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Home navigateright Nonprofits Workshops & Learning Certificate Programs Supervisory and Management Certificate
A five-month series of nine focused, in-depth sessions will culminate in earning a supervisory and management certificate.
The San Antonio Area Foundation, in partnership with the H-E-B School of Business and Administration at the University of the Incarnate Word, offers a professional, non-academic certificate for mid-level and/or first-time nonprofit managers. This 30-hour program is designed to equip nonprofit staff with the management and supervisory skills needed to successfully lead a team of people.
More information on the next upcoming session will be available this fall.
Workshops are held at the San Antonio Area Foundation office, and classes are led by the University of the Incarnate Word faculty. Classes will be a combination of didactic presentation of management and leadership competencies and interactive discussion and learning activities.
Meet the Presenters
Mark S. Teachout, Ph.D.
Mark S. Teachout, PhD, MS, is a Professor in the H-E-B School of Business and Administration, at the University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX, where he has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in the areas of Management, International Management, Human Resources Management, Organizational Behavior, Organizational Development, Organizational Change, and Business Statistics. Earlier, he was the Assistant Vice President of Learning and Performance Solutions, at USAA, and a Senior Scientist at the USAF Research Lab where he received the Scientific Achievement Award for outstanding research. He is an HR, training and OD & Leadership consultant, with 30+ years of combined experience in research & development, Fortune 200, academic and consulting settings. He has assisted private sector, public sector, government, military, and non-profit organizations in organizational change & culture, strategic planning, training, leadership development, and program evaluation. He has over 90 publications, including books, book chapters, articles, and technical reports and delivered over 140 professional and invited presentations in the USA and internationally, on these and other topics. He earned his Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Old Dominion University. Among his many professional affiliations and accomplishments, he served on the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (ibstpi). In addition, he was listed as one of the most published authors in the 1990’s for top tier journals in his field. Finally, he has taught and conducted research internationally, at John Cabot University, Rome, at the European Study Center in Heidelberg, and at IMC University of Applied Sciences, Krems, Austria, where he was awarded the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant.
Teresa L Harrison, Ph.D.
Dr. Teresa Harrison is an Assistant Professor in the H-E-B School of Business and Administration, at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, where she has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in the areas of Organizational Behavior, Business Communication, Business Statistics, Human Resources Management, and Talent Management. Her research focuses on the effects of technology on role overload, social networking and diversity, electronic recruiting and selection, and the relations between cultural values and job choice preferences. She has published articles in Human Resource Management Review, the Business Journal of Hispanic Research, and Hispanic Marketing and Public Relations. Results of her research have been presented at the annual meetings of the Academy of Management, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Southern Management Association, and UIW Research Week. In addition to these organizations, she is a member of the Organizational Behavior Teaching Society, the Society for Human Resource Management, and is a faculty advisor for the UIW Business Club. She earned her Ph.D. in Business Administration with a concentration in Organizational Behavior from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Fundamentals of Management & Leadership (6 hours)
The objective of this module is to provide an overview of the Professional Development Certificate and provide a basic framework for effective management and leadership
Understand basic principles of management and leadership.
Planning, organizing, leading and controlling
Differences between management and leadership
Technical, Human, Conceptual and Ethical
Transitioning into a new role
How to get started in a new role
Understanding challenges associated with a new role
Establishing and maintaining working relationships
Determine how your team adds value
Effective Change Management (3 hours)
Understand the types of change efforts in your organization
What to expect when implementing change
How to get value from your change efforts
Work Motivation, Employee Engagement, Recognition and Retention (3 hours)
Understanding different approaches to motivating employees
Making jobs meaningful
Inexpensive ways to reward and recognize employees
Staffing Your Team and Organization (3 hours)
The objective of this module is to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of staffing decisions.
Identifying and sequencing activities
Selection methods and their effectiveness
Effective interviewing (Situational and Behavioral)
Session V
Performance Management (3 hours)
Understanding the elements of effective Performance Management
Planning, Developing, Measuring and Rewarding
Purposeful daily and planned performance management
Overcoming barriers to successful performance management
Session VI
Employee/Team Training & Development (3 hours)
Understand the different ways to train and develop employees
Formal instruction, on-the job learning, and effective coaching
Building collaborative and effective teams
Session VII
Leading Diverse Teams (3 hours)
Understanding types of diversity
Understanding the importance of diversity
People management, organizational performance, and strategic advantage
Understanding challenges in managing a diverse team
Bias, prejudice and stereotypes
Managing millennial and volunteer workers
Potential Legal Issues
Session VIII
Interpersonal Communication Skills for Managers (3 hours)
Understand different communication methods and their effectiveness
Understand and practice reflective listening techniques
Session IX
Conflict Management (3 hours)
Identifying causes and consequences conflict
Minimizing conflict
Understanding conflict management and resolution
Managing Task vs. Role conflict
Thinking “Win-Win”
Sandie Palomo-Gonzalez, Ph.D.
Kathryn McDonald
Learning and Development Coordinator
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Our Heritage:
The organization of the first church in Roseland began when the Rev. T.F. Roland held services on March 29, 1914 in a one room school house in town. Thirty five people were received that day into membership. Land for a new church building was acquired through a gift from A. A. Berry, President of the Florida Land Co. in 1915. Soon after, members set about collecting funds for the building. It was estimated the cost would be between $900-$1000 and it would be paid for upon completion. The first service was held in the new building on April 30, 1916 under the name "Roseland Methodist Episcopal Church South".
For many years the church was part of what was called the "Sebastian Charge". The charge consisted of the Sebastian, Roseland, Vero and Oslo Churches which all shared the same pastor. Services were held once or twice a month with the pastor, but Sunday School and Vesper Services were held often with the help of members. In 1949 The Rev. Denny Hendry came to Roseland to become it's first full time minister.
Our Growth:
Over the years many changes have occurred. In 1928 the church was wired for electricity. In the Hurricane of '28, the chapel suffered damage to its foundation and timbers were placed as braces in each corner of the building. In 1960 a Thrift Shop was started and in 1979 Roseland began using "United Methodist Church" in its title. In 1993 a contemporary service was added to meet the needs of a generation not attending church. In the year 2000 our latest of many building projects was completed with the addition of the Education Building and in 2001 Roseland Christian Preschool was started with 12 children in attendance.
In 2014 we celebrated our 100th year in existence!! Because of the numbers who came to love our little church as much as those who had known and loved it for years, membership has grown to over 400. Roseland has had 35 ministers with some in the early years returning to the charge a second time. It can be said of this place of worship, truly you have come a long way from a $1000 beginning and membership of 35! Praise the Lord and may He bless us all who have contributed in so many ways to the history of our church.
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Sheema Khan describes how a Canadian business executive has made common cause with the women of Yemen.
Sheema Khan
Unveiling the Breath: One Woman’s Journey into Understanding Islam and Gender Equality
Donna Kennedy-Glans
Pari Publishing
As Greg Mortenson describes it in Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools, his fervent desire to build a school for the Afghan village of Korphe was about to bear fruit after much self-sacrifice. Mortenson had sold all of his worldly possessions, navigated through the complexities of village politics and secured resources for the arduous task in the rugged Afghan terrain, when he was stopped in his tracks by Korphe’s village elder Haji Ali. Before any school could be built, explained Haji Ali, a bridge over the chasm leading to Korphe was essential.
Redefining Citizenship
The Muslim-Canadian experience raises uncomfortable national questions
Is secularism really better for women?
Sex, niqabs, and the secular state
Muslim Pride
A timely LGBTQ memoir
Pure Madness
Unsnarling the irrational, contradictory, still-thriving obsession with virginity
The bridge metaphor was not lost on the author, and it provides a humbling reminder in an era of cultural flashpoints across the globe. Before either side can seek to influence the other, we must engage in the arduous, yet necessary task to understand our common humanity, thereby bridging our cultural divides. Given the enormous popular success of his books, it is clear that Mortenson’s humane approach resonates with the wider public. Most people recognize that conflict resolution begins by doing away with caricatures and acknowledging human weaknesses and strengths on all sides.
Within the Mortenson paradigm, enter the vision of Donna Kennedy-Glans, author of Unveiling the Breath: One Woman’s Journey into Understanding Islam and Gender Equality. Kennedy-Glans is a Canadian lawyer and businesswoman with 24 years of experience guiding organizations in the management of ethics in more than 30 countries. She was the first female vice-president of international energy giant Nexen Corporation. At the invitation of female leaders and host governments in countries such as Yemen, Egypt, Oman, India and Nepal, in 2005 Kennedy-Glans founded the aptly named Bridges, a volunteer organization that trains and mentors Yemeni community leaders in health care, law, journalism, education and politics.
Unveiling the Breath begins at a seaside restaurant in the town of Mulkulla, Yemen, introducing us to the author’s good friend, Dr. Ahlam Binbriek. We learn that Ahlam has become more conservative since 9/11, adopting the niqab. Yet that has not prevented her from striving to improve maternal health in her native land, where one in nine mothers dies in childbirth. Theirs is a special friendship, for each woman serves as a mirror to the other, allowing for deep introspection, mutual understanding and evolution of thought. In the words of Kennedy-Glans, Ahlam “has, over the years, helped me put the pieces of my own kaleidoscope into some kind of recognizable order.” This book recounts Kennedy-Glans’s philosophical ruminations about gender relations gleaned through her travels in Muslim societies and, in particular, through her work with Bridges in Yemen.
The author warns against western arrogance toward the plight of Muslims, arguing instead for dialogue.
Throughout the book, Kennedy-Glans provides examples from her own life about the challenges faced by women in Canadamost notably, in the corporate worlds of law and business. In addition, she reminds us about gender-based violence in North America with mind-numbing statistics, and compares it with a concerted and sincere effort she has encountered in Yemen to begin working toward genuine gender equality there. She also provides examples of female and male pioneers working side by side in the health sectors of Muslim societies. The book is peppered with wisdom from ancient scriptures and ancestral teachings of the East and West. Yet we are provided with a modern context by the author’s extensive use of international development reports and surveys (for example, the United Nations Arab Human Development Report).
Kennedy-Glans’s starting point is the “Gender Onion,” which symbolizes the progression from the outer secular layers of the workplace and communities, to the inner sanctum of faith, spirituality and family. Successive chapters examine each layer from a comprehensive perspective.
Hers is not an archly secular approach, but rather a nuanced examination that is inclusive of spirituality. As she astutely observes, “the West’s 1960s brand of feminism, including the paving of a secular roadway over the top of spiritual footpaths, isn’t going to deliver gender equality in the Muslim world and probably not anywhere.” This is in line with polls conducted by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, which show that the role and importance of religion are declining in the West (with the exception of the United States), while the opposite is true in much of the rest of the world (with the exception of China). In fact, the women’s movement in Yemenas in other Muslim societiesis not exclusively secular.
Moreover, Kennedy-Glans sees the challenges that women face here and in Muslim countries as being more alike than most people realize. She argues that “patriarchy exists in subtle ways in the West that we might not want to acknowledge; conversely, patriarchy in the Muslim world isn’t as extreme as our Western view of it either.” Nevertheless, the authoralong with many Muslim women (and men)calls for patriarchy to be rooted out from the faith. In approaching the subject of gender with a dose of introspection and complexity, she finds more similarities than differences. She also warns against western arrogance toward the plight of Muslims, arguing instead for dialogue.
Imams have been instrumental in teaching Senegalese that female genital mutilation is actually forbidden by the authentic teachings of Islam.
To that end, Kennedy-Glans dismantles a number of western assumptions regarding women’s progress in the Muslim world. Contrary to western perception, “vital questions about gender are being reframed, entrenched misconceptions are being exposed in the Islamic world, and meaningful dialogue is happening.” Witness the groundbreaking conference on sexual harassment in the Middle East that took place in Cairo in December 2009 under the auspices of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The once-taboo subject underwent public scrutiny for the first time, with demands from women across the region to address an endemic problem. According to conference organizers, about 90 percent of women in Yemen reported being sexually harassed (either verbally or physically)in spite of covering up from head to toe. This is further exacerbated by the fact that Yemen has no clear legislation that provides punishment for sexual harassment.
Change must come from within, and, as Kennedy-Glans argues, we must allow for “breathing spaces” in which women (and men) can discuss critical issues without being subject to western scorn. Wholesale condemnations of Islam and ridiculing of the Prophet Muhammad only discourage debate and discussion. When change is imposed from without, the backlash often entrenches the very behaviour the changes seek to uproot. As an example, the author points to the prohibition against female genital mutilation by Kenyan tribes by British colonialists in the 1950s, which only strengthened opposition to colonial rule and support for the opposing guerrilla movement.
She points to the Totsan Senegalese project as an example where indigenous education, rather than cultural imperialism, has been successful at rooting out female circumcision one village at a time. The role of faith has played a vital role in the improvement of the lives of women, as imams working with the project have been instrumental in teaching people that female genital mutilation is actually forbidden by the authentic teachings of Islam. There can also be a dark side to clerical engagement, however: in March, Yemen’s most influential cleric, Sheikh Abdul-Majid Al-Zindani, vociferously opposed a ban on the tribal custom of child brides, organizing widespread support against raising the minimum age of marriage to 17.
In the face of such attitudes, Kennedy-Glans believes (like Greg Mortenson) that women’s education is the key to change. She points to the genuine love of learning amongst the Yemeni population, along with the fact that faith leaders are onsideat least when it comes to education. The faith itself emphasizes that “knowledge is incumbent upon every male and female,” and one of its most illustrious historical figures, Aisha (the youngest wife of Prophet Muhammad), was a scholar in her own right, setting an example for many to follow. There are many female scholars and jurists throughout Islamic history, whose examples need to be unearthed and broadcast to Muslim societies. The seeds of change lie within their own history.
In fact, Islamic history is replete with examples of strong-willed women who engendered change and reform, such as Khadija and Aisha (wives of Prophet Muhammad), Umm Sulaim (who participated in military battle alongside Prophet Muhammad while pregnant), Rabia al-Adawiyya (a Sufi mystic) and Razia Sultana (a 13th-century sultan of Delhi). Yet those wishing to bring the promised land of gender equality to Muslim societies may be surprised to learn that this term is sometimes viewed pejoratively. According to Kennedy-Glans, “the term is offensive to many in Yemenit is seen as a Western value associated with promiscuity and social problems.” That does not mean that Muslim societies are happy with the status quo. According to the Arab Human Development Report, the progress of many Arab countries is hindered by resistance to women’s emancipation (by both women and men). Some (within Muslim societies) compare the condition of Muslim women to that of a collapsed lung, which incapacitates the entire body. A community, a nation, can never reach its full potential if half its members are denied certain rights. And yet, Kennedy-Glans remains optimistic, pointing to a vast network of activists striving for change in Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Yemen, the Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Algeria, Nigeria, Tanzania and more. She has been inspired by changes on the ground in Yemen, “one tiny, remote and dusty town or village … at a time.”
Based on her fieldwork, Kennedy-Glans reports that Yemenis are aspiring to “create an egalitarian society built on laws, human rights and economicsbut also a society that enables feminine and masculine contribution in harmony with local culture and personal faith.” This noble endeavour has been aptly termed “gender jihad” by the Yemenis themselves, and signifies the struggle of women and men for equality in the home, workplace and state. While some may recoil against the use of jihad, the term itself has many meanings within Muslim culture, including “noble struggle” to improve from within. Gender jihad is both spiritually and culturally accurate, and as such, could equally apply in other Muslim societies such as Afghanistan. In Arabic, jihad al mawadah encapsulates “the internal struggle for respectful, nurturing, loving and harmonious relationships between men and women.” The key is that Muslims themselves take ownership of the issues and the language used to frame solutions, based on indigenous paradigmsrather than cultural exports from the West. The question is whether such paradigms exist.
Kennedy-Glans points to Yemen’s ambitious goals as evidence of the country’s intent to improve women’s lives: the guarantee of access to all levels of education for both girls and boys, the requirement that each ministry have a woman at the director-general level, the appointment of female ministers and ambassadors, a 15 percent quota for women in politics, public education about violence against women and the fight against the practice of marrying off child brides by constructively focusing on the health risks. These are indigenous aspirations.
The combination of feminism and faith is often viewed with skepticism here in the West. Not so for female activists in Muslim societies.
While Yemen’s national goals are laudable, there is a “performance gap,” defined by the author as the “yawning chasm between government commitments to equality and individual citizens’ ability and motivation to take ownership of these promises.” She points to Lamya Al-Sakkaf, a political science student who is seeking to close this gap within her faith: “Islam was the first actor that brought feminism into the Arab world … The Qur’an states that people should be treated equally regardless of anything. Nevertheless, politicized religious movements have been drifting away from the essence of … the Qur’an … to put women down for certain political agendas.”
The extensive research provided by the author should be an eye-opener to those unfamiliar with the rich history of the Middle East (and Yemen, in particular). If there is one quibble, it is her inaccurate information regarding the Islamic version of Adam and Eve (Hawa in Arabic). According to primary Islamic sources (the Quran and the authentic traditions of Prophet Muhammad), it is not clear whether Hawa was created from Adam’s rib, but, more importantly, she is not regarded as a temptress who caused the downfall of Adam. There is no theological basis in Islam for blaming women for the actions of men. A number of present-day imams could benefit from this reminder.
Those who believe in a “West is best, East is beast” approach will dismiss Kennedy-Glans’s perspectives as moral relativism. So will those who advocate purely secular paradigms, in which religious belief is viewed with great antipathy (such as the Somali-Dutch activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali). However, pragmatism usually trumps ideology. Witness the courageous example of Mukhtar Mai, whose memoir, In the Name of Honour, details the importance of her faith in sustaining her quest for personal justice (following a brutal gang rape in Pakistan) as well as improving the lives of others through education and literacy.
The combination of feminism and faith is often viewed with skepticism here in the West. Not so for female activists in Muslim societies, who also welcome the paradigm of human rights espoused by the West. Halfway across the world, courageous Afghan women (and men) are fighting against the Taliban’s draconian edicts regarding women. They champion human rights, yet are appalled by the recent call for banning the burka/niqab in Europe (and Quebec). Afghan lawmaker Shinkai Karokhail sees a double standard: western democracies espouse human rights in Afghanistan, yet (some) restrict a Muslim woman’s choice on their own “progressive” turf back home in the West, denying her all kinds of opportunities. Outspoken Afghan critic Malalai Joya dislikes the burka, but fights for the rights of women to make personal choices; in her view, “It is against the very basic element of democracy to restrict a human being from wearing the clothes of his/her choice.”
In an age of globalization and the internet, there will invariably be more transcontinental exchanges regarding cultural values. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it provides the opportunity to reflect upon principles. If we are secure in our values, we should not feel threatened by such exchanges. Instead, we can use these opportunities to learn, since education is an agent of change. And this seems to be the defining message Kennedy-Glans is proclaiming:
Though the West finds much mystical and frightening about the Muslim world, there are Westerners, including myself, who see hope in a cross-boundary engagement on these questions about worldview and masculine-feminine harmonization. The West has legitimate experience with secularism to share with the East. And I am intrigued by the Eastern notion that two parallel pathways to gender equilibriumsecular and sacredcan meet in infinity. Admittedly, there are real differences in culture that cannot be denied. Yet there is much we can learn from one another.
Sheema Khan, author of Of Hockey and Hijab: Reflections of a Canadian Muslim Woman (TSAR Publications, 2009), is a hockey mom who played house league at McGill and Harvard universities.
Sheema Khan’s review of Unveiling the Breath: One Woman’s Journey into Understanding Islam and Gender Equality by Donna Kennedy-Glans put me in a reminiscing mood, given its focus on Yemen. About 15 years ago, I visited this remote yet divinely romantic country. What struck me then was its gentle people, who learned to lace their rugged mountains with field terraces, making many parts of their country look like blooming flowers. What impressed me now, from reading this review, was the ways societal reforms are unfolding there.
The gigantic mountains seemed to offer a way up to heaven. I remember the clouds passing under our level with birds flying along, all evoking...
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AUSET'S ZEP TEPI LINKS
Zep Tepi, the era the Ancient Egyptians refered to as "The First Time", or "Golden Age".
For most people the burning question regarding ancient Egypt is, "How were the Great Pyramids built?" The greater question, however, may be "Who built them, and why?"
It is a widely accepted belief that the three pyramids, in Giza, were errected to be used as tombs for Khufu and his sons during their reigns. There has never been any evidence to support this claim. In fact, all three Pharoahs conveniently died prior to the completion of "their" pyramids and are buried in The Valley of Kings!
We were also under the presumption that the labor was performed by Jewish slaves who were later saved by Moses who led them out of bondage and out of Egypt. It never happened. It has been proven that the timeline is all wrong. That aside, the general concensus is that the Egyptians are responsible for the design and building one of the world's greatest enigmas.
With all due respect to the intelligence of the Eygyptian people there seems to be more and more reason to believe what their ancestors had always said. The Great Pyramid And Great Sphinx are very ancient and from the "First Time".
According to the history from most of the Ancent Cultures, our civilzations have fallen many times through cataclysmic events, the last of which was the great flood. Contrary to the biblical Noah story there were other survivors. Some were lucky enough to have lived on mountain tops. And there were others. The elite. The learned, who knew well in advance of the coming event and were able to escape the deluge by going underground. Literally!
This may sound far fetched, but actually it isn't. We, in the United States, are aware that there are underground bunkers to be used by our governmental bodies and their families in case of a war or other catatrophe. That leaves out the rest of us who would have to fend for ourselves. Perhaps one third of us would make it through on our own and survive. The flood scenerio will be used as an example.
What would our lives be like once everything we had on hand was depleted? Perhaps after a day of hunting and gathering our food we would sit around the campfire and exchange stories about the glory days. The times before when we could fly in the sky and even go to the planets. Why,in fact some of our people still live among the stars (on a space station)!
Over the thousands of years that it may take for the waters to recede our stories of telephones, microwaves, air conditioning, cars, and tv would be viewed as myth. Nothing more than stories. No artifacts would be left from our time to prove to forth coming generations that we spoke the truth. It appears that this is exactly what happened.
One day, in Egypt and in other places around the world, mysterious people arrived. These were the offspring of the elite who may have gone to live comfortably in the honeycomb of huge undergound caverns, or perhaps even off world until it was safe to return.
No one knew who these people were but they possessed medical and scientific knowledge of such things as cloning, planting, astrononomy, physics, chemistry, that their ancestors had passed to them and they had further developed. They would even possess maps of the world before the great flood. Since all predeluvian history had been lost to the masses these strangers were seen as Gods!
We have no idea today what technology those named Thoth, Isis, Osiris and others possessed, but that they were quite human and not mythological figures is more than possible.
We now know there are chambers beneath Great Pyramid and Great Sphinx that may hold the key to our true history. For what purpose is it being withheld fom us? Why and by whom?
If your interest or curiosity has been piqued you may want to read the pages below for some eye opening answers.
Ancient Metropolis Hidden Under Giza?
Wonders of the Great Pyramid Revealed
Geologist- Dr. Robert Schoch- Sphinx
Link Between Egypt and Byblos Lebonon
The Sphinx: Guardian of the Treasure of the Gods
Genisis-Geneset
Sphinx Temple
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE OF A NEW HUMAN HISTORY THEORY!
(site index)(gifs & jpgs)(divination) (links)(midis)
Copyright � 1999-2001 Auset of Abydos All Rights Reserved
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Tagged: Theme
The world under the sea is an alien environment still in the process of being explored. John Wilkins, in Mathematicall Magick (1648), offered speculative designs for submarines and discussed the possibility of underwater colonization; already, in about 1620, Cornelius Van Drebbell (1572-1633) had successfully navigated a submarine rowing-boat in the Thames, and before the end of the century another would-be submariner had perished in Plymouth Sound. David Bushnell (1740-1824) built a submarine boat in 1775, and Robert Fulton (1765-1815) remained under water for four hours in his egg-shaped submarine in 1800. By 1863 the David, a submarine built by the Confederacy during the US Civil War, was sufficiently functional to attempt a torpedo attack on an ironclad; its successor actually managed to sink a ship, but was lost with all hands. By the 1890s the French Navy was equipped with four submarines and both Germany and the USA were building them.
The first notable literary work to feature a submarine was a romance by Théophile Gautier (1811-1872) about a plot to rescue Napoleon, Les deux étoiles (1848; exp vt Partie carrée 1851; vt La Belle Jenny; trans in var colls as "The Quartette", "The Belle-Jenny" and "The Four-in-Hand"). The classic underwater romance of the nineteenth century was, however, Jules Verne's Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (1870; trans as Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas 1872), in which the undersea world became for the first time a place of marvels and natural wonders to be explored. Frank R Stockton's The Great Stone of Sardis (1898), Harry Collingwood's The Log of the Flying Fish (1887), Herbert Strang's Lord of the Seas (1908) and Max Pemberton's Captain Black (1911) feature submarine adventures, but are concerned primarily with Transportation rather than with exploring the wonders of the deep. The main reason for this relative uninterest was the impossibility of any real interaction between human visitors and the alien environment. Apart from the occasional duel with a sea-Monster (almost always a giant squid or octopus) there seemed to most writers to be little dramatic potential in underwater ventures; for a protagonist to get to grips with the underwater world, some fantastic modification was necessary – as in The Water Babies (1863) by Charles Kingsley (1819-1875) – and the notion of adapting humans to underwater life by biological engineering did not appear until Alexander Beliaev's The Amphibian (1929; trans 1959). The only attempts to set aside this difficulty in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were stories dealing with the rediscovery of Atlantis – which had often, by more-or-less miraculous means, managed to preserve itself and its air despite its cataclysmic submersion; examples include André Laurie's The Crystal City under the Sea (1895; trans 1896), the title story of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Maracot Deep (coll 1929), Stanton A Coblentz's The Sunken World (Summer 1928 Amazing Stories Quarterly; 1949) and Dennis Wheatley's They Found Atlantis (1936).
Early Genre-SF writers showed relatively little interest in undersea adventures, although film-makers made persistent attempts to make bigger and better versions of Verne's novel from the earliest years of silent movies to Disney's 20,000 Leagues under the Sea (1954). Several pulp-sf stories, however, dealt with undersea life on alien worlds. An early example was Neil R Jones's "Into the Hydrosphere" (October 1933 Amazing), but the classics of the species are "Clash by Night" (March 1943 Astounding) and Fury (May-July 1947 Astounding as Lawrence O'Donnell; 1950; vt Destination Infinity 1956) by Henry Kuttner and C L Moore, reflecting the common image of Venus as a watery world. The most notable pulp story partly set beneath the oceans of Earth is The Green Girl (March-April 1930 Amazing; 1950) by Jack Williamson.
In the post-World War Two period sf writers became more interested in the possibilities of undersea melodrama. Alien oceans figure in "The Game of Glory" (March 1958 Venture) by Poul Anderson, "The Gift of Gab" (September 1955 Astounding) by Jack Vance, Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus (1954; vt The Oceans of Venus) by Paul French (Isaac Asimov) and in the story in which Roger Zelazny bade a final fond farewell to the image of Venus as an oceanic world, "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" (March 1965 F&SF). The notion of adapting humans to underwater life by Genetic Engineering is notably featured in James Blish's "Surface Tension" (August 1952 Galaxy), although Blish had introduced it in a more tentative form in "Sunken Universe" (May 1942 Super Science Stories) as by Arthur Merlyn, which is combined with the later story in The Seedling Stars (fixup 1957). Blish and Norman L Knight's novel A Torrent of Faces (1967) features humanoid "tritons" engineered for underwater life, similarly carried forward from Knight's earlier solo work "Crisis in Utopia" (July-August 1940 Astounding).
The mid-1950s saw a minor boom in sf stories set beneath the oceans of Earth, including Frank Herbert's tense submarine spy-thriller The Dragon in the Sea (November 1955-January 1956 Astounding as "Under Pressure"; 1956; vt 21st Century Sub; vt Under Pressure), Arthur C Clarke's novel about whale-farming, The Deep Range (April 1954 Argosy UK; exp 1957) and the first of Frederik Pohl's and Jack Williamson's Eden trilogy of juveniles dealing with undersea colonization, Undersea Quest (1954) – a theme to which they returned much later in Land's End (1988). Kenneth Bulmer's City under the Sea (1957) makes much of the idea of surgical modification for life in the sea; he further extrapolated the notion in Beyond the Silver Sky (1961). Other stories of the biological engineering of humans for undersea life include Gordon R Dickson's Home from the Shore (February 1963 Galaxy; exp 1978) and its sequel The Space Swimmers (1967), Hal Clement's Ocean on Top (October-December 1967 If; 1973) and Lee Hoffman's The Caves of Karst (1969). The idea is more elaborately developed in such works as Inter Ice Age 4 (1959; trans 1970) by Kōbō Abe, in which Japanese scientists prepare for a new deluge, and in The Godwhale (1974) by T J Bass, whose eponymous protagonist is a Cyborg leviathan.
The scientific community took an increasing interest in dolphins during the 1960s and 1970s, inspired by researches – notably those of John Cunningham Lilly (1915-2001), author of The Mind of the Dolphin: A Nonhuman Intelligence (1968) – into their high Intelligence; a notable sf precursor of this work is Leó Szilárd "My Trial as a War Criminal" (Fall 1949 University of Chicago Law Review). The idea of Communication between dolphins and humans was popularized in numerous sf stories, including William C Anderson's Penelope (1963), Arthur C Clarke's Dolphin Island (1963), Gordon R Dickson's "Dolphin's Way" (June 1964 Analog), James Blish's Mission to the Heart Stars (1965), Roy Meyers's Dolphin Boy (1967; vt Dolphin Rider) and its sequels, Robert Merle's The Day of the Dolphin (1967; trans 1969), Margaret St Clair's The Dolphins of Altair (1967), Joe Poyer's Operation Malacca (1968), Robert Silverberg's "Ishmael in Love" (July 1970 F&SF), John Boyd's "The Girl and the Dolphin" (March 1973 Galaxy), Ian Watson's The Jonah Kit (1975) and Anne McCaffrey's late addition to her Pern sequence, The Dolphins of Pern (1994). In Douglas Adams's The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979) it is indicated that human-dolphin communications have failed because we rather than they are slow on the uptake. Dolphins gifted with sentience by means of human ingenuity (see Uplift) play a key role in David Brin's Uplift series, most notably in Startide Rising (1983), in which a human- and dolphin-crewed starship takes refuge from a host of enemies in an alien ocean; similarly blessed – or in this case, perhaps, cursed – dolphins feature in Alexander Jablokov's A Deeper Sea (October 1989 Asimov's; exp 1992). As in the above-cited "My Trial as a War Criminal", dolphins have emerged as humanity's moral guides in Alan Moore's The Ballad of Halo Jones, Book 3 (graph 1986).
Analogies may easily be drawn between submarines and Spaceships. In Harry Harrison's The Daleth Effect (1970; vt In our Hands, the Stars) the heroes, in urgent need of a spaceship, simply attach their Antigravity drive unit to a submarine. Greater subtlety is exhibited in James White's The Watch Below (1966), which juxtaposes the problems of an Alien spaceship nearing Earth with those of a group of people surviving in the hold of a ship which has been under water for many years. A similar analogy is drawn in Asimov's "Waterclap" (April 1970 If), which deals with a conflict of interest between projects to colonize the sea bed and the Moon. A curious novel in which huge water drops function as Space Habitats of an extraordinary kind is Bob Shaw's Medusa's Children (1977).
The Cinema carried forward its own tradition of submarine romance as its technical capacities grew. The Incredible Petrified World (1957) features exploration via diving bell; The Atomic Submarine (1959; vt The Atomic Sub) is an early nuclear-submarine venture; the titular seabed habitat of The Underwater City (1962) is hins genuine if doomed experiment in colonizing the deeps; the undersea City of War-Gods of the Deep (1965; vt City in the Sea) is remotely based on a poem by Edgar Allan Poe; The Neptune Factor (1973; vt Conquest of the Deeps) features rescue from a deep rift in the ocean bed; and Goliath Awaits (1981) centres on a decades-old undersea community surviving in a sunken ship, as in the Earth storyline of the already-cited The Watch Below. More notable sf examples include Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961), which spawned a long-running Television series (1964-1968), and The Abyss (1989). The latter was the most distinguished of a cluster of such movies at around the same time, others including Deepstar Six (1988), Leviathan (1989) and Lords of the Deep (1989). A later example is Sphere (1998), based on the novel by Michael Crichton.
In the juvenile-adventure tradition of Operation Neptune (1953) Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and the UK Stingray (1964-1965), there followed the more ambitious television project seaQuest DSV (1993-1996), made by Steven Spielberg's production company, and featuring an intelligent dolphin as a crew member. Gerry Anderson's SuperMarionation puppet sf series brought submarines to UK television: the eponymous Stingray, already cited, and the submersible Thunderbird 4 in Thunderbirds (1965-1966). City Beneath the Sea (1970; vt One Hour to Doomsday) has the titular city Pacifica as its setting.
Further science-fictional submarines are featured in Martin Caidin's The Last Fathom (1967) and Richard Cowper's satirical comedy Profundis (1979). Alien oceans and races adapted to them are found in Stefan Wul's Temple of the Past (1958: trans 1973), in which a spaceship which lands in an alien ocean is swallowed by a whale-like creature, Michael G Coney's Neptune's Cauldron (1981), Joan Slonczewski's A Door into Ocean (1986), in which emissaries from a race of peace-loving ocean-dwellers must visit a very different kind of world, our own, and Piers Anthony's Mercycle (1991). A primitive but effective submarine with a Steampunk flavour is deployed in Terry Pratchett's Discworld comedy Jingo (1997). Adam Roberts, not for the first time, homages Jules Verne in Twenty Trillion Leagues under the Sea (2014).
Arthur C Clarke's constant interest in the sea – reflected in his nonfiction as well as his fiction – was further demonstrated in The Ghost from the Grand Banks (1990), about the raising of the Titanic. Another writer much interested in the sea was marine engineer Hilbert Schenck, whose fascination is evident in the stories in Wave Rider (coll 1980) and the curiously mystical At the Eye of the Ocean (1980). Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun (1980-1983 4vols) presents a plausible Physics-based reason for living underwater: prolongation of life (see Immortality) requires continual growth; would-be immortals eventually become too massive to bear their own weight on land, and must join other gigantic creatures (like the blue whale) in the sustaining sea. This solves the problem posed by Gravity to humaniform giants (see Great and Small). A later undersea work, set in an underwater research station called Tethys, is Oceanspace (2000) by Allen Steele, which is dedicated to Clarke. Adaptation to pelagic life on the watery colony world Shin-Tethys features in Charles Stross's Neptune's Brood (2013).
Some authors have interestingly examined the Psychology of life in the sea's amniotic embrace. In Frank Herbert's already-cited The Dragon in the Sea (1956), the extreme danger of the submarine crew's deep-sea mission contrasts with their shared sense of the sea as protection and their suppressed fear of the sky; adaptation to submarine life corresponds to psychosis on land. The psychologically damaged seabed workers of Peter Watts's Starfish (1999) also adapt in disturbing fashion, preferring to live and sleep outside their protective habitat. Keith Roberts suggests in "The Deeps" (in Orbit 1, anth 1966, ed Damon Knight) that yielding to the potent lure of the sea is the beginning of long, slow Devolution, a point made more explicitly in Kurt Vonnegut's Galápagos (1985). Conversely, the genetically engineered humans who form a thriving undersea kingdom in Alastair Reynolds's Blue Remembered Earth (2012) naturally regard themselves as the best possible forward path of Evolution. A tiny undersea enclave of humanity – initially in a US submarine – survives the millennia of intense meteor bombardment causing the destruction of all life on Earth's surface in Neal Stephenson's Seveneves (2015), and adapts to live without equipment in the sea. [BS/DRL]
see also: Bermuda Triangle; Ecology; Invasion; Sargasso Sea; Underground.
Nigel Pennick. Lost Lands and Sunken Cities (London: Fortean Tomes, 1987) [nonfiction: pb/from 1834 image coloured by Mikki Rain]
Michel Meurger and Claude Gagnon. Monstres de lacs du Québec: mythes eté troublantes réalités (Montreal, Québec: Stanké, 1982) [nonfiction: binding unknown/]
Michel Meurger and Claude Gagnon. Lake Monster Traditions: A Cross-Cultural Analysis (London: Fortean Tomes, 1988) [nonfiction: exp and trans by authors of the above: pb/Fred Gambino]
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September 2009 Portfolio Summary and Review
September 2009 can be aptly described as a month in which major economies took even more tentative steps towards recovery from the sharp recession, and the USA is also reporting that the recovery from recession will be slow and very gradual, and that unemployment is likely to exceed 10% before we are through with this “Great Recession”. At the same time, I was highlighted to an article in the Daily Mirror here which highlighted that the recession is far from over as far as the shipping and marine sector was concerned, as many ships are still moored in the waters off Singapore with no cargo to carry and no jobs to service. There is an acute over-supply of vessels in almost all categories (most pronounceably in bulk shipping) and global trade had also dropped off a cliff 6 months ago and is only gradually, albeit slowly, picking up. As economies struggle to shake off the shackles of recession, demand for commodities such as oil and gas will pick up slowly; but it will still take a good 3-4 years before demand for shipping returns to 2007 levels.
Valuations are taking a tentative breather and it is beginning to get difficult to locate genuine bargains in the stock market; this is due in part to gradually improving risk appetites and the entrance of more retail players as they notice the last 6-month recovery in share prices. This has prompted many investors to jump in head first into the pool without testing the temperature of the water, with the unfortunate result of getting burnt for their efforts. Whether the stock market is trading with “blue-sky” scenarios (this term is increasingly beginning to appear in analysts’ reports and irks me to no end), or incorporating extremely pessimistic scenarios; one must always keep in mind that prudence, conservatism and a sense of reality can keep one grounded and enable one to avoid debilitating losses. As some of my previous posts had mentioned, one cannot always only choose to purchase when valuations hit trough levels, as this happens under very rare circumstances (and there is only a short window of opportunity – in this case Oct 2008 through March 2009); one should instead hope to pay a fair price for a well-managed company with solid fundamentals, and let the process of growth in the company’s business and compounding increase the value of your investment over time.
I also managed to spend some time monitoring the mind-boggling property market in Singapore, which has behaved contrary to popular wisdom, which says that property prices should dip in a severe recession rather than rise. As HDB resale prices continued to climb alongside prices of private properties, one eventually has to fork out nearly S$400,000 to S$500,000 for a 5-room HDB flat in a prime location. Assuming a young married couple earning less than S$8,000 buys one of these flats, they would have to take a 30-year loan and be heavily indebted for close to the rest of their lives. Mr. Mah Bow Tan’s has asserted that couples only have to fork out less than 30% of their salary to service their housing loan, which implies it is “affordable”. But affordability has a different definition according to me – it’s how much pain you will have to go through to service a loan assuming you have no other sources of income, and HDB prices are way too high for the average Singaporeans (earning a median salary) to comfortably afford. The recent measures taken by the Government to cool the property market (i.e. scrapping IAS and interest-only loans) may cause some cooling but they probably have to do more in order to deter the speculators.
In terms of the companies I own, there was quite a bit of news which I had summarized in a previous post in order to save space for my portfolio review. Any news between that post and this review is included here. October 2009 will see results releases from Suntec REIT (3Q 2009), FSL Trust (3Q 2009 excluding stub) and Ezra (FY 2009).
There was a new addition to my portfolio during the month of September 2009, and it is a company called MTQ Corporation with two divisions which deal with oilfield engineering and engine systems. Taking into account all of my previous mistakes as detailed on this blog (and in order to avoid repeating them), I chose this company because it has growth prospects in Bahrain (Middle East), Management which is shareholder friendly, a business with barriers to entry, and the Company has consistently positive operating cash flows and a strong balance sheet (it is in a net cash position as at March 31, 2009). Valuations were not excessive at just 5.3x historical PER (at the time of my analysis). Management has also shown itself to be astute, which I will detail in a future post.
I will be providing my reasons and rationale to substantiate the purchase of MTQ Corporation Limited in subsequent posts. I had taken a total of about 2.5 months to fully research on this company and write my report, supported by facts and figures. The reason for the (apparently) long time it took to analyze the company was due to my constant procrastination and also being tied up with work and personal commitments. As a result of the thumb-sucking, I had missed opportunities to acquire at much lower valuations, thus my inaction cost me some measure of margin of safety. I shall endeavour not to repeat this mistake again.
Since trading volume for this company is low, my collection had to be done in stages, and on different days; thus incurring significant brokerage expenses. In total, I had allocated about S$20,000 to this investment for Sep 2009 (as reflected in the increase in my portfolio cost).
As at this point in time, I will also be initiating research on a few other potential companies for value investment. This is in case the market price of MTQ increases to a point where I feel there is lower margin of safety (hence I will stop collecting) and also as alternatives to allocate excess funds which have been accumulated over the months and from the divestment of Swiber and Pacific Andes.
For September 2009, corporate updates and result announcements for my companies are as follow:-
1) Ezra Holdings Limited – No more updates since my last post.
2) Boustead Holdings Limited – No further updates since my last post.
3) Suntec REIT – Suntec’s next distribution will be announced in Oct 2009, and in the meantime in Sep 2009 they issued S$25 million of fixed-rate notes to finance the purchase of the Suntec City Convention Centre.
4) China Fishery Group Limited – Golden Target and Pacific Andes have been actively buying shares in China Fishery over the last few weeks, with several tens of lots being transacted every single day. I do not take this as any indication of merit or that a possible takeover is on the cards, though there of course have been rumours that this is so. With the change in financial year to September 28, 2009, it means that China Fishery will report full-year 2009 results (9M 2009) before November 30, 2009.
5) First Ship Lease Trust – There was no news further news from FSL Trust. October 2009 will be the time the Trust releases its 3Q 2009 results and DPU (apart from the stub distribution). I will also receive the distribution of USD 1.27 per unit on October 30, 2009.
6) Tat Hong Holdings Limited – There were no subsequent updates from Tat Hong, and I have to wait for the results of the EGM on October 6, 2009 to know if shareholders approve the AIF Capital investment in RCPS.
7) MTQ Corporation Limited – There was no news from the Company for September 2009.
Portfolio Comments – September 2009
Once again, a direct comparison cannot be made between August 2009’s portfolio and this month’s portfolio as there had been an addition of a new company into my portfolio. For the record anyway, my portfolio is up +28.6% thus far, and with realized gains of S$9.4K, the total portfolio gain is +36.7%.
I recall mentioning that it was stressful to decide how to best allocate funds in a very low interest rate environment, as cash lying idle in bank accounts pays a very scanty return of less than 1% per annum. That prompted me to start my search for a suitable company to invest in during June-July 2009, which led to my eventual purchase of MTQ Corporation. This is an investment which I believe should give a constant decent dividend yield and which will bear fruit in 2-3 years time. I would be expecting their 1H FY 2010 results (the company has a March 31 year-end) in early November 2009, and due to the weakening in the oil and gas sector and a drop in enquiries, MTQ’s business is expected to suffer in the short-term, though I would still expect cash flows to be positive and an interim dividend to be declared.
My next portfolio review will be on Saturday, October 31, 2009.
Labels: MTQ, Portfolio
Behavioural Finance Part 5 - Gambler’s Fallacy
After a long hiatus, it’s time to get back to discussing the interesting and volatile aspects of human behaviour, and how this influences our decision-making processes concerning our investments and money. Behavioural Finance is a growing field and incorporates principles of human psychology to see how it influences the way we perceive and handle money. Interestingly, I had always noticed that one of the more intriguing aspects of human behaviour concerns gambling, as noted by occasional news reports of casino or lottery winners; and also of gamblers having to pawn and sell all their belongings just to avoid bankruptcy. This is in addition to the almost total collapse of the “victim’s” family and social support, as his gambling addiction totally destroys all aspects of his life.
From an investing perspective, I would like to introduce what is called the “Gambler’s Fallacy”. Essentially, by definition this refers to a person’s view that since a random event has occurred with a certain regularity or in a certain perceived pattern, this would immediately indicate that this pattern or trend is unlikely to continue in the future. This is incorrect because random events are considered independent events in probability theory and have no correlation or causative effects on another random event. Yet, people tend to associate both events together and make deductions or conclusions based on the frequency or probability of occurrence of the second event. This works both ways in investing to the investor’s disadvantage – when the price of a stock (note: NOT its value) is going up in consecutive sessions, an investor has the urge and tendency to sell because he believes the trend will not continue. Conversely, if the stock price has gone down a few consecutive trading days, an investor may also tend to hold on longer than he should as he believes the trend will “break”. This is akin to flipping a coin 20 times and getting “heads” every single time, thus you expect that on the 21st flip, it would have to come out “tails” because it was heads for 20 times already! Of course, one can clearly see the flaw in logic in this example as each coin toss result is independent of all other coin tosses.
When a person observes the price of a counter and does not focus on the value of a company, he will be subject to Gambler’s Fallacy all the time. By studiously going through a company’s newsflow, fundamentals and financials, one can make a more informed decision of the actions he should take with regards to an investment which are not prejudicial to his own interests. Instead of relying on price actions to guide his decisions, one can make more astute decisions by treating stocks as part ownership of businesses and making a business decision instead. One will then cease to be classified as a “gambler” (i.e. speculator) and become an investor.
Interestingly, I had noted the gamblers’ mentality when I recently assisted a friend to purchase some 4-D and Toto tickets (the Singapore version of lottery tickets). Most of them consist of blue collar workers and retirees who stake anything from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars buying numbers in a certain sequence and hope for a windfall gain. Others (usually strapping young men) also engage in legal soccer betting through Singapore Pools by studying the odds on a big LCD monitor and then placing their bets at the counter. Most of these folk, I am sure, are totally clueless about the exact probability of winning the top prize (or any prize, for that matter!). It has been said that a reward quantum should be based on magnitude of reward, as well as probability of achieving that reward. To give an example, if the probability that I will win $100 in 50%, that means the reward quantum is $50 (50% of $100). In a lottery, the probability can go down to as low as one in ten million (yes, it’s 10,000,000 with eight zeroes!), and the top prize is probably about $1,000,000. So this means the reward quantum is about $0.10 (1 million divided by 10 million) – not a very attractive proposition and certainly nothing to salivate at! But the problem here is people’s expectation of that great big reward which keeps them punting and returning to try their luck, irregardless of how many times they fail to hit the jackpot.
I once asked this friend of mine why he spent so much (tens of dollars at a time, twice a week) on punting. He said he was “investing” in lottery and he wanted to make a windfall gain. My natural reaction that was to ask if he had kept track of every single transaction in an Excel spreadsheet and tracked his “ROI”. He looked blank for a while but then confidently asserted that he must have “made money” over the long-haul, because he remembers hitting the top 3 prizes (for 4-D) a few times, so he should have recouped all his capital and more. The problem with this line of thinking is that your “winners” will pervade your thoughts more than the countless number of times you had “lost” money (i.e. not won the lottery). This is also why traders and investors tend to remember their winners rather than their losers, and so kid themselves into thinking they made a pile of money while not accounting for their realized (and unrealised) losses! The right way to go about this is to document every single trade (yes, including fees) over time and to compile it over an extended period (3-5 years minimum) to see if one consistently can generate a decent return on investment. I am currently doing so myself to remain objective and to remind myself that I have “losers” as well as “winners”.
The same thing happens at casinos, which I feel compelled to comment on now that the IR in Singapore is almost close to completion. Casinos play on many behavioural aspects of human beings and thus act as a “trap”; in fact there is little entertainment value (go play a computer game) and is hardly suitable for money-making (try investing in an ETF instead), yet there are hardcore casino players (called “high-rollers”) who spend millions and burn their money away till some are bankrupt. Take the most notorious case of a certain Chia Teck Leng, a former APB Finance Manager who swindled about S$117 million (over 4 years) from several banks – the money was not for altruistic reasons like helping African children to buy more food, in fact it was to feed his insatiable addiction to casino gambling!
So to end off, one should always be wary of gambler’s fallacy, as well as the dangers of problem gambling. A little punting here and there on soccer betting is probably harmless, but if one gets obsessed with winning and starts to stake higher and higher amounts then it will spiral into a huge problem, and will end up a disaster in the making.
Labels: Behavioural Finance
This post is mainly to update on the corporate developments for the companies I own thus far for September 2009, as I would not like my month-end portfolio review to get too cluttered with words. I shall ease off some of the news flow in my month-end report and just briefly go through some salient points there, while highlighting other issues of interest in both the broad economy as well as Singapore-related news. In addition to posting the news and updates, I will also provide a small commentary on my views on the news and how I feel about the prospects of each Company.
Ezra Holdings Limited – On September 11, 2009, Ezra announced that they had clinched new and renewal charters for three of their AHTS vessels in the range of US$152 million. These contracts are for 5.5 to 6 years and they will make positive contributions through FY 2010 (beginning September 1, 2009 as Ezra has an August 31, 2009 year-end). Then, on September 16, 2009, Ezra announced that they had contracted for 5 ROV (Remote-Operated Vehicles) with Triton Group for US$23 million to boost their subsea division. These ROV will be deployed along with three incoming subsea-capable vessels to provide a more complete range of services for their clients. Triton will provide Ezra with ship interface engineering and installation services from its support in Singapore from September 2009 till delivery in 2Q 2010.
Comment: It is heartening to know that Ezra can still manage to clinch contracts of long duration even as the financial crisis eases and the recession shows signs of ending. The long-term nature of their contracts gives revenue visibility and allows steady cash inflows over the specified period of time, so this is good news. EOC does have vessels which have charters ending soon, so hopefully there is good news on renewing the use of those vessels (heavy lift accommodation work barge) soon. The ROV contract was a surprise as it allows Ezra to further enhance and “beef up” its planned subsea division and goes along with their July 16, 2009 news release on their “Next Lap Growth Strategy”. The complete range of service offerings which Ezra is targeting to provide means that they are better able to secure higher-value contracts with better margins as they are able to package their services into a one-stop solution for clients. Management had actually been planning this for 2 years and the execution has proceeded smoothly thus far. Of course, I would expect some hiccups along the way but Lionel Lee seems to have planned for this way in advance and has already allocated resources for these corporate moves. That said, I believe there is unlikely to be a final dividend declared when Ezra announces its results in mid-October 2009 due to the capex required for their shipyard, new vessels and now the ROV. I am also awaiting news on a possible financing structure for the Chim Sao (Vietnam) FPSO Project, in which EOC was named as a front-runner for some time back; as well as news on their gas FPSO Lewek Arunothai which has started producing gas after protracted delays.
Boustead Singapore Limited – Mr. FF Wong of Boustead had been interviewed by Reuters on September 7, 2009 and Business Times then proceeded to write an article on the interview. Unfortunately, the article was factually wrong at some parts and omitted key details which would have given the report more clarity. Boustead then proceeded, on September 9, 2009, to clarify certain aspects of the interview. The key points to note are that FF Wong mentioned a rise in revenues of about 10%, but still maintains that net profit will NOT exceed that achieved for FY 2009. Also, enquiries made of Boustead’s oil and gas division amount to S$500 million, but how much of this translates into Boustead’s order book is unknown. A potential US$5 million acquisition by Salcon was still in negotiation and due diligence stage, and not “about to be finalized” as stated in the report. On September 14, 2009, Boustead announced that they were one of only 5 Singapore companies to be included under Forbes’ “Best Under A Billion” companies (of which Ezra was also 1 of the 5). An awards ceremony will be held by Singapore Business Federation in November 2009 to honour these 5 companies. The Company also made a minor announcement of the incorporation of a 100% subsidiary in the UK called Boustead International Steam Generators Limited with an issued capital of £5,000.
Comment: From the Reuters interview, a few issues were discussed and became clearer. The Group still expects to enjoy revenue growth for FY 2010 despite the severe financial crisis, which means all divisions are still doing relatively well and holding up. Of course, profits will dip as a result of the lack of any property disposals (which had been occurring at least once for the last five financial years); but core net profit from their divisions should be either stable or will dip just slightly, unless COGS rises much faster than revenues (this is possible as there was evidence of this from FY 2009’s and 1Q 2010 financial statements). But proper cost control should mitigate the risk of this dragging down the Group’s profits by too much, and if their operational cash inflows are healthy the Group should still be able to declare a decent interim dividend in November 2009. Enquiries made of their oil and gas division amount to about S$500 million, a surprising number given the slump in oil and gas activities since oil peaked in July 2008, and I would expect some contracts to materialize in the short-term as Boustead has a solid reputation for providing services to the oil and gas industry. The most interesting news by far is Salcon’s potential acquisition of a US$5 million company dealing with waste gas treatment. Even though the company clarified that this deal was still preliminary, at least it shows that Management is actively looking out for good M&A targets which are potentially earnings accretive and can exhibit synergies with their existing businesses. Salcon also needs a boost in the arm after suffering from losses for the past few financial years; and for FY 2010 it has a chance to turn around with the award of several large projects. Knowing FF Wong’s conservative stance and that he will not waver on his criteria for acquisition, I can rest assure that Management will thoroughly review this US-based company before making any moves.
First Ship Lease Trust – OK, there’s quite a handful of news for FSLT, so I will try to summarize them here. On September 2, 2009 FSLT announced waivers on their LTV (Loan to Value) Covenants, which means the banks (their lenders) are less likely to require forced sale of vessels to meet their debt obligations. The downside is that FSLT has to pay a slightly higher interest rate on their debt and they intend to prepay more of their debt; though they claim it will not affect DPU. The next day, FSLT announced in detail the set of requirements which the banks had imposed on them in order not to breach any of the covenants. Then, the following day, FSLT dropped a bombshell by announcing a placement of up to 100 million new shares, at an issue price of 10% discount to S$0.59. Eventually, only 80 million units were placed at an issue price of S$0.525, raising gross proceeds of S$42 million. Net proceeds amount to S$40.9 million after deducting expenses and fees. The funds raised are not for prepayment of debt, but was stated as being for potential acquisition of vessels or companies holding vessels. This move increases the number of issued shares to 598,665,077, which dilutes ALL shareholders. Because of this new issue, Management declared a “stub” dividend of 1.27 US cents to be paid on October 30, 2009 to separate the existing shareholders from the entitlements of the new shareholders. The new units will start trading on September 18, 2009.
Comment: While it is definitely good news to know of the LTV covenant waivers, it was not such good news to know that interest expenses had increased. But since FSLT Management had buffered for this by reducing payout to USD 1.5 cents per quarter, this move had no further impact on projected 3Q 2009 DPU. Even with the issue of the new units, Management is confident of sticking to its USD 1.5 cents DPU for 3Q 2009. The good thing about FSLT is their diversified fleet type and customer base and that they have no capital commitments for new vessels, unlike the case of Rickmers Maritime which has to raise funds in double quick time as they had committed to buying vessels. Even though the new units issued would be dilutive to DPU, the funds raised right now could still be used to purchased distressed vessels which are DPU-accretive as there is currently still a major over-supply of vessels which will not clear for the next 2-3 years (according to reports I’ve read). Thus, the proceeds from this fund raising could potentially be used for accretive purchases in order to enhance long-term DPU and ensure stability of DPU going forward. I am optimistic that the Management team know what they are doing (having spoken to several key executives before) and that they will be able to pull a rabbit from their hat. I had mentioned before that my investment in FSLT turned out to be a mistake as I had not anticipated the sharp downturn in the shipping sector; but then no one (even the industry veterans) could have foreseen the magnitude of the crisis and the collapse in vessel values. For this, maybe I can forgive myself slightly in not adhering to my often preached mantra of “capital preservation”. I am, after all, still a novice and learning more every day about investing and analysing.
Tat Hong Holdings Limited – Tat Hong received in-principle approval for the issuance of the RCPS and on September 14, 2009 despatched a circular to shareholders with details on this RCPS and also to convene an EGM (on October 6, 2009 at Fullerton, 11:30 a.m.) to approve this move and to amend the Company’s M&A of Association. I am still in the process of perusing through this circular as most of the details within are rather technical and require a lot of reading and re-reading to fully comprehend. On September 17, 2009, the Company also announced the disposal of mining equipment belonging to PT Tat Hong Energy Indonesia. While the good news is that cash of US$19.1 million will be coming back to the Group, it also means recognizing a loss on disposal of about US$1.1 million, which will hit the Income Statement for FY 2010.
Comment: The RCPS is old news by now, and after looking through the terms and conditions for conversion, I should think that the Management must be sufficiently confident of Tat Hong’s long-term prospects and their expansion in China to be able to agree to this deal. AIF Capital is also viewed as a strategic partner with contacts and network in China, and a non-executive non-independent director Mr. Andy Tse will be appointed onto the Board of Directors of Tat Hong. He is a managing director of AIF Capital with 14 years of experience in handling private equity deals in South-East Asia, so his experience and contacts should benefit Tat Hong over the long-term. The announcement of disposal of equipment is because Management did not want to expend further cash and resources to overhaul the machinery in order to enjoy a higher rental rate; thus the decision to divest and free up the cash for other uses. I see this as a good move as Management do not drag their feet when it comes to making painful decisions to recognize a loss, as the retention of old equipment will not benefit the Group in the long-term and their cash will be “trapped” inside these assets.
Overall, corporate developments have been numerous; and this is just to provide an update and some views on the latest. Results will be released in Nov 2009 (except for Ezra's results in Oct 2009) so it will be interesting to note if business conditions have turned up since the recession has technically ended.
Labels: Boustead, Ezra, First Ship Lease Trust, Tat Hong
The Importance of Monitoring
I guess I cannot emphasize this more - but monitoring is one of the aspects of investing which an astute and dedicated investor CANNOT miss out on (the caps are intentional to highlight the significance of this activity). By "monitoring", I mean not just monitoring business news about the health of the economy and the latest industry trends and news, but also to monitor, on an almost microscopic level, the corporate announcements and strategic moves made by the companies you own (as well as do not own). I will elaborate below......
The lack of monitoring is actually the leading cause of failure to obtain a decent and sustainable return in the stock market. After all, doing the research is only the first part in an investment decision - we must still stick around to ensure things are going smoothly, and beat a hasty retreat when things are not going as planned or if we discover we had made a flawed judgement call. I've actually met many friends who express surprise when their investment falls in value sharply, as in the case of Jurong Technologies where a few of my friends expressed surprise and amazement that it was suspended. A simple cursory glance at the financials would have told something, and the frequent announcements made on SGXNet would have alerted one to its potential troubles and its eventual suspension due to inability to service their debts. I am really surprised when friends approach me for simple, basic information about the companies they own as this information is readily available on SGXNet or the Company's website. This seems to imply that most people are just lazy - they do not bother about where their money goes and do not seem to care what happens to the company in which they are part-owners of. This heck-care attitude can only lead to financial disaster because if you do not put in effort and time into growing your wealth, then it's like a plant which has not been watered and given sunlight!
After scanning through the book "Your Money and Your Brain" by Jason Zweig for a third time, I came across a section which mentions what we should monitor, and how it will help us in our investing journey and also to hone and sharpen our investing acumen. Apparently, monitoring just the companies you own is insufficient as it only allows you to learn about what you are vested in. In fact, the book mentions that in addition to that, we also have to monitor companies which we had sold as well as companies we thought of buying but eventually did not. For companies which one has sold, we should continue to monitor it to see if we had made the right decision then to divest; or if the decision was based on incomplete information or flawed logic. For example, though I had divested Swiber some time back, I still keep up with corporate news surrounding Swiber. In a way, I would think that we can learn and see if our original views for divesting (or investing) were right and this can help us to test our principles and philosophy and assist us in refining it further. Selling an investment which subsequently does very well would also allow one to classify it as a mistake in selling too soon (mistake of commission) which one will do well to learn from.
As for monitoring of companies which we planned to buy but did not, the aim is to assess if this turns out to be a mistake of omission! A good example I can quote is Rotary Engineering, which appeared on my radar around Feb or Mar 2009. I did some reading up and due diligence on the company but decided against investing it in due to comments made by the Chairman Mr. Chia Kim Piow about the long-term prospects of the industry (i.e. oil storage tanks). I was also not too comfortable about their net margins and was unsure of their competitive strengths in terms of being able to clinch mega-deals. It turned out that I was very wrong as Rotary had announced a SGD billion dollar deal a few months back and the share price has rocketed from a mere 20 cents (yes, with cum dividend of 2 cents to boot) to the current S$1.20, a 6-bagger. Such "sins of omission" should be monitored closely for it helps us to crystallize our thoughts on why we avoided it in the first place and why we should have chosen it. Of course, the key here is to stay focused and rational and not to "jump on the bandwagon" just to prove yourself right and in the process, throwing caution to the wind and ignoring proper margin of safety.
So the task of monitoring rests squarely on the shoulders of investors, and those who are corpulent and tardy in getting information risk losing most or all of their capital. The act of monitoring cannot be emphasized more and I spend most days checking for any corporate updates and reading up more on the companies I own (as well as those I wish to own!). Investing is a continuous learning process and we can never claim to be good enough at it. We should, as investors, constantly cast a critical eye on our own portfolios and try to re-balance them now and then to maximize returns. On the flip side, I should also caution against buying and selling frequently just for the sake of re-balancing. What I mean is that if an investment fails to meet our original stringent criteria, it should be divested and the proceeds allocated to a more promising company.
Posted by Musicwhiz at 12:15 AM 12 comments:
Valuations are Normalizing
OK, I admit the title looks deceptively simple but I am not going to go into a discourse on valuations because it is a dry and boring topic and one is probably better off reading “Security Analysis” by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd. This post serves as a sort of warning and wake-up call that valuations, in time, will always revert to the mean and that “cheap” valuations will not stay for the long-term. Just as irrational exuberance was expounded as a leading cause of high and unsustainable valuations, irrational pessimism is the exact opposite and leads to the converse.
Of course, one may argue that just 9 months ago, economists and many educated individuals were pronouncing that global growth would be negative and that the stock market may stay at depressed valuations for 10 years at least. The doomsayers and prophets foretold of a dark period where wages struggled to remain at current levels and economic growth was all but non-existent. On hindsight, everyone (including myself) believed them because the situation back then seemed so bleak, so hopeless, that one could not have imagined otherwise. There is a certain limit to human imagination and certain events are of such a huge magnitude that it literally blows one’s mind away, leaving it to struggle to absorb new realities among the vestiges of the broken financial system. Such an event occurred one year ago in September 2008 with the collapse of Lehman Brothers; which propelled the world on the brink of financial disaster akin to the effects of an atomic bomb spreading out like a mushroom cloud across the world. That single event was cataclysmic in its effects and a huge destructive ripple spread across all financial institutions, threatening to shut down the global finance system and wreck chaos. In disaster movie jargon, we would have called it “Financial Armageddon”, or so it seemed.
If we fast-forward to the present moment, governments all over the world have pledged to boost their respective economies with massive fiscal spending, of which the USA is a frontrunner under President Obama. This concerted effort has created “green shoots” since May 2009 when previously all one could see was dead soil and brown weeds. Therefore, valuations were rightly beaten down when prospects of corporate revenues and profit growth were muted; and many companies traded then at trough valuations as yet unseen, which create another wave of shock across the globe as stock markets plunged to levels not seen for the last 10-15 years, effectively wiping out the economic growth for the last 10 years. The discerning investor should then sift through the rubble and debris to look for shining gems in the stock market, which at the time resembled a blasted wasteland full of writhing corpses. Those who had the fortitude and foresight to pick stocks at trough valuations, and who believed in the long-term prospects of economic growth and the eventual easing of the recession, were in turn handsomely rewarded when news of these green shoots was announced. To buy on uncertainty is no doubt difficult, for it resembles the intrepid adventurer heading down a dark, unknown tunnel (fear of the unknown); yet this is when the investor gets valuations which are so attractive that they remain a talking point for years to come, as well as dividend yields so high that they exceed inflation over an extended period of time. This is in essence the embodiment of the slogan “you pay a high price for a cheery consensus”, uttered by Mr. Warren Buffett.
Once news broke on the possible early recovery of the financial system and that global growth would be restored by 2010, coupled with record low interest rates to boost liquidity; people then began to view companies in a whole different light. Companies are the backbone of a society and their products and services are the ones which support and move the economy along, like oil on cogs turning the huge machines of industries. So the process began to look for quality companies which could continue to survive and grow amidst the carnage, and valuations have thus risen in tandem to this expectation. Even analysts are now keenly using the average PER valuation for the last 5-years as a gauge of the “cheapness” of a company, when previously all the reports only featured trough valuations and price-to-book ratios (it was assumed earnings were non-existent).
As a result of these factors, we have seen stocks becoming less than cheap, and definitely less attractive as the huge margin of safety present during the period of October 2008 through to March 2009 has all but disappeared into the ether. Even with our Finance Minister Mr. Shanmugaratnam warning of a possible double-dip recession, it is unlikely that valuations will scrape trough levels as expectations of growth are already being priced in, and people are now willing to pay more to own the same companies. The process of methodically selecting good companies must now be applied once again.
In other words, the days of “easy money” are probably gone, swept away very suddenly in the first 2 weeks of May 2009 as valuations increased sharply. Only on hindsight could we have seen that the “smart money” was actually quietly but actively buying up shares of solid companies; without much fanfare and in a creepily discreet manner. This is what we, as astute investors, should have been doing as well – staking our future on the innovativeness and creativity of the human race to overcome adversity and adapt to changes; instead of blindly believing the false prophets singing their hymns of doom and proclaiming, with almost divine fervour, that they indeed know more than us. In reality, no one knows the future, but we must still strive to invest; for only through proper investing can we achieve the eventual goal of a comfortable retirement and a steady increase in the value of our wealth.
Can we afford to make mistakes in investing?
Mistakes in life are one aspect of life which no one likes to talk about, and perhaps the one thing you don’t know well about your friends (and even your loved one) as most people are embarrassed to admit their faults. But it’s a fact of life that as human beings, we are fallible and less than perfect. We frequently make mistakes and it is a natural process of evolution that mankind learns from mistakes and avoid repeating them, or else repeats them to his own detriment. There is of course a saying that “History always repeats itself”, but in the world of investing, if history repeats itself too often with respect to mistakes, then one will end up a lot poorer.
The big question I have posed is: can we afford to make mistakes and yet come out better from the experience? How many mistakes are investors “allowed” to make before one is made significantly poorer, or significantly wiser? I think the answer to this depends on the nature and severity of the mistake made, and how much of one’s capital was staked on that particular investment in question. Giving a recent example of mine: my investment in Swiber turned out to be a mistake due to the way the Company was managing its cash flows and also to the fact that its debt levels were too high – but fortunately due to sufficient margin of safety I avoided losses and even managed to book a small gain when I divested my shares. So the idea here is to keep your losses small and manageable by adopting proper techniques to determine margin of safety, and never over-paying for any investment.
Making mistakes in investing is unavoidable, but it is the lessons we learn which are the most valuable. I personally feel that making a small number of minor mistakes is actually good for an investor as it tempers his ego, allows him to learn more about investing (as well as himself) and makes one more determined not to repeat the mistake. Of course, this is based on the assumption that one can be totally honest with oneself and admit that “it was my fault”, and not blame it on everything else like your broker, your friend who gave you the tip, the weather, Ben Bernanke and a host of other unrelated events. It is pretty easy to shift blame but ultimately one has to answer for one’s own actions as it is your money and no one else’s at stake here.
Another seldom mentioned aspect of making mistakes is the length of time required to recognize a mistake. For my Swiber investment, it took 2.5 years for me to fully appreciate the gravity of the situation and make a swift exit, but there is an opportunity cost attached to the time involved and one can argue that the money could have been deployed elsewhere to generate higher returns (on hindsight, of course). The fact that growth companies like Swiber do not give out dividends further compounds the problem of opportunity cost as there is nil return at all during the period of being a shareholder. Even if an investment were to pay say 3% dividend yield but turn out to be a mistake, one can argue that one can easily achieve a 5% or more yield investing in a variety of blue chips which offer more safety and stability. But all this is paper talk until executed; so as an investor we must learn to balance such viewpoints against the practicality of getting such returns over an extended period of time, which brings me to my next point.
An investor cannot afford to make too many mistakes of a much longer duration, as arguably there are not many chances for him to be vested for 10-15 years and observe many business cycles before realizing he has made a mistake. One’s life span is finite and full business cycles can last for 10-20 years; so one should avoid mistakes which only crystallize after a long period of time, during which the hapless investor either earns a paltry return or a very sub-par one (as compared to returns generated from an index fund, for example). So, in such cases, I would advise that investors avoid making such mistakes but instead read more books and learn from Other People’s Mistakes instead ! By distilling their experience and knowledge, one can learn from them without committing the same cardinals sins and at the same time, saving oneself 10-15 years of anguish and mental stress due to an under-performing investment.
So the answer to the topic will be: yes we can afford to make small mistakes, which is good for our ego and temperament as it keeps us grounded and rooted in reality instead of getting carried away by exuberance; but when it comes to major mistakes or those which take a long time to manifest, it is much better to learn from others’ instead of committing them yourself.
Labels: Investment Mistakes, Value Investment Principles
August 2009 Portfolio Summary and Review
August 2009 was the month in which many countries reported that they were out of the long recession caused by the sub-prime fallout in 2007. Among the countries to emerge from recession were Japan, Hong Kong, Germany and Singapore. This still qualifies, however, as one of the longest recessions since the post World War II era, and is also one of the deepest in terms of the magnitude of GDP decline. Economists are now saying that recovery will be very weak and tentative and is likely to take up to 5 years or more for global trade to resume its 2007 level. It is also one of the rare instances where global growth was negative, dragged down by the developed economies of USA and UK.
Valuations have continued to normalize in the stock market, as can be seen by the gradual increase in market price of blue chips across the Board. Although the sentiment on the ground is still wary and fragile, the stock market had managed to make a remarkable recovery from its March 2009 low of 1,456 points; and the surprising thing that the property market in Singapore had taken a surprising twist and headed up to new record highs, defying expectations and stunning the “experts”. As we see mid-level and mass market condominiums hitting new highs (in psf basis), including those selling beyond the city fringes, one wonders if Singapore may be subject to the same kind of sub-prime type crisis which hit USA (the USA housing market had been booming since 2002 as a result of cheap credit which the Federal Reserve had initiated to recover from the dot.com crash). In Singapore, banks are all too ready to lend and interest rates are at record lows; plus schemes such as interest-absorption has made it very attractive for people who are not willing to stump up money and yet be able to secure a unit. Whether prices can continue to scale the stratosphere is another question though – this sounds uncannily like the Greater Fool Theory in play, but in the property market this time instead of the Stock Market.
This month saw many interesting corporate events, as well as my divestment of Swiber Holdings Limited, an investment which I had held for 2.5 years. There were results releases by Swiber, Tat Hong, Boustead and China Fishery and I had provided an analysis of both Swiber and China Fishery in previous posts. I also received dividends from Tat Hong, Boustead, FSL Trust and Suntec REIT.
September 2009 is likely to be a very quiet month as no corporate results are expected for the companies I own, until mid-October 2009 when Ezra releases its FY 2009 results. In the meantime, I shall hunt for suitable investment opportunities using the proceeds from recently divested Pacific Andes as well as Swiber.
For August 2009, corporate updates and result announcements for my companies are as follow:-
1) Ezra Holdings Limited – Ezra announced on August 28, 2009 that it had entered into a “landmark deal” to provide fleet management services to a specialist offshore fund, in return for a 50% profit sharing arrangement (after deducting operating expenses). Ezra has signed a Vessel Operating Agreement (VOA) which will allow it to provide its services without major capital outlay, and should be viewed as a positive move in extracting more value from its assets and expertise without incurring significant capex. Probably, more detail needs to emerge before one can conclude if this latest deal is positive in the long-term.
2) Boustead Holdings Limited – Boustead released their 1Q 2010 financial statements on August 13, 2009. It was a credible showing with revenue rising 49.4% to S$118.9 million and net profit rising 68.3% to S$9.5 million. However, the company cautions not to use quarterly results for comparison as its projects are lumpy and revenue are recognized on a piecemeal basis. Cash balance stood at S$173.1 million as at June 30, 2009, and Boustead is still expecting more cash to flow in from the completion of the sale of property by GBI Realty. In addition, on August 5, 2009, Boustead Projects announced a S$15 million contract to design and build a new HQ for Charles and Keith. Today, on August 31, 2009, Boustead re-started their share buy-back program and re-purchased 307,000 shares at S$0.742, spending a total of S$227,781.63. Just to re-cap, the last re-purchase occurred on 1 April 2009 when Boustead bought back 8 million shares at 40 cents each in a married deal. To date, a total of 9.807 million shares have been bought back at an average price of S$0.4527.
3) Suntec REIT – There was no news from Suntec REIT for August 2009.
4) China Fishery Group Limited – China Fishery announced their 1H 2009 financial results on August 14, 2009 and I did a post some time back reviewing and analysing their performance. In addition, on August 26, 2009, the Company announced that it had changed its year-end from December 31 to September 28 in order for ease of preparation of financials and less “clashing” with other listed companies. The entire Pacific Andes Group has changed its year-end to September 28, and CFG will report its full-year (FY) 2009 results by November 29, 2009.
5) First Ship Lease Trust – There was no news from FSL Trust during August 2009.
6) Tat Hong Holdings Limited – On August 3, 2009, Tat Hong announced that AIF Capital will be injecting S$65 million into Tat Hong, in exchange for the issuance of 65 million RCPS (Redeemable Convertible Preference Shares). Immediately the day after, Tat Hong announced the formation of an EJVC with Mr. Yuan Zheng to take a 53.8% stake in a Tower Crane company. These 2 events have been mentioned during my Tat Hong AGM review (in my post dated August 6, 2009). Subsequently, on August 14, 2009, Tat Hong released their 1Q 2010 results which showed sharply lower revenues (down by 37%) and drastically reduced net profit (down 64% to S$10.6 million). Though the results looked bleak at first glance, I was mollified by the fact that rental revenues remained relatively resilient, and that their China operations showed good potential for growth in the years ahead.
Portfolio Comments – August 2009
No direct comparison can be made between July 2009’s portfolio and August 2009 as there had been a divestment in shares of Swiber Holdings Limited, but in general price levels for all my companies had risen, with the exception of FSL Trust and Tat Hong. For the record, my portfolio has registered an unrealized gain of +26.1% (S$25,000) and a realized gain of S$9,000. The total dollar value gain (realized + unrealized) is S$35,000 or +35.5% of my reduced cost of S$95,700.
I must admit it can get rather stressful when one has too much funds staying idle, waiting to be deployed and allocated to suitable investment opportunities. Of course, this is a much happier “problem” than having insufficient cash when the right opportunities strike. My job now is to actively do my homework and seek out suitable companies for long-term investment, based on value principles. I must also avoid making the myriad mistakes which I had documented under “Investing Mistakes” since 2005, in order for me to grow and mature as a more seasoned value investor. To be honest, right now I still feel like a greenhorn and very wet around the ears….
My next portfolio review will be on Wednesday, September 30, 2009.
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Crystal Spings
Native American Era
The name Yucaipa is somewhat a mystery. The Chamber of Commerce, during the middle of the last century, claimed that it was a Native American word meaning “green valley.” But that was more salesmanship than history. The tribes most closely connected to the place offer conflicting interpretations. The Serrano village located near a spring and small lake in lower Yucaipa was called Yu'kaipa't. Some native speakers say it refers to a low, marshy area. Others say that it means “place of big heads” (referring to some rock formations on Yucaipa Ridge), while still others say it it means “crying place,” because Yucaipa served as a meeting place where disputes were resolved.
Tribes from the surrounding area found Yucaipa an attractive place for several reasons. It served as a major crossroads and therefore was important for trade and, given all the oak trees, it was an important source for acorns and the flour made from them.
Spanish and Mexican Era
The Spanish period brought the notion of land ownership to the valley, which was part of the large Lugo land grant that included all of the San Bernardino Valley and extended into Yucaipa. Diego Sepulveda, a nephew of Lugo, was given a portion of land in west Yucaipa, later known as Dunlap Acres, and built an adobe home there. Gold was discovered in the Crafton Hills in the early 1840's, before it was discovered at Sutter's Mill, and was mined until WW II.
The late 1870's also saw a small Chinese colony near the old Serrano village. They had been railroad workers who helped lay track through San Timeteo Canyon and later worked the gold mines of Crafton Hills. When they discovered how rich the Dunlap soil was, they planted vegetables and sold their produce throughout Redlands and Yucaipa. Finally, however, they were not treated very well in either area.
Statehood and American Settlement
California became the 31st state in September of 1850. One year later a group of Mormon settlers from Utah bought the Lugo rancho of San Bernardino, which included lower Yucaipa, and sold off parcels. James Waters bought the land in lower Yucaipa, which included the Sepulveda Adobe. In fact, he used bricks from that building to build his home nearby, a building that still exists today and is known as the Yucaipa Adobe. It is part of the San Bernardino County Museum system and is open to the public.
The second half of 1800's also saw the planting of grain on the lower benches and fruit, mainly apples and cherries, higher up on the North Bench and Oak Glen, where the first real settlement took place. In 1887 the Pass school was built on the North Bench, the first permanent school in the valley.
Modern Yucaipa began in 1910 with the subdivision of 11,000 acres of Yucaipa by the Redlands and Yucaipa Land Company. Their plan was to create a small townsite surrounded by small farms, most of which were 5, 10 or 20 acres, The land was advertised as ideal for growing apples and hundreds of acres were planted.
The Fruit Era
While apples weren't quite suited for the lower elevations and did much better in Oak Glen, it was found that peaches, plums and walnuts thrived in the valley. For the next 50 years Yucaipa served as the fruit basket of Southern California.
Post WW II Era
Yucaipa underwent some major changes after the war. Fruit production diminished, and many of the former orchards were just the right size for trailer parks, chicken ranches and small housing tracts. In 1947 the first trailer park went in. By 1960 there were 50 such parks, though by that time they were known as mobile home estates, and Yucaipa became a retirement destination for many. The first housing tract was developed in 1947. Chicken ranches and egg production soon became our major industry.
Cityhood
In December 1989 Yucaipa incorporated, and in 1998 one of the last vestiges of its agricultural past was removed when 1000 acres of orange and grapefruit trees were bulldozed to make way for Chapman Heights, a development of 3000 homes, two schools and a golf course.
By 2015, the retirees made up a much smaller segment of the population, chicken ranches grew more scarce, and subdivisions filled much of the vacant land. With a population of 55,000 Yucaipa no longer has the rural character it once had and has become much more a commuter community.
Courtesy of the Yucaipa Historical Society, for more information please follow this LINK.
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The Independent – September 14, 2012
BRAD PITT – THE HITMAN – by Sasha Bronner
“I apologise,” says Brad Pitt. “I’m bad at this today, aren’t I?” Brad Pitt, movie star
extraordinaire, 48-year-old father of six, and the world’s most famous bridegroom-to-be,
is sorry. Sorry that he and Andrew Dominik, the director of their latest project, Killing
Them Softly, went out and hit the town the night before press interviews for the movie.
Pitt sits, immaculate in a three-piece suit the colour of cream cappuccino, nursing a
coffee of the same colour and – presumably – a hangover.
Fortunately, as well as alcohol, Pitt still exudes cool out of every pore. He’s also
relaxed, happy to fill the allotted time with anecdotes of the evening before – but given
the calibre of the film, this would actually be a waste. Killing Them Softly is a nasty,
engrossing thriller that Andrew Dominik adapted from a 1974 novel, Cogan’s Trade by George V Higgins. He transported it to 2008, to the global economic meltdown during the shift in power between Bush and Obama.
Pitt plays Cogan, a hitman who tries to do his job with minimum fuss to avoid the pleas
and cries of his victims. Ray Liotta and James Gandolfini complete the cast of one of the
most watchable mob films since 1995’s Casino, but one that carries the underlying message
that the Mafia is the darkest realisation of the American Dream; and it is as subject as
anything else to the laws of economics.
This is the second collaboration between Pitt and the New Zealand-born Dominik, after they made the award- winning but commercially underrated The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in 2007. “Only about 12 people in the world saw that movie,” claims Pitt, but it’s still one of my favourite ever films. We were in the trenches in that film and you bond in a trench, so we wanted to work with each other again.“
He says he loves the character of Cogan, describing him as “the clean-up man. I put things back together when they need to be put back together. I am The Enforcer.” Is he The Enforcer in real life, at home with his fiancée, the actress Angelina Jolie, and their children?
Pitt laughs. “No, I think I am the absolute opposite to this character, who’s a complete
pragmatist and doesn’t want to feel emotion. That’s why he describes murder as ”killing
them softly“ – he doesn’t want the human mess that comes with violence.
“For me, being a father has changed everything for me as far as perspective and interests
go. I just want to take care of myself and be around them.”
Cogan certainly isn’t the kiddy-friendly kind – and Pitt says he never brought him home
with him. “I’ve heard these rumours that I stay in character the whole time during
filming. It’s not true. I’m not that kind of an actor. I’m always too happy to go
With a brood of children so large they could be rented out to Steve Martin’s Cheaper by
the Dozen films, Pitt has proved himself to be a besotted father to the couple’s three
biological and three adopted children. He says happily that the highlight of the week was
watching one of his four-year-old twins swim a length of the pool.
And despite telling reporters in 2011 that, if not totally retiring aged 50, he wanted to
get behind the camera and produce, he now says he’s changed his mind. “It’s too much
effort, it’s too big a job. I’d rather be a Dad. It’s more fun.”
It would be nice to think that in Pitt’s slightly hazy, expansive frame of mind, one might be able to prise a wedding date out of him and thus have the scoop of the year – but one reporter already tried that, and was rewarded with a lazily amused, “Who do you think you are, schmuck?” look. After seven years and six children together, Brangelina became engaged earlier this year. Perhaps the most unbelievable of stories spun after the
announcement was the one of how Pitt had become a Bridezilla in organising the wedding,
fretting over confetti.
Rumours were rife during the summer that the wedding would be at the couple’s chateau in
France; now, those reports have switched to Richmond in London, where they have been based while Jolie films the fantasy drama Maleficent. In her absence, Pitt has been watching a lot of sport.
“We’ve had an amazing summer in London,” Pitt enthuses. “Even with the rain. We’ve had the Euro Cup, the Olympics, the Paralympics, Andy Murray at Wimbledon, it’s been an incredible experience. Britain’s certainly been good to us.”
And, in return, could they give London the Jolie-Pitt nuptials, ideally with George
Clooney as best man? “George doesn’t like institutions,” Pitt smiles. “Perhaps he could
show people to their seats.”
For all we know, they might have done it already, in a July downpour at a Richmond
registry office, overlooked by the press. The couple have, however, maintained they won’t
make a commitment until gay marriage is allowed in the USA – and for this to happen in the near future depends on Obama’s re-election in November. “I’m a supporter of Obama,” Pitt declares, adroitly avoiding the issue of his own mother, Jane Pitt, recently stating that she supported Mitt Romney for espousing heterosexual-only marriage. “Gay marriage is only a matter of time. The next generation, they get it. It will happen.”
With its news montages and speeches from the US election of 2008, Killing Them Softly is
released in the run-up to the next election, a move that Pitt describes as “a clever
marketing tool”.
“I don’t want it as a commentary on anyone’s performance,” he adds. “It’s a satirical film and it’s by no means showing the whole of America. It was born of a cultural
jaundice.”
But Dominik’s deeper commentary on the dark heart of greed is unmissable, especially when
Pitt as Cogan delivers the most striking line of the film: “America’s not a country, it’s a business. So pay me, motherfucker.”
“It’s a compelling argument,” agrees Pitt. “I don’t think by any means that that is all
America is, but we are capitalists. There’s the ideal of who we think we are as Americans, and there’s the disconnections between our ideals and our motivations. Crime is just unvarnished capitalism, after all. And when the world is brought to the brink of catastrophe, then yes, I do think we should look at America as a business.
“We have had personal experience of the recent problems, making this movie,” Pitt continues. “After we made Jesse James, everything seemed to be about money. We really
struggled to get anything made and this film was born out of that struggle. When Andy came to meet me about Killing Them Softly, it was the height of the financial crisis. It was the mortgage scam, a lot of people were losing their homes. Terrible, terrible times, and here is a story about those times.”
Even more poignant, Pitt recalls, was to set the film in New Orleans, the victim of both
Hurricane Katrina and the financial crisis, where he and Jolie have a house. “What we
needed was Failing City, USA,” he says, “and so I suggested it as of course we have a
personal connection. They have a wonderful infrastructure for making films and anytime you bring a movie there, they are so grateful. It’s a personal satisfaction to me to be able to create jobs.”
Creating jobs, donating money to Haiti, playing with his kids, making movies with a
message. If only Brad Pitt was the kind of guy who’d occasionally throw a tantrum over
confetti.
“I’m sorry, I wa rubbish today,” he says on his way out. Killing me softly.
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USA Weekend – May 27, 2011
Brad Pitt, family guy
By Kenneth Miller
In the parking lot outside a Los Angeles photo studio, a scruffy-looking guy sporting a goatee, black T-shirt and motorcycle boots sits on the curb puffing a cigarette. He’s listening intently to a stylish man rave about a cool camera shop. A passerby would barely notice the pair as they head into the building.
But when the photographer starts shooting, the bearded guy seems to undergo a transformation. Grooving to Jimi Hendrix on the sound system, he assumes an expression of ineffable cool, his posture somewhere between rakish and regal. He radiates glamour by the gigawatt. Suddenly, he’s Brad Pitt.
That name, of course, refers to several entities that occupy the same broad-shouldered, 5-foot-11-inch frame. There’s the actor, whose talent and charisma draw crowds to movie theaters worldwide. There’s the celebrity, twice declared “Sexiest Man Alive” by People magazine, whose private life has been a source of public fascination for more than a decade. There’s the Brad Pitt of the past, who has put his stints as a serial romancer of co-stars (Gwyneth Paltrow, Robin Givens, Juliette Lewis) and errant husband of Jennifer Aniston (from whom he was divorced in 2005) far behind him.
Now 47, Pitt is an unabashed family man. Fatherhood is, indeed, his most consuming project: raising an unruly brood of six children ages 2 to 9 — three of them adopted, three biological, born in five different countries — with partner Angelina Jolie. Their effect on Pitt has been, by his own account, profound. He credits parenthood, in great part, for his hard-won maturity.
“Kids hold up a mirror to you,” he says in his first extensive interview since 2009. “You can’t make excuses. You’ve got to make sure they’ve brushed their teeth and eaten a good breakfast. You want to be present if they wake up with a bad dream.”
The responsibility weighs heavily on the now-middle-aged actor. In a display of emotion any parent would relate to, Pitt says fears about his kids’ safety “keep me up at night.”
But unlike in most families, Pitt’s worries have an added dimension. “We’re hunted,” he says, flexing his tattooed, muscular forearm as if contemplating retaliation. “Our kids have to live behind a gate. Outside, there are people with cameras.
“But I’ll take the trade-off. I never knew I was capable of experiencing so much love.”
In his newest movie, the sprawling and poetic Tree of Life — directed by the legendary Terrence Malick and opening in some cities this weekend — Pitt plays a father of three boys in 1950s Texas. (One son grows up to be an architect, played by Sean Penn.) That’s fitting: Parenthood is increasingly central to Pitt’s sense of self, influencing everything from the movies he chooses to make — “I want to leave some work behind that my kids will be proud of” — to his vision of the future with Jolie.
Though he has said the couple would wait to wed until gay people could do so legally, he now acknowledges that the timetable may change. “The kids ask about marriage,” he says, sinking wearily into a sofa. He takes a sip of cappuccino. “It’s meaning more and more to them. So it’s something we’ve got to look at.”
For all the luxuries Pitt can give his children, he regrets that he can’t pass on the freedom he had as a child growing up the eldest of three siblings in Springfield, Mo., where his father owned a trucking company and his mother was a high school counselor.
“On the road, we’re a military mobile unit,” he says. “The kids have got their stuff down to one backpack, and they’re each responsible for their own bag. Mom does the packing; she’s quite gifted at that. Puts in just what we need — nothing extra.”
The family migrates between the multi-house Los Angeles compound he calls “our base camp” and film sets around the globe, spending downtime at a 1,000-acre estate in southern France.
“We’re pretty nomadic,” he says. “We go where the crops are.”
Pitt concedes that his family life “seems a bit extreme.” But “I like extremes. I guess I’ve always operated that way.”
Still, he says, “Angie and I do everything we can to carve out some semblance of normalcy for them, to re-create the kinds of moments that were special for us. It’s not unusual for the kids to be covered in paint. We have mud fights. It’s chaos from morning until the lights go out, and sometimes after that.”
The older kids are home-schooled, but their parents try to create opportunities to socialize. The family sometimes sneaks past the paparazzi to an undisclosed location for a football game with friends.
Pitt and Jolie carve out time to nurture their own relationship as well.
“There are no secrets at our house,” Pitt says, his blue eyes crinkling in a slightly wicked smile. “We tell the kids, ‘Mom and Dad are going off to kiss.’ They go, ‘Eww, gross!’ But we demand it.”
As he navigates his fifth decade, Pitt has begun to ponder the long term. “Will I be acting when I’m 80?” he asks rhetorically. “Definitely not.”
A passionate amateur photographer and architect (whose Make It Right foundation is building environmentally sustainable homes in New Orleans for low-income residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina), he aims to explore those vocations more deeply in the coming years. He also wants to improve his French and his cooking skills — now limited to bacon, eggs and flapjacks.
But Pitt won’t be trading in biker boots for house slippers anytime soon. “I hope to keep riding motorcycles,” he says with that devilish grin, “until I can’t stand up anymore.”
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E: sbge@spu.edu
O: McKenna Hall
Katya Drozdova
Email: drozdova@spu.edu
Office: McKenna Hall 215
Education: BA, Stanford University, 1996; MA, Stanford University, 1998; MPhil, New York University, 2006; PhD, New York University, 2008. At SPU since 2010.
Dr. Ekaterina “Katya” Drozdova is an associate professor of political science and Scholar of the Year in the School of Business, Government, and Economics at Seattle Pacific University. She is also a visiting scholar at the University of Washington in 2017-19 and was a visiting fellow at Stanford University in 2016-17. Prof. Drozdova has conducted research; extensively lectured at various public, policy, and educational venues; and taught courses on subjects ranging from Cybersecurity and Cyberpower, International Relations, Counterterrorism, Global Security Strategy and Development to Research Methods in Social Science and International Political Economy. Katya is the author of Quantifying the Qualitative: Information Theory for Comparative Case Analysis (SAGE, 2016) and has successfully utilized qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method techniques in her research program.
An expert on cyberpower, international relations, cybersecurity, foreign policy, counterterrorism, and U.S. national and global security, Dr. Drozdova has authored numerous articles and book-chapters including, among others, journal articles on “Reducing Uncertainty” published in International Studies Quarterly and on “Early-Warning Detection of Terrorist Attacks” published in Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory as well as the chapter on “Civil Liberties and Security in Cyberspace” in The Transnational Dimension of Cyber Crime and Terrorism (Hoover Press). Professor Drozdova has earned a PhD and MPhil in Information Systems from New York University’s (NYU) Stern School of Business, Department of Information, Operations, and Management Sciences. Her MA in International Policy studies and BA in International Relations are from Stanford University.
Professor Drozdova’s current research and publications broadly focus on problems of cyber power, geopolitical strategy, global security and reciprocity in international relations, particularly emphasizing American-Russian relations and issues of counterterrorism. Katya has built a long track record in the studies of conflict, with an emphasis on asymmetric low-tech threats in the high-tech age as well as on organizations’ use of their human and technological networks to survive in hostile or otherwise challenging conditions. Her research interests are in understanding how systemic risks and technology choices affect security strategies in diverse contexts: from dealing with the issues of deconfliction among the great powers – to exploring new frontiers in space & cyberspace – to countering terrorist or insurgent networks while securing cyber, energy, and other critical infrastructures.
Katya has been actively involved with leading policy, diplomatic, military, law enforcement, and business professionals in identifying mission-critical challenges and formulating effective global responses across multiple areas. Her recent work and publications have introduced a new methodology capable of providing deeper insights into complex socio-political processes even in situations of sparse or incomplete information access – common in a broad range of real-life settings: from the ‘fog of war’ of international crises and counter-terrorism operations to strategic business planning in highly dynamic competitive markets. These and many traditional tools are then successfully utilized by Katya in policy-relevant applications that have dealt with issues of U.S. national and international security—specifically addressing the problems of hybrid and asymmetric threats as well as with optimization of human and technological networks for improved success rate in complex political, military, and business environments.
Prof. Drozdova is a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace as well as a principal investigator for “Mining Afghan Lessons from Soviet Era” (MALSE) research program, which has been funded by the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense’s (OSD) Human Social Cultural and Behavioral (HSCB) Sciences program through the Office of Naval Research’s (ONR) Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare and Combating Terrorism Department and the Naval Postgraduate School. She has been an affiliate with the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project (ESOC) at Stanford and Princeton Universities, a fellow at NYU’s Alexander Hamilton Center for Political Economy and Stanford University’s Hoover Institution as well as Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). At CISAC, Katya has also been a member of the Consortium for Research on Information Security and Policy (CRISP) funded by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), which has brought together leading scholars as well as industry and government practitioners, including former directors of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Before coming to SPU, Katya has had extensive experience in the private sector, which spanned the range from working for such well-established S&P 500 market leader as Computer Sciences Corp (CSC) to being the first hired employee of a start-up, specializing in defense and technology applications.
Dr. Drozdova’s recent international diplomacy engagements include the official hosting of the Prime Minister of the State of Qatar, His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, an SPU alumnus, during his campus visit to Seattle Pacific University in 2016.
As part of her community outreach, Dr. Drozdova has most recently led a public lecture event and conversation on “Hackers, Spies, and Freedom” with General Keith Alexander, world-renowned expert in cybersecurity, former longest-serving director of the NSA, first commander of U.S. Cyber Command, and the university’s featured speaker in 2015.
Katya’s earlier interview with the former U.S. Secretary of State and United States Ambassador to the United Nations Madeleine Albright can be found in Response, Summer 2014.
Quantifying the Qualitative: Information Theory for Comparative Case Analysis
Sage Publications, 2016
Information Warfare and Organizational Decision-Making
Artech House Publishers, 2007
Chapter 8 titled “Crystal Ball: Quantitatively Estimating Impacts of Probes and Interventions on an Enemy Organization” in Information Warfare and Organizational Decision-Making.
The Transnational Dimension of Cyber Crime and Terrorism
Hoover Press, 2001
Chapter 5 titled “Civil Liberties and Security in Cyberspace” in The Transnational Dimension of Cyber Crime and Terrorism.
Other Selected Publications
Drozdova, Katya, and Joseph H. Felter. (Forthcoming) Leaving Afghanistan: Enduring Lessons from the Soviet Politburo Journal of Cold War Studies MIT Press (in print).
Drozdova, Katya. (2017) A Different “Special Relationship”: United States and Russia. Hoover Digest No. 1: 108-119.
Drozdova, Katya, and Kurt Taylor Gaubatz. (2014) Reducing Uncertainty: Information Analysis for Comparative Case Studies. International Studies Quarterly 58(3): 633-645.
Drozdova, Katya, and Michael Samoilov. (2010) Predictive Analysis of Concealed Social Network Activities Based on Communication Technology Choices: Early-Warning Detection of Attack Signals from Terrorist Organizations. Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory 16(1): 61-88.
Drozdova, Katya. (2009) Intelligence Design. Hoover Digest No. 3.
Drozdova, Katya. (2013) War in Afghanistan. In Encyclopedia of Military Science, edited by G. (Guenter) Kurt Piehler. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Vol. 4: 1598-1609.
Drozdova, Katya. (2010) Solving the Afghanistan Puzzle: A new research project follows the paper trail of Soviet involvement in Afghanistan—and suggests a great deal about our own involvement there today. Hoover Digest No. 4.
Drozdova, Katya, and Michael Samoilov. (2002) Security and Liberty: How to protect the nation against terrorism without sacrificing our liberty. Hoover Digest No. 1.
Drozdova, Katya. (2013) Methods for Mining MALSE Archives with U.S. National Security Applications. International Studies Association Annual Meeting Paper.
Drozdova, Katya. (2012) Divide and COIN: Evaluating Strategies toward Stability in Afghanistan and the Region. American Political Science Association Annual Meeting Paper.
Drozdova, Katya, and Joseph H. Felter. (2011) Assessing Relevant Lessons from the Soviet Experience in Afghanistan. American Political Science Association Annual Meeting Paper.
Drozdova, Katya. (2008) Emergent Leadership in Network Organizations. Proceedings of the 13th International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium.
Drozdova, Katya. (2007) Dark Memories: A brief history of Soviet torturers and assassins, some of whom had second thoughts. Hoover Digest No. 3.
Drozdova, Ekaterina, and Barry M. Leiner. (1999) Critical Infrastructure: The Path Ahead. Proceedings of XIWT Symposium on Cross-Industry Activities for Information Infrastructure Robustness. Corporation for National Research Initiatives and Stanford University, CA: Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC).
Drozdova, Katya, and Seymour Goodman. (1999) On Liberty in Cyberspace: Impact of the Internet on Human Rights. Stanford Journal of International Relations 1(2).
Drozdova, Katya, and Kevin Harrington. (1998) Analysis of the Workshop on ‘A Comparative Analysis of Approaches to the Protection of Fissile Materials’. In Proceedings of the Workshop at Stanford University July 28-30, 1997 edited by James E. Goodby, Ronald F. Lehman II, William C. Potter. Livermore, CA: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
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More issues for city water tower
By KELSEY UNRUH
Hillsboro City Council again found itself discussing the future of Hillsboro water tower Monday after a call came from the contractor explaining more problems with the top two rings of the water tower.
“I’m hoping this is the very last time we have to come back and talk about water tower repair,” city administrator Larry Paine said.
Paine explained that the bottom two rings on the water tower have 1/8th of an inch of steel, while the top two rings only have 1/16th of an inch.
“Do we have any idea how much it would cost to demolish the thing?” Bob Watkins asked Larry Paine at the city council meeting.
Paine did not have an exact cost of demolition, but estimated it would be around the same price.
“I’d hate to waste all that money,” Bryan McCarty added. “It would just be money down the drain.”
Other suggestions for fixing the water tower included replacing both rings, removing the rings but not replacing either one, and replacing only one to make a shorter tower.
Council members voted to defer the issue until the next meeting, when more information about costs would be available.
In other business:
City council members voted to change city ordinance to allow the public building commission to work with a private organization. There will be a 60-day comment period before the ordinance is enacted.
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Thomas Moran and Yellowstone National Park
Charles Bird King, Henry Inman and McKenney Hall Lithographs
Charles Marion Russell
Gustave Baumann
Nicolai Fechin
The Onderdonks
Pistols: Dazzling Firearms
Stark Museum of Art Collections Bibliography
Stark Museum of Art Publications
Tapestry Bibliography
Burnham, Dorothy K. Warp and Weft: A Textile Terminology. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1980. Candee, Helen Churchill. The Tapestry Book. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1912. Available at http://books.google.com Examines tapestries from antiquity through the early part of the 20th century. Includes over 100 illustrations. De Champeaux, Alfred. Tapestry. Translated by Mrs. R. F. Sketchley. London: Chapman and Hall, Limited, 1887. Available at http://books.google.com Basic introduction to the techniques of weaving, with illustrations of high and low warp looms. Discussion of specific manufactories of tapestry. Hunter, George Leland. The Practical Book of Tapestries. Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1925. Detailed look at specific tapestries with more than 200 illustrations. Some photographs of weavers at Edgewater Tapestry Looms are included. Hunter, George Leland. Tapestries, their Origin, History and Renaissance. New York: John Lane Company, 1912. Available at http://books.google.com Includes 150 illustrations of tapestries. Muntz, Eugene. A Short History of Tapestry: From the Earliest Times to the End of the 18th Century. Translated by Louisa J. Davis. London, Paris, New York & Melbourne: Cassell & Company, Limited, 1885. Available at http://books.google.com A chronological look at tapestry. Index includes references to specific marks and monograms, painters or cartoon designers, and tapestry workers by name. Thompson, F. P. Tapestry: Mirror of History. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1980. A history of tapestry covering all periods and regions; includes brief mention of Edgewater Tapestry Looms. Well illustrated, glossary. Wheeler, Candace. The Development of Embroidery in America. New York & London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1921. Available at http://books.google.com Single chapter on American tapestry, includes color illustration from Edgewater Tapestry Looms. Zrebiec, Alice. The American Tapestry Manufacturers: Origins and Development, 1893 to 1933. PhD diss., New York University, 1980. Lorentz Kleiser and the Edgewater Tapestry Looms are discussed. Zrebiec, Alice. Narrative in Tapestry: Telling a Story, or a Picture is Worth a Thousand or More Words. In Tapestry the Narrative Voice, coordinated by Sharon Marcus, 1-5. Portland, OR: Tapestry: The Narrative Voice, 1989. Exhibition catalogue. Text in English and French. Zrebiec, Alice and Scott Erbes. Conquest and Glory: Tapestries Devoted to Louis XIV in the Collection of the Speed Art Museum. Louisville, KY: The Speed Art Museum, 2000. Includes essay Weaving a Tapestry: A Brief Introduction with illustrations detailing various wefts.
Lyon, George Ella. Weaving the Rainbow. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, 2004. An artist raises sheep, shears, cards, spins and dyes their wool to weave into a picture. Ages 5-9. Spinelli, Eileen. Sophie’s Masterpiece: A Spider’s Tale. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, 2004. Sophie, an artistic spider, loves to weave, but her works are not always well received. Ages 4-8.
Selected titles may be available for purchase in the Museum Store.For Museum Store information call 409-886-ARTS (2787) ext. 3013.You can also consult your local library. Books not in the holdings of your local library can often be borrowed through inter-library loan. Bibliography prepared by Jenniffer Hudson Connors, Librarian, Stark Museum of Art.
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Lessons from Lazarus
Daniel J. Heisey in Blog
Every three years the Gospel for the Fifth Sunday of Lent is the well-known story of the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-44). Center stage stand his sisters, Martha and Mary, and since the late sixth century and the writings of Saint Gregory the Great, Christians have seen them as representing the active and the contemplative lives. Over the millennia, less attention has gone to Lazarus, who makes his appearance briefly at the end of the story.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes clear (Sections 115-117) that just as there are two natures in Christ, fully human and fully divine, Scripture contains two senses, the literal and the spiritual, or to use other terms, the historical and the allegorical. Thus, we may take as literal, historical fact that Jesus did raise Lazarus from the dead. In a work of fiction, Lazarus would have a long speech describing the marvels of the afterlife.
However, in Saint Luke’s Gospel (16:19-31), Jesus uses the name of his reticent, respectable friend for a story about a scruffy beggar who hovers outside the front door of a wealthy man. It is the only one of Jesus’ parables where one of the characters has a name. The ironic contrast between the historical Lazarus of Bethany and the parable’s street person made the tale more memorable, and although the historical, resurrected Lazarus recounts nothing about what it was like being dead, Jesus reveals in that parable two other last things after death and judgment: Either our selfishness sends us to eternal isolation in hellfire, or our self-emptying leads us to eternal association with saints like Abraham.
In terms of Lenten penance, it is useful to look at what the story of Lazarus teaches us about becoming better Christians. For Benedictine monks, meditating on Lazarus can be part of the monastic vow of ongoing conversion. In particular, Lazarus teaches us about becoming better men, better father figures, and better friends of Jesus. If reflecting on Lazarus along those lines proves helpful to people outside the cloister, so much the better.
Monsignor Romano Guardini, in The Lord (1937), saw Lazarus as parallel to Saint Joseph. Guardini observed that in the Gospel, both men are silent. “There is something powerful in him,” Guardini said about Joseph, “a touch of that all-directing, quiet watchfulness of the Father in heaven.”
Silence takes hard work: We keep, cultivate, and maintain it, and when noise, the absence of silence, intrudes, we refer to silence as having been broken. Sometimes silence is mandatory, as during a written exam or during a monastic meal, but oftentimes more penitential than compulsory silence is obligatory conversation.
Saint Benedict was aware of the delusion that discussion is accomplishment. Chapter 6 of the Benedictine Rule is all about restraining one’s desire to speak, reining in what is deep down an infantile need for attention, but such self-restraint must never be abused, hiding behind silence as an excuse for not challenging error and injustice, or wielding silence as a weapon to snub others. Rather, outward silence reflects inner peace and the self-awareness that often it is best simply to listen.
Silent saints from the early first century may seem to be remote role models, so a contemporary hero may be more accessible. In his autobiography, When Do I Start? (1997), Karl Malden wrote about making the movie Patton (1970), in which he played General Omar Bradley. General Bradley served as a consultant to the film, and Malden worked closely with him to make sure he portrayed the great man accurately.
At one point they were going over the script, and Bradley noted a scene where Patton gets a blistering tongue-lashing from Bradley. “Is it really necessary?” he asked Malden. Malden asked what Bradley would do instead. Bradley replied, “I’d just look him in the eye and quietly, with all the intensity I could muster, tell him exactly what I wanted him to do. And he would do it.”
Malden asked why Patton would do what Bradley so quietly told him. Bradley smiled and said, “Because I’ve got one more star on my shoulder than he has.” Being a man involves learning to become serene and secure, having the quiet strength to know that, despite its dramatic appeal, when one is holding all the cards, it is childish weakness to fly into a narcissistic rage and lose one’s inner peace and self-control.
Along with the interior peace reflected in silence, Lazarus stands as a father figure. Like Saint Joseph, he was the head of a household. Disconcerting for our emulation, Joseph and Lazarus had unique domestic situations, but another modern personage can give us insight here, since human nature never changes.
Country singer Josh Turner has had hits with songs such as “Left Hand Man” and “Why Don’t We Just Dance,” robust and lyrical celebrations of a man’s love for his wife. He has also expressed himself in prose, and in his book of spiritual reflections, Man Stuff (2014), he wrote about teaching his young sons to pay attention, not only to what he is telling them, but also to the everyday wonders around them. “When you learn to pay attention to the simple things in life,” he wrote, “you get one step closer to paying attention to God’s will for you.” Being a good father relies on inner silence and on quiet, masculine strength that never confuses confidence with arrogance.
In addition to being an exemplar of virtue, of manly character and fatherhood, Lazarus was a friend of Jesus. Later in Saint John’s Gospel, Jesus tells His disciples, “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14). It sounds like not much of a friendship, one friend ordering the other one around.
Consider another scenario: Someone of marginal acquaintance says to you something that is direct and crosses a boundary, a critical comment about getting your act together. At once our reaction is, “You don’t know me well enough to talk to me like that!” In contrast, a real friend can tell us, “You need to get squared away,” and we take it to heart.
Jesus commands Lazarus to come forth from the tomb. Jesus commands him, and us, to come out of our charity-free zone of solitary confinement, our being all wrapped up in ourselves, our death in sin, since, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God’s law” (CCC 1855).
A profound influence on Saint Benedict was John Cassian, who in his Conferences (2:11:12) said that by commanding us Jesus is calling us from a good thing, being His servant, to a better thing, being His friend. Cassian noted that in our relationship with Christ, there are stages of development, a concept Saint Benedict summed up in the monastic vow of ongoing conversion. Ordinarily, the grace for such steady conversion flows through the sacrament of penance, to which a religious must make frequent, at least weekly, recourse.
That penitential process of growing closer to the Lord can be measured in one’s maturing in virtue, in the good qualities of father figures like Joseph and Lazarus. If we obey the command of Jesus, we come forth from self-absorbed and self-important entombment, sin that leads to everlasting death, and emerge into the light. We come back to life, and true life is being with Christ.
Daniel J. Heisey
Daniel J. Heisey, O. S. B, is a Benedictine monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where he is known as Brother Bruno. He teaches Church History at Saint Vincent Seminary.
Written by Daniel J. Heisey in Blog on Mar 29, 2017
Reason vs. Ideology
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Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is most noted for his novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called "the Great American Novel." Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to his older brother Orion's newspaper. After toiling as a printer in various cities, he became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River, before heading west to join Orion. He was a failure at gold mining, so he next turned to journalism. While a reporter, he wrote a humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", which became very popular and brought nationwide attention. His travelogues were also well received. Twain had found his calling. He achieved great success as a writer and public speaker. His wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.He lacked financial acumen, and, though he made a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, he squandered it on various ventures, in particular the Paige Compositor, and was forced to declare bankruptcy. With the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers he eventually overcame his financial troubles. Twain worked hard to ensure that all of his creditors were paid in full, even though his bankruptcy had relieved him of the legal responsibility.Twain was born during a visit by Halley's Comet, and he predicted that he would "go out with it" as well. He died the day following the comet's subsequent return. He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age," and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature."
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Roughing It
Life on the Mississippi
A Tramp Abroad
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (illustrated)
The Innocents Abroad
In defense of Harriet Shelley
Приключения Тома Сойера / The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
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Mark Twain - Collected Works
The Collected Works of Mark Twain
Charles Dudley Warner
1000 Years of Laughter. An Anthology of Classic Comic Prose
Laurence Sterne
David Timson
Tobias Smollet
Prince and the Pauper
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Rotary Club of Sun Lakes schedules April speakers
By Norm Noble
The Rotary Club of Sun Lakes’ April events include hosting a speech contest and a roller derby athlete at its meetings.
The club will have its annual Four-Way Test Speech Contest on Tuesday, April 4, featuring students from each of the six Chandler Unified School District high schools giving 5- to 7-minute speeches. The top is the Rotary Four-Way Test and how it applies to themselves and the public.
These students will come from Arizona College Prep–Erie Campus, Basha, Casteel, Chandler, Hamilton and Perry high schools. The four Rotary codes of ethics promote the high ethical standards by which Rotarians endeavor to live and work. Created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor, The Four-Way Test is one of the world’s most widely printed and quoted statements of ethics. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The Four-Way Test has been translated into more than 100 languages and published in thousands of ways. It states, “Is it the truth, is it fair to all concerned, will it build goodwill and better friendships, will it be beneficial to all concerned?”
Roller Derby Hall of Fame member Bert Wall will speak on Tuesday, April 11. Wall will provide a historical perspective of his career and the sport. He was a competitive skater and a general manager of the league. The term “roller derby” emerged in the 1920s and originally described roller skate races with men and women. In the mid-1930s, Chicago sports promoter Leo Seltzer created a touring competition, the Transcontinental Roller Derby, which began to evolve from simply racing to a more physical competition emphasizing skater collisions and falls. Seltzer’s creation became the sport’s foundation.
The Rotary Club of Sun Lakes meets for breakfast at 6:30 a.m. Tuesdays in the Oakwood Country Club Ballroom. The meetings run from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. The cost of breakfast is $12. To make reservations, contact Rotarian Fred DePrez at 480-892-7499. Sun Lakes residents should call Charles Loew at 602-721-3680. SunBird residents can call Walt Mills at 480-883-8007. See more about the club at sunlakesrotary.com.
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Select other Red Wings Abdelkader, Justin Athanasiou, Andreas Bernier, Jonathan Bertuzzi, Tyler Bowey, Madison Daley, Trevor DeKeyser, Danny de la Rose, Jacob Ericsson, Jonathan Filppula, Valtteri Glendening, Luke Green, Mike Helm, Darren Hirose, Taro Howard, Jimmy Kuffner, Ryan Larkin, Dylan Mantha, Anthony Nemeth, Patrik Nielsen, Frans Rasmussen, Michael Red Wings Roster
Jonathan Ericsson
Team: Detroit Red Wings Height: 6-4 Born: 3/2/1984
Position: D Weight: 220 Birthplace: Karlskrona, Sweden
Game Logs 2018-2019
Date Opp Result G A Pts +/- PIM SOG SPct. PP PPA SHG SHA GWG TOI
10/20 @ Fla W 4-3 0 0 0 -2 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 19:19
10/22 Car L 1-3 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 15:57
10/26 Wpg L 1-2 0 0 0 0 2 3 - 0 0 0 0 0 18:20
10/28 Dal W 4-2 1 0 1 1 0 2 50.0% 0 0 0 0 1 19:02
10/30 @ Cls W 5-3 0 0 0 2 2 3 - 0 0 0 0 0 20:41
11/01 NJ W 4-3 0 0 0 0 4 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 17:58
11/28 StL W 4-3 0 0 0 1 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 15:57
12/01 @ Bos W 4-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 13:59
12/02 Col L 0-2 0 0 0 0 2 2 - 0 0 0 0 0 12:21
12/04 TB L-SO 5-6 0 0 0 -3 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 15:11
12/06 @ Tor W 5-4 1 0 1 1 0 1 100.0% 0 0 0 0 0 24:35
12/08 NYI L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 4 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 13:39
12/10 LA W 3-1 0 0 0 -1 2 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 19:13
12/11 @ Was L 2-6 0 0 0 1 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 17:18
12/14 Ott L 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 15:53
12/15 @ NYI L-SO 3-4 0 0 0 1 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 23:32
12/18 @ Phi L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 18:23
12/20 @ Car W 4-1 1 0 1 1 0 1 100.0% 0 0 0 0 0 23:23
12/22 Fla L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 16:56
12/23 @ Tor OTL 4-5 0 0 0 -1 0 2 - 0 0 0 0 0 22:55
12/27 @ Pit L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 20:53
12/29 @ Dal L 1-5 0 0 0 0 2 2 - 0 0 0 0 0 18:23
12/31 Fla L-SO 3-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 22:00
01/02 Cgy L 3-5 0 0 0 -1 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 21:49
01/04 Nsh W 4-3 0 0 0 1 4 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 21:27
01/06 Was L 2-3 0 0 0 -2 2 2 - 0 0 0 0 0 18:34
01/08 Mon L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 17:17
01/11 @ Wpg L 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 18:55
01/12 @ Min W 5-2 0 2 2 3 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 21:37
01/15 Anh W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 18:16
01/18 @ Cgy L 4-6 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 19:05
01/20 @ Van L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 13:23
01/22 @ Edm W 3-2 0 0 0 -1 0 2 - 0 0 0 0 0 14:27
02/01 Tor W 3-2 0 0 0 -1 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 17:41
02/02 @ Ott W 2-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 16:49
02/07 VGK L 3-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 17:13
02/09 @ Buf L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 14:51
02/10 @ Chi L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 14:07
02/12 @ Nsh W 3-2 0 0 0 1 0 2 - 0 0 0 0 0 21:05
02/14 Ott W 3-2 0 0 0 0 5 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 13:31
02/16 @ Phi OTL 5-6 0 0 0 -2 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 14:41
02/22 Min L 2-3 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 16:33
02/24 SJ L 3-5 0 0 0 1 2 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 14:58
02/26 Mon L 1-8 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 15:19
03/02 @ Ari L 1-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 15:52
03/05 @ Col OTL 3-4 0 0 0 -1 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 14:51
03/07 NYR W-SO 3-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 17:09
03/09 @ TB L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 14:30
03/10 @ Fla L 1-6 0 0 0 -2 0 5 - 0 0 0 0 0 20:53
03/12 @ Mon L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 02:46
03/25 @ SJ W 3-2 0 0 0 1 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 0 17:20
03/28 @ Buf W 5-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0 04:38
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Comcept, incorporated in 1992, a group of companies specialised in customized solutions in ICT, telecom products and services, and alternative energy systems. It has realigned its long-term business goals to target education and healthcare segments, leveraging ICT integration and process innovation in these areas. On the education front, TeleTaleem has been launched to promote distance learning based on advanced e-learning services. In healthcare, TeleSehat (a Comcept JV) is targeting telemedicine and primary healthcare applications.
Comcept is ISO certified.The company has assets worth 4 million EUR and an annual turnover of 2.542 million EUR. The company employs a workforce of over 220 professionals. Comcept was the undisputed market leader in Payphone Products and Network Systems from 2000 to 2006, totaling over Rs. 3 Billion in consolidated sales spread over a customer base of 130+ payphone operators, including significant players like WorldCall, Telecom Foundation Payphones, Mobilink, etc. In telecom infrastructure domain, Comcept was able to deploy Next Generation Networks worth over Rs. 300m for Burraq Telecom (now wi-tribe) and Wateen, competing against global players like Alcatel, Nokia-Siemens and Huawei. In the Defence sector, Comcept has been a strategic development partner to Pakistan Air Force, delivering mission critical telecom infrastructure, resulting in sustained revenues of Rs. 370m from 2003 to present.
In addition to successful products, Comcept has also developed business ventures based around bespoke technology i.e. Comcept created business processes and delivery systems to harness the competitive advantage created through technology innovations. In almost all the cases, Comcept collaborated with investors and financial institutions for funding and expansion of these ventures.
For example, on the telecom operation front, Comcept was instrumental in getting a financial close of Rs. 1.2 Billion, with Askari Bank being the lead arranger, to establish and operate Burraq Telecom in 2004. The same company was eventually sold off to Qatar Telecom for US$ 21million, achieving capital gains of 4x multiple on sponsor equity, a significant strategic sale managed by the Comcept team. Comcept continued to manage the company despite being the minority shareholder. Comcept team implemented the corporate governance framework required by Qatar Telecom which is listed on Qatar and UAE exchanges. Similarly WorldCall Limited was launched with funding from First Capital Group. One of the latest achievements is approval of US$ 1.1million of equity investment in TeleTaleem by Asian Development Bank, consummated through a year worth of efforts by the Comcept team.
All told, Comcept has manged to generate a revenue of more than $75 million since inception, with a dividend payout of $10 million to its shareholders. And the fact that this success was seeded by a paid up capital of US$ 10,000 only, makes this journey so much more significant. These outcomes are a manifestation of the sustained creativity, business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit of the Comcept Group, which is still alive.
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Do you think you're dating an important scammer
Who says you need a wedding or a fancy event to get a blowout? Have a hot date or important meeting, or just need a little pick-me-up? Choose from six styles, ranging from a Jackie O. pouf to Hollywood curls. Blowouts start at $30 (and vary depending on your hair), and include a shampoo...
about the unimportance of worldly goods it got me thinking. Was I shallow, am I a bad person for having an unusually passionate interest in fashion, had I been putting clothing before family and friends? I felt guilty and all of a sudden my brand new cardigan felt scratchy and sinful. I tried...
I think it is so important that a famous and globally renowned brand such as Bally should choose to collaborate with a fashion school and pick a student who is allowed to create a limited range of models that will be sold through Bally's retail network (the collections hit stores on July 4)....
Too Faced Primed & Poreless SPF 20 Bronze Tint Skin Smoothing Face Primer Besides sharing products that I personally use, I think it's equally important to discuss products that a part of my professional makeup kit. This leads me to share my new face primer discovery. I find that this time...
We love the Sassy Awards because we know that our opinions can only go so far and we think it is so important to know which spots you think are the best in Hong Kong. From the high to the low end, from splurges to bargains, you told us what you love about the Hong Kong businesses that you...
June 4, 2011 Now while many, like myself, may not shop at VersaceI still think that it is important to cater to all readers including our our high end brand loving loyal followers. So this one is for you. The House of Versace have announced that they are to launch a new children's wear line...
Whether it's raising money through a happy hour event or volunteering on a Saturday morning, I think it's very important that we all do our part to give back to our communities. Over the past few years, I have been a huge supporter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Although I have not been...
We have a table, we all sit here, talk, relax, share stories and I think that's pretty important Roni: What is Cravedfw.com, for people who haven't been to the site before? Steve: Cravedfw.com is a website where we discuss food, art, music and pretty much what I liken it to is anything...
By Jocelyn - Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 at 11:11am Fashion designer Lauren Conrad thinks it is "important" that people "mix it up" with their hairstyles. Lauren believes people should try not to "over style" hair. The 'The Hills' actress – who has two fashion lines, LC by Lauren Conrad and...
Do you think sex is important? I'm hoping the answer is "yes," but I'm also willing to hazard a guess that a lot of women still think it's more important to men. Turns out I'm wrong. Halleloo! According toDazed Digital's first sex survey — the largest anonymous survey of digital youth's sex...
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Smalltown Harbours
Best Windmills
Longboarding and pennyboarding through The Zaanse Schans
With its traditional houses, windmills, warehouses and workshops, the historic village of Zaanse Schans offers a preserved glimpse of what it was like to live in the Netherlands in the 18th and 19th centuries.
A video of us skating and having fun :D Music: Family of the year - hero Dan Mangan - The Indie Queens Are Waiting email: epiclivestyle@gmail.com twitter: ...
Watched 6:32
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41 Zaanse Schans Reviews
"I love Holland!"
We went on a bus trip to this picturesque village just outside Amsterdam. Just wonderful to walk in this Dutch landscape.
Written by Anne, 3 years ago on TOP3.AMSTERDAM
"Walking around at Zaanse Schans"
We loved the Zaanse Schans. We're in Europe now with to married couples and no kids an we looked for a place for a nice walk. At www.dutcmills.eu we read...
Written by Jonathanz, 5 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Beautiful Tourist choice!"
Zaanse Schans is a great tourist area that is driving distance from Amsterdam. While walking through the area, tourists enjoy the area's beauty, stunning...
Written by Martman, 5 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Inside The "Oil" Windmill - Zaanse Schans"
This was the highlight of my visit, actually getting inside a historic windmill and actually seeing the working movements of the mill.These windmills are...
Written by Mikebb, 6 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Local Bus to Zaanse Schans - Windmills"
It was very easy and cheap to travel by public transport to Zaanse Schans. We caught bus #391 from the stop close to Centraal Station, in fact approx 100...
"Zaanse Schans - Map Of Attractions"
The Zaanse Schans attractions are spread out over a large area as indicate on the map. There are good walking paths which are safe for prams, strollers...
"The Cheese Factory & Souvenir Shop - Zaanse Schans"
We visited the Cheese Factory soon after we arrived. It is located just past the Museum and several hundred metres before you come to the first major...
"Zaanse Schans - Day Trip to Windmills"
If you want to visit traditional working windmills then you should visit Zaanse Schans where there are 6 working windmills to view. On the day we visited...
"Zaanse Schans"
This is a very nice museum that has well preserved old houses and few fully functional wind mills built after 1574 that you can visit. There are plenty of...
Written by monica71, 7 years ago on Virtualtourist
"A day trip to Zaanse Schans"
A day trip to Zaanse Schans is a must for the following reasons -View the windmills,Relax in the country,Inexpensive way to spend the day.Check out my...
Written by aussirose, 7 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Windmill De Bloem"
De Bloem is a mill that original was constructed in 1768 to grind corn.The building has been moved a number of times.The mill is not open to the public...
Written by pieter_jan_v, 8 years ago on Virtualtourist
"The sloten windmill"
Molen van slotenonly operating windmill in amsterdam.the sloten windmill is a working mill. it is renovated and originates from 1847.it can be visited...
Written by dila, 8 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Open Air Museum - Zaanse Schans"
Just 9 miles from Amsterdam is a lovely Open Air Village called Zaanse Schans. When visiting here, I was transported back in time to the 17th and 18th...
Written by balhannah, 8 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Spinning mills of Amsterdam"
A place where you can see the windmills which to me is a Dutch icon will be Zaanse Schans. It is only a 20-minute 5 Euro return trip from Amsterdam by...
Written by ashafruddin, 8 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Day trip to Zaanse Schans"
When you buy your train ticket at Schiphol train station, then ask for a 'Dagretour' or day-return-ticket. It's 7,10 euro (that's cheaper than 2x 3,70...
Written by ATLC, 8 years ago on Virtualtourist
Located in Zaandam, Zaanse Schans is a collection of historic windmills and approximately 35 houses which were moved there in the 1970s.Zaanse Schans...
Written by Gillybob, 8 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Daytrip: Zaanse Schans"
Zaanse Schans is a living museum created in 1960.It has a working mills,cheese-making factory and a clog workshop,all situated on a canalside.Some of the...
Written by Dyesebel, 9 years ago on Virtualtourist
Zaanse Schans is a must-see place if you are visiting Amsterdam. It is a beautiful landscape dotted with several beautiful windmills...the place has many...
Written by travellingtechie, 9 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Hikes around the Zaanse Schans"
At the famous windmill park Zaanse Schans, you can visit several windmills, cheese farm and clog factory etc. There also is a museum about the region,...
Written by Pijlmans, 9 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Outside Amsterdam: Windmills!!"
From Central Station we took a train to the town of Koog-Zaandijk. We walked 15 minutes to Zaanse Schans, a little village on the banks of the river Zaan....
Written by Donna_in_India, 10 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Let the wind blow!"
We all know that the most common landscape scenery in the Netherlands should be the water and the windmills. Nowadays it is not quite true, windmills no...
Written by csordila, 10 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Windmills in a short time"
Takes fifteen minutes into amsterdam by train although the only windmill close to the city is actually a restarant and its on the outshirts.Leiden which...
Written by jaybob71, 10 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Zaanse Schans - the Windmill Village"
I almost had no words when I entered the village. Everything was so in balance, in harmony, even the colours of the houses compared to the nature and...
Written by WanderingFinn, 11 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Windmills and Old Dutch Houses"
OK there's more to the Netherlands than Amsterdam; and Zaanse-Schans is recommended if you would like to see the windmills and houses that are often...
Written by heryanta, 12 years ago on Virtualtourist
A good idea for a morning off is visiting the windmills at Zaanse Schans. You can go by train from Amsterdam Central Station. It takes about 20 minutes. I...
Written by ANUSKY, 13 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Go See A Windmill!"
My friends and I felt that we couldn't possibly visit Amsterdam without seeing a windmill. So, we did some research, and found out about De Gooyer...
Written by sunshinejo, 13 years ago on Virtualtourist
"See the windmills of Zaanse Schans"
Almost comes under the "tourist trap" category... it's a beautiful little village just a 15 minute train journey from Amsterdam, relocated to avoid...
Written by CarolynShort, 13 years ago on Virtualtourist
"De Gooier Windmill"
We took a number 10 tram along Sarphatistraat going out of the city centre to find this windmill - the first we have seen after 4 previous windmill-less...
Written by Mariajoy, 14 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Zaanse Schans - for tourists in a hurry"
Zaanse Schans is a great place for tourists in a hurry to see many of the things typical of the Dutch - windmills along the river, cheese factories, and...
Written by woodydoc, 14 years ago on Virtualtourist
"Watching working windmills"
If you've got windmills on your mind, Zaanse Schans just outside Amsterdam is the place for you. It's a tiny village with half a dozen windmills...
Written by CliffClaven, 14 years ago on Virtualtourist
Get directions to Zaanse Schans
Zaanse Schans, Schansend 7, Zaandam
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Tuesday Nights in 1980
Imagine a party in New York City in 1979…the punk era. You might see Bianca Jagger, Jerry Hall, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Blondie, Keith Haring… This was a time period that changed the art world and opened it for the outsiders coming in with a vision. Molly Prentiss paints the end of the seventies Manhattan with many cigarettes, graffitied phone booths and seedy bars that take you back to the hey day of CBGB’s and Studio 54.
“One man would be grinning while the art lovers toasted in his name, another man would never paint again.”
Things seem to be falling into place at the beginning of the book…The main character, James, has a faithful following of his New York Times art reviews and his art collection is the talk of the town. On New Year’s Eve, James and his wife, Marge, are excited to begin the new decade with a new life that they’ll welcome in 1980.
Tuesday Nights in 1980 follows a group of people engrossed in the art scene in New York in 1979. Raul Engales is an artist from Argentina who has run away from his sister, Franca and the problems his country is facing. Raul is ego driven and dives head first into NYC’s art scene. Raul tunes out his past in Argentina but when James comes into his life, he can’t ignore what he left behind. Franca’s little boy Julian is warmly welcome by James’ wife Marge who so desperately wants a child of her own. Marge confronts Lucy about the affair she has had with her husband. Marge tells Lucy, “It isn’t enough to be beautiful… Beautiful is for other people. You have to be something for you.”
Lucy is like “the girl with the pearl earring“…she’s in a painting of Raul’s and is muse to both Raul and James. James describes Lucy in his synesthetic-style…”She was a lime after a shot of strong tequila. She was no sunglasses and no sunscreen when you needed both. She was wet tar when your feet got stuck…”
James is the peculiar character who shines the brightest in Tuesday Nights. He seems to be on the spectrum and needs inspiration to be the art critic that New York Times can’t get enough of. James’ synesthesia has made him successful with his unique critical perspective…”a word was transformed into a color, where an image was manufactured into a bodily sensation , where applesauce tasted like sadness and winter was the color blue.” When James awakens to find his synesthetic abilities gone, after his wife has had a miscarriage, he’s desperate to regain them in order to save his marriage and career. James tells Raul after he’s had an accident and states that he’s giving up art, “You are underestimating of the power of the associative brain! That’s what an artist is! Someone whose way of looking at the world – just their gaze – is already an idea in itself!”
Each character is motivated by a deep yearning that keeps them dancing into the New Year with sentimental hope. Tuesday Nights in 1980 is a debut novel that will keep you turning the page for more… “The imperfections, the time that’s passed, the hiccups…that’s the wear of the world on it. That’s the life.”
The best books for francophiles
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First Shipment, then Payment
Leasing increasingly ranks among the most effective mechanisms for retooling of agricultural sector and providing farmers with modern technologies. Experts see it as a potential mechanism for significant enhancement of efficiency of agriculture in the coming years.
The system of leasing of equipment for farmers has been operating for more than a decade in Uzbekistan. It allows purchasing equipment on a preferential basis without bid security and with an initial contribution of only 10-15% of the total cost, using it to improve soil fertility, and gradually paying the remainder of the cost at a reduced interest rate.
Uzmeliomashlizing has been the leading company that helps farmers to take advantage of the easiest and most convenient form of purchasing expensive equipment.
During its ten-year history, the company supplied the related organizations and institutions with more than 2,000 items of highly efficient reclamation and other specialized equipment. The purposefully allocated 1.6 trillion soums (currency rates of CB RU from 14.10.2016, 1$= 3046.85 soums) have helped to ameliorate more than 2 million hectares of land in the last seven years alone. The measures taken have increased soil fertility and, consequently, crop yields.
The introduction of advanced methods of leasing in line with international standards ranks among major aspects in the company’s focus. The conditions for the implementation of projects are now available at any point of Uzbekistan, so specialists locally provide practical assistance in preparing the leasing registration documents. As a result, the service range has been expanding, as well as the types of the equipment supplied, which number about two dozen today. In 2015 alone, the company supplied farmers with 257 items of reclamation technologies totaling 53 billion soums.
This enables specialists to actively address the problems of land reclamation and water management, which were set by the government. For example, 2,103 kilometers of irrigation canals have been laid, 96 hydraulic structures have been built, over 558,500 km of canals have been revamped, 3,852 km of drainage networks have been built, and more than 75,500 km of such facilities have been repaired over the past five years.
It is noteworthy that Uzmeliomashlizing company has been strengthening partnerships with local producers with the expansion of the scale of localization. In particular, excavators and bulldozers are purchased from UzXCMG joint venture in the Khorezm region, and mini excavators and loaders - from UzCase. Last year, the national equipment fleet made up 85% of the total number. The domestic hardware is not inferior to its imported counterarts in performance and quality, while having more affordable price.
In addition, the company is actively involved in the traditional International Industrial Fair and Cooperation Exchange, which is a platform for establishing and developing cooperation with foreign and domestic partners, opening new prospects for transactions on the supply of the latest reclamation and irrigation technologies.
(Source: «Business partner.uz» newspaper)
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Attorney General Chris Carr Wins Election to Four-year Term
With 99 percent of the vote counted, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr was elected to a full four-year term. Carr won 51.82 percent of the vote.
This is Carr's first election victory. He was appointed Georgia Attorney General by Governor Nathan Deal and was sworn in on November 1, 2016.
"This election - my first ever - means a great deal to Joan and me, and it is a testament to the hard work of so many Georgians from across the state who have worked with us since day one on the many initiatives we've begun to protect Georgia," said Carr.
"We thank the many volunteers and supporters who have helped us over these many months.
"As Attorney General, my job is to protect Georgia, and I look forward to making our state stronger and our communities safer by continuing to work together with all Georgians.
"If you like what we've done the last two years, you're going to love the next four!"
Carr built a robust statewide Grassroots Leadership Team that included more than 1,200 Georgians. Carr swept newspaper endorsements in Georgia and also earned the endorsements of the Georgia Fraternal Order of Police, more than 110 Sheriffs and District Attorneys, and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, along with an extensive list of leaders across the state.
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William "Robert" Welch
Early in the morning of Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, Bob Welch, 92, passed away at the Idaho State Veterans Home in Lewiston.
William Robert Welch was born June 24, 1926, in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., to William and Grace Welch. To help out his family, he quit school at an early age to work in the mines.
At age 17, Bob left home and the mines to serve in the U.S. Army from 1944 to 1950. He was recognized with several medals, including a Bronze Star for meritorious service during World War II, which included participation at Normandy, Brittany, Battle of the Bulge, the Berlin Airlift, Rhineland and Central Europe. Toward the end of the war, he helped with the capture and movement of 20,000 Germans in one day in western France.
Following his service to our country, Bob moved to New Jersey and served 11 years as a fire chief and volunteer firefighter. In later years, he settled in Deary for a few years before moving to Lewiston, where he worked for the Lewiston School District in building maintenance.
Bob loved music and dancing until he lost his hearing several years ago. He was a fantastic dancer, always taking his favorite gal, Neva, dancing in his best dress clothes. Bob donated and volunteered his time and energy as well as maintaining life memberships in all the local veteran organizations in the valley.
Bob loved the outdoors and fishing, keeping up the yard, lovingly caring for his precious roses, painting birdhouses, rocks and when his shoes were a bit scuffed up, using a can of aerosol paint to “shiny them up,” too. His favorite colors were red, white and blue, with an American flag always flying in his yard. Bob, you will be very much missed.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Vassar-Rawls Funeral Home in Lewiston, and Bob’s cremains have been sent to Arlington Memorial Cemetery for burial. Any memorials in honor of Bob can be given to the Lewiston Veterans Home. At his request, there are no services planned.
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Policy Platform
Ten reforms
Assessment / next steps
Campaign outputs
UN documents
Expert reports and briefings
2016 candidates and straw polls
Majority of states support discussion of single term, multiple candidates proposals
A vast majority—more than 145 out of 193—of UN member states support a serious discussion of the Secretary-General’s term, including the possibility of a single, non-renewable, longer term. A growing number of states support appointment for a single term.
More than two-thirds of the UN’s membership has called on the Security Council to recommend more than one candidate for the General Assembly to choose from. By recommending multiple candidates for the Assembly to consider, the Security Council could ensure that all member states are able to play a meaningful role in the appointment process.
1 for 7 Billion has prepared a paper explaining how a single, longer term would strengthen the Secretary-General’s ability to perform highly complex global leadership responsibilities in a rapidly changing world.
Click here to read the paper in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.
The campaign also launched two new documents showing where every UN member state stands on the appointment of the Secretary-General for a single, non-renewable term of between five and ten years; and the recommendation of multiple candidates by the Security Council to the General Assembly.
The documents include the position of each member state on the proposal, as well as information about which countries have made statements about the issue.
Click here for the 'single term' chart
Click here for the 'multiple candidates' chart
Critically, neither of these proposals requires an amendment to the UN Charter, and both could be addressed before the next Secretary-General is appointed this year. Yet while member states have raised these proposals for decades, they have yet to be given the consideration they deserve in the General Assembly.
1 for 7 Billion encourages all member states to carefully review these important proposals, and to express their support in the General Assembly.
Photo: General Assembly Reviews Various Issues. Copyright UN Photo/JC McIlwaine
Tagged: un secretary-general, UN reform, united nations
Newer PostUN Debates Further Reform of the Secretary-General Selection Process
Older Post1 for 7 Billion urges action at upcoming UN debate
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Home > Notícias e Publicações > Artigos > Investments from the MENA region and the...
Investments from the MENA region and the visit of Brazilian state governor to the GCC
In April, the Brazilian southern state of Rio Grande do Sul received the visit of Sharif Essa Al Suwaidi and Tariq Saeed Obaid, representatives of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the largest Emirati fund.
The ADFD is interested in financing infrastructure works like roads, renewable energy and dams. The Federation of Industries of the State of Rio Grande do Sul will identify prospective projects. The ADFD could participate in these projects through investments, partnerships or the granting of loans.
In a very interesting move as to investments in Brazil coming from the MENA region, Canadian Solar, which manufactures equipment used in the generation of solar energy, has sold 80% of a set of solar energy projects to Nebras Power, an economic group based in Doha, Qatar.
The transaction was carried out through Nebras Power Investment Management, a Dutch subsidiary which is the vehicle for international projects by Nebras Power.
In turn, Nebras Power is a joint venture between Qatar Electricity and Water Company (60%) and Qatar Holding (40%) that invests in the water and electricity sectors.
It has also been announced that Joao Doria, the governor of the state of São Paulo (the main Brazilian state from na economic standpoint), will be visiting Qatar and the UAE (Abu Dhabi and Dubai).
Doria is interested in meeting representatives of investment funds and his objective is to att ract investments related to infrastructure, agrobusiness and real estate development.
It is worth noting that in all the aforementioned cases, infrastructure is a common objective. Brazil suff ers from defi ciencies as to its infrastructure andit is certain that to improve Brazilian infrastructure, the participation of foreign investments and foreign funds is necessary.
Hopefully, some of the investments that will be made in Brazil, for example, in the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Sao Paulo, will be Shariah compliant funds like the one from Rasmala, which already had economic contacts with Brazil through a short-term fi nancing facility for a listed Brazilian agribusiness to fund the purchase of agricultural inputs secured against a crop which was pre-sold to a US$40 billion-plus global agribusiness and food company.
Este artigo foi publicado no Islamic Finance News, no dia 1 de maio de 2019.
Fábio Figueira
Islamic Finance News - IFN
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A Word on Tolerance
Chuck Colson, the Nixon hatchet-man and ex-con, had a recent article about how great the religious right is, compared to religious liberals (story short: they are better at focusing on one thing at a time and following directions), where he quoted "the great English writer" Dorothy Sayers. This quote summarizes an opinion that is raised sometimes, and which deserves a brief hearing:
“In the world it is called Tolerance, but in hell it is called Despair, the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die.” Worshipping the Goddess of Tolerance
This lady confuses tolerance with apathy. In tolerating, I allow someone to do something I don't understand and/or would not do myself. Tolerance has nothing to do with decisions I make regarding my own behavior, which I may hold to a strict standard. Speaking personally: I believe in lots of cool things, I seek to know everything -- but I don't interfere with things that are none of my business. I hate passionately in ways you'll never know, I find purpose in things that would surprise you, and I remain alive because life is so goddamn fascinating I couldn't stand to tear myself away.
The tolerant person cannot be said to "interfere with nothing," but he interferes with fewer things than some people do. Where we are granted the freedom to express ourselves as we wish, tolerance constrains other people to allow us our freedom, and constrains us to allow them theirs.
Tolerance demands the self-discipline to stop ourselves from forcing our own habits on others. Its reward comes in the discovery that other people are rich, fully-functional, autonomous human beings full of surprises, just like ourselves.
posted by JimK at 8:41 AM
you are so full of yourself. bigot.
Tolerance is a one-way street rear at TTF
Problem is TTF has consistently and insistently demanded much more than tolerance and improperly called it tolerance. Our society is already remarkably tolerant of homosexual behavior. TTF, however, has repeatedly advocated accommodation, recognition and endorsement of gaiety by pushing for things like gay marriage, gay clubs in high schools and a fairy tale curriculum about sexual variations.
Tolerance is a greatly overrated virtue whose worth depends on alot of factors not specified by the vague use common among liberals such as the behavior tolerated and what action constitutes intolerance.
JimK said...
Teach the Facts advocates a public school curriculum that teaches students the facts as they are understood by mainstream science and medicine. That's all. It's a very modest goal.
As for freedom being overrated, well, I disagree with you.
JimK
Anonymous said…Tolerance is a greatly overrated
JimK read… As for freedom being overrated, well, I disagree
Jim you cannot read. This is the problem. We write one thing you read something else. Are you aware of this problem and do you know how long it has been going on because there are medications you can take that I think might help.
Anon, tell me the difference between tolerance and freedom.
Tolerance sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own b : the act of allowing something
freedom the quality or state of being free: as a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
"As for freedom being overrated, well, I disagree with you."
Freedom is referencing action.
Tolerance is referencing being.
So, you think these are two separate things that exist independently?
So Anon, you can act without being?
They are two different concepts. They do exist independently. You did not know that.
I can write what ever I want on this blog. I am free to do that.
you can tolerate it, or not, if you don't, then you can removed it.
but my freedom to post is not contengent on your tolerates
Orin Ryssman said...
Jim writes,
Chuck Colson, the Nixon hatchet-man and ex-con
Jim, would you speak this way about someone on your end of the politiccal spectrum?
Looking back at it, you're right, Orin. I should have said:
Chuck Colson, the Nixon hatchet-man who found Jesus just before being sentenced to prison on Watergate-related charges, and who co-signed a letter to George W. Bush in 2002 outlining the theological arguments in favor of attacking Iraq, had a recent article ...
(By the way, that letter is a real piece of work.)
That makes him sound a lot nicer, don't you agree?
well they did find wmd's the world is better off everyone wins. except you.
time to change the subject.
Yes, I can see why you'd want to.
well this is the time you stop making comments and put up a new subject. what do you still think that there were no wmds?
LOL...remember, I wrote,
Jim, Jim, Jim...the question was NOT as you framed it, but as I framed it: would you speak this way about someone...anyone...on your end of the political spectrum the way you spoke about Colson???
Nice try though...you know, reframing the question to make the issue whether or not Colson is "nice" or not. "Nice" in my estimation is an over-rated virtue (if it can even be called that; I prefer the term civil) that masks too much mushy-headed thinking.
Come on now...answer the question. Human ethics is not a "theological technicality" btw...
If I were the person that had appointed you to a committee given the responsibility to assist in the development of a revised human sexuality curriculum, I would be concerned with comments you are making here and how they could impact your ability to work with others in a collaborative manner. Nut cases...mindless haters...and other such labels are not what I would expect from someone with an advanced degree.
Alas though, that is someone elses call to make (though who knows, they could be here silent notes taking...).
Let me just say that the attack on Chuck Colson is completely unjustified. I've read several of Colson's books. He's a humble guy with a sincere conversion story and good insight. Anyone who is reading this without familiarity with Colson and would like to make up their own mind, I'd suggest his book, Knowing God.
Colson has won the Templeton prize for his work with his organization, Prison Fellowship. He is widely esteemed by those of varied political persuasion and Jim's insult says more about TTF than Colson. Similar to TTF's attacks on another valuable contributor to our society, Jim Dobson.
H.A.
Uh huh, yeah, Anon. Go back and click on the link to that letter a few comments back, and see what an intelligent sweetheart this guy is. I'm sure he's a humble and honest guy ... who just wants to kill people and destroy entire countries.
And that "Jim" Dobson, too, another nice guy, oh yeah.
"do you still think that there were no wmds?"
I guess it depends on how you define "WMD." 1980s degraded leftovers or stockpiled ready-to-go weapons?
Aired June 29, 2006 - 17:00 ET
BLITZER: So were weapons of mass destruction recently found in Iraq? There are new developments centering in on the debate. Let's get the details from our national security correspondent, David Ensor -- David?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN AMERICA BUREAU CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the issue is the 500 chemical shells that the U.S. has so far found in Iraq. And it's one of those areas where senior House Republicans and the Bush administration are disagreeing about how to proceed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR (voice-over): Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee brought defense intelligence brass before them to seek support for their view that the 500 chemical weapons so far found in Iraq are dangerous weapons of mass destruction.
REP. CURT WELDON (R), PENNSYLVANIA: So these 500 weapons that we found, contrary to all the spin, are weapons of mass destruction, in your mind as a professional military officer?
COL. JOHN CHU, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL GROUND INTELLIGENCE CENTER: Yes, I do, sir.
ENSOR: But two can play that game. Democrats asked whether the 500 weapons, all 1980 vintage Sarin and mustard shells from the Iran- Iraq war could be used as weapons today?
CHU: These munitions that were found were badly corroded in most cases.
REP. JIM COOPER (D), TENNESSEE: Have you ordered that more chemicals, protective suits, things like that be sent to the region so that our troops can be prepared against these so-called weapons of mass destruction?
CHU: Not to my knowledge, sir.
ENSOR: Former CIA Iraq weapons hunter David Kay told the committee he always expected old shells to be found. He said they did not prove Saddam Hussein had an active weapons program. The hearing is unlikely to satisfy some, like talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who is angry that the 500 shells are being played down. And not just by the media and Democrats.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: It's very frustrating. Why in the world is there such a reluctance, even on the part of some Republicans and some Republican conservative media members, who downplay this?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: But national security advisor Stephen Hadley said the shells are old material from before the Gulf War. Clearly, the White House wants to move on -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And David, this not what administration officials like Colin Powell were talking about before the war in suggesting the Iraqis had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.
ENSOR: That's right. The suggestion then was that they were stockpiling them, and that they were fresh, that they were ready to go. These are very old weapons, not something you could safely fire on an army and try to stop it.
BLITZER: David, thank you very much for that. David Ensor reports.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/29/sitroom.02.html
WMDs found works for me.
Jim writes, evasively,
Yes, he is...
From bio,
For 14 years Dr. Dobson was an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, and served for 17 years on the Attending Staff of Children's Hospital of Los Angeles in the Division of Child Development and Medical Genetics.
Jim, I trust those that only read these entries to be a better judge of whether Colson and/or Dobson are "nice" guys or not, as opposed to someone with blinding political prejudice (talk about "mindless haters"...good grief, look in the mirror).
So much for tolerance...
Orin said "For 14 years Dr. Dobson was an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, and served for 17 years on the Attending Staff of Children's Hospital of Los Angeles in the Division of Child Development and Medical Genetics."
This is another selective response Orin. Is that all Dobson is and does? Hardly. Here's some more biographical material about James Dobson that you didn't bother to mention.
By the way, as most Internet users including our readers are aware, more information on any topic is easily obtainable by using a search engine. The information below was easily found with a simple Google search for "James Dobson, 2004 elections."
Dobson’s FOF, now based in Colorado Springs, has grown exponentially since its founding. FOF resides on an 81-acre campus and receives so much mail it has its own zip code. It employs more than 1,000 people and produces books, magazines, newsletters and Internet websites. Dobson’s radio broadcasts are syndicated internationally and reach more than 116 countries. According to Slate.com, his weekly column is published by more than 500 newspapers.
Dobson’s family counseling — and his great success at communicating that advice — have helped make him one the Religious Right’s most influential voices. TV preachers such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, though still reaching millions of followers, have seen their reputations wane, in part because of off-the-wall or terribly offensive comments. John C. Green, a political science professor at Akron University in Ohio and director of the school’s Ray Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, told Church & State that, “Dobson is widely admired among evangelical Protestants, and even beyond, because of his family ministry and radio programs.”
Green added that Dobson’s “political statements have become more common over time, reaching a high point in 2004.” One reason for this increase was that same-sex marriage came on to the political agenda.
Political polling by Green, which was noted in the Jan. 17 edition of U.S. News & World Report, showed that 78 percent of evangelicals supported Bush, which represented a 7-point increase from 2000. Green said much of the increase could be attributed to Dobson’s political activities.
But even before the 2004 elections, Dobson had started to delve more directly into political activities. In 1988, he helped create the Family Research Council (FRC), which was then headed by former Reagan White House official Gary Bauer. Dobson would later cut his formal ties with the group, but to this day remains closely associated with it.
Dobson also drew notice and stirred controversy in 1998 for complaining that the Republican Party was not doing enough to advance the Religious Right’s agenda. (See “Family Feud,” May 1998 Church & State.)
But as the 2004 campaigns got underway, Dobson leaped full-fledged into the nation’s political fray.
Dobson lowered his profile at FOF and hit the campaign trail for Bush’s re-election, as well as the election of other socially conservative Republican candidates. He also launched a “sister ministry” alongside FOF, called Focus on the Family Action, a 501(c)4 nonprofit with greater ability to operate politically. The New York Times reported that the budgets of both FOF and its political arm were projected to be $146 million in 2004. (In 1993, FOF’s annual budget was then nearing $80 million.)
In his January interview with the Times, Dobson said he could never regain an image as an apolitical promoter of evangelical Christian values.
“I can’t go back, nor do I want to,” he told the Times. “I will probably endorse more candidates. This is a new day. I just feel the need to make use of this visibility.”
With many pushing the conventional — if disputed — wisdom that evangelical Christians played the dominant role in Bush’s victory, Dobson has found little trouble in exploiting his heightened visibility. Only days after the president’s re-election, Dobson appeared on ABC’s Sunday news program, “This Week,” and boasted about his involvement in the political arena. During the interview with host George Stephanopoulos, the Religious Right leader elaborated on a warning he gave a White House staffer who had called to thank him for his work on behalf of Bush.
“Well, the essence of it is that people of faith and the people that I think put George Bush in power again have some very strong views,” Dobson said. “And I think that this president has two years — or more broadly, the Republican Party has two years — to implement those policies, or certainly four, or I believe they’ll pay a price in the next election.”
God bless Dr. Dobson God bless GW Bush and God bless the USA. I am so proud to be an american. I am so happy Bush won these fore more years.
Why I Blog Here
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Home » Celebrity » Ken Burns Wiki, Wife, Divorce and Net Worth
Ken Burns Wiki, Wife, Divorce and Net Worth
Date: 12 Feb, 2017 Report This
65 Years 11 Month(s)
Wife/Spouse
Amy Stechler(Div.), Julie Deborah Brown(2003)
Yes(Once)
Girlfriend/Dating
$1.5 Million Dollars
Sarah Burns(Daughter), Lily Burns(Daughter), Willa Burns(Daughter), Olivia Burns(Daughter)
Ken Burns, a celebrity who is loved by many fans for the amazing movies that he makes and for the height that he has given to himself as a filmmaker. He is already sixty-two years of age but the smile on his face gives out the energy of a youthful soul; still young to do more! He American, was born on the twenty ninth of July, in New York. Ken didn’t have anyone in his family who was from the entertainment industry that’s why it makes it difficult for us to speculate who must have been his inspiration to get into the career path he chose to enter. He attended Pioneer High School and Hampshire College and gained his degrees.
Ken has travelled a lot of places with his family. That, we can assume, must be the source of inspiration for the creativity and diversity that brings into his works. His interest towards the entertainment field got him a degree in Arts specifically in design and film studies. Because he studied what he wanted to do, that made it easy for him to pursue the career with the full support of the family. Nobody could have imagined that he would gain so much of fame and honors; in fact, he has received more than twenty honorary degrees!
Ken has a net worth of $1.5 million dollars. That wealth has been accumulated because of the finest works that he has delivered to the industry. He has founded Florentine Films, has worked for the BBC as a cinematographer, etc. Ken has also gained good experience in documentary making and has also done a fabulous work in portraying about the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in the short film based on the book called The Great Bridge. Not only that, his documentary also got him into the nomination for Academy Award. Other works of his include The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God and The Statue of Liberty. He has also been awarded the Emmy Award for his creation called Baseball; it is a series, and also for The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.
Ken is found to have had a wonderful love life where he enjoyed and shared his love with few women who have left a huge impact on his life. He is not gay! He was married to Amy Stechler in the year 1982, the couple got two daughters together but the marriage could go on and they ended up getting divorced. He got married for the second time; his wife Julie Deborah Brown is in his life now and loves him like a girlfriend does! Their ethnicity match, as do their values. This celebrity has four children from two of his wives; he loves his kids so much and is proud of the ladies who gave him the chance to be a father. This happy father can be found in his Twitter account with more than one thousand tweets and increasing number of fans. The followers who want to know more about him can read about him in his wikis.
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Hannah Ferguson Wiki, Bio, Age, Boyfriend and Dating
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Universidad Tecnologica de Chili
"We welcome our friends from the Institut Paul Bocuse Worldwide Alliance to INACAP. We are the first institution of higher education in Chile which trains hospitality and culinary technicians and professionals that the country needs. This path has led us to make strategic decisions that allow us today to be at the forefront in gastronomy. Among these decisions, joining the Institut Paul Bocuse Worldwide Alliance was a condition that also positions us as a leader in Chile in training and dissemination of international cuisine.
Joining the Worldwide Alliance has enabled campus directors, teachers and students of INACAP to learn and experience the best of world cuisine and also its main figures, allowing to extend their cultural worldview and knowledge of the discipline in general.
We believe that the unity of the Worldwide Alliance and our permanence in it will eliminate frontiers and barriers that today impede the recognition of Chilean cuisine, for which we have proposed in the medium term, to strengthen the presence of the Worldwide Alliance in Chile, as the presence of INACAP and our cuisine in member countries, with the benefits this will bring both to the INACAP community, the country and the Institut Paul Bocuse Worldwide Alliance."
Franklin Carpenter, Director of Universidad Tecnologica de Chili
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Athletics > Athletic News > Athletic News Feed >
Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Award Recipients Announced for High School and College Soccer
posted Jan 10, 2019, 10:59 AM by Floyd Wygant [ updated Feb 11, 2019, 8:07 AM ]
Updated: 2-7-19:
In a special day for Waterville Girls Soccer, Maine legislators rose to recognize this singular accomplishment at the State House. Applause, pronouncements, and a declaration honored the team's fabulous season and remarkable character were raised from the floor to the team in the gallery above. Follow this link for the WABI-TV coverage:
https://www.wabi.tv/content/sports/Waterville-girls-soccer-honored-at-State-House-505543511.html
As expressed by WSHS library technician Robin Duplessis, "This group of young women are not just winners on the field, they are winners in life. The integrity and dignity with which they conducted themselves demonstrate this is not just by the measure of this award. The manner in which they conduct themselves on a daily basis, even when no one is there to witness them, is the true measure of integrity. Each one of the young ladies in this group has integrity and a winning attitude." Congratulations Coach Sergenian and all the members of the soccer team.
Pictured above team photo with Maine House Representative Bruce White (Dist 109) and the award certificate.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Dec. 2018) – United Soccer Coaches announced on Wednesday the Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Award recipients for high school and college soccer programs competing in the fall season. Today’s awards recognize a total of 167 teams across the country for exhibiting fair play, sporting behavior and adherence to the laws of the game.
Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Award
High School Boys & Girls Complete list
The Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Award is given to United Soccer Coaches members at four levels. Teams honored at the platinum level went an entire season without a player or coach receiving a yellow card or red card. Teams honored at the gold (1-10%), silver (11-30%) and bronze (31-50%) levels are based on a percentage calculated by the total number of cards received by players/coaches divided by the team’s total number of games played.
The seven college teams in the platinum category will be formally acknowledged at the College Coaches Awards Reception on Jan. 10 at the Chicago Marriott Marquis Great Lakes Ballroom in conjunction with the 2019 United Soccer Coaches Convention. The 12 high school teams receiving platinum distinction will be honored at the High School Coaches Breakfast on Jan. 12 in the same location.
United Soccer Coaches will announce additional high school Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Award winners for the 2018-19 school year at the conclusion of the winter and spring seasons.
Founded in 1941 and based in Kansas City, Mo., United Soccer Coaches has grown into the world’s largest soccer coaches’ organization that serves members at every level of the game.
United Soccer Coaches works every day to inspire coaches and ignite their passion for the game so they pass it on to players and others in the soccer community.
Congratulations to the Waterville Senior High School Girls Soccer team for being selected as one of twelve schools nationally to receive the United Soccer Coaches Platinum Award for Ethics and Sportsmanship for the Fall 2018 season. WSHS was the only Maine school on the list! Go Panthers!
Heidi Bernier, CAA
Waterville Senior and Junior High Schools
email - hbernier@aos92.org
Outstanding and well deserved!!!
Joe Haney
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A way forward for Tasmania's forests
Research into alternatives to clear felling in old growth forestsCurrently selected
Research into alternatives to the use of 1080
Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement Media Releases
The Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement Industry Development Programs
FOI Request (FOI 2012/13-59) - Additional Information
Progress Implementation Tas Community Forest Agreement 1 Jul 08 to 30 Jun 09
Progress implementation Tas Community Forest Agreement 1 July - 30 Jun 07
Progress implementation Tas Community Forest Agreement 13 May 05 to 30 Jun 06
The research into alternatives to the use of clearfelling in old growth forest program underpins the Australian and Tasmanian Governments’ commitment to facilitate a significant reduction in the use of clearfell harvesting in old growth forests from more than 50 per cent in 2004/05 to less than 20 per cent by 2010.
The Australian Governments contribution of $2 million supplements the $11.1 million being invested by Tasmania in further research and implementation, including training and support for harvesting contractors. The joint investment has facilitated the acceleration of the research programs based at Warra in Southern Tasmania, and enabled its expansion into other forest types in other parts of the State. Old Forests New Management, an international conference was held in February 2008 to review the science of old growth management in temperate and boreal forests around the world. A science-based review of the reduced clearfelling program will be published in mid–late 2009.
The operating plan for the program set out arrangements for the implementation of the Australian Government’s commitment to invest $2 million to research alternatives to clearfelling old growth forests in Tasmania.
A Final Report for the program was completed in October 2010, and summarises the implementation and outcomes of the program. The program has now been finalised.
TCFA Research into alternatives to clearfelling in old growth forests (final report)
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Artists To Watch
The Fight / June 29, 2017
Local artists to look out for in 2017. The first in an ongoing series promoting local queer art.
DAVIS MALLORY
Singer-Songwriter, DJ, Actor
Davis Mallory from MTV’s The Real World is gearing up to get Loud this spring with the release of the title track from his upcoming album.
Cowritten with Mitchell Rose and produced by Ricca Vita and J. Hanna, Loud is an upbeat summer dance song about hooking up with someone you quietly desire. It’s seductive R&B with a funky, chilled, head-swinging vibe and sex-soaked lyrics; much in the way of Zayn’s Pillowtalk.
“It’s a bit outside of the norm of what I usually write and sing about,” reveals Mallory. “It was inspired by a guy, another singer-songwriter, who I had a major crush on. At the time, I couldn’t figure out how he felt about me but he turned out to be straight. He has a girlfriend now.”
Loud is now available at online retailers. For more information, visit DavisMallory.com.
LEOPOLD NUNAN
Singer/Songwriter, Dancer, Actor, Choreographer
Leopold Nunan is an award-winning performer, singer/songwriter, dancer, actor and choreographer with roots native to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
At 18, he turned to electronic music for it’s creative expression and struck a popular note with first house music hit I’ve Got It, which led to nationwide touring. The music video for the song aired on MTV Brazil and was played in clubs across the country. His follow-up hits Feel The House and Generator also reached a global audience and cemented his presence in the house music community.
Determined to broaden his horizons and continue upwards in his flourishing career, Nunan decided to pack up and move LA at 23. He has since been an integral part of the LA nightlife and entertainment scene, bringing a Brazilian flavor with him that has led him to land performances at various venues and nightclubs across the greater Los Angeles area.
For more info visit www.leopoldnunan.com.
GREGORY BARNETT
Interdisciplinary Performing and Visual Artist
Gregory Barnett creates signs, dances and altars, and believes he is better for it. He wants the things he creates to assure people they are not alone. He wants to further feelings of compassion and trust. He wants everyone to relax.
An interdisciplinary performing and visual artist based in Los Angeles, Barnett’s recent works include A Home For Wayward Satyrs, presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, as part of Ann Magnuson’s One-Hour Bacchanal.
Upcoming projects include restaging his 2015 project Edenic Idyllic: I Can Take You To Heaven, Let Me Take You To Heaven (a rotating partner dance based on the adolescent game Seven Minutes In Heaven) as a pool party.
For more info visit: facebook.com/gregory.barnett.7.
NATHAN RAPPORT
Nathan Rapport is a California based multimedia artist working and showing in galleries and alternative creative spaces across North America.
Rapport works as a painter, illustrator, designer, performer, director, and has a long history in scenic work for a number of producing theaters in San Francisco and Austin.
In October 2015, Rapport released his queer adult coloring book “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me,” receiving tremendous visibility and press for the project. In 2016, while on the road in support of the book, Rapport launched a queer focused line of wearables and fine art, and continues to add to the collection regularly.
Currently Rapport works full time as an artist, splitting his time between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
For more info visit www.nathanrapportart.com.
June 29, 2017 in 07.2017, ENTERTAINMENT, FEATURES.
The Femme Four
Behind The Curtain: Todrick Hall
Finding Your Tribe
← Behind The Curtain: Todrick Hall
The Femme Four →
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Corruption Crime India Politics
October 24, 2017 The Society Mirror
The BJP on Tuesday asked Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul to break their “silence” over media reports which claimed that Robert Vadra had “links” with fugitive arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was fielded by her party to attack the Congress leadership, said the silence of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul will be construed as acceptance of charges against Vadra.
Citing the media report, Sitharaman alleged that a London house linked to Vadra was refurbished by Bhandari, who also made arrangements for his travel abroad. She also claimed that an amount of 7.5 lakh Swiss franc was deposited in a bank account of Bhandari and asked if there was a connection between this and the money spent on refurbishing the London house linked to Vadra.
The minister, citing the media report, alleged that there were at least three transactions between them with “serious financial implications”. Addressing a press conference, Sitharaman asked, “Why senior leadership of the Congress, including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, is keeping a studied silence.”
Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s frequent tweets, the minister wondered why he was keeping silent on this matter. She also claimed that the Congress leader was “copying” Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Asked what the CBI was doing as it was investigating Bhandari, she said this question should be put to the agency. The government is taking all steps to bring the absconding arms dealer back to India to face law, she added.
Party spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said, “If you believe that Vadra is innocent and then why not file a defamation suit?… the silence shows guilt.” Neither Vadra nor the Congress has reacted to the matter.
Meanwhile, a day after it was revealed that absconding arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari had booked business-class tickets for Robert Vadra in 2012, the Gandhi son-in-law put up a cryptic response on his social media.
Vadra posted a picture of himself and a horse running in the background, with the text: “I am capable, I am strong, If I believe in myself, I can turn my dreams into a plan and my plan into reality.”
The fact that one of the tickets booked for Vadra was to Zurich, the financial capital of Switzerland, hints at his involvement in the Pilatus deal. However, there is no clarity on the issue as of now, and Times Now is awaiting a reply from his side.
Demanding a probe into financial activities of a company owned by BJP president Amit Shah’s son Jay, senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, Robert Vadra, too has been investigated for corruption.
The comparison with Mr. Vadra appeared to be an indirect allegation that the phenomenal rise in Jay’s company’s fortunes might not be investigated as his father is a powerful politician. Mr. Chavan demanded that Mr. Shah resign by taking a cue from three past BJP presidents, who quit following allegations of corruption.
At least 14 killed in Taliban attack on Afghanistan police training centre
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday slammed the opposition parties saying he also has...
A 47-year-old militant, who is only three feet tall, is reported to be behind the recent...
The BJP on Wednesday asked the Congress to come clean on the alleged involvement of its...
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EasyJet 10 year deal with Luton airport to increase passengers from 4 to 9 million per year
easyJet has announced the signing of a new 10-year price deal with Luton which could lead to easyJet expanding from 4 million to 9 million passengers per year. EasyJet started off its life at Lution, in 1995. There are, of course, the usual claims about the large number of jobs that would be created – some 2,500 job, they suggest. Luton has a small proportion of business passengers (around 19% in 2010) and 80% of its customers are charter airlines for cheap beach etc “bucket and spade” holidays abroad. The airport also boasts that it is “the biggest airport in the UK for private jets.” Commenting on the easyJet deal, the local opposition group, HALE said they were very concerned about the extra noise that would be caused by this huge rise in number of flights, and they want a commitment from easyJet to a clear timetable for introduction of quieter airframes and engines. EasyJet are currently switching from A319s to the larger, heavier and currently noisier A320, which won’t help. HALE are also worried that the expansion of easyJet will mean even earlier departure slots and even later arrivals slots. At present Luton’s expansion plans at Luton, which involve extending the airport’s terminal and improving road access, are currently on hold pending a decision by the Secretary of State whether to “call in” the application or not.
EasyJet to help put Luton airport back on the map
The low cost carrier has entered into a 10-year deal with Luton, the airport where easyJet was founded.
Luton airport wants to grow from 10m to 18m passengers a year and is awaiting planning approval for its expansion proposals. Photo: Alamy
By Nathalie Thomas, Leisure & Transport Correspondent (Telegraph)
Low-cost giant easyJet has struck a 10-year price deal with Luton Airport to help put the base, where it started life in 1995, back on the map.
The airline, which was founded in a small office at Luton by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and is now the UK’s biggest carrier by passenger numbers, said the deal could see it more than double its traffic at its “home” airport from four to nine million passengers a year. The expansion could also see as many as 2,500 jobs created at the airport and in the local area, easyJet said.
The agreement will come as a significant boost for Luton as the airport’s operator awaits approval for £100m investment plans to expand its capacity to 18m passengers a year and shake off its dowdy image.
The plans, which involve extending the airport’s terminal and improving road access, are currently being assessed by Eric Pickles’ Department for Communities and Local Government.
Glyn Jones, managing director of the airport, said 19pc of Luton’s passenger traffic comes from business travellers yet it is still associated in many people’s minds with charter airlines and as the starting point for cheap beach holidays abroad.
The airport, which expects to see around 10m passengers pass through its doors this year, is planning a major re-brand to encourage further business passengers and to overhaul the airport’s image. Mr Jones pointed out that Luton is already the biggest airport in the UK for private jets.
The deal with Luton is the second in less than a week for easyJet, which last week announced a seven-year agreement with Gatwick.
Progress at Luton has been delayed by the sale last year of the rights to operate the airport, which were acquired by Spanish infrastructure group Aena and Axa’s private equity arm in a deal valued at £433m.
Carolyn McCall, chief executive of easyJet, said the rate of expansion at Luton, which is on the doorstep of the airline’s headquarters, would be “in part reliant” on planning approval for “much-needed improvements” at the airport.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/10733133/EasyJet-to-help-put-Luton-airport-back-on-the-map.html
Comment from HALE (Hertfordshire Against Luton Expansion):
“People living close to airports are affected by increased noise if expansion plans such as this go ahead, and airlines must factor them into their thinking. Before adding yet more flights, we’d like to hear easyJet commit to a clear timetable for introduction of quieter airframes and engines at Luton Airport – particularly since we already know they plan to switch from Airbus A319s to the larger, heavier and currently noisier A320s in any case.
Will easyJet also commit to avoiding even earlier departure slots and even later arrivals slots? The night-time has already been eroded to just 6 hours by aircraft noise, and people have to sleep.
Extra jobs, and benefits to passengers, have to be balanced by effective actions to reverse the increasing noise trend at Luton Airport. Noise is a form of pollution, and businesses which create noise need to invest in mitigation for its effects, as well as being prepared to constrain the hours during which noise is made. These are not unreasonable demands, and we look forward to some specific proposals from easyJet to balance its announcement today.”
http://www.hale.uk.net/
EasyJet’s Luton deal set to boost jobs and passenger numbers
Budget airline plans to add new business and leisure routes and increase frequency of flights on some of its 39 routes
Monday 31 March 2014 ( Press Association)
An easyJet plane landing at Luton airport. Easyjet has 15 aircraft based at the site, its second largest base in the London area, and employs 1,600 staff locally. Photograph: ATM / Barcroft Media
Low-cost airline easyJet has secured a 10-year deal with Luton airport which could see it more than double passenger numbers at the site from 4 million to 9 million a year.
It said the expansion would also lead to the creation of 2,500 jobs at the airport and in the surrounding region.
But the chief executive, Carolyn McCall, said the pace of the growth depended on site improvements being approved, adding that Luton could make a “real and immediate” contribution to the need for more airport capacity.
EasyJet has 15 aircraft based at Luton, its second largest base in the London area, and employs 1,600 staff locally.
It said it planned to increase capacity by 20% over the next year by adding new business and leisure routes and increasing the frequency of flights on some of its 39 routes.
McCall said: “This is a substantial, long-term deal with London Luton airport – our first base and the airline’s home – which will enable us to double our size at London Luton in the next decade and add an even greater range of business and leisure destinations.”
Last week the airline signed a deal with Gatwick airport, which will give it certainty over user charges for the next seven years. The plan is for easyJet, which already flies 45% of the passengers from Gatwick, to be housed entirely in the larger north terminal, where it will become the dominant operator.
EasyJet revealed last week that it was set for a smaller-than-expected loss over winter, after it benefited from improved revenue trends and benign weather.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/mar/31/easjet-luton-deal-jobs-passengers
EasyJet has also done a deal with Gatwick:
EASYJET AND GATWICK AIRPORT AGREE NEW SEVEN YEAR GROWTH AND SERVICE IMPROVEMENT DEAL
27.3.2014 (EasyJet press release)
easyJet today announced that it has agreed a new seven year deal with Gatwick Airport(GAL) from April 2014 which will incentivise the airline to grow at the airport and provide the framework for easyJet and GAL to further improve customer experience for easyJet’s passengers.
Carolyn McCall, easyJet CEO commented on the deal:
“Gatwick is our largest base so it is of strategic importance to secure this new agreement with Gatwick Airport. easyJet shares the CAA’s view that Gatwick has market power but also supports the move towards a more commercial arrangement with the airport within a regulatory framework.
“This agreement gives easyJet certainty on passenger charges over the next seven years and a clear incentive to continue to grow. More importantly, it will create a framework for easyJet and Gatwick to plan and deliver an improved experience for our passengers.
“Our shared ambition is for Gatwick to be both our biggest and best airport.”
Stewart Wingate, CEO of London Gatwick, said:
“This partnership with easyJet is a landmark deal in London Gatwick’s history. Four years after the end of the BAA monopoly at the airport, this partnership highlights how far we have come to be able to operate within a new framework of commitments and contracts. Forpassengers travelling with easyJet, they will have more choice, competitive fares and an even better experience. It is positive news for both business and leisure passengers travelling with easyJet from Gatwick.”
easyJet plans to continue to grow at Gatwick through increasing our slots and by deploying larger aircraft as easyJet replaces 156 seat A319s with 180 seat A320s and, from 2017, A320Neos. In the next year (end March 2015) alone the airline will increase capacity and passenger numbers by around 10% compared to the previous year.
The agreement has been reached within the new ‘commitments’ framework which will replace the current regulatory regime as confirmed by the CAA last year.
easyJet started flying from London Gatwick Airport in 1999 and now has 57 aircraft based there, operating on 108 routes. The airline has around 1400 cabin crew and 700 pilots operating from the airport.
http://corporate.easyjet.com/media/latest-news/news-year-2014/27-03-2014-en.aspx?sc_lang=en
Posted: Monday, March 31st, 2014. Filed in News about Airports, Recent News.
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Michael Gove announces plans to consult on a new, independent body for post-Brexit UK environmental standards
Date added: November 13, 2017
Plans to consult on the creation of a new, independent body that would hold Government to account for upholding environmental standards in England after the UK leaves the EU have been set out by Environment Secretary Michael Gove. He says Brexit gives the UK the opportunity to put the environment at the heart of policy making, while ensuring vital protections for our landscapes, wildlife and natural assets are not only maintained but enhanced. To help deliver a “Green Brexit”, ministers will consult on a new independent, statutory body to advise and challenge government and potentially other public bodies on environmental legislation – stepping in when needed to hold these bodies to account and enforce standards. A consultation on the specific powers and scope of the new body will be launched early in 2018. Gove said: “We will deliver a Green Brexit, where environmental standards are not only maintained but enhanced. … we are setting out our plans to ensure the powerful are held to account.” Currently environmental decisions made in the UK – from improving air and water quality to protecting endangered species – are overseen by the European Commission, which monitors targets, scrutinises new legislation and takes action against illegal behaviour. The UK must ensure that key environmental principles such as the polluter pays underpin policy making.
New environmental protections to deliver a Green Brexit
From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP
Environment Secretary Michael Gove announces plans to consult on a new, independent body for environmental standards
Plans to consult on a new, independent body that would hold Government to account for upholding environmental standards in England after we leave the European Union have been set out by Environment Secretary Michael Gove today.
Leaving the EU gives us the opportunity to put the environment at the heart of policy making, while ensuring vital protections for our landscapes, wildlife and natural assets are not only maintained but enhanced.
To help deliver a Green Brexit, ministers will consult on a new independent, statutory body to advise and challenge government and potentially other public bodies on environmental legislation – stepping in when needed to hold these bodies to account and enforce standards.
A consultation on the specific powers and scope of the new body will be launched early next year.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said today:
We will deliver a Green Brexit, where environmental standards are not only maintained but enhanced.
Today we are setting out our plans to ensure the powerful are held to account. We will consult on creating an independent body – encouraging transparency and preventing careless or irresponsible behaviour damaging our natural environment.
We will consult as widely as possible on these proposals to ensure we get this important decision right for future generations.
Currently environmental decisions made in the UK – from improving air and water quality to protecting endangered species – are overseen by the European Commission, which monitors targets, scrutinises new legislation and takes action against illegal behaviour.
This current system is underpinned by a number of ‘environmental principles’, such as sustainable development and the polluter pays principle, which puts the onus on polluting individuals or businesses to pay to repair damage.
Although these principles are already central to government environmental policy, they are not set out in one place besides the EU treaties. The proposed consultation on the statutory body will therefore also explore the scope and content of a new policy statement to ensure environmental principles underpin policy making.
One of the key questions, which we will explore with the devolved administrations (DAs), is whether Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland wish to take a different or similar approach. We want to hear from as many people and organisations as possible right across the UK – from business, NGOs, the farming sector, civil society, and elsewhere.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-environmental-protections-to-deliver-a-green-brexit
Posted: Monday, November 13th, 2017. Filed in Air Quality, General News, Noise News, Recent News.
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Boeing lands new contract for Kuwait Super Hornet fighter jets production
Posted On Thursday, 28 June 2018 12:11
Boeing yesterday landed a further US$1.5 billion contract that provides for the production and delivery of 22 F/A-18E and six F/A-18F Super Hornets in support of the government of Kuwait.
A rendering of the Boeing Block III F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, equipped with new radar and updated cockpit and communication systems
(Credit: Boeing Defense)
Work will be mainly performed in El Segundo, California and Hazelwood, Missouri and is expected to be completed in January 2021. "The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity," the US DoD added.
Boeing and Kuwait finalized the long-awaited deal for 28 Super Hornets on March 2018 with a first contract worth US$1.2 billion. The US State Department in November 2016 approved a Foreign Military Sale for up to 40 aircraft in a sale then estimated to up to US$ 10.1 billion. The FMS included Lockheed Martin AAQ-33 Sniper and Raytheon ASQ-228 ATFLIR targeting pods, as well as the Raytheon APG-79 AESA radar.
The combat-proven F/A-18E/F Super Hornet delivers cutting-edge next generation multi-role strike fighter capability that is available today, outdistancing current and emerging threats well into the future.
The Super Hornet has the capability, flexibility and performance necessary to modernize the air or naval aviation forces of any country. Built by the industry team of Boeing, Northrop Grumman, GE Aircraft Engines, Raytheon and more than 1,900 suppliers nationwide, the Super Hornet provides the warfighter with today’s newest advances in multimission capability and growth for decades to come in missions, roles and technology.
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TURKEYS ON THE SUNLOUNGER: the America I didn't expect.....
A Londoner's musings from rural Western New York - and sometimes elsewhere
About Commenting
Foggy Morning Views
The mist rises over the lake at the top of our lane..
And the valley at the bottom...
Like thick cotton wool...
Or candy floss (cotton candy, the Americans call it, to make sure you don't use it to clean your teeth).
And as the sun starts to shine through...
Walking up the line is a little like entering a tunnel to Heaven.
Posted by Alenka at 9:36 PM No comments:
Quality Gardening Time
Do I hear a hollow laugh? Yes, it's coming from me. Before we went away, this used to be a flowerbed.
Oh Lor'. I wish I knew what those Western New York weeds are on. As winter recedes, usually around mid-May, there's suddenly a phenomenal growth-spurt and if you don't get on top of it right away, or happen not to be around, before you know what's happened, you're fighting your way through a choking jungle, with grass a mile high everywhere but in the lawn.
I read somewhere that you can now rent a small herd of goats for a few days. They come complete with a portable fence and all you need to do is give 'em water. I suggested this to hubby but this time the hollow laugh came from him.
The pilfered periwinkle is flourishing though and spreading nicely from the shoots I surreptitiously grab from the roadside as I'm walking up the hill.
And the creeping phlox is holding its own, though the rest of the rock garden is a train-wreck, as the Americans say. I think I'll just dump some more rocks on top of the worst offenders and let nature take its course.
The Pitfalls of a Transatlantic Marriage
Memorial Day is when you put up your flag, on which more at a later date. Suffice to say that every self-respecting Western New York house has some kind of flagpole. Now normally we fly the Union Jack as well - to my chagrin custom dictates this has to go underneath the Stars and Stripes. But yesterday hubby put up only the American flag, his favourite one, which is the original Stars and Stripes with only 13 stars for the first 13 colonies. Being a Son of the American Revolution, with an ancestor who fought in it, he is rather attached to it. "Where", I asked, "is MY flag?" Hubby looked a trifle smug. "Memorial Day", he said, "honours soldiers who fought in all America's wars, including the Revolutionary War. The Union Jack would not be appropriate in this case." I am evaluating my choice of response.
Posted by Alenka at 9:44 AM No comments:
Memorial Day Western New York Style
Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, is for honouring those in the armed forces who died for their country, a day for taking flowers and miniature American flags to decorate cemetery graves, a day which marks the start of summer, after which, in the past, well-bred American ladies could venture out in white shoes.
Last year, I pointed out to hubby that I’d never been to a Memorial Day parade. He had always insisted that, when he was a boy – admittedly in a much larger city than Olean, the Memorial Day parade was unmissable. He made it sound like Trooping the Colour with tanks and big guns thrown in and thousands of people standing six-deep, jostling for a view.
So, appetite whetted, I said I’d go with him to the Olean parade on Union Street. There was also, we were confidently informed, going to be a fly-past. The weather was violently hot and humid. Not like this year at all. I dug out some white sandals and off we went.
Well, first of all, the people on the pavement weren’t exactly six deep. More like one deep, with gaps. Definitely no jostling. And although the parade started promisingly, with some local colour in the shape of a bunch of hairy bikers on their Harley Davidsons, Stars and Stripes flying out behind, things rather petered out after that. The High School band did its best with what could have been “Yankee Doodle”, followed by the boy scouts, not quite in step and assorted little kids tottering on tinsel-decorated bicycles. A dog trotted along, sporting a red T-shirt, a toddler in a miniature police car wove in and out, getting in the way, there were a couple of fire engines and a vintage tractor and that seemed to be it.
“This used to last forty-five minutes in the old days!” sniffed a disgruntled older lady, “The town’s too cheap to pay for it. Blame the unions, I say”.
There was still the fly-past to come and we craned our necks and squinted skywards, listening for the roar. Sure enough, along came a lone military transport plane that waggled its wings and was off again into the distance. The Red Arrows it wasn’t.
But then I got to thinking. At least some people had showed up in the heat and a fair proportion brought their children.
And after a wreath had been poignantly thrown into the river, quite a few of them made their way to the old cemetery on the hilltop. Soldiers’ graves there date from the Civil War. There’s even one for a solitary Confederate, who somehow ended up in this far northern town. The High School band wheezed its way through “America the Beautiful” and got a sporting round of applause. An “Honor Guard”, silhouetted on the hill, fired off a gun salute and as they raised the flag back up from half-mast, a bugler played Taps, the American equivalent of the Last Post.
The lady Mayor made a speech, the Deacon from St Mary’s church said a prayer and then a General in the Air Force Reserve spoke tenderly, if a little optimistically about Olean, about its “Sense of gratitude” , its “virtues, wholesomeness and neighbourhood values” . How it was a “microcosm of America”. How the ideals which made it great, “propel our great nation and indeed the free world”.
Suddenly, a flag accidentally toppled over. Letting the Stars and Stripes fall on the ground is one of the worst things you can do in America. Several people took off like sprinters through the heat to rescue it.
It wasn’t quite like the old days but at least some people do still care.
Good for them, I say.
Did I Really Say That?
That we'd be coming back to warmer weather? What a joke! It is freezing here. There's a north wind blowing and in the supermarket car park (aka parking lot) it was literally sleeting. I had resolved to come back to some quality gardening time, if that isn't a contradiction in terms but I am finding all sorts of excuses not to venture outdoors.
One is that we were of course delayed, as is par for the course, particularly when flying through Chicago and ended up going to bed around 2am British time. I am talking about the day before yesterday. Yesterday would have been a vastly different story, with Heathrow being shut due to the plane-on-fire saga. We would probably still be in Chicago now. So we have to count or blessings.
Still, we did have our minor frustrations. We arrived in Chicago over an hour late and as we left the plane, got instructions on a card that would allegedly help us get to our Buffalo flight in time. Proceed to Terminal One, it said and give this card to a person wearing an orange jacket, it said, who will then wave a magic wand to speed you through security.
En route, we had a small problem in that the Global Entry machine, that useful fast track through Immigration, which works brilliantly when it works, rejected both of us, hubby (he thinks) for accidentally bringing in a small tangerine last time around and me (I think) because I didn't look at the camera properly when negotiating the machine and the resultant snap made me look shifty. American bureaucracy being extremely egalitarian we were both given the full smuggler treatment, our suitcases searched to the bare bones by three pairs of latex gloves. Sadly for them, they found little of interest; hubby was worried about the Waitrose Rich Tea biscuits but they weren't.
That wasted just enough more time to get us panicking. You have to claim and recheck your suitcases and the lady there told us we weren't in fact to go to Terminal One but to Terminal Two. We just had to trust her, so rushed for the train. At Two, the queue for Security stretched into oblivion. There was, of course, no one in an orange jacket. Hubby brandished the card to a blue-shirted security man, who looked puzzled and said he didn't know what hubby was talking about and sent us to queue with everyone else. The trick here is not to get angry, as these people wield extraordinary power. The queue edged forward at a snail's pace. The agent on duty was an affable fellow, who wanted to have a conversation with every traveller, which normally would make a nice change but in this case was the last straw. I couldn't stop myself yelling, "Please, we've got a really tight connection!" But he just said, "Too bad, you should have got to the airport two hours before your flight, as you were told." Hubby put his hand over my mouth.
We did get to our gate with time to spare and wouldn't you know, the Buffalo flight was delayed by 30 minutes, par for the course again. Buffalo is way down in the pecking order. I amused myself charting the course of the plane we were due to take, which you can do if you go on the United Airlines website and is a salutary lesson in how American domestic flights operate. Our little Embraer Regional Jet had, apparently, had a busy morning. It had started out early from Chicago, then gone to Newark, New Jersey, then to Raleigh, North Carolina, then to Moline, Illinois. Somewhere along the way it picked up an hour-and-a-half delay, respectively explained by "aircraft servicing" and that catchall, "Air Traffic Control". I even found a map with our plane pictured, like a tiny spider, inching its way laboriously to Chicago. There was no way it would be taking off in half-an-hour, as they were telling us. And I was right of course.
So by the time we got home we were very tired.
Posted by Alenka at 11:36 AM No comments:
Goodbye to England
Off back to Western New York tomorrow, so we won't be seeing much of this for a while....
Nor indeed this, which just happened to be parked by the village green opposite the Dog and Pheasant at Brook, near Haslemere. I thought I was seeing things. For the benefit of my American friends, this is what country buses used to look like. Except I fear Americans may not know what country buses are. There aren't many in WNY. To be fair, there aren't that many left in Britain either.
We'll miss the pub lunches, the bluebells, the view from Waterloo Bridge, the smell of the Tube and our friends but we won't miss the weather. Things have come to a pretty pass when you have to go back to Buffalo to get some sunshine.
Desperately sad for those poor people. We are exceedingly lucky not to live in "tornado alley" - these ugly brainless natural phenomena don't mind where they strike - in open country, knocking down a barn or two (usual) or in a city killing schoolkids. But they don't much like hilly country. though occasionally we've seen unexplained swathes of downed trees in the forest. A small tornado perhaps or a violent gust of wind but whatever it was, it gives a tiny idea of what these monsters can do. A relative was living in Texas when a tornado lifted off the roof of his local supermarket. And his neighbour's washing machine landed half a mile away. Small fry compared to Oklahoma ... but still.
Odd to hear about all this while we're in London and watching the British weather forecast, "Don't worry - it won't happen here". And a Londoner remarked yesterday, "In Britain we complain about the weather but the weather isn't usually lethal". America is different. It may be a superpower but it's powerless against the forces of nature, which is a humbling thought.
Dambusters and Politically Incorrect Dogs
A flashback to thursday, when the last remaining airworthy Lancaster bomber, along with a Spitfire, flew down the Hope Valley in Derbyshire in a 70th anniversary tribute to the Dambusters, who used to practise over nearby Derwent Reservoir before their daring 1943 raid on the Ruhr dams.
The weather had been terrible for a few days but amazingly that morning the sun came out. We were at Chatsworth, the stately home of the Dukes of Devonshire (note to my American friends - the Devonshires live in Derbyshire and you might be interested to know that the previous Duke's brother married JFK's sister) and heard the planes would be flying over. What a bit of luck.
I got pretty excited about the warbirds in Venice, Florida but I got much more excited about this. The Lancaster's roar is like no other sound on earth and as it thunderered overhead, banked and returned twice more, I wasn't the only person in tears. I have a tenuous link to the Dambusters, in that I wrote a book of interviews with Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, who succeeded Guy Gibson at 617 Squadron. They went on to do even more intrepid things but nothing captured the imagination like the dams raid, with its bouncing bombs. If you haven't seen the old film with Richard Todd, you haven't lived. These days, when the film's shown on TV, I've heard that Gibson's dog's name, "Nigger" is bleeped out. There's been talk of dubbing it over with a name like Rover but maybe that's an apocryphal story... It would be difficult, as "Nigger" was also the code word to announce the first dam breach. Nigger himself, a black lab, was sadly run over just before the raid. His master arranged for him to be buried at midnight. As he prepared for the perilous mission, from which so few returned, Gibson mused that he and Nigger might well go into the ground at the same time. This also explains why there's always a dog in films about wartime flyers - well there was one in "Memphis Belle" anyway.
I may have been imagining it but there seemed to be rather a lot of black labs among the crowds of enthusiasts watching the planes at Chatsworth. I didn't dare ask what their names were.
In the Wilds of Derbyshire
The Peak District, where we've been staying, could almost be Western New York
though I say "almost" because there are a few differences. For example, we were woken up by baaaas not moos, or the sound of spring peepers. The family outside our window are having a lie-in....
There are stone walls.....
Ruined barn Peak District Style
Ruined barn Western New York style
And the people call you "luv". And live in cottages like this.
But the weather is currently better in Western New York. Much better. But of course it's going to get colder as soon as we arrive back.
Service Resumes Tomorrow
Derbyshire and Western New York compared......(in which I discuss whether it's better to wake up to sheep baa-ing or cows mooing, blackbirds singing or cardinals squawking, in a clapboard house or a stone cottage and so on and so forth....) And do the Dambusters over Chatsworth have the edge over the Warbirds in Venice?
Watch this space.
Short Blogging Hiatus
Because we are off for a few days to the wilds of the Peak District, where we may or may not get internet access (it's all those stone walls, I'm told). And it's going to snow, which will make hubby feel right at home. "Derbyshire", I'd told him, "will be beautiful in May." Huh.
Things You Definitely Don't Get in Western New York
... Or the whole of the USA. Hubby agrees, "This could never happen in America - there's no concept of a sports team with such a national following*." (Or international, in the case of Man United. ) And can you imagine Americans getting so excited about "soccer"?
Championes Championes!! And I was there! Old Trafford, Manchester, the Theatre of Dreams, now much poshed up from the days when you had to hold your nose against the smell of sulphur wafting over from the factories, all replaced, these days, by futuristic lofts and art galleries. Oh sadly happy day! And guess what - we sang what we wanted to sing - not what was up on some electronic board, which is the unfortunate case at American sports events. ("Woo Hoo!" it goes, "Woo Hoo!" yells the crowd. The whole crowd. Boring. ) The hot dogs might be a little better in America, though. And the fried onions. Or at least they smell better.
I finally got a pic of the great man himself which didn't have a red flag or my finger across it....
And here's RVP taking a corner...
And in America I wouldn't take a train back home to London, past cottages and canals and old stone bridges, a train full of people in red, nostalgically reminiscing and debating with the sagacity of football fans the world over what next season might bring.
Americans just don't know what they're missing....
*with the possible exception of the Green Bay Packers, from Wisconsin, whose legendary 1960s coach, Vince Lombardi, was perhaps a teeny bit like Fergie or maybe Sir Matt Busby.
Things You Don't Get in Western New York
dateline: London SW19...
Bluebell woods....Nothing like them anywhere in the world, although we do have a nice carpet of yellow trout lilies behind our WNY house. Hope there'll still be some left when we get back.
One interesting thing though. For the first time I can remember our springs are level. Tulips in WNY; tulips in London. The Brits must have had a hard winter - they should be way ahead of Cattaraugus County by now.
...and things you do get
Some of our neighbours appear to have migrated to Wimbledon Common. Well it's making hubby feel at home.
I do think that British blossom has the edge.
Alas and Alex
Things just won't be the same without him...
When I first came to live in America, I wondered how I would cope in a country that called the World Cup the "Men's World Soccer Championships". Actually, there have been advantages. Subscribing to the right soccer (sic) channels has made it possible to watch almost all United's games live, which is more than they can do in Britain. That's because soccer (sic) is of course a minority sport in America, played mostly by women and children. (The half-time commercials are all for Western Union money transfers and cheap international phonecalls). The US does have a feisty national team but I'm rather sorry for them. No one much cares. In fact the whole concept of international team sport is rather alien to Americans, who play their ice hockey, baseball and football (sic) mostly among themselves and the Canadians.A shame they are the only country in the world that just cannot grasp the beautiful game. Remember when, in a despairing effort to popularise it, the World Cup came to America and we joked that they'd want to widen the goalmouths to make for more goals and cut the halves into quarters to make for more commercials. That's not such so crazy - they'd have done it if they could. Last season, I took hubby to Old Trafford. He enjoyed the match, though he was a little bemused at times. Only two goals and he missed one of them because someone stood up in front of him.
At least, as I hear today's momentous news, I am among people who understand, even if we're in SW19 and most of them support Chelsea.
That Darn Paperwork....
6am at Buffalo Airport and a beautiful sunrise. Not exactly a puddle-jumper but a small prop plane to get us to Washington in time for our connection for London.
I then make the big mistake of saying to myself, "Wow, could it be that we are going to have a trouble free journey?"
At this point, as we are sitting in the London plane on the tarmac, we hear the announcement.that there is a small maintenance issue but it has, ladies and gentlemen, been resolved and the maintenance people have gone away with the paperwork and they have not yet returned. It'll just be a couple of minutes and then we'll be on our way. Ha. I am by now a seasoned-enough traveller and I know that a couple of minutes is invariably a euphemism for something much longer and more complicated. Well, let's not beat about the bush; it's invariably a bare-faced lie. So we sit there and sit there, on the tarmac and in glorious sunshine too. I wonder, idly, where the maintenance man has absconded to with our paperwork. The Bahamas perhaps?Or the Turks and Caicos? Or Newark because United has now merged with Continental, causing some confusion.
A stewardess we haven't seen before sashays, smiling, down the cabin. "I just wanted to see 'hi' " That is ominous. I always remember my aunt telling me about flying home from Canada in 1958 and the plane engine catching fire and the stewardess sashaying down the aisle smiling and saying 'hi' and drawing the curtains, which they had in those days, as she went. (They made it.)
"This plane", says hubby, "has been sitting here since last night. Why do they have to do the maintenance at the last minute?" (This is a mystery I have often pondered over. Like that time on Air Canada when a bit fell off the plane and they only noticed when we were about to taxi off. )
An hour later, another "couple of minutes" announcement. Half an hour after that we start moving backwards very slowly. Then we stop. We stop for a long time. Then we start moving forwards very slowly. "What's the betting we're going back to the gate?" says hubby.
Well we do take off eventually and we don't make up any time and arrive at Heathrow just before it closes for the night. And the only thing stopping me awarding a Flying Turkey Economy Plus to my friends at United Airlines is that the food was, for once, rather good (barbecued chicken and they heated up the cheese-and-turkey sandwich for tea) and they did give me a free miniature of wine.
Almost Heaven Western New York
A hazy moonrise the other morning. And the spring peepers are peeping again in the pond across the road.
Who needs Amsterdam when you've got Cattaraugus County?
And the blossoming trees have travelled up north.
This is a little wonky as it was taken out of the car window on the way home from the village Post Office.
Of course, the downside of the better weather is that they're digging up the roads everywhere and the demon excavator has been going up and down our lane. His job is, apparently, to clear the ditches and the verges but he usually succeeds in massacring umpteen innocent baby trees that looked so sweet springing up along the roadside banks. I once challenged him and he claimed he was told to clear stuff so the deer had nowhere to hide by the side of the road. A pitiful excuse. That's not going to stop the deer crossing where they've always crossed for generations. It'll just make them run a bit faster.
This is all rather poignant as I am writing from an airport hotel in Buffalo. It's probably the last I'll see of those tulips. We are bound for a spring visit to England. This time we're chancing it with changing planes in Washington, a connection that doesn't always work. I hope I don't have to award any Flying Turkeys. Watch this space...
Alenka Lawrence worked for the BBC World Service in London as a talks writer, producer, writer and presenter of radio features and most recently as an editor in BBC News. Her life changed somewhat dramatically when she married an American and came to live in rural Western New York. Follow Alenka on Twitter too! @AlenkaLawrence
Things You Definitely Don't Get in Western New Yor...
Still Struggling Through Lincoln
Struggling Through Lincoln
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Schizochlamys Braun ex Kützing, 1849
Family Schizochlamydaceae
Holotype species: Schizochlamys gelatinosa A.Braun
Original publication and holotype designation: Kützing, F.T. (1849). Species algarum. pp. [i]-vi, [1]-922. Lipsiae [Leipzig]: F.A. Brockhaus.
Taxonomic status: currently recognized as a distinct genus.
Most recent taxonomic treatment adopted: Pentecost, A. (2002). Order Tetrasporales. In: The Freshwater Algal Flora of the British Isles. An identification guide to freshwater and terrestrial algae. (John, D.M., Whitton, B.A. & Brook, A.J. Eds), pp. 299-303. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Numbers of names and species: There are 9 species names in the database at present, as well as 2 infraspecific names. Of the species names, 3 have been flagged as accepted taxonomically on the basis of the listed literature under the species name. In some instances, opinions on taxonomic validity differ from author to author and users are encouraged to form their own opinion. AlgaeBase is a work in progress and should not be regarded as a definitive source only as a guide to the literature..
Names: ('C' indicates a name that is accepted taxonomically; 'S' a homotypic or heterotypic synonym; 'U' indicates a name of uncertain taxonomic status, but which has been subjected to some verification nomenclaturally; 'P' indicates a preliminary AlgaeBase entry that has not been subjected to any kind of verification. For more information on a species click on it to activate a link to the Species database):
Click here to also show infraspecific names in the list below.
Schizochlamys aurantia (C.Agardh) F.E.Drouet & W.A.Daily P
Schizochlamys compacta Prescott C
Schizochlamys delicatula var. filamentosa J.F.Brunel P
Schizochlamys delicatula West S
Schizochlamys gelatinosa A.Braun C - type
Schizochlamys gelatinosa var. minor C.Bernard P
Schizochlamys haywellensis W.H.Bradley P
Schizochlamys hyalina F.E.Fritsch P
Schizochlamys planctonica Skuja S
Schizochlamys solitaria G.M.Smith S
Schizochlamys tetradiformis H.U.Ling C
O'Kelly, C.J., Watanabe, S. & Floyd, G.L. (1994). Ultrastructure and phylogenetic relationships of Chaetopeltidales ord. nov. (Chlorophyta, Chlorophyceae). Journal of Phycology 30: 118-128.
Fuciková, K., Lewis, P.O. & Lewis, L.A. (2014). Putting incertae sedis taxa in their place: a proposal for ten new families and three new genera in Sphaeropleales (Chlorophyceae, Chlorophyta). Journal of Phycology 50(1): 14-25.
Verified by: 10 May 2015 by Salvador Valenzuela Miranda
Linking to this page: http://www.algaebase.org/search/genus/detail/?genus_id=43485
Please cite this record as:
Salvador Valenzuela Miranda in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 2019. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched on 18 July 2019.
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Kid Rock quotes
His double-platinum album Devil Without a Cause (1999)
“I do not believe that artists or actors and people should be out there like
voicing their full-blown opinions on politics because, let’s face it, at the end
of the day, I’m not that smart of a guy. I play Rock ‘n’ Roll, that's what I do.
Who would you trust to make your decisions, Donald Rumsfeld or the Dixie
Chicks?” Kid Rock
American rapper, singer, rock musician and actor Kid Rock, born Robert James
Ritchie, received widespread popularity with his diamond certified album Devil
without a Cause (1998), which spawned the mainstream hit “Bawitdaba.” He has
since established a fruitful career with multi-platinum albums like The History
of Rock (2000) and Cocky (2001) and the double-platinum Kid Rock (2003). Rock
recently made his return to the music industry with the live album Live Trucker.
Rock branched out to acting in 2001 with the comedy Joe Dirt, opposite David
Spade, and in 2003, he added Reggie Rock Bythewood’s Biker Boyz to his acting
resume. Additionally, he did voice-over work for ”The Simpsons” (2000), Osmosis
Jones (2001) and “King of the Hill” (2002).
Off screen, Rock is known for his frank political views and is a loyal supporter
of U.S. President George W. Bush. On a negative note, he is recognized for
creating controversy. The California pornography company Red Light District was
stated to have a 1999 sex video where the rap-rocker and ex-Creed frontman Scott
Stapp were involved in sex acts with four groupies. The tape is set to be
released this year. Rock’s attorneys have reached a faltering agreement to
extend a judge’s order blocking the release of the sex video.
As for his private life, the owner of an $800,000, three-story home in
Nashville, Tennessee, Rock became headlines for having a traitorous affair with
former Playboy pin-up of TV’s “Baywatch” and “VIP” Pamela Anderson while she was
still married to musician Tommy Lee. The two met at the VH1 Diva’s Live concert
in 2001 and later became engaged before finally splitting up in 2003. The 6’ 1”
tall singer has also been involved with model/actress James King (separated in
late 2000), Kelley Russell and Detroit autoworker Kelly South, with whom he
shares a son.
Childhood and Family:
In Romeo, Michigan, Robert James Ritchie, who would later be famous as Kid Rock,
was born on January 17, 1971. The attractively seedy, hard-rocking star derived
his name from his early years when he rapped in parking lots and night clubs and
the audiences said, ”Watch that white kid rock!”
Kid Rock, who carried the nicknames Bob or Bobby, is the son of Susan Ritchie
and the brother of actress Jill Ritchie. He is also the close friend of NHL
superstars Chris Chelios and Sergei Fedorov. Kid and ex-lover Kelly South have a
son named Robert James Ritchie Jr. (born on June 14, 1993).
Live Trucker
Kid Rock entered the hip-hop scene when he was 15 and soon became a favorite in
the Mt. Clemens housing project due to his distinctive style of rapping. A
native of Romeo, Michigan , Rock later relocated to New York City and by the
time he was 18, he had signed a tour contract with musicians like Ice Cube and
Too $hort. The same year, he also launched a debut album called Grits Sandwiches
for Breakfast, co-produced by Too $hort, D Nice and others under the Jive label.
Despite the commercial failure, the album clearly established Rock’s eccentric
attitude. One of the album’s tracks, “Yodelin’ in the Valley,” was banned from
radio and even referred to by a college president as “the most indecent thing
ever heard.” When a university DJ played the song, he was fined $25,000 by the
FCC.
Four years after the release of his initial album, Rock’s sophomore effort, The
Polyfuze Method, hit the music stores in 1993. The album spawned a single, “Back
from the Dead,” which peaked at No. 20 on the Central Michigan University Hot
Rap Tracks. It was followed by his EP called Fire It Up in 1994 and his next
albums, Early Mornin Stoned Pimp in 1996 and The Polyfuze Method Revisited in
However, Rock didn’t acquire mainstream success until he joined Atlantic Records
in 1998 and released the much-liked album, a fusion of metal and hip-hop, Devil
without a Cause. It was a great victory for the rapper since the album received
11-times platinum certifications in the U.S. One of its tracks, the hit “Bawitdaba,”
rocketed to No. 1 on the Modern Rock chart and became a Top Ten hit in
Mainstream Rock. Additionally, it also produced such hits as “Wasting Time” (Arc
Top 40: #34, Mainstream Rock: #35), “Only God Knows Why” (Billboard Hot 100:
#19, Top 40: #5, Top 40 Tracks: #6, Arc Top 40:#6, Mainstream Rock: #13, Modern
Rock: #5), “Cowboy” (Billboard Hot 100: #82, Top 40: #34, Arc Top 40: #14,
Mainstream Rock: #5, Modern Rock: #10) and "I Am The Bullgod" (Mainstream Rock:
#31). The massive victory of Devil without a Cause subsequently made Rock a
favorite among music fans.
This highly successful album, combined with Rock’s frank and compelling persona,
was enough for Hollywood to come calling. The singer was soon hired to voice the
animated version of himself in ”The Simpsons” (2000) and later “King of the
Hill” (2002). He also appeared as a musical guest in an episode of the popular
“Saturday Night Live” (2000).
As for music, Rock collected tracks from his previous albums and recorded the
only new song, “American Bad Ass,” for his compilation album, The History of
Rock (2000). Although it didn’t earn the same success as Devil without a Cause,
the album sold 3 million copies in the U.S. He fared better with his 2001 album,
the multi-platinum selling Cocky, in which Rock blended county music into many
of his tracks. Containing the Gold Single “Picture” (a duet with country star
Sheryl Crow), and other popular songs like “Lonely Road Of Faith,” “Forever” and
“You Never Met A Motherf-cker Quite Like Me,” the album became Rock’s second
best selling album with 5 millions units sold in the U.S.
After the release of Cocky, Rock released a cover of ZZ Top’s “Legs” solely for
the album on WWE’s SmackDown Records, Forceable Entry. He didn’t make a comeback
into the music scene until 2003 when he launched a self-titled album, Kid Rock,
which explored country music more. Its first track was a cover of Bad Company’s
“Feel Like Makin’ Love.”
Meanwhile, Kid Rock also tried his hand in acting by taking a supporting part in
the David Spade comedy vehicle Joe Dirt (2001), where he was seen as Robby. He
also provided the voice of Kidney Rock in the less-adored, animated biological
feature Osmosis Jones (2001) before being seen in the Reggie Rock Bythewood-helmed
Biker Boyz (2003), an action film which starred Laurence Fishburne, Derek Luke
and Orlando Jones.
On February 28, 2006, Rock returned to the hip-hop scene with his first live
album, Live Trucker, which sold 113,000 copies on its first month of release.
The album consists of many different shows, including some done overseas. Its
cover pays compliments to fellow Michigan rocker Bob Seger by duplicating the
cover of Seger’s 1976 album Live Bullet.
I like to make music, I like rap music. Even if I'm white, I support that music. If I want to support it or any other white kid wants to support it more power to them.More Kid Rock quotes [10/09/2007 12:10:00]
I love to be pushed so I can prove myself, because once again, I will.More Kid Rock quotes [03/29/2018 05:03:36]
Being a father helps me be more responsible... you see more things than you've ever seen.More Kid Rock quotes [10/09/2007 12:10:00]
I got into rock and roll to piss my parents off and the establishment around me.More Kid Rock quotes [03/29/2018 05:03:36]
I see the people in Detroit are very - they're like a lot of cities, but they're very proud to be from there and they really want to see change and they really want to see good things happen.More Kid Rock quotes [03/29/2018 05:03:36]
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Oct 14, 2014 1 comment
I used to look at a map of France and see a bunch of names of places I'd either heard of or, more often, not. Now, over 300 days into my Year in Fromage, what I see when I look at a map is a whole lot of cheese names. For example, here in Burgundy, you see the name of the charming hilltop village Dôme de Vézelay; I see a big ball of toad-skin cheese.
You see the medieval town of Chablis (or maybe you see a bottle of wine); I see a stinky cheese:
There are many place names outside of Burgundy, too, that lend their name to their local cheese, like Provins:
But of all the French cheese, it may just be Epoisses that has the strongest place-cheese association. For me, it's as if somebody named a town "Pizza" or "Meatloaf", although I fully realize that the name of the town came first.
We are staying for a week of vacation in a friend's house in Burgundy just a few towns away, so of course I insist to the girls that we visit Epoisses -- the town, not the cheese -- with Epoisses -- the cheese, not the town. The 15th century castle, or what's left of it anyway, is in such great shape that it is still privately inhabited. But like so many private castles, it's also open for tours. It takes a lot of money to keep a castle going in the 21st century, now that there's a real paucity of serfs.
There used to be more to the castle, but a couple sides were destroyed in the Revolution. It was more of a symbolic gesture, really, since the townspeople actually liked their local nobility enough to send in a written petition to have them spared the guillotine.
It's a très charmant castle, and even the Queen of England herself has visited. No photos allowed inside the castle, and since it's a private home, with a reasonable entrance fee, and an engaging guide, for once I actually respect that rule.
But I am allowed photos in the non-residential buildings, including a beautiful dovecote and private chapel.
THE CHEESE: Epoisses
Epoisses is a classic cheese, one of the famous ones. It's an orange cheese made in the town of Epoisses. I can be from raw or pasteurized cows' milk. The original, the "real" thing, is made from raw milk. And while that still exists, it's very difficult to find. When you do, it's not for the faint of heart.
What you'll normally see -- pretty much everywhere in the country and even the world, at this point -- is Epoisses made by Berthault, which is headquartered in the center of Epoisses.
They have to use pasteurized milk since it's a large enterprise, exporting worldwide. But still, the pasteurization feels surprising given both what a classic cheese it is and also how pungent it remains.
Epoisses has a distinguished history. A community of monks settled in Epoisses in the early 1500s, and it's believed that by the time they moved out of the village around 200 years later, they had both created and passed on the recipe for Epoisses. Later, it graced the tables of the Count of Guitaut, a nobleman in Louis XIV's entourage. Napoleon Bonaparte was also said to enjoy Epoisses. By 1900, there were around 300 farms making Epoisses cheese in the area. It began to decline during the period of the two world wars, when there simply were not enough workers left here to bother with a time-consuming cheese-making process, and even after the war, many people had lost the inclination. In 1956, a couple of farmers decided to revive their local cheese, and by 1991, it even received an AOC.
Its prime season is June through August, when it's made from the first batch of milk after the regional cows -- three breeds: Brune from Châtillonnais, French Simmental in Langres and near Auxois, and Montbéliarde near Auxois and Dijon -- start grazing in the pasture. The other prime season, conversely, is in November, December, when the milk from the cows is fragranced by autumn vegetation While it doesn't have to be made in Epoisses itself, the permitted region is centered around this small, medieval town.
When ripe and at its peak, Epoisses is so runny that it needs to be served with a spoon. This particular nubbin of Epoisses may have been made in its prime, but its clearly past its prime in terms of consumption, since instead of being runny, it's dried out and hardened.
But even hardened, old Epoisses can be made oozy and perfect. In a local Burgundy restaurant, we have Gougère stuffed with melted Epoisses: rich, but heavenly.
Washed in a Marc de Bourgogne (alcohol made from the grape skins and remains from the winemaking process), the cheese is a stinky, powerfly, orange rind cheese. And while I'm not always the biggest fan of the orange cheeses, Epoisses (and its cousins Affidelice, Langres, and Chambertin) is something special: sweet, creamy, tangy, stinky, and complex.
Once, when I was around 10 years old, I cut a stalk of celery from our backyard garden and brought it inside to spread cream cheese and raisins and have "ants on a log". I remember thinking, "Boy, it doesn't get any fresher than that!" Then suddenly, I realized it does get fresher. So I brought some cream cheese and raisins out to the garden, spread them on the celery, and ate the stalk while it was still planted. "Now that's the freshest it can get!"
That's pretty much how I feel about eating Epoisses while in Epoisses. I decide it's not enough to eat the Epoisses near the town, or even just in the town, I must be at the epicenter -- by the old castle of Epoisses. If you're wondering why it's a solid block of cheese, it's a particularly old nubbin of Epoisses, and the rest was eaten earlier when it was its more typical runny/soft texture.
Posted in: architecture , arts & literature , castles/palaces , cow , famous people , food , history , relationships , travels in France , wine & champagne & liquor
Francois de Melogue July 31, 2017 at 1:50 PM
Best line... That's pretty much how I feel about eating Epoisses while in Epoisses. I decide it's not enough to eat the Epoisses near the town, or even just in the town, I must be at the epicenter -- by the old castle of Epoisses. I am going to be there in two weeks...
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Benenden MUN
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Political Briefing
The Question of the Jammu and Kashmir state in 1948
Chair: Aiko Eliot
Delegates will be transported back to the little-known origins of the Kashmir and Jammu conflict in the wake of the Partition of India and Pakistan. Delegates will take the positions of the countries in their 1948 context and will not be allowed to use evidence after 1948 within the debate.
It is very important to remember that this briefing paper only provides a background to the complicated issue that surrounds the conflict; it is encouraged to research further and look at the links provided at the end. Further knowledge will open up debate and will also increase chances of a successful and convincing resolution.
Introduction/Background information
The Partition of British India resulted as a side effect of World War II, when both Great Britain and British India were handling the economic difficulties and the process of demobilisation as a result of the war. Those who hoped for a Muslim state to come from British India, wished for a clear partition between “Pakistan” (Muslim) and “Hindustan”(Hindu) once independence came. The partition should have resulted in peaceful relations, however, the Hindu and Muslim populations were distributed unevenly across the country, and thus the partition of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947 was not possible along religious lines. As a result, almost one third of the Muslim population in British India stayed in India, leading to the influx of inter-communal violence between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims causing 0.5-1 million casualties.
Princely-ruled territories, such as Kashmir, were also involved in the Partition. Rulers of these states had the option of joining India, Pakistan or remaining independent (though this was emphasised to only be a “theoretical possibility”). Both India and Pakistan laid claim on Kashmir and thus it became the main point of conflict.
The Indo-Pakistani War, otherwise known as the First Kashmir War, started in October 1947 when Pakistan feared the ruler of Kashmir and Jammu would accede to India. The state was the largest of the princely-rules states and caused in 1948 the ruler of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, to agree to India’s ownership on the condition that the state held the right to self-govern in all matters except defence, currency and foreign affairs – the reason for this being that Pakistani tribal forces, with the support of the Pakistani army attacked and occupied parts of Jammu and Kashmir, forcing the Maharajah to sign the Agreement to the accession of the states to the Dominion of India in order to get military aid from India.
Once the Instrument of Accession was signed, Indian soldiers entered Kashmir to evict the raiders. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 lasted till the end of 1948. Earlier, India took the matter to the United Nations Security Council. The Security Council passed a resolution (Resolution 47 on the 22 April 1948) asking Pakistan to withdraw its forces as well as the Pakistani nationals from the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and India to withdraw the majority of its forces leaving only a few to maintain law and order, following which a Plebiscite would be held. The fronts solidified gradually along what came to be known as the Line of Control.
A formal cease-fire was declared at 23:59 on the night of 1 January 1949. India gained control of about two-third of the state including (Kashmir valley, Jammu and Ladakh) whereas Pakistan gained roughly a third of Kashmir (Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan).
Jammu and Kashmir – the states in which both Pakistan and India laid claim to in the wake of the 1947 partition. Had a 77% Muslim majority in 1941. Many people in Pakistan expected that Kashmir would join Pakistan. However, the predominant political movement in the Valley of Kashmir (Jammu and Kashmir National Conference) (that was not connected to religious beliefs) allied with the Indian National Congress.
Jammu – one of the three divisions of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the southern part of the state. Hindu dominated population. Named the “City of Temples” with the Vaishno Devi temple, a very famous Hindu shrine being situated in the city of Katra. Relatively peaceful Hindu city.
Kashmir – one of the three divisions of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the valley part of the state. Muslim dominated population. Famous for its scenic beauty and mountainous regions. Politically turbulent because of terrorism.
Plebiscite – the direct vote of all the members of an electorate on an important public question.
Accession – the attainment or acquisition of a position of rank or power.
Major blocs/countries involved
The eastern region of the state of Jammu and Kashmir has also acquired a boundary dispute. In the late 19th- and early 20th centuries, although some boundary agreements were signed between Great Britain, Tibet, Afghanistan and Russia over the northern border of Kashmir, China never accepted these agreements, and the official Chinese position did not change.
China has at times played a minor role.
The primary argument for the continuing debate over the ownership of Kashmir is that India did not hold the promised plebiscite.
Neither side has adhered to the U.N. resolution of 13 August 1948. While India chose not to hold the plebiscite, Pakistan failed to withdraw its troops from Kashmir as was required under the resolution.
However, delegates are encouraged to interpret the matter in any way the see suitable.
JStore and Britannica are useful sites (if accessible) to access small fractions of useful insight and knowledge that many other delegates would otherwise not pick up on.
Wikipedia is useful to gain background knowledge, however as per most academic topics, it is only sufficient for gaining a limited summary, and therefore it would be encouraged to click on the reference links (the numbered ones, e.g. [3]) in order to access the original articles in which the Wikipedia article was formed upon.
The Pakistan Movement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Movement
India Independence Movement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_independence_movement
Kashmir Conflict: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_conflict
Useful Images:
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Christian fears grow worse as Taliban prepare new attacks
The killing of 16 civilians by a US soldier increases tensions in the country. Anti-Western feelings are running high. US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta visits Afghanistan to mend ties with the Karzai government.
Kabul (AsiaNews) - For some of Afghanistan's Christians, tensions are running high in the country after a US solider killed 16 civilians in Kandahar. Coming just a few weeks after copies of the Qur'an were burnt on 20 February at the Bagram military, the killing provoked violent protests across the country that left 40 more people dead. Sources tell AsiaNews, that Afghans are exasperated by events like the one in Kandahar, this after 10 years of war pitting international military forces against the Taliban.
"Resentment against the West and Christians is growing stronger, even though no direct threats have been made against individuals," sources say. "In the capital and provincial cities, foreigners leave their embassies or diplomatic compounds less and less."
International media have shown afghans protesting by burning crosses and Christian symbols. For most Afghans, the West and Christianity are the same, the sources note. "Sadly, the crazy act of a madman will be paid by Christians."
Still, "ordinary Afghans still respect foreigners and are grateful for the work of thousands of volunteers, including Catholics, in the fields of education, health care and business in the past ten years."
"Muslim extremists are behind the current climate of hatred," sources explain. "They have been successful in shaping public opinion in a society where illiteracy and ignorance are widespread."
Blunders by US troops in the past few months have been a boon for the Taliban, who can exploit popular resentment against the occupation to boost their power over the country.
For months now, foreign intelligence groups have been following Taliban moves and are now worried about their calls for revenge against the occupying forces.
The next few months will probably see more attacks against foreign troops in the capital and other Afghan cities, further weakening the foreign military mission in the country.
In a surprise move, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta arrived today on two-day visit to Afghanistan in an attempt to contain the fallout from the killing of 16 civilians and the burning of the Qur'an.
During his stay, he is scheduled to meet with President Amid Karzai and the country's top leaders. (S.C.)
Catholic music to promote dialogue in Ambon, the city of sectarian violence
Increasing civilian casualties in Afghanistan, more than three thousand in 2011
Afghan women victims of violence and abuse like under the Taliban
Not just tolerance but real respect between Jews, Christians and Muslims, says Pope
Appeal for Afghan Christians, sentenced to death for their faith
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MACAU - CHINA
Msgr Domingos Lam, Bishop Emeritus of Macau, dies.
by James Wang
He led the diocese through the period of transition from Portuguese to Chinese rule.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - Bishop Domingos Lam Ka-Tseung, Bishop Emeritus of Macau died yesterday at the age of 81. He led the diocese at the time of Macau’s transition from a Portuguese colony to its return to mainland China in 1999. His successor, Msgr. Jose Lai Hung-seng, told a Catholic weekly of Hong Kong, Mgr. Lam had been in hospital with deteriorating health conditions since May last
Bishop Lai had words of praise for his predecessor, recalling his efforts to develop and strengthen the Catholic Church during Macau’s transition from Portugal to China. He increased the number of prayer centres and parochial halls to strengthen the network of parishes. He also supervised the growth of cultural institutions to increase the influence of the Church on the territory. Bishop Lam was also among the advisers to the Chinese Government for the drafting of the Basic Law, the mini-constitution that would guide the territory after 1999.
The transition of Macao to Chinese rule was not as traumatic as that of Hong Kong in '97. Many economic aspects of the then Portuguese colony were already under the guidance of Beijing and the transition was thus far softer. The issue of religious freedom did not even give rise to difficulties.
The diocese of Macao was the first to be founded by Jesuits in the Far East in 1576. Bishop Lam was the first ethnic Chinese bishop in Macao, succeeding Portuguese Bishop Arguiminio Rodrigues da Costa in 1988. One year earlier Msgr. Lam had been elected coadjutor bishop. Bishop Lam left the leadership of the diocese when he reached 75 years of age, in 2003.
Photos. Bishop Lam receives an award from Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio (1999).
National Commission for Women asks for 'immediate action' in the nun rape case in Kerala
Macau’s new bishop stresses unity with God, as well as the mission in a gambling city and China
New Macau bishop: Faith and Chinese values live together for the well-being of society
Pope: we would be mistaken to think that Fatima’s prophetic mission is complete
Wu Li, painter, poet and Jesuit, in the Church of the Early Qing
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Vet Programs
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Amy E. Feldman, Esq.
Amy E. Feldman, Esq. is a nationally syndicated legal correspondent and the General Counsel of the Judge Group, Inc., a $200 million national placement firm. Formerly an associate at Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP, Amy specializes in employment and consumer-related issues. She has a simple take on the law: what you don’t know could get you sued. She has made her reputation not only by telling people how to avoid getting sued, but what rights they have regarding office shenanigan, verbal abuse, household liabilities, and more.
Amy is the co-author of So Sue Me, Jackass: Avoiding Legal Pitfalls That Can Come Back to Bite You At Work, At Home, And At Play, published by Plume, a division of Penguin Press. In addition, she has extensive media experience as a legal expert on television and radio. She is a nationally-syndicated legal correspondent whose segments are broadcast every weekday in thirty-four markets, in eighteen states. In addition to her appearances on The Today Show, CNN, HLN-The Joy Behar Show, Fox News, Fox Business Channel, and NBC’s The Maury Show, she is a weekly contributor to WTXF Fox Philadelphia’s Programming.
With both a law degree and a Masters in Education from the University of Pennsylvania, Feldman’s strength lies in her ability to explain complex legal issues in a way people can understand. Rather than focusing on high-profile trials or Supreme Court decisions like every other TV lawyer, she is an expert in providing legal advice for things that truly matter in your life.
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Camelot names Jenny Blogg as its new Retail Director
Jenny will take the reins at the end of April 2019
Camelot UK Lotteries Limited (‘Camelot’), operator of the UK National Lottery, today announced that the current Head of Retail Operations, Jenny Blogg, will become its new Retail Director. She will take the reins from outgoing incumbent, Duncan Malyon, at the end of April 2019.
Jenny has over 18 years retail experience – a decade of which has been spent at senior level, and so brings to the position a wealth of knowledge, as well as proven retail and commercial acumen, based on experience across buying, field sales, national account management and category development.
She has held positions at numerous leading UK and global companies, spending five years at Cadbury UK in various managerial roles, before becoming part of the multinational confectionery, food, and beverage company, Mondelez International in May 2012, during which time she was responsible for Field Sales, Sales Transformation and the Biscuits and Snacks Categories for Tesco.
Jenny joined Camelot in September 2017 as New Business Development and Retail Strategy Manager, quickly rising up the ranks to Head of Retail Operations in August 2018.
In her new role, Jenny will report into Neil Brocklehurst, Camelot’s Commercial Director, and will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of Camelot’s retail operations, building on from Duncan’s excellent work.
Of her appointment to Retail Director, Jenny said: “I am both proud and delighted with being made Camelot’s Retail Director. The National Lottery is one of the UK’s leading brands, and generates around £30 million, on average, each week for Good Causes – making a real difference to the lives of people and communities across the UK. This success story simply wouldn’t be possible without the advocacy and enthusiasm of our retail partners.”
Neil Brocklehurst, said: “I am delighted to announce that Jenny Blogg will become our new Retail Director. With such an extensive background in retail, and her already strong understanding of Camelot and the way the business operates, Jenny is the ideal person to build on the excellent work we have been doing in the retail channel, and will ensure we continue to work with our retailers to maximise returns to Good Causes.”
Camelot Press Office: 020 7632 5711
• Camelot UK Lotteries Limited is the licensed operator of The National Lottery® and is committed to raising money for National Lottery Good Causes designated by Parliament. Camelot is not responsible for distributing or awarding these funds.
• On average, Camelot generates around £30 million each week for National Lottery-funded projects. In total, over £39 billion has now been raised and more than 535,000 individual grants have been made across the UK – the equivalent of around 190 lottery grants in every UK postcode district.
• The National Lottery has so far awarded over £69 billion in prizes and created more than 5,100 millionaires or multi-millionaires since its launch in 1994.
• Retail remains the largest National Lottery sales channel – with over 75% of total sales coming through in-store terminals.
• For further information on Camelot, The National Lottery and its games, please visit: www.camelotgroup.co.uk and www.national-lottery.co.uk.
• Players of all National Lottery games must be aged 16 or over.
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Brandon Moss feels great, return to power expected
@Dathan7
by Dathan7 on January 16, 2016
For the first time in forever, I’ve dusted off the ol’ password, logged in, and have a little blogging to do about the Cards’ Winter Warmup. I’m always so excited to participate in this event, in whatever capcaity I’m able. The organization continues to be generous when it comes to access & participation for blogger.
Brandon Moss stepped to the podium to take some questions, and give a little insight. The ink might still be a little wet on his one-year deal from about 24 hours ago, which will keep him in St. Louis for at least another year. When asked about the uncertainty of returning this offseason, Moss said that it all started with being tendered. “When you’re not tendered”, he told the room, ‘there is a variety of possible outcomes’.
There were obviously questions about how his lower half feels, following the hip surgery that had him sidelined, and limited his play recently. Moss injured his hip in January of 2014 during a weightlifting session, doing explosive squats. He said he lost his balance just enough that he went “up on his tippy toes”, started to slip a little sideways, then twisted down to the floor. He said he knew right away that he’d done some damage. After playing through the remainder of the season, with the help of a cortisone shot, he had the hip surgery. Last season, was largely rehabbing and building up strength in his legs. As he explained, his legs grew weak during the time he was recovering from his hip, and he was relegated to activities underwater to help the flexibility of the hip. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help strengthen his legs.
Without a strong base, you’re simply not able to drive the ball with power, and that’s what Moss is: a power hitter. Don’t look for that to approach to change anytime soon, either. “I can’t say I’m going to hit .260, or even .240, but I know I’ve got power.” And when healthy, he’s not short on power at all. Having good at-bats built his confidence last year, though he admitted that didn’t make for much substance he could bring to a post-game interview. He pondered aloud what he’d say to the media after a game, “I know I suck, the at-bats are good!”?
Much of the warning track fly outs last season, Moss attributes to the lack of strength in his legs, and the inability to prepare as he otherwise does for an upcoming season. This offseason, Brandon said he’s been able to do about his normal offseason training activities, and feels 100%.
I asked Moss if he had a preference for where he’d like to play defensively. He said that he doesn’t, saying “I’ve got a decent arm, but I’m no Jason Heyward out there–I don’t have a lot of range. At first (base), I’m no Votto. I mean, I can pick it, but again, I don’t have a lot of range.” He said he just tries his best when he goes out there, no matter where he plays, and just wants to be a contributor to this team.
Brandon was asked to give his impression of the Cards/cubs rivalry. “I’ve never been a part of anything like that. It was fun!” He pointed out that he watched the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry, hearkening back to his days in Boston, “…but I didn’t play in those games, I just watched.” Moss credited the fans bringing extra energy to the already competitive games between St. Louis and the north-siders, they “make the environment what it is.”, he told us.
Expecting his power to return this season, Brandon Moss seems poised and ready to be an integral part of the Cardinals offense this year. He pointed out that “It takes longer to build confidence back up after a bad year”, when asked about the difference between riding high confidence following “good” years, versus letting the “bad” years mess with your mind. “It felt like I only hit 3 HRs last season, even though I hit 4 here (St. Louis), and 19 overall.” Moss hit 15 bombs while with Cleveland last season, and though he “didn’t hit many IN Cleveland, I hit them while I played for Cleveland”, as he pointed emphatically with his index finger, “…and THAT COUNTS!”
Next Post: Rapid-fire interviews: #CardsWarmup Day 1
Previous Post: Cardinals Winter Warm-Up Specials Air Monday and Wednesday
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You are here: Home › Digital cultural mediation at the centre of the new partnership between the Fondation Beyeler and BNP Paribas Swiss Foundation
February 8, 2019 - Fondation
Digital cultural mediation at the centre of the new partnership between the Fondation Beyeler and BNP Paribas Swiss Foundation
In 2018, the Fondation Beyeler and BNP Paribas Swiss Foundation forged a new partnership to co-create multimedia centres during the museum’s major exhibitions. After working towards restoring major works, both partners wanted to service cultural mediation using new technologies.
A long-standing partnership
From 2011 to 2017, the BNP Paribas Swiss Foundation supported the restoration of major works from the Fondation Beyeler’s collection. Through extensive research and documentation, the programme run by the Restoration Department of the Fondation Beyeler has restored six works: Ferdinand Léger’s Le passage à niveau (1912), Max Ernst’s The King Playing with the Queen (1944), Henri Rousseau’s Le lion, ayant faim, se jette sur l’antilope (1898-1905), Pablo Picasso’s Femme (1907), Claude Monet’s Nymphéas (1916-1919), Andy Warhol’s Joseph Beuys (1980).
Digital mediation: new technologies providing unprecedented access to art
The use of digital mediation tools is an innovative way to promote the coming together of institutions, visitors and works presented through new technologies. By allowing greater interaction with the public, this new method of mediation aims to facilitate access to the world of art and enrich the visitor experience. The Fondation Beyeler’s multimedia centres combine the curator’s exhibition concept, as well as anecdotes from the artist’s life, with new and surprising technologies unknown to the majority of visitors.
More information on current exhibitions and the Fondation Beyeler is available on their website.
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Fundraising Press Release
Fr. Jeff Lorig
frlorig@ludgercatholic.org
Creighton Community Radio Station Plans Moving Forward
Fundraising Phase Begins
April 9, 2014 (CREIGHTON, NE) – When the FCC began granting permits to non-profits to build low power radio stations in their communities, it gave them 18 months to make it happen. So there is no time to waste for St. Ludger Parish to begin moving forward in their plans to build what has now been named Creighton Community Radio.
A Low Power FM signal is allowed to broadcast at 100 watts, which should reach up to a 7 mile radius. “It doesn’t get much more local and community oriented than that,” said Fr. Jeff Lorig, pastor of St. Ludger and the person responsible for spearheading the project. At only a fraction of what it would cost to build a full power commercial radio station, a low power FM station is a rare opportunity for the community. The last time the FCC granted permits for low power radio stations was in in 2001 and there are no plans to grant more in the future with already crowded airwaves. “This is probably going to be our only chance to do this ever again,” said Lorig.
The fundraising phase has begun for Creighton Community Radio. The goal is to raise $20,000. The radio station will be financially independent from the parish and school activities. “Money raised for the station will not be used for the parish or vice versa,” explained Mitch Nelson, the parish council president.
The main thrust of the fundraising will be done through a $10,000 raffle. Only 250 tickets will be sold at $100 a ticket for a chance to win the $10,000. Tickets will be drawn at a raffle party to be held on May 24th at 7 PM at the St. Ludger Social Hall. A ticket allows you and a friend into the event that includes free food, live music, and a cash bar. Raffle tickets can be purchased from Kenny or Brandon Gragert at Gragert’s Grocery, Emily Hammer at The Hair Studio on Main Street, or the St. Ludger School Office.
“This has to be a community driven project; the community of Creighton has to make it happen. Literally nothing will happen unless the community is willing to make the investment,” Fr. Lorig insisted. You can learn more about the radio station at the newly created website: www.CreightonRadio.com.
← First Advisory BoardRaffle Tickets Available →
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1. Western Balkans in the loop: Reshaping regional cooperation in times of uncertainty
Author: Gentiola Madhi
Institution: Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract: Gentiola Madhi authored, within the Think Visegrad Non-V4 Fellowship programme, an analysis on the state of the affairs of regional cooperation in the Western Balkans.
Topic: International Affairs
Political Geography: Global Focus
2. The Silk Road and the Gulf: A New Frontier for the RMB
Author: Michael B Greenwald
Institution: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract: Many view the Belt and Road Initiative as the most geoeconomically significant infrastructure project since the Marshall Plan. Promising alternative trade routes, abundant capital flows, and advanced infrastructure to the developing world, the program has scaled significantly since its inception in 2013.
3. In the Gulf, China Plays to Win but US has Upper Hand
Abstract: Saudi Vision 2030 — Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s bid to diversify his nation’s oil-dependent economy — is one of the most consequential development plans in modern history. So it was no surprise to see MbS, as he is known, grinning with Chinese leaders during his Asian investment trip last month. As Chinese officials raved about the “enormous potential” of the Saudi economy, Saudi officials praised the compatibility of Chinese and Saudi cultures, and MbS even defended China’s maltreatment of Muslim Uighurs
4. 3 Reasons Why the Fed Wants to Keep Raising Interest Rates
Author: Martin S. Feldstein
Abstract: Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to increase the short-term interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, taking it from 2.25% to 2.5%. This was the fourth increase in 12 months, a sequence that had been projected a year ago, and the FOMC members also indicated that there would be two more quarter-point increases in 2019. The announcement soon met with widespread disapproval.
Topic: International Affairs, Financial Markets
5. Implementing the National Defense Strategy Demands Operational Concepts for Defeating Chinese and Russian Aggression
Author: Chris Dougherty
Institution: Center for a New American Security
Abstract: The 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) shifted the Department of Defense (DoD) away from a strategy focused on counterterrorism and deterring regional threats like Iran toward competing with, deterring, and, if necessary, defeating Chinese and Russian aggression. DoD is portraying the President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2020, which is the first such request submitted since the release of the NDS, as a down payment on the long-term investments required to develop a future force that can execute this strategy. Given the price tag of $750 billion, Congress and the American people should, in the words of Ronald Reagan, trust DoD, but verify that this is money well spent on advancing the priorities of the NDS
6. Security Matters
Institution: Centre for European Security Studies
Abstract: In 2012 CESS conducted a range of activities in Turkey in the framework of the “Good Governance of the Security Sector in Turkey” programme: In March we organised a conference and a follow-up training course in Ankara on Financial Accountability and Budgetary Transparency of the Security Sector. During these events we discussed the main procedures in reviewing defence budgets and particular attention was dedicated to the role of the Court of Accounts. It became clear during the proceedings of both events that despite the fact that changes have been made for the better in Turkey with regard to financial oversight of the security sector, most of these changes unfortunately are only made on paper and are still not put into practice. The auditing process clearly lacks key mechanisms that would make the military more accountable. Therefore the Court of Accounts still has no real leverage over the military in terms of auditing defence spending.
7. Entrevista en IBERCAMPUS sobre el libro La política exterior de Estados Unidos
Author: Antonio Marquina
Institution: Unidad de investigación sobre seguridad y cooperación (UNISCI)
Abstract: Entrevista en IBERCAMPUS sobre el libro La política exterior de Estados Unidos
8. Vientiane-Hanoi Expressway Project
Author: Masahito Ambashi
Institution: Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
Abstract: The Vientiane–Hanoi Expressway (VHE) has been one of the most anticipated transportation projects between Lao PDR and Viet Nam. This report (1) explores the potentiality of the corridor between Hanoi and Vientiane as designated by the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Development Program; (2) illustrates impacts on economies and industries of Lao PDR and surrounding countries of the VHE; (3) sets out industrial development strategies for Lao PDR, Viet Nam, and Thailand that take maximum advantage of the VHE; and (4) suggests appropriate financial mechanisms to construct the VHE. Thus, this report focuses on how Lao PDR and neighbouring countries can benefit from the expressway by strengthening relevant industries and forming a Bangkok–Vientiane–Hanoi industrial corridor from the perspective of global value chains and production networks developed in the Mekong region
9. Cool Japan, Creative Industries, and Diversity
Author: Koichi Iwabuchi
Abstract: This paper critically considers the operation and objective of Japan’s ‘creative industry’ policy and suggests how to redesign it to align it with recent attention to cultural diversity. But the paper’s scope goes beyond business and extends to defining ‘creativity’ as a means to enhance civic dialogue, sympathy, and inclusion, to imagine a better society. The ‘creative industry’ can include independent and non-profit cultural projects that promote diversity by involving artists, museums, non-governmental and non-profit organisations, public service corporations, local communities, volunteers, and researchers. Such a redesign is compatible with the creative industry policy’s aim to advance social inclusion and democratisation by promoting grassroots creativity.
10. ASEAN Vision 2040 Volume IV : Integrated and Connected Seamless ASEAN Economic Community
Author: Ponciano Intal
Abstract: The volume consists of papers on critical elements for an integrated and connected Seamless ASEAN Economic Community up to 2040. The critical elements include seamless trade facilitation, managing nontariff measures, strategies on standards and conformance, engendering skills mobility and development, service sector development and open investment environment, competition and intellectual property policy, seamless logistics and connectivity, data flows and electronic payments in the digital economy, capital market deepening, and good regulatory practice.
11. ASEAN Vision 2040 Volume III : Transforming and Deepening the ASEAN Community
Author: Fukunari Kimura
Institution: Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD)
Abstract: The papers in Volume III delve into the theme of transforming and deepening the ASEAN Community. The main focus is on the digital and fourth industrial revolution as well as on innovation as both offer opportunities and challenges for ASEAN Member States for economic transformation and enhanced resiliency and sustainability. The volume also emphasises the drive towards greater inclusivity, leaving no one behind, and greater people centredness and engagement to deepen the sense of belongingness in the ASEAN Community.
12. ASEAN Vision 2040 Volume II: Collective Leadership, ASEAN Centrality, and Strengthening the ASEAN Institutional Ecosystem
Author: Simon Tay
Abstract: The papers in Volume II discuss the imperative of collective leadership and ASEAN centrality in light of the greater uncertainty in the global trading system and on regional security which have been underpinning ASEAN’s outward oriented strategy and development. It is suggested that ASEAN’s major Dialogue Partners in East Asia and the United States as well as ASEAN itself can be important contributors to strengthening collective leadership in East Asia and to enhancing ASEAN Centrality. The last paper in the volume presents ideas on how to strengthen ASEAN’s institutional ecosystem, which is important for ASEAN to be able to assert ASEAN centrality in an increasingly uncertain and changing regional environment.
13. ADBI Working Paper Series: Firm Adjustment to Trade Policy Changes in East Asia
Author: Dionisius Narjoko
Abstract: Trade and investment liberalization has been one of the key features of economic policy in many developing countries since the 1990s. Research on this subject has consistently produced more evidence on the benefits of globalization; theoretical studies give more attention to what happens within an industry when trade and liberalization occur, while empirical studies confirm the positive impact of trade liberalization. This paper reviews some recent studies on the subject of firms in a globalized economy to enable us to understand more about how firms respond to globalization or changes in trade and investment liberalization. The paper focuses on presenting or explaining the underlying mechanisms through which the effects are realized. The studies summarized in this paper generally confirm the positive impact of trade liberalization on productivity or the spectrum of measures reflecting productivity, such as product quality, firm size, or skill intensity. The positive impact goes through various channels, including competition and industry dynamics, exporting and innovation decisions, and production or investment decisions.
14. Demand and Supply Potential of Hydrogen Energy in East Asia
Abstract: If groundbreaking technological developments in fuel cell vehicles, hydrogen power generation, and hydrogen supply were to be achieved, costs are expected to go down, resulting in the further benefits of an expansion of the hydrogen market and learning effects. Aggressive and environmentally friendly policies will certainly help to expedite the arrival of hydrogen as an important part in the transition to clean energy.
15. ERIA Frames
Abstract: ERIA and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) hosted a meeting between the heads and the Parliamentary Leagues for both organisations on 16 April 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. ERIA’s President Prof Hidetoshi Nishimura provided a brief overview of ERIA’s recent collaboration with OECD, which was the revised ASEAN SME Policy Index 2018. In addition, he requested further support from several Japanese ministries, namely the Cabinet Office; Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministry of the Environment; Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare; and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Read more.
16. The EU’s role in stabilising the Korean Peninsula
Author: Mario Esteban
Institution: Elcano Royal Institute
Abstract: This working paper is the result of a process of collective reflection in which many academics and diplomats –with whom I have had extraordinarily fruitful conversations in Brussels, Madrid, Pyongyang and Seoul– have participated. The contributions of those who responded to the policy Delphi that we launched in the spring of 2018, and of the participants in the seminar that we organised at the Brussels office of the Elcano Royal Institute on 5 October 2018, were especially valuable. I would therefore like to explicitly thank Alexander Zhebin, Axel Berkofsky, Bartosz Wisniewski, Charles Powell, Eric Ballbach, Félix Arteaga, Françoise Nicolas, Hideshi Tokuchi, Hiro Akutsu, John Nilsson-Wright, Kim Songyong, Lee Dongmin, Liu Qing, Luis Simón, Michael Paul, Mikael Weissman, Niklas Swanström, Ramón Pacheco, Shin Beomchul and Tariq Rauf for their contributions. I would also like to acknowledge the work of Elisa Lledó in organising the seminar and of Virginia Crespi de Valldaura in helping to prepare this paper.
17. Brexit: Time regained
Author: Andrew Duff
Institution: European Policy Centre
Abstract: The UK has wasted precious time in the Brexit process. A no deal outcome has become the legal and political default. The new prime minister cannot avoid returning to Mrs May’s deal if he is to avoid no deal. Andrew Duff argues for changes to be made not only to the Political Declaration but also to the Withdrawal Agreement itself. One amendment is needed to buy time: the transition period should be made extendable until the final association agreement enters into force. Such a revision will not breach anyone’s red lines, will obviate the need for the Irish backstop, reassure businesses and citizens, and enable an orderly exit. Duff also argues that the British should pay far more attention to the joint governance of the Withdrawal Agreement. The idea that the UK will become a vassal of the EU is nonsense: in fact, the British will be able to wield influence after Brexit if the new prime minister adopts a positive attitude.
18. Sustaining Peace in Practice: Building on What Works
Author: Youssef Mahmoud, David Connolly, Delphine Mechoulan
Institution: International Peace Institute
Abstract: Prevention is generally viewed as a crisis management tool to address the destructive dynamics of conflict. The sustaining peace agenda challenges this traditional understanding of preventive action by shifting the starting point of analysis to what is still working in society—the positive aspects of resilience—and building on these.
19. To Defeat Terrorism, Use 'People Power'
Author: Maria J. Stephan, Leanne Erdberg
Institution: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract: As governments and communities seek the right combination of methods to halt terrorism, one that we too often miss is nonviolent resistance. It’s not that we haven’t seen the power of protest movements that use mass marches, sit-ins, boycotts and other forceful but nonviolent tactics. To the contrary, people worldwide have been moved by watching such movements sweep aside the walls of apartheid, the tanks of dictators or the impunity of kleptocracies. But governments and civil society alike have failed to connect the dots—to promote nonviolent action that can help communities address grievances while absorbing the youth alienation upon which terrorist movements feed.
20. USIP’s Work on Violent Extremism
Abstract: Over the past decade, transnational and deadly violent extremist movements—such as ISIS, Boko Haram, the Taliban, and al-Shabab—have risen out of instability and conflicts and repeatedly inflamed and perpetuated hostilities. These movements recruit followers and destabilize regions by harnessing agendas and exploiting grievances such as social marginalization, political exclusion, state repression, and lack of access to justice and resources.
Topic: International Relations, International Affairs
21. The Razumkov Center Newsletter
Institution: Razumkov Centre
Abstract: Judging from President’s latest statements on his readiness to capture Ukraine’s stable progress towards EU and NATO membership in the Preamble to the Constitution, we are to expect yet another session of “constitutional vivisection”. Moreover, it is very likely that the parliament and the president will finalise the long-term story of bidding farewell to the constitutional guarantees of parliamentary immunity. Also, one cannot write off a possible attempt to implement the currently semi-fictional idea of transitioning to a parliamentary form of government, again – by introducing corresponding amendments to the Constitution.
Abstract: In February of this year, Stanislav Shevchuk was elected the new Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) at one of its sessions. Position of CCU Chairman has been vacant since 20 March 2017. This is when Yurii Baulin’s term has run out. On several occasions, elections of a new chairman were disrupted. In December 2017, they did not take place due to the lack of candidates. The responsibility of CCU Chairman, besides swearing in the newly elected president, is to organise the regular work of the Constitutional Court. We also expect the pressure on the new chairman to mount after the appointment of two new CCU judges on the president’s quota and the election of two more judges on the Verkhovna Rada’s quota.
Abstract: On 30 January 2018, in Kyiv, Razumkov Centre together with the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting and CEDOS think tank presented the annual 2017 global top think tanks rating (2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report). This report is issued since 2008 by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program of the Lauder Institute, University of Pennsylvania (USA).
24. Joint Humanitarian Operations
Author: Jeremy Konyndyk
Institution: Center for Global Development
Abstract: The Government Reform and Reorganization Plan released earlier this year by the White House calls for substantial reform of US humanitarian institutions. The plan mandates that the State Department and USAID produce a “specific reorganization proposal” to “optimize” humanitarian assistance and “eliminate duplication of efforts and fragmentation of decision-making.” This policy note lays out guidance for how an ambitious but feasible optimization could be achieved. It is informed by two high-level private roundtables convened by the Center for Global Development to solicit expert input, as well as a desk review of documents, expert interviews, and the author’s own experiences serving in the humanitarian arms of both USAID and the State Department. While numerous experts contributed thoughts and feedback, the author takes sole responsibility for the views represented herein.
25. It’s Like That and That’s the Way It Is? Evaluating Education Policy
Author: Susannah Hares
Abstract: It’s tricky to evaluate government education policies. They’re not implemented in NGO-like laboratory conditions, and political motivation and public sector capacity constraints play as much of a role in their success or failure as policy design. Using the examples of three rigorous studies of three different education policies, this note aims to shed some light from the perspective of someone on the policy side on how, why, and when to evaluate government-led reforms. A government education policy is not an abstract theory that can easily be replicated in a different place. In each new context, it is effectively a brand-new programme and needs to be evaluated as that. None of the three examples presented was “new” as a policy: school inspections, school vouchers, and charter schools have all been tried and evaluated elsewhere. But the evaluations of these policies—when implemented in new contexts—illuminated a new set of challenges and lessons and generated a different set of results.
Topic: Education, International Affairs
26. SVP for Clean Energy, on the Union Organizing Drive at Buffalo Solar Factory
Author: Josh Freed
Institution: Third Way
Abstract: Third Way Senior Vice President for Clean Energy Josh Freed released the following statement on the United Steelworkers and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers drive to organize production and maintenance workers at Tesla’s solar factory in Buffalo, New York:
Topic: Climate Change, International Affairs
27. DC Can Show True Climate Leadership by Cutting Carbon Even Faster and More Efficiently
Abstract: I am not only the Vice President for Clean Energy at Third Way, a center left think tank based in Washington dedicated to getting the United States to zero carbon pollution by 2050. I am also a native of the DC area and almost twenty-year District resident. My father was born here, as were my children.
28. DC’s Climate Policy Should Be Even More Ambitious: Testimony Before the Council of the District of Columbia
Author: Ryan Fitzpatrick
Abstract: My name is Ryan Fitzpatrick, and I am a resident of Ward 5 in the District of Columbia and Deputy Director of Clean Energy for Third Way, a policy think tank here in DC. As we saw yesterday with the release of the new report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world is facing an enormous challenge in the fight against climate change. We at Third Way believe that this demands urgent, aggressive action now to reduce and eliminate carbon pollution as cost-effectively, and from as many sectors of the economy, as possible
Topic: Climate Change, Globalization, International Affairs
29. Unemployment to Reemployment: An Idea to Modernize the Safety Net for the Digital Age
Author: Gabe Horwitz
Abstract: The basic tenets of Unemployment Insurance (UI) have changed little since the program was enacted during the Great Depression. It was built as a bridge for workers between jobs in similar industries that required similar skills. You lose your job and a weekly check tides you over until you land a new one, usually doing the same type of work as before.
Topic: International Affairs, Employment
30. From Silicon Valley to Shenzhen: Dollar Exposures in Chinese Fintech
Abstract: In the post-9/11 era, Washington has waged innovative campaigns against terrorism finance, sanctions evasion, and money laundering. Leveraging America’s heavyweight status in the international financial system, the United States Treasury has isolated and bankrupted rogue regimes, global terrorists, and their enablers. As financial technology transforms global business, the traditional financial system faces new competition across a suite of offerings, ranging from brokerage services to peer to peer lending. In no area is this clearer than in mobile payments, where a global hegemon lies ready to exercise its weight, and it is not the United States
Topic: International Relations, International Affairs, Financial Markets
31. The China Tariff Mess
Abstract: The cost to US consumers and firms imposed by tariffs on Chinese imports is not large relative to the gain that would be achieved if the US succeeds in persuading China to stop illegally taking US firms’ technology. But the Trump administration should state that this is the goal, and that the tariffs will be removed when it is met.
Topic: International Cooperation, International Political Economy, International Affairs
32. The United States and China— A Relationship Adrift: The New War in Trade, Investment, and High Technology
Abstract: HISTORY TEACHES US THAT PICKING WHEN ONE AGE ENDS AND ANOTHER BEGINS is a tricky business. None of us has the powers of reflection, perception, or anticipation to identify when certain tipping points of historical significance are reached. And when we reach such conclusions, it’s usually with the full benefit of 20/20 hindsight, which for those of us working in the rarefied world of contemporary public policy is not particularly useful
33. The Islamic State and Drones: Supply, Scale, and Future Threats
Author: Don Rassler
Institution: The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract: The Islamic State is a group known for doing things a bit differently, for its capacity for innovation, and for its many ‘firsts.’ Two of those ‘firsts’ happened within months of each other. The first occurred in October 2016 when the group used a bomb-laden drone to kill, after the explosive hidden within the drone killed two Kurdish peshmerga soldiers who were investigating the device. Another ‘first’ happened in January 2017 when the Islamic State released a propaganda video that showed nearly a dozen examples of the group releasing munitions on its enemies from the air with a fair degree of accuracy via quadcopter drones it had modified. And it wasn’t long before the group’s bomb-drop capable drones would go on to kill, too.
Topic: International Affairs, Military Affairs
34. Exploding Stereotypes: Characteristics of Boko Haram’s Suicide Bombers
Author: Jason Warner, Hilary Matfess
Abstract: Since 2009, the Islamist group known as Boko Haram has ushered in a wave of violence across the Lake Chad Basin region of West Africa, at the intersection of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. Among other tactics that it has employed during its reign of terror, the group has been noted for its use of suicide bombers. While the prevalence of suicide bombings has been duly recognized, little remains known about the broader arc of their existence and efficacy: What strategic and operational trends underlie Boko Haram’s use of suicide bombers, and how effective have they been at achieving their objectives? Just who are Boko Haram’s suicide bombers? Where are they deployed, what do they target, and how do different bomber demographics differ in their actions? More broadly, what does Boko Haram’s use of suicide bombers reveal about the past, present, and future of the terrorist group?
35. Turkish-German Relations From Conjunctural Cooperation to the Solution of Structural Issues
Author: Zeliha Eliaçık
Institution: SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract: To the contrary of its relatively “new” relations with the United States of America, Turkey’s relations with the West have been established and continued via Europe since the period of the Ottoman Empire.1 The military alliance and cooperation initiated between Turkey and Germany in the late 19th century have gained a human dimension in the frame of the “Turkish Labor Force Agreement” signed upon the settlement of Turkish workers in Germany in the 20th century. Bilateral relations have been maintained without interruption despite occasional fluctuations in the intensity of these relations. Recently, the two countries have maintained closer ties as they both are affected by the U.S. sanctions and “trade wars.”
Topic: International Relations, International Cooperation, International Affairs
Political Geography: Turkey, Germany, Global Focus
36. Natural partners? Europe, Japan and security in the Indo-Pacific
Author: Luis Simon
Abstract: Europeans and Japanese are often described as ‘natural’ partners. As liberal democracies, market economies and close allies of the US, they have similar world views and share many interests. They also have a long history of cooperation, whose foundations go back to Japan’s embracing of modernisation and industrialisation in the late 19th century along European lines
37. Forty years of democratic Spain: Political, economic, foreign policy and social change, 1978-2018
Author: William Chislett
Abstract: Whichever way one looks at it, Spain has been profoundly transformed since the 1978 democratic Constitution that sealed the end of the 1939-75 dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, the victor of the three-year Civil War. Be it economically with, for example, the creation of significant number of multinationals or the world’s second-largest tourism industry in terms of visitors (81.8 million in 2017), politically with a vibrant democracy that ranks high in classifications, socially with the greatly improved status of women or in foreign policy –where Spain has reclaimed its place on the international stage–, the country bears no resemblance to what it was like 40 years ago. Over the period, per capita income at purchasing power parity increased fivefold and life expectancy at birth rose by almost 10 years. All the more remarkable is that the transition, guided by King Juan Carlos I, was achieved in the face of considerable adversity. It was not guaranteed from the outset to be successful: the Basque terrorist group ETA killed an average of 50 people a year in the first decade of democracy (and mounted assassination attempts in 1995 on both the King and the Prime Minister, José María Aznar), and Francoist officers staged a coup in 1981 in an attempt to turn back the clock. The economy, which was entering a period of recession, galloping inflation and rising unemployment, was also subjected to unprecedented competition after decades of protectionism. In the first three months of 1976 there were 17,731 cases of industrial action alone. Today’s problems, such as the very high jobless rate, particularly among young adults, acute income inequality, increased social exclusion, the illegal push for independence in Catalonia and corruption in the political class do not detract from the fact that Spain has enjoyed an unprecedented period of prosperity and stability over the past 40 years. Spain has achieved conditions that are similar –in some cases better– than in the rest of Western European nations, disproving the theory, still beloved in some quarters, of the country’s ‘exceptional nature’ or ‘anomaly’.
38. Making sense of Europe’s Southern Neighbourhood: Main Geopolitical and Security Parameters
Author: Luis Simón, Vivien Pertusot
Abstract: Europe’s southern neighbourhood is a diverse but interlinked geopolitical ensemble, whose specificities need to be carefully assessed before Europeans devise dedicated security strategies, divide responsibilities and make policy decisions. This exercise in geopolitical scoping seeks to make sense of the main security challenges present in Europe’s broader European neighbourhood, a space encompassing areas as diverse as the Gulf of Guinea, the Sahel, North Africa, the Levant and the Persian Gulf. It identifies (some of) the main sub-regions that make up the ‘South’, offers an overview of the threat environment in each of them and identifies relevant differences as well as common themes. In doing so we aim to provide a conceptual referent for further policy research on the security of Europe’s ‘South’, and to help inform future strategic and policy discussions within the EU, NATO and their Member States.
Topic: International Security, International Affairs, Geopolitics
Political Geography: Europe, Global Focus
39. Once and for All a New Compromise in Libya?
Author: Virginie Collombier
Institution: Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
Abstract: More than one year after the signing of the Libyan Political Accord (LPA) in Skhirat, implementation of the agreement is impeded by obstacles which now look insurmountable. Despite efforts by Western countries and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) to empower the Presidential Council (PC) of the Government of National Accord (GNA), major constituencies have continued contesting its legitimacy and refusing its authority.
Political Geography: Libya, Global Focus
40. Time for action: EU and a new political initiative in Libya
Author: Arturo Varvelli
Abstract: During 2016 and in the first few weeks of 2017, it has become clear that General Khalifa Haftar is gaining support both locally and internationally. Egypt, the Emirates, Russia, and France, all played a role in strengthening his power.
Topic: International Relations, International Cooperation, International Security, International Affairs
41. The First Hundred Days: Trump Meets Asia...and Reality
Author: June Teufel Dreyer
Institution: Foreign Policy Research Institute
Abstract: The first 100 days of a president’s term—the “honeymoon period,” during which his power and influence are believed to be their greatest—are, whether rightly or wrongly, regarded as a predictor of a president’s success during the remainder of his term. Given the often bombastic tone of Candidate Trump’s campaign rhetoric, it was to be expected that the foreign powers against whom much of his vitriol was directed would seek to challenge the determination of President Trump to live up to his promises. And so it has been.
42. Trump’s Paris Exit A blow to climate politics, but a boon to regional climate policy?
Author: Milan Elkerbout
Institution: Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract: The withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement represents a setback for global climate action. But the damage will be felt more in political and diplomatic terms than in terms of climate policy or reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which depend at least in the near term on domestic climate policies. The election of Donald Trump and the strong Republican majorities in both Houses of Congress that accompanied his election immediately dispelled any hope that the US would implement or maintain ambitious climate policies. Indeed, in the first months of his Presidency, Trump signed an executive order to review (and thus likely roll back) President Obama’s landmark climate policy – the Clean Power Plan. The latter initiative aimed to reduce power-sector emissions by 32% by 2030 through federal legislation. Other US climate policies, such as vehicle standards and methane regulations, are also destined for the axe. Taken collectively, these measures will make it very difficult for the country to meet its Paris pledge of reducing GHG emissions by 26-28% by 2025 compared to 2005, even if another personality occupies the White House by 2021. 1 Improving fundamentals for renewable energy may still allow the US to reach its 2020 target of a 17% reduction in emissions compared to 2005. But the difference between this target and the formal pledge made by the US in Paris is roughly equal to the annual emissions of the entire transport sector in the EU.
Topic: Climate Change, International Affairs, Climate Finance
43. The Trump-Putin Meeting: From Hamburg to Southern Syria
Author: Zvi Magen, Udi Dekel
Institution: Institute for National Security Studies (INSS)
Abstract: The first meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin since Trump entered the White House took place in Hamburg, during the G20 summit of July 7-8, 2017. Relations between the two powers have been marked by tension over disagreements on various areas of conflict around the world, and from the reports in the United States about alleged contacts between Trump and Russia during the presidential campaign and Russian cyber interference in the election process. Tensions rose further when US forces attacked pro-Assad coalition forces in Syria and when Russia opposed the condemnation of North Korea in the Security Council regarding Pyonyang’s long range missile program. Nonetheless, reports were that the meeting between the leaders, which lasted longer than planned, was constructive, though very few details about the conversation itself or any agreements reached were provided, other than an announcement on the agreement to impose a ceasefire in southwestern Syria and establish a de-escalation zone there.
Topic: International Cooperation, International Affairs
44. Defense of Animal Agriculture Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense et al.
Institution: Hudson Institute
Abstract: The increasing rate of emerging and reemerging zoonotic disease, along with threats and attempts by those with nefarious intent to attack food and agriculture, point to the need to exert more effort to eliminate vulnerabilities and reduce consequences associated with America’s agricultural sector. The Food and Agriculture (F&A) critical infrastructure sector produces, processes, and delivers the systems and commodities that feed billions of people and animals throughout the United States and globally. In 2015, the agriculture, food, and related industries contributed $992 billion (5.5%) to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), making it one of the largest sectors of the U.S. economy. Given its critical importance to food safety and availability in the United States and around the world, protecting this sector is a matter of national security. Federal agencies; state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments; academic institutions; and industry partners all contribute to and are responsible for this vast enterprise. Our lives, culture, economy, and livelihood depend on their efforts.
Topic: Climate Change, Environment, International Affairs
45. The Role of Universities in Our Changing Economy
Author: Jeffrey Bleich
Institution: The Ambassadors Review
Abstract: We grew up in a century defined by the Second Industrial Revolution. Today, that revolution is being eclipsed by a Digital Revolution. The uncertainty that we are experiencing in every aspect of our society is the same disorientation that occurred between 1870 and 1910 when the first Industrial Revolution ended and a second one began.
46. How NATO Is Adapting to a More Dangerous World
Author: Rose Gottemoeller
Abstract: NATO is adapting rapidly to an evolving security situation by strengthening our deterrence and defense, and by working with our partners to project stability be
47. A Collaborative Approach to Human Rights Impact Assessments
Institution: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract: This discussion paper, co-authored with the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the Sciences Po Law School Clinic, proposes a new approach to conducting human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) of business operations or projects, which brings together project-affected people, the company, and other stakeholders to jointly design and implement an assessment. The aim of this new approach is to address one of the key challenges of current HRIA practices: the limited engagement and participation of relevant stakeholders, which can undermine effectiveness and trust.
Topic: Human Rights, International Affairs
48. What Holds Some Terrorist Organizations from Joining al-Qaeda?
Institution: Future for Advanced Research and Studies (FARAS)
Abstract: The Sahel and Sahara region has witnessed, in recent years, the emergence of a number of terrorist groups that adopt extremist ideologies, but with- out engaging with major cross-border terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda despite developing strong ties with them. The situation prompted views that these new groups are undeclared branches of the mother organization due, on the grounds that their ideology is, to a large extent, identical to that embraced by al-Qaeda. Moreover, these new groups show support to al-Qaeda’s terror attacks, which raises questions about the reasons why there are such groups that operate under various names and are, at the same time, keen to set themselves aside from al-Qaeda.
Abstract: The next presidential election in Ukraine is set for 31 March 2019. The parliamentary election to the 9th Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will take place on 27 October 2019. According to the latest survey conducted in October 2017, the following parties would be elected to the Parliament: «Petro Poroshenko Bloc «Solidarity» (13.6%), «Batkivshchyna» (10%), «Civic Position» party (8.9%), «Opposition Bloc» party (8.6%), «For Life» party (6.8%), the Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko (6.5%), «Self Help» Union (5.9%). Others would not be able to cross the 5% threshold.
Abstract: Before the bill “On the peculiarities of state policy on the restoration of Ukraine’s state sovereignty over the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts” is adopted, it needs some additional work.
Abstract: ANTI-CORRUPTION COURT: TO EXECUTE IMPOSSIBLE TO PARDON determined by the level of people’s awareness, candidates’ hidden motives. Society must ask questions: who is the candidate, what does he seek, does he represent a particular person, or is he an independent law-maker? We have to ask ourselves as well. Because after the election campaign of 2014, many new deputies emerged, but they did not turn out to be who they positioned themselves as. The issue of the quality of parliamentarism is a deep one, it cannot be associated with a certain law, – it is connected with political culture that needs to be developed. Full text Kharkiv oblast, and Svatove in Luhansk oblast in 2015. This year, attention of the entire country was drawn to the fires in Balaklia, Kharkiv oblast in late March, and now – the one not far from Kalynivka, Vinnytsia oblast. situation, where the corruption search campaign across all levels of the government triad has brought Ukraine to the top of corrupt states list, and the judiciary is consistently and deliberately deprived of the lion’s share of public trust, the creation of a specialised anti-corruption court will bring the fight against corruption into a practical stage. Full text The court system is largely disoriented and demoralised. It is hard to predict the results of its next modernisation in the sense of its ability to bring all of its segments together to properly administer fair justice. Today, the expert and political community is awaiting the «finalising» of assembly of the new Supreme Court and the determination of prospects for creating the anti-corruption court, especially, methods and ways this issue is to be solved.
Abstract: In Ukraine, every President that comes to power aspires to change the Constitution of Ukraine, however, even this Constitution has hardly ever been abided by in the 20 years. Our civil society is still underdeveloped. We still experience only occasional surges – one Maidan, then another one, where the civil society shows itself. We still have not reached the point where civil society controls the government.
Abstract: The inability of the Constitutional Court to choose the new Chairman of theCCU in a closed meeting held recently is just the outside sign of existing problems accumulated inside and around this important state institution.
Abstract: The Constitutional Commission created in early March 2015 by President Petro Poroshenko’s Decree has hardly stopped it work, as new rumours of yet another Constitutional change have started spreading inside Ukrainian information space and political environment. Citizens cannot make up their mind about the necessity of amending the Basic Law, as they are not aware of their fundamental constitutional rights. Razumkov Centre’s survey results in 2015 show that only 10% of Ukrainians are familiar with the text of the Constitution, while 40% – have never laid eyes on the Basic Law
Abstract: National Security and Defence Council decision to stop the movement of goods across the line of demarcation and transport connection with ORDLO is a mechanism of bringing down the intensity of tension in the society, which developed due to the blockade of railway tracks in Donbas
56. Innovation: Key to a 21st Century Alliance
Author: John Berry
Institution: Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract: Over 200 years ago, one of our founding fathers Benjamin Franklin urged us to innovate, with the warning: “When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” One of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln, was not only a talented statesman, he was an inventor and tinkerer extraordinaire. Innovation lies at the very heart of what it means to be an American. From the beginning, our country was a grand experiment. We believed then—and now—that freedom plus hard work equals progress. Innovation, invention, and creativity help turn progress into success.
Topic: Development, Diplomacy, International Cooperation, International Affairs
Political Geography: America, Global Focus
57. Primakov Readings
Author: Tatyana Alekseeva
Institution: Rethinking Russia
Abstract: The International Primakov Readings Forum took place November 29-30, 2016, in commemoration of Yevgeny Primakov. The meeting was organized by the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO led by Alexander Dynkin) and was backed by the World Trade Center, the Russian Science Foundation, the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, and the University of Pennsylvania. In his address to the Forum, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin argued that Primakov had succeeded in predicting the events unfolding in today’s world, especially in the Middle East. As the Head of State put it, “Actually, I was always taking heed of Primakov’s assessments, as he was a wise and astute diplomat. I trusted him and asked to accomplish responsible and sensitive missions rather than ordered him”. Besides, the Primakov Readings Conference brought together Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Chair of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko, and President’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov who delivered an opening speech. The Forum was also attended by most leading experts on international relations. The Rethinking Russia Think Tank presents the comment of Tatyana Alekseeva, a participant of the Primakov Readings Forum.
Political Geography: Russia, Global Focus
58. Russophrenia: western elites ignore their own citizens’ anger and blame Russia instead
Author: Bryan MacDonald
Abstract: At the start of 1917, rumours reached London that something was stirring in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg). As a result, the concerned Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, urgently dispatched Lord Milner, a diplomat of some repute, to the Russian capital. His Lordship visited the Tsar and spoke to ministers and members of the Duma, who informed him that enemies of the state were spreading groundless yarns. Sadly, being a creature of his class, Milner believed that only the elites mattered so he neglected to consult any of the general public. Thus, cocooned in his bubble, the peer reported to London that there was nothing the government could not handle and no need to expect no major changes. However, the same British travelling party also included Lloyd George’s private secretary Philip Kerr. A little more clued in, Kerr walked the streets and interviewed the plain folk. Armed with their predictions, he sent a telegram to Downing Street which asserted that Russia was on the verge of an unstoppable revolution. As it happens, the man who stepped out of the comfort zone was right because Nikolai II was shorn of his crown before the British delegation made it home. We know this story because many years later the ‘Welsh Wizard,’ Lloyd George, revealed the details to Ivan Maisky, the Soviet ambassador to London. And almost a hundred years later, it is a salutary lesson in the dangers of the establishment refusing to acknowledge ordinary people’s concerns when evaluating the causes of political upheaval.
Topic: International Relations, International Security, International Affairs
59. The everyday and the existential: how Clinton and Trump challenge transatlantic relations
Author: Jeremy Shapiro
Institution: European Council On Foreign Relations
Abstract: The transatlantic relationship is likely to face difficult challenges whatever the result of the US election. If Trump wins he will launch a revolutionary presidency — pulling back from NATO and other security guarantees, undermining key parts of the global free trade regime and building closer relations with strong-man leaders than allies. Even if Hillary is elected the transatlantic relationship could still face difficult albeit more everyday challenges. Her poor relations with Moscow, exacerbated by gender issues, could threaten transatlantic unity on Russia. Europe would be foolish not to learn lessons from the experience of Trump’s candidacy. Trump represents only an extreme version of a growing feeling in the United States that, in a time of relative decline, the country is getting a raw deal from its allies. The EU should not be complacent in assuming that the transatlantic relationship will continue as it is and should begin to take more responsibility for its own defence and build resilience against a potentially more self-interested US.
60. White House Narratives on the Iran Nuclear Deal
Author: Michael Scott Doran
Abstract: Testimony before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, United States House of Representatives
Topic: International Affairs, Nuclear Power
61. Security Matters
Abstract: 30 August is Victory Day in Turkey, a national holiday celebrated with military parades and jet fighters painting the sky red and white, the colours of the Turkish flag. Victory Day commemorates the final battle in Turkey’s War of Independence. It glorifies the army and the new republic created on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. On Victory Day, all promotions of officers are announced, and the students of military schools celebrate their graduation. Besides, the Chief of Turkish General Staff used to receive the congratulations of high state officials. However on 30 August 2011, things were a bit different.
Topic: International Organization, International Affairs
Abstract: Natalia Gherman is Moldova’s deputy foreign minister and chief negotiator with the EU. CESS spoke to her in Chis¸ina˘u during the second in a series of UNDP workshops on EU negotiations organised by CESS and its partners. Ms Gherman had just returned from a visit to The Hague and Berlin where she spoke to her colleagues about the visa liberalisation regime, one of the main priorities for Moldova in its relations with the EU.
Abstract: Central Asia presents a broad spectrum of security challenges. These range from religious terrorism, organised crime and simmering ethnic quarrels to endemic corruption, environmental decline and a disintegrating infrastructure. Besides, the danger of instability is heightened by a lurking receptiveness to religious extremism among returned migrants.
Abstract: On 12 May we received the news that David Greenwood had passed away. It was expected in a way, but still it came as a shock. David had been suffering from a disease one can fight for some time, but never beat. Although at the end he was very weak and never left home anymore, David was not supposed to leave Margaret and all of us so soon.
Abstract: In the second half of 2007 we decided to take the Starlink programme further east and got in touch with the Netherlands Embassy in Astana to investigate possibilities in Kazakhstan. During a fact-finding mission in November 2007 we found that there was a clear need to develop capacity for democratic governance in the security sector of Kazakhstan. The country is engaged in a process of reform that, if successful, will improve oversight of the security agencies, enable the country to fulfil the commitments it undertook in its NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan of 2006, and enhance Kazakhstan’s standing at the OSCE. Kazakhstan will hold the presidency of the OSCE in 2010. It is obvious that Kazakhstan has put in place several of the laws and institutions required for democratic oversight of the security sector, and others are likely to follow. However, Kazakhstan still has some way to go to foster a culture of accountability. Here Starlink training courses will be helpful. The Starlink programme has been included in Kazakhstan’s Individual Partnership Action Plan.
Abstract: CESS is deeply involved in developing and delivering training courses for Security Sector Reform (SSR). In this issue, we will report on our Starlink programme for training development, which has completed its activities in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Starlink is now being introduced in Kazakhstan, and plans are underway to take it to the Western Balkans. Starlink is supported by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the OSCE. We will also discuss the work CESS has been doing to teach the OECD DAC approach to SSR. In a thought-provoking commentary article Kars de Bruynequestions the conventional intepretation of the spring 2007 crisis in Turkey.
Abstract: After fact-finding missions to Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2006, we began running Starlink training courses on democratic governance in the security sector in those countries in February 2007. The first was in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and our partner was Dr Leila Aliyeva. We took the opportunity to officially open the Starlink programme with a high-level meeting, after which we ran the first training event. Senior representatives of various ministries and members of parliament participated in the high-level meeting, as well as the OSCE presence in Azerbaijan. The interest of the media was lively and spawned several newspaper articles and bulletins on national television. The first Starlink course on defence took place on the following days with an enthusiastic, pro-active and diverse group of participants.
Abstract: This issue of Security Matters is mostly devoted to Turkey. It carries three articles that were presented as papers at a workshop on Turkey and the European Security and Defence Policy, held in Istanbul on 12-13 June 2006 and organised by CESS in cooperation with the Istanbul Policy Center at Sabanci University. In late 2006, our programme on Governance and the Military in Turkey came to an end, and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved the funding for a new CESS programme, called ‘Reforms in Turkish Civil-Military Relations: Measuring Progress and Building Capacities’. As before, IPC will be our main Turkish partner. Despite the difficult political climate, the Netherlands government wants to continue to provide constructive support for democratic reforms in Turkey. These are important for Turkey, for Europe, and for the successful integration of Turkey into the European Union.
Abstract: In the Starlink programme, sponsored by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CESS is developing training courses on democratic governance in the security sector. These are tried out in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, and come in three types. One focuses on the defence sector, another on law enforcement, and the third on intelligence
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+ Remove H7N9 Avian Influenza filter H7N9 Avian Influenza
Study: Technique adds 'kill switch' to modified flu viruses
A new molecular strategy could diffuse some of the controversy over lab-modified flu viruses.
Experts offer dim view of potential vaccine response to H7N9
If the H7N9 influenza virus now circulating in China evolves into a pandemic strain, the world is likely to have great difficulty providing adequate supplies of an effective vaccine in time to blunt its impact, according to a viewpoint article by three experts in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Another death in China raises H7N9 fatalities to 32
(CIDRAP News) – Another patient in China has died from an H7N9 influenza infection, raising the number of fatal illnesses to 32, though no new cases were reported today, holding the overall case total to 131.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported the death today in an update based on information from China's National Health and Family Planning Commission.
H7N9 mystery: Why does age profile tilt older?
Editor's note: This story was revised on Apr 20, 2013, to correct the number of H5N1 cases that occurred in the same province as H7N9 cases and to correct the time from onset of illness to death in H7N9 cases.
Beijing reports first H7N9 infection
(CIDRAP News) – Beijing health authorities today confirmed an H7N9 infection in a 7-year-old girl who lives in the city, the first case to be detected outside of eastern China, according to Chinese media sources.
China reports three H7N9 infections, two fatal
(CIDRAP News) – Chinese health officials yesterday announced three severe respiratory infections, two of them fatal, from H7N9 influenza, a subtype that has not been known to infect humans before.
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Chapman University / Dodge College of Film and Media Arts
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Robert Bassett
One University Drive, Orange, 92866
http://www.chapman.edu/dodge
One of the premier film schools in the country, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts offers students the unique opportunity to learn filmmaking in a hands-on environment modeled on a working studio. The college is comprised of the Sodaro-Pankey Undergraduate School of Film and Media Arts, offering degrees in film production, film studies, screenwriting, creative producing, news and documentary, television writing and production, public relations and advertising, screen acting and digital arts; and the graduate Conservatory of Motion Pictures, offering M.F.A. degrees in film production, film and television producing, documentary filmmaking, production design, and screenwriting, and an M.A. in film studies. Two joint M.F.A. degrees in producing are also offered in conjunction with the business (M.F.A./M.B.A.) and law (M.F.A./J.D.) schools. Dodge College is housed in Marion Knott Studios, a state-of-the-art, 76,000-square-foot studio and classroom building that provides students with 24-hour access to sound stages, edit bays, Dolby surround mixing, a motion capture stage and more. With an Oscar and Emmy-award winning full-time faculty that boasts more feature film credits than any other film school, Dodge College is where students learn the entertainment business from the inside out.
Key teaching staff (Tenure Staff and/or Industry Professionals)
Barry Blaustein
Bill Dill, A.S.C.
Bill Kroyer
Harry Ufland
Jim Fredrick
John Chichester
Johnny Jensen, A.S.C.
Martha Coolidge
Paul Seydor
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Cypress Trail – Closed to Bikes and Horses
The Cypress Trail is located in the Cascade Canyon neighborhood and runs just above Rose Ave. It connects Cypress Avenue to the Monte Vista and Tenderfoot trails. (See map below).
In 1995, the Mill Valley City Council adopted a Resolution prohibiting the riding or use of bicycles or horses on the Cypress Trail. The City Council determined that the joint use of the Cypress Trail by hikers and bicyclists or equestrians was not feasible and would lead to continuing conflict between trail users. They also cited the risk of environmental damage and injuries to recreational users.
One of the signs on Cypress Trail was recently defaced and removed from the trail. The sign has been updated and replaced by the City’s Public Works Department.
Offenders will be fined $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second offense, and $500 for the third and additional offenses. The Mill Valley City Manager has requested Police to conduct regular patrols of the area, especially on weekends.
Follow up questions may be directed to Lieutenant Lindsay Haynes at 415-389-4100.
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MYANMAR:Release Sought for Myanmar Journalists Held Over Chemical Weapons Report
Friday 7 February 2014
Date: 4 February 2014
Keywords: Journalists, press freedom
Myanmar authorities have arrested five local journalists after they published a report alleging that the country’s military is operating a secret chemical weapons factory, drawing criticism from international rights groups and a local reporters’ council which called for their immediate release.
The four reporters and chief executive of the Yangon-based Unity journal were detained on Friday and Saturday and charged with leaking state secrets in the story published late last month.
The front-page report, which has been pulled from newsstands, claimed chemical weapons were being manufactured at a facility in Pauk township, in central Myanmar’s Magway region, under the instructions of former military junta leader Than Shwe.
Authorities have rejected the report as “baseless” and defended the arrest of the journalists as an issue of national security.
Global press freedom watchdogs Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the arrests as a violation of freedom of information, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the five.
The Myanmar Journalists’ Council (MJC), an independent local body, sent a public statement to government ministers Tuesday over the arrest, saying the government and media should cooperate as the country embraces reforms.
Urging greater trust between journalists and the government as the country emerges from decades under military rule, MJC secretary Kyaw Min Swe told RFA the Unity journalists’ arrest was something “typical of a country going through a transition period.”
“We want to have discussions to avoid making the problem bigger during this time when we are building trust,” he said.
Leaking state secrets
Police arrested Unity’s Pauk-based reporter Lu Maw Naing on Friday night, later moving him to a facility in nearby Pakkoku township and taking his wife in for questioning, the local Irrawaddy journal reported.
Unity’s chief executive San Tin and Yangon-based reporters Yarzar Oo, Paing Thet Kyaw, and Sithu Soe have been held for questioning at Insein prison in Yangon since they were detained on Saturday, it said.
Presidential spokesman and deputy minister of information Ye Htut told the journal that Unity’s report was “a totally baseless accusation,” saying police had received warrants to detain the five for two weeks.
Colleagues told Agence France-Presse all five have been charged under the Official Secrets Act.
Rights groups warned the five could face up to 14 years in prison if they are convicted under the act.
“Under no circumstances should journalists be imprisoned because of the content of their article,” Reporters Without Borders’ head of research Lucie Morillon said, condemning their detention as a “violation of freedom of information.”
Quoting local residents
Unity’s report, which could not be independently verified by RFA, said the factory was built in 2009 on land confiscated from farmers and had a network of 3,000 underground tunnels.
It quoted local residents as saying staff at the facility said they were producing chemical weapons with the help of trainers from China.
Myanmar’s government asserts the country has no chemical weapons program and is preparing to ratify international treaties it signed decades ago banning the use, production, and stockpiling of chemical and biological weapons.
CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative Shawn Crispin said the journalists’ arrest was a sign of further needed reforms in Myanmar, which has eased media restrictions as part of reforms carried out since the military junta stepped down nearly three years ago.
"The fact that journalists can be charged with revealing state secrets shows how desperately [Myanmar] needs meaningful legal reform.”
"Weapons proliferation issues are central to [Myanmar’s] political narrative and journalists should not be threatened or arrested for reporting on topics of national and international importance,” he said.
Reported by Kyaw Thu for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.
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Chernobyl nuclear site could become a giant solar farm
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By Tim Sandle Aug 13, 2016 in Technology
The Chernobyl nuclear power site was one of the most deadly in history. The abandoned area could not be turned into a giant solar power farm.
Ukraine plans to build world's largest solar farm at Chernobylhttps://t.co/ZTOU3bvoyr
— Transform Ukraine (@TransformUA) August 12, 2016
The Ukrainian government is drawing up plans to convert the 1,600 square mile “exclusion zone” surrounding the former Chernobyl nuclear power station to construct one of world’s largest solar power plants. The news is likely to appeal to those who favor 'greener' sources of energy over fossil fuels and nuclear power.
The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident. On April 26, 1986, an accident happened at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Pripyat (which was then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union; now it is within the independent country Ukraine). An explosion and subsequent fire caused the release of large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere. The radioactive waste spread over a large area, covering western USSR and most of Europe. According to Greenpeace, at least 100,000 people died from cancer as a result of the incident.
Today the plant is cordoned off, still containing dangerous levels of radiation and will not be safe for human life for around 20,000 years. Around the plant is a circular area of 30 kilometers, officially called the "zone of alienation", and in effect an exclusion zone. This area has largely reverted to forest.
Despite the conditions, the Ukrainian government are keen to develop the area in order to generate power. Officials are in negotiations with with four Canadian energy firms to build a 1 gigawatt-hours solar plant. This could become the largest in the world.
Ukraine’s ecology minister, Ostap Semerak is quoted as saying: "The Chernobyl site has really good potential for renewable energy", adding what the existing advantages are: "we already have high-voltage transmission lines that were previously used for the nuclear stations, the land is very cheap and we have many people trained to work at power plants."
The logistics will be difficult and workers would need to wear protective suits and be carefully monitored. Given the potential power generation, those involved think the scheme is feasible.
More about Chernobyl, Solar power, Solar energy
Chernobyl Solar power Solar energy
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Home All Articles Pakistan security forces kill attackers after raid on luxury hotel
Pakistan security forces kill attackers after raid on luxury hotel
QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani security forces have killed three separatist insurgents who had stormed a luxury hotel in the port city of Gwadar 24 hours earlier, the military said on Sunday.
Officials said three gunmen dressed as military officers raided the five-star Pearl Continental Hotel on Saturday, killing three hotel security guards, an employee and a navy soldier in the ensuing gunbattle.
The insurgents had been holed up on the top floor of the hotel after security forces arrived. The forces cleared all guests from the premises while cornering the attackers in a staircase.
“Security forces have completed clearance operation,” the military said in a statement, adding all three attackers had been killed.
The Balochistan Liberation Army insurgent group, which says it is fighting what it sees as the unfair exploitation of the province’s natural resources, claimed responsibility saying in a statement the attack was aimed at “Chinese and other foreign investors”.
Balochistan, which borders both Iran and Afghanistan, is Pakistan’s poorest province but has abundant reserves of natural gas and various minerals.
Gwadar is a strategic port on the Arabian Sea that is being developed as part of the $60 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is itself part of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure project.
Prime Minister Imran Khan issued a statement condemning the attack.
“Such attempts, especially in Balochistan are an effort to sabotage our economic projects and prosperity,” he said.
One of the hotel security guards was killed while attempting to stop the men from entering the hotel.
The military said the attackers disabled CCTV cameras in the hotel and planted explosives at all access points leading to the top floor.
Separatists in Balochistan have for decades been fighting the central government, bombing gas and transport infrastructure and raiding security posts. Islamist militants from various factions also operate in the province.
The separatists have denounced the industrial development plans and vowed to block them while Pakistan has promised China it would protect its investments and Chinese workers.
The Pearl Continental Hotel, on a hillside near the port, is used by foreign guests, including Chinese project staff, but there were none of them in the building at the time of the attack, officials said.
Security across most of Pakistan has improved over recent years following a major crackdown after the country’s worst attack, when 148 people, most of them children, were killed in an assault on a school in the western city of Peshawar in 2014.
But Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province, remains an exception and there have been several attacks this year, with at least 14 people killed last month in an attack on buses travelling between the southern city of Karachi and Gwadar.
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FLOWSTATE STORIES
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Rachell Shapiro
FLOWSTATE Films wins a CINE Golden Eagle!
We are excited and honored to announce that a film we produced last year for the non-profit organization, Comfort Cases, has won a coveted CINE Golden Eagle!
Going into it's 61st year, The CINE awards are a highly competitive industry award that honors and champions the creators of exceptional media content. They recognize originality and excellence in storytelling in professionally produced and/or commercially distributed media across all genres and platforms.
This year’s group of submissions was among the most impressive that we have ever received. Our reviewers and jurors had a tremendously difficult task to evaluate, winnow and select the very best —and most original — productions in each category, and many excellent and renowned productions didn’t make the cut in an extraordinarily competitive field.
— The CINE Team
We are thrilled that not only our work has been recognized by CINE, but the amazing work of Rob Scheer and Comfort Cases has been recognized as well. We hope that this continues to help them spread the word about children in foster care and how communities can come together to help make a difference.
Please watch the award-winning video below:
Kiley Kraskouskas
FLOWSTATE RECEIVES MAJOR FUNDING
FLOWSTATE Films Receives Major Support to Fund New Documentary - Changing State - Black Diplomats, Civil Rights, and the Cold War
NEH Production Grant awarded to all-women production company in support of Changing State (formerly Black Diplomacy)
WASHINGTON, DC (April 9, 2018)—FLOWSTATE Films, a women-owned production company based in Washington, DC, along with Women in Film and Video DC, received grant support from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The grant will support the production of FLOWSTATE Films’ forthcoming documentary, Changing State (working title), formerly Black Diplomacy, a film about the contributions of African-American diplomats during the Cold War.
FLOWSTATE Films was founded in 2016 by Kiley Kraskouskas, Leola Calzolai-Stewart and Rachell Shapiro with the intention of creating impactful, authentic and socially-conscious films. The filmmakers have individually and collectively been featured in The Washington Post, NPR, Pitchfork Media, On Tap and Bethesda Magazine, and have received film festival accolades from around the globe.
The NEH announced today that it is awarding $18.6 million in grants for 199 humanities projects and programs across the country. One of only five production grants awarded, FLOWSTATE Films has been offered $450,000 in support.
“These new NEH-supported projects deepen our understanding and appreciation of the traditions, values, and historical figures who have shaped our country,” said NEH Senior Deputy Chairman Jon Parrish Peede.
Changing State is directed and co-produced by Leola Calzolai-Stewart. This is the second documentary feature for Leola. Her film, The Last Song Before the War, which she co-produced and edited premiered in 2013 to critical acclaim, played in festivals around the world, was distributed widely across Africa and was streamed by NPR Music in 2014. Changing State is co-produced by FLOWSTATE Films co-founders, Rachell Shapiro and Kiley Kraskouskas, written by award-winning writer, Ken Chowder, and executive produced by Emmy winner and Academy Award nominee, Sam Pollard.
Developing an NEH proposal is an enormous endeavor that combines a team of scholars, filmmakers, and writers to create a program that goes through a rigorous review process. The team at FLOWSTATE Films is honored to receive NEH support. "Changing State is a timely story that illuminates the contributions of African-American diplomats during one of the most politically and socially divisive times in our country’s history, and we appreciate the support we’ve been given to bring this story to a wider audience," said director Leola Calzolai-Stewart.
The full NEH Press Release can be found here: https://www.neh.gov/news/press-release/2018-04-09
For more information about the project go to: http://www.flowstatefilms.com/changing-state/
Press or other inquires should be sent to Leola Calzolai-Stewart: leola@flowstatefilms.com
Tagged: Documentary, National Endowment for the Humanities, Diplomacy, Funding, American History, Women in Film
Build Friendships, Not Networks
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to “network” and why it gives so many of us anxiety. When I look back on the years I’ve worked in film, I now see that the most valuable opportunities and rewarding experiences have come from true friendships and not people in my so-called network.
FLOWSTATE Films, co-founders, Leola Calzoai-Stewart and Kiley Kraskouskas in Harlem conducting research for their film, BLACK DIPLOMACY
A few years ago, I joined the board of an arts non-profit. Many of the fellow board members were in the same business as me, essentially “competitors”. However, given our similar interests many friendships developed from that experience. And I mean really true friendship, where I can be myself and not just the professionalized version of myself. These are the people I now turn to for advice, to whom I can admit mistakes and failures; and, with whom I share freely from my own experiences. Creatively, we share each others draft work-- warts and all-- and celebrate each other's successes both professionally and personally.
Working in film and video production is a team sport. As a producer you need editors, directors, clients, and assistants to all be on the same page in the face of creative differences and varying skill sets. I learned that developing true rapport and building trust with your collaborators makes the stress of deadline-intensive work a little bit easier. I’m proud of the fact that many of the people I started my career with are still my friends today. Not to mention that my two business partners here at FLOWSTATE are two of my closest friends. We met on the job over ten years ago.
Making friends must be genuine. You don’t connect with everyone. When I was younger, I felt the need to have everyone “like” me. Sometimes this meant spending large chunks of time with people who were energy-takers rather than energy-givers or playing up parts of my personality that didn’t feel authentic just to make another person feel more comfortable. As I’ve gotten older and my spare time more limited, I’ve decided to lean in to those friendships that feel mutual, that give me inspiration and guidance rather than drag me down or have an undercurrent of jealousy or competition. Likewise, I find myself joyfully supporting their career and life successes back.
FLOWSTATE Films co-founders Rachell Shapiro and Kiley Kraskouskas right after the birth of Rachell's daughter.
From making my first film and starting my company, to client referrals and securing investors and funders in my work, all of these opportunities have come from true friendships. So for those of you who hate the word networking as much as I do, commit to making a few new friends and you will reap the benefits.
Tagged: networking, friendships, small business, women in Film
We Do That
My partners and I tend be uncomfortable with the notion of self-promoting. We often assume most people know what we do from the occasional social media post. Therefore, we don’t spend a lot of time getting specific about what it is we do at FLOWSTATE Films outside of “appropriate” formats. And, I have to be honest, I am sure this discomfort around self-promotion has something to do with gender (but that’s a blog post for another time). But, clearly there is a line between unabashed self-promotion and simply letting people know what you do, especially something you deeply enjoy, so that you don't miss potential clients.
Tagged: small business, Female Entrepeneur, sales, production, Female Filmmaker, marketing
Moving The Goal Post
Five years ago, looking to jumpstart my path as an entrepreneur, I participated in a CEO Accelerator program. The class met for six weeks covering a compressed MBA curriculum with 12 non-competing business owners.
Recently as I was organizing my home office, I came upon the very first worksheet we filled out in class. It was a basic goal-setting chart. The first set of goals had to be personal in nature, and the second, for the business. I had completely forgotten what I had put down for my personal goals:
Own a Single Family Home
Have a Second Child
Build Up Savings
At the time of the class, my husband, son, dog and I were living in a small condo we had bought right before the housing market crashed in 2006. From the day we bought it, it had lost tens of thousands of dollars in value. It took over six years for the house to recover back to the price we had paid for it. At times, it seemed like our starter home was going to be our forever home. But, in 2013, we managed to sell the condo and buy a single family home on a street we had always loved; filled with kids, great neighbors, and, a home office (for me) overlooking our backyard. It was the ideal place to re-start the business and our lives.
Fast forward to 2017, and, after two miscarriages, I am writing this post as I watch my baby daughter sleep...
There are days I can be so hard on myself. I wonder if my career is moving fast enough... Should I have made more films by now? Should I be making more money at a corporate job? Am I the best parent I can be?
But when I re-visited the goal worksheet, I nearly cried realizing how much my life has changed in five years and how badly I wanted what I have right now. Goal setting works, but not if we just keep ratcheting up the pressure on ourselves by moving the goal post further away while never looking back.
The biggest lesson I learned from that accelerator class wasn't about marketing or management, it was the idea that your business is there to help facilitate your personal goals. Once you know what you want out of life, build your business to sustain that.
Leola Calzolai-Stewart
Meet the Advisor: Dr. Brenda Gayle Plummer, Author of Rising Wind
Dr. Brenda Gayle Plummer
As we began putting together Black Diplomacy’s advisory team, one name kept popping up - Dr. Brenda Gayle Plummer. Her book, Rising Wind, is considered by many to be the definitive text on the history of African American engagement in international affairs and serves as a key text in developing our film. In my discussions with other scholars, it was almost taken as a given that if we were pursuing the subject matter of race, diplomacy, and international affairs then, of course, we must have spoken with Dr. Plummer. Even today, over a year since the beginning of the project, if I am interviewing or speaking with someone who has done research in the area of African Americans and foreign policy, diplomacy and diversity, that person will undoubtedly say, “Have you spoken with Brenda Gayle Plummer?” I’m very pleased, and proud, that I’m able to respond, “Of course. She’s on our advisory team.”
1. What inspired you to research and write Rising Wind?
At the time I began the book, few people linked African Americans with foreign affairs. Black Americans were assumed to inhabit the domestic realm only. While much had already been written about Pan-Africanism and Back-to-Africa movements, and nationalism was a critical element of the African American world view, not all black engagement with international issues related directly to Africa or to race. While exploring this, I also discovered that there was a grass roots component to it. This information was not part of the conventional stories told about U.S. foreign relations and I wanted to use it to reinterpret the meaning of the African American experience in both the U.S. and global contexts.
2. In Rising Wind you detail the development of African American engagement in international issues during the early post WWII era. Can you briefly describe some of the factors that increased Black engagement in U.S. foreign policy?
In order to break Americans out of an isolationist mindset, the U.S. government made a considerable effort to create a favorable impression of the United Nations within the American public. Many African Americans embraced the idealism inherent in the messaging they received, and moreover, regarded world opinion, especially in the early years of Cold War rivalry, as an instrument that could be deployed to pressure the federal government for changes on the racial front. Another major factor was the end of formal colonialism and the emergence of African nations that not only held a large degree of symbolic value for African Americans, but also might be marshaled as allies in the fight against racism in this country.
3. What role did race play in U.S. foreign policy during the early Cold War period?
The State Department and the White House were not prepared during this time to admit people of color into highest levels of diplomatic service. Their inadequacies were a reflection of the society as a whole, which remained committed to segregation until social movement pressure forced change.
4. You once described African American diplomats during the early Cold War period as having to walk a "tightrope." Can you elaborate on what that means and the challenges these men and women faced?
During the early Cold War period, which for the sake of this discussion I'll denominate as 1946-1953, the majority of African Americans employed by the State Department held clerical or consular positions. They nevertheless were expected to represent the United States abroad even if they were fully aware of the limitations of U.S. democracy. The tightrope they walked is the balance they had to achieve between putting the best face on Jim Crow and discrimination while remaining enthusiastic about the yet unrealized American vision of freedom and justice.
5. Why do you think the stories we are highlighting in the film are important stories to tell today?
The public does not generally think of African Americans when it considers international matters. Yet African Americans have been central actors in diplomacy since the early nineteenth century, on behalf of the nation at large as well as on behalf of themselves. The struggles they undertook to be perceived as worthy representatives of the nation mirrored the fight against slavery and racism that preoccupied the larger society in the past and continues to resonate today. The figures under discussion are part of this long and ongoing historical process.
6. What are you currently working on?
Among current projects is a study of NASA's impact on African Americans and research on the late Congressman Charles Diggs.
7. What is your favorite documentary film?
I don't really have a favorite. Among those that I have liked the most are Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke, his 4 Little Girls; and Ava Duvernay's 13th and Selma.
Dr. Brenda Gayle Plummer is a professor in the departments of History and Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
You can find her work here.
Black Diplomacy is grateful to the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities for supporting scripting and project development.
The Joy of Storytelling
In the day-to-day grind of work, when you experience something that re-awakens you to the joy of the job, to that “thing” that made you go into the field to begin with, where you can take a step back and look at the bigger, broader picture of your place within that field, that’s a powerful moment. Validation and affirmation of career choice can come in many forms. Sometimes, as a small business owner it can seem elusive because of the many balls we juggle at one time.
Tagged: Flow State, Small Business, Storytelling, Community, Women in Film
In Order To Find Flow, You Have to Say No
It was just before the Fourth of July, 2014, I stood up from a chair while watching my son at swim practice and almost collapsed. Pain was shooting down my back and legs. That night, I couldn’t change out of my clothes. This was the beginning of 15 months of battling, what I would eventually learn, was a severely herniated disc. It would take almost another year for me to find out what was causing the pain thanks to a spine specialist who twice refused me an MRI. Luckily, my General Practitioner eventually prescribed me an MRI that showed a serious herniation, surgery was suggested as the most likely solution. But first I would take the “conservative approach,” months of physical therapy, pain shots in my back, and a chiropractor who ultimately made it worse. I eventually made the decision to get surgery in October of 2015 and two weeks later, I was virtually pain free. I was off pain medication, and bursting with energy.
The biggest lesson I learned from this experience was not to take my body for granted. I love working, I always have. Being laid up, cranky, and needing pain medication just to barely make it through the day was misery. The injury also coincided with the year I agreed to be a board President of a non-profit and treasurer for my local PTA all on top of co-directing an independent documentary project and trying to re-vamp my business. I was also raising my son and helping him navigate what was an extremely stressful fourth grade classroom experience.
I made a decision that coincided with my surgery and transformed my life. I decided to take a year sabbatical from any and all volunteer work, free-advice giving, and helping on any low-budget or no-budget film project where I was not a central team member. This at first went against my personality – I am a yes person, someone who loves to help others and derives joy from it. I also hate turning down any opportunity. But, what I realized was that I was suffering. Not only from my back pain, but I wasn’t making the money I needed, in part, because out of the limited hours of available work time I had, much of it was going to volunteer projects and helping others while my own work was taking a back seat.
In the year and a half that followed I started focusing on what I really wanted to achieve. My partners and I launched FLOWSTATE Films, built our brand and website, brought in new and exciting projects and I’m making the most steady income since I began working for myself five years ago. Saying no to the things I didn’t want to do, allowed for the opportunities I really wanted. Ultimately the concept of a company built around a flow state grew from learning how to cultivate this mental space.
And, just this month, I received the greatest gift of all for taking care of myself – the birth of my baby daughter, Charlotte. Right now, I couldn’t feel more lucky and more in control of my time.
At first I worried that saying no would offend others, but, what was most surprising was how much people seemed to respect the boundary I had created for myself. For a lot of us type-A women who enjoy leadership roles it can be hard to say no. But, too often we are frazzled, running late, and missing the fun of our kids or even the fun of our careers because we have to get in the car and go to the next commitment. The real sense of getting your life into a flowstate comes from knowing when to say no so that you can say yes when it matters most.
Tagged: flow state, saying no, Working Moms, Balance, Back Injury
FLOWSTATE Films, Washington DC, USA
©2016 FLOWSTATE Films | All Rights Reserved
Website by Sarah Moon
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Istanbul court acquits woman who killed abusive father-in-law
An Istanbul court has acquitted the release of a woman that killed her father-in-law after he allegedly sexually harassed her while her husband was in prison.An Istanbul court has ordered the release of a woman that killed her father-in-law after he allegedly sexually harassed her while her husband was in prison.
The court ruled at the first hearing of the case that she acted in self-defense.
Esma Yeşilbaş, 35, shot her father-in-law Ahmet Yeşilbaş dead in February 2017.
The prosecutor demanded up to 18 years in prison for Esma Yeşilbaş for committing voluntary manslaughter under unjust provocation.
The woman’s lawyer argued that Yeşilbaş was subjected to constant harassment and even rape during her stay at the father-in-law’s house. At that time she had a nine-month-old baby, the lawyer added.
According to the lawyer, the victim’s sister-in-law told similar stories about harassment.
“The father-in-law thought that the victim would not dare reveal his acts because she was financially dependent, which is why she had to live at his place,” the lawyer said.
When a judge at the trial asked why she did not tell what happened to her husband, Yeşilbaş responded that the father-in-law threatened to hurt her baby and not to tell anyone.
“I was terrified. That is why I did not tell anyone. If my husband had known, he would have killed him,” she said.
[HH] Acting in self-defense
The court ruled that the father-in-law’s acts of sexual harassments and sexual assaults against the victim were unremitting and that the victim was helpless under the burden of moral values and her family commitments.
The court argued that the father-in-law would have continued his abusive behavior, and given those circumstances there could not have been any other justifiable act of self-defense.
The court thus decided for the release of the woman by a majority vote.
However, Judge Zeynep Hatun Sarıçam, a female member of court board, opposed to the ruling.
Sarıçam argued that the sexual assault and defense did not take place simultaneously. The defendant could have filed a complaint to law enforcement immediately after the assault, Sarıçam suggested.
Sarıçam argued that Yeşilbaş committed this act under severe unjust provocation thus she must be punished accordingly.
father-in-law, woman, murder, release
Historical Istanbul mosque brings fresh hope to homeless
Security guard steals 4.8 mln euros
3,771 irregular migrants held over past week across Turkey
Over 7,400 people did paragliding in Fethiye during Eid al-Fitr: Official
Fieldfare migration puts juniper at risk
Prominent Turkish boss robbed at home
Historical tragedies of Crimean Tatars, Circassians remembered
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Petco pulling dog, cat foods with artificial ingredients starting in January
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
(WJBK) - A major pet retailer in the U.S. took a stand for healthy, natural food this week.
Petco announced on Tuesday it will stop selling dog and cat food and treats with artificial colors, flavors and preservatives, both online and at its nearly 1,500 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The move is the first of its kind among major pet stores.
"We're raising the bar and stepping out ahead of the industry. Not because it's an easy thing to do, but because we believe it's the right thing to do," Petco CEO Ron Coughlin said in a statement. Petco says they'll start removing products that don't meet their standards in January of 2019, with the process to be completed by May.
So, what exactly is being eliminated?
Petco sells many brands of both dog and cat food at a variety of prices. While the majority of shoppers have been supportive of the shift on social media, others are concerned and frustrated because Petco hasn't exactly been up front (yet) about which products they'll be dropping. What they have said, though, is they're eliminating products that use Benzaldehyde, FD&C Red No. 3, methyl anthranilate, butylated hydroxyanisole, among other ingredients. Basically, these are artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives.
Some weary shoppers have pointed out, too, that the artificial ingredients haven't even been deemed unsafe for pets. Petco says they're setting the standard for pet food now, rather than find out these ingredients are harmful later on. Officials have met with veterinarians, nutritionists, and wellness experts to help create their new standards.
Coughlin told the Associated Press the majority of pet food Petco sells now doesn't contain artificial ingredients. Still, the change isn't insignificant; Petco sells around $100 million worth of dog and cat food with artificial ingredients each year. Petco said the foods they do continue to sell will still meet everyone's budget.
Some suppliers are reformulating their food; others simply won't sell through Petco anymore, Coughlin added. Food with artificial ingredients that isn't sold by May will be donated to animal shelters.
Eventually the store plans to expand its ban on artificial ingredients to foods it sells for other animals, too.
More US and World News Stories
Girl, 9, dies after being electrocuted by wire from pool light that was under repair
By Gabrielle Moreira
Updated Jul 18 2019 07:47AM EDT
A 9-year-old girl died Sunday in California after she was electrocuted while swimming in a pool.
It happened Sunday, according to KCRA-TV , as McKenzie Kinley and four other children were in her father’s pool in Citrus Heights.
McKenzie died around 3 p.m. after she was electrocuted by a wire attached to an underwater pool light that was being fixed. The other children in the pool were unharmed, according to Today .
Dozens of hummus products recalled due to concerns over listeria
By Amy Lieu
A recall of dozens of hummus products has been issued due to concerns over listeria, according to a company announcement posted on the FDA’s website.
Pita Pal Foods, based in Houston, issued a voluntary recall of certain hummus products made between May 30, 2019 and June 25, 2019, the company said.
The brand names of the hummus products include Pita Pal, Bucee’s, Fresh Thyme, Harris Teeter, Lantana, Reasor’s, and 7-select.
Prosecutors drop groping charges against Kevin Spacey
Prosecutors dropped a case Wednesday accusing Kevin Spacey of groping a young man at a resort island bar in 2016, more than a week after the accuser refused to testify about a missing cellphone the defense says contains information that supports the actor's claims of innocence.
Spacey was charged with indecent assault and battery last year in the only criminal case that has been brought against the actor since his career collapsed amid a slew of sexual misconduct allegations. The two-time Oscar winner was among the earliest and biggest names to be ensnared in the #MeToo movement against sexual assault and harassment that swept across the entertainment and other industries.
Spacey denies groping the man, whose mother first went public with the allegations in 2017.
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NLRB Rules That Scholarship Football Players at Northwestern University Are “Employees”
Earlier this week, NLRB Regional Director for Region 13, Peter Sung Ohr, issued a highly publicized decision and ruled that grant-in-aid scholarship football players at Northwestern University are “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act and, as such, have the right to unionize.
While the Regional Director’s decision directs an election to take place, we do not expect that an election will be scheduled until appeals are fully resolved. The parties have until April 9, 2014, to file a Request for Review of the Decision with the NLRB in Washington, D.C. Shortly after the decision was issued, Northwestern publicly confirmed that it plans to appeal the decision.
In determining that the scholarship football players are employees, the Regional Director stated that, in his view, the football players’ primary relationship with the University is economic. He also noted that between 2003 and 2012, the University’s football program generated approximately $235 million in revenue, which Ohr asserted the University was able to use at its discretion. The Regional Director further stated his belief that the evidence established that scholarship football players are recruited by the University because of their “football prowess,” not because of their academic achievement. Ohr characterized the scholarships that the football players receive as “compensation for the athletic services they perform” throughout the year. The Regional Director also described the “tender” that each scholarship player signs to receive his scholarship as an “employment contract” between the player and the University, which sets forth in detail the conditions of the “compensation” that will be provided to him.
Additionally, the Regional Director found that the players are under the University’s “strict and exacting control” throughout the entire year. He noted that football players are expected to adhere to detailed daily itineraries prepared by the coaches that specify “the location, duration, and manner” in which the players carry out their various football duties. Ohr further concluded that, unlike other students, football players are also subject to special rules, restrictions, and policies, including housing restrictions and mandatory study hall if they fail to maintain a certain GPA.
The Regional Director held that the NLRB’s decision in Brown University did not apply because he concluded that, unlike the graduate assistants in Brown, the football players’ football-related duties are unrelated to their academic studies. Even if Brown were applicable, the Regional Director stated that he would still have reached the same outcome. Purportedly applying the four factors outlined in Brown, the Regional Director concluded that the scholarship players are not primarily students, their athletic duties do not constitute a core element of their educational degree requirements, their athletic duties are not supervised by the University’s faculty, and their scholarships are not financial aid. Further, relying upon the NLRB’s decision in Boston Medical Center, in which the NLRB held that medical residents whose training lasts for a finite duration are not excluded from the Act’s coverage as “temporary employees,” the Regional Director held that the football players are covered employees despite only being “employed” by the University for a maximum of four years.
Finally, the Regional Director disagreed with Northwestern’s argument that the petitioned-for-unit of scholarship players is not an appropriate unit. Northwestern argued that walk-on players shared an “overwhelming community of interest” with the scholarship players and should therefore be included in the unit. But the Regional Director ruled that the lack of compensation for walk-on players was a substantial difference between the two groups of players. In making this finding, the Regional Director noted that, unlike the scholarship players, walk-on players do not have the potential to lose a substantial amount of money in scholarships if they stop playing football. Moreover, the Regional Director concluded that walk-on players cannot be considered employees because they do not receive “compensation” in return for playing football.
The issues raised by the Regional Director’s decision are likely to be litigated for years to come.
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A Look At Mainland Europe’s Secret Seaside Resorts
Fred.\ Holidays has an unrivalled range of fantastic European city breaks for anyone wanting to head abroad for some time away, but that is not all we have up our sleeves. Sometimes, in order to relax, we need to take ourselves out of the hustle and bustle of the city and head for the calming waves and welcoming sands of the beach.
Places such as the Caribbean, Mauritius and The Maldives have always been synonymous with stretches of stunning seaside, but these pictures are less likely to enter your mind when contemplating a trip to mainland Europe. Granted, resorts on the Costa del Sol, the French Riviera or the Amalfi Coast are well-known to people who enjoy holidays of this kind, but it's time to take a look at some of the more secret beach areas the continent has to offer.
Timmendorfer Strand, Germany
When you think of Germany thoughts turn to iconic, culture-rich cities such as Berlin, Munich or Cologne, but along the Baltic coastline, there are some great beaches to be found. Timmendorfer Strand is situated to the north-east of Hamburg and Lübeck and has become a somewhat trendy retreat for people looking for something different.
The sand stretches for nearly five miles and is littered with excellent restaurants, great retail therapy opportunities, and wonderfully nostalgic scenery which together create an interesting contrast. There is the local Sea Life centre to keep younger travellers interested, whilst the popular and similarly nautical resort of Travemünde isn't too far away.
Having been founded in around 600BC, this Romanian city is the oldest populated area of the country. It boasts one of the largest ports in Europe, a beach that stretches for eight miles and a climate which regularly reaches temperatures of around 30 degrees in the summer months. Tourists are attracted by the warm waters of the Black Sea and the nearby natural mineral springs, but there is also plenty to see in the city itself.
History surrounds you here and there is beautiful architecture at every turn. There are a variety of different cathedrals and mosques which stand out from the skyline, whilst the remnants of a roman mosaic complex, which used to connect the city centre with the harbour, can still be seen today. A visit to Constanta could be easily included within a Bucharest city break as a train journey between the two only takes around two and a half hours.
Makarska, Croatia
The Dalmatian Coast is a fantastic destination for those looking for an alternative to the mainstream beaches in Europe. And even less well-known than the island resorts in this part of the world is the Makarska Rivijera which stretches from Dubrovnik to Split.
Makarska itself lies in the shadow of Mount Biokovo, helping to give it a much warmer climate than some of the other places in the region. The beautiful carved out coves are met be the crystal clear waters of the Adriatic Sea to create a seaside paradise which also offers modest nightlife. Away from the coastline, there are chances to take part in a bit of hiking on the trails in the surrounding hills or step further inland to explore the local markets and open air dining facilities in the town square.
Sylt, Germany
We round off our tour of Europe's forgotten beaches in the country where we began, Germany. However, this time, we are on the North Sea coastal island of Sylt, found close to the border with Denmark. This unlikely holiday retreat has become popular with the rich and famous as media features on the retreating coastline have brought it into the spotlight.
The island itself has a recognisable shape which almost resembles the head of a hammerhead shark, and is only accessible via a train which regularly traverses the causeway which connects Sylt to the mainland.
Aside from the twenty-five-mile-long beach, it is nature that draws many tourists to this part of Germany. The rugged dunes contrasted against the picturesque lighthouses make for a dramatic landscape which is home to many species of flora and fauna. These include theSylt Rose, many different species of water bird and the Natterjack Toad; endangered inside German borders.
If you would like to discover some of the lesser-known seaside locations in Europe, then Fred.\ Holidays can help you arrange the perfect holiday. Call us today for more information on these unique coastal areas or fill out an online enquiry form.
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BENEATH is almost finished. I'm going to estimate it's got another couple weeks til completion. Then I want to test it myself and with a couple people I know for a little while before I release it publicly.
Finalize and record spoken dialogue
Script in vocal/story sequences, including opening sequence and useable laptop objects
Create and script in onscreen text elements (titles, credits)
I can't think of anything else! I guess that's really it!
I'm excited. I'm really happy with the map itself. I think it's a tightly constructed space, and I have fun with the gameplay experience (even though I'm already pretty jaded towards the actual layout and encounters... a lot of the basic stuff has been in and working for a relatively long time.)
This stuff coming up is going to be fun and easy. I'm looking forward to it.
Summary only...
Posted by Steve gaynor at 1:36 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: level design
The number of current-gen releases is dying out, but there are a few PS2 games coming down the pipe yet that I've got my eye on. One is Yakuza, an extremely by-the-numbers Japanese mob story told through a city-roaming street brawler game. On one hand, I'm delighted that it managed to make it over to the States in the first place, since it's so tightly tied to Japanese culture in every respect. The game takes place in Japan, all the names are kept Japanese, the structure and customs of the Japanese mafia are central to the game, and pretty dense to keep straight, what with untranslated terms like "oyabun" being tossed around freely. Like many great yakuza epics, such as, say, Kinji Fukusaku's "Yakuza Papers," the character dynamics and relationships between the various yakuza families are almost too dense and complex to ably track, to the point that the game, humorously enough, includes a chart accessible from the start menu to remind you who's the oyabun of which family, and what that family's relationship is to every other family, and so forth.
Which brings me to my point. This game is very Japanese in every respect. I'm impressed that Sega believes there's an American audience for this kind of enterprise, culturally inaccessible as it may be on some level. Which is what disappoints me, annoys me, actually, about their decision to dub the entire game over with English language voice actors. I played the demo of Yakuza this week, which still had all the Japanese voices in (as well as a disclaimer stating that the full game will feature all-English voices.) The Japanese cast was simply terrific, and I couldn't think of a game where the native Japanese voices could possibly be more appropriate. It made me really disgusted to picture the same game, but with Eliza Dushku and Michael Madsen awkward Japanese pronunciation popping up between lines of a rewritten English script.
What bothers me about it is how inappropriate the decision seems. I expect the idea was to help broaden the appeal of the game by removing the need for subtitles (Sega states in the interview above that they wanted to include the Japanese voice track as well, but didn't have room on the disc.) But this game is one that defies broad appeal by its very nature. It's integrally foreign in every regard, from the setting to the plot to the character's names; to deny the game its original foreign voice fundamentally opposes the experience the game is built on. It's doubtful that an English voice cast, even with known Hollywood names attached, will draw in players who wouldn't be interested in the game otherwise; who asks about subtitles when they're buying a game?
When a publisher decides to bring a game like Yakuza overseas, I wish they would just pony up and go 100%. This is a game that's going to appeal to a niche of players who either love Japanese culture or are looking for something out of the norm; why diminish the total experience in the interest of drawing in a non-existent middleground of consumers? Disappointing.
Posted by Steve gaynor at 10:07 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: game industry
Hitman: Blood Money. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's the best game I've played in... six months? A year? I'm a longtime Hitman fan, ever since playing the pre-release demo for the first game of the series in late 2000. My friends and I absolutely fell in love with Hitman: Codename 47. Due to the nonlinearity and massive replayability of each of the levels, we spent over six months playing the game on a near daily basis, re-exploring and pushing the boundaries of Lee Hong's compound and the hotel in Traditions of the Trade over and over again. When we discovered the slow-motion, freecam, and giveall cheats, the game's lifespan was extended another six months. Codename 47's engine brought a bunch of revolutionary touches together for the first time-- features like ragdolls physics (which were meaningful to the gameplay through the body-dragging mechanic) dynamically shifting cloth banners and foliage that reacted to the player's movement, glass that dynamically shattered and fell, persistent bullet holes on both world surfaces as well as characters, and more. Together with a unique spin on stealth gameplay-- more like infiltration, really-- and freeform levels you could replay individually from the title menu at any time, Codename 47 was truly unique, something I'd never seen before.
But I digress. Hitman 2 and Contracts lost a lot of the strengths of the first game, making the play more restrictive, turning the enemy AI into a frustrating mess, and skimping on the graphical touches. For years I was on a disappointment yo-yo, get psyched for Hitman 2 before being horribly disappointed, getting my hopes up for Contracts only to lose faith in the series again. Finally, during the lead-up to Blood Money, I started to hear a lot of exciting info on the Games forum. I couldn't help but get hyped up once more for another Hitman game, reluctant as I was. And to my surpise, and great relief, this was the one they got right. It brought back the magic of the first game, and added so much more. Incredibly, it was worth waiting 6 years for.
The good stuff in the game is the breadth of missions and the amazing environments that IO has built; what makes the game great is the way that IO opened up the play, giving 47 more abilities, and therefore the player more leeway in accomplishing his goals. 47 can now throw items, which opens up a whole range of possible offensive and passive actions, such as tossing a mine over a wall and setting it off, throwing your equipment into a guard's field of view to draw his attention, or simply throwing a knife at a dude to take him out. 47 also has new ways to get up close and personal, using melee attacks and human shield grabs. The ability to push NPCs around, shoving them over railings and down stairs to set up accidents, is another hilariously useful addition. There are more ways to do any given thing, and more Plan B's available when things get hairy. Essentially, the designers implemented a more robust set of affordances to the game, in the form of new actions that 47 can perform, and new types of items for him and the NPCs to interact with. Instead of the limited inputs of "shoot or strangle" as in the earlier games, 47 can affect the world more subtly by throwing objects around it, and the AI reacts more robustly by taking these objects into account and reacting to them. Similarly, 47 can now affect NPCs more directly but less overtly, by pushing them or grabbing them as human shields, to move them around the level. To use another Word, the player is given more agency in how he wants to approach each mission by the gameplay's range of affordances, leading to a more nuanced and satisfying experience. Put the rich gameplay and lush environments together with a tightly-constructed but unintrusive tale of political intrigue, and you've got a game that grabs you and just won't let go. It's outstanding. Simply outstanding.
One thing I've seen people say often about the Hitman series is that they're not action or stealth games, so much as puzzle games. This springs from the fact that all of the NPCs behave in an identical, clockwork fashion each time the player starts up any given level. If Guard A walks through Door X at the :25 mark on your first run, he'll walk through Door X at the :25 mark on your second run and third and thousandth. Barring player disruption, the actions of every character in every map and the patterns they create will be exactly the same every time. This encourages one approach of devising "perfect" playthroughs by observing the level, reading the predictable patterns, and then finding a way to time your own actions right so as to slip between the gears of the clockwork and accomplish your mission. Someone described the experience as similar to being Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, but to much different ends. It's an apt comparison, and it's one of the weakest points of a game that I still love regardless.
What I'd like to see in the Hitman framework is something a little less predictable. Currently, NPCs have a series of nodes that they path to in a single, consistent pattern. Say that a man has four nodes: his sofa, the bar in his kitchen, the swimming pool, and the shower. He sits in the sofa, gets up to go to the bar, takes a quick swim, showers off, and sits back down on his sofa. He repeats this forever. I propose a slight alteration to this scheme. Each NPC still has a limited total number of nodes that they path to, but it's not in a static sequence. Instead, each node relates to each other node through a variety of properties that determine the likelihood of pathing to any given node when he leaves his prior node. So, in the above example, if the man starts out at his sofa, he might have an equal likelihood of going to the bar or the swimming pool; his likelihood of going to the shower from the sofa might be extremely small, or nonexistent. Since the chance of going to the bar or pool is equal, the destination is chosen at random. From the time he leaves the sofa, both the sofa node and swimming pool node start to build priority; the rate of priority gain can be set for each node. When the NPC reaches any given node, its priority is reset to zero. So, from the beginning of the level both the bar node and swimming pool node begin building priority; when he leaves the sofa, its priority begins to rise; when he arrives at the bar, its priority is reset to zero. When he leaves the bar, the swimming pool, which has been gaining priority longest, is first choice for the NPC.
Now, to keep this from turning into a more complicated system of achieving the same results, some randomizing factors come into play. One: for an NPC that has three or more nodes, the NPC randomly approaches one of the two nodes with highest priority. So in this case, he might go to the swimming pool, or he might return to the sofa. Additionally, some NPCs share nodes. So if someone is already on the sofa, he will be forced to go to the swimming pool. When an NPC has half a dozen or more nodes, and he shares these with multiple, other NPCs, you can see how his patterns would become much less predictable.
The point is, this guy gets up and goes to the bar. Then does he go back to the sofa, or to the swimming pool? Let's say he hits the pool. He swims for a bit, then he's hardwired to hit the shower after the pool. Then what? He either returns to the bar or the sofa. Then what? I find this much more interesting and exciting than knowing that he will move from sofa to bar to pool to shower to sofa in a neverending loop.
This is a simple example, but my goal is to maintain some predicatability--the range of possible locations and actions for any given NPC is limited-- but make the NPC behavior in the game dynamic in nature, instead of static. The gameplay then becomes a matter of observing NPCs, determining all their possible actions, and then adapting your approach to fit what they might do. Predicting their location and your own options becomes a matter of reasoning and improvisation instead of memorization. It also ups the tension, because you can't be absolutely sure who might be coming around the corner at any given time. It changes each map from a static, predictable, and therefore gratingly artificial and eventually boring clockwork, to a box of low-key controlled chaos. Dynamism. Tension. Improvisation. Fluidity.
Another jarring aspect of the gameplay in Blood Money--and this goes for many stealth games as well-- is the absolute conviction with which NPCs stick to their predetermined routines, even following extreme disturbances. This is most apparent in the levels that take place in a smaller, more residential setting, such as A New Life or Til Death Do Us Part. You can set off a mine in the middle of the dancefloor or snipe the groom at the wedding, and after an initial freakout, all the NPCs will go back to their normal routines. You can burn the wife to death in A New Life and within 5 minutes the husband will be back to nonchalantly watching TV in the front room. It's completely unrealistic and weird. If half the party guest at my wedding got blown up by a mysterious bomb, do you think I'd be up at the altar 15 minutes later?
What I propose are "standard" and "panic" positions. Standard position is the set of nodes and behaviors that NPCs on the map initially use. Panic position is engaged after a major disturbance-- when an explosion happens, when gunfire is detected, when an important NPC is killed. Panic position engages a secondary set of nodes and behaviors more consistent with a state of great duress, which continues for the rest of the mission. So in A New Life, if the husband was sniped through the front window, the wife would gain new nodes: crying by her husband's body, hiding in her room, and taking swigs from the bar; the guards on the map would fan out to cover the area more vigilantly; the hired help would leave the area. On Til Death Do Us Part, after a major disturbance such as an explosion, the father of the bride might hole up in his room with his gun in the ready position, while the groom might go aggro and begin searching the grounds for the perpetrator. The bride would hide in her room with a number of her bridesmaids. The guards would go on more active search patrols. Again, this would make each mission more dynamic, as the entire place has two possible states, determined by the player's actions; along with the more dynamic system of NPC desire nodes, all but the highest level predictability is eliminated, giving the player a different experience each time they enter a level, and removing the somewhat robotic feel of the missions. Working towards dynamism and a system of strictly controlled chaos-- knowing what could happen, but never being SURE-- would push an already hugely enjoyable game to a whole new level.
Let's see what IO does with the next in the series :-)
Labels: game design
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SALE'S much-loved social entrepreneur, Rich Lanham, is hoping to turn his recent parking indiscretion into an opportunity to spread the messages of kindness, support and community connection. When his distinctive red ute with trailer attached was photographed on Monday taking up more than its fair share of an angled parking space in Raymond St, and then posted on the Gippsland Times Facebook page, an online storm erupted. As of Monday morning the post had received 746 reactions, 316 comments and 142 shares, reaching more than 28,000 Facebook users. Rich put his hand up in the comments section, explaining he had put the trailer on to do a job, but then completely forgot it was attached when he remembered he had to go to the bank. He thanked people for being patient. "Sorry to everyone I held up. "Tomorrow is another day," he wrote. Most were understanding of Rich's self-confessed "brain lapse", but there were also some comments that reflected the less pleasant side of social media. But rather than feel upset about a few comments, Rich said the episode highlighted how "everyone has stuff they carry around". "I really see this as an opportunity to reach out to everyone," he said. "I don't think online behaviour reflects how people really are - it's more of a reflection of how they might be feeling at the time. "Social media just gives people an opportunity to vent." Rich said the online flurry of comments also showed that as a society, technologically people were more connected than ever, but more disconnected as a community. "People these days have a lot they have to deal with," he said. "They are doing it tough, and there are not the social or community opportunities there used to be. "That can make people feel anxious, or it can make people feel disconnected. "What we really need to do as a community is ask people if they are OK, encourage people, build them up, invite them in." Rich said discussions these days were often "polarised'', and the notion of 'let's agree to disagree' was a thing of the past. "As a society, I think it's important that we look at ways to connect people to their communities, and help foster that feeling of belonging and friendship," he said. In line with those goals, the ordained minister and his wife Jules run the innovative 123 Café in Sale, which provides an accessible space for community groups, and opportunities for Sale's young people to gain employment skills and the confidence to become contributors to the community. It also provides a warm, welcoming and inexpensive space for groups, individuals and businesses to meet up. His other social enterprises - a furniture factory that makes outdoor furniture out of recycled timber and an auto workshop offering low-cost mechanical services to unemployed or low-income car owners - are helping him to realise his mission of bringing the Sale community together. "We want to use these businesses as tools to connect people," he said. "Simply, we aim to give people the opportunity to first relax, feel safe, be valued, experience love and hopefully find a moment where they can be generous to themselves, which nurtures their capacity to be generous to others."
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June 25 2019 - 8:30AM
Rich calls for cyber calm
Liz Bell
Rich Lanham shows off his parking skills outside the social enterprise 123 Café he runs in Sale with wife Jules. The community worker and social entrepreneur said an online furore surrounding his recent brain lapse highlighted the need to reach out to those posting inflammatory comments, as they may be struggling.
SALE'S much-loved social entrepreneur, Rich Lanham, is hoping to turn his recent parking indiscretion into an opportunity to spread the messages of kindness, support and community connection.
When his distinctive red ute with trailer attached was photographed on Monday taking up more than its fair share of an angled parking space in Raymond St, and then posted on the Gippsland Times Facebook page, an online storm erupted.
As of Monday morning the post had received 746 reactions, 316 comments and 142 shares, reaching more than 28,000 Facebook users.
Rich put his hand up in the comments section, explaining he had put the trailer on to do a job, but then completely forgot it was attached when he remembered he had to go to the bank.
He thanked people for being patient.
"Sorry to everyone I held up.
"Tomorrow is another day," he wrote.
Most were understanding of Rich's self-confessed "brain lapse", but there were also some comments that reflected the less pleasant side of social media.
But rather than feel upset about a few comments, Rich said the episode highlighted how "everyone has stuff they carry around".
"I really see this as an opportunity to reach out to everyone," he said.
"I don't think online behaviour reflects how people really are - it's more of a reflection of how they might be feeling at the time.
"Social media just gives people an opportunity to vent."
Rich said the online flurry of comments also showed that as a society, technologically people were more connected than ever, but more disconnected as a community.
"People these days have a lot they have to deal with," he said.
"They are doing it tough, and there are not the social or community opportunities there used to be.
"That can make people feel anxious, or it can make people feel disconnected.
"What we really need to do as a community is ask people if they are OK, encourage people, build them up, invite them in."
Rich said discussions these days were often "polarised'', and the notion of 'let's agree to disagree' was a thing of the past.
"As a society, I think it's important that we look at ways to connect people to their communities, and help foster that feeling of belonging and friendship," he said.
This photo sparked an online storm on the Gippsland Times Facebook page last week and not everyone was kind.
In line with those goals, the ordained minister and his wife Jules run the innovative 123 Café in Sale, which provides an accessible space for community groups, and opportunities for Sale's young people to gain employment skills and the confidence to become contributors to the community.
It also provides a warm, welcoming and inexpensive space for groups, individuals and businesses to meet up.
His other social enterprises - a furniture factory that makes outdoor furniture out of recycled timber and an auto workshop offering low-cost mechanical services to unemployed or low-income car owners - are helping him to realise his mission of bringing the Sale community together.
"We want to use these businesses as tools to connect people," he said.
"Simply, we aim to give people the opportunity to first relax, feel safe, be valued, experience love and hopefully find a moment where they can be generous to themselves, which nurtures their capacity to be generous to others."
Discuss "Rich calls for cyber calm"
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A Couple Gave Birth To Beautiful Twins, See Where They Are Now
Parenting May 2, 2018
Jaqi and her husband Kevin Clements delivered their twins earlier than expected, but they were born healthy and beautiful. The Clements family welcomed twins Ava Marie and Leah Rose Clements in 2010, and as with any parents to newborns, their life would end up drastically changing. The young girls have an unparalleled beauty about them and with the help of their mother, have already become professional models. Here are the images of the Clements twins that captivated the internet.
The Twins’ Early Arrival
clementstwins/Instagram
On July 7, 2010, Jaqi Clements had a surprise visit from her newborn babies Ava Marie and Leah Rose. The twins came four and a half weeks early, but as time went on, Jaqi understood why.
“They came four and a half weeks early but knowing their personalities now it makes total sense that they would show up early, unannounced, and ready to take on anything,” Jaqi said.
Stars From The Start
Jaqi Clements/Facebook
After the twins were born, it didn’t take long for family and strangers to notice how striking their appearances are. There’s a reason they always get compliments.
Since birth, their natural beauty is undeniable, their skin is smooth, their hair keeps its silky texture, and their utterly symmetrical faces make them look like their straight from a magazine.
What exactly were the strangers saying?
Everyone Said The Same Thing: They Should Be Models!
With kids this adorable, it’s hard for people not to compliment them. From the time the twins were born, Jaqi continually heard the same statement.
Jaqi says strangers would always mention one thing: “Wow they are so beautiful, you should really think about getting them into modeling,” And so she decided to take a shot at starting the girls’ modeling careers.
Modeling Was Too Much To Juggle With Three Kids
After being pushed to get the twins involved in modeling, Jaqi finally did it. Once the kids reached six months, they were signed up with an agency in Los Angeles.
Jaqi already had a two-year-old son to take care of so this was added pressure to her parenting regime. “It was hard enough to get out of the door most days so my attempt back then was short lived and I decided it just wasn’t the time,” Jaqi said. The first attempt only lasted three months.
Leading A Normal Life
Helping guide her children through a life of modeling is enticing, but it wasn’t the right decision at the time. Jaqi felt bringing up the twins alongside their peers would be the right thing to do.
There were no regrets in pulling the children out of modeling. As time went on, things slowly started to change. Can you guess what happened next?
What Do The Girls Want?
While her busy schedule as a mom of three pulled her away from the idea of modeling, the twins weren’t ready to let it go. Their three months of modeling were over, but Jaqi thought of an important factor, the twins’ dreams.
Aiming to keep the children happy, Jaqi didn’t want to pressure them into something they didn’t want to do. So she made sure that Ava and Leah had a say.
Waiting For The Right Moment
The only issue with Jaqi’s idea of asking the girls is the Ava and Leah were still toddlers. They weren’t old enough to help make their own decisions or clearly voice their opinions.
Because the only language the kids spoke were tears, Jaqi and her husband were stumped. They thought hard about how and when it was the right time to allow the twins to decide on their own.
Lucky Number Seven
Michael Sousa/Pinterest
One thing that needs to be noted is how much Jaqi believes in signs. She says seven is her lucky number, so it’s more than a coincidence that the twins were born on 7/7.
The girl’s seventh birthday was approaching. The thought of them turning seven on July 7, 2017, set Jaqi’s brain ablaze.
Giving The Girls The Idea
Jaqi Clements/theclementstwins
By the time Ava and Leah grew to be seven, they had developed personalities of their own. They were involved in several extracurricular activities like dance and swim.
On their birthday, Jaqi said, “I presented my idea to the girls that, if they were up for it, in addition to their dance classes and swim team practices they had every week, they could give modeling a try.”
How do you think the girls responded?
Ready For Action
Jaqi says the girls love to perform for anybody and everybody. Friends, neighbors, and strangers are welcomed audiences for Ava and Leah. Jaqi claims she doesn’t know where they got this trait from to perform.
Jaqi said, “I was not surprised at all when they started jumping up and down and couldn’t wait to begin!” The twins were all in for modeling.
And The Modeling Kicks Off Again
Now that the kids were older and excited about modeling, the process would most likely go much smoother. Luckily, Jaqi’s neighbor had recently opened a children’s boutique. She needed some models to help market the new business.
The twins got the job. “Plus, I needed some new photos if I was going to get them an agent so I figured this would be a great opportunity for all of us,” Jaqi said.
Starting Off Slow
The girls were still young. Having them put on loads of makeup and wear a collection of pretty clothes could be detrimental to their development, so Jaqi took things slow.
Jaqi took matters into her own hands at the beginning. “I dug out my 10-year-old Nikon camera from a bin in the garage, put a few waves in the girl’s hair, dabbed on a little blush, and out we went to take some pictures,” said Jaqi.
Some Wrinkles To Iron Out
Naturally, Ava and Leah have the stunning looks, but that doesn’t mean they intuitively know how to model. Some things take time. Jaqi learned that first hand during her first shoot with the twins.
“Ava would look at the camera while Leah would stare off into space… Leah would accidentally bump into Ava who of course thought it was on purpose and would shove her back,” Jaqi recalled. They’re young, and she had to cut them a lot of slack.
Getting Back With An Agency
Now that the family was all aboard the modeling train, Jaqi had to get the girls back with an agent. She worried that it would be hard to find one since six years went by after the first attempt.
“I still had a handful of contacts, so I decided to start there,” she said. “To my surprise, I heard back from almost every single one asking to set up a time to meet the girls.” They ended up signing with two agencies but trouble brewed behind the scenes.
The Double Agency Dilemma
Jaqi assumed having two agencies representing her daughters meant more opportunity and exposure for them. Everything was going fine until one of the agencies gave her a call.
“Hi, we wanted to let you know we were able to get the girls straight through to a callback for a Barbie Audition tomorrow,” the agent told Jaqi. She panicked because the girls had just gone to the same audition with their other agent. She revealed the truth and matters got fixed in a few hours.
Social Media Explosion
Jaqi started an Instagram for the girls called @clementstwins in July of 2017. She had no clue what she was doing or if 300,000 followers is a lot. Low and behold, the page started to blow up.
The goal of the Instagram account was to serve as a portfolio for agencies and to gain a fanbase. It ended up becoming all that and then some.
Jaqi’s Instagram Learning Curve
The beauty of the twins was only partly the reason for the success their Instagram account. There were some tactics that Jaqi had to use to help gain all the followers she did. She spilled the beans on a few secrets.
“Now, a little over five months later, the girls have over 380,000 followers,” she started. “One thing I know for sure if it’s ALL about the pictures… so don’t settle for an average photographer because you want to save a few dollars.” You hear that folks? Take quality pictures.
Why 2017 Was Their Year
2017 was an excellent year for the twins and their whole family. Outside of Ava and Leah opting into modeling, Jaqi had a hunch 2017 would be lucky, regardless.
“Aside from the fact that I’m a huge believer in signs and have been told by almost everyone that 7 is a lucky number, I just had a feeling that this year was going to be a fun and exciting year for them,” Jaqi explained. A mother’s intuition is often correct.
Ava and Leah were becoming successful, but their older brother Chase proved to be a talented kid as well. Chase signed with the same agencies as his younger sisters and has a little extra on his resume.
Not only does Chase model, but he also knows how to act. He has been in a few commercials as well.
Job Offers Everywhere
It wasn’t long before everyone learned that the girls had the nature for modeling. Soon after they decided to give modeling a try, they already had six jobs in the span of a week.
While this might have tired most little girls out they couldn’t get enough of it and wanted to do more.
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Jaqi is relatively new to the industry. She had no prior knowledge before diving in. As time goes on, she is learning more about the business and says there are highs and lows.
On her blog, she lists the good, the bad and ugly aspects of this modeling world. She says the most important thing she’s learned, “is before trusting someone to guide you, make sure you know who you are getting involved with.”
One of The Hardest Challenges
For the girls and their mother, one of the hardest aspects of their new lives in the modeling world is just LA traffic.
They go into downtown Los Angeles several times a week which can sometimes turn into 5 to 6 hour-long roundtrip drives. Although this may sound brutal, it’s the name of the game, and they’ve learned to deal with it.
Finding The Right Guidance
Since Jaqi needs guidance but wants to make sure she’s getting the right advice from the right people, she has a series of questions that she asks herself before working with someone.
She believes that if anything ever seems off, to go with your gut feeling and to always do thorough research, because it will pay off in the long run. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Trying To Ignore The Negativity
Jaqi also discusses the struggles of dealing with negative comments or backlash that is directed at her daughters or her family. Although she knows to ignore the negativity and focus on the positive feedback, it isn’t always easy.
She feels a lot of pressure to protect her family and fight back but reminds herself that “If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all.”
“They Look Sad”
A comment that the girl’s frequent receive is that they look sad all the time. Some even take this to mean that they’re being forced to model and that they aren’t having fun.
They respond by saying that some photoshoots are supposed to be more solemn then others and that if you ever met them, you’d know that they are far from sad.
Stance On Makeup
One of the biggest questions that the family gets is if the girls are wearing makeup. Not everybody thinks that it’s a big deal, except some of them think that the girls are a little young to be exposed to it at such a young age.
However, Jaqi comments by saying “ln most every job the girl’s book through their agency, or any professional photo shoot they attend, there is a hired hair and makeup artist on set. Why!? Because that’s how the industry works.”
Jaqi’s Biggest Pet Peeve
Although there’s endless backlash from the public about the girl’s modeling careers, the comment that she hates the most is when people say “Let them be kids”.
This annoys her as well as the girls because they haven’t been forced into modeling, it’s genuinely what they like to do and how they want to spend their time.
They Do Other Things Than Just Model
Although modeling now takes up a fair amount of their time, the two twins are still average little girls. They still like to goof around during photo shoots, make music playlists in the car, and even get on each other’s nerves.
However, the two have always liked to dance and used to do it in front of the camera before they started modeling. Maybe that’s why they have a knack for it!
The Benefits of Living The Modeling Life
Although the life of modeling can be exhausting with all of the traveling and scheduling, it has also helped to bring the family together.
They describe each trip as being a new experience that they get to share and they spend more time together than most families because of it. They meet new people and make new friends all the time which is part of the experience.
Extra Benefits
In addition to spending more time as a family and meeting new kids their age with similar interests, the benefits go beyond that.
They are frequently sent new products and clothes to try out for other companies and love testing them out at photo shoots. They then help out the companies by tagging them in their photos or giving them a shoutout on their social media accounts.
Steps For Instagram Success
You don’t get 300,000 Instagram followers in such a short amount of time without knowing what you’re doing.
Luckily for us, Jaqi has a few tips that turned her little girls from Instagram novices into total superstars. Even Jaqi herself went from knowing very little about social media into an expert of sorts. Continue to learn some of Jaqi’s personal secrets.
Don’t Overpost
In order to make sure that people don’t get sick of your account or forget about it, Jaqi recommends that post in moderation but still frequently.
However, if you overpost, people are more likely to unfollow you because you’re taking up their entire timeline. This is the key to gaining and maintaining followers.
Hashtags Are Crucial
Another important thing to make note of when it comes girl’s Instagram account is the use of hashtags. Jaqi has discovered a formula that helps to get the girls as much exposure as possible without being too aggressive with the hashtags.
She uses similar hashtags to other models their age so they can be found through other model’s accounts as well.
Tags Lead To More Likes
For the success of the girl’s Instagram, tagging people is also incredibly important. Not only does it show their appreciation for their makeups artists, photographers, designers, and more, but it also brings up their Instagram page when someone searches those particular people.
Jaqi also makes sure to tag both in the picture and in the comments to make sure that the tag doesn’t go unnoticed.
How To Follow The Right People
Of course, when you’re running a popular Instagram, you want to follow some people so that people are more likely to follow you. Jaqi learned to follow everyone at first including all of the other kid models, photographers, kids stores, and more.
Then, after they had a big following, she went back and kept following only the pages they wanted to follow.
Comment, Comment, Comment
Another way that the girl’s Instagram became so successful was taking advantage of the comments section.
Jaqi said that she would comment on other model’s photos, photographers, and other accounts to maybe make contact with them and spark up a conversation. This also helps to establish relationships and familiarize yourself with others.
Trends That Work
As it turns out, certain types of pictures are more liked by the public than others.
The family began to notice that they got more likes on pictures where the two were both in the picture and similar features such as their eyes were next to each other. This draws people into the picture and makes the images so unique.
Where They Got All Of Their Outfits
When the girls were just starting off, it wasn’t only their looks and likeness that got the attention of so many people, it was also their outfits.
So, to make sure that the girls had the perfect clothing, she would borrow clothes from their neighbor who ran a children’s boutique and in turn, would promote the store for he on their Instagram. Clearly, it worked out for the both of them!
Honesty Is The Best Policy
With the Clements still learning the ins-and-outs of the whole modeling world, one of the things that they’ve learned is that honesty is always the best policy.
Whether it’s working with an agency, photographer, or other models, saying what’s really on your mind helps keep things clean between everyone and makes you a likable person in the business.
They Will Only Continue If They Want To
For the girls and their older brother, the family came to an agreement that they will only stay in the modeling business as long as everyone is happy.
Their parents are more than happy to continue supporting their dream as long as they want to keep doing it. The second they want out is when they’ll stop because their parents just want them to be happy.
The Twins Make A Lot Of Friends
Mom Jaqi says that one of the upsides to having her girls in the modeling industry is all the friends they make along the way.
“[They] meet a new ‘friend’ for 10 minutes at an audition or a shoot and are already asking me if this new friend can be their cousin, because a simple friendship just doesn’t quite express the love they have for their new friend,” Jaqi writes on her blog.
Jaqi Says That This Industry Isn’t Cheap
The twins’ mom also would like to make clear that just because the girls are constantly booking jobs, doesn’t mean that the family is suddenly rich. If anything, it’s costing the Clements family in gas, food, and headshots to keep up with the job.
“But I guess if you really put it all into perspective, the money we as parents put out now… will allow them to make their own money they can use towards college or a car or a house in the future,” she writes.
Be Wary Of Who You Trust
“This by far has been one of the most stressful, upsetting, mind-boggling, and biggest lessons I’ve learned in this industry so far,” Jaqi writes on her blog.
She is referring to the fact that you should be cautious when choosing an agent and other industry professionals to work with. Find someone who has yours or your kids’ best interest in mind and maybe do a little research on the person.
They Have Good Genes
In case you were wondering where the Clements twins and their brother got their stunning looks from, look no further than the parents!
It might be a common opinion that this is one good-looking family. We’ve seen Jaqi model sometimes with her daughters, but we’re pretty sure the father of the family could work the camera as well!
Modeling Is An Adventure
heathersmithphotos/Instagram
The claims that the twins are being forced to model are unfounded. They actually like the job, but what is it that’s so appealing?
Jaqi writes on the blog: “They like the new adventures we go on every week, never knowing where we will end up but looking forward to a new experience.”
It’s Perfect For Bonding With Their Mother
With Mom as their manager, the twins are able to spend a lot of time with her, forming mother-daughter bonds that will last a lifetime.
Jaqi writes that another aspect of modeling the girls enjoy is that “They like spending time in the car with each other and with me… having some girl time together.”
Mom Is Taking Negativity In Stride
While the twins get criticized, their mom often finds herself the object of negative comments as well. But Jaqi doesn’t really pay mind to it.
“I definitely don’t give any light to negative comments because I know myself that they are untrue and that’s really all that matters,” Jaqi replied to a commenter on her blog.
Jaqi Makes No Effort To Stop The Negativity Either
Even though Jaqi ignores the negative comments, it doesn’t mean that they don’t stop coming. If anything, she welcomes them.
Jaqi writes, “i welcome people to comment… good or bad. I don’t plan on deleting anyone’s comments even if they are negatively directed towards me because everyone is entitled to express how they feel.”
Speaking Up Is Worth It In The End
In an industry like modeling, it can be hard to speak up without worrying about your position. Jaqi wrote back to a commenter who, like her, has kids in the industry and was scared to say something at first.
She writes, “I don’t want to do or say anything that will jeopardize anything for my kids but at the same time, enough is enough. If I can prevent others from going through what we have been through then it’s worth the fight!”
On To The Future
The Clements twins show no signs of slowing down in their careers now. They may still be in elementary school, but with the success they’re seeing, they’ll probably be modeling well into their high school years!
You might even see them acting one day, too. The twins have their own YouTube channel where they will be posting vlogs. Who knows where their lives will go from there?!
1.1 Million Followers
Instagram/clementstwins
Today the Clements twins have 1.1 million followers on Instagram. Wow. Here’s how their following compares to the most followed women on Instagram. Lady Gaga has 35 million followers, and Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot has 28 million.
Vanessa Hudgens has 33 million, and Gigi Hadid has 46 million. In comparison to all these women who are top actresses, models, and artists, the Clements twins are well on their way to becoming two of the most followed females on Instagram.
8-Years-Old With An Incredible Portfolio
Instagram/@clementstwins
Now that the twins are a bit older, more modeling opportunities are available to them. Fashion publications and clothing brands are reaching out to have the twins model for them, and the results are stunning.
The girls now have a solid portfolio of beautiful images taken by top photographers. That, paired with their huge Instagram following, gives the girls great opportunity to book even bigger modeling gigs for the future.
Their First Official Year As Professional Models
Since they became professional models at seven years old, the last year has been extremely exciting for the Clements twins and their mother Jaqi. After they “went pro” on July 7, 2017, the Daily Mail wrote an article about the girls that launched their careers even higher.
“It was at that time that DailyMail.com published an article on them,” Jaqi said. That was December of 2017. “This past year has been really fun and exciting for Ava and Leah.”
So what’s a day in the life like as a young professional model? Jaqi says, “Whether it be private shopping experiences, gifted merchandise from brands all over the world, or taking pictures with fans, the girls have had an amazing ride so far.”
Luckily for the twins, their mother is always there beside them, looking out for their best interests and making sure they’re enjoying every step of the way.
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Architectural Form Faces Urbanization: Manfredo Tafuri and the Tel Aviv–Jaffa City Center Competition
Tulay Atak
GRANT YEAR
Tulay Atak, Cooper Union
Manfredo Tafuri, Giorgio Piccinato, and Vieri Quilici, page spread of "City Territory: Toward a New Dimension" as published in Casabella 270, December 1962, Italy. Courtesy of Casabella.
Beginning with an overlooked essay by Manfredo Tafuri—“Critical Rationalism and New Utopianism: Competition for Restructuring Tel Aviv–Jaffa City Center"—this project explores the architectural responses to urbanization in the 1960s contexts of Italy and Israel. Focusing on competitions that Tafuri was involved in either as a critic or as part of a design team, including the Quartiere Cepalle Barene di San Giuliano in Mestre, Turin City Center, and the Tel Aviv–Jaffa City Center competitions, the project documents how architects imagined the future of the city, especially new city centers and transitional zones, by considering the formal operations of architecture at the scale of the city. By means of historical analysis, the project critically articulates the notions of imageability, "citta territorio," and public and civic space as prominent concerns of architecture and urbanism, while providing a genealogy of urban interventions that include architectural attempts to respond to things bigger than buildings.
Tulay Atak is an architect and an architectural historian whose work focuses on questions of modern urbanism in a global context. She received her professional architecture degree at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey, and pursued her PhD at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her dissertation, Byzantine Modern: Displacements of Modernism in Istanbul, considers the place of Istanbul in the making of modern architecture. In addition to her dissertation, she conducted fieldwork in Chandigarh as part of the Getty Research Institute's project on Museology and the Colony. Her writing has been published in several journals, such as Future Anterior, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (JSAH), The Journal of Architectural Education (JAE), and Publications of the Modern Language Association (PMLA), as well as in books, including Byzantium/Modernism: The Byzantine as Method in Modernity, L'Invention d'un Architecte: Le Voyage en Orient de Le Corbusier, and No Touching, No Spitting, No Praying: The Museum in South Asia. Most recently, she coauthored Fragile City, a book on the photographs of Le Corbusier's Voyage D'Orient of 1911. She currently teaches at both the Cooper Union and Pratt Institute.
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Josef Svoboda – Light and Shadows
October 24, 2015 roxana waxSet designnon-naturalistic, scenic designer, scenographer
Josef Svoboda (May 10, 1920 – April 8, 2002) was a Czech artist and scenic designer. His productions were revolutionary in the use of a combination of live actors and filmed scenes and for his introduction of contemporary materials and original special effects. Signature elements of his ever-changing environments were projections and later closed-circuit television monitors, which allowed a scene to be to multiplied in space and time. Another key feature were mirrors, sometimes enormous and used to reflect and distort the stage floor. The influence of set designer Adolphe Appia is visible in the strong presence of architectural elements such as majestic stairs and platforms.
Svoboda was born in Čáslav, Czechoslovakia (today the Czech Republic). He began his training as an architect at the Central School of Housing in Prague. At the end ofWorld War II, he became interested in theatre and design. He began to study scenography at the Prague Conservatory and architecture at the Academy of Applied Arts.
Svoboda became the principal designer at the Czech National Theatre in 1948 and held that position for more than 30 years. His multimedia installations Laterna Magikaand Polyekran, realized together with director Alfréd Radok on the occasion of the Expo 58 in Brussels, allowed him to be internationally known. These productions introduced the combination of live actors and filmed projections. Svoboda is also responsible for introducing modern technologies and materials such as plastics, hydraulics and lasers into his designs. In 1967, Svoboda created one of his best known special effects, a three-dimensional pillar of light. This was created by the use of an aerosol mixture which revealed low-voltage luminaries.
Josef Svoboda considered himself a scenographer rather than a designer; he chose to show a more holistic, architectural, non-naturalistic approach to design. His 700-plus designs include Insect Comedy (Czech National Theatre, 1946); Rusalka (Teatro La Fenice, Venice, 1958); Carmen (Metropolitan Opera, New York City, 1972); The Firebird (Royal Danish Theatre, Copenhagen, 1972); I Vespri Siliciani (Metropolitan Opera, 1974); Jumpers (Kennedy Center, 1974), many of them realized together with the opera director Václav Kašlík.
He left the Czech National Theatre in 1992. Year later, he became artistic director of the Laterna Magika Theatre.
Svoboda’s honors and awards include honorary doctorates from the Royal College of Arts in London, Denison and Western Michigan universities in the United States, and awards from the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT). He was made Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in Paris in 1976, and received the French Legion of Honor in 1993.
Josef Svoboda died in Prague, where he was buried on April 15, 2002.
“When I sit alone in a theatre and gaze into the dark space of its empty stage, I’m frequently seized by fear that this time I won’t manage to penetrate it, and I always hope that this fear will never desert me. Without an unending search for the key to the secret of creativity, there is no creation. It’s necessary always to begin again. And that is beautiful.”
Josef Svoboda.
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Kapil Sibal: No thought process behind schemes Modi has announced
Published: June 3, 2015 - 16:40 Updated: June 16, 2015 - 12:41
Lawyer, politician and former UPA minister, Kapil Sibal, is angry with the BJP government over the way it has usurped old UPA programmes and is palming them off as its own. Sibal, whose "zero loss" theory in the 2G scam became a butt of ridicule during a phase where UPA's credibility was abysmally low, blames poor communication for his party's debacle in the last 2014 polls. In this tough interview, Sibal, a good lawyer that he is, picks up holes in BJP government's tall claims during the one year that they have been in power. He fears that people's democratic rights are under threat under the BJP government. Excerpts...
Sadiq Naqvi Delhi
How do you look at one year of the Narendra Modi led BJP government?
If you take any sector of the economy, any activity of the state you will find two significant trends, one is that he has taken the schemes of our government, renamed them, taken them forward and taken the credit for it. For example I can tell you about the telecom sector. Digital India is nothing but the National Optical Fibre Network scheme which I got a budgetary allocation of Rs 20,000 crore. Same thing with Jan Dhan Yojna.
What about his other schemes?
The second trend we see is that in schemes he has announced there seems to be no thought process behind it. Let’s take Niti Aayog. Even before the Lok Sabha Elections he announced that he will do away with the Planning Commission. He did that, but it took several months to set up the Niti Aayog which means that when he made that announcement, he had no idea that he was wanting to do, Even today we don’t know what Niti Aayog stands for. Arvind Panagriya has not been given the status of cabinet minister. He doesn’t know where he stands, what his work profile is. Nobody knows what Niti Aayog is meant to do and they have an allocation of Rs 20,000 crores. It’s chicken feed. So many of these announcements are thoughtless announcements like for example his visit to China, he said I’ll give e-visas to China, it is thoughtless, there is no reciprocity, we have given something to the Chinese on the platter without negotiating something in return.
The Chinese recently promised to invest $46 billion in Pakistan...
Yes, and they gave $46 billion to Pakistan. I don’t know whether [Modi's government] raised that issue or not. But even if they did nothing has come out of it, nothing will come out of it. There are stapled visas for Jammu & Kashmir and for the Northeast; that issue has not been resolved. The border issue has not been resolved, and we are announcing unilaterally when the foreign secretary just a few hours before said there is no such decision. Again this is an example of the thoughtless announcements for pleasing your host and trying to show that you have a great relationship. In diplomacy nobody says that I don’t like you. So if somebody has praised you, it can’t be a reason for patting yourself on the back and saying how great you are.
What do you make of Swach Bharat?
Now what is Swach Bharat? It is not cleaning the North Block with a broom. Swach Bharat means a community initiative where cleanliness is an ideology which must actually be a thought process in every household. People don’t have the wherewithal. People don’t get sanitation. How can you expect cleanliness? I will take you to places in my constituency which are worse than they were since the program was announced, yet he tom toms as if it is something revolutionary. Swach Bharat is wonderful as a concept and we all should believe in it and we should take it forward but Swach Bharat cannot be a national scheme.
And the Rafale deal with France. Your views...
Yes, that is another example. He goes to France and he says I’ll pick up 36 Rafale jets from the shelf. There are serious issues with Rafale which defence minister alluded to recently. And there is no dialogue with the defence ministry before the announcement is made.
The move also didn’t square with calls for Make in India...
What is make in India? How do you make things in India? Does he have an idea? Does the prime minister know how things are made in India? If there is some collaboration between a technology entrepreneur with DRDO that is at the high end of the technology. You might have a deal of making something in India, but make In India means that your everyday items should be made in India. Where is the workforce for that? Where are the skills for that? Where is the investment for that? Zero, there is no plan for it even. So the problem is, again the same thing, you make plans but there is no thought process behind it. And there is this other trend. You pick up an UPA scheme, rename it and then take credit for it. Take the skill development programme. It’s something we started long ago. I myself in the ministry of human resource development said that class nine onwards there should be a vocational training. This government is just taking it forward and then taking the credit for it.
So has there been a big gap in Congress’ communication strategy?
Congress definitely failed to communicate. Two things happened. One: we failed in our communication strategy. Two, which is even more problematic: A perception was created that this was a scam ridden government and we were not able to deal with that perception.
Did you not get a chance to defend yourselves? Was there a gag order?
No, it’s not that. What happened was that when the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the media got together and the courts came out with those judgements, it seemed as if they had the imprimatur of court. Then the media played it so much that it went into the hearts and minds of people that we have done a monumental wrong where in fact we had not. All we had done was to follow the policy of the previous government, and in any case no Congress minister was accused of any wrongdoing. Today they are saying, look at one year, it’s a corruption free government. In 2004 we came in power, was there any corruption in 2005? For five years there was not a whiff of corruption.
But former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been summoned by the court in the coal scam...
I am saying there are no allegations. Corruption is something you take a decision to allot a mine to somebody. You may attribute mala fides to that decision. But nobody said that there was any quid pro quo, that anybody took any benefit. The allegation is that you may have given the benefit. That allegation is still an allegation. In any case there was no allegation against any Congress minister for any quid pro quo. Secondly, on the issue of corruption free government, if you do not allow the Central Information Commission to function, and you have 13000 applications pending before the CIC, If people don’t get information, then how will they assess whether you are corruption free government or not? He has blocked all the information. No information flows, no minister meets anybody, and you are not allowed to meet ministers. Ministers won’t talk. We were an open government, and we used to talk openly. If you are a closed system and you won’t allow information to leak, it will take time for those scandals to come out. They should wait and see. At the end of five years, I hope they last that long, we will see what happens.
You have served as Minister, Human Resource and Development. How do you assess the present HRD Ministry under Smriti Irani?
I am concerned about it. It’s in the news for the wrong reasons. The IIT Delhi Director Shevgaonkar complained he was insulted then nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar’s criticism of the way IIT Directors are being appointed, or the appointment of Dina Nath Batra as the head of ICHR. Moreover, there are several vacancies which have not been filled up. CBSE is headless, Kendriya Vidyalaya is vacant. The ministry is in the news for conflict whereas human resource is about collaboration. So, if conflict comes to the fore and collaboration at the background then the department cannot work.
It’s the 40th anniversary of the imposition of internal emergency. Prime Minister Modi is facing criticism for centralising power around himself. Do you feel that there is a danger of those days coming back?
Yes, 100 per cent and I am very worried. See what is he doing? He is following a very well planned strategy – let those who talk of Ghar Wapsi, Love Jihad, Ramzadas and Haramzadas, let them say what they have to say and ‘I will keep quiet’ and at some stage I will make some statement that this should not be said while saying that has fulfilled its objective. So, he will allow that to happen and he will give the impression that he does not want that to happen. He wants to win the battle at both ends and that’s his policy. There have been 600 incidents of communal violence in the country. Almost 43 people have died. Arun Jaitley also reached out to the Christian community. They will make all the right noises before the media and what have they done when it comes to actual working with all the communities. The ugly head of communalism is rising again.
But there has been no wide scale violence...
Wide scale violence means what? If in Gujarat, those who are the victims of violence remain in ghettos then that is continuing violence. If in Muzzaffarnagar people are living in inhuman state that’s continuing violence. Also, this is the first time in the history of the Indian politics that a party’s president (Amit Shah) is accused of murder.
What do you make of the way cases of encounters and violence in Gujarat are being dealt with?
There are two things – people who were prosecuted for serious offences like murder, police officers like PP Pandey and Gita Johri, no sanction is given. They cannot be prosecuted. And, for those who have been convicted, now they are suddenly getting judgments that are acquitting them. And they are being reinstated while the process of appeals is still pending. These people are being reinstated and that too on important positions.
Why is the Congress not raising this issue?
They should. I am surprised why this issue is not being raised.
Also, if you look at what is happening in the CBI, which also happens to be investigating a lot of such cases, has it not taken the sheen out of the agency?
Remember, when I was opposing the Lok Pal Bill, people were accusing me that they (Congress) don’t want accountability. Now see what has happened to CBI. See what murk has come out. If your agencies are not accountable to anybody and this is the state of the agency as it has been revealed in the recent events then the danger to country is very serious if you allow them complete power.
Do you also feel that there is an attempt to demoralize the CBI by the current government?
BJP is known for infiltrating into all institutions. They did it in their last avatar and they will do it now. One of the reasons why their priority is on the National Judicial Appointments Commission is only this. They want to have their own men in the judiciary. And they are doing it in the educational institutions any way and they will continue to do so. And in the bureaucracy. That is a given, when the BJP comes to power they will do it.
Lawyer, politician and former UPA minister, Kapil Sibal, is angry with the BJP government over the way it has usurped old UPA programmes and is palming them off as its own.
Read more stories by Kapil Sibal: No thought process behind schemes Modi has announced
UPA, Swach Bharat, Rahul Gandhi, Modi, Love jihad, Kapil Sibal, Ghar Wapsi, Corruption, Congress, CBI, BJP
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• Diabetes Mellitus
• Diabetes Mellitus, Non-Insulin-Dependent
• Exercise
Which Type of Exercise Might Lower Your Diabetes Risk?
MONDAY, March 11, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Boosting your muscle strength could help ward off type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.
Even moderate amounts of resistance exercise may help prevent type 2 diabetes, said the study's corresponding author, Duck-chul Lee. He's an associate professor of kinesiology at Iowa State University.
For the study, Lee's team tracked more than 4,500 adults, aged 20 to 100. The investigators found that moderate muscle mass was associated with a 32 percent reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, regardless of problems such as smoking, drinking, obesity or high blood pressure.
The reduced diabetes risk associated with moderate muscle mass was also independent of heart/lung fitness, the findings showed.
Higher levels of muscle strength did not provide additional protection against diabetes. And Lee said there are no standardized measurements for muscle strength, so it's difficult to recommend the ideal amount of resistance exercise.
"Naturally, people will want to know how often to lift weights or how much muscle mass they need, but it's not that simple," Lee said in a university news release.
"As researchers, we have several ways to measure muscle strength, such as grip strength or bench press. More work is needed to determine the proper dose of resistance exercise, which may vary for different health outcomes and populations," he explained.
Getting started with resistance training doesn't require a gym membership or expensive equipment. You can begin at home by doing body-weight exercises, said lead author Angelique Brellenthin, a postdoctoral researcher in kinesiology at Iowa State.
"We want to encourage small amounts of resistance training and it doesn't need to be complicated," Brellenthin said. "You can get a good resistance workout with squats, planks or lunges. Then, as you build strength, you can consider adding free weights or weight machines."
Thirty million Americans have diabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The overwhelming majority suffer from type 2, which is linked to being overweight and sedentary.
The study was published March 11 in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more on preventing type 2 diabetes.
SOURCE: Iowa State University, news release, March 11, 2019
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J. Kasper Kramer
J. Kasper Kramer lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she works as an adjunct professor of English. She’s represented by Yishai Seidman at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency and earned her MA in Creative Writing from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Her work can be found in The Rumpus, The Coachella Review, and Catalpa. When she's not curled up with a book, her passions include gaming, researching movies for a podcast she hosts with her husband, and fostering kittens.
Her debut Middle Grade novel, The Story That Cannot Be Told, is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster/Atheneum, with a planned release in Fall 2019.
The Story That Cannot Be Told Forthcoming from S&S/Atheneum!
From Publisher's Weekly:
Reka Simenson at S&S/Atheneum has acquired, at auction, North American rights to debut author J. Kasper Kramer's The Story That Cannot Be Told, a middle-grade novel that weaves together folklore and history to tell the story of a girl sent to live with her estranged grandparents in a remote mountain village during the final months of Communist reign in Romania, where she must find her voice and the strength to use it to survive the danger she thought she left behind. Publication is planned for fall 2019, the 30th anniversary of the Roma
nian Revolution; Yishai Seidman at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency negotiated the deal.
"Haunted" | The Coachella Review
I want to believe in ghosts so bad that it hurts.
When I was a child, my parents rekindled their marriage by booking rooms in dusty, old B&Bs, inns, and plantations. They'd creep through the hallways while the owners were sleeping. They'd hold their K2 EMF Meter up to glass-eyed, cracked porcelain dolls, gasping when their Infrared Digital Thermometer started detecting a change. They'd snap pictures of dark, empty rooms to peruse over later, always searching for things unexpected, things hiding among the antique furniture and the yellowed wallpaper.
Tweets by JKasperKramer
J. Kasper Kramer. Watermark theme. Theme images by Airyelf. Powered by Blogger.
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About - Kinaree Thai
Originally published for InFocus Magazine April/May 2008
Soulat Ma is relaxed and alert as he scans the room. He’s the perfect host, keeping tabs on all the details, helping with service when needed, conversing easily with the many people he knows, checking in graciously with those he doesn’t recognize. You get the feeling he could be taking care of guests in his own living room, but in fact, he’s running a restaurant.
“It’s my job to make sure everything goes smoothly—actually, goes perfectly,” explains Ma, co-owner with his wife, Pasthida Ma, of Kinaree Thai in Downtown Courtenay.
Pasthida is the head chef and kitchen manager, and Ma takes care of everything else, “from the toothpicks on up,” he explains. The most important part of that “everything else,” he says, is creating a welcoming atmosphere.
“This has been my goal with the restaurant. From the beginning I wanted to build a restaurant that would be part of people’s daily lives that would feel like part of their family. I want people to come here and be happy and relaxed, and to enjoy a lovely evening. The restaurant should feel like community,” says Ma.
The Mas chose the name Kinaree to embody their vision of a relaxed and gracious dining experience. “We liked the soft sounds of the word,” says Ma. The Kinaree is a figure from the ancient Thai legend of the Himmapan Forest, inhabited by magical creatures. Described as a beautiful half-woman, half-swan, the Kinaree embodies excellence in singing and dancing, and her graceful form is often depicted in sculpture, traditional architecture and temple murals. A bronze statue of Kinaree sits in the restaurant, complementing other Thai art mounted on the deep red walls.
Ma obviously enjoys the “everything else” of running a restaurant, but when it comes down to it, he insists that the most important element of the restaurant is the food. At Kinaree Thai, the focus is on keeping the food truly authentic, while responding to the contemporary Western preference for light, healthy food.
“I want people to come here and be happy and relaxed,” says Soulat Ma, who owns Kinaree Thai Cuisine with his wife Pasthida (above with their two kids at the restaurant).
“The food speaks for itself.” Photo by Boomer Jerritt
The desire to show Canadians authentic Thai food is what motivated Ma’s entry into the restaurant business. He was just 17 in 1988 when he and his older brother left Bangkok to live in Canada. Their instructions were to spec it out and report back to their parents. They landed in Winnipeg. One of the things they noticed was that Thai food was very popular, so they went to a couple of Thai restaurants. “I wouldn’t say the food was bad, but we were disappointed,” says Ma diplomatically. “It wasn’t the same as the food in Thailand.”
His brother decided to open a restaurant, with Ma’s help, that would serve genuine Thai food. That’s where Ma learned the ropes of the food service industry.
On one of his trips home to Thailand for a visit, Ma met Pasthida. “I fell in love with her because her cooking was so amazing!” says Ma, a twinkle in his eye. Pasthida had learned to cook as a child from her mother, and had worked in her sister-in-law’s restaurant.
As often happens with love, one thing led to another and eventually Pasthida moved to Winnipeg to be with Ma. They got married, had two children, worked in the restaurant business… and began to tire of the Winnipeg winters.
“I heard there was no winter in the Comox Valley,” says Ma, with that twinkle again. “I was told you can go fishing all year round.” The Mas wanted to open their own restaurant, and Courtenay seemed like the perfect place. “It’s a great place to bring up kids. There’s a great sense of community; people are very nice, very friendly.”
When Kinaree Thai opened its doors in September 2006, it was a welcome addition to the community.
“The reception was very welcoming from the beginning,” says Ma. “People were very appreciative, very warm. It was amazing.” Curiosity about a new Thai restaurant may be what brought people through the door the first time, but the quality of the food is what brought them back, says Ma. “The food speaks for itself.”
The restaurant has many regulars, both for lunch and dinner. Ma has become friendly with many of them, and makes a point of listening to their desires.
“Because we’re close to downtown, we heard from people that they wanted to come in for a quick lunch. So we created our lunch combination menu,” says Ma.
The lunch combination menu offer 12 choices ranging from the classic peanut-topped noodle dish, Pad Thai, to Drunken Noodle, a rice noodle dish with vegetables in oyster sauce, to Red Curry Chicken with Rice, as well as the vegetarian Mixed Vegetables and Tofu with Rice. There are three different versions of Thai Noodle Soup. All the combinations come with salad and Kinaree’s special Thai dressing.
The five-page dinner menu offers appetizers, salads, and fish, seafood, meat and vegetarian entrees. Dishes range from spicy to mild. All the tantalizing flavors and ingredients of Thai food are here—the rich spice blends of red, green and yellow curries; the silky sweetness of coconut milk; the tang of lime; the assertiveness of cilantro and mint, the subtlety of lemongrass; the crunch of peanuts and cashews.
In creating and adapting the menu, Ma has paid heed to his clients’ requests for healthy choices. “You can have a low-fat meal here,” he says.
When I go to Kinaree for a meal, Ma selects dishes for me that particularly reflect the healthy eating standard.
In the Fish Apple Salad, chunks of fish are marinated and deep fried in a miraculously light batter. Deep fried doesn’t have to mean greasy, says Ma, and this dish certainly proves him right. The fish is nestled in a salad with slices of crunchy green apple and toasted cashews in a tangy, delicate Thai dressing.
Stir-fried Curry Prawns is a house specialty and comes with Thai creamy sauce with plenty of celery, onion and bell peppers. The prawns are succulent, the vegetables done just right, and the sauce unfolds in layers of flavor.
Five-flavored Chicken, another house specialty, is a famous Thai dish of crispy chicken served in a medley of fresh fruits and cashew nuts. The pineapple and grapes complement the chicken and nuts in both texture and flavor, offering a cleansing counterpoint to the rich spices of the sauce. The dishes are served with delicately flavored coconut jasmine rice.
Ma explains that Thai food, properly prepared, enhances digestion. The herbs and spices are not just for flavor. They also help us process food by stimulating the digestive system.
On the other hand, when it comes to food, now and then it can be nice to throw our health-concerned caution to the winds, and for those moments, there is a tempting dessert menu. “People are crazy about deep fried ice cream these days,” says Ma.
The art and science of wine selection is a bit of a passion for Ma, and he is eager to talk about the wine list.
“The right wine with the right food really makes a huge difference. When I started working in a Canadian restaurant, I noticed that not that many people ordered wine. I started studying the wine list, and took courses in wine and how to blend the right wine with the right food. I even found courses offering wine tasting with Thai food,” he says.
“Many people ordering a white wine with our food make the mistake of ordering a dry wine like a Chardonnay. But the flavors of the wine are lost because of the spices of the food. Instead, I’d recommend a medium dry to sweet wine like a Sauvignon Blanc, a Gewürztraminer or a Riesling. These go really well with spicy food,” he says. One of his plans for the future is to offer a wine pairing menu.
Kinaree Thai is also popular spot for take-out food. Ma estimates that four in 10 orders are take-out.
“We use the take-out all the time,” says a regular at the next table. “We’re from Denman Island and so what we do is call ahead and pick it up on our way home to the ferry. Usually we eat it while we’re waiting in the ferry line-up.”
Ma clearly delights in having an ongoing relationship with his customers. Even if a regular is just coming in to pick up a take-out order, he’ll make his way over to say hello and ask how they’re doing. In return, he gets ideas from them.
He noticed early on that often customers visiting Kinaree would start telling friends about their travels in Thailand. He heard more than one person say, “Gee, if only I had a map, I could show you where I went (or where I’m planning to go).” This prompted him to put a map of Thailand on the cover of his menu. This way people can reminisce about a previous trip to Thailand, or dream of one in the future. The map includes a cheeky, “You are here” message, placing Kinaree in Bangkok. We’re not really in Bangkok, of course, but it’s a close as you can get in Courtenay!
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Home About Leadership Founders Lisa Jansa, MBA Leadership * Brian E. Harvey, MD, Ph.D
* Brian E. Harvey, MD, Ph.D
Brian E. Harvey, MD, PhD is a physician and biochemist with academic research, clinical practice, U.S. FDA regulatory, bio-pharmaceutical industry and non-profit experience. He currently is the Executive Vice President, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at the non-profit Global Liver Institute (www.globalliver.org) based in Washington, DC and also serves as a regulatory consultant. Other volunteer activities include work with World Vets (http://worldvets.org/), as a Veterinary Husband and Assistant. This past year, he spent a week in Nicaragua on an Equine mission, where he and the team cared for over 400 horses during their trip.
Prior to his current activities, Dr. Harvey held positions as Vice President of U.S. Regulatory Strategy at Pfizer and Vice President of U.S. Regulatory Policy at Sanofi-Aventis, including during the period of the Genzyme merger.
Dr. Harvey also held several senior roles at FDA, serving in the medical device (CDRH), biologic (CBER) and drug (CDER) Center from 1995 to 2007. As Director of CDER Division of Gastroenterology Products Office of New Drugs (OND), he headed the regulatory review teams for NDA and BLA submissions and chaired FDA meetings with regulated industry on a regular basis. As Director, he created the Inborn Errors of Metabolism Team within the GI division to focus on rare disease product approvals. Prior to this, he served as Deputy Director for the Office of Drug Evaluation 5 (CDER) and CBER Associate Director for Policy, Office of Therapeutics Research and Review (OTRR). In 2000-2001, Dr. Harvey represented FDA as an American Political Science Association (APSA) Congressional Fellow and worked with the health staffs of the Senate Finance, Health Education Labor & Pensions (HELP) and Judiciary Committees. During his entire federal service, he also worked as a medical hospitalist, caring for patients on evenings, weekends and holidays at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, MD as an “Outside Activity” (HHS-520 Approved).
Brian graduated with honors from Middlebury College in Vermont. After college, he completed his PhD in biochemistry and then enrolled into the MD program at the University of Connecticut. In his last year of medical school, he began post-doctoral research on colorectal cancer and the role of sialic acid in site-specific metastasis at Harvard University. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Harvard’s Beth Israel Hospital, which included clinical rotations at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, West Roxbury Veterans Hospital, clinical research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard School of Public Health. His bench research activities resulted in several publications in peer reviewed journals. This was followed by a three year gastroenterology fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, which included hepatology training and being a member of the Liver Transplant Service.
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The Wild World of Rattan Palms
There are a lot of big organisms out there. A small handful of these are truly massive. When someone mentions big plants, minds will quickly drift to giant sequoias or coastal redwoods. These species are indeed massive. The tallest tree on record is a coastal redwood measuring 369 feet tall. That's a whole lot of tree! What some may not realize is that there are other plants out there that can grow much "taller" than even the tallest redwood. For instance, there is a group of palms that hail from Africa, Asia, and Australasia that grow to staggering lengths albeit without the mass of a redwood.
You are probably quite familiar with some of these palm species, though not as living specimens. If you have ever owned or sat upon a piece of wicker furniture then you were sitting on pieces of a rattan palm. Rattan palms do not grow in typical palm tree fashion. Rattans are climbers, more like vines. All palms grow from a central part of the plant called the heart. They grow as bromeliads do, from meristem tissue in the center of a rosette of leaves. As a rattan grows, its stem lengthens and grabs hold of the surrounding vegetation using some seriously sharp, hooked spikes. For much of their early life they generally sprawl across the forest floor but the real goal of the rattan is to reach up into the canopy where they can access the best sunlight.
Rattans are not a single taxonomic unit. Though they are all palms, at least 13 genera contain palms that exhibit this climbing habit. With over 600 species included in these groups, it goes without saying that there is a lot of variation on the theme. The largest rattan palms hail from the genus Calamus and all but one are native to Asia.
Many species of rattan have whip-like stems that would be easy to miss in a lush jungle. Be aware of your surroundings though, because these spikes are quite capable of ripping clothes and flesh to pieces. The rattans are like any other vine, sacrificing bulk for an easy ride into the light at the expense of whatever it climbs on. Indeed some get so big that they break their host tree. It is this searching, sprawling nature of the rattans that allow them to reach some impressive lengths. Some species of rattan have been reported with stems measuring over 500 feet!
Getting back to what I mentioned earlier about wicker furniture, rattans are a very important resource for the people of the jungles in which they grow. They offer food, building materials, shelter materials, an artistic medium, and a source of economic gain. In many areas, rattans are being heavily exploited as a result. This is bad for both the ecology of the forest and the locals who depend upon these species.
The global rattan trade is estimated at around $4 billion dollars. Because of this, rattans are harvested quite heavily and many are cut at too young of an age to re-sprout meaning little to no recruitment occurs in these areas. There is a lot of work being done by a few organizations to try to set up sustainable rattan markets in the regions that have been hit the hardest. More information can be found at sites like the World Wildlife Fund.
Photo Credits: [1] [2] [3]
Further Reading: [1] [2] [3] [4]
In Canopy, Conservation, Palm Trees Tags rattan, rattan palm, wicker, palms, Arecaceae, agriculture, palm trees, vines, palm vines
Ancient Saw Palmettos in the Heart of Florida
When we think about long lived plants, our minds tend to fixate on bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva), coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), or that clonal patch of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) in Utah. What would you say if I told you that we can add a palm tree to that list? Indeed, recent evidence suggests that the saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) can reach a ripe old age measured in thousands (yes, thousands) of years.
Now, at this point some of you are probably thinking "how can you measure the age of a palm when there are no annual growth rings?!" This is a legitimate hurdle that had to be overcome before such a claim was made. Using a lot of attention to detail and some crafty mathematics, a team of researchers was able to age saw palmettos in Florida's most ancient habitats.
This work was performed on a peculiar geological formation. Aptly named the "Mid-Florida Ridge," this 150 mile sand ridge bisects the middle of the state. Throughout much of the Pliocene and early Pleistocene, sea levels were as much as 50 meters higher than they were today. Nearly all of Florida was underwater during this time. All that stuck out above the water were a series of small islands. These islands served as refugia for flora and fauna pushed south by repeated glaciations. Once the ocean receded to its current level, these islands were left high and dry, thus forming the ridge in question. Because of its history as a refugium, the Mid-Florida Ridge is home to a staggering array of plant species, some of which are endemic to this relatively small area of Florida.
Because of its relative stability through time, the Mid-Florida Ridge is a haven for long lived plant species. Thus, it was a prime location for trying to understand the longevity of the charismatic and ecologically important saw palmetto. By tagging individual palms and observing them year after year, researchers were able to get an idea of exactly how fast this species can grow. Depending on soil conditions, saw palmettos grow at a rate of somewhere between 0.88 and 2.2 cm per year. They certainly aren't winning any speed races at that rate. Regardless, you can begin to see that an estimate of yearly growth rate can shine a light on how long these palms have been around. Measurements of tagged palmettos growing on the sand ridge show that individuals aged at a staggering 500 years are not uncommon!
The light sandy looking area in the middle is the Mid-Florida Ridge
This estimate gets a bit complicated when we consider another aspect of saw palmetto biology - they are clonal. For a variety of reasons, as saw palmettos grow, their sprawling stem will often branch out, creating clones of themselves. Over time, the trunk portions that connect these clones rot away, giving the impression that they are unique individuals. Genetic analyses showed that many of the palmettos in the study area were actually clones. Using some pretty sophisticated models coupled with DNA evidence, the research team was able to reconstruct the growth history of many of these clones, thus allowing them to more accurately age these clonal colonies.
Their results are staggering to say the least. Based on the rate of growth and spread, the estimated age of these clonal patches of saw palmetto range anywhere between 1227–5215 years! At this point you should be asking yourself "how accurate are these data?" The truth is that the researchers were actually being quite conservative in their estimates. For instance, there were likely many clones well outside their study area. If so, they were likely underestimating the growth time of these clonal colonies. Additionally, they were only using the growth rates of adult saw palmettos in calculating average growth rates.
Seedling saw palmettos have been shown to have a reduced growth rate compared to adults, only 0.3 cm per year. Thus, they did not take into account the time it takes for seedlings to reach maturity. The team feel that accounting for such variables could increase the age estimates for such clonal patches to well over 8,000 years! I don't think we should be looking into buying that many birthday candles just yet, however, even their reported estimates are shocking to say the least.
What we can say is that for as long as Florida has been above water, saw palmettos have played an integral role in the ecology of the region. Long before humans began developing the state, the saw palmetto was functioning as a major player, shaping these sand ridge communities into the ecosystems they are today. It is without a doubt, a species worthy of our admiration and respect.
Photo Credits: [1] [2]
Further Reading: [1]
In Palm Trees Tags saw palmetto, ancient trees, old trees, serenoa repens, mid florida ridge, ancient palms, palm tree
Walking Palms
I don't know about you but Socratea exorrhiza has to be the strangest species of palm that I have ever laid eyes on. Native to Central and South America, its peculiarly stilted appearance has earned it the common name of "the walking palm." Whereas most palms invest in heavy trunks, the walking palm sends out a lanky set of stilt-roots upon which the palm grows like some otherworldly tripod.
There has been a lot of debate over the last few decades as to the purpose of these stilt-roots. In 1961 it was suggested that they were an adaptation for living in swampy areas. To date, no evidence of this has been found. Others have suggested that these roots are relatively cheap to produce compared to a solid trunk, thus allowing more investment in growing taller in a shorter amount of time while still maintaining structural integrity. This sounds attractive and is probably part of the puzzle. However, I feel that a particular study published in 1980 offers the best explanation.
Tropical forests are full of decomposition. The omnipresent threat of rot means there is a constant rain of limbs and snags from the canopy above. Trees regularly topple as well. For most plants, getting flattened by such debris is usually fatal. This is not necessarily so for the walking palm.
It has been observed that walking palms flattened by a fallen limb or tree can actually "walk" themselves out from underneath. Since most of the trunk is capable of producing stilt-roots, it doesn't take long for a new anchor to become established. Once this occurs, the palm is free to continue its journey into the canopy.
Getting squashed isn't the only worry either. Light is a premium in the deep shade of a rainforest understory. It is also short lived. A hole in the canopy that provided ample light one week may quickly close in the next, removing the life-giving rays of the sun. If a plant were able to "move around" it could potentially relocate to a sunnier spot. In a sense, this is what the walking palm does.
Walking palms are positively phototropic, meaning they lean towards a light source. Leaning can put stress on a trunk to the point that the tree topples over. The walking palm gets around this by sending down those stilt-roots, which provide support as it chases light through the canopy. In a sense, this palm "walks" itself around the forest in search of the best light. Whereas most trees are stuck where they germinate, the walking palm has, in a sense, freed itself from such restrictions. As such, older trees are often found far from their original germination point.
Once in a favorable location, the walking palm will right itself and continue upwards. At this point, the old trunk and roots are superfluous and will often rot away. For a young tree, this process can happen in as fast as two or three years. This is an incredible feat considering the time scale most trees operate on. Personally I would love to be able to observe a forest with walking palms over a few decades. Seeing how their positions change with time would be fascinating. At the very least, their bark is often covered in epiphytes, which offers a lot to comb over on our timescale.
Photo Credits: Hans Hillewaert (Wikimedia Commons) and John H. Bodley and Foley C. Benson (infographic)
http://www.revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/5955
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2387775?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
In Ecology, Evolution, Palm Trees Tags Socratea exorrhiza, Palm, Palm tree, Walking palm, Rainforest, Central America, Stilt roots, prop roots, Phototrophic, moving plants
The Largest Seed in the World
For Lodoicea maldivica, better known as coco de mer, producing the largest seeds in the world may seem like a cool fact for the record books but it certainly has its drawbacks. However, as with anything in nature, selection would not allow for wasteful traits to be passed on. Costs must be offset by a reproductive advantage on some level. A recent study looked at what these tradeoffs might be for L. maldivica and what they found is pretty incredible.
With seeds clocking in at upwards of 30 kg (66 lbs.) one has to wonder what L. maldivica is up to. It was long thought that, like the coconut, seeds of this palm must be dispersed by water. However, they are simply too dense to float. Instead, seed dispersal for this peculiar species of palm is actually quite limited. They simply fall from the tree and germinate below the canopy.
This may explain why L. maldivica is endemic only to the islands of Praslin and Curieuse in the Seychelles. It's not just the seeds that are huge either. The female flowers, which are borne on separate trees than the males, are the largest female flowers of any species of palm. At 10 m (32 ft.) in diameter, the leaves are also massive, fanning outwards on petioles that can reach 2 m to 4 m (6.5 - 13 ft) in length. It goes without saying that L. maldivica is a palm full of superlatives.
Counterintuitively, the habitats in which they grow are notoriously low in nutrients. Why then would this palm invest so much energy into growing these gigantic structures? Because they tend to germinate and grow beneath their parents, the offspring of L. maldivica would appear to be at a disadvantage from the start. A recent study suggests that the answer lies in those massive leaves.
Researchers found that the areas directly beneath the adult trees were wetter and had more soil nutrients compared to the surroundings. As it turns out, L. maldivica modifies its own habitat. Those massive leaves do more than just collect sun, they also act as giant funnels. In fact, most of the water that rains down onto the canopy is collected by the leaves. In this way, everything from water, debris, and even excess pollen is funneled down to the base of each tree.
Not only is this good for the parent tree, it is also a boon for the dispersal-limited offspring. Coupled with the considerable endosperm in those massive seeds, all of this additional water and fertilizer means that seedling L. maldivica enter into the world at a distinct advantage over many other plants on the islands. All of that endosperm serves to help fuel seedling growth while it is still shaded by its parent.
Sadly, over-harvesting of the seeds has crippled natural reproduction for L. maldivica. This coupled with habitat destruction paints a bleak picture for this record-holding palm. It has already been lost from three other Seychelles islands. Luckily there are many conservation efforts underway that are aimed at saving L. maldivica. The Seychelles are now considered a World Heritage Site and many of the wild populations of this palm lie within national parks.
Further Reading: [1] [2]
In Ecology, Endangered Species, Evolution, Palm Trees Tags Lodoicea maldivica, Palm, Seed, seed dispersal, Palm Tree, Seychelles
Common Yet Endangered Palms
Raise you hand if you have ever had a parlor palm (Chamaedorea elegans). I see most of you have raised your hands. Palms in the genus Chamaedorea are the most commonly kept palms on the market. They are small, very shade tolerant, and nearly indestructible. The clear winner in this regard is the parlor palm. We have all given these little palms a shot at one time or another. They are so common that we rarely give a second thought as to where they come from. Surely they did not evolve in a nursery. It may surprise you that for as ubiquitous as these palms are, they are actually quite threatened in the wild.
The genus Chamaedorea is endemic to sub-tropical forests of the Americas and is comprised of roughly 80 species. They are understory palms that are most at home under the deep shade of the canopy. Most species are generally pretty small, rarely growing over 10 feet. All of these factors add up to some resilient and fun houseplants. It doesn't take much to keep them happy. Every once in a while they will produce flowers. Though small, they are often brightly colored. The preferred method for mass cultivation is via seed. However, seed production outside of their native range is notoriously difficult and often requires human intervention. For this reason, a vast majority of nursery grown palms are grown from wild collected seeds.
This may not seem like a bad deal until you look at the numbers. I have seen reports of over 500 million seeds exported from Mexico annually. Couple this with the fact that many species of Chamaedorea are known to grow in very restricted ranges and suddenly the picture becomes very bleak. Over collecting of seeds has decimated wild populations. Without seeds there is no recruitment, no seedlings to take the place of adult plants.
Another considerable threat to these palms comes from the cut flower industry. Palm fronds are notoriously gorgeous and many people like to include them in their displays. Most of the leaves cut come from wild plants. Normally palm fronds are harvested in a manner that doesn't kill the plant, however, in Mexico children are often employed to collect them and their lack of experience can severely damage wild populations.
On top of all of this, the forests in which these palms grow are now being converted to agriculture. If actions are not taken to limit the abuse of wild populations, it is likely that some of the most commonly encountered house plants are going to be extinct in the wild. This is a hard pill to swallow. If you have any of these species growing in your home, take care of them. Perhaps knowing how uncertain the future is for many of these palms will earn them a little more respect.
Here is a list of some of the most threatened species in this genus:
Chamaedorea amabilis
Chamaedorea klotzschiana
Chamaedorea metalica
Chamaedorea pumila
Chamaedorea sullivaniorum
Chamaedorea tuerckheimii
Photo Credits: Michael Wolf (http://bit.ly/16suMsf), scott.zona (http://bit.ly/1zHdUII),
http://bit.ly/1ADC3mw
In Endangered Species, Palm Trees, Houseplants Tags palm, parlor palm, Mexico, Chamaedorea
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Indo-Italian Cultural Relations
Home › Indo-Italian Cultural Relations
India and Italy, both ancient civilizations having rich cultural heritages, have known, interacted and traded with each other for over 2000 years. Italian port cities were important trading posts on the spice route. These exchanges also offered opportunities for interactions in the fields of art, culture, philosophy, etc. Significance of bilateral ties could be seen from the travel of the Venetian merchant, Marco Polo to India in the 13th century and travelogue about his experiences; Mahatma Gandhi's visit to Rome in December 1931 on his way back to India after attending the Round Table conference in London; presence of Indian troops belonging to Rajputana and Gurkha Rifles, serving with the British Indian Army, in Italy during the World War II, etc.
To cement and further deepen bilateral relations, various agreements, have been signed and are operational. A bilateral agreement for cultural cooperation between India and Italy had been in existence since 1976. The agreement, which was renewed in 2004, offers a general framework for facilitating the exchanges under a Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP).
An umbrella agreement on co-operation in Science & Technology was also signed in 1978 which was later replaced in 2003. An Agreement for Audio-Visual Co-production, signed in May 2005, came into force w.e.f. June 12, 2008 and its Rules of Procedure are being finalized by the two sides. A Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation for conservation of paintings of the Ajanta and Ellora caves, signed in 2006, has also been in place. Around 106 other direct MoUs/Agreements between Indian and Italian Universities/Institutions are also operational.
Several Universities in Italy have departments of Indian Studies, where Indian languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, Sanskrit and other subjects as history of modern India, Indian culture, art, religion and philosophy, and also Indian performing arts are taught. Italian students willing to study in India are actively supported through grants of scholarships under the Cultural Exchange Programme. A wide array of Indian cultural activities in the field of audio-visual performing arts, fine arts, handicrafts, films etc. are organized in Italy to further promote bilateral relations.
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Hail Map for Greensboro, NCadmin-001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00
Hail Map for Greensboro, NC
The Greensboro, NC area has had 21 reports of on-the-ground hail by trained spotters, and has been under severe weather warnings 58 times during the past 12 months. Doppler radar has detected hail at or near Greensboro, NC on 66 occasions, including 10 occasions during the past year.
Name: Greensboro, NC
Where Located: 68.7 miles WNW of Raleigh, NC
Map: Google Map for Greensboro, NC
Housing Units: 124074
More Info: Search Google for Greensboro, NC
The Top Recent Hail Date for Greensboro, NC is Friday, May 31, 2019 (2nd out of 66)
Hail and Wind Damage Spotted near Greensboro, NC
6/20/2019 2:38 PM EDT Tree onto house on james place near guest stree in guilford county NC, 3.1 miles SW of Greensboro, NC
6/20/2019 2:35 PM EDT Tree down blocking yanceyville st. near east cone blv in guilford county NC, 2.2 miles SW of Greensboro, NC
6/20/2019 2:33 PM EDT At 232 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near elmo to yanceyville to near high point, moving east at 45 mph (law enforcement). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts, heavy rainfall, and quarter size hail. this storm has a history of producing wind damage across the western piedmont of nc. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
6/20/2019 2:32 PM EDT Tree down blocking east cone blvd near us-29 nort in guilford county NC, 3.6 miles WSW of Greensboro, NC
6/20/2019 2:30 PM EDT Tree into hous in guilford county NC, 3.3 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC
6/20/2019 2:24 PM EDT At 222 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over greensboro, moving east at 50 mph (law enforcement reported numerous trees and powerlines down out of forsyth county). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, mcleansville, summerfield, gibsonville, stokesdale, pleasant garden, jamestown, lake guilford mackintosh marina and forest oaks.
6/20/2019 2:21 PM EDT Tree down blocking doggett rd near bridge over lake townsen in guilford county NC, 8.6 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC
6/20/2019 2:21 PM EDT Utility pole blown over into hous in guilford county NC, 4 miles E of Greensboro, NC
6/20/2019 2:14 PM EDT Tree down blocking spencer dixon rd. near kellam ridge d in guilford county NC, 7.7 miles S of Greensboro, NC
6/20/2019 2:07 PM EDT At 205 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over kernersville, or 8 miles east of winston-salem, moving east at 45 mph. forsyth county 911 reported several trees and a few powrelines down across the city of winston-salem just before 2 pm (law enforcement). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, kernersville, mcleansville, summerfield, gibsonville, stokesdale, walkertown and pleasant garden.
6/20/2019 1:43 PM EDT At 142 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near king, or 7 miles northwest of winston-salem, moving east at 50 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
5/31/2019 6:00 PM EDT Trained spotter reported tree fell on hood of another persons ca in guilford county NC, 2.2 miles NE of Greensboro, NC
5/31/2019 5:22 PM EDT At 521 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over mcleansville, or 9 miles west of burlington, moving east at 30 mph. a storm spotter at 5:15 pm edt observed a rotating wall cloud just north of i-85/40 near mile marker 132 (radar indicated rotation). Hazards include tornado and ping pong ball size hail. Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. tree damage is likely. Locations impacted include, burlington, graham, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville, haw river, swepsonville, alamance, lake guilford mackintosh marina and lake burlington.
5/31/2019 5:09 PM EDT At 509 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located near mcleansville, or near greensboro, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated rotation). Hazards include tornado and ping pong ball size hail. Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.
5/31/2019 5:05 PM EDT Half Dollar sized hail reported 1.4 miles ESE of Greensboro, NC, woodview drive in greensboro. report via wxii.
5/31/2019 5:01 PM EDT At 459 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over greensboro, moving east at 30 mph (trained weather spotters. at 448 pm edt the observation equipment at piedmont triad airport had dime size hail and a wind gust of 53 mph). Hazards include ping pong ball size hail and 60 mph wind gusts. People and animals outdoors will be injured. expect hail damage to roofs, siding, windows, and vehicles. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, mcleansville, summerfield, stokesdale, pleasant garden, jamestown, haw river state park, forest oaks and lake jeanette marina.
5/31/2019 4:50 PM EDT Golf Ball sized hail reported 6.5 miles ESE of Greensboro, NC
5/31/2019 4:48 PM EDT At 447 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 7 miles northwest of greensboro, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated. at 435 pm edt, a sotrm spotter in kernersville reported hail the size of quarters). Hazards include ping pong ball size hail and 60 mph wind gusts. People and animals outdoors will be injured. expect hail damage to roofs, siding, windows, and vehicles. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, kernersville, mcleansville, summerfield, stokesdale, pleasant garden, jamestown, haw river state park and forest oaks.
5/31/2019 4:26 PM EDT At 426 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near kernersville, or near winston-salem, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include ping pong ball size hail and 60 mph wind gusts. People and animals outdoors will be injured. expect hail damage to roofs, siding, windows, and vehicles. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
5/12/2019 10:09 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for east central forsyth and guilford counties will expire at 1015 pm edt, the storm which prompted the warning has weakened below severe limits, and no longer poses an immediate threat to life or property. therefore the warning will be allowed to expire. however gusty winds are still possible with this thunderstorm. to report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement agency. they will relay your report to the national weather service raleigh.
5/12/2019 9:55 PM EDT At 954 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near greensboro, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. Expect minor damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, kernersville, mcleansville, summerfield, pleasant garden, jamestown, forest oaks, lake jeanette marina and monticello.
5/12/2019 9:32 PM EDT At 932 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near kernersville, or 8 miles east of winston-salem, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
5/12/2019 8:36 PM EDT Tree down at lake brandt rd and nc highway 15 in guilford county NC, 7.8 miles SSE of Greensboro, NC
4/19/2019 4:39 PM EDT At 438 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 9 miles south of mcleansville, or 10 miles southeast of greensboro, moving northeast at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. locations impacted include, greensboro, mcleansville, gibsonville, pleasant garden, haw river state park, lake guilford mackintosh marina, forest oaks, lake jeanette marina, monticello and climax. A tornado watch remains in effect until 800 pm edt for central north carolina.
4/19/2019 4:20 PM EDT Multiple reports of trees down throughout greensbor in guilford county NC, 1.4 miles NNW of Greensboro, NC
4/19/2019 4:18 PM EDT At 417 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over high point, moving northeast at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
4/19/2019 3:38 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for guilford county will expire at 345 pm edt, the storm which prompted the warning has moved out of the area. therefore the warning will be allowed to expire. however gusty winds are still possible. a tornado watch remains in effect until 500 pm edt for central north carolina.
4/19/2019 3:15 PM EDT At 314 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near high point, moving northeast at 65 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
4/19/2019 2:58 PM EDT At 258 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located 9 miles northwest of siler city, moving northeast at 45 mph (radar indicated rotation). Hazards include tornado and quarter size hail. Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. tree damage is likely. Locations impacted include, liberty, ramseur, franklinville, staley, sutphin and snow camp.
4/19/2019 2:46 PM EDT At 245 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located near north carolina zoo, moving northeast at 45 mph (radar indicated rotation). Hazards include tornado and quarter size hail. Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.
4/19/2019 2:36 PM EDT At 236 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near king to near high rock lake, moving north at 60 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, lexington, thomasville, kernersville, clemmons, bermuda run, linwood and huntsville. A tornado watch remains in effect until 500 pm edt for central north carolina.
4/19/2019 2:26 PM EDT At 225 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near enon to 8 miles east of rockwell, moving north at 60 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
4/15/2019 1:35 AM EDT Tree down on corner of hobbs & n holden r in guilford county NC, 1.9 miles ESE of Greensboro, NC
4/15/2019 1:35 AM EDT At 135 am edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near bethany to near high point, moving northeast at 55 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, mcleansville, summerfield, stokesdale, pleasant garden, jamestown, forest oaks, lake jeanette marina and randleman regional reservior marina. A tornado watch remains in effect until 500 am edt for central north carolina.
4/15/2019 1:22 AM EDT At 121 am edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near kernersville to near thomasville, moving northeast at 55 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect minor damage to roofs, siding, and trees. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, randleman, thomasville, kernersville, mcleansville, archdale, summerfield, trinity and stokesdale. A tornado watch remains in effect until 500 am edt for central north carolina.
4/15/2019 1:06 AM EDT At 105 am edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near winston-salem to lexington, moving northeast at 55 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect minor damage to roofs, siding, and trees
4/12/2019 4:16 PM EDT Power line fell onto a tree... which sparked a small fir in guilford county NC, 3.9 miles WSW of Greensboro, NC
4/12/2019 4:11 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for northeastern randolph and eastern guilford counties will expire at 415 pm edt, the storms which prompted the warning have moved out of the area. therefore the warning will be allowed to expire. however heavy rain is still possible with these thunderstorms. to report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement agency. they will relay your report to the national weather service raleigh.
4/12/2019 3:44 PM EDT At 343 pm edt, severe thunderstorms showing weak signs of rotation were located along a line extending from 6 miles south of bethany to near mcleansville to 11 miles southwest of elon college, moving northeast at 35 mph (emergency management reports wind damage across northern randolph county). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and nickel size hail. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, asheboro, mcleansville, summerfield, gibsonville, pleasant garden, liberty, ramseur, franklinville and lake guilford mackintosh marina.
4/12/2019 3:34 PM EDT At 333 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 8 miles south of bethany through greensboro to 7 miles northeast of randleman, moving northeast at 45 mph (emergency management reports wind damage in the form of downed trees and powerlines across the city of high point). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts, heavy rainfall, and nickel size hail. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, asheboro, randleman, mcleansville, summerfield, gibsonville, stokesdale, pleasant garden, liberty and ramseur.
4/12/2019 3:21 PM EDT At 320 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 6 miles east of kernersville to 7 miles northwest of randleman to near asheboro, moving northeast at 35 mph (emergency management reports wind damage in the form of downed trees and powerlines across the city of high point). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
10/11/2018 4:21 PM EDT At 418 pm edt,a line of damaging winds mixing south along the western side of michael were located along a line extending from 7 miles west through 9 miles east of goldston to sanford to 8 miles east of southern pines, moving southeast at 50 mph. this line of winds has a history of producing structural damage. a quick and short lived spinup also can`t be ruled out (radar indicated and em reported damage within siler city). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. locations impacted include, chapel hill, burlington, asheboro, graham, hillsborough, pittsboro, siler city, north carolina zoo, carrboro and mebane. A tornado watch remains in effect until 900 pm edt for central north carolina.
10/11/2018 3:56 PM EDT At 353 pm edt, a line of damaging winds mixing south along the western side of michael were located along a line extending from 6 miles north of burlington through 13 miles northwest of pittsboro to near siler city to near carthage, moving southeast at 50 mph. a quick and short lived tornado spinup also can`t be ruled out (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
9/27/2018 11:26 PM EDT At 1126 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near mebane to near goldston to 6 miles west of hoffman, moving northeast at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, burlington, asheboro, graham, rockingham, wadesboro, troy, carthage, siler city, north carolina zoo and pinehurst.
9/27/2018 10:42 PM EDT At 1041 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 7 miles northeast of randleman to troy to 6 miles north of chesterfield, moving northeast at 50 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
9/26/2018 6:36 PM EDT At 636 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 12 miles north of siler city, moving east at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, burlington, asheboro, graham, randleman, siler city, north carolina zoo, mebane, seagrove and mcleansville.
9/26/2018 6:17 PM EDT At 617 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 9 miles northeast of randleman, moving east at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
9/1/2018 6:53 PM EDT At 652 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 10 miles south of mcleansville to 9 miles east of randleman to near asheboro, moving east at 5 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, asheboro, randleman, north carolina zoo, siler city, seagrove, pleasant garden, liberty, ramseur, franklinville and staley.
9/1/2018 6:28 PM EDT At 628 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near mcleansville to 7 miles east of randleman to near north carolina zoo, moving east at 5 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
9/1/2018 5:52 PM EDT At 552 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near burlington to near graham to 11 miles south of elon college, and are nearly stationary (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, randleman, archdale, trinity, pleasant garden, jamestown, liberty, swepsonville and alamance.
9/1/2018 5:41 PM EDT At 540 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near camp springs to 6 miles south of elon college, moving east at 10 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, burlington, graham, mebane, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville, haw river, swepsonville and alamance.
9/1/2018 5:36 PM EDT At 536 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 6 miles southwest of burlington to high point, moving east at 5 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
9/1/2018 5:15 PM EDT At 514 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near camp springs to mcleansville, and are nearly stationary (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
9/1/2018 5:05 PM EDT Tree down on n elm st and wendover av in guilford county NC, 1.1 miles W of Greensboro, NC
9/1/2018 4:56 PM EDT Tree down across railroad tracks at lees chapel r in guilford county NC, 5 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC
9/1/2018 4:51 PM EDT Tree down at yanceyville st and lees chapel r in guilford county NC, 3.9 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC
8/8/2018 7:19 PM EDT At 718 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from thomasville to 6 miles east of high rock lake to near ansonville, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, asheboro, albemarle, randleman, troy, badin lake, north carolina zoo, thomasville and biscoe.
8/8/2018 6:39 PM EDT At 639 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from clemmons to salisbury to near midland, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
8/8/2018 4:54 PM EDT At 452 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over elon college, or over burlington, moving east at 10 mph. another severe thunderstorm was located over forest oaks, moving east at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
8/7/2018 10:24 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for east central guilford county will expire at 1030 pm edt, the severe thunderstorm which prompted the warning has weakened and moved out of the warned area. therefore, the warning will be allowed to expire. the warning for far southeastern guilford county continues in effect around pleasant garden.
8/7/2018 10:14 PM EDT At 1012 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 6 miles northeast of pleasant garden, moving east at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to trees. Locations impacted include, mcleansville, gibsonville and lake guilford mackintosh marina.
8/7/2018 10:11 PM EDT At 1009 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over asheboro, moving east at 30 mph. another severe thunderstorm was located 4 miles west of randleman moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to trees
8/7/2018 10:01 PM EDT At 959 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over mcleansville, or 9 miles west of burlington, moving east at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, mcleansville, gibsonville, lake jeanette marina and lake guilford mackintosh marina.
8/7/2018 9:43 PM EDT Tree down on rankin mill rd and hines chapel r in guilford county NC, 6.2 miles WSW of Greensboro, NC
8/7/2018 9:26 PM EDT At 925 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near germanton and rural hall, or 8 miles southwest of walnut cove, moving east at 40 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to trees
8/2/2018 6:38 PM EDT At 634 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm extended from near lewisville to near walkertown, moving north at 15 mph. trees have been downed by the combination of gusty thunderstorm winds over saturated ground (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to trees. Locations impacted include, kernersville, clemmons, bermuda run, huntsville, lewisville, summerfield, stokesdale, walkertown and rural hall.
8/2/2018 6:14 PM EDT At 611 pm edt, a line of severe thunderstorms were located from arcadia to near pti airport, moving north at 20 mph. these storms will move across the winston-salem area again. saturated ground will contribute to the wind gusts in downing trees (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to trees
7/22/2018 8:53 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for northern guilford county will expire at 900 pm edt, the storms which prompted the warning have moved out of the area. therefore the warning will be allowed to expire. to report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement agency. they will relay your report to the national weather service raleigh.
7/22/2018 8:28 PM EDT At 828 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 6 miles northeast of kernersville to near mcleansville, moving north at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
7/22/2018 8:12 PM EDT At 812 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near siler city to near mcleansville to 6 miles east of kernersville, moving northwest at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, burlington, graham, siler city, kernersville, mcleansville, elon college, summerfield and gibsonville.
7/22/2018 7:49 PM EDT A severe thunderstorm warning remains in effect until 830 pm edt for alamance. northern randolph. guilford and northwestern chatham counties. At 749 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 9 miles west of carrboro to near siler city to near high point, moving northwest at 15 mph.
7/22/2018 7:38 PM EDT At 737 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near carrboro to siler city to near randleman, moving northwest at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, burlington, asheboro, graham, hillsborough, randleman, siler city, carrboro and mebane.
7/22/2018 7:18 PM EDT At 717 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 6 miles northeast of pittsboro to asheboro, moving northwest at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
7/21/2018 10:08 PM EDT At 1008 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 7 miles southeast of pine hall, or 9 miles southeast of walnut cove, moving east at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, summerfield, stokesdale and colfax.
7/21/2018 9:55 PM EDT At 955 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near walnut cove, moving east at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, kernersville, summerfield, stokesdale, belews lake, colfax and belews creek.
7/21/2018 9:39 PM EDT At 939 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near germanton, or near walnut cove, moving east at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
7/6/2018 3:18 PM EDT At 318 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 7 miles south of camp springs to mcleansville to 10 miles southeast of greensboro, and are nearly stationary (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
7/6/2018 2:49 PM EDT At 232 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near harrisons crossroads to 6 miles north of kernersville to near huntsville, moving south at 5 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, kernersville, clemmons, bermuda run, mcleansville, lewisville, summerfield and stokesdale.
7/6/2018 2:35 PM EDT Tree down near the intersection of wendover ave and hwy 2 in guilford county NC, 2.2 miles W of Greensboro, NC
7/6/2018 2:08 PM EDT At 207 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near germanton, or near walnut cove, moving southwest at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
6/25/2018 7:17 PM EDT At 716 pm edt, a line of severe thunderstorms was moving southeast at 40 to 50 mph into the warning area (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to trees and crops
5/6/2018 2:06 PM EDT At 205 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over greensboro, moving east at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, mcleansville, forest oaks, lake townsend marina, lake townsend, lake jeanette marina, monticello and lake brandt.
5/6/2018 1:54 PM EDT At 153 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near kernersville, or 7 miles west of greensboro, moving east at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
4/15/2018 5:24 PM EDT At 516 pm edt, a confirmed tornado was located near mcleansville, or near greensboro, moving north at 45 mph (radar confirmed tornado). Hazards include damaging tornado. Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. tree damage is likely. Locations impacted include, greensboro, monticello, lake townsend marina, lake townsend and haw river state park.
4/15/2018 5:09 PM EDT At 509 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located near greensboro, moving north at 55 mph (radar indicated rotation). Hazards include tornado. Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.
4/15/2018 5:06 PM EDT At 505 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near greensboro, moving north at 55 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 70 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect considerable tree damage. wind damage is also likely to mobile homes, roofs, and outbuildings. locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, asheboro, randleman, north carolina zoo, kernersville, seagrove, mcleansville and archdale. A tornado watch remains in effect until 1100 pm edt for central north carolina.
4/15/2018 4:35 PM EDT At 434 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 10 miles southeast of lexington, moving north at 55 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 70 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is possible. expect considerable tree damage. Wind damage is also likely, especially to mobile homes, roofs, and outbuildings.
7/23/2017 5:58 PM EDT At 557 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over greensboro, moving northeast at 10 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, mcleansville, gibsonville, pleasant garden, climax, lake guilford mackintosh marina and forest oaks.
7/23/2017 5:45 PM EDT Several trees down throughout greensbor in guilford county NC, 1.7 miles NW of Greensboro, NC
7/23/2017 5:31 PM EDT At 530 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near high point, moving southeast at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
7/23/2017 5:30 PM EDT Numerous trees down near vandaila and elm street in guilford county NC, 5.6 miles NNE of Greensboro, NC
7/23/2017 5:25 PM EDT At 525 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 7 miles south of greensboro, and is nearly stationary (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
7/23/2017 5:11 PM EDT At 511 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over kernersville, or 9 miles south of walnut cove, moving southeast at 40 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, kernersville, summerfield, stokesdale, walkertown, haw river state park, oak hollow marina and belews creek.
7/23/2017 4:53 PM EDT At 452 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near winston-salem, moving southeast at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, kernersville, lewisville, summerfield, stokesdale, walkertown, rural hall and haw river state park.
7/23/2017 4:38 PM EDT At 436 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 7 miles northwest of winston-salem, moving southeast at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to trees
7/22/2017 5:40 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for forsyth and western guilford counties will expire at 545 pm edt, the storms which prompted the warning have weakened below severe limits, and no longer pose an immediate threat to life or property. therefore the warning will be allowed to expire. however gusty winds and heavy rain are still possible with these thunderstorms. to report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement agency. they will relay your report to the national weather service raleigh.
7/22/2017 5:27 PM EDT At 526 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near germanton to near kernersville to near clemmons, moving southeast at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, kernersville, lewisville, summerfield, stokesdale, walkertown, pleasant garden and jamestown.
7/22/2017 5:16 PM EDT At 515 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near germanton to near kernersville to near enon, moving southeast at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, kernersville, lewisville, summerfield, stokesdale, walkertown, pleasant garden and jamestown.
7/22/2017 5:07 PM EDT At 506 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from germanton to near king, moving southeast at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, kernersville, mcleansville, lewisville, summerfield, stokesdale, walkertown and pleasant garden.
7/22/2017 4:33 PM EDT At 432 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near hanging rock state park to near east bend, moving southeast at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
7/18/2017 5:52 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for southwestern alamance, northeastern randolph and eastern guilford counties will expire at 600 pm edt, the storm which prompted the warning has weakened below severe limits, and no longer poses an immediate threat to life or property. therefore the warning will be allowed to expire. however gusty winds and heavy rain are still possible with this thunderstorm. to report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement agency. they will relay your report to the national weather service raleigh.
7/18/2017 5:29 PM EDT At 528 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 7 miles south of mcleansville, or 11 miles southwest of burlington, moving southwest at 10 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, burlington, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville, pleasant garden, liberty, alamance, lake guilford mackintosh marina and forest oaks.
7/18/2017 5:16 PM EDT At 516 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near mcleansville, or 9 miles southwest of burlington, moving southwest at 10 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
7/13/2017 7:10 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for northeastern randolph and southeastern guilford counties will expire at 715 pm edt, the storms which prompted the warning have weakened below severe limits, and no longer pose an immediate threat to life or property. therefore the warning will be allowed to expire. however heavy rain is still possible with these thunderstorms. to report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement agency. they will relay your report to the national weather service raleigh.
7/13/2017 7:00 PM EDT At 700 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 9 miles southeast of greensboro to 11 miles south of mcleansville, moving southeast at 5 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, pleasant garden, liberty, climax and forest oaks.
7/13/2017 6:33 PM EDT At 633 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 7 miles south of mcleansville, or 8 miles southeast of greensboro, moving east at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, pleasant garden, liberty, climax and forest oaks.
7/13/2017 6:19 PM EDT At 617 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near greensboro, moving east at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
7/13/2017 6:04 PM EDT At 546 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near mcleansville to near elon college to near jericho, moving east at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, burlington, graham, mebane, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville, pleasant garden, haw river and swepsonville.
7/13/2017 5:19 PM EDT At 518 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near mcleansville to 7 miles northwest of elon college to near camp springs, moving east at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
6/24/2017 2:03 AM EDT At 202 am edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 7 miles south of jericho to 9 miles northwest of siler city to 9 miles south of plyler, moving northeast at 60 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, burlington, asheboro, albemarle, graham, hillsborough, randleman, pittsboro, troy, carthage and siler city.
6/24/2017 1:46 AM EDT At 146 am edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near mcleansville to near asheboro to 9 miles south of plyler, moving northeast at 60 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
6/19/2017 12:15 AM EDT At 1158 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near greensboro, moving northeast at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
6/18/2017 11:59 PM EDT At 1158 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near greensboro, moving northeast at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
6/17/2017 8:53 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for south central guilford county will expire at 900 pm edt, the storm which prompted the warning has weakened below severe limits, and no longer poses an immediate threat to life or property. therefore, the warning will be allowed to expire. however, gusty winds up to 45 mph will remain possible around greensboro through around 9 pm. to report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement agency. they will relay your report to the national weather service raleigh.
6/17/2017 8:48 PM EDT At 848 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near greensboro, moving north at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, pleasant garden and forest oaks.
6/17/2017 8:43 PM EDT At 843 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near high point, moving north at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, pleasant garden and forest oaks.
6/17/2017 8:36 PM EDT At 836 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near high point, moving north at 10 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, pleasant garden, jamestown and forest oaks.
6/17/2017 8:34 PM EDT At 833 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near high point, moving north at 10 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, archdale, pleasant garden, jamestown, oak hollow marina and forest oaks.
6/17/2017 8:26 PM EDT At 826 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near high point, moving north at 10 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, randleman, thomasville, archdale, trinity, pleasant garden, jamestown, randleman regional reservior marina and oak hollow marina.
6/17/2017 8:05 PM EDT At 805 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 7 miles east of thomasville, or 9 miles west of randleman, moving north at 10 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
6/14/2017 9:38 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for guilford county will expire at 945 pm edt, the storm which prompted the warning has moved out of the area. therefore the warning will be allowed to expire. to report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement agency. they will relay your report to the national weather service raleigh.
6/14/2017 9:05 PM EDT At 903 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 3 miles northeast of jamestown, or over southwest greensboro, moving south at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, pleasant garden, jamestown, forest oaks, lake townsend marina, lake townsend and lake jeanette marina.
6/14/2017 9:02 PM EDT Trees were reported down near the intersection of mobile street and randleman roa in guilford county NC, 3.4 miles N of Greensboro, NC
6/14/2017 9:00 PM EDT Trees were reported down near the intersection of immanuel road and south holden roa in guilford county NC, 2.7 miles NE of Greensboro, NC
6/14/2017 8:51 PM EDT Trees were reported down near the intersection of willoughby blvd and redford d in guilford county NC, 2.2 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC
6/14/2017 8:45 PM EDT Trees were reported down at the intersection of carlson dairy road and horse pen creek roa in guilford county NC, 5.8 miles SE of Greensboro, NC
6/14/2017 8:38 PM EDT At 837 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was near pti airport, moving south at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to trees
6/13/2017 5:48 PM EDT At 547 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 7 miles north of randleman, moving southeast at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, high point, archdale, trinity, pleasant garden, climax, forest oaks and randleman regional reservior marina.
6/13/2017 5:25 PM EDT The national weather service in raleigh has issued a * severe thunderstorm warning for. northwestern randolph county in central north carolina. southern guilford county in central north carolina. Until 630 pm edt * at 524 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over high point,.
6/13/2017 5:03 PM EDT Guilford county 911 received report of tree down across road at kirkpatrick place in greensbor in guilford county NC, 0.7 miles S of Greensboro, NC
6/13/2017 5:03 PM EDT Guilford county 911 received report of tree down across road on pineburr rd in greensbor in guilford county NC, 3 miles SSE of Greensboro, NC
6/13/2017 4:54 PM EDT At 453 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near pti airport or near greensboro, moving southeast at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, pti airport, greensboro, high point, mcleansville, summerfield, lake townsend marina, lake townsend, lake jeanette marina, monticello, lake brandt and colfax.
6/13/2017 4:48 PM EDT Guilford county 911 received report of tree down across road at oakridge meadows in greensbor in guilford county NC, 5.1 miles E of Greensboro, NC
6/13/2017 4:31 PM EDT At 431 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 8 miles northeast of kernersville, or 11 miles northwest of greensboro, moving south at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
6/13/2017 4:12 PM EDT At 411 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 6 miles north of kernersville to near winston-salem to bermuda run, moving south at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, kernersville, clemmons, bermuda run, lewisville, summerfield, stokesdale, walkertown and pfafftown.
6/13/2017 3:49 PM EDT At 346 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located near rural hall and 5 miles south of king, moving south at 5 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Expect wind damage to trees and crops. Locations impacted include, rural hall, winston-salem, stanleyville, lewisville.
6/13/2017 3:28 PM EDT At 327 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from meadows to near germanton to huntsville, moving southeast at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
6/5/2017 6:44 PM EDT At 643 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near greensboro to 7 miles northwest of randleman to near lexington, moving east at 45 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, asheboro, lexington, randleman, thomasville, archdale, trinity, pleasant garden and jamestown.
6/5/2017 6:36 PM EDT At 635 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 6 miles west of greensboro to near thomasville to lexington, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, asheboro, lexington, randleman, thomasville, archdale, trinity, pleasant garden and jamestown.
6/5/2017 6:23 PM EDT At 621 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from kernersville to near thomasville to near lexington, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, asheboro, lexington, randleman, thomasville, kernersville, clemmons and archdale.
6/5/2017 6:04 PM EDT At 604 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near clemmons, or 7 miles south of winston-salem, moving east at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
5/31/2017 7:39 PM EDT At 739 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 7 miles northwest of elon college, or 8 miles southwest of camp springs, moving southeast at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, burlington, graham, mebane, gibsonville, haw river, lake burlington, monticello, lake cammack park & marina, altamahaw-ossipee and glen raven.
5/31/2017 7:23 PM EDT At 722 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over monroeton, or near reidsville, moving southeast at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 70 mph wind gusts and half dollar size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect considerable tree damage. Wind damage is also likely to mobile homes, roofs, and outbuildings.
5/19/2017 4:54 PM EDT At 453 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over mcleansville, moving east at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is possible. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, mcleansville, gibsonville, pleasant garden, lake guilford mackintosh marina and forest oaks.
5/19/2017 4:39 PM EDT At 436 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from mcleansville to near greensboro, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is possible. expect wind damage to trees and possible damage to roofs and siding. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, mcleansville, summerfield, gibsonville, stokesdale, pleasant garden, jamestown, lake guilford mackintosh marina and forest oaks.
5/19/2017 4:23 PM EDT At 420 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near greensboro to near clemmons, moving east at 25 mph. the most intense storm along the line was located over northwestern guilford county, between stokesdale and piedmont triad airport, also moving east at about 25 mph. this storm will affect summerfield and lake townsend (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, lexington, thomasville, kernersville, clemmons, mcleansville, summerfield and gibsonville.
5/19/2017 4:07 PM EDT At 406 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 7 miles northwest of greensboro to near bermuda run, moving east at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
5/5/2017 3:41 AM EDT Tree on a home on n church st at hwy 150 in browns summit in guilford county NC, 9.1 miles S of Greensboro, NC
5/5/2017 3:40 AM EDT Tree down across road at wendover and holden road in guilford county NC, 3 miles NE of Greensboro, NC
5/5/2017 3:25 AM EDT Em officials report more than 2 dozen trees down on roads in guilford co... around a half dozen trees thru homes and route 150 close in guilford county NC, 10 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC
5/5/2017 3:21 AM EDT At 307 am edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 6 miles south of high point to 9 miles north of asheboro to near randleman, moving northeast at 50 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, asheboro, randleman, north carolina zoo, mcleansville, archdale, summerfield, gibsonville and pleasant garden. A tornado watch remains in effect until 900 am edt for central north carolina.
5/5/2017 3:20 AM EDT Tree reported on a home at landis and jackson school rds in browns summi in guilford county NC, 11.8 miles SW of Greensboro, NC
5/5/2017 3:15 AM EDT Three trees down on stratford drive. cars hit and powerlines dow in guilford county NC, 2.2 miles SE of Greensboro, NC
5/5/2017 2:45 AM EDT Tree down on eugene and w friendly ave in guilford county NC, 1.7 miles NW of Greensboro, NC
5/5/2017 2:42 AM EDT At 242 am edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 8 miles east of high rock lake to 6 miles northeast of badin lake, moving northeast at 50 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
5/1/2017 6:37 PM EDT At 636 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over lake townsend, moving northeast at 60 mph. (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, jamestown, lake townsend marina, lake townsend, lake jeanette marina, monticello, lake brandt, oak hollow marina and haw river state park.
5/1/2017 6:26 PM EDT At 625 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over greensboro, moving northeast at 40 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, jamestown, lake townsend marina, lake townsend, lake jeanette marina, monticello, lake brandt, oak hollow marina and haw river state park.
5/1/2017 6:14 PM EDT At 613 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from stokesdale to high point, moving northeast at 60 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, thomasville, summerfield, stokesdale, jamestown, lake jeanette marina, monticello, oak hollow marina and lake townsend marina.
5/1/2017 6:04 PM EDT At 603 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from belews creek to 9 miles northwest of thomasville, moving northeast at 45 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, thomasville, kernersville, summerfield, stokesdale, walkertown, jamestown and lake jeanette marina.
5/1/2017 5:53 PM EDT At 552 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near winston-salem to near lexington, moving northeast at 60 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, lexington, thomasville, kernersville, linwood, high rock lake, summerfield and stokesdale.
5/1/2017 5:48 PM EDT At 546 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 6 miles south of ellisboro, or 9 miles southeast of walnut cove, moving northeast at 40 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, summerfield and stokesdale.
5/1/2017 5:42 PM EDT Tree down at intersection of i-40 and us-2 in guilford county NC, 3.5 miles NW of Greensboro, NC
5/1/2017 5:40 PM EDT At 540 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near winston-salem to near spencer, moving northeast at 60 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
5/1/2017 5:35 PM EDT At 535 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over kernersville, or 10 miles southeast of walnut cove, moving northeast at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
4/6/2017 6:00 AM EDT At 559 am edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near elon college, or near burlington, moving northeast at 75 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include quarter size hail. Damage to vehicles is possible. Locations impacted include, burlington, graham, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville, haw river, alamance, lake guilford mackintosh marina, lake burlington and lake cammack park & marina.
4/6/2017 5:49 AM EDT At 548 am edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 8 miles south of mcleansville, or 11 miles southeast of greensboro, moving northeast at 65 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include quarter size hail. Damage to vehicles is possible. Locations impacted include, greensboro, burlington, graham, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville, pleasant garden, haw river, alamance and lake guilford mackintosh marina.
4/6/2017 5:40 AM EDT At 540 am edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 7 miles northeast of randleman, moving northeast at 80 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include penny to quarter size hail. Damage to vehicles is possible. Locations impacted include, greensboro, burlington, asheboro, graham, randleman, north carolina zoo, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville and pleasant garden.
4/6/2017 5:26 AM EDT At 526 am edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near asheboro, moving northeast at 85 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include penny to quarter size hail. damage to vehicles is possible
4/3/2017 5:44 PM EDT At 544 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near mcleansville to near seagrove, moving east at 45 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees
3/1/2017 6:47 PM EST At 646 pm est, a severe thunderstorm was located near randleman, moving east at 60 mph. this storm has a history of producing hail a little larger than quarters (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and half dollar size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
3/1/2017 6:42 PM EST At 640 pm est, a severe thunderstorm was located 7 miles northwest of randleman, moving east at 50 mph. trained skywarn spotters have reported hail a little larger than quarters (trained weather spotters). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and half dollar size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, asheboro, randleman, thomasville, archdale, trinity, pleasant garden, jamestown and randleman regional reservior marina.
3/1/2017 6:36 PM EST At 635 pm est, a severe thunderstorm was located near high point, moving east at 60 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and half dollar size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, asheboro, lexington, randleman, thomasville, archdale, trinity, pleasant garden and jamestown.
3/1/2017 6:23 PM EST At 622 pm est, a severe thunderstorm was located near lexington, moving east at 55 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and half dollar size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, asheboro, lexington, randleman, thomasville, linwood, archdale, trinity and pleasant garden.
3/1/2017 5:59 PM EST At 558 pm est, a severe thunderstorm was located over cooleemee, or near mocksville, moving east at 50 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
11/30/2016 7:51 PM EST The severe thunderstorm warning for randolph, guilford and eastern forsyth counties will expire at 800 pm est, the storms which prompted the warning have weakened below severe limits, and have exited the warned area. therefore the warning will be allowed to expire. to report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement agency. they will relay your report to the national weather service raleigh.
11/30/2016 7:39 PM EST At 738 pm est, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near camp springs to near mcleansville to near high point, moving northeast at 45 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs. siding. and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, asheboro, randleman, north carolina zoo, kernersville, seagrove, mcleansville and summerfield.
11/30/2016 7:22 PM EST At 722 pm est, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from monroeton to near greensboro to 6 miles east of high rock lake, moving northeast at 40 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs. siding. and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, asheboro, lexington, randleman, north carolina zoo, thomasville, kernersville and clemmons.
11/30/2016 6:57 PM EST At 656 pm est, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near walnut cove to 8 miles northwest of thomasville to enochville, moving northeast at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs. siding. And trees.
9/28/2016 7:51 PM EDT At 751 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over high point, moving northeast at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, jamestown and oak hollow marina. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 1000 pm edt for central north carolina.
9/28/2016 7:38 PM EDT At 737 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near thomasville, or 7 miles southwest of high point, moving northeast at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
9/28/2016 5:48 PM EDT At 548 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over elon college, or near burlington, moving northeastr at 35 mph (trained weather spotters). Hazards include golf ball size hail. People and animals outdoors will be injured. Expect damage to roofs, siding, windows, and vehicles.
9/28/2016 5:42 PM EDT At 540 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near elon college, or 8 miles west of burlington, moving east at 30 mph (trained weather spotters). Hazards include ping pong ball size hail and 60 mph wind gusts. People and animals outdoors will be injured. expect hail damage to roofs, siding, windows, and vehicles. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. locations impacted include, mcleansville, gibsonville, lake guilford mackintosh marina and forest oaks. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 1000 pm edt for central north carolina.
9/28/2016 5:25 PM EDT Golf Ball sized hail reported 2.8 miles N of Greensboro, NC, golf ball sized hail reported on randleman rd in greensboro.
9/28/2016 5:15 PM EDT At 514 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over greensboro, moving east at 40 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include half dollar size hail. Damage to vehicles is expected. locations impacted include, greensboro, mcleansville, summerfield, gibsonville, lake townsend marina, lake guilford mackintosh marina, lake brandt, lake townsend, lake jeanette marina and monticello. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 1000 pm edt for central north carolina.
9/28/2016 4:57 PM EDT At 456 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 5 miles north of high point, moving east at 45 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include quarter size hail. damage to vehicles is expected
9/28/2016 4:24 PM EDT At 423 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near mcleansville, or 8 miles northeast of greensboro, moving east at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, mcleansville, summerfield, gibsonville, lake townsend marina, lake brandt, lake townsend, lake jeanette marina and monticello. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 1000 pm edt for central north carolina.
9/28/2016 4:01 PM EDT At 359 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located over northwest greeensboro and near sedge garden, moving northeast at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
9/28/2016 3:54 PM EDT At 353 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 7 miles northwest of greensboro, moving northeast at 40 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. locations impacted include, summerfield, stokesdale and lake brandt. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 1000 pm edt for central north carolina.
9/28/2016 3:38 PM EDT At 337 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over kernersville, or 10 miles north of high point, moving east at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. locations impacted include, winston-salem, kernersville, summerfield, stokesdale, walkertown, lake brandt, sedge garden, colfax and belews lake. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 1000 pm edt for central north carolina.
9/28/2016 3:19 PM EDT At 318 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near winston-salem, moving northeast at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs. siding. And trees.
8/27/2016 5:58 PM EDT At 556 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm extende from near high point to near randleman, moving southwest at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to trees
8/27/2016 5:41 PM EDT At 539 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 3 miles south of pti airport and near pleasant garden, moving west at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, pleasant garden, jamestown, oak hollow marina and colfax.
8/27/2016 5:27 PM EDT One tree was reported donw on cocoa drive... near woodedge driv in guilford county NC, 6.4 miles NNW of Greensboro, NC
8/27/2016 5:25 PM EDT A few trees and large limbs blown down and a few reports of power outage in guilford county NC, 5.7 miles WNW of Greensboro, NC
8/27/2016 5:11 PM EDT At 510 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near greensboro, moving west at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. expect damage to trees
7/27/2016 8:28 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for northern randolph, northern davidson, guilford and forsyth counties will expire at 830 pm edt, the storm which prompted the warning has weakened. while the warning will allowed to expire, small hail, gusty winds and heavy rain are still possible with the thunderstorm currently located across northwest davidson county.
7/27/2016 8:10 PM EDT At 809 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near enon, or 7 miles west of winston-salem, moving east at 40 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, thomasville, kernersville, clemmons, bermuda run, mcleansville, lewisville and archdale.
7/27/2016 7:42 PM EDT Tree down at 100 block of marshall smith r in guilford county NC, 10.1 miles E of Greensboro, NC
7/27/2016 7:32 PM EDT At 731 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near winston-salem to elon college, moving east at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and nickel size hail. Expect damage to roofs. siding. And trees.
7/27/2016 7:00 PM EDT At 700 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near germanton to near mcleansville, moving east at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, kernersville, mcleansville, summerfield, gibsonville, stokesdale, walkertown, rural hall and lake townsend marina.
7/27/2016 6:32 PM EDT At 630 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near belews lake, or 8 miles southeast of walnut cove, moving east at 10 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
7/16/2016 6:03 PM EDT At 602 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over greensboro, moving northeast at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs. siding. And trees.
7/15/2016 6:26 PM EDT At 625 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near elon univerity, or 10 miles west of burlington, moving east at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs. siding. And trees.
7/8/2016 8:59 PM EDT At 859 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 9 miles south of mcleansville, or 12 miles southeast of greensboro, moving east at 45 mph (trained weather spotters). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs. siding. And trees.
7/8/2016 8:50 PM EDT Tree down at s bbunker hill rd and hawkins t in guilford county NC, 11.8 miles E of Greensboro, NC
7/8/2016 7:57 PM EDT Tree down at brassfield rd and robert procher wa in guilford county NC, 4 miles SE of Greensboro, NC
7/8/2016 7:43 PM EDT At 743 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from clemmons to near greensboro, moving southeast at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
7/8/2016 7:30 PM EDT At 730 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near kernersville to near rougemont, moving south at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, chapel hill, burlington, graham, hillsborough, carrboro, mebane, mcleansville and elon college. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until midnight edt for central north carolina.
7/8/2016 6:47 PM EDT At 646 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from walnut cove to near roxboro, moving south at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
7/7/2016 6:40 PM EDT At 640 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near elon college to 10 miles south of graham to near asheboro, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs. siding. and trees. locations impacted include, burlington, asheboro, graham, siler city, mebane, elon college, mcleansville, gibsonville, liberty and haw river. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 1100 pm edt for central north carolina.
7/7/2016 6:30 PM EDT At 629 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near mcleansville to 12 miles southwest of elon college to near randleman, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs. siding. and trees. locations impacted include, greensboro, burlington, asheboro, graham, randleman, siler city, mebane, mcleansville, elon college and gibsonville. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 1100 pm edt for central north carolina.
7/7/2016 6:17 PM EDT At 617 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near randleman, moving east at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail. Expect damage to roofs. siding. And trees.
7/5/2016 4:53 PM EDT At 453 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near winston-salem to 12 miles southeast of lexington to near albemarle, moving east at 45 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs. siding. And trees.
6/29/2016 6:14 PM EDT At 613 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 8 miles northwest of greensboro, moving southeast at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
5/21/2016 5:10 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for southeastern guilford county will expire at 515 pm edt. the storm which prompted the warning has weakened below severe limits. and no longer poses an immediate threat to life or property. therefore the warning will be allowed to expire. However heavy rain is still possible with this thunderstorm.
5/21/2016 4:30 PM EDT One tree was blown down at lewiston road... greensboro n in guilford county NC, 6.2 miles SE of Greensboro, NC
5/12/2016 7:42 PM EDT At 742 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near camp springs, moving northeast at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts. Expect damage to roofs. siding. and trees. Locations impacted include, burlington, mcleansville, gibsonville, altamahaw-ossipee, glen raven, lake burlington, union ridge, lake cammack park & marina, monticello and altamahaw.
5/12/2016 7:21 PM EDT At 721 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over mcleansville, or 9 miles west of burlington, moving north at 15 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and nickel size hail. Expect damage to roofs. siding. and trees. Locations impacted include, burlington, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville, alamance, lake guilford mackintosh marina, lake mackintosh marina, union ridge, monticello and altamahaw.
5/12/2016 7:07 PM EDT At 707 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near mcleansville, or 11 miles east of greensboro, moving north at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and nickel size hail. Expect damage to roofs. siding. And trees.
5/12/2016 6:48 PM EDT At 647 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near bethany, or 10 miles south of madison, moving northeast at 5 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and penny to nickel size hail. Expect damage to roofs. siding. and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, summerfield, stokesdale, lake brandt, lake townsend, lake jeanette marina, haw river state park and belews lake.
5/12/2016 6:38 PM EDT At 637 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 8 miles southeast of belews lake, or 10 miles northwest of greensboro, and is nearly stationary (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Minor hail damage to vehicles will be possible. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
5/3/2016 4:28 PM EDT At 427 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 9 miles northeast of randleman, moving east at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, burlington, graham, siler city, mebane, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville, pleasant garden, liberty and haw river.
5/3/2016 4:11 PM EDT At 411 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near randleman, moving east at 40 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
5/3/2016 3:56 PM EDT One tree down near montevista drive and melody lane in guilford county NC, 9.1 miles NE of Greensboro, NC
5/2/2016 5:20 PM EDT At 519 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near monroeton to near mebane, moving northeast at 45 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, burlington, graham, mebane, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville, haw river, swepsonville and alamance.
5/2/2016 5:15 PM EDT Several reports of trees down near the guilford courthouse par in guilford county NC, 2.7 miles SE of Greensboro, NC
5/2/2016 5:10 PM EDT At 509 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 7 miles northwest of greensboro to near graham, moving northeast at 45 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
5/2/2016 5:05 PM EDT Tree down on a home on gretchen lan in guilford county NC, 5.1 miles E of Greensboro, NC
5/2/2016 4:56 PM EDT Quarter sized hail reported 6.2 miles E of Greensboro, NC
5/2/2016 4:52 PM EDT At 451 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from winston-salem to 12 miles southwest of graham, moving northeast at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, burlington, graham, kernersville, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville and walkertown.
5/2/2016 4:38 PM EDT At 437 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from clemmons to 9 miles northwest of siler city, moving northeast at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, burlington, graham, randleman, thomasville, kernersville, clemmons and bermuda run.
5/2/2016 4:28 PM EDT At 428 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near bermuda run to randleman, moving northeast at 45 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
4/28/2016 6:25 PM EDT At 624 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located over burlington, moving east at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, burlington, graham, mebane, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville, haw river, swepsonville, alamance and lake guilford mackintosh marina.
4/28/2016 6:18 PM EDT At 618 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 8 miles south of elon college, or 9 miles southwest of burlington, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
4/28/2016 6:09 PM EDT At 608 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near elon college, or near burlington, moving east at 20 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, burlington, graham, mebane, mcleansville, elon college, summerfield, gibsonville, stokesdale and haw river.
4/28/2016 6:01 PM EDT At 559 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near elon college, or 8 miles northwest of burlington, moving east at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, burlington, graham, mebane, mcleansville, elon college, summerfield, gibsonville and stokesdale.
4/28/2016 5:48 PM EDT At 547 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located near mcleansville, or 10 miles northeast of greensboro, moving east at 30 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, burlington, graham, kernersville, mebane, mcleansville, elon college, summerfield and gibsonville.
4/28/2016 5:35 PM EDT At 535 pm edt, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near jericho to near monroeton to near kernersville, moving east at 25 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and half dollar size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
4/28/2016 4:19 PM EDT At 419 pm edt, a severe thunderstorm was located 9 miles south of mcleansville, or 12 miles southwest of burlington, moving northeast at 35 mph (radar indicated). Hazards include 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
2/24/2016 3:16 PM EST At 313 pm est, doppler radar continued to indicate a line of discrete supercell thunderstorms capable of producing large damaging hail up to golf ball size and destructive winds in excess of 70 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near altamahaw to alamance to coleridge, moving northeast at 55 mph. locations impacted include, burlington, graham, siler city, north carolina zoo, mebane, goldston, seagrove, mcleansville, elon college and gibsonville. not all locations within the line of storms will experience severe weather. instead, concentrated swaths of damaging winds and hail up to the size of golfballs will accompany the individual supercell thunderstorms. a tornado watch remains in effect until 700 pm est for central north carolina.
2/24/2016 2:44 PM EST At 244 pm est, doppler radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near reidsville to near seagrove, and moving east at 25 mph.
2/24/2016 2:30 PM EST At 230 pm est, local law enforcement reported a line of severe thunderstorms producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near monroeton to 7 miles southwest of seagrove, moving southeast at 30 mph. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, asheboro, randleman, north carolina zoo, thomasville, kernersville, seagrove, mcleansville and archdale. a tornado watch remains in effect until 700 pm est for central north carolina.
2/24/2016 2:15 PM EST Large tree down at s elam ave and sherwood av. time estimated by rada in guilford county NC, 1.8 miles NE of Greensboro, NC
2/24/2016 2:10 PM EST Multiple trees down in southwest greensboro. time estimated by rada in guilford county NC, 5.8 miles ENE of Greensboro, NC
2/24/2016 1:59 PM EST At 159 pm est, doppler radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing destructive winds in excess of 65 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near bethany to 6 miles northeast of badin lake, and moving northeast at 40 mph.
2/24/2016 1:50 PM EST At 149 pm est, emergency management reported a line of severe thunderstorms producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near belews lake to near high rock lake, moving east at 15 mph. locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, asheboro, lexington, randleman, north carolina zoo, thomasville, kernersville and seagrove. a tornado watch remains in effect until 700 pm est for central north carolina.
2/24/2016 1:29 PM EST At 128 pm est, doppler radar continued to indicate a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near pine hall to near rockwell, moving east at 40 mph. locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, asheboro, lexington, randleman, north carolina zoo, thomasville, kernersville and clemmons. a tornado watch remains in effect until 700 pm est for central north carolina.
2/24/2016 1:04 PM EST At 103 pm est, doppler radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near king to near kannapolis, and moving east at 50 mph.
8/5/2015 10:30 PM EDT At 1030 pm edt, doppler radar continued to indicate a severe thunderstorm capable of producing damaging winds to near 58 mph. this storm was located 7 miles south of elon college, or 7 miles southwest of burlington, moving northeast at 30 mph. locations impacted include, burlington, graham, mebane, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville, liberty, haw river, swepsonville and alamance.
8/5/2015 10:12 PM EDT The national weather service in raleigh has issued a * severe thunderstorm warning for. eastern guilford county in central north carolina. alamance county in central north carolina. northeastern randolph county in central north carolina. Until 1100 pm edt.
8/5/2015 10:12 PM EDT At 1011 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. this storm was located 10 miles south of mcleansville, or 13 miles southwest of burlington, and moving northeast at 25 mph.
8/5/2015 9:51 PM EDT At 949 pm edt, doppler radar continued to indicate a severe thunderstorm capable of producing damaging winds to near 60 mph. frequent lightning was also occurring. this storm was located from greensboro to pleasant garden, moving northeast at 40 mph. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, mcleansville, gibsonville, pleasant garden, jamestown, forest oaks, lake guilford mackintosh marina, lake townsend marina and lake brandt.
8/5/2015 9:40 PM EDT Tree down at birnamwood trail and bridle ridge pkwy... time estimated by radar in guilford county NC, 7 miles NE of Greensboro, NC
8/5/2015 9:32 PM EDT At 930 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing quarter size hail and damaging winds to near 60 mph. this storm was located near high point or 5 miles southwest of greensboro, and moving northeast at 35 mph.
7/19/2015 4:45 PM EDT At 445 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. this storm was located near mcleansville, or 8 miles southeast of greensboro, and moving southeast at 15 mph.
7/13/2015 9:18 PM EDT At 914 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms producing widespread wind damage. the line of severe storms extended from greensboro and high point to yanceyville, moving east at 50 mph. wind gusts to 74 mph were reported earlier in greensboro. numerous trees and power lines have been downed. these storms will affect elon, burlington and snow camp before 930 pm.
7/13/2015 9:06 PM EDT At 905 pm edt, doppler radar continued to indicate a severe thunderstorm capable of producing damaging winds to 65 mph. there have been reports of numerous trees and power lines down across the triad region. the wind gusted to 74 mph at the piedmont triad airport with these storms. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, burlington, graham, mebane, mcleansville, elon college, summerfield, gibsonville and pleasant garden.
7/13/2015 8:32 PM EDT At 831 pm edt, doppler radar continued to indicate a severe thunderstorm capable of producing destructive winds to 70 mph. this storm was located over the pti airport or near greensboro, moving east at 30 mph. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, burlington, graham, mebane, mcleansville, elon college, summerfield, gibsonville and stokesdale.
7/13/2015 8:30 PM EDT Gso asos reports 69 mph wind gus in guilford county NC, 7.4 miles E of Greensboro, NC
7/13/2015 8:05 PM EDT At 804 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing quarter size hail and damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. this storm was located from gibsonville to near elon college, or 8 miles northwest of burlington, and moving east at 25 mph. an additional cluster of severe thunderstorms was 10 miles west of the pti airport moving into guilford county from the west.
7/8/2015 7:36 PM EDT At 736 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing quarter size hail and damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. this storm was located 8 miles northeast of randleman, and moving east at 30 mph.
7/1/2015 8:06 PM EDT At 805 pm edt, doppler radar continued to indicate a broken line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing quarter size hail and damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from 6 miles south of monroeton to 8 miles east of asheboro to 7 miles west of north carolina zoo, moving east at 20 mph. locations impacted include, greensboro, burlington, asheboro, graham, randleman, siler city, north carolina zoo, mebane, seagrove and mcleansville.
7/1/2015 7:50 PM EDT At 749 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing quarter size hail and damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near greensboro to near randleman to 10 miles southwest of asheboro, and moving east at 25 mph.
6/30/2015 6:11 PM EDT At 610 pm edt, doppler radar continued to indicate a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near monroeton to 7 miles south of burlington, moving northeast at 35 mph. these storms have a history of producing wind damage. locations impacted include, greensboro, burlington, graham, mebane, mcleansville, elon college, gibsonville, pleasant garden, haw river and swepsonville.
6/30/2015 5:47 PM EDT At 547 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. this storm was located near greensboro, and moving northeast at 40 mph.
6/30/2015 5:40 PM EDT Storm damage reported in guilford county NC, 7.4 miles E of Greensboro, NC
6/20/2015 6:38 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for southern guilford and northeastern randolph counties will expire at 645 pm edt, the storm that prompted the warning has begun to exit the warned area, and has steadily weakened over the past 15 minutes. as a result, the warning will be allowed to expire. wind gusts as high as 40 to 50 mph will remain possible along the gust front at the leading edge of this thunderstorm as it tracks into northeast guilford county and alamance county through 700 pm.
6/20/2015 6:17 PM EDT At 616 pm edt, doppler radar continued to indicate a severe thunderstorm capable of producing damaging wind gusts up to 60 mph. this storm was located near high point, moving northeast at 35 mph. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, asheboro, randleman, pleasant garden, jamestown, liberty, ramseur, franklinville and staley.
6/2/2015 9:21 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for western guilford and northwestern randolph counties will expire at 930 pm edt, the line of storms which prompted the warning has weakened below severe limits, and no longer poses an immediate threat to life or property. therefore the warning will be allowed to expire. however heavy rain is still possible with these thunderstorms.
6/2/2015 9:19 PM EDT At 917 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a line of thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near kernersville to near high point to 6 miles west of randleman, moving northeast at 25 mph. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, archdale, summerfield, stokesdale, jamestown, lake brandt, lake townsend, lake jeanette marina and colfax.
6/2/2015 9:03 PM EDT At 902 pm edt, doppler radar continued to indicate a cluster of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near kernersville to near high point to 6 miles southeast of thomasville, moving northeast at 15 mph. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, kernersville, archdale, summerfield, trinity, stokesdale, jamestown, lake brandt and lake townsend.
6/2/2015 8:45 PM EDT At 843 pm edt, doppler radar continued to indicate a cluster of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near kernersville to near thomasville to 6 miles east of lexington, moving northeast at 25 mph. locations impacted include, greensboro, high point, thomasville, kernersville, archdale, summerfield, trinity, stokesdale and jamestown.
6/2/2015 8:30 PM EDT At 829 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a cluster of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from 6 miles southeast of winston-salem to 6 miles west of thomasville to near lexington, and moving northeast at 25 mph.
5/11/2015 9:25 PM EDT At 924 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from harrisons crossroads to 8 miles north of greensboro, moving east at 25 mph. locations impacted include, summerfield, stokesdale, lake brandt, lake jeanette marina, oak hollow marina, colfax, belews lake and lake townsend.
5/11/2015 9:03 PM EDT At 903 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near price to 7 miles northeast of kernersville, moving northeast at 25 mph. locations impacted include, summerfield, stokesdale, lake brandt, lake jeanette marina, oak hollow marina, colfax, belews lake and lake townsend.
5/11/2015 8:53 PM EDT At 852 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near ayersville to near kernersville, moving northeast at 30 mph. locations impacted include, kernersville, summerfield, stokesdale, lake brandt, belews creek, belews lake, lake jeanette marina and oak hollow marina.
5/11/2015 8:41 PM EDT At 841 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from sandy ridge to near kernersville, moving east at 25 mph. locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, kernersville, summerfield, stokesdale, walkertown, lake brandt, belews creek and belews lake.
5/11/2015 8:31 PM EDT At 829 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. these storms were located along a line extending from near danbury to 6 miles north of winston-salem, and moving northeast at 25 mph.
4/20/2015 3:43 PM EDT The severe thunderstorm warning for north central guilford county will expire at 345 pm edt, the storm which prompted the warning has moved out of the area. therefore the warning will be allowed to expire. to report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement agency. they will relay your report to the national weather service raleigh.
4/20/2015 3:31 PM EDT At 331 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing large hail up to ping pong ball size and damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. this storm was located near bethany, or near wentworth, moving northeast at 45 mph. locations impacted include, summerfield, stokesdale, lake townsend marina, lake townsend, monticello, haw river state park and lake brandt.
4/20/2015 3:20 PM EDT Spotter reported 58 mph wind gust on home weather station in guilford county NC, 9.1 miles S of Greensboro, NC
4/20/2015 3:15 PM EDT At 314 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing large hail up to ping pong ball size and damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. this storm was located 7 miles southeast of belews lake, or 11 miles southeast of walnut cove, and moving northeast at 45 mph.
4/20/2015 3:05 PM EDT At 304 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing quarter size hail and damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. this storm was located near kernersville, or 8 miles northeast of winston-salem, moving northeast at 35 mph. locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, kernersville, summerfield, stokesdale, walkertown, rural hall, lake brandt and lake jeanette marina.
4/20/2015 2:51 PM EDT At 250 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing quarter size hail and damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. this storm was located over winston-salem, moving northeast at 30 mph. locations impacted include, greensboro, winston-salem, high point, lexington, kernersville, clemmons, bermuda run, huntsville, linwood and lewisville.
4/20/2015 2:35 PM EDT At 232 pm edt, doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing quarter size hail and damaging winds in excess of 58 mph. this storm was located over clemmons, or 9 miles southwest of winston-salem, and moving northeast at 35 mph.
9/16/2014 5:15 PM EDT Guilford 911 reported several trees down near the intersection of horse pen creek road and battleground avenu in guilford county NC, 5.4 miles SE of Greensboro, NC
9/16/2014 5:08 PM EDT Trees reported down at horsepen creek and carlson dairy road. 4 diameter trees snapped.and in the roa in guilford county NC, 5.8 miles SE of Greensboro, NC
6/16/2014 7:04 PM EDT Quarter sized hail reported 3 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC, 1 inch hail reported at lees chapel road and n church street
6/16/2014 6:57 PM EDT Ping Pong Ball sized hail reported 5.2 miles SW of Greensboro, NC, one tree uprooted on oakwood dr near the intersection of tree limb dr. hail of 1.5 inches was also measured.
6/16/2014 6:57 PM EDT One tree uprooted on oakwood dr near the intersection of tree limb dr. hail of 1.5 inches was also measure in guilford county NC, 5.2 miles SW of Greensboro, NC
6/16/2014 6:55 PM EDT Ping Pong Ball sized hail reported 6.6 miles SW of Greensboro, NC, up to half dollar size hail on hicone road at route 29.
6/16/2014 6:53 PM EDT Half Dollar sized hail reported 5.3 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC, large hail observed at south end of lake townsend on yancyville road.
6/10/2014 11:48 PM EDT Several trees and power-lines blown down across the count in guilford county NC, 1.3 miles ENE of Greensboro, NC
6/10/2014 11:43 PM EDT Half Dollar sized hail reported 8.5 miles NNE of Greensboro, NC, reported by a spotter on groomtown road.
3/12/2014 5:33 PM EDT Reports of at least scattered trees and power lines down especially over the north side of the cit in guilford county NC, 1.3 miles ENE of Greensboro, NC
3/12/2014 5:26 PM EDT Emergency manager reports multiple trees down and scattered power outages from i-40 north to pigsah church rd in guilford county NC, 2.4 miles ESE of Greensboro, NC
3/12/2014 5:26 PM EDT 61 mph wind gust reported at gso airpor in guilford county NC, 7.4 miles E of Greensboro, NC
3/12/2014 5:26 PM EDT Trees and power lines down on westridge rd and bryan blvd in guilford county NC, 2.7 miles ESE of Greensboro, NC
2/21/2014 9:40 AM EST Numerous trees and power lines down in the church street area of greensboro in guilford county NC, 1.3 miles ENE of Greensboro, NC
9/1/2013 4:50 PM EDT Power lines were reported down along with a tree at lynwood drive near liberty roa in guilford county NC, 7.9 miles NNW of Greensboro, NC
8/10/2013 3:00 PM EDT Tree blown down near the intersection of adams farm parkway and watercrest drive. time estimated by rada in guilford county NC, 7.4 miles NE of Greensboro, NC
7/21/2013 3:12 PM EDT Tree fell on a home on latham road in greensbor in guilford county NC, 0.5 miles W of Greensboro, NC
7/21/2013 3:12 PM EDT Tree fell on a home on clayburn street in greensbor in guilford county NC, 8.2 miles NW of Greensboro, NC
6/28/2013 4:57 PM EDT Tree down on a house... several others down along wayne road... time estimated by radar in guilford county NC, 6.7 miles NE of Greensboro, NC
6/28/2013 4:45 PM EDT One tree and numerous large limbs down in guilford county NC, 7.4 miles NE of Greensboro, NC
6/25/2013 7:15 PM EDT Quarter sized hail reported 3.4 miles E of Greensboro, NC, spotter reported quarter size hail at henderson rd and leonard dr in greensboro.
6/25/2013 7:05 PM EDT News media in greensboro reported tree down on house at hobbs rd and westridge and also trees blocking part of the roa in guilford county NC, 2.7 miles ESE of Greensboro, NC
6/25/2013 6:55 PM EDT Guilford co 911 reported trees down at bryan blvd and cone blvd in greensbor in guilford county NC, 1.9 miles ESE of Greensboro, NC
6/25/2013 6:50 PM EDT Guilford co 911 reported trees down at cone blvd and yanceyville st in greensbor in guilford county NC, 1.9 miles ESE of Greensboro, NC
6/25/2013 6:48 PM EDT Golf Ball sized hail reported 7.4 miles W of Greensboro, NC, hail reportedly broke a window of a truck
6/13/2013 4:26 PM EDT 3 trees down near browns summit in guilford county NC, 10 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC
6/13/2013 4:21 PM EDT Tree down... time estimated by radar in guilford county NC, 4.2 miles S of Greensboro, NC
6/10/2013 4:08 PM EDT Trees down on dolley madison rd at tower rd in guilford county NC, 4.6 miles E of Greensboro, NC
6/10/2013 4:05 PM EDT Tree down on dolley madison road near guida driv in guilford county NC, 4.6 miles E of Greensboro, NC
1/30/2013 9:18 PM EST Numerous trees down around the greensboro area...associated with the squall lin in guilford county NC, 1.2 miles E of Greensboro, NC
9/8/2012 3:50 PM EDT Tree blown down near u.s. 29 and highway 15 in guilford county NC, 10.7 miles SW of Greensboro, NC
9/8/2012 3:47 PM EDT Tree blown down near intersection of doggett road and highway 15 in guilford county NC, 10.3 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC
9/8/2012 3:45 PM EDT Tree blown down along air harbor roa in guilford county NC, 5.6 miles S of Greensboro, NC
9/8/2012 3:45 PM EDT Tree blown down along plainfield roa in guilford county NC, 6.3 miles S of Greensboro, NC
9/8/2012 3:30 PM EDT Trees blown down along battleground avenu in guilford county NC, 6.8 miles SE of Greensboro, NC
9/2/2012 7:50 PM EDT One tree was blown down near 200 lasalle wa in guilford county NC, 5.5 miles N of Greensboro, NC
9/2/2012 7:30 PM EDT Tree down on car at 3915 battleground av in guilford county NC, 4.5 miles SE of Greensboro, NC
6/22/2012 4:00 PM EDT Media report trees across roadway at north church st and 16th street in guilford county NC, 2.2 miles SW of Greensboro, NC
6/22/2012 3:55 PM EDT Media reports trees down at 3200 block of lawndale dr in guilford county NC, 1.5 miles SSE of Greensboro, NC
6/22/2012 3:40 PM EDT Guilford co 911 received report of large tree down on rd at 2403 yanceyville s in guilford county NC, 1.8 miles WSW of Greensboro, NC
6/22/2012 3:40 PM EDT Guilford co 911 received report of tree down on rd at 3200 lawndale d in guilford county NC, 1.8 miles WSW of Greensboro, NC
6/1/2012 3:15 PM EDT Trees down in hester park in guilford county NC, 2.9 miles NNE of Greensboro, NC
6/1/2012 3:15 PM EDT Multiple trees down and windows broken in the vicinity of peck elementary school... time estimated in guilford county NC, 2.8 miles NNE of Greensboro, NC
6/1/2012 3:10 PM EDT Numerous trees down in greensboro. elm street... summit ave... and sunset drive hardest hi in guilford county NC, 2.1 miles NW of Greensboro, NC
6/1/2012 2:50 PM EDT Quarter sized hail reported 3.8 miles NNE of Greensboro, NC, quarter size hail at the four seasons town centre
6/1/2012 2:48 PM EDT Golf Ball sized hail reported 1.3 miles N of Greensboro, NC, golf ball size hail at unc greensboro
3/24/2012 6:40 PM EDT Quarter sized hail reported 8.4 miles NNE of Greensboro, NC, quarter sized hail at old randleman road and highway 220
3/24/2012 6:22 PM EDT Tree down at bass chapel road and netfield road... time estimated by radar in guilford county NC, 4.2 miles S of Greensboro, NC
3/24/2012 6:00 PM EDT Quarter sized hail reported 9.6 miles E of Greensboro, NC
1/1/0001 12:00 AM Tree down on westridge r in guilford county NC, 3.5 miles ESE of Greensboro, NC
1/1/0001 12:00 AM Multiple reports of trees down in northern greensbor in guilford county NC, 1.8 miles SE of Greensboro, NC
1/1/0001 12:00 AM Tree down on a house on fernwood drive... no injuries in guilford county NC, 0.6 miles E of Greensboro, NC
9/28/2011 12:30 AM EDT Quarter sized hail reported 2.3 miles NNE of Greensboro, NC, one inch hail vicinity of i-40 i-85 junction
1/1/0001 12:00 AM Tree down at yanceyville rd and archer gate rd in guilford county NC, 6.6 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC
1/1/0001 12:00 AM Trees down. time estimate in guilford county NC, 5 miles SSE of Greensboro, NC
1/1/0001 12:00 AM Scattered trees down across guilford count in guilford county NC, 1.7 miles E of Greensboro, NC
1/1/0001 12:00 AM Powerlines down 800 block of gregory s in guilford county NC, 1.8 miles WNW of Greensboro, NC
1/1/0001 12:00 AM Powerlines down 500 block of homeland avenu in guilford county NC, 2.3 miles WNW of Greensboro, NC
1/1/0001 12:00 AM 1 foot diameter tree blown over... 52 mph wind measured by anemometer in guilford county NC, 11.9 miles WNW of Greensboro, NC
6/9/2011 4:35 PM EDT Half Dollar sized hail reported 11.6 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC, quarter to half dollar sized hail started around 417 pm and lasted until 435 pm in the browns summit area.
1/1/0001 12:00 AM Quarter sized hail reported 11.1 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC, quarter sized hail
1/1/0001 12:00 AM Quarter sized hail reported 11.4 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC, nickel to quarter sized hail
1/1/0001 12:00 AM Quarter sized hail reported 11.4 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC
6/9/2011 4:17 PM EDT Ping Pong Ball sized hail reported 11.6 miles SSW of Greensboro, NC, generally half to three quarters inch hail with larger stones measuring one and one half inch
1/1/0001 12:00 AM Tree down in roadway in guilford county NC, 10 miles SW of Greensboro, NC
1/1/0001 12:00 AM Tree down in road in guilford county NC, 2.3 miles WNW of Greensboro, NC
Hail Maps for Greensboro, NC
1 Des Moines, IA | Duluth, MN | Greenville, SC | Pierre, SD | Indianapolis, IN | Orlando, FL | Cincinnati, OH
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International Skeptics Forum » General Topics » Trials and Errors
Continuation Jeffrey MacDonald did it. He really did. Part II
Tags "A Wilderness of Error" , "Fatal Vision" , errol morris , Jeffrey MacDonald , Joe MacGinniss , murder cases
Page 35 of 38 « First < 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 >
8th May 2019, 08:16 PM #1361
GiSEQ
“Someone in that house wearing JMcD’s pyjama top, with his blood type, with his footprints, killed those people, everything that’s come out since then hasn’t really contradicted the physical evidence of the case.”*
The most chilling part of this case for me was the pathologist’s finding that as there were no corresponding holes in Kristen’s pyjama top, that JMcD lifted her top to ensure that the wounds he inflicted on his baby were anatomically precise, to ensure her death.
Would a drug crazed intruder do this, or a medical professional determined to escape what he had done?
JMcD was guilty of first degree murder because of this!
Still guilty, still in a cage after nearly 50 years. Nothing’s changed.
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9th May 2019, 02:14 AM #1362
Henri McPhee
Location: Bristol UK
Originally Posted by GiSEQ
That's nonsense. There is quite a detailed analysis of the weakness of the prosecution case in 1973:
http://www.crimearchives.net/1979_ma...mara_memo.html
The trouble is those North Carolina judges are not competent lawyers.
Apparently, the hairs found in Colette's right hand have not been identified. This evidence would aid the defense.
There is some question regarding how conclusive the C.I.D. lab report is in regard to the origin of the blue fibers and threads. At one time a Government witness said the fibers and threads "could have" come from the pajama top.
Last edited by Henri McPhee; 9th May 2019 at 02:16 AM.
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One persons opinion early on, in what would be a lengthy process through the system.
Fortunately, justice prevailed and the killer received his day in court. The rest is history.
Looking at bits and pieces that may suit your made up story, rather than the actual evidence as a whole is where you fail.
Still guilty, still in a cage!
Graduate Poster
Originally Posted by Henri McPhee
You have a penchant for focusing on data that was collected and analyzed prior to the Grand Jury Hearings and/or the 1979 trial. A year after this memo was constructed, the FBI took part in a thorough re-analysis of the physical evidence in this case. The results of the re-analysis led to inmate being indicted by a Grand Jury, and according to several jurors at the 1979 trial, this same forensic analysis was the tipping point in their guilty verdict.
Again, I challenge you to construct a detailed timeline of the murders, account for all of the inculpatory evidence that led to inmate's conviction, and back up your ideas with evidence contradicting the consensus interpretation.
http://www.macdonaldcasefacts.com
Last edited by JTF; 9th May 2019 at 10:21 AM.
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10th May 2019, 02:18 AM #1365
As an amateur lawyer I would have thought that the 'evidence as a whole' should include all the weaknesses in the prosecution case and their made up and withheld and forensic fraud evidence. This evidence as a whole concept in appeals seems to have come about in America after some sort of Supreme Court ruling in about 2006 which was then addressed by the 4th Circuit judges in the MacDonald case. This should include al the evidence that was discovered after the trial was over and which could not be previously included in appeals because of time limit legislation. There was a discussion about the matter on another MacDonald forum in which JTF and Byn and Christina were heavily involved as usual:
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/jeff...hole-t754.html
There is a sensible posting by Locard about the matter on that forum:
The only possible way to interpret the April 2011 COA ruling is to read it in full. It clearly favors the defense and not only does it condemn the Britt claim interpretation by Judge Fox, but also the Gov. Basically they gave leave to MacDonald to file, he did, and Murtagh and Judge Fox openly snubbed them.
On page 30 of the order (pacer) the 4th Circuit addresses very pointedly what they think has been overlooked and is like a road map back to the allegation of prosecution error, tether to constitutional error, he would be wise to address. At 83 Judge Fox will forget more about the law then I will ever cite or apply, but he should know a tap on his shoulder when he gets it.
His ruling following this is like a minefield- the defendant does not have to prove anything. Judge Fox has to prove he considered all the evidence to include the expansion *NOW* of the record. The 4th already sided with the defendant whether we like it or not. If you have not read the appendixes of the 2006 motion to expand the record (pacer) you should. It is entirely different than actual innocence. That 4th opinion is quite sneaky and forward in my humblest of opinions
Last edited by Henri McPhee; 10th May 2019 at 02:22 AM.
This is a quote by silly old Judge Fox which explains the evidence as a whole. One juror said after the trial that the reason he convicted MacDonald was because there were no pajama fibers or blood where MacDonald fell unconscious. That was patently untrue and Segal and Wade Smith should have corrected him about that at the trial:
https://www.casemine.com/judgement/u...d7b0493497ae2e
the Fourth Circuit further explained:
[A] court must make its § 2244(b)(2)(B)(ii) or § 2255(h)(1) determination–unbounded by the rules of admissibility that would govern at trial–based on all the evidence, including that alleged to have been illegally admitted [and that] tenably claimed to have been wrongly excluded or to have been available only after the trial. Or, to say it another way, the court must consider all the evidence, old and new, incriminating and exculpatory, without regard to whether it would necessarily be admitted under [evidentiary rules].
Unfortunately for all the misguided supporters of JMcD, in 1979 he was found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury who considered the mountain of legitimate evidence and decided he indeed slaughtered his family.
In nearly 50 years nothing and nobody has come close to overturning the truth.
The jury got it wrong for a variety of reasons. The matter is discussed by former MacDonald lawyer Harvey Silverglate at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/harveys.../#61f2b944e3e3
This notion should be condemned to the scrap heap of American judicial history. As University of Virginia Law Professor Brandon L. Garrett has written in his recent book, Convicting the Innocent, currently “the one claim that no convict can easily bring is a claim that he is innocent and should be freed for that reason alone.”
10th May 2019, 12:17 PM #1369
BStrong
As an amateur lawyer
An amateur lawyer? what the hell is that?
"When a man who is honestly mistaken, hears the truth, he will either cease being mistaken or cease being honest." - Anonymous
"Dulce bellum inexpertīs." - Erasmus
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It wasn't enough to smear a well-respected judge, you had to conflate unrelated items in order to foster your fantasy case narrative. Again, I challenge you to construct a detailed timeline of the murders, account for all of the inculpatory evidence that led to inmate's conviction, and back up your ideas with evidence contradicting the consensus interpretation.
Sore Loser
Is this the same Harvey Silverglate that got his legal butt handed to him by the DOJ not once, not twice, but three times? Poor Harvey, this case damaged his ego to the point where he has become an expert in revisionist history.
There is an interesting article on the internet about judicial corruption, which applies to the MacDonald case and Judges Dupree and Fox and the 4th Circuit judges. Any criminal defense lawyer is just beating against the wind with judges like that in a courtroom:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2010/12...-is-invisible/
The next stage of judicial corruption is false statement of the facts. The judge simply states a false set of “facts” which would lead any other court to the desired conclusion, and the resulting judgment not only looks plausible but cannot be appealed. The corrupt side submits the judgment you will be allowed to see, which is rubberstamped without effort or risk of appeal. Any case not favored by the judiciary requires a jury trial and an intense battle over evidence, but the judge simply refuses to admit evidence which contradicts his prejudice. If enough facts are deleted, the case is given his “summary judgment” without trial. If tried, the outcome is determined by the false picture of fact.
Nothing to see here.
Still guilty, still in a cage where he belongs.
Why bother to have a trial in a murder case then if the police and prosecutors and FBI and judges and the media and public have decided beforehand that you are guilty? There is nothing criminal defense lawyers can do to keep an innocent person out of prison. Evidence? MacDonald is innocent and there is nothing he can do about it. The matter is discussed at this website:
https://jdrhoades.blogspot.com/2011/...nyway-faq.html
The question I see and hear most often is this: "Why do we even have to have a trial? Why are we paying lawyers to defend him? Everyone knows he did it!" The answer is simple: because the U.S. Constitution says so.
The Sixth Amendment reads: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed ... to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence."
That's in all, repeat all, criminal prosecutions. There's no exception for "really bad crimes" or for defendants who "everyone knows" are guilty. All means all.
Colonel Rock had right judgment at the Article 32 proceedings in 1970 when MacDonald was cleared.
Burden Of Proof
[quote=Henri McPhee;12693061]Why bother to have a trial in a murder case then if the police and prosecutors and FBI and judges and the media and public have decided beforehand that you are guilty? There is nothing criminal defense lawyers can do to keep an innocent person out of prison. Evidence? MacDonald is innocent and there is nothing he can do about it. The matter is discussed at this website:
Inmate had more chances at freedom than any convicted murderer in history. Incredibly, he had 8 shots at presenting his evidence of innocence and in each instance, he failed to meet his "daunting burden." In 2012, Judge Fox provided him with his best chance at freedom, yet inmate was unable to take advantage of this legal gift. Judge Fox allowed inmate to present the kitchen sink, but inmate's defense team didn't have the evidentiary ammunition to free their client.
To be frank, inmate's evidentiary arguments were pathetic. The defense didn't call a single forensics expert to the stand and they requested that all of their evidentiary arguments be presented at closing arguments. This was not a good look for the defense and the government took full advantage of their weak opponent. After decades of hyperbolic rhetoric, all the defense could muster were previously litigated claims (e.g., wax drippings, unsourced prints, unsourced fibers) and arguments for the significance of 3 unsourced hairs. Unlike the defense presentation, Brian Murtagh presented ALL of the hair exhibits in this case.
His presentation included color slides of each hair, the exhibit number for each hair, the chain of custody for each hair, and the forensic analysis of each hair. Murtagh was so thorough that anyone with an ounce of critical thought would conclude that the defense failed to present concrete evidence of outside assailants. Murtagh also proved that the hair found in Colette's left hand was forcibly (e.g., broken, bloody) removed AND matched the DNA profile of Jeffrey MacDonald.
In 2014, Judge Fox ruled that "MacDonald has failed to establish, by clear and convincing evidence, that no reasonable fact finder would have found him guilty of the murder of his wife and two daughters. Alternatively, the court finds that MacDonald has failed to adequately establish the merits of any of his claims." In 2018, the 4th Circuit Court concurred with Judge Fox and ruled that "MacDonald has not met the rigorous requirements of § 2255(h)(1). As we cautioned in our 2011 decision, § 2255(h)(1) was "designed to ensure that [it] could be satisfied only in the rare and extraordinary case." See MacDonald, 641 F.3d at 614-15 (internal quotation marks omitted). Though we have given MacDonald the opportunity to do so, he has not demonstrated that his is one of the rare and extraordinary cases justifying pursuit of a claim premised on newly discovered evidence by way of a successive § 2255 motion. Simply put, we cannot say that the new evidence underlying MacDonald's Britt and DNA claims, considered with all the other evidence, would be sufficient to establish by clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable factfinder would have found him guilty of the murders of his wife and daughters."
HSienzant
Your Logical Fallacy: Begging the Question
Why bother to have a trial in a murder case then if the police and prosecutors and FBI and judges and the media and public have decided beforehand that you are guilty?
Your logical fallacy here is begging the question. You're posting as a given the very assertion you must prove. Since you have no evidence, you seemingly always resort to begging the question and simply proclaiming MacDonald innocent. Learn this: Your proclamations carry no weight. Either here in this forum or in a court of law.
There is nothing criminal defense lawyers can do to keep an innocent person out of prison.
Two words: Casey Anthony.
Two more: Orenthal Simpson.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not claiming either of the above are innocent. To the contrary, I believe both committed the crimes they were accused of. But each were found not guilty in a court of law by a jury of their peers. If lawyers can present enough of a defense to sometimes get their guilty clients off, surely they can present enough of a defense to get their innocent clients off.
Defense lawyers can present an adequate defense utilizing all the evidence collected and analyzed by experts. They can put the defendant on the stand and extract his story. They can cross-examine opposing experts and witnesses and establish that they are mistaken or confused. They can show the jury that the prosecution case has holes in it, too many to convict. They can show the jury the defense's case establishes the prosecution didn't establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Evidence?
Yeah, it would be good if you had some.
MacDonald is innocent and there is nothing he can do about it.
He had plenty of opportunities to do something about it. It's solely on him that he's still in jail. This is yet another example of you committing the logical fallacy of begging the question.
The matter is discussed at this website:
And there's the apparently obligatory citation from you in every post to someone else's meaingless opinion.
MacDonald was not cleared. Rock found that there was insufficient evidence to proceed to a court-martial, as I understand it. That is wholly different from a not guilty verdict. A civilian grand jury found there was sufficient evidence to proceed to trial, and in fact, there was sufficient evidence to convict.
I have never ”refused” to provide evidence. I provide evidence if requested to do so in a specific and relevant manner.
Hanks ”method” [of requesting evidence] is not going to [get me to] provide any evidence since it has a completely different purpose. To create the the illusion of me not providing evidence when requested to do so. - Manifesto
Last edited by HSienzant; 12th May 2019 at 10:49 AM.
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Why don't you listen to the experts?
I do. Quote the expert testimony from MacDonald's trial, why don't you?
[quote=JTF;12693159]
In 2012, Judge Fox provided him with his best chance at freedom, yet inmate was unable to take advantage of this legal gift. Judge Fox allowed inmate to present the kitchen sink, but inmate's defense team didn't have the evidentiary ammunition to free their client.
Biased old Judge Fox never wanted that evidentiary hearing in 2012 and he made sure that it just concentrated on Jimmy Britt and DNA and Stombaugh only said it could be and the same with the hairs and threads. I didn't know what was going on with that evidentiary hearing when it happened because it was not reported at the time. I know the defense wanted Glisson of the Army CID lab to appear because she is in disagreement with Stombaugh about the blood evidence and fabric impressions but she seems to be well into her 90s now, and she probably could not make it. A very interesting new confession by Mitchell came up, I think by the Griffins, and Stoeckley's own lawyer. Leonard, testified that now he was outside the lawyer /client confidentiality that Helena confessed to him, and he thought MacDonald was screwed. There seemed to be a cross-examination by the defense of Army CID agent Ivory which led nowhere as usual.
Originally Posted by HSienzant
That's just an assertion by you. From Colonel Rock's report at the Article 32 proceedings in 1970 which Murtagh and Judge Dupree deliberately withheld from the jury and 4th Circuit judges:
In the interest of military justice and discipline, it is mended that:
(1) All charges and specifications against Captain Jeffrey R. MacDonald be dismissed because the matters set forth in all charges and specifications are not true. There are no lesser charges and/or specifications which are appropriate.
(2) That appropriate civilian authorities be requested to investigate the alibi of Helen [sic] Stockley [sic], Fayetteville, North Carolina, reference her activities and whereabouts during the early morning hours of 17 February 1970, based on evidence presented during the hearing.
You can think a lot of things and maybe this or that happened or wasn’t reported, BUT you cannot provide any actual evidence.
Misguided opinions and second hand hearsay 10 times removed is not evidence and is not admissible in any court of law.
There was expert testimony at the 1979, and also at the Article 32 in 1970, which the jury and 4th Circuit judges were never informed about, including Dr. Sadoff's opinion that he is "fairly certain" MacDonald didn't do it, and by the textile expert Wofgang. There were a few real experts at the trial in 1979, including the fingerprint expert Osterburg ,and the blood expert Charles Morton, and the surgical glove fragment expert Guinn. In a way I agree that the defense might have made a mistake in not presenting a hair and fiber expert of their own who could have countered and exposed the blatant lies and deceptions of Stombaugh and Blackburn.
This is the opinion of the surgical glove expert Guinn at the trial, which is sympathetic to MacDonald:
http://www.thejeffreymacdonaldcase.c...-guinn-tt.html
R E D I R E C T E X A M I N A T I O N 3:50 p.m.
BY MR. SMITH:
Q Dr. Guinn, the name "Perry-brand" or "Perry-Pure" latex gloves as has been used by Mr. Murtagh, do you know which was Perry-Pure rubber glove samples -- that is, exemplar or evidence?
A Those were the exemplar samples and were stated to be from that particular -- they came out of the packages and they had that brand name on them; yes.
Q All right, it was stated to you then that the --
A (Interposing) The evidence ones, I, have no idea, obviously, what brand they are.
Q All right, sir. Were you informed as to where in the MacDonald household the Perry-Pure rubber gloves came from?
A I was informed they were found in packages stored somewhere in the kitchen of the house.
Q Were you informed as to where the evidence samples were found in the MacDonald household?
A They were found, I believe, in the master bedroom.
Q So, as far as you knew, you were comparing pieces of material found in the master bedroom with pieces of material found in the kitchen -- all of which came from the MacDonald household; is that correct?
A That is correct.
byn63
Stombaugh only said it could be and the same with the hairs
Well another incomplete thought/comment by henri big surprise (NOT). Yes, Stombaugh said the hairs "could be" because there is no absolute in hair analysis EXCEPT (1)DNA testing which was not available at the time and (2) only head and pubic hairs have enough distinguishing characteristics to be microscopically compared.
and threads as stated by Murtagh at a bench conference.
I do not believe anyone said "it could be" in relation to the pj fibers and threads. I think you are comparing apples and oranges and finding pineapples.
Stombaugh was an FBI lab hair and fiber man and he was never qualified to testify at MacDonald's trial about fabric impressions or bloodstains.
Yes Stombaugh was a fiber and hair analyst AND HE WAS QUALIFIED BY THE COURTS TO TESTIFY AS AN EXPERT. Just because you don't like his conclusions does not mean he was not an expert. BESIDES the FACT that the Defense Expert Thorton agreed with large portions of Stombaugh's testimony. So if Stombaugh was wrong Thorton was even more so....
He was one of the "purported experts" or "pseudo experts" as Segal described him during the trial.
STOMBAUGH WAS AN EXPERT AND THE COURTS DEEMED HIM SUCH. Segal's petty machinations do not now nor did they then diminish the FACT that Stombaugh was an expert and he testified in over 300 cases in his career including testimony before the Warren Commission.
It was only because Stombaugh was in the FBI that he was able to sway the jury, who were never given the full facts to make a right judgment as to the facts.
Yes, FBI experts do tend to carry weight with the jury, but that doesn't make the FACTS as reported by Stombaugh any less damning for your man crush. IF the defense felt there was evidence that should have been brought forth and presented it was the defense responsibility to present it. THE FACT that they didn't present any exculpatory evidence is in large part because there was not any exculpatory evidence. The prosecution presented only about 60% of the inculpatory evidence available. inmate is guilty and has been proven such before the courts more times than any other murderer in US jurisprudence.
was most severe in his criticism of the Army CID in the initial investigation when he still had his head screwed on and he had not met McGinniss yet:
Actually, Freddy's head got "screwed on straight" due to a number of factors:
1. reading the Article 32 hearing transcripts and comparing what inmate had told him and Mildred and what the FACTS showed.
2. going to the murder scene and comparing what inmate said he did and what the scene showed
3. listening to inmate tell him about "murdering" one of the alleged intruders
4. LISTENING to what Peter Kearns had to say during the re-investigation
5. seeing and hearing inmate's Bob Hope-like performance on the talk show
inmate lied, he killed his family.....I want to know why you hate Colette, Kimberley, Kristen, and the unborn baby boy so much!
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Originally Posted by byn63
There has been hair and fiber false testimony in murder cases for many years and it's that which convicted MacDonald. Blackburn in his closing speech at the trial told the jury that the conclusive evidence was that there were pajama fibers on the wooden murder weapon. Another juror said after the trial that there were no fibers where MacDonald fell unconscious, which was why he convicted, which was patently false. I agree that the defense strategy was mainly about an unseemly wrangle over the bloodstains and pajama folding experiment which was presented by the prosecution at the Grand Jury. The defense were taken by surprise when confronted by all that hair and fiber fabrication at the trial until they were able to obtain the facts afterwards on a freedom of information request.
This is an example of hair and fiber fraud from a British newspaper:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...lse-conviction
In other words, microscopic analysis of hair – the very analysis that put George Perrot and so many people behind bars – is virtually worthless as a method of identifying someone. It can only safely be used to rule out a suspect as the source of crime-scene materials or in combination with the vastly more accurate technique of DNA testing.....
The results, first reported by the Washington Post, concluded that an astonishing 26 of the 28 FBI agents who had provided testimony as expert witnesses at trial based on microscopic hair analysis had made statements to juries that are now known to be false. Their erroneous evidence was found in a full 90% of the trial transcripts the team has studied.
The government has identified almost 3,000 cases in which FBI agents may have given testimony involving the now-discredited technique. So far only about 500 of those cases have been been reviewed.
Some 268 of those involved FBI examiners providing expert evidence in court that pointed to the guilt of the defendant – of which 257, or 96%, included false testimony.
Well what about this quote then from Murtagh at a bench conference during the Shirley Green testimony at the 1979 trial?:
http://www.thejeffreymacdonaldcase.c...-green-tt.html
THE COURT: If he told me that you could arrange 48 places and arrange those same 48 so they would still go into those 21 holes other than the way that they say they arranged them in this case, I wouldn't believe it. But, now, thankfully, I don't have to make that decision, nor will that opinion ever be expressed to this jury.
MR. MURTAGH: Your Honor, if there is another way to reconstruct it -- and if it was tough enough to do it one way -- I think this is merely the conservative nature of the laboratory examiner. It is like the hair could have come -- the same thing with respect to the threads.
THE COURT: If I have ever heard a man disclaim, not one time but fifty, old Stombaugh kept saying that, "I only said it could be."
MR. MURTAGH: That is right, sir.
[quote=Henri McPhee;12693790]
Originally Posted by JTF
This is a prime example of your penchant for replacing fact with fantasy. Despite your assertions to the contrary, Judge Fox provided the defense with the freedom to present their case in the manner they saw fit. He also reminded the defense that the government was provided with the same freedom. You also dip into your "playing dumb" persona by claiming that the arguments presented at the evidentiary hearing were not reported. Hilarious.
The first 3 days of this hearing were covered from stem to stern by multiple media outlets, and the talking heads were debating whether the defense team's presentation would result in MacDonald receiving a new trial. Once the government put forth their case, however, the coverage dwindled as most of the talking heads quickly realized that inmate didn't come close to meeting his "daunting burden." The defense presented no smoking gun, they relied on 2nd and 3rd hand hearsay testimony, and they did not call a single forensics expert to the stand. By day 7 of the evidentiary hearing, the defense was left with the destruction of Jimmy Britt's claims, no sourced DNA from Stoeckley or Mitchell, and previously litigated arguments regarding the evidence presented at the 1979 trial.
Despite the government wiping the floor with inmate's defense team, Judge Fox and the 4th Circuit Court took great care in rendering their decisions. In 2014, Judge Fox ruled that "MacDonald has failed to establish, by clear and convincing evidence, that no reasonable fact finder would have found him guilty of the murder of his wife and two daughters. Alternatively, the court finds that MacDonald has failed to adequately establish the merits of any of his claims." In 2018, the 4th Circuit Court concurred with Judge Fox and ruled that "MacDonald has not met the rigorous requirements of § 2255(h)(1). As we cautioned in our 2011 decision, § 2255(h)(1) was "designed to ensure that [it] could be satisfied only in the rare and extraordinary case." See MacDonald, 641 F.3d at 614-15 (internal quotation marks omitted). Though we have given MacDonald the opportunity to do so, he has not demonstrated that his is one of the rare and extraordinary cases justifying pursuit of a claim premised on newly discovered evidence by way of a successive § 2255 motion. Simply put, we cannot say that the new evidence underlying MacDonald's Britt and DNA claims, considered with all the other evidence, would be sufficient to establish by clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable factfinder would have found him guilty of the murders of his wife and daughters."
Last edited by JTF; 13th May 2019 at 11:06 AM.
The quote says that the Judge was satisfied with the conclusion of the pj top folding; in other words, you cannot force a pattern to exist it either DOES EXIST or it does not exist. In this case it DOES EXIST and proves that inmate stabbed Colette through his pj top that he laid on her body most likely to try and explain her blood all over it. Too bad for him it was proven that several of the blood stains were on the top BEFORE it was torn.
Judge Dupree had corrupt bias and all he was interested in was that the defense could not litigate for a mistrial. That was just his uninformed opinion. It was never proven that several of the blood-stains were on the top BEFORE it was torn. Stombaugh was never a qualified blood expert and the serologist at the Army CID lab, Glisson, was in disagreement with Stombaugh about that. There needs to be a second opinion about the matter by real experts in America who have written books about bloodstains and blood spatter and fabric impressions.
http://www.thejeffreymacdonaldcase.c...ornton-tt.html
BY MR. SEGAL:
Q I asked you whether you had read testimony of Shirley Green in regard to the reconstruction experiment that she said she did in terms of putting 48 probes into holes in the -- rather, taking 48 holes in the pajama top and making them fit into 21 holes.
A Yes.
Q And I asked you at that time the question of whether you had an opinion as to whether or not she did in fact do what she said she did, and you said you had an opinion in that regard.
Q And what was that opinion?
A I consider her reconstruction to be impossible. I consider it to be conceptually unsound and contrived.
Playing Dumb, Again
As you full well know, both the 4th Circuit Court and the United States Supreme Court lauded Dupree's handling of the 1979 trial. Your smear tactics are tiresome. As you full well know, the trial testimony of Paul Stombaugh and Terry Laber proved that Colette's Type A blood was smeared/spattered on inmate's pajama top in 10 locations before it was torn. As you full well know, Bernie Segal consulted with bloodstain expert Judith Bunker, and she processed with Segal that considering she agreed with the bloodstain analysis of BOTH Stombaugh and Laber, she would not be a good witness for the defense.
Using the time honored tactic in defending their mancrush through innuendo about any crime ever committed, here's proof that the mancrush did the deed:
https://people.com/crime/doctor-mom-...ivorce-papers/
A Toronto neurosurgeon was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for strangling his wife after she filed for divorce.
Mohammed Shamji, 43, pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in the 2016 death of 40-year-old Elana Fric. According to court testimony, Fric had served her husband with divorce papers two days before he killed her. He broke her neck and ribs before choking her to death as their three children slept nearby.
According to the CBC, Fric was a respected family doctor who also worked as an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. She also served as a member of the health policy committee at the Ontario Medical Association.
Doctor murders wife = Doctor murdering the whole family.
I'm sure there's a anonymous internet post somewhere that supports this theory, but I can't remember where it was.
Let's not forqet this on cross-examination.
Q Dr. Guinn, can you say positively that these pieces of rubber did not come from a Perry-brand surgical latex glove?
A Could I say positively?
Q Can you say positively?
A 'If you mean by that -- the word "positively" if you mean absolutely --
Q (Interposing) I mean absolutely.
A -- then, I would say "no," I could not say that.
I really don't see how Guinn's testimony that you quoted helps you any.
Last edited by HSienzant; 14th May 2019 at 04:11 PM.
Please present the case law that Colonel Rock's report was admissible as evidence. It's not, based on my understanding of what's admissible. You're claiming they withheld it, please establish it was admissible.
The testimony of the various witnesses, yes. The conclusions of a judge or judge-equivalent, not so much.
We'll await your citations to documented case law where conclusions of a military tribunal were admitted into evidence during a civilian trial.
Go ahead, we'll wait.
. Stombaugh was never a qualified blood expert ...
The court found differently.
MR. BLACKBURN: Your Honor, at this time we would renew our offer for this witness to be an expert in the field of hair, fibers, fabric impression, damage and stains.
THE COURT: Yes, the Court will so hold.
As you're not licensed to practice law in North Carolina to the best of my knowledge, nor have you ever served as an appelate judge in that state, your opinion can be safely and reasonably ignored.
The main reason Kassab changed his mind about MacDonald is because CID agent Kearns went to Kassab's home in New York to tell him that MacDonald had been seeing other women at the time of the Article 32 proceedings in 1970. That made the Kassabs angry. There was an unpleasant meeting between MacDonald and the Kassabs at about that time, which was witnessed by a woman MacDonald companion, and explained by that witness at the 1979 trial, when Colette's mother told MacDonald that if he took up his medical post in California he would regret it. That's why Colette's mother committed perjury at the 1979 trial which is a criminal offense.
Sorry, hearsay many times removed is not admissible.
Still guilty, still in his cage.
Murtagh made some silly remark at the 1979 trial, which I now can't find, that the Article 32 proceedings in 1970 were inadmissible at trial because the calm and thorough presentation of the facts then was ten years old! The only difference between then and the trial was Stombaugh's manufactured and fabricated hair and fiber testimony and fabric impressions and the conceptually unsound pajama folding experiment There is an unseemly wrangle between Judge Dupree and Segal about the matter at this website:
http://www.themacdonaldcase.com/html...ald_trial.html
THE COURT: Have you found a case in any jurisdiction in which the findings of the officer conducting an Article 32 proceeding, or any other inquiry the object of which is to determine probable cause for the institution of a criminal action, in which such findings have been admitted in evidence under 803(8)(c) or any other rule of evidence?
MR. SEGAL: 803(8)(c) is too new to have produced much appellate review.
THE COURT: Like we say to the witnesses, you just answer my question yes or no. I'll let you explain.
MR. SEGAL: Certainly, Your Honor. We have set forth the cases that we --
THE COURT: (Interposing) There are several cases. There are several cases. I said in a criminal prosecution.
MR. SEGAL: These are the only cases that we are aware of.
THE COURT: You have never found one; have you?
MR. SEGAL: We have no other cases to offer, but I must say that because the context is novel, the rule isn't. I mean the rule could not be more plain. It says you can introduce an official investigation and finding against the Government in a criminal case. I mean I hope we are not reduced to another situation now where we decide that both Congress and the drafters and the Supreme Court had their backs turned on the possibility that MacDonald might make use of the rules.
There is no absolute certainty that fingerprint and DNA evidence is accurate. It's just that a jury can usually work it out for themselves. Dr. Guinn was asked for his expert opinion about the surgical glove fragments found at the crime scene and this is it:
Q What is your opinion?
A My opinion is that just looking at the numbers that he submitted, I would come to the same conclusion -- that it would be extremely unlikely that the evidence in the exemplar samples were made by the same manufacturer.
There is no absolute certainty that fingerprint
yes there is....
and DNA evidence is accurate.
OMG you cannot really mean have the BS you type! DNA does not lie
It's just that a jury can usually work it out for themselves.
Wow what a surprise another incomplete thought from henri....WHAT exactly can the jury work out for themselves?
Dr. Guinn was asked for his expert opinion about the surgical glove fragments found at the crime scene
yes, and he gave it, as in "I cannot say that the pieces found at the crime scene are NOT from the supply of rubber gloves found under the sink"
Murtagh made some silly remark at the 1979 trial, which I now can't find, that the Article 32 proceedings in 1970 were inadmissible at trial because the calm and thorough presentation of the facts then was ten years old!
Not my point. Please respond to the point I made, not to the straw man argument you find easier to refute. You offered the judge advocate's opinion as admissible. I'm asking you you establish it is. We can wait until you cite the established case law on that.
Here is what you wrote:
From Colonel Rock's report at the Article 32 proceedings in 1970 which Murtagh and Judge Dupree deliberately withheld from the jury and 4th Circuit judges:
Show me that Colonel Rock's report is admissible. If you can't, then the above premise of your argument is false. It wasn't 'deliberately withheld' as you claim. It was never admissible to start with.
The only difference between then and the trial was Stombaugh's manufactured and fabricated hair and fiber testimony and fabric impressions and the conceptually unsound pajama folding experiment
There is an unseemly wrangle between Judge Dupree and Segal about the matter at this website:
And there's the ever present logical fallacy of Begging the Question followed by a link to something you have yet to establish is meaningful.
We've seen this song-and-dance routine hundreds of times already. It wasn't meaningful then, it isn't meaningful now, and it won't be meaningful in the future.
The court tells Segal that his attempt to admit Rock's conclusions is not allowed. Rock's conclusions are not evidence. The jury is empaneled to make up their own mind from the evidence. They are not empaneled to hear someone else's conclusions and rubber-stamp those.
Acid Trip, but whose?
So your theory is that hippies on an acid trip murdered the family but thought to bring along and don latex gloves so as not to leave fingerprints that you claim are meaningless and don't prove anything in any case?
Am I understanding that correctly?
Murtagh made some silly remark at the 1979 trial, which I now can't find
Giving your recollection zero credibility.
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Clarke looks to rekindle flame
Nigel Ringland at Muirfield
IT was no surprise to find Darren Clarke working hard on the range and putting green at Muirfield yesterday. Putting in the hours practicing has never been the issue. It's when the results don't echo the effort that the frustration builds.
At first he didn't want to talk, probably fearing the same old questions about his form, but when persuaded the Dungannon man was in good humour as he reflected on recent times.
"What keeps me working? The love/hate of the game. There's more love but it's hiding somewhere," he said.
Clarke (left) laughed when it was suggested it was unrequited love:
"Maybe I'm just trying too hard. I'm working as hard as I can and coming here this week, well, this is brilliant, this is fantastic, this is as good as it gets."
Two years ago there were no expectations on Clarke when he turned up at Royal St George's before producing a masterclass in links golf to win his only Major title on a never-to-be-forgotten week.
Since then, he has played in 40 events, missed 18 cuts and finished in the top 10 only once, at the Australian PGA Championship last December where he was joint eighth with eight others.
He missed the cut at the recent Irish Open and, although showed some glimpses of what he can produce at Castle Stuart last week, it was another weekend off and he languishes at 437th in the world rankings.
Clarke lamented: "I played nicely last week but had a couple of bad bounces.
"I almost got myself into contention halfway through the second round, then I got a couple of bad bounces, trickled into a bunker on the downslope, without actually hitting bad shots, and it was one of those things, but I actually played not too bad last week so looking forward to this week."
It's on a links course like Muirfield that a switch could flick for Clarke.
"It's a wonderful golf course. Muirfield is as fair as they come and it's in great condition. I've been here twice in the past month doing a couple of R&A patrons, days and I played yesterday as well.
It's getting very firm and fast and it's only going to get firmer and faster according to the forecast, so the course is good and Muirfield has always been about keeping it on the fairways, that's what Muirfield is."
He added when asked if it was right up his street: "It is, it's about hitting six-irons 250 yards downwind and trying to put it in the right place all the time so it's different, but its great.
"The Open is the biggest and best tournament in the world and you know, we play on some of the best course in the world as well. It's always a fantastic event."
Clarke's recent record in the Majors also doesn't bode well.
In the five he's played in since winning The Open, he missed this year's Masters after tearing his hamstring playing tennis and has made only one cut, finishing 54th at last year's USPGA Championship.
At the 1992 Open here at Muirfield, he missed the cut and, a decade later, he could only manage 37th, but Clarke isn't going to duck a challenge.
"I think if you take a look at the winners here, they're all, it seems a very obviously thing to say, great shot-makers and in control of their ball flight," he said.
"Nick Faldo, and all those guys, worked the ball around the golf course. Tom Watson, all wonderful ball-strikers and were able to control the trajectory and shape of things.
"This golf course, that's why it's as good as it is and produces such fantastic winners"
It's a long shot that Clarke will add his name to the list of Muirfield winners Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Watson, Faldo and Ernie Els dating back to 1959.
But why not? After all he's been there and done it before...
FIRST ROUND TEE-TIMES
Tee-off times in the first round of The Open Championship, Muirfield - Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland (Gbr & Irl unless stated, all times Local): (x) denotes amateurs Starting at hole 1 0632 Lloyd Saltman, Peter Senior (Aus), Oliver Fisher 0643 Robert Karlsson (Swe), Todd Hamilton (USA), (x) Ben Stow 0654 Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha), Bud Cauley (USA) 0705 Brooks Koepka (USA), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Ashun Wu (Chn) 0716 David Duval (USA), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Chris Wood 0727 Stewart Cink (USA), Scott Stallings (USA), Richard McEvoy 0738 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), KJ Choi (Kor), Jimmy Walker (USA) 0749 Ben Curtis (USA), Shane Lowry, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 0800 Brian Davis, Jonas Blixt (Swe), Graham Delaet (Can) 0811 Robert Garrigus (USA), John Senden (Aus), Marc Warren 0822 Martin Kaymer (Ger), (x) Garrick Porteous, Jason Day (Aus) 0833 Carl Pettersson (Swe), Jason Dufner (USA), David Lynn 0844 Bubba Watson (USA), Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel), Dustin Johnson (USA) 0900 Tom Watson (USA), Nick Faldo, Fred Couples (USA) 0911 Justin Rose, Ernie Els (Rsa), Brandt Snedeker (USA) 0922 Ian Poulter, Keegan Bradley (USA), Billy Horschel (USA) 0933 Richard Sterne (Rsa), Gonzalo FernandezCastano (Spa), Nick Watney (USA) 0944 Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Phil Mickelson (USA) 0955 Tim Clark (Rsa), Scott Piercy (USA), Kevin Streelman (USA) 1006 Shingo Katayama (Jpn), Zach Johnson (USA), Thomas Bjorn (Den) 1017 Angel Cabrera (Arg), Camilo Villegas (Col), Tano Goya (Arg) 1028 Ken Duke (USA), George Coetzee (Rsa), Mark Calcavecchia (USA) 1039 John Huh (USA), Brendan Jones (Aus), Hyung-sung Kim (Kor) 1050 Josh Teater (USA), Steven Tiley, (x) Jimmy Mullen 1101 KT Kim (Kor), Steven Jeffress (Aus), Luke Guthrie (USA) 1112 Gareth Wright, John Wade (Aus), Makoto Inoue (Jpn) 1133 YE Yang (Kor), Danny Willett, Johnson Wagner (USA) 1144 Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Lucas Glover (USA), Oscar Floren (Swe) 1155 Boo Weekley (USA), Sandy Lyle, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 1206 (x) Grant Forrest, Marcus Fraser (Aus), Mark O'Meara (USA) 1217 Tom Lehman (USA), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 1228 (x) Rhys Pugh, Justin Leonard (USA), Marc Leishman (Aus) 1239 Kyle Stanley (USA), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Alexander Noren (Swe) 1250 Russell Henley (USA), Jordan Spieth (USA), (x) Matthew Fitzpatrick 1301 Michael Thompson (USA), Padraig Harrington, Richie Ramsay 1312 Vijay Singh (Fij), Darren Clarke, Martin Laird 1323 Ryan Moore (USA), Henrik Stenson (Swe), (x) Steven Fox (USA) 1334 Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Jim Furyk (USA), Paul Lawrie 1345 Harris English (USA), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Stephen Gallacher 1401 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 1412 Adam Scott (Aus), Matt Kuchar (USA), Luke Donald 1423 Matteo Manassero (Ita), Rickie Fowler (USA), Hunter Mahan (USA) 1434 Peter Hanson (Swe), Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn), Bill Haas (USA) 1445 Tiger Woods (USA), Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 1456 Webb Simpson (USA), Branden Grace (Rsa), Jamie Donaldson 1507 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Toru Taniguchi (Jpn), Bo Van Pelt (USA) 1518 Brett Rumford (Aus), DA Points (USA), Marcel Siem (Ger) 1529 George Murray, Mark Brown (Nzl), Justin Harding (Rsa) 1540 Scott Jamieson, Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Shiv Kapur (Ind) 1551 Scott Brown (USA), Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn), Gareth Maybin 1602 Tyrrell Hatton, Eduardo De La Riva (Spa), Kenichi Kuboya (Jpn) 1613 Stephen Dartnall (Aus), Darryn Lloyd (Rsa), Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn)
16 July, 2013 00:00 Sport
More in Sport
2009: When back-to-back All-Ireland titles were on the agenda for Tyrone
Rory McIlroy: 'I'm trying to treat this like any other Open'
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Domestic Violence Rates Higher in Police Families
The rates of domestic violence, murder and suicide are higher among the families of those people who are entrusted with the responsibility of preventing such crimes in the general population. According to an analysis of data by researchers at the University of Utah, the rates of these offences, including domestic violence, were much higher among police families.
According to the researchers, over the past decade, they have been researching murder-suicide trends, and in the course of their research, they have analyzed as many as 730 murder-suicides across the country. In their analysis, the researchers found evidence of something called” suicide contagion,” in which a person who is considering suicide, believes that his family will be devastated by his suicide, and therefore, goes ahead and murders his other family members.
Many of these cases, according to the researchers, have family issues, like entangled or disturbed relationships, at the core of the issue. Usually, there is a spousal estrangement, divorce, separation or evidence or some other family law-related matter that is to be found at the root of such incidents. The researchers say that the number of incidents that their data analysis has thrown up does not even constitute the tip of the iceberg, and that there is much more data to be analyzed from around the country. They plan to continue their studies into such domestic violence and homicide risks in the police force across the country.
The researchers also believe that domestic violence rates are higher in police families, because officers very often do not know who to ask for help with a family-related problem, or believe that asking for help could be misconstrued as a sign of weakness. Society very often expects police officers to be robotic, in control of their emotions all the time and always on duty. People seem to forget that officers are human beings, and could be going through family issues at home that could affect their psychological state of mind.
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Short Stuff: The 2018 Oscar-Nominated Documentary Shorts
The theaters in my area that pick up the Oscar-Nominated Documentary Shorts almost always break them up into two packages, and it's usually a smart idea: With every entry pushing the definition of the "shorts" category to its limit, that's a chunk of time where a narrative feature would probably be given an intermission anyway. This year's program, on the other hand, clocks in at a relatively lean 139 minutes, or roughly the length of a Marvel movie, an hour less than its theoretical maximum length. Many places are still breaking it up, which is reasonable enough, as it's the sort of presentation where it certainly doesn't hurt to spend a little time resetting and reflecting.
That several of the entries are more compact is a blessing, but also indicative of something else: This year's group feels like a larger entry in what a documentary can be, whether short or feature-length. It's hardly the first time that a mix of styles has been featured in this category, and it's entirely possible that the five films chosen next year will once again be a set of films that all push the 40-minute barrier as filmmakers try to edit the year they spent shadowing a group of interesting people into something that pays like a feature but shorter, but the Oscar voters have an interesting set of choices this year.
* * * ½ (out of four)
Seen 10 February 2019 in the Coolidge Corner Theatre Screening Room (Oscar-Nominated Shorts, DCP)
Consider "Black Sheep", the first entry being shown in theaters, which some purists may argue is not a documentary at all. A fair amount is Cornelius Walker recounting the story of his youth, when the murder of a ten-year-old Nigerian boy led his mother to pack the family up and move them from London to small-town Essex, only for Cornelius to discover the first time he left the house that the racism was much more overt there, perhaps more likely to lead to violence, with perhaps his best hope of getting through it to be to assimilate into the racist culture despite his own black skin. Though Walker's voice is a constant, what's on-screen is often recreations, with Perkins seldom using photographs or video of the younger Walker.
This sort of recreation may not pass a purity test, and it's often not necessarily more dynamic than stretching whatever footage or other images that can be found out; Perkins repeats the same images a few times, and sometimes a shot will be empty or abstracted in a way that marks it as not real, while the shots of Walker narrating in unwavering, head-on close up can feel just as artificial. It's effective, though, in how it bridges the gap between Walker's mouth the viewer's visual cortex; there's just enough space for one to get the impression he or she has witnessed events while still knowing otherwise. It allows one to make an honest memory.
It's got a fine subject in Walker, too; the young man can spin a story without making it a tall tale or exaggerating for too much dramatic effect, getting across the disbelief he feels for how he acted when younger while still understanding. He and Perkins make sure he doesn't waste words, letting the viewer fill certain gaps in more with experiences than prejudices, and they're smart enough to draw the line in an unexpected but logical place: This is just the story of how he got into a bad place; the story of how he got out or faced the consequences of these actions would be another short film entirely, and one I wouldn't mind seeing.
"A Night at the Garden"
* * * ¾ (out of four)
Where "Black Sheep" is at one end of the documentary spectrum, "A Night at the Garden" is perhaps all the way at the other - it is entirely archive footage of a February 1939 "Pro-American Rally" at New York's Madison Square Garden assembled by filmmaker Marshall Curry, to the extent that when he is credited as having "produced, directed, and edited" this film, one may have a moment of wondering if a work like this is "directed", in terms of actually directing other people to do something to capture what one sees on screen. It's a terrifically effective bit of assembly, and certainly reflects his craftsmanship, but that's not how many people understand the term.
No matter, in terms of how well the film works. It's a tightly-constructed seven minutes that demonstrates just how overt the racism and anti-semitism of that time could be, with Nazis and their supporters filling the Garden and rapidly dropping the euphemisms like "Pro-American". It has room to show that there was resistance, and that entering this snake's nest to protest marked one as pretty brave. The music by James Baxter is not subtle in underlying the fascist intentions, and it's not hard to tie what one sees on-screen to current events, a sharp reminder that it absolutely can, as they say, happen here.
Curry is not subtle about this, even if he doesn't do a lot in the way of title cards or any cross-cutting with the present to drive his point home. It's interesting what he chooses to include and exclude and what that means, though - he includes speaker Fritz Kuhn saying that the audience knows who he is but does not actually identify him, whether to avoid giving Kuhn a raised profile decades later or to highlight that he has generally been left behind. Though there are multiple shots of the Nazi salute, the most striking one is a POV shot, reminding the audience that this isn't professional footage, but home movies, meant to be shown with pride later. And the way police handle protester Isadore Greenbaum becomes an interesting sort of Rorschach test - whether Curry meant it to or not.
"End Game"
* * * (out of four)
Between the two comes "End Game", directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, and it's in many ways more typical - it splits time between the University of California San Francisco hospital and the nearby Zen Hospice Project, following a half-dozen or so patients who have weeks or months to live, though not all have given up hope. They do a lot of makes a documentary about such issues work, maintaining a careful distance to show how the process works without inflating drama, but using interviews with their well-chosen subjects to keep everyone from seeming like mere data points. They never lose track of how, by the time audiences see this, the patients will be dead, but leavening that with positive attitudes and a few moments that acknowledge the presence of the camera and how it may change things. They capture people defining and discussing end-of-life care in a straightforward manner without it feeling staged, either as interview footage or a scene that feels inauthentic.
And in a certain way, all of this works because they have found a number of people who stand out even among people in extraordinarily difficult situations. At the hospice, Dr. Miller catches the eye immediately as a triple amputee, and he acknowledges that knowing his reduced limits informs the work he does there. Eventually, his passionate advocacy and true belief in the work they do becomes his most important feature, and while he (and his institution) can strike a viewer as almost impossibly sunny and well-adjusted, the film presents him as an attempt to counter one's skepticism without forcing it. At the hospital, cancer patient Mitra is striking as an example of how, though the disease and treatment haven't sapped all of her strength and ability to act, these decisions cannot be entirely her own, with husband Hamid and mother Vaji both forced to take more active roles than they could wish. The interplay between Hamid's desperate hope for a miracle and retired nurse Vaji's heartbroken pragmatism is what gets to the core of the family's choices.
The film's biggest issue is that these two cannot give the full picture that Epstein & Friedman wish to present, but at the short film scale, they quickly run out of room for more than quick glimpses. Those glimpses are affecting, but can feel like they're either diluting the things that the filmmakers are able to flesh out or like there's a feature-length version in their footage that covers everything they want to show better. It's still a fine film, just one where the industry's definitions may keep it from being its best possible version.
"Lifeboat"
* * * ¼ (out of four)
Skye Fitzgerald's "Lifeboat" is cut from similar cloth, only she embedded herself and her crew on a Sea Watch ocean vessel, Sea Watch being a German non-profit organization that patrols the waters north of Lybia, looking for boats of migrants trying to make their way to Europe. By the time their boats have reached international waters, most are in dire straits, as is the case in the operation shown here, where three boats crowded to bursting all need rescue.
Bookends on the shore give a clear picture of how the stakes are life and death and then some - death in this case is often anonymous and devoid of dignity - but for the bulk of the short, Fitzgerald and the crew (cinematographer Kenny Allen and editor Dan Sadowsky) do a fair job of just putting the audience on the water, letting the obvious lack of space for enough fresh water and supplies to cross the Mediterranean tell its own tale, letting the audience keenly feel the rescuers' desire to help and the simple practical difficulty of it between the language barriers, limited resources of their own, and panic and desperation. The filmmakers are quite good at making the film feel immersive when there's actually a fair amount of interview footage and captioning explaining situations and giving stories. Perhaps this is because almost all seems to be taken while on the ship, keeping everything in the same urgent timeframe rather than giving the impression of details filled in later, at their leisure.
Keeping the focus on the present does leave a few gaps that occasionally make it feel a bit over-bounded - there's a whole system on either end of this process that a viewer might want explained, from the Libyan prison camp many are escaping to the challenges those rescued may face attempting to obtain refugee status in Europe. For better or worse, that is not this film's immediate concern, and a short like this is arguably designed to show one link in a chain rather than the whole thing. That it can be seen as a shortcoming is, perhaps, testimony to Fitzgerald's skill and how compelling what both the ship's crew and new passengers are; it's hard not to be interested in the rest of their stories.
"Period. End of Sentence."
The last film included in the package, Rayka Zehtabchi's "Period. End of Sentence.", is in some ways marked as a bit different by the captions at the end, which mention that the film and the project it covers were partly funded by Kickstarter and partly by high school students in Oakland California. It's not that crowdfunding is uncommon for short films or particularly hidden in the credits, rather that the clear but playful way the filmmakers make a note of this serves to connect the process of making the film to what it shows - people getting things done for themselves and young women leading the way. It's a last way to emphasize the themes of the film and maybe stoke ambitions beyond the subject.
Which, itself, benefits from the film having a somewhat less formal style than the other nominees. It drops the audience into a village about 60 km outside of Delhi, where a group of women has acquired a machine to allow for low-cost, people-powered manufacture of sanitary pads, no small boon in area where not only is the use of such things rather low, but where men and women alike can often be quite uneducated about the menstrual cycle. Zehtabchi and her main subjects poke at this with good humor, acknowledging the embarrassment of bringing the topic up but defusing it with laughter even as they also point out that the general ignorance and lack of accessible hygiene measures is a real problem. There are multiple scenes where women are seen going from being unable to talk about their periods to joking about it.
That doesn't disguise the genuine frustration and need for change that exists both above and below the surface, at how being unable to acknowledge biological reality is what leads to pads being treated as a luxury item and women as a result having fewer options. Zehtabchi pointedly doesn't offer up any convenient male villains - there seem to be some terrible husbands who aren't around at the moment - but instead highlights the passive acceptance that keeps bad structures in place. Dealing with one man isn't going o make a dent, but the film shows women building what they need more or less on their own.
Were I to have a vote, "Period. End of Sentence." would probably have it; it's quality moviemaking and clear communication that feels just right at its length. If I were a betting man, I'm not sure I'd want to bet against "Lifeboat", with "A Night at the Garden" the dark-horse favorite as the one that speaks most directly to the mostly-American Oscar voters' current concerns.
Labels: documentary, India, shorts, UK, USA
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Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
Missbehavior
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Donovan to Be Honored With John Lennon Real Love Award at Tribute Concert
Steve Marinucci / September 8, 2016
Donovan performs at Schwuz on July 20, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. Stefan Hoederath/Redferns
Folk-rock legend Donovan will become the third recipient of the John Lennon Real Love Award at the 36th annual John Lennon Tribute Concert to be held on Dec. 2 at Symphony Space in New York City, the event's non-profit sponsor Theatre Within announced. Tickets go on sale at 1 p.m. ET Sept. 23 on theevent's website. Donovan, who accompanied the Beatles on a trip to India in 1968 and composed songs there, will perform a set of Beatles songs and his own at the concert and dedicate them to Lennon.
“Donovan’s body of work speaks for itself. It’s seminal and beloved by fans and fellow artists,” Joe Raiola, executive producer and artistic director of Theatre Within’s Annual John Lennon Tribute, told Billboard. “He was also with the Beatles during a pivotal time — not just for the group but for Western culture. The Beatles helped bring yoga and meditation to America and Donovan was part of that. Ever since, he has been a vocal advocate of seeking peace within and for years has championed the David Lynch Foundation, which promotes Transcendental Meditation around the world. These are true Lennon values, so it is Theatre Within’s privilege to honor Donovan with this award in John Lennon’s name.” Raiola, senior editor at MAD Magazine, was co-creator of the tribute with Alec Rubin in 1981.
“Donovan is a beautiful soul who was positively influenced by John," Yoko Ono said in a statement. "I think it is lovely that Theatre Within is honoring him with the 'John Lennon Real Love Award' and that the Tribute continues to flourish." The Lennon tribute concert, produced with Music Without Borders, is the only Lennon tribute in North America or Europe fully sanctioned by Ono. More performers will be announced for the concert at a future date.
"I am delighted to be honored with this year's John Lennon Real Love Award,"Donovan said in a statement. "And I am amazed to say that John has written a song through me which I will sing at the Tribute with special guests. Please support Theatre Within and remember, peace begins within."
Theatre Within said it will also hold a free “Meditation for World Peace” event at the Insight Meditation Center in New York City on Oct 9, which would have been Lennon's 76th birthday. It will include demonstrations of “loving-kindness meditation,” a period of silence and songs made famous by John Lennon.
“The idea behind the John Lennon Real Love Award is to recognize artists for both their body of work and positive social impact,” Raiola said. “That’s what we loved so much about John — that he was a brilliant artist and passionate social activist.” The John Lennon Real Love Award previously honored photographer Bob Gruen in 2014 and playwright-activist Eve Ensler in 2015.
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Amy Taylor
Ken Houldsworth, CFP®
Kaia Morris
E-mail address: amy.taylor@lpl.com
Printed from: www.lplarcata.com
History of the federal estate tax
The history of estate taxes in America has been a long and winding road. Careful estate planning is still one of the most important ways to manage and protect your assets for your heirs.
The Stamp Act of 1797 was the first federal estate tax in the United States and was passed to help fund an undeclared war with France; it was repealed in 1802. The Revenue Act of 1862 reinstated the estate tax in order to fund the Civil War; it was abolished in 1870. To finance the Spanish American War, the War Revenue Act of 1898 was passed, and subsequently abolished in 1902. Due to the costs of World War I, the Revenue Act of 1916 reinstated an estate tax that, in some form or other, has been in effect ever since.
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 gradually increased the federal estate tax exemption, until finally repealing the federal estate tax altogether for the 2010 tax year only. The Tax Relief Act of 2010 reinstated the federal estate tax with a $5 million exemption, indexing the exemption for inflation after 2011. The provisions of the Tax Relief Act of 2010 expired on December 31, 2012.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 increased the federal estate tax rate from 35% to 40%, but left in place the higher exemption level, which reached $5.49 million in 2017 (up from $5.45 million in 2016); both provisions are now permanent. It also left in place the “portability” of any unused exemption between spouses.
The latest major piece of tax legislation is the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was signed into law on December 22, 2017. This Act doubled the federal estate tax exclusion to $11.18 million in 2018 (indexed annually for inflation) while retaining the 40% tax rate. The 2019 federal estate tax exclusion is $11.4 million. In 2026, the exclusion is scheduled to revert to its pre-2018 level.
The LPL Financial representative associated with this website may discuss and/or transact securities business only with residents of the following states: AZ, CA, DE, FL, MT, NY, OR
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MARK LUKACH
Write, ride waves, run trails, love, and eat milkshakes. That's happiness.
Mark Lukach is a teacher and freelance writer. He is the author of the international bestselling memoir My Lovely Wife in The Psych Ward. His work has been published in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Pacific Standard, Wired, and other publications. He is currently the Ninth Grade Dean at The Athenian School, where he also teaches history. He lives with his wife, Giulia, and their son in the San Francisco Bay area.
Mark first wrote about Giulia in a New York Times "Modern Love" column and again in a piece for Pacific Standard Magazine, which was the magazine's most-read article in 2015. He has also shared their story at The Moth Main Stage, and at a TEDx conference.
My Lovely Wife In The Psych Ward is the product of 5 years of Mark writing about how mental illness redefined his young marriage to Giulia, and ultimately affirmed the power of love.
Mark is represented by the amazing Bonnie Solow of Solow Literary Enterprises.
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Lexipedia
Fuzzynyms
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Back to WordWeb
disfiguration, disfigurement, defacement
n. the act of damaging the appearance or surface of something; "the defacement of an Italian mosaic during the Turkish invasion"; "he objected to the dam's massive disfigurement of the landscape"
disfiguration, deformity, disfigurement
n. an appearance that has been spoiled or is misshapen; "there were distinguishing disfigurements on the suspect's back"; "suffering from facial disfiguration"
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Adverbs (0)
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unregularity, irregularity
n. not characterized by a fixed principle or rate; at irregular intervals
Antonyms (0)
English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and is now a global lingua franca.[4][5] Named after the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes that migrated to the area of Britain that would later take their name, England, both names ultimately deriving from the Anglia peninsula in the Baltic Sea. It is closely related to the Frisian languages, but its vocabulary has been significantly influenced by other Germanic languages, particularly Norse (a North Germanic language), as well as by Latin and French.[6]
English has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century, are called Old English. Middle English began in the late 11th century with the Norman conquest of England and was a period in which the language was influenced by French.[7] Early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the introduction of the printing press to London, the printing of the King James Bibleand the start of the Great Vowel Shift.[8]
Through the worldwide influence of the British Empire, Modern English spread around the world from the 17th to mid-20th centuries. Through all types of printed and electronic media, and spurred by the emergence of the United States as a global superpower, English has become the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many regions and professional contexts such as science, navigation and law.[9]
English is the third most spoken native language in the world, after Standard Chinese and Spanish.[10] It is the most widely learned second language and is either the official language or one of the official languages in almost 60 sovereign states. There are more people who have learned it as a second language than there are native speakers. English is the most commonly spoken language in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, and it is widely spoken in some areas of the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia.[11] It is a co-official language of the United Nations, the European Union and many other world and regional international organisations. It is the most widely spoken Germanic language, accounting for at least 70% of speakers of this Indo-European branch. English has a vast vocabulary, though counting how many words any language has is impossible.[12][13] English speakers are called "Anglophones".
Modern English grammar is the result of a gradual change from a typical Indo-European dependent marking pattern with a rich inflectional morphology and relatively free word order to a mostly analytic pattern with little inflection, a fairly fixed SVO word order and a complex syntax.[14] Modern English relies more on auxiliary verbs and word order for the expression of complex tenses, aspect and mood, as well as passive constructions, interrogatives and some negation. Despite noticeable variation among the accents and dialects of English used in different countries and regions—in terms of phonetics and phonology, and sometimes also vocabulary, grammar and spelling—English-speakers from around the world are able to communicate with one another with relative ease.
Anglic languages
Anglo-Frisian languages
Anglic and
North Sea Germanic languagesAnglo-Frisian and
Low German/Low Saxon
West Germanic languages
North Sea Germanic and
Phylogenetic tree showing the historical relations between the languages of the West Germanic branch of the Germanic languages
English is an Indo-European language and belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages.[15] Old Englishoriginated from a Germanic tribal and linguistic continuum along the coast of the North Sea, whose languages are now known as the Anglo-Frisian subgroup within West Germanic. As such, the modern Frisian languages are the closest living relatives of Modern English. Low German/Low Saxon is also closely related, and sometimes English, the Frisian languages, and Low German are grouped together as the Ingvaeonic (North Sea Germanic) languages, though this grouping remains debated.[16] Old English evolved into Middle English, which in turn evolved into Modern English.[17] Particular dialects of Old and Middle English also developed into a number of other Anglic languages, including Scots[18] and the extinct Fingallian and Forth and Bargy (Yola) dialects of Ireland.[19]
Like Icelandic and Faroese, the development of English on the British Isles isolated it from the continental Germanic languages and influences, and has since undergone substantial evolution. English is thus not mutually intelligible with any continental Germanic language, differing in vocabulary, syntax, and phonology, although some, such as Dutch or Frisian, do show strong affinities with English, especially with its earlier stages.[20]
Unlike Icelandic or Faroese, the long history of invasions of the British Isles by other peoples and languages, particularly Old Norse and Norman French, left a profound mark of their own on the language, such that English shares substantial vocabulary and grammar similarities with many languages outside its linguistic clades, while also being unintelligible with any of those languages. Some scholars have even argued that English can be considered a mixed language or a creole—a theory called the Middle English creole hypothesis. Although the high degree of influence from these languages on the vocabulary and grammar of Modern English is widely acknowledged, most specialists in language contact do not consider English to be a true mixed language.[21][22]
English is classified as a Germanic language because it shares innovations with other Germanic languages such as Dutch, German, and Swedish.[23] These shared innovations show that the languages have descended from a single common ancestor called Proto-Germanic. Some shared features of Germanic languages include the use of modal verbs, the division of verbs into strong and weak classes, and the sound changes affecting Proto-Indo-European consonants, known as Grimm's and Verner's laws. English is classified as an Anglo-Frisian language because Frisian and English share other features, such as the palatalisation of consonants that were velar consonants in Proto-Germanic (see Phonological history of Old English § Palatalization).[24]
English sing, sang, sung; Dutch zingen, zong, gezongen; German singen, sang, gesungen (strong verb)
English laugh, laughed; Dutch and German lachen, lachte (weak verb)
English foot, Dutch voet, German Fuß, Norwegian and Swedish fot (initial /f/ derived from Proto-Indo-European *p through Grimm's law)
(Compare Latin pes, stem ped-; Modern Greek πόδι pódi; Russian под pod; Sanskrit पद् pád)
English cheese, Frisian tsiis (ch and ts from palatalisation); German Käse and Dutch kaas (k without palatalisation)
Proto-Germanic to Old English
The opening to the Old English epic poem Beowulf, handwritten in half-uncial script:
Hƿæt ƿē Gārde/na ingēar dagum þēod cyninga / þrym ge frunon...
"Listen! We of the Spear-Danes from days of yore have heard of the glory of the folk-kings..."
The earliest form of English is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon (c. 550–1066 CE). Old English developed from a set of North Sea Germanic dialects originally spoken along the coasts of Frisia, Lower Saxony, Jutland, and Southern Sweden by Germanic tribes known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. In the fifth century, the Anglo-Saxons settled Britainas the Roman economy and administration collapsed. By the seventh century, the Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in Britain, replacing the languages of Roman Britain (43–409 CE): Common Brittonic, a Celtic language, and Latin, brought to Britain by the Roman occupation.[25][26][27] England and English (originally Ænglaland and Ænglisc) are named after the Angles.[28]
Old English was divided into four dialects: the Anglian dialects, Mercian and Northumbrian, and the Saxon dialects, Kentish and West Saxon.[29] Through the educational reforms of King Alfred in the ninth century and the influence of the kingdom of Wessex, the West Saxon dialect became the standard written variety.[30] The epic poem Beowulf is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, Cædmon's Hymn, is written in Northumbrian.[31] Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the Scots language developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from the early period of Old English were written using a runic script.[32] By the sixth century, a Latin alphabet was adopted, written with half-uncial letterforms. It included the runic letters wynn ⟨ƿ⟩ and thorn ⟨þ⟩, and the modified Latin letters eth ⟨ð⟩, and ash ⟨æ⟩.[32][33]
Old English is very different from Modern English and difficult for 21st-century English speakers to understand. Its grammar was similar to that of modern German, and its closest relative is Old Frisian. Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs had many more inflectional endings and forms, and word order was much freer than in Modern English. Modern English has case forms in pronouns (he, him, his) and a few verb endings (I have, he has), but Old English had case endings in nouns as well, and verbs had more person and number endings.[34][35][36]
The translation of Matthew 8:20 from 1000 CE shows examples of case endings (nominative plural, accusative plural, genitive singular) and a verb ending (present plural):
Foxas habbað holu and heofonan fuglas nest
Fox-as habb-að hol-u and heofon-an fugl-as nest-∅
fox-nom.pl have-prs.pl hole-acc.pl and heaven-gen.sg bird-nom.pl nest-acc.pl
"Foxes have holes and the birds of heaven nests"[37]
Englischmen þeyz hy hadde fram þe bygynnyng þre manner speche, Souþeron, Northeron, and Myddel speche in þe myddel of þe lond, … Noþeles by comyxstion and mellyng, furst wiþ Danes, and afterward wiþ Normans, in menye þe contray longage ys asperyed, and som vseþ strange wlaffyng, chyteryng, harryng, and garryng grisbytting.
Although, from the beginning, Englishmen had three manners of speaking, southern, northern and midlands speech in the middle of the country, … Nevertheless, through intermingling and mixing, first with Danes and then with Normans, amongst many the country language has arisen, and some use strange stammering, chattering, snarling, and grating gnashing.
John of Trevisa, ca. 1385[38]
In the period from the 8th to the 12th century, Old English gradually transformed through language contact into Middle English. Middle English is often arbitrarily defined as beginning with the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, but it developed further in the period from 1200–1450.
First, the waves of Norse colonisation of northern parts of the British Isles in the 8th and 9th centuries put Old English into intense contact with Old Norse, a North Germanic language. Norse influence was strongest in the Northeastern varieties of Old English spoken in the Danelaw area around York, which was the centre of Norse colonisation; today these features are still particularly present in Scots and Northern English. However the centre of norsified English seems to have been in the Midlands around Lindsey, and after 920 CE when Lindsey was reincorporated into the Anglo-Saxon polity, Norse features spread from there into English varieties that had not been in intense contact with Norse speakers. Some elements of Norse influence that persist in all English varieties today are the pronouns beginning with th-(they, them, their) which replaced the Anglo-Saxon pronouns with h- (hie, him, hera).[39]
With the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the now norsified Old English language was subject to contact with the Old Norman language, a Romance languageclosely related to Modern French. The Norman language in England eventually developed into Anglo-Norman. Because Norman was spoken primarily by the elites and nobles, while the lower classes continued speaking Anglo-Saxon, the influence of Norman consisted of introducing a wide range of loanwords related to politics, legislation and prestigious social domains.[40] Middle English also greatly simplified the inflectional system, probably in order to reconcile Old Norse and Old English, which were inflectionally different but morphologically similar. The distinction between nominative and accusative case was lost except in personal pronouns, the instrumental case was dropped, and the use of the genitive case was limited to describing possession. The inflectional system regularised many irregular inflectional forms,[41] and gradually simplified the system of agreement, making word order less flexible.[42] By the Wycliffe Bible of the 1380s, the passage Matthew 8:20 was written
Foxis han dennes, and briddis of heuene han nestis[43]
Here the plural suffix -n on the verb have is still retained, but none of the case endings on the nouns are present.
By the 12th century Middle English was fully developed, integrating both Norse and Norman features; it continued to be spoken until the transition to early Modern English around 1500. Middle English literature includes Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. In the Middle English period, the use of regional dialects in writing proliferated, and dialect traits were even used for effect by authors such as Chaucer.
Graphic representation of the Great Vowel Shift, showing how the pronunciation of the long vowels gradually shifted, with the high vowels i: and u: breaking into diphthongs and the lower vowels each shifting their pronunciation up one level
The next period in the history of English was Early Modern English (1500–1700). Early Modern English was characterised by the Great Vowel Shift (1350–1700), inflectional simplification, and linguistic standardisation.
The Great Vowel Shift affected the stressed long vowels of Middle English. It was a chain shift, meaning that each shift triggered a subsequent shift in the vowel system. Mid and open vowels were raised, and close vowels were broken into diphthongs. For example, the word bite was originally pronounced as the word beet is today, and the second vowel in the word about was pronounced as the word boot is today. The Great Vowel Shift explains many irregularities in spelling since English retains many spellings from Middle English, and it also explains why English vowel letters have very different pronunciations from the same letters in other languages.[44][45]
English began to rise in prestige, relative to Norman French, during the reign of Henry V. Around 1430, the Court of Chancery in Westminster began using English in its official documents, and a new standard form of Middle English, known as Chancery Standard, developed from the dialects of London and the East Midlands. In 1476, William Caxton introduced the printing press to England and began publishing the first printed books in London, expanding the influence of this form of English.[46] Literature from the Early Modern period includes the works of William Shakespeare and the translation of the Bible commissioned by King James I. Even after the vowel shift the language still sounded different from Modern English: for example, the consonant clusters /kn ɡn sw/ in knight, gnat, and sword were still pronounced. Many of the grammatical features that a modern reader of Shakespeare might find quaint or archaic represent the distinct characteristics of Early Modern English.[47]
In the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, written in Early Modern English, Matthew 8:20 says:
The Foxes haue holes and the birds of the ayre haue nests[37]
This exemplifies the loss of case and its effects on sentence structure (replacement with Subject-Verb-Object word order, and the use of of instead of the non-possessive genitive), and the introduction of loanwords from French (ayre) and word replacements (bird originally meaning "nestling" had replaced OE fugol).
Spread of Modern English
By the late 18th century, the British Empire had facilitated the spread of English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, art, and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first truly global language. English also facilitated worldwide international communication.[48][9] As England continued to form new colonies, these, in turn, became independent and developed their own norms for how to speak and write the language. English was adopted in North America, India, parts of Africa, Australasia, and many other regions. In the post-colonial period, some of the newly created nations that had multiple indigenous languages opted to continue using English as the official language to avoid the political difficulties inherent in promoting any one indigenous language above the others.[49][50][51] In the 20th century the growing economic and cultural influence of the United States and its status as a superpower following the Second World War has, along with worldwide broadcasting in English by the BBC[52] and other broadcasters, significantly accelerated the spread of the language across the planet.[53][54] By the 21st century, English was more widely spoken and written than any language has ever been.[55]
A major feature in the early development of Modern English was the codification of explicit norms for standard usage, and their dissemination through official media such as public education and state-sponsored publications. In 1755 Samuel Johnson published his A Dictionary of the English Language which introduced a standard set of spelling conventions and usage norms. In 1828, Noah Webster published the American Dictionary of the English language in an effort to establish a norm for speaking and writing American English that was independent from the British standard. Within Britain, non-standard or lower class dialect features were increasingly stigmatised, leading to the quick spread of the prestige varieties among the middle classes.[56]
In terms of grammatical evolution, Modern English has now reached a stage where the loss of case is almost complete (case is now only found in pronouns, such as he and him, she and her, who and whom), and where SVO word-order is mostly fixed.[56] Some changes, such as the use of do-support have become universalised. (Earlier English did not use the word "do" as a general auxiliary as Modern English does; at first it was only used in question constructions where it was not obligatory.[57] Now, do-support with the verb have is becoming increasingly standardised.) The use of progressive forms in -ing, appears to be spreading to new constructions, and forms such as had been being built are becoming more common. Regularisation of irregular forms also slowly continues (e.g. dreamed instead of dreamt), and analytical alternatives to inflectional forms are becoming more common (e.g. more polite instead of politer). British English is also undergoing change under the influence of American English, fuelled by the strong presence of American English in the media and the prestige associated with the US as a world power. [58][59][60]
Percentage of English native speakers.
Percentage of English speakers by country.
80–100%
As of 2016, 400 million people spoke English as their first language, and 1.1 billion spoke it as a secondary language.[61] English is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin and Spanish.[10] However, when combining native and non-native speakers it may, depending on the estimate used, be the most commonly spoken language in the world.[55][62][63][64] English is spoken by communities on every continent and on oceanic islands in all the major oceans.[65]
The countries in which English is spoken can be grouped into different categories by how English is used in each country. The "inner circle"[66] countries with many native speakers of English share an international standard of written English and jointly influence speech norms of English around the world. English does not belong to just one country, and it does not belong solely to descendants of English settlers. English is an official language of countries populated by few descendants of native speakers of English. It has also become by far the most important language of international communication when people who share no native language meet anywhere in the world.
Three circles of English-speaking countries
Braj Kachru distinguishes countries where English is spoken with a three circles model.[66] In his model, the "inner circle" countries are countries with large communities of native speakers of English, "outer circle" countries have small communities of native speakers of English but widespread use of English as a second language in education or broadcasting or for local official purposes, and "expanding circle" countries are countries where many learners learn English as a foreign language. Kachru bases his model on the history of how English spread in different countries, how users acquire English, and the range of uses English has in each country. The three circles change membership over time.[67]
Braj Kachru's Three Circles of English.
Countries with large communities of native speakers of English (the inner circle) include Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, where the majority speaks English, and South Africa, where a significant minority speaks English. The countries with the most native English speakers are, in descending order, the United States (at least 231 million),[68] the United Kingdom (60 million),[69][70][71] Canada (19 million),[72] Australia (at least 17 million),[73] South Africa (4.8 million),[74]Ireland (4.2 million), and New Zealand (3.7 million).[75] In these countries, children of native speakers learn English from their parents, and local people who speak other languages or new immigrants learn English to communicate in their neighbourhoods and workplaces.[76] The inner-circle countries provide the base from which English spreads to other countries in the world.[67]
Estimates of the number of English speakers who are second language and foreign-language speakers vary greatly from 470 million to more than 1,000 million depending on how proficiency is defined.[11] Linguist David Crystal estimates that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1.[62] In Kachru's three-circles model, the "outer circle" countries are countries such as the Philippines,[77] Jamaica,[78] India, Pakistan, Singapore,[79] and Nigeria[80][81] with a much smaller proportion of native speakers of English but much use of English as a second language for education, government, or domestic business, and where English is routinely used for school instruction and official interactions with the government.[82]
Those countries have millions of native speakers of dialect continua ranging from an English-based creole to a more standard version of English. They have many more speakers of English who acquire English in the process of growing up through day by day use and listening to broadcasting, especially if they attend schools where English is the medium of instruction. Varieties of English learned by speakers who are not native speakers born to English-speaking parents may be influenced, especially in their grammar, by the other languages spoken by those learners.[76] Most of those varieties of English include words little used by native speakers of English in the inner-circle countries,[76] and they may have grammatical and phonological differences from inner-circle varieties as well. The standard English of the inner-circle countries is often taken as a norm for use of English in the outer-circle countries.[76]
In the three-circles model, countries such as Poland, China, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Egypt, and other countries where English is taught as a foreign language make up the "expanding circle".[83] The distinctions between English as a first language, as a second language, and as a foreign language are often debatable and may change in particular countries over time.[82] For example, in the Netherlands and some other countries of Europe, knowledge of English as a second language is nearly universal, with over 80 percent of the population able to use it,[84] and thus English is routinely used to communicate with foreigners and often in higher education. In these countries, although English is not used for government business, its widespread use puts them at the boundary between the "outer circle" and "expanding circle". English is unusual among world languages in how many of its users are not native speakers but speakers of English as a second or foreign language.[85]
Many users of English in the expanding circle use it to communicate with other people from the expanding circle, so that interaction with native speakers of English plays no part in their decision to use English.[86] Non-native varieties of English are widely used for international communication, and speakers of one such variety often encounter features of other varieties.[87] Very often today a conversation in English anywhere in the world may include no native speakers of English at all, even while including speakers from several different countries.[88]
Pie chart showing the percentage of native English speakers living in "inner circle" English-speaking countries. Native speakers are now substantially outnumbered worldwide by second-language speakers of English (not counted in this chart).
US (64.3%)
UK (16.7%)
Canada (5.3%)
Australia (4.7%)
South Africa (1.3%)
Ireland (1.1%)
New Zealand (1%)
Other (5.6%)
Pluricentric English
English is a pluricentric language, which means that no one national authority sets the standard for use of the language.[89][90][91][92] But English is not a divided language,[93] despite a long-standing joke originally attributed to George Bernard Shaw that the United Kingdom and the United States are "two countries separated by a common language".[94] Spoken English, for example English used in broadcasting, generally follows national pronunciation standards that are also established by custom rather than by regulation. International broadcasters are usually identifiable as coming from one country rather than another through their accents,[95] but newsreader scripts are also composed largely in international standard written English. The norms of standard written English are maintained purely by the consensus of educated English-speakers around the world, without any oversight by any government or international organisation.[96]
American listeners generally readily understand most British broadcasting, and British listeners readily understand most American broadcasting. Most English speakers around the world can understand radio programmes, television programmes, and films from many parts of the English-speaking world.[97] Both standard and non-standard varieties of English can include both formal or informal styles, distinguished by word choice and syntax and use both technical and non-technical registers.[98]
The settlement history of the English-speaking inner circle countries outside Britain helped level dialect distinctions and produce koineised forms of English in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.[99] The majority of immigrants to the United States without British ancestry rapidly adopted English after arrival. Now the majority of the United States population are monolingual English speakers,[100][68] although English has been given official status by only 30 of the 50 state governments of the US.[101][102]
English as a global language
English has ceased to be an "English language" in the sense of belonging only to people who are ethnically English.[103][104] Use of English is growing country-by-country internally and for international communication. Most people learn English for practical rather than ideological reasons.[105] Many speakers of English in Africa have become part of an "Afro-Saxon" language community that unites Africans from different countries.[106]
As decolonisation proceeded throughout the British Empire in the 1950s and 1960s, former colonies often did not reject English but rather continued to use it as independent countries setting their own language policies.[50][51][107] For example, the view of the English language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to associating it with economic progress, and English continues to be an official language of India.[108] English is also widely used in media and literature, and the number of English language books published annually in India is the third largest in the world after the US and UK.[109] However English is rarely spoken as a first language, numbering only around a couple hundred-thousand people, and less than 5% of the population speak fluent English in India.[110][111] David Crystal claimed in 2004 that, combining native and non-native speakers, India now has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in the world,[112] but the number of English speakers in India is very uncertain, with most scholars concluding that the United States still has more speakers of English than India.[113]
Modern English, sometimes described as the first global lingua franca,[53][114] is also regarded as the first world language.[115][116] English is the world's most widely used language in newspaper publishing, book publishing, international telecommunications, scientific publishing, international trade, mass entertainment, and diplomacy.[116] English is, by international treaty, the basis for the required controlled natural languages[117]Seaspeak and Airspeak, used as international languages of seafaring[118] and aviation.[119] English used to have parity with French and German in scientific research, but now it dominates that field.[120] It achieved parity with French as a language of diplomacy at the Treaty of Versailles negotiations in 1919.[121] By the time of the foundation of the United Nations at the end of World War II, English had become pre-eminent [122] and is now the main worldwide language of diplomacy and international relations.[123] It is one of six official languages of the United Nations.[124] Many other worldwide international organisations, including the International Olympic Committee, specify English as a working language or official language of the organisation.
Many regional international organisations such as the European Free Trade Association, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),[54] and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) set English as their organisation's sole working language even though most members are not countries with a majority of native English speakers. While the European Union (EU) allows member states to designate any of the national languages as an official language of the Union, in practice English is the main working language of EU organisations.[125]
Although in most countries English is not an official language, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language.[53][54] In the countries of the EU, English is the most widely spoken foreign language in nineteen of the twenty-five member states where it is not an official language (that is, the countries other than the UK, Ireland and Malta). In a 2012 official Eurobarometer poll, 38 percent of the EU respondents outside the countries where English is an official language said they could speak English well enough to have a conversation in that language. The next most commonly mentioned foreign language, French (which is the most widely known foreign language in the UK and Ireland), could be used in conversation by 12 percent of respondents.[126]
A working knowledge of English has become a requirement in a number of occupations and professions such as medicine[127] and computing. English has become so important in scientific publishing that more than 80 percent of all scientific journal articles indexed by Chemical Abstracts in 1998 were written in English, as were 90 percent of all articles in natural science publications by 1996 and 82 percent of articles in humanities publications by 1995.[128]
Specialised subsets of English arise spontaneously in international communities, for example, among international business people, as an auxiliary language. This has led some scholars to develop the study of English as an auxiliary language. Globish uses a relatively small subset of English vocabulary (about 1500 words with highest use in international business English) in combination with the standard English grammar. Other examples include Simple English.
The increased use of the English language globally has had an effect on other languages, leading to some English words being assimilated into the vocabularies of other languages. This influence of English has led to concerns about language death,[129] and to claims of linguistic imperialism,[130] and has provoked resistance to the spread of English; however the number of speakers continues to increase because many people around the world think that English provides them with opportunities for better employment and improved lives.[131]
Although some scholars mention a possibility of future divergence of English dialects into mutually unintelligible languages, most think a more likely outcome is that English will continue to function as a koineisedlanguage in which the standard form unifies speakers from around the world.[132] English is used as the language for wider communication in countries around the world.[133] Thus English has grown in worldwide use much more than any constructed language proposed as an international auxiliary language, including Esperanto.[134][135]
The phonetics and phonology of the English language differ from one dialect to another, usually without interfering with mutual communication. Phonological variation affects the inventory of phonemes (i.e. speech sounds that distinguish meaning), and phonetic variation consists in differences in pronunciation of the phonemes. [136] This overview mainly describes the standard pronunciations of the United Kingdom and the United States: Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA). (See § Dialects, accents, and varieties, below.)
The phonetic symbols used below are from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).[137][138][139]
Most English dialects share the same 24 consonant phonemes. The consonant inventory shown below is valid for Californian American English,[140] and for RP.[141]
Palatal
Glottal
m n ŋ
p b t d tʃ dʒ k ɡ
Fricative
f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ h
Approximant
l ɹ* j w
* Conventionally transcribed /r/.
In the table, when obstruents (stops, affricates, and fricatives) appear in pairs, such as /p b/, /tʃ dʒ/, and /s z/, the first is fortis (strong) and the second is lenis (weak). Fortis obstruents, such as /p tʃ s/ are pronounced with more muscular tension and breath force than lenis consonants, such as /b dʒ z/, and are always voiceless. Lenis consonants are partly voiced at the beginning and end of utterances, and fully voiced between vowels. Fortis stops such as /p/ have additional articulatory or acoustic features in most dialects: they are aspirated [pʰ] when they occur alone at the beginning of a stressed syllable, often unaspirated in other cases, and often unreleased [p̚] or pre-glottalised [ʔp] at the end of a syllable. In a single-syllable word, a vowel before a fortis stop is shortened: thus nip has a noticeably shorter vowel (phonetically, but not phonemically) than nib [nɪˑb̥](see below).[142]
lenis stops: bin [b̥ɪˑn], about [əˈbaʊt], nib [nɪˑb̥]
fortis stops: pin [pʰɪn]; spin [spɪn]; happy [ˈhæpi]; nip [nɪp̚] or [nɪʔp]
In RP, the lateral approximant /l/, has two main allophones (pronunciation variants): the clear or plain [l], as in light, and the dark or velarised [ɫ], as in full.[143] GA has dark l in most cases.[144]
clear l: RP light [laɪt]
dark l: RP and GA full [fʊɫ], GA light [ɫaɪt]
All sonorants (liquids /l, r/ and nasals /m, n, ŋ/) devoice when following a voiceless obstruent, and they are syllabic when following a consonant at the end of a word.[145]
voiceless sonorants: clay [kl̥eɪ̯]; snow RP [sn̥əʊ̯], GA [sn̥oʊ̯]
syllabic sonorants: paddle [ˈpad.l̩], button [ˈbʌt.n̩]
The pronunciation of vowels varies a great deal between dialects and is one of the most detectable aspects of a speaker's accent. The table below lists the vowel phonemes in Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA), with examples of words in which they occur from lexical sets compiled by linguists. The vowels are represented with symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet; those given for RP are standard in British dictionaries and other publications.[146]
Monophthongs
iː i need
ɪ bid
e ɛ bed
æ back
ɑː ɑ bra
ɒ box
ɔ, ɑ cloth
ɔː paw
uː u food
ʊ good
ʌ but
ɜː ɜr bird
ə comma
Closing diphthongs
eɪ bay
əʊ oʊ road
aɪ cry
aʊ cow
ɔɪ boy
Centering diphthongs
ɪə ɪɹ peer
eə ɛɹ pair
ʊə ʊɹ poor
In RP, vowel length is phonemic; long vowels are marked with a triangular colon ⟨ː⟩ in the table above, such as the vowel of need [niːd] as opposed to bid [bɪd]. In GA, vowel length is non-distinctive.
In both RP and GA, vowels are phonetically shortened before fortis consonants in the same syllable, like /t tʃ f/, but not before lenis consonants like /d dʒ v/ or in open syllables: thus, the vowels of rich [rɪtʃ], neat [nit], and safe [seɪ̯f] are noticeably shorter than the vowels of ridge [rɪˑdʒ], need [niˑd], and save [seˑɪ̯v], and the vowel of light [laɪ̯t] is shorter than that of lie [laˑɪ̯]. Because lenis consonants are frequently voiceless at the end of a syllable, vowel length is an important cue as to whether the following consonant is lenis or fortis.[147]
The vowel /ə/ only occurs in unstressed syllables and is closer in quality when followed by a morpheme-internal consonant and opener when morpheme-final or prevocalic.[148][149] Some dialects do not contrast /ɪ/ and /ə/in unstressed positions, so that rabbit and abbot rhyme and Lenin and Lennon are homophonous, a dialect feature called weak vowel merger.[150] GA /ɜr/ and /ər/ are realised as an r-coloured vowel [ɚ], as in further[ˈfɚðɚ] (phonemically /ˈfɜrðər/, which in RP is realised as [ˈfəːðə] (phonemically /ˈfɜːðə/).[151]
Phonotactics
An English syllable includes a syllable nucleus consisting of a vowel sound. Syllable onset and coda (start and end) are optional. A syllable can start with up to three consonant sounds, as in sprint /sprɪnt/, and end with up to four, as in texts /teksts/. This gives an English syllable the following structure, (CCC)V(CCCC) where C represents a consonant and V a vowel; the word strengths /strɛŋkθs/ is thus an example of the most complex syllable possible in English. The consonants that may appear together in onsets or codas are restricted, as is the order in which they may appear. Onsets can only have four types of consonant clusters: a stop and approximant, as in play; a voiceless fricative and approximant, as in fly or sly; s and a voiceless stop, as in stay; and s, a voiceless stop, and an approximant, as in string.[152] Clusters of nasal and stop are only allowed in codas. Clusters of obstruents always agree invoicing, and clusters of sibilants and of plosives with the same point of articulation are prohibited. Furthermore, several consonants have limited distributions: /h/ can only occur in syllable-initial position, and /ŋ/ only in syllable-final position.[153]
Stress, rhythm and intonation
Stress plays an important role in English. Certain syllables are stressed, while others are unstressed. Stress is a combination of duration, intensity, vowel quality, and sometimes changes in pitch. Stressed syllables are pronounced longer and louder than unstressed syllables, and vowels in unstressed syllables are frequently reduced while vowels in stressed syllables are not.[154] Some words, primarily short function words but also some modal verbs such as can, have weak and strong forms depending on whether they occur in stressed or non-stressed position within a sentence.
Stress in English is phonemic, and some pairs of words are distinguished by stress. For instance, the word contract is stressed on the first syllable (/ˈkɒntrækt/ KON-trakt) when used as a noun, but on the last syllable (/kənˈtrækt/ kən-TRAKT) for most meanings (for example, "reduce in size") when used as a verb.[155][156][157] Here stress is connected to vowel reduction: in the noun "contract" the first syllable is stressed and has the unreduced vowel /ɒ/, but in the verb "contract" the first syllable is unstressed and its vowel is reduced to /ə/. Stress is also used to distinguish between words and phrases, so that a compound word receives a single stress unit, but the corresponding phrase has two: e.g. a burnout (/ˈbɜːrnaʊt/) versus to burn out (/ˈbɜːrn ˈaʊt/), and a hotdog (/ˈhɒtdɒɡ/) versus a hot dog (/ˈhɒt ˈdɒɡ/).[158]
In terms of rhythm, English is generally described as a stress-timed language, meaning that the amount of time between stressed syllables tends to be equal. Stressed syllables are pronounced longer, but unstressed syllables (syllables between stresses) are shortened. Vowels in unstressed syllables are shortened as well, and vowel shortening causes changes in vowel quality: vowel reduction.
Regional variation
showVarieties of Standard English and their features[159]
Dialects and low vowels
Lexical set
/ɔː/ /ɔ/ or /ɑ/ /ɑ/ cot–caught merger
/ɒ/ lot–cloth split
/ɑ/ father–bother merger
/ɑː/
/æ/ /æ/ trap–bath split
/æ/
Varieties of English vary the most in pronunciation of vowels. The best known national varieties used as standards for education in non English-speaking countries are British (BrE) and American (AmE). Countries such as Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa have their own standard varieties which are less often used as standards for education internationally. Some differences between the various dialects are shown in the table "Varieties of Standard English and their features".[159]
English has undergone many historical sound changes, some of them affecting all varieties, and others affecting only a few. Most standard varieties are affected by the Great Vowel Shift, which changed the pronunciation of long vowels, but a few dialects have slightly different results. In North America, a number of chain shifts such as the Northern Cities Vowel Shift and Canadian Shift have produced very different vowel landscapes in some regional accents.
Some dialects have fewer or more consonant phonemes and phones than the standard varieties. Some conservative varieties like Scottish English have a voiceless [ʍ] sound in whine that contrasts with the voiced [w] in wine, but most other dialects pronounce both words with voiced [w], a dialect feature called wine–whine merger. The unvoiced velar fricative sound /x/ is found in Scottish English, which distinguishes loch /lɔx/ from lock /lɔk/. Accents like Cockney with "h-dropping" lack the glottal fricative /h/, and dialects with th-stopping and th-fronting like African American Vernacular and Estuary English do not have the dental fricatives /θ, ð/, but replace them with dental or alveolar stops /t, d/ or labiodental fricatives /f, v/.[160][161] Other changes affecting the phonology of local varieties are processes such as yod-dropping, yod-coalescence, and reduction of consonant clusters.
General American and Received Pronunciation vary in their pronunciation of historical /r/ after a vowel at the end of a syllable (in the syllable coda). GA is a rhotic dialect, meaning that it pronounces /r/ at the end of a syllable, but RP is non-rhotic, meaning that it loses /r/ in that position. English dialects are classified as rhotic or non-rhotic depending on whether they elide /r/ like RP or keep it like GA.[162]
There is complex dialectal variation in words with the open front and open back vowels /æ ɑː ɒ ɔː/. These four vowels are only distinguished in RP, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In GA, these vowels merge to three /æ ɑ ɔ/,[163] and in Canadian English, they merge to two /æ ɑ/.[164] In addition, the words that have each vowel vary by dialect. The table "Dialects and open vowels" shows this variation with lexical sets in which these sounds occur.
As is typical of an Indo-European language, English follows accusative morphosyntactic alignment. Unlike other Indo-European languages though, English has largely abandoned the inflectional case system in favor of analytic constructions. Only the personal pronouns retain morphological case more strongly than any other word class. English distinguishes at least seven major word classes: verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, determiners (including articles), prepositions, and conjunctions. Some analyses add pronouns as a class separate from nouns, and subdivide conjunctions into subordinators and coordinators, and add the class of interjections.[165] English also has a rich set of auxiliary verbs, such as have and do, expressing the categories of mood and aspect. Questions are marked by do-support, wh-movement (fronting of question words beginning with wh-) and word order inversion with some verbs.
Some traits typical of Germanic languages persist in English, such as the distinction between irregularly inflected strong stems inflected through ablaut (i.e. changing the vowel of the stem, as in the pairs speak/spoke and foot/feet) and weak stems inflected through affixation (such as love/loved, hand/hands). Vestiges of the case and gender system are found in the pronoun system (he/him, who/whom) and in the inflection of the copula verb to be.
The seven word classes are exemplified in this sample sentence:[166]
The chairman of the committee and the loquacious politician clashed violently when the meeting started.
Det. Noun Prep. Det. Noun Conj. Det. Adj. Noun Verb Advb. Conj. Det. Noun Verb
Nouns and noun phrases
English nouns are only inflected for number and possession. New nouns can be formed through derivation or compounding. They are semantically divided into proper nouns (names) and common nouns. Common nouns are in turn divided into concrete and abstract nouns, and grammatically into count nouns and mass nouns.[167]
Most count nouns are inflected for plural number through the use of the plural suffix -s, but a few nouns have irregular plural forms. Mass nouns can only be pluralised through the use of a count noun classifier, e.g. one loaf of bread, two loaves of bread.[168]
Regular plural formation:
Singular: cat, dog
Plural: cats, dogs
Irregular plural formation:
Singular: man, woman, foot, fish, ox, knife, mouse
Plural: men, women, feet, fish, oxen, knives, mice
Possession can be expressed either by the possessive enclitic -s (also traditionally called a genitive suffix), or by the preposition of. Historically the -s possessive has been used for animate nouns, whereas the ofpossessive has been reserved for inanimate nouns. Today this distinction is less clear, and many speakers use -s also with inanimates. Orthographically the possessive -s is separated from the noun root with an apostrophe.
Possessive constructions:
With -s: The woman's husband's child
With of: The child of the husband of the woman
Nouns can form noun phrases (NPs) where they are the syntactic head of the words that depend on them such as determiners, quantifiers, conjunctions or adjectives.[169] Noun phrases can be short, such as the man, composed only of a determiner and a noun. They can also include modifiers such as adjectives (e.g. red, tall, all) and specifiers such as determiners (e.g. the, that). But they can also tie together several nouns into a single long NP, using conjunctions such as and, or prepositions such as with, e.g. the tall man with the long red trousers and his skinny wife with the spectacles (this NP uses conjunctions, prepositions, specifiers, and modifiers). Regardless of length, an NP functions as a syntactic unit. For example, the possessive enclitic can, in cases which do not lead to ambiguity, follow the entire noun phrase, as in The President of India's wife, where the enclitic follows India and not President.
The class of determiners is used to specify the noun they precede in terms of definiteness, where the marks a definite noun and a or an an indefinite one. A definite noun is assumed by the speaker to be already known by the interlocutor, whereas an indefinite noun is not specified as being previously known. Quantifiers, which include one, many, some and all, are used to specify the noun in terms of quantity or number. The noun must agree with the number of the determiner, e.g. one man (sg.) but all men (pl.). Determiners are the first constituents in a noun phrase.[170]
Adjectives modify a noun by providing additional information about their referents. In English, adjectives come before the nouns they modify and after determiners.[171] In Modern English, adjectives are not inflected, and they do not agree in form with the noun they modify, as adjectives in most other Indo-European languages do. For example, in the phrases the slender boy, and many slender girls, the adjective slender does not change form to agree with either the number or gender of the noun.
Some adjectives are inflected for degree of comparison, with the positive degree unmarked, the suffix -er marking the comparative, and -est marking the superlative: a small boy, the boy is smaller than the girl, that boy is the smallest. Some adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms, such as good, better, and best. Other adjectives have comparatives formed by periphrastic constructions, with the adverb more marking the comparative, and most marking the superlative: happier or more happy, the happiest or most happy.[172] There is some variation among speakers regarding which adjectives use inflected or periphrastic comparison, and some studies have shown a tendency for the periphrastic forms to become more common at the expense of the inflected form.[173]
Pronouns, case, and person
English pronouns conserve many traits of case and gender inflection. The personal pronouns retain a difference between subjective and objective case in most persons (I/me, he/him, she/her, we/us, they/them) as well as a gender and animateness distinction in the third person singular (distinguishing he/she/it). The subjective case corresponds to the Old English nominative case, and the objective case is used both in the sense of the previous accusative case (in the role of patient, or direct object of a transitive verb), and in the sense of the Old English dative case (in the role of a recipient or indirect object of a transitive verb).[174][175] Subjective case is used when the pronoun is the subject of a finite clause, and otherwise, the objective case is used.[176] While grammarians such as Henry Sweet[177] and Otto Jespersen[178] noted that the English cases did not correspond to the traditional Latin based system, some contemporary grammars, for example Huddleston & Pullum (2002), retain traditional labels for the cases, calling them nominative and accusative cases respectively.
Possessive pronouns exist in dependent and independent forms; the dependent form functions as a determiner specifying a noun (as in my chair), while the independent form can stand alone as if it were a noun (e.g. the chair is mine).[179] The English system of grammatical person no longer has a distinction between formal and informal pronouns of address (the old 2nd person singular familiar pronoun thou acquired a pejorative or inferior tinge of meaning and was abandoned), and the forms for 2nd person plural and singular are identical except in the reflexive form. Some dialects have introduced innovative 2nd person plural pronouns such as y'all found in Southern American English and African American (Vernacular) English or youse and ye found in Irish English.
English personal pronouns
Subjective case
Objective case
Dependent possessive
Independent possessive
1st p. sg.
I me my mine myself
2nd p. sg.
you you your yours yourself
3rd p. sg.
he/she/it him/her/it his/her/its his/hers/its himself/herself/itself
1st p. pl.
we us our ours ourselves
2nd p. pl.
you you your yours yourselves
3rd p. pl
they them their theirs themselves
Pronouns are used to refer to entities deictically or anaphorically. A deictic pronoun points to some person or object by identifying it relative to the speech situation—for example, the pronoun I identifies the speaker, and the pronoun you, the addressee. Anaphorical pronouns such as that refer back to an entity already mentioned or assumed by the speaker to be known by the audience, for example in the sentence I already told you that. The reflexive pronouns are used when the oblique argument is identical to the subject of a phrase (e.g. "he sent it to himself" or "she braced herself for impact").[180]
Prepositional phrases (PP) are phrases composed of a preposition and one or more nouns, e.g. with the dog, for my friend, to school, in England. Prepositions have a wide range of uses in English. They are used to describe movement, place, and other relations between different entities, but they also have many syntactic uses such as introducing complement clauses and oblique arguments of verbs. For example, in the phrase I gave it to him, the preposition to marks the recipient, or Indirect Object of the verb to give. Traditionally words were only considered prepositions if they governed the case of the noun they preceded, for example causing the pronouns to use the objective rather than subjective form, "with her", "to me", "for us". But some contemporary grammars such as that of Huddleston & Pullum (2002:598–600) no longer consider government of case to be the defining feature of the class of prepositions, rather defining prepositions as words that can function as the heads of prepositional phrases.
Verbs and verb phrases
English verbs are inflected for tense and aspect and marked for agreement with third person singular subject. Only the copula verb to be is still inflected for agreement with the plural and first and second person subjects.[172] Auxiliary verbs such as have and be are paired with verbs in the infinitive, past, or progressive forms. They form complex tenses, aspects, and moods. Auxiliary verbs differ from other verbs in that they can be followed by the negation, and in that they can occur as the first constituent in a question sentence.[181][182]
Most verbs have six inflectional forms. The primary forms are a plain present, a third person singular present, and a preterite (past) form. The secondary forms are a plain form used for the infinitive, a gerund-participle and a past participle.[183] The copula verb to be is the only verb to retain some of its original conjugation, and takes different inflectional forms depending on the subject. The first person present tense form is am, the third person singular form is and the form are is used second person singular and all three plurals. The only verb past participle is been and its gerund-participle is being.
English inflectional forms
Inflection
Plain present
take love
3rd person sg.
takes loves
took loved
Plain (infinitive)
Gerund–participle
taking loving
taken loved
Tense, aspect and mood
English has two primary tenses, past (preterit) and non-past. The preterit is inflected by using the preterit form of the verb, which for the regular verbs includes the suffix -ed, and for the strong verbs either the suffix -t or a change in the stem vowel. The non-past form is unmarked except in the third person singular, which takes the suffix -s.[181]
I run I ran
Second person
You run You ran
John runs John ran
English does not have a morphologised future tense.[184] Futurity of action is expressed periphrastically with one of the auxiliary verbs will or shall.[185] Many varieties also use a near future constructed with the phrasal verb be going to.[186]
I will run
You will run
John will run
Further aspectual distinctions are encoded by the use of auxiliary verbs, primarily have and be, which encode the contrast between a perfect and non-perfect past tense (I have run vs. I was running), and compound tenses such as preterite perfect (I had been running) and present perfect (I have been running).[187]
For the expression of mood, English uses a number of modal auxiliaries, such as can, may, will, shall and the past tense forms could, might, would, should. There is also a subjunctive and an imperative mood, both based on the plain form of the verb (i.e. without the third person singular -s), and which is used in subordinate clauses (e.g. subjunctive: It is important that he run every day; imperative Run!).[185]
An infinitive form, that uses the plain form of the verb and the preposition to, is used for verbal clauses that are syntactically subordinate to a finite verbal clause. Finite verbal clauses are those that are formed around a verb in the present or preterit form. In clauses with auxiliary verbs, they are the finite verbs and the main verb is treated as a subordinate clause. For example, he has to go where only the auxiliary verb have is inflected for time and the main verb to go is in the infinitive, or in a complement clause such as I saw him leave, where the main verb is to see which is in a preterite form, and leave is in the infinitive.
English also makes frequent use of constructions traditionally called phrasal verbs, verb phrases that are made up of a verb root and a preposition or particle which follows the verb. The phrase then functions as a single predicate. In terms of intonation the preposition is fused to the verb, but in writing it is written as a separate word. Examples of phrasal verbs are to get up, to ask out, to back up, to give up, to get together, to hang out, to put up with, etc. The phrasal verb frequently has a highly idiomatic meaning that is more specialised and restricted than what can be simply extrapolated from the combination of verb and preposition complement (e.g. lay off meaning terminate someone's employment).[188] In spite of the idiomatic meaning, some grammarians, including Huddleston & Pullum (2002:274), do not consider this type of construction to form a syntactic constituent and hence refrain from using the term "phrasal verb". Instead, they consider the construction simply to be a verb with a prepositional phrase as its syntactic complement, i.e. he woke up in the morning and he ran up in the mountains are syntactically equivalent.
The function of adverbs is to modify the action or event described by the verb by providing additional information about the manner in which it occurs. Many adverbs are derived from adjectives with the suffix -ly, but not all, and many speakers tend to omit the suffix in the most commonly used adverbs. For example, in the phrase the woman walked quickly the adverb quickly derived from the adjective quick describes the woman's way of walking. Some commonly used adjectives have irregular adverbial forms, such as good which has the adverbial form well.
In the English sentence The cat sat on the mat, the subject is the cat (a NP), the verb is sat, and on the mat is a prepositional phrase (composed of an NP the mat, and headed by the preposition on). The tree describes the structure of the sentence.
Modern English syntax language is moderately analytic.[189] It has developed features such as modal verbs and word order as resources for conveying meaning. Auxiliary verbsmark constructions such as questions, negative polarity, the passive voice and progressive aspect.
Basic constituent order
English word order has moved from the Germanic verb-second (V2) word order to being almost exclusively subject–verb–object (SVO).[190] The combination of SVO order and use of auxiliary verbs often creates clusters of two or more verbs at the centre of the sentence, such as he had hoped to try to open it.
In most sentences, English only marks grammatical relations through word order.[191] The subject constituent precedes the verb and the object constituent follows it. The example below demonstrates how the grammatical roles of each constituent is marked only by the position relative to the verb:
The dog bites the man
S V O
The man bites the dog
An exception is found in sentences where one of the constituents is a pronoun, in which case it is doubly marked, both by word order and by case inflection, where the subject pronoun precedes the verb and takes the subjective case form, and the object pronoun follows the verb and takes the objective case form. The example below demonstrates this double marking in a sentence where both object and subject is represented with a third person singular masculine pronoun:
He hit him
Indirect objects (IO) of ditransitive verbs can be placed either as the first object in a double object construction (S V IO O), such as I gave Jane the book or in a prepositional phrase, such as I gave the book to Jane [192]
Clause syntax
In English a sentence may be composed of one or more clauses, that may, in turn, be composed of one or more phrases (e.g. Noun Phrases, Verb Phrases, and Prepositional Phrases). A clause is built around a verb and includes its constituents, such as any NPs and PPs. Within a sentence, one clause is always the main clause (or matrix clause) whereas other clauses are subordinate to it. Subordinate clauses may function as arguments of the verb in the main clause. For example, in the phrase I think (that) you are lying, the main clause is headed by the verb think, the subject is I, but the object of the phrase is the subordinate clause (that) you are lying. The subordinating conjunction that shows that the clause that follows is a subordinate clause, but it is often omitted.[193] Relative clauses are clauses that function as a modifier or specifier to some constituent in the main clause: For example, in the sentence I saw the letter that you received today, the relative clause that you received today specifies the meaning of the word letter, the object of the main clause. Relative clauses can be introduced by the pronouns who, whose, whom and which as well as by that (which can also be omitted.)[194] In contrast to many other Germanic languages there is no major differences between word order in main and subordinate clauses.[195]
Auxiliary verb constructions
English syntax relies on auxiliary verbs for many functions including the expression of tense, aspect, and mood. Auxiliary verbs form main clauses, and the main verbs function as heads of a subordinate clause of the auxiliary verb. For example, in the sentence the dog did not find its bone, the clause find its bone is the complement of the negated verb did not. Subject–auxiliary inversion is used in many constructions, including focus, negation, and interrogative constructions.
The verb do can be used as an auxiliary even in simple declarative sentences, where it usually serves to add emphasis, as in "I did shut the fridge." However, in the negated and inverted clauses referred to above, it is used because the rules of English syntax permit these constructions only when an auxiliary is present. Modern English does not allow the addition of the negating adverb not to an ordinary finite lexical verb, as in *I know not—it can only be added to an auxiliary (or copular) verb, hence if there is no other auxiliary present when negation is required, the auxiliary do is used, to produce a form like I do not (don't) know. The same applies in clauses requiring inversion, including most questions—inversion must involve the subject and an auxiliary verb, so it is not possible to say *Know you him?; grammatical rules require Do you know him?[196]
Negation is done with the adverb not, which precedes the main verb and follows an auxiliary verb. A contracted form of not -n't can be used as an enclitic attaching to auxiliary verbs and to the copula verb to be. Just as with questions, many negative constructions require the negation to occur with do-support, thus in Modern English I don't know him is the correct answer to the question Do you know him?, but not *I know him not, although this construction may be found in older English.[197]
Passive constructions also use auxiliary verbs. A passive construction rephrases an active construction in such a way that the object of the active phrase becomes the subject of the passive phrase, and the subject of the active phrase is either omitted or demoted to a role as an oblique argument introduced in a prepositional phrase. They are formed by using the past participle either with the auxiliary verb to be or to get, although not all varieties of English allow the use of passives with get. For example, putting the sentence she sees him into the passive becomes he is seen (by her), or he gets seen (by her).[198]
Both yes–no questions and wh-questions in English are mostly formed using subject–auxiliary inversion (Am I going tomorrow?, Where can we eat?), which may require do-support (Do you like her?, Where did he go?). In most cases, interrogative words (wh-words; e.g. what, who, where, when, why, how) appear in a fronted position. For example, in the question What did you see?, the word what appears as the first constituent despite being the grammatical object of the sentence. (When the wh-word is the subject or forms part of the subject, no inversion occurs: Who saw the cat?.) Prepositional phrases can also be fronted when they are the question's theme, e.g. To whose house did you go last night?. The personal interrogative pronoun who is the only interrogative pronoun to still show inflection for case, with the variant whom serving as the objective case form, although this form may be going out of use in many contexts.[199]
Discourse level syntax
While English is a subject-prominent language, at the discourse level it tends to use a topic-comment structure, where the known information (topic) precedes the new information (comment). Because of the strict SVO syntax, the topic of a sentence generally has to be the grammatical subject of the sentence. In cases where the topic is not the grammatical subject of the sentence, frequently the topic is promoted to subject position through syntactic means. One way of doing this is through a passive construction, the girl was stung by the bee. Another way is through a cleft sentence where the main clause is demoted to be a complement clause of a copula sentence with a dummy subject such as it or there, e.g. it was the girl that the bee stung, there was a girl who was stung by a bee.[200] Dummy subjects are also used in constructions where there is no grammatical subject such as with impersonal verbs (e.g., it is raining) or in existential clauses (there are many cars on the street). Through the use of these complex sentence constructions with informationally vacuous subjects, English is able to maintain both a topic-comment sentence structure and a SVO syntax.
Focus constructions emphasise a particular piece of new or salient information within a sentence, generally through allocating the main sentence level stress on the focal constituent. For example, the girl was stung by a bee (emphasising it was a bee and not, for example, a wasp that stung her), or The girl was stung by a bee (contrasting with another possibility, for example that it was the boy).[201] Topic and focus can also be established through syntactic dislocation, either preposing or postposing the item to be focused on relative to the main clause. For example, That girl over there, she was stung by a bee, emphasises the girl by preposition, but a similar effect could be achieved by postposition, she was stung by a bee, that girl over there, where reference to the girl is established as an "afterthought".[202]
Cohesion between sentences is achieved through the use of deictic pronouns as anaphora (e.g. that is exactly what I mean where that refers to some fact known to both interlocutors, or then used to locate the time of a narrated event relative to the time of a previously narrated event).[203] Discourse markers such as oh, so or well, also signal the progression of ideas between sentences and help to create cohesion. Discourse markers are often the first constituents in sentences. Discourse markers are also used for stance taking in which speakers position themselves in a specific attitude towards what is being said, for example, no way is that true! (the idiomatic marker no way! expressing disbelief), or boy! I'm hungry (the marker boy expressing emphasis). While discourse markers are particularly characteristic of informal and spoken registers of English, they are also used in written and formal registers.[204]
English is a rich language in terms of vocabulary, containing more synonyms than any other language.[130] There are words which appear on the surface to mean exactly the same thing but which, in fact, have slightly different shades of meaning and must be chosen appropriately if a speaker wants to convey precisely the message intended. It is generally stated that English has around 170,000 words, or 220,000 if obsolete words are counted; this estimate is based on the last full edition of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1989.[205] Over half of these words are nouns, a quarter adjectives, and a seventh verbs. There is one count that puts the English vocabulary at about 1 million words—but that count presumably includes words such as Latin species names, scientific terminology, botanical terms, prefixed and suffixed words, jargon, foreign words of extremely limited English use, and technical acronyms.[13]
Due to its status as an international language, English adopts foreign words quickly, and borrows vocabulary from many other sources. Early studies of English vocabulary by lexicographers, the scholars who formally study vocabulary, compile dictionaries, or both, were impeded by a lack of comprehensive data on actual vocabulary in use from good-quality linguistic corpora,[206] collections of actual written texts and spoken passages. Many statements published before the end of the 20th century about the growth of English vocabulary over time, the dates of first use of various words in English, and the sources of English vocabulary will have to be corrected as new computerised analysis of linguistic corpus data becomes available.[13][207]
Word formation processes
English forms new words from existing words or roots in its vocabulary through a variety of processes. One of the most productive processes in English is conversion,[208] using a word with a different grammatical role, for example using a noun as a verb or a verb as a noun. Another productive word-formation process is nominal compounding,[13][207] producing compound words such as babysitter or ice cream or homesick.[208] A process more common in Old English than in Modern English, but still productive in Modern English, is the use of derivational suffixes (-hood, -ness, -ing, -ility) to derive new words from existing words (especially those of Germanic origin) or stems (especially for words of Latin or Greek origin).
Formation of new words, called neologisms, based on Greek and/or Latin roots (for example television or optometry) is a highly productive process in English and in most modern European languages, so much so that it is often difficult to determine in which language a neologism originated. For this reason, lexicographer Philip Gove attributed many such words to the "international scientific vocabulary" (ISV) when compiling Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1961). Another active word-formation process in English is acronyms,[209] words formed by pronouncing as a single word abbreviations of longer phrases (e.g. NATO, laser).
Source languages of English vocabulary[6][210]
English, besides forming new words from existing words and their roots, also borrows words from other languages. This adoption of words from other languages is commonplace in many world languages, but English has been especially open to borrowing of foreign words throughout the last 1,000 years.[211] The most commonly used words in English are West Germanic.[212] The words in English learned first by children as they learn to speak, particularly the grammatical words that dominate the word count of both spoken and written texts, are mainly the Germanic words inherited from the earliest periods of the development of Old English.[13]
But one of the consequences of long language contact between French and English in all stages of their development is that the vocabulary of English has a very high percentage of "Latinate" words (derived from French, especially, and also from Latin and other Romance languages). French words from various periods of the development of French now make up one-third of the vocabulary of English.[213] Words of Old Norse origin have entered the English language primarily from the contact between Old Norse and Old English during colonisation of eastern and northern England. Many of these words are part of English core vocabulary, such as egg and knife.[214]
English has also borrowed many words directly from Latin, the ancestor of the Romance languages, during all stages of its development.[207][13] Many of these words had earlier been borrowed into Latin from Greek. Latin or Greek are still highly productive sources of stems used to form vocabulary of subjects learned in higher education such as the sciences, philosophy, and mathematics.[215] English continues to gain new loanwords and calques ("loan translations") from languages all over the world, and words from languages other than the ancestral Anglo-Saxon language make up about 60% of the vocabulary of English.[216]
English has formal and informal speech registers; informal registers, including child-directed speech, tend to be made up predominantly of words of Anglo-Saxon origin, while the percentage of vocabulary that is of Latinate origin is higher in legal, scientific, and academic texts.[217][218]
English loanwords and calques in other languages
English has a strong influence on the vocabulary of other languages.[213][219] The influence of English comes from such factors as opinion leaders in other countries knowing the English language, the role of English as a world lingua franca, and the large number of books and films that are translated from English into other languages.[220] That pervasive use of English leads to a conclusion in many places that English is an especially suitable language for expressing new ideas or describing new technologies. Among varieties of English, it is especially American English that influences other languages.[221] Some languages, such as Chinese, write words borrowed from English mostly as calques, while others, such as Japanese, readily take in English loanwords written in sound-indicating script.[222] Dubbed films and television programmes are an especially fruitful source of English influence on languages in Europe.[222]
Since the ninth century, English has been written in a Latin alphabet (also called Roman alphabet). Earlier Old English texts in Anglo-Saxon runes are only short inscriptions. The great majority of literary works in Old English that survive to today are written in the Roman alphabet.[32] The modern English alphabet contains 26 letters of the Latin script: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z (which also have capitalforms: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z).
The spelling system, or orthography, of English is multi-layered, with elements of French, Latin, and Greek spelling on top of the native Germanic system.[223] Further complications have arisen through sound changeswith which the orthography has not kept pace.[44] Compared to European languages for which official organisations have promoted spelling reforms, English has spelling that is a less consistent indicator of pronunciation, and standard spellings of words that are more difficult to guess from knowing how a word is pronounced.[224] There are also systematic spelling differences between British and American English. These situations have prompted proposals for spelling reform in English.[225]
Although letters and speech sounds do not have a one-to-one correspondence in standard English spelling, spelling rules that take into account syllable structure, phonetic changes in derived words, and word accent are reliable for most English words.[226] Moreover, standard English spelling shows etymological relationships between related words that would be obscured by a closer correspondence between pronunciation and spelling, for example the words photograph, photography, and photographic,[226] or the words electricity and electrical. While few scholars agree with Chomsky and Halle (1968) that conventional English orthography is "near-optimal",[223] there is a rationale for current English spelling patterns.[227] The standard orthography of English is the most widely used writing system in the world.[228] Standard English spelling is based on a graphomorphemic segmentation of words into written clues of what meaningful units make up each word.[229]
Readers of English can generally rely on the correspondence between spelling and pronunciation to be fairly regular for letters or digraphs used to spell consonant sounds. The letters b, d, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, y, z represent, respectively, the phonemes /b, d, f, h, dʒ, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, j, z/. The letters c and g normally represent /k/ and /ɡ/, but there is also a soft c pronounced /s/, and a soft g pronounced /dʒ/. The differences in the pronunciations of the letters c and g are often signalled by the following letters in standard English spelling. Digraphs used to represent phonemes and phoneme sequences include ch for /tʃ/, sh for /ʃ/, thfor /θ/ or /ð/, ng for /ŋ/, qu for /kw/, and ph for /f/ in Greek-derived words. The single letter x is generally pronounced as /z/ in word-initial position and as /ks/ otherwise. There are exceptions to these generalisations, often the result of loanwords being spelled according to the spelling patterns of their languages of origin[226] or proposals by pedantic scholars in the early period of Modern English to mistakenly follow the spelling patterns of Latin for English words of Germanic origin.[230]
For the vowel sounds of the English language, however, correspondences between spelling and pronunciation are more irregular. There are many more vowel phonemes in English than there are single vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u, w, y). As a result, some "long vowels" are often indicated by combinations of letters (like the oa in boat, the ow in how, and the ay in stay), or the historically based silent e (as in note and cake).[227]
The consequence of this complex orthographic history is that learning to read can be challenging in English. It can take longer for school pupils to become independently fluent readers of English than of many other languages, including Italian, Spanish, and German.[231] Nonetheless, there is an advantage for learners of English reading in learning the specific sound-symbol regularities that occur in the standard English spellings of commonly used words.[226] Such instruction greatly reduces the risk of children experiencing reading difficulties in English.[232][233] Making primary school teachers more aware of the primacy of morpheme representation in English may help learners learn more efficiently to read and write English.[234]
English writing also includes a system of punctuation marks that is similar to those used in most alphabetic languages around the world. The purpose of punctuation is to mark meaningful grammatical relationships in sentences to aid readers in understanding a text and to indicate features important for reading a text aloud.[235]
Dialects, accents, and varieties
Dialectologists identify many English dialects, which usually refer to regional varieties that differ from each other in terms of patterns of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The pronunciation of particular areas distinguishes dialects as separate regional accents. The major native dialects of English are often divided by linguists into the two extremely general categories of British English (BrE) and North American English(NAE).[236] There also exists a third common major grouping of English varieties: Southern Hemisphere English, the most prominent being Australian and New Zealand English.
Map showing the main dialect regions in the UK and Ireland
As the place where English first evolved, the British Isles, and particularly England, are home to the most diverse dialects. Within the United Kingdom, the Received Pronunciation(RP), an educated dialect of South East England, is traditionally used as the broadcast standard and is considered the most prestigious of the British dialects. The spread of RP (also known as BBC English) through the media has caused many traditional dialects of rural England to recede, as youths adopt the traits of the prestige variety instead of traits from local dialects. At the time of the Survey of English Dialects, grammar and vocabulary differed across the country, but a process of lexical attrition has led most of this variation to disappear.[237]
Nonetheless this attrition has mostly affected dialectal variation in grammar and vocabulary, and in fact, only 3 percent of the English population actually speak RP, the remainder speaking regional accents and dialects with varying degrees of RP influence.[238] There is also variability within RP, particularly along class lines between Upper and Middle-class RP speakers and between native RP speakers and speakers who adopt RP later in life.[239] Within Britain, there is also considerable variation along lines of social class, and some traits though exceedingly common are considered "non-standard" and are associated with lower class speakers and identities. An example of this is H-dropping, which was historically a feature of lower-class London English, particularly Cockney, and can now be heard in the local accents of most parts of England—yet it remains largely absent in broadcasting and among the upper crust of British society.[240]
English in England can be divided into four major dialect regions, Southwest English, South East English, Midlands English, and Northern English. Within each of these regions several local subdialects exist: Within the Northern region, there is a division between the Yorkshire dialects, and the Geordie dialect spoken in Northumbria around Newcastle, and the Lancashire dialects with local urban dialects in Liverpool (Scouse) and Manchester (Mancunian). Having been the centre of Danish occupation during the Viking Invasions, Northern English dialects, particularly the Yorkshire dialect, retain Norse features not found in other English varieties.[241]
Since the 15th century, southeastern England varieties centred around London, which has been the centre from which dialectal innovations have spread to other dialects. In London, the Cockney dialect was traditionally used by the lower classes, and it was long a socially stigmatised variety. The spread of Cockney features across the south-east led the media to talk of Estuary English as a new dialect, but the notion was criticised by many linguists on the grounds that London had influencing neighbouring regions throughout history.[242][243][244] Traits that have spread from London in recent decades include the use of intrusive R (drawing is pronounced drawring /ˈdrɔːrɪŋ/), t-glottalisation (Potter is pronounced with a glottal stop as Po'er /poʔʌ/), and the pronunciation of th- as /f/ (thanks pronounced fanks) or /v/ (bother pronounced bover). [245]
Scots is today considered a separate language from English, but it has its origins in early Northern Middle English[246] and developed and changed during its history with influence from other sources, particularly Scots Gaelic and Old Norse. Scots itself has a number of regional dialects. And in addition to Scots, Scottish English are the varieties of Standard English spoken in Scotland, most varieties are Northern English accents, with some influence from Scots.[247]
In Ireland, various forms of English have been spoken since the Norman invasions of the 11th century. In County Wexford, in the area surrounding Dublin, two extinct dialects known as Forth and Bargy and Fingallian developed as offshoots from Early Middle English, and were spoken until the 19th century. Modern Irish English, however, has its roots in English colonisation in the 17th century. Today Irish English is divided into Ulster English, the Northern Ireland dialect with strong influence from Scots, as well as various dialects of the Republic of Ireland. Like Scottish and most North American accents, almost all Irish accents preserve the rhoticity which has been lost in the dialects influenced by RP.[19][248]
Rhoticity dominates in North American English. The Atlas of North American English found over 50% non-rhoticity, though, in at least one local white speaker in each U.S. metropolitan area designated here by a red dot. Non-rhotic African American Vernacular English pronunciations may be found among African Americans regardless of location.
North American English is fairly homogeneous compared to British English. Today, American accent variation is often increasing at the regional level and decreasing at the very local level,[249] though most Americans still speak within a phonological continuum of similar accents,[250] known collectively as General American (GA), with differences hardly noticed even among Americans themselves (such as Midland and Western American English).[251][252][253] In most American and Canadian English dialects, rhoticity (or r-fulness) is dominant, with non-rhoticity (r-dropping) becoming associated with lower prestige and social class especially after World War II; this contrasts with the situation in England, where non-rhoticity has become the standard.[254]
Separate from GA are American dialects with clearly distinct sound systems, historically including Southern American English, English of the coastal Northeast (famously including Eastern New England English and New York City English), and African American Vernacular English, all of which are historically non-rhotic. Canadian English, except for the Atlantic provinces and perhaps Quebec, may be classified under GA as well, but it often shows the raising of the vowels /aɪ/ and /aʊ/before voiceless consonants, as well as distinct norms for written and pronunciation standards.[255]
In Southern American English, the most populous American "accent group" outside of GA,[256] rhoticity now strongly prevails, replacing the region's historical non-rhotic prestige.[257][258][259] Southern accents are colloquially described as a "drawl" or "twang,"[260] being recognised most readily by the Southern Vowel Shift initiated by glide-deleting in the /aɪ/ vowel (e.g. pronouncing spy almost like spa), the "Southern breaking" of several front pure vowels into a gliding vowel or even two syllables (e.g. pronouncing the word "press" almost like "pray-us"),[261] the pin–pen merger, and other distinctive phonological, grammatical, and lexical features, many of which are actually recent developments of the 19th century or later.[262]
Today spoken primarily by working- and middle-class African Americans, African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is also largely non-rhotic and likely originated among enslaved Africans and African Americans influenced primarily by the non-rhotic, non-standard older Southern dialects. A minority of linguists,[263] contrarily, propose that AAVE mostly traces back to African languages spoken by the slaves who had to develop a pidgin or Creole English to communicate with slaves of other ethnic and linguistic origins.[264] AAVE's important commonalities with Southern accents suggests it developed into a highly coherent and homogeneous variety in the 19th or early 20th century. AAVE is commonly stigmatised in North America as a form of "broken" or "uneducated" English, as are white Southern accents, but linguists today recognise both as fully developed varieties of English with their own norms shared by a large speech community.[265][266]
Since 1788, English has been spoken in Oceania, and Australian English has developed as a first language of the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Australian continent, its standard accent being General Australian. The English of neighbouring New Zealand has to a lesser degree become an influential standard variety of the language.[267] Australian and New Zealand English are each other's closest relatives with few differentiating characteristics, followed by South African English and the English of southeastern England, all of which have similarly non-rhotic accents, aside from some accents in the South Island of New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand English stand out for their innovative vowels: many short vowels are fronted or raised, whereas many long vowels have diphthongised. Australian English also has a contrast between long and short vowels, not found in most other varieties. Australian English grammar aligns closely to British and American English; like American English, collective plural subjects take on a singular verb (as in the government is rather than are).[268][269] New Zealand English uses front vowels that are often even higher than in Australian English.[270][271][272]
Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia
English is spoken widely in South Africa and is an official or co-official language in several countries. In South Africa, English has been spoken since 1820, co-existing with Afrikaans and various African languages such as the Khoe and Bantu languages. Today about 9 percent of the South African population speak South African English (SAE) as a first language. SAE is a non-rhotic variety, which tends to follow RP as a norm. It is alone among non-rhotic varieties in lacking intrusive r. There are different L2 varieties that differ based on the native language of the speakers.[273] Most phonological differences from RP are in the vowels.[274] Consonant differences include the tendency to pronounce /p, t, t͡ʃ, k/ without aspiration (e.g. pin pronounced [pɪn] rather than as [pʰɪn] as in most other varieties), while r is often pronounced as a flap [ɾ] instead of as the more common fricative.[275]
Nigerian English is a dialect of English spoken in Nigeria.[276] It is based on British English, but in recent years, because of influence from the United States, some words of American English origin have made it into Nigerian English. Additionally, some new words and collocations have emerged from the language, which come from the need to express concepts specific to the culture of the nation (e.g. senior wife). Over 150 million population of Nigerians speak English.[277]
Several varieties of English are also spoken in the Caribbean Islands that were colonial possessions of Britain, including Jamaica, and the Leeward and Windward Islands and Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, and Belize. Each of these areas are home both to a local variety of English and a local English based creole, combining English and African languages. The most prominent varieties are Jamaican English and Jamaican Creole. In Central America, English based creoles are spoken in on the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Panama.[278] Locals are often fluent both in the local English variety and the local creole languages and code-switching between them is frequent, indeed another way to conceptualise the relationship between Creole and Standard varieties is to see a spectrum of social registers with the Creole forms serving as "basilect" and the more RP-like forms serving as the "acrolect", the most formal register.[279]
Most Caribbean varieties are based on British English and consequently, most are non-rhotic, except for formal styles of Jamaican English which are often rhotic. Jamaican English differs from RP in its vowel inventory, which has a distinction between long and short vowels rather than tense and lax vowels as in Standard English. The diphthongs /ei/ and /ou/ are monophthongs [eː] and [oː] or even the reverse diphthongs [ie] and [uo](e.g. bay and boat pronounced [bʲeː] and [bʷoːt]). Often word-final consonant clusters are simplified so that "child" is pronounced [t͡ʃail] and "wind" [win].[280][281][282]
As a historical legacy, Indian English tends to take RP as its ideal, and how well this ideal is realised in an individual's speech reflects class distinctions among Indian English speakers. Indian English accents are marked by the pronunciation of phonemes such as /t/ and /d/ (often pronounced with retroflex articulation as [ʈ] and [ɖ]) and the replacement of /θ/ and /ð/ with dentals [t̪] and [d̪]. Sometimes Indian English speakers may also use spelling based pronunciations where the silent ⟨h⟩ found in words such as ghost is pronounced as an Indian voiced aspirated stop [ɡʱ].[283]
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Final Design
The project LIFE+ Nature – Project Life11nat/it/188 – “Restoring connectivity in Po river basin opening migratory route for Acipenser naccarii and 10 fish species in Annex II” - CON.FLU.PO. is centred on the reconnection of the Po river corridor. The barrier of the hydroelectric plant of Isola Serafini interrupted the river continuity about 300 Km from the sea. Enel Green Power Spa owns the hydroelectric plant.
The migratory fish species, from the 50s of the last century, cannot exceed the dam in both directions due to the lack of a fish ladder. This situation causes a fragmentation of the populations, which can lead up to extinction. Such as the two other species of sturgeon native in Italy, common Sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) and the Beluga (Huso huso) as well as the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) now disappeared. Euryhaline species such as Cheppia (Alosa fallax) and Thinlip Mullet (Liza ramada) still go back up the river. The river de-fragmentation will make available for the migratory species about 100 Km of the Po River and some of its feeder up to Casale Monferrato (AL). First of all Ticino River, key ground for Adriatic Sturgeon breeding, will be entirely accessible for 110 Km up to Lago Maggiore thanks to two fish ladder built next to the dams of Panperduto and Porto delle Torre. These two works were built also thanks to the two previous Life projects carried out by Parco del Ticino.
The Po de-fragmentation will interest not only big migratory species such as the Sturgeon, Cheppia and the European Eel but also many fish species of refresh water. In fact, these species must carry out migratory movements in order to execute their life-cycle. The reproductive strategy of the freshwater fish is to go back up the river and spawn upstream, in order to fight against the flow towards the sea, which would lead up to shift downstream. Spawn upstream allows species to re-populate also this part of a river but it stands to reason the huge damage provoked to these species if a fragmentation prevents them from spawning upstream. The huge biodiversity of Po River counts many species recognised by Direttiva Habitat, and at least ten will take advantages from Po de-fragmentation. In addition to species included in Direttiva Habitat, there will be others, such as the European Eel, which will take advantages from the fish ladder. The European Eel, now in decline, is the object of a specific European regulation for its conservation implemented through a national plan that includes regional plans of Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Lombardy.
The final design of the fish pass at the Isola Serafini dam
Actions of fish ladder
State of the art of the fish ladder
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The Oscars Have Their Host -- But Is There Another Surprise To Come?
But wait, weren't there supposed to be two?
Kase Wickman 10/21/2015
After much ado, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the host of the 2016 Oscars: Chris Rock.
It's Rock's second turn taking hosting duties for the prestigious movie awards show; the first time was the 2005 ceremony.
Producers David Hill and Reginald Hudlin announced Rock in a press release, singing the comedian's praises.
“Chris Rock is truly the MVP of the entertainment industry,” the suo said. “Comedian, actor, writer, producer, director, documentarian – he’s done it all. He’s going to be a phenomenal Oscar host!”
However, we can't help but remember something else that Hill and Hudlin said, just over a month ago. Weren't there supposed to be two hosts?
“There will be multiple hosts for sure – there will be two,” Hill told Entertainment Weekly. “Two is better than one.”
He had jokes, like having the second host as an emergency backup in case of a medical issue, but that's a pretty big statement to drop and then ignore just a month later.
So is there a second surprise announcement coming our way soon? Who's the other host going to be? Or did Hill and Hudlin have a change of heart?
Whether he's paired up or flying solo, we can't wait to hear what Rock comes up with for the 88th Annual Oscars on February 18, 2016.
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This Week in Microbiology
TWiM Archive
TWiM 181 transcript
With Vincent Racaniello and John Warhol
Episode 181: Dr. Warhol’s Periodic Table of Microbes
Aired July 26, 2018
http://www.microbe.tv/twim/twim-181/
Vincent: This Week in Microbiology is brought to you by the American Society for Microbiology at asm.org/twim.
Vincent: This is TWIM, This Week in Microbiology, a special episode recorded on June 9th2018. I am Vincent Racaniello and you are listening to the podcast that explores unseen life on Earth. Today we are recording at ASM Microbe 2018, a meeting taking place in Atlanta, Georgia. My guest is the president of the Warhol institute, John Warhol. Welcome to TWIM.
John: Hi, I’m thrilled to be here. Nice to see you.
Vincent: This is happening because I met you two months ago at a conference at Seton Hall, right?
John: Yes, a conference at Seton Hall, and I was invited to talk about our activities in getting an official state microbe for New Jersey.
Vincent: So we will talk about that and we will talk about your new book which is all about the periodic table of the microbes, but first let’s talk a little bit about you. What is the Warhol institute?
John: The Warhol Institute is the name of the company that I have. We’ve been in business for 20 years I think as an official LLC. Before that I had a company that just had my name. And institute gives a nice ring to things.
Vincent: It does.
John: I’ve been doing corporate science and medical communication for about 30 years. In fact, since I got out of the university, it’s been what I’ve been doing.
Vincent: You’re not related to Andy Warhol, are you?
John: Yes, I am.
Vincent: You are?
John: The family story is that we are in fact related and I use that to my advantage as much as I can.
Vincent: Did you ever meet him?
John: My parents did, my uncle Mike claims to have had. Our family is from Elizabeth area, the Warhols of Andy’s fame are from the Pittsburgh area. He remembers as a kid, my uncle Mike, making the trip from Elizabeth to Pittsburgh and he remembers it vividly because he said I got sick as a dog on the way there, because it was the 1930s 1940s and it is a long ride. So they met, they said let’s go to Pittsburgh and play with the Warhol cousins, and they did that a couple of times but they are just too far away. My parents met him when he was in New York a couple of times and, you know. We were scattered family.
Vincent: So you grew up in New Jersey?
John: I grew up in New Jersey.
Vincent: Where did you go to college?
John: Rutgers.
Vincent: You were a science major I guess?
John: I was a microbiology undergrad and a microbiology grad student.
Vincent: And also at Rutgers?
John: Yeah, they sucked me in and they wouldn’t let me go (laughs)
Vincent: Who did you do your PhD with?
John: Morris Aterofski, he was one of the original TB researchers.
Vincent: How did you get interested in microbiology?
John: It’s a long story and I think somebody asked me that yesterday and I believe the answer is when I was young, when there were only three TV stations, one of them ran a special on someone, I think he was named Roman Vishniac and he was a photomicroscoper and I think the show was called the Amazing Small World of Roman Vishniac.
Vincent: Yeah, that’s right.
John: I remembered correctly?
Vincent: Yes, that’s absolutely right.
John: It stuck in my head and I said this stuff is really cool and I want to do that. And at the time, I was really young, this is pre-cognition just about. And I just stuck with that, junior high school, high school, and I said I am gonna be a microbiologist. Not that you ever have the chance to do any of that in high school or junior high school. And I got a lot of strange reactions from the graduate counselors and even the science teachers. It was like, why would you pick that? I don’t know, it’s just cool. I heard about it and I want to do it.
Vincent: So after you got your PhD what did you do?
John: After that I had a really prestigious post doc with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, it was a science and diplomacy fellowship working with the AID which is an arm of the state department, Agency for International Department is the AID arm of the state department, I was working on international health issues. ORT, mother and maternal health, vaccine initiatives, the malaria vaccine program, managing—well, you’re not allowed to manage but I worked on those kinds of problems. And the reason I got into that program was because I write well, not because I was a particularly brilliant scientist but because I was extremely interested in international health because I think it’s cool. You get a lot of really cool diseases outside of the US you don’t get here. I love parasites because they’re so complicated and have the most interesting life cycles. I went there and did that. I was the youngest fellow they had at the time, and the idea was to get mid-career scientists involved and active in the government because as I’m sure you are well aware most politicians and government people have no background in science. So the AAAS started the program just a year or two or maybe three years before I got into it. And the idea is you would bring people with scientific expertise and put them in the staff of a congressman, a senator, or the various outlying kinds of agencies and contribute some kind of expertise to the project.
Vincent: How long did you spend in that position?
John: It was a year. It was defined to be a year because they didn’t want people hanging around. And the end of the year, I had the chance to renew it because they signed me up for another couple months but then I was offered a fellowship again in the Rutgers again, Graduate School of Management, so I went back under fellowship to get an MBA. I did that for a year and then I started working in medical communications.
Vincent: So you started working for companies then.
John: Yeah, well it was, it’s a hidden industry out there, unless you are involved in it you don’t know it exists, and I imagine it was different 20 or 30 years ago. Whenever a new drug comes on the market, physicians need to learn about it, so physician education, pharmacy education, nursing education. Somebody has to make all that and it’s really not the drug companies. The drug companies contract with medical ed companies and advertising companies. So my first job was writing for a medical company.
Vincent: And these positions still exist, I presume.
John: They’re out there. It’s a big hidden industry.
Vincent: It’s a good point to make to listeners because if you are looking for other careers besides academic microbiology it looks like it is something to look into, right?
John: It is. It’s something you can definitely get in to. What I find now in terms of medical communication as a career option, 30 years ago because I kind of decided I didn’t want to spend any more time in my life pipetting if I don’t have to. I wanted to do management of science, talking about science, and communicating science, and until recently, I felt dirty. Because I would be a PhD working in a communication company or an advertising agency and you’d be interfacing with scientists, people like you, and you’d be interfacing with physicians, and they’d say oh, why aren’t you in a lab, what’s wrong with you? And it’s like, you just always felt a little off about what you were doing. But you need to have people in those fields. People like me who understand the science and can put it into translatable language so that other people can understand it. Even between physician specialties, like you have infectious disease physicians doing clinical trials on something and then you want to get it to a mainstream physician. You really have to pick your words carefully because it is a different language, and then you go from there to patients and nurses. It’s all different languages and different ways of addressing the issues and I’m lucky to have skills in that area.
Vincent: Do you still do this or did you stop a while ago?
John: The company still exists, I’ve weaned off my client base because after doing it for as long as I have I’m kind of tired of it. My big clients were Johnson & Johnson and I did a lot of work for biotech startup companies.
Vincent: So this was a company you founded yourself.
John: Yes.
Vincent: And you had some other people working with you?
John: Yes, I did, I had art directors and editors and proofreaders and researchers and other writers who funneled things through me. What I found was when I was working for another company, I didn’t like having a sales guy representing my work as something he did. I found that annoying. It was like, I’m the one with the talent, I should be getting the recognition. I freelanced for a while and I started the company so that people would know that when they are dealing with me I’m the one writing it and I’m the one managing the accounts, not some third party.
Vincent: So as of today you no longer do this kind of medical communication?
John: I still do, I still have one or two active clients.
Vincent: It pays the bills right?
John: It pays the bills, sort of.
Vincent: But some time ago you started the Warhol Foundation which has a broader goal of communicating?
John: I’m working on that.
Vincent: That is your company that you’re still writing for at the moment, right?
John: Yeah.
Vincent: Okay, got it.
John: What I’d like to do is to turn it in to, or start a 501(c) 3, which would be a non profit so that I can get grants from either NIH or whatever from the federal government because they can make grants to companies, I don’t think they can make grants to corporations.
Vincent: What kind of grants would you want to get?
John: It would be to forward and promote science education and literacy in the US.
Vincent: So the NIH does that?
John: I think they do, I’ve been told they do.
Vincent: Then I should make my LLC a 501(c) 3, right, and do the same thing. I don’t want to compete with you but I do need to get some financials.
John: Well, we can work together but my accountant said, you gotta start making money at this (laughs)
Vincent: I know what you mean, my wife tells me that all the time.
John: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well I was fortunate enough that what I was doing for a long time was profitable enough, so I didn’t have to worry about making a profit for a while. But it’s, you know, like doing the periodic table and doing the stuff with the bacteria, it’s like, alright, it’s time to start thinking about making money again (laughs)
Vincent: So let me ask you one question before we talk about your projects.
Vincent: You made a statement…
John: Uh oh.
Vincent: Which is a great statement, I think it’s in your book.
John: Oh, okay.
Vincent: You can correct me. How microbiology is cooler than astrophysics but they have better TV shows.
John: Oh! Oh this is my soapbox, this is absolutely my soapbox, and I’ll take a breath before I get started. Yeah, microbiology is way cooler than astrophysics. Growing up and even now every time you put on TV you have, you have Steven Hawking sitting there, you’ve got Morgan Freeman talking about how big the universe is, how weird it is, you have Mike Rowe voicing over these great how the universe started, you have Neil DeGrasse Tyson who is like my idol but he’s also my nemesis. I want his job for biological sciences.
Vincent: We need to have someone like that for bio but we don’t have one.
John: We don’t have one. I wanna be that. I’m willing to be up on stage in front of anybody talking about it because when astrophysicists talk about space they talk about how big it is, how wide it is, how far away everything is. And I think the reason why that latches in people’s minds and people relate to it is because you are little, you look up, you see the sun, you see the stars, and it provides an inherent marketing base, an inherent audience base for everybody. You see the sun. And then the astrophysicists come and say yeah, the thing is so far away and yeah there’s life on other planets and I’m like, there’s no end to the universe in a big way. But microbiology, there’s no end to microbiology in a really small way. You could study micro forever and never get to the end of it. And this meeting is symbolic of that. You can’t know everything about all the organisms, it’s an infinite amount of knowledge.
They have the better TV shows, we don’t have anybody out there talking about that. And they’re saying new things, and I’m gonna get attacked when I walk out of here, I can tell, there’s gonna be an astrophysicist that’s gonna club me to death. The stuff that they are talking about although it is new and cool, I’m kind of a closet historian, I’m not just a closet historian, I love history. A lot of this stuff is old. Like how hot the sun is, the sun is 10,000 degrees on the surface. That’s not new but they keep recycling it in a better way because every year there is a new crop of little kids that are fascinated by that, and it’s like every little kid is frightened like, doesn’t wanna die, but people tell them yeah, the sun is gonna vanish in five billion years and that scares people and that makes them watch. It’s an inherent kind of interesting thing. So yeah, they have the better TV shows. I want us to have as good of TV shows.
Vincent: How can we do that?
John: We gotta start talking to people and getting to work out.
Vincent: So here’s a space virus story.
John: Oh, yeah.
Vincent: A factoid. If you took all the viruses in the oceans, they’re 10^30thvirus particles in the ocean, and laid them end to end, they would stretch 200 million light years into space.
John: That’s far.
Vincent: That’s very far, past the nearest galaxy.
John: I got one, too.
Vincent: What’s yours?
John: When we were doing, and we’re still doing it, but the work on the state microbe, right? Streptomyces griseus and actinomycete, Professor Eveleigh said you know, he scratched his head, he said I remember there’s a lot of this stuff in the soil. He said I think I remember that as a graduate student I did some calculations to find out how much there is. So he called somebody at the US Department of Agriculture and then they looked and it turns out that per square foot of soil, just a square foot, and an inch deep, there is from 80 to 240 miles worth of actinomycetes threats, because it is a filamentous bacteria, right. That’s a whole hell of a lot of bacteria. Now, if you multiply that by the square surface of the earth, and this is just actinomycetes, this is not like you know all the E. coli and pseudomonases and all the other stuff in there. It’s just the actinomycetes. I went and said well heck, multiply that by the surface of the earth, you get a strand of bacteria that will get you from one end of the galaxy to the other. That’s a lot of bacteria, I forgot what the number is, but I wrote it down. That’s a lot.
Vincent: That’s cool.
John: Something like that can inspire kids.
Vincent: Yeah, I think those kind of measurements, microbiology measurements are important, and I use them to start talks as I’m sure you do because that grabs people in. Because you have to sustain it, you have to sustain it and not get into details, that’s part of the problem that we have. We’re trained about details.
John: Trained to be detail oriented, yeah.
Vincent: We have to get away from that. But I agree that I think scientists need to be the spokespeople for science. Other people write about it and so forth and they do well but it’s us with the passion so it’s our job to do it.
John: Yeah, and the passion shows through.
Vincent: For sure. So let’s talk about the New Jersey State Microbe.
John: Yes, sir.
Vincent: You have a shirt.
John: I have a shirt, yes.
Vincent: SO tell us the name of it?
John: Well, we had these, Max Headlong the department head at Rutgers had these shirts done up for Rutgers Day, it’s a big thing every day at Rutgers University, it started off as Ag Field day which was a small event and then the university said let’s make it big so they shut down everything and invite everybody back, so it’s an alumni day, it’s ag field day, all the ag students get to show off the cows and chickens and pigs they raised during the year. It’s really a cool event. So they had the t-shirts made that say Streptomyces griseus, New Jersey State Microbe. The hashtag I came up with is #NJMicrobe.
Vincent: Now, why Streptomyces griseus?
John: It’s a beautiful and compelling story. Streptomyces griseus was actually first discovered in New Jersey in 1915 just as an organism. In 1943 Albert Schatz was doing a systematic study of soil microbes under Selman Waksman at Rutgers which was actually at the time called the New Jersey Agricultural Experimental Station. Systematically looking for soil bacteria that produce antibiotics. So on October of 1943 he pulled the culture out of the ground and he did antibiotic sensitivities on it and it turns out it made an antibiotic that would kill Gram positive and Gram negative organisms. He went and isolated it and, sorry, the organism was Streptomyces griseus, it was the second time it was found, the isolate produced streptomycin.
Streptomycin, they did all the work up on it, all the isolation, and it was the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis and it was the first broad spectrum antibiotic in the US. And it was a proud moment, it was the first antitubercular. It went on to change the world because prior to streptomycin there was no effective therapy for tuberculosis. In fact, in doing the clinical trials for the streptomycin had the first placebo controlled trial in the history of medicine. They went and I think it was, I can’t remember the physician’s name, I will later, they compared traditional treatment for tuberculosis, which was rest and fresh air, versus getting a daily injection or two of streptomycin. 95% mortality in the placebo group, a lot of survival in the treatment group. From there it was a great.
Vincent: That’s a good microbe for New Jersey.
John: It is.
Vincent: But we should say it is not yet the state microbe, but you are pushing to make it, right?
John: I’m pushing to make it
Vincent: So first why do you want to do that?
John: A lot of reasons. And I would start by saying that it provides an opportunity for us all to talk science to the rest of the world and to talk science to our legislators and it provides a way in to start a scientific and medical dialogue you normally would not be talking about such things with. Also, it is a, we are both from New Jersey, we often don’t have a lot of things we can be proud of in the state (laughs) We have nice beaches but there are a lot of things that people are annoyed about a lot of times. The microbe is something that we can all get together on and say this is really cool, New Jersey made this, we made the world better because of this, we saved millions of lives, we put thousands of people to work, created the entire antibiotic and pharmaceutic industry started kinda 1943 ish with the production of streptomycin.
Vincent: Now, do other states have state microbes?
John: Interesting story there, yes. Oregon was the first to actually pass state microbe legislation. Their organism of choice was Saccharomyces cerevisiae also known as brewer’s and baker’s yeast and the cool story there is that Oregon is the home to one of the world’s largest craft brew industries. They produce 2 and a half billion dollars a year in revenue for the state and they are enthusiastic. If you think about how easy that is to sell to the government, sell to your legislators, it’s easy because, and to sell to the public, because almost everybody drinks. Beer is a happy thing. So it is easy for craft brewers to get on the phone and say hey senator, vote for this legislation. It’s easy for people from the bars to call in and fill out cards and say hey, vote for this, it’s good because it is a big happy thing. It’s big, saccharomyces, baker’s yeast, and it’s also in genetic engineering and all the gene splicing work that was done with saccharomyces. And just tangentially, in doing some of this work it’s like I ask myself, how much bread is made every year from baker’s yeast, and I came up with, there’s a baker’s organization and it’s something like 3 million metric tons of rolls and bread are made every year and it all comes from a microbial source. Like, wow! That’s another one of those infinitely long how big is the universe, well if you laid every roll from end to end you’d get pretty far, too.
Vincent: (laughs)
John: So Oregon was the first one, and I congratulate them on that.
Vincent: How long ago was that done?
John: I think 2011, 2013? The first one to try was Wisconsin, they tried with Lactococcus lactis because it’s involved in cheese production and Wisconsin is America’s largest producer of cheese, they have like 700 varieties of cheese. They produce more cheese, I don’t want to screw up the fact but they produce more cheese in Wisconsin than all of Europe does. It’s like, you know, how much is there income? Like 3 billion dollars worth of cheese comes out of Wisconsin. So it’s a big thing. That got through the legislature—sorry, it got through the assembly and then it kind of got killed. It didn’t move forward. The story, from what I understand, I talked to people who were in Wisconsin at the time, and it becomes one of these science or not science issues. They all say that the governor, I never met the man, I don’t want to throw stones, he was anti-science, he was not a science guy, so they let the legislation waste away. The funny and outrageous part of the story is they didn’t have the personal integrity, strength and will to pass microbial legislation, right?
But shortly thereafter, the entire state of Wisconsin, the legislators, the people, everybody got together, they voted with a single mind and a single purpose to have an official state pastry. The Kringle. So they could see that we love the Kringle, and we’re gonna have it, and we’re gonna vote for it, and it’s like a puff pastry with almonds on it. So they said yeah, we’re gonna do this, but they didn’t have the internal strength to say oh, we’re gonna go do a microbe. I was like, wow. It becomes, maybe microbes, I’m trying to rationalize how that happened, and I’m thinking maybe it’s because the legislators did not have good science teachers?
Vincent: Could be, sure, yeah.
John: Why else would you do it? Or maybe the bakers have a better lobbying group than scientists do. I don’t know.
Vincent: So could you make a case for other states having microbes? What about California, a lot of wine, right? What would you do for that one?
John: Well…
Vincent: I don’t know if there’s one microbe, right?
John: I’m trying to think, certainly because you’ve gotta ferment wine, any one of the yeasts would be good. I’m talking about state symbols in general, just because Oregon picked brewer’s yeast doesn’t mean somebody else can’t.
Vincent: Sure.
John: Because milk is the official state drink of like ten states.
Vincent: I didn’t know that.
John: I didn’t either, I’m picking up all this state symbol trivia because there’s people that run websites on states, there’s a lot, a lot of repetition, there’s state dances like the square dance is the official state dance of another ten states. So there’s all these layers of stuff.
Vincent: Got it.
John: I was talking to some guys from Texas this morning and they’re like yeah, we need a Texas organism, we need a Texas organism. We’re talking back and forth and they’re like there’s something called Frackibacter which lives in fracking fluid, so that would be tough, but they were thinking we need something big.
Vincent: Because Texas, right.
John: Yeah, because it’s Texas. So they’re gonna brainstorm with some of their friends and see if anything really really huge grows in Texas.
Vincent: Well you know, the huge underground mycelia, fungal mycelia.
John: There you go!
Vincent: Some of them are 1,000, 2,000 miles in diameter.
John: That’ll work. Do they have those in Texas?
Vincent: Yes, they’re mostly up north. If you could let viruses into the act you could name a giant virus for Texas but you don’t find it there, so. It’s gotta be in the state, right?
John: Yes, I think that’s the only requirement, and the reason I picked microbe instead of bacteria is because other states can do this and what if it’s an aquatic state and they have a really nice algae? Algae is microbial. To me a microbe is anything you need a microscope to see, you know (laughs)
Vincent: Now, what is the process for doing this and where are you in New Jersey in that?
John: It’s a long and convoluted process. Most of it involves a lot of luck. The process started, actually, I had been in communication with Doug Eveleigh and some of the other professors at Rutgers and we came at it from separate directions and we came up with the conclusion that Strep griseus would be a cool microbe. I found out about the idea of having a state microbe in doing some other research like for my periodic table and I saw that Oregon has a state microbe. So I was like, okay, just file that in the back of my head, and I said what would be reasonable choices for New Jersey? And my first thought was brewer’s yeast because we had the huge Budweiser plant. Strep griseus because of streptomycin.
The other thought was Azotobacter vinelandii because it was discovered in Vineland, it fixes nitrogen and that’s really important for growing crops and everything else. And I said Strep griseus, and I was talking to Doug and he says well, we’ve actually been having an unofficial poll for the past couple of years, it’s up on their website, that I knew nothing about. He says well, we gave it two choices, it was Strep griseus, Azotobacter vinelandii and Thiobaccillus thiooxidant. And he says that when the public votes in, Strep griseus wins by a 3 to 1 margin, and he says most of the faculty here and everybody we talk to says Strep griseus. So I said well, okay, it’s confluent evolution, we all agree on it. And I just filed it in the back of my mind and it was like a snowball in my head and it kept getting bigger and bigger and I was like, I gotta act on this.
So I put together, and I knew Doug had worked on getting it, he tried to get it through the legislature but I think he sent it to Washington as opposed to Trenton. He sent it to Frank Pallone I think years ago, he said we should have a state microbe and Frank didn’t respond at all. Which, well, politics is a weird thing, that I found out. So I said, alright, I took it on myself to do because I had been, I know some of the political people from other things that I’ve done. So I decided to take all of the, and I’m speaking with my hands here, you take the yards of information that academics are used to dealing with, page after page of theses and things that are really thick, boil it all down to one page of bulleted points that you can talk about in a minute or two minutes. And I had that, I prepared that, and I knew I was going to be at a meeting with a bunch of politicians and it’s like, I had them in my pocket, and I walked up to a couple of them, I told them we should have a state microbe, and they were like yeah, go away. But we were lucky because the senator from, he used to be my senator but now he’s a senator for the district next to me, Dr. Sam Thompson, he has a PhD I think in medicinal chemistry. I gave him the pitch–
Vincent: State senator, right?
John: Yes, state senator, not Washington senator, because the state senators are the ones who are responsible for what’s going on where you live. And they represent you and you should know who they are. And if you don’t, you should, you really should, because you are their interface with the government, they represent you and if they don’t, you gotta vote for somebody else. So anyway, I gave the pitch, I handed him the proposal, anyway, you take all this stuff and you get it down to a page of bulleted points and then you hand it to him and you give your thirty second elevator pitch, and he scratched his head and said that’s a really good idea. I’m gonna submit that. And a week later he got it, it was there, it was part of the record.
Vincent: So this goes to the state senate?
John: First, the process is that you find a sympathetic senator or assembly person. They write, I didn’t write up the bill, so I don’t even think Senator Thompson wrote it. They have their people.
Vincent: Yeah, their staff.
John: They have their staff. So it got written up, submitted, it got a bill number, I think the first one was S-1729, it gets worded, it has a bill number, and it goes, it’s assigned to a committee meeting, it’s an open committee meeting, and it goes up for review. There’s like four, five senators on it. And then we went down and testified before the committee. Max Haggblom, myself, and Doug, and we said why it was a good thing, and we got these committee to vote yes on it. And the cool thing about the committee meeting, it was on Robert Cox’s birthday.
Vincent: Great (laughs)
John: So it was like an omen. So we did that, the committee voted unanimously, and then it goes to the full senate at some unknown point in the future and the senate voted unanimously for it, too. So it was like one day, everybody in New Jersey agreed on something.
Vincent: That’s amazing.
John: Yeah, for a four one thousandths of an inch in diameter and they agreed.
Vincent: This is politically neutral, I guess that’s why.
John: Right, right. Politically neutral and it’s a happy thing. And then the assembly is the other side of the story. And what I did there was, as soon as Sam, as soon as Dr. Thompson agreed to do it, I said, I know how the system works, we need sponsors, we need cosponsors, we need all this other stuff. So I sent the proposal, and I sent emails and hard letters, you know, snail mail, to all the people in the assembly and the senate that were graduates of Rutgers. I figured, well, it’s a good Rutgers connection. And that’s like 25 or so people, and I got one positive response. (laughs) And it was from an assemblywoman, Annette Quijano, from like Elizabeth area. And that has a distinction, she was in fact born on the 4thof July, which I think is really cool. So she looked at the proposal and they said to me, this is a really interesting proposal, but tell me, if I submit this would you be willing to go and talk to students in my district? Would you be willing to go to the community colleges and the high schools in my district and talk about this piece of history from New Jersey because I think this is an underserved area. Nobody but you microbe guys know this and this is important for the history of Jersey and telling students this might open up career paths to people who would otherwise not be exposed to it. And I said, well, yeah, you’re gonna give me a chance to be on stage and talk to people? And she said, yes. And I said absolutely.
So she submitted her bill the next week, they’re mirror bills, and that’s kind of the process. So any time the bill comes in it has to go through a committee. Last year the assembly bill was assigned to a committee that unfortunately did not meet. Not that anybody was mad at us, that was just how things happened. My analogy is there is in fact a black box in legislature that is between us and the people that are elected and also between the elected people and us. There’s stuff that they don’t even control, like scheduling of when the bill is gonna get voted on. I’ve asked senators and assemblywomen, when are you guys gonna vote on it, when is the committee gonna be scheduled, and they’re like, we don’t know because we’re not really in charge of it.
Vincent: So right now, you’re waiting.
John: Right now we are waiting for the second coming of the senate bill. Because it passed 100% last year we anticipate no problems with that this year. And the committee for in the assembly is the science technology and something or other committee and it has a PhD nuclear physicist on it from Princeton, it has a physician, an MD JD former army captain, so that’s impressive credentials for an assemblyman, and a couple of other more academically oriented people. So we think that once it’s in there it can get scheduled there and get through there. So we are 100% positive it’s gonna come through, it’s just a matter of timing.
Vincent: Okay. And it’s gonna happen this year, I guess, calendar year?
John: I hope so.
Vincent: So then when it does, what do you do?
John: Oh, once it’s done? That’s a really, really good question! (laughs) Oh, when you hit the lottery, what are you gonna do? I haven’t carried it that far yet. I think we would have a big party. It would be really good if it happened this year because I think it is the 75thanniversary of streptomycin. I don’t know. I think we could get a road show together and go off and talk about streptomycin and Strep griseus to people. It certainly would mean that the state needs to update their website because now we’ve got another state symbol. Yeah, and all those social studies classes or civics classes that still may or may not exist in school systems.
Vincent: Maybe you could use it as a teaching tool, now you could go out and say look, we have this New Jersey state microbe and people would pay attention whereas before they might not. And then you could teach them about it and why it’s important and why it’s cool and so forth.
John: It’s absolutely a teaching tool because unfortunately, even with, and here’s my other soapbox about astrophysicists having a cooler life than us, when you look at STEM, science technology engineering math, when I look at that it’s like science teaching except for microbiology. When I talk to science teachers and I’m a member of the national science teachers’ association and I see what gets posted on the board, I don’t see any microbiology on there anywhere and it could be because they are afraid of liability issues. It could be for a lot of things, but you don’t really need wet labs to tell people about bacteria. For anybody who graduates high school, you graduate high schools, you go into different fields, you never had it and you grow up being afraid of everything because all you hear is the word “germ”. You don’t hear nitrogen fixation, you don’t hear cellulose degradation, you don’t hear all the good things. Cheese making, beer making. It’s a shame, it’s a niche that needs to be filled some how.
Vincent: So I wish you luck with that, I hope it works, but if you don’t get it this year, will you keep trying?
John: Absolutely. I’m stubborn.
Vincent: Now the other thing you do to teach people about microbes is you have here on the table you have…
John: Dr. Warhol’s Periodic Table of Microbes.
Vincent: And an accompanying book.
John: Yes, the small guide to small things.
Vincent: So tell us what is this periodic table of the microbes?
John: The periodic table of microbes is my novel attempt to educate the world about bacteria and microbes. There are several ways I can introduce the story as to how it came about, but the idea is that if you think about the periodic table of elements, it’s the single most iconic thing in all of science. It’s in every classroom from maybe 3rdor 4thgrade on.
Vincent: College, too.
John: College, too. It’s there.
Vincent: I went to see my son’s college class and it was on the wall, it’s amazing. It’s a beautiful thing, it’s everywhere. So it’s like it’s in our cultural DNA to see it and to know it’s there and everybody knows it’s the periodic table of elements. So people know elements, they know chemistry, they’re at least familiar with it. I looked at it and said, well, it’s only been used for chemistry, we need to be able to do something else with it. I said, it hasn’t really changed for 130 years either, I could do something with that. So the idea was that because people are familiar with the periodic table of elements, and my philosophy of education and training is that you go from something familiar to something unknown and it’s a progression rather than throwing a bunch of stuff at people and hoping it sticks. So you start from the familiar and you move to the unfamiliar and it makes it comfortable. Because they’ve seen this, you’d be able to get into it easier. So basically what I did was in the nerdiest and most obsessive compulsive way a person could possibly be, I removed all the elements, I replaced them with microbes whose names could be approximately, yeah, I replaced all the elements with bacteria whose names could be reasonably approximated with a chemical symbol. So H instead of being hydrogen is now homophilous, He instead of being helium is now helicobacter, and so on for 118 organisms. And I also made a key, just like on the real periodic table, so that when you look at it you could tell is it Gram positive or Gram negative, does it live in the soil, does it live in the water, is it an extremophile, is it a pathogen, is it a food organism, is it one or more of them. So there is a little key to all of them.
Vincent: Shape, too.
John: Yeah, shape, too. Rods, spirals, helices, you name it. So it’s a really quick study.
Vincent: It’s really cool.
John: Thank you!
Vincent: I think if you put this on the wall of a classroom and went every day the teacher could say, okay, Johnny pick one and we’ll talk about it.
John: Absolutely! That’s the entire idea.
Vincent: And to help that you have a book that goes with it.
John: Yeah, because what happened was I did the periodic table first as the visual thing.
Vincent: And you’re selling this, right?
John: Yeah, it’s available on my Etsy site and it is also available, if you read the book, there’s links to the Etsy site in it. So its like warholscience on Etsy.
Vincent: It’s also on CafePress, too.
John: CafePress, you could buy t-shirts and what not. (laughs) I’ll get the plug in. I should have worn my Warhol periodic table of microbes sweatshirt, but I didn’t.
Vincent: Must be kind of compressed on the front, there.
John: Yeah, that’s kind of the problem. I gotta do them one at a time.
Vincent: You sent me a couple of these, I think they’re very cool. I’ve got one in my office.
John: Thank you. Yeah so immediately after I did microbes I did viruses and I did parasites.
Vincent: Are those for sale also?
John: No, because I didn’t print them in bulk, but if anybody wants one just shoot me an email or a tweet and I could certainly print them off and send them. But after I did the poster, I realized that people that looked at the poster didn’t hear the voices in my head that are saying what it is about each of these organisms that is cool, unique, or has a story to tell.
Vincent: Because a name is not enough, right.
John: Right. And just looking and seeing oh it’s a Gram negative and whatever. So I had to write the book to explain to people what was cool or interesting about them. And a lot of them, I think the first eight are pathogens, and then after that it becomes more diverse. Pathogens are just because you hear of them every day, so homophilous is the first one, anybody who has kids knows they have to get their kids vaccinated for homophilous, and if that is all a person or a parent takes away from this, good. You’ve heard the word homophilous. But then you start getting into the weirder and cooler stuff. I was just talking to people downstairs and it was like, Kr, krypton, kurthia, what’s kurthia, i’ve never heard of it. And I was like oh, the kurthia story is when they found that 20,000 year old mastodon in Siberia they were able to culture live kurthia from its stomach. That’s amazing! That’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard. And the only other place you are going to find kurthia other than spoiled meat is in the mouth of a Komodo dragon, and Komodo dragons have the nastiest oral microbial flora on the planet. As far as I know they don’t make a venom, but when they bite you, it is so polluted and contaminated that everything just grows and causes a polymicrobial infection in your body and you die. But it’s like, it’s neat. So each of the organisms in the table get 300 words or less, and I did a word count, and so at the end of it, it is 300 words for each organisms, and it’s stories and it’s relational. So it’s not just talking about DNA sequences or this ferments that and this ferments that and you’re gonna key it out on an entero tube or an agglutination test or something. It’s stuff like that.
Vincent: So the book can be used by teachers?
Vincent: So a kid can say, Ru, and the teacher can open it to that and say okay, here’s some cool things about Rubrobacter. By the way, these abbreviations match the original periodic table.
John: Absolutely, and that was the hard part.
Vincent: We’ve got H, Li, Be, Na, Mg, all the way out to the rare earth elements, it’s very cool.
John: Thank you.
Vincent: And it’s colored as well in the same way.
John: And there’s a lot of word play that goes into it. One of the proudest, and pride is one of the seven deadly sins, but one of the things I’m proudest about is when I started on this, one of my heroes in the world out there is James Berk. He’s a noted science historian, he wrote Connections 1, Connections 2, Connections 3, a BBC TV series, he had a series called The Day the Universe Changed, and he’s really big on finding historic connections. And when I started to write the book and I had a draft, I found his contact in the US and I said hey, I just wrote this, could you give it to James Burke to review? And he goes, okay.
And a week later, I was the and-guest for my wife at a meeting she was at, and we’re ready to go to dinner, and I get this email coming and it says hi, this is James Burke, I just read your book. And I was like, oh my god! This is like the best thing that’s happened to me. And his response back to me was, I rarely enthuse but this is brilliant, and he said I love this, I will finish reading it over the weekend, and I’ll get back to you. I was like wow, this is validation, this is my first time out doing this and this is my hero. And he said, my favorite, because there’s a lot of weird stuff in there, you live in New Jersey, in your basement or garage you have those mutant camel crickets.
Vincent: Yeah, of course.
John: There’s people who study mutant camel crickets and they isolated bacteria that are only found in those weird camel crickets, and they’re in there somewhere. Stories like that.
Vincent: Do you have a favorite?
John: I have a couple favorites.
Vincent: Okay, what are they?
John: I really like the modestobacter story. Now who studies modestobacter? Not many people. But I like modestobacter because you would think it would be like–
Vincent: 101.
John: 101 (laughs) You would think it would be the mascot for the band Modest Mouse or something like that. But modestobacter is actually named because it has really modest food requirements, as opposed to like, I used to work on pathogens and they require really rich media. Modestobacter requires almost nothing to live on, and the reason it requires almost nothing to live on is because it lives on the Antarctic ice shelf. It lives in the place where forever scientists went and said this land is sterile because it’s 200 mph winds, it’s 180 degrees below zero, it’s too cold, it’s too inhospitable to live. And they tried to culture stuff and nothing grew until one day one really intrepid microbiologist went there and they said no, there’s no such thing as an unfilled niche, and they went and they found that modestobacter, they found modestobacter and other organisms like it live there, and I think they’re called cryptoendoliths or something. So they actually live in on or among rocks but it grows really, really slowly.
Vincent: It uses gases to grow, I think.
Vincent: We talked about that on a recent TWIM.
John: Really?
Vincent: There was a paper that came out recently where they reported the results and it uses the gases to live. You’re right, they don’t divide very quickly.
John: They don’t divide very quickly.
Vincent: Enough to maintain though, basically.
John: Yeah. And the story becomes even crazier because I’m thinking, alright, even if you wanted to study this organism and go take cultures you really can’t. You need to get special permission from the UN to go there and try and culture it because it is in these places where you are forbidden to go, and when you go it’s like they don’t even want you to land the helicopter because the helicopter is gonna disturb the earth. They don’t want people walking because the colonies take 10,000 years to grow. You got to hang off the edge of a helo take your loop and scoop up some dirt. It’s like, wow, what a cool story.
Vincent: Yeah, those are just a few examples. You got another favorite? You must like streptomyces, right?
John: I like streptomyces, it has good stories but it’s not like, super humorous. Mycella is good, the example I use in there is it’s the kimchi organism. It ferments at 0, and I tell a story about kimchi, kimchi went on a space shuttle, it produces massive amounts of vitamin C, it’s like the national food of Korea, multivitamins and minerals and other stuff like that. There’s modestobacter, I’m looking up, a lot of what I do is wordplay, like listeria, it’s not an OCD disease of people who make lists. It’s not about people who like waltzes. Listeria is an organism that causes food poisoning, but it’s not the kind of food poisoning where you go out and you run to the bathroom and you crap your brains out or you throw up. Listeria will go and it will cause meningitis and it will kill you.
And listeria is responsible for something called the Great Hummus Recall of 2015. There was a hummus manufacturing company somewhere around us and it was like 70,000 gallons of hummus were contaminated by listeria and they had to recall it all. What a title for something, the great hummus recall of whatever. Other favorites, helicobacter has a cool story because it causes in certain people it causes ulcers, but if you remember all those scientist movies we used to watch growing up as a kid, the black and white ones and talking about the scientists experimenting on themselves, that’s the perfect example. The man who discovered it said I think this causes ulcers but I have no proof! And the government won’t let me do a trial! So I’m going to drink some! And he drank some and he got sick. Oh, what’s the good one. I like saying that thermus, it’s way down at the bottom, it’s like number 69. Thermus. Without thermus, there would be no CSI shows on TV. There’d be no CSI, no NCIS, there’d be no any of those other shows.
Vincent: Thermus aquaticus, right.
John: Exactly, you got it. The reason being that thermus is where Thomas Brock, he found the organism, but it’s got Thermus aquaticus, it runs at high temperature, all the enzymes in it run at high temperature, including the DNA polymerase and that is the basis for all polymerase chain reactions and all the CSI shows so that when Gibbs comes in and says, Maggie, get me DNA results on this, it is because of that organism, and Taq polymerase was voted by Science magazine as Molecule of the Year in whatever it was.
Vincent: Cool. Now the Periodic Table of the Viruses and Parasites, they don’t have a book yet. Are you working on it?
John: Not yet, no. I will as soon as I get this one off my (laughs)
Vincent: And you said you’re working on a larger guide for the microbes with more words, right?
John: More words and more pictures. The challenge is the current thing is just eht icons because that took forever to do as it is. I really want pictures of each one of them because that enhances the story, but if you think about doing, there’s 120 organisms, 118 organisms, if you do 3 or 4 photos or illustrations for each one of them to make the book more interesting, that’s a lot of layout time, that’s a lot of typesetting and layout and permissions and even if I don’t get permissions it’s just still expands it to a really huge project. So if I get a lot of positive feedback on this I will certainly do the more colorful and interactive one.
Vincent: So in the book, in the beginning, you have a nice introduction where you have the top three microbes in different categories.
John: Yes, the stinkiest, the loneliest.
Vincent: The hottest, the coldest, right.
John: The hottest, the coldest, and actually the inspiration for that was from my son. My son is not a scientist, he is a video editor, producer, that kind of thing. And I had him proofread, I had him read the first draft of the book. And he said, this is really good but you have to hit something up front that will attract people. He said how about doing the top ten or the top three of everything. And I was like, alright, I took my son’s advice and I have the stinkiest, the smelliest, the hottest, the coldest, the deepest, the ones named after men, the ones named after women.
Vincent: Yeah, that’s cool.
John: And it’s a hook.
Vincent: Yep. The other thing you do is you say you are not going to use italics, why is that?
John: Good point. Actually, Doug Eveleigh pointed out that when I did it, he says you don’t have anything italicized. I was like well, yeah there’s two reasons for that, maybe three reasons for that. The first is that I did the table first and italics don’t really look good on a table. It would not work and I wanted to emulate the look of the periodic table of elements. The second is italics don’t really work on Ebooks. The third, when I thought about it more and more, is that italics sets up this, italics and Latin words set up this distinction between us who are scientists and them or the people who are going to read it, and it just creates what I perceive as a barrier to learning. When we look at it, we automatically know it’s an organism, and probably they would too, but because it’s in Latin and it’s in italics I really honestly think it is a barrier for people to try and understand what it is. And I can understand like for formatting, if you’re going to put it in a journal, sure! If you’re gonna, a textbook for the field, sure.
But for my wife or my son, for people who watch TV, it’s a barrier, and the names themselves are hard enough. It’s one of the things I think I talked about at Seton Hall was as biologists or microbiologists and virologists, we’re dealing with things that are really small and really precise and really foreign to most people and they don’t have common names. So when you talk to fisheries people, and again my favorite are the Hawaiian triggerfish, okay, it’s the Hawaiian triggerfish. And people will say oh, it’s the triggerfish. They’ll get that. And if you’re a fishery scientist it’s the Rhinecanthus rectangulus which is stranger. But if you’re Hawaiian it’s the hmuhumunukunukuapua’a.
Vincent: Right, right, that’s right.
John: Having a common name makes it easier for people to understand. Having it not in italics makes it easier for people to understand.
John: I was trying to make it less of an us vs them thing and more of an us thing.
Vincent: Another thing that I like is you say don’t call them germs.
John: Don’t call them, no, no, that’s the worst thing. When the state microbes stuff first came out I don’t know who talked to the press or gave a press release but the first press we got was awful. It was somebody from Philadelphia’s paper, ew New Jersey’s getting a state germ, isn’t that stupid. No! It’s not a germ, it’s a microbe, it’s a bacteria. None of us use the word germs, you could say it’s a pathogen. Or it’s something. But especially the state microbe is not a germ. It’s a beneficial soil bacteria. But yeah, germ is disparaging, it’s like using the n-word on a bacteria, call it what it is.
Vincent: I agree, but the press tends to call them germs. It’s really unfortunate.
John: It’s not good.
Vincent: I always rail against it so I’m glad to see you did as well.
John: It truly is unfortunate and it’s like press education is something that we should all advocate for, too, because they were the journalism majors.
Vincent: Well if you need help with viruses I’m happy to help you out.
John: I’m looking forward to it. Viruses have cool names, did you look at the ones on the virus chart? You could see like, strawberry crinkle virus, the beluga whale virus, the crocodile pox.
Vincent: You have microbes, you have viruses, parasites, of course we have a podcast in each area so maybe we could do a tie in. We could do some giveaways and then maybe people will pick up on it.
John: I was talking to a mycologist this morning, he goes you should have one with fungi.
Vincent: You should, you should. Of course we have on This Week in Parasitism, Dickson Despommier, who is an expert, if you need some help there I’m sure he’d be able to help you, as well.
John: I just met him through connections, somebody who works in the CDC parasitology department, and I was like oh, I have this periodic table of parasites so I sent him one so right now somewhere in the CDC there’s a periodic table of parasites hanging up.
Vincent: How is all this doing? Do you have any idea how the posters are doing, how the book is doing?
John: No, the book just came out last week, so I don’t have any sales things. The posters sell mostly because it’s not as broadly as I want it to, right now it’s mostly nerd gifts at Christmastime. My first sale was actually an international sale, it went to some guy in Australia. But it’s been all over the world, actually, people have bought them. But I want to try and get it more mainstreamed so they will be used in classrooms and people will say hey, there it is.
Vincent: And that’s part of why you came to this meeting, right?
John: That’s part of why I came to this meeting, yeah, definitely.
Vincent: Alright, that is a special TWIM here at ASM Microbe 2018. You can find TWIM at microbe.tv/twim. If you have a mobile device and you listen to podcasts, just subscribe. It’s free and you’ll get every episode. If you have any questions or comments, twim@microbe.tv. And of course, if you like what we do, please consider supporting us. You can go to microbe.tv/contribute. We have a number of ways including a Patreon account. We’d appreciate your support. My guest today has been John Warhol from the Warhol Institute, thanks John for joining me today.
John: Thank you very much, it has been my pleasure.
Vincent: Now people can find you, you have an Etsy shop, a CafePress, you are Warhol Science on Twitter.
John: Right, @warholscience.
Vincent: You have a Tumblr.
John: Tumblr is microminutes@tumblr. That was a carryover from my first YouTube account which was MicroMinutes which I started many years ago to do micro instruction in under a minute for the YouTube crowd.
Vincent: Does it still exist?
John: It still exists, I haven’t updated it, it’s an example of my not doing my homework because my daughter was really in to YouTube when she was in high school and I went to the YouTube conferences with her and there were people in the educational division doing like, here’s minute physics, minute chemistry, minute math, and I said, okay, microbiology is cool, we need to do minute microbiology.
Vincent: That’s nice, that’s a good idea.
John: But what happened is I didn’t know nobody taught micro in high school. So all the people who do minute chemistry, minute math, minute physics, they have a pre made audience there because all those kids need help with their homework. And I was spending hundreds and hundreds of hours doing the videos and it ended up like, I enjoyed doing them, I’m glad that I did them, but it’s like as you said this morning, you gotta know when to stop because it was just hundreds of hours. But they’re there, people can find them.
Vincent: I’m Vincent Racaniello, you can find me at virology.ws, I want to thank ASM for their support of TWIM and Ray Ortega for his technical help, and Ronald Jenkees for his music. You can find his work at ronaldjenkees.com. Thanks for listening, see you next time on This Week in Microbiology.
Content on This Week in Microbiology (microbe.tv/twim) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Transcribed by Sarah Morgan.
Content on this site is licensed by MicrobeTV, LLC under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
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International security/
Conflicts/
12 September 201619:30
Press release on Results of Russian-US consultations on reaching a settlement in Syria
The package of Russian-US agreements reached during consultations held since February will come into effect on September 12. These agreements are designed to ramp up the coordinated campaign against terrorism in Syria, strengthen the cessation of hostilities agreement, and help resolve humanitarian challenges, thereby creating the conditions to launch an inclusive political process in Syria.
Beginning 7 pm Damascus time, all sides participating in the cessation of hostilities agreement in Syria will stop fighting and will observe the terms of the agreement.
From that moment on, with the assistance of the UN, humanitarian aid convoys will be escorted to Aleppo along the northern Castello Road. Over time, this road will be made safe for civil and commercial traffic. The southern road to Aleppo through Ramus will also be open for humanitarian access in accordance with the rules underlying the cessation of hostilities.
The truce should first last 48 hours, and then be extended for five more days. After that, the Joint Executive Centre will begin its practical activities, and the Russian and US military will coordinate attacks on Jabhat al-Nusra (Jabhat Fateh al-Sham), ISIS and other terrorists in the approved areas, where operations involving Syrian aircraft will be suspended. In this way, the terrorists will be divided off from armed opposition groups participating in the cessation of hostilities.
Moscow welcomes the Syrian government’s public confirmation of its approval of the Russian-US agreements and its willingness to abide by them.
However, there remains serious concern with the reaction of some of the armed Syrian opposition groups, the largest of which, Ahrar al-Sham, said it refuses to follow the Russian-US agreements or to break with their comrades in arms from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. In this connection, it is appropriate to point out that, in spite of our persistent appeals, the United States still does not agree with placing Ahrar al-Sham on the UN list of designated terrorist groups.
With regard to the political opposition, the High Negotiations Committee, which is recognised by the West, said it will comply with the Russian-US agreements reached in Geneva, if the United States provides guarantees that the Syrian government complies with them as well. We hope that the United States will do its part and exert the necessary influence on those it considers "moderate" opposition in Syria in order to ensure full compliance with the conditions underlying the cessation of hostilities and achieve practical implementation of the Russian-US agreements.
Inter-American problems and regional policy
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Jane Grey Swisshelm, c.1860.
Jane Grey Swisshelm only lived in Minnesota for six years, but during that time she left a lasting mark on the state. While in St. Cloud, she founded a newspaper which she used to advocate for women's rights, argue for the abolition of slavery, build up the Republican Party, challenge the authority of the Democratic machine there, and promote violence against the Dakota.
Jane Grey Cannon was born in Pennsylvania in 1815. Her young life was marked by tragedy. Her father and a beloved elder brother died of tuberculosis when she was eight. In 1836, she married James Swisshelm. Neither of their mothers approved of the union, and it proved to be an unhappy one. Her difficult relationship with his mother, the couple's religious differences, and her independent spirit made the marriage hard for them both.
In 1838, she and James moved to Louisville, Kentucky so that he could join his brother in business. Already an abolitionist before they traveled South, Jane was radicalized by the experience of witnessing slavery first hand. She returned to Pittsburgh the next year to care for her dying mother, and James rejoined her there after his business went bankrupt.
From Pittsburgh, Jane Swisshelm became a national voice in the fight against slavery. In 1848, she started the Pittsburgh Saturday Visiter, a weekly newspaper that had a national following in abolitionist circles. In it she regularly and strongly attacked slavery and spoke out for women's rights. Though her wit and confident voice earned her a national following, the paper always struggled financially. After the birth of her daughter in 1851, she could not handle the strain of work, a failing marriage, and a small child at home, and, in 1856, the Visiter merged with the Pittsburgh Journal. Finally deciding that her marriage would never be a happy one, Jane took her daughter to Minnesota in 1857.
In Minnesota, they couple joined Jane Swisshelm's sister and brother-in-law in St. Cloud. She became the editor of a newspaper and named it the St. Cloud Visiter. Even though a Democrat owned the paper, she insisted that it be abolitionist. As in Pittsburgh, her confident voice made her influential, and her condemnations of slavery earned her the enmity of Sylvanus Lowry, a native of Tennessee, local Democratic politician, and leading citizen of St. Cloud. Because of her attacks on him, Lowry first attempted to bribe her and, then, to silence her. In 1858, his allies destroyed her presses and trashed her offices. However, this event only made her more popular and determined. Under a new title, the St. Cloud Democrat, and with new presses supplied by her friends and allies, she resumed her attacks on Lowry and promoted the Republican Party.
Though she spoke movingly against slavery, she was still subject to prejudices against American Indians. When she moved to Minnesota, Swisshelm had held romantic notions about American Indians and their lives on the plains. The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 changed her views completely. Initiated by factions of the Dakota, who had rightful grievances against white immigrants, the war saw atrocities on both sides. When Dakota soldiers attacked white settlements, Swisshelm became committed to their expulsion from Minnesota and punishment for what she regarded as unprovoked attacks. It did not matter to her that only a few hundred Dakota participated in the war; Swisshelm held all Dakota responsible for it. She even traveled to Washington, D.C. to lobby for harsher treatment of the Dakota. While there, she was offered a position with the U.S. Quartermaster's office and worked as a nurse tending to wounded soldiers.
From Washington, Swisshelm sold her St. Cloud paper to her nephew and eventually started a new paper. Naming it the Reconstructionist, she attacked the Johnson administration's easy treatment of ex-Confederates. After an arson attempt on the paper's offices, she closed it down. She moved back to Pittsburgh and won a court case against her former husband to retain some of the land they had owned together. She continued to write and travel with her daughter. She died in Pittsburgh in 1884.
Weber, Eric. "Swisshelm, Jane Grey (1815–1884)." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. http://www.mnopedia.org/person/swisshelm-jane-grey-1815-1884 (accessed July 18, 2019).
First published: August 6, 2012
Hoffert, Sylvia D. Jane Grey Swisshelm: An Unconventional Life, 1815–1884. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
McCarthy, Abigail. "Jane Grey Swisshelm: Marriage and Slavery." In Women of Minnesota: Selected Biographical Essays, edited by Barbara Stuhler and Gretchen Kreuter, 55–76. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1998.
Swisshelm, Jane Grey. Half a Century. Chicago: Jansen, McClurg, and Company, 1880.
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=lbViAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&authuser=0&hl=en&pg=GBS.PP1
The St. Cloud Visiter, 1857–1858
Newspaper Microfilm Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
The St. Cloud Democrat, 1858–1866
Swisshelm, Jane Grey. Letters to Country Girls. New York: J.C. Riker, 1853.
Weston, Alice Lee, "Jane Grey Swisshelm." Minneapolis Tribune, August 10, 1884.
A/+M682
William B. Mitchell and family papers, 1806–1935
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: The papers of Swisshelm's nephew William Mitchell, editor of the St. Cloud Journal-Press. This collection includes correspondence and other materials related to Swisshelm's work as an abolitionist and with the Visiter in St. Cloud.
A/m.L921
Sylvanus B. Lowry and family correspondence, 1858–1863, 1902–1909
Manucript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Correspondence between Sylvanus Lowry and his wife. It includes commentary on his disagreements with Swisshelm.
BN1.1/.R425
Miscellaneous Party Papers, 1857–1956
Republican Party (Minn.), State Central Committee
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00753.pdf
Description: This collection contains correspondence and speeches from the campaigns 1857-1859. Swisshelm was well-connected to the state Republican Party at this time, and it holds a letter from her.
Dean, Janet. "Nameless Outrages: Narrative Authority, Rape Rhetoric, and the Dakota Conflict of 1862". American Literature 77, no. 1 (March 2005): 93–122.
Hage, George S. Newspapers on the Minnesota Frontier, 1849–1860. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1967.
Hoffert, Sylvia D. "Gender and Vigilantism on the Minnesota Frontier: Jane Grey Swisshelm and the U.S. Dakota Conflict of 1862". The Western Historical Quarterly 29, no. 3 (Autumn 1998): 342–362.
Swisshelm, Jane Grey. Crusader and Feminist: Letters of Jane Grey Swisshelm, 1858–1865. Edited by Arthur J. Larsen. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1934
The Minnesota Historical Society. U.S.-Dakota War of 1862
http://www.usdakotawar.org/
Minnesota Historical Society. History Topics: Jane Grey Swisshelm
http://www.mnhs.org/library/tips/history_topics/128swisshelm.htm
Eliza Winston Court Case
Women in Minnesota: Weaving the Web of Society in the North Star State
In 1857, at age forty-one, Jane Grey Swisshelm leaves her unhappy marriage, moves to St. Cloud, and starts the St. Cloud Visiter.
Jane Grey Cannon is born in Pittsburgh
She marries James Swisshelm.
She moves with James to Louisville, KY, personally witnessing slavery for the first time.
Having already written for other newspapers in Pittsburgh, she founds the Pittsburgh Saturday Visiter, her own paper.
Swisshelm moves with her six-year-old daughter to St. Cloud, where she starts the St. Cloud Visiter.
James Swisshelm applies for a divorce from Jane on the grounds that she abandoned him. Pennsylvania grants the divorce in 1861.
She travels to Washington, D.C. to lobby the Lincoln administration to take a harsher line in their handling of white settler-Dakota relations and takes a clerkship there in the Quartermaster's office.
In Washington, DC, Swisshelm starts another newspaper, the Reconstructionist.
Swisshelm begins fraud proceedings against her ex-husband for his handling of their property and wins their home in Pittsburgh.
She publishes Half a Century, her autobiography, which details the first fifty years of her life.
She dies in Pittburgh, where a park still bears her name.
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Home News BT to invest £1bn in broadband
BT to invest £1bn in broadband
BT will invest £1 billion to extend roll-out of its fibre optic next generation network (NGN) to two-thirds of the UK by 2015.
The £1 billion will take BT’s investment in its fibre optic NGN to £2.5 billion, as it announced 2010 financial year results. BT achieved revenue of £20.9 billion in the financial year to March 31, 2010, down two per cent against the 2009 financial year, with EBITDA of £5.8 billion over the year, up six per cent.
For the financial year 2011, BT said it expects to achieve revenue around £20 billion, operating cost savings of £900m and net debt below £9 billion, which currently sits at £9.3 billion.
BT said BT Global Services revenue will grow by 2012/13, BT Retail is expected to show an improvement in revenue trends over the period, and BT Wholesale and Openreach revenue is expected to be broadly level over the period. “We are investing in the future of our business, enhancing our TV offering and building on opportunities in our Global Services business,” said chief executive Ian Livingston. “Assuming an acceptable environment for investment, we see the potential to roll-out fibre to around two-thirds of the UK by 2015.”
IHS Global Insight analyst Peter Boyland remarked: “BT has undertaken to making super-fast download speeds available to 40 per cent of homes by 2012, and says it expects to connect around four million UK homes to its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) networks by the end of this year.
“Its latest plans to extend this number to two-thirds of UK homes by 2015 represent a significant escalation in investment, and BT says the £2.5 billion investment is one of the largest in the world that does not rely on public sector funding and where the network is open to all service providers on an equal basis. Ofcom recently announced new proposals for virtual unbundling of BT’s FTTH network, but BT has been moving towards this goal on its own, opening up ducts and offering investment partnerships to rivals to boost roll-out.
“The plans are also expected to form a major part of the UK government’s ‘Digital Britain’ plan. BT says the faster broadband network will support plans to grow its BT Vision digital television offering, and the operator expects to be able to offer Sky Sports 1 and 2 in time for the start of the new football season.”
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Michael Vatikiotis
A blog of recent writing
About Michael Vatikiotis
Michael Vatikiotis has been a writer, broadcaster and journalist in Asia for more than 30 years. With family origins in the Middle East, he has lived in Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand as well as Hong Kong. He has written two books on regional politics: “Indonesian Politics Under Suharto” and “Political Change in Southeast Asia.” His published fiction includes two novels set in Indonesia, “The Spice Garden” and most recently “The Painter of Lost Souls”. He is a regular broadcaster and contributor to the opinion page of several newspapers. Vatikiotis is a graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, earned his doctorate, which was on Thailand, from Oxford University, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Maryland. He is a member of the Asia Society’s International Council. He speaks the Thai and Indonesian languages fluently.
Towards a new colonial era
China and the US demands weaker countries take sides or face retaliation
The worry is that much as the colonial powers did centuries ago, both China and the US will demand that weaker countries in their path take sides or face retaliation.
A new colonial era is dawning as major powers limber up to wield influence and protect their interests in ways that could significantly impinge on the sovereignty of weaker, smaller states.
This won’t be colonialism in the conventional sense: Subject countries will not immediately be threatened with invasion and occupation, or their sovereignty denied.
But we should be in no doubt of the return of big power machinations across the globe, after a long period of what might be termed benign interdependence. And as competing larger powers vie for strategic space, some sovereignty-impairing collateral damage is inevitable.
Historically, the imposition of colonial rule over India and other parts of Asia was a by-product of commercial competition between clashing European powers, notably England, France, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.
Wars were fought in far-off places such as the Indonesian Spice Islands between England and the Netherlands, the two great naval powers of the 16th and 17th centuries, and treaties established that traded occupied territory.
In much the same way, China and the United States, the two great powers of our age, are increasingly asserting influence in the Pacific and in the process, making demands of smaller states in their path.
China has occupied and fortified islets and features in the South China Sea that it says are historically China’s but they are also claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. In response, the US has conducted increasingly frequent naval patrols in the area and started to open facilities for visiting military forces in the Philippine islands, one of which, on Palawan island, is close to China’s fortified features in the South China Sea. The possibility of armed clashes between Chinese and US naval forces in the South China Sea is a distinct possibility.
BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE V INDO-PACIFIC STRATEGY
This big power competition goes beyond the security sphere. China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the US’ concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific amount to two faces of the same coin; they are both bids to assert political and economic influence, and seek adherence to a certain set of values and norms.
Both China and the US vigorously insist they are upholding principles of openness and equality – just as colonial powers two centuries earlier justified the use of military or diplomatic pressure on underdeveloped countries under the banner of free trade and access to markets.
China’s President Xi Jinping told a high-level forum on the Belt and Road at the end of last month that his global infrastructure initiative was not an “exclusive club”. Similarly, the US insists that the Indo-Pacific strategy is aimed at enhancing shared prosperity and promoting economic and security partnerships to ensure a “peaceful and secure regional order”.
And yet, China views the Indo-Pacific Strategy as a bid to constrain China’s rise as a global economic and security power. The US meanwhile warns that countries targeted for Chinese infrastructure development along the Belt and Road will fall into a debt trap that threatens their economic prosperity.
More troubling, much as the colonial powers did centuries ago, both China and the US are increasingly demanding that weaker countries in their path take sides or face retaliation and recrimination.
The US has mounted a vigorous campaign to persuade countries around the globe to halt the acquisition of telecommunications technology provided by the Chinese tech giant Huawei. It cites concerns about security and intellectual property theft; just as Western powers in earlier eras strived to steal the secrets of Chinese manufacturing of silk, porcelain and tea.
China, for its part, has moved to force countries in the region into cooperative frameworks that exclude Western participation and funding – notably in the Greater Mekong sub-region.
When resistance is encountered, angry threats ensue. The US has the ability to impose sanctions and pursue international jurisdiction based on its own laws. So far, China has confined its threats to angry table thumping and undiplomatic aggressive behaviour, although even rescheduled debt payments that favour borrowers will bind Belt and Road countries to China over the longer term, a recent study concludes.
CLASH OF CIVILISATIONS?
We should all be concerned about threat of armed conflict arising from this competition for power and commercial space. Yet, while it is conventional to consider the events of the past few months the opening shots in a new Cold War, they also presage a more troubling future, one where the world is effectively partitioned and subjugated by major competing powers involving a complex array of commercial and technological issues that were not at play as much during the Cold War.
Beyond the realm of pure competition, the advance of far-right and white supremacist ideas in Europe and the US adds stridency and momentum to the idea of a new form of “mission civilisatrice”.
Commenting recently on rising tensions with China, director of Policy and Planning at the US State Department Kiron Skinner said: “This is a fight with a really different civilisation and a different ideology.”
China has no tradition of European-style colonial expansion, except at certain periods in its immediate domain, but has a long history of demanding recognition of Chinese preeminence in the form of tribute.
Ancient forms of tribute involved exclusive trading arrangements and gifts presented regularly at the imperial court in Beijing. Modern forms of tribute could be seen as evolving in the shape of obligations to China for infrastructure projects built and operated by Chinese companies using Chinese technology. Or, as American expert Jon Alterman put it recently, “a set of wholly interest-based, government-to-government ties that allow the rapid exploitation of economic opportunities on what is, at least initially, a consensual basis”.
The colonial era, defined as a period when European powers as well as the US occupied and governed far-flung territories across Asia, Africa and Latin America, ended in the period immediately after World War II.
By the mid-1960s, most of the larger colonies had won or been granted independence. There followed a brief period of communist expansion, backed by Soviet Russia and China, although these efforts at state capture using the tools of ideological struggle were halted by the end of the 1980s. The ensuing period of globalised interdependence and equality of nations has been short-lived.
SPHERES OF COMMERCIAL AND TECH INFLUENCE
A new colonial era would be marked by the partition of the world into spheres of commercial and technological influence dominated by the US and China.
In this polarised world, physical space and sovereignty might not initially be affected (although the US is considering engineering land swops in the Middle East to settle the Palestinian conflict). But the freedom to choose partners with whom to trade or the technology to communicate will impair sovereign rights.
This in turn would undermine the infrastructure of international governance erected after the end of the last colonial period, and make a mockery of the basic principles underpinning the UN Charter.
To head off the partition of the world into clashing spheres of influence, we need reform of the existing global order to accommodate China and others.
This process requires sincere engagement and dialogue, not confrontation and isolation. The challenge will be that while the US sees the world through the lens of alliances governed by rules and values, China’s view of the world is driven by a much simpler paradigm: Size matters.
Published in The Straits Times, 15 May 2019
Posted on May 15, 2019 Leave a comment on Towards a new colonial era
Southeast Asia Stumbles Over Politics
These are challenging times for Southeast Asia. Despite buoyant economies, healthy investment and growing trade ties, predictability and certainty in the political sphere seem elusive for the ten-member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
What looked like stable political outcomes or transitions in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia have more recently generated fear and uncertainty as squabbling entrenched elites are battered by divisive issues of corruption, identity and inequality. In Myanmar and the Philippines democratic transitions have morphed into state-sponsored repressive security crackdowns on hard-won freedoms.
Broader concerns stem from the geopolitical uncertainty created by U.S.-led efforts to challenge China’s rise, which threatens to exert a drag on Asia’s economic growth. The start of the third decade of the 21st century points to a troubled way ahead for the region.
The outlook is disappointing, not least because Southeast Asia is regarded as an important auxiliary engine of growth and investment for Asia as China’s economy begins to cool. But optimism about its economic potential and resilience should be tempered by the realities of political developments in the region, which is struggling to escape cultural and historical constraints.
Six years after the military intervened in Thailand to end a violent and disruptive period of political conflict, elections have finally been scheduled for the end of March. There were hopes of a transition back to a democratically elected government and an end to the polarized, often violent, political confrontation, even as members of the military junta prepared to stand for elected office. But when Princess Ubolratana, the elder sister of King Vajiralongkorn, made the surprise announcement in early February that she would stand as a candidate for prime minister under the banner of a party supported by exiled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, deep divisions in the Thai elite were exposed. This suggests that the long period under military rule has had no impact on solving underlying conflicts.
The Thai elections may well go ahead on March 24. But no one believes the outcome will produce stability. The most likely result will be a weak coalition of military-backed figures and conservative smaller parties, which will leave dissatisfied the majority of people who have historically supported Thaksin’s party.
In neighboring Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen, now Southeast Asia’s longest serving elected leader, initially emerged unscathed after a flawed election last year in which the main opposition party was banned. But the European Union’s recent decision to move toward withdrawing a preferential trade arrangement that benefits the country’s vital garment industry threatens the Cambodian economy, which grew close to 7% in 2018. The banned opposition party, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, many of whose leaders are in exile, may well see this as an opportunity to stoke unrest.
What at first looked like a remarkably peaceful transition in Malaysia after the defeat of the ruling United Malaysia National Organization at the polls last year is now overshadowed by splits within the new governing coalition and the failure to swiftly prosecute former Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on graft charges. Despite credible allegations that Najib presided over the theft of more than $4 million from a state-backed investment vehicle, 1MDB, he has seen a revival in popularity among the majority Malay population. This development, along withb legal tactics delaying the opening of his trial, has unnerved the new multiracial government led by veteran Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and underscored its vulnerability to fickle conservative Malay sentiment.
In Indonesia, campaigning for parliamentary and presidential elections due in mid-April is underway. As stable and routine as the electoral process has become, with Indonesia having peacefully elected two presidents since 2004, the worry is that the country’s increasingly rambunctious democracy is allowing ultra-nationalist and religious extremist elements to push their agendas.
Underlying social and economic problems in Indonesia provide ample tinder for unrest if rising prices and youth unemployment are not addressed. Much of the discontent could be channeled through conservative Islamic forces, which the leading presidential candidates, incumbent Joko Widodo and challenger Prabowo Subianto, have gone dangerously overboard to cultivate. Whoever wins, “conservative Islamic groups, backed by radical groups, will win — have already won — the election,” wrote prominent Indonesian novelist Eka Kurniawan in the New York Times.
What these electoral aftermaths tell us is that democracy, though entrenched, is far from well-established in Southeast Asia, with deep-seated problems at the social and elite level often accompanying political change that affects stability.
More troubling still are those countries where the hard struggle for freedom has been reversed.
Both Myanmar and the Philippines have endured protracted struggles at different times to replace dictatorship and martial law with democracy. Yet both countries have seen a drastic slide back toward repression under elected leaders.
In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte remains remarkably popular despite his controversial “war on drugs” that has killed thousands of people, including more than a dozen elected officials. More recently, Duterte, a former city mayor from Davao, has attacked the media and stood by as Maria Ressa, the head of the popular news service Rappler, was arrested (and later released) on charges of cybercrime.
Freedom of expression was one of the earliest dividends of a gradual transition away from stern military rule in Myanmar after 2011, so it has been deeply disappointing to see the freely elected government led by the former democracy and human rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi reverse the trend after she was elected in 2015. In its 2018 World Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders ranked Myanmar 137th out of 180 countries, citing the prosecution of 20 journalists in the past year.
None of these troubling developments appear to threaten any of these countries with collapse, but they herald trouble ahead. Transparency, government integrity and reducing social inequality are all important factors that support continued economic stability. But governments across Southeast Asia are failing to deliver on these key indicators. Removing entrenched privileges for the elite and addressing the yawning income gap that afflicts the region would go a long way towards dealing with these problems since elections alone will not do the job. More far-reaching reforms are necessary.
Set against increasing confrontation between China and the U.S., the collective role of Southeast Asian countries as a stable platform for regional economic growth is becoming increasingly important. It is vital in this context for ASEAN member states to put aside domestic turmoil and demonstrate a unity of purpose.
First published 20th February 2019 in Nikkei Asian Review
Posted on February 24, 2019 Leave a comment on Southeast Asia Stumbles Over Politics
Speaking of the Future: Presentation to the World Indonesianist Forum, October 2018
To help Indonesia cope with the future, Indonesians, especially the younger generation, need a better understanding of their past. Across the world, I sense that history is in retreat: What do I mean by this? For the millennial generation, the past is poorly captured. The great wars and upheavals of two generations ago are almost forgotten. We live in an age of the here and now, in an era that stresses individual achievement rather than collective strife and struggle. Our own histories as individuals seem to matter more than the ways in which great events in the past shaped the world we live in today.
The study of Indonesian history has long been framed and interpreted by outsiders. In part, this was because it was foreigners who attended and chronicled significant moments of Indonesian history; Indonesians themselves were too preoccupied with or divided by momentous events. However, there has also been a reluctance on the part of Indonesians to frame their history in rich detail, which has ceded the field to outsiders, or what we call Indonesianists.
Indonesian history is considered the life work of scholars such as George T. Mc Kahin, of Ben Anderson, and Herbert Feith. Some might consider I made my own modest contribution chronicling the rise and fall of former President Soeharto in the mid-1990s.
That’s not to say there are no Indonesian historians. As a student, I was introduced to the works of Kuntowidjojo and Nugroho Notosusanto. I had the pleasure of knowing Ong Hock Kham, Des Alwi and Tawfik Abdullah. All great historians and scholars, but limited by constraints on academic freedom and perhaps where they stood in Indonesian society.
At the same time, as Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi just said: there are many foreign scholars and observers like myself who have focused for many years on Indonesia’s struggle for democracy, on the particularities of Javanese culture and more recently the rise of conservative Islam and identity politics. We too have been selective in our approach.
This needs to change; Indonesians need to seize control of their own narrative of the past.
The past is awkward: Indonesia’s birth was attended by violence and brutality; there was a fragile consensus on national identity based on conflicting ideologies that led to subsequent bouts of violence. The shame of this internal feuding and the massive loss of life it generated, are hard to reconcile with proud national identity.
Even the revolutionary period – 1945-9 – itself seems controversial. The Dutch government recently launched a project to gather testimonies about the period immediately after the end of the Pacific War and Indonesia’s declaration of Independence – which led to four years of armed struggle. But many Indonesians fear this process will uncover messy incidents of internal blood-letting. The war against the Dutch was brief but brutal, but the struggle for independence also pitted Indonesians against each other.
There is also a sense in which Indonesia’s many component parts – have unequal histories, some better articulated than others. Post-independence there is a messy history of integration and unequal development. How do the people of Aceh, Ambon, Sulawesi and West Sumatra, and more recently Papua relate to their rebellious past? Should this not be part of the national narrative? Much of the buried grievance in Indonesia stems from the failure to acknowledge a history of struggle and suffering between centre and periphery.
Because of all this, fears of accountability and revenge-seeking have hindered a detailed examination of the past. Not that the past is buried. This allergy to history, with its precise tallying of events, has left the recounting of the past to artists, who have more license, but tend to be imprecise and subjective.
For too long in Indonesia, events in the past have been principally interpreted by Indonesian novelists, poets and playwrights. They have used allegory and creative scene-setting to mask or embellish events.
The other night in Ubud I watched a short film based on Leila Chudori’s “Laut Bercerita”, a novel set in the mid-1990s that examines the lives of abducted students. But the scenario presented of students brutally tortured by unnamed agents, obscures the wider context of the events leading up to Indonesia’s transition to democracy in 1998. Chudori’s novel is one of the first attempts to chronicle the period, but as a work of fiction it is understandably selective and imaginary.
Detailed accounts of the period have been left to outside Indonesianists, and therefore necessarily impart an outsider perception.
What should be done?
I want to argue here that Indonesia needs a history project. As painful as much of the history is, I believe it will help Indonesia face the future – and contribute more to the world. The example of South Africa comes to mind: Coming to terms with the apartheid period with a degree of truth and honesty has enabled South Africans to usefully share the pain and triumph of their struggle for freedom.
There has been some progress; in 2012 the National Human Rights Commission produced an exhaustive report on the anti-Communist killings of 1965, concluding that the government should commence a process of investigation into human rights abuses. But apart from addressing the victims’ needs what is really needed is a dispassionate account of what happened.
Finally, let me say that for future generations, it is important that we Indonesianists from outside help contemporary scholars and teachers find a better way to frame Indonesia’s colourful and important history. There are now more than 7,000 foreign students in Indonesia; one way you can all help is to share your histories. Another concrete way to reach a wider audience would be to fund a television documentary, made by young Indonesians and drawing on the recollections of their seniors, allowing history to be presented in an honest and accessible manner.
Indonesia’s role doing good in the world must rest on firm foundations. History is one of the most important pillars.
Terima kasih. Thank you.
Posted on November 30, 2018 Leave a comment on Speaking of the Future: Presentation to the World Indonesianist Forum, October 2018
Review of “Blood and Silk” from the South China Morning Post
Book review – Blood & Silk: Power & Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia offers a bleak prognosis for region’s future
By Salil Tripathi
Author Michael Vatikiotis’ love of the region shines through in his examination of its leaders and long-oppressed people, but he is unsure whether those in power are able to take the necessary steps to prevent further spilling of blood.
PUBLISHED : Monday, 04 September, 2017,
In 1993, American journalist Stan Sesser wrote a book about Southeast Asia titled The Lands of Charm and Cruelty. He revealed what makes the region attractive to travellers and journalists (hence the charm), as well as the deep, unresolved conflicts within, many of which are exceptionally brutal (hence the cruelty).
Southeast Asia is breathtakingly beautiful, its people are smiling, hospitable and energetic, and its culture rich. But it also conceals stories of unparalleled violence, and its political structures have remained stunted, preventing the region’s creativity from blooming.
This incongruence is not outwardly visible. You have to peel back the layers and see beyond the shadow puppetry to get closer to the truth.
Michael Vatikiotis, my former colleague at the Far Eastern Economic Review (who would later become its editor), is uniquely qualified to make sense of that complex region. He first went to Southeast Asia as a student, then became a journalist, and is now a senior official at an organisation that brings together conflicting parties to build peace.
Vatikiotis offers a lucid portrait of this fascinating region by bringing together a student’s sense of wonder and curiosity, a journalist’s scepticism and diligence in making sense of the reality, and a peacemaker’s compassion for the vulnerable. Fluent in Thai and Bahasa Indonesia, Vatikiotis has lived in Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and has developed a profound understanding of Southeast Asia. He knows the region’s political and business elite and has formed deep bonds with people from all walks of life.
In Blood & Silk – his account of his decades of fascination with the region – his love and commitment to Southeast Asia shine through. It offers important insights about what makes these lands of charm and cruelty what they are, and raises serious questions about what lies ahead.
Vatikiotis has decided to write what is often deliberately left unsaid in a region where public discourse shuns conflict, where “face” is important, and where aphorisms are expressed to say what cannot be spoken directly.
A Cambodian proverb helps him explain the cycles of violence: when the water is high, the fish eat the ants; when the water is low, the ants eat the fish. He also cites another metaphor used in Southeast Asia (and elsewhere) about the pragmatism of the common folk: when elephants fight, stay out of the long grass.
The book is timely. Three tectonic political shifts are changing the way politics and business have functioned in Southeast Asia. The rise of China has brought fresh investment to the region and forced other countries to reconsider the balance of power. The waning American interest in the region raises concerns about security as well as trade: Southeast Asian nations have thrived in the past because of the US security umbrella and open American markets for their exports. And the growth of militant Islam troubles not only Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, but can cause repercussions beyond.
Persisting inequality has kept many of the region’s inhabitants poor, and Vatikiotis fears some of the dispossessed may fall prey to demagoguery. The coexistence of extreme wealth and dire poverty, he notes, is not sustainable. When times turn sour, it can give rise to divisive identity politics. Vatikiotis points out the hounding of former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaha Purnama, also known as Ahok, who is Christian and Chinese and now jailed on blasphemy charges; he also highlights Buddhist intolerance, most visible in the persecution of the Rohingyas in Myanmar.
The institution the region relies on – the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) – has just turned 50. It is a remarkably durable institution. Formed to bring together non-communist Asian states during the Vietnam war, it found a fresh raison d’être during the Cambodian crisis and has grown to include a country with first world economic indicators (Singapore) and countries clearly in the lower income group (such as Laos and Myanmar).
As Vatikiotis notes, there are governments in Southeast Asia that are run by leaders whose mandate is questioned (Thailand and Malaysia); who are maverick (Philippines); whose writ doesn’t run large and who insists on making all decisions (Myanmar); and who insist on being called “Glorious Supreme Prime Minister and Powerful Commander” (Cambodia).
He astutely points out where power resides in the region and how it is wielded, as well as how those who have power have prevented any reckoning of the violence of the past. He repeatedly returns to unhealed wounds of the massacres of Indonesia, and isn’t sanguine about the impact of violence today in the Philippines
He laments how some leaders who promised economic salvation for all ended up leaving their countries with their own families enriched, citing the examples of Suharto of Indonesia, Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, and Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand.
Can the region’s long-oppressed people rise against the powerful? Vatikiotis recognises the weakness of human rights institutions in the region, but nonetheless sees hope in civil society: “The slow response of government to grievances and use of divide-and-rule tactics to undermine opposition will force communities and groups to look after themselves and defy the powerful centre,” he writes.
Vatikiotis’ prognosis is bleak. The entities he would like to counter extremism or violence are not strong enough, and foreign interest in the region is declining. For the land to retain its charm and remain draped in silk, its leaders will have to take steps to prevent further spilling of blood and account for past cruelties. It is not an easy task, but Vatikiotis is right to ask.
http://www.scmp.com/culture/books/article/2109603/book-review-blood-and-silk-power-and-conflict-modern-southeast-asia
Posted on September 9, 2017 Leave a comment on Review of “Blood and Silk” from the South China Morning Post
Memoirs of a Mediator
Review of “Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia” by Humphrey Hawksley published in August 2017 in “Asian Affairs”
Humphrey Hawksley on an insightful and very personal portrait of the politics and players shaping South East Asia’s future
One perception of South East Asia is of cityscapes lined with glass-fronted skyscrapers, sun-drenched beaches and busy factories feeding the global supply chain while wealth spreads through communities under the paradigm of an Asian tiger. There is another view, however, bravely told by Michael Vatikiotis, of a region that has been fought over and trampled by outside powers for centuries and is bracing itself for another Cold War-style conflict. South East Asia is a nut between the arms of a giant geopolitical nutcracker, he graphically argues when laying out his backdrop for Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in Modern South East Asia.
Two elements merge in Vatikiotis’ convincing thesis. One is that South East Asia is becoming a front-line testing ground in the rivalry between the United States and China. The disputed South China Sea, now probably the world’s most strategic waterway, remains far from being resolved. The other is that the ten countries of this region have not yet formed a robust enough bloc with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to dilute China’s growing influence. Compared to swathes of the Middle East and Africa, South East Asia has made remarkable progress over the past half century. But China has moved faster, raising questions as to what will happen next.
From here, Vatikiotis takes us into the heart of this region. His anecdotes are compelling, his analysis revealing and his writing draws you in towards a ‘land perpetually wet, densely overgrown and always hot and humid… on calm, turquoise sea glistening in sunlight.’ But once there, weak government, corruption and conflict become enduring themes as he asks how South East Asia’s 626 million people with their $2.4 trillion economy, their rich diversity of religion, culture and ethnicity, manage to cope with such chronically poor governance and persistent inequality.
Poverty may have halved in the last fifteen years, but forty per cent of Indonesia’s 250 million people live on less than two dollars a day. South East Asian leaders have brandished symbols of wise munificent leadership, but enriched their families and brooked no dissent, leaving anger and conflict in their wake.
Vatikiotis arrived in South East Asia in 1979 enveloped in the adventurism and confidence of youth. Over the years his work as a journalist chiselled down his self-confessed idealism to carve out the picture he paints for us now. More is drawn from his current job as a mediator with a conflict resolution organisation, The Centre of Humanitarian Dialogue, and it is with this eye that Vatikiotis gives us his prediction of what the region might become over the next half century.
South East Asia is no stranger to being a theatre of war for others, a place where in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other countries, aspirations of independence clashed with opposing forces of communism and democracy.
Cambodia’s Killing Fields from the 1970s are well-chronicled with war crime trials still going on today. Indonesia’s anti-communist killings of half a million or more in the 1960s, have drawn a dimmer spotlight, mainly because Western governments tacitly endorsed the massacres and Indonesia has not yet openly come to terms with what happened.
Vatikiotis, the mediator, tells how he sat in on meetings where Indonesia decided, because historical divisions remained unresolved, it would not issue an apology. The reopening of old wounds would be too dangerous. The military was still angry with the communists for killing its general. Muslim gangs carried out many of the killings. There is the ethnic Chinese factor and, concludes Vatikiotis, a ‘stunning absence of compassion for those murdered by powerful people’.
Throughout South East Asia, history has been swept under the carpet, leaving the already corrupt and fractured institutions a long way from being robust enough to handle the type of violent divisions that might erupt. This flaw has led to a fear of social change.
Beijing is skilled at exploiting such vulnerabilities with a record of fomenting uprisings while offering financial inducements. More recently, it has shown its hand in hard power with its claims to the South China Sea, a Monroe Doctrine-style message to the US, or any other government, not to meddle in China’s backyard.
Add into this mix the influence of Middle East-inspired extreme Islam, already impacting Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, and the region is taking on a very different shape from what it was in the late 20th century. Vatikiotis compares its future more closely to the era before the 1500s and the arrival of European powers.
He envisages the weakening of the nation states and the emergence of ‘smaller autonomous entities’ relying on trade with China carried along roads and railways built by China. He cites special autonomy agreements already given to Indonesia’s Aceh province, Mindanao in the southern Philippines and gives us detailed accounts of his own attempt to forge a settlement for the conflict in southern Thailand. In this respect, the US has been short-sighted, argues Vatikiotis, giving the example of Washington’s reluctance to deal with the military government in Thailand, thus allowing China to step into the vacuum.
Had this current cycle of global power shift taken another fifty years, South East Asia might have been strong enough to put up more of a united front. But we are where we are and it is now up to the Western democracies and the ten individual countries to decide what, if anything, to do about it.
Given its rich tapestry of insight, Blood and Silk could have delivered us a tighter conclusion. It ends not with a big vision, but with a thought about corruption in Cambodia. Earlier observations might have made a more fitting ending to this superbly drawn assessment, a jolt of reality to offset the shopping malls and glass towers, that this is a region where leaders have promised their people happiness and prosperity and left them divided and deprived.
Posted on August 17, 2017 August 17, 2017 Leave a comment on Memoirs of a Mediator
Financial Times review of “Blood and Silk” – 8th July 2017
Southeast Asia enters the danger zone
Inequality and toxic identity politics haunt Michael Vatikiotis’s portrait of a region often celebrated for its dynamism
By Victor Mallet
Alluring and fraught with danger: Southeast Asia is both of these, as the title of Michael Vatikiotis’s Blood and Silk suggests. This region of 600m people, contested by a rising China and a declining US, also remains hugely important to the rest of the world. It was in Thailand that the Asian financial crisis erupted 20 years ago this July with the crash devaluation of the baht, and it is through the Strait of Malacca that the world sends about $6,000bn of its trade and a quarter of its seaborne oil each year.
I half expected Vatikiotis to be optimistic. Southeast Asia, after all, embraces 10 increasingly prosperous economies that have for the most part comprehensively
outpaced their postcolonial equivalents in Africa since the 1960s; even the laggards such as Myanmar and Laos have recently started to catch up. And, unlike their counterparts in the Middle East, the predominantly Muslim nations of Indonesia and Malaysia are known for religious tolerance and a syncretic culture that has absorbed influences from Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Confucianism as well as the Islam of the Arabian peninsula.
Yet Vatikiotis makes a bleak assessment of Southeast Asia’s prospects. He speaks
several of the region’s languages, and after studying, working and travelling in the region as a journalist and peace mediator (between insurgents and governments) for more than three decades, he builds a strong case for his grim conclusions. The problem is not that the author is unaware of what is good about Southeast Asia — including kindness to strangers, humour, inclusiveness and flexibility — but rather that he sees these very qualities being eclipsed by a mixture of old fashioned tyranny and baneful new influences from abroad.
Where democracy has arrived — as it did in Cambodia under the auspices of the UN in 1993 — it has in several cases quickly been subverted or demolished. Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander now supported by China, has ruled Cambodia with only a brief interruption for nearly four decades and, like an ancient Khmer king, has a retinue of hundreds of ministers and secretaries of state and a 5,000 strong bodyguard. Last year, he ordered his citizens to refer to him as “Glorious Supreme Prime Minister and Powerful Commander”.
Vatikiotis writes that many of his Southeast Asian friends regard the future with
apprehension. “I notice a distinct contrast between Pollyannaish
Westerners all agog over the glitz and growth in the region, predicting its glorious future, and anxious Southeast Asians, rich and poor, who harbour worries of lurking catastrophe.”
Those are strong words. But the periodic waves of democratic optimism that followed first decolonisation and then the overthrow of dictators in countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia have undoubtedly given way to ripples of concern about the future.
Vatikiotis identifies three main reasons for his forebodings and those of his
interlocutors. First, inequality — and the selfishness of the business political
elites that have benefited disproportionately from economic growth both before and after Asia’s financial crisis. Just as populism has been fuelled by resentment over inequality in Trump’s America, in Brexit Britain and in oligarchical Hong Kong, so the 40 per cent of Indonesians clustered around a poverty earnings line of $2 a day are easy prey for demagogues. It is true that prosperity has also swollen the ranks of Asia’s middle class, but this aspiring and increasingly educated bourgeoisie is governed by the same set of authoritarian leaders and their coterie of tycoons. “This is not a sustainable paradox,” the author writes. It sounds like a recipe for revolution.
The second reason is the erosion of tolerance and the rise of identity politics,
whether the issue is religion or ethnicity. Vatikiotis cites figures showing that 1.6m Asians have died in “subnational” conflicts (in other words, in wars within states and not between them) since 1947; more died in such conflicts in Asia in the decade to 2008 than in all other conflicts elsewhere in the world combined.
As for religion, the increasing influence of extremist Sunni interpretations of Islam over the past 30 years is startlingly visible in the dress codes and religiosity of the Muslims who make up 40 per cent of the region’s population — and in the vilification and recent jailing for blasphemy of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the once popular Christian and ethnic Chinese governor of Jakarta better known as Ahok.
Buddhist extremism and intolerance is on the rise, too. Like Christians in the Middle East, religious minorities are fleeing persecution in the countries of their birth and seeking refuge with coreligionists. Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingyas, for example, have been heading to Bangladesh and Malaysia.
Third and last, there are those outside forces: not only the intolerant, well financed Islamism of the Gulf but also the rise of China as the latest imperialist superpower insensitive to the needs or wishes of its putative client states.
Blood and Silk is not a dry sociopolitical analysis. Vatikiotis has an eye for quirky
detail, whether it be the Thai crown prince’s pet poodle commissioned as an air force officer and dressed in uniform, or the self important Muslim separatist from southern Thailand who prayed with Osama bin Laden in Khartoum but found the terrorist mastermind uninspiring and unimpressive.
In the end, though, the outlook is menacing. Indonesia risks “the kind of ethnic and religious sectarian strife we see in the Middle East today”. Malaysians are dismayed by “the slow disintegration of the multiracial compact”. In Thailand, there is “little prospect of the military willingly giving up power”. The Philippines remains “a prisoner of oligarchy”. Even Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar has disappointed her liberal supporters. We can hope that Vatikiotis is wrong, but I fear he is not.
Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia, by Michael
Vatikiotis, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, RRP£20, 352 pages
Posted on July 16, 2017 July 16, 2017 2 Comments on Financial Times review of “Blood and Silk” – 8th July 2017
Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia
A powerful examination of the conflicts in Southeast Asia that risk destabilising its remarkable development.
Thought-provoking and eye-opening, BLOOD AND SILK is an accessible, personal look at modern Southeast Asia, written by one of the region’s most experienced outside observers.
This is a first-hand account of what it’s like to sit at the table with deadly Thai Muslim insurgents, mediate between warring clans in the Southern Philippines and console the victims of political violence in Indonesia – all in an effort to negotiate peace, and understand the reasons behind endemic violence.
Peering beyond brand new shopping malls and shiny glass towers in Bangkok and Jakarta, Michael Vatikiotis probes the heart of modern Southeast Asia. Why are the region’s richest countries such as Malaysia riddled with corruption? Why do Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines harbour unresolved violent insurgencies? How do deepening religious divisions in Indonesia and Malaysia and China’s growing influence affect the region and the rest of the world?
Vatikiotis tells the story of modern Southeast Asia using vivid portraits of the personalities who pull the strings, mixed with revealing analysis that is underpinned by decades of experience in the countries involved, from their silk-sheathed salons to blood-spattered streets. The result is a fascinating study of the dynamics of power and conflict in one of the world’s fastest growing regions.
@jagowriter
Publication date: 08 Jun 2017
Imprint: W&N
https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781474602006
https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Silk-Conflict-Modern-Southeast-ebook/dp/B01MCSTU15/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494984695&sr=8-1&keywords=Michael+Vatikiotis
Posted on May 17, 2017 Leave a comment on Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia
Digging up the Past
Former Dutch rulers launch an inquiry into the violence that gave birth to Indonesia
In a world where liberal notions of truth and justice seem to be in headlong retreat, one small European country’s efforts to address war crimes allegedly committed long ago offers a ray of hope for victims of conflict and the battered idea of transitional justice: the Netherlands has taken the extraordinary step of launching a belated inquiry into the armed struggle that transformed the Dutch East Indies into the republic of Indonesia seventy years ago.
Indonesia’s revolution was a short, scrappy affair. After declaring independence on the front lawn of a city bungalow in Jakarta on 17 August 1945, the new republic’s leadership bickered over the best way to defeat the Dutch, while its fledgling army, a rag tag mob of brigands and idealists, skirmished with colonial forces clinging to empire. Indonesian narratives of this brief era of struggle are surprisingly sparse – snatches of autobiography, a lot of fiery poetry, and a few novels. Serious historical accounts were mainly written by foreigners.
Much or all of this fractured history may now be revised with serious implications not just for what is considered the truth, but also for the consequence of some of the period’s worst violence. The Dutch government, in a controversial move both in Indonesia and the Netherlands, has launched an inquiry into the events of the period spanning 1945-50.
The decision taken by the government last December involves renowned academic institutes in the Netherlands and will draw on a wide range of sources, including a call for the public both in Indonesia and the Netherlands to come forward with recollections, photographs and documents. Seldom, if ever, has a former colonial power taken so open an approach to delving into the violent past.
The revelations will have repercussions not only in the Netherlands; the Indonesian side was also responsible for violence – much of it targeting Indonesians. A revolt by leftist leaders in 1948 against the fledgling republican government was brutally put down in Madiun, East Java. The Dutch inquiry will open old wounds and could bring forth demands for justice and compensation on both sides.
One reason it took so long for the inquiry to happen was the resistance of veterans from the Dutch forces that invaded Indonesia after the Japanese defeat in 1945. For years afterwards, the Dutch government insisted there was nothing to be ashamed of. But after more than seventy years, and with very few of the veterans still around, that position is changing. ‘The question therefore arises,’ notes the academic coalition running the inquiry, ‘as to whether the stance taken by the government in 1969, namely “that the armed forces as a whole acted correctly in Indonesia” can still be defended.’
And not just the Dutch military forces. The inquiry will focus initially on the murky period immediately after the Japanese surrender in August 1945 and before the main military force sent by the Dutch to re-take Indonesia arrived in early 1946. Known in Indonesian as ‘bersiap’, (the preparation), it was time of repercussions on all sides after four hard years of Japanese occupation. It was in this period of a few months, the inquiry team notes, that: ‘many thousands of Europeans, Indo-Europeans, as well as Chinese and Indonesians accused of collaborating with the Dutch colonial rule, became the victims of widespread and brutal violence, perpetrated by organised and unorganised Indonesian militant groups.’
This will be acutely sensitive in Indonesia, where victim-hood lies deeply buried because of the absence of legal protection, either for the victims or their persecutors. Transitional justice efforts have mostly fallen on stony ground in the post-1998 reform era. Questions surrounding culpability for the deaths of around half a million Indonesians in a witch hunt against members of the Indonesian Communist Party after 1965 have dogged democratically elected governments over the past decade.
Despite promises of an investigation and apology, nothing has been done. Last year a group of Indonesian activists convened a ‘People’s Tribunal’ in The Hague where a panel of independent judges ruled that the killings amounted to genocide and that some Western governments were implicated as well. Former Indonesian Attorney General Marzuki Darusman believes that the Dutch inquiry could be cathartic. ‘Such a format of getting to the truth of what happened after 1945 could be a way of resolving nearer past issues such as what happened in 1965’, he said.
The Dutch government by contrast has shown a remarkable willingness to subject its security forces to scrutiny and prosecution. In 2014, a Dutch court ruled that Dutch soldiers who were members of a UN peace-keeping force in Bosnia-Hercegovina were culpable for the deaths of 300 Bosniaks who in July 1995 had sought shelter from Serbian forces in Srebrenica but were surrendered by the Dutch into Serbian hands then killed, along with almost 5,000 others, mostly women and children.
The Dutch inquiry into the Indonesian revolution perhaps has a wider significance, for it comes at a time of concern about the erosion of international norms and values in a world of fading idealism, rising populist nationalism, and decaying global cooperation. It is quite possible that an inquiry led by liberal academics half a world away from where their countrymen used violent means in the defence of empire could mean a whole lot more than spending three million Euros of Dutch public money on the closure of an ugly chapter of history: it could help keep alive the promise of justice for millions of other victims of war crimes around the world.
First published in New Mandala on 27 April 2017
Digging up the Dutch colonial past
Posted on May 17, 2017 Leave a comment on Digging up the Past
Triumph of Trump: such an easy headline. But one for some that recalls the arrogant populists who heralded the fascist order in Europe in the 1930s. Even if that’s underestimating the correcting power of Congress and the courts, Americans still woke up to a President who has lit a flaming brazier of hatred.
There’s a hole where my optimism used to be. It is sickening to see the media’s frenzied efforts to put lipstick on a pig, and now turn viciously on the candidate they lionized as the anti-Trump. People told the media they wanted change and didn’t trust Hillary Clinton, but these views were carefully filtered to the point where they didn’t sound credible. Meanwhile, the coffee-steeped coiffed commentariat spoke to one another in a vacuum and scrambled to explain how badly they misread the signs.
And now, reality dawns: A cavalcade of international tyrants and thugs throng to congratulate Trump; the short-sighted, narrow minded little Englanders who are engineering Brexit are crowing and preparing their hosanas for the high priest of isolationist jingoism.
Only Germany, now the world’s leading (only?) liberal society, made plain its disdain and disregard. And there’s always what’s left of the French Left. The headline in Liberation: American Psycho
Posted on November 10, 2016 Leave a comment on Trump
Appropriate my Ass!
“I write fiction to escape the bonds of cultural constraint, and use fictional characters and situations to bore more deeply into the cultures I have inhabited and studied for the past thirty years.”
I have followed with interest the lively debate on cultural appropriation triggered by Lionel Shriver’s address at the Brisbane Writers Festival in September. Shriver’s strident defence of freely assuming other identities for the purpose of writing fiction unleashed a storm of protest from those who regard the boundaries of race, religion and gender as ring-fenced – ‘look-but-don’t-touch’, as she put it.
Should writers be afraid of what Shriver calls ‘a larger climate of super-sensitivity, giving rise to proliferating prohibitions supposedly in the interest of social justice that constrain fiction writers’? If we consider the larger body of modern classical writing in the 20th century, they certainly have not. Should André Malraux have worried about portraying the tortured life of the Chinese assassin Chen in revolutionary Shanghai in his 1933 classic Man’s Fate? When Joseph Conrad wove an adventure story around James Wait, a West Indian sailor in Nigger of the Narcissus, this was not regarded as cultural misappropriation, but as a brilliant work of fictional realism – despite the unfortunate title. Both Conrad and Malraux, to take but two examples, used their writing to bring what were then remote and different parts of the world alive in the minds of their readers, narrowing yawning cultural chasms by revealing the essential humanity of their subjects.
Similarly, I write fiction to escape the bonds of cultural constraint, and use fictional characters and situations to bore more deeply into the cultures I have inhabited and studied for the past thirty years. As a writer born in the West who has published two novels set in Indonesia and many short stories set in Southeast Asia, I have written from cultural perspectives that are plainly not my own, assumed identities for my characters that are clearly not Western, and told stories that have no bearing on the world in which I was raised in the United States and England. I did all of this without permission.
I hope my stories are at least in part transcendent, provide a form of escapism, yet also stir thematically the ideals of freedom and social justice. Most readers have told me the stories – set in remote islands, villages and cities as well as courts and palaces across Southeast Asia – offer a way to understand these various cultures and societies, and highlight the struggles within them. No one has yet wondered if my novel The Painter of Lost Souls – about a Javanese painter who becomes entangled in the struggle between secular expression and Islamic dogma – was a story I had any right to tell: I am neither a Muslim nor a painter. Likewise, no one has yet questioned my right, in Spice Garden, to narrate through the eyes of a Muslim trader and a Catholic priest the story of violent religious conflict in the Moluccan islands.
My own identity is somewhat blurred. I grew up a white male in an orthodox Anglo-Saxon setting but with my family’s origins steeped in the colonial context of the Levant. I suppose I could have ended up writing exclusively about the taunts and bullying I experienced in British schools because of my foreign name. Born in the US and brought up in Britain, I might have become obsessed with the strong sense that I would never quite be considered either an Englishman or an American. Lacking the multi-lingual skills my parents acquired from their upbringing in cosmopolitan Palestine and Egypt, I could not even take refuge in the land of my ancestors. As a passive Christian with antecedents who were both Jews and Muslims, religion for me became a basket of contradictions.
Dwelling on these issues as a writer would have made me feel more alienated, not less; and also highlight my inauthenticity in any of these areas. I therefore found security in a context so profoundly foreign that, like the migrant arriving in a place of refuge, I appropriated it as my home. This allowed me to put some distance between that and my own insecurity as I grew up in an intolerant society: it gave me a sense of perspective on how much more fortunate I actually was and made me a more useful person. As a result, I believe culture can and should be appropriated – because it makes for a less combustible society.
We live in an iconoclastic age where everything is questioned and the norms and values we once respected are being up-ended. Much has been written about how this stems from the frustration of those who feel shut out, abandoned and let down by globalisation. It is hard to disagree with this as a generalisation, but there’s a more insidious impulse. For in a world where everyone has a voice, where millions of people in just a few seconds can read the tiniest brain-fart, there is a frantic, existential desire to stand out and be noticed. It seems to me that part of the problem is that indignant displays of prejudice and outrage easily grab and gain attention in an era when the megaphone has been replaced by instantly broadcast social media. As a result, boundaries proliferate: no-go areas emerge, differentiation becomes packaged and commoditized, tragedy and misfortune become trajectories to wealth and fame.
Perhaps a story I wrote some years ago about the behaviour of the elderly Thai-Chinese residents of a retirement home in Bangkok could earn me multiple levels of opprobrium in the modern context. My description of the impact of modern urban growth on traditional family values might be seen today as encroaching on the privacy of the elderly and impugning the tradition of filial piety.
The writer struggling to rise above conflict and cut through human confusion is often victimized, either for not taking sides or for telling inconvenient truths. Albert Camus once said that writing is ‘a means of stirring the greatest number of people by offering them a privileged picture of common joys and sufferings’. I strongly agree with Lionel Shriver that ‘even if novels and short stories only do so by creating an illusion, fiction helps to fell the exasperating barriers between us, and for a short while allows us to behold the astonishing reality of other people.’ Who has the right to decree that culture and gender must be fenced-off areas? Shouldn’t any serious writing be allowed to trespass aggressively, so long as people’s identities are respected? Isn’t it more fraught to proscribe or deny such voices? To put my response in another, more inappropriate way: Appropriate my ass!
First published in Asia Literary Review, 18th October 2016
Posted on October 19, 2016 Leave a comment on Appropriate my Ass!
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Darrelle Revis: I'll be ready for Bucs at Jets in Week 1
Published: June 4, 2013 at 02:52 p.m.
Updated: June 4, 2013 at 07:42 p.m.
Darrelle Revis has yet to join his new Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates on the practice field.
That doesn't mean the star cornerback is behind schedule in his recovery from reconstructive knee surgery. Revis is running and cutting in workouts, but it remains a process rooted in patience.
Week 1 remains the goal.
"I'm confident," Revis said Tuesday, according to the Tampa Bay Times. "I'm cutting. (Bucs trainer Todd Toriscelli) might tell me to slow down a little bit, but I'm going full tilt and I'm cutting because I'm feeling good. Cutting and running and doing what I have to do."
Revis doesn't have any worries he won't be able to get up to speed on Tampa Bay's defense.
"I think I'm getting comfortable now," Revis said. "I'm in the walkthroughs, I'm in the meeting. The defense is easy. I'm a veteran and some of the things we did in New York, coach (Greg) Schiano does down here, too. I'm fine with that. I think the biggest thing is making sure I'm 100 percent when I step out there with the guys, my teammates, and we go out there and play some great football."
So much is riding on Revis returning to his dominant former self, so don't expect the Buccaneers to take any chances this summer. Barring something unforeseen, expect Revis on the field when the Bucs visit the New York Jets on Sept. 8.
Something tells us Revis doesn't want to miss that one.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.
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Home » Latest News in Nigeria » We are taking steps to secure Fayose’s release – Lawyer
We are taking steps to secure Fayose’s release – Lawyer
8:15 PM CuteNaija 0 Latest News in Nigeria
Human rights lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), said efforts had begun to secure release of former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose, from Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) custody.
Ozekhome said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday.
Fayose, whose tenure as governor ended on Monday, had on Tuesday reported at the EFCC office in Abuja to answer to some allegations levelled against him while in office as governor.
Ozekhome said “Fayose’s lawyers are already taking steps to enforce his fundamental human rights by getting him released.
“Yes, his lawyers will go to court to enforce his fundamental human rights.
“The EFCC has no right to keep him for over 24 hours.
“If they have done that by obtaining a Magistrate Court’s Order that will be in the form of “holding charge” which has been declared unconstitutional and illegal by the Supreme Court.
“Holding charge is illegal. It is unconstitutional.’’
Ozekhome said that the section of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) permitting a magistrate to detain a suspect for 14 days was illegal.
According to him, any action outside the provisions of Section 35 of the Constitution which specifically provides for 24 hours, is illegal and unconstitutional.
He explained that the ACJA allowed for detention of a suspect for 14 days, but that Section 35 of the Constitution made it clear that a person could only be detained for 24 hours.
“So, when there is a clash between the statute, like the ACJA, and the Constitution, the Constitution prevails by virtue of Section 1(3).
“If they have gotten an order for two weeks from the magistrate court, it is unconstitutional,” Ozekhome stressed.
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The City of Oak Forest is on the fast track to becoming one of the premier suburbs in southwest Cook County. Nestled among picturesque forest preserves and just 24 miles from downtown Chicago, Oak Forest offers something for everyone – from the nature enthusiast to the urban explorer, from the small business owner to the chief executive officer, from the lifelong resident to the new kid on the block. Oak Forest is a community where anything is possible. Take a ride…see what Oak Forest has to offer.
Celebrating affordable and diverse neighborhoods
Oak Forest is a family-oriented community with long-term residents and small-town charm. In fact, those who grew up here often return “home” to raise their own families in one of the city’s affordable and diverse neighborhoods. These neighborhoods have tremendous visual appeal due to the creeks, wetlands and other water bodies that flow into the surrounding forest preserves. Compared to neighboring towns, Oak Forest offers less hustle and bustle – allowing you to live at your own pace.
Providing top-notch community facilities and recreational programs
When looking for a little fun or community atmosphere, most resident head down Central Avenue – the heart of the city’s family, recreational and civic life. Central Avenue is home to City Hall, the Acorn Public Library, Oak Forest High School, and the Oak Forest Park District. With 20 neighborhood parks, a full-service health and fitness center, and a wide-range of leisure and educational programs, the park district offers residents miles of opportunity to connect with neighbors, live a healthy lifestyle and try something new. Oak Forest is also home to the George W. Dunne National Golf Course. Recognized by Golf Digest as one of the top public courses, this 18-hole course offers unique features, including bent grass fairways and greens, lakes, tree-lined fairways, and an abundance of wildlife. In addition, the walking, biking and equestrian paths in the forest preserves provide free, year-round recreation for residents.
Delivering positive results through exceptional schools
Whether your little one is a kindergarten graduate or a college graduate, educational opportunities abound in Oak Forest. In fact, there are six public school districts that serve residents. Of these school districts, four have schools located within the boundaries of Oak Forest. These include seven pre-elementary and elementary schools, two junior high schools and one high school. There are also three private schools within Oak Forest, including St. Damian Catholic School, a nationally recognized Blue Ribbon School. Higher education is provided at South Suburban College University and College Center and the Moraine Valley College District. Clearly, Oak Forest has what it takes to help students pave the road to success.
Enriching community spirit through faith-based organizations
In addition to recreational programs and local schools, residents can discover the spirit of community at one of the many faith-based organizations in Oak Forest. These institutions provide more than just a place to pray, they offer fellowship, healing and community support. No matter what your spiritual beliefs are, you’ll find that Oak Forest is the city that moves you to a higher level.
Offering residents first-rate services and leadership
When you are a resident of Oak Forest, you can rest assured that elected officials and staff are doing all they can to keep the city moving in the right direction. In fact, the city’s promise to you is to provide local government that is honest, accountable, efficient, and forward-thinking. As part of that promise, the city offers valuable services and resources, such as free community bus service for seniors and disabled residents, an efficient waste management program, a user-friendly Web site, a responsive Public Works Department, and exceptional customer service at City Hall. In addition, the Oak Forest Fire Department provides 24-hour fire protection, paramedic service and emergency response while the Oak Forest Police Department proudly protects and serves the residents and businesses of Oak Forest.
Helping residents reach their destinations
The wide-range of transportation options in Oak Forest provides residents and business owners with easy access to both the excitement of the city and the relaxation of the suburbs. Commuters and shoppers alike can take advantage of 24/7 access to downtown Chicago and all points in-between on the Metra trains that depart regularly from the commuter station at 159th Street and Cicero Avenue. The station is served by four commuter parking lots with more than 1,000 parking spaces. The Pace bus system also shuttles commuters to and from the station with convenient morning, afternoon and evening routes.
In addition, the area surrounding the commuter station is currently being transformed into a vibrant retail and residential development that is sure to become the city’s main hub. Those who prefer to drive to their destinations will enjoy the convenience of several nearby interstates, including I-57, I-80 and I-294. Oak Forest is also served by U.S. Route 6 and State Routes 43 (Harlem Avenue) and 50 (Cicero Avenue).
Supporting a thriving business community
Oak Forest provides a strong environment for residential, commercial and industrial development. The city continually strives to enhance its economic vitality and superior quality of life by ensuring top-notch development and redevelopment, protecting its natural resources, supporting its business community, and maintaining attractive neighborhoods. The city also works closely with the Oak Forest Chamber of Commerce, which serves more than 175 local professionals, businesses, organizations, and government entities on economic development efforts.
Welcoming you home
Whether you’re a lifetime resident, a new resident or a potential resident, we hope you discover all that Oak Forest has to offer. We invite you to become a part of our rich history and our exciting future. The time is now to explore Oak Forest’s scenic neighborhoods, community programs, excellent schools, and quality city services. Don’t be left behind. Reach your destination – the City of Oak Forest – today!
Citywide Garage Sale
Community Art Project
Energy Efficiency Program
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Fifty Shades Too Grey? written by Jonathan Feder
With millions in book sales and a movie in the works it is a question that is all too obvious to ignore—does Fifty Shades of Grey infringe on the copyright of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series from which it was adapted? (Find the text of Ewan Morrison's article in which he explores the same question here) Federal law, specifically 17 U.S.C.A. § 106, gives the owner of a copyright the exclusive right to prepare or authorize “derivative works based upon the copyrighted work.” But the fair use doctrine found in § 107 generally allows copying of the theme or ideas of copyrighted work though not its particular expression. Protected expression typically includes particular plot elements and characters as well as the “total concept and feel” of the work. Roth Greeting Cards v. United Card Co., 429 F.2d 1106, 1110 (9th Cir. 1970). In short, the ordinary person should not recognize the work “as having been taken from the copyrighted source.” Bradbury v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 287 F.2d 478, 485 (9th Cir. 1961).
Has E.L. James in her book Fifty Shades of Grey crossed the line of infringement? Unfortunately there is no bright line test. In general terms, the idea of a young innocent girl falling for the perfect male but with one fatal flaw, be it blood-sucking or an erotic need to control, is not copyrightable. See Doody v. Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 673 F. Supp. 2d 1144, 1156 (D. Haw. 2009). Neither could the general setting of Seattle, Washington or the meet, date, break up, make up, marry, have kids sequence. But even if no single similarity would be subject to infringement, courts have held the arrangement or “combination of many different elements” as well as the order in which an author strings together concrete elements and the relationships between characters may command protection. Roth 429 F.2d at 1110.
Since Ms. James wrote the Fifty Shades trilogy as fan fiction for Twilight it is fair to conclude that she substantially copied the idea. The question therefore, is a factual one; did E.L. James in writing her work of fan fiction copy so much of the “total concept and feel” from the original work that a reasonable person would see that similarity? Id.
I invite you to be the one man jury. Go with your gut, consider Ms. James rendering of ideas, “the total sequence of events and the relationships between the major characters”, and you decide whether her work does in fact infringe on Twilight. Berkic v. Crichton, 761 F.2d 1289, 1293 (9th Cir. 1985).
And then take a deep breath. Because your favorite author probably won’t get sued. No suit has been brought to date and if history is any guide, presumably no suit will be brought. Why not? Many authors were themselves writers of fan fiction when they were young, many are flattered by the fan participation, and some even encourage it while very few condemn it. The few that have fought back have only succeeded in alienating the very fans they sought to secure. See Aaron Schwabach, The Harry Potter Lexicon and the World of Fandom: Fan Fiction, Outsider Works, and Copyright, 70 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 387, 415 (2009).
It seems that for now fan fiction lies in that grey area of law, neither wholly accepted nor wholly enforced. How much grey is still okay? All we know to date is—at least fifty shades.
In Copyright Law Tags copyright, copyright infringement, fan fiction
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Han may have shot first, but Greedo got the credit due to guild rules.
Mac Boyle June 25, 2017
For months, I have seen nothing but eye-rolling when it comes to the still untitled* Han Solo prequel movie, but I’ve been the first one to defend it.
ME: Come on, guys (and ladies)! Phil Lord and Christopher Miller will be directing it.
YOU (as in, the royal you): But it’s such a dumb idea for a movie.
ME: Did you like The Lego Movie?
YOU: Yes…
ME: Didn’t that sound like a dumb idea when you first heard about it.
YOU: (defeated) Yes…
ME: Did you like 21 Jump Street?
YOU: (even more defeated) Yes…
ME: And 22 Jump Street?
YOU: Can you move on with your point?
Sure can, you! The thing that the Han Solo movie had going for it was Lucasfilm hired the two guys who have an unbroken track record of turning stupid movies into strangely watchable movies.
Now we’ve got Opie**.
This would all be upsetting enough, if—like in the case of Edgar Wright and Antman (2015), or Patty Jenkins and Thor: The Dark World (2013)—the film had lost their director sometime in pre-production. Unfortunately, this rather seismic change in comes about when the film had—according to most accounts—only a few weeks left in production.
Naturally, finger pointing has spiked on the internet in response to such a colossal production calamity. Some of those habitual bellyachers have pledged undying loyalty to Lucasfilm and supporting their desire to ensure that their production is made to their specifications. These people seem to think the powers that be at Skywalker Ranch*** can do no wrong. Which, I mean… How short are our collective memories? Others have expressed rage that once again filmmakers with actual vision have been summarily removed from bringing their perspective to a beloved property. Some of those people have misdirected that anger towards some pretty nasty attacks to current Lucasfilm President, Kathleen Kennedy, which is gross and stupid. Gentlemen—and I am just speaking to you gentlemen out there with this admonition—I am sure we can find a way to discuss the weirdness of this story without descending to our worst traits.
But seriously, when has something like this ever happened in the past?
Selznick fired George Cukor several weeks into the filming of Gone with the Wind (1939) and replaced him with Victor Fleming, who then had to temporarily bow out in favor of a pinch hitter due to “exhaustion”****. At almost that very same time, The Wizard of Oz (1939) went through three changes in directors during the first few weeks of production. First, Norman Taurog, then Richard Thorpe, then George Cukor (remember him?) before eventually landing on Victor Fleming (remember him?). But those shifts in production crew took place very early in the process, not after the film was complete! Also, film directing was a little different back in the pre-Orson Welles era. The studio heads would simply kidnap hapless hobos from LA soup kitchens and hand them a shot list*****.
Plenty of other people weren’t fired while a movie quickly went off the rails. Coppola and Apocalypse Now (1979)? Jerry Lewis and The Day the Clown Cried (1972?)******. Hell, even John Landis was allowed to finish his segment for Twilight Zone: The Movie (1982), and that set killed three people, including Vic Morrow. What crime could Lord and Miller have been guilty off that the plug had to be pulled?
The world may never know, but we can all imagine what that movie might have been next year. The Solo movie has gone from a bad idea, to an intriguing one, to an absolutely fascinating case study in the debate about the auteur theory.
*And, for that matter, unfinished, but we’ll get to that later.
**Now, allow me to contextualize the above dismissal of Richie Cunningham. He’s done some great films. Apollo 13. I’m sure there are others, but they escape me at the moment, but ultimately he’s a very milquetoast director, especially for a movie that’s a little bit in need of a rationale for existing.
***After a quick google search, I’ve now come to realize that Lucasfilm no longer has its headquarters at the ranch, and have instead moved to the Presidio in San Francisco. So, what do they do at the ranch anymore?
****Which, to my mind, in 1939, had to be a euphemism for a drought of uppers suddenly befalling the lot.
*****I’m kidding. A little bit.
******Yes, the movie was never released. But unlike Lord and Miller and their Solo movie, Lewis was allowed to at least finish Clown.
Tags han solo movie, ron howard, wizard of oz, gone with the wind, twilight zone: the movie, the day the clown cried
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New York Film Academy (NYFA) Musical Theatre School Produces “Kristy’s Lament: Another Awful Day with the MTA”
The Professional Conservatory of Musical Theatre at the New York Film Academy expressed their frustrations with the New York City MTA by way of an original musical number performed by Broadway actress and NYFA Musical Theatre Creative Director, Kristy Cates.
“I have the worst train luck. I’m always stuck underground with no explanation, waiting for a train that never shows up”. - Kristy Cates, NYFA Musical Theatre Creative Director
NEW YORK (PRWEB) December 20, 2018
There may be no clearer indicator of a true New Yorker than a strong opinion on the MTA, the city’s mass transit system of trains and buses. Having long instilled frustration in the hearts and minds of its millions of riders, the MTA recently received widespread objection from commuters as it announced its plans for a four percent fare hike this week. The impending spike in price was met with protest across the board, as construction, delays and an overall lack of reliability continues to inconvenience its riders.
The Professional Conservatory of Musical Theatre at the New York Film Academy expressed their own frustrations by way of an original musical number performed by Broadway actress and NYFA Musical Theatre Creative Director, Kristy Cates. Entitled Kristy’s Lament: Another Awful Day with the MTA, the unique song is now accompanied by an original music video produced by the PCMT at NYFA.
Strikingly relatable in its musical interpretation of the MTA woes, Another Awful Day with the MTA features Cates in multiple roles: the tragic commuter narrating the song, a rude passenger carrying numerous bags, a blatant stoner and a homeless man, among others. Cates lended a certain authenticity to her roles, citing her personal experiences on board as genuine inspiration. “I have the worst train luck,” Cates shared with NYFA. “I’m always stuck underground with no explanation, waiting for a train that never shows up, or on the car with the person about to puke.”
In fact, Cates recounted one particularly nasty commute home from her Broadway show on her Facebook account, and her story quickly caught the attention of many on social media, including lyricist Chris Giordano. He was inspired to adapt the tale into song, writing lyrics for a number that step-by-step portrayed Cates’s disastrous trip. Shortly thereafter, it was put to music by composer Ryan Edward Wise, and Kristy’s Lament was born.
The music video’s portrayal of the messy New York City public transportation system and the variety of characters it serves simultaneously showcases the creativity and expertise of PCMT’s production team. The PCMT at NYFA is able to use all of the resources shared by NYFA’s film school, cinematography school, and other departments. These resources and NYFA’s state-of-the-art filmmaking equipment, coupled with its location in the heart of New York City and ability to collaborate with the Academy’s highly-talented staff allowed “Kristy’s Lament” to take advantage of high production values and truly sell the humorous lyrics, all while supporting Cates’s powerful yet hysterical performance.
NYFA’s renowned musical theatre school, where Cates herself serves as Creative Director, prides itself on giving its students real world training that prepares them to achieve success in a competitive and empowering industry. Aspiring performers develop their skills as triple threat performers by studying with faculty — such as Cates — who have appeared in numerous Broadway and touring productions, top-rate regional theatre, opera, hit movie musicals, and television shows.
Cates is a member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA and starred in “Wicked” (Broadway, First National Tour, Chicago) as an understudy to Idina Menzel before playing Elphaba. Cate also starred in “Finding Neverland” (Broadway) and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (Broadway), and has had roles in a handful of off-Broadway shows and many regional productions.
“One thing I love about working for NYFA,” Cates says, “Is their willingness to explore new projects. As a result, our ability as a program to collaborate with up-and-coming composers and lyricists.” She adds, “It was wonderful to combine the expertise of our faculty, the passion of our alumni, the ingenuity of the composer and writer, and the generosity and support of the Film Academy.”
The Professional Conservatory of Musical Theatre at the New York Film Academy is proud to have Cates as an original and current member of its faculty, and was equally as proud to produce Kristy’s Lament: Another Awful Day with the MTA with her.
Press Inquiries Contact: helen.kanti(at)nyfa(dot)edu
About New York Film Academy
The New York Film Academy (NYFA) is a leading visual and performing arts school that offers courses across 15 areas of study in New York City, Los Angeles, South Beach/Miami, Gold Coast (Australia), Florence (Italy), and more locations around the world. Thousands of aspiring artists come to study at the New York Film Academy each year from over 120 countries. For more information, please visit nyfa.edu.
Helen Kantilaftis
New York Film Academy
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Neijiang OverviewMore+
Located in the southeast of Sichuan Basin and the middle section of lower reaches of Tuojiang River, Neijiang was once founded as a county called Hanan or Zhongjiang during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), which has a history of over 2000 years. Neijiang Prefecture was founded in 1950, and was rebuilt as a province-governed city in 1985. In 1998, Neijiang was divided into Neijiang city and Ziyang area under the approval of the State Council. The city now consists of Shizhong District, Dongxing District, Longchang City, Zizhong County, Weiyuan County, Neijiang Economic Development Zone and Neijiang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, which includes 107 townships, 1649 administrative villages, 14 street offices and 334 communities with a total population of 4.2 million. GDP of Neijiang reached nearly 130 billion yuan in 2016, making it one of the largest economic centers in Sichuan. Neijiang, with a long history of sugar refinery, had a high production of sugar which accounted for about 50 percent of the whole country when the planned economy prevailed. Therefore, it’s also renowned as the “ Sweet City”.
Administrative Division Arrangement
Traffic location
Meteorology and Hydrology
copyright ? 2003——2017 www.qsqie568.cn all rights reserved
Organizer: Neijiang City People's Government Contractors: Neijiang City e-government office
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Reference & Encyclopedia
| All Reference & Encyclopedia | Encyclopedias | The Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine - 4 Volume set (Second Edition) | The Gale Encyclopedia of Religion (Second Edition) | Wiley Handbook of Psychology - 12 Volume Set | Plantlore | Christian Ratsch - Sacred Plants of Ancient Europe | Pocket Guides | Esoteric |
Shows: 1 - 21 of 26, Page: << < 1 2 > >>
Encyclopedias ▲
The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences Edited by Robert Anton Wilson and Frank C. Keil
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The state-of-the-art knowledge about knowledge is contained within the MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences. Its 471 comprehensive entries cover topics as diverse as "Hemispheric Specialization," "Epiphenomenalism," and "Algorithms" in 1,000 to 1,500 words each, thoroughly cross-indexed and extensively referenced to launch further research. A few biographical entries are also included, highlighting such giants as Alan Turing and Santiago Ram?n y Cajal. The editors selected their contributors well, assigning "Neurobiology of Consciousness" to Christof Koch and Francis Crick, for example. Even better, six longer essays introduce the Encyclopedia, each providing an overview of one of the six disciplines that overlap to form cognitive science: computational intelligence; culture, cognition, and evolution; linguistics and language; neurosciences; philosophy; and psychology. These are enormously helpful to the researcher, as they are general enough to allow easy entry but still meaty enough to be useful themselves and as pointers to specific entries. The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences, while not a casual entry into the field, is an essential addition to the reference shelf for anyone seriously interested in AI, consciousness, or other aspects of natural and artificial brains.
Encyclopedia of Ancient and Forbidden Secrets
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This book is very rare. It gives you all the information you need to know about ANCIENT AND FORBIDDEN SECRETS: From Abraham to Zedekias, it consists of 199 pages of occult and religious information. It has an alphabetical listing of terms, organizations, people and more.
Encyclopedia Of Hinduism
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This is an immensely important book for Westerners. As a Westerner who became interested in Eastern spiritual teachings thirty years ago, I was appalled to discover then, my own ignorance and the ignorance of others in the West about Hinduism and its spinoff, Buddhism, the principal Eastern religions. There is even today in the West, thirty years later, a vacuum of knowledge about Hinduism. The Encyclopedia of Hinduism by professors Jones and Ryan helps to fill this vacuum in a simple, straightforwsrd way. The entries are arranged alphabetically, and one can find information on the key concepts in Hinduism along with biographical and other information about the key historical and contemporary figures in this great world religion. Of even more importance for the Westerner, in my view, is the ten page introduction explaining Hinduism?s origins, its sacred texts, its contemporary situation, and its esoteric aspects sometimes known as Vedanta or Advaita which carry their own entries and typify the thorough nature of this Encyclopedic work. You will not regret owning this book.
The Encyclopedia of Mythology
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A comprehensive Who's Who of the world's mythologies, arranged by tradition for easy reference. Also information on related subjects, such as amulets
New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology by Robert Graves
Graves points out how myths of origin and eventual extinction vary according to the climate and that one finds a warm celestial afterworld in the north or a fresh flowered Elysian Field in Greece. He also deals with the Akan of Ghana and with Egypt and India. His conclusion is that myth is a dramatic shorthand record of stuff like invasions, migrations, dynastic changes, admission of foreign cults and social reforms. For example, when bread was first introduced in Greece, the myth of Demeter and Triptolemus sanctified its use. The Encyclopedia investigates prehistoric mythology and that of Egypt, Assyro-Babylonia, Phoenicia, Greece, Rome, Persia, India, China, Japan, Oceania and that of the Celts, the Teutons, the Amerindians and Africans. It contains 34 colour plates and hundred of black and white illustrations and it concludes with a further reading list divided under different headings reflecting its chapter contents, plus a thorough index.
Encyclopedia of World Religions
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entries cover topics from prehistoric and ancient religions, major contemporary world religions, concepts, symbols, and personages. The entries for major religions are the longest, covering two or three pages and subdivided into sections that
Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt
This authoritative revision on a perennially popular subject is an ambitious, and on all counts successful examination of the culture of ancient Egypt. More than 2000 alphabetically arranged, accessible entries varying in length from a paragraph to several pages accurately discuss topics such as daily life, dynasties and rulers, religion, gods and goddesses, mortuary rituals, dress, language, geography, foods, art, and architecture, etc. The scope of the earlier edition (Facts On File, 1991) has been broadened with coverage of the periods before the unification of Egypt (circa 3000 B.C.E.) and those following the fall of the New Kingdom (in 1070 B.C.E.). There is also material on the discoveries of the sunken cities of Canopus, Heraklion, and Menouthis, and the results of the DNA studies of mummies. In addition, significant documentation of changes on the political, religious, and social landscape of ancient Egypt is provided. Many of the articles are appended with useful see and see-also references and "Suggested Readings." This volume also boasts detailed and precise lists of the names and dates of the kings and queens, deities, and temple sites, and a brief, but user-friendly chronology of Egypt and neighboring cultures. Eighty black-and-white photos with informative captions and readable maps amplify and expand the narrative.
Ancient Astronomy - An Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth
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Long before astronomy was a science, humans used the stars to mark time, navigate, organize planting and dramatize myths. In fact, some lunar calendars date back over 30,000 years. From Stonehenge to Angkor Wat, many of the world's most famous ancient monuments owe their existence to humanity's mastery of and reverence for the night sky. This encyclopaedia draws on archaeological evidence and oral traditions to reveal how prehistoric humans perceived the skies and celestial phenomena. With over 300 entries, it offers a number of ways to approach ancient astronomy, from key examples and case studies worldwide (Stonehenge, Mexican and Egyptian pyramids, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, the Nazca lines in Peru) to general themes (cosmologies, calendars, ancient ideas of space and time, origins of myths, astronomy's fundamental concepts and methods) to the field of archaeoastronomy's defining questions (can ancient sites be dated astronomically? What were the origins of the constellations? How does astrology relate to ancient astronomy?). By revealing the astronomical significance of some of the world's most famous ancient landmarks and enduring myths and by showing how different themes and concepts are connected, the book aims to bring an authoritative perspective to an area often left to speculation and sensationalism.
Rosemary Ellen Guiley - The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca
This new edition retains the balanced tone and thorough research of the previous two (The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, 1989 and 1999). In more than 480 entries, paranormal expert Guiley covers both historical witchcraft, such as the Salem witches,Santa Fe witches, and Stamford witches of the seventeenth century, and contemporary issues and concerns. Topics such as different types of witchcraft, fairies, folk magic, the occult, pagan practices, voodoo or vodun, spells, demons, charms, and magic circles are clearly defined. Descriptions of beliefs, and rituals connected to witchcraft, and biographies of individuals, both historical and fictional, living and dead (for example, Aleister Crowley, Morgan le Fay, Margaret Alice Murray, and Starhawk), are included. In addition to updates of contemporary biographies, this edition contains new Wicca-related material, as indicated by the addition of the word Wicca to the title. Short lists of further reading, a number of them updated, follow many of the entries. The lengthy bibliography has been expanded and updated as well. Offering a broader perspective than many arcane resources on this popular subject, this volume is suited to casual readers and researchers.
Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol 1
In 14 chapters, The Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained cover broad concepts from "Afterlife Mysteries" to "Invaders from Outer Space." Each chapter begins with an overview and an outline of the topics and subtopics that are covered. Within the chapters, entries are generally arranged in alphabetical order. Each ends with a further reading list called "Delving Deeper." Glossaries are appended to each chapter and cumulated in volume 3. Occasional cross-references appear in bold type within the text to refer the reader to other entries, but since the set does not have a strict A-Z arrangement, one must use the index to determine where those entries are located. Because of the set's topical arrangement, the index is essential. The Steigers, prolific writers on the paranormal, have written an encyclopedia for believers. The volumes are meant to "explore and describe the research of those who take such phenomena seriously." Almost everything from mediumship to crop circles is taken at face value. Even Houdini's attacks on phony mediums are interpreted to suggest he was taking on frauds and not real mediums. Fraud does not appear in the index, nor are alternate suggestions of how phenomena could have occurred presented. Only in a few instances is some skepticism applied. The work covers material of interest to a large segment of the public in a way that is clear and readable. Many works in the "Delving Deeper" sections will provide the beginning student of the paranormal with good starting points. Recommended for medium-size to large public libraries and for academic libraries with comparative religion, folklore, and popular culture collections.
[ recommended ] Encyclopedia Of Philosophy (10 Volume Set)
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(costs over $1000 elsewhere) The first edition of Encyclopedia of Philosophy, published in eight large volumes in 1967, was the standard philosophy reference for more than a generation. Though it has aged gracefully, the passing years nevertheles
The Ayurveda Encyclopedia: Natural Secrets to Healing, Prevention & Longevity
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Although there is no shortage of books that attempt to explain Ayurveda medicine (a system that originated in India about 5000 years ago) to a popular audience, the author, instructor at the Ayurveda Holistic Health Center in Bayville, NY, claims that this is the first English-language textbook on the subject. However, he does little to simplify this complicated system and goes into too much detail not only for average readers but for health practitioners who want to learn more about this form of treatment. Many of his statements seem far-fetched (e.g., can the color orange really help with menstrual cramps?). Organization is poor; for instance, information on therapies for diabetes is spread throughout the book rather than being concentrated in the section on diseases. Perhaps the most useful information here is the list of Ayurvedic resources and the glossary containing clear definitions of many of the terms used.
Encyclopedia of Science and Religion by Wentzel Van Huyssteen (Editor), Niels Henrik Gregersen, Nancy R. Howell, Wesley J. Wildman
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This encyclopedia which sells elsewhere for $295, are intended for "a wide readership from high-school students to independent researchers and academics," deals with all aspects of the conflict and dialogue between science and religion. The list of scholars who have contributed is impressive, and the project had as a consultant and contributor Ian Barbour, physicist, theologian, and well-known author on the interplay of science and religion. The editorial point of view is that the formal consideration of the relationship between science and religion has become a new academic field of study. The troublesome potential of new technologies has brought questions into the public arena as well. The 400-plus alphabetically arranged entries range from broad essays on topics such as Biotechnology, Causation, and Sociobiology to shorter pieces on terms such as Cybernetics, Eco-feminism, and entropy. There are also 20 biographies of important figures in the dialogue between science and religion, from Aristotle to Stephen Jay Gould. The fore matter includes an alphabetical list of all articles as well as a synoptic outline, which enables one to see all of the articles related to, for example, physical sciences or Chinese religions. The historical and contemporary relationships between the realm of science and the major religious groups--Judaism, Islam, Christian traditions, Chinese religions, Buddhism, and Hinduism--are treated individually. Major scientific and academic fields are examined in the context of the encyclopedia's focus. Close to 70 articles on the physical sciences, for example, include entries on all the major arenas of the field: chemistry, particle physics, quantum physics, etc., each providing an overview of early research, contemporary developments and lessons, or applications to religious thought. All of the articles are signed and have bibliographies, some extensive. In addition, a nine-page annotated bibliography serves as a guide for further reading (and collection development) in various topics such as the human sciences and religion. A detailed index makes the wealth of material even more accessible. The History of Science and Religion in the Western Tradition: An Encyclopedia (Garland, 2000) covers much of the same ground. Both are reference works of very high quality with scholarly contributors, several of them in common. But the approach of the earlier work is to treat fewer topics in broader essays. Some of the treatments are more substantial in the Garland work: medicine is covered in seven pages as opposed to two and a half. The Macmillan work does have a more global scope, including non-Western religions or belief systems. The references and bibliography of the set under review are much more up-to-date.
Patricia Monaghan - Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines, Volume 1, Africa, Eastern Mediterranean, and Asia
Drawn from a variety of sources ranging from classical literature to early ethnographies to contemporary interpretations, the Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines provides a comprehensive introduction to the ways goddess figures have been viewed through the ages. This unique encyclopedia of over thousands of figures of feminine divinity describes the myths and attributes of goddesses and female spiritual powers from around the world.
Patricia Monaghan - Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines, Volume 2, Europe and the Americas
Raymond Buckland - The Witch Book: The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca and Neo-Paganism
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Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Buddhism, according to the editor in chief of this encyclopedia, "is one of the three major world religions, along with Christianity and Islam." Unlike the other two, however, Buddhism lacks substantial reference works in Western languages. The majority are single-volume works, defining terms, concepts, deities, etc. The Encyclopedia of Buddhism, on the other hand, "seeks to document the range and depth of the Buddhist tradition in its many manifestations."
The nearly 500 entries are alphabetically arranged, signed by their authors, and conclude with see references and supplemental bibliographies. Article length ranges from 50 to 4,000 words. There are illustrations throughout, including three maps on the diffusion of Buddhism in Asia as well as an eight-page insert of color plates in each volume. The set ends with several time lines of Buddhist history and a good index. Given the long history Buddhism has enjoyed and the many different cultural regions and national traditions in which it has developed, two volumes are not enough to do the subject justice. Consequently, the entries tend to be thematic and inclusive in nature, with specific mention of, say, an individual or place being made within a broader survey article. While the cosmological, doctrinal, and ritual aspects of Buddhism are covered extensively, entries also treat the cultural, social, and political contexts that have shaped and been shaped by Buddhist thought (e.g., Economics, Education, Law). Entries for geographic locations provide nice historical surveys of the development of Buddhism to the present day and include the U.S and Europe. Buddhism's interaction with other world religions and philosophies (e.g., Christianity and Buddhism, Communism and Buddhism, Jainism and Buddhism) is treated. Finally, recognizing that Buddhism is a force in the world today, the editor has included entries that provide Buddhist perspectives on issues of contemporary concern (e.g., Abortion, Gender, Modernity and Buddhism)
[ recommended ] Richard M Golden - Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Western Tradition
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Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Western Tradition is the definitive reference on the age of witch hunting (approximately 1430
The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - Judika Illes
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From shamanic shape shifting to food and drink, botanicals to sacred days, The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft - The Complete A to Z of the Entire Magical World is a fascinating and comprehensive celebration of all facets of witchcraft. From modern Wicca to Egyptian sorcery, Toltec shamanism to African Voudon, author Judith Illes explores the history, folklore, spirituality, and practices of witchcraft and the occult. According to Judika Illes, there are many definitions and beliefs about what a witch, and witchcraft, embodies. In the introduction, she examines the many theories, definitions and attitudes that have accompanied this oft-misunderstood subject.
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Journal of Environment Pollution and Human Health
ISSN (Print): 2334-3397 ISSN (Online): 2334-3494 Website: http://www.sciepub.com/journal/jephh Editor-in-chief: Dibyendu Banerjee
volume Vol. 7, 2019 Vol. 6, 2018 Vol. 5, 2017 Vol. 4, 2016 Vol. 3, 2015 Vol. 2, 2014 Vol. 1, 2013 issue No. 1No. 4No. 3No. 2No. 1No. 3No. 2No. 1No. 4No. 3No. 2No. 1No. 3No. 2No. 1No. 5No. 4No. 3No. 2No. 1No. 2No. 1 Go
Submit an article to JEPHH
Issue 3, Volume 5
Journal of Environment Pollution and Human Health. 2017, 5(3), 117-123
DOI: 10.12691/jephh-5-3-7
An Apportionment of Arsenic and Iron Contamination of Tube-well Groundwater with Possible Health Risk in Bangladesh
Ram Proshad1, , Tapos Kormoker2, Md. Saiful Islam1, Bidhan Chandra Saha3, Md. Ripon Hossain4, Mahamud Hasan Prince5 and Mohammed Mahmud Khan6
1Department of Soil Science, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Dumki, Patuakhali, Bangladesh
2Department of Emergency Management, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Dumki, Patuakhali, Bangladesh
3Department of Agriculture Studies, Muktizoddha Memorial College, Mohipur Kalapara, Patuakhali, Bangladesh
4Department of Entomology, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Dumki, Patuakhali, Bangladesh
5Department of Horticulture, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Dumki, Patuakhali, Bangladesh
6Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), Government of the People¡¯s Republic of Bangladesh
Pub. Date: December 15, 2017
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Ram Proshad, Tapos Kormoker, Md. Saiful Islam, Bidhan Chandra Saha, Md. Ripon Hossain, Mahamud Hasan Prince and Mohammed Mahmud Khan. An Apportionment of Arsenic and Iron Contamination of Tube-well Groundwater with Possible Health Risk in Bangladesh. Journal of Environment Pollution and Human Health. 2017; 5(3):117-123. doi: 10.12691/jephh-5-3-7
Underground tube-well water is one of the most important sources of pure drinking water in the world. Drinking water contamination with heavy metals (iron and arsenic) is a burning question nowadays for public health and also environmental perspectives. Our present task is for determination of iron and arsenic concentration in ground tube-well with possible health risk in Bangladesh. The water samples were collected from Tangail district of Bangladesh during January 2017. Iron and arsenic concentration were analyzed by using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Iron concentration ranged from 4.483 to 20.698 mg/l where arsenic concentration was obtained from <0.001 to 0.01969 mg/l in the studied samples. Arsenic concentration for most of the samples and all iron samples were higher than the maximum permissible level of World Health Organization due to drinking these water. Iron is a heavy metal may cause serious health risk to study area people. In Bangladesh, permissible limit of iron is 0.3-1.0 mg/l, whereas WHO standard level is 0.3 mg/l. All the samples were exceeded the standard levels of iron. A range of 20 to 60 times higher iron concentration reported than permissible limits in tube-well water of the study area. These higher iron concentrations found in the study area may be harmful to those people who are consuming the water from these sources on regular basis and they may pose a high health risk. Thus, to overcome this problem, the consumers should not drink groundwater containing higher amounts of iron, and they should find other sources or replace the tube-well or treat the water for drinking and other domestic and household purposes.
arsenic iron tube-well water health risk Bangladesh
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Posts Under: Orange County
SIIA’s TechChats: Feyzi Fatehi | Chief Executive Officer, Corent Technology, Inc.
April 13, 2018 by Rhianna
SIIA’s TechChats provides a look into some of the most successful executives in our industry. Hear how many of them got to where they are today, what is shaping their businesses and the industry today, and special advice they would give to others trying to grow a successful company.
Interview with Executive Committee from TechCouncil of Southern California
Yesterday the SIIA Software & Services Division (SSD) announced that is has acquired the Technology Council of Southern California (TCOSC). As a chapter of SSD, the Tech Council will provide events, networking, information and resources to help companies in LA and Orange Counties grow and succeed.
Technology Council of Southern California Re-Launches as a New Regional Chapter of SIIA Software & Services Division
WASHINGTON (September 21, 2016) – The Software & Services Division of SIIA (SSD), the leading association representing the software and digital content industries, today announced its acquisition of the Technology Council of Southern California (TCOSC). For 25 years, TCOSC has supported the business and networking needs of technology companies throughout the region, a role that will be continued and expanded as a regional chapter of SSD.
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Results for corpus linguistics
Working at the interface of hydrology and corpus linguistics: using corpora to identify unrecorded droughts in nineteenth-century Britain
McEnery, A. M., Baker, H. S. & Dayrell, C., 25/09/2019, (Accepted/In press) Using Corpus Methods to Triangulate Linguistic Analysis. Egbert, J. & Baker, P. (eds.). New York: Routledge
Categories, constructions, and change in English syntax
Yáñez-Bouza, N. (ed.), Moore, E. (ed.), van Bergen, L. (ed.) & Hollmann, W. B. (ed.), 07/2019, (Accepted/In press) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Studies in English Language)
Research output: Book/Report/Proceedings › Book
Entrenchment inhibition: Constructional change and repetitive behaviour can be in competition with large-scale “recompositional” creativity
Tantucci, V. & Di Cristofaro, M., 7/06/2019, In : Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory.
Incels, in-groups, and ideologies: the representation of gendered social actors in a sexuality-based online community
Heritage, F. & Koller, V., 2/05/2019.
In Search of Meaning: Lessons, Resources and Next Steps for Computational Analysis of Financial Discourse
El Haj, M., Rayson, P. E., Walker, M., Young, S. E. & Simaki, V., 30/04/2019, In : Journal of Business Finance and Accounting. 46, 3-4, p. 265-306 42 p.
Discourses around climate change in Brazilian newspapers: 2003-2013
Dayrell, C., 1/04/2019, In : Discourse and Communication. 13, 2, p. 149-171 23 p.
Open Welsh Language Resources for a Corpus Annotation Framework
Piao, S. S., Neale, S., Ezeani, I., Rayson, P. E., Knight, D. & Donnelly, K., 14/02/2019, (Accepted/In press) Proceedings of the 10th International Corpus Linguistics Conference.
‘Bisexual oysters’: A diachronic corpus-based critical discourse analysis of bisexual representation in The Times between 1957 and 2017
Wilkinson, M., 01/2019, In : Discourse and Communication. 13, 2, p. 249-267 19 p.
Charting the semantics of labour relations in House of Commons debates spanning two hundred years: A study of parliamentary language using corpus linguistic methods and automated semantic tagging
Demmen, J. E., Jeffries, L. & Walker, B., 12/12/2018, Doing Politics: Discursivity, performativity and mediation in political discourse. Kranert, M. & Horan, G. (eds.). John Benjamins, p. 81-104 24 p. (Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture).
Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSN › Chapter (peer-reviewed)
Compiling Comparable Multimodal Corpora of Tourism Discourse
Ignatova, E., 5/12/2018, Papers from the Lancaster University Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics & Language Teaching: Papers from LAEL PG 2016 & 2017. Petykó, M., Rossi, O. & Yu, S. (eds.). Lancaster: Department of Linguistics and English Language, Vol. 11. p. 96-114 19 p. (Papers from the Lancaster University Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics & Language Teaching).
Illocutional concurrences: The case of evaluative speech acts and face-work in spoken Mandarin and American English
Tantucci, V. & Wang, A., 12/2018, In : Journal of Pragmatics. 138, p. 60–76 17 p.
More results »
Richard Xiao awarded a new BA grant
Dr Richard Xiao, Dr Luke Harding & Professor Charles Alderson
Corpus Linguistics 2013 @ Lancaster - Call for Papers
Professor Geoffrey Leech, Professor Paul Baker, Dr Andrew Hardie, Dr Alistair Baron, Dr Richard Xiao, Dr Paul Rayson & Professor Tony McEnery
Press/Media: Other
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Kutzbach, J. E
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Mike Huckabee: Planned Parenthood Are Murderers Too!
By Brian Tashman | November 30, 2015 2:15 pm
In his condemnation of the shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Spring, Mike Huckabee suggested that while the attacker was wrong for killing people, Planned Parenthood does the same thing:
Mike Huckabee condemned the attack as a “despicable act of murder” and said “what he did is domestic terrorism,” but then equated the killings to the abortions Planned Parenthood provides.
“There’s no excuse for killing other people, whether it’s happening inside the Planned Parent headquarters, inside their clinics, where many millions of babies die, or whether it’s people attacking Planned Parenthood,” Huckabee said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Huckabee’s comments reflects the mood of several anti-choice groups that have used the shooting, which left three people dead, as a way to attack Planned Parenthood and demand that the media cover “pro-abortion violence.”
The Republican presidential candidate has previously likened Planned Parenthood to ISIS terrorists and suggested that the creators of the hoax videos targeting Planned Parenthood should receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, all the while pledging to ban abortion through an executive decree that will effectively treat abortion as the legal equivalent of murder.
He once hailed a group that claims Planned Parenthood is waging genocide against black people and said in a speech following a visit to a concentration camp that legal abortion in America is no different than the Holocaust orchestrated by Nazi Germany, if not worse.
Tags: Mike Huckabee Anti-Abortion Election 2016 Planned Parenthood planned parenthood
Huckabee: Planned Parenthood Like ISIS Because Both ‘Take People’s Heads Off’
Possible Trump VP Pick Mike Pence Spearheaded Attacks On Planned Parenthood
Mike Huckabee: ‘Great Idea’ To Give Medal Of Freedom To Anti-Planned Parenthood Hoaxers
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