signs of perhaps a disagreement on the issue.
The fact that they have criticised Congress will push the grand old party to contest fiercely in UP. Congress bagged 7.5 per cent vote share in UP in 2014, winning two and finishing runner-up on six seats. It has an influence on eight to 10-odd seats, which could spoil the arithmetic of mahagathbandhan.
…And Provides Narrative To BJP For 2019
SP and BSP, which last formed an alliance in 1993, were at loggerheads for past two-and-half decades with each other with Maywati accusing Mulayam Singh Yadav and company of trying to assassinate her (infamous guesthouse case). They have been top contenders and hence opponents competing fiercely for many years.
BJP will drive home the opportunistic alliance point to stop Modi and attempt to dent the credibility/reliability of mahagathbandhan. The party will try to wean away the young Dalits and Yadavs from mahagathbandhan. The minority vote was split between BSP (18 per cent), SP (58 per cent) and Congress (11 per cent) in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Mahagathbandhan hopes minority votes (20 per cent) would consolidate behind them. This provides an opportunity for BJP to allege that mahagathbandhan is engaging in minority appeasement politics. This could well consolidate Hindu votes in favour of BJP and hand a similar result as in 2014.
Mayawati Waiting For Her Development Gowda Moment?
Mayawati, who hopes of winning sizeable seats from UP, could propel her to become the prime minister of India, in case of a hung Parliament situation, like Deve Gowda in 1996. That is a tough task for the leader of a party, which has currently not a single MP in Lok Sabha.
For Mayawati, these elections are very important for BSP’s survival. If it is routed once again, party could face extinction. So, for that she has held the hand of bete noire Mulayam’s son Akhilesh.
To sum up, the coming together of SP-BSP does pose a challenge to BJP and it will have to slog to retain its tally.
However, alliances are not all about arithmetic but also chemistry. A fascinating contest is on in UP, both sides have respective strengths and weaknesses. It could well boil down to each seat.
This article was published on swarajyamag.com on 13 Jan, 2019.
Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party today held a joint press conference to announce the much-awaited grand alliance (mahagathbandhan) for Uttar Pradesh. The BSP and the SP will contest 38 seats each, leaving 4 for others, mostly 2 family seats of the Congress and 2 for others (Nishad Party, in all likelihood). Mayawati thundered that this alliance will give sleepless nights to the BJP. Akhilesh commented that the BJP was trying to promote hatred in the land of Lord Ram and dividing people along communal lines. In theory, the MGB poses a stiff challenge to the BJP in 2019 after defeating BJP candidates in three by-polls last year, including the seats previously held by the CM and Deputy CM.
UP Helped BJP Gain Majority in 2014
The BJP swept the state bagging 71 out of 80 seats, even higher than at the peak of the Ram Mandir temple movement. One-fourth of the BJP’s overall tally (71 out of 282) came from Uttar Pradesh, which propelled it become the only party after Congress in 30 years to attain majority on its own. Modi decided to contest from Varanasi which had a ripple effect in the entire state. Amit Shah attained the status of Chanakya after this historic victory. Is Uttar Pradesh That Important?
Uttar Pradesh is India’s largest state in terms of population. It accounts for 80 seats, the highest in the country, in the parliament thus making up for 15% of its total strength. Majority of the Indian prime ministers (9 out of 15) have come from Uttar Pradesh, or were MPs from the state including Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Charan Singh, Rajiv Gandhi, V.P. Singh, Chandrasekhar, Atal Bihari Vajapyee and Narendra Modi.
It seems, therefore, important for a party to do well in Uttar Pradesh if it wants to form government at the centre. Mayawati is also hoping to become the prime minister of the country by winning maximum seats from Uttar Pradesh in 2019.
Data Shows UP is Not Necessarily the Gateway to Power
Elections data from 1989, the advent of coalition era, shows otherwise. Most parties that have done well in Uttar Pradesh have not been able to form government at the centre or have had no role in government formation. Out of the last eight governments, parties which scored the maximum seats in the state could form government only half of the times in 1989, 1998, 1999 and 2014.
As a matter of fact, the party which scored the least in UP in 1991 and 2004 went on to form the government.
Here is what the electoral history of UP tells us:
❖ In 1989, Janata Dal scored more than 50 seats and formed the government.
❖ In 1991, the BJP scored more than 50 but couldn’t form the government.
❖ In 1996, the BJP, again, scored a 50 but failed to form the government.
❖ In 1998, the BJP formed the government after sweeping the state.
❖ In 1999, the BJP’s tally reduced to half (29), with just 3 more seats than the SP, but it managed to form the government.
❖ In 2004, the SP got the maximum seats, but the Congress, which got less than 10 seats, formed the government. SP didn’t get any cabinet berths.
❖ In 2009, the SP again got the maximum seats, but the Congress formed the government. The SP and the BSP, despite doing well like in 2004, didn’t get any cabinet berths.
❖ In 2014, the BJP swept UP and Modi became the prime minister.
All Eyes on MGB to Defeat BJP
Opposition parties are placing a lot of hope on the SP and the BSP to dent the BJP and reduce its chances of coming back in power. If the BSP and the SP would have contested together in 2014, BJP’s / NDA’s tally would have reduced by 32 seats, down from 73 to 41, assuming seamless transfer of votes. They do present a potent combination of Dalit, Muslim, Tribal and Yadav voters, representing almost half of the population of the state and could give a tough fight to the BJP.
MGB Could Be Left High and Dry
The SP and the BSP bagged more than half of the seats of UP contesting independently during 1999-2009. However, they were not able to extract ministerial positions in the centre. The harsh stand which Mayawati has taken against the Congress in the press conference today, leaves little scope for MGB to partner in a non-BJP government led by the Congress in 2019.
History May Offer Solace To Modi
Even if MGB is able to damage the BJP by 30 odd seats in UP, as some opinion polls predict, there is hope still for the party. It is already seen devising strategies to make gains in East, North East and South. The party which doesn’t do well in UP has also gone on to form governments in the centre in the past, and this data gives hope to BJP.
To sum up, MGB good show in UP doesn’t guarantee them the hot seat in 2019, neither it means Modi can’t come back to power. As data shows, UP doesn’t necessarily hold the keys to power in the centre.
This article was first published on thequint.com on 13 Jan, 2019.
The demand for reservations based on economic status has been long standing, and the BJP has attempted to fulfil it through this move.
There are four reasons why this move is a masterstroke, and will help the BJP in the upcoming elections:
1. It caught the opposition unawares, making it difficult for them to oppose it
The opposition and the media did not have a clue about this mega move. There was some speculation that the BJP could announce some sops for farmers, but the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo managed to surprise everyone with this move. Though the Congress is calling it a jumla, it will be very difficult for them to oppose it in Parliament. It’s a catch-22 situation for the opposition.
If they vote against the amendment, they could face the wrath of upper caste groups. Congress received 2.5 per cent of its total 19.5 per cent vote share in the 2014 elections from the upper caste. If they vote for the amendment, the ultimate credit will be taken by the BJP.
2. It soothes the nerves of the upper caste anchor voting segment of the BJP
The upper castes account for approximately 20 per cent-25 per cent of the country’s population. In the Hindi heartland states, where the BJP won maximum seats in 2014, their proportion is even higher.
In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, 47 per cent of the upper caste voted for the BJP as per CSDS. The BJP received 8.9 per cent of its total 31.3 per cent vote share in the 2014 elections from the upper caste.
According to a Dainik Bhaskar report, the upper castes account for 31 per cent of the Hindu population and enjoy influence in 125 Lok Sabha seats. Over the past few years, a section of the upper caste was unhappy with the excessive appeasement of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) community by the party.
The amendment to the SC-ST Act nullifying the Supreme Court order served as the last nail in the coffin. There were upper caste protests in the three Hindi heartland states, especially Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. In fact, one of the upper caste groups deserted the party in both the states, leading to the loss in the recent state elections.
In MP, specifically, a section of the upper castes was angry about the following issues:
SC-ST amendment
Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s controversial ‘mai ka lal’ statement. (Shivraj Singh Chauhan during the campaigning phase had said that no one can end reservations for the backward communities in the country)
Both key positions of CM and state BJP president post occupied by OBC members
The dissent even led to the formation of the Samanya Pichhda evam Alpsankhyak Samaj (SAPAKS), which was an anti-reservation front. Posters were put up in many villages warning BJP leaders from entering and seeking votes by declaring that ‘yahan forward caste rehte hain’ (forward castes stay here).
Though the party bagged only 0.4 per cent vote share, it scored more votes than the margin of victory in two seats leading to the BJP’s defeat. These seats played a crucial role in a hung assembly, where the difference between Congress and the BJP in the end was as narrow as only five seats.
In the Gwalior Chambal region, which has huge population of upper castes (roughly 30 per cent), BJP suffered a massive hit. Realising their folly and making amends, the party appointed prominent Brahmin face Gopal Bhargav as leader of opposition in the assembly. This coincided with the declaration of the reservation, making the message adequately clear.
3. It will be difficult for courts to interfere in a constitutional amendment
Many commentators as well as the opposition have been claiming that this move will not stand judicial scrutiny and will be challenged as the Supreme Court has in many judgements capped the quota at 50 per cent. What they fail to realise is that BJP is talking about a constitutional amendment.
If the amendment passes through both houses of Parliament, then though it can be challenged, it will not be easy for courts to strike it down unless they feel it is against the spirit of the Constitution.
Further, these issues are fought in the people’s court. Even if it is struck down, the BJP can go to the voters and say it had good intentions but courts are not allowing, and it will try through other means.
4. It does not touch the quota of existing beneficiaries, so there remains nothing to be opposed
The quota proposed is over and above the 50 per cent for SC-ST and OBCs provided in the Constitution. Since this doesn’t disturb their existing benefits in admissions and jobs, they are not likely to oppose the move by the BJP government.
In Bihar, Mohan Bhagwat’s economics-based reservation statement was tweaked by the opposition to portray that the BJP wants to remove reservations, and the party had to pay a heavy price in elections. It has to guard itself against such rumour-mongering this time as well.
Politics Is The Art Of Managing Contradictions
The SC-ST Amendment Act proved to be a double whammy for the BJP. It failed to elicit support from the Dalit community in the three state elections but it also alienated the core supporter of BJP, the forward caste. Congress and other opposition parties have succeeded in painting the BJP as anti-Dalit.
This strategy of bringing in reservations for the upper caste communities will help the BJP consolidate its anchor vote segments of upper caste and OBCs, which account for 60 per cent of the population.
The elections could well turn out to be upper caste (UC) + non-Yadav-OBCs + ST as one voting block versus Yadavs + Dalits + Muslims as the other. The BJP did manage to get the highest support of Dalits in 2014 (24 per cent) but this is likely to move back to Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress in 2019.
To sum up, the BJP has taken a bold step of moving towards eliminating caste-based reservations. It helps politically as well after suffering setbacks in three states as it assuages its core vote bank.
This article was first published on swarajyamag.com on 8th Jan. 2019.
#Elections2019: Modi’s Approval Ratings, Swing Voters to Shape Result
With the Lok Sabha elections due in April-May this year, the invincibility of the ruling party at the Centre, that is, the BJP’s herculean election machinery and the durability of the ‘Modi factor’, is being openly questioned.
This notwithstanding, it doesn’t look like the Congress party alone can beat the BJP in the 2019 general elections. Thus, the idea of a mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) has been afloat for a while, but it is yet to see fruition.
100 days is a long time in politics, and the narrative for the general elections in 2019 is yet to be set. Here, we analyse the math for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Source: www.indiavotes.com
Voter Bases & the Task of Government Formation
BJP’s lowest vote share during this period (as above) (excluding the 1989 number when party was still young) is 18.8 percent in 2009. This is its core vote bank, comprising core voters drawn by the Hindutva narrative, politics of Ram temple, and the fervent nationalism of the party. The Congress’s lowest performance is 19.5 percent in 2014; its core vote bank is drawn by secularism, their centrist ideology, and the Gandhi family legacy.
So, the combined anchor voter base of both parties is 37-38 percent, which will vote for these parties regardless of what happens.
With regional parties’ core vote banks at 43.5 percent (lowest in 1991), this leaves a floating voter base of 18 percent, which has been alternating between the Congress, BJP and regional parties over the years, and holds the key to government formation.
Source: www.politicalbaba.com
Highest tally of regional parties was in 1989 (in the aftermath of Bofors) when they got 261 seats, and the lowest was in 1991 when they got 179 seats (the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi which boosted INC seats due to sympathy)
Average tally of regional parties is 231 over last 8 elections
BJP-INC combine’s average tally is 312, with 272 being the majority mark; neither has gotten a majority on its own since 1989
Except in 2014 when Congress was routed, scoring below 50, could BJP cross the half-way mark
Half-way mark for BJP or INC on their own has been difficult historically, since the beginning of the coalition era in 1989. Especially when both parties do not have a wider pan-India presence, the Congress in the north and east, the BJP in south and east
BJP & INC Tally Since 1989
BJP+INC Combine vs Regional Parties’ Tally Since 1989
Neither BJP Nor Congress Can Get Majority on Its Own
The Lok Sabha elections since 1989 has exhibited tendencies of the ‘see-saw game. The pivot of the see-saw in this case is the block of regional parties who, on an average, have bagged 230 odd seats, leaving 310 odd seats for the BJP and the Congress, each sitting on one end of the see-saw.
BJP’s tally decreased from 182 in 1999 to 138 in 2004, while Congress’s increased from 114 to 145 during the same period
BJP’s tally increased from 116 in 2009 to 282 in 2014, while Congress’s fell from 206 to 44
With a strong pivot, the BJP and Congress are likely to gain or lose seats at the expense of each other. With an average combined tally of 312 in last 8 elections, it is very difficult for either of them to get a majority on their own, as the majority of 272 accounts for 88 percent of their combined tally over the past 3 decades. On an average, BJP-Congress combine has bagged 57 percent of seats, while regional parties have bagged 43 percent of seats. 2014 clearly stands out as an outlier.
Modi Remains Popular Despite Lowered Ratings
In 2014, 60 percent of the votes polled by BJP comprised its core voter base; 13 percent votes were brought in by the individual candidates / strong state leadership, while a whopping 27 percent was pulled by the ‘Modi mania’.
BJP successfully managed to pull more than 2/3rd of the floating voters towards itself, and won a historic mandate. The BJP defeated Congress by 6.5 crore votes; 4.6 crore was on account of the ‘Modi wave’. While there is a dip in his popularity ratings and Rahul is catching up, Modi still enjoys a handsome lead.
An Open Contest
To sum up, the contest is wide open for 2019. The mood of the floating voters, see-saw dynamics of the polls (given a strong pivot), and the durability of the ‘Modi factor’ may well decide the course of 2019 elections.
#Elections2019: Federal clout at power centre
Regional parties have played a key role in government formation at the Centre since the advent of the coalition era in 1989. BJP’s loss in three Hindi heartland states have given them hope of a hung Parliament in 2019 where they could again play the role of a kingmaker. Many such parties are discussing with Congress to form the mahagathbandhan (MGB) to take on the BJP. Alliances in key states of UP, Bihar, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, which account for 207 seats, out of which NDA won 150 in 2014, will decide the course of 2019.
Uttar Pradesh: The entire premise that BJP will have a tough time in 2019 is built on the alliance between Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in UP. It was tested in bypolls to three seats earlier this year where BJP recorded big losses. BSP and SP have a solid vote base of Dalits, Muslims and Yadavs accounting for 44 per cent of the population. The alliance has proved it can seamlessly transfer votes in bypolls. Both parties are known for their anti-BJP stance. They are toying with the idea of joining MGB. Though, Congress is well past its prime in the Hindi heartland and is confined to two family-stronghold seats, it can be a game-changer in 13 seats.
Strategists in both parties feel while they will be able to transfer votes to Congress, the reciprocity is unlikely to happen like in 1996 (BSP-INC alliance) and 2017 (SP-INC alliance). There’s not much value which Congress brings to the table in UP. Both these parties may not want to tie their fate to MGB, and instead join the Third Front and wait for results.
Bihar: The fight is veering towards a bipolar contest in Bihar. BJP-led NDA consisting of JDU and LJP vs RJD-led UPA consisting of Congress, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Upendra Kushwaha and Sharad Yadav. BJP inducted Kushwaha before 2014, to make a dent in Nitish Kumar’s Kurmi/Koeri vote bank which accounts for 12 per cent of population. After JDU’s ghar wapsi, BJP faced the problem of plenty. It eased out Kushwaha and retained Paswan who has considerable clout among Dalits (6 per cent of population). He will also act as NDA’s counter to Manjhi who is a leader of Mahadalits (10 per cent of population). Both alliances have almost equal support, NDA of upper caste, Kurmi / Koeri and Dalits while UPA of Muslims and Yadavs. Mahadalits and Most Backward Classes (24 per cent) hold the keys to success in Bihar. RJD hopes to encash on the double anti-incumbency, against Modi’s 5-year and Nitish’s 13-year rule. Paswan who is a political bellwether has decided to stay with NDA. The problem of plenty has now shifted to UPA, so one can expect a big tussle on ticket distribution there.
Maharashtra: BJP almost won the state elections contesting independently held six months after Lok Sabha polls. It did partner with Shiv Sena to form the government, but their relationship strained forever. Shiv Sena which was the bigger brother in the state found itself to be the junior partner. It is playing the role of opposition within the NDA, sharply critical of Modi and has announced plans to contest 2019 elections alone. On the other hand, NCP and Congress have sealed a 24-24 formula for elections. Congress has adopted an accommodative approach for bigger goal of defeating BJP. Shiv Sena is adopting ‘hum to doobenge sanamtumko bhi le doobenge’ strategy.
As per my analysis, Shiv Sena could be routed and get 2-3 seats (current 18) while BJP may not suffer much with loss of 4-5 seats (current 23), based on 2014 numbers. UPA could gain 20-odd seats. Uddhav is making noise to extract his pound of flesh from BJP. Both parties need each other and will come to the table soon.
Tamil Nadu: All allies of BJP in state (PMK, DMDK, MDMK, PT) have left NDA. The political landscape has changed with Jaya’s death, split in AIADMK and entry of superstars Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan in politics. DMK stays with UPA and could play a crucial role in 2019 as state exhibits a strong trend of AIADMK and DMK alternately sweeping the state in central elections. BJP initially hoped to ally with AIADMK however, split of TTK, has forced a rethink. It needs to bag few seats here to negate losses in North and West where it has maxed out. It has also sent feelers to Rajini. Rajini could join NDA and Kamal UPA in my opinion.
Apart from these, other key players are AITC, BJD, TRS and CPM: AITC is facing the heat from BJP in West Bengal. It needs support of Congress to thwart attempts of BJP. However, Congress doesn’t gain much from the alliance as Mamata Banerjee doesn’t have any votes outside Bengal. Mamata is averse to joining any Third Front as the leadership issue has become complicated.
Naveen Patnaik has maintained an equidistance approach from BJP and Congress. He is not keen on joining UPA as Congress is the principal opposition party in Odisha. BJP is also gaining strength there and his joining NDA will help BJP piggyback on BJD’s vote bank.
TRS can’t join UPA as Congress is the principal opposition party in Telangana. War of words between Modi and KCR during state polls have ensured he can’t join NDA immediately. He is floating the idea of Third Front to make a rainbow coalition of regional parties. Akhilesh has shown interest while Mamata and Naveen have been non-committal.
CPM can’t join MGB, as it is left with sizeable presence only in Kerala and Bengal. If it joins MGB it risks losing space to Congress in Kerala. It can under no circumstances join hands with Mamata in Bengal.
All regional parties have a common wish: a hung Parliament. The elections circus has just begun.
This article was first published on dnaindia.com on 29 Dec. 2018.
Madhya Pradesh verdict 2018: BJP looks strong despite loss in state Assembly elections
The Congress managed to romp home in Madhya Pradesh the key poll promise of farm loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh. The BJP’s tally reduced significantly among rural as well as urban seats in MP. Despite the amendment to SC-ST Atrocities Act nullifying the Supreme Court order, Dalits and tribals supported the Congress. The BJP received a drubbing across regions ranging from 3% to 9% decline in vote share. If not for an improved performance by the BJP in the Vindhya region, the Congress would have gained a majority on its own. In strongholds like Malwa and Mahakoshal, the BJP’s tally reduced to half, while in Gwalior-Chambal to one-third.
The focus now moves to the Lok Sabha elections to be held in April-May next year. The BJP swept the state, bagging 27 out of 29 seats in 2014, riding on Modi wave and popularity of Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Ten percent of the BJP’s current strength in Lok Sabha comes from MP. That’s why it is very important for the party to maintain its performance in 2019. There are rumours that the party may want Shivraj to contest from Vidisha, the seat of Sushma Swaraj, who has declined to contest in 2019 due to health reasons. However, Shivraj has announced that he would not contest the Lok Sabha elections and focus on the state instead. There are also rumours that he could be made the agriculture minister in the wake of agri distress in the country, along with the demand of the Congress to waive off farm loans. He is responsible for turning around the agriculture sector in MP and the party may want to use his experience at the Centre.
While the Congress is ahead of the BJP in the Assembly elections in terms of seats, a simple extrapolation of Assembly elections mapped to Lok Sabha seats by the author shows that the BJP would still be ahead with 17 seats, with Congress lagging at 12. While there are 51 districts, there are only 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in MP. Many times, different seats of same districts, which may exhibit a similar voting pattern, are allocated to different Lok Sabha constituencies. Hence, the results could be different.
1. Congress couldn’t sweep the state despite 15 years of natural anti-incumbency. In fact, the party’s vote share is less than the BJP’s by 0.1%. The party even failed to get a simple majority on its own, highlighting the fact that Shivraj and Modi factors can’t be written off yet.
2. The Lok Sabha elections are contested on different issues than state elections. While 15 years of rule developed a fatigue factor in state elections, Modi’s tenure is only five years old. He will pitch and showcase his five years’ of performance versus the Congress’s 55 years of rule and ask voters for a second chance to fulfill his promises.
3. Modi is fairly popular in the state. Overall, as per India Spend report, the BJP lost 70% of seats where he campaigned. In MP, he won 50% of seats where he held rallies. Schemes like PMAYG and Ujjwala are very popular in the state.
4. MP is the best-performing state as far as PMAY(G) and Ujjwala scheme of Modi government is concerned. More than 10 and 50 lakh beneficiaries respectively are present here. The schemes represent the aspirations of the poor man to own a house. The Ujjwala scheme has transformed the lives of women in villages and protecting them from health hazards and improving their lifestyle. This will add to the popularity of Modi among the poor and Shivraj among women.
5. The Congress has made tall promises and it has less than 3 months to deliver. It has announced a farm loan waiver as soon as they come to power, but it is caught in details and modalities. There is no clarity on the amount and number of farmers, who will be benefitted in MP, while elsewhere it is clear. It has applied a cut-off date as March 31, 2018, while other two states have announced farm loan availed till November 2018 for a waiver. This has upset a section of farmers. The whole issue is so tricky as seen from what transpired in Punjab and Karnataka that it is unlikely to be resolved before the Model Code of Conduct kicks in for Lok Sabha polls.
6. The Scindia camp has been unhappy with Maharaj not getting the CM chair. As per reports, Digvijay Singh and Kamalnath camps have taken control of the state and could corner majority of the plum portfolios in ministry. If Scindia is not accommodated with a national role or state PCC post, he and his supporters could be de-motivated and may not work with the same zeal in Lok Sabha elections.
7. ‘Tiger abhi zinda hai’ – Shivraj Singh Chouhan has taken Twitter by storm. Tweets are pouring in from across the country on the way he handled the loss with grace. A section of people as per reports are ruing their decision. In the process of voting out their unpopular local representative, they didn’t realise results could be so tight at the state level and Mama could lose. This is expected to get sympathy for Mama and the BJP. He has already started touring the state like a common man by using the railways. He has said that he would not let Kamalnath sleep easily if he doesn’t deliver on promises.
At the end of it all, the BJP still holds an advantage in MP and the result in the state would end up bolstering its 2019 bid for power.
This article was first published on mynation.com on 25th Dec . 2018.
#Elections2019: BJP, 2019, And The Durability Of The ‘Modi Factor’
The Indian National Congress has made significant inroads in the three Hindi heartland states defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party in its den. These states account for 65 Lok Sabha seats out of which BJP won 62 in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The historical trend shows that whichever party wins these state elections goes on to win the maximum seats in the Lok Sabha election that is held within three-four months of the assembly mandate. BJP’s tally is expected to reduce by half, on the basis of a simple extrapolation of the state results. The results have made the 2019 contest wide open with no clear favourites.
Did The Modi Factor Work, Or Fail In 2018?
The boost the BJP gets from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal political capital—which took the party past the finish line in elections over the last few years—has often been referred to as the ‘Modi factor’. There’s been plenty of debate after the results about the impact Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaigning had in these elections. Did the Modi factor work or fail? Opinion is divided.
People who are saying that Modi’s push failed, point to the party losing power in all three major states. They argue that rural or agricultural distress—resulting from radical measures like the Goods and Services Tax and demonetisation—is one of the main reasons for this defeat. They see the impact of this being so large that even popular Chief Ministers like Raman Singh and Shivraj Singh Chouhan had to bear the brunt.
People who believe the Modi factor is intact argue that the party put up a tough fight in two out of three states and the resultant marginally hung assembly. But for Modi, both MP and Rajasthan could have met the same fate as Chhattisgarh, they argue.
Even critics of Modi acknowledge that he turned the party’s fortunes around in Gujarat, without which Congress could have sneaked in. In Karnataka nobody gave BJP any chance, but it was Modi’s rallies which created a swing of 2-3 percent in the party’s favour propelling it to single largest party status.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with then-Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP President Amit Shah, in Bhopal, on Sep. 25, 2018. (Photograph: PTI)
Defining The ‘Modi Factor’
The way to put a number to this is to measure his ability to attract voters outside the party’s core vote bank and influence them to vote for BJP. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, 27 percent of those who supported BJP said in a CSDS survey that they would not have voted for BJP if Modi was not the prime ministerial candidate.
This was highest in Rajasthan and the lowest in Chhattisgarh.
The Modi factor fetched the BJP 4.6 crore votes out of the 17 crore-odd votes it received in 2014.
The Modi Factor’s 2018 Scorecard
Elections are not won or lost basis a single factor. These are a host of issues which decide the outcome including the complex interplay among them. We attempt to analyse whether Modi’s influence worked or not in the state elections 2018 using three metrics.
Rallies Conducted Versus Seats Won
Modi covered 197 seats through his rallies in these 3 states, roughly 40 percent of total seats. BJP had won 134 of these seats in 2013 (around 70 percent), which got reduced to 65 in 2018 (33 percent).
The party lost more than half of these seats in 2018.
In terms of the strike rate—seats won divided by seats where he held rallies—Modi seems to have performed poorer than other leaders.
BJP Vote Share: 2013 Versus 2014 Versus 2018
BJP’s vote share in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in these three states received a big boost due to Narendra Modi’s candidacy. The party’s vote share increased by 8-10 percent in these states in that round.
In the 2018 state elections, BJP’s vote share has declined significantly – by 14-17 percent from the 2014 Lok Sabha levels.
The decline in vote shares is higher than the increase from 2013 to 2014 due to the Modi boost. This signifies not only a washout of the Modi factor in these states but also high anti-incumbency against the chief ministers.
Performance In Urban Seats
The urban voter has been a big supporter of the BJP. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the party’s vote share in urban seats was 42 percent, in semi-urban seats at 32 percent and in rural seats at 30 percent. BJP won 84 percent of the urban seats it contested, but its success rate in rural seats was lower, at 63 percent.
BJP’s lead over Congress was the widest in urban constituencies at 21.3 percent. The party made the biggest gains among middle and upper/upper-middle class voters.
In the urban assembly seats in three states, BJP’s tally has declined from 88 in the 2013 election to 45 this year – a near-50 percent drop.
On the other hand, Congress’ tally improved from 10 to 47. Price rise, demonetisation, GST, job crisis are the likely factors responsible for this rout. As early as June 2018, the author had pointed out in a previous BloombergQuint column that the BJP needs to worry about growing urban apathy.
In Chhattisgarh, BJP lost all but one of the four seats in Raipur, except one, as well as the Korba and Bhilai Nagar seats, all of which it had won in 2013.
In MP, BJP lost the three seats it held in Bhopal city, three out of four Jabalpur seats and one out of five Indore seats, all considered strongholds for the party.
In Rajasthan, it lost one of the two Bikaner city seats, the Jodhpur seat, and nine seats in Jaipur.
Risks For BJP In 2019
As the 2014 CSDS survey indicated, 27 percent of BJP’s voters had supported the party because of Modi. These are likely to be mostly urban/educated/liberal voters. This amounts to 4.6 crore votes. BJP was ahead of Congress by 6.5 crore votes in the Lok Sabha elections.
4.6 crore votes account for 70 percent of the BJP’s 2014 victory margin.
In these three states, BJP got 90 lakh extra votes due to the Modi factor in 2014. These do not belong to the anchor voting segments of BJP. They are less likely to be influenced by issues like the Ram temple, cow and caste politics, and more by development, jobs, and Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava. While the fall in Modi’s popularity ratings also indicate a dent, he still, however, enjoys a handsome lead over Rahul Gandhi. Does he have a new trick up his sleeve to repeat the victory of 2014 in 2019?
This article was first published in the bloombergquint.com on 19th Dec. 2018.
Was Rural Distress One Of The Key Reasons For BJP’s Loss In Three States? Data Says Otherwise
The Indian National Congress has formed government in the three Hindi heartland states which went to polls recently. The 3-0 verdict has led political commentators and analysts to believe that this is all attributable to rural distress brought about by demonetisation. After all:
Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) rural tally declined by 31 per cent in Madhya Pradesh, 57 per cent in Rajasthan and 68 per cent in Chhattisgarh
Overall, BJP tally in these three states reduced by half on rural seats in 2018 compared to 2013.
Tables like the one given below are being used to drive home the point.
Source: Times of India Data Hub
Elections, however, are not won or lost on a single factor but a host of them and a complex interplay amongst them.
In MP, key factors were local anti-incumbency against sitting MLAs, voter fatigue with BJP, freebies, impact of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of) Atrocities Act
In Rajasthan, key factors were similar, plus a strong trend of people believing change is better for development, favoured the Congress.
In Chhattisgarh, people yearning for badlav, corruption, tribal rights, the Ajit Jogi factor, Chhattisgarhi asmita, etc, all played a key role in elections.
To say rural distress as one of the key reasons for BJP’s loss is making too simplistic an assumption without looking at the data properly. If there was truly rural distress, Congress wouldn’t have fallen short of a majority in MP and Rajasthan, which are primarily rural states. MP has 183 rural seats out of 230, Rajasthan has 162 out of 200. After 15 years of anti-incumbency in MP and Chhattisgarh, and strong trend of overthrowing incumbent in Rajasthan, along with rural distress as is being claimed, Congress should have swept all the states and not only Chhattisgarh. If there was rural distress how is BJP retaining rural seats. Not only retaining but it is gaining seats from the Congress. How is it possible? Let’s look at the data below:
If one looks closely at Madhya Pradesh rural data:
54 seats have been retained, 68 lost and 30 gained by BJP
44 per cent of 2013 rural tally has been retained by BJP, this is impossible in rural stress scenario
36 per cent of BJP’s 2018 tally represents seats wrested from Congress (is this rural distress?)
Congress lost half of its 2013 rural seats (28 out of 56), how come?
Source: Times of India Data Hub, http://www.politicalbaba.com
Similarly, if one looks closely at Rajasthan rural data:
49 retains, 82 losses and seven gains for BJP
37 per cent of rural tally of 2013 has been retained by BJP despite so-called rural distress
of the new rural seats 13 per cent are gains for BJP
Additionally, 2013 verdict was an aberration and percentage gains/losses (on a high base) don’t necessarily show the true picture
Similarly, if one looks closely at Chhattisgarh data:
Six retains, 35 losses and seven gains for BJP
of the new seats 50 per cent are gains, this is not possible in rural distress scenarios.
Vote Shares Are Even Stevens
In terms of vote shares, there is not much to choose between the BJP and Congress in rural Madhya Pradesh. Both are almost tied with Congress at 40.5 per cent and BJP at 39.5 per cent. In Rajasthan, BJP recorded 38 per cent and Congress 39 per cent vote share in rural seats. In Chhattisgarh, the gap is higher because of the historic mandate, BJP 32 per cent and Congress 42 per cent.
SC-ST Atrocities Act Impact
Out of the total rural seats in the three states, 40 per cent are reserved for SC-ST category, MP 42 per cent, Rajasthan 34 per cent and Chhattisgarh 50 per cent. We have seen how the Dalits and Tribals have voted against BJP across these three states in these elections and it’s not only due to rural distress. In MP, Congress party’s alliance with JAYS helped the party in tribal seats. In Rajasthan, the Kirori Lal Meena factor didn’t work in the ST reserved seats. In Chhattisgarh, Ajit Jogi and Mayawati dented BJP more instead of Congress in ST and SC seats respectively. BJP lost 141 rural seats in these three states and more than half are accounted for by reserved seats.
in MP 77 out of 183 rural seats are SC-ST, BJP had won 53 in 2013 reduced to 24 in 2018
in Rajasthan, 55 out of 162 rural seats are SC-ST, BJP had won 46 in 2013 reduced to 16 in 2018
in CG, 39 out of 78 rural seats are SC-ST, BJP had won 20 in 2013, down to 5
Source: Times of India Data Hub, www.politicalbaba.com
To sum up, rural distress alone is not responsible for BJP’s inability to form government in the three states. Host of state/national level and hyper local issues determined results on each seat, and these varied from seat to seat as well as data indications.
This article was first published on swarajyamag.com on 21 dec. 2018.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14555
|
__label__cc
| 0.579716
| 0.420284
|
ScholarlyCommons Home
Home > SPICE > Vol. 4 (2009) > Iss. 1
The Dynamics of Self Control
Bret Wallace
Wallace, Bret (2009) "The Dynamics of Self Control," SPICE: Student Perspectives on Institutions, Choices and Ethics: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 2.
Available at: https://repository.upenn.edu/spice/vol4/iss1/2
Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Social Psychology Commons
All Issues Vol. 14, Iss. 2 Vol. 14, Iss. 1 Vol. 13, Iss. 1 Vol. 12, Iss. 1 Vol. 11, Iss. 1 Vol. 10, Iss. 1 Vol. 9, Iss. 1 Vol. 8, Iss. 1 Vol. 7, Iss. 1 Vol. 6, Iss. 1 Vol. 5, Iss. 1 Vol. 4, Iss. 1 Vol. 3, Iss. 1 Vol. 2, Iss. 1 Vol. 1, Iss. 1
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14561
|
__label__cc
| 0.669302
| 0.330698
|
Palo Duro Canyon and Caprock Texas
Tom Lebsack, Jim Pledger and I went to Canyon, Texas and Quitaque, Texas to photograph the Palo Duro Canyon and Caprock Canyon state parks.
Light in the canyon is blocked by the canyon walls making it difficult to take full advantage of the sunrise, sunset light.
The history and vastness of the canyon was a delightful surprise.
The plains of Texas are beautiful with many farms and ranches and colorful small towns.
Palo Duro Canyon State Park is 120 miles long, 20 miles wide and 800 feet deep and the most spectacular landscape feature in the Texas Panhandle. It has many very nice hiking/biking trails.
Caprock Canyon State Park is 14,000 acres and, Like Palo Duro Canyon State Park was once part of the JA Ranch established in 1870's by Charles Goodnight. There are wild bison in the park which were saved from extinction by the Goodnight descendants.
Lighthouse from the Lighthouse trail, Palo Duro Canyon
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14563
|
__label__wiki
| 0.587601
| 0.587601
|
Reel and Rock
Exploring non-fiction film, rock music in movies and on record and related adventures on pop culture's time-and-place continuum
Rick Ouellette Bio
Review: “Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock & Roll”
Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock & Roll
Directed by John Pirozzi—2015—105 minutes
The freedom to live out a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, taken for granted by several decades worth of young people in Western nations, may never be regarded so lightly again after viewing John Pirozzi’s mesmerizing documentary. Whether or not the viewer realizes beforehand that Cambodia had a vibrant pop music scene in the 60s and early 70s will hardly matter once he or she is drawn into the film’s orbit. What most will know going in is that this thriving youth movement was destined to be crushed, along with all else, when the homicidal Khmer Rouge forces took over the country in a terrible offshoot of the Vietnam War. Using interviews with survivors, evocative period footage and vintage vinyl, Pirozzi conjures up a regenerative tale despite the historical horrors. It’s a case of mankind’s better nature, here in the form of musical enrichment, persevering even in the face of the worst fanatical impulses this sorry world has to offer.
The story starts soon after Cambodia peacefully gains its independence from France in 1953. A period of relative economic success follows under the restored monarchy, led by Prince Norodom Sihanouk. The prince was a patron of the arts and a bit of a singer himself, and music and traditional culture thrived. Pop songs soon became all the rage, with vocalists both male (Sinn Sisamouth) and female (Ros Serey Sothea) becoming idols across all age groups. At first, the tunes are reminiscent of French and Afro-Cuban styles; as we get into the Sixties, the British and American rock influences seep in. There is a certain lulling appeal to this first part of the film. The capital Phnom Penh is a vision of blossoming trees and bright boulevards, towering temples and lively clubs. Especially when the soundtrack features the keening, ethereal tones of the woman singers, the sights and sounds float by like an exotic dream.
“When we were young, we loved to be modern,” one of the participants says right at the start. It is a simple as it is heartbreaking, knowing the nightmare that this dream will morph into. Still, it is fun to learn of the different musical artists and their evolution through the better part of twenty years. News that the war in neighboring Vietnam is spilling across their border comes at first in brief segments. Prince Sihanouk tries to remain neutral, even in the face of President Nixon’s bombing of his country to try and stymie the North Vietnamese communists. Still, the happy teens congregate and the music plays on into the late 60s and early 70s. Guitar bands like Baksey Cham Krong and mildly rebellious artists like troubadour Yol Aularong and sassy-girl singer Pen Ran are readily identifiable in the global pop canon.
It all starts coming apart in 1970 when the prince is deposed in a right-wing coup and naively allies himself with the Khmer Rogue. Far from being “modern,” the Khmer Rouge were pathological ideologues who, upon taking power in April of 1975, emptied Phnom Penh and other cities with the demented idea of creating a pre-industrial agrarian society—in effect turning the whole country into a big prison farm. A quarter of Cambodia’s population would not survive the regime’s four year rule, and as many as two million died from hunger, disease and summary execution in the world’s worst such event since the Holocaust. Pirozzi, as befits his subject, keys in on the Khmer Rouge’s particular contempt of artists, a group who are “close to the people” and thus deemed a dangerous challenge to their dogma. Singer Sieng Vanthy recalls how her life was saved because she convinced authorities that she had been a banana seller before the takeover.
At the end of “Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten” Pirozzi shows the present-day (and once again sparkling) Phnom Penh, with its easeful citizens, pop talent shows and stores with racks of CDs, some of them re-issues of those old albums we almost feel we know by now. Things aren’t perfect. Much like Prince Sihanouk (who was good on the arts but stymied political dissent with his secret police), Cambodia is today ruled by Hun Sen, a long-reigning strongman (and Khmer Rouge defector) who can make life very uncomfortable for his opponents. On the plus side… well, he has managed not to kill two million people.
The grace and dignity of the film’s subjects will make an even greater impression when held up against the depravity of the perpetrators. The inspiration and uplift of culture is one of the great counterweights we have against the dark impulses that lead to the violence, greed and exploitation that seems to have half the globe in a stranglehold at any one time. Like in this film, we always seem outnumbered but never give up.
My new book, Rock Docs: A Fifty-Year Cinematic Journey will be released in late 2015.
Copyright 2015, Rick Ouellette. All rights reserved.
Posted in Documentary Spotlight, Rock on Film and tagged Cambodia, Cambodia pop culture, Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll, John Pirozzi, Khmer Rouge, Pen Ran, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Ros Serey Sothea, Sieng Vanthy, Sinn Sisamouth, Yol Aularong on May 2, 2015 by Rick Ouellette. 3 Comments
“Summer Interlude” (1951): Ingmar Bergman’s Silver Cloud with a Black Lining
Make Mine a Double #14: The Prog Years, Part One
Tinseltown Rock #2: 1956, The Year Rock Hit the Silver Screen
A Cheap Movie Holiday in Other People’s Misery: 40 Years of Brit Punk on Film (Part 2)
Documentary Spotlight: “My Generation” (2018)
“Rock Docs: A Fifty-Year Cinematic Journey” Available now, click on image
Rick Ouellette on Make Mine a Double #14: The Pr…
Aphoristical on Make Mine a Double #14: The Pr…
Vinyl Connection on Make Mine a Double #14: The Pr…
Rick Ouellette on Tinseltown Rock #2: 1956, The…
Books that Rock (15)
Documentary 101 Samplers (9)
Documentary Spotlight (39)
Dubious Documentaries (10)
In a Dream of Strange Cities (2)
Make Mine a Double (12)
Rock Docs book sampler (7)
Rock on Film (37)
Rock on Record (37)
The $1 VHS Film Festival (3)
The Pale Beyond (7)
We've All Gone Solo (12)
CLICK BELOW FOR RICK ON FACEBOOK
View profile.php?id=100007573396986’s profile on Facebook
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14565
|
__label__cc
| 0.524088
| 0.475912
|
Tag Archives: Sex Pistols
Today In Music, January 6th
Baby boomers, Country Rock, Diary, Entertainment, Eric Clapton, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Journal, Life, Media, Music, Music news, Nostalgia, Pop, Pop Music, Punk, Punk Rock, R&B, Random, Rock music, Rockmine, Sex Pistols, Sinatra, The Sex Pistols, Today In Music, Today in music history
From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Tuesday, 6th January):
1948. “Sandy” Denny (Fairport Convention; Fotheringay) born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny in Wimbledon, London.
1977. The Sex Pistols are playing Rotterdam Art Centre but back in London, EMI Records chairman Sir John Read decides that press coverage of the band’s behaviour at Heathrow Airport is the last straw. As of today, the band’s contract is terminated. Pressing plants are instructed to cease production of “Anarchy In The UK” and the single is deleted from catalogue.
1998. Paula Cole‘s tour manager, Phillip Sullivan appears in a Kentucky court charged with attempted rape, assault and burglary. He pleads not-guilty to the charges and is released on $ 10,000 bail. Sullivan had been arrested at Boston’s Logan International Airport on December 24th following an incident in Kentucky on December 17th. His lawyers say it’s a case of mistaken identity and believe they have a “rock solid alibi” as he was on tour at the time.
1997. Frank Sinatra is rushed to the Cedars of Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles suffering from an irregular heartbeat. Barbara Sinatra, the star’s fourth wife is at his bedside and children Frank Jnr., Nancy and Tina are on their way. The 81 year old singer spent ten days in hospital at the end of last year after suffering from a heart attack and pneumonia.
On The Web.
2008. Rockmine‘s first blog appears on WordPress!
1971. The Johnny Cash Show (ABC, U.S.A.) 46. Guests include Erik Anderson, Derek & The Dominos, Connie Smith, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Homer & Jethro. Here are Derek & The Dominoes with “It’s Too Late”
1987. Folk singer Alex Campbell dies in hospital in Tonder, Denmark, aged 63. He had suffered from throat cancer since 1983.
Today In Music, October 31st
Baby boomers, Brian Jones, Country, Country Music, Culture, Diary, Entertainment, Johnny Cash, Journal, Life, Media, Music, Music news, Nostalgia, Pop, Pop Music, Punk, Punk Rock, Random, Rock music, Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols, The Rolling Stones, The Sex Pistols, Today In Music, Today in music history, Uncategorized
From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Friday 31st October):
1965. Annabel Lwin (Bow Wow Wow) born Myant Myant Aye in Rangoon, Burma.
1964. Ray Charles is arrested by U.S. Customs officials when he arrives at Boston Airport from Canada. He’s charged with possession of a quantity of marijuana, heroin and a hypodermic syringe.
1967. Brian Jones is granted bail after an application to the High Court in London. Mr. Justice Donaldson hears evidence in his private chambers from two psychiatrists. He releases Jones on his own recognisance of £ 250 and two sureties of £ 250 each.
1999. Johnny Cash leaves Nashville’s Baptist Hospital after two weeks treatment for pneumonia. It’s the 67 year old Country legend’s third bout of the illness in the last two years. He suffers from Shy-Drager Syndrome, a Parkinson’s Disease like ailment, which makes him more susceptible to pneumonia.
1983. Rockpalast (WDR, Germany) Public Image Ltd. (Zeche Bochum). Here they are with “Public Image”
2001. Jazz pianist, Bill Le Sage (William A. Le Sage) dies in London from lung cancer aged 72. He played with a wide variety of people over the years from The John Dankworth Seven to Charlie Watts’s Big Band.
Back to normal today. Yesterday’s blog was a bit crazy. I know it was there before but the tag cloud I created was insanely big. I was adding tags late into the night and my brain gave up. Took me another half hour this morning to get the rest of them online. Never again!
I’d like to reiterate that I’d welcome comments. Real feedback, telling me what you think of the almanac sample. Not just what, if anything I should add (or remove) but how useful you feel it is, how accessible, whether the layout works and if the format’s ok.
There are obviously media professionals who browse the blog, so I’d appreciate a candid view. If you don’t want your comments published, just say. That goes for everyone. I do want to hear from you but realise you might not want your comments made public for whatever reason. Don’t let that stop you. You can always mail me: info@rockmine.com.
Baby boomers, Culture, David Letterman, Diary, Entertainment, Journal, Life, Media, Music, Music news, Nostalgia, Pop, Pop Music, Punk, Punk Rock, Random, Rock music, soul music, Today In Music, Today in music history, Uncategorized
From the Rockmine Almanac for today (Saturday 9th August):
1954. Pete Thomas (The Attractions) born in Sheffield, Yorkshire.
1967. Drummer Colin Petersen and guitarist Vince Melouney of The Bee Gees have been ordered to leave Britain. The group’s personal manager, speaking today, said that the two men had been refused extensions to their visitor’s permits earlier this year. A spokesman for The Home Office said the men “came as visitors and were only given a visitor’s permit. If they had wanted to settle here permanently, they should have applied for a work voucher before they left Australia.
1967. The supply vessel for the Radio Scotland pirate ship is boarded by Sheriff’s Officers at Methil harbour and “arrested”. The action follows a legal claim by a Belfast company who say they have not been paid for repair work on the vessel. A spokesman for Radio Scotland said the payment had been delayed as it was the subject of an insurance claim. A notice attached to the ship’s mast barrs it from being moved from the harbour.
1973. Stevie Wonder regains consciousness at North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He was admitted on Monday, 6th August after the car he was travelling in collided with a logging truck. Doctors say he’s now recovering from bruising to the brain and no surgery will now be required.
1996. Late Show With David Letterman (CBS, U.S.A.) Show #0639. Musical guest: Sex Pistols with “Pretty Vacant”. 3m 50s.
1995. Jerry Garcia (The Grateful Dead) dies at the Serenity Knolls drug treatment center in Forest Knolls, California. Frank Jordan, Mayor of San Francisco orders all city flags to be flown at half mast and a tie-dyed Dead flag flown above City Hall.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14568
|
__label__wiki
| 0.620354
| 0.620354
|
Tag: Jamaica
Under Where 4
1987 Me love mi car, me love mi house, me love mi money and ting But most of all, me love mi browning. Me love mi car, me love mi house, me love mi money and ting But most of all, me love mi browning. It is the chorus to a popular song in…
Aren’t you celebrating St Patrick’s Day today?
In recent years, March 17 has been celebrated as St. Patrick’s Day. The holiday isn’t new but for many years, the celebration was localized in Ireland, some parts of Canada and Monseratt (the only former Irish colony in the Caribbean). The young man who became known as Saint Patrick was born in England as a rich man’s…
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14570
|
__label__cc
| 0.660362
| 0.339638
|
Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov's address on “Global Governance Reform: A Chance for Strategic Cooperation between the EU and Emerging Market Economies”
Submitted on Thu, 12/10/2015 - 00:00
Address by Permanent Representative of Russia to the EU Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov at the EPC Policy Dialogue event on “Global Governance Reform: A Chance for Strategic Cooperation between the EU and Emerging Market Economies”. Brussels, 10 December 2015
It gives me great pleasure to address the increasingly popular and, indeed, very important issue of global governance.
Today it is becoming steadily apparent that the transition from a bipolar to a multipolar world is still far from complete. Growing connectivity and interdependence are matched by mounting insecurity. Improving access to health and education contrasts with widening zones of chaos. And complex transnational challenges often seem to invite ill-considered unilateral responses – at times political, economic and even military.
For these reasons, if nothing else, it should be in our common interest to shape an effective system of international governance. One that would be capable of meeting existential threats like ISIS or climate change head on, while balancing legitimate national interests.
Russia, having been one of the authors of the concept of multipolarity back in the 1990s, is driving the search for a new framework of global governance.
Let me turn first to BRICS. In our view, this is a prime indicator of the changing global landscape, literally a sign of the times. Today the BRICS states make up 43% of the world’s population, a third of its industrial, as well as half of its agricultural production. In other words, collectively these countries represent a vast and growing market, as well as a key driver of the global economy. Sure, some skeptics will point out that the economic pace of the BRICS countries today may be below those of the roaring 2000s. But that factor should not be overstated. BRICS has acquired an economic momentum that transcends quarter-to-quarter statistics. Today it is an indispensable part of the global business reality – both on “sunny” days and “rainy” ones. Even in June 2015, according to the “Financial Times”, their overall contribution to global economic growth was 1/3 (and 52% if you factor in purchasing power parity). Moreover, in our view, BRICS represents what international cooperation should look like in the 21st century – namely, on the basis of equality and mutual respect, with a positive agenda and without a confrontational bloc mentality.
Closer to my own country, the Eurasian Economic Union is yet another piece of the mosaic shaping today’s world. By tapping into naturally preexisting regional linkages the process of Eurasian integration is creating a mutually-rewarding network of free movement of capital, goods and labour.
And the process does not end there. As new platforms of governance evolve, their natural instinct is to reach out to other like-minded structures and initiatives. Just a few examples. A basic agreement has now been reached on combining Eurasian integration with the Chinese Silk Road Economic Belt. The BRICS countries are coordinating their positions on the G20 agenda to better accommodate interests of emerging market economies. And last week in his annual speech to the Federal Assembly President Vladimir Putin proposed to use next year’s Russia-ASEAN summit in Sochi to consider forging an economic partnership between the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and ASEAN.
In other words, a new order of global economic governance is taking shape as we speak. The interplay between emerging centres of power is becoming a natural and irreversible feature of globalisation that is beyond external control. Let me be clear: this is a win-win situation for all – to use the terminology of Niall Fergusson, for both “the West” and “the Rest”. Enabling greater “buy-in” and “ownership” for emerging actors will make the international system more inclusive, legitimate and stable. It would also help moderate the dire consequences of dividing lines between North and South, dating back to colonial times, but still omnipresent, and in many cases still stoking conflict and radicalism. Our hope is that greater proximity between European and Eurasian integration will over time alleviate the bitter legacy of the East-West divide in a similar manner.
One should not fall into the psychological trap of believing that the BRICS and other emerging actors are out to overturn the long-reigning system of global governance that has largely benefitted the West. This is not the case. Nor is it the intention. Indeed, as some analysts have correctly noted, most emerging economies have a vested interest in maintaining institutions that have enabled their prosperous and peaceful rise. They are also staunch backers of the United Nations, including its Security Council and proponents of more inclusive initiatives like the Global Counterterrorism Forum and the Financial Action Task Force.
However, structures created by the West, mostly in the wake of the Second World War, are indeed facing a Darwinian challenge to change. This applies particularly to the global financial sector, whose health is critical to the maintenance of production and consumption chains worldwide.
Take the International Monetary Fund, for example. Since 1951 IMF Managing directors have come exclusively from Western Europe and the United States. Collectively five industrially developed countries – US, Germany, France, UK and Japan - command more than 37% of votes in the Board of Governors. The BRICS, on the other hand, have just 11%. It is telling that the Benelux countries cumulatively wield more votes on the Board of Governors than, say, China.
Meanwhile, the reform of the IMF quota system agreed back in 2010, remains deadlocked. The US Administration, citing objections to the proposals in Congress, does not appear to be ready to relinquish its exclusive veto rights. But the problem goes far beyond that. The voting rights reform is closely linked to the increase of the overall financial capacity of the IMF. Thus, by blocking reform efforts, Washington is making it more likely that when the next crisis strikes, the IMF may fall short of its credit resources. This is why in their statement on the margins of the Antalya G20 summit the BRICS leaders made it clear that “the adoption of the 2010 reforms remains the highest priority for safeguarding the credibility, legitimacy and effectiveness of the IMF”.
Unfortunately, instead of heeding this call of the times, the IMF has reverted to a totally different kind of changes, in effect bending its own rules to placate a country teetering on the brink of default. The inevitable detrimental effect of such short-sighted political games to IMF’s credibility as an impartial institution, as well as to the overall international framework of credit and debt management is obvious.
In the absence of genuine efforts to adapt old institutions to new circumstances, it is hardly surprising that emerging economies are beginning to act on their own. Life, as always, finds a way. Think back to the Ufa summit proudly hosted by the Russian BRICS presidency last summer. It saw the establishment of the New Development Bank and the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement with a cumulative capital base of 200 bln. Euros. Meanwhile, in a similar vein, China has proposed the creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Let me reiterate that these initiatives are by no means rivals of their Western-led counterparts. Rather, they are symptoms of impatience of emerging economies with a “business as usual” thinking that fails to grasp the arrival of long-term change. As Indian politician and long-time UN official Shashi Tharoor wrote, “if the BRICS are not allowed to help lead within the existing global system, they will inevitably create their own”. But I am sure my South African colleague will agree that this is not our choice.
Finally, a couple of words about the EU role.
Russia as a country and as a member of BRICS remains interested in the European Union playing a responsible and constructive role in the world. In our view, the EU, being largely a product of globalisation itself, is well-placed to actively contribute to realignment of the system of global governance. It is encouraging that High Representative Federica Mogherini in her recent speech at the Hague Institute acknowledged that “the EU cannot be a conservative player in global institutions and must be a driver of change”. In particular, we welcome the EU’s stated intention to facilitate reform of the IMF system of quotas and votes. Now, as far as we understand, the EU has a new argument to back up its case, namely the desire for a single IMF seat for countries of the Eurozone. Hopefully, compromise solutions may be hammered out in the course of bilateral and multilateral contacts on this key topic.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14571
|
__label__wiki
| 0.754775
| 0.754775
|
Academic Research on Gun Violence
To gain an understanding of the scope of gun violence and efficacy of gun violence prevention policies, we rely on peer-reviewed academic research published in medical and academic journals.
However, research on the subject is relatively limited, especially when compared to research into other causes of injury and death. The reason for this limitation is funding.
In 1996, congress approved the Dickey Amendment, a provision initially inserted as a rider into that year’s omnibus spending bill. The amendment mandated that “none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may be used to advocate or promote gun control.“ Congress earmarked $2.6 million from the CDC’s budget – the exact amount allocated the previous year for firearms research – for traumatic injury-related research.
Named for former Congressman Jay Dickey, the amendment was introduced after lobbying by the National Rifle Association in response to physician, epidemiologist, and professor Arther Kellerman’s 1993 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that found that guns in the home were associated with increased risk of homicide. Jay Dickey, who died in 2017, reversed his position became an advocate of repealing the ban on research.
“Research could have been continued on gun violence without infringing on the rights of gun owners, in the same fashion that the highway industry continued its research without eliminating the automobile. Scientific research should help answer how we can best reduce gun violence. It is my position that somehow or someway we should slowly but methodically fund such research until a solution is reached. Doing nothing is no longer an acceptable solution,” Dickey wrote in a letter to congress.
Despite the lack of federal financial support, researchers continue to study gun violence through grants from foundations and through their universities and hospitals. Their work undergoes peer-review and is published in reputable publications and journals. We track and organize much of this relevant research on our website.
Academic research related to child access prevention and safe storage of firearms
Academic research related to juvenile and adult firearm suicides
Academic research related to domestic violence and firearms
Academic research related to mental illness and firearms
Academic research related to the effect of laws and policies on gun violence
It is important to distinguish between peer-reviewed, published research versus research that has not undergone peer scrutiny and that was not found to be worthy of publication. Much of the “research” used by the gun lobby to support their claims comes from a single researcher named John Lott who wrote a book called More Guns Less Crime in 1997. Lott’s research concluded that counties that permitted the concealed carrying of firearms had lower crime rates.
But not everyone was convinced. The National Research Council, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, convened a panel to study the effect of concealed-carry laws. Of the 16 panel members, 15 concluded that the existing research, including Lott’s, provided “no credible evidence” that right-to-carry laws had any effect on violent crime.
Two economists, John Donohue of Stanford University and Ian Ayres of Yale University, argued that Lott had drawn inaccurate correlations: Cities had experienced a spike in crime in the 80’s and 90’s not because of strict gun laws but largely as a result of the crack epidemic. Further, when they extended their survey by five years, they found that more guns were actually linked to more crime, with states deemed “right to carry” showing an eight percent increase in aggravated assault.
After reexamining Lott’s research, even researcher Gary Kleck, who had written the forward to Lott’s book, found serious flaws with Lott’s methodology and missing data. Of Lott’s work, he said, “It was garbage in and garbage out.”
David Hemenway, the director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center concluded, “Virtually all of Lott’s analyses are faulty; his findings are not ‘facts’ but are erroneous.”
As scrutiny of Lott’s work increased, Lott created an internet persona named Mary Rosh who, claiming to be a former student of Lott, praised his work and defended his research. Eventually, it was discovered that Miss Rosh and Lott shared an IP address. Lott admitted to creating the persona.
However, Lott’s work continues to be used by the gun lobby. Lott and his research are referenced well over a hundred times on the NRA Institute for Legislative Action website. Lott is brought in to testify as an “expert witness” in statehouse across the country, including Tennessee.
Board Member of Lott’s Crime Prevention Research Center include controversial former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clark and entertainer and NRA board member Ted Nugent.
Lott’s work has largely been discredited by his peers after questions about his methodology were raised and when he was incapable of replicating his findings. Additionally, it was discovered that Lott used a fake internet persona named “Mary Rosh” to defend his research.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14574
|
__label__cc
| 0.621563
| 0.378437
|
Search Results for comparative study
Journal Article (1896)
Global Health (11)
Public Health and Health Policy (1850)
Political Science (1558)
Public Policy (1835)
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (1896)
Research Article (1166)
Books Received (10)
1-20 of 1896 Search Results for
AARP International Forum in Long-Term Care: 2003 Proceedings; Social Care and Social Exclusion: A Comparative Study of Older People's Care in Europe; Care for Older People: Policy Issues in the Twenty-First Century
Howard A. Palley
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (1 August 2005) 30 (4): 751–764.
...Howard A. Palley AARP. AARP International Forum in Long-Term Care: 2003 Proceedings . Washington, DC: AARP, 2004. 40 pp. cloth. Tim Blackman, Sally Brodhurst, and Janet Convery, eds. Social Care and Social Exclusion: A Comparative Study of Older People's Care in Europe . New York: Palgrave...
Saving Lives and Protecting Liberty: A Comparative Study of the Seat-Belt Debate
Howard Leichter
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (1 April 1986) 11 (2): 323–344.
... absence of such a tradition in the United States makes acceptance more difficult. Copyright © 1986 by Duke University Press 1986 Saving Lives and Protecting Liberty: A Comparative Study of the Seat-Belt Debate Howard Leichter, Linfield College...
Negotiating Authority: A Comparative Study of Reform in Medical Training Regimes
Iris Wallenburg, Jan-Kees Helderman, Antoinette de Bont, Fedde Scheele, Pauline Meurs
... for the Medical Profession. A Comparative Study of Medical Audit among Medical Specialists in General Hospitals in the Netherlands and England, 1970 – 1999 . Social Science and Medicine 53 : 1721 – 1732 . Wallenburg I. van Exel J. Stolk E. Scheele F. de Bont A. Meurs...
Comparative Studies and the Politics of Modern Medical Care
David Wilsford
...David Wilsford Theodore R. Marmor, Richard Freeman, and Kieke G. H. Okma, eds. Comparative Studies and the Politics of Modern Medical Care. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009. 353 pp. $55.00 paper. Duke University Press 2010 Feldman, E. A., and R. Bayer. 1999 . Blood Feuds...
Impossible Politics? PCORI and the Search for Publicly Funded Comparative Effectiveness Research in the United States
Ann C. Keller, Robin Flagg, Justin Keller, Suhasini Ravi
...Ann C. Keller; Robin Flagg; Justin Keller; Suhasini Ravi Abstract Congress created the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to fund comparative effectiveness research without encroaching on health care decision making in the private sector. This study asked if the organization's...
Effects of Tennessee Medicaid Managed Care On Obstetrical Care and Birth Outcomes
Christopher J. Conover, Peter J. Rankin, Frank A. Sloan
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (1 December 2001) 26 (6): 1291–1324.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-26-6-1291
...Christopher J. Conover; Peter J. Rankin; Frank A. Sloan A comparative study was conducted in two neighboring states, Tennessee and North Carolina, to determine whether Medicaid managed care (implemented in Tennessee as TennCare) affected prenatal care, care patterns at labor-delivery, and birth...
Access to Health Care for Undocumented Migrants: A Comparative Policy Analysis of England and the Netherlands
Kor Grit, Joost J. den Otter, Anneke Spreij
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (1 February 2012) 37 (1): 37–67.
... funded health care for undocumented migrants. These restrictions to health care access are controversial, and evidence suggests they do not always have the intended effect. This study provides a comparative analysis of institutional, actor-related, and contextual factors that have influenced health care...
What Passes and Fails as Health Policy and Management
David Chinitz, Victor G. Rodwin
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (1 October 2014) 39 (5): 1113–1126.
... change remain “aspirational.” We discuss four reasons for the failure of current ideas and models for redesigning health care: (1) the dominance of microeconomic thinking; (2) the lack of comparative studies of health care organizations and the limits of health management theory in recognizing the...
American Health Planning and the Lessons of Comparative Policy Analysis
Theodore R. Marmor, Amy Bridges
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (1 June 1980) 5 (3): 419–430.
... effective in the United States, planning agencies need to have control over resource allocation. Introduction Our interest is in the implications for the United States of comparative health planning processes and effects. Our materials are eighteen country case studies presented at the Pan American...
The American States and Canada: A Comparative Analysis of Health Care Spending
Kenneth E. Thorpe
...- surance is available, but only for services not specifically provided under the Canadian Health Act. Numerous studies have compared the cost containment performance of the Canadian and U.S. systems (Evans et al. 1991). Nearly all agree that the Canadian single-payer approach has produced a...
Comparing Comparative Perspectives
David Falcone
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (1 February 1978) 3 (1): 124–127.
...David Falcone Milton I. Roemer, Comparative National Policies on Health Care , New York: Marcel Dekker, 1977, 252 pages. Copyright © 1978 by the Department of Health Administration, Duke University 1978 Review Essay Comparing Comparative Perspectives Milton I. Roemer...
Response to "Comparing Comparative Perspectives" by Milton I. Roemer and Reply by David J. Falcone
Milton I. Roemer, David J. Falcone
... policy. Otherwise, he would understand that I focused on the first chapter of Comparative National Policies because it contains his framework of analysis. Another reason for this focus was the ambitious data base (“the health care systems of the world . . of the book. A study of such scope...
The Determinants of Health Policy, a Case Study: Regulating Safety and Health at the Workplace in Sweden
Vicente Navarro
... behavior in the two societies are compared, and the implications of this comparison for occupational health and safety policies are discussed. Copyright © 1984 by the Department of Health Administration, Duke University 1984 The Determinants of Health Policy, A Case Study: Regulating Safety and...
A Failure to Communicate? Doctors and Nurses in American Hospitals
Lucie Michel
... doctors and nurses comparative study ethnography Reliable teamwork and human resources management are often described as an indispensable element of superior health system performance (Buchan 2004 ). Several studies have highlighted the importance of an effective relationship between physicians...
The Politics of Comparative Effectiveness Research: Lessons from Recent History
Corinna Sorenson, Michael K. Gusmano, Adam Oliver
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (1 February 2014) 39 (1): 139–170.
...Corinna Sorenson; Michael K. Gusmano; Adam Oliver Abstract Efforts to support and use comparative effectiveness research (CER), some more successful than others, have been promulgated at various times over the last forty years. Following a resurgence of interest in CER, recent health care reforms...
Health Care Systems and Comparative Manpower Policies
Howard M. Leichter
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (1 April 1982) 7 (2): 532–534.
... field of comparative health care systems, a literature to which the Roemers have already made major contributions. The book grew out of a study commis- sioned by the U. S. Health Resources Administration, and much of the material has been published previously by that agency in separate...
Markets and Health Care: A Comparative Analysis
Kieke G. H. Okma
...Kieke G. H. Okma Wendy Ranade, ed. Markets and Health Care: A Comparative Analysis. London: Longman, 1998. 272 pp. $24.38 cloth. Copyright © 1999 by Duke University Press 1999 References Altenstetter , C. , and J. W. Björkman, eds. 1997 . Health Policy Reform: National...
Responding to Obesity in Brazil: Understanding the International and Domestic Politics of Policy Reform Through a Nested Analytic Approach to Comparative Analysis
Eduardo J. Gómez
... comparing the politics of government response to obesity has suggested that recent theoretical approaches to explaining the implementation of obesity policies have several limitations. The large-N statistical analysis conducted at the beginning of this study suggests that this literature's emphasis on the...
Framing Health Equity: US Health Disparities in Comparative Perspective
Julia F. Lynch, Isabel M. Perera
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (1 October 2017) 42 (5): 803–839.
... how national policy elites frame differences in health status serves to denaturalize health inequities, and to make more easily visible some of the institutions, ideas, and interests that shape contemporary definitions of inequality. To our knowledge, only one other study adopts a comparative approach...
American Medical Policy and the “Crisis” Of the Welfare State: A Comparative Perspective
Theodore R. Marmor
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (1 December 1986) 11 (4): 617–631.
.... Ashford, editor, Comparing Public Policies: New Concepts and Methods (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 19781. 2. See. for example. Robert B. Reich, “Bailout: A Comparative Study in Law and Industrial Struc- ture Yale Journal on Regulation I (No. 2, 1985): 163-224. 3. Sweden and...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14576
|
__label__cc
| 0.704113
| 0.295887
|
search filter Books & JournalsAll JournalsNovel
About Novel: A Forum on Fiction
Search Results for popular
African Studies (10)
Literature and Literary Studies (376)
Literary Criticism (376)
Literary Theory (366)
Postcolonial and Colonial Studies (25)
Theory and Philosophy (223)
Critical Theory (223)
Hawthorne on the Paradox of Popular Sovereignty
Nancy Armstrong
Novel (1 May 2014) 47 (1): 24–42.
... breeding ground for the new form of sovereignty he called “the will of the majority” or “public opinion.” This popular rule worked against the very form of self-sovereignty coveted by European liberalism and cultivated by the English novel to transform such individuals into an irresistibly powerful...
The People in the Modern Chinese Novel: Popular Democracy and World Literature
Ban Wang
... appropriated them for a burgeoning revolutionary culture. In his teaching notes, Zhou upholds the people as the transformative engine for social progress: they are authors of their own culture, the political subjects of popular democracy, and in solidarity with the working classes of the world. This essay...
Popular Anxieties Revisited
JOHN MARX
Novel (1 November 2000) 33 (3): 407–411.
...JOHN MARX NICHOLAS DALY, Modernism, Romance, and the fin de siècle: Popular British Fiction and British Culture, 1880–1914 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 232, cloth, $64.95. ANITA LEVY, Reproductive Urges: Popular Novel-Reading, Sexuality, and the English Nation...
Edgeworth’s Ireland: History, Popular Culture, and Secret Codes
MARILYN BUTLER
Novel (1 August 2001) 34 (2): 267–292.
...: Radicalism, Catholicism, and the Construction of Irish Identity 1760–1830 . Cork: Cork UP, 1996 . Edgeworth's Ireland: History, Popular Culture, and Secret Codes MARILYN BUTLER During the 1990s more critical work has appeared on the Anglo-Irish "national novel" than in any...
The Microeconomic Mode: Survival Games, Life-Interest, and the Reimagination of Sovereignty
Jane Elliott
...Jane Elliott Abstract This essay examines the relationship between dominant trends in contemporary popular aesthetics and the microeconomic imagination of human behavior, which centers on individual allocation of finite resources to self-determined ends. I argue that this way of modeling human...
The Color of His Hair: Nineteenth-Century Literary Portraits of the Historical Jesus
Jefferson J. A. Gatrall
Novel (1 May 2009) 42 (1): 109–130.
... Jesus. Indeed, among the foremost contributions of nineteenth-century novelists to the larger quest of the historical Jesus was the development and popularization of racialized Christ types, including the Greco-Jewish Jesus, a figure that Wallace introduced to an international readership through his...
Heaven's Tense: Narration in The Gates Ajar
... popularity of this book, like that of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, has produced critical accounts that tend to shy away from formal, textual analyses in the interests of developing more culturally oriented readings. My essay attends both to the cultural contexts that inform the novel and to its...
Realism's Ghosts: Science and Spectacle in Tom Jones
Joseph Drury
... narratives that he represents as barbarous, foreign, and antiquated. But he also follows other Augustan authors in acknowledging that the entertainments popular in the culture of spectacle had distinctly modern, domestic origins and that the residual “superstition” they cultivated was really the commodity...
Mutant City: On Partial Transformations in Three Johannesburg Narratives
...Timothy Wright Abstract Since the fall of the apartheid regime, critical discourse on and popular imaginations of South Africa have focused with renewed intensity on the city of Johannesburg: its schizophrenic social organization, its fragmented geography, its “citadelization,” its “architecture of...
Oscar Wilde's Fictions of Belief
Rachel Ablow
... simultaneously knows to be not quite true or not quite one's own. In addition, it argues that in promoting this experience, Wilde is explicitly critiquing a model of belief popularized by Cardinal Newman in his 1870 An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent . There, Newman claims that one knows when one's beliefs...
Unorthodox Chronologies, Secret Histories: The Novel and the Critique of Historicism
...David Glover In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the roman fleuve underwent an unexpected revival in Britain, reaching a new peak of popularity in the work of Anthony Powell, C. P. Snow, Lawrence Durrell, and Doris Lessing (among others). Its success raises the question of the relationship...
The Doctrine of Survivals, the Great Mutiny, and Lady Audley's Secret
Christopher Herbert
... event in the evolutionary history of this theme was the Indian Mutiny of 1857, and one text that translated this lesson of the Mutiny most powerfully for popular thinking was Mary Elizabeth Braddon's famous sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret (1861-62). © 2009 by Novel, Inc. 2009 Works Cited...
The Potter's Thumb/The Writer's Hand: Manual Production and Victorian Colonial Narratives
Aviva Briefel
... novel represents a late nineteenth-century struggle to define authorship as a form of production inspired by Eastern manual artistry, thus forcing us to reconceptualize the popular phrase “craft of writing” in transcultural as well as transgeneric terms. © 2009 by Novel, Inc. 2009 Works Cited...
If the Shoe Fits … Trollope and the Girl
Lauren Byler
... of novel production, the girl propels his novels through their marriage plot but can also clog this narrative by failing to form a pair. Despite Trollope's distaste for his popular heroine, Lily Dale, this girl—who buys herself a pair of shoes rather than pairing herself in marriage—may be Trollope's...
Sleep Deprived and Ultramodern: How Novels Turned Dream Girls into Insomniacs
Lois Cucullu
... turn at the close of the nineteenth century via corsetless ingenues somnambulating alone in public after dark. These popular fictions converge with material culture in the dress reforms of fashion designers to advance women's increased mobility and sexual license—but at a cost. Together they connect...
The Novel and the Machine in the Eighteenth Century
... toward using mechanical philosophy in science, the disciplining of the body in order to maximize production and reproduction, and the increasing popularity of novel reading. Sterne's novel features stopped clocks, broken machines, and stories that, despite titillating beginnings, fail to satisfy the...
Jumping Publics: Magdy El Shafee's Cairo Comics
Brian T. Edwards
... the impact of the digital revolution. Much of the new Egyptian literature employs or invokes American forms or is in dialogue with American literary genres, software, and popular culture, all made newly or more easily accessible via digital and Internet technologies. The ways in which foreign or...
The Magistrate, the Camp, and the Novel: J. M. Coetzee and the Subject of Human Rights
Sarah Winter
... detained by his master while resident in England. In its popular reception, the Somerset ruling initiated a series of both literary and legal precursors for Coetzee's narrator in Waiting for the Barbarians , a figure we can call the “chastened magistrate,” also representing the establishment under British...
José María Arguedas and Ricardo Piglia: Two Radical Views on Political Subjection in Latin America
Horacio Legrás
... kernel of the engagement of literature with the political lies in the exhaustion of the nation as a site of the constitution of a popular will. In the case of Arguedas, whose work is deeply marked by the long colonial experience of the Andean people, repeated frustrations with modern notions of...
Novel Circulations: Old Acquaintance, Rich and Famous, La Flor de Mi Secreto
Melissa Hardie
... (Bette Davis) against the stream of popular, lowbrow novels written by her friend Millie Drake (Miriam Hopkins). This contest of literary style and production is closely adapted in George Cukor's 1981 film Rich and Famous . In Pedro Almodóvar's 1995 La flor de mi secreto , friction between literary...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line14577
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.