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Switzerland and Canada
The Consulate general of Switzerland in Montreal publishes a newsletter addressed to Swiss citizens
Embassy of Switzerland in Canada
The Swiss embassy represents Switzerland's interests in Canada and is also responsible for the diplomatic relations with the Bahamas
Consulate General of Switzerland in Vancouver
Represents Switzerland’s interests and provides services to citizens of Switzerland and citizens of the Principality of Liechtenstein in the provinces of British-Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan as well as the Northwest and the Yukon territories
Consulate General of Switzerland in Montreal
Represents Switzerland’s interests and provides services to citizens of Switzerland and citizens of the Principality of Liechtenstein in the provinces of Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut territory as well as the Bahamas
support Swiss representations in safeguarding Switzerland’s interests and in emergencies involving Swiss citizens abroad. In an emergency the representation responsible (embassy or consulate-general) must be contacted immediately.
Travel advice for Canada
The dossier is intended for people who leave Switzerland to take up permanent residence in another country and work abroad.
Dossier: Vivre et travailler au Canada (PDF, Number of pages 33, 1.7 MB, French)
Dossier: Leben und Arbeiten in Kanada
Dossier: Vivere e Lavorare in Canada
Selection Attestations and certificates Citizenship Civil status affairs (marriage, birth, death, etc.) Criminal records Driving licence and vehicles Emergency assistance (Swiss citizens in distress) Genealogical research Legal/medical practitioner used by the representation Legalisations Liechtenstein – Consular services Lost and found Military (obligations) Passport and identity card Political rights (voting rights) Registration and deregistration, change of address Relocating abroad and returning – Advice Scholarships Social insurance Social security Swiss community Bahamas Swiss Review Travelling abroad (registration to Itineris) Useful links
Bilateral relations Switzerland–Canada
Youth Mobility Program
More Information on the Youth Mobility Program
Switzerland is a hub for excellent education, science, technology and innovation. It has outstanding universities with all-encompassing programs, many world-class public research institutions, and a thriving private sector which encourages research and development and conducts its own cutting-edge research.
Switzerland has 12 universities, 8 universities of applied sciences, and 17 universities of teacher education. Moreover, Switzerland is home to several outstanding special institutes in the areas of international affairs, public administration, finance, and hotel management. Undergraduate study in Switzerland is usually offered in the national language of the respective area (German, French, Italian), while many graduate programs are offered in English.
For more information about each of the recognized universities, please consult the website of swissuniversities.
Scholarships and Student Mobility
Swiss institutions of higher education offer first-rate educational opportunities in a wide range of fields of study, as well as a wide range of English-language study programs, on the graduate level and in cutting-edge research. As tuition fees in Switzerland are generally very low, even for international students, there are not many scholarships available for undergraduate students. However, some Swiss universities offer their own scholarships for international students and we advise to contact the universtiy of your choice directly (Study in Switzerland).
Switzerland and Canada both benefit from well-established student exchanges. Various Swiss universities have bilateral agreements with Canadian counterparts and offer their own scholarships to visiting students. Some programs even offer the possibility of joint degrees. We recommend to speak directly to your academic advisors about such possibilities. For information on admission to undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate studies in Switzerland, please contact the institution of your choice (school, cantonal university or federal institute of technology, university of applied sciences, etc.).
Work-intergrated learning and internships
Under the terms of the Swiss-Canadian Youth Mobility Program, Canadian citizen (age 18-35), who have a secondary education and completed a 2-year training, OR study at a post-secondary institution, OR have completed their post-secondary studies, can obtain a residency and work permit in Switzerland to improve their language and professional skills. The program allows young students, during the course of their studies, to complete an occupational training as part of their curriculum. For the application procedure and forms, consult the website for the young professionals and trainees.
Recognition of foreign qualifications in Switzerland
In today's working world, a premium is placed on the mobility of workers and businesses. For many professional activities, official recognition of foreign qualificaitons is important and even necessary. Depending on the professional activity, a different authority will be responsible for conferring such recognition. The procedures for the recognition of foreign qualifications vary according to citizenship and the amount of time in which the person will remain in Switzerland. Please consult the website Recognition of Foreign Qualification.
Swissnex Network
Swissnex is the Swiss global network connecting stakeholders in education, research, and innovation. The mission is to support the outreach and active engagement of our partners in the international exchange of knowledge, ideas and talent. the five swissnex locations and their ouposts are established in the world's most innovative hubs. Together, with more than 20 Science and Technology Offices (STO) and Counsellors (STC) based at Swiss Embassies, they contribute to strengthen Switzerland's profile as a world-leading innovation hotspot. For questions regarding Swissnex please consult the science counsellor for Canada (ottawa.@eda.admin.ch) or visit swissnex.org.
Swissuniversities.ch
Artschools Switzerland
State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation SERI
Swiss Education Server
Swiss Federation of Private Schools
Swiss community Bahamas
Legal/medical practitioner used by the representation
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Long hours at the office could be killing you
Shainaz Firfiray
Published at 09:35 pm June 24th, 2019
Are you one? Bigstock
The case for a shorter working week
Findings have triggered an interest in the relationship between the number of hours worked and productivity -- and the results of several studies have suggested the concept of “optimal working time.”
This refers to an optimal number of hours spent at work after which productivity begins to decline and acute or chronic health problems begin to arise. Some experts suggest it should be no more than 35 hours a week.
So, while the prevalence of flexible working and the use of technologies to facilitate it have brought many benefits to organizations, such changes have also helped to create a 24/7 work culture -- and with it that feeling of “always being on” and available to take work calls or emails.
And, as research shows, employees working in such environments may actually show lower levels of engagement -- which over time could reduce their productivity.
Impact on health and well-being
Several studies have shown that some aspects of work are important predictors of health, happiness, motivation, and life satisfaction. For a start, the number of hours people work has a major impact on their physical and psychological health.
Evidence also suggests that long working hours are associated with hypertension, heart disease, and the risk of injuries and accidents.
Other studies have shown associations between hours of work and stress, anxiety, and depression. The propensity to work long hours also has an adverse effect on family and social relationships and can increase family conflict.
But research studying the impact of working hours on health has also recognized how people’s perceptions regarding long working hours and time demands can affect this negative association.
Voluntarily opting to work longer hours as opposed to being pressured by one’s employer can translate into big differences in health and well-being. This can help explain why some people who work extended hours may display poorer physical and psychological well-being compared to others.
Motives for working long hours
There are predominantly two motivations for working long hours -- both of which have distinctive influences on the relationship with work outcomes and well-being. Some people work long hours, for example, because they find personal fulfilment in their work. These people genuinely enjoy their job and derive a sense of satisfaction from excelling at it.
This is different from working long hours to avoid the threat of job insecurity or negative feedback from supervisors. In the first instance, while there might be pressure to put in long hours, it is ultimately the employee’s choice.
Hence, these workers are unlikely to experience the adverse effects of work pressure and stress as much as those who feel forced to put in longer hours.
Nonetheless, there is a lot of cynicism about the benefits of working extended hours. Excessive involvement with work, even if it is enjoyable for the employee, can lead to neglect in other areas of life which can take a toll on health, well-being, and interpersonal relationships.
Risks of workaholism
In many cultures, long working hours and workaholism have positive connotations -- such as dedication, commitment, and perseverance. But when the need for work turns so excessive that it begins to interfere with health, personal happiness, and social functioning, it can turn into a potentially fatal disorder.
Employers and co-workers can help colleagues who are prone to overworking by looking out for any warning signs of workaholism. Specific times to take breaks and finish work are vital. And everyone should be taking their holiday allowance so that they have enough time for rest and recovery.
Of course, this all sounds well and good -- but job insecurity, work pressures, and an overly competitive work atmosphere can compel employees to work extended hours, even when they know it’s damaging their health.
Ultimately, most workers today desire a life beyond work -- and research shows people can be more productive if they are able to balance their work and personal lives in more satisfying ways.
Companies, for example, that have trialled the four-day work week have found that working fewer hours results in productivity increases due to reduced employee stress and improved focus on work tasks.
Also, as working less means employees will spend less time commuting, there are obvious payoffs for the economy (think, more time to recuperate and engage with leisure activities) and the environment of doing away with an overwork culture.
Shainaz Firfiray is Associate Professor of Organization and Human Resource Management, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick. A version of this article was first published in The Conversation UK.
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Events & Media Advisories Archive
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Home > Archive > News Archive > 2,059 Criminals Arrested In ICE Nationwide Operation
In an effort to keep DHS.gov current, the archive contains outdated information that may not reflect current policy or programs.
2,059 Criminals Arrested In ICE Nationwide Operation
DHS Press Office
Two targets added to ICE’s most wanted fugitives list
WASHINGTON – A five-day nationwide operation targeting convicted criminal aliens subject to removal from the United States yielded the arrest of 2,059 convicted criminals. The operation was led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
“This nationwide operation led to the apprehension of more than 2,000 convicted criminal aliens who pose the greatest risk to our public safety,” said Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. “Today, communities around the country are safer because of the great work of the men and women of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
The operation, dubbed “Cross Check,” began Sunday, March 1, and ended Thursday, March 5. Hundreds of ERO officers participated in the operation that focused on the arrests of public safety threats. Those arrested are from 94 countries and have a wide array of criminal convictions.
The 2,059 individuals with prior criminal convictions who were arrested include more than 1,000 individuals who have multiple criminal convictions. More than 1,000 of those arrested have felony convictions, including voluntary manslaughter, child pornography, robbery, kidnapping and rape.
Of the total 2,059 criminals arrested, 58 are known gang members or affiliates, and 89 are convicted sex offenders.
The vast majority of misdemeanor convictions were for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI). ICE considers DUI offenders, particularly repeat offenders, to be a significant public safety threat.
Of those arrested during this operation, 476 were illegal re-entrants who had been previously removed from the country. Because of their serious criminal histories and prior immigration arrest records, 163 of those arrested during the enforcement action were presented to U.S. Attorneys for prosecution on a variety of charges, including illegal re-entry after deportation, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Arrests include:
A Jamaican citizen arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, who was convicted in 2014 of breaking and entering, larceny, speeding to elude arrest and assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer.
A Polish citizen arrested in East Hartford, Connecticut, who was convicted twice for possession of cocaine and other drugs, twice for probation violation and resisting arrest and once for reckless driving.
A Finnish citizen arrested in Naperville, Illinois, who was convicted in 2014 of child pornography involving a victim under 13 years old.
A Mexican citizen arrested in Arvada, Colorado, who is a documented member of the Sureños criminal street gang and was convicted in 2014 of possession of a weapon.
Two targets of this operation who were not apprehended were added to ICE’s most wanted fugitives list.
“This national operation exemplifies ICE’s ongoing commitment to prioritizing convicted criminals and public safety threats for apprehension and removal,” said ICE Director Sarah R. Saldaña. “By taking these individuals off our streets and removing them from the country, we are making our communities safer for everyone.”
All targets of this operation fell within the top two priorities established in Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson’s Nov. 20 memorandum entitled “Policies for the Apprehension, Detention and Removal of Undocumented Immigrants.” Priority 1 targets include threats to national security, criminal street gang members, convicted felons, and aggravated felons. Priority 2 targets have convictions for three or more misdemeanors or convictions for significant misdemeanors, including DUIs.
The foreign nationals detained during the operation who are not being criminally prosecuted will be processed administratively for removal from the United States. Those who have outstanding orders of deportation, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country. The remaining individuals are in ICE custody awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge, or pending travel arrangements for removal in the near future.
Secretary Johnson has directed ICE to prioritize the use of enforcement personnel, detention space, and removal assets to support the department’s civil immigration enforcement priorities. By taking criminals who pose public safety threats off community streets and removing them from the country, ICE addresses a significant security and public safety vulnerability.
ICE began conducting large-scale national operations targeting convicted and other ERO priority aliens in May 2011. Since then, five national Cross Check operations resulted in the arrest of more than 12,440 convicted criminals as well as 774 other priority individuals for a total of 13,214 arrests.
This operation is the sixth nationwide Cross Check operation in the agency’s history. The first nationwide Cross Check operation occurred at the end of May 2011 and resulted in the arrest of 2,442 convicted criminals. The last Cross Check operation in August 2013 resulted in the arrest of 1,517 convicted criminals, as well as 143 other priority individuals for a total of 1,660 arrests.
This week’s enforcement action was spearheaded by ICE’s National Fugitive Operations Program, which locates, arrests and removes at-large criminals. The officers who conducted this operation received substantial assistance from ICE’s Fugitive Operations Support Center and ICE’s Law Enforcement Support Center, both located in Williston, Vermont.
In fiscal year 2014, ERO removed 315,943 individuals from the United States. ICE enforcement priorities include removable aliens considered threats to national security, those attempting to unlawfully enter the United States, gang members, felons, and individuals convicted of crimes including domestic violence, sexual abuse, drug distribution or driving under the influence.
For more information, visit www.dhs.gov.
Border Security,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
Law Enforcement Partnerships
ERO,
law enforcement,
law enforcement partnerships,
transnational criminal organizations
Last Published Date: March 9, 2015
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A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide). The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires. The ruby is considered one of the four precious stones, together with the sapphire, the emerald, and the diamond.
Prices of rubies are primarily determined by color. The brightest and most valuable "red" called blood-red, commands a large premium over other rubies of similar quality. After color follows clarity: similar to diamonds, a clear stone will command a premium, but a ruby without any needle-like rutile inclusions may indicate that the stone has been treated. Cut and carat (weight) are also an important factor in determining the price.
Rubies have a hardness of 9.0 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Among the natural gems only moissanite and diamond are harder, with diamond having a Mohs hardness of 10.0 and moissonite falling somewhere in between corundum (ruby) and diamond in hardness. All natural rubies have imperfections in them, including color impurities and inclusions of rutile needles known as "silk". Gemologists use these needle inclusions found in natural rubies to distinguish them from synthetics, simulants, or substitutes.
Usually the rough stone is heated before cutting. Almost all rubies today are treated in some form, with heat treatment being the most common practice. However, rubies that are completely untreated but still of excellent quality command a large premium.
Some rubies show a three-point or six-point asterism or "star". These rubies are cut into cabochons to display the effect properly. Asterisms are best visible with a single- light source, and move across the stone as the light moves or the stone is rotated. Such effects occur when light is reflected off the "silk" (the structurally oriented rutile needle inclusions) in a certain way. This is one example where inclusions increase the value of a gemstone. Furthermore, rubies can show color changes—though this occurs very rarely— as well as chatoyancy or the "cat's eye" effect.
Generally, gemstone-quality corundum in all shades of red, including pink, are called rubies. However, in the United States, a minimum color saturation must be met to be called a ruby, otherwise the stone will be called a pink sapphire. This distinction between rubies and pink sapphires is relatively new, having arisen sometime in the 20th century. If a distinction is made, the line separating a ruby from a pink sapphire is not clear and highly debated. As a result of the difficulty and subjectiveness of such distinctions, trade organizations such as the International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) have adopted the broader definition for ruby which encompasses its lighter shades, including pink.
Natural Occurrence
The Mogok Valley in Upper Myanmar (Burma) was for centuries the world's main source for rubies. That region has produced some of the finest rubies ever mined, but in recent years very few good rubies have been found there. The very best color in Myanmar rubies is sometimes described as "pigeon's blood." In central Myanmar, the area of Mong Hsu began producing rubies during the 1990s and rapidly became the world's main ruby mining area. The most recently found ruby deposit in Myanmar is in Namya (Namyazeik) located in the northern state of Kachin.
Rubies have historically been mined in Thailand, the Pailin and Samlout District of Cambodia, Burma, India, Afghanistan and in Pakistan. In Sri Lanka, lighter shades of rubies (often "pink sapphires") are more commonly found. After the Second World War ruby deposits were found in Tanzania, Madagascar, Vietnam, Nepal, Tajikistan, and Pakistan.
A few rubies have been found in the U.S. states of Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Wyoming. While searching for aluminous schists in Wyoming, geologist Dan Hausel noted an association of vermiculite with ruby and sapphire and located six previously undocumented deposits. More recently, large ruby deposits have been found under the receding ice shelf of Greenland.
Republic of Macedonia is the only country in mainland Europe to have naturally occurring rubies. They can mainly be found around the city of Prilep. Macedonian ruby has a unique raspberry color.
In 2002 rubies were found in the Waseges River area of Kenya. There are reports of a large deposit of rubies found in 2009 in Mozambique, in Nanhumbir in the Cabo Delgado district of Montepuez.
Spinel, another red gemstone, is sometimes found along with rubies in the same gem gravel or marble. Red spinel may be mistaken for ruby by those lacking experience with gems. However, the finest red spinels can have a value approaching that of the average ruby. The color of rubies varies from vermilion to red. The most desired color is "pigeon's blood", which is pure red with a hint of blue. If the color is too pink, the stone is a pink sapphire. The same is true if it is too violet – it is a violet sapphire. The best rubies and star rubies are bright red. Most rubies come from Burma and Thailand.
Factors Affecting Value
Diamonds are graded using criteria that have become known as the four Cs, namely color, cut, clarity and carat weight. Similarly natural rubies can be evaluated using the four Cs together with their size and geographic origin.
In the evaluation of colored gemstones, color is the single most important factor. Color divides into three components; hue, saturation and tone. Hue refers to "color" as we normally use the term. Transparent gemstones occur in the following primary hues: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. These are known as pure spectral hues. In nature there are rarely pure hues so when speaking of the hue of a gemstone we speak of primary and secondary and sometimes tertiary hues. In ruby the primary hue must be red. All other hues of the gem species corundum are called sapphire. Ruby may exhibit a range of secondary hues. Orange, purple, violet and pink are possible. The finest ruby is best described as being a vivid medium-dark toned red. Secondary hues add an additional complication. Pink, orange, and purple are the normal secondary hues in ruby. Of the three, purple is preferred because, firstly, the purple reinforces the red making it appear richer. Secondly, purple occupies a position on the color wheel halfway between red and blue. In Burma where the term pigeon blood originated, rubies are set in pure gold. Pure gold is itself a highly saturated yellow. Set a purplish-red ruby in yellow and the yellow neutralizes its complement blue leaving the stone appearing to be pure red in the setting.
Treatments and Enhancements
Improving the quality of gemstones by treating them is common practice. Some treatments are used in almost all cases and are therefore considered acceptable. During the late 1990s, a large supply of low-cost materials caused a sudden surge in supply of heat-treated rubies, leading to a downward pressure on ruby prices. Improvements used include color alteration, improving transparency by dissolving rutile inclusions, healing of fractures (cracks) or even completely filling them. The most common treatment is the application of heat. Most, if not all, rubies at the lower end of the market are heat treated on the rough stones to improve color, remove purple tinge, blue patches and silk. These heat treatments typically occur around temperatures of 1800 °C (3300 °F Some rubies undergo a process of low tube heat, when the stone is heated over charcoal of a temperature of about 1300 °C (2400 °F) for 20 to 30 minutes. The silk is only partially broken as the color is improved. Another treatment, which has become more frequent in recent years, is lead glass filling. Filling the fractures inside the ruby with lead glass (or a similar material) dramatically improves the transparency of the stone, making previously unsuitable rubies fit for applications in jewelry.
The process is done in four steps:
The rough stones are pre-polished to eradicate all surface impurities that may affect the process
The rough is cleaned with hydrogen fluoride
The first heating process during which no fillers are added. The heating process eradicates impurities inside the fractures. Although this can be done at temperatures up to 1400 °C (2500 °F) it most likely occurs at a temperature of around 900 °C (1600 °F) since the rutile silk is still intact.
The second heating process in an electrical oven with different chemical additives. Different solutions and mixes have shown to be successful, however mostly lead-containing glass-powder is used at present. The ruby is dipped into oils, then covered with powder, embedded on a tile and placed in the oven where it is heated at around 900 °C (1600 °F) for one hour in an oxidizing atmosphere. The orange colored powder transforms upon heating into a transparent to yellow- colored paste, which fills all fractures. After cooling the color of the paste is fully transparent and dramatically improves the overall transparency of the ruby.
If a color needs to be added, the glass powder can be "enhanced" with copper or other metal oxides as well as elements such as sodium, calcium, potassium etc. The second heating process can be repeated three to four times, even applying different mixtures.
When jewelry containing rubies is heated (for repairs) it should not be coated with boracic acid or any other substance, as this can etch the surface; it does not have to be "protected" like a diamond.
The treatment can easily be determined using a 10x loupe and determination focuses on finding bubbles either in the cavities or in the fractures that were filled with glass.
Synthetic and Imitation Rubies
When jewelry containing rubies is heated (for repairs) it should not be Artificial ruby under a normal light and under a green laser light.
In 1837 Gaudin made the first synthetic rubies by fusing potash alum at a high temperature with a little chromium as a pigment. In 1847 Ebelmen made white sapphire by fusing alumina in boric acid. In 1877 Frenic and Freil made crystal corundum from which small stones could be cut. Frimy and Auguste Verneuil manufactured artificial ruby by fusing BaF2 and Al2O3 with a little chromium at red heat. In 1903 Verneuil announced he could produce synthetic rubies on a commercial scale using this flame fusion process.
Other processes in which synthetic rubies can be produced are through Czochralski's pulling process, flux process, and the hydrothermal process. Most synthetic rubies originate from flame fusion, due to the low costs involved. Synthetic rubies may have no imperfections visible to the naked eye but magnification may reveal curves, striae and gas bubbles. The fewer the number and the less obvious the imperfections, the more valuable the ruby is; unless there are no imperfections (i.e., a "perfect" ruby), in which case it will be suspected of being artificial. Dopants are added to some manufactured rubies so they can be identified as synthetic, but most need gemological testing to determine their origin.
Synthetic rubies have technological uses as well as gemological ones. Rods of synthetic ruby are used to make ruby lasers and masers. The first working laser was made by Theodore H. Maiman in 1960 beating several research teams including those of Charles H. Townes at Columbia.
By 1910, Verneuil's laboratory had expanded into a 30 furnace at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California, University, Arthur Schawlow at Bell Labs, (Technical Reseach Group). Maiman used a solid-state light-pumped synthetic ruby to produce red laser light at a wavelength of 694 nanometers (nm). Ruby lasers are still in use. Rubies are also used in applications where high hardness is required such as at wear exposed locations in modern mechanical clockworks, or as scanning probe tips in a coordinate measuring machine.
Imitation rubies are also marketed. Red spinels, red garnets, and colored glass have been falsely claimed to be rubies. Imitations go back to Roman times and already in the 17th century techniques were developed to color foil red—by burning scarlet wool in the bottom part of the furnace—which was then placed under the imitation stone.[20] Trade terms such as balas ruby for red spinel and rubellite for red tourmaline can mislead unsuspecting buyers. Such terms are therefore discouraged from use by many gemological associations such as the Laboratory Manual Harmonisation Committee (LMHC) and Gould at a company called TRG.
Records and Famous Rubies
The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. has received one of the world's largest and finest ruby gemstones. The 23.1 carats (4.6 g) Burmese ruby, set in a platinum ring with diamonds, was donated by businessman and philanthropist Peter Buck in memory of his late wife Carmen Lúcia. This gemstone displays a richly saturated red color combined with an exceptional transparency. The finely proportioned cut provides vivid red reflections. The stone was mined from the Mogok region of Burma (now Myanmar) in the 1930s.
In 2007 the London jeweler Garrard & Co featured on their website a heart- shaped 40.63-carat ruby.
On December 13/14, 2011 Elizabeth Taylor's complete jewellery collection was auctioned by Christie's. Several ruby-set pieces were included in the sale, notably a ring set with an 8.24 ct gem that broke the 'price-per-carat' record for rubies ($512,925 per carat, i.e. over $4.2 million in total), for over $3.7 million.
The Liberty Bell Ruby is the largest mined ruby in the world. It was stolen in a heist in 2011.
Fill Out the Form Below. Contact us today to schedule your individual appointment. We are not your average jewelry store; we are Diamonds, Pearls & Jade!
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Preliminary report details moments before North Memorial helicopter crash in Brainerd
By Theresa Bourke / Forum News Service on Jul 11, 2019 at 4:30 p.m.
A North Memorial Air Care helicopter that crashed early Friday, June 28, near the intersection of two runways at Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport is covered with tarps. The crash happened about 1 a.m., killing a pilot and flight nurse and critically injuring a paramedic. Steve Kohls / Forum News Service
BRAINERD, Minn. — Foggy conditions on June 28 were noted in a preliminary report on the fatal helicopter crash at Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport.
A preliminary report released Monday, July 8, by the National Transportation Safety Board details the events leading up to the North Memorial Air Care helicopter crash that killed a pilot and flight nurse and seriously injured a flight paramedic.
The Agusta medical helicopter crashed about 1 a.m. June 28 on its return to the airport after delivering a patient to the North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. There were no patients on board at the time of the crash.
As the aircraft descended from an altitude of 6,000 feet, the report states paramedic Josh Duda, who was sitting in the left forward seat, recalled seeing the runway surface and lights below a thin layer of fog.
“He noticed a few clouds to the side of the helicopter and recalled the pilot remarking that the weather conditions were foggy, and they would need to go around. He subsequently noticed the helicopter spin to the right and impact the ground,” the report states.
Pilot Tim McDonald was flying using instrument flight rules, meaning he was navigating through instruments in the helicopter’s cockpit.
The helicopter landed in a grassy area to the right of the runway.
Although investigators state the helicopter was upright and nearly intact after the crash, they also report parts of it — including the main body and tail — “exhibited crushing consistent with a high-velocity vertical descent.”
There was no evidence of a post-crash fire, but a portion of the ground was soaked in fuel.
An arc-shaped ground scar, consistent with a main rotor blade strike, was found to the left of the helicopter’s body. The outboard section of one tail rotor blade was found about 200 feet southwest of the helicopter. A 7-inch-deep ground scar was located underneath the tail rotor and exhibited evidence of multiple tail rotor blade strikes.
There was no exhibit evidence of foreign object debris ingestion in the engines.
A cockpit image recording device, engine data collection and a satellite communications unit were all recovered from the wreckage and transported to the NTSB in Washington, D.C., for examination. The wreckage was also recovered for post-crash examination.
The NTSB traveled to the scene of the crash.
McDonald and flight nurse Debra Schott died at the scene of the June 28 crash. Duda, a Brainerd lakes area resident, was taken to Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd after the crash, and then to North Memorial Health in Robbinsdale.
Explore related topics:NewsaccidentsNorth Memorialhelicopter crash
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Silence Noise on Your Network
The identification and elimination of noise has always been a major concern in the installation, testing, and certification of LAN networks, as well as a key part of ongoing network maintenance and troubleshooting. Contract cable installers and internal network maintenance staff must understand the various sources of noise that can interfere with legitimate signals and degrade data transmission over
Ed Pivonka, Ideal Industries and Ed Mazzuchelli, EML Associates | Jan 01, 2005
The identification and elimination of noise has always been a major concern in the installation, testing, and certification of LAN networks, as well as a key part of ongoing network maintenance and troubleshooting. Contract cable installers and internal network maintenance staff must understand the various sources of noise that can interfere with legitimate signals and degrade data transmission over the network. Noise can come from external sources, such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) from nearby equipment and transmission lines, and from internally generated noise on the cabling due to poor workmanship issues.
As network performance levels and bandwidths continue to escalate, managing noise becomes an increasingly important issue. Higher speed means packing more data into shorter time cycles, and shorter signal pulses mean greater susceptibility to interference. Unfortunately, the negative effects of noise can sometimes take the form of subtle performance degradation rather than a “hard failure” of the network. Data that isn't properly received due to noise interference must be retransmitted, thus slowing down the completion of that transmission while also contributing to overall network congestion.
LAN test equipment plays a critical role in the management of noise in today's network environments. Without the ability to precisely measure, diagnose, and eliminate noise, network installations that are specified as high speed can actually be operating at much lower performance levels. On the other hand, testers that aren't able to clearly distinguish between different types and sources of noise can cause technicians to spend excessive amounts of time chasing down extraneous noise that may or may not have a significant effect on real-world network performance.
Types and sources of noise. Noise in the network can consist of a variety of types, including common mode and normal mode. Noise at its basic level represents a disturbance to the waveform that bears no relationship to the fundamental frequency and which therefore can interfere with the waveform's signal-carrying capabilities. Common mode noise is particularly important in twisted-pair networks because signal integrity is dependent upon maintaining the differential relationship or “common mode” between the wiring pairs.
Common mode noise is created from the difference in potential between two physically remote grounds. A poor ground system or ungrounded shielded cable can act as an antenna, which gathers the induced voltage and applies it to the input. This type of noise can be hard to eliminate and becomes increasingly more problematic as the frequency of the noise increases, especially for today's high frequency networks.
As shown in Fig. 1 above, when a data signal is attenuated through natural capacitance, severely differentiated, or contains a lot of noise, the individual signal pulses become much less distinct and the data less likely to be correctly received at the far end of the transmission.
With network speeds constantly increasing and circuit logic voltage levels simultaneously decreasing, the ability to maintain precise waveforms is becoming even more difficult. When transmitting signals using 3V logic at 350 MHz rates, the presence of less than 1V noise levels can have a major effect on the link's data-carrying capabilities.
Workmanship is another key factor that can affect noise levels. Over the past few years, great strides have been made in the quality of cabling, connectors, and other materials that make up the network, thereby ensuring a highly consistent level of impedance matching within any particular length of cabling or specific connector component; but the real challenges come into play when they're installed within real-world environments. Even using the best materials, critical workmanship issues like improper grounding, untwisting too much wiring at the termination point, or impedance mismatches between cabling and connectors can easily create unacceptable noise levels.
When two adjacent lines in a twisted-pair circuit carry a signal, an intentional capacitive coupling exists between the lines. To the extent that the signal is distributed as two equal and opposite phases, any transitions along the cabling length will disturb the differential phases by equal amounts and leave the difference intact. Good layout practice is vital to maintain proper coupling between the differential traces, thus ensuring that any noise introduced into the application environment is seen as common. Proper grounding is also a critical issue to keep the circuit from inappropriately collecting and accumulating radiated energy from surrounding sources.
External noise, such as EMI sources, can also be a major contributing factor in LAN link test failures. EMI can be radiated from a variety of devices that emit unintentional RF signals, such as computers, factory floor production equipment, television and stereo sets, fluorescent lights, power tools, power lines, and office equipment. Patch panels and wiring closets can present particularly difficult environments, with many different signals trying to find routes to ground by cross-coupling across nearby cable links.
If the surrounding building has poor grounding, the prevailing neutral-to-ground voltage conditions will be high and the radiated effects can impose themselves on any data cable in the area. One side issue to consider here is the use of shielded cabling. While shielded cabling can sometimes be helpful in reducing external radiated energy, it's important to remember that the shielding is typically tied into the building ground. If the building has poor grounding, the cable shielding can actually become a contributor to noise on the cable rather than a benefit.
Noise detection and analysis. Distinguishing between different types and sources of noise is a critical first step in troubleshooting noise-related failures. Unfortunately, different types of noise can “look” the same to some test instruments. Radiated energy between pairs in the form of crosstalk can look a lot like radiated noise from external sources to some testers. For instance, close proximity to external noise radiation sources can result in “false failure” modes that may consume significant amounts of a technician's time, as he or she tries to chase down non-existent problems within the cabling system.
Measurements such as NEXT (near end crosstalk) and ELFEXT (equal level far end crosstalk) can be useful tools for identifying noise within twisted-pair copper networks. Both of these techniques operate by putting signals on a wiring pair and then measuring the coupled energy of the field effect on adjacent pairs.
However, NEXT measurements typically aren't as useful for distinguishing noise sources because externally generated noise may be arithmetically summed into the total noise equation, thereby indicating a failure but not the reasons for the failure. In contrast, PowerSum ELFEXT is particularly useful in noise analysis. By selectively testing signals on the far end of the cable link, this test can provide a more detailed picture that helps sort out crosstalk from external noise. If failure indications are only on outside pairs, such as Pairs 7 and 8 or 1 and 2, it's a good indication of external energy.
The image shown in Fig. 2 demonstrates a specific situation in which significant spikes were observed between ground and neutral on a single-phase circuit. The spikes were first seen as an ELFEXT failure, which led to a search for external sources for the high-energy spikes that were being induced on to the cable. Further investigation revealed that the data cable passed closely by an AC power line that supplied power to a copy machine. The spikes occurred whenever the heater in the copy machine was energized.
Differences in LAN test equipment. Tester architectures and design approaches can play a critical role in the ability to detect and analyze differences in noise sources. Among the key issues that must be considered are the fundamental differences between digital domain testing and frequency domain (analog) testing.
All signal waveforms and noise patterns are inherently analog in nature. This may cause problems for some DSP-based testers, which acquire information digitally, to precisely distinguish between types and sources of noise. Depending upon the digital sampling methods and frequencies you're working with, DSP-based testers may unintentionally mask out subtle differences between noise types.
To overcome this issue, some digital testers are equipped with a “noise check” feature that detects voltage on the line prior to conducting any other testing. The initial “noise check” acts as a preliminary screening mechanism to characterize and filter out the external noise from subsequent testing. Unfortunately, because the external noise is part of the surrounding environment, it may be a critical issue that affects the actual operation of the network and therefore shouldn't be arbitrarily filtered out of the test and certification processes.
In comparison, high-performance analog testers can simultaneously “see” and display all of the relevant signal and noise waveforms on the line. This allows you to clearly distinguish between different energy types, identify various noise sources, and to determine which ones represent potential real-world problems.
In the final analysis, it's critical that the field test instrumentation you're using not only be able to conduct all of the tests specified by standards committees like TIA and ISO, but also be able to precisely identify, measure, isolate, and analyze noise throughout the entire network environment.
Pivonka is senior application engineer at Ideal Industries, Inc., San Diego, and Mazzuchelli is the president of EML Associates in Stoughton, Mich.
TAGS: Maintenance, Repair & Operations
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City Council passes $20.7M budget; 2.85 percent tax increase expected
June 19, 2019 by Kate Cough on News, News-Featured
ELLSWORTH — After more than a month of workshops, city councilors passed a $20.68-million budget on Monday evening, with one councilor opposed.
“It’s a marginal increase but it’s an increase that continues on,” said Councilor John Phillips, who voted in opposition.
He said the reason why the projected tax rate increase is lower than originally anticipated is because the city will get more from state revenue sharing next year, not because spending was reduced.
“I don’t think we made any cuts to ours to speak of,” Phillips said.
If there are no changes, the mill rate would increase 2.85 percent over this year, to $18.76 per $1,000 of property valuation, up from $18.24. At that rate, a taxpayer with a $200,000 property would pay $3,752 in taxes for fiscal year 2020, $104 more than this year.
Changes to the mill rate are still possible in the coming months, depending on what the Ellsworth School Department receives in subsidy from the state, City Manager David Cole said Monday.
As it stands, the local appropriation for the School Department accounts for roughly 56 percent of the overall $20-million figure. The remainder, $9,016,934, is the net municipal budget.
The mill rate is down from initial projections, which had it at 18.99, due in part to an increase in revenue sharing from the state, which returns a portion of state income and sales taxes to towns each year.
“Our revenue sharing share would be $695,205,” said Cole, “which is a sizable increase over last year’s amount of approximately $452,000.”
The state increased revenue sharing from 2 to 2.5 percent in its biennial budget, which was signed by Governor Janet Mills shortly before Monday evening’s meeting.
Cole noted that the state budget includes an increase in the homestead exemption, which is for Maine residents who have owned a home for more than a year and occupy it as their permanent residence.
The exemption, which previously allowed homeowners to exempt up to $20,000 of a property’s value from tax calculations, has been raised to $25,000.
Several big-ticket capital improvement projects are slated for this year, including a roughly $300,000 project to replace expired fuel tanks at the Harbor Park and Marina as well as $700,000 to repair local roads. The fuel tank replacement will be paid for in part by a $122,000 grant from the Maine Department of Transportation while the rest would come from taxpayers.
In a separate vote to approve funding for the fuel tank project, two councilors, John Phillips and Dawn Hudson, voted against it, arguing that the project would not raise enough money to be worth the funds.
“I think it’s an overpriced project that we’re irresponsible to do,” said Phillips.
Harbormaster Adam Wilson told the council that adding diesel could more than double fuel sales, but Phillips said the math still didn’t work out in favor of replacing the tanks.
But Councilor Gary Fortier pointed out that the existing tanks are noncompliant and that leaving them in place could be a liability for the city.
“We need to get the liability out from the neck of the city,” Fortier said.
“It’s either decommission it or replace it,” said Cole, adding that diesel fuel is “the future in terms of commercial activity.”
Councilor Dale Hamilton, who has called for more long-range planning for capital improvement needs, argued in favor of the increased funding for local roads.
“We have a lot of needs as a city,” Hamilton said. “They can’t just be put off indefinitely … Moving forward we will have some expenses dropping out of the budget, which will allow some of the capital improvements in future years to not drive the mill rate up.”
Hamilton added that “There’s a lot being accomplished in this budget which will significantly improve for the city and the residents at a relatively smaller cost.”
Kate Cough
Kate covers the city of Ellsworth, including the Ellsworth School Department and the city police beat, as well as the towns of Amherst, Aurora, Eastbrook, Great Pond, Mariaville, Osborn, Otis and Waltham. She lives in Southwest Harbor and welcomes story tips and ideas. She can be reached at [email protected]
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East West Bank: Helping Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Cross-Border Businesses for 46 Years
By Melody Yuan
East West Bank executives and board members celebrated the company’s 20th year of going public in February 2019 by ringing the Nasdaq opening bell In New York
For Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, a look at how a Chinese American bank became an international financial bridge between the East and West.
Starting a business in the 1960s and ‘70s was not easy for Asian Americans. “The big financial institutions at the time were really not interested in reaching out or working with the immigrant and Asian American population,” says Kathryn Chan Ceppi, one of the owners of Phoenix Bakery. “One of the things they didn’t realize was that in my father’s time, it would have been a point of honor to pay back any loans, and the risk of lending to this (Asian American) population would have been very low.”
Ceppi’s father was Fung Chow Chan, a key leader in the Asian American community in Southern California, and one of the founders of what is now East West Bank. An immigrant from Canton, China, Chan came to Los Angeles in 1933 and quickly realized that as a minority, gaining access to capital was a big challenge.
“Back in the day, it was very hard for minority immigrants to qualify for loans and lines of credit from a traditional bank,” says Emily Wang, senior vice president and director of marketing at East West Bank. “And as Chinese Americans trying to break through the glass ceiling for minorities and immigrants, the founders decided to build their own financial institution among other businesses to help serve their community.”
The original founders of East West Federal Savings at the opening in 1973
Being involved in supporting other Asian American and immigrant businesses was vital to the community, and the Chan family helped establish the groundwork for many of those small businesses, which ranged from auto shops to bakeries, around the Los Angeles area. “One of the most famous businesses they (founded) still runs today,” says Wang. “Phoenix Bakery in Chinatown is known for their strawberry whipped cream cake, as well as their almond cookies.”
Contrary to their other burgeoning businesses, the Chan family had a hard time starting a financial institution for the community. “I was told that back in the day, it used to take anywhere from three to six months to get a bank chartered,” says Wang. For Chan, it took almost a decade to apply for a bank charter. Initially, the founders had tried to open a savings and loan institution, but after being turned down several times by state regulators, they switched strategies. Finally, in 1962, Chan helped found the first Chinese American-owned commercial bank in Southern California. “I remember back when I was in college seeing people coming in with, literally, bags of cash in paper bags taken from under their mattresses because they had no where else to put it,” says Ceppi.
An Asian American teller helping an Asian American customer
However, it was not enough to serve the needs of newly arrived immigrants. After policy changes like the 1965 Immigration Act in the U.S. that eased pathways for non-European immigrants to enter the country and find work, the 1970s saw a surge in Chinese immigrants coming to the U.S. Improvements in U.S.-China relations after President Nixon’s visit to Beijing, among other initiatives, also encouraged the influx, and the number of immigrants from mainland China jumped to 299,000 by 1980. For this growing number of Asian Americans, financial necessities such as home loans or business lines of credit were not readily available. As a result, Chan and his partners, which now included two Italian-American business owners, worked once more to open a savings and loan institution, this time successfully.
“East West first opened its doors in 1973 as a thrift with one branch in Chinatown, Los Angeles, with a mission to provide access to banking services to an underserved Chinese American community. We have come a long way since then,” says Dominic Ng, Chairman and CEO of East West Bank.
As East-West Federal Savings evolved with the times, it went through many iterations and was eventually renamed and converted into a state-chartered, full-service commercial bank in 1995. Today, East West Bank is one of the fastest-growing banks in the U.S. with 130 locations worldwide, and its parent holding company, East West Bancorp, has more than $42 billion in total assets. Throughout its growth, the bank’s underlying values, commitment to customers and involvement in the community have never wavered, Wang says.
Bridge between the East and the West
In 1991, the Nursalim family from Indonesia purchased East West Bank; shortly after, they recruited Ng, who consulted them while he was at Deloitte Touche, to serve as president and CEO. In 1992, under Ng’s direction, the bank began expanding its vision to encompass both sides of the Pacific.
Dominic Ng speaking at the opening of the Beijing representative office in 2003
Seeing the surge of business between the U.S. and China markets, along with China’s growing economy and rising prosperity, Ng positioned the bank to serve as a pioneering cross-border financial institution that could help facilitate transactions for both markets. “Our vision has always been to serve as the bridge between the East and the West. That strategic direction has remained steadfast,” Ng says. In 2003, East West opened its first location in China, a representative office in Beijing.
“Our bank’s driving push was a fortunate combination of mission and execution,” says Doug Krause, executive vice president of general counsel and corporate security at East West Bank. “The mission, the business model to be a bridge between East and West, is surprisingly one that others have not focused on and is a mission that attracts good people to work here.”
The Asian Financial Crisis
1998 was a momentous year. The Asian Financial Crisis caused Southeast Asian markets to devalue their currencies, triggering a domino effect of decreased capital inflows that led to plunging investment rates and deep recessions. Based in Indonesia, the Nursalim family felt hard-pressed to sell East West Bank and free up capital as Asian economies collapsed one by one.
Ng faced a difficult decision on how to steer East West Bank forward. “The Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) was also interested in buying East West Bank,” says Wang, “but it was an agency bank here in the U.S., meaning that they really didn’t do much retail banking.” Given that East West Bank was highly involved in the community and operated many physical retail branches, the buyout by DBS would inevitably lead to job losses. “Hundreds of families would have been affected. Dominic, at the time, felt like he could find a way to save these jobs at the bank,” Wang adds.
Ng decided that the best way to move forward and to protect East West Bank’s interests was to take the company public and list the bank on the stock exchange in 1999. “This really was an opportunity in disguise,” says Susan Kelly, senior vice president of retail operations management. “They could have easily sold us to a bigger financial institution—they had that option—but Dominic had other ideas, and he and the senior management team at the time really had the vision and guts to take East West Bank public.”
Once the decision was made, Ng had to move quickly to find investors and raise enough money for the initial public offering. From zigzagging around countless cities, to flying back and forth bi-coastally, Ng and his cohorts worked tirelessly around the clock. “Dominic had only 10 days to raise enough money to take the bank public,” says Wang. “Within those 10 days, he got a commitment of $238 million. That amount may seem insignificant today, but in the ‘90s, it was a lot of money, and we called it mission impossible.” The purchase of the bank from the Nursalim family and the formation of the holding company listed East West Bancorp on Nasdaq as EWBC.
February 2019: East West Bank celebrated its 20th year anniversary of going public at Nasdaq
The 2008 U.S. Financial Crisis
Ten years later, the disastrous 2008 financial crisis struck the world, starting in the U.S. The subprime mortgage meltdown, fueled by years of easy credit, relaxed regulations and attractive home prices, caused major financial institutions to default left and right and shut their doors. “I remember the darkness of those days as a banker because there was absolutely no way of knowing who would come out from the recession,” says Kelly. From Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch being sold to Bank of America, to the downfall of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the entire banking industry was on the verge of collapse.
Ng saw the troubling signs of an impending recession early on and avoided risky loans and subprime mortgages. Then, after the housing market collapsed, the bank proactively took charge-offs ahead of schedule and raised capital, and was able to pull out of the financial crisis in good standing, which put it in a strong position to acquire United Commercial Bank in 2009. “Anyone who was working here at the time will agree that this was the most transformational factor for us,” says Kelly. “Huge financial institutions were failing, and we were in survival mode. There had to be a collective pull by the entire bank, with literally Dominic at the helm (because he had) the foresight to recognize what had to be done to navigate through these turbulent times.”
United Commercial Bank was an overseas Chinese bank in the U.S. and was a subsidiary of UCBH Holdings. It was also one of East West Bank’s biggest competitors at the time. “Just like that, overnight, East West Bank doubled in size and financial activities,” Kelly says. With the acquisition, East West Bank expanded its presence in the U.S. into states such as New York, Massachusetts and Washington. Not only that, it got a rare banking license in China and now has ten offices in Greater China, in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzen. To this day, East West is one of only a handful of U.S. commercial banks that are locally incorporated in China.
“The bank is full of stories,” says Wang. “We could sit here forever and talk about the many ways East West Bank has evolved. But it’s important to also recognize how the bank has stayed consistent in its values and its legacy, as a result.”
East West Bank today has grown to become one of the largest independent banks headquartered in California with a focus on the U.S. and Greater China markets. In February 2019, East West Bank celebrated its 20th year anniversary of going public—and its 46th year in business—with a bell-ringing ceremony at Nasdaq.
“Compared to when we first went public in 1999, our assets have increased by 20-fold and our net earnings by 39-fold, and our footprint has increased from 23 branches in California to over 130 locations worldwide,” Ng says.
With the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China, the bank is taking a proactive stance in maintaining open business and cultural exchange. “In times of uncertainty, our role as the bridge between the East and the West is more valuable than ever,” Ng says. “It’s hard to tell what will happen, but we will find opportunities.”
Find out how East West Bank can help your business grow
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First Municipal Bond-Related Criminal Securities Fraud Charges Against Public Officials
Yesterday two city officials were criminally charged with securities fraud. This is “the first ever municipal bond-related criminal securities fraud charges against public officials,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s press release. The office’s complaint charges the officials with 22 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy in connection with municipal bonds issued by the City of Ramapo, New York and by the Ramapo Local Development Corporation.
The full complaint is available here.
The SEC also announced fraud charges against the City, its local development corporation, and four city officials “who allegedly hid a deteriorating financial situation from their municipal bond investors.”
“The SEC alleges that Ramapo officials resorted to fraud to hide the strain in the town’s finances caused by the approximately $60 million cost to build a baseball stadium as well as the town’s declining sales and property tax revenues. They cooked the books of the town’s primary operating fund to falsely depict positive balances between $1.4 million and $4.2 million during a six-year period when the town had actually accumulated balance deficits as high as nearly $14 million. And because the stadium bonds issued by the Ramapo Local Development Corp. (RLDC) were guaranteed by the town, certain officials also masked an operating revenue shortfall at the RLDC and investors were unaware the town would likely need to subsidize those bond payments and further deplete its general fund.”
The SEC’s full complaint can be read here.
The civil charges by the SEC and criminal charges by the Department of Justice provide further evidence that federal agencies are paying close attention to the municipal bond market. While the allegations in this situation describe particularly egregious actions, the proceedings serve as a reminder that issuers are speaking to the markets through their offering documents, and therefore need to devote the necessary time and effort in the preparation and review of bond documents and financial statements.
Please contact Dorsey’s public finance attorneys with questions.
Media Mentions Dorsey Of Counsel Tom Vander Molen Comments on IRS Bond Audits
Events Webinar Playback: Des Moines Public Finance: Annual Training Regarding Municipal Securities Disclosure
Media Mentions Dorsey Partner Jay Lindgren: Why I ULI
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A Doctor, a Pig, and a Magical Pixie Dust That Could Regrow Fingers
Once upon a time (last month), in a distant land (Pittsburgh), there was a medical breakthrough that could regrow fingers. Happily, this was no fairy tale.
By Michael Rosenwald
The Cincinnati branch of HobbyTown USA is located in an old strip mall on the outskirts of the city, in between a Payless shoe store and an H&R Block. One recent Sunday morning, the assistant manager, Lee Spievack, stood behind the cash register licking his fingers, having just devoured a Krispy Kreme chocolate doughnut. Spievack is sixty-nine, and the accumulation of years has made him less imposing than he was thirty-five years ago, when he won a Silver Star during the Vietnam war. He was wearing his HobbyTown USA uniform: a crisp yellow button-down shirt with his name stitched in red letters that was tucked tightly into khaki pants pulled well higher than his waist. Model airplanes hung from the ceiling, and on the shelves around him were trains, railroad tracks, remote-control cars, rockets, and kites.
Spievack has been building and flying remote-control airplanes since he was ten years old. If someone in or near Cincinnati has a problem with an aircraft smaller than anything regulated by the FAA, they go see him. Not long ago, on a Friday evening, a customer who bought a remote-control plane on eBay dropped by because its propeller was spinning the wrong way. On his own planes, Spievack uses wooden propellers; if the plane falls out of the sky and lands on someone, which happens more than you'd think, wooden propellers are less likely to slice anything off. But this plane had a plastic propeller more than a foot long. Spievack and the customer took his plane behind the store for testing, and sure enough, after gassing up the engine, the whirling blades spun the wrong way. Spievack had never seen a plane act this way. He got down on his knees for a closer look, and just as he said, "You've got to get rid of this thing," he pointed at the engine, inserting his middle finger directly into the propeller's path. "And that's how I cut my finger off," he says.
Over the years, Dr. Stephen Badylak has had problems explaining what he does for a living. He used to say, "I do biomedical engineering." But then he'd have to explain biomedical engineering. After a while, as a default response, Badylak would simply say, "Well, I'm in medical research." He hoped that would be enough, but it often prompted, "What are you researching?" Badylak says, "I got tired of struggling with it. So now I just tell them I make body parts." Badylak has regrown sizable portions of esophagi, tendons, ligaments, bladders, urethras, abdominal walls, blood vessels, and hearts within animals and humans.
Badylak, fifty-four, has sharp blue eyes and is tall and fit. He walks on the balls of his feet, probably owing to his obsession with running, which he does for three miles every morning at 4:30. Endurance is a trademark. Badylak has trained and worked as a veterinarian, a pathologist, and a general practitioner, and he spent several years as team doctor for Purdue University's football team. He now works at the University of Pittsburgh's McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which is located on the site of an old steel mill near the banks of the Monongahela River.
Badylak is the son of an Indiana steelworker, and his office window has a view of the Hot Metal Bridge, but steel is now mostly a memory in Pittsburgh. Badylak works in one of the city's more modern successful industries — organs. The city boasts one of the busiest and most well-known transplant centers in the world. From his office, Badylak can hear helicopters buzzing by, hauling coolers containing chilled livers, hearts, and kidneys.
The flight path of the choppers reminds Badylak almost hourly of the need for body parts and the fundamental problem with our system of procuring them. If someone needs a new heart, he often has to wait for someone else to die. And even if that new heart is a match, the patient must take powerful immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of his life, which can make a person sicker than he was before the surgery. Many people live happily ever after with transplanted organs, but many more die waiting for them, or because of them.
And then there are people like Lee Spievack, who severely damage or lose a limb. The answer for them is either a prosthesis or a nub. That's because the adult human body has evolved to scar, avoiding infection and moving on with life. But that life would be a lot better for a lot of people if their bodies could be manipulated into fixing and replacing lost or damaged body parts — similar to what happens to fetuses the first few months in the womb. If a fetus loses an arm or a leg, it grows back. "Humans can grow an entire human being in nine months. That's pretty remarkable," says Badylak. "If you think about it that way, you can say we just want an arm, you know, or we want a leg. Just give us enough information that we can do that."
Badylak happened upon this quest twenty years ago, early in his research career, while working on Rocky. Rocky was a dog, a mixed breed, and Badylak was conducting an experiment that required replacing a segment of the aorta around Rocky's heart. Sitting around having lunch one day, Badylak wondered, What in the body has the same shape and size as an aorta? What's tubular? He settled on the small intestine, and replaced part of the dog's aorta with part of his small intestine. "When we came in the next morning," says Badylak, "he was just standing, wagging his tail, and wanting breakfast." That was surprising, but not nearly as shocking as what happened next. Over the next weeks and months, as Badylak examined the new part of the aorta, he discovered that the intestine had not become simply a tube to pass blood through but had literally morphed into an aorta. And no scar tissue had formed. This defied what we previously knew about healing. Badylak had accidentally performed the biological equivalent of a magician turning a handkerchief into a dove. But this was no illusion.
Lee Spievack's finger didn't hurt, but the amount of blood squirting from it was worrisome. He raced inside the store and grabbed a roll of paper towels, furiously wrapping up what was left of his finger. His coworkers dialed 911. Spievack didn't get a chance to examine the damage until paramedics unwrapped the paper towels in the ambulance. He looked down and saw that it wasn't as catastrophic as he feared, but the tip — about half an inch — was gone. "It was a clean cut," he says. "There were no jagged edges. It was like you took a knife and cut it off." If he looked closely, he could see bone. Back at the store, his coworkers shined flashlights around outside hoping to locate the missing chunk of his finger, but they came up empty. "It probably landed on the roof and a bird had lunch," he says.
Seeing that there was nothing left to reattach, the doctors at the hospital bandaged his wound and told him to follow up with a hand surgeon, which he did a couple of days later. The surgeon was matter-of-fact: In a few days, he would take skin from Spievack's forearm or thigh, then paste it over the finger, leaving a nub. Spievack made an appointment for the procedure, then went outside and called his older brother, Alan, a retired Harvard Medical School surgeon. He told Alan they wanted to do a skin graft. "That's crazy," he said. "Instead of having one wound, you will have two. I want you to go back in there and cancel that appointment." Lee Spievack did what his brother advised, and the nurse told him he was going to get an infection. "She was just madder than shit," he says. "But I knew what my brother was up to."
When they were teenagers, the Spievack brothers raised salamanders. Alan Spievack was introduced to the creatures during his freshman year at Kenyon College, after acing a biology exam. Nobody had ever aced this professor's exam before, and so he asked to see Alan after class. "Instead of congratulating me, he began to ask questions — suggesting maybe I had cheated, or the test was too easy, or maybe the course was," Spievack says. "He was worried about his reputation as a tough guy teaching a tough course. I almost promised him I would never do it again." A week later, the professor called Alan in again and said he had a project for him. He took him down to the nearby Kokosing River and told him to roll up his pants, get in the water, and catch what appeared to be tiny black insects, which were salamander larvae. Spievack's job: raise them, then snip off their arms, legs, and tails, taking notes about how long it took for the limbs to grow back. Salamanders can regenerate almost any part of their bodies. Cut off an arm, it grows back. Gouge out an eye, same thing.
When the semester ended, Spievack took the salamanders back to his family's home in Cincinnati, where he nurtured them in his mother's pie pans. (He made his younger brother Lee feed them once a week with tweezers loaded with hamburger meat and fish food.) Alan eventually leveraged his interest in salamander regeneration into a Fulbright scholarship, then medical school at Harvard, and then a lengthy career in surgery.
Alan Spievack, now seventy-four, bears a striking resemblance to his younger brother, though he talks a lot more. One of the striking characteristics of his speech is that he ends every third sentence with the words et cetera. When asked if he had any children, he explained that he has a daughter who is thirty-two and another daughter who is fifteen and "a typical teenager, et cetera." He has so much going on in his head that there are things he would just as soon skip over to get to the important stuff.
Throughout his career, Alan Spievack continued his regeneration research, and several years before the propeller sliced off his brother's finger, he attended an orthopedic surgeons' conference in Atlanta, where he saw a speech given by Stephen Badylak. By that time, Badylak had been chasing answers about Rocky the dog for some time, becoming an expert on the biological components of the intestine — like the fact that the inner lining of the intestine regenerates itself every six days. Badylak honed in on the layer of the intestine that supported the tissue replacement, called the submucosa. He put the submucosa into other wounded organs in dogs, and the same thing happened. Achilles tendons grew back. Urinary bladders grew back. The implications of the discovery were profound: The submucosa stopped the scarring process and promoted regrowth.
Badylak determined that the intestinal material was an extracellular matrix — the part of the tissue in the body that connects cells to one another, like a scaffold. Only this extracellular matrix from the small intestine — he'd later use a similar lining from the bladder — tricks the body's cells into rebuilding instead of scarring. It's like the cells are in the womb again, and the extracellular matrix alerts them that the Achilles tendons are not yet done. The cells kick into gear and go to work. And they are joined by stem cells, those all-powerful building blocks of life capable of growing into any tissue in the body. Only the stem cells that show up haven't been harvested from human embryos. They come from the body's own reserve in the bone marrow and other places, and although these adult stem cells are not as flexible as embryonic stem cells, they may have more potential than previously thought to aid in the regeneration of multiple tissues.
As his research progressed, Badylak concluded that if there was any shot of this strategy going prime time in humans, he would not be able to use intestines or bladders from domesticated animals like dogs or cats (which have the strongest intestinal lining of any animals). Using human parts was also out of the question. Badylak tried zebras, groundhogs, prairie dogs, sheep, and cows before settling on pigs: They are plentiful, they are similar enough to humans in genetic makeup, and from a regulatory perspective, the FDA is friendly toward them because they have for years been the source of heart valves and dermatological research. And the extracellular matrix is not rejected by the human body, because all the pig cells are thoroughly removed. The material can be ground into a powder or made into a sheet like waxed paper or modeled into a shape, like that of an esophagus.
Throughout the 1990s, Badylak published one paper after another reporting his discoveries, but the collective response of the scientific community was basically to ignore him. In 1996, he spoke about his research at the conference in Atlanta that Alan Spievack was attending. Spievack recalls sitting through Badylak's presentation with his mouth agape: When this guy gets done talking, everyone in the room is gonna raise their hands with questions. When Badylak was done talking, Spievack was just about the only person with his hand up. Well, people are just being coy. When he leaves the stage, he will be swarmed. But only Spievack approached Badylak. At that moment, the two men began a friendship and casual working relationship, with Badylak advising a company Spievack eventually started to use extracellular matrix scaffolds in injured animals. Spievack still vividly remembers asking Badylak why nobody else seemed interested in his speech. Badylak answered, "Because they don't believe it."
A few days after Lee Spievack canceled his appointment with the hand surgeon, he received a package from his older brother containing a vial of powder that looked like Kraft Parmesan cheese. His brother instructed him to sprinkle it on his finger every other day until the powder was gone.
Lee Spievack is not a man who asks a lot of questions. So in the case of the vial, Spievack didn't much care what it contained (ground-up pig bladder) or where it came from (a little farm in Albion, Indiana).
Albion is a speck of a town about a forty-minute drive from Fort Wayne on some of the flattest land in America. The Whiteshire Hamroc farm is located a few miles off the main road and its prim little houses, around the corner from an abandoned nineteenth-century schoolhouse, and down past some cornfields.
The Whiteshire Hamroc farm raises a special line of genetically linked pigs that are reared indoors and sequestered from disease. The idea is that if pig parts are going in humans — and they have already been used, by the thousands — then the pigs need to be as clean as possible. The pigs at the Whiteshire Hamroc farm are some of the most pampered swine in the world. They inhale filtered air. When they are behaving, they are fed strawberry and vanilla ice cream. The handlers tried chocolate, but the pigs demurred.
Sherry Ziobro, an attractive former student-loan executive who now brokers pig bladders and other tissues, recently arranged a tour of the facilities. Before entering, visitors must shower and change into farm-approved clothing — Fruit of the Loom boxer shorts, blue flannel pajama pants, a gray T-shirt, tube socks, and black sneakers — all in an effort to prevent as much bacteria as possible from coming into contact with the pigs. A filtration mask that covers the mouth and nose is also required, though not for the visitors' benefit — even through a mask, specially raised pigs smell terrible.
Inside, the pigs seemed remarkably content. The barn housed litters that had been born the day before (the mothers resting on their sides while the piglets fed), adolescent pigs who tried to nip at their guests, and some older pigs, of an age and size that would soon have them embarking on the hour's drive to Tippecanoe, Indiana, to visit the Vin-Lee-Ron slaughterhouse (founded by Vin, Lee, and Ron).
About eleven hundred pigs meet their maker each day at Vin-Lee-Ron. They start in pens, then make their way forward on a conveyor belt, snorting and whining louder the farther they get. "Pigs are smart. They know," explained the slaughterhouse manager. The pigs ride up the belt until they eventually meet a man who shocks them with two hundred volts, killing them instantly, though they still convulse for a few seconds. Another man slits their throats, and they bleed out for seven minutes. The pigs are then conveyed to various cutting stations, where assembly-line workers slice out specific parts. It takes about two seconds to slice out a bladder, which looks like a water balloon. It is then stored in a cooler and taken to a lab, where it is processed and either turned into a sheet like waxed paper or ground into powder.
Spievack followed his brother's directions: Every other day for the next eight days, he sat down at his living-room coffee table and sprinkled the powder on his finger. Whatever powder fell onto the table he scooped up with a piece of paper, then dropped back into the vial. He covered his finger with a Band-Aid. A few days went by, and Spievack could see something was happening. There was skin growing, and tissue on the inside, too. He insists that what happened after four weeks did not surprise him in the least, though it should have. Because his fingertip grew back.
The fingerprint took a couple more months. The tip is a little hard on the end, but he can feel things just fine. Spievack says he was particularly happy this past winter; while all of his fingers chapped in the cold weather, the new fingertip didn't. The only side effect during treatment was that his finger began to smell like a pig's quarters at the state fair. "It was a pretty offensive odor," Spievack says. He doesn't much think about his finger anymore, except when he clips his nails. He usually cuts them once a week, but the new nail has to be clipped every two days. "That fingernail grows like a son of a bitch," he says.
Asking Badylak what happened with Spievack's finger does not produce an exceptionally long answer: He doesn't really know. He can't fully explain why the scaffolds do what they do, and until he can explain that, he cannot manipulate the technology to grow back entire digits or organs. He's getting there, but he's not there yet.
Still, the scaffolds have already been used in more than a million patients to regrow cartilage in sports injuries, rebuild urethras, and repair hernias, and Badylak's lab will start testing the technology on human esophagi soon.
Meanwhile, Alan Spievack's company, ACell, has had tremendous success with veterinary applications. Not long ago, in his house near Boston, Spievack pulled up an image of a horse with a deep hole in his face as wide as a hand. "This is Classy," Spievack said. "Now, Classy is your typical unlucky horse, et cetera." The horse had run into a fence and gouged out his face, including a big chunk of bone. Surgeons at Colorado State University inserted the pig-bladder material into the hole during several surgeries over about a year. There were pictures of the operations, which were bloody. Then there was a picture of Classy, with his face completely healed. "I know that good things can happen with this as a matrix and that there are a lot of different applications," Badylak says. "I'm also just as sure that people will not regrow whole digits if you just put the powder on. There's missing pieces to the puzzle. The problem is I don't know how big the puzzle is."
There are scientists who question whether the powder was really the catalyst for what happened to Spievack's finger. Ken Muneoka, a Tulane scientist who has been working on tissue regeneration for two decades, says his own research suggests that fingertips can grow back on their own, even in a man's Spievack's age. He cautions that Spievack's finger did not grow back in a controlled study — meaning the injury and the response to it were not compared with someone else's in the same circumstances who didn't undergo treatment. Badylak doesn't deny the controlled-study issue, but he disputes the notion that someone as old as Spievack could grow the tip back on his own.
Some of this back-and-forth is the scientific equivalent of playground trash talk. Both Muneoka and Badylak are at the center of a sort of Manhattan Project to regrow limbs. The Defense Department research-and-development agency DARPA, located not far from the Pentagon in northern Virginia, has been closely watching the progress of limb regeneration, given the thousands of soldiers coming home from Iraq after getting body parts blown off. The agency is now spending about $8 million to fund two teams of researchers racing to regrow toes in mice. The upcoming year is make-or-break: They must show DARPA that they can successfully take the first step and grow a blastema — a collection of cells that can form a new body part. If they can do that, a toe is not far behind. One of the teams, led by Muneoka, is growing extra arms on salamanders to see how the process might eventually be stimulated in humans. Badylak leads the other team, which is trying to understand the role of the scaffolds. Meanwhile, Badylak is also advising surgeons at the Army Institute of Surgical Research in San Antonio on a project to use the extracellular matrix to help soldiers returning from the war who have lost digits. He says the project will be successful if the soldiers can grow back a little more than an inch of tissue. "There is some sense of competition," says Muneoka. "Because at the end of the day, as we move to the next level of this type of work, not everyone's gonna be sitting in the boat."
Badylak is confident about his method, but he also believes that his approach alone isn't going to fully unlock the body's regenerative potential. There are researchers trying other methods. Many are adamant that pig material doesn't need to be used at all — that artificial scaffolds can work better and faster. Other researchers are using the scaffolds in entirely different ways. Anthony Atala, a urologist at Wake Forest and editor of the definitive Principles of Regenerative Medicine, takes cells from his patient's bodies and grows them new bladders on large part-biological and part-artificial scaffolds in a lab. Seven weeks later, he implants the bladders in the body.
Badylak says he does not want to be known as "the guy who grows fingers," because he's not sure he can do it, at least not yet. But like it or not, pleas for his help reach him daily in the form of e-mails, letters, and phone calls. His face sinks as he describes one:
"I'm a mother from Bologna, Italy, my daughter was born with a defective hand. She's three years old now. She's being made fun of in school. We'd like her to have a normal life. She's a beautiful child. You know, we read about this, and we're willing to travel to the States. What can you do for us?"
Badylak pauses for a moment. "They're just heartbreaking. I got another last week from the family of a little girl that fell off a wagon and into a meat grinder — it included a picture of her hand all chopped up."
For now, Badylak works at that potentially frustrating scientific junction of having achieved something remarkable but not being able to explain exactly how he did it. "It's a lot of fun," he says. "Much better than not being able to do it at all. If you know that it can happen, then it's easy to remain enthusiastic and motivated about looking for the reasons why. If you don't know for sure that it can happen, then you start to wonder if there is even an answer at all."
For Badylak, the wondering is over. The puzzle may be incomplete, but the answer, he knows, lives in Cincinnati, snapping together parts of model airplanes.
This story is part of our second annual register of emerging ideas, trends, discoveries, products, people, and obscene gestures you should know about before everyone else does.
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Home Dr. David Courey
Dr. David Courey
Gastdocent Systematische Theologie
e: david.courey@etf.edu
Education, degrees
2011: Ph.D. in Christian Theology, McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario
2004-2016: Graduate Work in Theology, Conrad Grebel College, University of Waterloo
1997: M.A. in History, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario
1984: Diploma in Theology, Eastern Pentecostal Bible College (Master’s College), Peterborough, Ontario
1979: B.Sc. Honors in Biochemistry, Bishop’s University, Lennoxville, Quebec
Academic positions and teaching experience
2017-present: Guest Professor of Systematic Theology, ETF Leuven
2017-present: Lecturer in Systematic Theology, Continental Theological Seminary, Brussels
2015-2017: Post-Doctoral Research Assistant in Systematic Theology (Pentecostalism), ETF Leuven
2014-2017: Dean of Graduate Studies, Continental Theological Seminary, Brussels
2012-2014: Adjunct Faculty, McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, ON
1999-2007: Adjunct Faculty, Master’s College and Seminary
Academic memberships
European Pentecostal Theological Association
American Society of Church History
Society for Pentecostal Studies
What Has Wittenberg to Do with Azusa? Luther’s Theology of the Cross and Pentecostal Triumphalism. London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2015, 304 pp.
Journal Articles and Book Chapters
“Subjects and Predicates: A Barthian Grammar for Pentecostal Soteriology.” In Pentecostals and Karl Barth’s Theology, edited by Frank Macchia M. and Andrew Gabriel, forthcoming.
“Discerning the Signs of the Spirit: Pentecostal Experience Engages Edwardsian Religious Affections.” In From Northampton to Azusa: Pentecostals and the Theology of Jonathan Edwards, edited by Amos Yong and Steven M. Studebaker, forthcoming.
“What Does Brussels Have to Do with Toronto? Insights from the European Edge of Post-Christian Frontier.” In Pentecostal Ministry and Theology in Post-Christian and Multicultural Canada, edited by Steven M. Studebaker and Lee Beach, forthcoming.
“The Ozymandias Factor: Persistence, Memory, and European Secularism.” Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association 37, no. 1 (2017): 13–27.
“Franck, Sebastian.” Edited by Mark A. Lamport. Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation. Washington, DC: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.
“Hoffman, Melchior.” Edited by Mark A. Lamport. Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation. Washington, DC: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.
“Rothmann, Bernhard.” Edited by Mark A. Lamport. Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation. Washington, DC: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.
“Schwenkfeld, Kaspar.” Edited by Mark A. Lamport. Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation. Washington, DC: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.
“Why the Reformation Matters … to Pentecostals and Charismatics.” Edited by Mark A. Lamport. Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation. Washington, DC: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.
“Biblical Theology Movement.” Edited by George Thomas Kurian and Mark A. Lamport. Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
“Bosworth, Fred Francis.” Edited by George Thomas Kurian and Mark A. Lamport. Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
“Branham, William.” Edited by George Thomas Kurian and Mark A. Lamport. Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
“Humbard, Rex Alpha Emmanuel.” Edited by George Thomas Kurian and Mark A. Lamport. Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
“Pearlman, Myer.” Edited by George Thomas Kurian and Mark A. Lamport. Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
“Victory in Jesus: Perfectionism, Pentecostal Sanctification, and Luther’s Theology of the Cross.” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 22 (2013): 257–274.
“The Distance Between Hope and Certainty: Volf, Moltmann and the Theology of the Cross. ”Canadian Evangelical Review 37-38 (Spring 2010): 25-35.
Review of Toward a Pentecostal Theology of Preaching, edited by Lee Roy Martin. The Pentecostal Educator 4 (2017): 27–30.
Review of Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine, by Gregg R. Allison. McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry 13 (2012): 1–5.
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Happening People
Dana Tessler
Happening People by Paul NeevelPosted on 02/08/2018
“We moved to Eugene when I was 11,” says Dana Tessler, whose family had previously lived “all over New Jersey.” After attending South Eugene High School, she left for Colorado, planning to establish residency. Instead, she returned to study anthropology at the University of Oregon while working four part-time jobs in food service and bookkeeping. She graduated, then started work as a once-a-month bookkeeper at Rainbow Valley Design and Construction. “I became a partner four years later, in 1993,” she says. “I’m the only woman among nine partners.” She also got pregnant in a relationship that ended and gave birth to a daughter, Elliana, becoming a single mom in 1995. “I raised her and brought her to work,” she says. “She grew up in the construction business.” At age 11, Elliana got sick and spent eight days in the hospital, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. “It was earth-shattering,” Tessler says. “Most people don’t understand the impact on daily life, the anxiety and isolation.” Type 1 diabetes treatment requires around-the-clock monitoring of blood sugar levels and injections of insulin. In 2011, Tessler started a parents’ group called Mama I’m Low, offering monthly parent group meetings, peer mentoring, and free recreation opportunities for families with children who have type 1. “I printed fliers to spread the word,” she says. “It caught on after a year or so.” Mama I’m Low gained nonprofit status in 2015 and entered a partnership with the city of Eugene’s Adaptive Recreation Department in 2017. Learn about upcoming meetings and events at mamaimlow.com. Elliana Tessler, a South Eugene grad like her mom, is currently a student in the Family and Human Services Program at the UO.
Barbara Dellenback
Happening People 1 week ago
Photo by Paul Neevel
“I was born in Medford,” says Barbara Dellenback, daughter of John Dellenback, who was an independent-minded Republican representative in the Oregon Legislature and the U.S. … Continue reading →
Chip Radebaugh
Happening People 4 weeks ago
Chip RadebaughPhoto by Paul Neevel
“I was ‘Chip’ from day one,” says Chip Radebaugh, whose given name is Charles, like his optometrist father, Charlie. Born on an Air Force base … Continue reading →
Happening People 2 months ago
Larry CraigPhoto by Paul Neevel
When he was 14 years old, Larry Craig and his family moved from Federal Way, Washington, to Springfield, Oregon, where he finished middle school at … Continue reading →
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Iran's Arak's IR-40 Heavy water nuclear reactor. Photo by Nanking2012, Wikipedia Commons.
Backed By Big Powers, A Successful Iran Deal Could Rescue NPT – Analysis
July 15, 2015 August 7, 2015 Richard Weitz 0 Comments
By Richard Weitz and YaleGlobal Online
China, Russia and the United States must cooperate on strengthening barriers against the spread of nuclear weapons.
By Richard Weitz
The most important impact of the July 14 Iran nuclear deal may be how it affects the overall pace and extent of nuclear-weapons proliferation. Supporters of the deal expect it to confirm the value of sanctions and diplomacy in limiting the spread of dangerous nuclear materials and technologies. Opponents fear that the accord’s defects will encourage other countries to pursue nuclear weapons and further weaken the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, the main global treaty against the further militarization of nuclear technologies.
Under the terms of the deal, Iran will reduce by two-thirds its capacity to enrich uranium, export almost its entire stockpile of low-enriched uranium, convert its Fordow enrichment plant into a research center, reconfigure its plutonium reactor at Arak and accept extensive international monitoring of its nuclear facilities. In return, foreign countries will end their nuclear-related economic sanctions on Iran, release its frozen financial assets, confirm Iran’s right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, and eventually repeal the UN arms embargo and limits on its ballistic missile program.
The agreement to freeze Iran’s nuclear-weapons program for a limited period might offer opportunities to strengthen the NPT, dispel assumptions of near-term nuclear disarmament and generate a fresh attempt to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
The NPT already suffered a serious blow earlier this year when, at its most recent review conference, which ran from April 27 to May 22, the 190 member governments failed to reach a consensus on the final document. Although the conference did not deal directly with the Iranian nuclear issue, one of the main reasons for the deadlock was the inability to agree on a planned conference to make the Middle East a zone free of weapons of mass destruction.
Another adverse factor preventing consensus at this year’s review conference was the decreased cooperation among Russia, China and the United States on nuclear weapons issues. Russia and China declined to support the US effort to ensure that the Middle East WMD conference had conditions that Israel, a reluctant participant, found acceptable.
Relations between the governments of Russia and China with that of the United States have clearly deteriorated over the past two years. These differences are primarily related to US resistance to Russian and Chinese regional security ambitions in Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region, respectively, rather than nuclear issues. Shielding their trilateral nuclear cooperation from collateral damage resulting from their other differences has proven difficult.
The NPT mandates nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. To support disarmament as they eventually eliminate their own nuclear arsenals, Russia, China and the United States have agreed to rely less on nuclear weapons in the foreign and defense policies. For example, they have pledged in their military doctrines not to use nuclear strikes against other states not having nuclear weapons except in extreme circumstances.
However, while China continues to claim it will never employ nuclear weapons first and the Obama administration has been building missile defenses and strengthening US conventional forces to reduce the need for nuclear-weapons use, Russian military and political officials have over the past year repeatedly asserted their capacity and willingness to use nuclear weapons, even against states that do not have them, such as NATO members hosting US missile interceptors. Russia has also jeopardized existing arms-control agreements by violating them. More recently, Russia ignored its 1994 pledge to respect Ukrainian sovereignty in return for Kiev’s renunciation of the nuclear weapons Ukraine inherited from the Soviet Union.
In addition, the Russian and Chinese governments have been developing and deploying new nuclear-weapons delivery systems. Indeed, while Moscow and Washington have been slowing the cut back in their number of nuclear warheads in line with their bilateral arms-control requirements, China is the only legally recognized nuclear-weapons state whose nuclear arsenal is growing in terms of numbers, diversity and capabilities. Beijing pursues a policy of nuclear opaqueness that includes refusing to offer even general statements about how many nuclear warheads and delivery system the country possesses. Beijing has also refrained from joining in nuclear-arms control, citing the country’s unenforceable no-first-use doctrine.
Fortunately, despite their differences, Russia, China and the United States have stood firm in demanding that Iran forego nuclear weapons. This solidarity played no small part in compelling Tehran, which has repeatedly if unsuccessfully sought to exploit differences among the great powers, to reach this week’s nuclear-weapons deal.
However unwelcome, any practical harm from the deadlocked NPT conference could be outweighed by progress in preventing Iran and also North Korea from developing nuclear arsenals. The leading forum for these nonproliferation talks is not the bulky NPT. The great powers have established two separate and more flexible mechanisms for multilateral negotiations: the P5+1 talks for Iran and the Six-Party Talks for North Korea. The first includes Germany and the second includes Japan, both countries that have renounced nuclear weapons.
Tehran and Pyongyang represent the immediate state drivers for nuclear proliferation today. If the world can foil their nuclear-weapons aspirations, no other country beyond the existing nuclear-weapons states will likely soon have the intent and capability to acquire nuclear weapons.
Supporters of the Iran deal hope that it will lead North Korea to end its nuclear-weapons program. However, the success of the recent Iran deal is uncertain and depends on continued cooperation among Russia, China and the United States on nuclear-proliferation issues.
Despite their many differences, these three countries could pursue additional practical measures and strategies to improve their nonproliferation cooperation among themselves and with other NPT members:
First, they must implement the Iranian nuclear agreement in a mutually reinforcing manner to prevent Tehran from exploiting their differences. In particular, Russia, China and the United States must cooperate in how they enforce the accord to prevent Iranian cheating. Equally important, they must coordinate how they relax sanctions on Iran to avoid rewarding Tehran too much or too soon and thereby reduce its incentive to comply with the deal.
Regarding the NPT, Russia, China and the United States need to sustain comprehensive discussions among their officials and nongovernmental experts regarding the causes for the deadlocked 2015 review conference and how to overcome them. Although on average only half the NPT review conferences achieve a consensus on their final communique, the disagreements at this year’s conference reflected a disturbing gap in the perspectives and preferences among those states possessing nuclear weapons and those countries without them. Many of the former suggest that the barriers against nuclear proliferation are too weak, while many of the latter consider the rewards for abstention – general security assurance and civil nuclear cooperation – too small.
To address this gap, Russia, China and the United States must cooperate more effectively in countering the unrealistic demands from other NPT states. For example, many non-nuclear-weapons states profess to support a nuclear-weapons convention that would completely prohibit the production, possession and use of nuclear weapons. But achieving universal nuclear disarmament anytime soon would require fundamental world order changes and improbable conditions – an end to regional conflicts, exquisite verification techniques and many other unprecedented developments.
More pragmatically, Russia, China and the United States need to consider how they could draw lessons from the Iran deal to more effectively address a North Korean government that obstinately refrains from renouncing its nuclear weapons, but has, at least during the last two years, restrained from testing another nuclear device.
Although Pyongyang’s relations with Washington remain frozen and its ties with Beijing are terrible, the North Korean leadership has shown interest in developing ties with Russia. Exploiting this perhaps fleeting opportunity, US policymakers need to consider how they might follow their Iran playbook and cooperate with Moscow as well as Beijing in pushing for North Korean nuclear disarmament.
*Richard Weitz is senior fellow and director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis at Hudson Institute. His current research includes regional security developments relating to Europe, Eurasia and East Asia as well as US foreign, defense and homeland-security policies.
This article appeared at YaleGlobal
← Lessons From Obama’s War In Libya – OpEd
All’s Not Smooth Sailing Along China’s Maritime Silk Route – Analysis →
Richard Weitz is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis at Hudson Institute. His current research includes regional security developments relating to Europe, Eurasia, and East Asia as well as U.S. foreign, defense, homeland security, and WMD nonproliferation policies. Dr. Weitz also is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Project on National Security Reform (PNSR), where he overseas case study research, and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where he contributes to various defense projects.
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Massimo Zanetti: I believe Virtus Bologna will continue in BCL
The owner of Segafredo Virtus Bologna, Massimo Zanetti, wants his team to defend the Basketball Champions League title and contend for the LBA Serie A Championship.
Massimo Zanetti touched on various topics while interviewed by Andrea Tosi for Gazzetta dello Sport a few days after Segafredo Virtus Bologna won the Basketball Champions League. The owner of the Italian club, often called the “King of Coffee”, declared his interest for his team remaining in the BCL: “I believe we will continue playing in the Basketball Champions League in our 5,000-seated arena.”
Zanetti, 71, explained: “To enter EuroLeague we need an 8,000 to 10,000-seated arena that would allow us to grow in ticketing and sponsors. Also, building a EuroLeague team is very expensive. Look at Milan, they spent a lot of money, but haven’t won anything. We won our Cup.”
On the LBA Serie A, he stressed: “Certainly from next season the team will always contend for the Italian Championship. Everyone wants to see a final between Milan and Bologna. We’ll get there soon.”
He also commented on Sasha Djordjevic: “Without Djordjevic we wouldn’t reach the Final Four. We are now aiming to build a stronger Virtus for the next years. He will search the market for players compatible with our budget, which is yet to be defined.”
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League
Tags Basketball Champions League BCL Massimo Zanetti Sasha Djordjevic Virtus Bologna
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A SUCCESSFUL MODEL CORPORATION CREATED BY NIKKI ZENO…
Excelsior Talent, Inc. (formerly NikkiZAngels, Inc.) was started by Cover Model & Professional Pageant Winner Expert Nikki Zeno. Nikki Zeno has been in the Entertainment biz since she was a kid. Nikki was managed by Joseph Jackson & his step brother, Mr. Bongo Rock: Preston Epps for all her teen years. Nikki sang all over the world but while also obtaining her college degrees. She graduated with an A.S. degree in Social Science, a B.A. degree in Psychology, a Real Estate License & a Talent Agents License. Her 1st Modeling Assignment as a teenager was a Nation Wide ad for Hilton Resorts. She jumped into the pageant world after she won the very first pageant she entered. Ms. Los Angeles in 2000. That was just the start.
After that 1st extremely competitive win, over 300+ more competitions were won! She took the title of Ms. California, Ms. Columbia, Ms. Anitgua, Ms. USA Truckin Nationals (2 years in a row), Ms. USA Nopi Nationals, Ms. Palm Springs, Ms. Huntington Beach, Ms. Latin America (2 years in a row) Ms. Max Muscle, Ms. Bacardi, & the list goes on & on. Many competitions she’d win over & over again until they had to offer her the job of hosting the special events just to get other models brave enough to compete. Nikki was a Barker Beauty on the Price is right, a Bench Warmer Model for 8 years, A lingerie Bowl Football player for 4 years, a host for channel 62 “Que Buena Te Ve”, the Sony Spokemodel for 2 years, NHRA National Anthem singer for 2 years & graced the covers of a gazillion magazines. Being the first Latina to be on the cover of Truckin Magazine, Sport Truck Magazine, Import Tuner & Many more.
“We’re not just eye candy!”
Nikki is & has always been unstoppable. Her love now is to help others become even more successful than she was. What’s better than being on a huge Hollywood Billboard? Nikki’s answer, “Putting another model up on that billboard & seeing how happy he or she is while knowing you’d had something to do with that happiness”. “I’m a giver and I hope Excelsior Talent helps many talented people out there be seen, heard, appreciated, respected and enables them to make it to where they should be, On Top!”
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Eye For Film >> Movies >> Sharkwater (2006) Film Review
Reviewed by: Anton Bitel
Think of sharks, and you probably think of the monstrous, man-eating predators filling the screen with their fins and teeth in Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975), Renny Harlin's Deep Blue Sea (1999) and Chris Kentis' Open Water (2003). Which is to say that sharks suffer from a severe image problem. They entirely lack the sort of charismatic qualities that we so readily project onto apes, elephants, penguins and pandas, and they have been traduced by a demonic mythology that bears little or no resemblance to reality. Championing their cause is akin to taking on PR work for, well, a cold-blooded killer.
Yet that is exactly what underwater photographer, biologist and ecologist Rob Stewart does in his documentary Sharkwater, playing advocate to the seemingly indefensible creatures armed only with a camera, a strong sense of self-dramatisation, and a raft of facts. His voice-over declaration of a life-long love of sharks, accompanied by footage of him embracing a no doubt surprised specimen in the waters, is hardly going to persuade everyone of the creatures' all-round toothsome cuddliness, but the arguments that Stewart and his interviewees offer for the shark's primary place in our planet's ecology are far more compelling and to the point.
You do not have to love sharks to acknowledge their evolution-shaping contribution to ecosystems beneath the ocean and above, or to recognise the danger that their fast-approaching extinction at our hands might pose to all life on earth (an infinitely greater danger, it turns out, than their presence in the water actually poses to humans).
In a sense, all this reflects precisely what is good and what is not so good about Stewart's film. The raw data on sharks that he has assembled, and his beautiful underwater photography, serve to tell their story with pellucidity – but it is precisely when Stewart inserts himself into this story that the waters begin to get muddied, as the film heads away from the deep and into the shallows.
Stewart's strategy is to show himself in constant danger – but, importantly, not from the sharks he is so determined to protect, but rather from a conspiracy of mercenary poachers, corrupt governments, shark-fin mafia, and freak illness. This is what might be called the Michael Moore effect, whereby a complicated argument is made palatable by being transformed into an adventure with the filmmaker at its centre. The problem with the approach is that it can often seem more of a distraction from, rather than an advancement of, the film's principal proposition. This is certainly the case with Sharkwater.
In 2002, Stewart joined conservation activist Paul Watson board the Ocean Warrior. Watson was heading for Cocos Island, where he had been invited by no less than the President of Costa Rica to patrol the shark-rich waters for any poaching activity. Stewart was tagging along to film some sharks. Yet before reaching their destination, they encountered a boat full of shark poachers in Guatemalan waters, and engaged it in a violent game of cat-and-mouse in an attempt to stop it fishing and to bring it to shore for the authorities.
Eventually reaching Costa Rica, the environmentalists found themselves facing seven counts of attempted murder, and were placed under house arrest pending the trial – but they sneaked out to make surreptitious recordings of illegal shark-fin processing plants organised by the Taiwanese mafia in private docks. Believing that they were unlikely to win in court, and that there were gangsters gunning for them in town, Stewart, Watson and the rest of the crew fled into international waters, aggressively pursued by the Costa Rican coast guard. And then, off the Galapagos Islands, Stewart was hospitalised for a week with 'flesh-eating disease', facing the possible loss of a leg, or even of his life. Will the intrepid cameraman ever get to swim with his beloved sharks again?
This gripping high-seas yarn, complete with defiant pirates, gunboat chases, narrow escapes and exotic illnesses, forms the backbone of Watson's film, as he dramatises the forces ranged not only against the world's rapidly dwindling shark population, but also against his own plans to make an underwater movie.
Upon reflection, however, Stewart's excitable narrative prompts many uncomfortable questions. No matter what one might think about illegal poaching or the cruelties of shark-finning, do Watson's strong-arm vigilante tactics not warrant some sort of judicial examination? Might, for example, deliberately ramming a small manned boat in open waters not reasonably be construed as attempted murder? Is it not just possible that the coast guard was pursuing Watson and company simply because they had breached the conditions of their house arrest and were attempting to evade trial on serious charges, rather than because, as Stewart suggests, they were getting too close to uncovering the links between government and poaching? Was the Taiwanese mafia really pursuing Stewart all over Costa Rica (the evidence that he adduces for this is all strictly hearsay)? And what exactly did Stewart's illness, for all its potential gravity, have to do with sharks?
Stewart's over-precious comment on the saline solution being fed into his ailing body speaks volumes: "Now that I couldn't be in the ocean, they were dripping the ocean into me." This is a filmmaker desperately trying – and failing – to find some sort of larger relevance in his own personal experience. A more experienced director would have cut this sequence out faster than ruthless poachers strip sharks of their valuable appendages.
At best, the 'reality drama' that unfolds on-screen takes viewers away from the real ecological issue (much as it took Stewart away from his diving), and at worst it tends to dilute Stewart's status and credibility as self-appointed champion of all that is right. At one point, Watson asserts that it was individuals such as Mahatma Gandhi who changed the world, the implication being that Watson and his fellow activists represent a similar force for good in a world that is wilfully destroying itself.
No doubt Watson and Stewart do have their heart in the right place, but unlike Gandhi, they are conspicuously reluctant to face up to the consequences, legal or otherwise, of their political actions, preferring flight to due judicial process - and that, I think, tends to undermine the moral validity of their position. Even worse, such undermining was entirely unnecessary – if Stewart had focused more on sharks and less on his own misadventures, then the sharks could have had their day in the court of cinema without any needless and unhelpful interjections from their own defence team.
When Sharkwater is providing an account of sharks based in history, evolutionary theory and observational science, when it is debunking popular myths about sharks, and when it is exposing the monstrously murderous predations that our own species has recently been perpetrating upon the shark at an unsustainable rate and at unquantifiable cost to all life on the planet, then the film is excellent. When, however, it is forced to enter the complications of international politics, it becomes a fish out of water, flailing about for a purpose that it is not sophisticated enough to fulfil. Which is a pity, because Stewart's main argument needs urgently to be heard, and has real teeth.
Reviewed on: 20 Feb 2008
Documentarian champions the cause of the shark.
Visit The Official Site
Director: Rob Stewart
Writer: Rob Stewart
Starring: Rob Stewart, Paul Watson, Samuel Gruber, Erich Ritter, Geoffrey Merlin, Mark Butler, Boris Worm, William Goh, Vic Hislop, Rex Weyler, Patrick Moore
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Apollo on the Verge of Acquiring 14 Cox TV Stations in $3 Billion Deal
Lisa Smith February 12, 2019
Private equity firm Apollo Global Management is on the verge of completing a landmark that will see it acquire as many as 14 local TV stations from Cox Enterprise Inc for a whopping $3 billion. The private equity firm wants to become a major player in the American broadcasting industry, and this seems to be their big bet on the front.
Nothing has been signed as yet, but according to people familiar with the matter, an announcement regarding the acquisition could come later on in the week. The 14 regional TV stations in questions are spread across 9 states and cater to an audience of around 31 million. However, Cox had said last year that the company was considering their options regarding their local TV portfolio and hence it is not a surprise that a mega-deal is now in the works. TV networks are particularly attractive acquisitions for private equity firms primarily due to the ready cash flow they generate through cable fees and in addition to that, Apollo will also be able to raise fees if it so wishes.
Cox Enterprise Inc is privately held media behemoth which has its interest in a wide range of media properties. It has interests in websites, television networks, and newspapers. However, due to the upheavals in the regional TV industry over the recent year, the company had been looking to exit. On the other hand, the rise of a host of streaming services has also eaten into the income for a most regional TV network. Other than the acquisition of these local TV stations, Apollo is also discussing joint ventures with Cox, and it remains to be seen whether those ventures are restricted to local broadcasting or not.
This acquisition is a part of Apollo’s big play to create a local TV station behemoth, and another deal with Nexstar Media Group Inc is also being negotiated. After Tribune Media Co acquired Nexstar, the slew of local TV networks have been put on the sale window, and Apollo is apparently the frontrunner. The Nexstar local TV station could be acquired for $1 billion according to those familiar with the matter, and it is believed that the deal could be closed later on this year. If the deal is closed, then Apollo is going to merge both the Nexstar and Cox local TV network properties into one entity. It seems Apollo is going for scale so that the venture could be turned into a profitable venture.
Apple Names New Retail Head to Increase iPhone Sales
UK Government Sued Over No Deal Brexit Ferry Agreements
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Hong Kong's autonomy is not a licence to challenge Beijing: Chinese official
World Reuters May 27, 2017 12:54:59 IST
Hong Kong: A top Chinese official said on Saturday that Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy must not be taken as a licence to confront Beijing, and urged the territory's government to implement contentious new national security laws.
File image of Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC). AP
The comments by Zhang Dejiang, China's number three official who oversees Hong Kong affairs, highlight growing concerns at Beijing's top leadership about a fledgling independence or secessionist movement in the former British colony.
They come as Hong Kong, which returned to mainland rule in 1997 amid promises of wide-ranging autonomy under the formula of "one country, two systems", is set to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its handover on 1 July, with Chinese president Xi Jinping widely expected to visit the city.
In some of his strongest comments yet, Zhang, the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, warned in a speech that Hong Kong's autonomy should not be used as a license to challenge the central government's authority.
"Under 'One Country, Two Systems,' the Central Government and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's power relationship is... not one of power sharing," Zhang said during an official forum discussing Hong Kong's mini-constitution, in footage carried by Hong Kong's Cable TV.
"Under no condition should the high degree of autonomy be used as a guise to confront the Central Government's authority."
After the 2014 "Umbrella Movement" protests, where hundreds of thousands occupied the streets for months and demanded full democracy, a nascent independence movement emerged, though it lost momentum after China stepped in last year to effectively disqualify two of the movement's young leaders elected into legislature.
Apart from the independence movement, another group of activists headed by student protest leader Joshua Wong called for self-determination rights for the former colony.
Zhang slammed both movements on Saturday.
"In practice they attempt to turn Hong Kong into an independent or semi-independent political entity, and to secede Hong Kong from the country," Zhang said.
"We cannot ignore these actions. The (Hong Kong government) should implement their constitutional responsibility under the Basic Law to enact laws over national security, and resolutely halt any behaviour and action that endanger national unity."
Under Hong Kong's mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law, the government is expected to toughen up the territory's existing national security laws, but has held off on doing so since its last attempt in 2003 triggered the first massive street protests after the handover.
Tags : China, Democracy, Hong Kong, Joshua Wong, NewsTracker, Umbrella Movement, Xi Jinping
'Things could get worse' says pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo over arrests of 12 Hong Kong protesters
Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam says extradition bill 'is dead' but stops short of protesters' demands to withdraw proposal
Hong Kong clashes: Violence continues as police use force on thousands of protesters marching against traders from mainland China
Five arrested in Hong Kong's Mongkok during overnight clashes between protesters and riot police
1Hong Kong's autonomy is not a licence to challenge Beijing: Chinese official
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Landscape that inspired Narnia is home to Northern Ireland’s Tree of the Year
'Old Homer', a holm oak in Rostrevor's Kilbroney Park, has been crowned Northern Ireland's Tree of the Year in a search for the nation's best-loved tree. Organised by the Woodland Trust, the competition saw six trees compete for public votes. The champion, nominated by LIGHT 2000, will go on to represent Northern Ireland in the European Tree of the Year competition, which takes place next February
Published: 11:29 Monday 19 December 2016
A holm oak at Kilbroney Park in Rostrevor has been crowned Northern Ireland’s Tree of the Year in a search for the nation’s best-loved tree.
Organised by the Woodland Trust, the competition saw six splendid specimens across the country compete for public favour, with the champion securing 1,192 votes.
Pictured are Patrick Cregg of the Woodland Trust (left) and Alistair Livingstone, Chairman of LIGHT 2000, who nominated the winning tree
Northern Ireland’s winner – along with the winning tree in England, Scotland and Wales – was recently revealed in a Channel 4 documentary Tree of the Year with Ardal O’Hanlon.
Affectionately known as ‘Old Homer’, this mighty evergreen oak was planted some 200 years ago by the Ross family on, at that time, their private estate. The Ross’ legacy, a mix of native and exotic specimens from all over the world, lives on in Kilbroney Park – now Council-owned and open to the public.
Almost two centuries on, this tree will represent Northern Ireland in the European Tree of the Year contest, which – run by the Environmental Partnership Association – will take place in February next year.
The winning tree was nominated by Alistair Livingstone on behalf of the LIGHT 2000 community group.
Alistair Livingstone of LIGHT 2000 (front left) with Patrick Cregg of the Woodland Trust. The team (back left to right) Paul Clerkin, William Graham, and Csilla Toldy are joined by Councillor Gillian Fitzpatrick, Chair of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council
Alistair said: “We’re absolutely delighted with the result. This oak has been loved by countless generations of local people, and it’s the tree that crowds continue to gather under during the Fiddler’s Green Festival – an international celebration of music and culture.
“It’s a breathtaking spot, attracting its fair share of famous residents and visitors over the years4, including great writers. It certainly inspired the Belfast-born CS Lewis, who said the view from Kilbroney Park (then known as the Meadow) overlooking Carlingford Lough was his idea of Narnia.”
As tribute, the park has its own Narnia trail, tucked away in the arboretum.
Patrick Cregg, director of the Woodland Trust, added: “We’re truly grateful to those who nominated trees, and indeed to each and every person who took the time to vote. Thanks to the public vote, we’re now delighted to announce and congratulate our winner.
“I recently visited Kilbroney Park and was overwhelmed by this much-loved oak, which guards the enchanting Fairy Glen entrance. I was equally taken with the beauty of the park as a whole, and by the enthusiasm of the LIGHT 2000 group. They’ve campaigned tirelessly and, between them, have an absolute wealth of knowledge, including when each tree in the park was planted and by whom.”
The Woodland Trust’s aim is to highlight and celebrate our country’s remarkable trees, and to ultimately ensure they are given the recognition and protection they deserve.
The charity’s V.I.Trees campaign seeks to create a register of Trees of National Special Interest throughout the UK and over 9,000 people have so far supported the call for action. For more information visit www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/campaigning
AHV approach to high cell counts is making a difference
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Three Markers Of An Ethically Sound Board
Patrick Quinlan Forbes Councils Member
Forbes Technology Council COUNCIL POST
Patrick Quinlan
Co-founder and CEO of Convercent, a technology company that enables brands to instill ethics at their core of their organizations.
For decades, CEOs have largely been seen as the top rung of the ladder, the ultimate decision makers and the source of “tone at the top,” to use an overused phrase. That perception is by no means wrong, but the buck doesn’t stop there. There’s one more rung of the ladder: the board of directors.
Any business executive is well aware the board is essentially their boss, but to the general public, the board’s role in business ethics and values hasn’t always been so visible. In the last few years, that’s changed. The board has emerged as the ultimate and more external-facing layer of corporate accountability.
Why? We’re undergoing an ethical transformation across industries -- from Silicon Valley to Hollywood and beyond -- and more CEOs are being fired for ethical lapses than ever before. When the CEO messes up, members of the board become the voice we hear most clearly in the midst of corporate turmoil. They may not be the ones “robbing the bank,” so to speak, but they’re the ones who are either going to call the police or drive the getaway car. From Uber to Facebook, boards have had to recently step forward in a more public manner to define not only what steps they will take to rectify an inappropriate situation but also understand the lasting legacy that their response will leave.
Whether you’re a technology leader or a board member yourself, how can you ensure your board is well-equipped to handle improper situations ethically and honestly? It starts with diversity of thought, honest responsiveness and the operationalization of ethics.
Diversity Trumps Credentials Alone
Regardless of how talented a board is, it must have diversity of thought and adequate independence in order to operate ethically and effectively -- especially in the tech sector. Lack of diversity and independence is a missed opportunity. The board isn’t there to simply sit through quarterly decks and pat you on the back. You need a board that challenges your decisions when needed, operates via a system of checks and balances and acts as a source of support. Sound corporate board governance means minimizing blind spots, and that can’t happen within homogeneity.
Take Volkswagen, for example. After the German automaker’s huge diesel-emissions scandal back in 2015, experts largely attributed the wrongdoing to major corporate governance shortcomings. People familiar with VW’s inner workings said (subscription required) that a principal weakness was the lack of independence and diversity of opinion on the company’s supervisory board -- only one of the 20 members was truly independent. This led to siloed thinking, a lack of independent rationale and, ultimately, a dangerous scandal.
At the end of the day, boards should reflect the company you want to have. By prioritizing diversity of thought, background and independence, you can take a huge step closer to realizing the true potential of ethical transformation at the uppermost layer of company governance.
Transparency And Responsiveness Are Key
It’s obviously ideal to prevent scandals from happening rather than clean up a mess after the fact, but unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way. How your board handles a scandal -- or doesn’t -- can have lasting effects on the company’s legacy.
Compare board responses to recent scandals at Wynn Resorts and Lululemon. When CEO Steve Wynn’s decades-long history of inappropriate sexual behavior was revealed, the scandal took 10 days to fester before Wynn stepped down, creating a days-long PR and ethics nightmare. Meanwhile, popular athleisure company Lululemon announced chief executive Laurent Potdevin would resign, effective immediately, due to a breach in the company’s standards of conduct. Clear but contained details were made public soon after, and the news cycle quickly turned over.
Though I’m not advocating for lightning-fast decisions to fire an executive (you have to investigate and consider the situation carefully, of course), there’s a lesson here in how the two boards responded and communicated. Lululemon was prepared with a clear, contained and detailed message that included the steps the company planned to take to rectify the situation. Wynn’s board, on the other hand, was operating with less independence, not to mention Steve Wynn himself was the chairman and largest shareholder. Boards that act ethically will communicate in an open and honest manner that can have a significant impact on the overall reputation of a company.
Ethics As A Daily Job
Ethics is everyone’s job, and it shouldn’t be siloed to a single department, but there is something to be said about having a designated “beacon” whose main role is to focus on the company’s ethical health. Most large companies have a chief compliance officer, and it’s becoming increasingly popular to hire a chief ethics officer, too. Without someone in charge to oversee and maintain the company’s values and how those are put into effect, proactive ethics could play second fiddle to self-protective compliance.
Look at the fascinating example of David Miller at Citigroup. He’s an on-call ethicist for the bank, which has had its fair share of ethical problems. Rather than take a traditional approach to ethics and governance (office hours, for example), he reviews broader business projects and ideas that concern C-suite executives. Miller’s prior experience in the seminary doesn’t hurt, either.
I’m not asking for every company to have their own banker-turned-theologian-turned-ethicist, but it is a forward-looking idea to appoint one person who is completely dialed into ethics and compliance, has a measure of independence and to have that person regularly communicate with the board.
As the business world adapts to changing expectations for companies, it is the responsibility of the board to make sure a company is equipped to handle these changes. And for good reason: The top rung of the ladder doesn’t only dictate short-term responses to ethical dilemmas -- it can solidify a company’s long-term legacy.
Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Forbes Technology Council
Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only, fee-based organization comprised of leading CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Find out if you qualify at forbestech...
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JoS. Bank Clothiers Tops Street in 2Q on Sales
JoS. Bank Clothiers (NASDAQ:JOSB) revealed on Wednesday a stronger-than-expected 25% increase in second-quarter profit as discounts for high-end apparel kept customers shopping despite economic uncertainties.
The Hampstead, Md.-based designer of mens tailored and casual clothing and accessories posted a net income of $20.6 million, or 74 cents a share, compared with $16.5 million, or 59 cents a share, in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the three months ended July 30 was $230.7 million, up 22.4% from $188.4 million a year ago, lifted by a 14.7% improvement in stores open more than a year.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had been expecting on average a profit of just 68 cents on sales of $209.7 million.
With the latest results, the company has achieved earnings growth every quarter but one over the last 10 years, including 21 quarters in a row. The feat is impressive considering retailers across the board have been struggling to contain costs amid fluctuating raw material expenses.
J.oS Bank has been able to stay afloat during tough economic challenges over the last several years because of timely discounting of products, a strategy that has worked to attract customers to luxury brands despite uncertainty in the economy.
While the components of our income statement may fluctuate somewhat from quarter to quarter, our business model, which features an aggressively sourced, high-quality, well-balanced, fully-stocked assortment that is promoted with timely marketing and sold by knowledgeable professionals in convenient locations, continues to deliver strong earnings growth over time, JoS. A. Bank Clothiers CEO Neal Black said in a statement.
Despite impacts from Hurricane Irene, the company said the current quarter is shaping up nicely, as comparable store sales remain slightly higher compared with a year ago.
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In-store Sales Decreased 10.4% Over Black Friday Weekend
By Tonya Garcia Published December 01, 2015 MarketWatch Pulse
Sales at brick-and-mortar stores between Nov. 26 and Nov. 29 totaled an estimated $20.43 billion, 10.4% lower than 2014, according to ShopperTrak, a consumer research and analytics company. "There are several contributing factors, including fewer available store hours on Thanksgiving Day and a later Hanukkah that is anticipated to push sales into December," said ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin in a statement. Sales on Thanksgiving day were an estimated $1.76 billion, a 12.5% decrease from last year. Sales on Black Friday were about $10.21 billion, about 12% down from last year. With seven key shopping days left in the year, ShopperTrak said it maintains its 2.4% brick-and-mortar sales growth forecast for the holiday season.
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Sunday Soundbite for June 23, 2019
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Cycle C
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/sseaC_CorpusChristi.mp3
A liturgist and teacher whom I know speaks of a part of the Mass which gets the least emphasis in our Sunday celebration. It comes at the very end of Mass, as the priest blesses the assembly and dismisses it. This short ceremony is really a “commissioning.” We’re being sent out into the world, to put the whole meaning of the Sunday Eucharist into practical action in our lives.
Today’s feast–which commemorates Christ’s gift of himself in the Eucharist–has two Scripture selections which help us appreciate this “under-emphasized” part of the Mass. Listen to Saint Paul describe to the Corinthians how Jesus blessed and broke bread at the Last Supper, and then hear Luke’s Gospel tell the story of Jesus feeding the crowd. The Gospel speaks of “blessing and breaking” the loaves as well.
Could Luke have meant us to hear this story of Jesus feeding the hungry, and intended us to think about the meaning of Eucharist as well? How is Jesus the food that feeds our deepest hungers? And could that connection teach us what we’re commissioned to do at every Eucharist: to take its power into everyday life, where we’re called to feed others with both physical and spiritual food? Those are good questions to think about as we gather for Eucharist this weekend.
From Sunday Soundbites
Sunday Soundbites is a weekly, 90-second radio homily based on the Sunday readings, written and read by Franciscan Father Greg Friedman. Sunday Soundbites is also heard on Catholic radio stations around the country.
From Father Greg Friedman
Franciscan Father Greg Friedman is the former host of American Catholic Radio. During his years at Franciscan Media, Father Greg wrote and directed Assisi Pilgrimage: Walking in Faith with Francis and Clare, which appeared on ABC-TV stations nationwide, and received a 2008 Telly Award for Excellence.
Currently, Father Greg is stationed at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington, D.C.
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Laudato Si’: Three years on
Pope Francis’ encyclical has become the subject of many studies, conferences and new publications, illustrating its richness
Mural of St Francis, St. Francis Parish, Seffner, Florida, United States.
Pope Francis’ long-anticipated 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ has not disappointed its readers, receiving a broad and enthusiastic welcome in a rare phenomenon for a magisterial document of the church.
The encyclical has aroused great interest from the time of its publication and this has continued. Indeed, Pope Francis’ encyclical has become the subject of many studies, conferences and new publications, illustrating its richness....
....Historically, Christianity contributed to making a place for the human being at the heart of the pagan cultures of antiquity. It achieved this via the concepts of the human person and consciousness.
Thus, the rational and political western concept of this subject has progressively taken over, obscuring the link to the cosmos and its symbolism, which became suspect and associated with witchcraft, paganism and various heresies.
It was as if the church and Western culture from the end of the Middle Ages and the Modern Era had abandoned the cosmos.
The summit of this movement can be found in the invention of an exclusive, atheistic humanism of the 19th century, where humans were re-conceived in the place of God as dominating the world by their intelligence and their machines. READ MORE...
Please share how your fraternity or Region has studied and used Laudato Si'.
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BOARD DATE: 27 February 2015
1. The applicant requests an upgrade of his discharge from under other than honorable conditions to honorable.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that he was unfairly discharge. He contends his misconduct was the result of his efforts to support his family. After being stripped of all his rank and receiving no pay, he went AWOL and started selling drugs. He contends he was treated differently than other Soldiers in his company who were given the opportunity for treatment and not reduced in rank.
a. Application Receipt Date: 12 February 2014
b. Discharge Received: Under Other Than Honorable Conditions
c. Date of Discharge: 27 September 2002
d. Reason/Authority/SPD/RE: In Lieu of Trial by Court-Martial, AR 635-200, Chapter 10, KFS, RE-4
e. Unit of assignment: C Co, 1st Bn, 22 IN, Fort Hood, TX
f. Current Enlistment Date/Term: 25 February 2000, 3 years
g. Current Enlistment Service: 1 year, 11 months, 20 days
h. Total Service: 1 year, 11 months, 20 days
i. Time Lost: 222 days
j. Previous Discharges: None
l. Military Occupational Specialty: 11B10, Infantryman
m. GT Score: 90
n. Education: GED
o. Overseas Service: None
p. Combat Service: None
q. Decorations/Awards: NDSM, ASR
r. Administrative Separation Board: No
t. Counseling Statements: None
The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 25 February 2000, for a period of 3 years. He was 19 years old and had a high school equivalency (GED). He was serving at Fort Hood, TX when his discharge was initiated. His record does not contain any evidence of acts of valor or meritorious achievements.
1. The evidence of record contains a DD Form 458, Charge Sheet which indicates that on 19 April 2002, the applicant was charged with going AWOL x 3 (011108-011220, 020205-020311, and 020402-020416), breaking restriction (020402), and wrongfully using cocaine between (011001 and 011004). The evidence of record also contains a second DD Form 458, which indicates that on 17 July 2002, the applicant was charged with going AWOL (020504-020711).
2. On 24 July 2002, the applicant consulted with legal counsel and voluntarily requested, in writing, discharge under the provisions of Chapter 10, AR 635-200 in lieu of trial by court-martial. In this request, the applicant admitted guilt to the offense, or a lesser included offense. The applicant indicated he understood he could receive an UOTHC discharge and that the discharge would have a significant effect on eligibility for veterans benefits. The applicant did not submit a statement on his own behalf. The chain of command recommended trial by Special Court-Martial Empowered to Adjudge a Bad Conduct Discharge.
3. On 16 September 2002, the separation authority approved the Chapter 10 request and directed the applicant’s discharge with a characterization of service of UOTHC. The applicant was reduced to the lowest enlisted rank.
4. The applicant was discharged from the Army on 27 September 2002, with a characterization of service of UOTHC under the provisions of Chapter 10, AR 635-200, in lieu of trial by court-martial, with a Separation Program Designator code (SPD) of KFS and an RE code of 4.
5. The applicants record of service indicates 222 days of time lost; 42 days for going AWOL from 8 November 2001 until his return on 19 December 2001, 34 days for going AWOL from 5 February 2002 until his return on 10 March 2002, 14 days for going AWOL from 2 April 2002 until his return on 15 April 2002, 68 days for going AWOL from 4 May 2002 until his return on 10 July 2002, and 55 days for being confined in pre-trial confinement from 13 July 2002 until his release on 15 September 2002.
6. The applicants record does not show any recorded actions under the UCMJ. However, the applicant’s record shows he achieved the rank of PFC/E-3 and at the time he requested a Chapter 10 he was reduced to a PV2/E-2; however, the action that caused his reduction is not contained in the service record.
1. There is a positive urinalysis report, dated 4 October 2001, contained in the record coded; IR (Inspection Random), for Cocaine.
2. A CID Report dated 6 November 2001, which indicates the applicant was the subject of investigation for wrongfully using cocaine.
3. Memorandum dated 19 March 2002; subject matter Administrative Restriction, which restricted the applicant due to his inability to act in a disciplined and responsible manner.
4. United States Army Trial Judiciary Third Judicial Circuit, Fort Hood, TX, approving the continued pretrial confinement, dated 15 July 2002.
5. Fifteen DA Form 4187s/DA Form 4187-Es(Personnel Action), dated between 1 November 2001 and 16 September 2002, changing the applicant’s duty status from present for duty (PDY) to absent without leave (AWOL), AWOL to dropped from the rolls (DFR), DFR to PDY, PDY to AWOL, AWOL to confined civilian authorities (CCA), and CCA to PDY, PDY to AWOL, PDY to AWOL, AWOL to PDY, PDY to AWOL, AWOL to DFR, DFR to HOS, PDY to CCA, and CCA to PDY.
The applicant provided a DD Form 293 and a self-authored statement.
None was provided with the application.
1. Army Regulation 635-200 (Personnel Separations) sets forth the basic authority for the separation of enlisted personnel. Chapter 10 provides that a member who has committed an offense or offenses for which the authorized punishment includes a punitive discharge may submit a request for discharge for the good of the service in lieu of trial by court-martial. The request may be submitted at any time after charges have been preferred and must include the individual’s admission of guilt. Although an honorable or general discharge is authorized, a discharge UOTHC is normally considered appropriate.
2. Paragraph 3-7a provides that an honorable discharge is a separation with honor and entitles the recipient to benefits provided by law. The honorable characterization is appropriate when the quality of the member’s service generally has met the standards of acceptable conduct and performance of duty for Army personnel or is otherwise so meritorious that any other characterization would be clearly inappropriate.
3. Paragraph 3-7b provides that a general discharge is a separation from the Army under honorable conditions. When authorized, it is issued to a Soldier whose military record is satisfactory but not sufficiently meritorious to warrant an honorable discharge.
1. The applicants request for an upgrade of his characterization was carefully considered. However, after examining the applicants record of service, the issues and documents submitted with the application, there are insufficient mitigating factors to merit an upgrade of the applicant’s discharge.
2. The evidence of record confirms the applicant was charged with the commission of an offense punishable under the UCMJ with a punitive discharge. It also shows that after consulting with defense counsel, the applicant voluntarily requested discharge for the good of the service in lieu of trial by court-martial. All requirements of law and regulation were met and the rights of the applicant were fully protected throughout the separation process.
3. The under other than honorable conditions discharge received by the applicant was normal and appropriate under the regulatory guidance. His record documents no acts of significant achievement or valor and did not support the issuance of an honorable or a general discharge by the separation authority and it does not support an upgrade to an honorable or a general discharge at this late date.
4. The applicant contends he was unfairly discharged. However, there is a presumption of regularity in the conduct of governmental affairs that shall be applied in any review unless there is substantial credible evidence to rebut the presumption. The applicant bears the burden of overcoming this presumption through the presentation of substantial and credible evidence to support this issue. There is no evidence in the record, nor has the applicant produced any evidence to support the contention that he was unfairly discharged.
5. In fact, he record confirms that the applicants discharge was appropriate because the quality of his service was not consistent with the Army’s standards for acceptable personal conduct and performance of duty by military personnel. It brought discredit on the Army, and was prejudicial to good order and discipline. By the misconduct, the applicant diminished the quality his service below that meriting a general or a fully honorable discharge. The applicants record of service was marred by four periods of AWOL, breaking restriction, and wrongfully using cocaine.
6. The applicants statement alone does not overcome the governments presumption of regularity and no additional corroborating and supporting documentation or further evidence has been provided with the request for an upgrade of the discharge.
7. The applicant contends his misconduct was the result of his efforts to support his family. However, he had many legitimate avenues through which to obtain assistance or relief and there is no evidence in the record that he ever sought such assistance before committing the misconduct which led to the separation action under review.
8. The applicant contends he was treated differently than other Soldier in his company who committed the same misconduct. However, AR 635-200, paragraph 1-16d(2), entitled counseling and rehabilitative requirements, states the rehabilitative requirements may be waived by the separation authority in circumstances where common sense and sound judgment indicate that such transfer will serve no useful purpose or produce a quality Soldier. Further, AR 600-85, paragraph 3-8 entitled self-referrals, states the applicant could have self-referred to the Army Substance Abuse Program (ASAP) counseling center for assistance.
9. The record does not contain any indication or evidence of arbitrary or capricious actions by the command and all requirements of law and regulation were met and the rights of the applicant were fully protected throughout the separation process. The character of the applicants discharge is commensurate with his overall service record.
10. Therefore, the reason for discharge and the characterization of service being both proper and equitable, the analyst recommends the Board deny relief.
Type of Hearing: Records Review Date: 27 February 2015 Location: Washington, DC
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29th Galway Film Fleadh 11th – 16th July 2017
Little Cinema Showcase
Wed 12 July / Róisín Dubh / 18:00
Buy ticketsGalway is Film
The Little Cinema is a monthly showcase of short films, music videos and documentaries being made in Galway and beyond. An “open mic” for all levels of filmmaker and all genres of film are welcome. Collaborations are always encouraged, and with filmmakers attending the screenings, a network of writers, directors, producers and actors has developed organically, allowing the grassroots filmmaking scene in Galway, and further afield, to flourish. In 2013, Chris O’Dowd became the patron of The Little Cinema and his support, along with that of Galway City Council Arts Dept. has allowed it to keep growing and helping the next generation of Ireland’s filmmakers. This special screening at the 29th Galway Film Fleadh will feature some of the best submissions to be screened at the Little Cinema over the previous 12 months.
Galway is Film
Opening Film: Song of Granite
New Irish Shorts: Way Out West
IFI Local Films for Local People: Yet More Glimpses of Galway
Rocky Ros Muc
Galway Stories
Rocky Ros Muc – Extra Screening
Poc na nGael
One Minute Film Festival
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search for game by title ...
Games Encyclopedia
Games Encyclopedia Top Games PC PS4 PS3 Xbox One Xbox 360 Switch Android iOS Rankings Images Companies
Australian rules footballVideo Games
Video Games Encyclopedia by Gamepressure.com
AFL Evolution
Sports 05 May 2017
Another installment in the sports game series dedicated to Australian football. The title, developed by Wicked Witch Software, is a hybrid of sports and management simulations – while playing, we not only play matches but also take care of the team manager’s responsibilities. Our tasks include determining team composition and tactics, taking part in drafts and making transfers as well as negotiating contracts and balancing the club’s budget. There are over 80 licensed teams at our disposal. New solutions introduced by the developers increased the game’s realism, too. At the core of AFL Evolution lies a career mode that lets us lead our own player up the professional ladder. Apart from that, we can play a full season with any team and face the artificial intelligence in single matches. What’s interesting, the multiplayer mode offers both a competitive and cooperative (two players in a single team) mode. The production features its high-quality graphics and a well-made replay system.
AFL Premiership 2005
Sports 22 September 2005
AFL Premiership 2005 is a sports game, which is an unofficial continuation of the American football simulation cycle AFL Live. The player directs the actions of his favourite teams of the Australian Football League (AFL) from the 2005 season. The title was produced by the IR Gurus Interactive studio.
AFL Live: Premiership Edition
Sports 29 April 2004
AFL Live: Premiership Edition is the third part of a series of sports games dedicated to Australian football. Following the earlier releases of the cycle, production uses the official AFL (Australian Football League) license, which allowed IR Gurus Interactive developers to use the teams of authentic teams participating in the 2004 season.
AFL Live 2003
AFL Live 2003 is a sports game simulating Australian football games. The title was produced by IR Gurus Interactive studio under license of Australian Football League. The player has the opportunity to lead the players of authentic teams participating in the 2002 season.
AFL Live is a sports game which is an extensive simulation of Australian football games. The title was produced by Big Ant studio and is licensed by the Australian Football League (AFL). Players direct the actions of their favourite AFL teams and take part in exciting matches played on oval fields.
Sports 28 August 2003
AFL Live 2004 is the second installment of the series of sports games, which are simulations of Australian football games. The production of the IR Gurus Interactive studio is licensed by the Australian Football League, allowing developers to enter authentic player names and team names from the 2003 season.
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Trending: BMW ReachNow car-sharing service shuts down in Seattle and Portland following joint venture deal
Why the Windows 8 launch isn’t as big as you’ve been told
by Christopher Budd on October 26, 2012 at 6:27 am February 12, 2015 at 11:32 pm
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Three years ago, I was working at Microsoft to ensure that the security response process didn’t get in the way of the Windows 7 launch. Despite some white-knuckle moments, the launch went off without a hitch and Windows 7 has gone on to be the most popular version of Windows since Windows XP.
With the launch of Windows 8 though, I’m not with Microsoft anymore, and more has changed than just my lack of a blue badge. The tech world of fall 2012 is a much different one than in fall 2009 and nearly unrecognizable compared to fall 2001.
You can see these changes in the coverage and predictions around the Windows 8 launch. There’s no shortage of people calling this a “make or break” release, predicting disaster or likening October 26, 2012, to Microsoft’s Waterloo: a guarantor of ultimate success or abject failure. Whether or not you agree, the view that this release is a true existential challenge to Microsoft is a very different one, compared to the tenor around the launch of Windows XP in 2001 or even Windows 7 in 2009.
Naturally, Microsoft and its supporters are “super excited” about this release. They exude nothing but confidence in their vision of a new look and feel of Windows on desktops, tablets, and phones. And certainly, if the justification of confidence is meeting great challenges with boldness, they have reason to be confident. Whether or not you think the new direction is wise, you can’t argue that they’ve met these latest challenges by simply turning the crank and making a new version that is nearly indistinguishable from the last.
In fact, there is an irony that so much of the criticism of Windows 8 is centered on the “look and feel” because that was the root of Apple’s suit against Microsoft over Windows 2.0 and Windows 3.0 back in the 1990’s. Back then, Microsoft was criticized for being unoriginal and copying Apple’s innovations. Now, it’s being criticized for being too radical. Incidentally, the beautiful twist in this is that Apple recently used a Windows Phone as an example of someone NOT copying them in their patent suit against Samsung. How things change.
I would argue, though, all these predictions of large scale failure or success are misguided. We all like stories and Microsoft has been at the center of larger-than-life narratives, both of its own telling and by others’ accounts, for decades now. But these tales obscure the reality that is less dramatic and more complex.
No matter how badly Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 might do, Microsoft isn’t going to disappear. Even IBM — whose rise and fall many gleefully use as a roadmap for Microsoft these days — survived, adapted, and is doing well today. Microsoft is more than Windows, Windows Phone and even Office. There are products like Dynamics, Windows Server, SQL Server, and Exchange that quietly succeed year over year. If you take those products, Microsoft’s cash on hand, and legacy sales (meaning sales to customers who can’t afford to be on the leading edge), there’s no chance of Microsoft disappearing any time soon. In a worst-case scenario, the stock may languish and there may be unprecedented layoffs, but there will still be a Microsoft.
However, no matter how wildly successful Windows 8 and Windows Phone might be, the world has already changed. The success of Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung in the phone and device space since Windows 7 came out has changed the landscape permanently. These companies did in three years what United States v. Microsoft couldn’t do in more than ten years: they brought diversity and broke the dominance of a single vendor. In the end, we’re all better off for this and we’re seeing again from these companies, as well as from Microsoft, that competitive scrappiness that drives innovation and benefits customers. This shows how the market is much more effective than regulation and antitrust enforcement at remedying imbalances in the technology space — something to think about as Google is looking more and more like the Microsoft of the mid-1990’s.
It turns out that it’s not the Windows 8 launch that’s critical, it was the Windows 7 launch that was: we just didn’t know it at the time. Windows 7 was too much of a “turn the crank” version and left openings, especially with regard to devices. That created the opening that others have been able to successfully exploit these past three years to gain footholds that won’t go away.
Yes, Windows 8 is important and a big change. But it’s not so much a “make or break” moment as an adjustment and adaptation to a new business reality that’s already there. As such, the results, whether a success or failure, will be much less spectacular than people would have you believe. There will be a Microsoft a few years from now. There will be another version of Windows, too. It will likely look more like Windows 8 does than Windows 8 looks like Windows 7 because the big shift has already happened. We’ve been living in the new normal for a couple of years now; we just didn’t know it.
Christopher Budd works for Trend Micro, focusing on communications in the areas of online security and privacy, incident response, and crisis communications. Prior to that, he was an independent consultant and before that a ten-year veteran of the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC). He combines his prior career as an engineer with his communications expertise to help bridge the gap between the technical and communications realms. Follow him on his personal blog or on Twitter @christopherbudd.
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Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: Christopher Budd • WIndows 7 • Windows 8
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Countries are Banning gas and Diesel Cars
''I'll put every cent that Wanxiang earns into making electric vehicles. I'll burn as much cash as it takes to succeed, or until Wanxiang goes bust.''
- Lu Guanqiu
Electric cars are ones powered by batteries or hybrid cars that plug into the power source. Ending diesel and petrol car sales is a step in the right direction as part of efforts to clean up the air, reduce pollution and carbon emissions that contribute to global warming.
The car industry depends on the cost, the willingness to adopt battery and the concerns over range and charging points.
China, home to the world's largest auto market by number of vehicles sold (a third of the 88 million cars and vans sold around the world), is preparing a plan to promote and accelerate the development of electric technology, and to end production and sale of traditional cars powered only by gasoline and diesel, as a part of a plan to get China to an all-electrified fleet, and to suppress its perennial air pollution.
China has not set a date, and the ban hasn't taken effect, but research has started on formulating a timetable, according to China's vice minister of industry, Xin Guobin. He warned carmakers to adjust their strategies to the changing situation.
The surprising Chinese government announcement represents hugely significant policy changes for global industry: China wants 5 million electric cars on the country's roads by 2020.
The Chinese government is following in the footsteps of other countries around the world which have already announced plans to tackle the next generation of new energy vehicles in the coming years:
- Britain: The second biggest market in Europe after Germany will ban sales of new gasoline and diesel cars starting in 2040 as part of a plan to reduce air pollution. "We can't carry on with diesel and petrol cars... There is no alternative to embracing new technology." U.K. environment secretary Michael Gove told the BBC on Wednesday.
- France: The government announced the end of sales of gas and diesel-powered vehicles by 2040. Nicolas Hulot, the country’s new ecology minister, said: the decision was a question of public health policy and “a way to fight against air pollution”.
The share of cars powered by electric, hybrid and or other cleaner power in France is growing fast.
- Norway: The government's transportation imposed that All new cars and vans sold in 2025 should be zero-emission vehicles. 24 percent of new vehicles sales in Norway are already electric vehicles.
Norway is in the right direction: About 40% of all cars sold in the country last year were electric or hybrid vehicles.
In Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel has hinted that it's only a matter of time before the country sets an expiration date of its own, only 0.6 percent of new vehicles sold in Germany are electric vehicles, while India, home to many of the world's most polluted cities, is planning to stop selling gas-powered vehicles by 2030.
The Netherlands: Approximately 6 percent of new vehicle sales there are electric vehicles. No new gasoline and diesel vehicles sales by 2025.
On the other hand, Eight U.S states, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Korea and Spain have set official targets for electric car sales, according to the International Energy Agency.
Only China, the U.S., Japan, Canada, Norway, the U.K., France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden have sold 95% of electric cars.
The disadvantages of traditional cars:
- There are a lot of countries which suffer from an acute air quality problem.
- Gasoline and diesel engines contribute to health problems, "accelerate climate change, do damage to the planet and the next generation."
- according to a recent study, the outdoor air pollution leads to deaths, cancer, asthma, stroke and heart disease, and other health issues.
What do you think about electric cars? Let us know in the comments here.
✔ Read Also: 7 Important Things That Really Make you Healthy and Happy
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Professors Emeriti
Professor Judith Pallot
Staff: Professors Emeriti
Official Student and Tutor of Christ Church, Oxford
Email: judith.pallot@chch.ox.ac.uk
Academic Profile
Current Teaching
Prof. Judith Pallot came to Oxford from a lectureship in Leeds University in 1979 and has been responsible for developing teaching and research in Soviet and Russian geography since then. She is active in the University promoting interdisciplinary links in Russian and East European Studies. Prof. Pallot offers a final year option in the geography honours course on the geography of Russian and East Central Europe and she lectures in the first year course on the political geography of the Cold War. Prof. Pallot supervises graduates working on Russia on topics ranging from environmental issues and rural society to contemporary urban change. Many have gone on to university posts in the UK and elsewhere. She is an active member of the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies and was its Treasurer and committee member in the 1990s.
Prof. Pallot first visited the USSR as a post-graduate exchange student in 1979 and has been a frequent visitor ever since. In the late 1980s she spearheaded exchange agreements with geographers in Russia bringing many geographers who had never before left the USSR to Oxford under a British Council funded scheme. She has especially strong links with researchers in the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences and has had a ten year collaboration with Tatyana Nefedova, Russia's leading authority on Russian agriculture. She also collaborates with scholars in the Geography Departments of Moscow and Perm' State University, and the Peasant Studies Centre of the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences. In the past two years she has developed links with the Federal Penal Service in the Russian Federation Ministry of Justice negotiating a memorandum of understanding between Oxford University and the Academy of Law and Penal Management in Ryazan' which has led on to a collaborative research project.
Prof. Pallot is on the editorial board of Eurasian Geography and Economics.
Russia's penal geography
Prof. Pallot's current research interest lies in Russia's penal geography. She is the principal investigator for an ESRC funded project 'Space and Gender in Russia's Geography of Punishment'. The project, which due to the sensitivities of working with the Russian penal bureaucracy was in gestation for two years, formally began in November 2006. Her co-researchers are Dr Laura Piacentini a criminologist from the University of Strathclyde, and the geographer and former postgraduate of the School of Geography and the Environment, Dr Dominique Moran, from the University of Birmingham. The project involves collaboration with a newly constituted research group within the Academy of Law and Penal Management in Ryazan'. Seed money for this project was obtained from the University of Oxford Research Development Fund (£20,000) which paid for a pilot study in L'govo juvenile girls colony in March 2006. This was followed in April 2007 by field work in three women's penal colonies in the republic of Mordovia. In December further fieldwork is scheduled in penal colonies in Perm' krai. Prof. Pallot has already presented early findings from these studies at the University of Toronto (Conference 'What it Soviet Now?' in 2006) and the RGS/IBG September 2007. In conjunction with the research on women's experiences of the Russian penal system, Prof. Pallot has applied for funding (Nuffield and Guggenheim) to employ Dr Elena Katz to work with her on extending the research of women's experiences of penal Russia to include prison visitors.
The geography of the Russian peasantry
Prof. Pallot has an established reputation in the field of Russian 'peasant studies'. Her early work focused on the responses of the Russian peasantry to the reform initiatives of the late Imperial government (particularly, the Stolypin Land Reform) and the struggle for common property rights in the Soviet period. In the 1990s she extended this interest to post-Soviet period, to examine rural adaptations and household food production during the transformation to a market economy. The Leverhulme funded project with Tatyana Nefedova involved field work in seven regions and more than thirty rural districts located in contrasting regions (including Moscow, Perm', Archangel, Ryazan', Samara and Saratov oblasts and Stavropol' krai). The results of this research have been published in a variety of English and Russian language journals and in two books. Research is on going with research trips planned for Kostroma and Mordovia in 2007 and 2008.
In August 2007 Prof. Pallot was involved in a film project for the Russian TV station Kul'tura on the history of Russian farming in a global context. The results will be broadcast as a 14 part series in November and December 2007.
Selected Research Projects
Ethnic Identity Construction among Muslim Prisoners in the USSR and Russia.
In collaboration with Dr Elena Katz; Financial support from Leverhulme; (2018-2020)
Penality and the Social Construction of Gender in Post-Soviet Russia: the impact on prisioners' relatives of their encounters with penal Russia
In collaboration with Dr Elena Katz; Financial support from AHRC; (2010-2012)
Women in the Russian Penal System: The role of distance in the theory and practice of imprisonment in late Soviet and post-Soviet Russia
In collaboration with Dr Laura Piacentini (University of Strathclyde) and Dr Dominique Moran (University of Birmingham); Financial support from ESRC; (2006-2009)
Recent Graduate Research Students (since 2006)
Negar Elodie Behzadi
Completed DPhil in 2018
Gendered coal struggles at the margins: the working lives of men, women and children in Soviet and post-Soviet Tajikistan
Irina Fedorenko
Environmental activism, non-governmental organisations and new generation of civil society in Russia and China
Christopher Lander
Foreign Direct Investment in the Russian Agrarian Sector
Eelke Kraak
Dams of Damocles: between rivers, states and geopolitics
Victoria Arnold
Religiosity and religious culture in post-Soviet Russia: the role of sacred spaces
Drew Foxall
Mapping ethnic relations: cartography, geopolitics, and security in the North Caucasus
Paul Domjan
Political, economic and social externalities of energy investment in comparative perspective.
Oleg Golubchikov
Cities of the Russian northwest in a new space economy: global forces, local context.
Pallot, J. and Katz, E. (2017) Waiting at the Prison Gate: Women, Identity and the Russian Prison System. I.B. Tauris and Co. Ltd. ISBN: 978-1-78453-660-2.
Emel'chenko, E. and Pallot, J. (eds.) (2015) Okolo Tyurmy. zhenskie seti podderzhki zaklyuchennykh (Close-by Prison. Women's networks to support prisoners). Alteya.
Pallot, J. and Piacentini, L. (2012) Gender, Geography and Punishment: The experience of women in carceral Russia. Oxford University Press, Oxford. pp. 330. ISBN: 978-0-19-965861-9.
Pallot, J. and Nefedova, T. (2007) Russia's Unknown Agriculture: Household Production in Post-Soviet Russia. Oxford University Press, Oxford. pp. 272. ISBN: 0199227411.
Pallot, J. and Nefedova, T. (2006) Neizvestnaya rossiya. Bez korovy nel'zya. (You can't Live Without a Cow). Novoe Izdatel'stvo, Moscow.
Pallot, J. (1999) Land Reform in Russia, 1906-1917: Peasant Responses to Stolypin's Project of Rural Transformation. Oxford University Press.
Pallot, J. (1998) Transforming Peasants: Society, State and the peasantry, 1861-1930. Macmillan.
Pallot, J. and Shaw, D.J.B. (1990) Landscape and Settlement in Romanov Russia. Oxford University Press.
Pallot, J. (1981) Planning in the Soviet Union. Croom Helm, London.
Makhrova, A.G., Nefedova, T.G. and Pallot, J. (2016) The specifics and spatial structure of circular migration in Russia. Eurasian Geography And Economics, 57(6): 802-818.
Pallot, J. (2015) The gulag as the crucible of Russia's 21st-century system of punishment. Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History, 16(3): 619-648.
Pallot, J. (2015) The topography of incarceration: the spatial continuity of penality and the legacy of the gulag in twentieth- and twenty-first century Russia. Laboratorium: Russian Review of Social Research, 7(1): 26-50.
Katz, E. and Pallot, J. (2014) Prisoners' Wives in Post-Soviet Russia: 'For my Husband I am Pining!'. Europe-Asia Studies, 66(2): 204-224.
Pallot, J. and Katz, E. (2014) The Management of Prisoners' Children in the Russian Federation. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 53(3): 237-254.
Piacentini, L. and Pallot, J. (2014) 'In Exile Imprisonment' in Russia. British Journal of Criminology, 54(1): 20-37.
Moran, D., Pallot, J. and Piacentini, L. (2012) Rikoksen ja rangaistuksen maantiede Venäjän (Geography of Crime and Punishment in Russia). Idäntutkimus: The Finnish Review of East European Studies, 2012, 1: 3-24.
Moran, D., Piacentini, L. and Pallot, J. (2012) Disciplined mobility and carceral geography: prisoner transport in Russia. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 37(3): 446-460.
Pallot, J. (2012) Changing symbolic and geographical boundaries between penal zones and rural communities in the Russian Federation. Journal of Rural Studies, 28(2): 118-129.
Moran, D., Pallot, J. and Piacentini, L. (2011) The geography of crime and punishment in the Russian federation. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 52(1): 79-104.
Katz, E. and Pallot, J. (2010) From femme normale to femme criminelle in Russia: against the past or towards the future? New Zealand Slavonic Journal, 44: 111-139.
Nefedova, T.G., Treyvish, A. and Pallot, J. (2010) The "crisis" geography of contemporary Russia. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 51(2): 203-217.
Pallot, J., Piacentini, L. and Moran, D. (2010) Patriotic discourses in Russia's penal peripheries: remembering the Mordovan gulag. Europe-Asia Studies, 62(1): 1-33.
Moran, D., Pallot, J. and Piacentini, L. (2009) Lipstick, Lace and Longing: Constructions of femininity inside a Russian prison. Environment and Planning, D, 27(4): 700-720.
Piacentini, L., Pallot, J. and Moran, D. (2009) Welcome to Malaya Rodina ('Little Homeland'): gender and penal order in a Russian penal colony. Social and Legal Studies, 18(4): 523-542.
Pallot, J. (2007) 'Gde muzh, tam zhena' (where the husband is, so is the wife): Space and gender in post-Soviet patterns of penality. Environment and Planning A, 39(3): 570-589.
Pallot, J. (2005) Russia's penal peripheries; Space, Place and Penalty in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 30: 98-112.
Pallot, J. (2004) Razrushila li obshchiny Stolypinskaya reforma? (Did the Stolypin land reform destroy the peasant commune?). Otechestvennye zapiski, 1(16).
Pallot, J. and Nefedova, T. (2003) Geographical Differentiation in Household plot production in Rural Russia. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 44(1).
Pallot, J. and Nefedova, T. (2003) Trajectories in people's farming in Moscow oblast during the post-socialist transformation. Journal of Rural Studies, 19(3): 345-362.
Pallot, J. (2002) Forced Labour for Forestry: the Twentieth century History of Colonization and Settlement in the North of Perm' Oblast'. Europe-Asia Studies, 54(7): 1055-1083.
Pallot, J. and Nefedova, T. (2002) Individual'nie khozyaistva naseleniya kak obekt geograficheskogo izucheniya' (The Geography of People's Farming), Izvestiya AN. Seirya Geograficheskaya (The Russian Academy of Sciences, Geography Series), 3: 49-61.
Pallot, J. (2001) The Stolypin land Reforms as Administrative Utopia: Images of Peasantry in Nineteenth Century Russia.: 113-133.
Katz, E. and Pallot, J. (2017) 'As the Thread Follows the Needle': The Social Construction of the Prisoner's Wife in Russia from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-first Century. Chapter 25 in, Ilic, M. (ed.) The Palgrave Handbook of Women and Gender in Twentieth-Century Russia and the Soviet Union. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 381-396. ISBN: 978-1-137-54905-1.
Moran, D., Piacentini, L. and Pallot, J. (2013) Liminal transcarceral space: prisoner transportation for women in the Russian Federation. Chapter 8 in, Moran, D., Gill, N. and Conlon, D. (eds.) Carceral Spaces: Mobility and Agency in Imprisonment and Migrant Detention. Ashgate. pp. 109-126. ISBN: 9781409442684.
Nefedova, T. and Pallot, J. (2013) The multiplicity of second home development in the Russian Federation: a case of 'seasonal suburbanization'? Chapter 5 in, Roca, Z. (ed.) Second Home Tourism in Europe: Lifestyle Issues and Policy Responses. Ashgate. pp. 91-120. ISBN: 9781409450719.
Pallot, J. (2012) Sotsializm v ondom barake (Socialism in one barracks). Chapter 2 in, L. Omel'chenko (ed.) Do i Posle Tyurmy (Before and After Prison). St. P. Aleteia.
Pallot, J. (2008) Continuities in penal Russia: Space and gender in post-Soviet geography of punishment. In, Luhausen, T. and P. Solomon (eds.) What is Soviet Now? Identities, Legacies, Memories. Lit Verlag. pp. 234-256.
Pallot, J. (2004) Konstriurovanie ratsional'nogo landshafta v pozheimperiatorskoi rossii. (Imagining the Russian Landscape in late Imperial Russia). In, RUSSKII SBORNIK. Issledovaniya po istorii rossii XIX-XX vv. Volume 1. Moscow 2004. pp. 59-77.
Pallot, J., Unwin, T. and Johnson, S. (2004) Rural Change and Agriculture. In, Johnson. (2004) Rural Change and Agriculture. In, M. Bradshaw and A. Stenning (eds.) East Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union. The Post-Socialist States. Developing Areas Research Group of the RGS. Pearson and Prentice Hall. pp. 109-136.
Pallot, J. (2002) 'Zhizn' v Sovetskoi Derevne' (Life in the Soviet Countryside). In, In, Yul'yam K. Brumfild; Bler Rublya. (ed.) Zhilishche v Rossii: vek XX. Arkhitektura i sotsial'naya istoriya. Moscow, Tri Kvadrata.
BBC World Service: J. Pallot took part in a discussion on the transportation of Pussy Rioter Nadezhda Tolokonnkova to Siberia. BBC Russian. 6 November 2013.
BBC Radio 4:. J. Pallot took part in a discussion on the conditions in Penal Colony 14 where convicted Pussy Riot protestor, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, is on hunger strike. Woman's Hour. 25 September 2013.
CBC, Canada: J. Pallot details the likely life for two members of the band in Part Three: Pussy Riot Jails. [starts at 14.40 mins]. October 2012.
BBC World Service: J. Pallot took part in a discussion on Russian Penal Colonies, BBC World Service - Newshour, Sunday 14th Oct 2012. [Last 10 mins]
BBC World Service: J. Pallot took part in a discussion on On womens' prison in Russia - From our Own Correspondent, BBC World Service, Wednesday 11th May 2011.
CBC, Canada: J. Pallot took part in a live discussion of Russian women's imprisonment on a breakfast current affairs programme The Current in which she described the ESRC project. November 2006.
BBC Radio 4: J. Pallot took part in an item on women's imprisonment in Russia. Women's Hour. 7 November 2007.
BBC Radio 3: The Essay The Lives Of Others Ep 5/5, 11.00-11.15pm, 17 - 21 November 2007.
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About Gobi
Judson Bemis
When Mom Smokes Pot - Kids start at a younger age
In a recent Reuters news release based on a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, when mothers used cannabis during the first 12 years of a child’s life there was a 40% higher risk their child would start using earlier than their peers. The study found that these kids started before age 17 while their peers started at age 18.
The lead author, Natasha Sokol, a doctoral student at Harvard T.H. Chen School of Public Health noted
“The time between 16 and 18 is a critical period of development. Marijuana might be disrupting certain aspects of brain development, including the development of the endocannabinoid system (an important modulatory system in the function of the brain). It’s been associated with depression and, in predisposed individuals, there seems to be an increased risk of the development of psychosis
Sokol also said that marijuana use at an early age can affect a child’s ability to learn due to missing school or lowered functioning at school. Dr. Michael Lynch, a toxicologist and emergency medicine physician and medical director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said the results are “concerning” adding “because …even proponents (of legalization) agree that younger initiation is unhealthy”.
At Gobi we hear often from parents that their teens think “weed” is safe. Marijuana is not a harmless plant (tobacco and poppies are plants too). And the marijuana available today is typically four times stronger than “Woodstock weed” of the 1960’s. Our brains are not fully developed until about age 25 and the last part to mature is responsible for important decision-making, including how we respond to gratification. Also, this part of the brain is most affected by substance use. A new study showed that marijuana can stay in the brain affecting decision making for up to 3 days. There is also some significant new research that shows that if your family has a history of mental illness, marijuana may hasten some forms of mental health issues like depression and schizophrenia. Not to also mention weed is a mood-altering substance that can lead to addiction.
Newer Post2 New Canadian Studies Show Marijuana Impairment in Teens
Older PostNational Survey on Drug Use; Heavy Marijuana Use is greater now than it has ever been.
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Gobi Support, Inc is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping teens and their families rethink their relationship to drugs and alcohol. Gobi is not a treatment program. Gobi's digital offerings encourage self-knowledge, reflection and problem solving, to build better communication within families.
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News & ToursMarch 15, 2016
Arnold Palmer on retiring as Masters honorary starter: ‘Time moves on’
Dave Shedoski
ORLANDO — Arnold Palmer has struck his last shot in the Masters Tournament, ending his participation in an event that, more than any other, is associated with the charging, go-for-broke style that contributed greatly to his unparalleled popularity. The four-time Masters champion said Tuesday that he will travel to Augusta National Golf Club next month for the traditional Tuesday night Champions Dinner, but physical limitations will prevent him from hitting the first ceremonial tee shot on Thursday morning to kick off the 80th Masters. Palmer, 86, also will not play in the Par-3 Contest. He did not play last year due to a shoulder injury he sustained in December 2014. “I called the chairman, Billy Payne, and informed him that I have resigned from hitting the ceremonial first-tee shot,” Palmer said Tuesday from Bay Hill Club & Lodge, where he is hosting the 38th Arnold Palmer Invitational. “He expressed regret that I couldn’t do that, but he was pleased that I would be present. I am going to attend the Champions Dinner and then go home on Thursday, which has been my usual schedule the last few years. I plan to go out to the first tee with the chairman on Thursday morning and watch Jack [Nicklaus] and Gary [Player] sweat it out and hit the shots.”
Palmer, who played in 50 Masters, has been the honorary starter since 2007, a tradition the club formally began in 1963. He planned on watching the tournament from his home in Florida. “I never miss it,” he said.
RELATED: A Gallery of Masters Honorary Starters But he admitted he’ll miss having some kind of participatory role. He has not swung a golf club in six months. “Am I disappointed? Well, sure, but time moves on,” he said. “I stopped playing in the Masters in 2004, I stopped playing in the Par-3 [Contest] last year, and now it’s time to end this part of my Masters career. I would love to go on doing it forever, but I don’t have the physical capability to hit the shot the way I would want to hit it. So I’ll have to be content to watch.” Palmer first appeared in the Masters in 1955, qualifying after winning the U.S. Amateur the previous year. Having turned professional in late 1954, he competed as a professional at Augusta and opened with a four-over-par 76. His closing 69 enabled him to climb into a tie for 10th place with Byron Nelson and Dick Mayer. He won his first Masters in 1958 when he defeated Doug Ford by a stroke and added three more green jackets in 1960, ’62 and ’64. The last of those represented his final major championship. He also won the 1960 U.S. Open and the 1961 and ’62 British Open. Palmer, who made his last cut in 1983, ended his competitive career at Augusta National in 2004, having played in a record 50 straight Masters. Gary Player made 52 Masters appearances, though not consecutively. With Palmer stepping aside, six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus is likely to hit the first tee shot April 7. He joined Palmer as an honorary starter in 2010. Player completed the presence of “The Big Three” on the tee box in 2012, though Palmer retained the honor, followed by Nicklaus. Jock Hutchinson and Fred McLeod were the first honorary starters in 1963. Neither won the Masters, but they were selected due to winning the first two Senior PGA Championships, which were held at Augusta National in 1937 and ’38. Only nine men have ever filled the role. Palmer’s appearance ended a four-year suspension of the tradition after the passing of Sam Snead following the ’02 Masters.
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Publication - Statistics
Civil Justice Statistics in Scotland 2016-2017
Directorate:
Safer Communities Directorate
The 2016-17 Civil Justice in Scotland release includes main statistics tables and figures and supplementary statistics tables.
85 page PDF
Accessibility: This document may not be fully accessible.
Figures (XLSX 488.5 kB )
Tables (XLSX 134.2 kB )
Table 24: Petitions for judicial review initiated and disposed of[1,2] in the Petition Department of the Court of Session, 2008-09 to 2016-17
3. History of civil law court cases
4. Recent trends in civil justice
5. Courts Reform
6. Family
7. Debt
8. Personal injury
9. Damages
10. Repossession
11. Eviction
12. Recent changes to civil legislation
13. Civil courts and procedures in Scotland
14. Quality of the statistics
15. Definitions
16. Statistics tables
Table 1: Civil law cases initiated and disposed of[1] in the Court of Session[2], sheriff courts[3] and Sheriff Personal Injury Court[4], 2008-09 to 2016-17
Table 2: Cases initiated and disposed of[1] in the Court of Session, 2008-09 to 2016-17
Table 3: Cases[1] initiated and disposed of[2] in the sheriff courts[3], by procedure, 2008-09 to 2016-17
Table 4: Cases[1] initiated and disposed of[2] in the sheriff courts[3], by sheriffdom, 2008-09 to 2016-17
Table 5: Family procedure cases[1] initiated and disposed of[2] in the civil courts[3], by case type, 2008-09 to 2016-17
Table 6: Family procedure cases initiated and disposed[1] of in the Court of Session, by case type, 2016-17
Table 7: Family procedure cases initiated and disposed[1] of in the sheriff courts, by case type, 2016-17
Table 8: Family-related summary application cases initiated and disposed of [1,2], by case type and final disposal, 2016-17
Table 9: Divorces granted[1] in the civil courts by procedure, 2011-12 to 2016-17
Table 10: Dissolutions granted[1] in the civil courts by procedure, 2011-12 to 2016-17
Table 11: Debt cases initiated and disposed of[1] in the civil courts, by case type, 2008-09 to 2016-17
Table 12: Debt cases initiated and disposed of[1] in the civil courts, by case type and final disposal, 2016-17
Table 13: Personal injury cases initiated and disposed of[1] in the civil courts[2], by case type, 2008-09 to 2016-17
Table 14: Personal injury cases[1] initiated and disposed of in the Court of Session, 2016-17
Table 15: Ordinary cause personal injury cases initiated and disposed of[1,2] in the sheriff courts[3], 2016-17
Table 16: Summary cause personal injury cases initiated and disposed of[1] in the sheriff courts[2], 2016-17
Table 17: Civil law cases initiated and disposed of[1] in the Sheriff Personal Injury Court[2], 2016-17
Table 18: Damages cases initiated and disposed of[1] in the civil courts, by case type, 2008-09 to 2016-17
Table 19: Damages cases initiated and disposed of[1] in the civil courts, by case type and final disposal, 2016-17
Table 20: Repossession cases initiated and disposed of[1] in the sheriff courts, by procedure, 2008-09 to 2016-17
Table 21: Summary application repossession cases initiated and disposed of[1,2] in the sheriff courts, by case type and final disposal, 2016-17
Table 22: Eviction cases initiated and disposed of[1] in the sheriff courts, 2008-09 to 2016-17
Table 23: Summary cause eviction cases initiated and disposed of[1,2] in the sheriff courts, by case type and final disposal, 2016-17
Table 25: Civil law appeals initiated and disposed of[1] in the Sheriff Appeal Court[2], 2016-17
Table 26: Civil law applications to the Court of Session for permission (leave) to appeal to UK Supreme Court, 2016-17
Table 27: Civil law cases initiated in the Court of Session[1], sheriff courts[2] and Sheriff Personal Injury Court3, 2008-09 to 2016-17
An Official Statistics publication for Scotland
% change since 2015-16
Environmental 0 0 2 2 1 3 4 1 3 200 z
Housing 2 1 4 1 . 1 2 13 15 15 650
Immigrants 177 210 266 195 224 231 323 393 262 -33 48
Licensing board 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 z z
Planning permission 5 10 8 11 8 6 12 7 4 -43 -20
Prison authorities 18 107 7 3 10 17 17 24 6 -75 -67
Social security benefits 0 0 0 0 1 . 1 3 5 67 z
Other 30 49 54 31 48 49 39 55 48 -13 60
Total 232 378 342 243 293 308 399 496 343 -31 48
Disposed
Environmental 0 0 1 2 1 2 0 1 1 0 z
Housing 5 1 3 1 0 1 1 7 17 143 240
Immigrants 153 168 182 267 229 203 229 314 397 26 159
Licensing board 1 1 0 2 0 1 1 1 0 -100 -100
Planning permission 4 7 5 11 12 4 7 12 5 -58 25
Prison authorities 15 18 12 95 101 19 10 23 13 -43 -13
Social security benefits 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 100 z
Other 34 32 39 34 26 40 38 43 50 16 47
Total 212 227 242 412 370 270 287 402 485 21 129
1. Changes were made to the case types and final disposals recorded by the Court of Session from 2009-10 which affects the ability to compare petition type.
2. Figures for initiations and disposals do not necessarily refer to the same cases.
3. z refers to data not being applicable.
Paul Gona
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© GQ Images
With Chandrayaan 2 mission, India will become world's 4th country to land on the moon's surface
By GQ Staff 3 May 2019
ISRO has announced that the Chandrayaan 2 will touch the moon in September.
On Wednesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that the country's second lunar mission, Chandrayaan 2, is set to be launched between July 9 and July 16, 2019, and is scheduled to land on the moon on September 6, 2019. This mission was previously announced in August last year and was supposed to launch in January this year. However, ISRO is calling the Chandrayaan 2 its “most complex mission” and has revealed in a statement that a lot of work was yet to be put in. The GSLV Mk-III rocket will take off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, located in Sriharikota, Andra Pradesh.
Chandrayaan 2 Launch Date & everything you need to know about India's second lunar mission -
The Chandrayaan 2's mission is divided into three modules, i.e. Orbiter, Lander and Rover. The lander is also known as Vikram, whereas the Rover has been coined Pragyan. It aims to land on the south pole of the moon. The orbiter and the lander modules are interfaced mechanically stacked together as one module to fit inside the GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle. However, the rover will be fitted inside the lander.
Once the rocket is launched into the earthbound orbit by the vehicle, the integrated module will reach the moon's orbit using the orbiter propulsion module. It will then take the modules 35 to 43 days to reach the moon. Next, the lander will separate from the orbiter and land softly at a predetermined place close to the lunar South Pole. And after that, the rover will roll out of the lander and carry out the experiments needed on the lunar surface. The instruments for these experiments will be mounted on the lander and orbiter.
The Chandrayaan 2 is ISRO's first mission to land on any celestial body and hence the agency is being extra careful with the work in the pre-launch period. It is wary of the mission even further after the recent crash of Israel's Beresheet spacecraft, which was also trying to land on the moon.
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Mission Shakti: Everything you need to know about India's first anti-satellite weapon test
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Space tourism: Who will actually be the first to get commercial passengers into space?
By Brad Nash 1 July 2019
Delhi Metro is all set to become the world’s first 100% environment-friendly rail network
By GQ Staff 22 April 2019
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HodgesU News
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> HodgesU News > Students > Knowing Then What She Knows Now
Knowing Then What She Knows Now
Category: Students
Long before Martha “Dotty” Faul enrolled at Hodges University, she spent nearly 20 years building a career in law enforcement at both the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office and Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
From working road patrol as a deputy sheriff to handling criminal investigations as a detective, Faul has seen and witnessed what many can only imagine. Sitting on the side of the law that is most susceptible to the negative and harsh realities of humankind, Faul retired in August 2009 and opened her own business, Justice Investigations Services, Inc., in 2010 as a way to offer her assistance to those in need.
While in the early stages of opening her business, she realized the importance a degree could provide in building her company. While working at Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, representatives from Hodges University (then known as International College) visited to discuss course offerings.
Dotty and her son at his graduation and commissioning ceremony
“I regret not taking them up on their offer then,” she laughed. “But when it came time to go back to school, I remembered Hodges, so I enrolled in the business school in 2009.”
After spending six months in the business program and working in sales on the east coast of Florida, Faul realized her talents were better suited for criminal justice, not business, so she switched degree programs, taking all of her classes online.
As an online student, she admits, “I really feel that I received more attention because the discussion boards allowed me the opportunity to speak, and the instructors were readily available. I didn’t have to worry about time running out at the end of a class and rushing to the front to ask the professor a question.”
Bringing her years of experience in law enforcement to her degree program, Faul realized how much of her professional work was focused solely on one area, and how the courses provided valuable insight into the vast arena that is criminal justice.
“The courses taught me about management, corrections and juvenile justice. I learned so much about the history of criminal justice and how different cultures approach criminal justice,” she said.
Earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice in 2012, she focused her efforts on building her business. She and her team of 20 investigative professionals work with the state of Florida to assist indigent people in the criminal justice system who cannot afford a legal defense. Working closely with lawyers, Faul and her team use their expertise to assist in gathering facts, evidence and information to build an effective case.
Dotty conducting a lie detector test
While the cases range from fraud to homicide to missing persons, Faul uses her expertise in lie detection and fraud to assist in the investigations; however, due to the nature of her business and its ties to the legal system, she once again turned to Hodges to further her education, only this time in legal studies.
“I spoke to Dr. [Char] Wendel, and she told me that legal studies is much different than criminal justice, but I’ve discovered that I love it, and the two really do go hand-in-hand,” she said.
Enrolling in the Master of Science in Legal Studies degree program in 2016, Faul admits the curriculum and assignments have enabled her to contribute to her business in an entirely new way. Learning about torts, compliance and case briefings, Faul is using the knowledge to help change the way she and her team can better assist their attorneys.
“Knowing how the law works helps you a lot more when you’re out on the street. If I know what is going to happen in the courtroom and why they need certain things, it’s going to make my case a lot better,” she explained. “Now, on the other side, I know what they should have done, so I can submit it to my attorneys to help them.”
With only weeks left before she graduates in December 2017 with her master’s degree, Faul looks forward to taking her knowledge and professional experience and expanding her talents in the realm of teaching.
“I have been through so many different things, and I want to give back some of that, and teaching is a great way to do it. To be able to share some of my experiences and share some of the knowledge I’ve learned and how to apply it – it would be very fulfilling to me.”
Tags Hodges UniversityHodges UStay Near Go FarMartha FaulCriminal JusticeLegal StudiesMaster of Legal StudiesMaster's of Legal StudiesBachelor's Degree Criminal Justice
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June 30, 2015 5:30pm PT by Lesley Goldberg
Kevin Costner Passes on David E. Kelley Amazon Drama
AP Images/Invision
Costner and Kelley
Sources say 'The Trial' is going back to the drawing board to find an A-list leading man, but will still go straight to series.
Kevin Costner won't be making his series regular debut anytime soon.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the two-time Oscar winner has opted to pass on starring in Amazon's David E. Kelley legal drama The Trial and that the project is going back to square one to find a "huge star" for its leading man. Sources indicate that the drama will still go straight to series, a point that Costner signing on would have guaranteed.
As THR reported on June 25, Costner was in negotiations to star and executive produce the Kelley-created drama, but after being this close to a deal, slept on it and ultimately decided that he wasn't ready to commit to a TV series at this point in his career, despite what is rumored to have been a high per-episode fee. The search now shifts to other A-list actors as The Trial remains one of Amazon's highest priorities, sources say.
The Trial centers on Billy McBride, a once respectable lawyer who was ousted from the high-profile firm he co-founded. Billy now spends his days getting drunk, with the occasional case tossed his way by his ex-wife. However, Billy is reinvigorated professionally when a young lawyer who has just been fired from his old firm brings him a wrongful death case that pits him against the head of his former firm.
Written by Kelley, the project will be Amazon's first straight-to-series order. The company has traditionally made all pilots available to customers to watch and provide feedback on which ones they want to see turned into series. David Semel (Ally McBeal, Dawson's Creek, American Dreams, Madam Secretary) is rumored to direct the pilot.
The Trial would have marked Costner's first-ever series regular role. In addition to his Emmy-winning starring role in History's Hatfield & McCoys miniseries, Costner has just one other TV credit to his name.
The Trial would also be a homecoming of sorts for Kelley, who made a name from himself writing legal shows including L.A Law, Ally McBeal, The Practice and spinoff Boston Legal. Kelley, whose recent credits include CBS' The Crazy Ones and NBC's Harry's Law, is currently not affiliated with any studio. The prolific producer is also working on a new limited series for HBO — an adaptation of the hit novel Big Little Lies starring A-listers Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
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Digital America 2003
by CEA report | Aug 1, 2003 | Uncategorized
The Digital Transition Picks up Speed
As the world began to get used to a new post-9/11 reality in 2002, the consumer electronics industry’s transition to digital technology picked up steam and approached warp speed. CE was one of a handful of industries that grew during the year with industry sales up more than three percent over 2001 to total more than $96 billion. But the industry is not immune to marketplace forces nor to the impact of world events, so it was a challenging year with many companies in the CE market affected by the economic downturn.
Nevertheless, there’s much to be optimistic about in the consumer electronics industry as 2003 unfolds. The continuing proliferation of digital products, increased adoption of broadband connections and the growing implementation of wireless technologies for networking and for access to the Internet, bode well for the continued growth of the industry. Digital consumer electronics products truly have become integral to the lifestyle and workstyle in the early days of the 21st century. Consumers are using CE products in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. They’re using them to stay connected to their families, to work at home, to watch movies in home theaters and to take information and entertainment with them just about anywhere.
Video Gets Digital
The transition to digital video has been building for almost a decade now, since the first digital satellites came on the scene. Then digital cable, digital videotape and digital videodiscs captured ever-larger portions of their respective product categories. Consumers now are buying more than twice as many DVD players as VCRs as they choose digital technology to watch Hollywood movies in home theaters. Digital camcorders make up more than half of all units sold as consumers embrace the better picture quality, smaller size and editing ability that the technology offers.
But HDTV, digital high-definition television, represents the most dramatic analog-to-digital transition, and 2002 saw a number of events that really began building momentum. For instance, in mid-year for the first time digital TV (DTV) revenues for the month exceeded those of analog sets. Digital projection sets are outselling analog models by more than two to one – a precursor of things to come for all TVs. HDTV programs – the “content” that is always key to success of new consumer electronics products – are becoming more prevalent. Even more promising was the “plug-and-play” agreement between TV set makers and cable operators – an accord that will ease the way for the two-thirds of Americans who receive their TV via cable to enjoy HDTV.
Other video categories showed growth in 2002 as well. The competitive landscape in video games has intensified with the introduction of online gaming in the new generation of consoles. As Playstation 2 and Xbox continue to vie for preeminence among dedicated game players hardware and software sales exceeded $11 billion last year and are expected to pass $13 billion in 2003.
One of the most dramatic product advances has been in flat screen TVs. Many attendees at the 2003 International CES in January were struck by the proliferation of plasma and LCD screens in virtually every exhibit, along with the advance guard of new technologies like OEL and OLED. A TV that can hang on the wall has been a holy grail of the industry for half a century, and we’re finally seeing them approach mass market prices. The average unit price of plasma displays dipped below $5,000 in 2002 and will drop by another 20 percent or more this year. LCD displays are getting bigger too, so that in the coming months, consumers will have a choice of technologies in 40-inch and larger flat-screen displays.
DVD players are the fastest growing new consumer technology product with 39 percent growth representing more than 17 million units. CEA is forecasting additional growth of 14 percent this year. Many of these DVD players are connected easily to a home-theater-in-a-box, a category that marries audio and video and continues to provide growth to traditional audio-centric companies. HTIB inched above $1 billion in sales in 2002 and is expected to exceed that mark again this year despite dramatically lower wholesale and retail prices.
Other segments of the audio category continue to grow even as copy protection issues are debated and the music industry adjusts to the era of digital distribution of their product. Digital music players, a category generally known as “MP3 players” after the technology that first brought them to the fore, blossomed in 2002, with unit sales more than doubling to more than 1.6 million units as average prices plummeted. MP3 players now are offered in tiny models that can clip to a key ring with an hour or so of music, or paperback-book-size that let us take hundreds of hours of music in a pocket or purse.
Americans’ love affair with electronics is rivaled only by a passion for their cars. In our increasingly mobile society, CE products play more of a role than ever before in our cars for entertainment, security and navigation. Aftermarket autosound equipment sales advanced 10 percent to more than $2 billion with expectations it will inch ahead again in 2003. Sales of aftermarket vehicle security and navigation devices approached three-quarters of a billion dollars with navigation showing particular strength, increasing some 50 percent in 2002.
Even our most long-standing CE product – radio – is getting a digital facelift with XM and Sirius delivering information and entertainment via satellite to a growing roster of subscribers, and soon digital terrestrial radio will be broadcasting high-quality signals on existing radio airwaves.
Digital Pictures
Digital technology rapidly is becoming embedded as the preferred means of recording memories of special events in our lives. Spurred by a plethora of innovative new models and lower prices, digital camera sales passed nine million units in 2002, a 60 percent increase over the previous year. Here’s another category where advances in digital technology have enabled much better picture quality in tiny key-ring models or full-size cameras with all the lens flexibility and other capabilities of film cameras.
Cameras also are taking advantage of digital technology by being combined with other digital devices, most notably hand-held computers and wireless phones, in multi-purpose units that can snap a picture and send it instantly to another handheld device or to a desktop computer anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes. These devices represent some of the most dramatic benefits of digital technology: speedy connections, mobility and convergence.
Staying connected – to work and family – represents one of the singular most popular uses of digital technology. From the newest generation of wireless phone to Web-enabled Pocket PCs and Palm devices, to tiny dedicated text messagers, products to keep us in touch with our home and office have become “must-have” appliances for many Americans. Wireless phones continue to sell at a staggering pace with more than 57 million sold in 2002, a seven percent increase over the previous year. This year promises to see a similar unit increase with dollar value again exceeding $8.8 billion.
As third-generation wireless networks become more established and the 3G phones that can take advantage of them proliferate, the wireless Internet will bring much faster connections with vastly richer content – including streaming video – to users on the go.
Unwired connections closer to home have become a way of life too. The convenience of taking and making calls wherever you like around the house continues to spur sales of cordless phones with more than 43 million units sold, about twice as many as corded models. And just look around the mall, ski slopes or the neighborhood playground to see how many folks have embraced family radio service (FRS) walkie-talkies as an inexpensive means of staying in touch over short distances. FRS devices have gotten smaller and less expensive; there’s even a wristwatch model.
Accessories are writing one of the most remarkable stories of consumer electronics in the digital age. These are the products that make things work better and longer, make them easier to use, or make them easier to take with us as digital technology packs more power into portable packages. Accessories grew to $1.5 billion in sales in 2002 and are expected to increase this year too.
The batteries that power our digital products have gotten more powerful and longer lasting even as they have gotten smaller. Battery sales for CE products last year approached $5 billion and are forecast to exceed that mark in 2003.
Another trend emerging in the first days of the 21st century is the connection of many of these technologies in an electronically controlled home. CEA’s Home Networking and Information Technology (HNIT) Division and TechHome Division are devoted to the companies and products that network many devices in the home or office using cutting-edge wired and wireless technologies.
Throughout the digital transition, CEA continues to work with policymakers in Washington and on the state and local levels on the important issues surrounding the introduction of these new technologies and products. Ongoing issues – including the digital TV transition, the balance of fair use and copy protection, and energy efficiency of CE products – continue to demand the attention of the CEA government and legal affairs division. CEA also continues to encourage states to institute sales tax holidays for CE products, an initiative that has had success in several states in recent years. Also in 2002 the work stoppage at West Coast ports had a short-term impact on the CE industry just before the holiday selling season.
Everyone knows about the International CES, the world’s largest showcase of consumer technology, but CEA also conducts many more conferences, meetings and networking events throughout the year. Events like the HDTV Summit, Technology and Standards Forums, Leadership Retreats, the Industry Forum and others address the key issues affecting our industry and involve all levels and interest groups in the digital transition.
There’s no industry more dynamic than consumer electronics, and it’s fortunate to be producing cutting-edge products that have the capability to make people’s lives easier, more enjoyable and more rewarding. CE products help us stay connected in troubled times. But as terrorist attacks, port strikes and war have demonstrated, the industry can be affected by events beyond its control. CEA will continue to work on behalf of its members and customers to expand the market for CE products in the digital age.
Audio Trends in 2002-2003
· Audio products join wired and wireless home networks.
· PCs and home audio systems build home network bridges.
· Headset portables that play MP3 and other compressed-music files gain unprecedented popularity.
· Headset MP3 portables morph into portable AV devices, called portable media players (PMPs), that deliver on-the-go viewing of time-shifted TV programs.
· Satellite radio services forecast more than 1.3 million subscribers in ‘03 as automakers aggressively embrace satellite radio and as more home receivers arrive.
· Hundreds of AM and FM stations go digital.
· DVD-based multichannel music players are common and affordable.
· Sales of home systems (all-in-one stereo systems and home-theater-in-a-box systems, combined) continue to outsell audio components such as receivers, speakers and amplifiers.
· New flat-screen wall-hanging TVs inspire complementary wall-hanging flat-speaker designs.
· Custom-installed audio and home theater systems continue to gain popularity.
The audio industry is making music in ways that its founding fathers could never have foreseen.
Music reproduction was the industry’s core mission when the first high-fidelity home audio components entered U.S. homes in the mid-20th century. Now that mission is undergoing a renaissance.
Changes in audio technology have accelerated in recent years, ushering in new and more dramatic ways for consumers to enjoy music. New music-reproduction technologies are generating levels of consumer excitement rivaling the thrill created by home theater audio systems, whose main mission is reproducing movie soundtracks in life-like surround sound.
New audio product designs, meanwhile, are making it possible to integrate a high-quality music experience into a home’s decor with style and minimum intrusiveness.
Top Audio Products Consumers Own
The PC’s Contribution Home theater still generates plenty of sales, but advances in music reproduction now are competing more aggressively for consumers’ attention. In part, you can thank the PC, which many consumers have turned into music jukeboxes that hold thousands of songs in such compressed music formats as MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA).
Seizing the compressed music potential, audio suppliers are using wired and wireless home network technologies to liberate music files from the PC for playback through networked, high-quality audio systems. Some systems consist of separate components such as separately purchased AM/FM receivers and component speakers. Other systems are compact all-in-one stereo systems (often called mini or micro systems) that incorporate AM/FM tuner, amplification, CD player and speakers in one package.
To unleash music libraries from the PC, suppliers are expanding the selection of traditional audio products – including minisystems, component CD/DVD players and car CD players – that play back compressed music files burned onto recordable data CDs.
Likewise, the selection and sales of headphone CD players that play compressed music files is increasing, as are the sales and selection of headphone stereos that store music files in unskippable solid-state memory or on tiny hard-disc drives (HDDs). Headphone HDD portables provide enough capacity to store a music lover’s entire CD library.
The technology for such products emerged from the PC industry, and even more audio products will incorporate computer technologies such as home networking, HDDs and Internet radio capability.
Digital Radio, Digital Disc Advances Advances in music reproduction extend to digital radio and to packaged digital media. Rising sales of digital satellite radios for the home and car, for example, will increase consumers’ access to a variety of music through two satellite services, each offering 100 or more music and talk channels.
Meanwhile, hundreds of terrestrial analog AM and FM stations will make the conversion this year to digital without making existing analog radios obsolete. And more consumers will enjoy music in surround sound, thanks to the proliferation of DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD (SACD) players and software.
Home Theater’s Impact Home theater is continuing to play an essential role in the audio industry’s vitality. When connected to a TV or video projector, the right audio system transforms the home video experience into the ultimate home entertainment experience. A home theater simulates the sonic and visual impact of a state-of-the-art movie theater. It puts you in the middle of a busy street scene, surrounds you with the sounds of explosions and flying debris, or wraps you in the lush sounds of a tropical rainforest.
Once consumers experience home theater, many people want to own one. In fact, as of January 2003, 30 percent of all U.S. households were firing up home theater systems, up from 21 percent in January 2000, according to CEA Market Research.
Because of home theater’s popularity, many audio suppliers have diversified and now offer all of the audio and video components of a home theater system. Today, most mainstream audio suppliers offer CD/DVD-Video players and changers, and others have added projection TVs, including high-definition TVs (HDTVs). Audio companies that used to offer only audio electronics have diversified into speakers, and companies that offered only speakers have added home theater electronics.
Home Networking Trends for 2002-2003
· The Internet is driving home networking.
· Platforms inch toward standardization.
· Major companies invest in HNIT research and development.
· Low cost and ease of installation are key factors driving growth.
· Connectivity still is the primary goal.
· Networked content is king.
Networking Connects the Home
As entertainment and communications content continues to go digital, consumer demand for the features and functions of connected digital products will continue to drive the evolution of home networking.
Home networking has entered a new era of growth. What started out as a way to connect home PCs and share an Internet connection has grown to encompass a wide range of network-enabled products including digital audio servers, video servers, PBX-style telephony systems and residential gateways. These enhancements present both opportunities and challenges to the consumer electronics industry. On one hand, the new features add value and functionality to a home network. At the same time, the network becomes increasingly complicated for consumers to manage. The Internet, many CE manufacturers believe, offers the ideal platform through which consumers can interact comfortably and confidently with a diverse and dynamic home network.
Home Theater Trends in 2002-2003
· Home theater households now are common.
· DVD players are in even more homes.
· Non-DVD homes are fast becoming the exception.
· Consumers spend more on DVD software than on movie tickets.
· More 5.1-channel DVD movie discs than ever are available.
· 6.1-channel surround is affordable.
· More TV programs delivered in surround sound.
· Home-theater-in-a-box (HTiB) systems break out of the box and provide everything you need.
Maybe the traffic jams near the highway 10-plex are getting to people. Maybe it’s the cell phone conversations that compete with the movie’s dialog. Or maybe more people just need a break from their non-stop routine of commuting, running errands and shuttling kids to after-school sports activities.
Whatever the reason, more people than ever are building home theater systems to enjoy blockbuster movies without leaving the comfort of home.
Home theater systems re-create the startling visual and sonic impact of the silver screen. They put you in the middle of the action, surround you with the sounds of explosions and flying debris and envelop you with the sounds of a tropical rainforest. And you don’t have to be a Fortune 500 CEO to afford one.
To create a state-of-the-art system, you could spend anywhere from $5,000 to $55,000 for a top-end high-definition video projector that projects movies onto 100-inch screens that retract into the ceiling. You could easily spend another $150,000 for window-rattling audio processors, megawatt amplifiers and multiple floor-to-ceiling speakers to make the room rumble when a plane roars across the screen.
You could even complete the experience with motorized curtains, plush theater-style seats, faux ticket booths and a nostalgic-looking popcorn-making machine, all of which are available through select home theater retailers.
You don’t have to go over the top, however, to enjoy a compelling home theater experience. Home theater went mainstream long ago, and by early 2003, a system with all the necessary audio and video gear cost as little as $319, including a 25-inch analog TV, down from about $499 in early 2002. Many consumers might not even have to spend that much because they already may own some of the necessary components. At a minimum, all you need is:
* A TV set with a minimum 25-inch diagonal screen size,
* A hi-fi/stereo VCR or DVD player,
* A product such as an audio receiver, DVD-receiver or other device with a surround sound decoder and amplifiers, and
* At least four speakers: one on each side of the TV and a surround effects speaker on either side of the sofa. An optional center-channel speaker above or below the TV screen locks dialog onto the screen. Optional speakers behind the couch generate a 360-degree surround illusion. And an optional subwoofer delivers bone-shaking low-bass sounds.
Household Penetration
All told, the number of U.S. households owning a CEA-defined home theater system almost doubled during the past five years to 30 percent in January 2003, up from January 1998’s 16 percent, CEA consumer surveys show.
The sources and quality of surround sound have likewise grown. A decade ago, matrix-surround programs in the Dolby Surround format were available on prerecorded VHS videotapes, now-obsolete laserdiscs and a limited number of analog-TV stations and analog-cable systems. Today, matrix-surround programs are far more common over analog TV and analog cable systems, and they’re availability has spread to subscribers of digital satellite-TV service.
Home Theater Systems Penetration in U.S. Homes
For enhanced realism, a more sophisticated form of surround sound – digital 5.1-channel surround – also is available today. Sources of 5.1-channel surround include DVD-Video discs, satellite-TV services, terrestrial digital TV (DTV) stations and digital cable systems.
Whatever the surround sound format, the centerpiece of a home theater system is the TV, and a high-definition TV (HDTV) is the technology of choice to deliver film-like visuals.
Video Trends in 2002-2003
· Digital video transition boosts declining analog sales
· DTV sets and monitors account for majority of color TV sales measuring 40-inches and larger
· DVD player sales surge past sales of VCR decks
· DVD recorder sales to increase as prices drop under $500
For close to a decade, U.S. consumers have witnessed a paradigm shift in the way they receive and transmit audio and video entertainment and communication sources. Rapidly vanishing from the landscape are old, often less-efficient analog devices, while new digital products – delivering sparkling clarity – take over.
The trend first emerged in the eighties when the compact disc (CD) revolution virtually wiped out vinyl records and compact cassettes. For more than five years a similar movement is transforming video entertainment, with the birth of digital DVD players and the start of digital television (DTV) broadcasting bringing us the first high-definition TV (HDTV) pictures and sound.
Top Ten Video Products in U.S. Households
Some view 2003 as a watershed year for the DTV transition, as more DTV products move into mainstream distribution channels and DTV broadcasts multiple across the country.
In fact, the DTV evolution is expected to look more like a real revolution headed into the transition’s fifth year. Helping that acceleration are aggressive new HDTV adoption plans by the cable television industry, a steady increase in the hours of compelling HDTV content and continued strong sales of digital television displays.
In 2003, the DTV category will be the lead growth category in the video industry, a projection supported by the following recent developments:
* DTV sets and monitors now represent the majority of sales of all televisions with screen sizes measuring 40-inches and larger.
* In July 2002, for the first time, the dollar volume of digital TV sets and monitors surpassed that of analog products, according to CEA.
* Sales of DTV products spread from audio/video specialty retailers and regional/national consumer electronics chains into warehouse clubs and mass merchant discount stores including retail giant Wal-Mart.
By the end of 2003, CEA forecasts consumers will invest more than $15 billion in DTV products with sales for the year forecast to reach 3.8 million units on dollar sales of $5.5 billion. Factory sales of DTV displays exceeded CEA forecasts in 2002, with unit shipments reaching $2.535 million.
The DTV transition is following an adoption course reminiscent of the wildly successful DVD category, which now is regarded as a mainstream product.
Factory unit sales of DVD players in 2002 were 12.9 million, with dollar volume at $1.66 billion. This year, the category is expected to see a 14 percent rise in unit sales to 20.1 million players on wholesale dollar sales of $2.6 billion.
Separate Component DVD Players
Meanwhile, DVD recorders are expected to gain significant momentum in 2003, behind new sub-$500 price points, extensive advertising and promotional plans, and a growing consumer desire to find a digital replacement to the VCR.
Digital TV Sets and Displays
The Future…
…is clearer than it probably has ever been in the last century. Digital technology is slowly but surely usurping its analog counterparts. The capacities and flexibility of new digital technologies and products are growing almost exponentially. Ever-increasing resolutions for both digital audio and video products, bigger, brighter and more power-efficient LCD and plasma screens, increasingly faster and wider wired and wireless connections and networks, ever-expanding storage capacities, longer battery capacity and life, and most of all, alternately expanding and shrinking form factors and prices, all allow us to predict the future of consumer electronics more clearly.
However, history also illuminates the traps in any optimistic view of the consumer electronics future. Often, new technologies prove too complex for consumers. Developers concentrate on enhanced technology and not the user experience. Manufacturers often prematurely alert consumers to the wonders ahead. Similar products from multiple manufacturers often lack standardization and uniformity. Manufacturers develop and introduce products to take advantage of new technologies, and not a demonstrable consumer need. History has shown us that any or all of these factors have retarded consumer confidence, delayed purchases and, in some spectacular examples, destroyed both the market for that product and the companies involved.
Fortunately, this and future generations are being born into a digital technology universe. Vinyl records, wired and dial telephones, monochrome screens, sub-one gigahertz processors, et al, may as well be bear skins and stone knives. A world without pocket-sized computers, the Internet, instant global satellite communication, and hundreds of high-definition television channels is Stone Age. This and future generations have not only been far more willing to adopt revolutionary technologies, but find it far easier to integrate these new technologies into their lives as if they have been there forever.
And that’s something even futurists a century ago always thought would happen.
With more than 1,000 members with a presence in the United States. CEA’s mission is to grow the consumer technologies industry, through technology policy, events, research, promotion and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA’s members are involved in the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and integration of audio, video, mobile electronics, wireless and landline communications, information technology, home networking, multimedia and accessory products, as well as related services that are sold through consumer channels. Combined, CEA’s members account for more than $85 billion in annual sales.
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Library & Archives ›
Library & Archives News
Final Diaries of Chiang Kai-shek Open for Research on July 8, 2009
The diaries of Chiang Kai-shek from 1956 to 1972 are available to researchers at the Hoover Archives as of Wednesday, July 8, 2009, when they will join earlier Chiang diaries from 1917 to 1955, which were opened between 2006 and 2008.
This group of diaries takes up when Chiang began implementing comprehensive reforms in Taiwan in the 1950s and 1960s. At that time he made land available to farmers at affordable prices and provided state support to industries to nurture their international competitiveness. As inflation began dropping steadily and the economy grew, Chiang was reelected president by the National Assembly in 1960, 1966, and 1972. The United States, a strong ally since the Korean War, provided aid and trade and encouraged reform.
In the last year of Chiang’s diaries, President Nixon visited China, the announcement of which triggered a U.N. vote giving the People’s Republic of China a seat in the United Nations, effectively expelling Taiwan. Anti-U.S. riots then erupted on the island. When Chiang died in 1975, Taiwan had achieved substantial urban and economic growth while remaining a one-party state controlled by the Kuomintang. Chiang's son, Chiang Ching-kuo, assumed party leadership and within a few years became president.
Additional information and resources are available on the Chiang Kai-shek diaries collection highlight page.
"With immigration reform at a standstill, we need to give the administration’s proposals a fair hearing. But let’s… t.co/2mSYBIN7zu
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New Fears
By: Shane D. Keene
In: Books
"New Fears" Book Review
Written by Shane D. Keene
Published by Titan Books
Edited by Mark Morris
2017, 400 pages, Fiction
Since the recent announcement of the closure of Great Jones Street, I’ve seen it bandied about on social mayhem sites that the short story as a viable form for speculative fiction is in its death throes. Well, I’m here to tell you that it just isn’t true. 2017 saw some of the best collections and anthologies of this generation produced by some of the greatest authors and editors in the business; some young, some grizzled veterans, all hugely talented and working at the top of their game, particularly in horror fiction. One such editor is Mark Morris, curator of the stories in this book I’m talking about today.
New Fears is an anthology that hearkens back to the old days, taking something that was the norm back in the ‘70s and ‘80s and making it seem almost new by comparison to the typical themed volumes that are being produced en masse today. This book, in the vein of such greats as Douglas E. Winter’s Prime Evil and Dennis Etchison’s Cutting Edge—not to mention everything Kirby McCauley ever touched—is un-themed because Morris wanted to create something that would demonstrate the varied and seemingly limitless possibilities of our chosen genre. So, he limited his contributors to just one simple and very important requirement: write a damn good story. And I can tell you that the authors within responded in fucking spades.
From the very first paragraphs of Alison Littlewood’s “The Boggle Hole,” you know you’re in for something special. This tale of a young boy staying with his grandfather did several things. It enraptured me, sure. But I was also deeply and earnestly saddened. Littlewood injects real human emotion into her tale and then bleeds it slowly and painfully into your mind until you’re left with inexplicably watery eyes and an aching heart. It served to inform me that she’s an author I should be reading and also to propel me into what turns out to be a thrill ride of emotional peaks and lows, with intense moments of suspense, terror, and surprise in stories like the great Brian (cool name) Keene’s “Shelter In Place” and Christopher Golden’s “The Abduction Door,” which tells of a father’s loss of his daughter and the horrific lengths he’ll have to go to in getting her back.
But the authors who take the cake and really shine in this collection are the ladies. The lion’s share of standout stories were penned by female authors such as the aforementioned Littlewood, whose entry stands out as one of my top two, and including incredible works like the brilliant Sarah Lotz’s “The Embarrassment of Dead Grandmothers,” a raucously hilarious tale of a young man’s trip to the theater with his gran, and Muriel Gray’s quick pinprick of quiet terror, “The Roundabout.” There are also stellar pieces by Angela Slatter, Nina Allan, and Kathryn Ptacek, making Morris’ anthology a prime example of why the inclusion of more women and other minority groups is utterly vital to our genre.
And, in spite of the incredible readability and staying power of those aforementioned authors, the men manage to make a huge impression too, with notable entries like Ramsey Campbell’s “Still Speaking,” an amazing tale that weaves modern technology and the darkness of the grave into a single terrifying tapestry, and Stephen Laws incredible, phantasmagorical anchor story, “The Swan Dive,” having a huge impact on my psyche and sticking with me long after the last page was turned. And then, and THEN, I say …as if that all wasn’t enough, the single, most moving and terrifying tale in the book, the one that had me kicked-in-the-nuts-and-doubled-over breathless at the end of it is Josh Malerman’s “The House of the Head.” One of the best haunted house imaginings I’ve ever read, it reminds me in a way of M.R. James’ “The Haunted Doll’s House,” but only insomuch as it has a haunted doll’s house in it. This story takes a uniquely Malerman twist that makes it entirely his own, a thing that could only have been created in one of the most inventively twisted minds of our time.
I mentioned toward the beginning of this review that Editor Mark Morris wanted to take the old and make it new, to turn a lack of direction into a destination yearning back to the golden age of horror fiction anthologies, and he achieved that goal with the eye of a brilliant master curator, one that we should hope to hear more from in the coming years. And there’s some hope of that. In his introduction, he says he’d like to see this book become just the first installment in an annual series of such works and I’m here to ask, “Can I get a fucking Amen?” The stories I’ve already mentioned are more than enough to make New Fears worth the price of admission and, in addition to those, you’ll also find outstanding entries by Carole Johnstone, Adam L.G. Neville, and Conrad Williams, just to name a few. What you won’t find is a single bad story. This book is a gathering of glimmering gems by some of the finest minds in the business today and if you don’t already have it on your shelf, you should unfuck that stat.
Author: Shane D. KeeneWebsite: https://www.inkheist.com
Shane Douglas Keene is a reviewer, columnist, and poet living in Portland, Oregon. He spends his spare time drinking scotch and/or beer, playing guitar, and thinking of ways to scare small children and puppies. He pays meticulous attention to beard maintenance, mostly because it freaks people out, and he writes about dark fiction and poetry in various places, including his blog at Shotgun Logic.
Into the Dark - Season 1, Episode 8: "All That We Destroy"
Soldier of War
Johnny Gruesome
Blood Standard
Dark Crimes
Christopher Golden
Conrad Williams
Shane D. Keene
Adam LG Neville
Kathryn Ptacek
Alison Littlewood
Carole Johnstone
Stephen Laws
Sarah Lotz
Angela Slatter
Nina Allan
Muriel Gray
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In The Original Usage, “Freelancers” Were?
October 8, 2018, 2:02am EDT
Traveling Doctors
Boar Hunters
What Was the Reuters News Agency Built Around?
Answer: Mercenaries
Today, we use the term “freelancer” to refer to an individual who works on their own terms and completes contract work or per-piece work for a variety of organizations instead of working for an hourly or salaried wage for a single employer. A travel writer who submits articles to Travel + Leisure, AFAR, Outside, and the New York Times, but is not a staff member of any of those particular publications, is performing freelance work. The same meaning carries across multiple industries with a strong focus on freelancing in creative industries like writing, graphic design, and so on.
The original freelancers weren’t artists, however, but mercenaries. The term came into use in the early 1800s to refer to medieval mercenaries—literally “free lances”, or soldiers free of commitment to a particular country that worked for whoever offered the best pay. The first written example of the phrase “free lances” appears in the 1819-1820 novel Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. After that appearance, the term not only grew in rapid use as a reference to mercenaries, but also took on new meanings.
In the 1800s, it wouldn’t be unusual to refer to an unaffiliated politician or an independent worker as a “freelancer”. Over time, the term changed slightly in that the political connotation was dropped and the word now functions both as a noun (someone can be a freelancer) and a verb (you can freelance).
Image by Dan Koehl/Wikimedia.
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19/01/2019 12:10 PM IST
Mehbooba Seeks Separatist Leader's Release On Humanitarian Grounds
She spoke to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh over phone after reports of Islam’s wife having suffered a brain hemorrhage emerged.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti in a file photo
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday sought the release of separatist leader Shahid-ul-Islam, who is in the NIA’s custody, on humanitarian grounds as his wife was not feeling well.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister spoke to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh over phone after reports of Islam’s wife having suffered a brain hemorrhage emerged.
“I share your concern for Shahid Ul Islam. Have spoken with HM requesting his early release on humanitarian grounds as the wife has suffered a brain haemorrhage,” Mehbooba said in a tweet, in response to a plea for the separatist leader’s release by a Twitter user.
I share your concern for Shahid Ul Islam. Have spoken with HM requesting his early release on humanitarian grounds as the wife has suffered a brain haemorrhage. https://t.co/onrDfnY05Z
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) January 19, 2019
Waheed Parra, the youth wing chief of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) told PTI that Mehbooba also raised the concerns about the alleged “harsh treatment” of political prisoners from the state and the charges against Kashmiri students in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) case with the Union home minister.
MORE: instant articles Kashmir mehbooba mufti PDP
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New National Park in Talks for Illinois
By IFB Staff 0 Comments
The National Park Service (NPS) wants to hear from Illinois residents whether it should recommend to Congress that a historical site in rural western Illinois be added to the national park system. Featured in the spring 2016 edition of Partners magazine, the NPS plans to hold an open house on Wednesday, May 11 as part of its “resource study” on what once was New Philadelphia. The Pike County Farm Bureau will host the event from 6 to 8 p.m. at its headquarters in Pittsfield.
Frank McWhorter, an enslaved man from Kentucky, bought his freedom in the 1830s, ventured to Illinois and established the town of New Philadelphia near Barry. The NPS says it’s the first town known to be platted and officially registered by an African-American before the Civil War.
The U.S. Congress has charged NPS to:
evaluate the national significance of the site
examine the suitability and feasibility of adding it to the national park system.
“At the conclusion of the study, NPS will forward our findings to the Secretary of Interior,” said Cameron Sholly, the park system’s Midwest regional director, in its spring newsletter. “The Secretary will make a recommendation for the site, and submit the study and recommendation to Congress for their consideration.”
Some Illinois farmers and other area residents have been working to preserve the site for decades.
“Both whites and blacks lived together here for over a hundred years with little or no problems at all,” said Philip Bradshaw, Griggsville farmer and president of the local New Philadelphia Association during an event held at the site last summer. “I hope, in some way, this helps relationships among people in the United States.”
While not much remains, the site now has augmented reality stations throughout that allow use of a smartphone and tablet app to bring the 19th century town back to life for 21st century visitors.
“The story here is so incredible, so interesting,” says Bostonian Jon Amakawa, who developed the augmented reality mobile app. “It really combines so many different aspects of American history.”
New Philadelphia has already made it on the National Register of Historic Places and named a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of Interior.
The open house will be held at the Pike County Farm Bureau, 1301 E. Washington St. in Pittsfield. If you can’t attend the open house in person, the NPS welcomes your comments online at this link: http://bit.ly/NewPhilComments.
Tagsnational park serviceNew PhiladelphiaNew Philadelphia AssociationPike County
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A Cruel and Shocking Act: The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination (Hardcover)
By Philip Shenon
A groundbreaking, explosive account of the Kennedy assassination that will rewrite the history of the 20th century's most controversial murder investigation
The questions have haunted our nation for half a century: Was the President killed by a single gunman? Was Lee Harvey Oswald part of a conspiracy? Did the Warren Commission discover the whole truth of what happened on November 22, 1963?
Philip Shenon, a veteran investigative journalist who spent most of his career at The New York Times, finally provides many of the answers. Though A Cruel and Shocking Act began as Shenon's attempt to write the first insider's history of the Warren Commission, it quickly became something much larger and more important when he discovered startling information that was withheld from the Warren Commission by the CIA, FBI and others in power in Washington. Shenon shows how the commission's ten-month investigation was doomed to fail because the man leading it – Chief Justice Earl Warren – was more committed to protecting the Kennedy family than getting to the full truth about what happened on that tragic day. A taut, page-turning narrative, Shenon's book features some of the most compelling figures of the twentieth century—Bobby Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover, Chief Justice Warren, CIA spymasters Allen Dulles and Richard Helms, as well as the CIA's treacherous "molehunter," James Jesus Angleton.
Based on hundreds of interviews and unprecedented access to the surviving commission staffers and many other key players, Philip Shenon's authoritative, scrupulously researched book will forever change the way we think about the Kennedy assassination and about the deeply flawed investigation that followed.
A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2013
Philip Shenon, the bestselling author of The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation, was a reporter for The New York Times for more than twenty years. As a Washington correspondent for The Times, he covered the Pentagon, the Justice Department and the State Department. He lives and writes in Washington, DC.
“Jaw-dropping scenes involving the destruction and manipulation of evidence... A persuasive, deeply researched account… A compelling read.” —The Washington Post
“A Cruel and Shocking Act has authority, is tantalizingly readable and is convincing in its claim that the Warren Commission was unable or unwilling to uncover the total truth. [Shenon's] work, I submit, is the one to read.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Engrossing reporting… [A Cruel and Shocking Act] raises significant questions.” —The New York Times
“Remarkable…I've become convinced that, 50 years after the act, a real reporter--not some chat-room know-it-all--has through actual, on the ground, person-to-person investigation, through nonstop digging, tugging at the tangled heart of the mystery, brought us to the brink of answer. An achievement that, I believe, merits the Pulitzer Prize and the thanks of a grateful nation.” —Slate.com
“[A Cruel and Shocking Act] contains a number of startling facts… [and] juicy and informative details that shed new light on the JFK investigation…. The book reveals how the investigation was immediately taken over by the very government agencies -- the CIA, FBI and Secret Service -- that had the most to hide when it came to the assassination…. A remarkable story.” —David Talbot, Salon.com
“A judicious account of the Warren Commission, as recalled by the lawyers who did its legwork. A.” —Entertainment Weekly
“[A] masterful piece of modern history… A work fit to rank alongside the previous masterpiece of the murder, William Manchester's Death of A President... Gripping.” —The Independent (United Kingdom)
“Magnificent… An incredible book.” —Bob Schieffer, CBS News
“I love this book. It is a terrific read.” —Lou Dobbs, Lou Dobbs Tonight
“Impressive… [Shenon] documents the extent to which agencies and actors in those days withheld and even destroyed information that should have gone to the Warren Commission.” —Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal
“A Cruel and Shocking Act may be the best of the big-anniversary crop of books about the assassination – a tour de force of good reporting and excellent storytelling about an event that continues to defy clean and final resolution, 50 years later.” —The Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne, Indiana)
“Valuable, smartly written.” —The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“A thorough, fascinating and highly readable record of the details of the murder of John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963.... One of the more impressive offerings in the 50th-year anniversary of that watershed event.” —Bookreporter.com
“Convincing… the evidence [Shenon] assembles is frightening.” —The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, OH)
“A Cruel and Shocking Act offers ... fascinating detail.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Sober and powerful…Shenon, a former New York Times reporter, affords the reader access to the behind-the-scenes deliberations and dynamics that shaped a historic inquiry into a national trauma.” —Publishers Weekly
“Startling… Shenon has helped us get further than we've been before.” —Kirkus Reviews
Publication Date: October 29th, 2013
History / United States / 20th Century
Biography & Autobiography / Presidents & Heads of State
Paperback (February 3rd, 2015): $22.00
CD-Audio (October 29th, 2013): $49.99
Pre-Recorded Audio Player (December 2nd, 2013): $104.99
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Turkey: emergency measures have gravely damaged the rule of law
Nearly five months after the failed coup attempt in Turkey, the country remains locked in an acute rule of law crisis. The government must take urgent steps to restore the rule of law, the ICJ said today.
Mass arrests, many of them arbitrary, and credible allegations of the torture and other ill-treatment of detainees, mean that access to legal advice, to a fair trial and to effective judicial remedies are crucial. However, the unprecedented summary and arbitrary purge of the judiciary following the coup, and arrests of judges, prosecutors and lawyers, have significantly weakened the justice system and its capacity to protect against and effectively remedy violations of human rights. The vulnerability of detainees to violations of their human rights has been compounded by unwarranted restrictions on access to lawyers and extended periods of pre-trial detention.
The ICJ is concerned that the State of Emergency, which involves derogations from Turkey’s international human rights law obligations, has been renewed for a second period of 90 days, until mid-January. Sweeping emergency decrees continue to erode human rights, including rights of fair trial, the right to liberty, and freedoms of expression and association.
The ICJ recalls that in times of crisis, any measures derogating from human rights must be strictly necessary to meet a current threat to the life of the nation. This necessity must be continually re-assessed so that the derogating measures apply for the shortest time possible. Certain human rights, including the right to life, the prohibition of torture or ill-treatment, and the essential elements of arbitrary deprivation of liberty and to a fair trial and the right to an effective remedy can never be restricted even in a state of emergency. The ICJ is concerned that Turkey’s notifications of derogation purport to derogate in general terms from a number of these rights.
Measures taken under the State of Emergency should be rigorously and urgently reviewed to ascertain whether they are permissible under international law and whether they remain necessary and proportionate to any current threat to the life of the nation. Moreover, it must be ensured that non-derogable rights, including the prohibition on torture and other ill-treatment, and the right to a fair trial, are not limited by emergency measures. The ICJ urges the Turkish authorities to lift the State of Emergency and the derogations from its international human rights law obligations at the earliest opportunity.
Independence of the judiciary
The ICJ reiterates its grave concern at mass dismissals of judges and prosecutors, which have a devastating effect on the independence of the judiciary. More than 3,000 judges and prosecutors – approximately one fifth of the judiciary – have been arbitrarily dismissed under emergency decrees, without procedural safeguards and without the right to reasoned decisions.
Judges and prosecutors have been detained in very large numbers. In total, more than 2,000 have been detained, including two judges of the Constitutional Court, 109 members of the Court of Cassation, 41 Members of the Council of State and five members of the High Council for Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK).
Restructuring of the Court of Cassation and the Council of State, under legislation adopted in July, has required the reappointment of all judges of these courts. New judges have been appointed rapidly, through procedures that lack transparency, and in the context of strong executive influence over the appointment process in the HSYK.
The ICJ is also gravely concerned that the independent association of judges, YARSAV, has been shut down, and its President, Murat Arslan, has been arrested.
These measures have eroded the separation of powers in Turkey and have seriously undermined the independence of the judiciary at every level, compromising the courts’ ability to provide fair trials or an effective remedy for violations of human rights. The impact of this situation on the protection of human rights goes beyond what can be justified under the state of emergency. To meet its international human rights obligations, the Turkish government must as a matter of urgency take steps to restore the independence of the judges and of the governing bodies of the judiciary. Procedural safeguards that protect against arbitrariness in criminal, civil and administrative procedures, including in regard to the dismissal of judges, must be reinstated.
Independence of lawyers and access to legal advice
The ICJ is similarly concerned at measures that undermine the independence of the legal profession and the capacity of lawyers to protect human rights. More than 573 lawyers are reported to have been detained in connection with the failed coup since July, and more than 200 have been arrested, and their assets frozen.
Amongst those reported to be arrested are four Presidents of regional bar associations: Orhan Öngöz, President of the Trabzon Bar; Mehmet Cemal Acar, President of the Siirt Bar; İsmail Taştan, President of the Gumushane – Bayburt Regional Bar and Fevzi Kayacan, President of the Konya Bar. The ICJ considers that many of these detentions and arrests are likely to be arbitrary.
These developments have very serious consequences, not only for the rights of lawyers themselves, but also for the right to a fair trial of their clients and the effectiveness of judicial remedies for violations of human rights. They raise concerns that lawyers are being identified with their clients or their clients’ causes, contrary to the Principle 18 of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers. The ICJ recalls that under the UN Basic Principles, governments must ensure that lawyers are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference.
Furthermore, the ICJ is concerned that hundreds of NGOs have been closed under emergency decrees, including a number of lawyers’ associations. Such closures have serious implications for rights of freedom of association and expression, and for the rule of law.
The ICJ calls on the Turkish government to take urgent steps to guarantee the independence of the legal profession, protect lawyers from arbitrary detention or arrest and provide procedural safeguards to ensure the right to fair trial of lawyers under criminal investigation.
Roisin Pillay, ICJ Europe Director, at roisin.pillay(a)icj.org or +32 2 734 84 46
Massimo Frigo, ICJ Europe Legal Adviser, at massimo.frigo(a)icj.org or +41 22 979 38 05
AdvocacyNewsNon-legal submissionsWeb stories
Myanmar: ICJ workshop on Land Acquisition and Resettlement in Kyauk Phyu, Rakhine State
Improving access to justice through UN human rights mechanisms
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The InTheSnow
best forFamilies, Beginner and Apres Ski
About Alpe d’Huez
Altitude: 1100m
Total Lifts: 79
Pisted Area: 250km
Average Snowfall: 853
One of the world’s top resorts, Alpe d’Huez offers one of the greatest unbroken verticals in the world. Built above the original village of Huez, the resort has expanded in all directions over the past 20 years. There is a huge beginners area directly above the resort and those going on to the top of the lifts will be able to see a fifth of France, on a clear day, from the top station.
Alpe d’Huez sits somewhere between those big resorts that have been built at altitude since the 1960s and those traditional villages down nearer 1000m. It is an altitude resort, and it has been largely built for skiing above a traditional village, but it dates back the best part of a century so has bags of character as well as a snowsure altitude and a huge ski area. Triple prizes. The resort was first developed in the 1920s and its first lift, opened in 1936, was one of the first in France (or anywhere).
Besides its spectacular skiing Alpe d’Huez is famed as a key stop on the Tour de France, thanks to its famous (or infamous) 13.8km long hill climb up to the resort with an average gradient of 8.1% and 21 hairpin bends – it’s much easier in a comfortable transfer coach, car or taxi.
That skiing above (and below) Alpe d’Huez is quite special. The resort lies at the heart of the Grand Rousses area which also contains smaller traditional villages below including Vaujany and Oz-en-Oisans, a truly vast ski region with some 250km off fully inter-linked pistes, including, most famously, the remarkable Sarenne run, officially the world’s longest black run and certainly a glorious descent whether you feel it is steep enough for its black grading or not, descending 10 miles from the top to bottom of the slopes, a lift served vertical of 2,230m (that’s world top five, no less, for size-of-vert) – crowned by snowsure glacier skiing and one of the very biggest in the world.
But the Sarenne run is one of many different long, long runs that are possible, and most accessed by fast modern lifts. Many options take you down through those little villages on long blue or red runs where you might stop for a beer or for lunch before heading back up.
There are plenty of black options too, with 17 marked trails along with endless off piste routes that a guide would be happy to take you to. The ominously named ‘Tunnel’ is the most infamous pisted descent (although it only has that name because you access it through a tunnel), but there are many more.
At the base of the slopes there is also a vast beginners area in a huge area of gentle slopes served by multiple lifts. The full featured terrain park and a fun sliding zone with toboggan runs is also here.
The resort of Alpe d’Huez itself is built on a gentle slope and in a roughly triangular shape with the hub of the lifts up at the apex, but with pistes and lifts running along each side of the triangle so you can ski down or get a lift up from most accommodation.
The village, which has grown up above the old village of Huez, is relatively compact with everything within walking distance, although it is also one of the bigger resorts so there’s a regular shuttle service to get you to the slopes or around the resort if you don’t want to walk at all.
‘Vibrant’ and ‘eclectic’ could be used to describe the atmosphere and the ambience. There’s a swimming pool and ice rink in the heart of the resort surrounded by shops, bars, cafes and restaurants. There’s a big choice in all categories and although most are locally run, you’ll find sushi bars and a modern supermarket along side those traditional boulangeries and patisseries we love, plus plenty of creperies and traditional Savoyard restaurants (even though this is actually the Dauphiné – Isère region).
Whilst some of the better known French resorts have been adding five star hotels and Michelin starred restaurants with prices to match, Alpe d’Huez has been busy keeping it real and keeping it affordable.
That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of great places to eat…
Accommodation is mostly in 1-3 star hotels and apartments but Alpe d’Huez does now have a nice four star apartment complex option, Le Cristal de l’Alpe, about 100m from the nearest lift and right on the edge of the resort centre.
Along with spacious, well-equipped apartments which also boast an excellent a wifi signal (how can we live without that?), there’s an excellent swimming pool area complete with sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi, as well as a separate spa centre – Le Centre O des Cimes, where you can sign in for a relaxing post-ski massage or just take a day off and indulge in the full spa menu.
One more box tick for Alpe d’Huez is how painless it is to get there. If you fly in to Grenoble (a pleasantly uncrowded airport compared to most options for the French Alps) you can expect to be in resort in little over an hour on a good day, perhaps 75 minutes on average – iut’s less than 40 miles away.
It all adds up to the complete picture of Alpe d’Huez as a very ‘real’ snowsports destination boasting both true ski heritage and relaxed atmosphere that help you get in the holiday mood and really enjoy the best of French skiing without any of those possible downsides.
The Pistes in Alpe d’Huez
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AVG Snowfall PA
Drag Lifts
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Story of slain missionary Graham Staines hits big screen
The death of Graham Staines and his two sons at the hands of Hindu extremists sent shockwaves around the world. But his legacy is all around, especially among the leper communities in India.
by Mark Furler
Mark Furler Group Digital Editor
Mark Furler is News Regional Media's group digital editor. He’s an award-winning journalist who has lived and worked on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast for more than 30 years. He’s passionate about fighting for a better go for locals. His awards include Editor of the Year, and involvement in three PANPA Newspaper of the Year wins for the Sunshine Coast Daily. He has also been involved in INMA and News awards wins for excellence in digital coverage.
8th May 2019 7:12 AM
As Australia debates freedom of speech and religion, the story of Graham Staines, a missionary slain in India for his beliefs, is coming to the big screen.
Graham Staines was killed by Hindu extremists 20 years ago, along with his sons Philip, aged 10, and Timothy, aged 6.
Mr Staines, who spent more than 30 years in India treating those with leprosy, was asleep in their old Willy jeep station wagon in Odisha, India in January, 1999 when the attack happened.
Remarkably, his widow Gladys and daughter Esther, remained in India for years, continuing the work after publicly forgiving her husband's killers.
The family's story is now the subject of a movie, The Least of These, which will have its Australian premiere on the Sunshine Coast tonight (May 8) before being launched nationally on May 16.
Graham and Gladys Staines with their young family before the Indian attack on Graham and his sons.
Mrs Staines, who is now living in Townsville, is expected to be at the Maroochydore cinema for the launch.
Graham Staines' brother Don, said Christians around the world were increasingly being targeted for their beliefs.
A recent report from the Open Doors watchdog found one in three Christians in Asia faces high levels of persecution.
More than 4300 Christians were killed due to their beliefs around the world last year, most of them in Nigeria.
In China, about half of the country's 100 million Christians face persecution. Around the world, 245 million Christians - one of of 9 - face high levels of abuse.
Gladys Staines with her daughter Esther in Queens Park, Ipswich in 2004. BARNES GLENN
Mr Staines said he believed persecution would only get worse.
He said Christians had become an unwanted 'conscience prick' for declining moral values and the easiest way for opponents to deal with it was to 'get rid of the prick'.
"It just makes us realise the time clock is ticking very fast.''
He likened the persecution to that faced by Jews by the Nazis during World War II.
The Least of These tells Graham Staines' story through the eyes of an young Indian journalist who is sent out by a newspaper editor to find evidence Mr Staines is operating illegally in trying to convert Indians to Christianity.
Mr Staines is played by Stephen Baldwin while the film also features music from Christian music veteran Michael W Smith.
More information on the movie can be viewed here
Israel Folau breaks silence as Alan Jones slams verdict
graham staines
sri lanka bombings
graham staines persecution sri lanka bombings
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Cooking Classes – Restaurant
Natural Beauties
Messinia’s Treasured Beaches
Ecological Getaways
Epicurean Apollo Temple
The territory of Bassae is located between Arcadia, Triphylia and Messenia, on the western slopes of Mt. Kotilion near the ancient city of Phigaleia. The mountain is scored with ravines (vassai), which give the place its name. In this bare, rocky landscape, 1131 metres above sea level, the people of Phigaleia founded a sanctuary in honour of Apollo. A sacred road connected the sanctuary with the city, nearly thirteen kilometres away. The sanctuary was dominated by one of the most imposing monuments of ancient Greece: the temple of Apollo Epikourios, whose cult was established in the late eighth-early seventh century BC. The god was given the surname ‘epikourios’, either because he was thought to have helped the Phigaleians in their struggle against Sparta in 659 BC, or because he prevented the plague from spreading during the Peloponnesian War. Apollo is also named ‘vassitas’ in an inscription from this site.
The history of the sanctuary at Bassae is linked to the military activities of Phigaleia and to the continuous struggle between Arcadians and Spartans. The former always sided with Messenia in its wars against Sparta. The site was occupied first in the Archaic period. The earliest temple of the sanctuary was built in the late seventh century BC and a small settlement grew up around it. It is possible that many Messenians found refuge in Bassae after fleeing their homeland following the Spartan victory of 650 BC. Many votive offerings from this period were found in the topsoil around the temple. They include terracotta vases and figurines, metal figurines of humans and animals, jewellery, the tortoise-shell sound box of a lyre and many weapons, both real (made of iron) and votive (made of bronze). The offering of weapons may indicate that in the sanctuary’s early years Apollo was worshiped primarily as a war god. Traces of metalworking from the Archaic period were also discovered near the temple. Although the temple’s pre-Classical building history is uncertain, it is probable that the Archaic temple was reconstructed at least once or twice between 600 and 500 BC. Several architectural pieces belonging to these phases were uncovered on the site. The surviving Classical temple by Iktinos was built in approximately 420 BC. The ancient quarries that provided the building material for the temple were located to the north and northwest of the site.
Artemis and Aphrodite were also worshiped in this area, in a separate sanctuary on the highest peak of Mt. Kotilion. Demetra, too, was worshiped here, although her sanctuary has not yet been identified. The sanctuary at the top of Mt. Kotilion was probably founded by poor Phigaleians living in Bassae. Its temples were abandoned in the third century BC, unlike the sanctuary of Apollo, which remained in use in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, as shown by the stamped tiles used for repairing the temple roof. Pausanias visited the sanctuary in the second century AD and described the monuments and their history (8, 41, 7-10), particularly that of the temple of Apollo. In subsequent centuries the sanctuary was abandoned and severely damaged by earthquakes.
The space, isolated and inaccessible, it remained abandoned until the 18th century, when it was identified by French architect J. Bocher. Since then many famous travelers visited the Vasses and in 1812 became the first excavations of antiquities group of scientists, who obtained permission from the Veli Pasha, Turkish commander of the Peloponnese since that time Greece was enslaved by the Turks.
Then they found 23 plates from the inner frieze of the temple, unique masterpieces of sculpture, which were transferred to other parts of the sculptures from the temple on the coast of the Ionian Sea and from there to Zakynthos.
In 1815 came the British Museum, where the frieze was bought at auction after the Veli Pasha resigned from the requirements raised by the findings, compared meager monetary compensation. The Plunder of the Ionic frieze provoked strong reactions, and even the English scholar Chr. Muller described it as an act of vandalism, corresponding to that of Lord Elgin. Period, however, the first survey were detailed plans, precious today, for the information they provide on the state of the monument at the time. Then, many scientists involved with the research and study of the monuments of the sanctuary. Since 1902, systematic research undertaken by the Greek Archaeological Society and systematically since 1982
Temple of Epicurean Apollo
The bare, rocky landscape Vasses is one of the largest and most imposing temples of antiquity, dedicated to
Epicurean Apollo. Characterized as a host of original both in the external and internal layout, makes it the only
monument in the history of ancient Greek architecture. Pausanias, indeed, considers him second after the Peloponnesian Tegea temple in beauty and harmony (8.41.8). Its construction was placed at 420-400 BC.
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Edward O'Donnell: There is poverty in wealth without compassion
The exercise of compassion lies at the heart of Jesus' teaching on wealth, says Fr Edward O'Donnell
Maria Mercedes Gomez is from the Rio Blanco community in Honduras, who are resisting the construction of a hydro-electric dam. Trócaire is backing their campaign, which is an example of how wealth inequalities can lead to oppression of the poor. Picture by Garry Walsh/Trócaire
Fr Edward O'Donnell
RECENTLY I came across this quote from the late American writer, philosopher and artist Elbert Hubbard: "Who loses wealth loses much; who loses friends loses more; but who loses the soul loses all."
On the same theme, the prophet Jeremiah, less poetically, bluntly states: "A curse on the man who puts his trust in man... a blessing on the man who puts his trust in the Lord."
Both Hubbard's quote and Jeremiah's comment echo also in St Luke's account of the Beatitudes in which Jesus gives to his followers four promises and four warnings.
All three teach an important lesson which is well illustrated in the life story of an American called Lee Atwater.
In the 1980s Atwater was an American political consultant and strategist for the Republican party and adviser to presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush Senior.
He aroused great controversy by his aggressive, unjust and often cruel campaign tactics. His was a philosophy of winning at all costs.
In March 1990, Atwater suddenly fell ill - he had a brain tumour.
As his illness progressed, Atwater converted to Catholicism.
In an act of repentance he wrote to those whom he had so viciously reviled during his public life.
"My illness has taught me something about the nature of humanity, love, brotherhood, and relationships that I never understood, and probably never would have," he wrote to one.
"So, from that standpoint, there is some truth and good in everything."
In an article, written just before his death, Atwater spoke of how he had come to recognise the spiritual vacuum in his life.
"The 1980s were about acquiring - acquiring wealth, power, prestige," he wrote.
"I know. I acquired more wealth, power, and prestige than most.
"But you can acquire all you want and still feel empty.
"What power wouldn't I trade for a little more time with my family? What price wouldn't I pay for an evening with friends?
"It took a deadly illness to put me eye-to-eye with that truth."
Atwater died a year after the onset of his illness, aged 40.
The four promises and four warnings Jesus gave to his followers form the introduction to a sermon in which he outlined for his followers to the implications of the law of love by which they were to live, and the high ethical standards that flow from that law.
Jesus saw all around him people defenceless against the powerful, broken by unjust taxes, their human dignity ignored.
Hence his warnings to the rich and the powerful who acquired their wealth and security by exploitation of the weak and the vulnerable, and used it exclusively for their own lavish lifestyles.
In their arrogance they believed that they were answerable to no-one but themselves.
St Paul rightly said: "The love of money is the root of all evils and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith, and so given their souls any number of wounds" (1 Timothy 6:10).
Note, Paul says it is "the love of money" not money itself. Avarice destroys respect for the rights of others.
Pope Benedict XVI once commented, "closing our eyes to our neighbour also blinds us to God".
Jesus seeks conversion and gives as a model his Father. "Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate" (Luke 6:36-38), while reminding everyone: "And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? (Matthew 16:26).
When Jesus speaks of the poor, the hungry, those who weep, and the oppressed, and blesses them, he is not suggesting that there is anything virtuous about being in any of these situations.
In blessing them, Jesus never said they were good or virtuous, only that they suffered unjustly.
He took their side not because they deserved it but because they needed it.
Without judging them in anyway whatsoever, Jesus offers them hope and the chance to recover their dignity.
The powerful and influential who confronted Jesus could not see that it was those they regarded as the dregs of society who were closest to Jesus' heart - just as they rejected them so they would reject him.
Jesus would have us see that the poor and the oppressed challenge us to open our eyes and see the misery all around us and to respond, not with the indifference of the self-satisfied, but with an open heart.
In doing so we become true followers: "I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:46).
:: Fr Edward O'Donnell is parish priest of St Brigid's in Belfast.
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20 June, 2019 01:00 Faith Matters
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Science Museum partners with New York Hall of Science
Published: Monday, 10 February 2014 09:24
Science Museum and New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) have announced a strategic partnership between both venues.
The transatlantic partnership has been formed to create an easy route for simultaneous conferences and events between London and New York City head offices. The initiative will be cross promoted to the venues’ strong shared client base within the scientific, pharmaceutical and technology sectors. The partnership will see the Science Museum and the New York Hall of Science aim to acquire international awards ceremonies, large scale conferences and product launches on a bespoke basis.
Both venues support a range of technical solutions, facilitating outside broadcasts for international events, such as video/music streaming and stable Wi-Fi infrastructure for multiple-platform users, allowing events to be held simultaneously at both venues, connected via sound and video link. Technical services will be provided by the Science Museum’s external approved suppliers.
Alicia Earls, communications manager for corporate events at the Science Museum, said: “We are very excited to start working with the New York Hall of Science, and we are confident that this venture will generate many new business opportunities for both venues. With this collaboration, we aim to expand even further into the international events market.”
“Technology facilitates communication and connectivity in powerful ways,” said Dan Wempa, NYSCI’s Vice President of External Affairs. “This collaboration between NYSCI and Science Museum will give our clients greater flexibility and enable both of our venues to attract an even broader array of meetings and events.”
The Science Museum encompasses 10 contrasting conference and event spaces, from the 400-seat IMAX® cinema to the 700 square-metre blank-canvas space Level 1, accommodating up to 750 guests. The venue has recently attracted a number of high profile clients including EE, Acer, Coca-Cola and WWF. The New York Hall of Science is New York City's science and technology center, and is the home of 450 interactive exhibits. The venue offers six spaces available for corporate and private events, accommodating 15 to 500 guests. The venue’s clients include American Cancer Society, MTV, Pfizer, Pepsi-Cola, and Volvo.
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Astronomy is one of the oldest and most fascinating sciences that deal with all the celestial bodies and the material universe which is beyond the earth's atmosphere. It is the science of the Universe that includes the study of nature, motion, constitution, law, possibility and history. Most importantly astrology deals with the possible future development of celestial bodies like the planets, sun, stars, meteors, comets, satellites, galaxies etc. Astronomy is at times considered as a sub-field of Physics. It is further divided into several branches such as Astrometeorology, Astrophysics, Astrogeology, Astrobiology, Cosmology, Astrometry etc. These branches when put together help to unfold the mysteries of the universe. It is one of the most amazing and promising career for those who want to pursue it. As each country is trying to make its mark in the field of celestial activities, the need for scientists in this field is increasing.
Professionals in the field – Astronomy:
Few of the most important qualities to become an astronomer are curiosity, enthusiasm and countless absorption. These professions are required to have an above average intelligence, high persistence,imagination, analytical skills and problem-solving skills. They must also possess both mathematical and computer skills. A large amount of patience is required in this field as the astronomer has to work long and irregular hours. Superior verbal and written communication skills are also required because most astronomers are required to work as part of a team. They should be capable of explaining scientific phenomena and bringing across the information in an easily captivating format and language.
An astronomer must apply equal measures of imagination and analytical thinking along with intuition and logic which is required to answer the most fundamental questions about the cosmos.
Astronomy Eligibility:
Those who want to take up astronomy as a career should pass their plus two examination under the science stream, with majors in math and physics. To take up a career in observational or theoretical astronomy a person may go through the science stream after plus two. As it is observed that there are very few universities which offer undergraduate program in Astronomy a person can join for a major or honors in Physics with Mathematics as the secondary subject. After this they can take up a master’s degree in Physics or Astronomy. After this one can do specialization in astronomy leading to Ph. D. which enables one to become an astronomer or astronaut or an astrophysicist or a scientist or a research officer etc. in the field of space sciences and research.
Career Options in Astronomy:
For the professionals in this field astronomy is divided into two major parts. This is theoretical astrophysics and observational astronomy. While the former is concerned with data analysis which is finding out the conclusions regarding the observations of computers along with explaining the observational results; the latter deal with observing celestial bodies by using binoculars, telescopes, cameras, eyes which unaided and gathering data for building and maintaining instruments. Theoretical astrophysics is anastrophysicist’s model data which is much more analytical.
Astronomy Salary and Remuneration:
The remuneration depends on the nature of work, experience and the kind of organization in the field. As a fresher in the research work, a junior can earn a monthly stipend of approximately Rs.10,000 per month. Government organization and research institutes employ astronomers who are very highly paid with many other perks and allowances.
Salary Range : In the field of geography, a qualified person can expect a starting salary somewhere around Rs. 15,000 - 25,000 per month. The senior persons in private sector may draw more than Rs. 1,20,000 per month.
Eligibility : B.Sc (Hons) Environmental Geography
Salary Range : A fresher, after completing post-graduation in Oceanography can earn a monthly salary which may range anything between Rs 8,000 – Rs 12,000 in public sector.
Eligibility :
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Monique Bosco
Category » Biography
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BOSCO, MONIQUE (1927– ), Canadian writer. Bosco was born in Vienna and spent her childhood in France, where she was educated. She immigrated to Canada in 1948 and attended the Université de Montréal where she obtained her Ph.D. in 1953, with a thesis on the theme of isolation in the French-Canadian novel. After working for many years as a freelance journalist for Canada's francophone public broadcasting network and for a number of newspapers and magazines, she obtained a position in 1963 at the French Studies Department of the Université de Montréal. Her first novel, entitled Un amour maladroit, published in Paris in 1961, won the First Novel Award in the United States. In 1971 her novel, La femme de Loth, won the Governor General's Award in Canada and was translated in 1975 by John Glassco as Lot's Wife. It is the story of a mature woman who reminisces about the trajectory of her life at the moment when she finds herself suddenly abandoned by her lover and in a mood of despair. Bosco has published ten other novels, all dealing with the uprooting of emigration, feminine isolation, and the bitterness of existence. She is also the author of four short-story collections and books of poetry. Bosco was awarded the Athanase-David prize in 1996 in recognition for her life's work. She died on May 27 2007 in Montreal Canada at the age of 79.
[Pierre Anctil (2nd ed.)]
Source: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2008 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.
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Register Now (it's free!)
Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. Before its 1902 publication, it appeared as a three-part series (1899) in Blackwood's Magazine. It is widely regarded as a significant work of English literature and part of the Western canon. The story centres on Charles Marlow, who narrates most of the book. He is an Englishman who takes a foreign assignment from a Belgian trading company ... More
Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. Before its 1902 publication, it appeared as a three-part series (1899) in Blackwood's Magazine. It is widely regarded as a significant work of English literature and part of the Western canon. The story centres on Charles Marlow, who narrates most of the book. He is an Englishman who takes a foreign assignment from a Belgian trading company as a river-boat captain in Africa. Heart of Darkness exposes the dark side of Belgian colonization while exploring the three levels of darkness that the protagonist, Marlow, encounters: the darkness of the Congo wilderness, the darkness of the Belgian' cruel treatment of the natives, and the unfathomable darkness within every human being for committing heinous acts of evil. Although Conrad does not give the name of the river, at the time of writing the Congo Free State, the location of the large and important Congo River, was a private colony of Belgium's King Leopold II. In the story, Marlow is employed to transport ivory downriver. However, his more pressing assignment is to return Kurtz, another ivory trader, to civilization, in a cover-up. Kurtz has a reputation throughout the region. This symbolic story is a story within a story or frame narrative. It follows Marlow as he recounts from dusk through to late night, to a group of men aboard a ship anchored in the Thames Estuary, his Congolese adventure. The passage of time and the darkening sky during the fictitious narrative-within-the-narrative parallel the atmosphere of the story.
Publisher CreateSpace
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CYRANO DE BERGERAC & 7 OTHER GREAT PLAYS
"BRING ME GIANTS!"
In Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, we meet one. A legendary Cadet (nobleman turned soldier) whose fencing ability is known across 17th Century France, Cyrano is equally reknowned for his honey-tongued wit and exceptional bravery. Both are on full display in the first Act, as the man humiliates a rival by orating a poem as they duels and finally, "When I end the refrain, 'Thrust Home'." Victorious, Cyrano apologizes to the theater owner, in whose establishment they dueled and interrupted a performance, and gives him a bag of coins — his entire inheritance! When asked why he would give up his great fortune, Cyrano answers for the sake of "a great gesture" — defeating a bully.
Now alone in the emptied theater, Cyrano confesses to his best friend, Le Bret, his Achilles Heel: he is paralyzed to confess his love to a young woman named Roxane, because of his ugly nose. The Cadet will battle one hundred men single-handed to save a friend — which he does sucessfully later — but he cannot muster the courage to speak the truth to his secret lover, for fear of certain rejection. He even goes so far as to refuse to cry about it, because the idea of something as pure and good as tears spilling down his nose, would be an affront to sorrow itself. They're interrupted then by Roxane's maidservant, who requests Cyrano meet with her tomorrow to discuss a private matter. He agrees and she leaves. Dumfounded but exuberant that Roxane knows he exists, let alone might love him back, Cyrano cries out to Le Bret, "BRING ME GIANTS!"
What happens in the next four acts had me turning pages and so rivetted that I had to finish and was actually late to work. It's without a doubt, my favorite play I've read so far. Rostand's grand view of life, of what men and women can aspire to be, and the sheer wit on display via Cyrano, Roxane, and the other characters, is something worth celebrating.
I picked up Chantecler and The Romancers by Rostand immediately. Chantecler is a 4 Act comedy that takes place on a French farm. The protagonist, a rooster, whose flamboyance and self-crowned importance of causing the sun to rise every morning, has the other farm animals secretly sneering and plotting against him. Will report back soon!
And in case you want a companion to reading Cyrano, I really enjoyed this performance from Bob Jones University. If you have other performances or movie adaptations you'd recommend, please let me know!
OTHER PLAYS I RECOMMEND
* * *
El Cid, Cinna, and The Theatrical Illusion by Pierre Corneille
1. In El Cid, we meet Don Rodrigue a knight in Medevial Spain whose prowess on the battlefield leading armies against the Moors has won him the title of El Cid ('The Lord') in his country — and the love of Chimene. But, when Chimene's father is passed over by Rodrigue's aged father to be a mentor to the King's son, he challenges him to a duel. Rodrique is required to fight in his father's stead, who is so old there would be no honor in it. Nowt torn between defending his family's honor and wanting Chimene's love, El Cid must choose, and live or die with the consequences. Chimene is equally torn, because while she knows her father will be killed by Rodrigue, she also knows she wouldn't love Rodrigue if he elected not to fight her father and lose his honor. It's Rodrigue's unwavering fidelity to honor that makes her love him.
2. Cinna takes place in ancient Rome, during Caesar Augustus' reign. The plot centers around a group of conspirators who for different motivations seek to assassinate him. Although El Cid is my favorite play, I found Cinna's climax and resolution of it much more satisfying, because it more fully resolved the main conflict between the assassinators' two leaders and the woman whom they both love.
3. The Theatrical Illusion is a five-act comedy, in which a Pridamante seeks out a magician named Alcandre who is told to live in a cave. Pridamante wants to learn the status of his son, whom he had thrown out of his home ten years ago and deeply regrets it. To help, Alcandre casts a spell in the cave to show a series of events from the son's life, the main event being in his youth, in which he's caught in a love-square of sorts growing more and more dangerous. It's a sort of play within a play, but in my opinion, has a much more satisfying ending than Inception. Alcandre also has a thoughtful speech about the role of the theater in our lives, which I take to be a tactful defense of the arts more generally. (This was written and performed at a time when the Catholic Church still regarded the stage as the work of Satan).
4. Tartuffe, or The Imposter by Molière
A merchant and his family take in a false prophet secretly bent on manipulating the head of the household to inherit the family fortune. The play is a damning parable against religious authorities, and apparently was seen as such at the time of its publication in 1664 by the Catholic Church. They forced Molière to change the ending to undo much of the sting and indictment of faith in it. Unfortunately, I was unable to find Molière's original, uncensored version. If you can find it, please let me know.
5. An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen
Thomas Stockman, a scientist in Norway discovers that the healing baths which drive his hometown's economy are actually slowly poisoning people. Armed with the truth, he spreads the word to various friends and family, including his brother, the Mayor, but is met with suspicion, resistance, and willful evasion. I loved the play's straightforwardness and philosophical subject matter: the importance of the individual and dangers of democracy rule.
6. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
I adore Wilde's wit. He's written some of the best satire I've come across because of his wise-crack one-liners that are refreshingly thoughtful. For Earnest, marriage is in part the object of ridicule here, but I think it focuses more on the two-faced nature of men and women, especially so-called gentlemen and ladies. The work's title stresses this, but also holds two other meanings: Earnest is also the name of the protagonist who lives a double life. He's Earnest in the city and Jack in the country so he can play around with other women. And the third meaning, I won't spoil, but is made clear in the climax and resolution. Next up from Wilde is An Ideal Husband, A Woman of No Importance, and Salome (Sal-o-may) which were all recommended to me by friends.
7. Antigone by Sophocles
I first read this in 9th Grade English Class, along with Edith Hamilton's Mythology and Homer's The Odyssey. The story is set in Thebes, during which a civil war has resulted in two brothers fighting and killing one another on the battlefield. One of their surviving sisters, Antigone, wants to bury both of their bodies, but Creon the king decrees that one, the rebel, be left to rot on the battlefield and be given no burial rites. Antigone disobeys and this sets off a chain of conflict between her and Creon, but more interestingly within Creon's own family — his son Haemon loves Antigone's courage and reverence for the gods and he too openly defies Creon's treatment of Antigone, vowing never to speak to him again. I don't want to give more away, but what I love about Antigone is the fierceness of character displayed by her and her lover — and the internal logic that necessarily leads to the ending.
I've also been recommended Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, and Aristophanes' The Clouds, a comedy that labasts the Ivory Tower ala ancient Greece.
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Concrete Escape Into Sewer Not a Nuisance
In a test case which entailed authoritative analysis of the law of nuisance, a water company whose sewer was blocked by concrete in a freak accident has failed to convince the Court of Appeal that it is entitled to compensation for its loss.
A construction company was erecting a new building which required the pouring of large amounts of concrete into foundation piles. Concrete had leaked into a Victorian drain, and thence into a main sewer, where it set, causing a serious blockage.
The water company, which incurred major expense in sorting out the problem, sued the construction company, alleging negligence and nuisance. Both heads of claim were dismissed by the High Court on the basis that the construction company could not have reasonably foreseen the presence of the hundred-year-old drain.
In rejecting the water company’s appeal on the negligence issue, the Court of Appeal noted that the drain did not appear on modern charts of the area and was only marked on a 1908 plan that was kept at a local museum. The Court rejected the contention that a reasonably competent and careful contractor could have been expected to search local archives for several hours to ascertain whether a drain that had existed on the site 100 years previously had survived into the 21st Century.
The Court accepted that liability in nuisance had traditionally been regarded as strict in the sense that it does not depend upon proof of negligence. However, in dismissing the water company’s appeal on that issue as well, the Court found that the construction company’s use of the land had been reasonable and that the escape of concrete into the sewer had not been reasonably foreseeable.
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BY THEORY OF ACCOUNTING AND CONTROL
Of Rubles and Dollars
When the Soviet Union collapsed and a slew of newly independent republics began looking for financing to operate a capitalist economy, a foreign banker was heard to comment, Governments come and go. Money remains. If money is a universal constant, it may explain why, as their country moves into a global capitalist economy, Russian accountants have much in common with their counterparts in the United States.
From Moscow to Washington
In September, the Maryland Association of CPAs played host to a delegation of 11 Russian accountants eager to find out what the U.S. professions concerns and interests were and to compare notes with their overseas counterparts. The visit included a trip to the AICPAs Washington office where the staff explained the CPAs role in the U.S. economy and listened to how accountants operate in Russia.
CPE DIRECT: Major Benefits for Journal Readers
Now there's another good reason for keeping up with the Journal . American Institute of CPAs members can earn up to 24 continuing education credits per year by reading selected Journal articles, completing four quarterly study guides and passing four quarterly examinations.
An annual subscription costs $159. For information or to order, call 888-777-7077 and select option #1.
All the visitors worked for what was translated as audit companies, equivalent to CPA firms. They seemed bewildered that the U.S. has 54 licensing jurisdictions: Russian accountants all are certified through a central ministry of finance. However, Russian firms must be licensed for some of the industries for which they act as auditors. Investment companies are fairly new in Russia and only a few firms have licenses to audit them, giving this small group a virtual monopoly.
The delegation members, like many U.S. CPAs today, wanted to know more about IASC standards and their application. One visitor explained that there was a lot of interest in adopting the GAAP of various Western European countries, which can differ from both U.S. and IASC standards. Griping about the tax authorities is a common thread there as well as here. We are not popular with the government tax authorities, said one accountant through an interpreter. They feel we work too hard to help people avoid paying their fair share. They want everyone to pay more than they should. Late-payment fines are very high, they explained, and are a key government profit center.
Marketing, of course, is another capitalist reality. We have to spend lots of time and energy looking for new clients, said one accountant. Its especially hard for a new firm.
100 years of CPE
M. Christine Stewart, president of the Maryland society and head of her own consulting firm, told the Journal that the U.S. profession has been moving to its present role as business advisers for much of the century. Her Russian guests were studying hard to bring their profession up to speed much more quickly. As the Russians met with CPAs around the state, they were stunned by the hourly rates many CPAs command, which are very high compared with Russian standards, said Stewart. Nevertheless, the Russians are not entering this economy with decades of existing perceptions about what the profession has been. They seem very eager to make the move to provide complete business advisory services. They readily bought into our Vision Process.
The Center for Citizen Initiatives, a private organization receiving support from the U.S. State Department, sponsored the trip through its Productivity Enhancement Program, which provides training to Russian business people.
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UN chief: Hizbullah rearming 'disconcerting'
Ban says it's critical for guerrilla group to complete transformation into solely political party.
ki-moon 298.88. (photo credit: AP)
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday night that information he continues to receive that Hizbullah "has rebuilt and increased its military capacity" to a higher level than before the Second Lebanon War "is deeply disconcerting." In a report to the Security Council, Ban said it was critical for the militia to complete its transformation into a solely political party. The secretary-general repeated his "urgent call on all Lebanese parties to immediately halt all efforts to rearm and engage in weapons training, and to instead return to dialogue and conciliation as the only viable method of settling issues and resolving the ongoing political crisis." All parties must also affirm their commitment to the disarmament of militias, including Hizbullah, he said. Ban said he expects "unequivocal cooperation" from the region, especially from Syria and Iran which maintain close ties with Hizbullah. He called for an end to "foreign interference" that has worsened Lebanon's political crisis and urged rival Lebanese parties to elect a new president, warning against a power vacuum that could splinter the government. Ban made clear that he was particularly referring to Syria, adding that he had again received information from countries in the region "that appears to corroborate the allegation that Syria facilitates the flow of weapons and fighters across the Syrian-Lebanese border." The secretary-general expressed deep concern at the continuing insecurity in Lebanon, the apparent targeting of pro-Western members of Parliament for assassination, and widespread reports that all parties are re-arming in violation of a 2004 Security Council resolution which calls for the disarming and disbanding of all militias. The attempt to choose a successor to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud before he steps down on Nov. 24 has become Lebanon's most serious political crisis since the end of the 1975-90 civil war. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's pro-Western, anti-Syrian government, which holds a slim majority in parliament, and pro-Syrian opposition factions led by the Hizbullah militant group have been deadlocked for 11 months. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday postponed a parliamentary session to elect a new president until Nov. 12 to give rival factions time to agree on a compromise candidate - just 12 days from Lahoud's departure. Failure to elect a president could throw the country's deep political crisis into a tailspin that could result in a power vacuum or two rival governments, a dark reminder of the last two years of the civil war when army units loyal to competing administrations battled it out. "A return to political dialogue among the Lebanese parties is absolutely imperative under the current conditions, and the only way to resolve all relevant issues," Ban said. "There must not be a constitutional void at the level of the presidency, nor two rivaling governments. Constitutional provisions should be fully respected." While there have been continuous attempts to resolve the political crisis, he said, "there continue to be widespread reports and allegations that parties and groups on all sides of the political spectrum are preparing for the possible failure of such negotiations, with armaments and military training reported widely." The secretary-general said he is "acutely aware" that without political dialogue and the support and engagement "of all relevant external parties and supporters of Lebanon," the country will not be able to assert and sustain its authority throughout the country and political independence. "But I am equally convinced that the deep foreign involvement in Lebanon has done little to decrease tension in that country," he said. "Instead, the foreign penetration and interference in Lebanon has only worsened the crisis. It is time that foreign interference stop and that the Lebanese people and their political representatives, alone determine the fate of Lebanon," Ban stressed. "In this context, I reiterate my expectation vis-a-vis Syria," he said. The secretary-general urged Damascus to fully implement the 2004 resolution calling for disbanding all militias, strict respect for Lebanon's unity and political independence, and free and fair presidential elections. It was adopted in response to a decision to extend Lahoud's term for three years, which required changing the constitution and helped trigger the current crisis. "I welcome the assertions and pledges in Syria's recent letter to me and expect to see Syria's commitment to Lebanon's sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and political independence reflected in further tangible steps in the coming period," Ban said. While the "foreign interference" reference was directed at Syria, the secretary-general also noted Iran's support for Hizbullah. The opposition also accuses the United States of heavy involvement in Lebanese affairs in support of Saniora's government. The anti-Syrian majority has accused Syria of responsibility for a string of political assassinations - an accusation Syria vehemently denies. Ban said in the report that the assassinations of members of Saniora's ruling coalition have reduced its majority to 68 out of 127 members, raising the specter of "further deterioration" and upsetting the political balance that has existed since elections in spring 2005. "The pattern of political assassinations in Lebanon strongly suggests a concerted effort aimed at undermining the democratic institutions of Lebanon," he said.
By JONATHAN SPYER
Israeli Foreign Minister Katz meets Bahrani counterpart in Washington
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Bangladesh prime minister denies accusations of rigged vote
Bangladeshi voters wait in line outside a polling station in Dhaka.
(MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP/Getty Images)
Reporting from DHAKA, Bangladesh —
The day after winning a record fourth term in power, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina trumpeted her accomplishments and dismissed opposition claims that the vote was rigged.
Hasina’s ruling alliance won virtually every parliamentary seat in the general election, according to official results released Monday, giving her a third consecutive term despite opposition allegations of intimidation. Hasina earlier served a separate single term.
The coalition led by Hasina’s Awami League party won 288 out of 300 seats — 96% — in Sunday’s polls, Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed said. The opposition alliance led by prominent lawyer Kamal Hossain won only seven seats.
The opposition rejected the outcome, with Hossain calling the election “farcical” and demanding a new election be held under the authority of a “nonpartisan government.”
But Chief Election Commissioner K.M. Nurul Huda ruled out any revote, saying there were no reports of large irregularities.
“There is no scope to hold the election again,” Huda said. He said the turnout in Sunday’s vote was 80%.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina smiles while speaking at a press conference in Dhaka on December 31, 2018.
(INDRANIL MUKHERJEE / AFP/Getty Images)
Hasina’s main rival for decades has been former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, whom a court deemed ineligible to run for office because she was sentenced to more than two years in prison after being convicted of corruption. Zia’s supporters say the charges were politically motivated.
In Zia’s absence, opposition parties formed a coalition led by Hossain, an 82-year-old former member of the Awami League who served as foreign minister under Hasina’s father, Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founding leader.
The political opposition and groups including Human Rights Watch say Hasina has become increasingly authoritarian. More than a dozen people were killed in election-related violence on Sunday, and the election campaign was dogged by allegations of the arrest and jailing of thousands of Hasina’s opponents.
In a wide-ranging discussion with foreign journalists and election observers at her official residence in Dhaka on Monday, Hasina refused a suggestion that she offer her political foes an olive branch.
“The opposition you see, who are they? The main party, BNP, it was established by a military dictator [Zia’s husband, Ziaur Rahman] who introduced martial law in this country, there was no constitutional right of the people.
“This military dictator, first they captured power, then they become politicians and formed their own party. And the rigging system and everything, they introduced to this country,” she said.
Hasina dismissed questions about the fairness of the vote.
“I feel that it was a very peaceful election, some incidents took place, some of our Awami League party workers were killed by the opposition. I’m very sorry for that, but I always appreciate our law enforcement agencies, also our people who were working hard to have this election in a peaceful manner,” she said.
About 104 million people in the Muslim-majority country were eligible to vote — including many young, first-time voters — in Bangladesh’s 11th general election since independence from Pakistan.
Both sides were hoping to avoid a repeat of 2014, when Zia and the BNP boycotted and voter turnout was only 22%. More than half of the 300 parliamentary seats were uncontested. The Awami League’s landslide victory was met with violence that left at least 22 people dead.
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Joe Biden denounces President Trump’s attacks against Ilhan Oman and other congresswomen of color a day after Trump supporters at a rally shouted, “Send her back.”
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Title 28. Judicial Administration
Chapter I. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Part 76. RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR ASSESSMENT OF CIVIL PENALTIES FOR POSSESSION OF CERTAIN CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES
Section 76.31. Standards of conduct.
28 CFR § 76.31 - Standards of conduct.
§ 76.31 Standards of conduct.
(a) All persons appearing in proceedings before a Judge are expected to act with integrity and in an ethical manner.
(b) The Judge may exclude parties, witnesses, and their attorneys for refusal to comply with directions, continued use of dilatory tactics, refusal to adhere to reasonable standards of orderly and ethical conduct, failure to act in good faith, or violation of the prohibition against ex parte communications. The Judge shall state in the record the cause for suspending or barring an attorney from participation in a proceeding. Any attorney so suspended or barred may appeal to the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer for the District, or if there is no Chief Administrative Hearing Officer, to the Attorney General but no proceeding shall be delayed or suspended pending disposition of the appeal; provided, however, that the Judge shall suspend the proceeding for a reasonable time for the purpose of enabling the party to obtain another attorney.
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Title 10. ARMED FORCES
Subtitle C. Navy and Marine Corps
Part I. ORGANIZATION
Chapter 809. BUREAUS; OFFICE OF THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL
Section 8084. Office of Marine Forces Reserve: appointment of Commander
10 U.S. Code § 8084. Office of Marine Forces Reserve: appointment of Commander
(a)Establishment of Office; Commander, Marine Forces Reserve.—
There is in the executive part of the Department of the Navy an Office of the Marine Forces Reserve, which is headed by the Commander, Marine Forces Reserve. The Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, is the principal adviser to the Commandant on Marine Forces Reserve matters.
(b)Appointment.—
The President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint the Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, from general officers of the Marine Corps (as defined in section 8001(2)) who have had at least 10 years of commissioned service.
(2) The Secretary of Defense may not recommend an officer to the President for appointment as Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, unless the officer—
is recommended by the Secretary of the Navy; and
is determined by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in accordance with criteria and as a result of a process established by the Chairman, to have significant joint duty experience.
An officer on active duty for service as the Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, shall be counted for purposes of the grade limitations under sections 525 and 526 of this title.
(4) Until December 31, 2006, the Secretary of Defense may waive subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) with respect to the appointment of an officer as Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, if the Secretary of the Navy requests the waiver and, in the judgment of the Secretary of Defense—
the officer is qualified for service in the position; and
the waiver is necessary for the good of the service.
Any such waiver shall be made on a case-by-case basis.
(c)Term; Reappointment.—
The Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, is appointed for a term determined by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, normally four years, but may be removed for cause at any time. An officer serving as Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, may be reappointed for one additional term of up to four years.
(d)Annual Report.—
The Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, shall submit to the Secretary of Defense, through the Secretary of the Navy, an annual report on the state of the Marine Corps Reserve and the ability of the Marine Corps Reserve to meet its missions. The report shall be prepared in conjunction with the Commandant of the Marine Corps and may be submitted in classified and unclassified versions.
(Added Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title XII, § 1212(c)(1), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2692, § 5144; amended Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title V, § 554(d), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 617; Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title V, § 507(c), title X, § 1087(a)(19)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–103, 1654A–291; Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title V, § 501(a), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2529; Pub. L. 108–375, div. A, title V, § 536(a), Oct. 28, 2004, 118 Stat. 1901; Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title V, § 502(ee), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2105; Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title X, § 1051(a)(29), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1562; renumbered § 8084 and amended Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, §§ 807(a)(2), 809(a), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1834, 1840.)
Prior Provisions
A prior section 8084 was renumbered section 9084 of this title.
2018—Pub. L. 115–232, § 807(a)(2), renumbered section 5144 of this title as this section.
Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 8001(2)” for “section 5001(2)”.
2017—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 115–91 struck out par. (1) designation before “The Commander,” and struck out par. (2) which read as follows: “The Secretary of Defense shall transmit the annual report of the Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, under paragraph (1) to Congress, together with such comments on the report as the Secretary considers appropriate. The report shall be transmitted at the same time each year that the annual report of the Secretary under section 113 of this title is submitted to Congress.”
2016—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 114–328, in heading, struck out “; Grade” after “Reappointment”, and in text, struck out par. (1) designation before “The Commander, Marine Forces Reserve,” and struck out par. (2) which read as follows: “The Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, while so serving, holds the grade of lieutenant general.”
2004—Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 108–375 substituted “December 31, 2006” for “December 31, 2004”.
2002—Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 107–314 substituted “December 31, 2004” for “October 1, 2003”.
2000—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title V, § 507(c)], amended heading and text of subsec. (b) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “The President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint the Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, from officers of the Marine Corps who—
“(1) have had at least 10 years of commissioned service;
“(2) are in a grade above colonel; and
“(3) have been recommended by the Secretary of the Navy.”
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title V, § 507(c)], amended heading and text of subsec. (c) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (c) read as follows:
“(c) Term of Office; Grade.—(1) The Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, holds office for a term determined by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, normally four years, but may be removed for cause at any time. He is eligible to succeed himself.
“(2) The Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, while so serving, has the grade of major general, without vacating the officer’s permanent grade. However, if selected in accordance with section 12505 of this title, he may be appointed in the grade of lieutenant general.”
Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title X, § 1087(a)(19)], substituted “has the grade of” for “has a grade”.
1999—Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 106–65 substituted “major general” for “above brigadier general” and inserted at end “However, if selected in accordance with section 12505 of this title, he may be appointed in the grade of lieutenant general.”
Effective Date of 2018 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of amendments and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.
Effective Date of 1999 Amendment; Applicability to Incumbents
Amendment by Pub. L. 106–65 effective 60 days after Oct. 5, 1999, with special provision for an officer who is a covered position incumbent who is appointed under that amendment to the grade of lieutenant general or vice admiral, see section 554(g), (h) of Pub. L. 106–65, set out as a note under section 7038 of this title.
U.S. Code Toolbox
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Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State football's offensive coaching staff shakeup
LSJ columnist Graham Couch gives his initial thoughts on Mark Dantonio's decision to change his offensive coordinator, etc.
Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State football's offensive coaching staff shakeup LSJ columnist Graham Couch gives his initial thoughts on Mark Dantonio's decision to change his offensive coordinator, etc. Check out this story on lansingstatejournal.com: https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/sports/columnists/graham-couch/2019/01/10/msu-football-coaching-offensive-coordinator-shakeup-3-quick-takes/2540460002/
Graham Couch, Lansing State Journal Published 6:24 p.m. ET Jan. 10, 2019 | Updated 7:28 p.m. ET Jan. 10, 2019
Commentary on Mark Dantonio's decision to reshuffle the coaching staff from LSJ columnist Graham Couch and the Freep's Chris Solari and Shawn Windsor. Graham Couch and Chris Solari and Shawn Windsor and Phil Friend, Lansing State Journal
Brad Salem, MSU's quarterbacks coach since 2013, will become the Spartans' new offensive coordinator. (Photo: DAVE WASINGER / Lansing State Journal file photo)
Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch gives his initial thoughts on Mark Dantonio making changes to his offensive coaching staff, all of them in house.
With his program on the line, Dantonio banks on his guys, in different roles
EAST LANSING – By Mark Dantonio’s standards, this is a seismic change — shuffling his entire offensive staff, coordinators through position coaches. Dantonio hasn’t done anything close to this in his 12 years as Michigan State’s head coach.
Here’s what went down Thursday: Dave Warner is out as play-caller and co-offensive coordinator, moving back to his pre-2013 position as quarterbacks coach. QBs coach Brad Salem becomes offensive coordinator. Jim Bollman, formerly the co-coordinator and tight ends coach, takes over the offensive line. Offensive line coach Mark Staten becomes tight ends and special teams coach. Freshman and assistant defensive backs coach Don Treadwell is now MSU’s receivers coach, with Terrence Samuel now working with the DBs.
No new voice on the staff. But a new voice coordinating the offense and calling the plays, and new voices leading each position group. Dantonio believes in his guys. That’s no secret. That’s clear again with this reorganization. He doesn’t think he has bad coaches on his staff. This, however, is an acknowledgement that last year’s meager production offensively and poor performance by the offensive line simply won’t do.
If it works, it’s a great move. If it doesn’t, fans will lose faith in Dantonio. And probably should. The evidence says change is needed, he reshuffled. He’s betting his legacy on his guys — that he’s got the right guys to fix this, just in the wrong roles for this situation.
Good leadership isn’t always popular. None of us know if this will work out. If it does, however, it raises questions about why Salem’s voice wasn’t a larger part of things earlier.
Dantonio made it clear Thursday evening that he doesn’t have much of an outside rolodex for an offensive coordinator hire. He said it would take him a month to make one and if he turned the keys over to someone he didn’t trust and it didn’t work, he’d be irate. He’d rather go at it with guys he believes in and likes, for better or worse.
“I’m a foxhole guy. I don’t apologize for that in any respect,” Dantonio explained of keeping his guys and moving them around during a press conference. “We’ve been good on one side of the ball. We need to be better on the other.
“I really don’t want to start the process over again and bring in some unknown guy with some unknown staff. … I don’t think the situation warrants that.”
Dantonio has to let Brad Salem loose and hope he’s the answer
I still believe this offensive staff could use some fresh, outside influence. But Salem is an interesting choice, because he’s as outsider as it gets on this offensive staff, a 2011 hire, who came from Division-II Augustana College in South Dakota, where he was a successful head coach. He’s called his own offense, a spread offense, I’m told. Don’t count on MSU’s offensive philosophy changing too much. This will be a pro-style attack as long as Dantonio is in East Lansing, I think. But perhaps Salem will be a natural fit as a play-caller and bring new concepts that, for some reason, MSU didn’t previously explore. Dantonio has to let him loose. Let him try. There’s a lot riding on it.
“He’s got a very innovative, creative mind,” Dantonio said.
Jim Bollman did this role well at Ohio State
Jim Bollman was a highly regarded offensive line coach at Ohio State for a decade. MSU’s O-line group hasn’t gotten a consistent push or protected well enough over the last three seasons. A change here wasn’t entirely unexpected. Dantonio likes Staten. But the proof is in the production and development of players and, for the last few years, neither was there. Bollman was a part of that, working hand in hand with Staten as the tight ends coach, Dantonio said Thursday. I don’t know if this change is what makes the difference. I think recruiting there is the larger issue.
“I put my faith in the people I know. And that’s the direction we’re going to go,” Dantonio said.
“Other people want change all the time. I believe in continuity.”
His way has mostly worked at MSU, beyond MSU’s wildest dreams. His offenses, though, have been up and down over 12 years. There’s reason to doubt him on that side of the ball.
He’s earned the right to do it his way again. He’s got to be right.
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McConnell says that FBI's Kavanaugh report won't be used as a delay in confirmation vote
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that the release of an FBI report on allegations against Brett Kavanaugh will not "be used as another reason for delay" in the Senate's consideration of the nomination and vowed that there will be a vote this week.
In response to a question about how long senators will have to review the FBI findings prior to a vote, McConnell said at a news conference, "It shouldn't take long ... they'll read it as quickly as they can. But that will not be used as another reason for delay. I can tell you that."
McConnell added, "What I can tell you with certainty is we will have an FBI report this week and we will have a vote this week."
The FBI has not yet completed an investigation into allegations facing Kavanaugh, but is expected to complete its inquiry this week. The investigation was initiated at the direction of the White House after a request by Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who called for the inquiry last week with the backing of fellow GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins.
It remains unclear exactly when the FBI will conclude its review, however, and when the report will available to senators.
Flake called for the investigation after Christine Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh's first public accuser, told the Senate Judiciary Committee in emotional testimony last week that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a social gathering in the early 1980's. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations against him.
McConnell indicated on Tuesday that when the FBI report will not be made public, saying, "it will be made available to each senator and only senators will be allowed to look at it."
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer outlined a series of requests on Tuesday that are at odds with McConnell's proposed plan, including that the report be made public.
Schumer said that the results of the FBI investigation "should be released publicly with any personal information redacted," and called on the White House to "publicly release the directive to the FBI so we can clear up once and for all the scope of their background check investigation."
Schumer also emphasized that he wants there to be "a briefing of all the senators from the agent in charge of the investigation before the vote."
"We need to be briefed by the FBI. By the agent in charge ... on the extent of the investigation before there is a vote," Schumer said.
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The Cotswolds are characterised by a landscape of gently rolling hills (wolds), lovely countryside and beautiful honey coloured stone used for most of the buildings and the dry stone walls which wander around field boundaries and gardens.
The Cotswolds contains famous cities such as Bath with its Roman remains and baths, towns like Cheltenham, famous for its wonderful architecture and world famous horse racing festival. There are hundreds of delightful villages such as Burford and Broadway, Stow-on-the-Wold, The Slaughters, Moreton-in-Marsh, timeless and beautiful, where virtually all the buildings are built using the local honey-coloured limestone. Used for everything from the stone floors to the tiles on the roofs, the stone ensures a delightful uniformity of architecture, giving this area its unique charm and appeal.
The Cotswolds are an officially designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, created in 1966 and the largest in England and Wales, made up from parts of the English Counties of Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Somerset and stretching from Stratford upon Avon in the north to beyond Bristol and Bath in the south.
Cotswolds accommodation
Pubs with rooms, self catering holiday cottages, hotels, apartments, b&b's and more in the Cotswolds
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My Life in Boats, Fast and Slow
My Life in Boats, Fast and Slow quantity
SKU: 1419 Category: Off the Common Books Author: Andrew Larkin
Andrew Larkin graduated from the 25th grade with a degree in medicine, and then spent another 25 years working. He was freed, not far from The Shire, in Northampton, Massachusetts. He is in recovery from workaholism, and enjoying life. To his astonishment he has found that his life today has recapitulated his life in boarding school in many ways. He does not watch television or listen to the radio. He exercises regularly rowing and walking. He spends his time reading. He enjoys naps. His interest in chemistry has morphed into home-economics; he enjoys baking and cooking. His friends say his home looks like a college dorm. He is happily married. She lives in a house across town, which he visits frequently. He mows her lawn with a scythe.
Thomas Weil, Curator of National Rowing Museum:
My Life in Boats, Fast and Slow, by Andy Larkin, is an appealing memoir, an indispensable rowing history and a lyrical paean to river boating. As memoir, it flows from the boyhood of a doctor’s son through the cultural turmoil of the late 1960’s into the calmer waters of late middle age, evoking memories of times and places which will be familiar to many of its readers. As good writing, it resonates particularly in Larkin’s descriptions of his solo sculling journeys in recent years on New England waters. As history, it provides a heretofore unseen perspective of life at the top of the sport’s pyramid – Larkin was a multiple Sprints champion and an Olympian – from the early years of Harry Parker’s reign at the helm of Harvard rowing. This first-person narrative offers a unique view of how some of the issues that roiled the 1968 Olympics – and remain unresolved a half-century later – were used to malign one of our country’s greatest collegiate teams.
Peter Mallory, Author, The Sport of Rowing Leander Club, the First 200 Years
Oh my! Andy Larkin has such a fertile mind, such curiosity, such a keen eye for observation, and takes such delight in details. Many of the rowing stories he tells have been familiar to me, but as I read My Life in Boats, I realized that I knew them but I had not experienced them. Now I have.
Andy is an idealist, a man of conscience, a man of perspective.
He is also a philosopher. “I was struck how much rowing was like life. You were not sure where you were going, but you could tell where you had been, but that view faded with time.”
One must go back to George Pocock to find a member of our extended rowing family who has described the metaphysical wonders of rowing with such depth of feeling and sensitivity as Andy Larkin.
Kathy Keeler, Stroke Olympic Gold Medal Eight, 1984, widow of Harry Parker
I enjoyed reading My Life in Boats, Fast and Slow. I have been around the sport of rowing and the people that Andy Larkin wrote about for years but to read what was going on in his mind during these events adds to the history. You really get the sense of all the dimensions that went into making the 1968 Olympic Boat and then the distractions both mental and physical that many of the oarsmen were dealing with as the Games themselves happened. They performed admirably despite all that. (I had never seen the piece that Harry Parker wrote post 1968 Olympics which was such a vivid explanation of how hard and focused the crew had been during that whole year.)
But the part of the book that I really enjoyed was Andy’s adventures down the Connecticut River in an Alden. You really get to see that river in a new light. Those of us who have rowed in various locations along the Connecticut don’t often slow down enough to enjoy the true beauty of the place. Andy’s adventures go from bucolic to harrowing, but his perseverance in these journeys were wonderful to read about.
Dave Zirin, co-author The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment that Changed the World, Sports Editor The Nation Magazine.
This book not only offers us the full story of the 1968 Olympics, but it is a meditation on a sport that I, for one, know way too little. I was educated and enthralled.
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What’s in Your (Crypto) Wallet?
Building Tomorrow Podcast – 39 min 4 sec – Jul 5, 2018 – Episode 2 of 56
This week, we discuss cryptocurrency and security.
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Welcome to Building Tomorrow!
How Smart are 'Smart Contracts'?
This week, we discuss cryptocurrency and security. There was a hack recently of a digital currency storage site. We’ll talk a little bit about what that means, what cryptocurrency ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ wallets are, what happens if you lose your password, and the sometimes surprising lengths to which major cryptocurrency owners have gone to secure their holdings. (Warning: Severed fingers make an appearance.)
00:00 Paul: Welcome to Building Tomorrow. I’m your host Paul Matsco, and with me today…
00:05 Will Duffield: Will Duffield, a research assistant in speech and internet policy.
00:10 Aaron Powell: I’m Aaron Powell, I’m director and editor of libertarianism.org.
00:14 Matthew Feeney: And I’m Matthew Feeney, the director of Cato’s project on emerging technologies.
00:19 Paul: Thanks for joining me today, guys. Today, we’re gonna talk about cryptocurrency and security. There was a hack recently of a digital currency storage site. We’ll talk a little bit about what that means, what cryptocurrency wallets are, the difference between hot and cold wallets. So a lot of topics to get to, but before we dive into the particulars, let’s explain for our listeners what cryptocurrency security means. When you say you own some Bitcoin, you own Ethereum, or any one of these other cryptocurrencies. How are they supposed to be secured in theory?
00:56 Aaron Powell: So I guess you have a… Your currency resides in a wallet and a wallet is just a set of two numbers. Two long numbers. One is the public address of the wallet. So that’s where, if people wanna send you money, they punch in, send it to this address. And, the other one is your private basically pass code. And so, if you want to send money from your wallet, you have to have access to your private pass code. The security thing comes in that anyone who has access to your pass code can take all of the money out of your wallet instantly, and there’s no way for you to get it back and it’s very hard to trace where it went, if not impossible. And so, the security part comes in with, “What do you do with this pass code?” It’s too long for most of us to memorize.
01:52 Paul: ‘Cause it’s what? 64 characters or something like that?
01:55 Aaron Powell: I guess I don’t know how long it is.
01:58 Matthew Feeney: I think it can… I’m not sure the exact figure, it’s long. No human’s gonna be able to… Well, very few are gonna be able to memorize it.
02:03 Aaron Powell: People with those memory castles, whatever they are.
02:05 Matthew Feeney: Right, right.
02:06 Aaron Powell: And so, if you forget it, though, you’re out of luck. The funds in your wallet are locked away forever and ever, and there’s nothing that can be done about it. If someone steals it, you’re out of luck. So, the question of security is: Where do you put these things? How do you keep them secure in such a way that other people can’t get them, but they’re accessible to you in order to use and you’re not going to forget them?
02:30 Paul: So, I suppose we should remind our listeners, maybe don’t make your crypto password, “Password.” Right? You wanna [chuckle] set it to something a little more complex. What were you gonna say Matt?
02:44 Matthew Feeney: Oh, I was just gonna say that what’s been interesting about the last year, I suppose, has been this renewed interest in cryptocurrencies that seems to be very well correlated with the price of Bitcoins which has exploded in value. Although it seems to be on a bit of a nose dive at the moment. And you’ve seen these exchanges set up. Probably the most common at least in the United States is Coinbase. But the interesting irony about these big exchanges is that it’s not actually… When you’re using these exchanges, you’re not owning the Bitcoin in a sense. It’s Coinbase saying, “Here’s an ‘I owe you’.” Thus in the crypto community you’ll hear, “If it’s not your key, it’s not your Bitcoin.” Right? That you made. But this is an example of people trading… Well, doing a balancing act between security and convenience which is… Actually if you want to own the key and not use Coinbase and not use these exchanges, you’ve got to be very careful by yourself on how you secure these assets. And some people are willing just to have Coinbase handle a lot of their crypto.
03:52 Will Duffield: So which crypto users are tending to use these exchanges rather than storing it themselves? What’s the breakdown of…
04:02 Matthew Feeney: Well, I think… My guess is, so I haven’t seen any survey on it, but my guess is that people who are somewhat on the perif… Just getting started quite like Coinbase because it’s a cool way to keep track of the price of the most popular crypto assets. It’s easy to use. You quickly link up a bank account. The people who tend to be very wary of these things are people who have at least from what I’ve seen, been in the space a long time. They understand the cryptography, they understand the technology, and they know that Coinbase is one scary letter away… One scary IRS letter away from shutting down effectively. And that should, I think, worry more people who are using it.
04:40 Paul: Now it’s kind of striking to me that as we describe what something like Coinbase is, how similar it is to Fiat currency. Right? Where essentially… At least in theory. Not fully Fiat, where there’s nothing backing it other than trust in the government. But, the old style system, like a, well, a gold based system back in the day where you used to have to trade in bullion. Your Spanish pieces of eight. It was silver or gold. That was what your currency was. That was really inconvenient to carry all that on your person. It’s easily stolen. So instead, you deposit that in some kind of central repository, a bank, eventually the federal government, the federal reserve, there’s Fort Knox, there’s gold. We issue an “I owe you,” a piece of paper. What’s striking me is, this really is…
05:28 Will Duffield: I mean, you can compare it to the Scottish free banking system in a sense there. Where you have a commodity bank that holds the underlying commodity and you’re issued some kind of script.
05:40 Matthew Feeney: The irony of all of this is, of course, when Bitcoin first emerged, one of its big selling points was, “We shouldn’t have these big powerful institutions that are controlling our currency and finance and everything. What about this great decentralized system. Wouldn’t that be preferable?” And now you have these big giant institutions like Coinbase emerging, which are acting in very similar ways, which is a strange irony.
06:03 Aaron Powell: I don’t know if that’s necessarily a fair characterization. So let me take a stab at defending these large exchanges. So, a centralized money system and the stuff that upsets people who thought that we needed cryptocurrencies for a decentralized system. So the stuff that upsets them about it is first, the government control of the money supply, the ability of them to inflate it and the money simply being a product of the government. The government is the one in charge of all this.
06:35 Matthew Feeney: True Fiat currency. Yep.
06:35 Aaron Powell: Neither of those apply to cryptocurrencies.
06:40 Matthew Feeney: So that’s totally fair.
06:42 Aaron Powell: But even then, the centralization issue, one of the issues that we have is that you have to be… You have to basically get approval from the government to be a big player in the Fiat currency space. You… If you’re gonna do electronic transfers of money or you’re gonna use your credit cards, those are through just a handful of centralized things and a new entrant can’t really come into that market in a meaningful sense. Neither of those are true about these exchanges. So you can put your money in Coinbase but you can still send that money across this network that is not owned by Coinbase to anyone else who is on that network. You don’t need Coinbase’s approval ‘cause they… Coinbase will just send it to an address that you give them. You can switch out of it very easily. So it’s large in the sense that a lot of people use it for convenience sake and for security’s sake, but it doesn’t feel large in the sense of having out sized power over the market and network.
07:49 Will Duffield: It’s not an issuing authority in any sense.
07:51 Matthew Feeney: So in my earlier comment, I didn’t mean to characterize Coinbase as, I don’t know the Bank of America of crypto. It clearly is mutt and I’m on coin net, I think a fan of institutions like Coinbase ‘cause they’ve been really good at getting people into the space and in fact, because I’ve been in the libertarian world for so… I was initially a skeptic of cryptocurrencies and I was badgered by so many gold bugs to get involved in all this that I eventually bought a little bit of Bitcoin using Coinbase because it was easy years ago and it was only more recently when I logged back in to check what the actual value of this was that I thought this is worth worrying about and looking a bit more into the security. So clearly it was one of the most downloaded apps last year, wasn’t it, the Coinbase app?
08:37 Aaron Powell: Like it hit number one or two on the App Store.
08:39 Matthew Feeney: Right, so for people who are interested in the space, that clearly, I think it’s good news but we should still remain aware that people using it just don’t have as much control over the asset as they would if they used Cold Wallets or other method.
08:54 Paul: This is actually a good transition moment. So you just mentioned Cold Wallets Matthew, so for our listeners, there are Cold Wallets and Hot Wallets when it comes to these exchanges, your Cold Wallet is the offsite, hard… Non-digital storage medium, it is… Sometimes you have a USB Key to access it. You don’t want to be plugged in, it’s not easily immediately accessible online, it’s separate from the digital infrastructure. The Hot Wallet is, what is readily accessible. The comparison I’ve heard made is checking account versus savings account but even that’s probably not enough distance ‘cause your savings account is still these days online and accessible.
09:43 Aaron Powell: It’s like checking account versus a safe deposit box.
09:46 Paul: Versus the bank vault. Yeah. How does this cold versus hot wallet thing play into the recent hack of specifically Coincheck? I think it was $30 million was stolen from Coincheck. What’s that being stolen from or the $64 million from NiceHash last December? Mt. Gox lost $450 million. So, it’s one of those things where… My understanding, I don’t know about Mt. Gox, that Coincheck, it was 30% of everything on Coincheck which is a South Korean exchange. It was basically everything in their Hot Wallet, which meant they were carrying 30% of their assets in what was essentially a relatively easy to access low security relative.
10:36 Will Duffield: And was this a technological hack or some kind of social engineering gambit? What tends to be the vector of attack on all of these exchanges?
10:46 Aaron Powell: In most of these it’s a technological hack and so it’s gonna be those Hot Wallets because if you want… If you’re a big organization and you want people being able to buy and sell cryptocurrency through you at a rapid clip, then these Cold Wallets, these offline wallets as you know, so basically, a private key written on a piece of paper in a vault somewhere or stored in a computer that’s not connected to the internet in a vault somewhere. It’s inconvenient to get money in and out of that because someone’s gotta figure out… You gotta go down there and get the key and enter that whole thing. So you wanna keep a significant portion of the money that’s in your system in these hot wallets which are connected to the internet so that you can move money around quickly when people want it. And so that’s, in a lot of cases, that’s what’s getting stolen is those wallets. There’s hacking in and they’re getting access to it or they’re somehow getting access to… They’re hacking the website and getting access to people’s passwords when they’re entering them.
11:48 Matthew Feeney: There’s a lot of key stroke, where they basically will track your key strokes.
11:52 Aaron Powell: So the cold storage is much safer and so they keep a lot of it… The larger reserves are stored in there. And the only way you would get that is either through… Is through say social engineering, like you talk someone into giving you access, who has access to those, or someone on the inside decides to steal, someone who does have access decides they wanna steal it, or you do…
12:17 Will Duffield: Some kind of Ocean’s 11…
[overlapping conversation]
12:19 Aaron Powell: Ocean’s 11 and break into the vault thing.
12:21 Paul: That’s a future movie, definitely. Yeah, right.
12:24 Matthew Feeney: So you do get significant advantages with cold wallets, if you are using it yourself, but it also comes with a lot of risks, of course, ‘cause the security is up to you. So if you forget your pin code, there isn’t a bitcoin.com that you can call, right? So, if I lose my debit card I can call up the bank and they’ll ask for some ID verification and then they’ll issue a new one, or if I forget my pin code, they’ll go through a similar system. This was highlighted by… For my money, one of the best pieces of non-fiction writing in the recent years, which was an article written by Frank Frauenfelder, who wrote a Wired article titled: “I Forgot My PIN: An Epic Tale of Losing $30,000 in Bitcoin.”
13:10 Matthew Feeney: And it’s a… It’s an incredible piece of writing. I think… The tension really builds, and it’s a couple of thousand words. He got one of these cold wallets Trezor, which is one of the most popular models and you access it with a pin code, that he forgot and he also lost, or more accurately, I think his housekeeper threw away the 24-word backup list that can help you recover the wallet. And Trezor has this great security feature, which is every time you put in a wrong pin code it doubles the amount of time you have to wait before trying again, so, you wait 10 seconds and then you have to wait 20, and then 40 and very quickly you realize you’ll have to be waiting months before trying it again.
13:52 Will Duffield: So at some point, it’s inheritance only.
13:55 Matthew Feeney: Yeah, and so, he came up to, he said, by the 31st try it would be 34 years…
14:00 Aaron Powell: Right.
14:02 Matthew Feeney: The wait, yeah. And what’s amazing about this is, it does a good job of showing that you better do a lot of, I guess, security yourself to make sure that things like this cannot happen, because there are horror stories all over the Internet of people accidentally throwing out hard drives, or people forgetting their passwords, and for some of these people there’s literally hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars that are just in dumpster somewhere.
[chuckle]
14:28 Aaron Powell: So, this brings up kind of interesting parallel to government and theories of government, because… So one of the most popular theories of how we get to the state is the state of nature, and the state of nature is as Thomas Hobbes called it, our lives they are, “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” which I always thought it would make a great name for a Gary Coleman bio.
[laughter]
14:53 Aaron Powell: But you then… But that’s bad, we don’t wanna live that way. It’s too… The risk’s inherent in everything we do in our lives are…
15:01 Paul: Speak for yourself Aaron.
15:03 Aaron Powell: Sure. Are hard, more than we want to deal with, and so, we band together and give up some of our rights, give up some of our freedom for additional security. And what we’ve got here is, the cold wallets that you keep yourself are ultimately a state of nature, in a sense. Like you… They are high risk in this way, like you can’t… They’re unforgiving. And if you… If something wrong, if something goes bad, it goes very, very bad. But that’s the… But you’ve got maximum freedom, you’re not being controlled by anyone, you have total control over your money. The network can’t be controlled by anyone, so you can do anything on it that you want to. So, it’s a… It’s that kind of… It’s financial anarchism. But then a lot of people say, look, that state of nature sounds not so great to me, ‘cause I could lose it all, I could screw it up somehow.
16:08 Aaron Powell: And so, I’m going to give up some of my freedom, some of my ability to do what I want with my money as quickly as possible, give up some of my money, ‘cause these places charge fees to enter into a social contract with Coinbase. And so, it raises… There’s… You see, really indignant like crypto enthusiasts, like the ideologically motivated crypto enthusiasts. People who got into this stuff because they have libertarian political views and they want to escape the state and embrace crypto-anarchism and whatever else. Just really looking down on people who would use something like Coinbase or something, where you don’t own your own private key.
16:49 Will Duffield: ‘Cause they’re accepting the bad… The threat of a bad sovereign as they do in other areas of their life, in a way that rankles the anarchist.
17:00 Matthew Feeney: So I think, the risks associated with Coinbase, I wanna emphasize that I’m not worried that Coinbase is going to be the target of some kind of Ocean’s 11 heist. I do think from what little I understand that Coinbase does a pretty good job at keeping this sensitive information stored under lock and key. My worry is, when the SEC or the IRS or someone decides that they don’t like Coinbase, then you’re out of control… In an anarchist world, there’s of course no, I guess, principled objection to something like Coinbase, right? Which is well, I’m forgetful, I’m definitely gonna lose this piece of paper and I judge the risk of a hack to be really low with Coinbase, so yeah, I’ll use it. And listeners, should I think just download these kind of apps, specially Coinbase just to see if nothing else how easy it is. And it’s kind of amazing that it used to be something just for mathematicians and cryptographers and geeks. Now it’s just really easy to use.
18:00 Paul: Well, it’s a cool example of spontaneous organization, which is a favorite libertarian principle; that we have individuals who are solitary, who are facing shortage in wants and scarcity, banding together to create new orders, new institutions. So, to me, that’s actually exciting. I suppose I’m not a hardcore crypto-anarchist. I think it’s cool when you organize something like that. The alternative is, of course, the central authority organizing something like that for you in order to make you legible, so the state can see you. So, there is the possibility, I think, as you’re alluding to here, Matthew, that at some point state can say, “Hey we don’t like the fact that cryptocurrency is by its very nature illegible; very hard for us to read. And so how can we tax it? How can we regulate it? How can we police it and its users?” And that’s a legitimate concern.
19:00 Paul: But there are a couple of articles that you guys shared today. People going to kind of extreme lengths when it comes to creating these new institutions and orders. One was a bunker. It’s from an article by Tom Metcalf for Bloomberg, “The Wealthier Hoarding $10 billion of Bitcoin in bunkers,” which, you have to go check out the… When you read the article, there is a picture of one of the bunkers, and it’s like a Swiss military installation that’s been demilitarized. And there’s a giant steel vault door the person’s hauling open, and that’s where the cold wallets are being stored for wealthy investors.
19:42 Paul: It’s quite a striking picture. But my favorite paragraph from it is this: “Every part of their DNA,” this is the users of… The people who are storing their cold wallets, “is geared to security, said Sean Clark, First Block’s founder. Who noted the vault’s fingerprint scanners were equipped with a pulse reader, to prevent amputated hands from being used. Whenever we make big transfers, they FaceTime us and we have duress words, which like if you’re kidnapped. If it’s big enough, they’ll fly out to see us. So think about the chain of security measures there. At one point they said, “Okay, we just need the password.” And that’s a hard thing to get because it’s off-line, it’s this whole complicated thing that no one has memorized, so you have to get access to this physical password. Well, that’s not good enough, if that’s stolen, if it’s stolen from you.
20:31 Paul: Then they said, “Well, okay, so we’ll have a fingerprint scanner, so we know it’s you.” And then someone said, “Oh, what if they chop off your hand and bring it and scan your dead thumb?”. “Okay well, we’ll put a pulse reader on it. And if you have the pulse reader, we know it’s not a dead hand. It has to be alive. And then, “Well, but what happens if you’re still alive, but they have a gun to your back or something while you call in and have your thumb on the reader?” “Well, we’ll have duress words, so you can signal: ‘hey, the pineapple is in the tree.’ ‘Oh, they said pineapple. We’re not gonna let them make the transfer!’” It’s actually quite a fascinating example of how far this institution’s building is going. It also makes me wonder the practicability of this for most users. This is one thing if this is a place…
21:19 Will Duffield: These aren’t most users. These the are the users who would in other markets be using a Swiss bank account to store something.
21:29 Matthew Feeney: Well, maybe not for billionaires, but Trezor, which is one of the wallets I discussed earlier, has an interesting solution to what some people refer to as the “$5 wrench problem.” Which is: You can have one of the best passwords around. You can have vaults, and all the rest of it, but when someone has dragged you into an alley and is bashing you over the head with a $5 wrench, demanding your password, then all that security flies out of the way. So Trezor, for example, allows you just to set up as many account as you want on the one device. So you can have one sort of dummy account for muggings, which has quite a bit of money in it, but it’s definitely not your full amount, so that you can give out the fake password to it. But this is a worry, and there have been stories of people being kidnapped and people asking for ransoms in Bitcoin.
22:20 Will Duffield: Just earlier this week, three members of a Bronx biker gang were charged in a two and a half million dollar crypto kidnapping heist. They tossed somebody in a van and took off with them.
22:36 Paul: Yeah, and it’s not that…
22:36 Will Duffield: Driving around for a few hours at gunpoint till they turned over all of the accounts.
22:46 Paul: It would be fair to point out that, look, this is a non-unique harm. Kidnappings already happen, right? Like you take the heir of the Getty Foundation. They just made a movie out of this a year or two ago. And mailed his thumb or a finger back and say, “Hey pay me the ransom in cash or else.” I think the rejoinder would be: Yes, this is worrisome, but is it really any different than a non-cryptocurrency-based system? Is this a unique or an exaggerated threat, compared to the status quo?
23:16 Will Duffield: I think there is a slight exaggeration of the threat given the medium. It’s much harder to track and recoup losses. Traditionally, they catch the kidnappers when someone goes to make the money drop. There isn’t a money drop in this.
23:35 Matthew Feeney: Well, it depends on how smart the criminals are. One of the things that I think will actually make cryptocurrencies more mainstream is when governments realize that actually it’s not anonymous, and that you can track this stuff. If you are relatively skilled at Financial Forensics and you’re examining blockchain transactions you can figure out where… Now, there are methods that smart people can use to disguise transactions, but you’d have to be pretty knowledgeable about this.
24:11 Will Duffield: How much do borders matter there, if you’re sending this stuff all around the world?
24:17 Matthew Feeney: Very little, but there are international law enforcement efforts.
24:21 Paul: Interpol will save us. [laughter]
24:23 Matthew Feeney: Yeah, Interpol will save us. Yeah. No, we should expect more of these stories, but I think as Paul mentioned, that this isn’t a unique problem to cryptocurrency. And as it becomes more common, law enforcement will try and figure out ways [chuckle] to track it down.
24:40 Aaron Powell: Law enforcement will try to figure out ways. And the various companies, the various players in the crypto space will figure out better and better ways to prevent this sort of stuff happening. It might not need to be as elaborate and macabre as amputated hands and whatnot. But there’s a lot of media frenzy around this stuff. These heist make very good stories. This is new tech. That’s very weird tech, that also has a lot of… Let’s call ‘em, out-sized characters involved in it, and so it’s fun to report on. And we’re also in the incredibly early stages of this tech. This is like looking at the internet in 1990, or so.
25:23 Will Duffield: Every gold rush is exciting.
25:28 Aaron Powell: The space is going to get more boring.
25:30 Will Duffield: And that’s a good thing?
25:31 Aaron Powell: It’s a good thing. It’s gonna get boring because it’s gonna get settled down. And as more people have this stuff, you won’t know like, “Oh well, this guy. We know this guy is a Bitcoin guy, so we’re gonna go kidnap him.” Because everyone will be a Bitcoin guy, and the security will be better. There are real concerns here, but they will be mitigated fairly quickly.
25:52 Paul: Well, the historical corollary, this reminds me of, I was thinking about this earlier. It’s a pre-Federal Reserve, pre-National Bank, pre-Jacksonian. It’s like the 1820s and ’30s, when you had a whole network of dozens, even as many as hundreds of banks, all essentially running their own private currencies. So you would have… Your cash was secured by a deposit in the Bank of New York, or in… And at that time, there was a… It’s a new system, it’s a new form of fiat currency backed by deposits in these individual banks. It led to a lot of currency speculation. It led to a lot of arguably a bubble in investment, but ultimately there’s a whole complicated economic history literature on this phase of financial regulation, of financial industry.
26:49 Paul: It actually ended kind of up working. It gets superseded by the debates over a national bank and someday the Federal Reserve. But for most of American history, the balance of American history, there is no federal reserve or even a national bank. But there’s a lot of instability at first. The point here is that there is a lot of turnover in these banks, a lot of them fail, but over time it gets routinized. People get used to the system. They figure out who the good actors are, for every bank that falls, there’s one that persists, that builds consumer trust. We are in that kind of moment right now, but it’s something that we’re actually accelerating through more quickly. The cycles happen more quickly in a digital world. So we’ve already gotten that initial burst of speculation, that kind of irrational or hubristic boom in the price of, say, Bitcoin. We might be actually getting on the other side of that now though. The speculators, the enthusiast, well, it’s now being routinized. Normal investors are creating ways to create index funds for Bitcoin. It’s becoming more standardized.
28:10 Will Duffield: I don’t know if we are all the way there yet. We had Dennis Rodman wearing a PotCoin t-shirt, taking up a lot of time on CNN for the weekend. The marketing gimmicks are still fairly outlandish.
28:24 Paul: Or Steve Bannon, the deplore coin. I just saw it.
28:27 Will Duffield: A what?
28:27 Matthew Feeney: Yeah, that’s a new…
28:28 Will Duffield: Really?
28:29 Matthew Feeney: Yeah. I think that was in a New York Times article written by Nathaniel Popper, who wrote a book I have yet to read called Digital Gold, which people rave about, but he’s…
28:37 Will Duffield: It’s a lot of fun. It’s a [28:37] ____ terrific book.
28:38 Matthew Feeney: Yeah, I guess it would be fair to call him “The Time’s crypto reporter.” So yeah, interesting [chuckle] stuff.
28:44 Aaron Powell: I will say, I think that… To some extent we’ve been saying, this will all get better as this space looks more like our traditional financial space, in terms of the kinds of institutions and all of that. But I will say that I remain fairly… My interest in this field is not in the… I’m not a monetary economist. The financial stuff is not what really grabs me. It’s the possibilities of using this to advance a freer world that inspires me. And in that regard, I remain really optimistic even as things become normalized. And we get stodgy conservative institutions, running and participating the space and so on, because the underlying technology remains the same.
29:38 Paul: Yeah.
29:38 Aaron Powell: And that underlying technology is accessible to anyone. The fundamentals of this network, you can download onto your phone, and run it by yourself, and it’s easy to do. Anyone would spend 20 minutes reading about it and you can do it. And so these organizations get powerful. We can have all these things, but at any time, any person who wants to, can just opt out of that system and go back to the Frontier, which you can’t do with our existing… You can take your money, you can take your cash and squirrel it away, but the cash is still traceable, and you’re still participating in this government system that the government ultimately has control over. And as the technology advances, every major cryptocurrency is pursuing ways to make it more anonymous, more private, to cut out the ability of the government to track it even more. So in my core libertarian heart of wanting a world where the state doesn’t have access to us if we don’t want it to. I think that the future is still very bright and this stuff is a really important way to get us there.
30:56 Paul: That’s a great point, and it’s ‘cause… All these things we’re talking about are still non-state action. These are still… There’s this growing network of private exchanges, of private currencies. One of the articles… I think the one who runs the Swiss, the military facility, as a cold wallet storage, Xapo, I think it was called. One of the striking things about the founder who’s from Argentina, is his whole source of getting involved in Bitcoin, cold wallet, cold storage, is the collapse of the Argentinian financial system, where the government was essentially printing money to make up for a gap in the budget, and in effect then, raiding the bank accounts of every Argentinian.
31:48 Paul: It was devaluing the currency and devaluing the savings of ordinary Argentinians, just like over-expropriation. I know, as libertarians, tax is theft, but this didn’t even have the democratic processes that go behind voting on taxes. It was just; we’re gonna inflate the currency to get out of a financial tight spot, and you’re gonna pay for our Argentinian investors, and so what does he do to avoid that kind of state expropriation, state intervention in the currency inflation? He buys Bitcoins. He builds a bunker to store… The cold wallet storage. Again, this is a way for him to get around in the intrusive liberty violating state government, and because we live in a globalized society, an Argentinian can buy a Swiss military installation, and keep his money free from that kind of coercive theft.
32:43 Will Duffield: Speaking specifically to this cold storage model, that seems pretty vulnerable to the state sending some people to crack open your bank vault?
32:54 Aaron Powell: Oh, sure. Just like if you keep your cash at the bank, the state can do that. But it is the speed with which you can opt out of that is very fast. The ability to take… If you have $10 million in a bank account, it’s hard to get that all out and totally off the grid at a rapid pace, whereas you can do it in moments and transfer it into something that then they can’t find and you have all of it and something you carry around in your pocket or in your head. So I think that’s a big difference.
33:26 Will Duffield: I think the preparation analog in thinking about communication security applies here. And that under a traditional banking model, by the time you realize you need to be able to move your money around the world and take it off the grid, it’s already too late, unless you’ve been set up for that. This pre-sets you to make those sorts of moves.
33:52 Paul: Yeah. If you try to move that quantity of money, first of all, you’re going to have to wait over five business days at the minimum for smaller transfers, larger transfers, you have to get essentially, the approval of the bank president, you have to jump through a lot of hoops. And then you’re also… Any movement over a certain dollar threshold gets reported to the government. They’re gonna know you’re trying to move your money, and they are not gonna let you do it in large enough increments to get it all out before there’s a freeze slapped on your account. Where as if your money is in the vault, you are a wealthy investor, you’ve got $10 million dollars in that cold wallet in underground Switzerland, you can fly there in an afternoon, pull your money out, put it in the cold wallet in… I don’t know, the Urals [chuckle] or somewhere else. That’s an advantage of the system. It’s not perfect. It’s not…
34:48 Matthew Feeney: It’s not clear to me. I don’t know enough about Xapo to know about… Are they holding the private keys in these vaults themselves, because it seems to me that in a system where they’re actually just storing devices without the keys, that wouldn’t really matter if the government was at the door because it would still need you to put in either the pin or the pass code, but still easy to move if you had to. Ideally, you want a system where they need to know the contents of your memory [chuckle] in order to access.
35:18 Paul: I don’t think they store… They store like a device, like your treasure. My understanding is they store a device, but they don’t… Xapo wouldn’t have your key.
35:32 Matthew Feeney: Oh, well, if that’s the case, then there wouldn’t be much use of the government even knocking on the door in the first place, ‘cause I will get these devices at.
35:40 Will Duffield: On storing this in your mind, have we seen any, I guess crypto-oriented, either meditation practice services or hypnosis, or other strategies to allow you to remember this key?
35:54 Aaron Powell: They’re probably unconnected, but in roughly the time that cryptocurrencies were really taking off, a number of their books and articles coming out about how to memorize anything, people memorize a deck of cards or so on and so forth. But I do think, I think that the… I’ll go back to just the value of all of this from a libertarian perspective, is to use a term that Paul you used earlier is legibility. That the government wants us to be legible. It wants to be able to see what we’re doing, at any time it turns its eye on us, it wants to be able to have a record of what we’ve done, where our money is, how we got that money, that it can dig through whenever it wants to. And sometimes it says it needs to do that for revenue raising purposes, for investigating criminal activity, but it’s also a mechanism of control, states around the world want their people to be legible for control purposes.
37:01 Aaron Powell: And I think that we… A fundamental human right is to be as illegible as you want to be. And so this system, with all its wards, and with all its odd characters, and with all its risks is still the biggest step that we have seen to-date in taking an extraordinarily large area of our lives, namely our economic activity and moving in a direction where it becomes truly illegible.
37:28 Paul: Well, even if there are ways for the state to access that money, they raid the vault, they take your treasure, they take your USB key, they don’t know what’s on it, right? I think you’re right, the key gain here is making you more illegible to the state. They could take it, there’s a way in they can expropriate it, but they don’t know what’s on there until they do so, that itself has a great deal of benefit.
38:01 Will Duffield: So James C Scott’s next book will be “Crypto Tribe Value Tribe.”
38:05 Paul: Well, thanks guys for coming in and talking about cryptocurrency and crypto security, until next week. This is Building Tomorrow.
Paul Matzko
Paul Matzko is the Assistant Editor for Tech and Innovation at Libertarianism.org. He received a PhD in History from Pennsylvania State University in 2016, writing a dissertation on the John F. Kennedy administration’s successful efforts to censor Right-wing radio broadcasters in the 1960s. He has published articles with Presidential Studies Quarterly and Fides et Historia.
Matthew Feeney
Matthew Feeney is a policy analyst at the Cato Institute. Before coming to Cato, Matthew worked at Reason magazine as assistant editor of Reason.com. He has also worked at The American Conservative, the Liberal Democrats, and the Institute of Economic Affairs. Matthew is a dual British/American citizen and received both his B.A and M.A in philosophy from the University of Reading in England.
Will Duffield
Will Duffield is a research assistant at Cato’s First Amendment Project.
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Charles Gordon Miller III
Charles Gordon Miller III died on March 21, 2019 in Brooklyn, NY. He was a Director of Photography and Producer in both motion and still mediums. He worked domestically and internationally for commercial clients such as Vogue, Google, Target, The History Channel, NatGeo and the BBC. He also worked with various NGOs whose subjects varied from the victims of the civil war in Uganda to hurricane relief efforts in Haiti. Charles' first feature documentary, "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" was an official selection at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. He worked on other feature documentary films of which, as an avid baseball fan, his favorite was 'Knuckleball'. His work in television documentaries included such series as First 48 and Dr Jeff. Charles first serious exposure to photography began after purchasing a 35mm camera while a middle school student in Portage, MI. He graduated from John Marshall High School in Rochester, MN. He received his BA from the University of South Florida. Charles enjoyed travel, art, politics, and cooking for others. He brought his love and gentle humor not only to his work but to his life, family and friends. He is survived by a large network of family and friends. A memorial service will be held at Skyridge Church at 394 S Drake Road on April 27th. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to Loaves and Fishes or Heifer International. He is very much loved and missed...
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Limerick could be in line for international ‘sports hub’
Alan Owens
LIMERICK is superbly positioned to develop an international sports hub that could mirror the success of the Irish Financial Services Centre in Dublin, it has been claimed.
While similar tax breaks to those granted to the development of businesses in the IFSC would likely not be available to a sporting centre in Limerick, gathering together the various sporting industries in the region could lead to the development of an International Sports Services Centre, Focus Consulting analyst Mark O’Connell has suggested.
Shannon Development and other local bodies are thought to be at the advanced stages of examining such an idea, the Limerick Leader understands.
Mr O’Connell gave a presentation recently at a conference marking Limerick’s year as European City of Sport, which stressed the existing “sports cluster industry in the Mid-West (would) be the launch pad to having an international sports services centre” in Limerick.
It was claimed at the conference by Shannon Development that sporting fixtures and sports-related activities are now worth €70 million to the economy of the Shannon region, while the city’s year as City of Sport generated an additional €10 million in revenues over 2011.
“You have everything else down here, the infrastructure, the people, the talent, access through the airport. There is still the ability to attract investment to the region,” Mr O’Connell further explained this week.
“It is going to grow legs I think. Some of the local bodies are certainly very interested in developing the idea a bit further. Shannon Development and LIT have expressed an interest, UL would be a natural fit as well. There are so many regional organisations here and people in the area with a direct involvement with the sports industry so why not harness it all together?”
Shannon Development recently unveiled plans to open an office in Limerick next year to capitalise on the Government’s idea of a global Irish homecoming in 2013.
The body said it was determined to get a slice of the action, stating it “has the potential to generate an additional €23 million in revenue for the Shannon region in 2013”.
Eoghan Prendergast, Shannon Development’s Limerick development division manager, confirmed that there are plans to push for an international sports hub to be based in Limerick.
“We will be targeting sports federations and sports business to come and locate in Limerick and run their operations from here,” he said.
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About Lindenwood
Founded in 1827, Lindenwood is a dynamic four-year institution dedicated to excellence in higher education. Our historic campus is situated in the heart of St. Charles, Mo., a growing community of more than 65,000 just west of St. Louis.
We offer 131 degree programs to approximately 10,000 students a year through values-centered programs that lead to development of the whole person. Our faculty, staff, and administration are committed to an integrative curriculum that focuses on the talents, interests, and future of our students. Lindenwood is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Lindenwood University is known nationally and internationally for innovation, entrepreneurship, and extraordinary dedication to students. We believe that education is the way to personal freedom and responsibility, which are the keystones of any democracy. We have a heritage that dates back nearly 200 years. In that time, we have learned how to educate in a way that helps each student become an enlightened, principled citizen of a global community.
Lindenwood is an independent institution firmly rooted in Judeo-Christian values. Those values include belief in an ordered, purposeful universe, the dignity of work, the worth and integrity of the individual, the obligations and privileges of citizenship, and the primacy of truth.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
Lindenwood University is proud of its diverse population of faculty, staff, and students from all corners of the world. We intentionally design our policies in such a manner that all stakeholders (whether students, employees, or visitors) will be treated respectfully, fairly, equitably, and with dignity and inclusiveness in the pursuit and achievement of the objectives of their relationship with the university.
Additionally, we strive to ensure the opportunities afforded by the university for learning, personal advancement, and employment are offered to all without discrimination and that we always provide a safe, supportive, and welcoming environment for all students, employees, and visitors. Upholding a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion means that people of different cultures, races, colors, genders, ages, religions, orientations, affiliations, sexual orientations, socio-economic backgrounds, disabilities, or countries of origin shall not be mistreated or discriminated against on the basis of their differences. Therefore, all Lindenwood policies, facilities, resources, activities, and privileges, irrespective of individual differences, are made available and accessible to everyone in our campus community.
At Lindenwood University, we will strive to
Offer collaborative and integrated academic, co-curricular and sporting programs that provide mutually beneficial experiences to our diverse body of students.
Pursue and promote mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation among our students, teaching and non-teaching staff, contractors, suppliers, and visitors to our community who represent the aforementioned differences.
Encourage and promote the empowerment and advancement of minority groups within our community through academic and social activities, offering activities of special interest to them, and affording them equal-opportunity integration within our community.
Respect the knowledge, skills, and experiences that every person in our community brings to the university.
Design and operate flexible and easily accessible services, facilities, and activities whose procedures appropriately recognize the needs of everyone in our community.
Make every effort to ensure that our current and future contractual agreements and obligations fully reflect and embrace our commitment to the philosophy and culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion as delineated in this statement.
Encourage all faculty and staff members to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our community.
Protect every member of our community against all forms of discrimination.
Policy of Non-Discrimination
Lindenwood University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, religion, disability, veteran status, or other protected status under applicable federal or state law. This policy extends to its admissions, employment, activities, treatment, educational programs, and services.
Lindenwood University is committed to a policy of non-discrimination. Any kind of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or retaliation is unacceptable. For the purpose of this policy, discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or retaliation may be defined as any attempt on the part of individuals, groups, or recognized campus organizations to deny an individual or group those rights, freedoms, or opportunities available to all members of the Lindenwood University community.
The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding Lindenwood University’s non-discrimination policies: Kelly Moyich, Title IX coordinator (636) 255-2275 or Suite 209, LARC and Dr. Shane Y. Williamson, associate vice president for student life & diversity/dean of students (636) 949-4728 or 3030 Evans Commons. Jeremy Keye (636) 949-4510 or jkeye@lindenwood.edu has been designated to handle inquiries regarding Lindenwood University’s disability services. Any person may also direct inquiries to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Lindenwood University is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Notice of Availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report
Lindenwood University is committed to assisting all members of the community in providing for their own safety and security. The annual security and fire safety report is available on the Lindenwood University Office of Public Safety and Security website.
If you would like to receive a hard copy of the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report which contains this information, you can stop by the Office of Public Safety & Security on the 4th floor of the Spellmann Campus Center or you can request that a copy be mailed to you by calling (636) 949-4687.
The report contains information regarding campus security and personal safety including topics such as: crime prevention, public safety authority, crime reporting policies, fire safety, disciplinary procedures and other matters of importance related to security on campus. The report also contains information about fire statistics in Lindenwood Residential Facilities and crime statistics for the three previous calendar years concerning reported crimes that occurred on campus; in certain off-campus buildings or property owned or controlled by Lindenwood; and on public property within, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from the campus.
This information is required by law and is provided by Office of Public Safety and Security.
PublicRelations@lindenwood.edu
Family Day 2019 Scheduled for Sept. 21
Lindenwood University will hold its seventh annual Family Day on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019. Family Day serves as an opportunity for parents, siblings, and extended family members to get to know their students’ friends, interact with senior administration, attend a football game and a fine arts performance, tour campus, and have fun.
Joe Alsobrook Named Dean of Online Programs
Reflecting an increased focus on Lindenwood University’s online degree programs, Dr. Joe Alsobrook, former dean of the School of Arts, Media, and Communications, has been named dean of online programs.
Scholle Film to be Screened at St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase
Ben Scholle, who teaches digital cinema arts at Lindenwood University, was interviewed July 12 on KTVI, Fox 2, about his film, Through the Cracks, which will be screened at 3:15 p.m. on Sunday, July 14, at Washington University’s Brown Hall as part of the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase.
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Lindenwood Receives $280,000 Grant from Mabee Foundation
Lindenwood in the News
Lindenwood University has received a $280,000 matching grant from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation. The Mabee grant will be used to help fund a 43,000-square-foot Student-Athlete Center.
Currently under construction outside Harlen C. Hunter Stadium, the $6.3 million Student-Athlete Center is scheduled to be completed in late 2012. It will feature an academic success center; new locker rooms; and office, athletic training, and clinical spaces.
“It is necessary to expand and upgrade facilities as we move into the competitive NCAA environment,” said James D. Evans, Ph.D., president of Lindenwood University. “It is through the support of donors such as the Mabee Foundation that we will be able to enhance the total collegiate experience directly for hundreds of student-athletes and indirectly for thousands of our general students who benefit from the energy and cohesiveness that intercollegiate athletics engenders on our campus.”
The Mabee grant, coupled with money raised in the LU to DII fundraising campaign and Lindenwood reserve funds, completes the funding for the Student-Athlete Center. The summer of 2011 marked the beginning of Lindenwood’s second year of NCAA candidacy. The university will serve another provisional year before moving to anticipated full membership by the start of the 2013-2014 academic year.
The J. E. and L. E. Mabee Foundation, Inc., a Delaware non-profit corporation, was formed in 1948 by Mr. John E. Mabee and his wife, Lottie E. Mabee. The purpose of the foundation is to aid Christian religious organizations, charitable organizations, and institutions of higher learning, hospitals, and other organizations of a general charitable nature.
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RAAF’s decision on Syria raises more questions than it answers
Greg Colton
The announcement yesterday implies that Australia has decided it no longer has the political will to apply air power in the fight against ISIS in Syria.
An RAAF F/A-18A Hornet aircraft (Photo: Aust Defence Image Library)
Published 21 Jun 2017 12:00 1 Comments
Australia in the World
Follow @colton_gregoryj
Yesterday the Australian government announced the RAAF is temporarily ceasing operations over Syria. Although a Defence spokesman told the ABC that ‘force protection was regularly reviewed’, it is hard not to conclude the move was a response to the US downing of a Syrian jet and the subsequent threat by Russia to track any aircraft west of the Euphrates River with surface-to-air missile systems.
At first glance, this seems to be a sensible approach by Australia. Why risk an aircraft being shot down over Syria in an operation that is not fighting a direct threat to Australia? The material and human costs, in the form of the loss of a multimillion-dollar aircraft and, more importantly, in terms of the aircrew’s lives, do not seem to be worth the payoff of dropping a couple of bombs on ISIS positions.
However, beneath this pragmatism lies a deeper, more important set of questions for Australia. These questions are interwoven, yet can be considered as three parts – material, moral and philosophical – of a larger question: how does Australia seek to utilise lethal force to further its national objectives?
The first part of the question relates to the material cost of achieving national objectives. The RAAF air-to-ground capability in the Middle East is provided by the six F/A 18-F Super Hornets of the Air Task Group (ATG). The RAAF purchased 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets as an interim capability due to delays in the F35 Joint Strike Fighter program, at an assessed cost of more than $6 billion, or about $250 million per aircraft (not including operating costs since). The last report by the Australian National Audit Office into the cost of training aircrew was conducted in 2004, prior to the purchase of the Super Hornets, and estimated it cost $15.2 million to train a combat pilot. That cost will no doubt have gone up since then, and there is also the cost of training the Air Combat Officer who sits in the rear of the Super Hornet. Conservatively speaking, it is reasonable to assess the cost of a Super Hornet and crew over Syria is therefore in excess of $270 million.
So, from a purely financial point of view it is a risk putting that aircraft and crew into a contested airspace. Yet, this in itself is a paradox, for while it would be a fiscal loss if an RAAF aircraft was shot down over Syria, it begs the question as to whether Australia has spent $270 million per platform on a fighter aircraft unable to operate in a modern threat environment.
Ten years ago, when then-Defence Minister Brendan Nelson announced the purchase of the Super Hornets, Peter Criss, former Air Commander Australia, said: 'This thing will not survive in a fight now in our region - now, right now. Not another five years down the track, 10 years down the track. It is a dog'. It would seem at face value that Criss may have been right. If he was wrong, and the Super Hornet is fit for role, then the Russian statement should not be a cause for ceasing operations.
The second part of the question is the moral question: that of putting our aircrew into harm’s way for a threat which is not existential. This is a particularly difficult dilemma. For over a decade Australian Army soldiers were asked to patrol areas in Afghanistan that were high threat: 40 were killed in action and another 262 wounded. Australia currently has Special Forces soldiers advising Iraqi forces battling to recapture Mosul. Over the same period Royal Australian Navy personnel have risked their lives in treacherous conditions to rescue boat people in distress. However, acceptance of mortal danger is part of the contract for all service personnel. While the bravery of RAAF aircrew who fly operations over Iraq and Syria (fully aware of their likely fate should they be forced to eject over ISIS territory) should not be underestimated, the risks they face should also not, in and of itself, be a cause for ceasing operations.
Which leads us to the final of the three questions: the philosophical question. Why has Australia put its air force personnel in harm’s way in Syria? What are the endstates it hopes to achieve in this campaign? Three objectives are commonly stated. First is the defeat of ISIS. It is true that air power assists with this. However, airpower is only part of the solution: a combat enabler. This has been clearly shown in Mosul where air power has been critical but not decisive. The defeat of ISIS will be only be achieved through ground forces, which is why the Iraqi Security Forces have begun a dismounted assault on Old Mosul this week.
This brings us to the second objective of the ATG – supporting ground forces. In the past, the ATG has, as part of the coalition, conducted close air support of allied fighters on the ground. News reports indicate those fighters are still battling ISIS on the ground. Therefore, they presumably still require close air support. A withdrawal from supporting partnered troops on the ground probably means the US Air Force will have to pick up the extra tasks. Which leads us neatly into the third, geo-strategic, objective: supporting the US alliance.
Many have argued the only reason we are really in Syria is because our national security strategy is based on the US underwriting our sovereignty through the ANZUS alliance. Supporting the US in the Middle East is, in effect, an insurance premium. I have more than a little sympathy for this argument. But, US media is already reporting Australia has suspended operations over Syria. If our support for the US in Syria is part of our national security strategy, why back out now?
Military force has no intrinsic value unless accompanied by the political will to apply it. The announcement yesterday implies that Australia has decided it no longer has the political will to apply air power in the fight against ISIS in Syria. This is puzzling, particularly as, in a final twist, it turns out that the RAAF has not conducted any sorties over Syria since February in any case. This makes it all the more baffling as to why the announcement was made in the first place.
2017 Lowy Institute Poll: Australians say global engagement and US alliance are safe – for now
Georgia's voters give Republicans a shot in the arm
Alexandre Dayant 13 Mar 2019 13:00
Pacific links: faux pas, cricket bats, more
Links and stories from the Pacific Islands region.
Erin Harris 25 Apr 2018 14:00
Pacific links: UK diplomacy, China–Vanuatu relations, and more
Links and updates from across the Pacific islands.
Pacific Island links: PNG's shrinking opposition, Pacific Labour Scheme, choc fest and more
This weeks links also include government limbo in New Caledonia and the new host for the 2019 Pacific Games.
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Self-assessment tax return deadline approaches
January 10 ,2016 | by Claire Payne
More than 10 million tax payers in the UK are required to complete and return their self-assessment tax filing by the end of the month, and almost four million have yet to do so, according to The Guardian.
This time last year, 890,000 taxpayers missed the end of January deadline and incurred a fine of £100 and faced further penalties if they continued to delay.
In fact, the process is relatively straightforward for anyone who is used to filling in any online forms.
An “activation code” from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is all that is needed to start the process, and once requested, takes about seven working days to arrive in the post. This means that anyone who needs a code should apply for one before Thursday 21 January.
Generally speaking, anyone who is self-employed or has a PAYE job but earns money from another source will need to fill in a self-assessment return.
This year, individuals who claimed child benefit and whose income or that of their partner's is more than £50,000 must do a self-assessment. There are also some other requirements for people with a certain level of income from savings or investments.
Because anyone doing a self-assessment return can also claim tax relief against a number of expenses and deductions, it can be beneficial for many to have an accountant prepare the return and even file it on their behalf.
However, for someone with basic and straightforward accounts, there is also plenty of help and advice available online from HMRC that can guide tax payers through the process.
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Dr. Chocolate teaches marketing and the pleasure of food - Macleans.ca
Dr. Chocolate teaches marketing and the pleasure of food
Jordan LeBel is a 3M National Teaching Fellow for 2013
by Ryan Mallough
Professor Jordan LeBel
Jordan LeBel, who began working in kitchens when he was 12 years old, was destined to be a chef. But his parents weren’t so sure. They persuaded him to take a hospitality management course instead, putting him on a career track that would include restaurant reviewer, author, and a renowned chocolate expert who colleagues and students call Dr. Chocolate.
Now LeBel, 44, teaches Concordia’s highly popular, one-of-a-kind food marketing class, where he shares his passion with students. It’s his enthusiasm for his subject—consumer psychology and the pleasure of food—that makes him a favourite among students and one of 10 3M National Teaching Fellows for 2013.
“There is just so much to learn about it from so many different angles,” says LeBel. “I want to open people’s eyes and teach them everything they can learn about food.”
After getting his master’s degree in marketing from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., LeBel taught in Norway. He joined the faculty at Montreal’s Concordia University in 2000 after receiving his Ph.D. from McGill with a thesis about the relationship between pleasure and the consumption of chocolate.
As a professor, LeBel says his first priority is to energize his students. One method he favours is to have small groups take over the first 10 minutes of class to talk about something “hot and new” in the world of marketing.
“It’s a good way for me to take a pulse on what they notice, and often someone will come up with something that I can use to relate that week’s material and make a connection. I’m always looking for a level where I can make a connection and relate to them,” he says.
LeBel also tries to maintain an innovative approach toward class assignments, balancing the necessary exams with more practical and engaging activities. For the past few years he has assigned a term-long group project that concludes with marketing presentations to executives from Canadian food companies. These are among some of LeBel’s proudest moments.
“Last semester I had tears. A few of the teams just hit the nail on the head. I’d put their presentations against any marketing agency in Montreal or Canada.”
It’s seeing his students achieve that makes it easy for LeBel to put teaching first. “We get a lot of pressure to focus on research and it’s very easy to let teaching become something you have to do, but I look at it the other way,” he says. “I learn as much from the students as they do from me. When you approach it like that, a certain magic sets in.”
LeBel looks beyond grades when it comes to his students, which helps him connect on a more personal level. “The point I try to convey to students is that they’re still a human being,” says LeBel. “We’re shaping young minds. They’re individuals and you have to try to relate to them at their level.”
While the fellowship came as a surprise to LeBel, he couldn’t be more grateful. He credits his past professors for inspiring a love of teaching, and his students for challenging him to improve every day.
“It makes me feel like I must be doing something right. I am ecstatic and quite humbled to join in the ranks.”
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Framingham councilors challenge mayor's authority over Nobscot Chapel
Jim Haddadin Daily News Staff @JimHaddadin
Mar 6, 2019 at 8:19 AM Mar 6, 2019 at 3:39 PM
FRAMINGHAM — In a move aimed at stopping the sale of Nobscot Chapel, city councilors will ask an independent government watchdog agency to determine whether Mayor Yvonne Spicer has the authority to decide what happens to the building.
Councilors voted Tuesday to request an advisory opinion from the state inspector general about whether jurisdiction over the sale of the chapel rests with the legislative or executive branch under Framingham’s new form of government.
The question arose as councilors grappled with the pending sale of the building to Nobscot Plaza owner Andy Rose.
"Holding up any improvements in the Nobscot area in order to leverage movement of the Nobscot Plaza has resulted in no progress in the last 20 years,” said Spicer, reading from a prepared statement. “Continuing to own this chapel and the land underneath it does not serve the city or the ultimate path to the redevelopment of the Nobscot Plaza."
Rose, who controls the largely-vacant strip mall in the center of the village, offered the city $50,000 to buy the 19th-century chapel and move it south on Edgell Road. He proposes to transform it into a new food service establishment. In its place, Rose hopes to a construct a new CVS, which would be part of a larger redevelopment of the block.
The pending deal sparked unease among many councilors, who questioned the mayor’s decision to relinquish control of the property. Several said they fear the chapel is the city’s only bargaining chip in its negotiations with Rose over the future of the plaza.
Framingham plaza owner accepts city's terms to buy Nobscot Chapel
Councilors summoned the mayor to their meeting Tuesday, sending her a list of questions about the evolution of the real estate deal and her long-term strategy for Nobscot. After listening to the mayor’s prepared remarks, members voted to seek guidance from the inspector general about whether Spicer has the lawful authority to sell the building.
The question revolves around a 2013 Town Meeting vote that authorized the former Board of Selectmen to dispose of the property. The city's lawyer, who serves at the pleasure of the mayor, found that under the new city charter, decision-making authority over the chapel transferred from selectmen to the city’s new executive, the mayor.
The charter provides that all Town Meeting votes that were in force when the charter took effect remain in full force, unless they are amended, repealed or rescinded by the city, or repealed by the charter, or they expire.
However, several councilors said they perceive a legal gray area, which could theoretically provide a loophole for the city to cancel the bid process. Councilors voted 8-0-1 to seek a legal opinion, with District 2 Councilor Pam Richardson abstaining. Richardson said she has no reason to believe the inspector general will take a position on the council's request, and expressed concern about the council raising legal doubt about the bidding process.
“We're taking a strong position ... indicating a level of concern about a process with the regulatory office that oversees bidding, when I have absolutely no concerns with the process with the RFP being issued, the vetting process and the ... acceptance of the proposal by the one bidder who had submitted a proposal that met all of the requirements of the RFP,” she said. “I have no concern that that process was held in any other way than the correct way that was legally required."
After receiving only two offers in the latest rounding of bidding for the chapel, city officials agreed in February to sell the building to Rose. He accepted the city’s terms on Feb. 20, moving the parties closer to signing a purchase and sale agreement for the 780 Water St. building.
Two visions for Nobscot: Chapel bids promise to reshape village center
Reading written remarks on Tuesday, Spicer reiterated the bidding process was lawful, and said selling the building satisfies the city’s goals of saving it from demolition and allowing a project to redesign the intersection of Water Street and Edgell Road to proceed.
Rose, owner of Centercorp Retail Properties, has also proposed a multimillion-dollar redevelopment of Nobscot Plaza with a mix of apartments and shops. Recent plans included a three-story building along Water Street, with retail on the ground floor and 49 apartments above. At the rear of the property, the existing shopping plaza would be demolished and replaced by a four-story residential building with 117 apartments.
Framingham: Plans to remake Nobscot plaza get mixed reviews
Those plans have yet to materialize, however, leaving the plaza largely vacant.
Jim Haddadin can be reached at 617-863-7144 or jhaddadin@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JimHaddadin
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You've Been Listening to Disco All Year (And You Didn't Even Know It)
Disco was the EDM of '70s music, incredibly popular and broadly loathed. In the late '70s, disco would dominate the charts, inspire a litany of disco remixes and even launch a National Disco Week (declared by New York). But all that time it was despised. Questlove of the Roots described it in Vulture as "mechanistic, largely impersonal," arguing that "it damaged the culture of live performance and decimated the value of the black musician." It was so hated that it spawned a night in which fans literally blew up records at a major sporting event.
But in the last couple of years, disco has made an incredible resurgence, becoming way hipper than it ever was in the '70s. In fact, disco sounds are behind some of the biggest pop hits of the past year. And they're not going anywhere soon.
It's been almost 18 months since the release of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" and the sound that record inaugurated is everywhere. The most recent example is Jennifer Hudson's new album JHUD, which came out last week. Hudson, an American Idol alum, has a massive voice that she usually throws into ballads. But more than half of JHUD is disco (her previous album included only one danceable track). Hudson told BuzzFeed that she "use[d] music and soul to actively reminisce on those fantasy nights of the '60s and '70s … a time in music history I just live for."
Hudson is hardly alone. There's Chris Brown, who released the single "Fine China," his most explicit Michael Jackson homage, and pushed it just this month on his brand new album. Pharrell Williams not only sang on "Get Lucky," but his most recent solo album, G I R L, is packed with string sections, big bass lines and smooth, clipped guitar. (On his last solo album, from 2006, he was a rapper.) The duo Nick & Knight, composed of one former Backstreet Boy and one ex-New Kid on the Block, jump on the disco train several times on their eponymous debut album. Child star Jesse McCartney tried to reinvent himself with a killer disco album a few months ago. Even the indie kids are getting into it: Arcade Fire's Reflektor is straight disco from James Murphy, the man behind LCD Soundsystem. Suddenly, all the kids who would have been burning disco at the ballpark in the '70s want to make disco records.
But it actually isn't even a new fad — it's just much cooler now to claim disco as an influence. Prominent artists have been making disco-indebted music for at least a decade. Chromeo, Kylie Minogue and Usher, for example, have all put out music this year. Nile Rodgers, who helped develop disco in the first place as a member of Chic and then assisted Daft Punk and Avicii in 2013, announced that he will be going into the studio with Duran Duran and Bryan Ferry. The posthumous Jackson album that came out this year, Xscape, featured "Love Never Felt So Good," originally recorded as a demo in 1983. Polished and resuscitated by contemporary producers, this song didn't just sound vintage — it was like a time capsule. And still it peaked at No. 9 on the Hot 100 in 2014.
James Friedman, who cofounded the label Throne of Blood with the "dance punk" group the Rapture, told NPR that disco's prominence might be related to demographics.
"Disco may not be aggressive enough for kids, but adulthood creeps up before many of us lose the desire to get turnt," he said. "When it's less about raging, […] disco makes for a much better soundtrack.[...] The fact that disco remains a relevant touchstone for cool kids ... suggests that it still has legs."
"I try to put out what I feel is missing," Pharrell told Vulture. "There was a lot of minimal stuff for so long. […] I needed color."
That's why disco never really went away. Even when it was uncool, people kept playing it and just stopped calling it for what it was. The 2000s saw all sorts of names invented to conceal music's disco underpinnings: "electro-pop," "nu-disco," even "dance punk." The name changed, but the primacy of the beat, heavy and never-ending, did not.
Last year, people stopped making up new names. The success of "Get Lucky" signaled a change in perception. Fully embracing a vintage disco sound resulted in the biggest hit of the duo's career: "Get Lucky" spent 28 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and peaked at No. 2.
"The '70s and '80s are the tastiest eras for us," Daft Punk told Rolling Stone. The duo may hide their faces, but they did not hide their influences. These days, nobody does.
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Brand - Its All in the Name
Posted in Marketing & Strategy Articles, Total Reads: 1328 , Published on 16 August 2016
How would it feel when someone offers you a Brad’s cola? What would you do when someone asks you to look for something in a BackRug? Though these names sound very peculiar we all have used these rugs and tasted these colas. It would not be exaggeration to say that these names got imbibed into the lives of “GEN Y”. They are none other than the erstwhile names of Pepsi & Google.
Corporates use different ways to interacting with the consumers and the brand name and logo stands at the epitome. Brand names and logos create a strong association with the consumers. Today, a black swoosh and a red circle do not need any introduction across the globe and such is the power of the brand titles & logos. As times change, customers and their preferences change and so do companies try to keep them updated by changing their brand identities. While a considerable percent of the name changes are warranted by M&A, this article covers those changes made with time and those made to change the brand perceptions.
1. Apple Computers to Apple
When Apple unveiled its first iPhone in 2007 and had aggressive plans to diversify into phones and tablets, Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple wanted to create an impression that the company is not just into computers but far beyond. He decided to pair this initiation with the launch of iPhone. "We're going to make some history here today," are his words when the name got changed from Apple Computers to Apple.
2. DOW Chemicals to DOW
The story of DOW is yet another similar one when the company decided to move away from its Chlorine business and focus on specialty materials. This decision to change the customers association of DOW with harmful chemicals was made in 2013 and accordingly the company changed its name.
3. Philip Morris to Altria
Philip Morris decided to rebrand itself & changed its name to Altria. The decision was taken in 2003, when company had 84% of stake in Kraft foods and as the company is being closely associated with its Marlboro brand. However, critics considered this as a PR trick, designed to disassociate itself from the negative perception of harmful product manufacturer.
4. The subtle story of Nestle
The journey of Nestle is a 150 year story to talk about and its logo has been doing the talking. The initial logo was a coat of arms, drawn from the family tradition slowly changed into the current ones.
The initial logo was to communicate emphasize on child health, which is demonstrated with the “mother bid feeding its babies with worms” logo.
As the company started to diversify in child health care, the worm in the logo was removed.
Further, to accommodate the shift towards nuclear families, the logo was further amended to two baby birds from three. The company is coming up with a new logo to commemorate the completion of 150 years.
5. Imperial Tobacco Company to ITC
ITC is the second largest FMCG companies in India. All through the journey, the company appealed to its stakeholders in multiple ways and has utilized the brand name to the fullest.
ITC started as Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited in 1910 and to mark the change of ownership the name has been changed to Indian Tobacco Company in 1970. Subsequently when the company planned to diversify in 1970’s one big challenge in front of the company was the perception in the public and there by inflicting damage to the lives of people. To get away of this, the first step the company did was to change the brand label as I.T.C Limited. Further to strengthen the position, the company rebranded itself as ITC Limited in 2001. The company subsequently registered two changes to its brand image, one to celebrate the completion of 100 years of inception, in 2010 as ITC-100 Inspiring Years and subsequently to ITC- Enduring Value.
While this list goes endless, there are a few instances where the companies do not realize their mistakes in naming their products wrongly and then pay a huge price later. Many companies do not realize the meanings of their products when translated into different language. While a lot of such products do not face any issue, being local player, the actual trouble comes when the companies plan to expand their reach in International markets.
A popular cola drink in Ghana, Pee Cola which means “very good cola” in local language a Chinese drink “The Jews Ear Juice” which takes its name from the mushroom which is referred as jelly ear are a few examples.
A recent calamity was force upon the Indian conglomerate Tata Motors when they decided to launch their new generation hatchback as “Tata Zica” in 2016. Tata had aggressive plans to launch their new model in the International markets; however they were caught with the name which sounded similar to the virus Zika which took several lives in 2016. While the initial meaning was derived from “Zippy Car” meaning quick and speed car, the striking similarity of its title with Zika had a huge impact. Tatas immediately announced that they would change the name of the car and also to garner the initial buzz among the youth launched an online campaign and asked netizens to vote for their preferred name. The name was subsequently changed to “Tiago” and their brand ambassador Messi was rushed into the rebranding activity.
A lot of care and diligence is taken by the companies in choosing their brand names and logos. The selection is made by considering all possible meanings of the names and also the references to the logos in various geographies. Today, where brands and the consumers are interacting in digital space, surpassing geographic and physical boundaries, companies do not want their million dollar brands to turn into a mockery or catch in a controversy and hence are paying much higher attention and in this process increasing brand power.
This article has been authored by Karteek Kala from IIM Raipur
http://fortune.com/2013/12/06/the-worst-and-best-company-name-changes/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/10/10-of-the-biggest-company-name-changes-in-history/
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/02/11/seven-companies-forced-to-change-their-names/2/
http://247wallst.com/investing/2010/10/26/nine-great-brands-that-had-to-change-their-name/2/
http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/advertising-branding/11-brand-names-simply-couldnt-survive-times-163440
http://www.creativebloq.com/branding/controversial-4132378
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In other parts of Iraq, Iranian influence may be measured in the number of weapons that Iran supplies to its Shiite Muslim allies. In the three northern provinces that make up semi-autonomous Kurdistan, though, Iran's influence is measured in goods moving back and forth across the border — at least it was until Iran closed the border.
Iran said it was retaliating for American troops' arrest of an Iranian in Kurdistan for allegedly helping to ship arms into Iraq to kill Americans. A U.S. military spokesman said the man, Agai Mahummdi Firhad, was a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force.
Iranian and Kurdish officials have protested vigorously, saying the man was invited as part of a trade delegation and is innocent.The result, however, is that Kurdistan is caught in the escalating battle between its faraway sometime friend and its sometimes troublesome next-door neighbor.
The 220 to 300 trucks that enter Sulaimaniyah from the Bashmakh border point daily have stopped completely, and closing the border has put about 30,000 people in Kurdistan out of work, said Hasen Baqi Abdool, the chairman of the Sulaimaniyah Chamber of Commerce.
“It is difficult to estimate the volume of damage that resulted from closing the border points, but there is no doubt that it falls on both the Kurdish and Iranian people equally,” he said.Amal Abdullah, the spokesman for the Kurdistan government, said in a phone interview that the Kurds are paying the price for the Iranian's arrest, even though Kurdistan wasn’t involved.
“Ordinary and simple citizens are the only losers in this action,” he said, adding that the closing will lead to higher prices for consumer goods.
The arrest and the fallout from it add to the Kurds’ feeling that they’re underappreciated by the United States.
There was an outcry in the local press last month when the region’s economic success and political stability went unmentioned in the progress report on Iraq that Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker gave to Congress.And investment by American companies is too paltry to suit Herish Muharam Muhamad, the chairman of the regional government’s board of investment.
Muhamad said that he's licensed projects worth more than $5 billion in the year since his board was created, but that only a handful of U.S. companies are coming here. More would be better, Muhamad said, because U.S. and European investment is a stamp of approval that draws even more companies.
Businessmen such as Nawroz Jamal Ibrahim Khaffaf, the head of the Kurdistan contractor’s association and one of the wealthiest men in Iraq, doesn’t understand why only a handful of American companies have joined in the boom.
“Look at this,” said Khaffaf, leaning against his top-of-the-line Mercedes sedan and pointing at displays of snacks and soft drinks in a roadside market stall.
“Persia,” he said, using the historical name for Iran. “It all came from Persia. Pepsi, Coca-Cola, why don’t they come? Where are all the American companies? Why should Persia and Turkey get all the business?”
The Americans’ lack of interest is leaving the field open for not only Iran and Turkey, which is reportedly responsible for more than half the foreign investment here, but also for the Chinese, Koreans and other competitors.
Khaffaf, who owns a diverse group of businesses, including an amusement park, dozens of rental homes and office buildings, a chicken processing plant, farms and a contracting operation, said he likes Americans and would be happy if more came to counter Iranian influence, and not just the economic kind.
In one major construction project, an Iranian company underbid local contractors so deeply that Khaffaf said he’s suspicious that the Iranian government is subsidizing the job so that it has an easy route to insert intelligence agents.
“It’s just not possible they could do the work for what they bid,” he said.
Nevertheless, Kurds are quick to say that their region is America’s best friend in the Middle East. The admiration — rocky history, border problems and disappointing investment aside — seems to know no bounds.
The minister in charge of the Peshmerga fighters — essentially the Iraqi Kurds’ army — said he would love it if the United States built a huge, permanent military base there. Among other things, a permanent American presence might discourage the Kurds' neighbors, especially Iran and Turkey, from crossing the border to attack Kurdish separatist groups.
“Frankly, I’d be happy if the Americans did come here and just be our government,” said Forazeen Anwar, an elementary school teacher and taxi driver in the Kurdish capital of Irbil.
Anwar was taking a break between fares, lounging in the shade of a giant mall across the street from the more than 8,000-year-old citadel that forms the heart of the city.
As he spoke, Anwar was periodically interrupted by the shriek of a metal saw as workers finished a shop’s interior.
“If the Americans back us up, the prosperity will continue to grow,” he said. “Without the Americans, the Kurds can do nothing.”
(Price writes for The News & Observer in Raleigh. McClatchy special correspondent Yaseen Taha contributed to this story.)
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By David Smiley,
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Alex Daugherty
The Trump administration’s move to clamp down on asylum claims could disenfranchise thousands of Cuban exiles who are seeking entry into the United States through Mexico and hurt the president’s Florida campaign.
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Signing of MOU on Recognising, Benchmarking and Developing Railway Engineers
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed on 29 May 2015 between the Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES), the Land Transport Authority, Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and, public transport operators SMRT and SBS Transit. The MOU sets out a common set of railway engineering industry standards for these engineers to gain their accreditation.
Speaking at the MOU signing event, Senior Minister of State (Finance and Transport) Mrs Josephine Teo, said that the move would help meet the increasing demand for engineering talent in Singapore. "The math is simple: the more extensive our rail network, the more rail engineers we need," she said. The chartered engineer accreditation programme would raise the professional standing of rail engineers, she added.
Speech: Speech by Senior Minister of State Josephine Teo at the Signing Of Memorandum Of Understanding On Recognising, Benchmarking And Developing Railway Engineers
Click to view more photos from the MOU signing.
Last updated on 19 Jun 2018
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2006 Legend of the Motorcycle
By Richard Backus
| September/October 2006
Brough-Superiors and Crockers packed the courtyard behind the Ritz-Carlton.
Photo by Richard Backus
Mike Madden’s 1940 Big Tank Crocker garnered Best of Show.
Mike Kron and his award-winning 1921 Mars.
Burt Munro’s original 1920 Indian Scout Streamliner (made famous in the movie The World’s Fastest Indian) nabbed the People’s Choice award.
Bill Lattin on dad Jim’s original 1915 Cyclone.
Fifty-six years ago, the first Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was held on Monterey Peninsula in California. Dismissed by some upon its opening as irrelevant, the event has become one of the most important gatherings of classic cars in the world. With the debut of the Legend of the Motorcycle Concours d’Elegance, founders Brooke Roner and Jared Zaugg are hoping that in time their show will have the same impact on the classic motorcycle scene.
Drawing a parallel between the two events comes easily, especially considering that Roner and Zaugg consciously looked to Pebble Beach as the archetype in their quest to establish the premier, judged event for classic motorcycles.
Two years in the making, the Legend show debuted this past May 6 on the lawns of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Half Moon Bay, Calif. Conspicuously opulent, the setting was deliberately chosen to bolster Roner and Zaugg’s desire to match the tony digs of Pebble Beach down the road in Monterey.
And that it did. On the sweeping greens surrounding the hotel, stretching away to the spectacular, craggy coastline and reaching north towards the clubhouse (where the final judging ceremony took place later in the afternoon), were 254 significant and seldom-seen motorcycles, ranging from a 1900 Orient to a prototype 2007 Crocker.
Classics on the Grass
Many of the people attending this first event (Zaugg pegged attendance at roughly 4,300) anticipated the high order of machinery on display. But even then it was hard to anticipate some of the surprises on hand. Notables included Mike Kron’s restored 1921 Mars, which Kron brought over from Germany. With its 1,000cc horizontally opposed twin-cylinder engine (specially built by Maybach, better known today as the high-end division of Mercedes Benz), the Mars is unique for its gearless “transmission.” Instead of a gearbox, the Mars employs a pair of friction drums, each connected by chain to the rear wheel. The Mars garnered the show’s Founder’s Award for Kron, who is crafting a limited batch of Mars replicas.
Another treat was Californian Jim Lattin’s 1915 Cyclone board track racer, a completely original machine once raced by the legendary Don Johns, who challenged Harley-Davidson and Indian riding the overhead valve Cyclone. The bike received the Sculptor’s Award from sculptor Jeff Decker (Decker designed the show’s trophies), who singled out Lattin’s Cyclone for its preserved original condition.
More important, perhaps, was the culling of 21 Brough Superiors (admittedly, one of those was a modern, Harley-powered interpretation) and 26 Crockers. This was the largest showing of Brough Superiors ever in the U.S., and the largest gathering of Crockers in one place ever.
In England and the U.S. in the late 1930s, Brough Superior and Crocker were considered the Rolls Royce and Cadillac of motorcycles, respectively. With their large-capacity V-twins and high build quality, they were and are icons of their era, and to have so many of each make in one place was simply remarkable. Among the Crockers were two single-cylinder, overhead cam Speedway models, the rarest of them all.
Al Crocker Jr., the son of company founder Al Crocker, made his way to the event with three generations of the Crocker family in tow. Now 86, Al Jr. was only too glad to reminisce about his father, fondly recalling machining oil pumps for the bikes at the Crocker factory in Los Angeles.
Of the 254 motorcycles on display, 172 were judged. Categories ranged from early to modern, with a cap on bikes built after 1975. It was the judging that co-founder Zaugg considered perhaps the most important ingredient for the show’s success. “If you don’t have world class judging, you’ve got nothing,” Zaugg says.
To that end, he and Roner enlisted luminaries such as ex-Andover Norton company owner Mike Jackson and racer, TV host and classic car judge Alain de Cadenet, who also wore the hat of master of ceremonies.
Jackson, a trophied motorcycle racer and experienced classic car concours judge, was thrilled with the event, and not just a little for it’s motorcycle-only focus. “It is something absolutely unique. It is refreshing, not a car in sight,” Jackson enthused. De Cadenet, who has worn out more shoes judging classic livery than anyone you’re likely to meet, called the show “without doubt the most exciting and complete motorcycle show ever in the U.S.”
There are, it should be noted, other venues contending for the title of King of the Concours circuit. For the past six years, Riding Into History, a judged event of upwards of 300 bikes, has been held in St. Augustine, Fla. Likewise, the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in Pickerington, Ohio, is gearing up for its fifth annual juried concours. And this year, the second annual Mountainfest Motorcycle Concours d’Elegance was held in Morgantown, W.Va.
Like the Legend show, which raised $22,000 for charities, both RIH and Mountainfest are charity events. In that regard Mountainfest has the best track record, raising $50,000 at its debut.
Admittedly, there were some teething problems with this first event, most of them related to parking and judging. “Parking was tough,” Zaugg admits. “We’ve got to streamline that. And I want to get more judges so more time can be spent with the bikes.”
For his money, Bob Peters, a Ducati lover who’s active in the Heart of America Motorcycle Enthusiasts club in Kansas City, would like to see a more refined approach to bike groupings. “Certain bikes should be put together to give them a better historical placing and perspective,” Peters says. But otherwise, Peters had nothing but praise for the show. “I thought the selection of bikes was very good, and the trophies meant something. They didn’t give an award to every bike.”
Zaugg, clearly appreciative of the dangers of diluting the merits of judging by over-awarding, limited the number of bikes any one entrant could have judged to four. Lattin, for instance, brought 12 bikes, and while every one of them was worthy of judging, only four made the cut.
In scripting the Legend show, Roner and Zaugg sought to make their mark on the classic bike scene. By carefully selecting location, judges, bikes and the overall tone of the event (including mixing in a little celebrity action as well, with folks like Jesse James, Sandra Bullock, Peter Fonda and Ewan McGregor quietly working the wings), they set their sights on crafting the motorcycle event of the year.
Judging by reactions from entrants and attendees, they succeeded, and next year’s event is scheduled for May 7. The call for entries is out, and Zaugg’s looking to repeat the success of this first show. “That was the best show that’s ever been, no doubt about it,” Lattin says. “Jared did it right.”
Lattin’s already preparing bikes for the next show, including a 1928 Excelsior and a 1912 Henderson, one of two in the world. The bar has indeed been raised. MC
ResourcesLegend of the Motorcycle
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Articles tagged James Tilling
Page 34, December 1971
Veteran-Edwardian-vintage
A section devoted to old-car matters The RAC London-Brighton Veteran Car Run (November 7th) I have tried the Brighton Run most ways—by tram and bus to Croydon to watch the veterans climb up past the Airport before the war, riding on veterans since 1936, driving some of Lord Montagu's in more recent runs. This year I did it in comfort—staying in Brighton on the Saturday night and reporting from...
Page 84, February 2004
Stadium rock
Pete Tucker was one of the very first stars as stock car racing took a hold in fifties Britain. He recalls the lifestyle with Richard Barnett In 1954 Juan Manuel Fangio was thrilling grand prix-goers on his way to another world championship, but in race stadiums around the United Kingdom another form of motorsport was being established. That same year British stock car racing was born, and was...
Page 15, October 1952
Singer Team Wins 750 Club National Six-Hour Relay Race
The Six-hour Relay Race of the 750 Club, at Silverstone an August 30th. was this year deservedly of national status. It attracted 27 teams, which engaged in a carefree race in which each team had to circulate as many times as possible. Thus team chiefs had as busy a time as drivers and mechanics and, as any car could be put on at any time, much hard work on recalcitrant engines went on all the...
Page 27, September 1954
Close Racing At Crystal Palace Bank-Holiday Meeting
Reg Parnell (Ferrari) Wins August Trophy Race and Sets a New Lap Record of 75.82 m.p.h. Tony Crook Breaks Sports-Car Lap Record in his Versatile Cooper-Bristol The B.A.R.C. National Meeting at the L.C.C.'s Crystal Palace Circuit on the afternoon of August Bank Holiday produced some exciting racing, although it is, we think, a reflection on the excessive number of meetings now being held that it...
MY 1948 SEASON
MY 1948 SEASON by JOHN BOLSTER THE Vintage Sports Car Club are an enterprising body of men, and it was just like them to have the courage to run a speed trial during the " no-petrol " period. It was just like them, too, to make the competitors circle a pylon at the end and go back the way they had come, thus making double use of the course (I hope Leslie Wilson doesn't do that at Shelsley)....
Veteran Edwardian Vintage
The R.A.C Veteran Car Run – the editor goes to Brighton in a 1903 twin-cylinder Panhard-Levassor The Brighton Run, this year's the 68th Anniversary of the original Emancipation Day Run, was an event not to be missed. For the past five years Lord Montagu of Beaulieu has generously enabled me to drive a veteran from his World-famous Montagu Motor Museum and as on four occasions I have taken a...
Page 38, August 1961
B.A.R.C. 47th Members' Meeting (July 1st)
"Phew! Pretty hot isn't it? The speaker shaded his eyes carefully with his hand and watched Meeson's A.C. flash over the line at nearly 100 m.p.h. His companion turned away despondently. "Too hot for me," he replied, and tore a little coloured ticket into shreds, casting them to the faint breeze which blew lazily across the grand-stand. The first man may have been talking about the weather, the...
Page 14, May 1954
The B.A.R.C. Opens The Season
Renault, R.W.G., Jaguar, Connaught, Lotus, Morgan, R.G.S.-Atalanta, Frazer-Nash and Cooper-Bristol Win Races At March Members' Sports-Car Goodwood Meeting In delightful weather the B.A.R.C. held the first of its Members' Meetings at Goodwood on March 27th. The excellent entry necessitated ten races, and many exciting incidents were witnessed, resulting in a number of dented motor cars, but...
Prestige Through Racing A leading article elsewhere in this issue discusses the relationship between the publicity which successful participation in motor-racing fosters and the type of car which sells most readily as a result. Not all manufacturers race directly to increase sales — the research and a third value of racing is well known, and a third reason for racing is the prestige, both...
Goodwood By Lamplight
Peter Collins/Pat Griffith Aston-Martin DB3 Wins "News of the World" 9-Hour Sports-Car Race. Privately owned Ferraris 2nd & 3rd in Dramatic Finale. Type C Jaguars in Trouble. Ever enterprising, on August 16th the B.A.R.C. very effectively turned Goodwood into an excellent representation of the Sarthe for the 3 p.m. to 12 midnight sports-car race sponsored by the News of the World. Pits,...
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April 18, 2013 MSI Afterburner video tutorials chapter 6 Msi afterburner has quickly become the favorite overclocking software for media, overclockers and end-users. because of its simple interface, it's easy to learn, but it packs a lot of powerful features like an integrated benchmark utility, multi-language support and control [...]
March 27, 2013 MSI Afterburner video tutorials chapter 10 Msi afterburner has quickly become the favorite overclocking software for media, overclockers and end-users. because of its simple interface, it's easy to learn, but it packs a lot of powerful features like an integrated benchmark utility, multi-language support and control [...]
March 27, 2013 MSI Afterburner video tutorials chapter 3 Msi afterburner has quickly become the favorite overclocking software for media, overclockers and end-users. because of its simple interface, it's easy to learn, but it packs a lot of powerful features like an integrated benchmark utility, multi-language support and control [...]
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No President Has Pardoned Himself, But Governors and A Drunk Mayor Have
By Max Kutner On 7/24/17 at 2:22 PM EDT
President Donald Trump speaks to departing White House interns on July 24. Trump has reportedly asked his advisers whether he can pardon himself. Joshua Roberts/REUTERS
U.S. Donald Trump Pardons Trump Pardon
Three decades before statehood, when Washington was still a rugged frontier in the Pacific Northwest, Isaac Stevens, the first governor of the territory, ordered farmers who were married to Native Americans to leave a certain area. The court system in the territory was only three years old, but one court decided to look into the order. In response, Stevens closed the court and declared martial law. When judges tried to open their courts, the governor had the judges arrested.
Eventually, U.S. President Franklin Pierce scolded Stevens, and a judge fined him for contempt of court. To clear his name and possibly avoid the fine (accounts vary), the governor pardoned himself. "I, Isaac I. Stevens, governor of the said territory, by virtue of the authority vested in me as governor," he wrote in the declaration, "do hereby respite the said Isaac I. Stevens, defendant, from execution of said judgment."
The Stevens case, from 1856, is perhaps the most egregious one where a United States politician granted himself a pardon—a release from the penalty of an offense. President Donald Trump has questioned his advisers about his authority to pardon himself, The Washington Post reported July 21, citing an unnamed source.
No president has ever done so (Richard Nixon came close), but a handful of governors have. Those gubernatorial cases could provide a precedent if Trump chooses to pardon himself.
Related: Trump's power to forgive criminals, explained
The U.S. Constitution grants the president power to pardon individuals who have committed federal crimes, except in cases of impeachment. For state crimes, a governor holds the power to pardon, sometimes only with the involvement of the state parole board. The cases of self-pardons by governors, sometimes in nonserious circumstances or by mistake, are largely unknown to experts on clemency.
Stevens, the Washington territory governor, wasn't the only one. In 1897, an unnamed governor whom newspapers identified only as a "popular statesman" boasted about his having pardoned himself. He apparently had been arrested for stealing a horse (he claimed his driver had stolen it without his knowing) and was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison. In that time, he had been elected governor and taken office, he later said, and so he issued himself the pardon.
In 1911, Tennessee Governor B.W. Hooper sentenced himself to two days in prison in order to "study conditions firsthand," according to newspaper accounts from the time. He pardoned himself a day later. In 1941, Washington state Governor Arthur Langlie unintentionally pardoned himself after a stenographer mistakenly took down his order as "I, Arthur B. Langlie, governor of the state of Washington... do hereby pardon the said Arthur B. Langlie," a newspaper report said. A county clerk soon discovered the error.
A decade and a half later, controversial Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus reportedly pardoned himself after he was briefly jailed, a newspaper account said, though the details are unclear. Orval was known—and criticized—for granting more than 1,000 pardons, according to Arkansas's The Leader newspaper.
In some jurisdictions, mayors can pardon for violations of local ordinances. At least one mayor has pardoned himself, in 1901: James Woodward of Atlanta, after he was arrested for drunken and disorderly conduct, according to accounts from the time.
President Donald Trump has reportedly asked advisers whether he can pardon himself. No president has ever done so, but governors have, including the Washington territory's first governor, Isaac Stevens, pictured here in 1862. Timothy H. O'Sullivan/Wikimedia Commons
"I certainly don't think they're trivial," P.S. Ruckman Jr., an expert on pardons who teaches at Northern Illinois University and Rock Valley College, says about these cases of self-pardoning. "What they just highlight is, when all is said and done, authoritative Supreme Court jurisprudence of the pardon power is there, but there's not a lot of it, and there are a lot of unanswered questions."
By that, he means he finds it interesting that no authority above those governors or mayor appears to have questioned the self-pardons.
Margaret Love, who led the pardon office at the Department of Justice under President Bill Clinton, disagrees and says she doesn't consider the historic cases significant. "There's not much of a precedent there," she says, noting that she had not heard of or studied the cases. "They don't seem like real pardons to me."
While procedural differences exist between gubernatorial and executive pardons, legal analysts have previously used state pardons to argue in favor of presidential ones. Before 1999, no president had ever granted a pardon for someone who was no longer alive. When President Bill Clinton was considering pardoning Henry Flipper, a former slave who was dismissed from the Army because of allegations of impropriety, lawyers with the firm Arnold & Porter submitted a brief to Clinton in favor of the posthumous pardon, explaining that the precedent existed at the state level. They pointed out that since 1977, nine states had granted such pardons on at least 10 occasions.
"We argue that the president's power is similar to that of state governors, who have granted posthumous pardons," the attorneys wrote. "Although the constitutional language of the pardon clauses from these states varies, the pardon power in these state constitutions is at least as expansive as the broad authority given to the president in [the U.S. Constitution]. Therefore, the experience of these states is compelling."
Using gubernatorial powers to make "federal analogies, that's tricky sometimes," says Ruckman, the pardons expert, who pointed to the 1999 brief. "But still, it's something."
Since the report that Trump was considering a self-pardon, constitutional law scholars and ethics experts have weighed in. Three of them, including White House ethics lawyers for President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, have pointed to Justice Department guidance from the days before Nixon's resignation that said, "Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the president cannot pardon himself."
Those experts added, "We know of not a single instance of a self-pardon having been recognized as legitimate," despite the examples of the governors from long ago.
Meanwhile, Trump seemed to be responding to the report in a tweet the following day, saying, "While all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon, why think of that when only crime so far is LEAKS against us. FAKE NEWS."
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No President Has Pardoned Himself, But Governors and A Drunk Mayor Have | U.S.
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Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Pretty Woman The Musical
Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations
The Gazillion Bubble Show
Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes
Jagged Little Pill
All about buying online
Circle In The Square Theatre
1633 Broadway / 235 West 50th Street New York, NY 10019
Oklahoma! comes to Broadway this spring, previews start March 19, 2019. The show had a sold-out run at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, and was called Best Theatre of 2018 by The New York Times, New York Magazine, Time Magazine, Time Out, Newsday, The New Yorker, BuzzFeed, and Theatermania.
Stripped down to reveal the darker psychological truths at its core, Daniel Fish’s production tells a story of a community circling its wagons against an outsider, and the violence of the frontier that shaped America. Upending the sunny romance of a farmer and a cowpoke, this Oklahoma! is “thrilling, audacious, and delightful. A rollicking good time: The jokes have never been funnier, the merry songs merrier. This has always been a very American story, but has never felt like so much of one until now.” (The New York Times)
Recommended for 12+. Children under the age of 4 are not permitted in the theatre.
Buy tickets for Oklahoma! in New York
Jul 18 19:00 from $174.00 Circle In The Square Theatre 1633 Broadway / 235 West 50th Street New York, NY 10019 https://www.newyork-online.us/en/broadway/250-oklahoma/book?_id=201907181900&start=1563408000 174.0
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Home > Fun > What’s Really Killing The Jersey Shore
What’s Really Killing The Jersey Shore
By Beth Shorten on June 2, 2015
Hurricane Sandy hurt the Jersey Shore badly, but Beth Shorten thinks something else is killing it.
I grew up at the Jersey Shore. From the time I was 6, part of my summer was dedicated to that stretch of beach that ran from Point Pleasant to Island Beach State Park. It might have been a week, a month or even a summer; I don’t think there’s a summer on record since that year I turned 6, that I DIDN”T spend time at the Jersey Shore. And since I’m older than I care to admit, I’ve seen a lot of changes.
When I was a kid (or as my son would say, “Back in the day”), whole days were spent at the ocean. You went up in the morning (lifeguards were on at 10) and maybe you went back to the house for lunch (food not allowed on the beach; a rule that was once respected) and then you went back to the beach again until the lifeguards went off duty (or later). Maybe you spent part of the day sailing on the bay (and you could even swim in the bay way back then; although you never wanted to put your feet down and touch the slimy bottom). Or maybe you spent the late afternoon on the deck or “back yard” area of the house soaking up the last of the day’s rays. The days ended with fireworks, trips to the boardwalk or mini-golf. There was no TV (you couldn’t get reception any way…and though cable TV existed it didn’t come to the island until practically the end of the 20th century). Maybe you read (there were plenty of little book stores and variety stores that dotted the island). Or maybe you just talked. (Yes, families talked and told stories way back then.)
But life and time moved on. Things changed and change is inevitable. Change is not necessarily bad, but in this case and for the most part, change was not all that good. The small little houses where families crammed for the summer season were sold, torn down and replaced with the NJ Shore’s version of the “McMansion.” The land lots were not getting smaller, it just seemed that way because every inch of land was built on and built up. Plots of land that were just plots of land were sold and developed and then redeveloped.
READ Terry's Exits Pharmacy Business
Overdevelopment (which continues to this day) didn’t kill the NJ shore. It hurt it a lot, in my opinion. The character and the flavor started to change. The bay became dirty. The traffic got worse. The little businesses which were charming and tacky were shuttered and often replaced by more condos.
Sandy came. The ocean and the bay met. Cars, houses and lives were washed away. Families that had come to the shore for decades could not return. The price was too steep; the cost too high. Sandy didn’t kill the NJ shore. It mangled it. It ruined most of it. But it didn’t kill it. For those who loved it returned and fought hard. (And in many cases continue to fight.) Slowly, slowy, the shore crawled its way back to life. The NJ Shore survived (barely) Sandy. Sandy didn’t kill the NJ Shore. (Although she certainly came close.)
The NJ Shore is still alive, but it will struggle to survive and will mostly likely someday (though hopefully not in my lifetime or in the lifetime of my children and grandchildren) die. What’s really killing the shore? People who don’t care. People who don’t respect this little strip of land (and probably not much of anything else either). It’s the people who climb the newly made dunes despite the signs that say keep off. (I know you want to get to the beach, but there’s a legitimate “entrance” just a block away. And how much fun is it really to fling yourself down these sand mountains and destroy what has taken years to be built?) It’s the people who bring food and drink to the beach and then leave left overs behind. (If there’s no garbage can, take it with you. If you brought it up, you can take it back. I can understand you wanting to take a few beers to the beach, but I don’t need to trip over a dozen empty cans as I walk up to check out the surf at 7 in the morning.) It’s the developers and contractors who leave their left over bits and pieces behind instead of packing them up and/or cleaning up. The garbage you leave at the property you are working on doesn’t stay there; it gets blown all over the neighborhood.
READ What's Next For VHS '19: Becoming A Pharmacist
If you don’t care about the Jersey Shore, then don’t go. And PLEASE don’t ruin it for the rest of us. Respect it. Care for it. Pretend for a moment that it you think it’s as precious as your iPhone. If you do, this little strip of land just might survive for a little while longer.
Post reprinted with permission from Bfth’s Boring Blog.
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Beth ShortenFeaturedHurricane SandyJersey ShoreOverdevelopment
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Obama denounces 'anti-global' sentiments while secretly pushing globalist trade deals on Americans
Wednesday, May 06, 2015 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: Obama deals, globalist trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership
https://www.naturalnews.com/049606_Obama_deals_globalist_trade_Trans-Pacific_Partnership.html
(NaturalNews) If President Barack Obama is remembered for one important character trait, it should be his inability to be honest about practically everything.
His lies about keeping your health insurance and doctor, lowering health insurance premiums, and knowing nothing of the myriad of scandals surrounding his administration until learning about them in the news (a claim the president later inadvertently dismissed as inaccurate) are legion.
Dishonesty - or misdirection, which is the same thing in politics - is just part of Obama's management style, as evidenced by his criticism of "anti-globalist" forces in both U.S. political parties, even as he secretly pushes globalist trade pacts that most Americans know little about.
As reported by Bloomberg Business:
President Barack Obama said the rising anti-globalization sentiment in factions of both political parties risks a withdrawal by the U.S. from global economic competition and stymied growth.
Shady deal
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Obama cited criticism and opposition to free trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by some Democrats and attempts by some Republicans to eliminate the pork-laden Export-Import Bank as evidence.
"There has been a confluence of anti-global engagement from both elements of the right and elements of the left that I think are a big mistake," Obama told WSJ.
The president was speaking following a visit to the White House by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Both men discussed the TPP agreement and any remaining differences that are barring a final deal.
Many Democrats from states and districts stung by decades of industrial outsourcing are opposed to yet another globalist trade deal they say will further erode U.S. manufacturing and reduce employment. Nevertheless, Obama repeated his oft-stated opinion that China will step up and fill any voids if the United States fails to complete the TPP deal with 11 other Pacific Rim nations.
For her part, "Hillary Clinton, Obama's former secretary of state and the leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, has declined to take a position on the trade deal or on legislation before Congress to grant Obama fast-track negotiating authority for the deal," Bloomberg News reported.
Previously, Natural News reported that the TPP and another global agreement, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) "would force the U.S. and other participating countries to 'harmonize' food safety standards."
We further reported:
That means all countries that sign on to the agreement would be required to abide by the lowest common denominator standards of all participating governments. So for instance, say Vietnam allows higher residues of veterinary antibiotics in seafood than the U.S. allows, and Vietnam and the U.S. both sign on to the TPP. As a trade partner, the U.S. could be forced to lower its standards to allow for imports of seafood from Vietnam - or face a lawsuit by the seafood exporter for depriving the company of future sales of its products in the U.S.
"Needlessly secretive"
As for Obama's argument that failure to approve the TPP would result in "China stepping in to fill the void," the U.S. already imports hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods from the Asian giant, and nothing in the TPP would likely change any of that.
What is likely, however, is that additional Asia-Pacific countries where labor costs are much lower (because the standard of living is much lower) will have new access to the U.S. consumer market, cutting further American industry and manufacturing. If anything, Obama ought to be adjusting his Executive policies to boost American economic growth, which was an anemic 0.2 percent in the first quarter.
The secrecy surrounding the deal is appalling, especially in a democratic republic. As noted by Democracy Now, a progressive activist organization, a March White House briefing regarding TPP was deemed "classified" by the administration.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut called the measures "needlessly secretive," saying: "If the TPP would be as good for American jobs as they claim, there should be nothing to hide."
http://www.foxnews.com
http://www.naturalnews.com
http://www.nytimes.com
Obama deals at FETCH.news
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Originally published October 17 2015
Breastfeeding protects babies from formula-induced arsenic poisoning
by David Gutierrez, staff writer
(NaturalNews) Infant formula may be contaminated with arsenic, suggests a study conducted by researchers from Dartmouth College and published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives on February 23.
The study found that breastfed babies had lower levels of arsenic in their urine than formula-fed babies, even in areas where there was little arsenic contamination of local water supplies.
"This study's results highlight that breastfeeding can reduce arsenic exposure even at the relatively low levels of arsenic typically experienced in the United States," co-lead author Kathryn Cottingham said. "This is an important public health benefit of breastfeeding."
Arsenic is a naturally occurring element that is a potent poison and can lead to serious health consequences even in small doses. It has been linked with hormone disruption, cancer and other diseases, and early childhood exposure has been connected with lower birth weight, infant death, and lowered cognitive function.
But prior studies have shown that even when mothers are exposed to high levels of arsenic, breast milk does not contain high levels of the poison. Instead, the body seems to actively filter it out of the milk.
70 percent of arsenic comes from formula
The Dartmouth researchers analyzed urine from 72 six-week old babies born to mothers who had been recruited in January 2009 while pregnant. Seventy percent of the babies were being exclusively breastfed, 13 percent exclusively formula fed and 17 percent being fed on a combination. The highest arsenic levels were found among formula-fed infants, and the lowest among breastfed infants.
The study was conducted in New Hampshire, where 40 percent of the public's drinking water comes from private wells. Unlike with public water supplies, there is no regulation of arsenic levels in private wells. Thus, the arsenic exposure in the formula-fed infants might be expected to come from well water used to reconstitute powdered formula.
Yet after sampling the participants' water supplies and reviewing published data on arsenic levels in area wells, the researchers concluded that an astonishing 70 percent of the arsenic detected in the study actually came from the powdered formula itself.
"In conclusion, our findings suggest that breastfed infants have lower exposure to arsenic than formula-fed infants, even when drinking water arsenic concentrations are low," the researchers wrote.
Although breastfeeding rates in the study were high, this is because the infants were tested at such a young age.
"We predict that population-wide arsenic exposure will increase during the second part of the first year of life as the prevalence of formula-feeding increases," co-lead author Courtney Carignan said.
How to protect your child
In the rare cases where a woman absolutely must formula feed, Cottingham suggests testing the local water supplies to make sure that it is not contaminated with arsenic. Yet this would not protect against contamination in the formula itself.
A healthier option all around, when possible, would be to get human milk from a certified milk bank.
Even after babies or young children have weaned, they remain at risk for arsenic exposure. In a June 2014 report, the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) Committee on Nutrition warned that widespread arsenic contamination of rice poses a particular risk to infants and young children, who are often fed rice-based cereals and beverages. Rice ingredients, such as starch, are also commonly added to infant foods.
"That contributes to high exposure of infants and young children to inorganic arsenic which is two to three times higher than in adults," the report notes.
The report notes that neither the United States nor the European Union currently regulates the arsenic content of foods, not even foods meant for infants.
http://www.reuters.com
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1408789/
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/dc-bfp021815.php
https://www.hmbana.org/locations
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Kelly Preston Opens Up About Son Jett Travolta's Death on "The Doctors"
John Travolta's wife discusses what she feels led to her son's passing nearly four years ago.
By Bruna Nessif
Published Nov 19, 2012 at 11:30 PM | Updated at 11:33 PM EST on Nov 19, 2012
Matt Sayles/Invision/AP
Kelly Preston, pictured here at the premiere of "Savages" in Los Angeles, believed that autism and seizures contributed to Jett's death.
Actress Kelly Preston has decided to speak out about her 16-year-old son Jett Travolta's death, almost four years after the tragedy occurred.
John Travolta's wife appeared as a guest on The Doctors (airing Nov. 21), and discussed Jett's medical conditions and what she and her husband feel are the factors that lead to their son's disabilities.
"Do not believe a lot of the things you read," Preston said about media reports directly following her son's death, "[Jett] was autistic. He had seizures, and when he was very young, he had Kawasaki syndrome."
A closer look at what ailed Jett Travolta
Preston believed that autism and seizures contributed to Jett's death, and that they were caused by a collection of factors that included Kawasaki syndrome, complications from her "fast and hard" labor, and the use of antibiotics while breast feeding. The antibiotics, Preston said, "gave [Jett] thrush," an infection of Candida yeast, which some studies have linked with the symptoms of autism.
The actress also advocated organic eating and trying to diminish the intake of foods containing pesticides and chemicals, which she believes are contributors to the rising rates of disease and autism in children.
In January 2009, a police spokeswoman told E! News that Jett apparently banged his head on a bathtub after suffering a seizure at the family's getaway at the Old Bahama Bay Hotel on Grand Bahama Island. Efforts were made to revive Jett, but he was pronounced dead at Rand Memorial Hospital.
Remembering Jett Travolta
© Copyright E! Online
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Elizabeth Warren Campaign Releases Bankruptcy Cases She Assisted In
The disclosure includes cases in which Warren served as a consultant, mediator or expert witness in addition to those in which she served as counsel
By Elana Schor
Published May 23, 2019 at 3:34 AM
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Warren Campaigns at NH Event
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/politics/Elizabeth-Warren-Campaign-Releases-Bankruptcy-Cases-She-Assisted-In-510316091.html
Sen. Elizabeth Warren was in New Hampshire Saturday to speak with Democrats at an annual clambake.
(Published Saturday, May 18, 2019)
Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign on Wednesday released information on dozens of bankruptcy cases the former law professor was involved in, a disclosure that is unlikely to quiet GOP attempts to tie her to the corporate clients she represented.
The disclosure includes cases in which Warren served as a consultant, mediator or expert witness in addition to those in which she served as counsel. Previously, during her successful 2012 Senate run against Republican incumbent Scott Brown in Massachusetts, she had released a list of cases in which she served as counsel.
As Warren and multiple Democratic presidential rivals release their past tax returns — a step toward transparency that President Donald Trump has not taken — the lengthy self-reporting allows her to explain her activity on her own terms while running for president on a platform of taking on wealthy interests.
Among the clients for whom Warren consulted, according to her campaign's list, were the attorneys for Rabobank, a Dutch financial institution that became a creditor in the Enron bankruptcy; former directors of Getty Oil, who were involved in Texaco's bankruptcy; and women whose allegations of harm from silicone breast implants produced by Dow Corning were imperiled when the company filed for bankruptcy.
A half-dozen of the cases on the Warren campaign's list deal with asbestos, a fibrous substance once frequently used in construction that was later linked to cancer and lung disease in individuals with prolonged exposure. As the health risks of asbestos exposure became more widely known in the 1990s, multiple asbestos companies filed for bankruptcy amid mounting legal liabilities.
In a summary of Warren's past cases, her campaign wrote that "the core challenge of bankruptcy is that it attempts to resolve a situation that involves suffering for everyone involved." The campaign added that Warren "worked to help set up trusts and other mechanisms to return $27 billion to victims and their families."
One of Warren's clients, according to the campaign's list, was "a well-known Massachusetts environmental lawyer trying to hold on to some of his earnings after he went broke fighting companies that were dumping toxic waste in Woburn." That lawyer appears to be Jan Schlichtmann, whose advocacy in toxic waste litigation was dramatized by the actor John Travolta in the 1998 film "A Civil Action."
Marines Demand Congressman Stop Using USMC Emblem
The disclosure comes as the Republican Party continues to try to tie Warren to the moneyed clients she represented, a tactic unsuccessfully employed by Brown in 2012. As Warren climbs in the polls of the 2020 presidential field on a platform of challenging big business, her past work on behalf of some major businesses involved in bankruptcy proceedings could become newly attractive to Republicans seeking to undercut her momentum.
The list posted online by Warren's campaign includes a dozen cases in which the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate served as a counsel, as well as more than a dozen others in which she played roles such as consulting with parties to a settlement or submitting a brief supporting one party's claim in a case.
The cases date from 1985 to 2009, though those dates do not necessarily align with her involvement in them. The campaign compiled its list based on in-depth records searches for all cases in which she represented a party in a legal matter.
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Big jump: How Spider-Man landed in PlayStation's web
Marvel's Spider-man is one of the year's best video game releases.
By: Chris Schulz
chris.schulz@nzherald.co.nz @chris__schulz
You can choose any character from the Marvel universe - so which one? James Stevenson explains how Spider-Man swung into being.
"I would wear my Spider-Man T-shirt," says James Stevenson, extending a hand to greet TimeOut, "but I have been on the road for 22 days and really need to do laundry."
You'd think the community director for Insomniac Games would be too sick of Spider-Man to worry about which superhero is on his T-shirt.
After all, he and his Los Angeles-based team have spent the past three-and-a-half years sweating over the definitive video game version of the beloved web-slinging superhero, and Stevenson's at the end of a world tour showing it off.
But he's not sick of Spidey at all. Instead of his T-shirt, Stephenson shows off his sneakers that feature the masked crusader in various stages of action. He also tells TimeOut he'll be reading his Spider-Man comic book collection on the plane ride home.
Obsessed? Just a little. But that made it an easy decision when Marvel came knocking, asking if Insomniac would be keen to work on a big budget video game adaptation featuring one of their characters.
But which one? Faced with choosing from more than 8000 superheroes and villains, it couldn't have been easier.
"Of course it was Spider-Man," says Stevenson. "He fits us the best. We tell underdog stories, he's all about traversal in an open world ... the decision took a few days."
Then came the hard part: getting it right. Stevenson says the team at Insomniac agonised over every little detail. "It's corny, but with great power comes great responsibility. He's one of the world's most beloved characters, like Mickey Mouse beloved."
Next came the story. "You have 50-plus years of comics, six movies ... there's a lot of material," says Stevenson. So which one? They settled on the theme of worlds colliding, as Peter Parker battled to balance his dual lives.
Then came the webslinging. To do a Spider-Man game properly, he had to be able to swing through the streets of New York. "If it's not right the whole thing falls apart," says Stevenson. "You'd better be able to websling, and it better be really fun and exhilarating. We started working on that on day one." He says it took a year and a half to perfect.
But then came the tough one: finding someone who could play Peter Parker. "It was really hard," says Stevenson. "No one can tell you what Peter Parker should look or sound like, but you know it when you see it or you hear it."
After dozens of auditions, they decided they needed two people: one providing his voice, another his face. "He can be awkward and stumbly, but he can be Spider-Man, so he's sort of cocky, making jokes [but] on the edge the whole time. Trying to find someone who can embody those different moments was critical."
Now it's out, Spider-Man has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, with many suggesting it among the best games of the year. "Probably the best Spider-Man game ever done," said IGN.
Being the giant fan that he is, with an acclaimed video game based on the character under him, Stevenson is perfectly placed to answer TimeOut's final question: why does Spider-Man have such sticking power?
He doesn't pause a beat. "He's that classic underdog," says Stevenson. "Things don't always go right for him [and] he has too much on his plate, just like we all do. He always has a relatively good sense of humour about the whole thing.
"He's every man. You know him, you could be him and you could see yourself in those situations. That's why he's so popular."
• Spider-Man is out now on PlayStation 4.
Kim Kardashian asks White House to help A$AP Rocky
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Chairman Resigns
New Zealand Oil & Gas Chairman Mr Rodger Finlay has announced his immediate resignation from the Board of Directors. He has served on the Board for six years and as Chairman since January 2016.
"OG Oil & Gas has received over 50 per cent acceptances and Overseas Investment Office approval for its partial takeover offer. This provides an ideal time to refresh the company's leadership.
"New Zealand Oil & Gas is entering an exciting new phase of acquisition and exploration, which will require new technical and industry-specific governance skills.
"I am proud to leave the company extremely well managed, with live exploration and acquisition targets identified and sufficient capital to execute the immediate strategy."
Chief executive Andrew Jefferies thanked Mr Finlay for his service.
"Rodger Finlay has led the company through a challenging time of reduced costs, a capital return and the restoration of dividends, while oil prices have been through a deep decline. He leaves the company with its sails trimmed for the conditions and capabilities that will see it grow and flourish under its new majority shareholder."
Director Alastair McGregor, who is ceo of OG Oil & Gas said, "Since joining the Board nearly six years ago Roger has played a critical role in guiding New Zealand Oil & Gas to what it is today. We would like to wish Roger the very best for the future.”
Attachment: News Release
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USA: Agreement Reached to Protect Right Whales, Expedite Clean Energy in Mid-Atlantic
In a first of its kind collaboration, a coalition of leading environmental organizations and offshore wind developers has agreed to a series of voluntary measures that will protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, while helping to expedite responsible offshore wind development, in the Mid-Atlantic.
Building upon proposed federally mandated protections, the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), working together with Deepwater Wind, Energy Management, Inc. (owner of Cape Wind in Massachusetts) and NRG Bluewater Wind, have drafted a set of protective measures that these developers will voluntarily implement over the next four years in areas designated by the administration as Mid-Atlantic Wind Energy Areas, which stretch from New Jersey to Virginia.
The measures outlined in the agreement provide further protections for the North Atlantic right whale, primarily by reducing or avoiding sound impacts from exploratory activities that developers use to determine where to build wind farms, such as the construction of temporary towers that measure weather conditions and underwater surveys that assess the geology just beneath the ocean floor. This is important because acoustic disturbances under the water can disrupt whale communication, safety of migration and feeding.
This agreement was born out of a shared objective to expedite environmentally responsible development and deployment of clean, renewable offshore wind energy in the Mid-Atlantic region – a critical step to reducing carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels that threaten the ocean, wildlife and the climate. It was sent to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees offshore renewable energy development.
“We share with these leading developers a common objective to get offshore wind up and running as quickly as possible as a key tool in the fight against climate change,” said Tricia K. Jedele, vice president and director of Conservation Law Foundation Rhode Island. “To be clear, removing obstacles to offshore wind doesn’t mean cutting corners. Indeed, these companies have worked pro-actively with scientists and members of the environmental community to develop these new right whale protections and build them into their business plans. It’s a win-win agreement that both enhances protection for critically endangered right whales and advances offshore wind’s progress in the Atlantic."
“Climate change is the single biggest threat to wildlife today and we urgently need to transition to clean energy sources like offshore wind,” said Justin Allegro, renewable energy and wildlife program manager at the National Wildlife Federation. “This collaborative agreement between key ocean stakeholders helps ensure these Atlantic offshore wind industry leaders can develop while protecting critically endangered right whales.”
“This first-of-a-kind agreement will help industry leaders more quickly capture the enormous potential of wind blowing off the Mid-Atlantic coast, while protecting a critically endangered species at the same time,” said NRDC Clean Energy Counsel Kit Kennedy. “These companies have shown great leadership. Climate change is the single biggest environmental threat to all life on Earth—on land and in the water—and the only way we can rise above it is by switching to clean energy sources. With proactive action like this, responsible American wind energy can start delivering the sustainable energy and jobs our country needs right now, while safeguarding marine life.”
“Deepwater Wind is proud to sign this historic agreement to help protect the North Atlantic right whale,” said Jeffrey Grybowski, CEO of Deepwater Wind, which led the industry in developing the agreement, tasking its construction and environmental permitting staffs to share information with leading national experts on the North Atlantic right whale and leading the dialogue that gave rise to the agreement. “Offshore wind energy is a critical component to our nation’s long-term energy security. We have an enormous energy resource right off of our coast and developing it will help preserve our environment and protect species like the North Atlantic right whale. But this energy resource must be developed responsibly, and we are committed to being a national leader in responsible development. This agreement – and Deepwater Wind’s role in negotiating it – is proof of that commitment.”
“We are pleased be working with these leading environmental organizations who have been forceful advocates for launching America’s offshore wind industry on this measure to help safeguard North Atlantic Right Whales,” said Mark Rodgers, Communications Director at Energy Management.
The agreement reduces the threat to right whales by limiting weather tower construction and certain other activities during the peak migration season, when whales travel through the mid-Atlantic region between southern calving and northern feeding grounds. During other times of the year, when the whales frequent the area less, the activities may take place with additional protective measures.
These additional protective measures include enhanced real-time human monitoring for whale activity in the site area and restriction of activities to daylight hours when whales can be spotted, the use of noise-reducing tools and technologies, and a lower speed limit for vessels in the area during migration times to avoid ship strikes.
“I was pleased at the responsiveness of the wind farm developers to right whale issues. Many of the wind farm areas occur in the migratory corridor for this endangered species, and this agreement should help minimize the effects of development on the continued recovery of right whales,” said Dr. Scott Kraus of the New England Aquarium, one of the leading authorities on the North Atlantic right whale, science advisor to the parties, participant in the negotiations and a signatory to the letter.
The agreement also has the support of such other leading organizations as the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Oceana, the Sierra Club and the Southern Environmental Law Center.
Press release, December 12, 2012; Image: capelookoutstudies
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Was there a Youthquake in the 2017 general election?
The 2017 ‘snap’ general election saw a substantial reconfiguration of party support during the short campaign from 18th April to Election Day on 8th June. From polling as low as 25% in mid-April, Labour rose to as high as 40% in the final polls, an estimate that matched their actual vote share. While not historically unprecedented, such large shifts in voting references are rare during the course of a campaign1. In the weeks after the election, the most widely held view was that Jeremy Corbyn had particularly appealed to young people, who turned out to vote at historically unprecedented levels – the so-called ‘Youthquake’2.
In a widely reported study, Prosser et al.3 questioned whether there had been any increase in youth turnout after all. They undertook an individual-level analysis of turnout amongst young people using the 2015 and 2017 waves of the Face-to-Face British Election Study (BES). Using these high quality data sets, they found no change in voting patterns for the under-30s between 2015 and 2017. Independently, the same conclusion was drawn by Curtice and Simpson4 in their analysis of the 2015 and 2017 British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey. While the BSA showed a 5 percentage point increase in turnout (from 56% to 61%) for the 18 to 24 group between 2015 and 2017, this was not statistically distinguishable from no change. In short, using the best data available, there was little in the way of support for the Youthquake theory.
However, while BES and BSA data sets employ gold-standard methodologies, including random sampling and in-home interviewing, they have a key weakness – the small sample sizes on which the comparisons between elections are based. For the BES, the validated vote samples for 18 to 24-year olds were 157 and 109 in 2015 and 2017 respectively. For the BSA, the 18 to 24-year old sample sizes were 289 in 2015 and 162 in 2017. These small samples mean that the probability of failing to reject a true null hypothesis of even quite substantial change in turnout between elections is high, particularly as the effective sample sizes will in practice be considerably smaller, when features of the sample design such as weighting and clustering are taken into account.
So, case closed? Perhaps not. In December last year the University of Essex released Wave 8 of the Understanding Society survey5. Understanding Society is a longitudinal household panel survey which interviews a random sample of the UK population annually on a range of different topics, including voting and party support. A key feature is its very large sample size (around 40,000 respondents at Wave 8). In Waves 2, 7, and 8 of Understanding Society respondents were asked whether they had voted in the most recent election and, if they had, which party they voted for (corresponding to the 2010, 2015 and 2017 general elections, respectively).
Figure 1. Nonparametric smoothed local polynomial regression probability of turnout by age in years, UKHLS Waves 2, 7 & 8
Figure 1 plots non-parametric regression estimates of the relationship between age and turnout in Understanding Society. The dark blue line which represents turnout in 2017, is clearly and substantially higher for the youngest voters, aligning with 2015 turnout at around the age of 35. Interestingly, the figure also reveals a significant increase in turnout for the youngest voters between 2010 and 2015, a change which has not, to our knowledge, been previously noted – indeed the focus of Ed Miliband’s Labour on youth engagement in the run-up to the 2015 general election was widely derided at the time.
Our analysis of Understanding Society supports the conclusion that there was a spike in turnout amongst younger voters in 2017, with turnout increasing by 9 percentage points for voters aged under 25 and by 13 points for those aged 25 to 29. And, while the moniker ‘Youthquake’ no doubt overstates the true level of increase, the evidence from Understanding Society suggests that 2017 did witness a marked increase in turnout amongst young people.
Read more about Patrick and Will’s Youthquake research at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/was-there-a-youthquakeafter-all/
1 Jennings, W. (2018). ‘The Polls in 2017’ in Dominic Wring, Roger Mortimore & Simon Atkinson (eds.) Political Communication in Britain: Campaigning, Media and Polling in the
2017 General Election. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
2 Travis, A., and Barr, C. (2017). ‘‘Youthquake’ behind Labour election surge divides generations.’ The Guardian, 20 June 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/
jun/20/youthquake-behind-labour-electionsurge-divides-generations 3 Prosser, C., Fieldhouse, E.A., Green, J., Mellon, J., and Evans, G. (2018). ‘Tremors But No Youthquake: Measuring Changes in the Age and Turnout Gradients at the 2015 and 2017 British General Elections.’ Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3111839.
4 Curtice, J. and Simpson, I. (2018). ‘Voting’ In Phillips, D., Curtice, J., Phillips, M. and Perry, J. (eds.) (2018), British Social Attitudes: The 35th Report, London: The National Centre for Social Research.
5 University of Essex, Institute for Social and Economic Research. (2018). Understanding Society: Waves 1-8, 2009-2017 and Harmonised BHPS: Waves 1-18, 1991-2009. [data collection]. 11th Edition. UK Data Service. SN: 6614, http://doi.
Submitted by Patrick Sturgis, National Centre for Research Methods and Will Jennings, University of Southampton on Tuesday, 25th June 2019
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Harvard University Professor Gita Gopinath Appointed IMF Chief Economist
Gita Gopinath is the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and of Economics at Harvard University. Her research focuses on international finance and macroeconomics
World | Edited by Debanish Achom | Updated: October 02, 2018 10:06 IST
Gita Gopinath is John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and of Economics at Harvard University
Gita Gopinath research focuses on international finance, macroeconomics
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde congratulated the economist
Ms Gopinath is a US citizen and an Overseas Citizen of India
Indian-origin Harvard University professor Gita Gopinath has been appointed chief economist of the International Monetary Fund or IMF, the international organisation tweeted. She replaces outgoing chief economist Maury Obstfeld, who will retire in December, IMF said.
Gita Gopinath is the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Economics at Harvard University. Her research focuses on international finance and macroeconomics.
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde congratulated the economist on the appointment. "Gita Gopinath is an outstanding economist, with impeccable academic credentials, a proven track record of intellectual leadership, and extensive international experience. I am delighted to name such a talented figure as the IMF's Chief Economist," said Ms Lagarde, who has long championed greater inclusivity of women in geopolitics and global power circles.
At the World Economic Forum meet in January, Ms Lagarde told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he did not mention the women of India enough in his speech to the summit, adding "it's not just a question of talking about them". In April, she reiterated that PM Modi should pay more attention to women in the country.
Gita Gopinath's research focuses on international finance and macroeconomics.
Ms Gopinath, who was born and grew up in India, is a US citizen and an Overseas Citizen of India. She received her PhD in Economics from Princeton University in 2001 after earning a BA from University of Delhi and MA degrees from both the Delhi School of Economics and University of Washington, the IMF said in a statement.
Ms Gopinath has also served as a member of the "eminent persons advisory group" on G20 matters for India's finance ministry, her profile on the Harvard University website says. Before joining Harvard, she was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business.
In 2018, she was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A year before that, she received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Washington.
In 2014, she was named one of the top 25 economists under 45 by the IMF and she was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011.
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Gita GopinathInternational Monetary Fund
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May’s Snap General Election: the Impact for Investors
21 April 2017 by Gerard Lyons
What should investors and savers make of Theresa May’s decision to call a snap General Election? June 8th is just over seven weeks away, but as the saying goes, a week is a long time in politics.
In recent history, polls have not always been the best guide to election outcomes, as seen with the previous General Election in 2015, last year’s EU Referendum and the US Presidential Election. Unexpected events can serve to change the anticipated outcome of elections. Thus, there is always uncertainty associated with them.
That being said, the polls suggest the Conservatives will be re-elected with a very large majority. The latest YouGov/The Times poll was not unrepresentative of others and showed: Conservatives on 44%, Labour on 23%, Liberal Democrats on 12% and UKIP on 10%.
As the smaller parties receive more coverage they may gain support, and this will likely include the Lib Dems. They, additionally, may benefit from being the anti-Brexit party.
Could this augur a Conservative landslide?
Since the announcement on Tuesday, it has the feel of 1983 – when Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government won a decisive victory, or Tony Blair’s landside Labour election win of 1997 - about it. In 1983 the outcome was: Conservatives 42.4% and 397 seats: Labour 27.6% and 209 seats; Liberals 25.4% and 23 seats. In 1997 it was: Lab 43.2% and 418 seats; Cons 30.7%, 165 seats; Lib Dems 16.8%, 46 seats.
Most recently, at the 2015 election the results were Conservatives 36.8% and 330 seats; Labour 30.5% and 232; SNP 4.7% and 56; Lib Dems 7.9% and 8 seats. UKIP won 12.7% of the vote and only 1 seat.
Polls also show Labour's policies in some areas are very popular with the public but their leadership, under Jeremy Corbyn, is not. Labour has made it clear already this week that they will challenge the domestic economic agenda. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats are seen as being prepared for an election - and will be strongly anti Brexit. UKIP are second in many seats and this adds to uncertainty. While in Scotland, the question is whether the SNP can do as well as two years ago and, if they can't, what will be the implications for the future referendum debate there.
A mandate for May’s domestic agenda, not just Brexit
If the polls are correct, this will give the Prime Minister a very strong mandate for both her domestic agenda as well as for her Brexit agenda. It is important for investors and savers to recognise this. Even though the focus may be Brexit, we need to factor in her domestic agenda for the longer-term outlook and for our portfolios. There may be limited immediate change on tax given the still large budget deficit, but one would expect a greater focus on boosting domestic demand and future trade potential after leaving the EU. Domestic UK assets would benefit from a stronger domestic economy but may not reflect this just yet.
The impact for Brexit
In terms of Brexit, one would expect the Conservative Party manifesto to reiterate the message outlined by the Prime Minister in her Lancaster House speech and Article 50 letter. Meanwhile, the markets will focus on whether more detail is forthcoming during the election campaign. This is a Clean Brexit with the focus, then, on a comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU.
The one thing is this election - if won by the Conservatives - provides more scope for a transitional deal, as the next election will likely be 2022 and not 2020 as previously thought. Financial markets will like that.
The outlook for sterling
The fall in sterling since last summer appeared justified, given the large current account deficit and the uncertainty associated with leaving the EU added to this. That being said, a solid performance by exporters, plus many firms announcing new investment into the UK, helped convince the market had found an attractive level. More recently, a combination of upward revisions for UK growth - the latest being from the IMF this week for 2017 - has led to a change in sentiment towards sterling.
In some respects we anticipated this, increasing the weight of sterling versus the euro in our portfolios last month. We had seen the downside for sterling as limited. The question - and the risk - is that the market pushes sterling even stronger in the near term.
Could an increased Conservative majority mean a ‘softer Brexit’?
One reason behind this is this perception that an increased Conservative majority will not only strengthen the PM's hand but also point to a ‘softer Brexit’ by making her less beholden to Euro-sceptics in her party. That may be a premature conclusion, especially as one of the reasons suggested for why the PM called a snap election was to stop her Brexit negotiations and Great Repeal Act being blocked by those who wanted to remain. All this is a few months away before being realised. Until then, the current mindset of the market is that a solid Conservative lead is sterling friendly.
Indeed, a solid government victory would normally be seen as positive for sterling.
The likelihood is that victory will strengthen the PM's position as it means policy cannot be blocked at home and Brussels cannot try and feed into a domestic blocking agenda. It does not make the EU any more conciliatory and so we should still expect uncertainty.
Can we trust the polls?
Finally, pollsters have been hopelessly wrong recently, so there is something rather strange about everyone trusting the recent opinion polls as an accurate guide to voting intentions. Nonetheless, they do, and markets will likely follow the gyrations of the polls.
While it is the longer-term impact on growth and performance that we try and take into account for our portfolios, we are also mindful of any impact on monetary policy. The election itself should not directly impact UK monetary policy, but if the result led to a stronger pound and to a greater future commitment to reduce the budget deficit then rates would likely stay lower for longer.
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Women's Rights Activists
Joan Chandos Baez
Net Worth is $11 Million
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Joan Chandos Baez was bornon 9 January 1941 in Staten Island, British, American, is Singer. Folk singer Joan Baez, one of the most sought after artists of the 1960’s decade is a highly talented multi-...
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Malala Yousafzai was bornon 12 July 1997 in Mingora, Pakistani, is Youngest Nobel Laureate. Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani women’s rights activist who became the youngest ever person to be awarded th...
Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day was bornon 8 November 1897 in Brooklyn, American. The founder of ‘The Catholic Worker’, Dorothy Day was an activist who worked for social causes like women’s suffrage and pacifism. She sta...
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Susan B. Anthony was bornon 15 February 1820 in Adams, American, is Women’s Rights Activist. Susan B. Anthony was an American feminist who played a major role in the women's suffrage movement and serv...
Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst was bornon 4 July 1858 in Moss Side, Manchester, British, is Leader of the British Suffragette Movement. Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and leader of the Britis...
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was bornon 12 November 1815 in Johnstown, American, is Women’s Rights Activist. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a prominent 19th century American women rights and civil rights activi...
Sojourner Truth was bornon 1 December 1797 in Swartekill, New York, American, is American women's rights activist. Sojourner Truth was an African American abolitionist who became the first black woman...
William Lloyd Garrison was bornon 12 December 1805 in Newburyport, American, is Abolitionist. William Lloyd Garrison was a well-known social reformer of the nineteenth century America. In his life tim...
Alice Paul was bornon 11 January 1885 in Mount Laurel Township, American, is Suffragist and Feminist. Alice Paul was an early 20th century women’s rights activist who played a key role in the women’s...
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Wangari Maathai was bornon 1 April 1940 in Ihithe village, Tetu division, Nyeri District, Kenya, Kenyan, is Nobel Peace Prize Winner. Wangari Maathai was a renowned environmentalist activist who spent...
Lucretia Mott was bornon 3 January 1793 in Nantucket, Massachusetts, U.S., American, is Abolitionist, Women's Rights Activist, Social Reformer. Lucretia Coffin Mott was a famous American feminist and...
Jeannette Rankin was bornon 11 June 1880 in Missoula, American, is First Woman Elected to U.S Congress. Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to U.S. Congress. At the time when Rankin was elect...
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İngilizce Özgeçmiş
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan was born in Merzifon in 1952. He graduated from Military High School (1969) and İstanbul University Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty (1975). After the GATA internship as well as Cyprus and Bursa continental service, he became a Psychiatrist in GATA in 1982. He became assistant professor (1988) and associate professor (1990) in GATA Haydarpaşa after serving as a doctor in Erzincan and Çorlu Hospitals. He served as a clinical director. He became Colonel (1993) and Professor (1996). He was an academic member at Yüzüncü Yıl University and an expert at the Forensic Medicine Institute between the years of 1996-1999. He retired at his own will. In 1998, he was the representative of Turkey in Memory Center of America.
Prof. Nevzat Tarhan is a scientist who has carried the results to his personal and social life. He transferred his knowledge of psychiatric expertise, which he has pursued over the years with a great effort and researches, to over 100 research articles published in national and international refereed journals, 40 of which were in SCI class journals.His books sales have reached more than 1 million.Due to his works presented in visual and written media, he has reached a large amount of audience in Turkey. He carries out his work with great seriousness and precision. He is a person who spends the same amount of effort and gives the same amount of care from a small business to a large international project. He starts the projects with a student responsibility and excitement during the research phase and he presents his knowledge, experience and know - how accumulated over many years in the projects. He is able to present his experience to all his business partners with the support of knowing human psychology well.
Other than his scholarly nature in publications and books, his other characteristic is the identity of investor and manager.
He transforms all the knowledge and achievements he has gained from free medicine into health and education. Established in 1997, İDER has created and is currently managing two institutions from 'zero' through the so-called "Human Values and Mental Health" foundation.
The first is the second NPISTANBUL Brain Hospital of 236 beds in Europe, which has now received JCI accreditation. The second one is Üsküdar University, which has 16,000 students and works in the field of health and behavior sciences. The establishment and continuation of these institutions, including the state, received no infrastructural and financial support. He established the incubation center named "Brainpark" as Technopark. It is in the organization of the N20 (neuroscience 20) meetings held in G20 from 2015. It specializes in Neuroscience as a scientific research and R & D center.
As Tarhan closely observes the social life due to being a psychiatrist, he makes an accurate analysis of the social life and touches on the importance of "Community Psychology" in every media platform. In addition, there are active membership associations and activities for non-profit, social responsibility associations.
His features are not limited to the ones mentioned above. Prof. Nevzat Tarhan has always targeted investment in people and used his material-spiritual resources towards this direction. The majority of the society witness all that is done. He expresses through his actions that he will continue the same objectives until the end of his life, under his approach of the faith.
Currently, he is the Founder and President of the Üsküdar University and carries out the NPİSTANBUL Brain Hospital Chairman of the Board of Directors, which is Turkey's first neuropsychiatry hospital.
His books sales have reached more than 1 million. Prof. Tarhan speaks German and English and has two sons.
“Click to view the detailed CV of Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan”
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World's first intra-arterial cerebral infusion of Avastin directly into a patient's malignant brain tumor
Neurosurgeons from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center performed the world's first intra-arterial cerebral infusion of Avastin (bevacizumab) directly into a patient's malignant brain tumor. This novel intra-arterial (IA) technique may expose the cancer to higher doses of the drug therapy, while possibly sparing the patient common side effects of receiving the drug intravenously (IV) or throughout their body.
The investigative procedure -- called super selective intra-arterial cerebral infusion of Avastin -- has been successfully performed on five patients with promising results. Details of the first case are scheduled for publication in the next issue of Journal of Experimental Therapeutics and Oncology.
The researchers are currently enrolling patients for the Phase I study, which will test the safety and tolerability of this new method of drug delivery. If proven successful, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell physician-scientists believe that this promising method may one day offer patients a new and better therapy for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a common type of brain cancer that has not responded well to currently available therapies. In addition, the authors believe that this technique may herald the birth of a new field of "interventional neuro-oncology."
"We believe that infusing Avastin directly via the cerebral arteries deep into the site of the brain tumor may help to kill off the cancer cells hiding within the tumor and adjacent brain tissue," explains co-author and study co-principal investigator (PI) Dr. John A. Boockvar, associate professor of neurological surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and director of the brain tumor research laboratory at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
"We are combining the latest in drug treatment with a revolutionary delivery technique, which could potentially be more effective than currently available treatments," says co-author and co-PI, Dr. Howard Riina, co-director of interventional neuroradiology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and associate professor of neurological surgery, neurology and radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College.
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Because of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which prevents many IV-administered drugs from penetrating the blood vessel walls sufficiently in order to get into the brain, no one knows for sure if current drugs actually get into the brain after IV infusion.
"This new technique may be a way to get through that barrier and deliver higher doses of drug to the tumor with less toxicity to the patient," says Dr. Boockvar.
To deliver the drug, neurosurgeons direct a hair-thin microcatheter through blood vessels in the body, via the carotid artery running up the neck, and then into the smaller arteries deep in the brain. Upon arriving at the tumor site, a drug to open the blood-brain barrier is injected. After the BBB is temporarily opened -- a window of time lasting approximately five minutes -- the chemotherapeutic agent Avastin is injected directly into the malignant tumor.
Participants in the trial will be given varying doses of the drug in order to test which dose is best tolerated. Following this Phase I trial, the researchers plan to immediately begin a Phase II trial to test the technique's efficacy.
"This potential new drug delivery system demonstrates translational research from the Brain and Spine Center of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center at its best," says Dr. Philip E. Stieg, chairman of neurological surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and neurosurgeon-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. "If proven successful, it is a promising move forward for patients dealing with resistant brain tumors."
The current standard of care is to give patients with GBM the drug bevacizumab (Avastin) intravenously (IV) -- delivering the drug directly into a vein. The drug works by slowing the growth of new blood vessels within tumors, cutting off the life-giving blood and then causing the cancer cells to die. In May 2009, the FDA approved Avastin for the treatment of GBM.
Study researchers are currently recruiting males or females, 18 years of age or older, with documented diagnosis of relapsed GBM, anaplastic astrocytoma (AA) or anaplastic mixed oligoastrocytoma (AOA) -- two other types of brain tumors.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center
Posted in: Medical Procedure News | Medical Condition News
Tags: Avastin, Bevacizumab, Biopsy, Blood, Blood Vessel, Blood Vessels, Bone, Bone Marrow, Brain, Brain Cancer, Brain Tumor, Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Deep Brain Stimulation, Drug Delivery, Drugs, Education, Efficacy, Gene Therapy, Glioblastoma, Glioblastoma Multiforme, Hair, Hospital, Laboratory, Malignant, Neck, Neurology, Neuro-oncology, Oncology, Parkinson's Disease, Penicillin, Pregnancy, Radiology, Research, Running, Spine, Surgery, therapeutics, Tumor
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Colbert Dismisses Clinton's Injuries: 'Rove Has S**t for Brains'
By Laura Flint | May 16, 2014 4:52 PM EDT
The comedian tapped to take over CBS’s Late Show is showing no signs of diversifying his political comedy to tackle both sides of the aisle, preferring to heavily mock conservatives and Republicans while holding prospective 2016 Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton virtually above reproach..
Take the May 15 edition of the Colbert Report, where host Stephen Colbert devoted a five-minute segment to lambasting Karl Rove for his statement about Mrs. Clinton’s health.. After Colbert praised her “mastery of the facts” and her “unshakeable confidence” at the Benghazi hearings, he lashed out at Rove’s exaggeration of the length of her stay in the hospital, asking “Has Karl Rove lost track of time because he has a serious brain injury?” [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
Colbert went so far as to say that Rove probably has “(bleep) for brains.” Just two days ago, Colbert’s Comedy Central counterpart, John Stewart, promoted a new hashtag “F*@kYouRush,” aimed at trashing the popular conservative syndicated talk-show host. While Rove may have carelessly worded some of his initial criticisms, including his erroneous statement that Mrs. Clinton was hospitalized for 30 days, remarks made by former President Clinton call into question just how truthful Mrs. Clinton has been about her recovery from a concussion. According to the former president, Mrs. Clinton needed a half a year to fully recover from her accident.
From Francesca Chambers of the Daily Mail:
Former President Bill Clinton divulged on Wednesday that it took former secretary of state Hillary Clinton 'six months of very serious work' last year to recover from a fainting spell in December 2012 that resulted in a concussion and blood clot.
Her long recovery is 'something she never low-balled,' Bill said.
But Bill's timeline contradicts the State Department's claims just after the conclusion of Hillary's treatment in January 2013 that 'she seems to be fully recovered.'
Hillary Clinton took ill at some point the week of December 9, 2012, just as she was supposed to testify before a Congressional committee about the terrorist attack that took four American lives in Benghazi, Libya three months before.
After falling in her home, Clinton incurred a concussion. The State Department did not say what day the accident occurred, but it described her concussion on December 13 as 'not severe.'
It was not until December 15 that State explained Clinton's accident was related to a stomach virus that caused her to become dehydrated and faint.
At that time, a State Department spokesman claimed that Clinton would be working from home the following week and would be 'staying in regular contact with Department and other officials.'
Clinton continued to stay at home for the following two weeks, and on December 30, a State Department spokesman announced that he had found a blood clot 'in the course of a follow-up exam' and that she was being 'treated with anti-coagulants and is at New York-Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours.'
The following day, Clinton's doctor's released a statement describing the location of the clot as in 'the vein that is situated in the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear.'
'It did not result in a stroke, or neurological damage,' the statement said.
On January 2, doctors sent Clinton home from the hospital, and on January 7, Clinton returned to work.
It was on Clinton's first day back in the office that State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that 'judging by the woman we saw this morning and the workload that she's got she seems to be fully recovered.'
Clinton did not appear before Congress until the following month, leading some Republicans to speculate about the timing and seriousness of her hospitalization.
Left-wing comedians like Colbert can yuk it up all they want, further vilifying a man like Rove the Left love to hate. That said, there are some serious issues and concerns raised by the former Bush strategist that the media would do well to consider separate from any gripe about the source who first raised them.
A transcript of the relevant comments follows:
11:41 p.m. EDT
STEPHEN COLBERT: Nation, this is a serious scandal because Rove's conjecture is based on solid facts. Hillary Clinton did go to the hospital after a concussion in 2012, and she later exhibited some very strange behavior in her Benghazi testimony. She had a mastery of the facts and an unshakable confidence, all while wearing those stupid glasses. I mean, they're like-- these things are like orthopedic shoes for your face. You'd have to be brain damaged to wear those, or nearsighted, which I believe is caused by brain damage.
STEPHEN COLBERT: All Karl Rove is saying, is that Hillary is a public figure and we should be worried about her brain. Folks, this is another public figure who worries me even more-- Karl Rove. Because he said that Hillary spent 30 days in the hospital when in fact she was there for only three days. Has Karl Rove lost track of time because he has a serious brain injury? I'm just asking the question. I mean, for some reason, he is protecting his skull with a thick cushion of meat.
No, some say, now some, listen up! Now some people are saying he's just yanking these stories about Hillary's health right out of his ass, but because he wears those orthopedic pants at this point, we don't even know if Karl Rove has an ass. He could suffer from a rare condition where the body's lower intestinal track is rerouted to the cranial cavity. It's called "Coproencephalopathy" or in layman's terms,[expletive deleted] for brains. His mouth- I don't know, we don't know. We don't know. It's going to be an issue. It's going to be an issue. I got to say, his mouth exhibits all the classic symptoms. I'm just asking, what's up with that?
Media Diversity Media Bias Debate Political Groups Conservatives & Republicans Liberals & Democrats Comedy Central Colbert Report Audio Video Hillary Clinton Stephen Colbert Karl Rove
Laura Flint
Laura Flint is a 2014 summer intern for the MRC's News Analysis Division.
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New Zealand Foreign Trust Iven De Hoon 2016-10-22T23:48:30+03:00
Introduction New Zealand Foreign Trust
Trusts are very common in New Zealand and are used for a variety of purposes. A trust which is resident in New Zealand and which meets the New Zealand Income Tax Act definition of a ‘foreign trust’ is not taxed in New Zealand on income it earns outside of New Zealand. A beneficiary of that trust, who is not resident in New Zealand, will also not be taxed in New Zealand on that income if it is distributed to the beneficiary. Take the following example.
Mary, who is not a New Zealand resident, settles a discretionary family trust. The beneficiaries are Mary, her husband and their children. Under the trust deed (the document that establishes the trust) Mary can add further beneficiaries in the future and change the trustee if she wishes. The trustee of the trust is M Trading Limited, a New Zealand incorporated company. Mary is the sole director of the company.
Mary transfers to the trust shares in companies incorporated outside New Zealand and the rights to royalties paid for the use of IP used outside New Zealand. Mary also lends money to the trust which it deposits in Euro denominated interest bearing accounts in the name of M Trading Limited.
The trust pays no New Zealand tax on dividends received from the shares, the royalties paid for the use of the IP or the interest paid on the deposits. When the trust distributes that income to Mary or her family those amounts are not taxable in New Zealand because Mary and family are not resident in New Zealand.
The rest of this fact sheet explains:
What is a trust?
What are the benefits of a trust?
What is an NZ foreign trust?
What is a Trust
Trusts are a concept of the common law. This is the legal system which has been developed in England and which now applies there and in its former colonies. The common law countries include the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
A trust exists where a person (the trustee) owns property on behalf of other people (the beneficiaries). The trustee has ‘legal’ title to that property but must deal with the property only for the benefit of the beneficiaries. Under a discretionary trust, which is the most common type in New Zealand, individual beneficiaries do not have a fixed interest in the assets of the trust. Instead the trustee decides what any beneficiary will receive under the trust.
A trust is not a separate legal person like a company but it can sometimes be treated like one for some purposes. For example, if a trustee owns investments for the trust, the investments are registered in the name of the trustee. However, for tax purposes, the trustee is taxed on those investments separately from any income the trustee might have in their personal capacity.
The trustee of a trust can be a natural person, or persons, or it can be a company. There is no need for the name of the company to refer to the trust. For example, the trustee of the Smith Family Trust could be Smith Family Trust Corporate Trustee Limited but it could also be Smith Holdings Limited or London Holdings Limited or any other name that is available for registration for a company in New Zealand.
What are the Benefits of a Trust
There are a number of possible benefits from establishing a trust. In particular:
– Creditor protection. If assets are owned by a trust, they do not belong to the person who established the trust (or the beneficiaries of the trust) and that person’s creditors cannot claim an interest in those assets. For example, if a beneficiary of a trust becomes bankrupt, their creditors are generally not entitled to claim the assets of the trust. This can also be the case where a former spouse or partner of a person claims part of their assets when their relationship breaks up.
– Flexibility and control. The beneficiaries of a trust can be a large group eg, the person who established the trust, their children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, etc. The trustee decides who of these are to receive any benefit under the trust. A person can set out in their will who is to receive their property after they die. However, wills can be challenged in court. If a person moves their assets to a trust, then those assets would generally not be covered by their will or any challenge to that will.
– Tax. An NZ foreign trust does not pay New Zealand tax on income earned outside New Zealand and that income is not taxed in New Zealand when distributed to a nonresident beneficiary of the trust.
For New Zealand income tax purposes, trusts are divided into three types. An NZ ‘foreign trust’ is a trust where:
– the trustee of the trust is resident in New Zealand for tax purposes; and
– and no ‘settlor’ of the trust is resident in New Zealand.
A company incorporated in New Zealand is resident in New Zealand for tax purposes.
The ‘settlor’ of a trust is the person who gives the property that is the subject of the trust to the trustee. For tax purposes, this definition is extended to include, broadly, any person that transfers a benefit to a trust. For example, a person who lends money to the trustee of a trust at a below market rate of interest will be a settlor of the trust for tax purposes.
When a trust is an NZ foreign trust, it does not pay New Zealand income tax on income that has a source outside New Zealand. That is, income such as dividends paid on shares in a company not resident in New Zealand, interest paid on money on deposit outside New Zealand and royalties paid for the use of intellectual property outside New Zealand.
Where an NZ foreign trust then distributes income with a source outside of New Zealand to a beneficiary of the trust who is not resident in New Zealand, the beneficiary is also not subject to New Zealand tax on that amount
If a person who is a settler of a trust that has been treated as an NZ foreign trust decides to become resident in New Zealand the tax treatment of the trust would change.
Note: The information in this fact sheet is of a general nature only and should not be relied on as legal advice. If you are interested in establishing a NZ foreign trust, we can discuss the detailed provisions with you based on your particular circumstances and requirements.
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Emergencies and disruption
Our role in emergency planning
Major emergencies do not happen very often but when they do it's essential that we are ready to respond, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Planning ahead is the most effective way to ensure that if emergencies do happen they have as small an impact as possible on you and your community.
Emergencies that could affect Nottinghamshire include: flooding, severe weather, major transport accidents, industrial accidents, outbreaks of disease including flu pandemics and terrorist incidents.
To prepare for possible emergencies within the county we:
assess local risks in order to identify what we need to plan for
write and review emergency plans
train and exercise with other key organisations to enhance the management of an emergency
ensure that Nottinghamshire County Council has plans in place to deliver important services to the public during an emergency.
We also help to support the emergency services and other organisations with their emergency response in a number of ways:
arranging emergency accommodation should members of the public be evacuated from their homes
providing emergency transport to move members of the public from the scene of an emergency to a safe location
co-ordinating services that we provide that are required as part of the emergency response
contributing to the running of assistance centres. Assistance centres will be set up in the aftermath of a major emergency to act as a focal point for information and assistance to families and friends of those missing, injured or killed, and to survivors
providing information to the public
providing advice and assistance to major sporting venues to ensure that they are prepared for emergencies providing guidance to Parish Councils and other community groups, to help communities prepare for emergencies
providing emergency planning guidance to schools.
We provide this as a key partner of the Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Local Resilience Forum (LRF), which is the multi-agency management group for the co-ordination of emergency planning within Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. The LRF is led by Nottinghamshire Police, and is made up of senior managers from the principal emergency planning and response organisations.
Share this page?
Emergency advice service
Council emergency plans
During a flood
After a flood
Gritting map
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Harlan Coben Shares His Favorite TV Shows
As a perennial #1 New York Times bestselling author, Harlan Coben is no stranger to a suspenseful story that won’t let you out of its grip. Coben’s newest thriller Run Away is just that—and with over 70 million books in print and thirty novels to his name, we’re gonna go ahead and call him an authority on the subject of suspense.
Not only that, as creator and executive producer of several television shows, such as the Netflix Original drama, Safe, Coben knows what makes for great television, too. So, we were thrilled when he shared five of his own favorite TV shows with us here.
Related: Explore Harlan Coben’s Myron Bolitar Series
Harlan Coben’s Favorite TV Shows:
1. Hill Street Blues
2. St. Elsewhere
4. Breaking Bad
5. Veronica Mars
6. The Americans
Watch Harlan Coben’s shows on Netflix:
We would gladly watch Michael C. Hall’s acting all-day, every-day, until the end of time (Dexter, anyone?). So, when we heard that he’s the star of Harlan Coben’s brand-new Netflix Original drama, Safe, we cleared our calendars to binge-watch all eight episodes in one sitting. (Don’t act like you’ve never done it!)
Harlan Coben’s other series on Netflix, The Five is worthy of an all-in-one-weekend watch, too. So, maybe your plans for next weekend, too? When there’s a will there’s a way—and we know you’ll want to watch this one, too.
Harlan Coben’s New Book 2019:
A perfect family is shattered in RUN AWAY, the new thriller from the master of domestic suspense, Harlan Coben.
You’ve lost your daughter.
She’s addicted to drugs and to an abusive boyfriend. And she’s made it clear that she doesn’t want to be found.
Then, by chance, you see her playing guitar in Central Park. But she’s not the girl you remember. This woman is living on the edge, frightened, and clearly in trouble.
You don’t stop to think. You approach her, beg her to come home.
She runs.
And you do the only thing a parent can do: you follow her into a dark and dangerous world you never knew existed. Before you know it, both your family and your life are on the line. And in order to protect your daughter from the evils of that world, you must face them head on.
What to Read & Watch Next
Harlan Coben’s Myron Bolitar Books in Order
The Best Unreliable Narrators in Suspense Novels
Watch: Megan Abbott Talks GIVE ME YOUR HAND
Brilliant Crime Fiction Detectives With Disabilities
Watch: Michael Connelly Talks Murder Book Podcast & Bosch
Which James Patterson Book Should You Read First?
About Harlan Coben:
With over 70 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben is the perennial # 1 New York Times bestselling author of thirty novels including his new thriller, Run Away, the renowned Myron Bolitar series, and the Mickey Bolitar series for young adults.
His books are published in 43 languages around the globe and he is the first author to win all three prestigious mystery/thriller book awards—Edgar Award, Shamus Award, and Anthony Award.
Coben is the creator and executive producer of the crime drama series The Five (available on Netflix), and the Netflix Original drama, Safe, starring Michael C. Hall.
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