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__label__wiki	0.916205	0.916205	Uber Cup Uber is reworking its playbook for world domination Three countries in particular now appear to make up a kind of final frontier for the company’s original business November 21, 2018, 08:17 IST Updated: November 21, 2018, 08:17 IST Sitting in his glass-walled office in Berlin with an open suit jacket, casually tieless, Christoph Weigler looks every bit the part of a Silicon Valley startup executive. But the Uber general manager for Germany isn’t talking about dominance or disruption. Weigler instead prefers discussing rules and regulations: “Companies in general need to abide by them.” As for Uber’s famously brash tactics, he said, “It was very obvious that was not the way we could succeed here.” As the ride-hailing giant prepares for an IPO next year, Uber is gearing up to tell investors that much of its growth will come from food delivery, selfdriving cars and scooters. Uber Technologies Inc’s core business of moving passengers in people’s cars has largely plateaued. In most major markets around the world, it has either won or retreated. But thanks to a more diplomatic approach pioneered by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, there are a few markets that hold newly tantalising possibilities. Three countries in particular now appear to make up a kind of final frontier for the company’s original business. The first is Germany, where Uber’s peer-topeer service has been banned for three years. By embracing regulated black cars and taxis, Uber has recently begun to thrive in Munich and Berlin, made its way back into Düsseldorf and is planning to add more next year. On Monday, the country’s Transportation Ministry said it’s considering easing regulations to allow carpooling by 2021. Another untapped market is Japan, where ride-hailing companies have failed to make a dent in the taxi market. And the third is Argentina, currently in the grips of an economic crisis, and where regulations no longer mean as much as they once did. Uber CEO Christoph Weigler	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21235
__label__cc	0.626229	0.373771	Ann Arbor Shareholder Presented At The 2018 Ningbo IP International High Level Congress in China Ann Arbor, Mich. - Jon Beaupré, a shareholder in the Ann Arbor office of Brinks Gilson & Lione, one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the U.S., presented “Navigating International Trade Commission (ITC) Investigations” at the 2018 Ningbo IP International High Level Congress on March 29 at the Sheraton Ningbo East Haven Hotel in China. The event was sponsored by the Ningbo Science and Technology Office which helps implement science and technology laws and regulations, guidelines, and policies legislated in China. The 2018 Ningbo IP International High Level Congress convened attorneys from the United States, Europe and China to discuss a variety of legal issues including Chinese national network security law, ITC investigations, risks of overseas merger and IPO of Chinese Enterprises, international arbitration strategy of Chinese Enterprises, risk of merger and IPO of Chinese Enterprises in Southeast Asia, case analysis of network infringement in many countries, and legal matters for foreign trade enterprises in China. At the congress, Beaupré discussed District Court litigation versus ITC litigation in the United States, expanding on ITC unfair trade practice cases (Section 337) with a detailed analysis using statistics and trends, a timeline and description of each phase of the case, and best practices. Additionally, Beaupré looked at other types of ITC investigations, including the U.S. Antidumping/Countervailing cases and Safeguard Investigations. At Brinks, Beaupré's practice includes all areas of intellectual property litigation, including patent litigation, trademark and false advertising disputes, and trade secret and unfair competition litigation. Beaupré also counsels clients on intellectual asset management and prepares agreements and licenses. He practices in a wide array of forums, including federal courts, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the International Trade Commission and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In June 2017, Beaupré presented before the IP Office of Changzhou and Changzhou Bureau of Commerce, in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China, and traveled to Beijing to participate in the ninth China-U.S. Intellectual Property Comparative Mock Trial at China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) training center, which was organized by The John Marshall Law School and sponsored by Brinks. Brinks Gilson & Lione Celebrating more than 100 years of intellectual property law, Brinks Gilson & Lione is one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the US, and helps clients around the world to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights. Our more than 130 lawyers, patent agents and scientific advisors assist clients in all aspects of patent, trademark, unfair competition, trade secret, and copyright law. Brinks attorneys provide informed counsel with respect to innovations in a range of complex and valuable technologies, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, bioengineering, industrial manufacturing, electronics and software, and medical devices. More information is at www.brinksgilson.com. International Trade Commission (ITC)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21237
__label__wiki	0.584479	0.584479	Dettol seeks to bring about a behaviour change The brand has launched a new campaign, created by McCann Erickson, as part of its nationwide initiative, ‘Dettol Banega Swachh India’ BestMediaInfo Bureau \| Delhi \| May 14, 2015 Click on the image to watch the TVC. As part of its nationwide initiative, ‘Dettol Banega Swachh India’, RB (formerly known as Reckitt Benckiser) India has launched a new campaign to raise awareness around good hand washing habits. Created by McCann Erickson, the new campaign aims to promote the importance of hygiene and sanitation to a larger audience through a catchy jingle, which will be launched initially on digital platforms. Dettol is also supporting this campaign by launching an affordable liquid hand-wash – Dettol Squeezy – at Rs 30. Speaking about the campaign, Nitish Kapoor, Regional Director South Asia at RB, said, “As a global leader in consumer health and hygiene; and with a history of over 150 years of innovation, we understand the extreme importance of hand hygiene and sanitation in the lives of our consumers. Through our wide-reaching campaign, ‘Dettol Banega Swachh India’, we aim to focus on driving behaviour change in support of the Swaach Bharat initiative launched by the Government. Promoting healthy hand washing habits is the first step towards achieving our objectives and we are continuously working on other interventions. For this new campaign, we are very happy to have worked with McCann to deliver an extremely important educational message to young children and mothers in an engaging and entertaining manner.” Explaining the idea behind the campaign, Prasoon Joshi, Chairman – Asia Pacific, CEO & Chief Creative Officer – India, McCann Worldgroup, said, “Through ‘Dettol Ka Dhula campaign’, we are trying to create a movement for a hygienic way of living and Dettol is an iconic brand with the trust and stature to drive a movement like this. Like all good habits, hand-washing also needs to be inculcated. One of the key insights is that whether in kids or adults habit formation happens through repetition. And in a country of oral tradition, we have always used music as a powerful way of teaching, we have used music and singing to remind and teach people about the habit of hand-washing.” He further said, “The Dettol jingle is a musical way of reminding people about cleanliness. We wanted to be persuasive yet entertaining without being instructional.” It may be recalled that last year, RB India had launched ‘Dettol - Banega Swachh India’, a five-year ambitious programme to address the need of improving hygiene and sanitation in India, making a commitment to invest a sum of Rs 100 crore towards this initiative over the next five years. Through a series of actions under this programme, Dettol has spread the message of hygiene and sanitation to over 140 million people in the country and raised Rs 281 crore through a 12-hour fund raising Cleanathon with NDTV in December 2014. Unnecessary repetition is irritating, say creative heads KV Sridhar KV Sridhar, Chief Creative Officer, SapientNitro India, feels that the ad presents a larger montage and the message conveyed is a simple one. “However, while simplicity is always good, that one powerful and compelling insight is missing. It is not just about creating awareness about hygiene, but also changing people’s habits, but habits don’t change overnight.” According to him, “Good communication is about keeping it simple, relatable (which comes from the insight) and relevant. Here, the compelling insight – why should I wash my hands – is missing. The ad hinges on the popularity of brand Dettol, but does not persuade you. It is more in your face. Compare it with Lifebuoy’s ‘Gundappa’ ad, which had a more subdued way of doing things and had a strong emotional appeal.” “A good ad tells a story and not sells a story. It sells a purpose that is selfless, the values that your brand stands for. Brand communication should serve a higher purpose, which in this case is that with Dettol, we will keep all germs away and you won’t fall ill. It needs to a play a part in people’s lives. I would call such type of advertising a little old fashioned,” he added. Naresh Gupta, CSO and Managing Partner, Bang in the Middle, commented, “The commercial’s only failing is the reminder of the earlier jingle that was extremely irritating. Otherwise it works well to convey the message of washing hands in a fun way. It does the right thing by getting kids into the picture and trying to force a change in habits. The proposition is not new, the story is not new, but the TVC sticks to the basic in a good way. If only it had refrained from using a jingle that didn’t work.” Saurabh Dasgupta Along similar lines, Saurabh Dasgupta, Executive Creative Director, Innocean, remarked, “I feel the Dettol ad doesn’t work on some fronts. There is a baggage of the previous Dettol ads. Moreover, the unnecessary repetition and hammering is there which is irritating. The ad has a bigger agenda, which seeks to form the habit of washing hands for hygiene. Thus, it is action versus no action.” He further said, “On the other hand, the ad works as it has kids playing the role of the main recommenders, the main voice of the brand. This makes the ad more endearing and does the job of reminding you. It also conveys that the generation that is coming up is doing the right thing.” The TVC: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJhWa24nCjA[/youtube] Creative agency: McCann Erickson Chief Creative Officer: Prasoon Joshi, Chairman – Asia Pacific, CEO & Chief Creative Officer - India Creative Director: Prateek Bhardwaj, Ritu Sharda Account Management: Alok Lall, Sarthak Sharma, Abhishek Walia Strategic Planning: Jitender Dabas, Vibha Gupta Production House: Keroscene Films.com Director: Rajesh Saathi DOP: V Manikandan Music Director: Arjuna Harjai	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21238
__label__wiki	0.816406	0.816406	Report On Business Magazine Why RBC is becoming the New England Patriots of Bay Street ROB Magazine Why RBC is becoming the New England Patriots of Bay Street Increasingly, it’s RBC Capital Markets versus all other investment dealers Andrew Willis Published April 24, 2019 Updated April 24, 2019 Open this photo in gallery M.ORE/The Globe and Mail It’s time to acknowledge that when it comes to investment banking, RBC Capital Markets is playing in a different league than its Canadian rivals. The deal-making arm of Royal Bank of Canada churned out $8.4 billion in revenue last year, almost as much as its second- and third-ranked domestic competitors put together. In the same way it seems preordained that football’s New England Patriots will be Super Bowl favourites every year, it now appears certain that RBC Capital Markets will make far more money than any other Bay Street dealer. What's the secret to this run? Like the most successful coaches in sports, Royal Bank CEO Dave McKay says staying on top in increasingly complex markets starts with keeping things simple. “The beauty of the capital markets strategy is consistency and what I call the simplicity,” he said at a conference in March. “It is [built] around great people, using your balance sheet, creating value, advising and cross-selling, and it takes time to build up those relationships.” To use another gridiron adage, it's also about the team, rather than individual superstars. When that teamwork kicks in, it can turbocharge revenues and earnings. Like many perennial winners, McKay pushes his team to do better each year, too. RBC Capital Markets earned a $2.8-billion profit in 2018, which translated into a healthy 13% return on equity—a performance any other Canadian bank would envy. But McKay isn't measuring his team mainly against Bay Street rivals such as Bank of Nova Scotia, which posted capital markets revenue of $4.5 billion in 2018. Royal Bank is competing against global players such as JP Morgan Chase, which generated $35.4 billion (U.S.) in revenue from corporate and investment banking. RBC Capital Markets began to pull away from the rest of the Canadian bank-owned dealers in the late 1990s, when it found itself advising many of its Canadian corporate clients on international expansion plans. The division's leaders in that era, including long-time CEO Anthony (Tony) Fell, decided that to stay relevant to those clients, it needed to grow with them abroad, with an initial focus on the U.S. market. In 2000, Royal Bank spent $1.5 billion (U.S.) to acquire a technology-focused investment bank, Minneapolis-based Dain Rauscher Corp. When the tech bubble burst in 2001, Dain Rauscher started losing money. Royal Bank also targeted relatively small growth companies, which was out of step with its focus on large-cap clients in established industries. Veteran real estate banker Doug McGregor was dispatched from the head office in Toronto to Minneapolis to turn things around. McGregor and his colleagues stuck with a U.S. expansion strategy, but eschewed another acquisition, opting to take a slow-and-steady approach by hiring individuals and some entire teams from U.S. banks. They did the same with British, French and German rivals in Europe. Onex’s art of the deal: For Gerry Schwartz, bland is good for business. But is it enough in the face of new challenges? Opinion: How boomers are stealing from babies How Lundin CEO Marie Inkster plans to change mining’s bad reputation If Dave McKay is Royal Bank’s head coach, the role of quarterback falls to the 61-year-old McGregor, who’s chair and CEO of RBC Capital Markets and head of the bank’s investor and treasury services. A champion wrestler in his university days, McGregor looks like he could still pin an opponent, and he is disarmingly blunt and direct. He says the big-ego Masters of the Universe financiers made famous by author Tom Wolfe were never welcome at RBC Capital Markets. McGregor has hired 31 senior bankers in recent months, and says his goal in every interview has been ensuring the new partners are a “safe” cultural fit, which means “understated and team-oriented.” As the bank has expanded internationally—RBC Capital Markets now has 3,300 employees in the U.S., 2,700 in Canada and 1,300 in Europe—McGregor and his colleagues say the concept of teamwork became more essential. No one player can do everything for large and complex corporations. Take health care. Derek Neldner, RBC Capital Markets head of global investment banking, says that a generation back, one banker could be the sole contact with a pharmaceutical company. Now, he says, “if you are going to offer serious coverage to a health care client, you need an analyst who can talk authoritatively on medical devices, an expert on pharmaceuticals, one on biotech and so on.” To cover the cost of employing all those specialists, a bank needs global scale, Neldner says. He adds that one of RBC Capital Markets' most significant internal accomplishments in recent years was devising a compensation system that ensures bankers and traders get paid for helping on a transaction even if they don't have direct ties to that client. RBC Capital Markets' reach now vastly exceeds that of any domestic rival. The firm played a role in $1.5 trillion (U.S.) worth of syndicated loans last year, $74 billion (U.S.) in stock sales and $764 billion (U.S.) in bond offerings for Canadian and international clients. Teamwork often boosts revenues, which is why McKay fixates on cross-selling. Jonathan Hunter, RBC global head of fixed income currencies and commodities, remembers working on an acquisition in British Columbia for a German client. Along with helping negotiate the deal, RBC arranged debt financing and used derivatives to hedge currency risk. “If our fee was a dollar on a conventional advisory assignment, we were able to earn a buck-sixty here by providing extra services while also doing a better job for the client,” Hunter says. Size and outsized profits in capital markets also bolster the premium valuation for Royal Bank stock, analysts say. “When the waves pick up, we prefer to be on a bigger boat,” said CIBC World Markets analyst Rob Sedran in a recent report on Royal Bank. Like the Patriots, in good markets and bad, McKay’s team just keeps winning. Follow us on Twitter @globebusiness Opens in a new window The Top 1000: Our annual ranking of Canada’s largest companies Subscriber content How Shopify made Kylie Jenner rich(er) Subscriber content Is Shaw’s wireless success enough to offset its cable business declines? Subscriber content	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21239
__label__cc	0.704931	0.295069	by Jennifer Viemont \| July 17, 2019 July 17, 2019 Josh is a former US Marine from Florida who now studies International Relations at the University of Warsaw in Poland. His first international exposure came during his years of overseas duty. His posting to the Marine Corps Embassy Security Group really increased his interest in higher education and stoked a desire for continued international experiences. He also met his now-wife while serving at the US Embassy in Warsaw. Josh’s studies are financed through the GI Bill which, until recently, I didn’t realize could be used to fund college in Europe (more info here)! Why Are Veterans So Well Suited for College or Grad School in Europe? They have gained international exposure through their service. They tend to be older and more mature than typical students in the US. Their benefits really are confined to state schools in which they live or have residency, since $23,672 won’t go very far for towards out of state or private school tuition. Their experience in the military has taught the skills needed to deal with bureaucratic processes that are often involved in studying abroad. What Are the Benefits Under the GI Bill? Benefits under the Post 9/11 GI bill vary based on the amount of time served after 9/11/01. Those who had active duty for 3 months get 40% of benefits up to those who served for 3 years who get 100% of benefits. 100% of benefits include: Full tuition for in state and up to $23,672 for out of state or private or international (veterans can get in state tuition where they live or have official residence). $1,000 per year for books. $1,650 monthly living allowance What are the Options in Europe? There are 735 universities in continental Europe that offer English-taught bachelor’s and/or master’s degree programs. More than 220 of these schools accept the GI Bill. The only countries that don’t have any schools that accept the GI Bill are Monaco and Slovenia. All the others countries have options! In fact, more than half of the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in our database accept the GI Bill! Of these 4,300+ English taught bachelor’s and master’s degree programs that accept the GI Bill, only 177 have tuition that is greater than the max benefts. Most of these more expensive programs are either MBA programs, Fine/Performing Arts programs in Sweden, or programs held at American schools with a European campus (surprise…). Here are just a few examples of universities that offer programs of interests and are fully covered by the GI Bill (assuming the student has 100% benefits) : Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia What better place to study cyber security than Estonia? On my first visit there, I was surprised to learn about all their technological advances, their focus on internet connectivity (including free WiFi throughout Tallinn), e-society (CNBC Story), electronic voting, and unique cyber-security programs. This from a country that was under Soviet rule until just 1991! Tal Tech offers both a bachelor’s and master’s degree program in Cyber Security. The curriculum is designed to provide higher education in the extremely hot field of Cyber Security, integrating software development and IT systems administration. Graduates of this curriculum will be able to independently design, operate and manage secure IT systems. Cyber security personnel are in high demand right now. The unemployment rate in the field is 0% and there are estimates that there will be 3.5 million unfilled positions in 2021. The university offers a total of 20 English-taught bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, primarily in the fields of business, engineering, technology and computer science. Tuition ranges from 2,300-6,000 euros per year. University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands The city of Groningen has a tremendous amount to offer students. It is the youngest city in the Netherlands, with half of the population under the age of 35. Further 25% of the residents are students. The decentralized campus means that the various university buildings are located throughout the city, which makes the city and university feel very connected-like the town is serving as one big campus. Though it’s a city with a population of more than 200,000, it retains a community feel. Groningen is also a world cycling city and residents say that the city center is busy but quiet, since there are so few cars. Truly an incredible student city! The University of Groningen is one of the oldest in Europe, founded in 1614. They have a strong international student body, at 20%, representing 120 different countries. I don’t think I could even name 120 countries! The university offer 34 bachelor’s and 116 master’s program, all 100% English taught. Not only are there programs representing most study disciplines, but most of them are multidisciplinary in nature. For instance, the Internal Law program includes courses in politics science, economics and international relations. The Life Science and Technology program covers biology, pharmacy, physics, chemistry, and engineering. There is really something for almost everyone here! Tuition ranging from 8,900 to 15,500 EUR per year, all well under the GI Bill spending limit. University of Bocconi, Milan, Italy Bocconi just about has it all-triple crown accreditation, a centralized campus in the incredible city of Milan, a truly international approach to education-and, of course, Italian food! They ensure that class size is conducive to interactions and the classroom layout is intentionally designed to create an interactive environment. Many schools SAY say that emphasize internationalism, but Bocconi really backs it up. Every professor that has been hired over the last 15 years has had international experiences themselves-they are either non-Italian or an Italian who received their Ph.D in another country. Bocconi sees the value of providing international exposure throughout the study period. Bachelor’s students are required to learn two additional languages during their studies and students are strongly encouraged to study abroad (in some cases it is mandatory). Given that this is a business school, almost all of the programs are related to economics and management. That said, in addition to pure business programs like Finance and International Management, there are also programs that integrate business with other areas of study. Examples include: Economics and Management for Arts, Culture, and Communication Green Management, Energy and Corporate Social Responsibility Economics and Data Science Data Science and Business Analysis Economics and Management of Government and International Organizations Bocconi offers 27 English-taught bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. All except for 8 of the programs are less than the tuition covered by the GI Bill. How Can Beyond the States Help? Beyond the States provides information, resources, and a community of like-minded people to help students explore, apply to, and prepare for higher education in Europe. Interested in Learning More?? If you’re looking for a bachelor’s degree, click here to get our Five Programs Guide. If you’re more interested in a Master’s degree, click here to get the Ultimate Guide to Grad School. by Jennifer Viemont \| April 10, 2019 April 10, 2019 Budapest, Hungary parliament at night I didn’t visit McDaniel College the first time I was in Budapest. There are a handful of American universities in Europe that I have a number of concerns about. Some of them focus on and cater more to American exchange students, which certainly affects the experience for full degree students. Others charge “American sized” tuition, which I don’t think is justified. Though McDaniel College in Budapest has a very reasonable tuition, it wasn’t on my high priority list a few years ago. After visiting Anglo-American University in Prague, one of my favorites and a Beyond the States member favorite as well, I realized that I needed to check McDaniel out. I added a day to my recent trip and took a short two and a half hour train ride from Vienna to Budapest. McDaniel College in based in Maryland and is listed as one of the Colleges that Change Lives. They note the personalized, interdisciplinary curriculum, experiential leaning opportunities, and student-faculty collaboration as stand out qualities. The Budapest campus is now a full branch campus of McDaniel and the qualities noted by Colleges that Change lives absolutely extend to this campus. Class size does not exceed 15 students, there are not straight lectures courses and students and professors have direct relationships. I was struck by the innovative and interdisciplinary classes they developed for this campus. For instance, there is a journalism class called From Garden to Table (you should really check this one out-it’s fascinating), a relevant Migration on the Move course, and a new course called Psychology on the Big Screen. Students can major in Business Administration, Political Science & International Studies, Communication, Psychology, or Art History & Studio Art. This does not need to be decided at enrollment. Students are encouraged to sample courses from different departments and can easily change majors. Like US universities, McDaniel provides resources for non-academic needs as well. There is a staff member who helps with housing, a mental health counselor, and support available 24/7. All of this sounded great, but I had one remaining concern-the school size. There are only 150 total students at the Budapest campus, and this includes 20-30 exchange students they have each semester. When a school is this small, my concerns include class selection, student resources, and student life. Many of these concerns were quickly alleviated. They have strong student resources in place. Though somewhat limited in number (just over 50 each semester) ,they have sufficient diverse and interesting classes offered every semester. But what about student life? I went to a small high school and the entire student body at McDaniel is just a bit larger than my graduating class in high school! McDaniel let the students speak to these concerns themselves and arranged for me to meet with a group of international students. One thing to note is that the student body represents 36 different countries. This diversity was represented with this group of students I met with. The group I met with included; Moburak, a Nigerian student who is the head of the Student Advisor Council; Dana and Stephanie who transferred from a community college in California; Rush, a student from DC who transferred from Trinity College in Connecticut; Claudia, a local student; Malisa, a student from Iran, and Dan who is a degree seeking student at the Maryland campus doing a semester in Budapest for a second year. Dan’s perspective was particularly interesting since he could compare the experiences provided by both campuses. He takes a lot of literature courses and noted that theses courses in Budapest are stronger, with better and deeper class discussion. He loves the Budapest campus so much that he plans to transfer and begin studying full time next year. All of the students spoke very highly of the educational quality and course selection. They also had wonderful things to say about the student life. In Europe, student life is not confined to campus and all the students spoke of the abundant social opportunities provided by Budapest. Most of the students said that their friend group consists mostly of McDaniel students, but Moburuk stated that that usually changes during the second year when the social group expands to students from other universities that you meet when you are out and at parties. The Student Advisory Council arranges a number of event throughout the year that include orientation events, pub crawls and movie nights. This year they have organized a trip to Montenegro (which has been on my short list for travel). Students pay just 200 euros for flights, food and accommodation! Langos, traditional Hungarian pancake with cheese, bacon, and garlic That brings me to price. Budapest is an incredibly affordable city! The students I met with pay between $250-300 per month when they share an apartment, and some live alone for around $550 per month. Monthly transportation passes cost under $35 and you can get a langos, one of my favorite Hungarian dishes, for about $1.50. But here’s the incredible part-tuition. If you attend McDaniel in Maryland, you will pay $43,260 for tuition. In Budapest, you will pay just about $8,000 per year! Further, students who chose to spend a semester studying at the Maryland campus continue to pay the Budapest tuition price! Further, they accept FAFSA and the GI Bill. I asked the students what they say to people who say, regarding European tuition, “You get what you pay for”. Stephanie hit the nail on the head when she responded “It’s not about this being inexpensive, but about American education being way too expensive”. So true! If you are ready to learn more about life-changing and AFFORDABLE options, I invite you to join Beyond the States. Firsthand by Jennifer Viemont \| March 26, 2019 March 27, 2019 I would not have been able to name a city, other than Prague, in the Czech Republic before starting Beyond the States. I certainly would not have thought that the city of Brno is consistently rated one of the top ten student cities in the world! There are 70,000 students in this city of 400,000, making it a lively place with lots of opportunities for student life. Brno itself has been called “Little Vienna”, since many of the same builders and architects developed the city when the city walls were taken down in the 1850’s. A university administrator told me that the sense of community throughout Brno makes it feel like a village, though it is actually the Czech Republic’s second largest city. To me, Brno felt like a large campus, due to the abundance of universities and students throughout the city. Having been in Vienna before I arrived in Brno, I was also struck by the lack of tourists in the city. It’s not just students that are attracted to Brno. IBM, Honeywell, and Red Hat are just a few of the multinational companies with large offices in the city. These companies often look to the university students when hiring English-speaking, part-time employees. Another benefit to living outside of capital cities is the affordability factor. Most universities in the Czech Republic have their own housing. Single rooms in Brno generally cost around $150 per month. Meals in student canteens can be found for under $3, and a monthly transportation pass for students is just $12 per month. This leaves plenty of budget left to explore nearby capital cities during the weekends! Students can get to Prague, Budapest, and Krakow in just around two hours and Vienna and Bratislava in just one. I often visit cities that have a beautiful city center, but areas outside this section are more run down. I did not have that experience in Brno. I walked in many different parts of the city and noted how well-maintained it was. Further, I was also struck by the excellent condition of all the buildings were at both schools I visited. This is not the case with public universities in many countries. Even public universities in Prague were not as well restored. This may be due to the fact that the Brno area and universities had a very different experience under the communist regime than the universities in Prague. My first stop was Masaryk University. This University was founded in 1919 and is the second largest university in the country. 22% of their 35,000 students are international, but this number is misleading. My recent blog discussed how large numbers of Slovak students come to the Czech Republic for their studies. In fact, about 16% of Masaryk students are Slovak, meaning that non-Slovak international students account for only about 6%. Certainly the needs of international students who are less than an hour from home and are familiar with the language and culture are different from international students from further away. Despite the lower number of non-Slovak international students, the school has very strong resources for international students. They guarantee first year housing for international students, and start the year with an international student orientation and a buddy program. Each faculty (department) has their own international student office as well as an advice dean for international students and another advice dean to work with all students around academic planning. Masaryk offers twenty-one English taught master’s and bachelor’s degree programs. All except for Medicine and Dentistry cost under 4,000 euros per year. After visiting Masaryk and grabbing some Vietnamese food for lunch, I walked about 30 minutes from the city center to Mendel University. Like Masaryk University, Mendel was founded 100 years ago, but is a much smaller school. There are 10,000 students at Mendel University. International students account for 20% if you include Slovak students but the number is still high-at 10%-without them. There are so many things about this university that impressed me, that I don’t even know where to start! Let’s start with educational approach. Though many countries in eastern Europe still primarily use frontal instruction, Mendel University takes a more progressive approach. Most courses include a seminar component and incorporate hands on and practical work in addition to theoretical knowledge. The school has large agriculture and horticulture faculties, with focus on sustainability. They have their own vineyard, brewery, and forest that students in the different master’s degree programs use as labs of sorts. There is talk of adding an English-taught agrobiology bachelor’s program in the future, but nothing official yet. Each faculty (department) has it’s own culture of sorts. The Faculty of Development and International Studies, which provides two of the three English-taught bachelor’s, is known for being especially dynamic, and progressive. Professors are accessible to students outside of class and even known to socialize with groups of students from time to time, like their counterparts in Northern Europe. The other benefit to studying in this faculty is that the building has it’s own dorm (with guaranteed housing) and canteen, along with classrooms. This building is less than a ten minute walk from the other parts of campus. Students take this walk through the university’s botanical garden, that is only accessible to those connected with the school. I saw these gardens in February, when nothing was in bloom outside of the greenhouses, but they were very peaceful and I imagine that they are breathtaking in the spring. Equally impressive are the resources Mendel University offers international students The provide fairly standard offerings, but take them up a notch. For instance, like many schools they offer a buddy program for international students. They make this more successful by matching students to the buddy intentionally as opposed to randomly. Of course, they offer a separate orientation for international students as well. In addition to the centralized international relations office, each faculty has at least one international student advisor. Further, the international relations office staffs a 24/7 help line for international students. This is something I have not heard about from any of the other schools I visited in Europe, and really speaks to the level of care given to international students. Excursions and events are organized by by the international relations office, different faculties and the very active ESN chapter. Mendel currently offers a total of ten English taught bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, ranging from 1470-2940 euros per year. Brno is one of those outside of the box locations that I would encourage you to consider if you are looking for a great student city, high quality educational options, and strong international student resources-all at an incredibly affordable price. Learning about Denmark in Slovakia There is only one type of tour you will find me on, and that is a food tour. I wasn’t able to schedule a visit to learn about one of the very few English-taught programs in Slovakia, but we decided to take a day trip (less than one hour by train from Vienna). Since we just had one day, I scheduled a food tour to learn about the food and culture, while also seeing the city. Ellie and I were the only people signed up for the tour that day. Our guide, Simona, was in her mid twenties and received her bachelor’s degree in Slovakia and her master’s at an English-taught program in Denmark. Needless to say, I learned so much from her (including the fact that Slovakian food is incredible!). Simona explained to me that higher education in Slovakia is more formal and resistant to change (which explains the low number of English-taught programs). She desired a mix between practice and theory which is why she decided to pursue her master’s degree in Denmark. Interestingly, many Slovakians go to the Czech Republic for higher education. Tuition at Czech public universities is free for anyone studying in Czech-taught programs-regardless of their nationality! Czech and Slovak are very similar languages. That, along with the fact that many Slovaks have grown up with exposure to both languages, provides the Czech proficiency needed to study for free. Simona also shared her theory about why Denmark recently placed limits on the number of international students they admit. She believes that this limit is at least partially due to the cost of educating students from other EU countries. Denmark has a number of ways it supports it’s citizens, including students. One is the SU monthly stipend paid to Danish students while they are enrolled in higher education. In 2006, the EU ruled that Denmark had to provide a similar benefit to all EU students who are studying in Denmark (though there are a few more conditions around it than for Danish students). This is right around $900 per month and tuition is also free for EU students. One thing to remember here is that the reason higher education is so affordable in Europe is that it is subsidized by the government. Even though non EU students pay much more in tuition than EU students, the government still subsidizes a large amount of it. One reason some countries, including Denmark, provide English-taught programs is to benefit their own economy and labor market. Denmark, in particular, has a significant labor shortage. The Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science conduced a study to explore the costs and contribution of international students. They found that the subsidies paid for international students (for EU and non-EU students) is “paid back” by their contribution to the economy after nine years in the country (which includes their years of study). The problem is that only one of three international students stay in the country for long enough to positively contribute to the economy. The ministry explored this to determine the types of programs that had the largest number of students returning home after graduating and are cutting the number of international student spots in those types of programs. This does not apply to all universities in Denmark or all programs. It is primarily affecting master’s degree programs as well as bachelor’s programs related to engineering. The good news is that the Ministry is working with universities to improve educational outcomes pertaining to employability of international graduates in Denmark. I have to tell you, this day spent with Simona, walking around Bratislava, eating incredible food, learning about Slovakian culture, was one of the best days of our trip. Simona has a full time job in Vienna, and helps her friend out with food tours when she can. I feel so lucky that she led our tour that day. In addition to introducing me to the surprisingly delicious sauerkraut soup, I greatly benefited from her insights into higher education! University Visits in Austria by Jennifer Viemont \| March 1, 2019 June 22, 2019 I really love train travel. It’s just so easy and comes without all the stressors of air travel. Little things make it easy-like not having to worry about where my liquids are and arriving at the station just shortly before the train departs. More than any other city in Europe, I was struck by how many places one can easily get by train from Vienna. In under 2.5 hours, you can get almost anywhere in Austria, or to many cities outside of the country, like Bratislava (under 1 hour), Budapest (just over two hours), Brno (just over one hour). The trains were on time, clean, comfortable, and affordable. The most I paid for a train ticket was to Budapest, which cost 39 euros. Vienna is a strikingly beautiful city. While the most impressive buildings are in the city center, even the residential buildings are stunning, painted light pastel colors. I was able to walk almost every place I needed to go in under 30 minutes and only needed to use public transportation once. The city is easy to navigate, clean and safe (ranked fifth in the world for physical safety). Student residences can be found for 350 euros per month, though there are new higher end options with more amenities that cost 600 euros per month (shown here). Given my background working in mental health, I was super excited by the Psychotherapy Science program offered at Sigmund Freud University. This program first introduces students to the different therapeutic modalities, and the students choose one to specialize in for their final year. There is also a focus on practice, with students starting clinical placements in their first year of study. I will provide more in depth information abut this program and school in the March Program of the Month, accessible to members. Another school that impressed me was IMC Krems. Krems is a small city on the Danube river, and is just one hour by train from Vienna. The small population of 40,000 does not impact student life, since 15,000 of those inhabitants are students! The campus is shared by the three universities and also holds one of the student residences, where single rooms cost 350 euros a month. The city center is just a 15 minute walk from campus and holds ample opportunities for an active student life. There is also an ESN office on the campus which arranges trips, parties, laser tag, pub quizzes, holiday dinners and more. A small city like this can be a great option for international students. Since it’s a student city, there are many establishments that cater to students (cafes, pubs, etc), but the size of the city is less overwhelming than a large city might be. That said, Vienna is just one hour away so students still have access to city offerings as well. I planned this trip to Austria after reading about the Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology program at IMC Krems. I was very impressed by the program and featured it as a program of the month for our members. I had high hopes for their offerings, and was not disappointed! There are supports in place for international student from the time they enroll up until the time they graduate The International Welcome Center helps students with the logistics around housing, banking, visas and such when they arrive. The International Relations Office continues the support throughout the program. The school has strong relationships with industry leaders, which enriches the classroom experience and also leads to internship placements, which are require in all of the programs. IMC Krems offers seven English-taught bachelors degree programs. All are three years in duration and cost between 7800 and 9800 euros per year. It’s often hard to visualize what a university in a foreign country looks like, and what their students are like. This videogives a glimpse into the campus and students at IMC Krems. My trip also took me to Brno, in the Czech Republic and Budapest, in Hungary. Look for the newsletter in the coming weeks to find out more about the schools I visited in these cities. Interested In Learning More About College in Europe? A Beyond the States membership costs just $39 per month and includes access to our searchable database of the 1700+ accredited and English-taught bachelor’s degree programs in continental Europe. Members also benefit from monthly member Q&A calls with me, monthly office hour recordings, a private member Facebook group, webinars and courses, and a highlighted program of the month. Click here to join! What I Learned About College in the Baltic Countries by Jennifer Viemont \| December 9, 2018 December 11, 2018 I arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania, after spending 10 days in Jordan with my son, Sam. I loved Jordan, which provided so many different sensory experiences. There were the sounds of the calls to prayer five times a day which I found soothing (except the one that happen before 5 am…). There were the smells of spices and grilled meat. There were amazing sights I could not have even imagined in Wadi Rum (the desert) and Petra. There was the Frogger-like experience of crossing the street each time (even at crosswalks) and then there were the ups and downs of traveling with a teenager, which included good bonding conversations, as well as seemingly constant “advice” (not criticism I was told…). Though the experience was absolutely incredible, I didn’t realize how much energy it took until I got to Vilnius. I was a bit grumpy when I arrived. I flew Ryan Air-which I always say I will never do again but then get sucked in by the low price. The boarding process reminds me of the old days with Southwest Airlines-sort of a mob mentality and then the flight attendants spend the entire flight peddling their goods. The person who came up with the idea to allow passengers to sample perfume in an enclosed space is not on my good list…We got to Vilnius late, and the cold fresh air when I walked out of the airport helped improve my mood almost immediately. I had the weekend to explore the town before my meetings at universities began on Monday. I like visiting places in winter, as if you like a place as it’s worst weather wise, then you can imagine how great it would be at other times of the year. There are some places that felt depressing to me in the winter, like Sofia, Bulgaria and Warsaw, Poland. Though the skies are just as grey in Vilnius winters, I didn’t have that same feeling. “Hygge” is a Danish word, that has been entirely worn out internationally now, but really applies to Vilnius. The simplest way of describing it is a really cozy feeling. There are a ton of coffee shops with comfortable seating and lit in a certain way that make you want to go in with a book. There are wine bars-again with the warm lighting-with signs for mulled wine. The streets are clean, the architecture is beautiful, the people are friendly. I felt like I wanted to listen to classical music as I walked around the city (which is not something on any of my playlists). It just felt nice, and calm, and cozy. Now, what I appreciate as a woman in my forties is very different than I would have liked as a college-aged student! This made me especially curious about student life in the city. I noticed that I didn’t see a lot of college-aged students out and about. Of course, it’s quite possible that the hours that I am out are not the hours in which college students are out (or awake). Certainly there are cafes, bars, nightclubs, theaters and more. It did get me thinking about the international student experience though. One thing to note is that when a school reports their international student number or percentage, it includes all levels of study (bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate) AND almost always includes exchange students. This makes a huge difference! The international student percentage at Vilnius University, for instance is right around 9%. While that’s not a huge number, it’s not alarming. When you look at the percentage of degree seeking international students, however, it’s less than 3% and, again, that includes all levels of study! So, why does this matter? For one thing, it can impact whether or not there are sufficient resources for international students. Vilnius University does not have an international student association or an international student office. They do offer an orientation week for international students (which includes exchange students) and they have an ESN office, but these are more directed at the exchange student experience. Further, one of the great benefits around studying in Europe is that students form friendships with people from all around the world. If half of your peer group leaves after just one semester, those meaningful bonds are harder to form and maintain. Academically, Vilnius University has some strong programs and may be a good fit for some students. A student who is a little older may have the independence required to get their academic and social needs met. A student with a Lithuanian background may know enough of the language and culture to socially integrate with local students. These are just important considerations when looking at a school. The international student population at Vilnius Technical University is similar to Vilnius University when you include exchange students, however it’s right around 5% when you look only at degree seeking students. It’s still small percentage, but they do have resources in place for their students. There is an office staffed with four people who work specifically with international degree students reading problems, questions, where to find resources, and more. Since they are a smaller university, they do this as the university level so all international students get the same information. There is an international coordinator in each academic department who helps students with the academic piece of things. They also have a mentor program for new degree seeking international students. Additionally, they reserve the newly renovated student residences for international students, which cost under 150 euros per month! After recharging in Vilnius, I enjoyed the energy in Riga! It’s more urban, with people of all ages out and about at all times of day. It’s also remarkable beautiful with striking Art Nouveau architecture and abundant green space. Though the population is under 650,000 (similar to Portland, Oregon) it is the largest city in the Baltic region and, thus, provides an active night life. It’s an incredibly affordable city, even more so for students. For instance, students pay just 16 euros a month for an unlimited public transportation pass (the regular price is 50 euros). I really fell in love with Riga and it’s now on my list of favorite cities in Europe. Of all the schools I visited on this trip, I was most excited by what I learned about Riga Technical University. Their total international student population is 15% which is at 10% when you subtract exchange students. The international student body is diverse, representing 87 countries. Not only does the university have an office that assists international students, but they also have an International Student Council which represents international student interests and arranges social events. Unlike most universities in Europe, the university has a true campus, just a 25 minute walk (or 15 minutes by bus) from the city center. The campus houses the different academic departments, dorms (which cost 65-180 euros per month), and an Olympic size pool (there is a large recreation center off campus). There is a large shopping center directly next to the campus which includes a grocery store. The buildings were very well maintained, inside and out, which is not always the case with public universities. Each program is split into groups of no more than 50 students for lectures with much smaller groups for labs and computer classes. Students are always taught by professors (not assistants) who are accessible for help outside of the classroom as well. All of the four year programs are very hands on, with lots of labs and internships in order to prepare students for the workforce. They evidently do a good job at this, given their strong reputation with employers. When I visit schools I look for strong academic programs and educational outcomes and an environment that supports international student life-academic and otherwise. Riga Tech checked all of these boxes. My visits to the other schools in Riga helped me realize other questions students should ask when exploring a particular school or program. The majority of the international students in the other schools I visited are in just two programs (the integrated Medicine and Dentistry programs). There are only a handful of international students in each of the English-taught bachelor’s degree programs, and these students represent just a few countries. At one of these universities, classes for international students in the English-taught programs are separate from Latvians in the English-taught programs so it’s almost like private classes taught by the professors. While there is something to be said for the personalized attention in the classroom, I’m concerned about how isolating this would feel. Though I absolutely love the Baltic area, I don’t think that Lithuania and Latvia are as far along with internationalization as Estonia is. That shouldn’t rule out the two countries for students. I would absolutely recommend Riga Tech, and there are certain types of students who the other schools may be a good fit for. More than anything, this trip helped me realize that there are some important questions students should look into when exploring a particular school or program. These are: What is the number of degree seeking international students? How many countries are represented by the degree seeking international students? What is the percent of degree seeking international students in the program of interest? Is there an international student council? What types of international student associations are at the school? Is there an international student office at the university level? Do they work with degree seeking student exclusively or also exchange? Is there an international student coordinator at the program level? Is there a mentor/buddy program for international students? After gathering that information, you can consider the impact each area would have on your own personal experience. Free Virtual College Fair in January Our next college fair is the last one this school year. This free event is scheduled for the weekend of January 12th. You can register here. A Beyond the States membership costs just $39 per month and includes access to our searchable database of the 1,700+ accredited and English-taught bachelor’s degree programs in continental Europe. Members also benefit from monthly member Q&A calls with me, monthly office hour recordings, a private member Facebook group, webinars, and courses, and a highlighted program of the month. Click here to join! Visiting Colleges in Italy – One Really Stands Out by Jennifer Viemont \| November 19, 2017 November 25, 2017 I have much to report about my visits to colleges in Italy! I stayed in Milan, visiting schools in the city as well as in Bologna and Turin. It was my first time in Northern Italy and I really enjoyed it! I have always loved to visit Italy, but these northern areas feel much more livable and less touristy than the other places I have been. Milan is extremely easy to get around-both as it pertains to the city and getting elsewhere in Italy and Europe. I was able to get to Bologna and Turin in an hour by train. You can get to Lugano, in Switzerland, in under 90 minutes and Rome in under three hours. That said, the train travel is not inexpensive. My flights from Paris to Milan and Milan to Sofia, Bulgaria, were both less expensive than my train travel within the country. There are three airports in the region with many low cost airlines. More than any other country I have visited, I was struck by the differences between the public and private colleges in Italy. The public colleges in Italy charge tuition based on family income to all students, including international students, with a maximum tuition at most schools of under 4,000 Euros per year. While this may seem attractive, the facilities of the public colleges in Italy I visited were quite basic, and large lectures are customary. I was told that students have to be prepared for less services directed towards their growth and development, as the main focus of these schools is educational. Certainly the trade offs are worth it for some, but not for all. I want to emphasize that this is not the case in most other countries. In fact, I am often more impressed by the public universities than private ones elsewhere. There are unique obstacles when applying to colleges in Italy. The first applies to master’s and bachelor’s degree students applying to both private and public universities. It is a headache called “pre-enrollment”. This procedure was put in place in the days before internet and has not changed with the times. First, a student applies to a college in Italy. The school then issues a pre-acceptance letter (or rejection). The student takes the the pre-acceptance letter along with a ton of other required documents to the Italian embassy in their home country for pre-enrollment. This also begins the visa process. The student is officially enrolled once they are in Italy in the fall and turn in their documents to the school. But wait-it’s potentially even more complicated! Some undergraduate programs have an entrance exam. SAT and ACT can substitute for many of them, but not for all. For instance, all the medical programs require entrance exams as do programs like architecture. Private universities tend to offer their entrance exams in the spring and often offer them in cities around the world. Public universities generally offer theirs on campus in Italy in September. And by September I mean a mere month before classes begin. This would personally make me really anxious from a planning perspective! Finally, the Italian government requires that American students have either an IB or 3 AP scores of 3+ to enroll in bachelor’s programs. This is because Italian students have 13 years of education, while we have 12 in the US. A full year of college can substitute for the AP requirement and some schools allow 3 academic college courses to substitute. Word on the street is that the government is considering getting rid of the pre-enrollment process and looking at other ways to assess educational equivalence besides the APs. Fingers crossed! While I learned a lot at each of the colleges in Italy I visited, one school really stood out and excited me. The school is University of Bocconi in Milan. Bocconi was founded in 1902 and focuses primarily on business and economics related programs. They offer English taught bachelor’s, master’s, and MBA programs. The majority of the programs are taught in English and the longer term goal is to have all of their programs taught in English. What really struck me about Bocconi is the international approach they take to education. This is something that is easy for schools to say they do, but Bocconi really backs it up with resources. Traditionally, higher education in Italy has revolved around lectures with little interaction between students or students and the professor. This is still the case at many public universities. For the past 15 years, every professor that has been hired at Bocconi is fluent in English and is either a non-Italian or an Italian who received their Ph.D in an international program. This creates a team of professors who are not resistant to an alternate educational model and are more international in their approach, as opposed to strictly Italian. Each entering class of the different programs is split into classes of no more than 100 students so even the largest lecture does not exceed that number of students. Even for lectures, the classroom layout was intentionally designed to be conducive to an interactive environment. Each department has a dean, program directors, and course directors to serve as resources to the students. In addition, each student has an academic advisor. Because Bocconi has strong connections with the business community, guest speakers from the field often speak in classes which provides a bridge between theory and practice. Though the campus environment is international itself, with over 90 nationalities represented, Bocconi sees the value of providing students opportunity for further international exposure throughout their studies. In addition to the opportunities through Erasmus, Bocconi has 275 bilateral agreements with schools around the world. This allows students to study outside the EU for no additional tuition fees. Their partner schools in the US include Princeton, Columbia, Duke, Georgetown, NYU, Northwestern, and University of Chicago, in addition to 47 others in the US and equally impressive names throughout Latin America, Canada, Asia, Austrailia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. Students are advised strongly to study abroad and it is mandatory for some of the programs. Bocconi offers seven English taught bachelor’s programs (3 years), eleven master’s programs (2 years), three specialized master’s programs (1 year) and eleven English taught MBA and post-experience education programs. Almost all of the programs are related to Economics and Management, with program options that integrate these areas with social sciences, computer science, finance, arts, culture and communication, government, fashion, healthcare, and more. In addition, there is a bachelor’s degree in International Politics and Government and a L.M program in the Law of Internet Technology. They also offer a four year World Business Bachelor’s degree programs in which students spend the first year studying at USC, the second year at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the third at Bocconi, and choose where to attend their fourth year. Students graduate with a full degree from all three universities. The tuition for the bachelor’s degree programs is $14,150 per year (other than World Business which varies based on the school), master’s degree programs are $15,347 per year and MBA/post-experience programs start at $28,300 per year. Bocconi offers need based scholarships of full tuition for the length of the entire program. There are also merit based scholarships offering a full tuition waiver and with free housing for the first two years and one option that provides a 50% reduction in tuition. Applicants are automatically assessed for the merit scholarships upon application. The need based scholarship requires a separate application. In addition, Bocconi has a FAFSA number! This is a huge advantage to American students as it allows them to utilize US funding options for college in Italy and use their 529 savings without penalty. Bocconi has resources and structures to support their students growth and development outside of the classroom as well. It is a centralized campus that even provides housing-most of which is on campus! They currently have seven student residences with an eighth opening the summer of 2018. Rooms are single occupancy and range from 600-700 Euros per month. They are also building an updated rec center which will be complete in 2018. Bocconi currently has a lacrosse team and soccer team as well as intramural and other options for track, hiking, judo, basketball, volleyball, boxing, rugby, skiing, snowboarding. and tennis. There are a number of student associations pertaining to various interests outside of academics as well as a student media center which includes student radio, web TV, and newspaper. Bocconi offers extensive student services including a counseling department that provides individual counseling as well as support around acclimating to a new country, time management guidance, and other challenges students may be facing. Bocconi has a dedicated department of other 70 employees who work on job and internship placements. This department size speaks to the focus Bocconi puts in assisting their students in finding internships and jobs. Though the majority of students who graduate from the bachelor’s degree programs go on for a master’s degree, the job placement department has a dedicated team to help undergraduates with internships and job placements. 96.4% of the graduate students are employed one year after graduation, with 51.2% of them employed abroad. Top recruiters include Accenture, Goldman Sachs, Google, L’Oreal, J.P Morgan, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, the United Nations, Deloitte, Ernst & Young and many more! As I have mentioned many times before, it is crucial that we look at quality indicators beyond rankings-whether looking at schools in the US or colleges in Italy. I believe that these quality indicators include a classroom environment that fosters interaction and cultivation of critical thought, international exposure, development of skills needed for employment, student supports, and outcomes pertaining to employment. Bocconi checks all of these boxes and more. Though it is not one of the least expensive schools in Europe, it is still comparable to in-state tuition fees when you factor in the difference in duration. Further, there is a very favorable probability of a high return on investment as it pertains to learning, employment, and personal growth. Firsthand: Student Life in Brussels by Jennifer Viemont \| March 4, 2017 March 5, 2017 As I mentioned in my last blog, Brussels is not my favorite city in Europe. Recently, I spent some time with Jared, and his friends, Sebastian (from Luxembourg) and Lisa (from Atlanta) to find out their opinions on student life in Brussels. They all appreciate the offerings of the urban atmosphere. Of course, no car is needed and they are able to get anywhere they need to go on foot or by train. Though Brussels is known as a somewhat ugly city, the Grand Place is truly beautiful. In some cities, it is hard to find student residences in the city center. Jared and Sebastian, however, live very close to the Grand Place and Jared frequents a coffee shop right in the square. If I were experiencing the Grand Place and it’s surroundings on a regular basis, my impression of Brussels might be different. Jared and his friends all appreciate the perspective gained from the different backgrounds of the students in their classes and residences. In some cities, diversity is limited to the university student population. This is not the case in Brussels, which is an incredibly international city. The diversity is further increased by the fact that one’s social life is more often associated with their place of residence than solely with their program or school. This allows students to have friends from schools all around the city. Belgium has two official languages. Flemish, a dialect of Dutch is spoken in the northern region, while French is spoken in the south. Brussels is actually in the northern region but has special status as the Belgian capital and both languages are spoken. I had a really interesting conversation with Sebastian about how the Belgian economy and population in different areas affects the perception of Belgians who speak each of the languages. Alright, let’s get to the elephant in the room which is, of course, safety in Brussels. Jared and his father were in Brussels on March 22nd, 2016 visiting KU Leuven when the bombing of the metro and airport occurred. Despite this first-hand experience, he still chose to make Brussels his college home. Jared, Sebastian, Lisa and I discussed their perceptions of safety, as it pertains to terrorism in Brussels. They all had a really good perspective on it and noted that terrorism can and has happened in many cities around the world, including US cities like Boston, San Bernadino, and Orlando. There is also a strong police and military presence in the city, which has increased since last spring. We discussed how horrible events can create a “new normal” of sorts. An example in the US is the regular lockdown drills in elementary schools due to school shootings. Any safety concerns that Jared and his friends have were around safety precautions you need to take in any urban area, and were not related to terrorism at all. Universities in Brussels also have unique opportunities for the refugee issue. Vrije University Brussels, for instance, has a “Welcome Student-Refugee” program to help refugees continue their studies. They had 18 students enrolled in the program in the fall of 2016. Some of these students are in English-conducted Social Science program. Students in this program include refugees as well as students from expensive UK private high schools. Talk about a range of perspectives in the classroom! Jared and Lisa both attend KU Leuven’s International Business Program. Though the campus is in Brussels, Lisa lives in Leuven which is about 20 minutes by train. I really wish I had the time to visit Leuven on my trip. Belgium has some incredible cities (I know it’s cliche, but I LOVE Bruges), and it sounds like Leuven is one of them. Over half of the 100,000 residents are students, which means that it has the accommodations of a student town and active student life. The city is filled with medieval architecture, has a low cost of living, and is very safe and compact. The city is also known as a technology hotspot and is part of Health Axis Europe which is a “a strategic alliance initiated by the biomedical clusters Cambridge (UK), Leuven (Belgium), Heidelberg (Germany), Maastricht (Netherlands), and Copenhagen (Denmark) in order to cross-leverage innovation resources and thus jointly increase the international competitiveness.” Sounds like some great internship and job opportunities there! An administrator told me that one needs to really know Brussels to appreciate it. Given the diversity, culture, opportunities provided by the UN and NATO offices, and ease of exploring Belgium and Europe as a whole, I’ve decided that I was premature in my negative opinion. Student life in Brussels has a lot to offer. Vesalius College: Small School Benefits in Brussels with Large School Facilities by Jennifer Viemont \| February 28, 2017 February 28, 2017 Let me just start by saying that, though there are many parts of Belgium that I think are incredible, Brussels has never been my favorite city in Europe. That said, I have learned that the city has a tremendous amount to offer students. The first has to do with the price. The government subsidizes public universities and I visited two schools during this visit with tuition under $3,000 per year. Remember that these are three-year programs so you are getting your full degree for under $10,000! The school that impressed me the most on this trip, however, is a private school. At $12,500 per year, it is not the bargain of the Belgian public universities but still offers great savings compared to US schools, tuition at Vesalius College is less than in-state tuition at many public universities such as Michigan, Illinois, and UMass. This becomes even more apparent when you factor in the benefit of the three-year program. Not only is this a year of tuition and fees avoided – it’s also a year sooner in the workforce generating income and experience. The school also offers merit-based scholarships which provide a 50% tuition reduction. This school is Vesalius College. It was founded in 1987 by Vrije University Brussels (VUB) and Boston University to provide English conducted bachelor’s programs that merged the best parts of the European and American approaches to education. Though Vesalius Collge is right across the street from the VUB campus and is technically part of the school, it has its own private school status and functions independently from VUB. That means that students are able to enjoy the amenities and facilities of VUB (clubs, sports facilities, libraries, etc) without the struggles that often accompany a larger school. Vesalius College offers bachelor’s programs in Communication Studies, Business Studies, International Affairs and International and European Law. Though they tout a liberal arts education, they are referring more to the interactive teaching style and not the broad education that involves students choosing a specialty/major after introduction to various fields. Though all of the programs have strengths, I want to focus on the International Affairs program. The first strength that Vesalius College offers International Affairs students is the fact that their students come from 60 different countries. Combined with the interactive teaching style, small classes (large lectures are even limited to 30 students) and group work, students are exposed firsthand to perspectives from around the world which I believe is a key component to International Affairs. The school uses “Theory-guided, Practice Embedded and Experiential Learning”. Though it’s a mouthful, you can certainly see that it is implemented in their curriculum. Of course, students get the theory component in the classroom. There are some interesting and timely classes like Legal Aspects of Migration, NATO and Transatlantic Approaches to Security, and Global Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism, and De-Radicalization. Students are also able to choose from a broad array of electives at partner schools which include VUB, Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies, Institute of European Studies, and the Royal Music Conservatory Brussels. Unlike many other Belgian schools which base grades almost solely on final exams, courses at Vesalius College are continually assessed through projects, papers, and exams. Further, the fall semester ends in before winter break, so students don’t have to spend their holiday studying for final exams. For the practice and experiential components, International Affairs students really benefit from the school’s location in Brussels, the de facto capital of the European Union. The school has guest lecturers that include speakers from NATO, the UN, various relevant EU committee chairs and directors, ambassadors, and foreign ministers. Students must participate in a capstone project, which involves working with high-ranking diplomats on foreign policy issues and also have the option of doing internships (for academic credit) with the UN, NATO, and various embassies. Vesalius College’s modern building is located across the street from the VUB campus and is about 20 minutes from the city center. The school has its own cafeteria which sources many of its ingredients from organic farms and won the SMC Sustainable Seafood Certificate in 2013. Of course, as previously stated, students can also cross the street and use the large array of VUB facilities. Coming as an international student to a foreign city can be overwhelming, so Vesalius has a number of support systems in place to smooth the transition. Though they don’t have their own student housing, the school does assist students in finding space in the student residences throughout the city. Each student is assigned a study advisor (a professor) and a separate career advisor which speaks to the priority of educating students and also making them employable. Though student life is enjoyed with students from schools all over the city, the school has a real community feel. The small size allows the students to really get to know each other and their professors. This community feel was something I noticed when I was observing students while waiting for my meeting to start. Students are sometimes concerned about going to a small university. Often their concerns center on student life. I had dinner with Jared from North Carolina and his friends Lisa (from Atlanta) and Sebastian (from Luxembourg) while I was in Brussels and this was one of our topics. Though Jared knows Lisa from class, most of his other friends are from his student residence and attend various schools through the city. Jared and Sebastian both told me that their social life is more from their student residence and less from their academic program. Further, even when one attends a large university (like Jared at KU Leuven), the majority of their classes are held within one department so larger schools have a small school feel as well. Given that students at Vesalius College have access to all the clubs, facilities, and even classes of the larger VUB, the school size does not present limits but does provide advantages. Preview: Next week, I will be writing more about what I learned from Jared and his friends about student life in Brussels… Study in Hungary: Options for International College Students in Budapest and Pecs by Jennifer Viemont \| February 4, 2017 February 6, 2017 I arrived in Budapest to write about the options to study in Hungary for my third week of travel. I had a long train ride without WiFi from Prague, my taxi driver overcharged me, and I had trouble checking into my Airbnb – which was a bit of a dump. These factors, along with the fact that I hadn’t seen the sun for almost a week and that I was tired of Eastern European food, had made me quite grouchy for my first few days. By the end of the week, though, the sun was out, I’d learned about some amazing programs for international students to study in Hungary, discovered langos, and finally understood the appeal of Budapest! Budapest is split in two by the Danube River. Buda is on one side and Pest is on the other. Most schools are on the Pest side where it is more residential with an abundance of cafes, bars, and such. In some parts of Pest, I had trouble determining whether an area was trendy or sketchy. Turns out, most were trendy. There are these popular things called ruin bars that are set up in abandoned buildings. I planned to grab a pre-dinner drink in one near my apartment at the Red Ruin bar but walked in and right out, when I realized I was much too old for this crowd. The Buda side of the River is absolutely beautiful. Of course, the benefit to staying on the Pest side is that you get to see that view every day. I walked across the bridge to explore the Buda Castle, Fisherman’s Bastion and St. Matthias church. It was an incredible experience, though crowded with tourists. I’m glad I stayed on the Pest side. Cost of living is incredibly affordable here for students wanting to study in Hungary. A train ticket without a student discount is right around $1. Most of my meals cost under $5, rooms in student residences generally cost under 200€ (convert to $) per month, and you can live large in a large nice shared apartment for under 400€ a month. The city and public transportation are easy to navigate – after just a few days I rarely had to glance at Google Maps. The American students I spoke with in Budapest are incredibly happy with their decision to study in Hungary and their experience. Interestingly, this is the first time in Europe for both of them and the affordability was one of the decision making factors they used. Matthew is a nontraditional student (age 39) from Washington state who decided to study in Budapest with his wife and two small children to pursue a master’s degree. Chris is a from a small town in Louisiana and attended LSU for two years before making the move to study in Budapest. Even with airfare factored in, he is paying less to study in Hungary than he was as an in-state student at LSU (Who knew LSU was $32k per year all in??). The impetus for both Matthew and Chris was a strong desire to see the world and experience diversity. They both appreciate the various international backgrounds of their friends and the students in their classes as well as the opportunity this diversity provides to learn different perspectives on world events and even day to day living. Chris also said that he appreciates the much smaller class sizes. He noted that at LSU he had many classes with 800 students and no personal contact with the professor, while during his study in Hungary, most of his classes here have less than 20 students and professors are accessible in and out of class time. Matthew and Chris attend Budapest Metropolitan University, a private university of applied science that was founded in 2001. The school emphasizes hands-on, practical learning that leads to employment. In fact, 86% of their graduates have employment within 5 months or graduation and 33% of those are hired where they completed their internships – a major benefit of studying in Hungary. The school has relationships with 400 Hungarian companies and 300 international companies for internships and job placements. The Career Center holds programs throughout the year to prepare students for employment. For instance, at the beginning of each semester students take a Career Management class. This practical training is run by various companies and helps students learn skills around project proposal, professional communication, and overall presentation. Budapest is an interesting place to be for students in Metropolitan’s media related programs. Many American films shoot here. Students have done internships with the production companies working on films like Angels and Demons, Inferno, and a yet to be released Jennifer Lawrence movie. The facilities at Budapest Metropolitan University are fairly typical for a university of applied science. Though they aren’t held in architecturally impressive places like many of the older public universities, the buildings are well maintained and have modern equipment. The school has 12 English conducted bachelor’s program that are 3-4 years in duration and range from 4,200-6,000 Euros per year. The school I am most excited to tell you about is not in Budapest, but in Pecs (pronounced “paytch”). When I planned my visit to review options to study in Hungary, I knew I had to visit this school. Pecs is a student town, with almost 15% of the 150,000 residents attending the University of Pecs. Students and administrators note that the smaller size of the city helps students feel less overwhelmed than they would in a larger city. University buildings are not far from the city center, which holds cafes, pubs, cinemas (that show English movies with Hungarian subtitles) and other popular student destinations. There is a brewery in town which was founded in 1848 and produces eight kinds of beer. Students can also take advantage of nearby hiking or trips to nearby Croatia. Though Pecs is a good three-hour train ride from Budapest, it has culture on its own. In 2010 it was named a European Cultural Capital for the year and it also holds a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I had grown accustomed to seeing the Soviet influence on architecture in this part of Europe, but Pecs holds architectural influence from the Ottoman occupation in the middle ages, mostly in the form of churches which were turned into mosques and then back into churches. The University of Pecs is the oldest university in Hungary, celebrating 650 years, and is globally ranked. I was impressed by the number and variety of programs they offered in English for such reasonable tuition. I was even more impressed after my visit. Pecs is a large university, with 20,000 students, but each department is self-contained with its own International Student’s Office, Student Union and more. The buildings are spread out throughout town, but students who stay in the dorms are generally placed in the dorm close to their department. There are easy public transportation options for students who choose to rent an apartment in town. The university facilities are impressive and diverse. Though some are in old historic buildings and others are in modern buildings built for the university, all are well maintained with up to date classrooms and labs. The school offers 18 English conducted bachelor’s programs and 3 integrated bachelors/masters programs in medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry. The bachelor’s programs include various offerings in the fields of health sciences, business, social sciences, humanities, computer science, engineering, math, and science. Most of these programs are three years in duration and range from 3,200-6,900 Euros per year. During my visit to Pecs, I met staff in the student residences, administrators from two different faculties, students from the medical program, and others. What struck me in every single one of these meetings was how highly international students are valued and taken care of at the university. There is an office to help international students who study in Hungary in each of the departments, and even in the dorms. The departments offer all sorts of assistance to international students, including a group outing to get student residence permits, a course called “Providing a Soft Landing at the University and Pecs”, and a magazine for international students that is published a few times a year. They continue to add English conducted programs that are of interest to international students and hold student focus groups to see where they can improve. The students I met with were very happy with their experience at Pecs (Members can see more about their thoughts on the General Medicine program page in the database). When there are so many universities with good and affordable programs in Europe, a school’s approach to international students is an important factor to look at. Pecs certainly stands out in this area. Was I this impressed with all the schools I visited? Nope. As a matter of a fact, I visited a globally ranked school that I would not advise Americans apply to due to their attitude towards international bachelor’s students. Beyond the States members (Join now) have access to our database of all the accredited English conducted bachelor’s degree programs in non-anglophone Europe. Many listings have a “Jenn Says” section that contains all the information – positive and negative – that I learn when visiting schools.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21240
__label__wiki	0.904382	0.904382	bilaterals.org » Negotiations » New Zealand-China Green party voices concerns over FTA posted 15-May-2008 Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand NZPA. Bilateral agreements such as New Zealand’s free trade agreement with China threaten the right of democratically-elected governments to regulate to protect the environment or people’s safety, Green Party co-leader Russel Norman told a parliamentary select committee today. The first round of submissions on the proposed agreement were heard today by the foreign affairs, defence and trade committee. Dr Norman said there were a raft of concerns around the FTA with China, about human rights issues, labour conditions and environmental protection. However, he focused the party’s submission on the issue of indirect expropriation. He said if the New Zealand Government introduced a law designed to protect the environment, or human safety, and the ruling reduced the value of an asset owned by a Chinese investor, under the FTA, the investor would automatically be able to sue the Government. The case would be heard by an international tribunal, which would be able to order the Government to pay compensation. The only defence would be to argue the law was proportionate or reasonably justified. New Zealand would be particularly vulnerable if it positioned itself as a "leader of the pack" in an area such as environmental protection, as the tribunal would base its decision on global norms. Dr Norman said there were numerous examples where international governments had been forced to compensate companies after changes in law. He cited the Metalclad case, where the Mexican government prevented the company putting a toxic waste plant on a water source, and Metalclad sued the government successfully for $20 million, Dr Norman said. In Canada, the government tried to ban a fuel additive because it thought it was dangerous to human health, and the producer, Ethyl Corp, sued the government. The government backed down and was forced to compensate Ethyl Corporation. It did not ban the fuel additive under pressure from the case. Dr Norman said both cases came under the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), which included similar clauses to the FTA with China. He said globally, the response to the Nafta cases had been surprise that indirect expropriation would apply to the kind of cases it had applied to. "So the Norwegian government for example have put up a model bilateral treaty to try and get around the problem that these treaties are placing restrictions on governments to try and regulate to protect the environment and to protect human health." Dr Norman said he thought the select committee should recommend against voting for the treaty on the basis that it "fundamentally undermines the right to regulate". The executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, Roger Kerr, said the agreement was a very good one, and that he thought all major business groups would be saying the same thing. The agreement offered "major benefits" to consumers and exporters. Mr Kerr said there were quite legitimate concerns about human rights but the Roundtable argued they should be pursued separately from trade matters. Encouraging China to become an open and engaged member of the international community would help improve rights within the country. "Engagement is much better than isolation," he said. In response to Dr Norman’s comments, he said New Zealand was a rule of law country and it was less likely to need protection against being sued for expropriation than China was. The balance of the agreement was likely to be in New Zealand’s favour. Mr Kerr said if property or assets were taken inappropriately then a government should face the challenge of compensation for that. NZPA	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21245
__label__wiki	0.538815	0.538815	Divergent Evolution Divergent Evolution Definition Divergent evolution is the process whereby groups from the same common ancestor evolve and accumulate differences, resulting in the formation of new species. Divergent evolution may occur as a response to changes in abiotic factors, such as a change in environmental conditions, or when a new niche becomes available. Alternatively, divergent evolution may take place in response to changes in biotic factors, such as increased or decreased pressure from competition or predation. As selective pressures are placed upon organisms, they must develop adaptive traits in order to survive and maintain their reproductive fitness. Differences may be minor, such as the change in shape, size or function of only one structure, or they may be more pronounced and numerous, resulting in a completely different body structure or phenotype. Divergent evolution leads to speciation, and works on the basis that there is variation within the gene pool of a population. If a reproductive barrier separates two groups within a population, different genes controlling for various aspects of an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce increase or decrease in frequency as gene flow is restricted. Allopatric speciation and peripatric speciation occur when the reproductive barrier is caused by a physical or geographical barrier, such as a river or mountain range. Alternatively, sympatric speciation and parapatric speciation take place within the same geographical area. Through divergent evolution, organisms may develop homologous structures. These are anatomically similar structures, which are present in the common ancestor and persist within the diverged organisms, although have evolved dissimilar functions. The image shows an example of the homologous bones found in the forelimb of four different types of mammal. It is generally speculated that a greater number of differences between related species indicates more time since they underwent divergence. However, there are instances whereby unrelated organisms independently evolve analogous structures with similar appearance or function. This is known as convergent evolution. Examples of Divergent Evolution Darwin’s Finches One of the most famous examples of divergent evolution was observed by Charles Darwin, and documented in his book On the Origin of Species. Upon visiting the Galapagos Islands, Darwin noted that each of the islands had a resident population of finches belonging to the same taxonomic family. However, the bird populations on each island differed from those on nearby islands in the shape and size of their beaks. Darwin suggested that each of the bird species had originally belonged to a single common ancestor species, which had undergone modifications of its features based on the type of food source available on each island. For example, the birds that fed on seeds and nuts evolved large crushing beaks, while cactus eaters developed longer beaks, and finer beaks evolved in birds that fed by picking insects out of trees. When the ancestral form of finches initially colonized each island, each group contained individuals who were able to better adapt to the conditions and the available food source. These individuals survived and reproduced in their new habitat. In doing so, the genes that controlled for certain favorable aspects (e.g., longer beaks suitable for accessing nectar deep inside flowers) were spread throughout the gene pool, while the individuals without favored features died out. This is the process of natural selection. The case of ‘Darwin’s Finches’ (the birds actually belong to the tanager family and are not true finches) is an example of adaptive radiation, which is a form of divergent evolution. Adaptive radiation is a common feature in archipelagos such as the Galapagos Islands and Hawaii, as well as on metaphorical ‘island habitats’ such as mountain ranges. This is because gene flow between islands is limited when migration is not constant; however, the scale of the effect depends on the dispersal ability of the organism. The Evolution of Primates All of the primates on Earth evolved from a single common ancestor, most likely a primate-like, insectivore mammal, which lived around 65 million years ago in the Mesozoic Era. At that time, the world’s continents were mostly connected. Fossil evidence suggests that these primitive animals lived an arboreal life, with good eyesight and hands and feet adapted to climbing through trees. Around 55 million years ago, the first true primates evolved, diverging into the prosimians and simians. Ancestral prosimians mostly resembled modern prosimians, which include the lemurs (endemic to Madagascar), lorises, tarsiers and bush babies. These are small-brained and relatively small-bodied, with a wet nose similar to that of a dog. They are often nocturnal, with body features that are considered ‘primitive’, compared to other primates. The next big divergence occurred around 35 million years ago in the other phylogenetic branch of primates, the simians. This event resulted in the divergence of the common ancestor of all New World monkeys and Old World monkeys. It is speculated that the two groups underwent divergent evolution as a consequence of allopatric speciation. As the continents of America and Eurasia had by this point separated, the split could have been caused by a chance migration across the Atlantic Ocean. The New World monkeys or Platyrrhines, are native to Central and South America, as well as Mexico. They evolved flat noses and prehensile tails, which act as a fifth limb and have the ability to grasp on to trees and branches. These include familiar families such as capuchins and spider monkeys (family: Cebidae), marmosets (Callitrichidae), and howler monkeys (Atelidae). The common ancestor of the Old World monkeys and apes split around 25 million years ago. Old World monkeys, or Catarrhini, are native to Africa and Asia, displaying a range of different adaptions to many types of habitat, from rainforests to savannah, mountains and shrubs. There are both terrestrial and arboreal Catarrhini, many of which are familiar, such as macaques genus: Macaca), baboons (Papio) and langurs (Semnopithecus). The apes, or Hominoidea, further diverged into two groups: the lesser apes, such as gibbons (family: Hylobatidae), which are all native to Asia, and the great apes (Hominidae), which are native to Europe, Africa and Asia, and include orangutans (genus: Pongo), gorillas (Gorilla), chimpanzees (Pan) and humans (Homo). It is important to remember that the modern primates we see today are not evolved from each other despite their similarities (for example, great apes are not evolved from lesser apes), but that they are descended from a single common ancestor that formed two different species through divergent evolution. Primate cladogram The Kit Fox and the Arctic Fox Two species that are very closely related and have undergone divergent evolution are the kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) and the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus). The kit fox is native to Western North America, and is adapted to desert environments; it has sandy coloration, and large ears, which help it to remove excess body heat. The Arctic fox is native to Arctic regions and lives in the Arctic tundra biome of the Northern Hemisphere. Best adapted to cold climates, it has thick fur, which is white in the winter and brown in the summer, and a small, round body shape that minimizes heat loss. Having diverged from a recent common ancestor, both these species have had to adapt to their extremely different habitats. They have evolved into two species that are clearly very distinct in terms of their ears and coats, although they still retain the majority of their ancestral features. Convergent Evolution – The process whereby species that are not closely related, independently evolve functionally or visually similar structures. Parallel Evolution – The process in which related, but distinct, species independently evolve similar structures. Speciation – The process in which new and distinct species are formed. Natural Selection – The process in which species that are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce, whereas those that are maladapted do not. 1. The structures present in the common ancestor of two species and that persist in their evolved lineage, albeit with a different form or function, are known as: A. Analogous Structures B. Homologous Structures C. Divergent Structures D. Vestigial Structures B is correct. Homologous structures are bones or organs, which appear in different organisms, indicating descent from a common ancestor. An example is the bone structure of the human arm, a cat’s leg, a horse’s leg and a dolphin’s flipper. 2. The adaptive radiation seen in the case of the Galapagos finches is a result of: A. High incidence of migration between islands B. The development of analogous structures C. Populations of birds adapting to fill available niches C is correct. The adaptive radiation, which is a form of convergent evolution seen in the Galapagos finches, resulted from niche adaption. The finches developed a homologous beak structure from a common ancestor due to natural selection. 3. Which of the following statements is true? A. Humans are more evolved than chimpanzees B. New World monkeys evolved from Old World Monkeys C. Gorillas and Lemurs share a common ancestor D. Simians evolved from prosimians C is correct. All primates share a common ancestor. The modern creatures we know today are all a product of a separate phylogenetic lineage and are not evolved from each other. Difference between Convergent and Divergent Evolution Allopatric Speciation Sympatric Speciation Disruptive Selection Directional Selection, Stabilizing Directional and… Common Descent Difference between Allopatric and Sympatric Speciation Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21246
__label__wiki	0.716507	0.716507	CamdenIndictmentsPennsaukenRobbery TWO CAMDEN MEN INDICTED IN STRING OF 2014 ROBBERIES – 5/13/16 Andy McNeil — May 13, 2016 TWO CAMDEN MEN INDICTED IN STRING OF EIGHT 7-ELEVEN ROBBERIES IN 2014 INCLUDING ROBBERY IN PENNSAUKEN IN WHICH CLERK WAS SHOT FOUR TIMES TRENTON – Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy announced that two Camden men have been indicted by a state grand jury on charges that they committed eight armed robberies at 7-Eleven stores in Camden, Burlington and Mercer counties in the first six months of 2014, including a robbery in Pennsauken in which the clerk was shot four times. The Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau obtained a 34-count state grand jury indictment yesterday charging Charles L. Walls, 33, and Anthony T. Ervin, 25, both of Camden. Both men are charged with first-degree attempted murder in connection with an armed robbery that occurred at a 7-Eleven on Westfield Avenue in Pennsauken at about 12:45 a.m. on Jan. 10, 2014. During the robbery, a 28-year-old clerk from Paulsboro was shot four times, leaving him paralyzed. A third man who took part in that robbery has not been identified. Walls and Ervin also face eight counts of first-degree robbery. Walls and Ervin allegedly committed seven additional armed robberies of 7-Eleven stores between April 27 and June 13, 2014. In two of the robberies – which were committed on the same day, May 27, 2014, in Hamilton Township (Mercer County) and Medford Lakes – they allegedly were assisted by a third man. In each robbery, the men used similar methods. They struck during the early morning hours and wore masks, hooded sweatshirts and gloves. One man always was armed with a handgun and held the clerk at gunpoint, while the other man or men stole the cash from the register and cigarettes. In four instances, the robbers used zip ties to restrain store clerks. The robbers drove to the stores in a reddish orange Chevrolet Sonic. The men were arrested in a multi-agency investigation coordinated by the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office. Walls was arrested on June 13, 2014 at his apartment. Detectives executed search warrants for the apartment and for a reddish orange Chevrolet Sonic that was located at the apartment and was used by Walls. They found a Ruger .40-caliber handgun in the apartment, along with packs of cigarettes, other tobacco products, and footwear and clothing items consistent with those worn in the robberies. Latex gloves and zip ties were found in the car. Ervin was arrested on Oct. 8, 2014. “We charge that these two men heartlessly gunned down a young store clerk in Pennsauken and continued to terrorize 7-Eleven clerks for the next five months in armed robberies at seven more stores,” said Acting Attorney General Lougy. “It took a collaborative multi-agency investigation to halt these dangerous criminals, and with this indictment we intend to keep them safely behind bars.” “The violent crime spree allegedly perpetrated by Walls and Ervin spanned seven municipalities and three counties, but by joining forces, the law enforcement agencies in these jurisdictions quickly caught the defendants in their dragnet,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “This is an excellent example of sharing intelligence and resources to achieve results.” “The cooperation between the multiple law enforcement agencies allowed for the detectives to share information leading to the charges today,” said Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo. The following agencies conducted the investigation: Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Cherry Hill Police Department Hamilton Police Department Oaklyn Police Department Moorestown Police Department Gloucester Township Police Department Evesham Police Department Bureau Chief Lauren Scarpa Yfantis and Deputy Bureau Chief Erik Daab are supervising the prosecution for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. Detective Vince McCalla coordinated the investigation for the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office. Walls and Ervin are each charged in the indictment with attempted murder (1st degree), aggravated assault (two counts, 2nd and 3rd degree), conspiracy (2nd degree), eight counts of robbery (1st degree), eight counts of unlawful possession of a weapon (2nd degree), eight counts of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose (2nd degree), four counts of criminal restraint (3rd degree), and possession of a weapon as a convicted felon (2nd degree). They are charged in connection with the following robberies: Jan. 10, 2014, 7-Eleven at 6001 Westfield Avenue in Pennsauken. April 27, 2014, 7-Eleven at 610 Kresson Road in Cherry Hill. May 6, 2014, 7-Eleven at 7800 Maple Avenue in Cherry Hill. May 15, 7-Eleven at 1 East Camden Avenue in Moorestown. May 27, 2014, 7-Eleven at 1993 Arena Driver in Hamilton. May 27, 2014, 7-Eleven at 2 Stokes Road in Medford Lakes. June 3, 2014, 7-Eleven at 2 East Main Street in Marlton. June 13, 2014, 7-Eleven at 508 East Church Street in Blackwood. The charge of first-degree attempted murder and each of the first-degree robbery counts carry a sentence of 10 to 20 years in state prison, with a period of parole ineligibility equal to 85 percent of the sentence imposed, and a fine of up to $200,000. Second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000. The second-degree charge of possession of a weapon as a convicted felon also carries a mandatory period of five years of parole ineligibility. Third-degree charges carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000. The indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The indictment was handed up to Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson in Mercer County, who assigned the case to Camden County, where the defendants will be ordered to appear in court at a later date for arraignment. Walls and Ervin remain in jail: Walls in Camden County with bail set at $1 million cash only, and Ervin in Burlington County with bail set at $1 million cash or bond. Next post Camden County Police Firing Range named the Sergeant Peter C. Slusser Firearms Training Center - 5/13/16 Previous post CAMDEN TEEN ARRAIGNED IN FATAL SHOOTING – 5/13/16	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21248
__label__cc	0.518634	0.481366	First Look: Karisma Kapoor in Dangerous Ishq Movies, News, People, Slider, Stars \| March 21, 2012 \| \| by Stacey Yount We have some exclusive images of Karisma Kapoor in one of her avatars in Dangerous Ishq! The film, directed by Vikram Bhatt, is Karisma’s first major film role in five years and we cannot wait to see her light up the screen again. The film is a “thriller based on past-life regression” and according to Bhatt, “The very strength of Dangerous Ishq is its kick-ass idea.” “The part that Karisma gets to play in the film is a dream role for any actor,” said the director. In Dangerous Ishq, Karisma plays several different roles in several different time periods. How many… we don’t know yet! “There could be four, six, seven… perhaps even more, or less.” About the role Karisma told TOI, “It was the script that excited me. It’s very different from the roles I’ve done before and will take me to the next level in terms of performance.” Check out just one of her looks in the mystery thriller that releases on May 11th.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21252
__label__wiki	0.715288	0.715288	Architecture, Fuji X100 digital, Identities and Traditions, Istanbul, Jews, Memorials, Public Space, Turkey, Urban Dynamics Main entrance section of the original building of Or Ahayim Hastanesi, the Balat Jewish Hospital, Balat, Istanbul, 2011. Inscriptions — both extent and obliterated — on its facade give insight into realities of past and present-day Istanbul. (Fuji X100) Click on image to enlarge. The Or Ahayim Jewish hospital in Balat was founded and built in the last decades of the 19th century. Its construction and original endowment was funded by large donations from wealthy Istanbul Jewish families, as well as by masses of small coins placed into collection boxes by Istanbul’s far more numerous Jewish working poor. The monumental former entrance way as shown above, built in 1898 to replace an earlier structure, was designed by Architect Gabriel Tedeschi who, if I am correct, was also the architect of the Ashkenazic Synagogue (built as the Austro-Hungarian Synagogue) near the Galata Tower on Yüksek Kaldιrιm in the Karakoy section of Istanbul. Today, Or Ahayim complex comprises the only buildings in Balat still standing on the shore side of the Golden Horn coastal road, on what is now a park but was once the site of a shore-front slum. A Shining Light The Hebrew name “Or Ahayim” literally translates as “Light of Life” — and a true light of life the hospital has been and remains to be for Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. Originally founded as a dispensary for the Jewish poor, the hospital, still funded and administrated by the Jewish community of Turkey, now serves the almost completely Muslim population of Balat, a sign of the commitment of Istanbul Jews to the city in which they live and have been rooted since early-Ottoman times and, in the cases of those who can claim Romaniote origins, far longer. Cautious Discretion or Imposed Anonymity? In the face of realities of contemporary Istanbul, the identity and history of Or Ahayim, like those of many other “minority” institutions, seems discreetly obscured. The “history” page of the hospital’s website never directly mentions the institution’s specifically Jewish identity but subtly suggests such by listing the characteristically Sephardic- (and, in one case, Ashkenazic-) Jewish family names of the original founders and donors, including, amongst others: Dalmediko, de Kastro, Gerson, Molho, Halfon, Levi, Kohen, and Grayver. Some of the donors named held military titles, including one physician with the naval rank of Admiral, others held the honorific of “pasha.” My own favorite amongst the names listed is that of Yuda Levi Kebapçıoğlu — kebapçıoğlu meaning “son of the kabob vendor,” an honorific seemingly rooted in hard work and, in culinary terms, more to my own taste. Likewise, the website mentions that the hospital housed refugees that arrived in Istanbul from Russia in the 1920s and Poland in the 1930s but similarly sidesteps any mentions of their ethnicities. The facade of the hospital also displays a ambiguous blurring over of identity. A very large Hebrew letter inscription in the central panel of the architrave at the apex of the structure, formerly visible from afar, was plastered over late sometime late in the last decade (according to my memory either soon after disturbances in the aftermath of the Israeli incursion into Gaza or the Mavi Marmara affair). Vague traces of the inscription can be seen in the full sized raw file of the photo above, my reading thereof being the Hebrew words “Beit HaHolim Or Hayim” (Or Ahayim Hospital). Somewhere in my archives, I have a photo taken early in 2008 in which the inscription was still clearly legible. Oddly, a similar blurring over of the inscription is shown on the ostensibly vintage illustrations on the hospital’s website. Two other inscriptions near ground-level, both less obvious to passersby, still proclaim the origin and identity of the building: Over the main doorway, in Latin characters, the words “Musevi Hastanesi” (Jewish Hospital) and, on a small plaque tucked away at the lower left corner of the facade, in Hebrew characters but in Ladino (Judeo-Spanish, the former language of the Jews of Istanbul) the inscription “Ispital Or HaHayim” followed by the Gregorian date 1898 and its Hebrew calendar equivalent, 5658. Erasure of Urbanity Erasure and obliteration of Hebrew inscriptions, six-pointed stars, and building construction dates according to the Jewish calendar from communal structures and residences originally built by Jews has been a feature of renovations and gentrification of quarters of Istanbul including Galata and Kuzguncuk. Whether intentional or out of ignorance, such erasures dovetail with the present-day rejection of the past urbanity of Istanbul as well as with the reformulation of identity and history in a self-styled, and thus increasingly, homogeneous and mono-religious Turkey. Balat, Golden Horn, Istanbul: Urban Details, Changing Populations, Afternoon Light and Shadows, and Row Houses, Sea Walls, and Automobiles Architecture, Fuji X100 digital, Identities and Traditions, Istanbul, Jews, Turkey, Urban Dynamics Late afternoon light. Balat, Istanbul, December, 2011. Fuji X100. Click on image to enlarge. The birthday last month of a friend with a sharp and compassionate eye for the poignancy and ironies of urban details provided an impetus for me to cull the archives and print images including the ones above and below, both taken late afternoon some years ago in the quarter of Balat on the shore of the Golden Horn, Istanbul. Changing Populations For centuries, Balat and surroundings had been home to Jews, Armenians, and Greeks. From the 1940s on, these “minority” populations, both of Balat, and of adjacent, once mostly-Greek, Fener, the seat of the Orthodox Patriarchate, plummeted. Traditional occupations, including those of Jews as boatmen and stevedores in Istanbul’s once-nearby port facilities (which, during the mid-20th century, in search of ample space, shifted outwards towards the urban edge) faded away, contributing to the departure of poorer Jews for Israel and better-off ones to newer neighborhoods north of Taksim Square, along the upper shores of the Bosporus, and on Istanbul’s Asian side. Armenians followed similar patterns of migration within the city. Greeks were pressured to leave Balat, Fener, and, for that matter, all of Istanbul en masse following the anti-minority riots of the mid-1950s and a series of expulsions and seizures of property thereafter. By the 1960s and 1970s, Balat became the province of a new wave of residents, emigrants from towns and villages in north and central Anatolia. Recently, the population of the quarter has begun to change again. Neighborhood ties have loosened and descendants of the new arrivals of two and three generations ago seek better housing elsewhere. Developers have razed older structures at the northern edge of Balat and begun to build modern, higher-priced ones in their place. Refugees from Syria, Arabs, Turkmen, and Kurds, monied and poor, have found homes in the Balat’s still ample stock of dilapidated housing. The very same housing supply provides a magnet attracting a first wave of gentrifiers with tastes for traditional housing near the urban core and with sufficient financial resources to purchase and renovate individual apartments or entire buildings. Their presence is signaled by the openings of antiques stores and espresso bars. Their arrivals and the arrivals of those in their footsteps cause local real estate prices to skyrocket. Afternoon Light and Shadows As some buildings are razed and others renovated, as established locals depart, and as gentrifiers pursue their dreams of authenticity and refugees build new lives in the face of uncertainties, memories and echoes of those who lived in Balat long before them vanish. Decades of newer residents walk past shuttered synagogues, underused churches, and Jewish and Christian communal buildings only peripherally conscious of what was once central to the lives of those who they replaced. One thing still remains constant, however … the afternoon light, ricocheting off the facades of Balat’s east-west streets and shrouding its north-south ones in shadows. Late afternoon shadows, row houses, Balat, Istanbul, December, 2011. The nameplate of a Jewish physician on the entrance-way of one of the houses shown is a of the rare signs of the remaining presence of Jews in the buildings of what was once one of Istanbul’s most densely populated Jewish neighborhood. Click on image to enlarge. Rowhouses and Sea Walls Saved by … Automobiles! Six or seven years ago, I joined a friend/colleague from the architectural department of one of Istanbul’s universities to trace the remainders of Byzantine and Ottoman sea walls in the court yards and backstreets of Balat closest to the water’s edge. Over the centuries, progressive silting, intentional landfill, and the construction of a shore line roadway and green space had stranded extant fragments seawalls a few hundred meters inland. The purpose of our survey was to ensure that historic seawall fragments would remain untouched in the face of a proposed real estate development project that would transform rows of houses, like those below, into upscale townhouses by restoring their facings but fully gutting, enlarging, and rebuilding their interiors. Ultimately, the project did not go through. Ironically, it was done in by the automobile: to wit, Istanbul residents of the income levels the development consider automobile ownership and parking within meters of their doorsteps as an entitled prerogative. The narrow streets of Balat simply could not provide sufficient access and parking space. Automobiles to the rescue, thus! A Tentative Return, A Long-Vanished Night-Spot, and Monuments Spatial Rather Than Physical Architecture, Bulgaria, Fuji X100 digital, Identities and Traditions, Jews, Public Space, Roma (Gypsies), Sofia The probable site of a 1930s nightspot, Cafe Keva, owned and run by a popular Romani singer of the time, Sofia, Bularia, 2014. Fuji X100. Click on image to enlarge. A Tentative Return After a six-month hiatus, I’ve decided to reactivate this site, in part due to the encouragement of a small circle of readers in New York, Luxembourg, Vienna, Sofia, and Istanbul. We’ll see how it goes… A Long-Vanished Nightspot A patch of pavement, a graffiti covered corrugated metal fence, and a rundown cottage from a past age on a main thoroughfare in Sofia, Bulgaria – the likely location of a nightclub once owned and run by Keva, a legendary Romani (Gypsy) vocalist in the years between the two world wars. In its day, Cafe Keva was a popular gathering-place for Sofia residents of diverse ethnicity and walks of life. The prosaic stretch of sidewalk portrayed in the photo above is one of many subtle, non-monumental reminders of the presence, history, labor, and social and cultural contributions of the Roma (Gypsy) population of Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital. Over the past century, processes of nation-forming and of economic change, coupled with social and spatial segregation, have solidified and sustained the marginalization Roma. In parallel, the official historiography and anti-minority sentiments of Bulgaria’s self-styled mono-ethnic society and the pretensions of its post-communist monied classes have booted Roma out of their rightful places in urban consciousness and mainstream memory. Monuments Spatial Rather Than Physical As mentioned in a previous post, a decade ago, at the behest of an obscure US congressional commission, I conducted an extensive survey of architectural monuments across present-day Bulgaria germain to the histories, lives, and identities of a number of “minority” religious and ethnic groups, Roma amongst them. Output included databases, background monographs, and a shortlist of sites worthy of conservation or restoration. My recommendations for sites relevant to Roma history focused as much on spatiality as on edifices. For Sofia, my recommendations included a program of markers, urban walks, and print- and/or computer-based mapping that would identify relevant locations but also chart the progressive displacement of Roma from the interactivity of Sofia’s urban core to the isolation and apartheid of its urban – and, along with it, social and economic – periphery. I now debate implementing the project on my own. (Note: Some years previously, I had begun to map the outward displacement of the Jewish population of Sofia during the late-19th and early-twentieth centuries. Indeed, in the aftermath the selection of Sofia as the capital of newly-independent Bulgaria nearly a century and a half ago, neither Gypsies nor Jews were considered welcome in the city’s redeveloped, self-consciously “European”-style inner core and were exiled to its furthest-most reaches.) Afterword … A test for Sofiotes: Anyone who’d like to hazard a guess as to the exact location of the patch of sidewalk in the photo above is welcome to post a comment, as is anyone who would like to share more about Cafe Keva or any other markers of Romani life in Sofia, past or present. I should mention that the location portrayed above was pointed out to me years ago by Dimitar “Mitko” Georgiev, a resident of the Roma quarter of “Fakulteto” whose family has lived in Sofia for generations. If the location of Cafe Keva as portrayed in the photo is correct, he gets the credit; if it is wrong, I’ll take the blame.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21255
__label__wiki	0.665657	0.665657	Home College Campuses The Biography of Late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee The Biography of Late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee By Deeksha source: https://yesssindia.com Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was a notorious pioneer of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), known for his social balance, progressivism and political sensibility. He turned into the Prime Minister of India thrice – first in 1996 when he served the term for 13 days, second in 1998 for a time of eleven months, and third time in 1999 for a full term of five years. His administration has been till date the main non-Congress government to remain in control for a long time. Other than being a prepared legislator and exceptional parliamentarian, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was additionally a prestigious artist and a profoundly famous identity over the political range. The Modi Government has proclaimed his birthday i.e. 25 December to be praised as Good Governance Day. Vajpayee passed on 16tth August 2018 because of delayed ailment. source: http://asherxai.blogspot.com Atal Bihari Vajpayee was conceived in a white collar class Brahmin family to Krishna Devi and Krishna Bihari Vajpayee on 25 December 1924 in Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh). His dad was an artist and a teacher. Vajpayee did his tutoring from the Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Gwalior. It was at Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College, Kanpur that Vajpayee finished his post-graduation in Political Science. Joining as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) specialist in 1939, Vajpayee turned into a pracharak (all day laborer) in 1947. He additionally worked for Rashtradharma Hindi month to month, Panchjanya Hindi week by week and the dailies Swadesh and Veer Arjun. Vajpayee stayed single man for whole life. He received the little girl of long-term companion Rajkumari Kaul and BN Kaul and raised her as his own kid. source: http://www.thesocialcrawlers.com Atal Bihari Vajpayee started his vocation in governmental issues as an opportunity contender. He ended up the national secretary of BJS accountable for the Northern area. He rose to wind up the national leader of the Jana Sangh in 1968. Upheld by his associates Nanaji Deshmukh, Balraj Madhok and L K Advani, Vajpayee took the Jana Sangh to more noteworthy brilliance. Atal Bihari Vajpayee took part in the Total Revolution development propelled by Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) against the Internal Emergency forced by then head administrator Indira Gandhi in 1975. In 1977, Jana Sangh turned into a piece of the Janata Party, the fantastic organization together against the Indira Gandhi government. He turned into the Minister of External Affairs in a bureau of Morarji Desai. As outside pastor, Vajpayee turned into the main individual to convey a discourse at the United Nations General Assembly in Hindi. His profession as a priest was brief as he surrendered from his post following the renunciation of Morarji Desai in 1979. Be that as it may, by at that point, Vajpayee had built up himself as a political pioneer. The BJP won two parliamentary seats in the 1984 decisions. Vajpayee worked as BJP President and Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament. Known for his liberal perspectives, Vajpayee moaned about the decimation of the Babri Mosque on 6 December 1992 and pronounced it as the BJP’s “most exceedingly bad erroneous conclusion”. As Prime Minister of India source: https://newsxind.com By 1984 decisions, the BJP had built up itself as an imperative political gathering in Indian governmental issues. Vajpayee was confirmed as the tenth Prime Minister of India following the 1996 General Elections, where the BJP developed as the single biggest gathering in the Lok Sabha. In any case, the administration fallen after just 13 days after his legislature couldn’t assemble bolster from different gatherings to acquire a dominant part. He hence turned into the briefest serving Prime Minister in India. The BJP-drove coalition government returned to control as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 1998. Be that as it may, Pakistan dumped India by propelling Kargil War, wherein Pakistani troopers penetrated into the Kashmir Valley and caught fringe ridges around the town of Kargil. Indian armed force units, under Operation Vijay, battled Pakistani gatecrashers overcoming substantial big guns shelling in the midst of to a great degree cool climate, and deceptive sloping territory, and eventually rose successfully. In the accompanying race, be that as it may, the NDA returned with full larger part and Vajpayee could finish five years (1999-2004) in office as a non-Congress PM out of the blue. Atal Bihari Vajpayee accepting promise as Prime Minister of India for the third time on 13 October 1999. The legislature needed to discharge fear psychological militants including Maulana Masood Azhar from jail to anchor the opportunity of travelers. It likewise attempted National Highway Development Projects and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Vajpayee embraced expert business, free-showcase changes the way to deal with help India’s financial improvement. In March 2000, Vajpayee marked the Historic Vision Document amid the visit of the then US President Bill Clinton. The Declaration consolidated a few key issues, aside from contributing for development exchange and monetary ties between the two nations. Atal Bihari Vajpayee again strove for peace with Pakistan amid the Agra summit with the then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, however, the discussions neglected to accomplish any leap forward as Musharraf declined to leave aside the Kashmir issue. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee administration likewise saw an assault on Indian Parliament on 13 December 2001, when Pakistan-bolstered psychological militants raged the Parliament working in Delhi. Vajpayee as PM was tormented when public mobs broke out in Gujarat in 2002 after the Godhra prepare disaster. The 2004 General Election realized the defeat of the NDA, which lost a large portion of its seats and the Congress-drove United Progressive Alliance (UPA) expected the reins of intensity. Vajpayee had real medical problems subsequent to agony a stroke in 2009 which hindered his discourse capacities. From that point forward he wellbeing turn into a noteworthy issue of concern. Afterward, he got limited to a wheelchair and neglected to perceive individuals. Bajpayee additionally experienced diabetes and dementia. On 11 June 2018, his wellbeing conditions began deteriorating and he got admitted to AIIMS, Delhi in basic condition. In the wake of residual conceded for more than 2 months, Vajpayee passed on sixteenth August 2018 at 5:05 pm because of delayed disease. Honors and Achievements Executive Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj (far right) hand over the Liberation War honor to Padma Vibhushan in 1992 D. Lit. from Kanpur University in 1993 Lokmanya Tilak Award in 1994 Best Parliamentarian Award in 1994 Bharat Ratna Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant Award in 1994 Bharat Ratna in 2015 Freedom War grant (Bangladesh Muktijuddho Sanmanona) in 2015 Previous articleTypes of Healthy Tea Brands for weight loss Next articleSECTION 377 AND BEYOND Deeksha I'm a college student. Besides studying my subjects of psychology, sociology, law, and English I have also made several projects and written research papers. I am a keen reader, and also likes to write things based on my experience and knowledge. A career in Fashion designing: All you need to know about it Shubham Bali - April 20, 2019 Fashion design is one of the most exciting and glamorous career opportunities in the world today. If you like to create, style... IELTS, what! Why! and how? Megha Bali - March 26, 2019 Planning to settle abroad or ready to pursue higher education in distant countries? Then you must be well trained enough to clear... Top 10 International Exams Anchal - March 12, 2019 According to the RBI, spending on tuition and hostel fees by Indian students studying abroad has shot up 44% in the past... False myths about Delhi university college life	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21256
__label__wiki	0.970738	0.970738	CBS News fires Charlie Rose Charlie Rose has been suspended by CBS News in the wake of allegations he made unwanted sexual advances to employees and job applicants. (Bloomberg file photo by Andrew Harrer) By WashingtonPost\|Published Tue, Nov 21, 2017 \|Updated Tue, Nov 21, 2017 By J. Freedom du Lac CBS said Tuesday that it has fired Charlie Rose “effective immediately,” following an extensive Washington Post report that detailed alleged unwanted sexual advances toward women by the 75-year-old broadcaster. His firing was announced by CBS News President David Rhodes, who wrote in a midday memo to the network’s staff that the action “followed the revelation yesterday of extremely disturbing and intolerable behavior said to have revolved around [Rose’s] PBS program.” “Despite Charlie’s important journalistic contribution to our news division, there is absolutely nothing more important, in this or any organization, than ensuring a safe, professional workplace — a supportive environment where people feel they can do their best work. We need to be such a place.” Rose — best known for his award-winning interview program on PBS — had co-hosted “CBS This Morning” since the show’s launch in 2012 and was a contributing correspondent for the network’s Sunday night show, “60 Minutes.” Eight women, who were either employees or aspired to work for Rose at the “Charlie Rose” show, told The Post that he made unwanted sexual advances toward them between the late 1990s and 2011. Those advances included lewd phone calls, walking around naked in their presence, or groping their breasts, buttocks or genital areas, the women said. Following The Post’s report, PBS and Bloomberg said they would halt distribution of Rose’s namesake interview program, which is produced by Charlie Rose Inc., an independent television production company. In a statement provided to The Post, Rose said he deeply apologizes “for my inappropriate behavior.” “I am greatly embarrassed. I have behaved insensitively at times, and I accept responsibility for that, though I do not believe that all of these allegations are accurate. I always felt that I was pursuing shared feelings, even though I now realize I was mistaken,” Rose said. Rose has long been one of the most well-regarded names in TV news. His 2013 interview with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad won him both an Emmy and a Peabody Award and in 2015 he received the Walter Cronkite Excellence in Journalism Award.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21257
__label__wiki	0.827532	0.827532	Start Over You searched for: Authors National Library of Medicine (U.S.) ✖Remove constraint Authors: National Library of Medicine (U.S.) Collections NLM Publications and Productions ✖Remove constraint Collections: NLM Publications and Productions 1. Beikoku Kokuritsu Igaku Toshokan bunruihō: igaku oyobi kanren bun'ya ni okeru tosho haikahō Tōkyō : Nihon Igaku Toshokan Kyōkai, 1996 2. Biomedical serials, 1950-1960: a selective list of serials in the National Library of Medicine Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, National Library of Medicine, 1962 Periodicals as Topic 3. Breath of life: an exhibition that examines the history of asthma, the experiences of people with asthma, and contemporary efforts to understand and manage the disease Bethesda, Md. : National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, [2001] Asthma -- history Exhibits as Topic 4. Building data and floor plan, National Library of Medicine Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, [1961] Facility Design and Construction 5. Card catalogs: keys to the Library's collection [Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, [1956?] Catalogs, Library 6. Catalog of an exhibit in honor of the sesquicentennial of the birth of Louis Pasteur: National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, October 2, 1972- February 4, 1973 [Bethesda, Md.] : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, National Library of Medicine, [1972] Pasteur, Louis, 1822-1895. 7. A catalogue of incunabula and sixteenth century printed books in the National Library of Medicine. First supplement Bethesda, Md. : [For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U. S. Govt. Print. Off., Washington], 1971 Incunabula as Topic Manuscripts as Topic Army Medical Library (U.S.) 8. A catalogue of seventeenth century printed books in the National Library of Medicine Bethesda, Md. : U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, 1989 9. A catalogue of sixteenth century printed books in the National Library of Medicine Bethesda, Md. : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, National Library of Medicine, 1967 10. A century of American physiology: based on an exhibit commemorating the centennial of the American Physiological Society at the National Library of Medicine, February-April, 1987 Bethesda, Md. : National Library of Medicine, 1987 Physiology -- history American Physiological Society (1887- ) 11. Chinese mainland journals: current NLM holdings, January 1961 Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, 1961 12. Classification: a scheme for the shelf arrangement of books in the field of medicine and its related sciences Washington, D.C. : National Library of Medicine : For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1956 13. Collection development manual of the National Library of Medicine Book Selection 14. Conrad Gesner: physician, scholar, scientist, 1516-1565 : a quatercentenary exhibit held November-December 1965 Bethesda, Md. : National Library of Medicine, [1965] Gessner, Conrad, 1516-1565. 15. Cumulated list of new medical subject headings, 1963-1973 [Bethesda, MD] : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, [1973] 16. Dentistry: MEDLARS glossary and indexing instructions [Bethesda, Md.] : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, [1969] Abstracting and Indexing as Topic 17. Directory of medical libraries outside the United States and Canada [Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, [1963] 18. Early American medical imprints: a guide to works printed in the United States, 1668-1820 Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1961 19. Floor plan of the new National Library of Medicine Washington, D.C. : Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, [1960?] 20. Grant programs: (authorized by Medical Library Assistance Extension Act of 1970) Bethesda, Md. : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, 1970 Financing, Government NLM Publications and Productions✖[remove]71 Libraries, Medical45 National Library of Medicine (U.S.)31 Medicine19 National Library of Medicine (U.S.)✖[remove]71 National Library of Medicine classification: a scheme for the shelf arrangement of books in the field of medicine and its related sciences4 National Library of Medicine: services4 The National Library of Medicine3 National Library of Medicine classification: a scheme for the shelf arrangement of library materials in the field of medicine and its related sciences2 A catalogue of incunabula and sixteenth century printed books in the National Library of Medicine. First supplement1 Text71 Bibliography20 Catalogs17 Indexes4	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21260
__label__wiki	0.619292	0.619292	Tag Archives: black history eBook Friday – Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” Barracoon: The Story of the last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston “A profound impact on Hurston’s literary legacy.”—New York Times “One of the greatest writers of our time.”—Toni Morrison “Zora Neale Hurston’s genius has once again produced a Maestrapiece.”—Alice Walker A major literary event: a newly published work from the author of the American classic Their Eyes Were Watching God, with a foreword from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker, brilliantly illuminates the horror and injustices of slavery as it tells the true story of one of the last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade—abducted from Africa on the last “Black Cargo” ship to arrive in the United States. In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston went to Plateau, Alabama, just outside Mobile, to interview eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis. Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America as slaves, Cudjo was then the only person alive to tell the story of this integral part of the nation’s history. Hurston was there to record Cudjo’s firsthand account of the raid that led to his capture and bondage fifty years after the Atlantic slave trade was outlawed in the United States. In 1931, Hurston returned to Plateau, the African-centric community three miles from Mobile founded by Cudjo and other former slaves from his ship. Spending more than three months there, she talked in depth with Cudjo about the details of his life. During those weeks, the young writer and the elderly formerly enslaved man ate peaches and watermelon that grew in the backyard and talked about Cudjo’s past—memories from his childhood in Africa, the horrors of being captured and held in a barracoon for selection by American slavers, the harrowing experience of the Middle Passage packed with more than 100 other souls aboard the Clotilda, and the years he spent in slavery until the end of the Civil War. Based on those interviews, featuring Cudjo’s unique vernacular, and written from Hurston’s perspective with the compassion and singular style that have made her one of the preeminent American authors of the twentieth-century, Barracoon masterfully illustrates the tragedy of slavery and of one life forever defined by it. Offering insight into the pernicious legacy that continues to haunt us all, black and white, this poignant and powerful work is an invaluable contribution to our shared history and culture. Posted in eBook Friday Tagged adult non-fiction, black history, eBooks, Sociology eBook Friday: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot Now an HBO® Film starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew. Tagged adult non-fiction, black history, eBooks, science eBook Friday: Hidden Figures Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Shetterly The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA whose calculations helped fuel some of America’s greatest achievements in space. Now a major motion picture starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner. Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” used pencils, slide rules and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space. Among these problem-solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Originally relegated to teaching math in the South’s segregated public schools, they were called into service during the labor shortages of World War II, when America’s aeronautics industry was in dire need of anyone who had the right stuff. Suddenly, these overlooked math whizzes had a shot at jobs worthy of their skills, and they answered Uncle Sam’s call, moving to Hampton, Virginia and the fascinating, high-energy world of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. Even as Virginia’s Jim Crow laws required them to be segregated from their white counterparts, the women of Langley’s all-black “West Computing” group helped America achieve one of the things it desired most: a decisive victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and complete domination of the heavens. Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race, Hidden Figures follows the interwoven accounts of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden, four African American women who participated in some of NASA’s greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades they faced challenges, forged alliances and used their intellect to change their own lives, and their country’s future. Black History Month Film Series Begins Feb. 7 Chatham Community Library is celebrating Black History Month with a four-part film series beginning on Wednesday, February 7 at 12:00 pm in the Holmes Meeting Room. Films in the series include: Day Date Film Wednesday February 7 4 Little Girls (1997). Directed by Spike Lee, this film documents the “notorious racial terrorist bombing of an African American church during the Civil Rights Movement.” It won an Oscar in 1998 for Best Documentary. Wednesday February 14 I Am Not Your Negro (2016). In this film, “writer James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House.” Directed by Raoul Peck, I Am Not Your Negro was an Oscar nominee for Best Documentary. Wednesday February 21 What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015). Directed by Liz Garbus and Hal Tulchin. This film documents the life and legend of Nina Simone, “an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the “High Priestess of Soul.” The film was an Oscar nominee for Best Documentary in 2016. Monday February 26 13th (2016). This film offers “an in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation’s history of racial inequality.” Directed by Ava DuVernay, it was an Oscar nominee in 2017 for Best Documentary. Black History Month, also known as African-American History Month in America, is an annual observance in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and in the Netherlands where it is known as Black Achievement Month. It began as a way for remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. These events are free and open to the public. Feel free to bring your lunch! Posted in Library News Tagged black history, events, film Resource of the Month: African American Heritage Posted on October 1, 2015 \| Leave a comment If the genealogy bug has caught you, Chatham County Public Libraries can help! In addition to offering access to Ancestry Library Edition in the library and to HeritageQuest from anywhere, the library offers access to African American Heritage in our branches and off site with a password. This resource provides genealogical and historical records useful for exploring the lives of African American ancestors, a process complicated by the disruptions of slavery and the dearth of centrally-accessible records. African American Heritage helps family history researchers by bringing together some of the scattered records and by offering expert guides through references and social networking possibilities. Starting at the library’s home page, www.chathamlibraries.org, click on Online Resources, then the link for Genealogy, followed by the icon for African American Heritage. Outside of the library, you’ll need a password which staff at the Reference Desk will be happy to share with you. You’ll find census, Freedman’s Bank, and slave records; birth, marriage, death and North Carolina cohabitation records; church, military, court, and legal records; as well as genealogies and family histories. In addition, you’ll have access to guides for locating resources in all fifty states, Canada, and the West Indies. From the home page, you can search and browse the collections, search and browse how-to and reference books, and link to AfriGeneas (a partner site), where you can interact with a community of interested and experienced researchers. During your research sessions, it’s possible to track your search history and to save your discoveries to a notebook for later printing, emailing, and downloading. Call 919-545-8086 for African American Heritage login information or to discuss this and other tools for genealogy research. Happy searching! Posted in Resource of the Month Tagged Amy's picks, black history, genealogy, history Free eBook Friday: Twelve Years a Slave Twelve Years a Slave, by Solomon Northup: The son of a freed slave, Solomon Northup lived the first thirty years of his life as a free man in upstate New York. In the spring of 1841, he was offered a job: a short-term, lucrative engagement as a violinist in a traveling circus. It was a trap. In Washington, DC, Northup was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years on plantations in Louisiana, enduring backbreaking labor, unimaginable violence, and inhumane treatment at the hands of cruel masters, until a kind stranger helped to win his release. His account of those years is a shocking, unforgettable portrait of America’s most insidious historical institution as told by a man who experienced it firsthand. Published shortly after Harriet Beecher Stowe’s abolitionist classic Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Northup’s memoir became a bestseller in 1853. With its eloquent depiction of life before and after bondage, Twelve Years a Slave was a unique and effective entry into the national debate over slavery. Rediscovered in the 1960s and now the inspiration for a major motion picture, Northup’s poignant narrative gives readers an invaluable glimpse into a shameful chapter of American history. (Two other editions of this eBook are also available in our collection.) Every Friday, we highlight an eBook from our collection at http://e-inc.lib.overdrive.com. Let us know what you think of these selections, and tell us about eBooks you’ve enjoyed – we may feature them here! Tagged adult non-fiction, black history, eBooks Book Review: Life and Times of an American Legend – Larry Tye Satchel: th e Life and Times of an American Legend by Larry Tye This recommendation comes a little late for Black History Month, but it’s just in time for baseball season. If either subject is up your alley, this book is worth reading; if you happen to be interested in both, it’s a gold mine. Author Larry Tye spent years unraveling the mystery behind the life of one of his boyhood baseball icons with great success, getting the meat of his research from interviews with Satchel’s friends and family, fellow players and managers, and descendants thereof. Still, Satchel Paige is a man to whom mystery clings like a sweaty baseball jersey on a hot Mobile afternoon, mostly because of the lack of solid statistics and press coverage for thousands of Negro League games in the 1920’s-40’s. Thankfully, plenty of testimony survives about this truly American character. Born the seventh of twelve children in a Mobile ghetto, Leroy Robert Page quickly rose from his obscure beginnings to become by his mid-twenties the most popular pitcher in then-segregated black professional baseball. Those who saw him perform in his heyday say he had an unparalleled fastball, to which he soon added an arsenal of curves, slowballs and breakers, all executed with pinpoint control. Anecdotes of Paige antics are plenty, like the one about him winning accuracy contests by knocking over matchboxes placed on homeplate, or telling his entire outfield to retire to the dugout as their services wouldn’t be necessary, and proceeding to strike out the opposing side. The ultimate showman on the mound, Paige sometimes sounds like the kind of towering figure who was more tall tales than substance, and Paige himself certainly did nothing to dispel his own myths. Tye did manage to get to the bottom of the one about Satchel’s age, forever a source of sportswriter conjecture, thereby substantiating Paige’s standing record for being the oldest pitcher ever to throw in a Major League game (he was 59). But could Paige actually, as he estimated, have pitched 5,000 complete games over his career, winning 2,000? There’s no way of telling for sure, but if you ask me, that’s part of his appeal. One irrefutable truth about Paige is that he used his tremendous talent to build his own legend, and in so doing defied Jim Crow America to live life on his own terms. In a sport full of eccentric characters, Satchel comes close to outshining everybody as a fast-driving, barnstorming, contract-jumping, wisdom-dispensing ace who is fondly remembered by players and fans on both sides of the race barrier. A fun summer read. Tagged 2011 Review, biography, black history, Clay's picks, Major League Baseball, Negro League Baseball, Satchel Paige	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21262
__label__wiki	0.565881	0.565881	Christogenea on Talkshoe, May 6th 2011, Matthew Chapter 4, Program Notes KJV Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. 2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. 3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. 4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. 6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. 7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth [land], and from walking up and down in it. 8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? 9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? 10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. 11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. 12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. Revelation 12:7: “7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” If this did not happen before the creation of Adam, then how is it that this dragon is also “that old serpent”, which we see in verse 9? Also, according to Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4, the “Satan” which accused Job, and the “Satan” which tempted Christ, could not have been that original author of the rebellion, the spirit-being cast out of heaven, since those angels who sinned and left their first estate are bound and awaiting judgement. Therefore, it only follows that these must be from among the number of the satanic entity which we may call the “seed of the serpent”, which are collectively Satan, or the Adversary, just as the children of Israel are collectively called the Anointed. Jude 6: “and the messengers not having kept their first dominion but having forsaken their own habitation are kept under darkness in everlasting bindings for the judgment of the great day”. 2 Peter 2:4: “For if Yahweh did not spare the messengers who had done wrong but having cast them into Tartaros into a pit of darkness He had delivered them being kept for judgment.” While we certainly cannot deny the existence of spirits and demons, people who “spiritualize” the Bible and look to “spiritual” explanations for its precepts are actually letting the devil off the hook, and giving him license to do practically whatever he wants in this world. Just as the Genesis 3 serpent was a real person on this earth, so is that Satan who accused Job. Thus John says in his first epistle “Beloved, do not have trust in every spirit, but scrutinize whether the spirits are from of Yahweh, because many false prophets have gone out into Society.” The Christian's biggest failure is to ignore this advice of the apostle, and not act on it. Yet by all of this we can see, that when we fall victim to the banker or the prosecutor, it is a test for us, but it is ultimately for the glory of God. Just as the accuser of Job and the tempter of Christ were devils, so was Judas Iscariot, for Christ said, from John 6:70, ““Have I not chosen you twelve? Yet one from among you is a false accuser!” Or a “devil”. IV 1 Then Yahshua had been led up into the desert by the Spirit to be tried by the False Accuser. 2 And fasting forty days and forty nights, afterwards He hungered. 3 And coming forth the Tempter [ὁ πειράζων] said to Him: “If You are a Son of Yahweh [εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ], speak in order that these stones would become wheat-loaves.” 4 And responding He said: “It is written, ‘Not by bread alone shall man live, but by every word going out through the mouth of Yahweh.’” Deuteronomy 8:1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. 2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. 3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. In the next verse, this being is called ὁ διάβολος, literally “he who casts by”, used of a person who makes generally false accusations. In Revelation chapter 12 we saw equated “the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.” All those who oppose God do such things, and therefore the idea of a false accuser is associated with the Adversary, or Satan, that entire race of the serpent's offspring which is called at Revelation “the accuser of our brethren”, an example of which is that devil which made false accusations concerning Job. 5 Then the False Accuser takes Him into the holy city and stood Him upon the wing of the temple [ἵστημι means to cause or make to stand, therefore in hindsight I may better have translated this phrase “and had Him stand upon the wing of the temple”] 6 and says to Him: “If You are a Son of Yahweh, throw Yourself down, for it is written that ‘He commanded His messengers concerning You, and by their hands they shall bear You, lest at any time You may strike Your foot against a stone.’” [A son, not THE son, of Yahweh. For this very same reason it is written, in the opening verses of the gospel of John, that “But as many who received Him, He gave to them the authority which the children of Yahweh are to attain, to those believing in His Name”. We do not know the power we would have, if we would only obey Yahweh our Father – all the things which Christ was able to do, He tells us that we too should be able to do.] The quote is from Psalm 91:11-12. The next verse of the Psalm, 13, says “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.” The lion is only allegory for a strong man. At Luke chapter 10 verses 18 and 19 Yahshua said” I beheld the Adversary falling as lightning from heaven! 19 Behold! I have given to you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy, and no one shall by any means do you injustice. “ So we see this same idea conveyed in the Psalm, and this very διάβολος speaking to Christ is the subject of that same thing, he himself being a dragon and a scorpion. 7 Yahshua said to him: “Again, it is written: ‘You shall not tempt Yahweh your God.’” [The quote is explicit, from Deuteronomy 6:16.] 8 Again the False Accuser takes Him to an exceedingly high mountain and shows to Him all the kingdoms of the Society and their splendor 9 and he said to Him: “I shall give to You all these, if falling You would worship me.” The world belongs to our enemies. When Adam accepted Eve in her sin, he also accepted Cain. Just as Joseph was told by the angel to accept the pregnant Mary and therefore Christ became his lawful heir, so it was also with Adam and Cain. The apostle wrote at 1 John 5:19 that “We know that we are from of Yahweh and the whole Society lies in the power of the Evil One.” Paul wrote of the “god of this world” at 2 Corinthians 4:4, and he was talking about this same thing. Christ stated, at John 12:31: “Now judgment is of this Society; now the ruler of this Society shall be cast out! ” As soon as Christians accept and act upon the Words of Christ, the rulers of this society shall be cast out! Of course, Christ was speaking prophetically, for at John 14:30 He says “No longer shall I discuss many things with you, for the ruler of Society comes, and he does not have anything in Me!”, and at 16:11 “Then concerning judgment, because the ruler of this Society has been judged.” 10 Then Yahshua says to him: “Go away, adversary! For it is written: ‘Yahweh your God shall you worship, and you shall serve Him only’!” [The quote is from one of a couple of places in Deuteronomy. The adversary cannot be the “your” of that scripture, for it is meant to refer to the Israelite receiving the law, and therefore Christ Himself is the subject in this instance.] 11 Then the False Accuser leaves Him, and behold! Messengers came forth and served Him. [James 2:19: “You believe that there is one God, you do well; even the demons believe it, and they shudder!” The “messengers” could refer to angels, or to people of Israel who found Him where the accuser left Him.] 12 And having heard that Iohannes had been handed over [arrested] He withdrew into Galilaia. 13 And leaving Nazareth, having come He settled in Kapharnaoum by the sea in the regions of Zaboulon and Nephthalim, Many take this word Kapharnaoum to mean “village of Nahum”, as in the prophet, but it also simply and literally means “village of comfort”. Whether it refers to Nahum or not is debatable. The arrest of John the Baptist happened quite early in the ministry of Christ, and is mentioned also at Mark 1:14, Luke 3:20 and the Gospel of John at 3:24. 14 in order that that which had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, saying: “15 Land of Zaboulon, and land of Nephthalim, the way of the sea, opposite the Jordan, circuit of the nations, 16 the people sitting in darkness have seen a great light, and for those sitting in the region and shadow of death, a light has risen up for them.” 17 From that time Yahshua began to proclaim and to say “Repent! For the kingdom of the heavens has neared!” From my paper: GALILEE OF THE GENTILES? This prophecy concerning “Galilee of the Gentiles” is a quote of Isa. 9:1 (where the A.V. has “Galilee of the Nations”). Matt. 4:14 infers that Isaiah’s prophecy would be fulfilled when Yahshua left Nazareth (Matt. 4:13) for “Galilee of the Gentiles.” But was that alone the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy? And Matt. 4:16, which quotes Psalm 23:4? Certainly NOT! Rather it was only the commencement of the fulfillment of the prophecy, which would take quite some time to fulfill. Matthew next describes the calling of the apostles by Yahshua (4:18 ff.), of which 11 were of the tribe of Benjamin. Discussion of the twelfth, Judas Ish Kerioth, is beyond the scope of our purpose here. Many of Benjamin and Levi settled in Galilee after the return from Babylon, which is evident from the Scriptures. Saul of Tarsus, called much later, was also of Benjamin (Rom. 11:1). When the ancient Kingdom of Israel was divided after Solomon’s death, Benjamin was left with the Tribe of Judah for this very purpose (1 Kings 11:9-13, 36). The apostles of this tribe were fulfilling their duties as the light-bearers to Israel. But Galilee did not originally belong to Benjamin. When the land was divided originally, towns in the territory of Naphtali were said to be in “Galilee”, i.e. Josh. 20:7. Would Isaiah say that the region of Galilee in Palestine was of (belonging to) “gentiles”, or even non-Israel “nations”, knowing that the land belonged to Israel? Such is highly unlikely. Reading Isaiah 9:1, however, there is still much more to “Galilee of the Nations” than this. Isaiah 9:1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. How could Zebulun and Naphtali be afflicted by “... way of the sea beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the Nations”? That truly does not describe the sea of Galilee at all, and there is no discussion in the Old Testament describing any shipping traffic by Zebulun or Naphtali in that small sea. Even in the time of Christ, the sea of Galilee was plied by little more than small fishing craft. So what else may this statement mean? The word “beyond” in Isaiah 9:1, the Hebrew ‘eber (Strong’s #5676), may also mean “opposite”, among other things. It is the word from which the names Eber and Hebrew are derived. In the A.V. the word is represented by a wide range of meanings, “from, over, passage, quarter, other side, this side, straight”, etc. according to Strong’s, and many of them quite proper in the contexts in which the word appears. The word is, for instance. “over” in the phrase “over against” at Exod. 25:37, which the Thomas Nelson King James Study Bible I have footnotes “in front of”, and is “this side” at Num. 22:1; 32:19 and 32. So use of the word at Isa. 9:1 does not necessitate that the “sea” or the “way of the sea” referred to there is east of the Jordan River, or is the sea of Galilee, which is actually the source of the river and not “beyond” it at all. The word “Galilee” (Strong’s #1551) is derived from the Hebrew word geliylah (#1552) which means “a circuit or region.” In Hebrew the proper noun and the noun which it is derived from are spelled with the same characters, but with slightly different vowel points. In the Palaeo-Hebrew of Isaiah’s time, without vowels or modern Hebrew vowel points, and in all upper-case letters as was the custom, these two words are indistinguishable. It is evident that they could easily be confused. The “sea of Galilee” was never called such in the Old Testament Kingdom period. The name “Galilee” appears only at Josh. 20:7; 21:32; 1 Kings 9:11; 2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chron. 6:76 and Isa. 9:1. “Galilee” was instead only the name of an undefined region in northern Israel, at least part of which lied in the land of Naphtali. The “sea of Galilee” is always called the “sea of Chinnereth” (or Chinneroth, Strong’s #3672), mentioned at Num. 34:11; Deut. 3:17; Josh. 11:2; 12:3; 13:27 and 19:35. Additionally, it is quite clear from Scripture that half of the coastline of the Sea of Galilee was adjoined by land belonging to the Tribe of Naphtali, with the balance adjoined by the lands of the Geshurites and Maachathites (Deut. 3:14; Joshua 13:7-13). Geshur was considered a part of the land of Aram, or Syria. The Aramaeans were Semites and related to the Israelites. The Maachathites were apparently also related to the Israelites through Abraham's brother Nahor (Gen. 22:24) though they remained a distinct kingdom (1 Chron. 19:6-7). Genesis 49:13 states that Zebulun would dwell among ships bordering Sidon, “... at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for a haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.” Zebulun’s inherited land was neither near Sidon, nor was it near any sea , including the sea of Chinneroth (Josh. 19:10-16)! Yet it should surely be manifest by this point, that “Galilee of the Gentiles” need not indicate the “Sea of Galilee” at all. In fact, “Galilee of the Gentiles”, or even “Galilee of the Nations”, makes no sense at all. However, if one is knowledgeable concerning Israel’s early migrations into Europe, then reading Isaiah 9:1 “... and afterward did more grievously afflict them by the way of the sea opposite Jordan, in the region of the Nations” makes perfectly good sense! And where did the light-bearers of Benjamin go after the Passion, upon leaving Palestine? To the people who walked in darkness – in Europe and Asia Minor. Most so-called “scholars”, and especially the jews, would have us believe that the sea-faring Phoenicians of Tyre, Sidon and elsewhere were a people distinct from the Israelites, and were Canaanites at that. If that were so, then when the Phoenicians settled what are today Spain and Portugal, they should have called the place “Sidonia” or “Canaania” and not Iberia (Eber-land, i.e. “Hebrew-land”). An examination of Scripture, and especially the Septuagint, reveals that the people whom the Greeks called “Phoenicians” (and the word does not appear at all until it appears in Homer, who was probably a contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah) were certainly Israelites. Yet even the Septuagint in its translation sometimes confused Canaanites with the “Phoenicians”, which was somewhat true in 280 B.C. when the edition was translated. But it was not true of the period which Homer was writing about. For long after all of the Israelites who were deported by the Assyrians were gone, the Greeks continued to call the land “Phoenicia”, and the Canaanites who remained to inhabit it, along with whatever remnant of Israelites remained, they continued to call “Phoenicians.” Joshua 11:8 in the A.V. states: “And Yahweh delivered them [the Canaanite army] into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephoth-maim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left none remaining.” At Joshua 13:6 we read: “All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-maim and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee.” The name “Sidon”, or “Zidon” at times, described both a city on the coast of Palestine, and the region around it. It also described the Canaanite descendants of Sidon (Gen. 10:15) who inhabited it. Later we find that although the Israelites surely did inhabit this region, they failed to drive off all the Canaanite and other tribes: “Now these are the nations which Yahweh left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan ... Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from Baal-hermon unto the entering in of Hamath.” (Jdgs. 3:1-3). The region and city of Sidon became a part of the territory of the tribe of Asher, as described at Joshua 19:24-31, and we are informed also at Jdgs. 1:31 that Canaanites continued to dwell in the city. But Tyre, which quickly became the prominent “Phoenician” city, was also in the territory of Asher – or at least the mainland city was, since there is not yet mention of the island off the coast – and note that there is no mention anywhere of Canaanites remaining in Tyre. The Septuagint (LXX) says at Joshua 19:28-29, of Asher’s inheritance: “And Elbon, and Raah, and Ememaon, and Canthan to great Sidon. And the borders shall turn back to Rama, and to the fountain of Masphassat, and the Tyrians ...”. But a little further on, describing Naphtali’s inheritance at 19:35: “And the walled cities of the Tyrians, Tyre, and Omathadaketh, and Kenereth ...”, quite different than the version found in the A.V. Although not within Naphtali’s territory, did Naphtali inherit Tyre, on the coast of the territory of Asher? Or did this refer to the island off the coast? Such can not be told with the data I have presently. Reading the accounts given at 1 Kings 9:11-13 and 2 Chron. 8:2, it is evident that Naphtali did not inhabit all of the territory in Galilee which they inherited, for Solomon had to repopulate many of those cities in his time. That Asher inhabited the coasts of the Mediterranean, and not the “Canaanites”, can be discerned in the A.V. at Judges 5:17: “Asher continued on the seashore, and abode in his breaches”, where “breaches” is the Hebrew miphrats (#4464) and may be translated “havens” or “inlets”, the word meaning “a break (in the shore), i.e. a haven” (Strong’s). In the Egyptian records of the 18th dynasty, which predates the Israelite conquest of Canaan, Tyre is called “T’aru the haven”, and it is said of the island off the coast “water is carried to it in barks, it is richer in fish than in sands” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th edition, p 817). And so the Israelite presence in Tyre and Sidon, at about the same time that the so-called “Phoenicians” began their rise to supremacy over the seas, is absolutely undeniable. At 2 Sam. 24:2-7, for instance, King David sends Joab to number the tribes of Israel. Tyre and Sidon were among the places to which Joab journeyed. Elsewhere on the seacoast, Elijah visited the widow of Zarephath, and neither was that noble woman a Canaanite. Amos 3:11, part of a prophecy against Israel, where the A.V. states “An adversary there shall be even round about the land ...” the LXX has “O Tyre, thy land shall be made desolate round about thee ...”. Micah 7:12, in another prophecy directed at Israel, reads in the LXX “And thy cities shall be leveled, and parted among the Assyrians; and thy strong cities shall be parted from Tyre to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.” And so the prophets also testify that the Israelites inhabited Tyre, yet these citations are wanting in the A.V. It is only well after the deportations of the Israelites that translators of the Scriptures for the Septuagint had in diverse places associated Phoenicians with “Canaanites”, yet the Israelites were long removed from the land. The inhabitants of the island city of Tyre, however, never were deported by the Assyrians or the Babylonians, although the mainland portion of Tyre was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek. 26). After the beginning of the Persian period, the Tyrians were subject to Persia and had spread themselves back to the mainland. The island city was destroyed for good by Alexander the Great circa 330 B.C. Yet it is evident that many of the Israelites did remain in the area and maintained their identity for quite some time, as we have Anna the prophetess, of the Tribe of Asher, in Jerusalem during the birth of Christ (Luke 2:36). Much more can be said, drawn not only from Scripture but from history and archaeology, to demonstrate that the Israelites were one and the same with the Phoenicians of history, who were the people who settled not only much of the North African coasts and Spain, but also the British Isles, the northern coasts of Europe, the coasts of Anatolia (Turkey today), and also made up much of the original “Greek” and “Roman” populations, all of these having their roots in both Israelite, other Semite, and the Japhethite tribes of Genesis 10. Yet hopefully enough has been said to illuminate the true meaning of the expression “Galilee of the Gentiles”, actually “the region of the Nations”, found at Isaiah 9:1 and Matt. 4:15. Note: Two other places contain the phrase “Galilee of the Nations”, in English versions. Joel 3:4 in the LXX (the A.V. has here “all the coasts of Palestine”) and 1 Macc. 5:15 in both the LXX and the A.V. Apocryphae. However in the LXX Greek in both places the phrase reads Γαλιλαίας ἀλλοφύλων (Galilaias allophulôn) or literally “Galilee of the other tribes”, “the region of the other tribes”, the LXX translators long ago making the same error of “Galilee” for “galilee” which I hope to have illustrated above. Now, in context, these verses may also be better understood. 18 And walking by the sea of Galilaia He saw two men, Simon who is called Petros and Andreas his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And He says to them: “Come after Me, and I shall make you fishers of men.” 20 And immediately having left the nets they followed Him. Matthew, writing long after the fact, does not relate the account where Simon began to be called Peter until Chapter 16. Andreas, or Andrew here, whom we see is the brother of Peter, is very often mentioned together with Phillip later in Scripture. All three men were from Bethsaida, a town with a Hebrew name meaning “house of fish”. 21 And proceeding from there He saw two other brothers, Iakobos the son of Zebedaios and Iohannes his brother, in the vessel with Zebedaios their father mending their nets, and He called them. 22 And immediately leaving the vessel and their father they followed Him. This Jacob is the one killed by Herod as described at Acts chapter 12. John here is the beloved apostle, author of the Gospel, the three epistles bearing his name, and the recorder of the Revelation. 23 And He went around in all Galilaia teaching in their assembly halls and proclaiming the good message of the kingdom and healing every disease and every weakness among the people. 24 And the report of Him had gone out into all of Suria, and they brought to Him all those being ill with various diseases and those afflicted with trials and those possessed by demons and epileptics and paralytics, and He healed them. 25 And many crowds followed Him from Galilaia and Dekapolis and Jerusalem and Judaea and beyond the Jordan. On demons, from my paper The Problem With Genesis 6:1-4: The fragments of the Book of Enoch found among the Dead Sea Scrolls agree to a great extent with Charles’ Book of Enoch which was translated from an entirely different source: texts found in Ethiopia which had been maintained there for many centuries. While they shall not all be cited here, representative of the Enoch literature relating to Genesis 6 events is 4Q202 (or 4QEnb ar), 4QEnochb ar, Col. II, a text which corresponds to 1 Enoch 5:9-6:4 and 6:7-8:1, from TDSS: “1 [al]l the [d]ays [of their life ...] 2 It happened that wh[en in those days the sons of men increased,] 3 pretty and [attractive daughters were born to them. The Watchers, sons of the sky, saw them and lusted for them] 4 and sa[id to each other: « Let’s go and choose out women from among the daughters of men and sire for ourselves] 5 [sons ». However ...”. The reconstructions in this translation are corroborated from other scrolls, such as 4Q201 and 4Q204 et al. The offspring which resulted from these unions are later called bastards, for instance in 4Q204,“Exterminate all the spirits of the bastards and the sons of the Watchers”, which seems to have been speaking prophetically.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21264
__label__wiki	0.511167	0.511167	John McCain’s Attack On Liberty Published: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 Anyone paying attention knows that John McCain has been a Big-Government Globalist Neocon (BGGN) for virtually his entire senatorial career. As with many BGGNs hiding out in the Republican Party, McCain likes to talk about smaller government, but his track record is littered with the promotion of one big government program after another. But, what else would one expect from a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)? Lately, however, McCain has outdone himself. He has introduced two bills in the US Senate that are about as Machiavellian as they could be. I am referring to S.3081, a bill that would authorize the federal government to detain American citizens indefinitely without trial, and S.3002, a bill that would authorize the federal government to regulate vitamins, minerals, and virtually all health and natural food products. According to Examiner.com, “John McCain introduced a bill into the U.S. Senate which, if passed, would actually allow U.S. citizens to be arrested and detained indefinitely, all without Miranda rights or ever being charged with a crime.” The Examiner report continued by saying “This bill, introduced by McCain, who despite overwhelming evidence, claims to be a ‘conservative,’ would not only take away our right to a trial, but would also allow the federal government to arrest and imprison anyone the current administration deems hostile. “Of course, that would be the same administration whose Homeland Security Secretary has classified veterans, retired law enforcement, Ron Paul [and Chuck Baldwin] supporters, and conservatives as ‘terrorists.’” The Examiner report concluded by saying “If it was not clear before, it should be now that John McCain has as little respect for the Constitution as he does for our borders.” If McCain gets his way, your constitutional right to a speedy trial by jury is gone, as well as your constitutional right to Habeas Corpus. But, of course, they would attempt to justify this by claiming it is being done in the name of national security and the war on terrorism. See the Examiner report at: http://tinyurl.com/examiner-mccain-s3081 Regarding McCain’s desire for the federal government to take over the vitamin industry, attorney Jonathan Emord wrote, “If you had any doubt about whether John McCain is a limited government conservative, you may put that doubt to rest–he is not. On February 3, 2010, John McCain introduced to the United States Senate the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010. Reflecting upon this poorly written bill, I am struck by the fact that John McCain apparently sees little difference between fissile material and dietary supplements. He is intent on regulating supplements as if they were radioactive enriched uranium rather than bioactive vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and botanicals that more often than not help people. “The Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 enjoys support from the most liberal members of Congress. It is an invitation for the FDA to assume broad new powers and replicate here the system now operating in Europe over dietary supplements where dietary ingredients are presumed adulterated and unlawful to sell unless pre-approved by the government. In short, good bye free enterprise, good bye limited government, and hello more heavy handed, arbitrary and punitive FDA bias against the beleaguered dietary supplement industry.” See Emord’s column at: http://www.newswithviews.com/Emord/jonathan118.htm Please remember, this is the same John McCain who, during the 2008 Presidential campaign, said he would “order the secretary of the treasury to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America.” Of course, McCain didn’t explain where this authority would come from, because such a proposal has no legal or constitutional authority. And, by the way, this one little sentence, if implemented, would cost taxpayers some $300 billion. McCain also said he wanted to tap Mr. Climate Change Wacko himself, Al Gore, “to work in his administration on developing a new and much tougher U.N.-sponsored global warming treaty.” (Source: Cliff Kincaid. See his column at: http://www.newswithviews.com/Kincaid/cliff260.htm ) This is the same John McCain who addressed the Hoover Institution on May 1, 2007, and said if he were elected President, he would create a new international organization known as the “League of Democracies” (LD). In advancing the LD, McCain said, “We should go further and start bringing democratic peoples and nations from around the world into one common organization, a worldwide League of Democracies.” He then added, “The new League of Democracies would form the core of an international order . . .” See McCain’s speech to the Hoover Institution at: http://www.cfr.org/publication/13252/ If McCain and his CFR buddies get their way, this new LD would be a United Nations on steroids! As I said all over America on the campaign trail in 2008, “John McCain is a globalist.” Of course, so is Barack Obama. In fact, every President since (and including) George H.W. Bush has been a full-fledged, rotten-to-the-core globalist. And, yes, this is the same John McCain who was one of the primary movers and shakers (along with Obama, Lindsey Graham, and G.W. Bush) who attempted (and would again) to provide amnesty to illegal aliens and open America’s borders to illegal immigration. And now McCain wants the federal government to take over the vitamin industry, and he wants to give the federal government the power to jail American citizens indefinitely without trial. The citizens of Arizona can do the American people–and liberty itself–a great favor this year by giving Senator John McCain his walking papers. Big-Government dinosaurs like McCain are an albatross around the neck of freedom and constitutional government. If we don’t send them packing now, the shackles they put around our throats will become insufferable.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21265
__label__wiki	0.844855	0.844855	Category Archives: Peter Parker THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN™ Swings onto Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD with UltraViolet™ on Friday, November 9th Posted on September 6, 2012 by cinemaic under Aunt May, Blockbuster, Blu-Ray, Columbia Pictures, Coming to Blu-Ray & DVD, DVD, Marvel, New York, Peter Parker, Sony, Soon on Blu-Ray, Spiderman, Summer Movie, Super Hero, Uncle Ben I would please like to begin by saying “The Amazing Spiderman” is truly a work of ART! Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful that Sam Raimi was able to bring his vision of Spiderman to life but however it does not compare to Marc Webb‘s “The Amazing Spiderman”. The Marc Webb production is far superior from casting Andrew Garfield in the title role to the 3D Special Effects. Few fun facts you should know if you have not seen the film yet. 1. Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield were romantically linked when shooting the Film making the loves scenes a bit more intense and believeble. 2. Andrew Garfield was a Gymnist growing up. 3. Mr. Garfield performed most of his own stunts in the film. Andrew Garfield’s Spiderman was more on a Wire/Harness than CGI, that is why there are many scenes of Spiderman unmasked. The Camera work and the 3D special effects are outstanding! For a moment I thought the Antenna on the Empire State Building was going to hit me in of the the awesome 3D scenes. It is very safe to say the The Amazing Spiderman is a SPECTACULAR film that you will love to watch over and over again!!! THIS IS A MUST OWN!!!!!!!!! “It’s the best Spider-Man yet. A brilliant reimagining of an epic franchise. I can’t wait to see it again.”– Marlow Stern, Newsweek “Emma and Andrew are wonderful together.” –Carrie Keagan, VH1 $700 Million Worldwide Box Office Hit Swings onto Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD with UltraViolet™ on Friday, November 9th Directed by Marc Webb Starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN™ Loaded with Hours of Bonus Features, Including 90 Minutes of Behind-the-Scenes Documentaries, Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentary, and More Blu-ray Exclusive “Amazing Spider-Man Second Screen App” Featuring Full Movie Sync Option with Director’s Notebook Including Additional Interviews, Pre-Visualization Sequences, Production Timeline, and More Blu-ray 3D™ Disc Exclusive Bonus Content Includes Interactive 3D 101 with Marc Webb and 3D Scene Progression Reel CULVER CITY, CALIF. (September 4, 2012) – One of themost beloved and iconic super heroes of all time reemerges in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN™,debuting on Blu-ray™/DVD Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D™ Combo Pack, DVD, and a Limited Edition Gift Set with collectible Spider-Man and Lizard figurines, all with UltraViolet™, on Friday, November 9th from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Presented forthe first time in at-home 3D, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN tells the story of teenage Peter Parker, who grapples with both high school and amazing super-human crises as his alter-ego Spider-Man battles The Lizard. Directed by Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer), THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN stars Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) as Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man, and Emma Stone (The Help) as Gwen Stacy. The film also features Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill) as Dr. Curt Connors, a.k.a. The Lizard, Denis Leary (TV’s “Rescue Me”) as Captain Stacy, Campbell Scott (TV’s “Damages”) as Richard Parker, and Irrfan Khan (Slumdog Millionaire) as Rajit Ratha. Rounding out the all-star cast are Martin Sheen (TV’s “The West Wing”) as Uncle Ben and two-time Academy Award® winner for Best Actress, Sally Field (Norma Rae, 1979; Places in the Heart, 1984), as Aunt May. The Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack comes with three discs: Disc one is a Blu-ray containing the feature film, as well as the “Amazing Spider-Man Second Screen App,” which can be used with the Sony Tablet™ S, Xperia Tablet™ S and iPad. The App syncs with the film as it plays in “Timeline” mode and features “Production” mode allowing users to “sling” content from their tablets to the TV screen for a greater and more interactive HD experience. Content includes interviews, storyboards, concept art, pre-visualization sequences, stunt rehearsals, and more. Disc two is a Blu-ray featuring 90 minutes of behind-the-scenes documentaries, taking viewers behind the scenes of the development and direction of the film, casting, costumes, location shoots, visual effects, and more. Disc three is a DVD that includes the feature film, as well as stunt rehearsals and deleted scenes, The Oscorp Archives, an image gallery featuring production art stills, and audio commentary with director Marc Webb, and producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach. In addition to the three discs of content in the Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, the Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack contains a fourth disc featuring the film in 3D. Exclusive to the Blu-ray 3D is also an image progression reel and the “3D 101 with Marc Webb” featurette, providing a look at the 3D techniques used for the film and allowing viewers to toggle through three scenes from the film at different levels of 3D. The Limited Edition Gift Set, available at select retailers, comes with collectible Spider-Man and Lizard figurines, in addition to the 4-disc Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN™ is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May(Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. When Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero. Based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN was directed by Marc Webb from the screenplay by James Vanderbilt and Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves, and a story by James Vanderbilt. Stan Lee, Kevin Feige and Michael Grillo served as executive producers, with Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach as producers. Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Special Features: Disc 1: 2D Blu-ray feature film The Amazing Spider-Man Second Screen App, including interviews, storyboards, alternate takes, costume tests, pre-visualization sequences and more. Allows you to “sling” content from your tablet to the TV. Disc 2: 2D Blu-ray featuring 90 Minutes of Behind-the-Scenes Documentaries, including: o Development and Direction o Casting o Costumes o On Location: LA o On Stage: Sony Studios o On Location: NY o Post Production and Release 16 Pre-Visualization Sequences Disc 3: DVD feature film Filmmaker Audio Commentary The Oscorp Archives – Production Art Gallery Stunt Rehearsals Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack Special Features: All of the 3-Disc Combo Pack Special Features plus… Disc 1: 3D Blu-ray 3D versions of the film 3D 101 with Director Marc Webb 3D Image Progression Reel Disc 3: 2D Blu-ray featuring 90 Minutes of Behind-the-Scenes Documentaries Limited Edition Gift Set Special Features: All of the 4-Disc Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Special Features plus… Collectible Amazing Spider-Man Figurine Collectible Lizard Figurine The Amazing Spider-Man has a running time of 136 minutes and is rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence. “Academy Award®” is the registered trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Marvel, and the names and distinctive likenesses of Spider-Man™ and all other Marvel characters: ™ and © 2012 Marvel Entertainment, LLC & its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. ABOUT ULTRAVIOLET UltraViolet is an entirely new way to collect and enjoy your digital entertainment, giving you the power to instantly access your movies and TV shows with unprecedented flexibility. For more information, visit www.uvvu.com. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) is a Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) company. SPE is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 159 countries. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/ 4 Must-Wear Shades From The Amazing Spider-Man Collection (bellasugar.com) Jimmy Aquino and The Amazing Spider-Man (jimmyaquino.typepad.com) The Amazing Spider-Man: Movie review – Celebrity News (sfluxe.com) Emma Stone’s Style Heats Up as The Amazing Spider-Man Tour Continues (fabsugar.com) The Amazing Spider-Man to become a trilogy (sfluxe.com) Review: The Amazing Spider-Man (metronews.ca) You: ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ Premiers (thedailybeast.com) Andrew Garfield – Andrew Garfield Designed Spider-man’s Skateboard (contactmusic.com) Critics report: New Spider Man is amazing (sfluxe.com) Marc Webb Could Direct ‘Spider-Man’ Sequel If He Agrees To New Fox Deal (splashpage.mtv.com) The Amazing Spiderman Now in Theaters!!!!! Posted on June 7, 2012 by cinemaic under Aunt May, Marvel, New York, Peter Parker, Sony, Spiderman, Super Hero, Uncle Ben One of the world’s most popular characters is back on the big screen as a new chapter in the Spider-Man legacy is revealed in The Amazing Spider-Man™. Focusing on an untold story that tells a different side of the Peter Parker story, the new film stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, with Martin Sheen and Sally Field. The film is directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay written by James Vanderbilt, based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad, and Matt Tolmach are producing the film in association with Marvel Entertainment for Columbia Pictures, which will open in theaters everywhere in 3D on July 3, 2012. The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero. 4-Minute ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ Preview Features a Potentially Classic Spidey Scene (slashfilm.com) New Clip from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN with Emma Stone (geektyrant.com) THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN – New Badass Full Trailer Released! (geektyrant.com) The Amazing Spider-Man – New Trailer (films.ie) New Clip from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Features Some Gwen Stacy Heroics (collider.com) New Clip from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Highlights Practical Swinging Effects (collider.com) Emma Stone Present’s New Clip From THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (adventureamigos.net) New Images from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Provide Clear Look at The Lizard (collider.com) Watch the 4-Minute “Super Preview” for THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (collider.com) New “Amazing Spider-Man” Trailer Arrives (comicbookresources.com) “God Made Enemies” Watch Spectacular New Extended THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN TV Spot (thepeoplesmovies.com) The Amazing Spider-Man – Trailer #3 (kineda.com) New Images from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (collider.com) THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN – Australian Trailer with New Footage (geektyrant.com)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21266
__label__wiki	0.863012	0.863012	Basketball players Hockey players MMA fighters Soccer players Tennis players Rest in peаce Different-colored ---Day--- 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ---Month--- January February March April May June July August September October November December ---Death day--- 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ---Death month--- January February March April May June July August September October November December Craig Ferguson Home > Music > Singers 1 people voted 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) Compare your height to Craig David Your height in cm: Your height in ft: ft inches Craig David is 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) tall The difference in height is 178 cm or 5 ft 10 inches Who is Craig David? Craig David is Britain’s most gifted contemporary R&B singer by the version of “The Telegraph”. Early Accomplishments His debuting album “Born to Do It” appeared on the top of the charts and brought him an immediate success. This record became the fastest selling album ever by a British male solo act. Best Known For “This is the Girl” and “What’s Your Flava” are just a few of his most popular and world-famous songs. He conquered everybody by his sincerity on stage and the rhythm that cannot be forgotten. “The Independent” deservedly named him as one of Britain’s best pop stars. Craig himself said that his music is “a time stamp for a lot of people’s lives”. “Following My Intuition” became his second number one album 16 years after “Born to Do It”. Religion Beliefs He is a supporter of Judaism. The star does not talk much about his religious views. The singer is straight. He had romantic relationships with Aida Yespica from 2004 to 2006. He also went out with Sofía Vergara in 2003. Worth To Known He likes trainers, no, he adores trainers. There’s nothing he loves more than a pair of new sneakers. “That box fresh smell is incredible…I put them in a special cupboard in my dressing room. I’m excessive but never too excessive.” – The man shared. In 2008, he received a degree as Doctor of Music by Southampton Solent University. As a child, David was overweight and suffered of bullies. Later he became visiting gym and now looks amazing. His favorite film is “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and the star loves chocolate as well. Jack Gilinsky Harry Connick Jr. Share your thoughts about Craig David Suggest a Craig David Update Compareceleb © 2016-2019 All rights reseved All vital information and statistics like height, weight, shoe or bra size measurements have been sourced from newspapers, books, resumes or social media. Add yourself to our site	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21274
__label__cc	0.622012	0.377988	CONCORD Sweden is a platform made up of 68 Swedish civil society organisations. Together we work for a more just and sustainable world by influencing Swedish and European foreign and development policies. Our vision is a sustainable world without poverty and injustice, where politics promote equity, gender equality and responsibility for future generations, and where every person lives a dignified life on equal terms, free from poverty and discrimination. CONCORD Sweden unites a diverse group of organisations consisting of hundreds of thousands engaged citizens, making us a powerful voice for global development. We want to influence politicians to formulate policies that improve the world. CONCORD Sweden also monitors whether the leaders of Sweden and the EU live up to their commitments on human rights and global sustainable development. We always focus our advocacy efforts towards political decision-making at the level where it will have the most impact. Since many of the issues we work with are affected by EU policies, our active participation as a national platform within CONCORD Europe is essential to our work. We are one of the 28 national platforms and 23 international networks that make up CONCORD Europe, the European confederation of Relief and Development non-governmental organisations, which gathers in total 2600 European development organisations. CONCORD Sweden works with SIx Prioritized Issues: The 2030 Agenda and policy coherence for development The 2030 Agenda with its 17 global goals for sustainable development is a unique agreement between the nations of the world about eradicating poverty and creating a sustainable development globally. Sweden and the EU have through the agenda and previous commitments promised that all policies should be coherent with, and not go against, the work for a sustainable development in the world. Civil society has an important role in advocating and pushing the leaders of the world to go from promises to action. CONCORD Sweden monitors how well Sweden and the EU live up to their promises. We also give recommendations about what policies are needed to most efficiently achieve a sustainable development built on human rights. CONCORD Sweden and CONCORD Europe have published several reports on the issue, find some of them in English below: Champions to be? Making the 2030 Agenda a reality (2017) – This report examines the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Liberia, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Timor-Leste and Tunisia, as well as gives key recommendations for the future. The countries are part of the High-Level Group that the Swedish prime minister and heads of state and government from the other eight countries set up in 2015. The group committed itself to leading efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda globally, at all levels of society. This is the second review of the work of the group. A 10 point roadmap for Europe – on the role of the private sector in development (2017) – In this report, CONCORD Europe suggests ten steps European politicians need to take in order to ensure that the private sector plays a positive role in sustainable global development. Sustainable development – the stakes could not be higher (2016) – This report from CONCORD Europe analyzes the EU’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda and policy coherence on sustainable development by showing examples of how EU acts within different political issues, for instance migration and economic policies. Champions to be? Making the 2030 Agenda a reality (2016) – This report examines the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Liberia, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Timor-Leste and Tunisia, as well as gives key recommendations for the future. The countries are part of the High-Level Group that the Swedish prime minister and heads of state and government from the other eight countries set up in 2015. The group committed itself to leading efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda globally, at all levels of society. This is the first review of the group. Spotlight reports – These reports by CONCORD Europe, the latest published in 2015, also examines how well the EU has committed to its promise of policy coherence on sustainable development. For questions on this issue, contact policy and advocacy coordinator Sofia Svarfvar, phone: +46 70 673 85 79, e-mail: sofia.svarfvar@concord.se Increasing xenophobia and racism are deeply worrying trends in Europe today. More harsh and inhumane migrations policies gain influence within the EU as well as in Sweden and other member states. To change this worrying development CONCORD Sweden works to influence politicians in Sweden and at the EU level to stand up for and defend human rights for migrants and refugees. The fact that aid is used to stop migration instead of helping people out of poverty and oppression can never be accepted. Partnership or Conditionality (2018) – How does the EU spend and allocate money in Africa when it comes to migration? Is the money used for development purposes? Do they help migrants and refugees? These are some of the questions asked and answered in this report by CONCORD Europe, which contains three country case studies: Libya, Niger and Ethiopia. English summary of the Civil society declaration for a feminist foreign policy (2018) – Ahead of the Swedish parliamentary election in 2018, we hope that all Swedish political parties see the importance and value of a continued feminist foreign policy for Sweden. Therefore, CONCORD Sweden has written the Civil society declaration for a feminist foreign policy where one chapter addresses Sweden’s refugee and migration policies. English summary of the report How feminist is Sweden’s foreign policy? (2017) – In this report CONCORD Sweden analyzes the implementation of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy in 2016-2017, one of the chapters focusing on Sweden’s policy on migration and refugees. For questions on this issue, contact policy and advocacy coordinator Céline Giertta, phone: +46 70 413 44 11, e-mail: celine.giertta@concord.se EU and Swedish aid International aid is a global responsibility based on the equal value of all human beings. Sweden and the EU have made important commitments about giving international aid in order to fight poverty and oppression. CONCORD Sweden monitors and influences these policies to ensure that aid is used efficiently, is based on human rights and contributes to a sustainable development. Aid has a unique role to play in reducing poverty and creating a sustainable, democratic development. AidWatch 2017: EU aid uncovered – how to reach the target on time – The EU could take a generation to meet its 0.7 % GNI-target at the current rate of growth, reveals the CONCORD AidWatch Report 2017. While 2016 saw a substantial increase of 27% in development spending, there has also been a relatively dramatic increase in reporting of inflated aid, such as in-donor costs or debt relief. Previous AidWatch reports – Since 2005, development NGOs from all 28 EU countries have come together every year through the AidWatch initiative to produce the annual AidWatch report. The reports monitor and make recommendations on the quality and quantity of aid provided by EU members states and the European Commission. For questions on this issue, contact policy and advocacy coordinator Åsa Thomasson, phone: +46 73 514 17 52, e-mail: asa.thomasson@concord.se Civic space Organisations and activists that defend human rights, democracy and the environment are key actors to reach the Global goals for sustainable development. But the space for civil society to act is shrinking around the world. Actors in civil society face increasing social, financial and legal restrictions as well as threats against themselves and their families and even physical violence. Sweden and the EU have promised to strengthen their work to stop the shrinking civic space. CONCORD Sweden works to improve policies in Sweden and the EU in order to revoke the trend of shrinking civic space and strengthen support to human rights and environment defenders under threat. CONCORD Sweden has published a report on the issue, read an english summary below: English summary of the report Make space! Defending civic space and freedom of association and assembly (2018) – Organisations and activists that defend human rights, democracy and the environment are indispensable partners in implementing the 2030 Agenda with the Global Goals for Sustainable Development. But their space to act is shrinking on a global scale. This summary gives an outline of the recommendations put forward in the report by CONCORD Sweden. Women, girls and non-binary people all over the world are subjected to structural oppression and face discrimination and violence. Gender equality is necessary to eradicate poverty, build sustainable peace and achieve sustainable development globally. CONCORD Sweden monitors and influences the foreign and development policies of Sweden and the EU to promote gender equality and the equal rights of all human beings. English summary of the Civil society declaration for a feminist foreign policy (2018) – Ahead of the Swedish parliamentary election in 2018, we hope that all Swedish political parties see the importance and value of a continued feminist foreign policy for Sweden. Therefore, CONCORD Sweden has written the Civil society declaration for a feminist foreign policy where we describe the greatest challenges, give our definition of and recommendations for a feminist foreign policy. English summary of the report How feminist is Sweden’s foreign policy? (2017) – When Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström launched the feminist foreign policy in 2014 it was a brave move and a very important political statement. Since then, we have witnessed several backlashes for women’s, girls’ and LGBTQ-rights across the globe. This has made Sweden’s feminist foreign policy more important than ever. In this report CONCORD Sweden analyzes the implementation of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy in 2016-2017 and gives recommendations for the future. For questions on this issue, contact policy and advocacy coordinator Jessica Poh-Janrell, phone: +46 70 413 44 11, e-mail: jessica.janrell@concord.se The European Union is a leading global aid donor which funds many different projects. CONCORD Sweden provides information and support to our member organisations on how to apply for and manage EU funding for development aid and development education/awareness raising. For more information, contact our EU funding advisor and coordinator Madeleine Winqvist, phone: +46 70-722 58 28, e-mail: madeleine.winqvist@concord.se CONCORD Sweden is open to membership for any Swedish civil society organisation, non-profit association, foundation or umbrella organisation that support the aim of CONCORD Sweden. Contact director Magnus Falklöf for questions about membership, phone: +46 8-648 99 44, e-mail: magnus.falklof@concord.se For any other questions or more information, contact info@concord.se Address: Högbergsgatan 31 A, 116 20 Stockholm	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21277
__label__wiki	0.731452	0.731452	Judge: Church may stay at Purchase, leader must go The Journal News/April 17, 1999 By Bill Varner NEW YORK -- U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon has ruled that the controversial New York City Church of Christ can resume holding services at Purchase College but that the school's suspension of a leader of the church's Bible study group is justified. It was a 53-page, split decision by McMahon on dual motions for preliminary injunctions against the college. Andrea Lark and the church, a branch of the International Churches of Christ, which has been called a cult, are suing Purchase College in U.S. District Court in White Plains. The complaint, filed Jan. 12, alleged the college violated their Constitutional rights by prohibiting the church's Westchester congregation from meeting on the campus and by suspending Lark for violating the college's community standards of conduct. Lark, a 28-year-old junior from Fairfield, Conn., was suspended in July for allegedly "intimidating ... harassing ... and detaining" a member of the Bible study group. The church's Westchester congregation was told in October that it could not continue to rent the school's Performing Arts Center. It was the first such lawsuit brought by the church or one of its branches. The ICC reports 150,000 members in 153 countries. A spokesman for state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, whose office is handling the case on behalf of Purchase College, declined comment. Ilann Maazel, an attorney representing Lark and the church, said the plaintiffs are "considering all possibilities." McMahon ruled that a "preponderance of credible evidence" showed Lark kept the student on campus against her will. However, she also ruled the college failed to demonstrate that Lark was guilty of violating three other standards of conduct. McMahon also wrote that revocation of the church's arts center contract was "an exercise in content-based discrimination."	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21282
__label__wiki	0.741454	0.741454	J. S. Bach and the celebration of the Reformation Hearing Bach's Passions By Daniel R. Melamed October 31st 2017 The figure most closely identified with the Protestant Reformation is, of course, Martin Luther. But after him probably comes Johann Sebastian Bach, who spent much of his musical career in the service of Luther’s church. As the world marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation on 31 October 2017, we can remember that Bach and his contemporaries also took careful note of Reformation anniversaries, commemorating them in liturgy and music. The year 1755 saw the two hundredth anniversary of the Peace of Augsburg, the 1555 agreement between Lutherans and the Holy Roman Emperor that put an end to confessional war, at least for a time. Bach, who died in 1750, did not live to see this commemoration, but he had his say–Leipzig churches heard a performance of his cantata “Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort” BWV 126 (“Uphold us, Lord, by your word”), which takes one of Luther’s hymns as its starting point. A couple of decades earlier, 1730, had seen the anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, the articles of Lutheran faith presented to the Holy Roman Emperor on 25 June 1530. The Augsburg Confession was a living document to Lutherans in Bach’s time, having been incorporated into the so-called Book of Concord that reconciled several strains of reformed Christianity. Bach, as a condition of his employment as a church musician in Leipzig, was examined on its theological content and had to sign a statement of his adherence to it. The two hundredth anniversary in 1730 was observed in Leipzig with three days of religious celebration, a duration that put it on par with Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost–the principal feasts of the year. Bach performed a cantata on each of the three days: “Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied” BWV 190a (“Sing to the Lord a new song”), “Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille zu Sion” BWV 120b (“God you are praised in the stillness of Zion”), and “Wünschet Jerusalem Glück” BWV Anh. 4a (“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem”). Complete printed texts for these works survive but no musical sources, though some of the music is known from Bach’s use of it in other works. Another famous piece connected to the Augsburg Confession is Felix Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony, composed for the tercentennial in 1830 and quoting Luther’s best known hymn, “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” (“A mighty fortress is our God”). One of the earliest printings of Martin Luther’s hymn “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott.” Geistliche Lieder zu Wittemberg (Wittenberg: Josef Klug, 1544), CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 via Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin/Preussischer Kulturbesitz And 1717 marked the two hundredth anniversary of the most famous Reformation event of all–the appearance of Martin Luther’s Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, an academic and theological position paper on the nature of repentance. The publication was elevated in popular church history to the status of a defining moment–Luther’s nailing of his 95 theses on the topic to the Wittenberg church door on 31 October 1517. Modern scholarship tends to understand this as being more like a posting on a bulletin board than the defiant act it sounds like today (there’s a book of popular history called The Reformation: How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World), but the event took on a symbolic role as the beginning of the Lutheran Reformation. In 1717, the anniversary year, Bach was in the last months of his employment at the court of Weimar, where the reigning Duke arranged elaborate commemorations. There is no indication that Bach composed any of the music marking the occasion, perhaps because relations with his employer were fraying. Bach had received an offer for a more prestigious and better-paying job elsewhere, and the tone of his demand for release led to his month-long imprisonment just a few days after the Reformation bicentennial. Even outside the anniversary year, 31 October was celebrated as Reformation Day with a special liturgy throughout Lutheran lands beginning in 1667. Bach composed two cantatas for the occasion: “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” BWV 80, possibly as early as 1724; and “Gott, der Herr, ist Sonn und Schild” BWV 79 (“God, the Lord, is sun and shield”) in 1725. A third cantata may also have been used: the first part of “Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes” BWV 76 (“The heavens tell the glory of God”), originally for a different time of the church year. It is not certain whether the Reformation Day use of this piece took place under Bach or after his lifetime. But whoever adapted it recognized a connection between its opening text from Psalm 19 (“The heavens tell the glory of God, and the skies proclaim the work of his hands; there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard”) and a reading specified for the Reformation Day liturgy: the next verse of the same psalm: “Their sound has gone out into all lands; alleluia.” The topic here—God’s word and its spread—was closely associated with the Reformation. In place of a gospel reading, the Reformation festival called for verses from the Book of Revelations, and they, too, take up this theme, “Then I saw an angel flying through the heavens, who had an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on earth, and all nations, tribes, languages and peoples.” To Lutherans, the annual celebration of Reformation Day represented this proclamation of God’s word anew, and texts on this topic were especially appropriate. Bach’s cantata “Gott, der Herr, ist Sonn und Schild” BWV 79, composed in 1725, was intended for Reformation Day from the start. Its festive scoring with two horns and drums reflect the high solemnity of the feast, and its opening psalm chorus of praise is also fitting. One of its arias refers explicitly to God’s word, the familiar Reformation topic, and promises praise “even though the enemy rages hard against us.” This theme, the threat from enemies, appears several times in the cantata and relates to another Reformation Day topic: the vulnerability of the Lutheran Church, persecuted (in its view) by the Pope. Bach’s other work for Reformation Day, “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” BWV 80, might be his most famous cantata of all. It centers on Martin Luther’s hymn, whose four verses appear in the work in various musical guises. It, too, invokes the theme of protection from enemies. In fact this topic runs through the first three stanzas of the hymn, cast in military terms: a mighty fortress, weapons and arsenals, the field of battle, the defeat of the enemy. This theme is reflected musically in two movements whose agitated violin lines were a conventional eighteenth-century emblem of battle—a musical representation of the way Lutherans saw themselves in the world. The military topic of the cantata’s music was reinforced by Bach’s eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann, who made Latin-language adaptations of two chorale movements, not surprisingly for the celebration of a military victory. He added trumpets and drums to his father’s compositions; these instruments, which never had anything to do with J. S. Bach’s Reformation Day cantata, were mistakenly incorporated back into “Ein feste Burg” in the nineteenth century, and this is the form in which the piece became famous. Eighteenth-century Lutherans took such careful note of Reformation anniversaries in part because confessional tensions were still in the air even after two centuries. When Bach’s cantata 126 was heard in Leipzig at the 1755 commemoration of the Peace of Augsburg, its opening movement strikingly retained the original words of Martin Luther’s hymn: “Preserve us, Lord, by your word/And control the murderousness of Pope and Turk.” This was despite ecclesiastical instructions not to sing this hymn or “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” at anniversary celebrations that year, in the hope that confessional strife might be kept to a minimum. But staunchly Lutheran Leipzig, ever wary, used Bach’s music to make a statement as it observed the anniversary of a central event of Luther’s Reformation. Featured Image Credit: “Luther posting his 95 theses in 1517” by Ferdinand Willem Pauwels. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons. Daniel R. Melamed is professor of Music at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and is author of Hearing Bach’s Passions for general readers. His new book, also for general readers, is Listening to Bach: the Mass in B Minor and Christmas Oratorio, and will appear in 2018.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21285
__label__cc	0.520793	0.479207	The Constant Quest for Equilibrium Anton Muskeev (Senior Game Designer) April 16, 2015 Balancing an MMO, and World of Warplanes in particular, is a constant process that aims to create equal conditions for all players, while maintaining variety and attractiveness of the overall gameplay. Today we want to begin a new series, looking at how we see balance in our game, how it changed in the past and how it will evolve in the future. The first part of this series, written by Battle Balance team lead Anton Muskeev, illustrates how many factors the balancing team takes into account when trying to fine-tune the planes, shooting mechanisms, physics and many other aspects that make up our game. Let’s first establish what balance is to us. Here in the game balancing department, we are responsible for adjusting the values of all aircraft as individual subjects, including all of their possible configurations, for all types of players in all our supported regions. Each configuration of each aircraft consists of multiple combinations of modules, weapons, equipment, ammunition and crew skills. When looking at all these factors, you receive a somewhat oblique average stat value that is difficult to decipher. In these cases we turn to more obvious stats that usually paint a clearer picture. However, it’s not always what you’d think. For balancing for example, it’s not necessarily the win ratio – the stat that most people think about when aiming to determine the overall efficiency of a plane. When you look at it closely, you realise that the win ratio is largely dependent on the team setup that you happen to be playing in: the types of participating planes, their tiers and their classes have a very strong influence on the outcome of your battle. At the same time, these factors can vary strongly dependent on the time of day, the number of people playing, if there have been new planes introduced into the game recently, how the matchmaker works and so on and so forth. If we had the ability to pair up each player in teams where for each participant there were an absolutely equal counterpart, flying the same plane, on the same configuration with the same crew skills, then, regardless of the flight characteristic of the plane or the player’s personal skill the win ratio would always hover around 50%. In fact, it would be a bit lower, because you have to account for some of the battles that end in a draw. That’s why the win ratio is not a perfect factor to look at when trying to determine the game balance, which is why we need to look elsewhere. Let’s look at what balancing of a plane is. Each plane is subject to balancing. Let’s take a simple example in which every player has access to only one configuration for each plane. For arguing’s sake, let’s pretend that everybody is bound to only use Premium planes without the ability to strap on additional equipment, special ammunition or use sophisticated crew skills. Everybody starts out with the same conditions. Here’s where already a lot of factors come into play that disturb the precious equilibrium. All the planes are matched into separate teams, consisting of players with different skill levels. Each team battles differently. Every battle involved planes of different tiers. After each battle, the players receive rewards based on their performance. Using these rewards, players can unlock new planes and receive access to new parts of the game. We have many planes in the game that are split into tiers, branches and nations. And all of this needs to be calibrated in a way, so that nobody is at an inherent disadvantage. That’s the job of the game balancing department. Let’s start at the highest level. Ideally, players should be able to research and purchase newly unlocked aircraft from different branches and nations at the same pace. The player is supposed to be able to comfortably reach new branches and pursue them to the very top, staying invested in the process all throughout. To achieve this, the player needs to receive a balanced amount of XP and credits for participation in battle. We need to make sure that our economy model applies as planned. That means: the higher the tier, the more XP is required. Consequently this means, that the economic balance and researching balance depends on the speed at which the player receives XP or credits. Another benchmark for balancing is how well the necessary population across tiers is met in-game. In other words: If there are enough players in the game available for the matchmaker to be able to assemble battles for each level. Most MMOs have the majority of players playing at the lower tiers, while fewer, albeit enough for proper matchmaking, play on high tiers. In the case of World of Warplanes, this is, unfortunately, not entirely the case. However, it is also important to note that players won’t climb to the higher tiers, if they don’t see a reason for it. That’s why in MMOs progression unlocks new features and options for those, who choose to play at the summit of what’s possible. In World of Tanks for example, players bear with the unforgiving Tier X-economy because, in return, they’ll be rewarded with the possibility to play on the Global Map and Clan Wars. Ok, let’s assume that we have enough players on all levels. This is where the matchmaker comes in. It is tasked with assembling balanced teams consisting of equal numbers of planes of different tiers and classes, based on the overall level of the battle. It is also important that the matchmaker assembles the classes according to the proportions that we had in mind when designing the battles, in order not to have too many one-sided teams but rather a controlled level of variety. That means we’re looking at the balance of tiers and classes when dissecting what planes ultimately end up in a battle. If there are specific player groups present, as is made possible by the Flight feature, the matchmaker needs to account for that balance too, trying to keep the same number of flights per team. That means that flight balance is also a factor that needs to be considered when looking at the overall balancing picture. Additionally, it’s important to know that, on average, different types of players appear in the player pool at different times of day. Battles played against regular players during lunch time are significantly different to battles that are made up of hardened and Flight-connected ace-pilots, who stalk their prey during hour-long night hunting sessions. Let’s continue. The balancing of teams happens based on three main criteria: tiers, flights and classes. However, when assembling the teams, it’s not, as one might think, all about only planes but also about the map and the chosen game mode. The spawning points, elevation of the map, positioning of clouds, objects and AA guns – all of this also influences the main goal of each battle mode: winning. Depending on the rules of the game mode and its inherent rules (destroying opposing planes, capture positions, availability of re-spawns, repair or power-ups), the path to victory can be quite different. That’s where the balancing of the game mode and the arena or – more simply put – the map comes in. The main objective of this kind of balancing is to ensure equal chances to achieve the game mode’s goals regardless of the setup of the remaining team. These goals can be the collection of superiority points, destruction of enemy planes, ground objects or, ultimately, the victory and the acquisition of the appropriate amount of game resources (credits, xp, etc.). Balancing also needs to take into account that all classes need to be equally useful and important on each of the randomly-selected battle arenas. Now it’s time to look at the planes themselves. Don’t forget that, for the purposes of understanding, we look at each plane with only one, primary configuration. If the matchmaker doesn’t use completely ‘mirrored’ teams, the players flying some of the aircraft of a particular class can have an advantage over the players of the other team due to the superior flight characteristics of their specific aircraft. To us, that’s admissible as long as all the planes remain equally useful to their respective teams (based on the role they play) and as long as the planes still meet the expectations of the players piloting them. The next point is very important too: There’s absolutely no need for a plane that nobody flies, just like there’s no use in a plane that everybody flies. This part of balancing is something that we have little control over. It’s usually the players themselves who determine the usage quantities of each plane. By choosing your plane, you vote for what’s popular. At this point it is our job to give the players the freedom to choose from a wide variety of aircraft, while at the same time avoiding that everybody picks the same. The popularity of a plane is also a benchmark for how well it is balanced. Usually players pick their planes based on what plane offers the best compromise between its weaknesses and strengths, their personal preferences in terms of the nation of the plane, and what other planes follow an aircraft higher up the tech tree that the player is trying to get to. Going even deeper into the subject, we of course have to acknowledge that aircraft can have multiple module configurations from stock to top, the ability to install additional equipment pieces, ammunition and even the capacity to train the pilots that fly them. And, lastly, you also have to take into account the player himself, who can be more or less skilled at the game, have different connection speeds to the server and be in different physical states (one being fit and ready and some other playing tired and over-exhausted). Apart from you, there are 29 other of such players in each battle that the matchmaker assembles. All of these factors lead to a very varied situation at the beginning of each battle, which only continues to diversify as the battle progresses. We think that that’s good – because change and variety is inherent to all life and also to games. So with all this in mind, how do we manage to balance planes in the end? We look at a multitude of factors and draw our conclusions from that. As such we observe different configurations of planes, groups of players with different skills, and assess from that the popularity of a plane, how much damage it’s capable to dish out, how many planes or ground targets it can destroy, how many superiority points, XP and credits players earn on it, and many other metrics. Additionally, we also take into account our community’s subjective opinion on planes, which shows through their feedback from the forum or other media, super tests, special balancing tests or the personal feedback of our game balancing specialists during their obligatory sorties on each aircraft that needs adjusting or qualifying. We almost never rely on average values of one key metric to assess a plane and always try to look at multiple key metrics together to determine a warbird’s final efficiency. To sum all of the above up, it’s clear that balance is something very complex that is not very tangible and only reveals itself under very careful examination. Pretty much every feature of a game impacts the final balance of it. In the case of video games, where the subjective experience sometimes even overweighs the underlying statistical and technical reality, even the visuals and audio of a plane can influence, how a player perceives the efficiency of a certain aircraft or its armament. In World of Warplanes, the game balancing department acts as a last line of defence, capable of preventing (or affirming) changes that could potentially change the eco-system of the current aircraft power structure in-game. In most cases, we’re able to do just that. Sometimes, we miss something and need to make corrections. We’ve made many adjustments since release already, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. Ultimately, it’s not only the perfect balance that we’re after. We aim to make the game fun, comfortable and as varied a gaming experience as possible. In the future posts of the series we will answer the most popular questions that our players asked us via the forums and other media. Until then – see you in the skies, pilots! Anton Muskeev (Senior Game Designer) Anton Muskeev (Senior Game Designer) June 10, 2015 Balance Q&A: Part 2 We're continuing with Anton Muskeev's answers to the latest questions on balance. You asked us questions about balance — here are the answers! Eugene Pugach (World of Warplanes Evangelist) April 22, 2015 On Flights And Balance Domination of flights has been a cause for discussions for a long time.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21288
__label__wiki	0.564054	0.564054	Climate, Education, Sustainability Students Learn About a Plan to Rehabilitate the Jordan River Valley by Natalie Unwin-Kuruneri\|June 10, 2015 Nine Columbia graduate students landed in Amman, Jordan last Friday night, after over 20 hours of travel, to begin the field study component of the NECR K4160 Regional Environmental Sustainability in the Middle East course. Though exhausted, they were eager to get to the hotel to meet students from Tel Aviv University – who had crossed the border earlier in the day – with whom they would be traveling through Israel and Jordan for the next 13 days. Students in the group represent a mix of nationalities, religions, and life experiences; however, the members share a common passion for environmental sustainability and for learning how countries like Jordan and Israel are cooperating on shared environmental challenges, including water scarcity, the drying up of the Jordan River and the shrinking of the Dead Sea. Since arriving, students have heard from NGOs that are pioneering transboundary efforts to address these environmental problems, and the politicians who will ultimately implement cooperative agreements. In Amman, the students met with Munqeth Mehyar, Jordanian Director of EcoPeace Middle East. EcoPeace brings together Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians to advance both sustainable regional development and the creation of necessary conditions for lasting peace in the region. Mehyar shared the NGO’s vision for rehabilitating the Jordan River – a site of ecological, historical, and religious importance — which has become extremely polluted and has lost more than 96% of its natural flow over the past fifty years. The decrease in flow is due to overuse by Israel, Syria and Jordan, who have diverted freshwater to use for drinking and agriculture. In some cases, water has allegedly been diverted as retaliation for political reasons. Pollution of the river comes from solid waste and wastewater, both from riparian industries and local municipalities. The end result is that less freshwater flows into the river and the water that remains is increasingly polluted. The environmental and economic impacts extend further to the Dead Sea, since the Jordan River is its main source of water. The Dead Sea – the lowest point on Earth — is shrinking by 1 meter each year and is also a site of ecological, economic and touristic importance for both Jordan and Israel. At the invitation of EcoPeace, students had the incredible opportunity to attend an international conference later in the week at the Dead Sea, about how to overcome these environmental problems. At the conference, EcoPeace publically unveiled its Regional Master Plan for Sustainable Development in the Jordan Valley. Attendees included ministers and ambassadors from Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and the European Union, and donors. The plan outlined 127 interventions at a cost of 4.58 million USD through 2050, for rehabilitating the Jordan River. Goals included: eliminating pollution and establishing urban infrastructure; improving the use and efficiencies of water; establishing a governance structure for the Jordan River Valley; and restoring the ecological status of the Jordan River Valley to support tourism and economic development, and to restore its cultural heritage. It was clear from the speeches that it is impossible to separate politics from environmental issues, but the mere presence of such high-level decision makers was testament to a regional commitment to finding joint solutions to these shared problems. Though the plan is built upon several optimistic assumptions, one of which is the creation of a Palestinian state by 2020, it is a strong advocacy tool that is already working to bring the governments of Israel, Palestine and Jordan to the table. This course is jointly offered by Columbia University’s Earth Institute and School of Continuing Education, in partnership with the Porter School of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University. education newsMS in Sustainability Management News FEMA’S Failure and the Catastrophe of Our Federal Government Meet the Students Studying Environmental Issues in the Middle East in 2019	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21289
__label__wiki	0.788038	0.788038	Government by Regulation Death counseling by administrative fiat By Charles Krauthammer http://www.nationalreview.com December 31, 2010 12:00 A.M. Most people don’t remember Obamacare’s notorious Section 1233, which mandated government payments for end-of-life counseling. It aroused so much anxiety as a possible first slippery step on the road to state-mandated late-life rationing that the Senate never included it in the final health-care law. Well, it’s back — by administrative fiat. A month ago, Medicare issued a regulation providing for end-of-life counseling during annual “wellness” visits. It was all nicely buried amid the simultaneous release of hundreds of new Medicare rules. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D.,Ore.), author of Section 1233, was delighted. “Mr. Blumenauer’s office celebrated ‘a quiet victory,’ but urged supporters not to crow about it,” reports the New York Times. Deathly quiet. In early November, his office sent an e-mail plea to supporters: “We would ask that you not broadcast this accomplishment out to any of your list…e-mails can too easily be forwarded.” They had been lucky that “thus far, it seems that no press or blogs have discovered it…The longer this regulation goes unnoticed, the better our chances of keeping it.” So much for Democratic transparency — and for their repeated claim that the more people learn what is in the health-care law, the more they will like it. Turns out ignorance is the Democrats’ best hope. And regulation is their perfect vehicle — so much quieter than legislation. Consider two other regulatory usurpations in just the last few days. On December 23, the Interior Department issued Secretarial Order 3310, reversing a 2003 decision and giving itself the authority to designate public lands as “Wild Lands.” A clever twofer: (1) a bureaucratic power-grab — for seven years up through December 22, wilderness-designation had been the exclusive province of Congress, and (2) a leftward lurch — more land to be “protected” from such nefarious uses as domestic-oil exploration in a country disastrously dependent on foreign sources. The very same day, the president’s Environmental Protection Agency declared that in 2011 it would begin drawing up anti-carbon regulations on oil refineries and power plants, another power grab effectively enacting what Congress had firmly rejected when presented as cap-and-trade legislation. For an Obama bureaucrat, however, the will of Congress is a mere speed bump. Hence this regulatory trifecta, each one moving smartly left — and nicely clarifying what the spirit of bipartisan compromise that President Obama heralded in his post-lame-duck December 22 news conference was really about: a shift to the center for public consumption and political appearance only. On that day, Obama finally embraced the tax-cut compromise he had initially excoriated, but only to avoid forfeiting its obvious political benefit — its appeal to independent voters who demand bipartisanship and are the key to Obama’s reelection. But make no mistake: Obama’s initial excoriation in his angry December 7 news conference was the authentic Obama. He hated the deal. Now as always, Obama’s heart lies left. For those fooled into thinking otherwise by the new Obama of December 22, his administration’s defiantly liberal regulatory moves — on the environment, energy, and health care — should disabuse even the most beguiled. These regulatory power plays make political sense. Because Obama needs to appear to reclaim the center, he will stage his more ideological fights in yawn-inducing regulatory hearings rather than in the dramatic spotlight of congressional debate. How better to impose a liberal agenda on a center-right nation than regulatory stealth? It’s Obama’s only way forward during the next two years. He will never get past the half-Republican 112th what he could not get past the overwhelmingly Democratic 111th. He doesn’t have the votes and he surely doesn’t want the publicity. Hence the quiet resurrection, as it were, of end-of-life counseling. Obama knows he has only so many years to change the country. In his first two, he achieved much: the first stimulus, Obamacare, and financial regulation. For the next two, however, the Republican House will prevent any repetition of that. Obama’s agenda will therefore have to be advanced by the more subterranean means of rule-by-regulation. But this must simultaneously be mixed with ostentatious displays of legislative bipartisanship (e.g., the lame-duck tax-cut deal) in order to pull off the (apparent) centrist repositioning required for re-election. This, in turn, would grant Obama four more years when, freed from the need for pretense, he can reassert himself ideologically and complete the social-democratic transformation — begun Jan. 20, 2009; derailed Nov. 2, 2010 — that is the mission of his presidency. — Charles Krauthammer is a nationally syndicated columnist. © 2010 the Washington Post Writers Group. Labels: Charles Krauthammer, Government Regulation Mike Krzyzewski: 880 wins won't dampen his drive and respect for Dean Smith By John Feinstein http://www.washingtonpost.com Friday, December 31, 2010; 1:06 AM Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski waves to the crowd after Duke's 108-62 win over North Carolina-Greensboro in an NCAA college basketball game in Greensboro, N.C., Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010. Krzyzewski moved past longtime rival Dean Smith into second place on the men's all-time wins list. (AP) GREENSBORO, N.C. - A little more than 24 hours before he went past Dean Smith on the all-time wins list for college basketball coaches, Mike Krzyzewski threw his team out of practice. "I didn't just get angry," he said that afternoon. "I worked my way up to being really angry." All of which may explain, at least in part, why Duke's 108-62 rout of UNC Greensboro on Wednesday night was Krzyzewski's 880th career victory - one more than Smith and 22 fewer than Bob Knight. Soon after telling his players they were soft and spoiled and nowhere close to being ready to play in the ACC, Krzyzewski got on a private plane and flew to Washington to watch a high school junior play. That night he was back on the practice court, giving his players a chance to show him they weren't as soft and spoiled as he had told them they were. At 63, Krzyzewski still gets angry and he's still relentless. He completely understood the significance - especially in the state of North Carolina - of his 880th win because of his respect for Smith and because of how his career at Duke began. "All of that said, I'll be glad when it's over," he said Wednesday afternoon, sitting in his customary seat - second row, right side, next to the window - as the Duke team bus rolled down I-85 to Greensboro. "We're a team in transition right now and there's a lot we have to do before Sunday [the ACC opener against Miami] and going forward to get these guys accustomed to playing without Kyrie [Irving]. Yesterday morning they just weren't getting any of that. "That's why I got angry. I've been blessed with the ability to get angry. Anger is good when you use it to make something better. Most of the time I can do that." Until Irving, the star freshman point guard from New Jersey, seriously injured his big toe on Dec. 4 in a game against Butler, Duke was an overwhelming favorite to win a second straight national title. Without Irving, the Blue Devils are still a deep, talented team but are now one of many that might be good enough to make a deep run in March. Irving's foot is in a cast and will be re-examined next week. The worst-case scenario is surgery, which would end his season. The best case is the toe might heal on its own by the end of the regular season. That's why Krzyzewski is obsessing about recasting his team, because almost every player must play a different role with Irving gone. That's why, as touched as he was by the lengthy ovation he received when the game ended Wednesday evening, he wanted to put it behind him so he could stop talking about Dean Smith and start worrying about Nolan Smith and his ability to run Duke's offense. In advance of the milestone, Krzyzewski said all the right things about Smith - things he truly believes: Smith made him better because he set the bar so high at Chapel Hill, just eight miles down the road from Durham and the program he took over in 1980. He respected Smith because he did things the right way - he won with good kids and took care of his players from the day they set foot on campus. "Dean made my job a lot harder," Krzyzewski said. "He wasn't the only one. Jimmy Valvano won a national championship at [North Carolina] State my third year. Bobby Cremins had a fantastic program at Georgia Tech. Lefty [Driesell] was doing great work and so was Terry Holland. It was an amazing league. But Dean was the benchmark. And because he was so good he forced me to be better." There were people who couldn't stand how good North Carolina was in Smith's heyday and there are people who can't stand how good Duke is now. Several years ago, Smith pointed out that the pressure was tougher on Krzyzewski than it was on him. "There wasn't nearly as much media," he said. "There was no Internet. Every game wasn't on television. I know I wouldn't have enjoyed all the attention the best teams get now. I think Mike handles it very well." Krzyzewski's greatest strength may be his ability to make failure work for him: to learn from it and grow from it. Just before his players got off the bus Wednesday, he showed them a tape of great players and coaches talking about winning championships and what it means. "I showed them this tape before practice yesterday," he said. "They didn't respond to it at all. I want to give them another chance." A couple of hours later, they jumped to a 15-2 lead and never slowed down. When the buzzer sounded, no one had left in spite of the score. Mike Dement, the UNC Greensboro coach who was a volunteer assistant for Krzyzewski in his third season at Duke, walked over to offer congratulations. The two men were standing on almost the exact same spot where Krzyzewski and Smith first shook hands at the end of a game a little more than 30 years ago in the old, early-season Big Four Tournament. North Carolina was about to win, 78-76. The Duke fans were cheering that night, too - glad the game had been close. With his players inbounding with one second on the clock, Smith, who always believed in fast postgame exits, walked briskly to shake Krzyzewski's hand. Looking at the clock, Krzyzewski angrily said, "The game's not over, Dean." As it turned out, in the grand scheme of things, he was right. The game was just beginning. For more from the author, visit www.feinsteinonthebrink.com. Labels: Basketball As Gay Becomes Bourgeois An ironic progressive victory The cast of "Modern Family" gathers 'round the table together in this shot for Emmy magazine's Issue No. 3. So now openly gay soldiers get to fight and die in neocon-imperialist wars too? David Brooks saw such ironic progressive victories coming. In his book Bobos in Paradise, he wrote that everything “transgressive” gets “digested by the mainstream bourgeois order, and all the cultural weapons that once were used to undermine middle-class morality . . . are drained of their subversive content.” Two decades ago, the gay Left wanted to smash the bourgeois prisons of monogamy, capitalistic enterprise, and patriotic values and bask in the warm sun of bohemian “free love” and avant-garde values. In this, they were simply picking up the torch from the straight Left of the 1960s and 1970s, who had sought to throw off the sexual hang-ups of their parents’ generation along with their gray flannel suits. As a sexual-lifestyle experiment, they failed pretty miserably, the greatest proof being that the affluent and educated children (and grandchildren) of the baby boomers have re-embraced the bourgeois notion of marriage as an essential part of a successful life. Sadly, it’s the lower-middle class that increasingly sees marriage as an out-of-reach luxury. The irony is that such bourgeois values — monogamy, hard work, etc. — are the best guarantors of success and happiness. Of course, the lunacy of the bohemian free-love shtick should have been obvious from the get-go. For instance, when Michael Lerner, a member of the anti–Vietnam War “Seattle Seven,” did marry, in 1971, the couple exchanged rings made from the fuselage of a U.S. aircraft downed over Vietnam and cut into a cake inscribed in icing with a Weatherman catchphrase, “Smash Monogamy.” Today Lerner is a (divorced and remarried) somewhat preposterous, prosperous progressive rabbi who officiates at all kinds of marriages — gay and straight — and, like pretty much the entire Left, loves the idea of open gays becoming cogs in the military-industrial complex. The gay experiment with open bohemianism was arguably shorter. Of course, AIDS played an obvious and tragic role in focusing attention on the downside of promiscuity. But even so, the sweeping embrace of bourgeois lifestyles by the gay community has been stunning. ABC’s “Modern Family” characters Cam (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) Nowhere is this more evident — and perhaps exaggerated — than in popular culture. Watch ABC’s Modern Family. The sitcom is supposed to be “subversive” in part because it features a gay couple with an adopted daughter from Asia. And you can see why both liberal proponents and conservative opponents of gay marriage see it that way. But imagine you hate the institution of marriage and then watch Modern Family’s hardworking bourgeois gay couple through those eyes. What’s being subverted? Traditional marriage, or some bohemian identity-politics fantasy of homosexuality? By the way, according to a recent study, Modern Family is the No. 1 sitcom among Republicans (and the third show overall behind Glenn Beck and The Amazing Race) but not even in the top 15 among Democrats, who prefer darker shows like Showtime’s Dexter, about a serial killer trying to balance work and family between murders. Or look at the decision to let gays openly serve in the military through the eyes of a principled hater of all things military. From that perspective, gays have just been co-opted by The Man. Meanwhile, the folks who used Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell as an excuse to keep the military from recruiting on campuses just saw their argument go up in flames. Personally, I have always felt that gay marriage was an inevitability, for good or ill (most likely both). I do not think that the arguments against gay marriage are all grounded in bigotry, and I find some of the arguments persuasive. But I also find it cruel and absurd to tell gays that living the free-love lifestyle is abominable while at the same time telling them that their committed relationships are illegitimate too. Many of my conservative friends — who oppose both civil unions and gay marriage and object to rampant promiscuity — often act as if there’s some grand alternative lifestyle for gays. But there isn’t. And given that open homosexuality is simply a fact of life, the rise of the HoBos — the homosexual bourgeoisie — strikes me as good news. — Jonah Goldberg is editor-at-large of National Review Online and a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. © 2010 Tribune Media Services, Inc. Labels: Jonah Goldberg, Marriage and Family, Media and Culture Why Muslims must look in the mirror By M. ZUHDI JASSER http://www.nypost.com If 2010 was the year America finally woke up to political Islam's ne farious reach on US soil, with luck 2011 will be the year we launch an offensive against it. One way to begin that process is through hearings that Rep. Peter King (R-NY), the new chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, plans to hold on American Muslim radicalization. Attention to this issue offers an opportunity for American Muslims to confront the radicalization problem and provide solutions -- as only they can. My group, the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, believes these hearings will shed light on the diversity of American Muslims, giving our community a chance to step from behind the veil of Muslim victimization and address head-on the need for long-overdue ideological reforms. Peter King: Will hold hearings on "homegrown radicals." Alas, the announcement of the hearings has triggered heated denunciations by groups like ISNA, CAIR and MPAC, which try to deny and obfuscate the connection between "political Islam," or Islamism, and terror. This year, the debate on the development of the Ground Zero mosque brought the discussion of political Islam to the front page of every newspaper. While raucous at times, it provided an opportunity for Muslims who don't toe the line of American Islamist organizations to present an alternative vision for American Muslims -- one based in American values and Muslim reform. Unfortunately, political correctness still too often dominates incidents involving Islamists. This year, the Pentagon released a report on Maj. Nidal Hasan's Fort Hood attack, titled "Protecting the Force: Lessons from Fort Hood." The report was intended to convey to military commanders whatever lessons were learned from the incident, so as to prevent similar attacks in the future. Yet it never mentioned the word Islam or Muslim. Nowhere to be found was any dissection of Hasan's slide into militant Islamism or of his relationship with his homegrown jihadist mentor, Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki. Meanwhile, President Obama and Mayor Bloomberg used the Ground Zero mosque controversy to tell the more than 70 percent of Americans who oppose the mosque that they were either wrong or confused. Discourse over recent arrests of jihadists in Portland and Baltimore focused on Islamist claims of FBI entrapment, rather than overdue introspection and calls for reform. Worries of Muslim victimization still rule the day. Our national inability to discuss religious issues honestly is keeping American Muslims from having to accept the reforms needed to defeat political Islam and bring our faith into modernity. The victimization mantra feeds more Muslim isolation and radicalization. A recent global study by the Pew Research Center showed that Muslims are aligning themselves more and more with Islamism. Of course, most major American Muslim groups, such ISNA, CAIR and MPAC, were built on some strand of that ideology. But knowing where most American Muslims fall in the spectrum of Islamism-vs.-liberalism, as King hopes to find out in his hearings, would be a key step toward counterradicalization. The fact is, we can't go into 2011 without a discernable strategy on how to defeat Islamist radicalization. House hearings on Muslim radicalization would only be the first step toward finally crafting a US offensive against political Islam. Again, only liberty-minded Muslims working from within Muslim communities can counter the narrative of Muslim victimization. But America needs to be unashamed of taking the side of those Muslims who advocate reform against political Islam. In 2011, more Americans need to understand that jihadism is a natural by-product of a political Islam that is incompatible with Western secular democracies based in liberty. America is at war with theocratic Muslim despots who seek the imposition of sharia and don't believe in the equality of all before the law, blind to faith. They detest the association of religious freedom with liberty. We need a coordinated national strategy of offense that gives Muslim youth an Islamic counternarrative, that defends liberty and that separates mosque and state. The idea of the Islamic state must be left for history. It is time to help usher in a modern era for Islam and Muslims. Our national security depends on it. M. Zuhdi Jasser, a physician and a former US Navy lieutenant commander, is the founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. info@aifdemocracy.org Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/why_muslims_must_look_in_the_mirror_g6HY8SYPEtYo8gHubxnNhI#ixzz19bHafmlQ Labels: Islam and The West Muslim Batman [I'm certain that Christian and Jewish Batman will be soon making their appearance in DC Comics. - jtf] Meet the New Batman: An Algerian Muslim Who Saves France from Nazis and Communists by Warner Todd Huston Reality isn’t always very fun. Because of that many people turn to comic books for a little escapism. But there’s escapism and PC indoctrination. Sadly, it appears that DC Comics’ Batman is angling for the latter and not the former. You see, Batman has decided to hire a Muslim to “save France.” First the reality. The country of France is having serious domestic problems between its immigrant Muslim community and those natural-born, European Frenchmen. Immigrants have been rampaging across the country for several years now. Clashes between police and large groups of rioting Muslim youth have wreaked havoc on the Gallic nation. Violence is all too common — it is woefully common for hundreds of cars to be lit afire in these riots and dozens of arrests to be made. It has the country split and frightened. It has gotten so bad in France that in some parts of its cities, those parts controlled by marauding gangs of Muslim youths, whites never enter for fear of their lives. Not only that but not even police dare enter these areas. This dangerous situation does not seem anywhere near being solved. In fact, it’s just getting worse. Now for the fantasy: enter The Batman. DC Comics recently launched a series called “Batman Incorporated.” Essentially, Bruce Wayne (well-known as Batman’s alter ego to comics fans) is cruising the world setting up a “Batman” for major cities across the globe. These Batman figures, though, will not be vigilantes. They will be sanctioned by whatever local police force is in charge of the area in which the new Batman is operating. In the case of Detective Comics number 12 (Part one) and Batman Annual number 28 (Part two), Bruce Wayne has come to Paris, France to find a “French savior.” The story reveals to us a cult-like group that is assassinating France’s fringe political figures. The cult’s goal is to cause unrest and riots to be led by the murdered political figure’s followers. This group hypnotizes its members to kill and then to commit suicide so that the cult cannot be discovered. First a “popular” French union activist “with ties to the French Communist Party” is murdered. Next the leader of a “break-away Neo-Nazi Party” is killed. Then Batman discovers that a “minor diplomat” from Saudi Arabia is targeted. Batman tries to stop the assassination but is too late. Batman turns to a man that he helped police arrest earlier in part one. When first encountered the young man was dressed in a skin-tight, black costume and sported a face mask. Batman arrested him when this man tried to involve himself in some rioting. Batman didn’t know the young masked man was actually trying to stop the riot but later learns of his good intentions. Consequently the Dark Knight decides to put this man to work to help stop the cult that is assassinating French political figures and causing riots. In the course of this story Batman, aka Bruce Wayne, decides that this man should become the French representative of Batman Incorporated. As Wayne styles the man, he’ll be the “French savior.” He ends up calling himself Nightrunner. So what’s wrong with all this? Only that it is completely absurd and so badly misleads people from any understanding of why riots are really going on in France that it almost qualifies as a crime itself. You see, DC Comics has decided that the “French savior,” the French Batman is to be a Muslim immigrant. The character’s name is Bilal Asselah and he is an Algerian Sunni Muslim and an immigrant that is physically fit and adept at gymnastic sport Parkour. Apparently Batman couldn’t find any actual Frenchman to be the “French savior.” The whole situation is a misreading of what ails France. The truth is, neither communist Union members nor “Neo-Nazi” Parties are causing riots in France. Muslims are. Yet DC Comics is absurdly making a Muslim immigrant the “French savior”? This is PCism at its worst. Not only that but it is pretty condescending to France, too. France is a proud nation. Yet DC Comics has made a foreigner the “French savior.” This will not sit well with many Frenchmen, for sure. Nor should it. As DC told the tale of this character’s origin, it badly downplays the seriousness of the actual racial tension in France. In essence, all you get from the story is that “they hate us, and we hate them.” There is no attempt at all to explain the real underlying problem. The true cause of the riots and violence between Frenchmen of European stock and that of immigrant Muslim stock is glossed over as if it doesn’t even exist. DC Comics makes the whole problem as simplistic as mere racism as if that is all there is to it ignoring the fact that Islam is the single most important factor in the strife. Unfortunately, readers of Batman will not be helped to understand what troubles are really besetting France. In this age when Muslim youths are terrorizing the entire country, heck in this age of international Muslim terrorism assaulting the whole world, Batman’s readers will be confused by what is really going on in the world. Through it all DC makes a Muslim in France a hero when French Muslims are at the center of some of the worst violence in the country’s recent memory. But it isn’t surprising for DC, a comic book company that has a character whose creator based it on “corporate greed.” Nor is it surprising in an industry where tea party members are made the enemy of super heroes. For the character based on “corporate greed” look up DC’s Larfleeze character[1] and see the Marvel comic Captain America issue 602 where The Captain makes Tea Partiers into an enemy to America (Marvel later apologized).[2] For that matter, check out the words of the director of the new 2011 Captain America movie who said that his Captain America won’t be a big “flag waver.”[3] Imagine that. Captain America not being that into America. These few examples aren’t the only ones, either. Among many other instances, last April the venerable Archie Comics announced they were adding a gay character[4] and back in 2007 movie makers announced that they intended to remove all mentions of the U.S. military from G.I. Joe (they later relented to a degree).[5] It all adds up to a PCing of the American comic book industry that has been going on for far too long. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larfleeze [2] http://www.publiusforum.com/2010/02/08/marvel-comics-captain-america-says-tea-parties-are-dangerous-and-racist/ [3] http://www.publiusforum.com/2010/07/22/new-captain-america-movie-dear-america-im-just-not-that-into-you/ [4] http://www.publiusforum.com/2010/04/23/gay-archie-comic-character-my-channel-2-news-response/ [5] http://www.publiusforum.com/2007/09/06/hollywood-gi-joe-no-longer-american-soldier-but-an-international-operative/ http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/12/28/racists-batman-muslim-paris/ Posted by jtf at 7:35 AM 1 comment: Links to this post Labels: Islam and The West, Media and Culture The Bell Tells for You Hot Sensations Vs. Cold Facts By Larry Bell, 12.27.10, 10:00 AM ET As 2010 draws to a close, do you remember hearing any good news from the mainstream media about climate? Like maybe a headline proclaiming "Record Low 2009 and 2010 Cyclonic Activity Reported: Global Warming Theorists Perplexed"? Or "NASA Studies Report Oceans Entering New Cooling Phase: Alarmists Fear Climate Science Budgets in Peril"? Or even anything bad that isn't blamed on anthropogenic (man-made) global warming--of course other than what is attributed to George W. Bush? (Conveniently, the term "AGW" covers both.) Remember all the media brouhaha about global warming causing hurricanes that commenced following the devastating U.S. 2004 season? Opportunities to capitalize on those disasters were certainly not lost on some U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change officials. A special press conference called by IPCC spokesman Kevin Trenberth announced "Experts warn global warming likely to continue spurring more outbreaks of intense activity." But there was a problem. Christopher Landsea, a top U.S. expert on the subject, repeatedly notified the IPCC that no research had been conducted to support that claim--not in the Atlantic basin, or in any other basin. After receiving no replies, he publicly resigned from all IPCC activities. And while the press conference received tumultuous global media coverage, Mother Nature didn't pay much attention. Subsequent hurricane seasons returned to average patterns noted historically over the past 150 years, before exhibiting recent record lows with no 2010 U.S. landfalls. Much global warming alarm centers upon concerns that melting glaciers will cause a disastrous sea level rise. A globally viewed December 2005 BBC feature alarmingly reported that two massive glaciers in eastern Greenland, Kangderlugssuaq and Helheim, were melting, with water "racing to the sea." Commentators urgently warned that continued recession would be catastrophic. Helheim's "erratic" behavior reported then was recently recounted again in a dramatic Nov. 13 New York Times article titled "As Glaciers Melt, Science Seeks Data on Rising Seas."[1] Reporters somehow failed to notice that only 18 months later, and despite slightly warmer temperatures, the melting rate of both glaciers not only slowed down and stopped, but actually reversed. Satellite images revealed that by August 2006 Helheim had advanced beyond its 1933 boundary. According to two separate NASA studies, one conducted by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the other by the Langley Research Center, the oceans now appear to be heading into another natural periodic cooling phase within a typical 55- to 70-year dipolar warm/cool pattern. Although Greenland has recently been experiencing a slight warming trend, satellite measurements show that the ice cap has been accumulating snow growth at a rate of about 2.1 inches per year. Temperatures only recently began to exceed those of the 1930s and 1940s when many glaciers were probably smaller than now. (We can't be certain, because satellites didn't exist to measure them.) A recent study conducted by U.S. and Dutch scientists that appeared in the journal Nature Geoscience concluded that previous estimates of Greenland and West Antarctica ice melt rate losses may have been exaggerated by double. Earlier projections apparently failed to account for rebounding changes in the Earth's crust following the last Ice Age (referred to as "glacial isostatic adjustment"). Nils-Axel Morner, head of the Paleogeophysics and Geodynamics department at Stockholm University in Sweden, argues that any concerns regarding rising sea levels are unfounded. "So all this talk that sea level rising, this comes from the computer modeling, not from observations. ... The new level, which has been stable, has not changed in the last 35 years. ... But they [IPCC] need a rise, because if there is no rise, there is no death threat ... if you want a grant for a research project in climatology, it is written into the document that there 'must' be a focus on global warming. ... That is really bad, because you start asking for the answer you want to get." Studies by the International Union for Quaternary Research conclude that some ocean levels have even fallen in recent decades. The Indian Ocean, for example, was higher between 1900 and 1970 than it has been since. Other world climate alarm bells chimed when it was reported in the media that September 2007 satellite images revealed that the Northwest Passage--a sea route between the U.K. and Asia across the top of the Arctic Circle--had opened up for the first time in recorded history. (This "recorded history" dates back only to 1979 when satellite monitoring first began, and it should also be noted that the sea route froze again just a few months later (winter 2007-2008). The Northwest Passage has certainly opened up before. Diary entries of a sailor named Roald Amundson confirm clear passage in 1903, as do those of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Arctic patrol crew that made regular trips through there in the early 1940s. And in February 2009 it was discovered that scientists had previously been underestimating the re-growth of Arctic sea ice by an area larger than the state of California (twice as large as New Zealand). The errors were attributed to faulty sensors on the ice. But these aren't the sorts of observations that most people generally receive from the media. Instead, they present sensational statements and dramatic images that leave lasting impressions of calving glaciers, drowning polar bears and all manner of other man-caused climate calamities. Many intentionally target impressionable young minds and sensitive big hearts with messages of fear and guilt. Take, for example, a children's book called The North Pole Was Here, authored by New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin. It warns kids that some day it may be "easier to sail than stand on the North Pole in summer." Imagine such images through their visualization: How warm it must be to melt that pole way up north. Poor Santa! And Rudolph! Of course it's mostly their parents' fault because of the nasty CO2 they produce driving them to school in SUVs. Lots of grown-ups are sensitive people with big hearts too. Don't we all deserve more from the seemingly infinite media echo chamber of alarmism than those windy speculations, snow jobs and projections established on theoretical thin ice? Weekly columnist Larry Bell is a professor at the University of Houston and author of Climate of Corruption: Politics and Power Behind the Global Warming Hoax, which will be released on Jan. 1, 2011. It can be previewed at: www.climateofcorruption.com.. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/science/earth/14ice.html?_r=1 Labels: Climate Change Kenneth Branagh Talks Thor Kenneth Branagh is hammering away on ‘Thor’ — and those nasty rumors http://herocomplex.latimes.com/ It’s no surprise to learn that back in Ireland, young Kenneth Branagh — who would grow up to direct film adaptations of “Hamlet,” “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Henry V” — fell under the spell of tales about royal family intrigue, ancient rivalry and clanging battlefields. What is unexpected, though, is that epic of obsession was by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, not William Shakespeare. “Growing up, my single comic book passion was Thor,” says the 49-year-old actor and filmmaker who surprised many industry observers by taking on the director’s job on the big-budget adaptation of the Marvel Comics thunder god. “From my time in Belfast as a kid, that’s the first time I came across that comic, really, exclusively, I don’t know why, but it struck a chord. I was drawn to it. I liked all the dynastic drama.” For the uninitiated, the Marvel character Thor first appeared in the August 1962 issue of “Journey into Mystery” (it was a big summer for Marvel — the first Spider-Man comic book hits stands that same month) as an odd mix of Norse myth and Marvel’s distinctive brand of wildly kinetic cosmic melodrama. With his winged helmet, magic hammer and odd old English diction, he fought evil aliens, ancient wizards and costumed crooks and even teamed up with Hercules in Marvel’s no-borders brand of mythology. “Thor,” due in 2011, is filming now in Santa Fe, N.M., and stars newcomer Chris Hemsworth (who played the doomed father of James T. Kirk in last year’s “Star Trek“) will carry the magical hammer of Thor in the film, with Natalie Portman playing his mortal love, Jane Foster. Anthony Hopkins is Odin, Thor’s father, and Tom Hiddleston plays the thunder god’s duplicitous brother, Loki. For both Branagh and upstart Marvel Studios (which arrived with a splash in Hollywood in 2008 with “Iron Man”) the cinematic mash-up of Viking deity and 21st century do-gooder will be a singular challenge in Hollywood’s crowded superhero sector. The story is split between Asgard, the majestic and eternal home of the Norse gods, and the modern world, which Branagh says he views more as an opportunity than a challenge. “Inspired by the comic book world both pictorially and compositionally at once, we’ve tried to find a way to make a virtue and a celebration of the distinction between the worlds that exist in the film but absolutely make them live in the same world,” Branagh said. “It’s about finding the framing style, the color palette, finding the texture and the amount of camera movement that helps celebrate and express the differences and the distinctions in those worlds. If it succeeds, it will mark this film as different…. The combination of the primitive and the sophisticated, the ancient and the modern, I think that potentially is the exciting fusion, the exciting tension in the film.” It was a different sort of tension that put the film in headlines this week. Gatecrasher, a report in the New York Daily News gossip column, quoted unnamed sources that painted a picture of a sour movie set, with Hopkins making it clear to the crew that he thinks little of 26-year-old Hemsworth’s acting skills and Branagh growing frustrated with the Oscar-winning elder’s pessimism and complaints. Hopkins was said to be outraged by the report. The 72-year-old Welsh actor issued this statement: “I am having the time of my life making Thor with Ken and Chris. They have made every day immensely fun and collaborative, and we’re all puzzled that someone would fabricate a story suggesting otherwise. I’m proud to say that Thor has been one of the great experiences of my career.” Branagh, meanwhile, went on at length about the esprit de corps of his cast, which also includes Rene Russo, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson and Stellan Skarsgård. There will also be elements that will move forward with Marvel Studios unprecedented plan to create a unified universe of heroes and stories that spreads across films, including the upcoming Captain America movie in 2011 and “Iron Man 2,” which arrives May 7 as one of the most anticipated movies of 2010. “It’s going very, very well,” Branagh said Wednesday. “We’re in New Mexico now where we have a contemporary Earth part of our story. I guess we’re two-thirds of the way through the story and at this stage of the game what’s surprising and delighting me is the way the cast, the ensemble, has fused together. It’s kind of an interesting combination of very young and very experienced people and the double-up of that, it seems to me, is there is a lot of fire in the movie. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, it doesn’t try to be too solemn.” Branagh made a point to praise Hopkins as ”an extraordinary actor with his Celtic passion and incredible technique” and said he has been a binding force for the film on the set and will do the same on the screen. The cast that plays Asgard’s royal family are “people who can embody larger-than-life characters but retain at the center a natural, recognizable, human dynamic … and these people run the universe.” To read the rest of Geoff Boucher's article click on the link below: http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2010/04/01/kenneth-branagh-and-thor/ Kenneth Branagh: ‘Thor’ required a ‘different kind of dance’ than ‘Iron Man’ Sept. 16, 2010 12:24 p.m. “Thor” director Kenneth Branagh is a big fan of the “Iron Man” tandem of director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey Jr., but he says his entry into the ever-expanding cinema of the Marvel Universe will be quite different in tone and construction. The “Iron Man” films, the box-office jewel of Marvel Studios, were filmed with an emphasis on bottling the on-set lightning of star Downey, and the actor’s improvisation work kept the harried writing team busy throughout the production as they tweaked and twisted the script to connect the dots between the star’s ad-lib riffs. That approach worked for a franchise that found its axis in the mercurial charm of Tony Stark, but Branagh said Thor’s tale of gods and monsters would not have benefited from a fast-and-loose approach. “It’s a different story, and also, in that regard, Jon is a bit of a genius when it comes to that orchestration and getting the max out of another genius in Downey,” Branagh said. “It’s how you dance pretty close to the edge to get the sort of modernity and the edge that ‘Iron Man’ has and the real sharp comic sensibility of those two men,” he said. “So it’s a different kind of dance. “I think ‘Thor’ comes from a different place story-wise and character-wise. We have both Norse histories for Thor, hundreds of myths and fables told in many different ways, in addition to what Marvel has pillaged for the past 40 years or so to come up with their version of things, which sits in very strong structure, a really strong narrative structure.” http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2010/09/16/kenneth-branagh-thor-required-a-different-kind-of-dance-than-iron-man/ Posted by jtf at 8:47 AM 4 comments: Links to this post Benedict XVI's New Counter-Reformation? Posted by Terry Mattingly http://www.getreligion.org/ Pope Benedict XVI and Monsignor Guido Marini While it is hard to explain to outsiders, one of the most fascinating battles in the American Catholic church today is the one that pits the kneelers vs. the non-kneelers. I refer, of course, to the issue of whether bishops should — bowing to the modernization of ancient rites — attempt to prevent the faithful from kneeling before the altar as they receive Holy Communion during the Mass. Let me explain: If people are allowed to kneel, that would mean that the Latin Mass is coming back and the next thing you know the pope will be seeking draconian student-life codes on Catholic campuses that prevent student funds from being used for activities that directly attack Catholic doctrine. It would be like the reforms of the Second Vatican Council never happened (or the spirit of the council has been quenched or something like that). Horrors. Then again, I am Eastern Orthodox, so I am biased. This liturgical war is the subject that looms behind this fascinating, but consistently shallow, Washington Post piece that ran under the headline, “Pope’s master of liturgy helps Benedict restore traditions.” [1] The bad guy in this piece is Monsignor Guido Marini, the relatively young Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations for Pope Benedict XVI. The good guy is Archbishop Piero Marini, who held this post for two decades. The young man is into all (or most) things ancient. The older man is into all (or most) things modern and progressive. The battle ground? The sights, sounds, smells and rubrics of the rites celebrated by the man who sites in the throne of St. Peter. Why does this matter? Change the words and the rites and you eventually change the doctrines. Both Marinis know that. Using the most loaded of images, the Post even suggests that the young liturgist is, with this pope, attempting a “counter-reformation.” Is that with our without a large “R”? Here’s a sample of the warfare: Since the Marini II era began in October 2007, the papal Masses clearly have a stronger traditional element. Guido Marini, who has degrees in canon and civil law and a doctorate in the psychology of communication, caused considerable consternation among some progressive Catholics in January when he talked to English-speaking priests about a “reform of the reform.” In an interview Thursday, he argued that the changes should not be seen as a liturgical backlash to modernity but as a “harmonious development” in a “continuum” that takes full advantage of the church’s rich history and is not subject to what he has called “sporadic modifications.” Liturgical progressives, like Bishop Donald Trautman of Erie, Pa., are concerned that Marini considers the reforms of the 1960s ecumenical council known as Vatican II as being among those sporadic modifications. At most papal Masses, a large crucifix flanked by tall candles is now displayed on the altar, even though many progressives say the ornaments block the view of the priest and the bread and wine. They argue that this obstructs the accessibility urged by liturgical reforms associated with the Second Vatican Council. Marini responds by saying that the crucifix reminds the faithful of who is really front and center in the Mass. He also says that the pope cannot sit in front of the altar when it bears the crucifix because “the pope can’t give his back” to sacraments on the altar. Keep reading. It’s all here — Gregorian chants, fancy vestments, a few Latin rites, etc. What is NOT here is the crucial third level of the drama. The story demonstrates that a battle is going on and even gives a few insights into what the battle is about. What is missing? That would be voices on the left or the right (but mainly the right) who can explain what the symbols represent. Readers are not allowed to listen to the doctrinal debates that add substance to the symbols. In other words, what do these liturgical changes MEAN? Why are these fights packed with so much substance and emotion? Take this passage for example: Piero Marini, who stepped down in 2007 after serving as the master of celebrations for 20 years, has championed the Vatican II reforms, including the simplification of rites that he believes facilitates active participation. In the name of “inculturation,” or integrating church rites with local customs, the silver-haired Marini in 1998 accepted the request of local bishops to allow a troupe of scantily clad Pacific islanders in St. Peter’s Basilica to honor the pope with a dance during the opening liturgy of the Synod for Oceania. During John Paul II’s visit to Mexico City in 2002, Marini likewise granted a local bishop’s wish to let an indigenous Mexican shaman exorcise the pope during a Mass there. Now that is a quick glimpse of true substance, a window into the third layer of the issues addressed in this news report. Note: A practitioner of another religion — Catholic, polytheistic or some fusion of the two? — is allowed to exorcise demons from the pope, during a Mass. The Post flies right by this. Where are the voices that interpret the meaning of this extraordinary moment? Which divine power is casting out evil forces from the leader of the Catholic faith? Methinks that the discussions behind closed Vatican doors about the theology built into that act probably lasted for more than a few moments. This was not idol chatter. This is a great subject for a story. It contains many details linked to topics that are genuinely newsworthy. But where is the substance, other than the old theme that nasty people locked into the past still want to crush the brave voices of the new? [1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/24/AR2010122403023.html Today's Tune: Johnny Cash And Friends - Silent Night, Little Drummer Boy Labels: Johnny Cash, Today's Tune America’s First Christmas How we reversed our fortunes in the Revolutionary War "Washington Crossing the Delaware" by Emanuel Leutze Gen. George Washington’s army retreated from New York in ignominy in November 1776. As it moved through New Jersey, Lt. James Monroe, the future president, stood by the road and counted the troops: 3,000 left from an original force of 30,000. In December 1776, the future of America hung on the fate of a bedraggled army barely a step ahead of annihilation. The Americans confronted about two-thirds of the strength of the British army, and half of its navy, not to mention thousands of German mercenaries. Ron Chernow recounts in his new book, Washington: A Life, that when the British fleet showed up off New York, an American soldier marveled that it was as if “all London was afloat.” The defense of New York was barely worthy of the name. When British troops crossed into Manhattan at Kips Bay, the Americans ran. Washington reportedly exclaimed in despair, “Are these the men with which I am to defend America?” Later, from the New Jersey Palisades, he watched as the British took Fort Washington across the Hudson, held by 3,000 American troops, and put surrendering Americans to the sword. According to one account, Washington turned away and wept “with the tenderness of a child.” British strategy depended on shattering American faith in the Continental Army and reconciling the rebellious colonies to the Crown. As the Americans fled to the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River, the British occupied New Jersey and offered an amnesty to anyone declaring his loyalty. They had thousands of takers, including one signer of the Declaration of Independence. As David Hackett Fischer emphasizes in his classic Washington’s Crossing, the American revival began spontaneously. Low on supplies, occupying troops had to forage for food. The forage turned to plunder. That fueled a grassroots rising among “the rascal peasants,” in the words of a Hessian officer. With New Jersey boiling and expiring enlistments about to reduce his army further, Washington decided on a scheme to cross the Delaware on Christmas and surprise the Hessian garrison in Trenton. “If the raid backfired,” Chernow writes, “the war was likely over and he would be captured and killed.” Behind schedule, Washington’s main force of 2,400 started crossing the river that night. Yes, most of them were standing up in flat-bottomed boats. Yes, there were ice floes. It wasn’t until 4 a.m. that all the men were across the river. They had nine miles still to march to Trenton in a driving storm and no chance of making it before daybreak. Washington considered calling it off, but he had already come too far. Arriving at Trenton at 8 a.m., his spirited troops seemed “to vie with the other in pressing forward,” he wrote afterward. They surprised the Hessians, not because they were sleeping off a Christmas bender. Harried in hostile New Jersey, the Hessians had exhausted themselves on constant alert. They didn’t expect an attack in such weather, though. The battle ended quickly — 22 Hessians killed, 83 seriously wounded, and 900 captured, to two American combat deaths. “It may be doubted whether so small a number of men ever employed so short a space of time with greater and more lasting effects upon the history of the world,” British historian George Trevelyan wrote. The American troops found 40 hogshead of rum in the town, which temporarily blunted their effectiveness. Washington followed up soon enough with another victory at Princeton. In the space of a few weeks, the Americans killed or captured as many as 3,000 of the enemy and irreversibly changed the dynamic of the war. David Hackett Fischer sees in that resurgence after our fortunes were at their lowest a reassuring aspect of our national character in this season of discontent: We respond when pressed. Dr. Benjamin Rush, a great supporter of the American cause, wrote: “Our republics cannot exist long in prosperity. We require adversity and appear to possess most of the republican spirit when most depressed.” May it still be so. — Rich Lowry is editor of National Review. He can be reached via e-mail, comments.lowry@nationalreview.com. © 2010 by King Features Syndicate. Labels: U.S. History Album Review: Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - III/IV By Greg Gaston http://www.crawdaddy.com/ Has there been a more polarizing artist in the last 10 years than Ryan Adams? Maybe so, but the little-dynamo-that-could still riles critics up with his one-man assault on the outer bounds of prolific creativity. Releasing III/IV, the second double-record set with his band the Cardinals, Adams continues to challenge his muse with this solid but too long-by-half collection. These 21 songs come directly out of the NYC Electric Ladyland studio, Easy Tiger sessions from 2007. He had so many leftover cuts that he’s been unloading them in bunches since then. This is his second release in the last 12 months; the first was Orion, an underpublicized project described as his “sci-fi, metal concept record.” III/IV comes out on Adams’ own label, Pax-Am Records, who modestly call it a “double-album concept rock opera about the ‘80s, ninjas, cigarettes, sex, and pizza.” Why not? The great thing about Adams and his inconsistent but ample output is you never know what will ricochet out of his studio next. He pinballs between genres, whether alt-country, garage rock, or new wave-style pop-rock, in always entertaining if uneven ways. He can be fun to follow, and it pays off every few records—his last great set was 2005’s Cold Roses, a raggedy, but twang-tight, jam-guitar drenched double-album with the Cardinals, inspired by Jerry Garcia. III/IV verves off in another direction, a crunchy distillation of guitar pop and lite-metal sheen complete with Adams’ freewheeling attitude. His crucial touchstone influence here are his buddies, the Strokes, with whom he shares a love of British ‘80s New Wave shot through with NYC’s grit and grind-you-up streets. This set definitely ranges in the mold of his earlier Rock N Roll, a record that temporarily put his roots-country sound in check. “Breakdown into the Resolve”, the fiery opener, pushes us straight into this record’s catchy dynamics: Both Adams’ and Neil Casal’s brash guitars lead the Cardinals with streamlined hooks intact, and then the verse peels open as Adams welcomes us back into the fold with his greeting, “Hi, hello, it’s me again, don’t worry I’ll talk slow / So you probably heard / I went away, where do we start?” Though Adams never goes away for long, he has been on hiatus lately following his marriage last year to the actress, Mandy Moore. All signs point to another fertile period, though, as he has scheduled several new releases coming up in the next year. But, however, we choose to classify this guy, there’s no denying his songwriting DNA gift, and the livewire rush that runs through some of his music. The songs just pile up here on III/IV, ranging from the clever synth riffs of “Happy Birthday” to the muscular power pop glaze of “Wasteland” and “Users.” Adams tries out different vocals here too; on one song he echoes the mopey theatrics of Morrissey, one of his idols, and on the next he’s giving us a decent Bono impression. All of this bodes well, if that’s what you look for on an Adams’ record. Though often, Adams’ weakness lies in the fact that he’s such a musical chameleon that much of his music reminds us of other artists, and sometimes he suffers in the comparison. I find this to be less true with his country records, which more than capably stand on their own compared to his more derivative rock releases. If this is a concept record, there’s no narrative that connects the songs besides the overall sound. I couldn’t find the “ninjas, sex, and pizza” here so much, but the 1980s’ influence bleeds through the tracks. He even references “Star Wars” in a clunky, throwaway rocker named after the movie, as he yearns for a girl he can love as much as his favorite film. Let’s call it sci-fi, geek rock; at least he left the godforsaken Star Trek franchise alone—Adams projecting Spock would be one alien too far. As with many double records, the first disc is stronger than the second, which dissipates into mediocre genre exercise writing like “Icebreaker”, an annoying metal rehash, and “Numbers”, a thrashed out concoction, and numerous others. Since these are leftovers culled from Adams’ overflow, maybe we should expect some lesser efforts along the way. The second disc winds down with a lovely, loping ballad, unfortunately named “Death and Rats”, just for good measure. This always leads to the question, why release so much material? Why not whittle this down to one stronger package? And, of course, these concerns always dog the obsessive Adams with almost every record. It depends what you want as a fan: Songwriting quality or quantity? At his best—say every three or four records, Ryan Adams offers both. The rest of the time Adams is clearing the decks, making way for the next inspiration, and letting us hear about it. He is a songwriter, after all; this is what he does. Today's Tune: Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) Dave Camp's plan: Taxes made simple http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Many parents have heard FICA Screams. Indignant children, holding in trembling hands their first paychecks, demand to know what FICA is and why it is feasting on their pay. FICA (the Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax) is government compassion, expressed numerically: It is the welfare state; it funds Social Security and Medicare. Sometimes it makes young people into conservatives. Dave Camp was 14, working for his father's garage in central Michigan, when he made the acquaintance of FICA. Now 57 and about to begin his 11th term in Congress, he will chair the House Ways and Means Committee, where he will try to implement the implications of his complaint that "the tax code is 10 times longer than the Bible, without the good news." His aim is "fundamental" tax reform, understood the usual way - broadening the base (eliminating loopholes) to make lower rates possible. He would like a top rate of 25 percent - three points lower than Ronald Reagan achieved in 1986, with what proved to be perishable simplification. In George W. Bush's 2004 speech to the Republican convention, he denounced the tax code as "a complicated mess" that annually requires "6 billion hours of paperwork" - now estimated at 7.6 billion. He vowed to "simplify" it. The audience cheered. Then he promised new complexities. There would be "opportunity zones" - tax relief for depressed areas - and a tax credit to encourage businesses to establish health savings accounts. The audience cheered. This is perennial mischief - using the tax code not simply to raise revenue efficiently (with minimal distortion of economic behavior) but to pamper pet causes, appease muscular interests and make social policy. Since 1986, the tax code has acquired more than 15,000 complications. "Targeted" tax cuts are popular complexities because they serve a bossy government's agenda of behavior modification: You can keep more of your money if you do what Washington wants. The tax code, says Camp, "should not be a tool of industrial policy" or of "crony capitalism": "Politicians should not pick the industry of the day." One of Camp's objections to the health-care law is its obvious design to cripple health savings accounts. With HSAs, an individual who buys high-deductible health insurance becomes eligible for tax-preferred savings out of which he or she pays routine health expenses. (No one expects auto insurance to pay for oil changes or new windshield wipers.) This gives consumers of health care an incentive to shop wisely for it. Camp says the health-care law will make HSAs less attractive because "a qualified plan will be defined by the government rather than the market." And government will make HSAs unnecessarily expensive by requiring them to have "all the bells and whistles." Many conservatives, including Camp, believe that although most Americans should be paying lower taxes, more Americans should be paying taxes. The fact that 46.7 million earners pay no income tax creates moral hazard - incentives for perverse behavior: Free-riding people have scant incentive to restrain the growth of government they are not paying for with income taxes. "I believe," Camp says, "you've got to have some responsibility for the government you have." People have co-payments under Medicare, and everyone should similarly have some "skin in the game" under the income tax system. In addition to the one-third of the 143 million tax returns filed by individual earners for 2007 that showed no tax liability, additional millions of households have incomes low enough to exempt them from filing tax returns. The bottom two quintiles of earners have negative income tax liabilities - they receive cash payments from the government via refundable tax credits. Camp remains amazed by the slipshod practices by which banks and other financial institutions made mortgage loans without due diligence. He remembers that "the president of the bank approved my first Visa card." Other things have changed, too. "I used to do my own taxes," Camp says, "until I got on Ways and Means." No more. The tax code is so complex that the chairman of the tax-writing committee, like many millions of Americans, cannot be confident he can properly perform, unassisted, the duty of paying taxes. If Barack Obama is accurately reported to be considering serious tax simplification and lower rates, he will have an ally in Camp - up to a point. Serious arguments about taxes are never just about taxes. They are about government's proper size and purposes. Concerning that, Obama differs with Camp, who says: "Washington doesn't have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem." Posted by jtf at 1:00 PM 1 comment: Links to this post Labels: Economics, George Will Obama's new start Thursday, December 23, 2010; 8:00 PM Riding the lamest of ducks, President Obama just won the Triple Crown. He fulfilled (1) his most important economic priority, passage of Stimulus II, a.k.a. the tax cut deal (the perfect pre-re-election fiscal sugar high - the piper gets paid in 2013 and beyond); (2) his most important social policy objective, repeal of "don't ask, don't tell"; and (3) his most cherished (achievable) foreign policy goal, ratification of the New START treaty with Russia. Politically, these are all synergistic. The bipartisan nature of the tax deal instantly repositioned Obama back to the center. And just when conventional wisdom decided the deal had caused irreparable alienation from his liberal base, Obama almost immediately won it back - by delivering one of the gay rights movement's most elusive and coveted breakthroughs. The symbolism of the don't ask, don't tell repeal cannot be underestimated. It's not just that for the civil rights community, it represents a long-awaited extension of the historic arc - first blacks, then women, now gays. It was also Obama decisively transcending the triangulated trimming of Bill Clinton, who instituted don't ask, don't tell in the first place. Even more subtly and understatedly, the repeal represents the taming of the most conservative of the nation's institutions, the military, by a movement historically among the most avant-garde. Whatever your views, that is a cultural landmark. Then came START, which was important for Obama not just because of the dearth of foreign policy achievements these past two years but because treaties, especially grand-sounding treaties on strategic arms, carry the aura of presidential authority and diplomatic mastery. No matter how useless they are, or even how damaging. New START was significantly, if subtly, damaging, which made the rear-guard Republican opposition it engendered so salutary. The debate it sparked garnered the treaty more attention than it would have otherwise and thus gave Obama a larger PR victory. But that debate also amplified the major flaw in the treaty - the gratuitous reestablishment of the link between offensive and defensive weaponry. One of the great achievements of the past decade was the Bush administration's severing of that link - first, by its withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, which had expressly prevented major advances in missile defense, and then with the 2002 Treaty of Moscow, which regulated offensive weapons but ostentatiously contained not a single word about any connection to missile defense. Why is this important? Because missile defense is essential for protecting ourselves from the most menacing threat of the coming century - nuclear hyper-proliferation. The relinking that we acquiesced to in the preamble to New START is a major reversal of that achievement. Sure, Obama sought to reassure critics with his letter to the Senate promising unimpeded development of our European missile defense system. But the Russians have already watched this president cancel our painstakingly planned Polish and Czech missile defenses in response to Russian protests and threats. That's why they insisted we formally acknowledge an "interrelationship" between offense and defense. They know that their threat to withdraw from START, if the United States were to build defenses that displease them, will inevitably color - and restrain - future U.S. missile defense advances and deployments. Obama's difficulty in overcoming the missile defense objection will serve to temper the rest of his nuclear agenda, including U.S. entry into the test-ban treaty, and place Obama's ultimate goal of total nuclear disarmament blessedly out of reach. Conservatives can thus take solace that their vigorous opposition to START is likely to prevent further disarmament mischief down the road. But what they cannot deny is the political boost the treaty's ratification gives Obama today, a mere seven weeks after his Election Day debacle. The great liberal ascendancy of 2008, destined to last 40 years (predicted James Carville), lasted less than two. Yet, the great Republican ascendancy of 2010 lasted less than two months. Republicans will enter the 112th Congress with larger numbers but no longer with the wind - the overwhelming Nov. 2 repudiation of Obama's social-democratic agenda - at their backs. "Harry Reid has eaten our lunch," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, lamenting his side's "capitulation" in the lame-duck session. Yes, but it was less Harry than Barry. Obama came back with a vengeance. His string of lame-duck successes is a singular political achievement. Because of it, the epic battles of the 112th Congress begin on what would have seemed impossible just one month ago - a level playing field. letters@charleskrauthammer.com Posted by jtf at 12:53 PM No comments: Links to this post Labels: Barack Obama, Charles Krauthammer, Russia/Soviet Union In defense of Santa and the cult of Christmas By Michael Gerson An earnest academic, writing on the Web site Patheos, recently made the case against Santa Claus. Saint Nick is a multicultural nightmare: "A person shouldn't have to pander to a white man - sit on his lap and beg, even! - to enjoy the good life. . . . If Santa were a refugee, or a woman of color, or even a plant or animal, I could probably get on board."[1] But Saint Nick's offense is also religious. He is "in direct competition with God, and it seems Santa may have the upper hand." "They're both invisible characters that appear from time to time," Jenell Paris continues, "so how does a Christian parent convince a child that God is really real (especially if you once told the child that Santa was also real)?" This was never much of a problem in my home. My eldest son from an early age was a Santa skeptic - the Christopher Hitchens of his elementary-school set. Having spied out our Christmas preparations, he delighted in dashing the illusions of other children, including our youngest. Still, I rise to Santa's defense. It is true that the Thomas Nast version of Santa Claus is the same pale shade as Bull Connor.[2] Yet perhaps even mythical figures should be judged, not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character - which, in this case, seems pretty admirable. And, though outwardly resembling Haley Barbour, Santa is unlikely to commit racially charged gaffes in the future. The second critique is more substantial. Christmas has become a kind of alternative religion, offering watered-down versions of profound theological doctrines. Its miracles are found on 34th Street, not in Bethlehem. The visitation of Gabriel has become the visitation of Clarence, assuring us that it is a wonderful life. The modern cult of Christmas offers a domesticated form of transcendence. Naughty or nice instead of good or evil. A jolly old elf rather than an illegitimate child, destined for an early death. One's reaction to the modern cult of Christmas depends on one's view of comparative religion. Believers often assert that other religious traditions are simply wrong and inherently dangerous, worthy of attention only to condemn or debunk. Admittedly, it is not credible to assert that all religions - from Buddhism to Aztec human sacrifice to Quakerism to Wahhabi Islam - are equally true. Religious differences are not trivial. But most faiths share a similar striving. Across the world and across history, human beings have been hounded by an instinct to seek meaning beyond the material - a desire for forgiveness, acceptance, holy awe and ethical behavior. This search takes many forms and faiths, from animism to Zoroastrianism. If the instinct is not merely a cruel evolutionary joke, the practice of religion has produced varied insights and wisdom. As a Christian, I believe that the claims of Christianity are true - but this does not mean other faiths are devoid of all truth. C.S. Lewis put it this way: "If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through. If you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the whole world is simply one huge mistake. If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all those religions, even the queerest ones, contain at least some hint of the truth. When I was an atheist I had to try to persuade myself that most of the human race have always been wrong about the question that mattered to them most; when I became a Christian I was able to take a more liberal view." So I choose to take a more liberal view of the Christmas cult. Its tacky materialism can be unattractive. But the desire for Christmas miracles and visiting angels - for Tiny Tim not to die and for hooves on the rooftop and for George Bailey to be the richest man in town; for just one night of calm and hope - are not things to be lightly dismissed. "If I find in myself," says Lewis, "a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." In this argument, the sentimental desires of Christmas are hints and rumors and reminders of a birth that somehow represents their culmination. Put another way: The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight. [1] http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Santa-vs-God.html [2] http://www.sonofthesouth.net/Thomas_Nast/Thomas_Nast_Santa.jpg Labels: Christianity, Media and Culture Internet Access Is Not a Civil Right Net neturality is the Obamacare of the Web. When bureaucrats talk about increasing our “access” to X, Y, or Z, what they’re really talking about is increasing their control over our lives. As it is with the government health-care takeover, so it is with the newly approved government plan to “increase” Internet “access.” Call it Webcare. By a vote of 3–2, the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday adopted a controversial scheme to ensure “net neutrality” by turning unaccountable Democratic appointees into meddling online traffic cops. The panel will devise convoluted rules governing Internet-service providers, bandwidth use, content, prices, and even disclosure details on Internet speeds. The “neutrality” is brazenly undermined by preferential treatment toward wireless broadband networks. Moreover, the FCC’s scheme is widely opposed by Congress — and has already been rejected once in the courts. Demonized industry critics have warned that the regulations will stifle innovation and result in less access, not more. Sound familiar? The parallels with health care are striking. The architects of Obamacare promised to provide Americans more access to health insurance — and cast their agenda as a fundamental universal entitlement. In fact, it was a pretext for creating a gargantuan federal bureaucracy with the power to tax, redistribute, and regulate the private health-insurance market to death — and replace it with a centrally planned government system overseen by politically driven code enforcers dictating everything from annual coverage limits to administrative expenditures to the makeup of the medical workforce. The costly, onerous, and selectively applied law has resulted in less access, not more. Undaunted, promoters of Obama FCC chairman Julius Genachowski’s “open Internet” plan have couched their online power grab in the rhetoric of civil rights. On Monday, FCC commissioner Michael Copps proclaimed: “Universal access to broadband needs to be seen as a civil right . . . [though] not many people have talked about it that way.” Opposing the government Internet takeover blueprint, in other words, is tantamount to supporting segregation. Cunning propaganda, that. “Broadband is becoming a basic necessity,” civil-rights activist Benjamin Hooks added. And earlier this month, fellow FCC panelist Mignon Clyburn, daughter of Congressional Black Caucus leader and number three House Democrat James Clyburn of South Carolina, declared that free (read: taxpayer-subsidized) access to the Internet is not only a civil right for every “nappy-headed child” in America, but is essential to their self-esteem. Every minority child, she said, “deserves to be not only connected, but to be proud of who he or she is.” Calling them “nappy-headed” is a rather questionable way of boosting their pride, but never mind that. Face it: A high-speed connection is no more an essential civil right than 3G cell-phone service or a Netflix account. Increasing competition and restoring academic excellence in abysmal public schools is far more of an imperative to minority children than handing them iPads. Once again, Democrats are using children as human shields to provide useful cover for not-so-noble political goals. The “net neutrality” mob — funded by billionaire George Soros and other left-wing think tanks and nonprofits — has openly advertised its radical, speech-squelching agenda in its crusade for “media justice.” Social justice is the redistribution of wealth and economic “rights.” Media justice is the redistribution of free speech and other First Amendment rights. The meetings of the universal-broadband set are littered with Marxist-tinged rants about “disenfranchisement” and “empowerment.” They’ve targeted conservative opponents on talk radio, cable TV, and the Internet as purveyors of “hate” who need to be managed or censored. Democratic FCC panelists have dutifully echoed their concerns about concentration of corporate media power. As the Ford Foundation–funded Media Justice Fund, which lobbied for universal broadband, put it: This is a movement “grounded in the belief that social and economic justice will not be realized without the equitable redistribution and control of media and communication technologies.” For progressives who cloak their ambitions in the mantle of “fairness,” it’s all about control. It’s always about control. — Michelle Malkin is the author of Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks & Cronies. © 2010 Creators Syndicate, Inc. Labels: Government Regulation, Michelle Malkin Film Reviews: 'True Grit' Wearing Braids, Seeking Revenge By MANOHLA DARGIS http://www.nytimes.com/ NYT Critics' Pick That old-time American religion of vengeance runs like a river through “True Grit,” a comic-serious tale about some nasty, brutish times. Beautifully adapted by Joel and Ethan Coen from the parodic western novel by Charles Portis, it turns on a 14-year-old Arkansas girl who hires a “one-eyed fat man” to hunt down her father’s killer. First published in 1968, Mr. Portis’s tall tale was brought to the screen the next year custom-fitted for John Wayne, who rode the role of that fat man, Rooster Cogburn, straight to an Oscar. Now it’s the thinner scene-stealer Jeff Bridges who sits and sometimes drunkenly slumps in the saddle. Much as he did in the raucously entertaining original film directed by Henry Hathaway, Rooster enters on his best behavior, seated in a courtroom amid a fog of cigar smoke and conspicuous lies. The pale, ghostly light comes courtesy of the Coens’ frequent cinematographer, Roger Deakins, while many of the twisty, funny sentences have been plucked by the filmmakers right from the novel. A deputy United States marshal, Rooster has attracted the interest of Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld, in a terrific film debut), a half-pint who, with her bloodlust and severely braided hair, is an authentic American Gothic. As she listens to Rooster recount his bloody deeds and high body count, her eyes shine with a true believer’s excitement. Avenging her father and keeping close track of her family’s expenses are what preoccupy Mattie, a richly conceived and written eccentric, as memorable on the page as she is now on screen. Softened for the first film (in which she was played by a 21-year-old Kim Darby, in a bob), she has been toughed up again by the Coens so that she resembles the seemingly humorless if often unintentionally humorous Scripture-quoting martinet of Mr. Portis’s imagination. At times she brings to mind D. H. Lawrence’s famed formulation that “the essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic and a killer.” At other times, as when she wears her dead father’s oversize coat and hat, she looks like a foolish child left to perilous play. Those dangers are telegraphed early by the public hanging that occurs soon after the story opens. Mattie, along with a family worker, Yarnell (Roy Lee Jones), has traveled from her Yell County home to Fort Smith, Ark., to identify her father, who has been gunned down by another worker, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). After doing so, she sends Yarnell home and gets down to business, first by settling her father’s accounts. She then hires Rooster because she hears that he has “true grit,” a quality that mostly seems to entail a disregard for preserving the lives of his prisoners. It’s no wonder she watches the hanging with such avidity, and no wonder too that she takes off after Chaney, armed with Rooster and her father’s heavy gun. Their journey leads them into Indian country (with few Indians) and increasingly tense and violent encounters featuring corpses, severed fingers and a bad, bad man (Barry Pepper, spewing fear and spittle). On occasion a Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), who calls himself LaBeef, joins in the search. Wearing jangling spurs and a luxurious mustache that sits on his lip like a spoiled Persian cat, LaBoeuf hopes to bag Chaney for a large reward. Dead or alive, everyone in this story — snaggletooth thief or boardinghouse owner — has a price either on his head or in mind, usually in the form of the dollars and cents one person hopes to extract from another. “Why do you think I am paying you,” Mattie asks Rooster, “if not to have my way?” The Coens deliver that line with a touch so light you might not even notice its sting. They have been surprisingly faithful to the tone and idiomatic tang of Mr. Portis’s novel, perhaps because its worldview suits their ironic purposes. The whiskey-soaked Rooster still likes to “pull a cork,” as he does in the book, and the Coens and Mr. Bridges get into the boozy spirit of things with slurs and pratfalls. Despite Mr. Bridges’s showy turn, the movie opens and closes with Mattie’s voice-over, which shifts the story away from Rooster and back to her. The Coens also restore the novel’s framing device: “True Grit” isn’t just the story of a gutsy 14-year-old; it is her story as called from the memory of the woman (Elizabeth Marvel) she became. The Coens opened their last film, “A Serious Man,” about a 1960s Minneapolis professor who endures trials worthy of Job, with an enigmatic short story about a 19th-century tale involving a possible dybbuk. That story is prefaced with a quotation attributed to the medieval Jewish scholar Rashi (“Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you”) that appears in a 19th-century comic story, “The Gilgul, or The Wandering Soul,” about a dybbuk, or restless spirit, that inhabits a person. In “True Grit” the Coens switch to Solomon, opening the film with the first half of Proverbs 28:1 (“The wicked flee when none pursueth”), a line Mattie quotes early in the novel. Like Mr. Portis, they notably omit the second line: “But the righteous are bold as a lion.” Mr. Portis’s book hit in 1968, in the midst of a pop-cultural cycle that, partly fueled by the Vietnam war, was revisiting the cowboy myth with degrees of cynicism and nostalgia. “True Grit” sticks to the western template, but with characters who, at least initially, fall far short of the heroic ideal of the type that Wayne himself embodied for decades. Yet no matter how roguish (and laughable) in the novel, Rooster can’t help registering as a larger-than-life hero on screen because the legend who played him, by then a survivor of cancer and countercultural assaults (for the jingoistic “Green Berets”), had played his role for so long. When Wayne won best actor for “True Grit,” it was for playing John Wayne. The first “True Grit” opened in New York in early July 1969, a week after “The Wild Bunch,” the Sam Peckinpah western that’s widely seen as a metaphor about interventionist follies like Vietnam and that remains an enduring evisceration of the genre. The Coens, who like to play with genre, often with giggles and winks, haven’t mounted an assault on the western. But in Mattie they have created a character whose single-minded pursuit of vengeance has unmistakable resonance. In the first “True Grit,” when Rooster watches Mattie cross a river on horseback, he jocularly says, “She reminds me of me.” The line isn’t in the remake, but from the long, hard look Rooster gives her now, it’s clear that she still does, for better and worse. In classic Coen style, the brothers punctuate the image of Mattie riding to dry ground with a cutaway to a slack-jawed Rooster, his mouth agape in wonder. By the time the scene ends, the mood has switched again, and Rooster has drawn his gun on LaBoeuf in deadly seriousness. (Mr. Damon plays the designated clown with grace, as Mr. Bridges slides between buffoonery and malice.) In some ways, much like Charles Laughton’s “Night of the Hunter,” which the Coens quote both musically and visually, “True Grit” is a parable about good and evil. Only here, the lines between the two are so blurred as to be indistinguishable, making this a true picture of how the West was won, or — depending on your view — lost. “True Grit” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Three severed digits and several holes to the head. Opens on Wednesday nationwide. Written and directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, based on the novel by Charles Portis; director of photography, Roger Deakins; edited by Roderick Jaynes; music by Carter Burwell; production design by Jess Gonchor; costumes by Mary Zophres; produced by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen and Scott Rudin; released by Paramount Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes. WITH: Jeff Bridges (Rooster Cogburn), Matt Damon (LaBoeuf), Josh Brolin (Tom Chaney), Barry Pepper (Lucky Ned Pepper), Hailee Steinfeld (Mattie Ross), Bruce Green (Harold Parmalee), Roy Lee Jones (Yarnell) and Elizabeth Marvel (adult Mattie). True Grit, Odd Wit: And Fame? No, Thanks By CHARLES McGRATH A photograph of the camera-shy Charles Portis, left, with John Wayne during the filming of the first “True Grit” (1969). (Paramount Pictures) The arrival of the Coen brothers’ movie “True Grit” on Wednesday is likely to bring Charles Portis a new surge of attention he has no use for. Mr. Portis, the author of the 1968 novel on which the new film is based (as was the 1969 John Wayne version) is allergic to fame. He’s not a Pynchonesque recluse, exactly. He is occasionally spotted in Little Rock, Ark., where he has lived for 50-odd years; he even went to a gala sponsored there recently by the Oxford American, a literary magazine, and consented to receive a lifetime achievement award, though he sat in the 14th row, or as far from the stage as he could. But Mr. Portis doesn’t use e-mail, has an unlisted phone number, declines interview requests, including one for this article, and shuns photographs with the ardor of a fugitive in the witness protection program. He hasn’t published a novel in nearly 20 years. The writer and filmmaker Nora Ephron, who got to know Mr. Portis in the early ’60s, when he was a reporter for The New York Herald Tribune, recalled that back then he was more sociable. “Charlie was just charming, the life of the party almost,” she said. “But he was a newspaper reporter who didn’t have a phone. The Trib had to make him get one. So even back then the pattern was there.” His elusiveness has only enhanced his status as a cult writer’s cult writer, cherished by a small but devoted following. He has published four novels besides “True Grit” (all five have recently been reissued in paperback by the Overlook Press), and for years those in the sect have been pressing them on new readers like Masons teaching the secret handshake. The journalist Ron Rosenbaum, the unofficial grand vizier and first hierophant of Portis admirers, has called him “perhaps the most original, indescribable sui generis talent overlooked by literary culture in America.” “True Grit,” Mr. Portis’s second novel, which was serialized by The Saturday Evening Post and appeared on the New York Times best-seller list for 22 weeks, is actually a divisive matter among Portis admirers. There are some, like the novelist Donna Tartt, who consider it his masterpiece, a work comparable to “Huckleberry Finn.” Others, like Mr. Rosenbaum, resent “True Grit” a little for detracting attention from Mr. Portis’s lesser-known but arguably funnier books: “Norwood” (1966), “The Dog of the South” (1979), “Masters of Atlantis” (1985) and “Gringos” (1991). The writer Roy Blount Jr., an old friend of Mr. Portis’s, suggested recently that Mr. Portis himself was a little embarrassed by the success of “True Grit.” “I think that’s why in his next book, ‘Dog of the South,’ he set himself the challenge of a funny book written by a boring narrator,” Mr. Blount said. “That’s why other writers love him so much.” “True Grit,” the story of the 14-year-old Mattie Ross, from Yell County, Ark., who with the help of the one-eyed marshal Rooster Cogburn sets out to avenge the murder of her father by a drunken hired man named Tom Chaney, is not unfunny. It’s simultaneously a thoroughly satisfying western and a parody of one. But unlike Mr. Portis’s other books “True Grit” is a period piece — the story takes place in 1873 but is recounted decades later, when Mattie is by her own description a cranky old spinster — and the narrative voice is a feat of historical ventriloquism. Mattie’s prose is stiff, formal (a quality lovingly captured by the Coen brothers), a little pious and platitudinous, given to scriptural quotation and fussy quotation marks: “I will go further and say all cats are wicked, though often useful. Who has not seen Satan in their sly faces? Some preachers will say, well, that is superstitious ‘claptrap.’ My answer is this: Preacher, go to your Bible and read Luke 8: 26-33.” Mattie is lovable in her way, and though grit is what she admires in Rooster, she is hardly lacking in that department herself. But she is also humorless, righteous and utterly without either self-doubt or self-consciousness. She has no idea how she or her words come across on the page, nor would she care if she did. “The Dog of the South” and “Gringos” are also written in the first person, and the two others might as well be. The voice in all them is loose and informal, even a little digressive, with a noticeable Southern quality. Mr. Portis’s friends say he talks much the same way, and to judge from “Combinations of Jacksons,” a memoir he published in The Atlantic in 1999, his nonfictional style isn’t much different from his fictional one: in both he is a great noticer, always alert to the odd but telling detail. What the other novels have in common with “True Grit” is their deadpan quality. Most comic novels — think of anything by P. G. Wodehouse, say, or Ring Lardner — are fairly transparent: they unabashedly try to be funny and let the reader in on the joke. The trick of Mr. Portis’s books, especially the ones told in the first person, is that they pretend to be serious. They’re full of odd events and odd people with names like Norwood Pratt, Raymond Midge and Dr. Reo Symes, inventor of the underappreciated Brewster Method, a miracle cure for arthritis. But these are presented without a wink or a nudge, or any sense that slapstick touches like smooth-talking midgets, bread-fondling deliverymen or elderly gents wearing conical goatskin caps are at all unusual. Mr. Portis evokes an eccentric, absurd world with a completely straight face. As a result there are not a lot of laugh-out-loud moments or explosive set pieces here. Instead of shooting off fireworks the books shimmer with a continuous comic glow. Unlike the tightly plotted “True Grit,” the other books are all shaggy-dog stories of a sort. In “Norwood” (which was made into a 1970 movie starring Glen Campbell) Norwood Pratt travels all the way to New York from his home in Ralph, Tex., to collect a $70 debt and winds up engaged to a girl he meets on a Trailways bus. In “The Dog of the South” Ray Midge drives to Mexico from Little Rock in search of his wife, who has run off with her first husband and Ray’s Ford Torino. “Masters of Atlantis” is about two guys who create the Gnomon Society, an esoteric, Rosicrucian-like sect based on wisdom from the lost city of Atlantis. And in “Gringos” an American expat in Mexico falls in with some U.F.O. nuts and archeologists searching for a lost Mayan city. But in one way or another the subtext of all these novels is the great Melvillean theme of the American weakness for secret conspiracies and arcane knowledge, and our embrace of con men, scam artists and flimflammers of every sort. In Mr. Portis’s pantheon of tricksters, moreover, writers rank pretty high. There’s John Selmer Dix, author of “With Wings as Eagles,” an inspirational manual for salesmen, whose admirers rank him higher than Shakespeare; the hack writer Dub Polton, author of “Hoosier Wizard,” a political biography that pretty much makes everything up; and Lamar Jimmerson, compiler of the Codex Pappus, the sacred Gnomon text, which deliberately includes a lot of obfuscation to “weary and disgust the reader” and put him off the track. All these texts, you can’t help noticing, are in their way not unlike Mr. Portis’s books in the degree of devotion and enthusiasm they evoke in their readers. They’re not self-parodies but, rather, warnings about the dubiousness of reputation and about the dangers of taking the cult of authorship too seriously. “Talking about himself is something that would feel false and strange to him,” William Whitworth, the former editor of The Atlantic and his old friend, said of Mr. Portis. “It would be like asking him to stand up and sing like Frank Sinatra, or be on ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ ” BY ROGER EBERT http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/ In the Coen Brothers' “True Grit,” Jeff Bridges is not playing the John Wayne role. He's playing the Jeff Bridges role — or, more properly, the role created in the enduring novel by Charles Portis, much of whose original dialogue can be heard in this film. Bridges doesn't have the archetypal stature of the Duke. Few ever have. But he has here, I believe, an equal screen presence. We always knew we were looking at John Wayne in the original “True Grit” (1969). When we see Rooster Cogburn in this version, we're not thinking about Jeff Bridges. Wayne wanted his tombstone to read, Feo, Fuerte y Formal (Ugly, Strong and Dignified). He was a handsome, weathered man when I met him in the 1960s and '70s, but not above a certain understandable vanity. Rooster might be an ornery gunslinger with an eye patch, but Wayne played him wearing a hairpiece and a corset. Jeff Bridges occupies the character like a homeless squatter. I found myself wondering how young Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) could endure his body odor. Bridges' interpretation is no doubt closer to the reality of a lawman in those years of the West. How savory can a man be when he lives in saloons and on horseback? Not all riders on the range carried a change of clothes. Of course he's a lawman with an office and a room somewhere in town, but for much of the movie, he is on a quest through inauspicious territory to find the man who murdered Mattie's father. As told in the novel, Mattie is a plucky young teen with a gaze as level as her hat brim. She hires Marshal Cogburn to track down that villain Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). She means to kill him for “what he done.” If Bridges comfortably wears the Duke's shoes, Hailee Steinfeld is more effective than Kim Darby in the earlier film, and she was pretty darn good. Steinfeld was 13 when she made the film, close to the right age. Darby was a little over 20. The story hinges on the steely resolve of a girl who has been raised in the eye-for-an eye Old West, seen some bad sights and picked up her values from the kind of old man who can go and get hisself shot. What strikes me is that I'm describing the story and the film as if it were simply, if admirably, a good Western. That's a surprise to me, because this is a film by the Coen Brothers, and this is the first straight genre exercise in their career. It's a loving one. Their craftsmanship is a wonder. Their casting is always inspired and exact. The cinematography by Roger Deakins reminds us of the glory that was, and can still be, the Western. But this isn't a Coen Brothers film in the sense that we usually use those words. It's not eccentric, quirky, wry or flaky. It's as if these two men, who have devised some of the most original films of our time, reached a point where they decided to coast on the sheer pleasure of good old straightforward artistry. This is like Iggy Pop singing “My Funny Valentine,” which he does very well. So let me praise it for what it is, a splendid Western. The Coens having demonstrated their mastery of many notes, including many not heard before, now show they can play in tune. Besides, isn't Rooster Cogburn where Jeff Bridges started out 40 years ago? The first time I was aware of him was in “The Last Picture Show” (1971), where he and his friends went the local movie theater to see “Red River,” starring John Wayne. Since then, that clean-faced young man has lived and rowdied and worked his way into being able to play Rooster with a savory nastiness that Wayne could not have equaled. All the same, the star of this show is Hailee Steinfeld, and that's appropriate. This is her story, set in motion by her, narrated by her. This is Steinfeld's first considerable role. She nails it. She sidesteps the opportunity to make Mattie adorable. Mattie doesn't live in an adorable world. Seeing the first “True Grit,” I got a little crush on Kim Darby. Seeing this one, few people would get a crush on Hailee Steinfeld. Maybe in another movie. But the way she plays it with the Coens, she's more the kind of person you'd want guarding your back. Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper have weight and resonance in supporting roles. Damon is LaBoeuf, the Texas Ranger who comes along for a time to track Tom Chaney. Glen Campbell had the role earlier, and was right for the tone of that film. Damon plays it on a more ominous note. His LaBoeuf isn't sidekick material. He and Cogburn have long-standing issues. Nor, we discover, is LaBoeuf a man of simple loyalty. As Tom Chaney, Brolin is a complete and unadulterated villain, a rattlesnake who would as soon shoot Mattie as Rooster. In the Western genre, evil can be less nuanced than in your modern movies with all their psychological insights. Barry Pepper plays Lucky Ned Pepper, leader of a gang Chaney ends up with, and part of the four-man charge across the meadow into Rooster's gunfire, a charge as lucky for them as the Charge of the Light Brigade. The 1969 film, directed by Hollywood veteran Henry Hathaway, had glorious landscapes. The meadow and several other scenes were set in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, near Telluride. This film's landscapes are all in Texas, and although some are beautiful, many are as harsh and threatening as the badlands described by Cormac McCarthy or Larry McMurtry. I expect Bridges and Steinfeld have good chances of winning Oscar nominations for this film. Steinfeld is good the whole way through, but the scene audiences love is the one where she bargains with a horse trader (Dakin Matthews) for the money she feels is owed her. Here the key is the dialogue by the Coens, which never strains, indeed remains flat and common sense, as Mattie reasons the thief out of his money by seeming to employ his own logic. I'm surprised the Coens made this film, so unlike their other work, except in quality. Instead of saying that now I hope they get back to making “Coen Brothers films,” I'm inclined to speculate on what other genres they might approach in this spirit. What about the musical? “Oklahoma!” is ready to be remade. Labels: Books and Things, Film Reviews and Features Big Labor’s Snowmageddon Snit Fit Today's Tune: U2 - New Year's Day (Live) Mike Krzyzewski: 880 wins won't dampen his drive a... Today's Tune: Johnny Cash And Friends - Silent Nig... Today's Tune: Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Pleas...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21300
__label__wiki	0.888201	0.888201	Someone Drove Their Truck Into Blake Shelton’s House Stephen Lovekin, Getty Images Blake Shelton is sure having an up-and-down week. The same day that he released his new album, Texoma Shore, Shelton revealed that someone had driven a truck into his home in Oklahoma. The "I'll Name the Dogs" singer and coach on The Voice appeared on Live With Kelly and Ryan on Friday morning (Oct. 3) to promote the new project, and he told the hosts, "This is a weird moment for me." "So, I’m talking about Texoma Shore, and I made the album at my lake house," he elaborates in the video above. "There is a studio at my lake house in Oklahoma, and I just got a phone call. Somebody drove their truck through the front of my lake house, so if this album doesn’t hit, then that’s bad luck." How Gwen Stefani Helped Shape Blake Shelton's New Album Shelton himself wasn't sure of the details just yet, but it wasn't an attack aimed at the singer. "It was an accident," Shelton says. "I’m trying to figure it out, too. There's a truck sticking out of the front of my freakin’ house out there. I gotta sell some records now for sure! It’s one of them things. That’s what you have insurance for. I’m not too worried about it." Shelton titled his new album Texoma Shore because of the lazy days he spent at his lake house with his girlfriend, Gwen Stefani, this past summer. It's just one of the ways she impacted the new album. Shelton co-wrote a song titled "Turnin' Me On" that's a passionate ode to Stefani, and another song called "At the House" was a catalyst for the entire album project. Stefani's sons also appear in the video for "I'll Name the Dogs." What Really Inspired Blake Shelton's "I'll Name the Dogs"? Next: 5 Blake Shelton Pics That Make Us Go WTF?! This Is What Blake Shelton Was Thinking on Each of His Album Covers Source: Someone Drove Their Truck Into Blake Shelton’s House	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21302
__label__wiki	0.676622	0.676622	Prisoners to be Pope’s VIP guests for jubilee celebration Sunday’s special Jubilee for Prisoners will be celebrated at the Vatican, drawing detainees and their families from around Italy and beyond, including Cincinnati, to St. Peter’s Basilica for Mass with Pope Francis and a special reception after. On Nov. 6, a special Jubilee for Prisoners will be celebrated at the Vatican, drawing detainees and their families from around Italy and beyond to St. Peter’s Basilica for Mass with Pope Francis and a special reception after. “For the first time it will be possible for a large number of detainees from different parts of Italy and other countries to be present in St. Peter’s Basilica to live the Jubilee with Pope Francis,” Archbishop Rino Fisichella said Nov. 3. “We know that the pope takes great care of detained persons,” he said, noting how in each of his trips abroad, Francis “has repeatedly wanted to visit prisoners and leave the detained a message of closeness and hope.” Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, spoke to journalists at the presentation of the Jubilee for Prisoners, as well as that of the Nov. 13 Jubilee for the Socially Marginalized, set to coincide with the close of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, marking the end of the Jubilee of Mercy. The Jubilee of Prisoners, intended above all for prisoners and their families, penitentiary employees, prison chaplains and various associations that assist both inside and outside of the prison system, will take place Nov. 5-6 in Rome and is part of Pope Francis’s wider Jubilee of Mercy. Currently 4,000 people have signed up for the Jubilee, of which 1,000 are prisoners from 12 countries around the world: England, Italy, Latvia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, the United States, South Africa, Sweden and Portugal. Although the majority of prisoners attending come from Italy, there will be a Lutheran delegation present from Sweden. Around 50 prisoners and ex-prisoners will be coming from the U.S., including a group of 22 from Cincinnati. Inmates of all types will be included among the crowds, including minors, people on house arrest, and with varying sentences for an event that offers “a future and hope other than condemnation and the length of the sentence,” Fisichella said. Though Pope Francis has repeatedly called for an end to the death penalty, including during his 2015 visit to the U.S., and has in the past taken a special interest in individual cases of death row inmates, there will be none present during the Jubilee event. Celebrations for the Jubilee of Prisoners will begin Saturday, Nov. 5, with Eucharistic Adoration and Confessions in the Roman churches of S. Salvatore in Lauro, S. Maria in Vallicella (Chiesa Nuova), S. Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini. The day will conclude with pilgrimages to the Holy Door. On Sunday, Nov. 6, St. Peter’s Basilica will open at 7:30 a.m., and beginning at 9 a.m., testimonies will be given by various participants in the event. The testimonies will include a prisoner who will share an experience of conversion and will speak alongside the victim, with whom the prisoner has reconciled; the brother of someone who was murdered will talk about mercy and forgiveness; a young man currently serving a sentence; and an agent of the Penitentiary Police, who is in daily contact with the prisoners. All tickets for the Mass are, as usual, completely free of cost, and there will be no ticket required for the “Reception Celebrating Mercy” in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall after. An exhibit of various products and items made inside prisons is also being planned, and will be located at Castel Sant’Angelo, which sits at the end of the large street leading up to the Vatican, called Via della Conciliazione. During Mass, it will be the prisoners themselves who participate in various roles in the liturgy. The hosts used during Communion were also made by prisoners of the Opera maximum security prison in Milan as part of “The Meaning of Bread” project organized for the Jubilee of Mercy. In his comments to journalists, Fisichella said the prisoners coming were chosen by the bishops’ conferences and prison chaplains. Participating in the Jubilee for Prisoners was proposed to them by the Vatican, he said, explaining that by attending, they have “responded to the invitation of the Pope.” He said no special security measures are being taken given the special nature of the jubilee, but that the event will move forward “like normal.” When it comes to transporting prisoners from around Italy and other countries, the archbishop said that each country has their own laws and regulations for how it will be done. The Jubilee for the Socially Marginalized, on the other hand, will take place Nov. 13 and is intended for people who, “for different reasons, from economic precariousness to various diseases, from loneliness to a lack of family ties, have difficulties inserting themselves into the fabric of society and often end up on the margins of society, without a home or a place to live.” Nearly 6,000 people have signed up from countries around the world including France, Germany, Portugal, England, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia and Switzerland. Celebrations will begin Friday, Nov. 11, with an audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, during which the Pope will listen to testimonies and speak with them. Testimonies will also be given in various parishes around Rome throughout the day. On Saturday, Nov. 12, a vigil will be held at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Wall, during which attendees can pass through the basilica’s Holy Door. A concert will also be held that night in the Paul VI Hall. The event will close Sunday, Nov. 13, with a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis. On the same day, the Holy Doors in the three major papal basilicas of Rome – St. Mary Major, St. Paul Outside the Wall and St. John Lateran – and those in dioceses throughout the world will be closed, marking the coming end of the Jubilee of Mercy. The Holy Door in St. Peter’s will be closed at the Nov. 20 conclusion of the Holy Year. In his comments to journalists, Fisichella said that to close the Holy Doors “does not exhaust the commitment of the Church, but in the light of the Jubilee experience, strengthens her witness.” Referring to the Jubilee for Prisoners and Marginalized persons, he said, “we are certain that these two Jubilee events will be lived with the same intensity and experience of prayer with which we have seen the entire Jubilee (of Mercy) be celebrated.” The two events, he said, are “a meaningful horizon of the jubilee program which looks forward to Nov. 20 with serenity and trust.” Previous PostThe battle over St John Paul’s legacy comes to Australia Next Post'Mom is with him' - Couple shares beautiful love story for 74-years before dying hours apart	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21303
__label__wiki	0.597467	0.597467	44 ‘strategic roads’ to be constructed along India-China border for Rs 21,000 cr By DB POST Digital // January 13, 2019 New Delhi: The government will construct 44 strategic roads along the border with China, and over 2,100 km of axial and lateral roads in Punjab and Rajasthan, abutting Pakistan, shows a CPWD document. According to an annual report (2018-19) released earlier this month by the Central Public Works Department, the agency has been asked to construct 44 “strategically important” roads along the India-China border to ensure quick mobilisation of troops in case of a conflict. The nearly 4,000-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China touches areas from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh The report comes at a time China is giving a priority to projects along its India borders. Last year, Indian and Chinese troops engaged in a face-off at the Doklam tri-junction after the neighbouring country had begun building a road in the area. The standoff ended on August 28 following a mutual agreement under which China stopped construction of the road and India withdrew troops. The report stated that these 44 strategically roads along the India-China border will be constructed at a cost of nearly Rs 21,000 crore. “The CPWD has been entrusted with construction of 44 strategically important roads along the Indo-China Border spanning 5 states of J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh,” the report stated. “The total Cost of work as per DPRs (Detailed Project Reports) is Rs 21,040 crores (approx.),” the report stated It said the process of approval of DPRs by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is underway. The CPWD report also stated that lateral and axial roads measuring over 2,100 kilometers will be built with a cost of around Rs 5,400 crore in Rajasthan and Punjab along the Indo-Pakistan border. The DPRs for this project are under preparation in CPWD, which is a major construction agency of the central government. “A total of 945 km of lateral roads and 533 km of axial roads lie in Rajasthan (tentative cost Rs 3,700 crores) and 482 km of lateral roads and 219 km of axial roads in Punjab (tentative cost Rs 1,750 crores),” it stated. The road projects will secure the vast and remote border areas of Rajasthan and Punjab, it stated. India’s border with Pakistan runs through four states — Jammu and Kashmir (1,225 km, which includes 740 km of Line of Control), Rajasthan (1,037 km), Punjab (553 km) and Gujarat (508 km). China border strategic roads About DB POST Digital Staff Writer at DBPost.com	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21306
__label__wiki	0.773905	0.773905	Kathy Griffin Claims President Trump Told Federal Agents To Investigate Her By Bruce Haring Bruce Haring pmc-editorial-manager More Stories By Mario Van Peebles Signs With Buchwald Ilhan Omar, Kamala Harris Respond To “Send Her Back” Chants At Trump Rally Comedian Kathy Griffin has claimed President Donald Trump ordered federal agents to investigate her and make her life miserable in the wake of her ill-considered bloody severed head online post featuring him. Griffin, who apologized in the wake of the post when she received a barrage of outrage from both sides of the aisle – but later said she wasn’t sorry – was speaking on the ABC Start Here podcast with host Brad Mielke. She is also attending tonight’s White House Correspondents Dinner as a guest in what was anticipated to be a showdown with the president. Instead, Trump opted to hold a rally in Michigan. Mielke asked Griffin about the aftermath of the photo incident. “You were cleared of any wrongdoing by the Secret Service. But you did say the investigation dragged on for months, and you have said this goes all the way to the White House. Are you saying that the president personally directed federal agents to investigate you?” 'Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.' To End After Season 7 On ABC - Comic-Con Griffin replied, “Of course.” Mielke asked for clarification. “You think he said ‘let’s sic those guys on Kathy Griffin? Let’s make her life miserable?’” Griffin said, “Yes. You know how he works. You know, he has a vendetta against certain people. Like I said, it’s unprecedented in the history of the United States that a sitting United States president has used the full power of the Oval Office, first family, obviously Fox News and the right-wing media, TMZ, which reported my tour cancellations in real time, which has never happened, and put me under a two-month investigation where I possibly could have been charged with conspiracy to assassinate the president of the United States. It’s never happened.” Griffin couldn’t resist a shot at Trump spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “Trump is so twisted I have not ruled out the idea that it’s going to be Trump just wearing a Sarah Huckabee Sanders skin suit like ‘Silence Of The Lambs,’ just ’cause, you know, he likes to act like he doesn’t care what people say about him — comedians and celebrities — but he obviously does.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21309
__label__wiki	0.611696	0.611696	Hindi Film 101: Shahrukh and Karan This is fun, I should be able to write this whole thing without doing additional research. On the other hand, this is also a topic that many of you in the comments know more about than I do. So feel free to correct me, or expand, as needed. This is inspired because of yesterday’s recent little twitter explosion when Karan’s account “liked” a nasty quote about Shahrukh, and Shahrukh had to respond to everyone getting excited about it: I hate clarifications on SM. @karanjohar is technologically challenged but has other good qualities like his taste in clothes!?Just like Life, twitter doesn’t come with instructions, so mistakes r natural….& also he has fat fingers. Go easy all, Make Lov not War…it’s more fun — Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) March 22, 2019 On the season before last of Koffee with Karan, Shahrukh made a joke about how Karan is always having to defend his love of Shahrukh the same way Shahrukh has to defend his love for his country, and it’s true. And odd. I’m not sure why there is this pattern, why the media and public are always so focused on looking for a rift between then. Maybe because it is such a very unusual relationship we just can’t accept it is true? Maybe because it is such a beautiful relationship we want to tear it down? Maybe just because it is a passionate close friendship between a gay man and a straight man and we don’t believe it is possible? Anyway, most of us who are Shahrukh fans have accepted that, while he and Karan may have their ups and downs, at heart it is the kind of lifetime bond that can never truly be shaken. In his memoir, Karan tells the story of the first time he saw Shahrukh. He was in high school, a fat funny looking kid, and a friend of the family suggested he do a few TV roles. He was in a waiting room at a TV studio, waiting to meet a producer, and he saw this very handsome young man sitting across the room doing a crossword puzzle. Finally the office man came out and told the young man he was sorry he had waited so long but the producer wouldn’t be able to see him today. The young man said it wasn’t a problem, he just wanted to meet him face to face to tell him he wouldn’t be doing his TV show. He was going to concentrate on movies from now on, he was going to be a movie star. And then he left, and the office man turned to Karan and said “he’s a fool, you will never hear the name Shahrukh Khan again”. It’s a great story, but I always take these Karan stories with a grain of salt, because he is a writer and he knows how to tell a good story. What I do believe happened is that Karan saw Shahrukh in a waiting room 5 years before they met for real and remembered that moment because something sparked, even then. Even if Shahrukh didn’t notice him. Their real meeting was on the sets of DDLJ. Aditya Chopra had met Karan first. They knew each other from the occasional children’s parties as kids, but then met again when they were both finishing college and Adi kind of adopted him. Adi had grown up living and breathing film, it was all he knew or cared about. Karan grew up in South Bombay, living and breathing the whole artistic and social life of the city. Adi brought Karan into the world of film and encouraged his interests to blossom, Karan let Adi pick his brain for fashion and western styles and ideas. And then Adi invited Karan to help him make DDLJ. Karan started in the costume department (where he met Manish Malhotra, another young friend of Adi), and one day was brought in to meet the star, Shahrukh Khan. And he told Shahrukh “you should wear tighter jeans, my friends say your butt is very good and you should show it off”. And Shahrukh blushed bright red because he was so embarrassed, but was also impressed. Over the course of filming DDLJ, Shahrukh and Karan circled around each other, slowly getting each other’s measures. Karan helped right that final speech Shahrukh gives in front of Amrish Puri about why he and Kajol shouldn’t elope, and Shahrukh was so impressed when it was over that he told Karan he shouldn’t do costumes, he should write his own movie. Most importantly, Karan won over Gauri. She hated film people, thought they were boring and didn’t have anything to talk about. But during the European leg of the shoot, when she came over to be with Shahrukh, he handed her off to Karan to entertain her and show her around, and she loved him. She told Shahrukh he was the only interesting person she had met on a film set. Here’s Gauri and Karan together recently, in the nursery she made for his babies. At the end of the shoot, Shahrukh told Karan he had another commitment coming up, but he would be free next October and Karan needed to have a script ready by then because they would start filming. He even called across the room to Kajol “Kajol, clear October, we are making a movie for Karan”. But of course Karan didn’t really believe it, that’s not how movie stars behave and that’s not how films are decided. At this point, Shahrukh and Kajol were the hot new pair onscreen. They weren’t the top actor-actress, but they were very good and getting better with every film. And then DDLJ came out, and Shahrukh was rocketed to the stratosphere. Suddenly he was the biggest name in town and everyone wanted him. The idea of him doing a movie for this kid on his film set seemed even more fantastic. And then one night Karan was in his bedroom at home and his father came in and asked to speak with him. His father looked very shaken, and Karan was alarmed. And then his father sat down and said “Son, today Shahrukh Khan came to see me. I’ve been wanting to sign him for my movie, and he said yes, he would do it. But he wanted to sign two films with me as producer, and he wanted the right to pick his director for the second one. I said of course, and he said he wants you to direct the second film”. This was the first film. Mahesh Bhatt directing, and then Shahrukh wanted to work with a 24 year old kid who’d never made a movie before. So that’s how Karan became a director. Because Shahrukh forced him into it. They made Kuch Kuch together and by the end of the shoot, Karan was part of the family. From Shahrukh’s side, he talks about how meaningful that relationship was for Gauri. She was only 21 when they got married and she moved from Delhi (where she knew everyone and had a large loving family) to Bombay (where she knew no one and their first apartment was one room with a mattress and a hotplate). Shahrukh was working 20 hour days trying to get his career started, Gauri was bored and lost and lonely and felt out of place in the film world, and then Karan appeared. He was Gauri’s first real friend in film, the first person she felt comfortable with in Bombay. And if she hadn’t been comfortable, there was a real chance Shahrukh would have lost his career. They agreed when they got married that if it wasn’t working after a couple of years, he would move back to Delhi with her and get a “real” job. Shahrukh’s first child, Aryan, was born while Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was being planned and made. Karan was there for all of it, supportive and understanding to both of them. And then Suhana came while they were planning Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. At this point, Karan and Shahrukh were essentially joined at the hip. They did everything together, went every where together. This is when they started the joke of calling each other “Bhai”. Because all the other movie stars had these tough gangster-like friends, and here was Shahrukh with fey Karan, and shy serious Aditya, so they called each other “Bhai” to make a joke of how un-gangster they were. Aditya Chopra, Karan, and baby Aryan. Very gangster. This is also when Shahrukh offered to protect Karan from gangsters. KKHH was premiering opposite a mob-backed picture, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. Karan started getting threatening phone calls telling him to change his release date or they would shoot him, giving details of the clothes he was wearing that day to show that they were serious. He was terrified, his parents were terrified, the police told him to avoid going out and making himself a target, he was thinking about not even going to the premiere. And then Shahrukh came to see him and told him it was his night, he should go. And if he was afraid, no worries, Shahrukh would stand in front of him and block him so any bullets would hit Shahrukh instead. And that’s what he did. In 2002, 8 years after they met, they were making Kal Ho Na Ho in New York. Karan was the writer and producer, his father Yash was there as well to help with the production stuff. And in the middle of filming, half a world away from home, his father started to feel sick and they went to see a doctor and learned he had cancer and only months to live. Karan was in a daze, he was an only child of older parents, his family had always been his father, and his mother, and himself. His mother was strict with high standards for him, his father was the soft loving blindly supportive parent. And the big strong cheerful nothing-can-stop-me parent. And now he was sick. And they had to finish the film, and they had to explain why Yash wouldn’t be on set any more. Karan went back to the hotel and went to see Shahrukh, he told him the news and Shahrukh fell down on the ground, sobbing, saying “I can’t do it, I can’t lose another father”. He was so upset Karan ended up comforting him, not the other way around. Here’s Karan at the funeral, with Shahrukh at his shoulder After Yash died, Shahrukh didn’t leave Karan’s side. The first film Karan tried to produce after was Kaal, Shahrukh jumped in as a co-producer just to be supportive. Karan saw the first cut a couple of weeks before the release date and knew it would be a flop, just knew it. He was in a panic, his production house was going to go under and he was going to fail his father’s memory. He called up Shahrukh, and Shahrukh made a song for him to slap on the front of the film, literally within days. Kaal was still a flop, but not so bad that it killed them, and Dharma lived on. This was the era when Karan was Shahrukh’s official costume designer on most of his films. For Main Hoon Na, he was air mailing in sweaters and jeans and fancy looks. He picked out Shahrukh’s FilmFare outfits and everything else. On a recent Koffee, they also joke about how Shahrukh is most embarrassed by Karan when they are shopping together. Karan picks out outfits for him to try, then goes into the dressing room with him to see, and even asks passing folks “what do you think? Does this look good?” and Shahrukh HATES it. At this point in time, Karan was the most successful producer/director in Hindi film, and also the guy who bought Shahrukh’s sweaters. Gauri used to be that person (she went to school for design), but she had two kids now, so Karan stepped up. Karan had an idea for a movie on infidelity, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. Shahrukh agreed to do it, of course. During filming as they got farther and farther into the plot, Shahrukh got more and more uncomfortable. He questioned Karan, do these characters really need to have sex? Will the audience accept this and forgive it? He didn’t think it was a good idea for the film, thought it wouldn’t work. And he was uncomfortable with those scenes as an actor. But Karan told him no, he wanted this, so Shahrukh said “okay” and did whatever was asked just because Karan asked it. And then he was right, the audience was uncomfortable with the film and with Shahrukh. But it was still the right thing to do, because his friendship with Karan was more important than any audience. The first “rift” between Karan and Shahrukh was around the time of Student of the Year. Karan had always sworn he would not make a film without Shahrukh in it, said he didn’t even know how to direct without Shahrukh. Varun Dhawan, one of the stars of Student of the Year, Karan’s first Shahrukh-less film, confirmed that. He said in an interview he was nervous about working with Karan, because he had seen him with Shahrukh on the My Name is Khan set, they didn’t even talk any more really, Karan would just look at him and he would do the scene exactly as Karan wanted it. He was worried he would be expected to be like that, and he just couldn’t. When I have a rift with my friends, or family, we don’t talk or see each other for a while. And then you get over it and come back together. Karan and Shahrukh’s relationship, it was too close for that. There was a difference, everyone could feel it, but it wasn’t the kind of difference that breaks up a friendship because their friendship couldn’t be broken ever, they have a bond that is too strong to snap. This was when Aryan was preparing to go away to boarding school, Karan was over to the house all the time helping him get ready, keeping Gauri calm, making sure Suhana was okay. He talked to Shahrukh to coordinate visits and kid pick-ups and dinners and all the little minutia of life. I guess it gets down to the explanation Karan gave for why Shahrukh co-produced Kaal. They were together all the time, it just made sense to produce a film together, it was easier. They weren’t together because they were working partners, they were working partners because they were already family. The “coolness”, that just meant they weren’t working together any more. They were still family. And like family, it blew over eventually without anyone doing anything. One day they just called each other up and talked and said “I miss you”. And then it was done. Here’s Karan picking Suhana up at the airport when she came back from school They are maybe in another coolness period now, it’s hard to tell. Three years ago Karan had his birthday party in London so it wouldn’t conflict with Aryan’s graduation from high school and he could go to both. Two years ago, Karan had his birthday during location filming and Shahrukh wasn’t there. They co-produced Ittefaq together last year, but that was the last time they worked together. And Shahrukh wasn’t on the last season of Koffee With Karan. These are the little clues we see, this is how close we expect them to be, if they aren’t flying around the world to be together on Karan’s birthday, if they aren’t producing every film together, then it means they aren’t as close as they have been in the past. But that’s nothing. The kind of closeness they have, the history they share, the way they are embedded in each other’s lives, the surface of the relationship may ebb and flow but the core will never be touched. This entry was posted in Hindi Film 101 and tagged Hindi Film 101, Karan Johar, Shahrukh Khan by mredlich21. Bookmark the permalink. 16 thoughts on “Hindi Film 101: Shahrukh and Karan” Ticket on March 24, 2019 at 9:28 am said: I’m jealous of their friendship — I want a friend like that! datablue on March 24, 2019 at 10:32 am said: Karan and Shahrukh might be best friends forever. But you can see from the quote that Shahrukh is a little bit annoyed with him.It’s his version of a rap on the knuckles.And just because they’re besties, they need not collaborate on every project. And unlike Ittefaq, it was a good thing Shahrukh didn’t cast one of Karan’s talentless protegees in Badla. And the film was better for it. mredlich21 on March 24, 2019 at 11:23 am said: I still just see that twitter comment as a rap on the knuckles to SRK’s fans who are trolling for a controversy, not Karan. But I agree that they aren’t working together now and it is for the best for both of them. They both need to build their own separate studios, is the bottom line, and how can they do that when they are only known for working with each other? Red Chillies has to producer its own films that survive on their own merit, and Dharma has to do the same. On Sun, Mar 24, 2019 at 8:32 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote: It’s a two-fer.It’s a message to his fans to stay out and that he can take care of his problems with his friends -no defending needed from 3rd parties. There was however enough sarcasm in the tweet that it’s clear he’s slightly annoyed with KJo.That dig about “good things about Karan such as his fashion sense” and “Karan is clumsy” makes it clear. Molly Pollak on March 24, 2019 at 10:44 am said: I don’t think not appearing on KWK has significance. That is a commericial show. Shah Rukh appears on it if it makes commercial sense. That’s it. He didn’t want to promote Zero on that show which I understand. I think this whole tweet debacle does have significance. That Shah Rukh “clarified” something he says often and repeats in the tweet that he hates to do, speaks to how important he thought it was. That (stupid in my opinion) selfie in SRK’s vanity van at Filmfare with Karan was absolutely for Karan and to stop the trolling. There is a group of fans on twitter who think Karan is a snake and disloyal. I think your read might be better. I’m I imagining things or did this post at one point have a comment about the other debacle that Karan was a part of: the PC rumors… You are imagining things, this post had no comments at all until just now! I was shocked, I put it up thinking I could relax and enjoy my vacation because it would be a comment bonanza, and then bupkis! My memory of the PC situation was that Karan got angry at her publicly and it became a whole thing, is that your memory? And my impression was that he was angry on behalf of Gauri more than SRK. The Gauri-Karan friendship has always be referred to, among all three of them, as as strong or stronger than the SRK-Karan friendship. Which is another thing I think the people pushing the “feud” or “disloyal” storyline just don’t get, that even of SRK and Karan are angry with each other, his relationship with Gauri is separate from that and he will still be in Shahrukh’s life constantly. It’s not as simple as being “disloyal” and then Shahrukh can punish him by shutting him out, how can he shut out one of the most important people in the lives of his children and his wife? And anyway, the trolling about a break-up is damaging to the public image of both of them, I think. Karan needs to be seen as reasonable and sensible and not a hysterical vicious Queen (which is what these stories sometimes sound like they are painting him as), and Shahrukh needs to be seen as someone with friends in the industry and a connection to the younger generation of actors. They both benefit by shutting it down. Not to mention that these stories can only distract from what they are actually trying to promote, they both have films in theaters right now, they need people to buy tickets for both without feeling like they are picking sides. Anonymous on March 24, 2019 at 12:19 pm said: Karan’s involvement in the PC mess was part of the reason for the cooling off between him and SRK earlier, not just that they were not working together anymore. No matter how close friends you may be, there is always a limit that should not be crossed. Meddling in someone’s marriage is one of them. Both SRK and Gauri were keeping quiet during those rumors but Karan decided to publicly jump in and give more wind to the controversy. People still to this day use his tweet as confirmation that something must have indeed happened between SRK and PC. And all for what? Nothing at all since he went back to PC within days, invites her to parties, went to her wedding, calls her on his TV show, and more. It was the kind of thing a gossip fiend does, not a friend. It did not protect Gauri at all and made the controversy bigger and more public. Since then, I think SRK has always been slightly wary of Karan even during the good times. mredlich21 on March 24, 2019 at 3:58 pm said: That makes sense. I like your phrasing of “wary”. It’s not that he likes or loves him any less, but there is an awareness that he has the ability to do PR damage and that makes you cautious about what you might say. It’s very relatable, I think we all have that friend who is bad at keeping secrets and so, although you don’t blame them for who they are, you accept and understand it and are a little more cautious about what you tell them. And maybe keep them at arms length some of the time for that reason. Anonymous on March 24, 2019 at 11:00 am said: I think Karan begged SRK (or Gauri) to put up that tweet for him and asked for a photo. His fat fingers incident had turned into a pretty big thing. At one point, there were almost 100K tweets shaming Karan and it was trending all day on twitter. It’s not something SRK would have done on his own. He never replies even to his own controversies. Not only that, his tweet did not even sound upset. He seemed amused about having to rescue Karan. They are definitely in a cool period in their friendship. At one point, SRK gave a revealing interview that he sent his kids off to the UK/US primarily to keep them away from Karan. He felt Karan was pressuring them towards films and he didn’t want his kids in that environment. Most of their circle also works as assistant directors for Karan. For example, Sanjay Kapoor’s daughter Shanaya is currently doing that for one of Karan’s films. Varun Dhawan and others had done it before their careers too. But again, Suhana has been kept away and she worked for Gurinder Chadha instead. I could be wrong but I think even Gauri is not as connected to Karan as she once was. It was a different time period when she was bored and had nothing to do but gossip with Karan. Nowadays she is busy with her work and she is mostly seen just with her family. Karan is off playing out his mid-life crisis and hangs out mainly with people half his age. I think you are right about them not being as connected. But that’s just life, you know? If they weren’t famous folks, it would still make sense for them to be drifting apart at this moment in their lives. They became friends at a time when they were all very lonely, Shahrukh was an orphan, Gauri was separated from her family and had no job or life of her own, Karan was struggling with his identity and had always been kind of a lonely odd only child, it makes sense that they would cling together. And then Karan’s father died, the kids were babies which means Gauri had a harder time leaving the house and was isolated again, all of these other life reasons for this friendship to be very important from all sides in those first 10-15 years. And now Gauri’s career is blossoming, Karan has his own kids, Shahrukh is exploring new artistic and business challenges, it makes sense that they are less close than before. Give it another ten years, Karan’s kids will be older and less demanding of attention, Shahrukh and Gauri might be semi-retired, and they can go back to taking vacations together and spending every minute together. It’s the kind of friendship that is never going to really go away, but it will change. Which is very rare and I am a little jealous of them, and of everyone else I have seen who has that kind of friendship. Anonymous on March 24, 2019 at 3:39 pm said: You may be right but I tend to see it differently. I think the closeness was a result of the fact that they were working together a lot, not the other way around. When you’re seeing each other every day on set, it’s natural for a friendship to form. Gauri used to go on all the location shoots too because she had nothing to do either in the earlier years. That started changing once SRK and Karan stopped working with each other. It’s been almost a decade since MNIK. Even during MNIK promotions, Karan was asked about the bonding time he has with SRK and he immediately said there is no such thing because SRK is way too busy. He had said in other places too that he can’t even get in touch with SRK unless he goes through Gauri and she tracks him down and makes him reply. SRK is too old for the kind of young movies Karan wants to make so they will never work together again so that kind of closeness is not going to happen. SRK is a workaholic so I never see any time coming when he will be semi-retirement. Even if he’s not acting, he will be busy with other things and if nothing else, he would be playing with his grandkids, not hanging out with Karan Johar. Of course they will be friendly and attend parties and gatherings together but I don’t see any special kind of friendship in that. Karan also tends to exaggerate a lot so I would never go by his over-the-top words. On KwK, he was even calling Anil Kapoor’s family his own family and I was flabbergasted. He is a bit of a show-off and not to be taken that seriously. Emily on March 24, 2019 at 10:21 pm said: It does totally make sense that they’re in a phase of life that doesn’t really match right now. Karan’s on his first set of babies, and out figuring out how to be a movie mogul in the modern age, and working his marketing and connections and stable of talent, and the semi-reality gossip celebrity thing. SRK is building up Red Chillies to where it doesn’t need him as an actor to be successful, and helping his older kids transition to adulthood and independence, and navigating the political headwinds and what that does to the SRK business, and figuring out what to do as an actor and artist if his movies aren’t guaranteed hits anymore. Not a lot of overlap. I don’t know when that changes. It’s possible to see a business convergence that plays to both of their strengths on streaming, but they’ve even married different platforms. On the other hand, the argument for the unbreakable bond is that they were together for many years during a young, very formative period in all their lives. And also, something not to be taken lightly given who they are now, at a time when they weren’t powerful and they could become friends as people instead of personalities. I feel like the people who helped you at a time when you were unimportant and disposable are the people you hang onto and feel loyalty towards even many years and many changes later. Also, as an only child for most of my life, the people who are important to you and help see you through hard family stuff can come to feel kind of like adopted siblings (though this doesn’t always keep you together either). Anyway, I agree it feels like a family connection, but not necessarily an easy one – more like the complicated kind of sibling relationship you see sometimes, often between brothers, with plenty of undercurrents and distances. Thinking about it like brothers, with Karan as the younger and Shahrukh as the older (which is how Karan has referred to their relationship himself) made me think about something else, Karan has kind of outgrown Shahrukh increasingly over the past few years. Which is what happens with siblings and is always awkward, when you hit that phase where you need to learn how to interact as equals instead of as older- younger. All the things I talk about here, Shahrukh was the big brother. Shahrukh was 30 and telling Karan he should direct when Karan was 22. He gave him confidence and encouragement and guided him, he and Gauri adopted him into their family, even made him an “uncle” to their kids. And now Karan is directing his own films with Shahrukh, is having his own kids. It’s healthy, but it means now they are fathers together, and producers together, heck Karan is even more experienced than Shahrukh as a producer! I haven’t seen anything that makes me think Shahrukh resents that difference, but it is a hard thing for a relationship to navigate, find a way to move beyond that advice giver-advice taker kind of relationship. I mean heck, the difference between 30 and 22 is a vast chasm, the difference between 52 and 44 is nothing. That alone is something every relationship with an age gap runs into, that moment when the gap doesn’t matter any more and you have to figure out how to be in the same stage of life together. Emily on March 25, 2019 at 8:11 am said: Yes, that’s a good analogy. Neither of them has an elder sibling or even father with whom they might have had a chance to go through this kind of transition. When your elder sibling or mentor is no longer more powerful and successful than you are, and you have to renegotiate your roles. Especially in this case where their connection started and was always surrounded by the films, but now the industry is fragmenting in ways that, based on their natural strengths and inclinations, push them apart instead of bringing them together. I was thinking too about the social media and internet moment when this is all unfolding, it complicates the personal. Like you were saying about that friend who can’t keep a secret, except what that friend does in public is amplified by ten thousand or ten million and can have real world effects, economic and political, for not only you and your family but for your company and the people who work for you. The stakes are so much higher, if SRK loses his temper, or if Karen goes on one of his petty benders. I imagine it constrains even the private relationship to some extent, things can never get to point where it might leak out. They are also close enough that these rifts don’t need words. In Karan’s memoir he talks around their last problem period, and there was no fight, no words were said, but the both knew something was wrong. And then they both knew something was right. Which is another reason I don’t think we will ever see them fighting on social media or a public arena, because I don’t think they “fight” even in private. It’s more “you are being extra polite when you answer the phone, and you say ‘bye’ instead of ‘I love you'” kind of fighting. They know it when it is happening, and the people closest to them know it, but it won’t come through to anyone else. On Mon, Mar 25, 2019 at 6:11 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote: Claudia on March 26, 2019 at 2:24 am said: Wow, you did another post about Karan and ShahRukh…even a 101 (I missed a more Dharma-orientation because Yash Johar had asked ShahRukh to kind of supervise/help/contribute… There had been a much more big-son/big-brother-of-Karan relationship between Yash Johar-ShahRukh than between the kind-of-son – Yash Chopra relationship (I think, ShahRukh is closer to Uday than to Aditya…without being gay himself he has a soft understanding for – unaggressive – gayness, I think). I always perceived the relationship ShahRukh Karan as one of big brother-little brother (even before having read Karan’s take on that…because I never believed Karan’s take…he was in love with ShahRukh…and maybe still suffers from this unrequited sexual love). In a family, one would talk of ‘cutting the umbilical cord’ what Karan did (not in a nice way, but in general that doesn’t happen in a nice way). Despite the kids, I think that Karan is an unhappy man and not very balanced (since some years). Yet that are my own feelings and they may be wrong 😉	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21310
__label__wiki	0.662782	0.662782	Activities, News, Success NY: Group of Governmental Experts Held 2nd of Three Sessions June 2, 2008 DI The world needs a tough Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Defend International is committed to supporting a robust ATT capable of saving lives and preventing the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. The UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on a global Arms Trade Treaty held its second round of discussions on the scope and parameters of the treaty. The GGE is representing an historical step towards an international instrument to combat the rise in armed violence. Proposed Arms Trade Treaty in Hands of GGE Experts Defend International Oslo-Norway — The UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on a global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) held its second session in New York from 12-16 May. The 28 GGE delegates examined the feasibility, scope and parameters of the ATT. Defend International continues its support to an effective Arms Trade Treaty that is strongly enforced to prevent and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. Civil society is calling on the GGE to push for an ATT based on International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law, which also recognises the effect of arms transfers on development and eradicate poverty. The ATT must also cover all types of weapons, including ammunition, and all types of transfers, including import, transit, loans and gifts. The experts will report back to the UN General Assembly in October 2008. NGOs & ATT The Control Arms campaign, Defend International and other NGOs are campaigning for the establishment of an international Treaty to stop weapons transfers that fuel conflict and poverty, and to refuse transfers when there is clear risk that the arms will be used to commit serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. An international Arms Trade Treaty will open new avenues for global collaboration. There is a need for standards for specific mechanisms to control brokering activities, licensed production and transfers of weapons. MENA countries Several countries in the Middle East and North Africa region played a key role in the push for an Arms Trade Treaty. Algeria and Egypt are members of GGE and has appointed their experts to the UN to push for arms controls. UNIDIR’s analysis An analysis of Member States’ views on the ATT was released by the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) to coincide with the meeting. The objective of the study is to allow Member States and experts “to compare the information and proposals contained in these views across themes, countries and regions, as well as through statistical clustering” Resolution 61/89 On 6 December 2006, as many as153 states voted in the UN General Assembly to begin work on an Arms Trade Treaty, 24 states abstained and only the USA voted against. By resolution 61/89, entitled “Towards an arms trade treaty: establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms“, the United Nations General Assembly: Requested the Secretary-General to seek the views of Member States on the feasibility, scope and draft parameters for a comprehensive, legally binding instrument establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms, and to submit a report on the subject to the General Assembly at its sixty-second session; (operative paragraph 1). Last year 100 states responded to the Secretary Generals consultation – more than ten times the usual amount. These views are available online, and in a Report of the Secretary General. Requested the Secretary-General to establish a group of governmental experts, on the basis of equitable geographical distribution, informed by the report of the Secretary-General submitted to the General Assembly at its sixty-second session, to examine, commencing in 2008, the feasibility, scope and draft parameters for a comprehensive, legally binding instrument establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms, and to transmit the report of the group of experts to the Assembly for consideration at its sixty-third session (operative paragraph 2). The GGE On September 2007 the Secretary General appointed a Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) from the following 28 countries: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Romania, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and United States. The GGE will examine the feasibility, scope and parameters of an Arms Trade Treaty and report back to the UN General Assembly in October 2008. The GGE schedule The GGE will meet in three sessions in New York, as follows: First session: 11 – 15 February 2008 Second session: 12 -16 May 2008 Third session: 28 July – 8 August 2008 Previous PostRamallah: 2008 Global Week of Action Against Gun ViolenceNext PostMorocco & Tunisia: 2008 Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21315
__label__wiki	0.854618	0.854618	Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie I’ve been playing fantasy football since 1998, when my friend convinced me to go in with him in a league starting up where he worked. That year, we drafted Terrell Davis in the first round, Steve Young in the second round, and Antonio Freeman in the third round. We honestly didn’t need any other players that year, because each one of those guys had career years. Davis with over 2000 yards, Steve Young with around 40 TDs and Freeman with 14 TDs and Favre throwing it to him. We rolled through the league and only lost one game all year — by 0.5 points when Jamie Asher caught a short pass at the end of a Monday Night Football game. I was hooked. The next year, I got my own team in the league and won the crown the next two years with the help of Marshall Faulk and then Eddie George. And that’s when the obsession started. I never wanted to be out-thought or out-researched by the other guys in the league, so I gathered in every scrap of information I could find and made list after list of player rankings and contingency strategies. The addiction was completely out of hand. Then I made the big mistake — I accepted the job as commissioner of the league. That’s when the tough times started. The bickering, the whining… the guys begging to be exceptions to the rules and then getting mad when I wouldn’t let them. I lost my taste for it pretty soon after that. By 2005 I wasn’t in any leagues at all. Thankfully. Fantasy football was really starting to become a problem. But you’re never really cured. It’s true. You’re never really cured of your addiction — you’re only in remission. And one of the things they tell addicts is that you need to be careful of who your friends are or else they can drag you back into your addiction behaviors. In 2008, the same friend who had gotten me into my first league was getting into a dynasty league at work and wanted me to partner with him again. I promised myself that I was only going to do this for one year. Yeah, right. Worst thing I could’ve done. At least with a redraft league you get six or seven months off after NFL season ends. In a dynasty league, the obsession goes 24/7/365/Infinity. By the end of that first season I was already making trades for future draft picks — guaranteeing that I was back year after year. We scored the most points in our league and had the 2nd-best record that year but missed the playoffs because of a poorly designed tiebreaker hierarchy. And because we’d drafted a team of soon-to-be-irrelevant-but-still-productive players like Anquan Boldin, Marion Barber, Isaac Bruce, Willie Parker, Thomas Jones, TJ Houshmandzadeh, Torry Holt, Muhsin Muhammad and Tony Gonzalez, we were quickly in rebuilding mode. So now the addiction rages again. But it’s taken on a different form this time. I’ve become less interested in the fortunes of my own team and more interested in the future stars of the NFL. Which means the addiction has really switched to an addiction for information rather than an addiction to fantasy football. Now I have to know WHY a player will succeed in the NFL rather than in just IF he will succeed. Which means watching days and days of college football game footage, all-star games, all-star practices, the Combine and all the other scouting events around the country, reading endless Twitter updates from guys who really know what they’re talking about, watching every preseason game, and — once again — making extensive lists of players and making my own scouting reports for hundreds of players. What makes these players tick? How quick is this QB’s release? Does this RB have the vision and burst he’ll need behind his offensive line? Does that WR get in and out of his breaks quickly enough? Hundreds of questions about hundreds of players. But at least, because I write every one of my observations down, I can share them with others to maybe spare them the need to give in to their own obsessive tendencies. So that’s what this blog is for. I’m just a fan, but an obsessed one.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21321
__label__wiki	0.700035	0.700035	The Political Special 27 & 28 June 2019, 20:00 Read moreReservation 29 & 30 August 2019, 20:00 Eclectic Theatre was founded in January 2005 in Dresden with the aim of promoting English language culture and intercultural communication through the performing arts with particular emphasis on public performances of plays. Eclectic Theatre is a free and independent theatre group in every sense. Our members and supporters include people from all walks of life and from many different countries. Our choice of plays is not limited in any way, except that they are performed in English. From Greek tragedy to the contemporary scene, we produce involving and engaging theatre within a wide range of possibilities and styles. As resident theatre group at the Theaterhaus Rudi in Dresden, Eclectic Theatre e.V. is a member of the Landesverband AmateurTheater Sachsen e.V. (LATS), which is the umbrella organisation for amateur theatre groups in Saxony, and cooperates with The Dresden Anglo-German Association. Eclectic Theatre is international and multicultural. The mix of members and supporters over the time comprises students and professionals from Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, the UK, the USA and South Africa. The artistic director, Michael Halstead, who is also from the UK, has been involved in theatre as an actor, director and playwright. His first play on the life of the composer Anton Bruckner was premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1982 where it was nominated for a Fringe First award. From 1991 to 1998 he had lived in Prague where he had been the Artistic Director of the Exposure Theatre Company, before he came to Dresden in 2000 where he has worked as a freelance teacher and translator besides his ongoing involvement in the performing arts.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21323
__label__wiki	0.793212	0.793212	Edible History: Cod: Newfoundland’s quintessential fish Edible History Cod: Newfoundland’s quintessential fish Sarah Smellie, Daisy Dee, There’s a shape that appears often in arts and crafts from Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s a rough, elongated triangle—like an arrowhead with its points broken off—that’s usually white or thereabouts. A bumpy ridge or spine runs down the center. It’s the shape of salt cod: a codfish whose belly has been slit up the middle, its head removed, and its flesh spread open to be laid in salt and dried. You can find it on locally made ceramics or spot it being worn as earrings, pins, and pendants. You can also see it in murals in downtown St. John’s, the provincial capital, celebrating the history of its once mighty cod fishery. In these scenes men and women work down by the wharves, stacking the split fish to get it ready for salting, after which it was used in fish cakes, stews, salt fish with drawn butter, or the traditional fish and brewis (pronounced “brews”), a hash of soaked salt fish and hard bread, served with nubs of fried salted pork fat called “scrunchions.” But while images of salt cod are everywhere in Newfoundland and Labrador, finding the food itself can be a little tougher. That’s because in 1992, when local cod had been fished almost to extinction, the Canadian government banned commercial cod fishing off the province’s shores. The moratorium put nearly 30,000 people out of work and ended a way of life that had persisted in the province for nearly 500 years. Many Newfoundlanders, especially outside St. John’s, moved away to look for work elsewhere in Canada. In the past three years, as cod stocks have finally started to recover, a small commercial cod fishery has been allowed. But the days of stacking salt fish are long over. With fresh fish from around the world available year-round, markets have changed. These days during fishing season most of the cod available in the province’s grocery stores is fresh or frozen. But sometimes, even in the capital, you can still find salt cod: Salt cod is often called “bacalao,” which is also the name of a St. John’s restaurant that puts modern touches on Newfoundland cuisine. Bacalao is one of a few upscale restaurants in St. John’s that bring salt cod and other traditional Newfoundland foods to the white-tablecloth set. In winter they serve salt cod poached in olive oil as well as bacalao fritters. A star of the brunch menu is old-fashioned fish and brewis—made with salt cod, of course. Cod cakes Fish cakes are a lunch staple all over the province and they’re often made with salt cod. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a restaurant or cafe that doesn’t offer fish cakes and boast they’re the best in town. Newfoundland fish cakes are made with fish, onions, potatoes, egg, and seasoning. The ingredients are mashed together and formed into cakes—typically the size of a mason-jar lid—and fried in an oiled pan until golden brown. “They’re something you have to resist trying to do a new version of, because people are very staid in the very traditional way of doing it,” says St. John’s food blogger Barry Parsons, whose salt-cod fish cakes are a top hit on his recipes site. Cod tongues OK, they’re not actually tongues. They’re a muscle at the back of the fish’s neck that is rubbery, slightly gelatinous, and definitely an acquired taste. Most Newfoundlanders and Labradorians grow up eating them. As kids, many even make a few bucks down on the wharf cutting the “tongues” from the fish and selling them. Cod tongues are often lightly battered and fried and served with butter, lemon juice, tartar sauce, or—the greatest indulgence—scrunchions. They’re sold in stores frozen or fresh. Every self-respecting resident of St. John’s has had to make an important choice in their life: Ches’s or Leo’s? Fish and chips—or “fee and chee,” as they call it—are taken very seriously in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the availability of fresh cod during the fishing season ups the ante. In St. John’s the rulers are Ches’s Famous Fish and Chips, which has a few franchises on the Avalon Peninsula, and Leo’s Fish & Chips, which remains a single restaurant on Freshwater Road. Ches’s gets the most attention, so Leo’s is often heralded as the insiders’ spot. However, some hardcore fee and chee fans claim that Dick’s Seaview Lounge & Restaurant, out by the ferry to Bell Island, is the best in town. You can order fee and chee as a one-piece (best for snacking), two-piece (the most common size) or three-piece (if you’re really hungry). The fish is served in long, thick strips, and every joint has its own special batter recipe. It’s not just the fresh cod that makes Newfoundland and Labrador fee and chee special. Here you can get your chips smothered in “dressing” (fried stuffing) and gravy. Pair a two-piece with a can—or “tin,” as it’s called in the province—of pineapple Crush and a Caramel Log candy bar and you’ve got yourself a proper feed. While the future of the cod fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador is still uncertain—stocks were back down after 2017’s fishing season—the 26 years since the moratorium have shown that cod, fresh or salted, will always have an important place here in the culture and on the dinner table. Eat like Bourdain: Sicily Panelli, caponata, and horse meat. 18 things to know before you go to eastern Congo Plan well, and don’t forget to try the fish, take a hike, and taste Congolese cheese and coffee. Recipe: Paraguayan tortillas Romy Natalia Goldberg shares a family recipe for tortillas paraguayas. Bourdain, off the cuff: Libya “It’s nice to see the bad guy gone.” Little Mary’s River Inn The owners of this Detroit mainstay say it’s the “Black Cheers.” Recipe: Little Alley’s xiaolongbao Chef Yuchun Cheung shares his recipe for Shanghai-style soup dumplings.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21325
__label__wiki	0.797622	0.797622	HomePosts tagged '150th' Significant Number Factoid Friday – Today The Number Is One Hundred And Fifty 150 June 7, 2013 May 31, 2013 fasab Factoids, Numbers, Unusual 150, 150 couples, 150cc, 150th, 201st Airlift Squadron, 30/30-150, 3D globe, a pistol grip, A-150, acoustic guitars, aerodynamic, AFL season, Air Medal, Alaska, Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alexander the Great, American, American Holland class submarines, Anchorage, Andrews Air Force Base, archtop guitars, Astra SPX, astrological, Australia, authorship, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Pulsar, ban, batsman, bet, body size, books, boredom, British anthropologist, British motorcycle, C-38 Courier, Cadillac Gage Commando, Captain Johnston Blakeley, Caribbean, Census, Cessna 150, Cessna Aircraft Company, Charlie Christian, Chicago Musical Instruments, Christian, cognitive limit, cohesive group, combat archers, compact van, complex social groups, country, Coventry, Crates of Mallos, cricket, DD–150, DE-150, degrees, detachable magazine, detachable stock, District of Columbia Air National Guard, Dunbar's number, Dutchman Erik Akkersdik, E-Series, Edsall-class destroyer, education, Electric Boat Company, EM-150 Mandolin, energy drink, Entertainment, ES-150, European Union Council Regulation, exile, F-150, F-Series, Fairbanks, federal criminal code, flintlock weapon, forbid, Ford Club Wagon, Ford E-Series, Ford Econoline, Ford Motor Company, Free Church of Scotland, French Polynesia, Geelong, General Assembly, giant tortoise, Gibson Guitar Corp, Gibson Les Paul, Glynn Kerr, Gold Coast Suns, Gorgidas, Greek, Greek Stoic, grenade, guitars, Gulfstream Aerospace, Gulfstream G100, H-class submarine, harp, health researcher, Hinckley, hollow-body electric guitars, humans, Humvees, hymns, I Chronicles, IAI Westwind, Imperial Japanese, Imperial Russian Navy, import, import duties, India, Indonesia, instruments, Israel Aircraft Industries, J-150 Maple, James Puckle, Johannes Kepler, Kalamazoo, Kansas, King David, L-150 Custom, large brain, Lebanon, Leningrad, lifespan, lions, Longtitude, M-150, M1117 Armored Security Vehicle, M150, Machinist Weimar Edmund Neunzer, Magadan, mammals, manufacture, Maryland, mathematics, men of Israel, Mercedes Benz, Mercedes Benz A-150, Mercedes Benz B-150, Meriden, Mertens function, Michigan, milestone, Militaria, military, military equipment, Misc, Miscellaneous, mismanagement, motorcycles, movies, music, Muslim, Nashville, New South Wales, Nintendo DS, Norlin Inc, number of people, One Hundred And Fifty, Orville Gibson, PAM, Papeete, Penetration Augmented Munition, Persian Gulf War, pesos, Philip II of Macedon, Philippines, philosopher, pickup trucks, piston-powered aircraft, politics, polymath, portable explosive device, possession, Power Stars, primes, Professor’s cube, protection, Protestant, Psalm, Psalm 150, psalmos, Psalms, Puckle gun, Queensland, quincunx, Random, relationships, religion, Republic of the Ivory Coast, Robin Dunbar, rocket launcher, Rockhampton, Rockwell Jet Commander, Rome, Rubik’s cube, rupiah, Russia, Sacred Band of Thebes, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sale, Saudi Arabia, scholars, science, sects, Security Council Resolution, semiautomatic assault weapon, semiautomatic pistols, semiautomatic rifles, semiautomatic shotguns, Senate Bill 150, several authors, singing, social contact, social relationships, Solihull, solitary wasps, song, sons of Ulam, South East Asia, space, Special Operations Forces, species, sport, square bullets, squares, SS-150, Steven Austad, Stone Sour, sum, sung, Super Mario, Super Yamato class, Suzuki GS150R, Suzuki Motorcycle, Suzuki Raider 150, Suzuki Satria 150, T-150, Tennessee, Textron, Thailand, the Bible, the Defence gun, the Duck, The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg Co, the V, Theban army, tigers, transfer, Transit Connect, transportation, Trident T150, Triumph Engineering Co Ltd, Triumph Motorcycles Ltd, Triumph Trident T150, Turks, tv, twin-engine business jet, ultra-orthodox, United Nations, United States Air Force, United States Navy, University of Texas, US Congress, USA, USS Blakeley, USS H-7, USS Neunzer, Vietnam War, weapons, Wichita, Wickes-class destroyer, Wollongong, work, world war ii, world’s first, worst ever defeat Time for another significant number factoid Friday. Today the number is one hundred and fifty, 150. These are just some of the things that are associated with that number. One Hundred And Fifty 150 In religion There are 150 Psalms in the Bible, the authorship of which is usually ascribed to King David, although scholars now believe that they are the work of several authors. Psalm comes from the Greek psalmos, a song sung to a harp. Some ultra-orthodox Protestant sects (like the Free Church of Scotland) forbid the singing of any hymns that aren’t psalms. The last Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 150, is perhaps the one most often set to music. The number of sons of Ulam, who were combat archers, in the Census of the men of Israel upon return from exile (I Chronicles 8:40) In mathematics 150 is the sum of eight consecutive primes (7 + 11 + 13 + 17 + 19 + 23 + 29 + 31). Given 150, the Mertens function returns 0. In 150BC the Greek Stoic philosopher and polymath, Crates of Mallos, while laid up in Rome, staved off boredom by constructing the world’s first 3D globe. It showed four symmetrical land masses, separated by water and a central ocean. The Professor’s cube is a 5 x 5 x 5 version of Rubik’s cube (which is 3 x 3 x 3). It has 150 coloured squares. In science Steven Austad, a health researcher at the University of Texas, believes that children who are alive today could easily live to 150. Based purely on body size, when compared with other mammals, humans shouldn’t live more than 30-40 years. But our large brain enables us to live in complex social groups that give us protection. The evidence is there in other species: solitary wasps have a lifespan of two weeks but social wasps live for three years. In much the same way lions, which are sociable creatures, live longer than tigers, which are solitary. Austad is so sure that someone alive today will still be here in the year 2150 that he has placed a bet on it with a friend. Presumably he also believes that he will be around to collect. The only animal currently capable of living for 150 years is the giant tortoise. Dunbar’s number Dunbar’s number is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. These are relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person. Proponents assert that numbers larger than this generally require more restrictive rules, laws, and enforced norms to maintain a stable, cohesive group. It has been proposed to lie between 100 and 230, with a commonly used value of 150. Dunbar’s number states the number of people one knows and keeps social contact with, and it does not include the number of people known personally with a ceased social relationship, nor people just generally known with a lack of persistent social relationship, a number which might be much higher and likely depends on long-term memory size. Dunbar’s number was first proposed by British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, who theorized that “this limit is a direct function of relative neocortex size, and that this in turn limits group size … the limit imposed by neocortical processing capacity is simply on the number of individuals with whom a stable inter-personal relationship can be maintained.” On the periphery, the number also includes past colleagues such as high school friends with whom a person would want to reacquaint themself if they met again. In space The number of degrees in the quincunx astrological aspect explored by Johannes Kepler. The 150th country to join the United Nations was Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, on September 16, 1980; United Nations Security Council Resolution 150 recommended to the General Assembly that the Republic of the Ivory Coast be admitted to membership in the United Nations; European Union Council Regulation (EC) No 150/2003 of 21 January 2003 is regarding suspending import duties on certain weapons and military equipment; US Congress Senate Bill 150 amends the federal criminal code to ban the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of a semiautomatic assault weapon, including semiautomatic rifles, semiautomatic pistols, semiautomatic shotguns, etc., that can accept a detachable magazine and has any one of the following characteristics: (1) a pistol grip; (2) a forward grip; (3) a folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; (4) a grenade or rocket launcher; (5) a barrel shroud; or (6) a threaded barrel. In cricket 150 runs is a milestone for a batsman. In Round 20 of the 2011 AFL season, Geelong inflicted the worst ever defeat on the Gold Coast Suns by 150 points. In books, music, movies and TV Gibson Guitar Corp. Gibson Guitar Corp. is an American maker of guitars and other instruments, now based in Nashville, Tennessee. Orville Gibson founded the company in 1902 as as “The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co., Ltd.” in Kalamazoo, Michigan to make mandolin-family instruments. Gibson invented archtop guitars by constructing the same type of carved, arched tops used on violins. By the 1930s, the company was also making flattop acoustic guitars, as well as one of the first commercially available hollow-body electric guitars, used and popularized by Charlie Christian. It was bought by Chicago Musical Instruments in 1944, which was then acquired by the E.C.L. conglomerate that changed its name to Norlin Inc. This was seen as the beginning of an era of mismanagement. Gibson sells guitars under a variety of brand names and built one of the world’s most iconic guitars, the Gibson Les Paul. Many Gibson instruments are among the most collectible guitars. It has produced various models with the ’15 ‘ designation including: Acoustic guitars J-150 Maple L-150 Custom Electric guitars ES-150 EM-150 Mandolin (1936-1971) The Gibson J-150 The song “30/30-150” by Stone Sour In transportation Triumph Trident T150 Triumph Engineering Co Ltd was a British motorcycle manufacturing company, based originally in Coventry and then in Solihull at Meriden. A new company, Triumph Motorcycles Ltd based in Hinckley gained the name rights after the end of the company in the 1980s and is now one of the world’s major motorcycle manufacturers producing models like the Trident T150. Suzuki Raider 150 The Suzuki Raider 150 is one of the fastest motorcycles in the underbone category. It uses the 150 cc (9.2 cu in) DOHC four-valve single-cylinder oil-cooled Suzuki FXR150 engine, with a 6 speed transmission. The frame, rear swing arm, rear suspension, seat and front brakes are redesigned from the Suzuki FX125 chassis, making it more aerodynamic. Its popularity in South East Asia, mainly in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines, is due to the price of this bike—around US$1850 (90,000 to 92,001 pesos or around 16,500,001 rupiah in Indonesia). Also called the Suzuki Satria 150 in Indonesia. Suzuki GS150R The Suzuki GS150R is a 150cc bike from Suzuki Motorcycle India. The Suzuki GS150R was launched on November 2008and marked the entry of Suzuki Motorcycle India into the highly competitive 150 cc segment of the Indian two wheelers market. Suzuki Motorcycle India states that the bike falls in between the two classes of Indian 150 cc motorcycles, namely commuter class and premium class. The GS150R has a sixth gear for cruising on high-ways. The Bajaj Pulsar is a motorcycle brand owned by Bajaj Auto in India. The two wheeler was developed by the product engineering division of Bajaj Auto in association with Tokyo R&D, and later with motorcycle designer Glynn Kerr. Currently there are five variants available, with engine capacities of 135 cc, 150 cc, 180 cc, 200 cc, and 220 cc. With an average monthly sales of around 86,000 units in 2011, Pulsar claimed a 2011 market share of 47% in its segment. By April 2012, more than five million units of Pulsar were sold. The Bike was named after the Nissan Pulsar from 1978 to 2007. The F-Series is a series of full-size pickup trucks from Ford Motor Company which has been sold continuously for over six decades. The most popular variant of the F-Series is the F-150. It was the best-selling vehicle in the United States for 24 years, and the best-selling truck for 37 years. It was also the best selling vehicle in Canada, though this does not include combined sales of GM pickup trucks. In the tenth generation of the F-series, the F-250 and F-350 changed body style in 1998 and joined the Super Duty series. The Ford E-Series, formerly known as the Ford Econoline and Ford Club Wagon, is a line of full-size vans (both cargo and passenger) and truck chassis from the Ford Motor Company. The line was introduced in 1961 as a compact van and its descendants are still produced today. Although based on its own platform, since 1968, the E-Series has used many components from the F-Series line of pickup trucks. The Econoline is manufactured solely at Ford’s Ohio Assembly plant in Avon Lake, Ohio—after the closure of the Lorain, Ohio plant in December 2005 and the consolidation of all production at Avon Lake. As of the 2012 model year, the E-Series and the Transit Connect compact MPV (which debuted for the 2010 model year) are the only vans in the Ford lineup in North America. The Ford E-Series currently holds 79.6% of the full-size van market in the United States and since 1980, it has been the best selling American full-sized van. Ninety-five percent of van sales are to commercial or fleet-end users, about half are cargo vans. In early 2007, the E-Series was listed by Autodata as one of the top 20 best-selling vehicles in the United States, most likely due to fleet sales. Renowned German automotive manufacturer Mercedes Benz has produced several models with the150 designation including the Mercedes Benz A-150 and the Mercedes Benz B-150. Cesna C-150 The Cessna 150 is a typical example of the small piston-powered aircraft produced by the Cessna Aircraft Company, a general aviation aircraft manufacturing corporation headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Cessna also produces business jets. The company is a subsidiary of the U.S. conglomerate Textron. Gulfstream G150 The Gulfstream G100, formerly known as the Astra SPX, is an Israel Aircraft Industries-manufactured twin-engine business jet, now produced for Gulfstream Aerospace. Astra evolved from the Rockwell Jet Commander aircraft, for which IAI had purchased the manufacturing license in 1968, and the IAI Westwind. The Astra wing design was modified and with a completely new fuselage created the Galaxy (later the Gulfstream G200) business jet during the 1990s. In September 2002 Gulfstream announced the improved G150, based on the G100. This new variant was due in 2005. It has been FAA certified for steep approach. The United States Air Force designation for the G100 is C-38 Courier and it is used by the District of Columbia Air National Guard; by the United States Air Force with the 201st Airlift Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. The C-38 has replaced the earlier C-21 Learjet. The C-38 differs from the standard Gulfstream G100, featuring US military-grade GPS, Tactical Air Navigation, UHF and VHF secure command radio, and Identification friend or foe system In militaria USS Blakeley (DD–150) The second USS Blakeley (DD–150) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy, named for Captain Johnston Blakeley. Built in 1918, she saw patrol duty along the East Coast of the United States during the interwar era. Decommissioned for several years, she returned to duty at the outset of World War II. She spent much of the war on convoy patrol duty in the Caribbean. On 25 May 1942, while on patrol, she was struck by a torpedo fired by German submarine U-156, which blew off her forward 60 feet (18 m). Fitted with temporary measures, she steamed to Philadelphia Naval Yard where she was fitted with the forward section of sister ship USS Taylor. She spent much of the rest of the war on convoy patrol duty before being sold for scrap in 1945. USS H-7 (SS-150) USS H-7 (SS-150) was an H-class submarine that served in active duty with the United States Navy from 1918-1922. The Imperial Russian Navy ordered 18 H-class submarines from the Electric Boat Company in 1915. Eleven were delivered, and served as the American Holland class submarines, but shipment of the final six was held up pending the outcome of the Russian Revolution of 1917, and the boats were stored in knockdown condition at Vancouver, British Columbia. All six were purchased by the U.S. Navy on 20 May 1918 and assembled at Puget Sound Navy Yard. H-7 was launched on 17 October 1918 and commissioned on 24 October with Lieutenant Edmund A. Crenshaw in command. The submarine, attached to Submarine Division 6 (SubDiv 6) and later to SubDiv 7, operated out of San Pedro, California, on various battle and training exercises with the other ships of her division. She also patrolled out of San Pedro with interruptions for overhaul at Mare Island. H-7 reached Norfolk on 14 September 1922, having sailed from San Pedro on 25 July, and decommissioned there on 23 October. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 26 February 1931. She was sold for scrapping on 28 November 1933. USS Neunzer (DE-150) USS Neunzer (DE-150) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She was named in honor of Machinist Weimar Edmund Neunzer, who was killed in action 2 July 1942 during the Aleutian Islands Campaign and was posthumously awarded the Air Medal. Designed to take the place of fleet destroyers on convoy duty, the destroyer escorts proved their worth in long miles of steaming on escort and antisubmarine duties. Their efforts played a major role in defeating German submarine depredations at a time when the U-boats were threatening to cut Allied supply lines. A-150 – The Batleship that never was. Design A-150, also known as the Super Yamato class,[A 1] was an Imperial Japanese plan for a class of battleships. Begun in 1938–39, the design was mostly complete by 1941. However, so that a demand for other types of warships could be met, all work on Design A-150 was halted and no keels were laid. Authors William H. Garzke and Robert O. Dulin have argued that Design A-150 would have been the “most powerful battleships in history” because of the massive size of their main battery of eight 510 mm (20 in) guns as well as numerous smaller caliber weapons T-150 Tank The T-150 is a Soviet tier 6 heavy tank and was a further development of the KV-1. The vehicle weighed as much as 50 tons. The T-150 underwent trials in the first half of 1941. A prototype fought in the battles for Leningrad, and became a basis for a modification of the KV-1 with reinforced armor. Despite its name, the T-150 is an upgraded KV-1. It has the same chassis and turret, with some notable improvements. Additional armor has been added to the hull, a considerably more powerful engine is available, and perhaps most importantly, it can mount the 107 mm ZiS-6 gun Cadillac Gage Commando The Cadillac Gage Commando is a 4×4 amphibious armored car built by the American firm Cadillac Gage. The vehicle has been outfitted for many roles, including armored personnel carrier, ambulance, fire apparatus, anti-tank vehicle, and mortar carrier. They saw service in the Vietnam war where it became known as the Duck, or the V. It was also supplied to many American allies, including Lebanon and Saudi Arabia which used them in the first major ground engagement of the Persian Gulf War. No longer produced, it has been largely replaced by the M1117 Armored Security Vehicle, which was developed as tougher alternative to up-armored Humvees. M150 (PAM) M150 Penetration Augmented Munition (PAM) is a portable explosive device developed for U.S. Army infantry units, especially for Special Operations Forces. It is mainly used to destroy massive concrete structures like bridge piers or bunker walls. Each device has a main high explosive charge and a two-stage, hole-drilling shaped charge. It is regarded as a high-precision blasting device rather than a simple bomb. M150 Rifle Combat Optic Due to the lack of lethality of the M16 and M4 at the increased ranges encountered in Afghanistan but you can’t hit what you can’t see. One of the Army’s answers to this quandary is the M150 Rifle Combat Optic (RCO) which is is designed to increase the probability of a first-round hit at distances up to 600 meters. The Puckle gun The Puckle gun (also known as the Defence gun) was invented in 1718 by James Puckle (1667–1724) a British inventor, lawyer and writer. It is a tripod-mounted, single-barreled flintlock weapon fitted with a multi-shot revolving cylinder. It was intended for shipboard use to prevent boarding. The barrel was 3 feet (0.91 m) long with a bore of 1.25 inches (32 mm). It had a pre-loaded cylinder which held 11 charges and could fire 63 shots in seven minutes—this at a time when the standard soldier’s musket could at best be loaded and fired three times per minute. Puckle demonstrated two versions of the basic design: one, intended for use against Christian enemies, fired conventional round bullets, while the second variant, designed to be used against the Muslim Turks, fired square bullets. The square bullets were considered to be more damaging. They would, according to the patent, convince the Turks of the “benefits of Christian civilization.” The square bullets, however, were discontinued due to their unpredictable flight pattern. The Puckle Gun drew few investors and never achieved mass production or sales to the British armed forces, mostly because British gunsmiths at the time could not easily make the weapon’s many complicated components. One newspaper of the period sarcastically observed, following the business venture’s failure, that the gun has “only wounded those who hold shares therein”. 150 couples In the fourth century BC, the most feared squad of the Theban army was made up of 150 homo-sexual couples. They were called the Sacred Band of Thebes, and were established by Gorgidas in 378-BC. His romantic idea was that lovers would fight more fiercely at each other’s sides than strangers. This notion proved highly successful until the Battle of Chaeronea (338-BC) when the Athenian-Theban army was overrun by Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. Cities located on Longtitude 150°W: Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska; and, Papeete, French Polynesia; Cities located on Longtitude 150°E: Rockhampton, Queensland; and, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia; Magadan, Russia; The world record for solving a Rubik’s cube is 7.08 seconds, held by 21-year-old Dutchman Erik Akkersdik, who has solved the puzzle with his feet in just 90 seconds; The total number of Power Stars in Super Mario 64 DS for the Nintendo DS; M-150 (energy drink), an energy drink from Thailand;	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21328
__label__cc	0.700552	0.299448	Sunday (3-jun-12). Day-2 started out with rain so, spotting the trend, we changed our first stop to go back to Oxford Street where Liz picked up a lovely Barbour coat, which you see in these pictures. As we walked the streets we noticed that everywhere people were setting up for an outdoor meal, which we later learned was being called The Big Jubilee Lunch. It was a happening across the country where people were encouraged to share lunch with neighbors and friends as part of the Diamond Jubilee. Once again kismet was achieved when Prince Charles and his wife arrived at the very street we were on to take part in the festivities. There was a lot of free food on the street but none of it looked appealing so we passed on that. Next, the new "plan" called for a thorough investigation of Hyde Park which is fairly large with many beautiful gardens and galleries and a long pond called The Serpentine in the middle of it. That is where we took lunch and refuge from the all too familiar downpour to get warm (if not dry) and a bite to eat. Next part of the plan was a trip down to the banks of the Thames to catch a glimpse of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant which consisted of 1,000 boat flotilla assembled from across the UK and the world. The spectacle was to take hours from start to finish. The Queen and the royal family travelled in the Royal Barge which was the center of the flotilla. We walked along the river for almost the entire 7-mile flotilla path but could find no viewing spot and finally at the end of the path, near the Tower of London settled in to watch it on TV at a really old and festive pub along with the other last-minute monarchists. Another soggy but altogether wonderful day in this great city.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21329
__label__wiki	0.714246	0.714246	U.S., Russian Legislators Discuss Arms Control, Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Humanitarian Issues, Energy and Trade Washington, DC -- Today Chairman Howard L. Berman (D-CA) hosted a joint meeting between the Foreign Affairs Committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. The Russian delegation was led by Chairman Konstantin Kosachev, who was accompanied by five Duma members. "Given the numerous issues confronting the United States and Russia, we are committed to ensuring a regular exchange of views between legislators," Berman said. "The discussion focused on a wide range of topics, including the state of bilateral relations, shared foreign policy challenges, arms control and non-proliferation, humanitarian issues, energy and trade." The session today was the fifth in a series of meetings between the two committees, with previous events held in Moscow (June 2004, June 2009) and Washington, D.C. (November 2005, June 2007). Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher and Michael McFaul, National Security Coucil Senior Director for Russia, took part in several of today’s sessions. Permalink: https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/2010/2/us-russian-legislators-discuss-arms-control-nuclear-non-proliferation	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21331
__label__cc	0.565083	0.434917	Apr 19 2018 . 3 min read ELEVATE YOUR STATE 2018 April Cannabis updates from across the United States PENNSYLVANIA: On February 15, less than two years after Governor Tom Wolf signed Act 16 into law, six dispensaries began selling medical marijuana to patients and caregivers. To date, 10 dispensaries and 10 grower/processors have been approved to operate. Over the next few months, up to 81 dispensary locations are scheduled to open across the state. More than 17,000 patients have registered to participate in the medical marijuana program, with nearly 4,000 certified by a physician. As of mid-February, 708 physicians have registered with the department and 376 have competed the training to become certified practitioners. VIRGINIA: Governor Ralph Northam signed a major piece of medical marijuana legislation on March 9. Northam’s signature is the final step in the process to legalize the use of cannabidiol (CBD) oil or THC-A oil for the treatment to alleviate the symptoms of any diagnosed condition or disease determined by the practitioner to benefit from such use in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Virginia Senate and House both passed House Bill 1251 in late February, sending the legislation to the desk of Gov. Northam. Under current Virginia law, a practitioner may only issue such certification for the treatment of or to alleviate the symptoms of intractable epilepsy. With this bill, the supply of CBD oil or THC-A oil can be dispensed by a pharmaceutical processor from a 30-day supply to a 90-day supply in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The recommended language of this bill was put forth by the Joint Commission on Health Care, and is identical to SB 726, which was passed by the Virginia Senate on March 8. TENNESSEE: Two Republicans introduced a bill in January that would make Tennessee the latest state to allow medical marijuana. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, and Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville, would only allow oil-based manufactured products, such as pills or lotions, and would not permit the sale of raw cannabis, also known as marijuana, as is common in other states. The Faison-Dickerson legislation would not permit any recreational use of marijuana. VERMONT: In January, Gov. Phil Scott signed Vermont's marijuana bill into law, making the state the first in the country to authorize the recreational use of the substance by an act of a state legislature. The law, which goes into effect July 1, allows adults to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana, two mature and four immature plants. Vermont will become the ninth state in the country, along with Washington, D.C., to approve the recreational use of marijuana. The other states and Washington authorized the recreational use of marijuana through a vote of residents. Vermont law contains no mechanism that allows for a citizen referendum. MARYLAND: The state's dispensaries began selling medical cannabis on December 1. Patients have waited years for the state’s first dispensaries to open—Governor Martin O’Malley legalized the drug in 2014 but the state did not approve the first legal dispensary until July 2017. To date, the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission has licensed 14 out of 15 growers, 12 out of 15 processors, and 10 out of 104 dispensaries. The state expects eventually there will be 102 dispensaries spread across the state. Patients with chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and illnesses that cause nausea, among other conditions, can potentially qualify for use of medical cannabis. Elevate your state 2018 July Elevate Your State January 2018 Jan 03 · 3 min read Elevate Your State - October Oct 06 · 4 min read	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21335
__label__cc	0.730209	0.269791	Tag: small government Libertarian-ism and the Corporate State There are two kinds of Libertarians on the political scene today; the actual members of the Libertarian Party and the members of the Republican Party with strong Libertarian views. The Libertarian Party folks are where you find the true believers, the ones who are radically anti-government and pro individual freedoms. The one thing that you can say about these folks is that they are consistent in their application of these principles. They are fine with just about any behavior as long as it’s in the privacy of your own home between consenting adults. You don’t get the socially conservative tendency to legislate morality with these guys. But the party is also where you find the true nut cases, the ones who are so Libertarian that they are pretty much anarchists. At the Libertarian Convention in 2016 one candidate actually suggested that drivers licenses were an imposition by the government on our personal liberty. It’s pretty clear that the official Libertarians are not where you look for people to govern your country. Most people with Libertarian leanings are to be found in the Republican Party. And they are far less concerned with being consistent. They favor small government and maximum personal freedom, or so they say, but are often the first in line to legislate morality that fits with Christian fundamentalist values, which hold a lot of sway in the GOP. Really, they mostly skip the personal freedom aspect and focus on the property rights side of things. People shouldn’t be told what to do with their property by some central government. In fact Federal government ownership and management of public lands is suspect. Corporations are people, so all the rights of the individual are extended to the corporations and a overwhelming trait of the philosophy held by these people is an almost religious faith in the market place as the most efficient force in managing an economy. These folks are the Über Capitalists. The current Republican crusader for Capitalism sees his personal mission as undoing virtually every piece of regulatory legislation passed since the New Deal and dismantling the Federal regulatory structures that performed this oversight. These people have waited for years and years for the Holy Grail of a Republican Congress and Presidency full of truly radical right wing conservatives. With Donald Trump, they may not have found the guy who will pursue the radical social conservative agenda he seemed to promise in his campaign, but they definitely have a champion of the billionaire corporate class willing to destroy virtually all of the protections offered by our government against corporate malfeasance. Donald Trump has asked Corporate representatives to make their recommendations as to what regulatory legislation they would like to see undone. This is asking the fox to guard the hen house. This is giving a group of folks whose sole interest is in delivering short term profits to their share holders free rein to pollute, to discriminate, to have unsafe working conditions, and so on. If you look at the America proposed by Republican libertarian / Tea Party advocates, it is an America in which business is free to pursue its own course as dictated by the market place. The problem with all of this is that we have already been here before. From an historic point of view there is absolutely zero evidence that a corporation will ever choose to forego possible financial gain when it conflicts with maximizing profits. LA smog in the 70s When business did have pretty much free rein we had our nations rivers full of undrinkable carcinogenic waters. In the most famous case, the Passaic River in New Jersey actually caught fire. The air on our major urban areas was toxic and in the worst cities, like Los Angeles, toxic smog clouds hovered over the city, virtually obscuring the city from the view in the mountains. Our national bird, the bald eagle, was on the edge of extinction dues to the use of the pesticide DDT, lung cancer due to smoking killed tens of thousands of Americans every single year, and so on. The fact is that when our US government was run on a more libertarian model we had unsafe air, unsafe water, unsafe food, unsafe working conditions, child labor, no social safety net, rampant sexual harassment, housing discrimination, racial discrimination, massive economic fluctuation due to unrelated speculation in the stock market and so on. The economy would crash and serious economic depressions happened with some regularity. This is the world of the US in the late 1800s and early 1900s. We had it already and we chose to change it. Now, people with absolutely no historical perspective, who derive their political philosophy from the works of Ayn Rand, are ready to take our country backwards in time to a world that will look more like Charles Dickens than anything we’ve see for 150 years. Removing asbestos from a home The idea that the market place and unrestrained capitalism with voluntary self regulation by the corporations would do anything but open us up to the predations of corporate pirates is laughable. These are the same people who for decades denied that asbestos was terribly dangerous and was killing people. They sponsored studies that faked research and they lied through their teeth in order to preserve their profits. These are the same people who for decades knew, from their own research, that tobacco caused cancer but fought all attempts to acknowledge that fact in court while simultaneously working to develop a product that was even more addictive than it was naturally. Ralph Nader exposes the auto industry and the Corvair These are the same people who produced an automobile that they knew was unsafe but chose to not correct the problem because it was cheaper to settle the law suits than it was to correct the problem. It is simply an observable fact that every single instance of attempts to institute clean water standards, clean air standards, work place safety standards, equal rights, the list goes on and on, was resisted tooth and nail by the industries concerned. It’s history. You can read it and verify it. The fact is that the only thing that stands between our citizenry and total corporate control of our nation like something out of a science fiction novel, is the Federal Government. No other entity in our society has the power to stand up to the power of the corporations derived from the vast wealth concentrated under their control. That’s why the wealthy and the corporations spend so much money trying to subvert it. Every single positive step this nation has taken on the environment, worker’s rights and safety, auto safety, child labor, every single instance was IMPOSED on unwilling industry by the government. Women resisting school desegregation This is also true on the equal rights front. Without the power of the Federal Government and the forcible imposition of civil rights legislation on the Southern States, we would still have segregation. Without the Fair Housing Act we would still have redlining and rampant discrimination in all areas of real estate. LGBT rights, Women’s rights, the rights of the disabled, none were voluntarily enacted by most of the country. Supreme Court decisions backed by the enforcement power of the Federal Government were what forced the nation to start living up to its stated values. It was not voluntary. People did not voluntarily decide to act better, As society began to evolve, it needed to reach a tipping point at which it was ready to change. But it was the government that made that change happen in the larger society. It has been both the mechanism for making positive change happen and the guardian of those changes once they did. So, we are now looking at the dismantlement of the only agency in our society that effectively stands up for our rights, for our environment etc. The right has hijacked the Supreme Court and they wish to cripple enforcement. Donald Trump’s invitation to private industry to suggest what legislation it wishes to repeal is just the start. It’s just one step away from total corporate control of our nation. The wall that has protected us from the self serving, profit before the public good, predations of the industrial pirates is slated for demolition. We must do what we can to ensure that this effort does not succeed. From the New York Times EPA is major Target anti-government deregulation Libertarian Party small government	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21339
__label__wiki	0.956798	0.956798	home // News // The ExxonMobil near-disaster you probably haven’t heard of // The ExxonMobil near-disaster you probably haven’t heard of Source: The Center for Public Integrity \| February 10th, 2017 \| By Jie Jenny Zou A 2015 explosion at the company’s refinery near Los Angeles came frighteningly close to releasing a lethal gas into a neighborhood; a ban may result It’s been nearly two years since Nadia Levine fielded the frantic calls — the first one from her husband, the next from a co-worker. Panicked, Levine dialed both her children’s schools as she scrolled down the front page of CNN.com on Feb. 18, 2015. A fire raged blocks away from the Torrance, California, home her family had moved into only a month before. On a business trip nearly 3,000 miles away in Connecticut, Levine scrambled to find numbers for neighbors who could check to see whether the house was still standing. “All I knew at that point was that my kids and husband were alive,” she said. As the smoke cleared, it became clear her worries were far from over. Just before 9 that morning, pent-up gases at ExxonMobil’s Torrance refinery south of Los Angeles had triggered an explosion so massive it registered as a magnitude-1.7 tremor. A five-story processing unit had burst open, spewing industrial ash over a mile away that some mistook for snow and propelling a 40-ton hunk of equipment into the air. The debris had narrowly avoided piercing a tank containing tens of thousands of pounds of hydrofluoric acid, or HF — a gas so toxic it corrodes bone. It was the first Levine had heard of HF. The chemical is used to make high-octane gasoline at about a third of the 141 oil refineries in the United States. If released HF forms a fast-moving, ground-hugging cloud that can cause lasting lung damage, severe burns or death. There are alternatives to HF, but only one U.S. refinery that uses it has voluntarily committed to switch, a process expected to begin this year. Federal rules, which don’t require such changes, “haven’t kept up with the continuing challenge of preventing chemical incidents,” said Rick Engler, a member of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which issues recommendations but has no regulatory authority. He called HF “one of the most hazardous and potentially deadly chemicals used in the oil-refining process.” Along with environmentalists and union leaders, the board has pushed unsuccessfully for a federal mandate that would require high-hazard industries to consider using safer processes and chemicals. A 41-page study by a consultant last year estimated it would cost roughly $100 million for the Torrance refinery to switch to sulfuric acid, an HF alternative that carries risks of its own but doesn’t pose a sizable threat to the public. While federal regulation has stagnated, local activism in the wake of the 2015 accident spurred Southern California regulators to revive a 27-year-old effort to ban HF. “Let’s see if we can phase this out to provide an extra level of protection for the public,” Philip Fine, a deputy executive director of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, said in an interview. Separately, California officials have been working on a statewide rule, expected to become final this summer, that would require refinery owners to adopt “inherently safer designs and processes” and give workers a bigger voice in accident prevention. That effort began after another disaster that didn’t involve HF: a massive 2012 fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, north of San Francisco. More than 15,000 people sought medical treatment for respiratory and other symptoms related to toxic-smoke inhalation. More than 100 refineries are among 1,900 facilities considered “high risk” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, meaning they are prone to terrorist attacks or accidents that imperil surrounding communities. An EPA analysis found that oil and coal- products manufacturing, which includes refining, had the highest rates of chemical accidents. Many refinery owners, however, have postponed maintenance and equipment upgrades while ramping up production — increasing the odds of deadly mishaps. The Chemical Safety Board, which is investigating the 2015 Torrance accident, called the blast at the 750-acre refinery a “near miss” that fell just short of a “catastrophe,” faulting poor maintenance by ExxonMobil, which had delayed repairs to cut costs. ExxonMobil has challenged those claims. In an email, a spokesman wrote that “there was no evidence” the incident “posed any risk of harm to the community” from HF. He also wrote that there are “no safer or commercially viable alternatives” to the chemical and denied that ExxonMobil cut corners on maintenance. The company is contesting more than a half-million dollars in state fines and has refused to fully cooperate with safety board investigators, even though it sold the refinery in September 2015 for $538 million to PBF Energy, a New Jersey company known for buying distressed properties at steep discounts. Like ExxonMobil, PBF has reassured Torrance residents that the operation is safe and that the company is “focused on continuous improvement,” despite a spate of recent problems. The scare in Torrance could have been avoided if federal rules had been stronger, said Rick Hind, legislative director at Greenpeace USA. After years of industry pushback, the EPA updated its Risk Management Program in December, requiring facilities like the Torrance refinery to report near-misses and urging communities to improve emergency response. But the rule — which is subject to undoing by the Trump administration — didn’t address prevention, Hind said. “When you use the word ‘risk,’ just substitute the word ‘gamble’ and it takes on a different urgency,” he said. “We’re just again gambling with the future of millions of workers and community residents.” Life in ‘a kill zone’ Growing up in Contra Costa County, east of San Francisco, Levine, now 34, lived not far from two refineries. These days she works across the street from the Chevron El Segundo refinery, just south of Los Angeles International Airport. The only one that gives her pause, she says, is Torrance. Saddled with a hefty mortgage, the Levines have remained in their house despite lingering concerns. Months after the near-miss, sirens sounded again when a small amount of HF leaked from a truck. Days before Thanksgiving last year, Levine watched another fire unfold near the same unit that exploded in 2015, which produces a crucial component of high-octane gasoline. “Nobody told us we lived in a kill zone when we bought our house,” said Levine, whose home is within two miles of the refinery. ExxonMobil’s “worst-case” chemical-release scenario filed with the EPA estimated that no more than 2 percent of its HF supply could escape, endangering more than 255,000 residents up to 3.2 miles away. The EPA is investigating whether that figure is accurate. Neither PBF nor ExxonMobil has explained why that scenario assumes a minor leak instead of a tank-emptying discharge. Each has declined to disclose the exact potency of “modified” HF used at Torrance, which is diluted with a secret additive they claim greatly curbs how much of the acid vaporizes. The companies’ reticence stands in contrast to Valero, which operates a refinery eight miles away in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles and makes its modified HF recipe public. Valero’s worst-case scenario predicts its total HF supply, if released, would endanger more than 370,000 people as far as 4.3 miles away. The composition of the modified HF in Torrance remains a mystery to federal investigators, too. ExxonMobil has not yet complied with several Chemical Safety Board subpoenas, including those seeking information on the refinery’s HF tank. Absent federal rules, attempts to make processes less dangerous have fallen largely to companies like ExxonMobil — with mixed results. The additive used in Torrance dates to a 1989 lawsuit filed by the city against ExxonMobil — then Mobil. At the time, Torrance was using pure HF, which officials warned could lead to a “disaster of Bhopal-like proportions,” referring to the 1984 gas leak in India that killed thousands. The city’s complaint called the refinery a “public nuisance” and documented more than 127 incidents that had occurred in the previous decade, including a gas-fueled fireball that killed a stranded motorist and two workers, and a series of other fires and leaks. In 1990, Mobil agreed that it would discontinue use of undiluted HF, and several years later a court-appointed safety advisor approved Mobil’s use of the acid tempered with at least 30-percent additive. Mobil claimed the additive, combined with other protective measures like emergency water cannons, would virtually eliminate toxic vapors in the event of a release, causing HF to fall to the ground like rain. The nature of the additive remains secret to this day. In a statement, PBF spokesman Michael Karlovich wrote that the company is barred from speaking in detail about it because the supplier considers the information to be proprietary. The HF used at Torrance, he wrote, is diluted by approximately 10 to 15 percent. That amount falls short of the 30-percent threshold to which Mobil committed all those years ago. The discrepancy — coupled with lingering concern over the 2015 near-miss — was the main reason the South Coast air district revived the idea of an HF ban, Fine said. The district was made aware of the change, he said, by the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance, which found that the city council agreed to Mobil’s plan in a closed-door meeting. The district’s original attempt to ban HF in 1990 was overturned in court because officials hadn’t allowed a sufficient period for public comment. “We’re much worse off because of modified HF,” said retired scientist and alliance member Sally Hayati. She and others in her group support switching to sulfuric acid, which can still burn workers but doesn’t vaporize into fast-moving clouds. “If it wasn’t for modified HF, HF would have been gone.” HF is used in a refining process called alkylation, in which light hydrocarbons are fed into a reactor and transformed into a mixture of heavier ones by a catalyst — either HF or the primary alternative, sulfuric acid. The liquid part of this mixture, alkylate, gives high-octane gasoline its anti-knock properties. Kim Nibarger of the United Steelworkers, a union that represents workers in Torrance, said that both modified and regular HF pose lethal risks. “For our workers it’s not really going to matter if it’s modified or not, they’re going to be in the middle of it,” he said. The union’s 2013 report on the dangers of HF, “A Risk Too Great,” urged refiners to commit to safer options. While sulfuric acid — used at about 50 U.S. refineries — is less menacing to the public than HF, Nibarger said it’s not much of a step up for workers. He’s hopeful that two emerging technologies — solid acid alkylation, being tried at a refinery in China, and ionic liquid alkylation, to be phased in at a Chevron refinery in Salt Lake City, beginning this year — will catch on. In a statement, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers stood behind HF, used by many of its members, from refiners to pharmaceutical companies. “Refiners have safely and responsibly operated hydrofluoric acid units for more than 70 years,” the trade group wrote in an email, adding that “a ban of HF could threaten California’s fuel supply and lead to higher consumer fuel costs.” PBF officials expressed the same sentiment and said a transition to sulfuric acid would be a massive undertaking that would take several years to plan. For years, refiners claimed pure HF would liquefy if spilled — a theory physicist Ron Koopman disproved in the 1980s with industry-sponsored tests in the Nevada desert. “But there was no liquid to collect,” said Koopman, formerly of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and now an independent consultant. “All of it went downwind as a vapor cloud.” Based on his experience with pure HF, Koopman is skeptical of industry claims about the modified form. Outside of research by companies, he said, there have been no peer-reviewed studies confirming the efficacy of modified HF. “No one has any idea if it works,” said U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., a longtime Torrance resident whose children sheltered in place at school the day of the 2015 blast. “We’re flying blind here.” ‘Again and again and again’ Since PBF took over the Torrance refinery in July, it has pushed production rates at the nearly century-old complex beyond ExxonMobil’s historic outputs. The refinery is PBF’s most expensive and most recent purchase, producing a tenth of California’s gasoline. When the “gasoline machine,” as the company describes it, virtually shut down for over a year following the 2015 explosion, it caused a spike in regional gas prices that cost motorists $2.4 billion. As companies like ExxonMobil exit refining in search of heftier profits from oil and gas exploration, smaller and newer companies like PBF have taken the helm — buying up aging plants for “10 cents on the dollar.” Within eight years, the New Jersey company went from owning no refineries to being the country’s third-largest independent refiner, with five facilities. PBF’s brief track record at Torrance has been marred by problems. The refinery has been beset by power outages that set off tall columns of black smoke from safety flares. “You’re sitting or playing outside and all of a sudden there it goes,” said Levine, who has spent nearly $1,000 on home air purifiers. “It’s starting to become normalized, and I don’t like that. That scares me more than anything.” On Jan. 4, she got a city of Torrance alert about an “unidentified odor” from the refinery. While PBF officials were quick to assure residents that the rotten-egg smell was innocuous, a hazardous-spill report suggests otherwise. Local fire officials reported traces of sulfur had leaked along with an unknown amount of naphtha — a highly flammable gas and a nose, throat and eye irritant. In an interview, Jeff Dill, president of PBF’s western region, said the incident was minor and “there were no materials released from any equipment.” It took only 90 gallons of naphtha to spark a 1999 fire at the Tosco Avon refinery in Martinez, California, that burned four workers to death and critically injured another. PBF founder Thomas O’Malley was CEO of Tosco at the time. That disaster was considered preventable by the Chemical Safety Board, whose report revealed “a pattern of serious deviations from safe work practices” that went uncorrected by management. Tosco paid $21 million to settle three wrongful-death claims, $2 million in criminal fines, and a state fine of more than $800,000. O’Malley apologized but faulted workers for disregarding safety protocols. Before the fire, Tosco had finished a round of layoffs and was preparing to downsize its staff of health and safety inspectors. The 1999 fire wasn’t O’Malley’s first run-in with regulators at Tosco, which he transformed from a one-refinery company to the country’s largest independent refiner between 1990 and 2001. Two years earlier, a 1997 fire at the same refinery killed one worker and injured 46 others. The EPA fined Tosco $600,000 after an investigation found “management tolerance of safety hazards and risky operator practices” like “operating with unreliable or malfunctioning equipment.” “The U.S. refining industry is not a learning culture,” said Mike Wilson of the BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of union officials and environmentalists. Wilson, a former chief scientist with the California Department of Industrial Relations’ Division of Occupational Safety and Health, was part of a team working on the state’s pending refinery rule. “It’s the same kind of incidents that happen. They happen again and again and again.” The PBF refinery in Paulsboro, New Jersey, which uses HF, is a case in point. Sixteen students and two teachers at the high school next door were hospitalized in 2015 for exposure to naphtha, which can contain carcinogenic benzene. A lawsuit filed last year claims PBF failed to detect the leak for two days. The company declined to comment on the case. It was the second time schoolchildren were sickened by emissions from the Paulsboro refinery since PBF purchased it in 2010. In 2012, several nearby schools reported sick students after 6.3 million gallons of oil spilled from a large tank. Under New Jersey law, PBF must evaluate safer alternatives every five years. The company’s 2012 report to the Department of Environmental Protection concluded that switching to sulfuric acid was “not feasible,” in part because conversion would cost $200 million to $250 million. PBF was unenthusiastic about moving to modified HF as well, saying it would cause “increased corrosion” of equipment and cut the refinery’s efficiency by 10 percent. According to a PBF filing with the EPA, the Paulsboro refinery stores 250,000 pounds of undiluted HF on site, endangering more than 3.2 million people up to 19 miles away. Just across the Delaware River from Paulsboro is PBF’s first property, the Delaware City Refinery, plagued by even more problems. Last year, state regulators cited the refinery for dozens of violations stemming from multiple leaks and excessive flaring that released thousands of pounds of pollutants into the air. The refinery is also under a safety board investigation for a string of worker injuries. In November 2015, a worker was severely burned on the face and neck. Months earlier, two incidents a week apart led to a fire and chemical leak that sent three workers to the hospital. O’Malley has bought the Delaware City Refinery twice — first as head of Premcor in 2004, and then as dealmaker for PBF in 2010. In the latter transaction, the refinery had been shuttered for two years under Valero, which reported it was losing $1 million a day in 2009. While the PBF purchase was celebrated by Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, it came at a steep cost to the public. Once the deal was announced, state regulators quickly settled with Valero for $1.95 million, a fraction of the penalties that could have been collected for nearly 200 environmental violations in the past decade. Delawareans have also handed out nearly $55 million in grants and tax breaks to PBF to resurrect the refinery. When PBF bought another Valero refinery later in 2010, New Jersey regulators also quickly settled. The state recovered less than $800,000 from Valero — a third of the proposed $2.3 million in environmental fines the company racked up over six years. PBF is also in negotiations with Louisiana’s Department of Environmental Quality over violations dating to 2009 at the Chalmette refinery — a former ExxonMobil property the company bought in 2015. Like Torrance and Paulsboro, Chalmette also uses HF. According to an ExxonMobil filing with the EPA, the refinery has 620,000 pounds of the acid, which could endanger more than 880,000 people as far as 25 miles away. Companies like PBF are “flippers”—acquiring refineries at rock-bottom prices only to sell them a few years later for profits. The business model has paid off for O’Malley, an early pioneer of the tactic who sold Tosco in 2001 for $7 billion. He replicated the success with Premcor, which was sold to Valero in 2005 for $8 billion. PBF declined multiple requests by the Center for Public Integrity to make O’Malley available for comment. While O’Malley’s knack for turning around unprofitable assets has won him both praise and billions on Wall Street, it has earned him disdain from some in the labor community, who tell of severe cost-cutting at the expense of workers. Bob Wages, a longtime union leader, once told The Wall Street Journal that O’Malley’s success, in part, meant “taking a knife to all parts of the business.” O’Malley’s strategy, moreover, hasn’t always worked. His model sent Switzerland-based PetroPlus deeper into a financial hole after it bought three European refineries. He led the company until shortly before it filed for insolvency in 2012. O’Malley officially retired from PBF in June following the Torrance deal but remains a paid consultant to the company. But the company still follows his vision. CEO Thomas Nimbley worked as O’Malley’s number two at Tosco, and two of O’Malley’s nephews have served as vice presidents. PBF officials said they are committed to running their refineries “safely and reliably in an environmentally responsible manner,” but noted that the company also bears a responsibility to its shareholders. “We pay one of the higher dividends in our industry,” Dill said. Nadia Levine, meanwhile, says conditions at the refinery — and communication about incidents — don’t seem to have improved since PBF took over. “It all seems to be cloaked in secrecy,” she said. This story was produced in collaboration with Southern California Public Radio. • Original article at https://www.publicintegrity.org/2017/02/10/20684/exxonmobil-near-disaster-you-probably-havent-heard	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21347
__label__cc	0.652507	0.347493	Sherry Lansing thankful for Hersholt Humanitarian Oscar Wikipedia has more about this subject: Given to an "individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry", the Jean Hersholt Award is not an annual honor, but rather an occasional prestigious title. This year's winner was Sherry Lansing, the former CEO of Paramount Pictures and the first woman to head a major studio. Her biography in Wikipedia provides a full overview of her industry and humanitarian accomplishments. She delivered the following acceptance speech at the 79th Annual Academy Awards ceremony last night: I am deeply honored and very grateful to receive this award, but I also must admit that it feels a little strange to be singled out. So many of you have causes that you are equally passionate about. That is really what is so wonderful about the movie industry -- not only do we get to make films that matter, but we also work in a culture where we are encouraged to speak out. We may not always agree, but we do always care. Through my work, I have met scientists who struggle every day to find cures for diseases. They do so quietly -- without glamour or attention, but always with passion and conviction. I have met school teachers who are battling against insurmountable odds, and yet they never stop trying to reach our children. To me, they are the real heroes, and tonight I share this honor with all of them. On a personal note, I want to thank my husband Billy and our two boys Cedric and Jack, whose unconditional love gives me the courage to fight every day for what I believe in. And a special thank you to the members of the Academy for this extraordinary honor. I promise to spend the rest of my life trying to live up to it. She joins a list of only been six honorees in the last seventeen years, Audrey Hepburn (1992, posthumously), Elizabeth Taylor (1992), Paul Newman (1993), Quincy Jones (1994), Arthur Hiller (2001), and Roger Mayer (2004). This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details. This page has been automatically archived by a robot, and is no longer publicly editable. Please note that the listed sources may no longer be available online. Retrieved from "https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Sherry_Lansing_thankful_for_Hersholt_Humanitarian_Oscar&oldid=568084"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21352
__label__wiki	0.710387	0.710387	Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher, the founder and editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obscenity. The first issue of Playboy was published in 1953 featuring Marilyn Monroe in a nude calendar shoot; it sold over 50,000 copies. Hefner in November 2010 Hugh Marston Hefner (1926-04-09)April 9, 1926 Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery[1] University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (B.A.) Businessman, magazine publisher Editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine, chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises Board member of Playboy Enterprises Mildred Williams Kimberley Conrad Partner(s) Barbi Benton (1969–1976) Brande Roderick (1999–2000) Holly Madison (2001–2008) Bridget Marquardt (2002–2009) Kendra Wilkinson (2004–2008) 4, including Christie and Cooper Playboy.com Hefner extended the Playboy brand into a world network of Playboy Clubs. He also resided in luxury mansions where Playboy "playmates" shared his wild partying life, fueling keen media interest. He was an advocate of "sexual liberation" and "freedom of expression", and he was a political activist in the Democratic Party and for the causes of First Amendment rights, animal rescue, and the restoration of the Hollywood Sign. Hefner was born in Chicago on April 9, 1926,[2] the first child of Glenn Lucius Hefner (1896–1976), an accountant, and his wife Grace Caroline (Swanson) Hefner (1895–1997) who worked as a teacher. His parents were from Nebraska.[3][4] He had a younger brother, Keith (1929–2016).[5][6][7] His mother was of Swedish ancestry, and his father was German and English.[8][9] Through his father's line, Hefner was a descendant of Plymouth governor William Bradford.[10][11] He described his family as "conservative, Midwestern, [and] Methodist".[12] His mother had wanted him to become a missionary.[13] He attended Sayre Elementary School and Steinmetz High School, then served from 1944 to 1946 as a U.S. Army writer for a military newspaper. Hefner graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1949 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a double minor in Creative Writing and Art, having earned his degree in two and a half years. After graduation, he took a semester of graduate courses in Sociology at Northwestern University, but dropped out soon after.[14] In January 1952, Hefner left his job as a copywriter for Esquire after he was denied a $5 raise. In 1953, he took out a mortgage loan of $600 and raised $8,000 from 45 investors (including $1,000 from his mother—"not because she believed in the venture," he told E! in 2006, "but because she believed in her son") to launch Playboy, which was initially going to be called Stag Party. The first issue was published in December 1953 and featured Marilyn Monroe from her 1949 nude calendar shoot; it sold more than 50,000 copies.[15] (Hefner never met Monroe, but he bought the crypt next to hers at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in 1992 for $75,000.)[16][17] Esquire magazine rejected Charles Beaumont's science fiction story "The Crooked Man" in 1955, so Hefner agreed to publish it in Playboy. The story highlighted straight men being persecuted in a world where homosexuality was the norm. The magazine received angry letters, so Hefner responded, "If it was wrong to persecute heterosexuals in a homosexual society then the reverse was wrong, too."[18] In 1961, Hefner watched Dick Gregory perform at the Herman Roberts Show Bar in Chicago, and he hired Gregory to work at the Chicago Playboy Club. Gregory attributed the launch of his career to that night.[19] Hefner promoted a bon vivant lifestyle in his magazine and in the TV shows that he hosted Playboy's Penthouse (1959–1960) and Playboy After Dark (1969–1970).[20] He was also the chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises, the publishing group which operates the magazine.[21] On June 4, 1963, Hefner was arrested for promoting obscene literature after he published an issue of Playboy featuring nude shots of Jayne Mansfield in bed with a man present.[22] The case went to trial and resulted in a hung jury.[23] In the 1960s, Hefner created "private key" clubs that were racially diverse.[24] During the civil rights movement in 1966, Hefner sent Alex Haley to interview George Lincoln Rockwell, much to Rockwell's surprise because Haley was black. Rockwell had founded the American Nazi Party, described by some[who?] as the "American Hitler". Rockwell agreed to meet with Haley only after gaining assurance that he was not Jewish, although Rockwell kept a handgun on the table throughout the interview. The interview was recreated in Roots: The Next Generations in 1979, with James Earl Jones as Haley and Marlon Brando as Rockwell; Brando won a Primetime Emmy Award for his portrayal of Rockwell.[25] Haley had also interviewed Malcolm X in 1963 and Martin Luther King Jr. in 1966 for the newly established 1962 "playboy interview"; all three interviewees were assassinated by 1968.[26] Hefner with his trademark Playboy Pipe in 1966 In 1970, Hefner stated that "militant feminists" are "unalterably opposed to the romantic boy-girl society that Playboy promotes" and ordered an article in his magazine against them.[27] In the 1993 The Simpsons episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled", Hefner voiced himself.[28][29] In 1999, Hefner financed the Clara Bow documentary Discovering the It Girl. "Nobody has what Clara had," he said. "She defined an era and made her mark on the nation".[30] Hefner guest-starred as himself in the 2000 Sex and the City episode "Sex and Another City".[31] In 2005, he guest-starred on the HBO shows Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage.[31] He guest-starred as himself in a 2006 episode of Seth Green's Robot Chicken on the late-night programming block Adult Swim.[29] In the 2007 Family Guy episode "Airport '07", he voiced himself.[31] He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for television and made several movie appearances as himself. In 2009, he received a "worst supporting actor" nomination for a Razzie award for his performance as himself in Miss March. On his official Twitter account, he joked about this nomination: "Maybe I didn't understand the character."[32] Brigitte Berman's documentary Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel was released on July 30, 2010. He had previously granted full access to documentary filmmaker and television producer Kevin Burns for the A&E Biography special Hugh Hefner: American Playboy in 1996.[33] Hefner and Burns later collaborated on numerous other television projects, most notably on The Girls Next Door, a reality series that ran for six seasons (2005–2009) and 90 episodes.[34] Hefner also made a voice-only appearance as himself in the 2011 film Hop. In 2012, Hefner announced that his youngest son Cooper would succeed him as the public face of Playboy.[35] Hefner at the premiere of Sylvester Stallone's movie F.I.S.T., 1978 Hefner with his partners Holly Madison (left) and Bridget Marquardt, 2007 Hefner was known to friends and family simply as "Hef".[36] He married Northwestern University student Mildred ("Millie") Williams in 1949, and they had daughter Christie (b. 1952) and son David (b. 1955).[37] Before the wedding, Mildred confessed that she had an affair while he was away in the army. He called the admission "the most devastating moment of my life." A 2006 E! True Hollywood Story profile of Hefner revealed that Mildred allowed him to have sex with other women, out of guilt for her own infidelity and in the hope that it would preserve their marriage. The two were divorced in 1959.[38][39] Hefner remade himself as a bon vivant and man about town, a lifestyle that he promoted in his magazine and TV shows. He admitted to being "'involved' with maybe eleven out of twelve months' worth of Playmates" during some years.[40] Donna Michelle, Marilyn Cole, Lillian Müller, Shannon Tweed, Barbi Benton, Karen Christy, Sondra Theodore, and Carrie Leigh were a few of his many lovers; Leigh filed a $35 million palimony suit against him.[citation needed] In 1971, he acknowledged that he experimented in bisexuality.[41] Also in 1971, he established a second residence in Los Angeles with the acquisition of Playboy Mansion West, and he moved there permanently from Chicago in 1975.[42] In 1985, Hefner had a minor stroke at age 59, and he re-evaluated his lifestyle and made several changes. He toned down the wild, all-night parties, and daughter Christie took over the operation of the Playboy empire in 1988. The following year, he married Playmate of the Year Kimberley Conrad; they were 36 years apart in age. The couple had sons Marston Glenn (born 1990) and Cooper (born 1991).[43] The E! True Hollywood Story profile noted that the notorious Playboy Mansion had been transformed into a family-friendly homestead. He and Conrad separated in 1998 and she moved into the house next door to the mansion.[44] Hefner became known for moving an ever-changing coterie of young women into the Playboy Mansion, including twins Mandy and Sandy Bentley. He dated as many as seven women concurrently. He also dated Brande Roderick, Izabella St. James, Tina Marie Jordan, Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson. Madison, Wilkinson, and Marquardt appeared on The Girls Next Door depicting their lives at the Playboy Mansion.[45] In October 2008, all three of them decided to leave the mansion; Hefner filed for divorce from Conrad after and 11-year separation, citing irreconcilable differences.[46] He has stated that he only remained nominally married to her for the sake of his children,[47] and his youngest child had just turned 18.[43] In January 2009, Hefner began a relationship with Crystal Harris;[48] she joined the Shannon Twins after his previous "number one girlfriend" Holly Madison had ended their seven-year relationship.[49] On December 24, 2010, he became engaged to Harris,[50] but she broke off their engagement on June 14, 2011, five days before their planned wedding.[51] The July issue of Playboy reached store shelves and customer's homes within days of the wedding date; it featured Harris on the cover and in a photo spread, as well. The headline on the cover read "Introducing America's Princess, Mrs. Crystal Hefner".[52] Hefner and Harris subsequently reconciled and married on December 31, 2012.[53][54][55][56] Hefner's brother Keith died at age 87 on April 8, 2016, one day before Hefner's 90th birthday.[57] Main article: Playboy Mansion In January 2016, the Playboy Mansion was put on the market for $200 million, on condition that Hugh Hefner would continue to work and live in the mansion.[58] Later that year it was sold to Daren Metropoulos, a principal at private equity firm Metropoulos & Company, for $100 million. Metropoulos planned to reconnect the Playboy Mansion property with a neighboring estate that he purchased in 2009, combining the two for a 7.3 acre (3-hectare) compound as his own private residence.[59] In May 2017, Eugena Washington was the last Playmate of the Year to be announced by Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion.[60] Politics and philanthropy The Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award was created by Christie Hefner "to honor individuals who have made significant contributions in the vital effort to protect and enhance First Amendment rights for Americans."[61] He donated and raised money for the Democratic Party.[62] In 2011, he referred to himself as an independent due to dissatisfaction with both the Democratic and Republican parties.[63] Nonetheless, in 2012, he supported Barack Obama's reelection campaign.[64] In 1978, Hefner helped organize fund-raising efforts that led to the restoration of the Hollywood Sign. He hosted a gala fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion and contributed $27,000 (or 1/9 of the total restoration costs) by purchasing the letter Y in a ceremonial auction.[65][66] Hefner donated $100,000 to the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts to create a course called "Censorship in Cinema", and $2 million to endow a chair for the study of American film.[67] In 2007, the university's audiovisual archive at the Norris Theater received a donation from Hefner and was renamed to the Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive in his honor.[68] Both through his charitable foundation and individually, Hefner also contributed to charities and other organizations outside the sphere of politics and publishing, throwing fundraiser events for Much Love Animal Rescue as well as Generation Rescue,[69] an anti-vaccinationist campaign organization supported by Jenny McCarthy. On November 18, 2010, Children of the Night founder and president Dr. Lois Lee presented Hefner with the organization's first-ever Founder's Hero of the Heart Award in appreciation for his unwavering dedication, commitment and generosity.[70] On April 26, 2010, Hefner donated the last $900,000 sought by a conservation group for a land purchase needed to stop the development of the famed vista of the Hollywood Sign.[65] Sylvilagus palustris hefneri, an endangered subspecies of marsh rabbit, is named after him in honor of financial support that he provided.[71][72][73] The Barbi Twins who are among a notable cohort of celebrity Playmates, including Pamela Anderson and Hefner's third wife Crystal Harris, praised the publishing icon for providing centerfolds and extended members of the Playboy family with a platform for activism and advocacy on behalf of animal populations in need.[74][73] Hefner supported legalizing same-sex marriage, and he stated that a fight for gay marriage was "a fight for all our rights. Without it, we will turn back the sexual revolution and return to an earlier, puritanical time."[75] Hefner died at his home in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, on September 27, 2017, at the age of 91.[76][77] The cause was sepsis brought on by an E. coli infection.[78][79][80] He is interred at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, in the $75,000 crypt beside Marilyn Monroe. "Spending eternity next to Marilyn is an opportunity too sweet to pass up," Hefner had told the Los Angeles Times in 2009.[81] Suzanne Moore wrote in The Guardian that Hefner threatened to file a lawsuit against her for calling him a "pimp".[82] Defending her position, Moore argued that "he was a man who bought and sold women to other men".[82] She further stated that "part of Hefner's business acumen was to make the selling of female flesh respectable and hip, to make soft porn acceptable."[82] Julie Bindel argued in The Independent that Hefner "caused immeasurable damage by turning porn – and therefore the buying and selling of women's bodies – into a legitimate business."[83] Robin Abcarian wrote in the Los Angeles Times that Hefner "probably did more to mainstream the exploitation of women's bodies than any other figure in American history," adding that he "managed to convince many women that taking off their clothes for men's pleasure was not just empowering, but a worthy goal in itself."[84] She further stated that Hefner "embodied the aesthetic notion that images of women — and women themselves — exist to please men."[84] Hefner's former girlfriend Holly Madison said that he "would encourage competition—and body image issues—between his multiple live-in girlfriends. His legacy is full of evidence of the exploitation of women for professional gain."[85] Ed Stetzer wrote in Christianity Today that Hefner would have the residence systematically cleaned whenever Christie Hefner visited in order "to keep the realities from his own daughter".[86] Stezer further lamented the consequences of Hefner's role as a "general" of the "sexual revolution": “ It's hard to fathom that anyone would have known what this would have turned into. Parents growing up today are fighting to keep their children pure. Spouses are fighting to keep their marriages intact. And many enslaved and trapped in the adult entertainment industry have been figuratively and literally stripped not only of their clothes, but their very value as people made in the image of God. If this does not concern us, what will?[86] ” On October 3, 2017, it was announced[by whom?] that Jared Leto would play Hugh Hefner in a biopic directed by Brett Ratner with the screenplay by Jeff Nathanson. However, the film was indefinitely put on hold and it was confirmed[by whom?] that Leto would not portray Hefner following sexual harassment allegations against Ratner on November 2, 2017.[87][88] The Amazon Original Series American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story was released in 2017. It stars Matt Whelan in the title role, along with Emmett Skilton and Chelsie Preston Crayford. The first season was released on April 7, composed of ten episodes. The series is a combination of interviews, archival footage (including moments found in Hefner's vast personal collection), and cinematic re-enactments that cover the launch of the magazine as well as the next six decades of Hefner's personal life and career. The series was filmed in Auckland, New Zealand.[89] ^ "Hugh Hefner will be buried next to first Playboy cover star Marilyn Monroe: He made the purchase back in 1992". Entertainment Weekly. September 28, 2017. ^ "Hugh Hefner Biography". Biography.com (FYI/A&E Networks). Archived from the original on May 17, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2015. ^ "Mr Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream"; retrieved October 10, 2009. ^ Algis Valiunas, "The Playboy and His Western World" Archived May 31, 2010, at the Wayback Machine ^ "Hugh Hefner's Roaring 70s", Vanity Fair. February 2001. ^ Roger Ebert "Hugh Hefner: Just A Typical Methodist Kid" (1967); accessed July 14, 2018. ^ "Keith Hefner Dead: Hugh Hefner's Brother Dies at 87". people.com. April 8, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2018. ^ Mullen, William (August 8, 1984). "Hef". Spokane Chronicle. Retrieved July 23, 2010. ^ Roberts, Gary Boyd. "#58 Royal Descents, Notable Kin, and Printed Sources". New England Ancestors. Archived from the original on January 14, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2010. ^ "Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner tells how he created an identity in order to fulfill his dreams". Time. October 2, 2005. ^ Quintanilla, Michael (February 5, 1999). "Stylemaker/Hugh Hefner. The king of swingers reenters the singles scene". ^ Hugh Hefner On His Role In Fighting Segregation. Jezebel.com (July 23, 2010). Retrieved on May 3, 2012. ^ "Hugh Hefner dies". The Economist. October 5, 2017. ^ Hugh M. Hefner Playboy Enterprises; retrieved January 2, 2009. ^ Hugh Hefner: The Ultimate Lifestyle Entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs.about.com. Retrieved on May 3, 2012. ^ Charles McGrath (February 3, 2011). "How Hef Got His Groove Back". The New York Times. ^ Westwood Village Memorial Cemetery. Seeing-Stars.com. ^ "Hugh Hefner, Gay Rights Pioneer", advocate.com ^ "Column: Dick Gregory understood the political power of comedy". Chicago Tribune. August 22, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017. ^ "Hugh Hefner". Biography.com. Retrieved November 7, 2017. ^ Corporate Officers, Playboy Enterprises, Inc. ^ Pitzulo, Carrie (2011). Bachelors and Bunnies: The Sexual Politics of Playboy. University of Chicago Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-226-67006-5. ^ Hugh Hefner Biography. biography.com. ^ "Hugh Hefner". Biography. Retrieved April 30, 2018. ^ "TV Sequel to 'Roots': Inevitable Question". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2017. ^ "American Icon and Playboy Founder, Hugh M. Hefner, Has Died" (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved September 28, 2017. ^ Redden, Molly (September 29, 2017). "Effusive Hugh Hefner tributes ignore Playboy founder's dark side". The Guardian. Retrieved September 29, 2017. ^ ""The Simpsons" guests stars over the years". February 17, 2012. ^ a b "The Original Playboy: A Timeline of the Life and Accomplishments of Hugh M. Hefner". April 8, 2016. ^ Variety, June 7, 1999 ^ a b c "Playboy on TV: 5 memorable Hugh Hefner cameos". Entertainment Weekly. September 28, 2017. ^ "Hugh Hefner on Twitter". ^ Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel. Hughhefnerplayboyactivistrebel.com (December 7, 2010). Retrieved on May 3, 2012. ^ "Hugh Hefner, Playboy Magazine Founder and Star of Girls Next Door, Dies at 91". MSN. September 27, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017. ^ "Playboy's Hugh Hefner and son Talk Succession". The Wall Street Journal. November 29, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2013. ^ "Final pictures show frail Hugh Hefner on a zimmer frame at Playboy Mansion shortly before his death". Daily Mirror. ^ Playboy Time Line. playboy.com ^ "12 Things You Never Knew About Hugh Hefner". June 25, 2015. Cosmopolitan. ^ "The Many Loves of Hugh Hefner". Fox News. ^ Acocella, Joan "The Girls Next Door", The New Yorker, March 20, 2006 ^ "Faces of the week". BBC News. May 26, 2006. ^ "Hugh Hefner Returns to Halls and Haunts of a Chicago Childhood". RogerEbert.com. October 18, 1992. Retrieved September 27, 2017. ^ a b Cooper Hefner. TV.com ^ "Hugh Hefner: A History of Romance". The Hollywood Reporter. July 27, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2017. ^ A New Boy for Former 'Girl Next Door'. BuddyTV.com. February 10, 2009 ^ "Hugh Hefner Finally Files for Divorce". People. Retrieved September 9, 2009. ^ "Hugh Hefner files for divorce from wife". Reuters. September 9, 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2009. ^ Miller, Korin (January 5, 2009). "Meet Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's other girlfriend, Crystal Harris". Daily News. New York: Daily News, L.P. Retrieved January 11, 2016. ^ Miller, Korin (October 7, 2008). "'Girls Next Door's' Holly Madison splits with Playboy Hugh Hefner". Daily News. New York: Daily News, L.P. Retrieved January 11, 2016. ^ Simao, Paul (December 26, 2010). "Hugh Hefner Acknowledges Engagement on Twitter". Reuters. Retrieved January 11, 2016. ^ TMZ Staff. "Crystal Harris". TMZ. Time Warner. Retrieved January 11, 2016. ^ "Cover". Playboy. July 2011. ^ Coughlan, Maggie (January 1, 2013). "Hugh Hefner Marries Crystal Harris". People. ^ "Playboy founder Hugh Hefner marries his "runaway bride"". Reuters. January 1, 2013. ^ "Hugh Hefner, Crystal Harris Wed at Playboy Mansion". The Hollywood Reporter. December 31, 2012. ^ D'Zurilla, Christie (January 2, 2013). "Hugh Hefner, Crystal Harris finally marry on New Year's Eve". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 18, 2013. ^ "Keith Hefner Dead: Hugh Hefner's Brother Dies at 87". PEOPLE.com. April 8, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2017. ^ "Washington Post: Playboy Mansion for sale but Hugh Hefner wants to stay put". January 12, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2016. ^ "Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion sells for $100 million". Reuters. Retrieved August 17, 2016. ^ "Hugh Hefner Crippling Back Infection Started Decline in Health". TMZ. September 29, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017. ^ Playboy Enterprises, Inc., "Playboy Foundation – Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards". Accessed July 12, 2011. ^ Hugh Hefner's Federal Campaign Contribution Report Archived December 31, 2009, at the Wayback Machine ^ Hefner, Hugh [@hughhefner] (July 30, 2011). "My parents were Republican, I'm a registered Democrat, but these days I'm an Independent, not happy with either Party" (Tweet) – via Twitter. ^ Hefner, Hugh [@hughhefner] (November 7, 2012). "While I was playing dominoes with the girls, we got the news that Obama had been re-elected. We're celebrating at the Mansion" (Tweet) – via Twitter. ^ a b "Hugh Hefner saves iconic Hollywood sign". Times Online. London, UK. April 27, 2010. Retrieved December 26, 2010. ^ "The History of the Sign: 1978: A Sign is Reborn". Hollywood Sign. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved December 26, 2010. ^ Hefner Gives $2M to USC Film School Associated Press, November 16, 2007. ^ Zollinger, John (November 15, 2007). "Legendary Publisher Hugh Hefner Donates $2 Million to the School of Cinematic Arts". School of Cinematic Arts News. University of Southern California. Retrieved March 9, 2015. ^ "Hugh Hefner & Jenny McCarthy Fund Autism Research". Celebrity Halo. October 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2008. ^ 2010 founder's hero of the heart Award (PDF). November 18, 2010. Retrieved May 9, 2015. ^ "My True Love Gave To Me ... A Bat Species!". CBS News. February 11, 2009. Retrieved March 30, 2012. ^ "Lower Keys Rabbit" (PDF). United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved March 30, 2012. ^ a b https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2012/11/03/interview-with-hugh-hefner-the-publishing-icon-with-a-marsh-rabbit-for-a-namesake/ ^ https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2013/03/18/hugh-hefner-easters-bunny-hugger/ ^ "Playboy founder Hugh Hefner writes passionate plea in support of gay marriage". NYDailyNews.com. August 23, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2012. ^ Mansnerus, Laura (September 27, 2017). "Hugh Hefner, Who Built Playboy Empire and Embodied It, Dies at 91". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2017. ^ Schudel, Matt (September 27, 2017). "Hugh Hefner, visionary editor who created Playboy magazine, dies at 91". Washington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2017. ^ "Cardiac arrest, infections listed as causes of Hugh Hefner's death". The Los Angeles Times. October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2017. ^ "Hugh Hefner's Cause of Death Revealed". New York Daily News. October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2017. ^ "Hugh Hefner: Drug-Resistant E. Coli Infection Contributed to Death". People. October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2017. ^ Kogan, Rick. "Hugh Hefner, Playboy founder who built his empire in Chicago, dies at age 91". chicagotribune.com. ^ a b c Suzanne Moore (September 28, 2017). "I called Hugh Hefner a pimp, he threatened to sue. But that's what he was". The Guardian. Retrieved September 29, 2017. ^ Julie Bindel (September 28, 2017). "Hugh Hefner was the ultimate enemy of women – no feminist anywhere will shed a tear at his death". The Independent. Retrieved September 29, 2017. ^ a b 'Hugh Hefner preached sexual liberation, but he never stopped exploiting women's bodies'. ^ Drexler, Peggy (September 29, 2017). "Hugh Hefner's legacy has a dark side". CNN. Retrieved September 29, 2017. ^ a b Ed Stetzer (September 28, 2017). "Hugh Hefner, Mourning, and Legacies: Beyond the Pipe and the Robe". Christianity Today. Retrieved September 29, 2017. ^ "Jared Leto to star in Hugh Hefner biopic". BBC News. October 3, 2017. ^ "Brett Ratner's Hugh Hefner Biopic is Dead in the Water". Screen rant. November 2, 2017. ^ "Secrecy surrounds Hugh Hefner TV Show Shot in Auckland". NZ Herald. August 15, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2018. Watts, Steven (2008). Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-52167-0. Miller, Russell (1985). Bunny: The Real Story of Playboy. London: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0-03-063748-3. St. James, Izabella (2006). Bunny Tales: Behind Closed Doors at the Playboy Mansion – Reprint Edition–2009. Philadelphia: Running Press. ISBN 978-0-7624-3230-1. Vile, John R.; Hudson, David L.; Schultz, David Andrew (2009). Encyclopedia of the First Amendment. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. p. 564. ISBN 978-0-87289-311-5. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hugh Hefner. Hugh M. Hefner Foundation Hugh Hefner on Playboy.com Hugh Hefner on IMDb Hugh Hefner on Biography.com Hugh Hefner at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hugh_Hefner&oldid=905820325"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21353
__label__cc	0.509598	0.490402	Mensa International Mensa is the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world.[3][4][5] It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test.[6][7] Mensa formally comprises national groups and the umbrella organisation Mensa International, with a registered office in Caythorpe, Lincolnshire, England[8] (which is separate from the British Mensa office in Wolverhampton[9]). The word mensa (/ˈmɛnsə/; Latin: [ˈmensa]) is Latin for "table", as is symbolised in the organisation's logo, and was chosen to demonstrate the round-table nature of the organisation; the coming together of equals.[10] 1 October 1946; 72 years ago (1946-10-01)[1] Limited non-profit organisation High IQ society Slate Barn, Church Lane, Caythorpe, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom 134,000[2] www.mensa.org Roland Berrill, an Australian barrister, and Dr. Lancelot Ware, a British scientist and lawyer, founded Mensa at Lincoln College, in Oxford, England, in 1946. They had the idea of forming a society for very intelligent people, the only qualification for membership being a high IQ.[6] It was ostensibly to be non-political and free from all other social distinctions (racial, religious, etc.).[10] However, Berrill and Ware were both disappointed with the resulting society. Berrill had intended Mensa as "an aristocracy of the intellect", and was unhappy that a majority of Mensans came from humble homes,[11] while Ware said: "I do get disappointed that so many members spend so much time solving puzzles."[12] American Mensa was the second major branch of Mensa. Its success has been linked to the efforts of early and longstanding organiser Margot Seitelman.[13] Membership requirementEdit Mensa's requirement for membership is a score at or above the 98th percentile on certain standardised IQ or other approved intelligence tests, such as the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales. The minimum accepted score on the Stanford–Binet is 132, while for the Cattell it is 148.[14] Most IQ tests are designed to yield a mean score of 100 with a standard deviation of 15; the 98th-percentile score under these conditions is 131, assuming a normal distribution.[citation needed] Most national groups test using well established IQ test batteries, but American Mensa has developed its own application exam. This exam is proctored by American Mensa and does not provide a score comparable to scores on other tests; it serves only to qualify a person for membership.[citation needed] In some national groups, a person may take a Mensa-offered test only once, although one may later submit an application with results from a different qualifying test. The Mensa test is also available in developing countries like India, Pakistan, etc. and societies in developing countries have been growing at rapid pace.[14] MissionEdit Mensa's constitution lists three purposes: "to identify and to foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity; to encourage research into the nature, characteristics, and uses of intelligence; and to provide a stimulating intellectual and social environment for its members".[15] To these ends, the organisation is involved with programs for gifted children, literacy, and scholarships, and it holds numerous gatherings including an annual summit.[16] Organisational structureEdit Mensa International consists of around 134,000 members,[2] in 100 countries,[17] in 51 national groups.[18] The national groups issue periodicals, such as Mensa Bulletin, the monthly publication of American Mensa,[19] and Mensa Magazine, the monthly publication of British Mensa.[20] Individuals who live in a country with a national group join the national group, while those living in countries without a recognised chapter may join Mensa International directly.[citation needed] The largest national groups are:[21] American Mensa, with more than 57,000 members,[22] British Mensa, with over 21,000 members,[23] and Mensa Germany, with more than 13,000 members.[24] Larger national groups are further subdivided into local groups. For example, American Mensa has 134 local groups, with the largest having over 2,000 members and the smallest having fewer than 100. Members may form Special Interest Groups (SIGs) at international, national, and local levels; these SIGs represent a wide variety of interests, ranging from motorcycle clubs to entrepreneurial co-operations. Some SIGs are associated with various geographic groups, whereas others act independently of official hierarchy. There are also electronic SIGs (eSIGs), which operate primarily as e-mail lists, where members may or may not meet each other in person.[citation needed] The Mensa Foundation, a separate charitable U.S. corporation, edits and publishes its own Mensa Research Journal, in which both Mensans and non-Mensans are published on various topics surrounding the concept and measure of intelligence. GatheringsEdit Mensa has many events for members, from the local to the international level. Several countries hold a large event called the Annual Gathering (AG). It is held in a different city every year, with speakers, dances, leadership workshops, children's events, games, and other activities. The American and Canadian AGs are usually held during the American Independence Day (4 July) or Canada Day (1 July) weekends respectively.[citation needed] Smaller gatherings called Regional Gatherings (RGs), which are held in various cities, attract members from large areas. The largest in the United States is held in the Chicago area around Halloween, notably featuring a costume party for which many members create pun-based costumes.[citation needed] In 2006, the Mensa World Gathering[25] was held from 8–13 August in Orlando, Florida to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of Mensa. An estimated 2,500 attendees from over 30 countries gathered for this celebration. The International Board of Directors had a formal meeting there.[citation needed] In 2010, a joint American-Canadian Annual Gathering was held in Dearborn, Michigan, to mark the 50th anniversary of Mensa in North America, one of several times the US and Canada AGs have been combined. Other multinational gatherings are the European Mensas Annual Gathering (EMAG) and the Asian Mensa Gathering (AMG).[citation needed] Since 1990, American Mensa has sponsored the annual Mensa Mind Games competition, at which the Mensa Select award is given to five board games that are "original, challenging, and well designed".[26][27] Individual local groups and their members host smaller events for members and their guests. Lunch or dinner events, lectures, tours, theatre outings, and games nights are all common.[citation needed] In Europe since 2008 international meetings have been held under the name [EMAG] (European Mensa Annual Gathering), starting in Cologne in 2008.[28] Next editions were in Utrecht (2009), Prague (2010), Paris (2011), Stockholm (2012), Bratislava (2013), Zürich (2014), Berlin (2015), Kraków (2016), Barcelona (2017) and Belgrade (2018). The 2019 edition will take place in Ghent, from August 7-11. The gatherings for 2020 and 2021 are planned for Brno and Århus, respectively.[29] In Asia there is an Asian Mensa Gathering (AMG) with rotating countries hosting the event. PublicationsEdit All Mensa groups publish members-only newsletters or magazines, which include articles and columns written by members, and information about upcoming Mensa events. Examples include the American Mensa Bulletin,[30] the British Mensa magazine,[31] Serbian MozaIQ,[32] the Australian TableAus,[33] the Mexican El Mensajero,[34] and the French Contacts.[35] Some local or regional groups have their own newsletter, such as those in the United States, UK, Germany, and France.[citation needed] Mensa International publishes a Mensa World Journal, which "contains views and information about Mensa around the world". This journal is generally included in each national magazine.[36][37][38] Mensa also publishes the Mensa Research Journal, which "highlights scholarly articles and recent research related to intelligence". Unlike most Mensa publications, this journal is available to non-members.[39] All national and local groups welcome children; many offer activities, resources, and newsletters specifically geared toward gifted children and their parents. Both American Mensa's youngest member (Christina Brown)[40] and British Mensa's youngest member (Adam Kirby) joined at the age of two.[41] The current youngest member of Mensa is Adam Kirby, from Mitcham, London, UK who was invited to join at the age of two years and four months and gained full membership at the age of two years five months. He scored 141 on the Stanford-Binet IQ test.[41][42] Elise Tan-Roberts of the UK is the youngest person ever to join Mensa, having gained full membership at the age of two years and four months.[41][43] American Mensa's oldest member is 102,[44] and British Mensa had a member aged 103.[7] According to American Mensa's website (as of 2013[update]), 38 percent of its members are baby boomers between the ages of 51 and 68, 31 percent are Gen-Xers or Millennials between the ages of 27 and 48, and more than 2,600 members are under the age of 18. There are more than 1,800 families in the United States with two or more Mensa members.[44] In addition, the American Mensa general membership is "66 percent male, 34 percent female". The aggregate of local and national leadership is distributed equally between the sexes.[44] List of notable Mensans List of Mensa Select recipients IQ classification IQ Award ^ "Mensa is 65 on 1st October – how Brilliant is that?". Mensa International. Retrieved 30 August 2014. ^ a b "About Mensa International". Mensa International. 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017. ^ Percival, Matt (8 September 2006). "The Quest for Genius". CNN. Retrieved 30 October 2007. ^ Moore, Hilary. "American Mensa and Activepackets Team to Provide Mobile Users With Mensa Genius Challenge". American Mensa. Retrieved 30 October 2007. ^ Sharma, Mukul (30 January 2007). "IQ tests are about innate intelligence". The Times of India. India. Retrieved 3 November 2007. ^ a b "Mensa Information". Mensa International. ^ a b "FAQs - Full list". British Mensa. Retrieved 13 July 2014. ^ "Home." Mensa International. Retrieved 11 May 2010. "Mensa's registered office is Slate Barn, Church Lane, Caythorpe, Podgorica, NG32 3EL, United Kingdom." ^ "Contact Us". British Mensa. Retrieved 5 November 2015. ^ a b "About Mensa International". Mensa International. Retrieved 17 September 2013. ^ Victor Serebriakoff (1986). Mensa - The Society for the Highly Intelligent. Stein and Day. ISBN 978-0-8128-3091-0. ^ Tammet, Daniel (2009). Embracing the Wide Sky: A Tour Across the Horizons of the Mind. Simon and Schuster. p. 40. ISBN 978-1416570134. ^ Victor Serebriakoff (1986). Mensa - The Society for the Highly Intelligent. Stein and Day. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-8128-3091-0. ^ a b "Submit Test Scores". American Mensa. Retrieved 2 June 2011. ^ "The Constitution of Mensa" (PDF). Mensa International. Retrieved 13 October 2012. ^ "Gifted youth". American Mensa. Retrieved 3 July 2019. ^ "About Mensa". Mensa.org. ^ "National Groups". Mensa.org. ^ "Mensa Bulletin". American Mensa. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2007. ^ "Welcome to British Mensa – The High IQ Society". British Mensa. Retrieved 11 October 2007. ^ Stanislav Dimov (22 October 2011). "Thinking lessons introduced at school". Europost. Retrieved 13 July 2014. ^ "American Mensa". American Mensa. Retrieved 13 July 2014. ^ "British Mensa". British Mensa. Retrieved 13 July 2014. ^ "Mensa: Ein Netzwerk für Hochbegabte". Mensa Germany. Retrieved 2 May 2017. ^ "World Gathering 2006". American Mensa. Archived from the original on 4 July 2006. ^ Loew, Tracy (21 May 2006). "Mensa still plays mind games after 60 years". USA Today. Retrieved 16 January 2007. ^ Arsenault, Anne (22 April 2005). "Brainiac Central". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 16 January 2007. ^ "EMAG". emag-mensa.eu. Retrieved 22 June 2019. ^ "EMAG - European Mensa Annual Gathering". members.mensa.ch. Retrieved 4 July 2019. ^ "Mensa Bulletin". American Mensa Ltd. Retrieved 11 March 2012. ^ "Mensa magazine". British Mensa. Archived from the original on 22 October 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2012. ^ "Mensa Serbia (RS)". www.mensa.org. Mensa International. Retrieved 16 November 2014. ^ "Mensa - the High IQ Society". Australian Mensa. Retrieved 13 December 2014. ^ "Mensa - the High IQ Society". Mensa Mexico. Retrieved 1 February 2016. ^ "Mensa France". Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2014. ^ "What Publications Come With Mensa Membership?". Mensa International Limited. Retrieved 11 March 2012. ^ "International Journal". American Mensa Ltd. Retrieved 11 March 2012. ^ TableAus, Australian and International Mensa News, November/December 2014 Edition 414 ^ "Mensa Research Journal". American Mensa Ltd. Retrieved 11 March 2012. ^ Ringle, Haley (26 May 2009). "2-year-old joins group for high IQs". East Valley Tribune. Retrieved 18 August 2010. ^ a b c "Two-year-old becomes youngest boy to join Mensa". The Telegraph. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013. ^ The Times (15 June 2013). "The two-year-old whose parents have to study to keep up with". The Times. Retrieved 15 June 2013. ^ "Meet the World's Smartest Kid - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. 1 May 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2015. ^ a b c "Demographically speaking..." American Mensa. Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2013. CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mensa International. (alternative URL) Map of Mensa National Groups CBS video on Mensa (part1) Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mensa_International&oldid=904859355"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21354
__label__wiki	0.7807	0.7807	Fell, Margaret (DNB00) ←Fell, Leonard Fell, Margaret by Augustus Charles Bickley Fell, Samuel→ Fell, MargaretAugustus Charles Bickley1889 FELL, MARGARET (1614–1702), quakeress, daughter of John Askew of Marsh Grange, in the parish of Dalton-in-Furness, Lancashire, a gentleman of ancient lineage and good estate, was born in 1614. Before she was quite eighteen years of age she married Thomas (Judge) Fell [q. v.] of Swarthmore Hall, near Ulverston, by whom she had nine children. She was a deeply pious woman, and with the concurrence of her husband opened her house to religious persons. In her autobiography she states that ‘she hoped she did well, but often feared she was short of the right way, and in this way enquired twenty years.’ During the winter of 1652 George Fox was received by her, and at a meeting in her house converted her and most of the family to his views. On his return from holding the assizes, Judge Fell acquiesced in her acceptance of quakerism and gave the quakers the use of Swarthmore Hall for their meetings. Margaret Fell does not appear to have taken any active part in the quaker ministry for several years, but exerted herself for the relief and release of the Friends who were imprisoned; and during 1655–6–7 she wrote four times to the Protector entreating his protection for them, without much effect. After the death of Judge Fell in 1658, his widow seems to have at once taken a more prominent part in the affairs of the society; and when in 1660 George Fox was arrested while at her house, she went to London and obtained several interviews with Charles II, who, at her instance, ordered the venue of the prisoner's trial to be changed to London, where she remained until Fox was liberated. Shortly after this she wrote to the king, handing the letter to him a few days subsequent to his coronation, on behalf of toleration, calling his attention to his declaration at Breda. She wrote and delivered two other letters to the king asking mercy for the regicides. On each occasion the king treated her with courtesy, but she thought that he was influenced by his ministers, and addressed a petition for the redress of the Friends' grievances to ‘the king and his privy council.’ The outburst of the Fifth-monarchy men caused enactments which pressed most severely on the quakers. Margaret Fell remained in London until she had procured an interview with the queen and had audiences with the queen of Bohemia and the Princess of Orange. Besse (Sufferings, i. 43) says that she procured a royal warrant forbidding the soldiers in Bristol to enter the houses of Friends without legal warrant. Early in 1661 she returned to Swarthmore to be present at the marriage of one of her daughters, returning to London a few months later to entreat the king to liberate more than four thousand Friends who were imprisoned for refusing to take oaths or for attending illegal meetings. She says that her prayer was successful. During the summer of 1663 she visited the meetings in the southwestern and northern counties, and later in the year was summoned before the magistrates at Ulverston for allowing illegal meetings to be held at her house. On refusing the oath of allegiance she was committed to prison. After some months she was brought to trial at Lancaster before Justice Twisden, who advised her to traverse, and offered to admit her to bail in order that she might petition the crown, if she would promise to allow no meetings at Swarthmore Hall for the future. On her refusing this offer she was recommitted to Lancaster Castle. Two of her daughters waited on the king to beg for their mother's release, which the king agreed to order if they would promise to attend no meetings, and on their refusal offered it if Mrs. Fell would permit no meetings to take place at Swarthmore when more than five were present. In any case he promised that sentence of præmunire should not be enforced (see letter from Mary Fell, 22 Aug. 1664, Swarthmore MSS.) Towards the end of the year she was again tried at Lancaster, when, owing to the personal interference of some Lancashire magistrates, she was sentenced to the penalties of a præmunire; her estate, however, was granted by the king to her son. After remaining in prison for twenty months, she was permitted to spend some time at her home, but she was not finally released until June 1668. During her imprisonment she wrote several pamphlets and kept up an extensive correspondence. Her release was due to the intercession of Dr. Richard Lower, a court physician, and brother to Thomas Lower, who subsequently married one of her daughters. Shortly after her release Mrs. Fell visited all the prisons in which any quakers were confined, which occupied her until 1669, when she married George Fox at Bristol, with whom she remained a week, and then returned to Swarthmore, while he continued his ministerial journey. Early in 1670 she was again arrested under an order from the council, and committed to gaol to complete the sentence of præmunire; there is reason to believe that the order was procured by her son, George Fell, in order that he might enter upon the estate which his mother refused to abandon (see letter from Thomas Lower, 19 April 1670, Swarthmore MSS.) Her daughter Sarah at once procured an order from the king for Mrs. Fell's release, which, however, the Lancashire magistrates set aside on technical grounds. In April 1671 she was liberated under a patent. Shortly after her release she went to London to the yearly meeting, and then resided at Kingston-on-Thames with her husband until his departure in August for the West Indies, when she returned to Swarthmore, where she appears to have stayed until the summer of 1673, when she went to Bristol to meet Fox on his return from America. After visiting London with him she accompanied him into Leicestershire, where he was arrested, when she at once returned to London, and at an audience with Charles II begged an order for his release, which the king refused, but offered her a pardon. This she declined to accept, as she considered Fox innocent. From this time till 1689 she resided at Swarthmore, and was several times fined for permitting meetings to take place at her house. Towards the end of the year she spent some months in or near London with her husband, and then returned home. In January 1691 George Fox died, and from this time his widow, although she continued to take great interest in the affairs of the Society of Friends, does not appear to have been actively employed. In 1697 she again visited London, and while there addressed a letter to William III, expressing her gratitude for the protection his government had extended to the Friends. She died 23 April 1702 at Swarthmore, being then in her eighty-eighth year, and was buried in the quaker burial-ground belonging to the Swarthmore meeting. In personal appearance she seems to have been tall and buxom, with a pleasing rather than handsome face. Her correspondence shows her to have been a woman of some culture, of generous disposition, of considerable intellect and warm sympathies. Her charity was great, and she seems to have possessed an infinite capacity for taking trouble for the benefit of others. In her family and business affairs she was just and farseeing, and as a quaker minister she was zealous, simple, and laborious. Her productions are spoiled by their prolixity, and more remarkable for good sense than elegance of style. They breathe a spirit of fervid and sincere piety, but are marred by narrowness. The most important are: 1. ‘False Prophets, Antichrists, Deceivers which are in the World, which John Prophesied of, which hath long been Hid and Covered, but is now Unmasked,’ &c., 1655. 2. ‘For Manasseh Ben Israel, the Call of the Jewes out of Babylon,’ &c., 1656. 3. ‘A Testimony of the Touchstone for all Professions and all Forms and Gathered Churches,’ &c., 1656. 4. ‘A Loving Salutation to the Seed of Abraham,’ &c., 1656. 5. ‘A True Testimony from the People of God (who by the world are called Quakers) of the Doctrines of the Prophets, Christ, and the Apostles,’ &c., 1660. 6. ‘The Examination and Tryall of Margaret Fell and George Fox,’ &c., 1664. 7. ‘Women's Speaking Justified, Proved, and Allowed of by the Scriptures,’ &c., 1666. 8. ‘The Standard of the Lord revealed,’ &c., 1667. 9. ‘A Touch-Stone, or a Perfect Tryal by the Scriptures of all the Priests, Bishops, and Ministers who have called themselves the Ministers of the Gospel,’ &c., 1667. 10. ‘A Call unto the Seed of Israel, that they may come out of Egypt's Darkness and House of Bondage unto the Land of Rest,’ &c., about 1668. 11. ‘A Brief Collection of Remarkable Passages and Occurrences relating to the Birth, Education, Life, Eminent and Faithful Servent of the Lord, Margaret Fell, but by her Second Marriage, Margaret Fox, together with Sundry of Her Epistles, Books, and Christian Testimonies to Friends and Others,’ &c., 1710 (autobiographical). [Fell's Brief Collection, &c.; Webb's Fells of Swarthmore Hall; Besse's Sufferings of the People called Quakers, &c., vols. i. and ii.; George Fox's Journal, ed. 1765; Sewel's Hist. of the Rise, &c., i. 157, iv. 362; Piety Promoted, pt. ix.; Life of Margaret Fox, 1859; Smith's Catalogue of Friends' Books; State Papers, Dom. 1664, 523, 1667, 137; Swarthmore MSS.] A. C. B. Retrieved from "https://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Fell,_Margaret_(DNB00)&oldid=2400512"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21355
__label__wiki	0.922858	0.922858	The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Murray, Reginald Augustus Frederick < The Dictionary of Australasian Biography ←Murray, Right Rev. James The Dictionary of Australasian Biography by Philip Mennell Murray, Reginald Augustus Frederick Murray, Hon. Sir Terence Aubrey→ 1414283The Dictionary of Australasian Biography — Murray, Reginald Augustus FrederickPhilip Mennell Murray, Reginald Augustus Frederick, Government Geologist, Victoria, is the eldest son of Captain Virginius Murray who was Warden of Goldfields and a police magistrate in Victoria from 1852 to 1861, and Eliza Alicia (Poitiers) his wife. He was born on Feb. 18th, 1846, at Frimley, Surrey, England. On the death of his father, in 1861, he was employed on the geological survey of Victoria, and wrote a work on the geology and physical geography of Victoria. He is now Government Geologist in the Victorian Department of Mines, and ranks high as a scientific expert. Mr. Murray, who has made extensive geological surveys throughout Victoria, and many of whose reports have been printed in official blue-books, married first, in 1869, Miss Jane Louisa Otway Ford; and, secondly, in 1888, Miss Ethel Baker. Retrieved from "https://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=The_Dictionary_of_Australasian_Biography/Murray,_Reginald_Augustus_Frederick&oldid=4185359"	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21356
__label__wiki	0.833356	0.833356	H.L. Leonard Hiram Lewis Leonard, (b. Sebec, Maine, June 23, 1831; d. Central Valley, New York 1907) was the founder of the H.L. Leonard Rod Company. He has been regarded as the father of the modern fly rod. He was also an adventurer, gunsmith, engineer and maker of musical instruments. His exploits as a guide and hunter were written about by Henry David Thoreau. As an innovator in bamboo fly rod construction, manufacture and performance, the rodmakers Leonard trained went on to become leaders in the field of bamboo rodmaking. The rods bearing his name are sought after for their aesthetics, performance and as collectables. 2 Bamboo Rodmaker 3 Contributions to Fly Fishing Before he became pioneer of the modern bamboo fly rod, Hiram Leonard was a hunter, guide, gunsmith and self-taught engineer. He also played the flute.[1] Born in 1831 in Sebec, Maine, Leonard was an outdoorsman in the still undeveloped northeast of the United States. His fearless exploits, innovative approach and wiry strength earned him a reputation as "the Great Hunter" in his own time.[2] Henry David Thoreau wrote that Leonard was a "handsome man of good height, but not apparently robust, of gentlemanly address and faultless toilet". Thoreau also recounted an incident where Leonard single handedly saved the lives of two passengers who were trapped in their stagecoach which had sunk in the frozen Piscataquis River.[3] Bamboo Rodmaker[edit] Ernest Schweibert, in his double volume, Trout, called Hiram Leonard "the father of the modern fly rod”, not only in terms of technical knowledge but also because of the many great rodmakers who were trained in his shop.[4] In 1869, Leonard set up as a gunsmith in Bangor, Maine.[1] Leonard in 1905 said, "I made my first rod in Bangor, Maine. The material used was ash and lancewood. I made it for my own use, not intending to make a business of rod manufacturing." On the advice of a friend, he sent his first rod to Bradford Anthony of Boston, Massachusetts, who "kept a sporting goods house". The salesman there understood that the craftsmanship displayed in the rod suggested an aptitude for making split-cane fishing rods. Upon examining some four-sided rods (rods that are made from four triangulated strips of bamboo that are laminated lengthwise), Leonard was asked if he could reproduce them. "Yes, and better than those.", was his reply. When Leonard commenced, he found weak spots in the raw material and decided to make the rods with six thinner strips instead. Demand for the "first ever made" hexagonal fishing rods was so great that Leonard could never fully supply enough. At this time, he opened a two-room shop on Main Street in Bangor, Maine.[5] He worked alone for about a year before he hired a helper. Eventually he employed eleven men, before he moved to Central Valley, New York in 1881. In 1899 his factory was moved to the site where it remains today, though the original Leonard Rod Company was closed in 1984.[2] "My rods took the first prize at Vienna, London, and at the world's fair, Philadelphia, and in all contests for fly, or bait casting, they lead the world." -Hiram Lewis Leonard 1905 Contributions to Fly Fishing[edit] The shop under Leonard created proteges who went on to become rod making greats in their own rite. Such names as: Hiram Hawes, F.E. Thomas, E.W. Edwards, E.F. Payne, Fred Devine and George I. Varney all worked for Leonard. In 1875 H.L. Leonard patented the water-proof ferrule, and Leonard rods became among the first to be made on a commercial beveler.[6] It was while working with employee Loman Hawes, that they first developed the "revolutionary" beveler. It allowed Leonard to dramatically increase production as well as increase the quality and consistency of his product. Before this time, fly rods varied greatly rod to rod. Manufacturing was difficult due to the imprecision of the tools available. With his new beveler, Leonard was able to hold tolerances to thousands of an inch. The series of measurements, known as 'tapers', he used as the templates for beveling his rods became standards for every rodmaker thereafter.[2][7] ^ a b Black, George (2006). Casting a Spell: The Bamboo Fly Rod and the American Pursuit of Perfection. New York, New York: Random House. ^ a b c Garner, Patrick C. (2009). Playing With Fire, The Life and Fly Rods of E.W. Edwards. Cincinnati, Ohio: Whitefish Press. ^ Thoreau, Henry David (1904). The Writings of Henry David Thoreau, The Maine Woods. Boston, Mass and New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin and Company. ^ Schwiebert, Ernest (1984). Trout. New York, New York: E.P. Dutton. ^ Leonard, H.L. (1905). H.L. Leonard-Rod Co. Makers. Central Valley, New York.H.L. Leonard-Rod Co. Makers, Catalog ^ Hatton, Jeffrey L. (2005). Rod Crafting, A Full Color Pictorial & Written History from 1843-1960. Portland, Oregon: Frank Amato Publications,Inc.. ^ Howell, Jack (1998). The Lovely Reed, An Enthusiast's Guide to Building Bamboo Fly Rods. Oakmont, Pennsylvania: Howell Handmade Publishing. Classic Fly Rod Forum Copy of H.L. Leonard's 1905 Dictation Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=H.L._Leonard&oldid=888575515" American businesspeople American fishers American woodworkers Fly Rod Makers People from Piscataquis County, Maine People from Bangor, Maine People from Woodbury, Orange County, New York	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21358
__label__cc	0.647156	0.352844	For other uses, see Non-fiction (disambiguation). Non-fiction or nonfiction is content (sometimes, in the form of a story) whose creator, in good faith, assumes responsibility for the truth or accuracy of the events, people, or information presented.[1] In contrast, a story whose creator explicitly leaves open if and how the work refers to reality is usually classified as fiction.[1][2] Nonfiction, which may be presented either objectively or subjectively, is traditionally one of the two main divisions of narratives (and, specifically, prose writing),[3] the other traditional division being fiction, which contrasts with nonfiction by dealing in information, events, and characters expected to be partly or largely imaginary. Non-fiction's specific factual assertions and descriptions may or may not be accurate, and can give either a true or a false account of the subject in question. However, authors of such accounts genuinely believe or claim them to be truthful at the time of their composition or, at least, pose them to a convinced audience as historically or empirically factual. Reporting the beliefs of others in a nonfiction format is not necessarily an endorsement of the ultimate veracity of those beliefs, it is simply saying it is true that people believe them (for such topics as mythology). Nonfiction can also be written about fiction, typically known as literary criticism, giving information and analysis on these other works. Nonfiction need not necessarily be written text, since pictures and film can also purport to present a factual account of a subject. 2 Major types 3 Specific types Distinctions[edit] The numerous literary and creative devices used within fiction are generally thought inappropriate for use in nonfiction. They are still present particularly in older works but they are often muted so as not to overshadow the information within the work. Simplicity, clarity and directness are some of the most important considerations when producing nonfiction. Audience is important in any artistic or descriptive endeavor, but it is perhaps most important in nonfiction. In fiction, the writer believes that readers will make an effort to follow and interpret an indirectly or abstractly presented progression of theme, whereas the production of nonfiction has more to do with the direct provision of information. Understanding of the potential readers' use for the work and their existing knowledge of a subject are both fundamental for effective nonfiction. Despite the truth of nonfiction, it is often necessary to persuade the reader to agree with the ideas and so a balanced, coherent and informed argument is vital. However, the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction are continually blurred and argued upon, especially in the field of biography;[4] as Virginia Woolf said: "if we think of truth as something of granite-like solidity and of personality as something of rainbow-like intangibility and reflect that the aim of biography is to weld these two into one seamless whole, we shall admit that the problem is a stiff one and that we need not wonder if biographers, for the most part failed to solve it."[5] Semi-fiction is fiction implementing a great deal of nonfiction,[6] e.g. a fictional description based on a true story. Major types[edit] Common literary examples of nonfiction include expository, argumentative, functional, and opinion pieces; essays on art or literature; biographies; memoirs; journalism; and historical, scientific, technical, or economic writings (including electronic ones).[7] Journals, photographs, textbooks, travel books, blueprints, and diagrams are also often considered non-fictional.[citation needed] Including information that the author knows to be untrue within any of these works is usually regarded as dishonest. Other works can legitimately be either fiction or nonfiction, such as journals of self-expression, letters, magazine articles, and other expressions of imagination. Though they are mostly either one or the other, it is possible for there to be a blend of both. Some fiction may include nonfictional elements. Some nonfiction may include elements of unverified supposition, deduction, or imagination for the purpose of smoothing out a narrative, but the inclusion of open falsehoods would discredit it as a work of nonfiction. The publishing and bookselling business sometimes uses the phrase "literary nonfiction" to distinguish works with a more literary or intellectual bent, as opposed to the greater collection of nonfiction subjects.[8] Specific types[edit] Academic paper Academic publishing Design document Factual television (e.g. television documentaries) Letter collection Nonfiction films (e.g. documentaries) Science book Scientific paper Documentary practice List of non-fictional genres Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nonfiction. ^ a b Farner, Geir (2014). "Chapter 2: What is Literary Fiction?". Literary Fiction: The Ways We Read Narrative Literature. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ^ Culler, Jonathan (2000). Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 31. Non-fictional discourse is usually embedded in a context that tells you how to take it: an instruction manual, a newspaper report, a letter from a charity. The context of fiction, though, explicitly leaves open the question of what the fiction is really about. Reference to the world is not so much a property of literary [i.e. fictional] works as a function they are given by interpretation. ^ "Non-fiction". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press, 2015. ^ The Institute of Art and Ideas. "The Art of Life". IAI. Retrieved 14 January 2014. ^ Woolf, Virginia (2010). Orlando. Aziloth Books. p. 134. ISBN 978-1907523687. ^ The Role of Narrative Fiction and Semi-Fiction in Organizational Studies G. Whiteman. N. Phillips. 13 2006, 12 ^ Susan B. Neuman and Linda B. Gambrell, eds. (2013). Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards. International Reading Association. p. 46. CS1 maint: Uses editors parameter (link) ^ www.us.penguingroup.com Archived 2014-02-13 at the Wayback Machine Look up non-fiction in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. What is Creative Nonfiction? Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Non-fiction&oldid=900391590" CS1 maint: Uses editors parameter Commons category link is locally defined	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21359
__label__cc	0.682487	0.317513	The park's rose garden in 2017 700 N. Rosa Parks Way Portland, Oregon, United States 16.27 acres (6.58 ha) Open 5 a.m. to midnight daily Peninsula Park is a public park in the Piedmont neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States.[1] The 16.27-acre (6.58 ha) park is located in the North Portland neighborhood and contains an outdoor swimming pool, community center, baseball fields, playgrounds, basketball courts, tennis courts, covered picnic areas, a historic gazebo and other amenities. In 2007, area residents started to propose a piece of public art be added to the park honoring Rosa Parks, as the park lies along Rosa Parks Way.[2] 1 Rose garden Rose garden[edit] Peninsula Park became the city's first public rose garden in 1909 when it was purchased for $60,000 with funds raised in a 1908 bond measure.[1] Designed by Emanuel L. Mische, the two-acre garden contains 5,700 roses featuring 75 varieties.[3] The official rose of Portland, named Mme. Caroline Testout, was cultivated at Peninsula Park. In 1913, the park was chosen as the location for an annual rose show, where it remained until Washington Park was selected as the location of the International Rose Test Garden in 1917.[1] Oregon portal List of parks in Portland, Oregon Roses in Portland, Oregon ^ a b c "Peninsula Park & Rose Garden". Portland Parks & Recreation. Retrieved July 16, 2011. ^ Parks, Casey (June 13, 2012). "North Portland residents work to bring public art piece honoring Rosa Parks to Peninsula Park". The Oregonian. Retrieved 15 June 2012. ^ Parks, Casey (June 13, 2012). "Peninsula Park's rose garden undergoing clean-up before 100th birthday". The Oregonian. Retrieved 15 June 2012. Media related to Peninsula Park at Wikimedia Commons Coordinates: 45°34′05″N 122°40′23″W / 45.568015°N 122.673168°W / 45.568015; -122.673168 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peninsula_Park&oldid=906023345" 1909 establishments in Oregon Gardens in Oregon North Portland, Oregon Parks in Portland, Oregon Piedmont, Portland, Oregon Protected areas established in 1909 Rose gardens in the United States Pages using the Kartographer extension	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21360
__label__wiki	0.933054	0.933054	Uh Oh! (game show) Rick Watts Frank Young Rick Watts (1997–2002) Kim Elaschuk (2002–2003) Scott Yaphe Slashin' Sam Tearin' Aaron Jumpin' Joe (1997) Quizmaster Patricia Slime Master Shaun (1997–2001) Slime Master Ryan (2001–2003) Christian Hagen Erin Strimatis Akua Otupiri (1997–2002) Dawn Cox (2002–2003) Dwayne Hill Theme music composer Richard Rodwell Camille Rodwell "Uh Oh!" Original language(s) No. of seasons Executive producer(s) Peter Moss (1998–2000) Paula Parker (2000–2002) Maryke McEwen (2002–2003) Sia Petropoulos (1998–2000) Jennifer Codyre (2000–2001) Gillian Pike (2001–2003) Liana Golberg (2002-2003) Production location(s) Production company(s) GRC Productions (1997–1998) YTV Productions Inc.(1998–2001, 2002-2003) Corus Entertainment (1999-2003) Uh Oh V Productions Inc. (2001-2002) Original network Picture format Original release September 5, 1997 (1997-09-05) – April 19, 2003 (2003-04-19) Uh Oh! is a Canadian game show created by Rick Watts (who also served as producer and director of the show's first five seasons) and Frank Young. The show aired from September 5, 1997 to April 19, 2003 on YTV, and was a spin-off of the popular variety show It's Alive!, which also aired on YTV. Uh Oh! was part of It's Alive's game show segment during its third season. but existed as a parody during its second season. As of 2016, Uh Oh! is the third longest running show on YTV, behind Hit List and Video & Arcade Top 10, both of which aired for 14 and 15 years respectively. For its entire run, Uh Oh! was taped at Global Television in Toronto, Ontario. The series ended on April 19, 2003. 1 Background and premise 2 Characters and hosts 3.1 Opening 3.2 Round 1 3.3 The Slime Tour (Round 2) 3.5 Credits 5 Prizes 6 Broadcast History 7 Episode status Background and premise[edit] Uh Oh! was inspired on a game show parody sketch on It's Alive! during its second season, where contestants were chained up and answered questions. If a contestant answered incorrectly, a man known as "The Punisher" would pour slime on them from the rafters. In the third season of It's Alive!, realizing that the game show parody could actually work as a real game show, Uh Oh! debuted as part of the slate of game shows during the show's segment. The game was much shorter than its spin-off, with the game consisting of one round of two spins each. Quickly becoming the most popular game show in the segment, the game was played more frequently than its other games. Shortly after It's Alive! ended in 1997, Uh Oh! later became a show of its own that same year, playing with exactly the same rules as when it was on It's Alive!, except that there were now two rounds, with an additional round between the two rounds called Slime Tour, which was based on the obstacle course segment from It's Alive! involving different teams who were competing against with each other in their own competition. The game was played with three colour-based teams that would be battled against with each other in each game. The goal of the game was to have more points than the other two teams to take home the grand prize. Teams would consist of two players each and would be either Blue, Green, or Red. Audience members would also pick sides and wear clothes of the colour they supported. Each team member would either spin the wheel for half of the game or participate in whichever activity the wheel lands on. The team members would participate in games which would nearly always involve goo and would be silly. If won, games would provide points for the respective team. In the Uh Oh! sketch on It's Alive!, Blue took their turn first, then Red and Green. When Uh Oh! later became a show of its own, Blue went first, then Green and Red. Uh Oh! was sponsored by Post Honeycomb for later episodes in Season 1. As mentioned, Fruit Gushers became the official sponsor of Uh Oh! for seasons 5 and 6. Characters and hosts[edit] Wink Yahoo (Scott Yaphe) was the show's main, wacky, zany, and extremely enthusiastic host. Wink wore his hair in a large pompadour and wore flamboyant sequined suits. Wink would sometimes taunt team members and showed no compassion when a team would lose all their points. Wink would always get overly excited when the spinner landed on the Uh Oh! space and would always feign regret if the player got the Uh Oh! question wrong or be disappointed if the player got the question right. Yaphe was one of the cast members from It's Alive! that moved over to Uh Oh!; the others being Patricia Ribeiro and Mike Beaver. Slashin' Sam and Tearin' Aaron (Samantha Cook and Aaron Alexander) refereed the spinner's partner at the Mayhem games. Jumpin' Joe (Joseph Pierre) also refereed the games on the show's earlier episodes before Aaron replaced him. Quizmaster Patricia (Patricia Ribeiro) asked the spinner up to 10 questions at Speed Round. Patricia also watched the spinners' participant at The Dump. The Slime Master (Shaun Majumder/Ryan Belleville) hosted the Slime Tour and narrated the players' action. Majumder hosted the games up until the end of season 4 before Belleville replaced him. Christian Hagen, Erin Strimaitis, Akua Otupiri, and Dawn Cox assisted the Slime Master in introducing and refereeing the players at various Slime Tour stations. Cox replaced Otupiri for the show's sixth and final season. The Punisher (Mike Beaver/Sean "Bubba" Loucks) was a masked character dating back to the It's Alive! segment. However, the Punisher appeared in a somewhat reduced role on Uh Oh!. At the beginning of the show, the Punisher was released from a cage by either Sam or Aaron while being booed by the audience and went on a rampage and would sometimes attack audience members with goo (he even attacked Wink on at least three occasions). Wink would eventually say: "Punisher... control!". The Punisher would then retreat to the slime booth. During the commercial breaks, the Punisher would also mess with the audience. He would also often have a couple of water guns with which to torment them, and gooey pies was one of his favorites during seasons 5 and 6 (where "Bubba" replaces Beaver as the Punisher). His duties during the game were limited by dragging the spinner's partner to the Uh Oh! booth and pouring goo on them if the spinner's answer to an Uh Oh! question (see below) was wrong. He would act disappointed if the spinner answered correctly. In season 1, the Punisher would turn the cranks in certain Mayhem games. There were several occasions where either Uh Oh! wasn't landed on at all, or a question in the Uh Oh! category wasn't answered wrong. Mr. Voiceman (Dwayne Hill/Mike 'Nug' Nahrgang) is the show's announcer. Like Yaphe, Ribeiro, and Beaver, Hill was also part of the It's Alive! cast, as an audience warm-up. Gameplay[edit] Opening[edit] The game begins when Mr. Voiceman ask the audience a question: "What do you say when ... (insert type of usual but funny predicament: For example, "When you press the eject button on a toilet seat?")? ", and the audience would respond "UH OH!" with the main theme song heard. After the opening sequence, Mr. Voiceman would introduce the show's main host, Wink Yahoo with a statement themed to his opening question: "The only (Canadian/North American) TV personality who... " with a response of cheering from the audience.[1] Wink would respond in kind to Mr. Voiceman and introduce the show's other hosts. Wink would ask Mr. Voiceman to introduce the teams and its two players, who were thereupon introduced followed by the introduction of The Punisher. Afterwards, Mr. Voiceman's duties were minor throughout the game: to announce the prizes won by the studio teams, Slime Tour players, and lucky audience members. Round 1[edit] During Round 1, one player from each team are designated to spin a 12-space segmented wheel which featured a variety of possible activities or results that could occur. Their partner, who was located at the other end of the studio and equipped with goggles, was designated to perform the activity that the wheel landed on. Each team take turns spinning the wheel, with two cycles through the three teams. On many episodes, Wink would explain the rules like this: “ Each spin of the wheel could alter your points, force you into messy activities, pose you some quick quizzes, or result in all sorts of unpleasant surprises, Mayhem, Uh Oh!, Speed Round, or The Dump. ” In the first round, the wheel itself spun, and had pegs around the circumference. The chosen spot was denoted by a spring-loaded pointer that "clicked" past the pegs. Distribution of the spaces on the wheel changed throughout the show, but the first round spaces remained constant. In Season 1, spaces on the Round 1 wheel included 2 "Uh Oh!" spaces, 3 "Mayhem" spaces, 2 "Speed Round" spaces, 2 "The Dump" spaces, 2 "Win and Spin" spaces, and 1 "Trade and Spin" space. In Season 2, the Round 1 wheel was changed slightly with spaces including 3 "Uh Oh!" spaces, 3 "Mayhem" spaces, 2 "Speed Round" spaces, 1 "The Dump" space, 2 "Win and Spin" spaces, and 1 "Trade and Spin" space, and remained that way for the rest of the series. At the end of the round, Mr. Voiceman would announce the grand prize on the show's next episode. The Slime Tour (Round 2)[edit] The second round features the Slime Tour, which features some footage shot at another location elsewhere across Canada. In its first season, the Slime Tour was played mainly in Yukon. Three contestants, dressed in Yellow, Orange, and Purple, competed in a themed obstacle course race. As mentioned, the Slime Tour was played the same way as the obstacle course segment on It's Alive!. After the contestants were introduced, the three teams within the studio had to select which colour contestant they thought would win the race. If they were right, they earned 35 points; otherwise, no points were awarded if they pick the runners up. The obstacle course was generally made up of three different activities separated by a distance that would have to be run. Some of the activities required a physical skill; others simply required speed at completing a task. There was usually at least one task in each course that would get the contestant messy, and usually a task that required carrying something or wearing something throughout the rest of the race. The winner of the race won a prize for himself/herself with a different prize going to the runners up. During Season 4, the Slime Tour was sponsored by Sunny Delight with the sponsor located on the back of each of the contestants' shirts. During the show's run, the Slime Tour visited the following cities across Canada: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Drumheller, Alberta Fredericton, New Brunswick St. Denis, Saskatchewan Victoria, British Columbia Brandon, Manitoba Corner Brook, Newfoundland Louisbourg, Nova Scotia St. John's, Newfoundland Winnipeg, Manitoba Edmonton, Alberta Kamloops, British Columbia Medicine Hat, Alberta Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Quebec City, Quebec Barrie, Ontario Moncton, New Brunswick Penticton, British Columbia Yarmouth, Nova Scotia When the Slime Tour later changed its name to Field Games during the show's sixth and final season, all of them were played in Toronto instead. The third and final round was played essentially the same as the first round, with the players switching roles with their partners. The wheel itself was replaced with an entirely different design. The wheel in the third round was stationary, and the indicator spun. The indicator was designed like a three-blade propeller; each blade was the colour of one of the teams, and framed the space on the wheel it landed at. A team landed on the space marked by the indicator of their colour. Spaces on the wheel were occasionally changed between seasons. Fixed spaces in Season 1 included 3 "Uh Oh!" spaces, 3 "Mayhem" spaces, 2 "Speed Round" spaces, 1 "The Dump" space, 1 "Win and Spin" space, 1 "Lose and Spin" space, and 1 "Trade and Spin" space. In Season 2, one of the Uh Oh! spaces was replaced with an "Uh Oh! Deluxe" space. In Season 5, the Uh Oh! Deluxe space was replaced with a "Pick It!" space, while in Season 6, it was replaced with a "Fruit Gushers" space. During season 1, Wink interviewed both partners before starting the game action. It would often involve the previous round's action, and opinions for revenge on partners. The game ends when the team with the most points takes home the grand prize. If the game ended in a tie, a jump-in question was read. Whoever buzzed-in first with the correct answer won. Otherwise, their opponent would automatically win the grand prize. In a three-way tie, the two remaining teams would have a shot at the question. During early Season 6, an alternate tiebreaker was used in which the partners of the spinners involved in the tie bobbed for one Fruit Gusher each simultaneously at the Fruit Gushers station, this time with no time limit, and the one who gets the higher point value (colours don't count here) wins the points and the game.[3] Towards the end of the season, the original tiebreaker was reinstated. Credits[edit] During the credits, the voiceover would always read a silly statement in lieu of statements such as "Due to technical difficulties..." or "This program was edited for broadcast." Games[edit] Uh Oh!: This eponymous spot requires Wink to ask the spinner a multiple-choice question, while the Punisher puts their partner in a glass booth. If the spinner answered correctly, the team earned 50 points and the spinner's partner left the booth untouched; otherwise, no points were awarded and the spinner's partner would have "goo" poured on him or her. In the latter case, Wink would give a main fact why the spinner answered incorrectly and the Punisher would utter a punchline, often related to the question, as he poured the slime on his victim. An episode in 2000 featured six consecutive Uh Oh!s spun, all in the first round.[4] Uh Oh! Deluxe: Introduced in the show's second season, the deluxe version of Uh Oh! was worth 75 points, and generally contained a more difficult question. The penalty was also doubled to two buckets of slime. In seasons 2–3, the second bucket of goo, which was often made of metal, usually contained a more oily (shiny) type goo and often had sparkles mixed in it. The spot was changed slightly in the show's fourth season, in which Wink would make the spinner taste or sniff something, usually blindfolded in the second half of the season, and make them guess what ingredients it contains. This was based off a sketch that was used on It's Alive! called Non-Sense! The spinner would still be given multiple choice answers, which were only shown to the home audience. The second bucket mixture in the fourth season was also changed, to become a more thick mixture inside a bucket. Uh Oh! Deluxe revised its original question format in the show's fifth season and the second bucket of goo was mostly the same type as the first. Unchanged was the Punisher's habit of throwing in punchlines befitting the question. Mayhem: This spot requires Sam or Aaron to instruct the spinner's partner to complete a physical, often messy, activity within a 20-second time limit. Activities included searching for items in pools of goo, using various methods to target shoot with various types of projectiles, and grabbing items while using their mouth. Mayhem games are worth up to 50 points for the team. However, these are sometimes awarded incrementally, such as 10 points for each item found; but most of the games are only awarded after a complete success. There was one Mayhem game that appeared on every episode, but was not always played What's That?!, which offered 10 points for each of the correct five items that fit in a certain category. On one episode of the second season, contestant Christian of the red team answered "I Don't Know" to every question given to him in the Speed Round, resulting him in getting no questions rights and scoring 0 points.[5] Speed Round: This spot is a lightning round and requires Patricia to ask the spinner up to 10 questions within a 20-second time limit. Each correct answer was worth five points for a potential of 50 points. Some questions had no wrong answer such as "Do you like [something]" and consecutive questions usually continued on a theme from the previous one. At the end, Wink would explain the outcome provided by the off-screen judges. The Dump: This spot requires the spinner to drop his or her ball through a pipe into a gameboard which had Plinko-style pegs, manually operated flippers, other obstacles, and several receptacles for the ball to land in. The receptacles were marked with a game result including winning or losing certain numbers of points for his/her own team, winning (or in season 1, losing) points for other teams, or stealing points from other teams. The maximum winnings for the spot was worth 50 points. ... & Spin: Win & Spin earns 20 points of the team plus an additional spin. Lose & Spin loses 20 points for the team plus an additional spin to attempt to regain some points. Trade & Spin forces the team to trade scores with the spinner's choice of the other two teams, mostly if the spinner was not in the lead. Trade & Spin was very notorious because it could alter the outcome at any moment, especially when a team with a big lead was involved in a trade. Each space resulted in a second spin for the team; landing on one of these spaces during a second spin would result in the scoring effect, but not a third spin. Pick It!: This spot replaced Uh Oh! Deluxe during the show's fifth season, and requires the spinner to decide whether to play Uh Oh!, Mayhem, Speed Round, The Dump, or Uh Oh! Deluxe. If the spinner fails to make a choice in 5 seconds, they miss their turn. Fruit Gushers: This spot replaced Pick It! during the show's sixth and final season, and requires the spinner's partner to bob for oversized Fruit Gushers floating within a giant Fruit Gusher within a 20-second time limit. Each Gusher had a team colour and point value on it; that team won the points that were indicated. Points are ranged between 5 and 75. Prizes[edit] Prizes were awarded to the winning team at the end of each show and over the course of the series included Super Soakers, Mountain bikes, and stereos. Audience members would always receive Hubba Bubba bubble gum. Other prizes for the audience, amongst others, included Oreo cookies, the 1998 edition of the Canadian & World encyclopedia CD-ROM, Rock Candy, Planters Peanuts, Bop It (later, Bop It Extreme), various candies from Wonka, Voortman Cookies, New York Color, Juiced Up from Dare, Armstrong Cheese, Yoplait Tubes, Dippity Do Sport Gel, Fruit Gushers (the show's official sponsor in seasons 5 and 6). On one of the earliest episodes in the first season, the first team to land on The Dump (indicated with a YTV basketball logo on the spaces) on the wheel would win 2 Rawlings NCAA basketballs, one for each team member, regardless of The Dump's outcome.[6] On one episode, later that same season, Uh Oh! was not landed on at all during the show, leaving The Punisher depressed. Since the game ended a few minutes ahead of schedule, one lucky audience member would have a chance to win a Rawlings NCAA basketball by answering an Uh Oh! Style question asked by Sam. An incorrect answer resulted in The Punisher sliming that participant. Broadcast History[edit] For the first 4 seasons of the series run, Uh Oh! aired every Friday at 6 PM following YTV's Flagship block The Zone. An encore episode would air on Saturday at 1 PM. Starting with season 4, encore episodes of the series aired on Sunday at 3 PM. For its final two seasons, Uh Oh! moved to airing on Saturday at 12:00 Noon with no encore presentations. Episode status[edit] All episodes of Uh Oh! exist, and have been rerun on YTV and Discovery Kids until it became Nickelodeon in 2009. To date, the Season 1 episodes have never been rerun since the start of Season 2 in fall 1998. Several episodes of Uh Oh! have since been available on YouTube. Uh Oh! on IMDb ^ http://www.webring.org/l/rd?ring=gameshows;id=1;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwebspace%2Ewebring%2Ecom%2Fpeople%2Fmn%2Fnetgames%2F. Missing or empty \|title= (help) ^ "UhOh! Game Show - Ep 2002x08 - Round 3". youtube.com. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFvZFIACqa8 ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CiSQ2cyvVw. Missing or empty \|title= (help) ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry3XN6wbQh0. Missing or empty \|title= (help) YTV original programming 1980s debuts YTV Rocks (1989-97) The Anti-Gravity Room (1990s) Maniac Mansion (1990-1993) Dog House (1990-1991) Hit List (1991-2005) Video & Arcade Top 10 (1991-2006) Rupert (1991-1997) The Big Comfy Couch (1992-1996) Catwalk (1992-1994) Clips (1992-1996) Rock 'n Talk (1992-1995) It's Alive (1993-1997) Short Circutz (1994-1996) ReBoot (1994-2001) YTV News (1995-2000) Wimzie's House (1995-1996) Groundling Marsh (1995-1997) My Hometown (1996-2000) Stickin' Around (1996-1998) Beast Wars: Transformers (1996-1999) Monster by Mistake (1996-2003) The Adventures of Shirley Holmes (1997-2000) Uh Oh! (1997-2003) The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon (1997) Incredible Story Studios (1997-2002) Breaker High (1997-1998) Student Bodies (1997-1999) The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police (1997-1998) Freaky Stories (1997-2000) Ants in Your Pants (1997-2004) Crazy Quilt (1997-1999) Treetown (1997-2011) Radio Active (1998-2001) The Fuzzpaws (1998-1999) Ruffus the Dog (1998-1999) St. Bear's Dolls Hospital (1998-2000) Shadow Raiders (1998-1999) The New Addams Family (1998-1999) Gamerz (1998-2000) George and Martha (1999-2000) Big Wolf on Campus (1999-2002) I Was a Sixth Grade Alien (1999-2001) Yvon of the Yukon (1999-2005) Mona the Vampire (1999-2003) Watership Down (1999-2001) System Crash (1999-2001) Weird-Oh's (1999-2002) Beast Machines: Transformers (1999-2000) Screech Owls (2000-2002) The Zack Files (2000-2002) Wee 3 (2001-2011) Xcalibur (2001-2002) Vampire High (2001-2002) Ultimate Book of Spells (2001-2002) Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension (2002) Guinevere Jones (2002) 2030 CE (2002-2003) Seriously Weird (2002) The Bittles (2003-2008) Mental Block (2003) Jacob Two-Two (2003-2006) Martin Mystery (2003-2006) The Boy (2004-2005) Fries with That? (2004) 15/Love (2004-2006) Dark Oracle (2004-2006) Zixx (2004-2009) Being Ian (2005-2008) Brady's Beasts (2005-2006) Prank Patrol (2005-2010) Jane and the Dragon (2005-2006) Captain Flamingo (2006-2010) Monster Warriors (2006-2008) Viva Piñata (2006-2009) Erky Perky (2006-2009) Grossology (2006-2009) Team Galaxy (2006-2007) Ruby Gloom (2006-2008) Weird Years (2006) The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers (2007) Storm Hawks (2007-2009) Game Gurus (2007-2008) Jibber Jabber (2007) Clang Invasion (2007-2008) Will and Dewitt (2007-2008) The Adrenaline Project (2007-2009) Edgar & Ellen (2007-2008) Urban Vermin (2007-2008) Monster Buster Club (2008-2009) Three Delivery (2008-2009) The Next Star (2008-2014) Kid vs. Kat (2008-2011) Willa's Wild Life (2008-2015) RollBots (2009) In Real Life (2009-2011) Family Biz (2009) League of Super Evil (2009-2012) Survive This (2009-2010) That's So Weird! (2009-2012) Pearlie (2009-2011) How to Be Indie (2009-2011) Zeke's Pad (2010) Beyblade: Metal Fusion/Masters/Fury (2010-2013) Sidekick (2010-2013) Babar and the Adventures of Badou (2010-2015) Almost Naked Animals (2011-2013) Mr. Young (2011-2013) Splatalot! (2011-2013) Scaredy Squirrel (2011-2013) Redakai: Conquer the Kairu (2011-2013) Rated A for Awesome (2011-2012) Life with Boys (2011-2013) Zoink'd (2012-2013) BeyWheelz (2013) Extreme Babysitting (2013-2014) Cache Craze (2013-2014) Beyblade: Shogun Steel (2013-2014) Oh No! It's an Alien Invasion (2013-2015) Japanizi: Going, Going, Gong! (2013-2014) BeyWarriors: BeyRaiderz (2014) Mission: 4Count (2014) Some Assembly Required (2014-2016) Numb Chucks (2014-2016) Nerds and Monsters (2014-2016) Cook'd (2014-2015) Undercover High (2014-2015) Open Heart (2015) The Stanley Dynamic (2015-2017) Make It Pop (2015-2016) Game On (2015-2016) Driving Me Crazy (2016) Made Up (2016-2017) 3 Amigonauts (2017) Chuck's Choice (2017) The ZhuZhus (2017) Mysticons (2017-18) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (since 2017) Go Away, Unicorn! (since 2018) ReBoot: The Guardian Code (since 2018) Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Uh_Oh!_(game_show)&oldid=905028677" 1997 Canadian television series debuts 2003 Canadian television series endings 1990s Canadian game shows Canadian children's game shows YTV shows Canadian television spin-offs Television series produced in Toronto Television series by GRC Productions Television series by Corus Entertainment English-language television programs Television series featuring gunge 1990s Canadian children's television series	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21361
__label__wiki	0.85685	0.85685	Renewable » World Energy Council Electricity grid In a posh Bangkok neighbourhood, residents trade energy with blockchain The pilot project in the centre of Thailand's capital is among the world's largest peer-to-peer renewable energy trading platforms using blockchain, according to the firms involvedREUTERS \| August 28, 2018, 15:44 IST BANGKOK: Residents in a Bangkok neighbourhood are trying out a renewable energy trading platform that allows them to buy and sell electricity between themselves, signalling the growing popularity of such systems as solar panels get cheaper. The pilot project in the centre of Thailand's capital is among the world's largest peer-to-peer renewable energy trading platforms using blockchain, according to the firms involved. The system has a total generating capacity of 635 KW that can be traded via Bangkok city's electricity grid between a mall, a school, a dental hospital and an apartment complex. Commercial operations will begin next month, said David Martin, managing director of Power Ledger, an Australian firm that develops technology for the energy industry and is a partner in the project. "By enabling trade in renewable energy, the community meets its own energy demands, leading to lower bills for buyers, better prices for sellers, and a smaller carbon footprint for all," he said. "It will encourage more consumers to make the switch to renewable energy, as the cost can be offset by selling excess energy to neighbours," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Neighbourhoods from New York to Melbourne are upending the way power is produced and sold, with solar panels, mini grids and smart meters that can measure when energy is consumed rather than overall consumption. The World Energy Council predicts that such decentralised energy will grow to about a fourth of the market in 2025 from 5 percent today. Helping it along is blockchain, the distributed ledger technology that underpins bitcoin currency, which offers a transparent way to handle complex transactions between users, producers, and even traders and utilities. Blockchain also saves individuals the drudgery of switching between sending power and receiving it, said Martin. For the pilot in Bangkok's upmarket Sukhumvit neighbourhood, electricity generated by each of the four locations will be initially used within that building. Excess energy can be sold to the others through the trading system. If there is a surplus from all four, it will be sold to the local energy storage system, and to the grid in the future, said Gloyta Nathalang, a spokeswoman for Thai renewable energy firm BCPG, which installed the meters and solar panels. Thailand is Southeast Asia's leading developer of renewable energy, and aims to have it account for 30 percent of final energy consumption by 2036. The energy ministry has encouraged community renewable energy projects to reduce fossil fuel usage, and the regulator is drafting new rules to permit the trade of energy. The Bangkok Metropolitan Electricity Authority forecasts "peer-to-peer energy trading to become mainstream for power generation in the long run," a spokesman told reporters. BCPG, in partnership with the Thai real estate developer Sansiri, plans to roll out similar energy trading systems with solar panels and blockchain for a total capacity of 2 MW by 2021, said Gloyta. "There are opportunities everywhere - not just in cities, but also in islands and remote areas where electricity supply is a challenge," she said. Tags : Renewable, renewable energy, Blockchain, World Energy Council, trading platforms, solar panels, Electricity grid, electricity, climate change, Carbon footprint, bitcoin Most Read in Renewable Andhra Pradesh asks SECI, NTPC to revise tariffs for some solar projects Cap renewable energy tariff at Rs 3 per unit under NTPC, SECI auctions: Ind body Andhra dares centre on investment concerns, claims several investors lined up Suzlon offers to sell majority stake to Brookfield for settling loans Economic Survey pitches for $330 billion investment in renewable energy Solar scheme to assure Rs 1 lakh income for farmers	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21363
__label__wiki	0.908249	0.908249	Home > French President Hollande Visits Tel Aviv University French President Hollande Visits Tel Aviv University The visit underscores future Israeli scientific collaboration with France Pictured from left: TAU French Friends President Prof. François Heilbronn, TAU President Prof. Joseph Klafter and French President François Hollande at TAU French President François Hollande visited Tel Aviv University during his recent state visit and spoke to a large gathering of members of the French-speaking community in Israel. He met with Prof. Joseph Klafter, President of Tel Aviv University, and with Prof. François Heilbronn, President of the French Friends Association of Tel Aviv University. The two presented Hollande with a unique gift: a signed original edition of a book written by former Prime Minister of France Léon Blum (1872-1950). The event was held in Tel Aviv University’s Miriam and Adolfo Smolarz Auditorium at the initiative of the French Friends of TAU. In his speech, President Hollande said that the students of Tel Aviv University “should be proud of this excellent academic institution” and noted that the University had one of the largest and most active departments of French language and culture in Israel. During Hollande's visit, it was announced that a representative of the French Foreign Ministry would be appointed to advance scientific collaboration between France and Israel, and would be based on the TAU campus. MEDEF delegation President Hollande was accompanied on his Israel trip by a delegation of MEDEF – the largest union of employers in France, with over 750,000 member firms. They were in Israel to explore projects showcasing Israeli innovation in science and technology. In his welcoming greetings to the delegation, Prof. François Heilbronn hailed Israel as “the promised land of innovation, and of scientific, academic and economic success. “ He noted that Tel Aviv University was at the forefront in the fields of nanotechnology, information technology, cyber security, medical research and environmental sciences. “The French Friends that I represent dedicate themselves to developing partnerships between Tel Aviv University and French universities,” said Heilbronn, noting that 9 students from Sciences Po are currently studying at the University, while 14 TAU students are at Sciences Po. The visit of the MEDEF delegation was followed by a second delegation representing 60 high-tech companies from France. After hearing lectures by Shlomo Nimrodi, CEO of Ramot at Tel Aviv University, and Professors Gad Ariav and Moshe Zviran of the TAU Faculty of Management—Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration, the French group visited the laboratories of leading TAU researchers in geophysics, life sciences and biotechnology, nanoscience and nanotechnology, mechanical engineering and environmental sciences. French Friends Donate Iconic Sculpture by Ron... Night at the French Theater Social Awareness through Music	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21364
__label__cc	0.539082	0.460918	The effect of the results of the STICH trial on the management of spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral haemorrhage in Newcastle Lookup NU author(s): Matthew Kirkman, Dr Barbara Gregson, Professor Alexander Mendelow Recently, the Surgical Trial in IntraCerebral Haemorrhage (STICH) was unable to show an overall benefit from 'early surgery' compared with a policy of 'initial conservative treatment'. Here, we evaluated the impact of the STICH results on the management of spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) in the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals. The STICH results were released to the Neurosurgery Department at Newcastle General Hospital in November 2003; using ICD-10 data, we analysed ICH admissions before (2002) and after (2004, 2006, 2007) this. We assessed numbers of Neurosurgery and Stroke Unit admissions, numbers of clot evacuation procedures, and 30-day mortality rate (Neurosurgery vs. Stroke Unit admissions). Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) admissions data were also collected to corroborate our findings. There were 478 spontaneous supratentorial ICH admissions in total; 156 in 2002, 120 in 2004, 106 in 2006 and 96 in 2007. SAH admissions remained remarkably constant over this period. Neurosurgery admissions decreased significantly across the four time periods, from 71% of total ICH admissions (n=156) in 2002 to 55% (n=96) in 2007, and Stroke Unit admissions increased significantly from 8% (n=156) in 2002 to 30% (n=96) in 2007 (2=20.968, p0.001, df=3). Clot evacuation procedures also decreased significantly from 32% (n=111) of Neurosurgery admissions in 2002 to 17% (n=53) in 2007 (2=11.919, p=0.008, df=3). 30-day mortality increased in Neurosurgery from 14% of Neurosurgery admissions (n=111) in 2002 to 26% (n=53) in 2007, and decreased in the Stroke Unit, from 42% of Stroke Unit admissions (n=12) in 2002 to 17% (n=29) in 2007. The STICH results have significantly impacted ICH management in Newcastle, with a trend towards fewer Neurosurgery admissions and clot evacuations, and increased Stroke Unit admissions. The role of surgery for ICH remains controversial, and randomization continues in STICH II for patients with superficial lobar ICH. Author(s): Kirkman MA, Mahattanakul W, Gregson BA, Mendelow AD Journal: British Journal of Neurosurgery ISSN (electronic): 1360-046X Publisher: Informa Healthcare URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02688690802346091	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21365
__label__wiki	0.563253	0.563253	Germany and refugees – why so different? Katja from the French association Playing for Change Occitanie (PFCO) explains what her organisation is trying to do to help Syrian refugees in a rural corner of Southwest France. PFCO has helped two new arrivals from Syria, recently arrived in France, to make the most of their talent for pottery. They hooked them up with local potters and other people motivated to help their fellow humans, sparking off a dynamic sequence of events. Their goal is to change the negative image that the media has proffered concerning refugees and show they have a lot to offer. Katja, a native of Germany, contrasts the tiny number of refugees accepted in France and the UK versus the million plus already taken in by her compatriots. “I think for Germans it’s more realistic. There are more families that have lost somebody in the war or have been refugees themselves. Even the reunification in the 1990s… It was a kind of refugee situation… you still feel it in Germany. “All these people that have grown up in East Germany, they have been living with the Communist international solidarity as the main frame of all the education they have lived through. All this reflects the awareness of never fascism again.” “In Germany, we treat that topic a lot whereas in France, that’s never reflected,” she said. Katja’s own family became refugees at the end of the Second World War, fleeing ahead of the advancing Russian army from what is today part of Poland. “If people hadn’t helped them, I wouldn’t been here today. Filed under journalism, uncategorized, video activism Tagged as Britain, EU, France, Germany, independent journalism, peace, Playing for Change, refugees, refugeeswelcome, St Croix Volvestre, Syria, Télé Montbrun, VOTV01.5, war	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21368
__label__wiki	0.985986	0.985986	Suicide Attacker Targets Hindus, Sikhs In Eastern Afghanistan Radio Mashaal FILE: An injured man is carried to a hospital after a car bomb in Jalalabad on June 17 Afghan officials say at least 19 people were killed when a suicide bomber targeted a group of Hindus and Sikhs on their way to meet the country’s president in the eastern province on Nangarhar. Nangarhar health officials said that 17 out of 19 dead in the July 1 attack are from the minority Hindu and Sikh community. Inamullah Miakhail, spokesman for the provincial hospital in Nangarhar, said that at least 10 of the 20 wounded were also from the same minority community. They are receiving medical treatment in at a hospital in the provincial capital, Jalalabad, he added. Officials say some of the wounded are in critical condition. Miakhail confirmed that Awtar Singh Khalsa, a longtime leader of the Sikh community who had planned to run in the parliamentary elections set for October, was killed in the attack. The group was invited to meet with President Ashraf Ghani, who was visiting Jalalabad on July 1, said Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor. Nangarhar police chief Ghulam Sanayee Stanekzai said that the attacker targeted the group’s convoy on its way to the governor's compound at around 4 p.m. local time. Ghani's spokesman said the president was still in Nangarhar but was "away from danger." Ghani arrived in Nangarhar earlier on a two-day visit to the province. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State extremist group, which is active in the area. RFE/RL correspondents in Jalalabad say police cordoned off the city center after the deadly attack. Afghanistan's tiny Hindu and Sikh minority has endured decades of discrimination in the war-torn country. They have been targeted by Islamic extremists in the past. The community numbered more than 80,000 in the 1970s, but today only around 1,000 remain in the predominantly Muslim nation. In a separate incident in Afghanistan, at least 110 people have been hospitalized after drinking water from a river in the northern province of Parwan. Abdul Khalil Farhangi, the head of the main hospital in Charakar, the provincial capital, said the symptoms included vomiting and headache. He said it was not yet clear what caused them to become ill. Many people in rural Afghanistan don't have access to clean, running water. With reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21373
__label__wiki	0.971704	0.971704	BBC’s Big Online Cuts: Full Details Announcement Robert Andrews Jan 24, 2011 - 8:59 AM CDT Here is the BBC’s full announcement of its online cutbacks… The BBC is to re-shape BBC Online by 2013 to deliver its public service mission in the digital age. The reorganisation will mean the service licence budget for BBC Online is reduced by a quarter. It will also require the closure of up to 360 posts. The new plans, which set a much clearer digital agenda for the BBC, are the first step in the delivery of the BBC’s strategy Putting Quality First. The changes, which have been approved by the BBC Trust, will deliver: — A better quality service based on the BBC’s five editorial priorities — A 25% reduction in service licence budget and a halving of the number of Top Level Domains — Commitments and clarity on what the BBC will and will not do online — A pledge to engage with industry twice a year about its plans — Action to double the number of referrals to external websites by 2013/14 to around 22m each month Under one unified strategy, BBC Online will be transformed into 10 distinctive products: News, Sport, Weather, CBeebies, CBBC, Knowledge & Learning, Radio & Music, TV & iPlayer, Homepage and Search. Each of them will share common technical features such as consistent design, improved navigation, and the ability for licence fee payers to personalise and access them across a range of devices, from computers and mobiles to tablets and IVs. To deliver the new BBC Online, the BBC will implement new ways of working around product management, including enhanced collaboration between teams from editorial. technical, design and audience research. BBC Director General Mark Thompson said: “BBC Online lies at the heart of the BBC’s digital future. As in television and radio, licence fee payers look to the BBC to inform. educate and entertain them online. As digital technologies advance, internet delivery of content becomes more important and more profound in our lives. “BBC Online is a huge success, but our vast portfolio of websites means we sometimes fall short of expectation. A refocusing on our editorial priorities, a commitment to the highest quality standards, and a more streamlined and collegiate way of working will help us transform BBC Online for the future. I know that these changes will be painful for affected staff. But I firmly believe that they are right for the BBC at this time.” The BBC is also announcing a reduction in scale and scope of the website and is spelling out areas of re-focus, closures and reductions, along with clarity on areas BBC Online will not cover at all. Editorial focus of the new BBC Online: High quality news focused on up-to-the-minute news updates backed up by rich multimedia content from correspondents across the UK and the world BBC News — Entertainment and Arts section will have more culture and arts coverage — Dynamic ‘editions’ of BBC Online for each Nation that reflect the interests of the audience — Clearer focus of local sites on news, sport, weather and travel — Sport will focus on fast, reliable and in-depth news and dynamic coverage of the best live events that bring the nation together — Safe, creative spaces for children — A single merged offer in Knowledge & Learning, making the most of BBC content. from science to literacy, arts to maths – for adults pursuing a passion or brushing up a basic skill, and for children learning at home and school. — Radio will focus on live output, and the discovery of new music as played and recommended by BBC DJs and iconic musicians — BBC iPlayer will be shaped into a unified television offer, bringing together TV channels, programme information and live and on-demand content. — Selected archive content will be featured in TV & iPlayer and Radio & Music The BBC is announcing a set of closures and reductions as follows: — The closure of half of the 400 Top Level Domains (with 180 closing ahead of schedule later this year) — The replacement of the majority of programme websites with automated content. — The automation of bespoke digital radio sites 1Xtra, 5live sports extra, 6Music and Radio 7. — The closure of RAW, Blast, Switch, Video Nation and disposal of h2g2. — The removal of non-News features content from Local sites — A substantial reduction in showbusiness news on the News website — Fewer News blogs, with more focus on the updates from leading editors and correspondents — A reduction in the overall amount of Sports news and live sport — Standalone forums. communities and message-boards and blogs to be reduced and replaced with integrated social tools — The closure of the 606 community site and the closure of the BBC iPlayer message board BBC Online will not: — Launch its own social network — Offer specialist news content for specialist audiences — Publish local listings — Develop encyclopaedic propositions in Knowledge — Provide continuing professional development materials for teachers or a managed learning environment for schools — Become a video-on-demand aggregator in BBC iPlayer, although it will link to other on-demand providers — Produce online-only music sessions — Offer track-by-track music streaming Invest in exclusive online sports rights The BBC Online service licence budget will be reduced by £34m from £137m today, to £103m by 2013/14. As a result, there will beÂ up to 360 proposed post closures which will be phased in over the next two years As announced by the BBC Trust in December last year, BBC Online’s three-year strategy and business plan will be reviewed annually by the BBC Trust. In addition, BBC Online will engage with industry twice a year about its plans. jobs & layoffs 4 Responses to “BBC’s Big Online Cuts: Full Details Announcement” Average Digital Dude January 25, 2011 Gutted online’s taking such a big hit. I’m quite proud that the BBC has made such a pioneering, and popular website and set of online services. I think there’s quite a lot of budget that could be trimmed on low-traffic game sites and flash utilities, but popular, high-traffic areas should be preserved and invested in. I’d rather tv shows take the hit. What will define the current generation of British journalistic or acting talent is the digital integration of their productions. I’m glad SKY’s investing in the right places; definitely seems to be the leading broadcaster now. Ben Metcalfe January 24, 2011 @Antony Watts In addition to Murray’s astute point, the BBC doesn’t own most of the programming broadcast on BBC and so it therefore doesn’t have the rights to give it away or distribute it in the way you describe. (Which is why the iPlayer is a “closed” environment). The BBC has actually been at the forefront of releasing apis and open data initiatives (disclosure: I was one of the people that launched them, although I’m no longer at the BBC) and it’s arguable that you wouldn’t have the open data apis from the likes of the government, Guardian, etc if it wasn’t for the BBC’s early work in this space. Murray January 24, 2011 @Antony Watts – Aunty doesn’t exist to make greedy new media parasites a quick buck. It does however ensure that market failure (which is to be found everywhere online) doesn’t adversely affect UK media audiences. Antony Watts January 24, 2011 Yet again the BBC is failing as a public broadcaster. They should make public APIs that allow access to any and all media (current and past) and let market driven companies create apps to give us access. This means kill the iPlayer closed environment. Show Me The Money Redux GDPR – are we witnessing the death of one-way monetisation? Jon Collins Apr 25, 2018 - 4:43 AM CDT	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21377
__label__wiki	0.97415	0.97415	Year-by-Year Scores Football coaching staff announced ALBION, Mich. – Albion College Head Football Coach Dustin Beurer announced his coaching staff on Friday. Mark Sheridan, '14, a former graduate assistant at Purdue University and the University of Arkansas and the outside linebackers coach at the University of Central Arkansas, returns to his alma mater to serve as defensive coordinator. A member of Albion's 2011 and 2013 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship teams, Sheridan coached the Britons corps of cornerbacks in 2014. "We are thrilled to have Coach Sheridan rejoin the Albion College football family as defensive coordinator," Beurer said. "Mark was a player who always got the most out of his abilities in our program and was a part of two championship teams and captain of the 2013 squad. "Mark has been around some great minds in defensive football since he departed Albion and has grown and matured into a bright young defensive mind," Beurer added. "Every reference check stated how he has a great defensive mind, brings the juice everyday coaching, and is a dogged recruiter. Our players are excited to get to work with Coach Sheridan this spring." Stephen Wasil, '06, who has helped Albion quarterbacks achieve school records since joining the coaching staff in 2013, has been promoted to offensive coordinator. Defensive backs coach Justin Sweeney has added special teams and the coordination of the Britons recruiting to his duties. Tino Smith II will continue to coach the Britons receivers, but on a full time basis. Wasil, the MIAA MVP who quarterbacked Albion to the league championship in 2005, has been coaching on the sideline as Dominic Bona (season and career completions, single game, season and career passing touchdowns, career passing yards) and Kyle Thomas (single game passing yards, single game total offense yards) have set school records. Albion's offense was proficient during the 2018 season, ranking among the NCAA Division III leaders for first downs, total yards, rushing yards and scoring. "Coach Wasil has been with me since we began running this offense in 2013," Beurer said. "He has been a great sounding board for me and has an excellent feel for what an opponent's defense is doing. Although he is one of the most decorated players in the history of our program, I feel he is an even better coach. Our players feed off of his knowledge and attention to detail. Coach Wasil has without a doubt earned this promotion as he has been my right-hand man the past several seasons." Smith joined Albion's coaching staff on a part-time basis for the 2018 season. Originally from Indianapolis, Ind., he played at Savannah State University (Division I Football Championship Subdivision) where he was a starter at quarterback and receiver. Smith's inside receivers were among Albion's most productive during the 2018 season. Tight end Brian Blanzy was an all-MIAA first team pick after leading the Britons with 662 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Lining up in the slot, Collin Poore led the Britons with 40 receptions. "Coach Smith is an excellent teacher of fundamentals and techniques and his understanding of our scheme grew exponentially," Beurer said. "He has made an incredible impact on our skill players in his short time in our program. Our players appreciate that he recently just finished playing at a high level and he gained their trust and respect immediately." Sweeney, a former assistant at Central Michigan University, Ferris State University and Mount Pleasant High School, completed his second year with the Britons in 2018. Albion's special teams unit ranked among the best in the MIAA in 2018, as punter Sam Blanzy and kicker Andrew Fabry were all-MIAA first team selections. "Coach Sweeney has had a tremendous impact on our program since he got here," Beurer said. "He is extremely detail oriented and outworks everyone. He is a great teacher of technique and coaches with passion and enthusiasm. He will take over our special teams, where his attention to detail and enthusiasm will help those units improve. Coach Sweeney is also a relentless recruiter and has transitioned into our recruiting coordinator." Defensive line coach D.J. Rehberg, '96, and running backs coach Al Slamer will continue in their part time roles. "I am excited that Coach Rehberg and Coach Slamer have agreed to stay a part of the program," Beurer said. "These men provide immense experience, teaching skills, and excellent player relationships." Follow the Britons on Twitter: @AlbionFootball	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21383
__label__cc	0.681266	0.318734	← Quotation: Charles Dickens about destiny Fantastic Composer/Compositions: Saint-Saens Clarinet Sonata op. 167 in E flat major → Fantastic Composer/Compositions: St Paul’s Suite St-Paul’s Suite, op. 29, no. 2 – Gustav Holst 1. Jig – Vivace 2. Ostinato – Presto 3. Intermezzo – Andante con moto 4. Finale (“The Dargason”) – Allegro L’Orchestre de Chambre Lakeshore Chamber Orchestra Stewart Grant, directeur musical et chef attitré, Music Director and Conductor Concert aimez-vous Brahms? Église Valois United Church Gustav Holst, circa 1921 (photograph by Herbert Lambert) Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst: 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite The Planets, he composed a large number of works across a range of genres, although none achieved comparable success. His distinctive compositional style was the product of many influences, including the English folksong revival of the early 20th century. There were professional musicians in the previous three generations of Holst’s family, and it was clear from his early years that he would follow the same calling. He hoped to become a pianist, but was prevented by neuritis in his right arm. Despite his father’s reservations, he pursued a career as a composer, studying at the Royal College of Music under Charles Villiers Stanford. Unable to support himself by his compositions, he played the trombone professionally, and later became a teacher—a great one, according to his colleague Ralph Vaughan Williams. Among other teaching activities he built up a strong tradition of performance at Morley College, where he served as musical director from 1907 until 1924. He was the founder of a series of Whitsun music festivals, which ran from 1916 for the remainder of his life. Holst’s works were played frequently in the early years of the 20th century, but it was not until the international success of The Planets in the years immediately after the First World War that he became a well-known figure. A shy man, he did not welcome this fame, and preferred to be left in peace to compose and teach. In his later years his uncompromising, personal style of composition struck many music lovers as too austere, and his brief popularity declined. Nevertheless, he was a significant influence on a number of younger English composers, includingEdmund Rubbra, Michael Tippett and Benjamin Britten. Apart from The Planets and a handful of other works, his music was generally neglected until the 1980s, since when recordings of much of his output have been available. This entry was posted in Educational, FILM, IN THE SPOTLIGHT, MEMORIES, PEOPLE AND PLACES HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, SPIRITUALITY, Uncategorized, YouTube/SoundCloud: Music, Special Interest and tagged Benjamin Britten, Chambre Lakeshore Chamber Orchestra Stewart Grant, Gustav Holst, Gustav Theodore Holst, Gustavus Theodore von Holst, Herbert Lambert, Holst, Morley College, Planets, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Royal College of Music. Bookmark the permalink. 2 responses to “Fantastic Composer/Compositions: St Paul’s Suite” whatuful \| November 22, 2013 at 10:32 PM \| Reply Thank you for sharing!!! So nice!!! george-b \| November 23, 2013 at 8:43 PM \| Reply The Leonard Cohen Files 0 SoudCloud My Poetic thoughts Recitation Here 0	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21388
__label__cc	0.5162	0.4838	Christopher A. Lemmon, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering \| VCU College of Engineering Biotech One, Room 1072, Richmond, VA, UNITED STATES Dr. Lemmon's research lies in cell-generated traction forces and extracellular matrix biology Lemmon Lab Homepage Google Scholar Profile Researchgate Profile Christopher Lemmon, Ph.D. is an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University. He began his academic life as a Mechanical Engineer, receiving his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. He then went on to work for Delphi Harrision Thermal Systems, followed by two years at the University of Wisconsin, where he received his M.S. in mechanical engineering. At this point, he took a major career turn, deciding to move into biomedical engineering. Following a one-year stint as Lab Technician in the Cardiovascular Dynamics Lab at Johns Hopkins, he began his PhD at Johns Hopkins, where he worked under the co-direction of Lewis Romer MD and Christopher Chen, MD/PhD. His work focused on measuring traction forces generated by single cells, and their ability to use these forces to assemble new tissue. He went on to do post-doctoral research at Duke University Medical Center, focusing on molecular biology tools for studying extracellular matrix proteins, under the direction of Harold Erickson, PhD. He joined VCU as an assistant professor in 2012 and was promoted to associate professor in 2017. His lab focuses on the roles of mechanics and cell signaling in the extracellular matrix, with a particular focus on breast cancer and fibrosis. Research Education/Learning Areas of Expertise (7) Cell-generated traction forces Extracellular matrix biology Cellular mechanotransduction Mechanobiology of fibrosis Matrix mechanics and signaling in the tumor microenvironment; Cellular traction forces Cell mechanosensing Johns Hopkins Universities: Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering 2008 University of Wisconsin: M.S., Mechanical Engineering 2000 Lehigh University: B.S., Mechanical Engineering 1996 BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL: BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING RESEARCHERS’ FINDINGS AND METHODOLOGY ARE GAME-CHANGERS Phys.org online A study by three researchers in VCU’s Department of Biomedical Engineering enhances understanding of a cell’s response to mechanical cues from its surrounding environment, a key regulator of cell function. “Mechanotransduction Dynamics at the Cell-Matrix Interface” by assistant professor Seth Weinberg, Ph.D., student Devin Mair (pictured above) and associate professor Christopher Lemmon, Ph.D., employs a computational-experimental methodology with implications for further insights into mechanical interactions between cells. The study, which is part of a project funded by a $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, appears in the May 2017 issue ofBiophysical Journal. Research Focus (3) Understanding how substrate mechanics alters extracellular matrix assembly The mechanical stiffness of a substrate has been shown to dictate cell migration, proliferation, survival, and differentiation. The extracellular matrix serves as a mediator between the substrate and the cell. In this project, we are investigating how changes in stiffness affect the assembly of extracellular matrix in mesenchymal cells. Investigating how substrate stiffness, growth factor signaling, and extracellular matrix assembly work together to drive cancer progression Increased substrate stiffness is a hallmark of solid tumors (traditionally solid tumors are identified by palpating a stiffer mass relative to the softer surrounding tissue. Recent work has suggested that this change in mechanics plays a role in tumor growth and metastasis. However, it is not clear how changes in the mechanical properties of a tumor can drive changes in intracellular signaling pathways. In our lab, we are investigating the role of the extracellular matrix in mitigating stiffness-driven changes. We are investigating the effects of ECM assembly on Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), a process in which epithelial cells (cells that line the organs of one’s body) turn into mesenchymal cells (cells that build new tissue). We are also investigating how adipose stem cells (cells that are present in fat and can differentiate into adipose cells, osteocytic cells, or mesenchymal cells) assemble ECM in response to both stiffness changes and soluble mediators in the tumor microenvironment. We are also directly investigating how changes in stiffness drive changes in ECM expression in malignant, pre-malignant, and healthy epithelial cells. This work is funded by a National Science Foundation award. Computational Models of Traction Force-Derived Matrix Assembly Computational models can give great insight into how physical events occur. We are working in collaboration with Dr. Seth Weinberg (VCU Biomedical Engineering) to develop a model that explains how substrate stiffness and contractile forces stretch ECM proteins to facilitate their assembly into insoluble fibrils. This work is funded by an NIH R01 award to Drs. Lemmon and Weinberg. MECHANOCHEMICAL SIGNALING DYNAMICS IN EPITHELIAL-MESENCHYMAL TRANSITION NIH R01 Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) is a key transdifferentiation event that is required for embryonic development and wound healing and is misregulated in several disease states including fibrotic disease and cancer. The initiating events that drive EMT require changes in the contractile forces acting on cell-cell and cell-matrix junctions and changes in cell markers. Here we will develop both novel computational and experimental platforms that predict and measure the key mechanical and biochemical signaling events in this system to understand how the interactions between mechanics and biochemical signaling drives this crucial process. A COMPUTATIONAL MODEL OF TRACTION FORCE-INDUCED FIBRONECTIN FIBRIL GROWTH Fibrosis is responsible for nearly half of the deaths in the western world, and is seen in nearly all organ systems. It is characterized by aberrant assembly of extracellular matrix which is first established by the assembly of a matrix of fibrils consistin of the protein fibronectin; once assembled, fibronectin fibrils can localize soluble, pro-fibrotic growth factors to the cell surface to create a self-sustaining feedback loop that facilitates furthr fibrosis. In this work, we will develop and experimentally validate a computational biophysical model that predicts FN fibril assembly and subsequent localized growth factor signaling to better understand the process of fibrosis. THE ROLE OF EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX FIBRILS IN STIFFNESS CHANGES AND GROWTH FACTOR TETHERING DURING FIBROSIS Fibrosis is a pathological condition in which tissue healing proceeds in an uncontrolled manner. It has been estimated that nearly half of all deaths in the western world can be attributed to fibrosis. Fibrosis occurs in nearly every organ, including liver, kidney, heart, skin, and lung. While it is well appreciated that fibrosis is associated with organ failure in many disease states, there are few treatments that have proven successful. This award will support fundamental work in this area by studying the mechanobiology of fibrosis. Mechanobiology is a growing field in which researchers investigate the role of mechanical properties of cells and tissues in disease progression. The research team hypothesize that fibrosis proceeds by initially increasing the stiffness of the tissue, which then leads to the generation of larger contractile forces in local cells, which in turn drives the assembly of more stiff fibrotic tissue, resulting in uncontrolled progression of fibrosis. This research has the potential to discover important insights in fibrosis treatment by investigating the mechanical signaling that underlies fibrosis progression. EGRB303 (Biotransport Processes) Course involves the study of fundamental principles of fluid mechanics and mass transport as well as application of these principles to physiological systems. Fluid mechanics principles covered will include conservation of mass and momentum, laminar and turbulent flow, Navier-Stokes equations, dimensional analysis, Bernoulli’s equation, and boundary layer theory. Mass transport principles will include diffusion, convection, transport in porous media, and transmembrane transport. Concepts will be applied to studying diffusion in biological tissues, electrolyte transport, vascular transport, blood flow mechanics, and cardiovascular flow. The course will also cover organ-specific transport processes, including oxygen transport in the lungs and blood, and mass transport in the kidney. EGRB513 (Cellular Signal Processing) Students will study the process by which an extracellular protein binding event is transduced and interpreted as an incoming signal into a cell. Students will learn the biology of cellular signal transduction and will also learn how to apply computational models and experimental techniques to predict and investigate these pathways. Students will follow the course of a protein within a signal transduction cascade, from binding to a receptor, activating intracellular pathways, inducing new transcription and translation and targeting of the protein to its final location. Students will develop MATLAB-based mathematical models to predict signal transduction dynamics, and then will study experimental techniques that are used to both disrupt and measure signal transduction. Selected Articles (6) Mechanotransduction Dynamics at the Cell-Matrix Interface Biophysical Journal Seth H. Weinberg, Devin B. Mair, and C.A.Lemmon The ability of cells to sense and respond to mechanical cues from the surrounding environment has been implicated as a key regulator of cell differentiation, migration, and proliferation. The extracellular matrix (ECM) is an oft-overlooked component of the interface between cells and their surroundings. Cells assemble soluble ECM proteins into insoluble fibrils with unique mechanical properties that can alter the mechanical cues a cell receives. In this study, we construct a model that predicts the dynamics of cellular traction force generation and subsequent assembly of fibrils of the ECM protein fibronectin (FN). FN fibrils are the primary component in primordial ECM and, as such, FN assembly is a critical component in the cellular mechanical response. The model consists of a network of Hookean springs, each representing an extensible domain within an assembling FN fibril. As actomyosin forces stretch the spring network, simulations predict the resulting traction force and FN fibril formation. The model accurately predicts FN fibril morphometry and demonstrates a mechanism by which FN fibril assembly regulates traction force dynamics in response to mechanical stimuli and varying surrounding substrate stiffness. Fibronectin fibrils regulate TGF-beta1-induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Matrix Biology Lauren A. Griggs, Nadiah T. Hassan, Roshni S. Malik, Brian P. Griffin, Brittany A. Martinez, Lynne W. Elmore, Christopher A. Lemmon Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) is a dynamic process through which epithelial cells transdifferentiate from an epithelial phenotype into a mesenchymal phenotype. Previous studies have demonstrated that both mechanical signaling and soluble growth factor signaling facilitate this process. One possible point of integration for mechanical and growth factor signaling is the extracellular matrix. Here we investigate the role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) protein fibronectin (FN) in this process. We demonstrate that inhibition of FN fibrillogenesis blocks activation of the Transforming Growth Factor-Beta (TGF-β) signaling pathway via Smad2 signaling, decreases cell migration and ultimately leads to inhibition of EMT. Results show that soluble FN, FN fibrils, or increased contractile forces are insufficient to independently induce EMT. We further demonstrate that inhibition of latent TGF-β1 binding to FN fibrils via either a monoclonal blocking antibody against the growth factor binding domain of FN or through use of a FN deletion mutant that lacks the growth factor binding domains of FN blocks EMT progression, indicating a novel role for FN in EMT in which the assembly of FN fibrils serves to localize TGF-β1 signaling to drive EMT. Fibronectin fibrillogenesis facilitates mechanodependent cell spreading, force generation, and nuclear size in human embryonic fibroblasts Integrative Biology Cells respond to mechanical cues from the substrate to which they are attached. These mechanical cues drive cell migration, proliferation, differentiation, and survival. Previous studies have highlighted three specific mechanisms through which substrate stiffness directly alters cell function: increasing stiffness drives (1) larger contractile forces; (2) increased cell spreading and size; and (3) altered nuclear deformation. While studies have shown that substrate mechanics are an important cue, the role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) has largely been ignored. The ECM is a crucial component of the mechanosensing system for two reasons: (1) many ECM fibrils are assembled by application of cell-generated forces, and (2) ECM proteins have unique mechanical properties that will undoubtedly alter the local stiffness sensed by a cell. We specifically focused on the role of the ECM protein fibronectin (FN), which plays a critical role in de novo tissue production. In this study, we first measured the effects of substrate stiffness on human embryonic fibroblasts by plating cells onto microfabricated pillar arrays (MPAs) of varying stiffness. Cells responded to increasing substrate stiffness by generating larger forces, spreading to larger sizes, and altering nuclear geometry. These cells also assembled FN fibrils across all stiffnesses, with optimal assembly occurring at approximately 6 kPa. We then inhibited FN assembly, which resulted in dramatic reductions in contractile force generation, cell spreading, and nuclear geometry across all stiffnesses. These findings suggest that FN fibrils play a critical role in facilitating cellular responses to substrate stiffness. A Predictive Model of Cell Traction Forces Based on Cell Geometry Biophysical Journal Recent work has indicated that the shape and size of a cell can influence how a cell spreads, develops focal adhesions, and exerts forces on the substrate. However, it is unclear how cell shape regulates these events. Here we present a computational model that uses cell shape to predict the magnitude and direction of forces generated by cells. The predicted results are compared to experimentally measured traction forces, and show that the model can predict traction force direction, relative magnitude, and force distribution within the cell using only cell shape as an input. Analysis of the model shows that the magnitude and direction of the traction force at a given point is proportional to the first moment of area about that point in the cell, suggesting that contractile forces within the cell act on the entire cytoskeletal network as a single cohesive unit. Through this model, we demonstrate that intrinsic properties of cell shape can facilitate changes in traction force patterns, independently of heterogeneous mechanical properties or signaling events within the cell. Probing the Folded State of Fibronectin Type III Domains In Stretched Fibrils By Measuring Buried Cysteine Accessibility Journal of Biological Chemistry Fibronectin (FN) is an extracellular matrix protein that is assembled into fibrils by cells during tissue morphogenesis and wound healing. FN matrix fibrils are highly elastic, but the mechanism of elasticity has been debated: it may be achieved by mechanical unfolding of FN-III domains or by a conformational change of the molecule without domain unfolding. Here, we investigate the folded state of FN-III domains in FN fibrils by measuring the accessibility of buried cysteines. Four of the 15 FN-III domains (III-2, -3, -9, and -11) appear to unfold in both stretched fibrils and in solution, suggesting that these domains spontaneously open and close even in the absence of tension. Two FN-III domains (III-6 and -12) appear to unfold only in fibrils and not in solution. These results suggest that domain unfolding can at best contribute partially to the 4-fold extensibility of fibronectin fibrils. Tyrosine Phosphorylation of Rac1: A Role in Regulation of Cell Spreading PLoS ONE Rac1 influences a multiplicity of vital cellular- and tissue-level control functions, making it an important candidate for targeted therapeutics. The activity of the Rho family member Cdc42 has been shown to be modulated by tyrosine phosphorylation at position 64. We therefore investigated consequences of the point mutations Y64F and Y64D in Rac1. Both mutations altered cell spreading from baseline in the settings of wild type, constitutively active, or dominant negative Rac1 expression, and were accompanied by differences in Rac1 targeting to focal adhesions. Rac1-Y64F displayed increased GTP-binding, increased association with βPIX, and reduced binding with RhoGDI as compared with wild type Rac1. Rac1-Y64D had less binding to PAK than Rac1-WT or Rac1-64F. In vitro assays demonstrated that Y64 in Rac1 is a target for FAK and Src. Taken together, these data suggest a mechanism for the regulation of Rac1 activity by non-receptor tyrosine kinases, with consequences for membrane extension.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21394
__label__wiki	0.650904	0.650904	Injuries in Team Sport Tournaments during the 2004 Olympic Games Academic Article BACKGROUND: Several authors have analyzed the incidence of injuries in a given sport, but only a few have examined the exposure-related incidence of injuries in different types of sports using the same methodology. PURPOSE: Analysis of the incidence, circumstances, and characteristics of injuries in different team sports during the 2004 Olympic Games. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. METHODS: During the 2004 Olympic Games, injuries in 14 team sport tournaments (men's and women's soccer, men's and women's handball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's field hockey, baseball, softball, men's and women's water polo, and men's and women's volleyball) were analyzed. After each match, the physician of the participating teams or the official medical representative of the sport completed a standardized injury report form. The mean response rate was 93%. RESULTS: A total of 377 injuries were reported from 456 matches, an incidence of 0.8 injuries per match (95% confidence interval, 0.75-0.91) or 54 injuries per 1000 player matches (95% confidence interval, 49-60). Half of all injuries affected the lower extremity; 24% involved the head or neck. The most prevalent diagnoses were head contusion and ankle sprain. On average, 78% of injuries were caused by contact with another player. However, a significantly higher percentage of noncontact (57%) versus contact injuries (37%) was expected to prevent the player from participating in his or her sport. Significantly more injuries in male players (46%) versus female players (35%) were expected to result in absence from match or training. The incidence, diagnosis, and causes of injuries differed substantially between the team sports. CONCLUSION: The risk of injury in different team sports can be compared using standardized methodology. Even if the incidence and characteristics of injuries are not identical in all sports, prevention of injury and promotion of fair play are relevant topics for almost all team sports. Junge, Astrid Langevoort, Gijs Pipe, Andrew Peytavin, Annie Wong, Fook Mountjoy, Margo Beltrami, Gianfranco Terrell, Robert Holzgraefe, Manfred Charles, Richard Dvorak, Jiri 0913 Mechanical Engineering (FoR) 1106 Human Movement and Sports Sciences (FoR) Adolescent (MeSH) Athletic Injuries (MeSH) Chi-Square Distribution (MeSH) Greece (MeSH) Incidence (MeSH) Orthopedics (Science Metrix) Population Surveillance (MeSH) Prevalence (MeSH) American Journal of Sports Medicine Journal Athletic Injuries Chi-Square Distribution	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21395
__label__wiki	0.920253	0.920253	Results for subject term "Religion": 44 Masjid Ul-Haqq By Eli Pousson Mosque No. 6, the predecessor of the Masjid Ul-Haqq, first moved into their present building on Wilson Street around 1958. The two-story brick building had most recently housed a automotive garage but it dated back to the 1870s and operated as part… Saint James A.U.M.P. Church By Gabrielle Clark The origins of this two-story frame church on Jefferson Avenue began in 1861 when a group of Black Baltimore County residents established the Saint James African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church. Today, the church is known as the St.… Saint Mary's Seminary Chapel The Seminary Chapel at the St. Mary's Spiritual Center is a historic gem. Completed in 1808, the chapel was designed by Maximilian Godefroy, the architect of many historically important structures in Baltimore including the Battle Monument and First… Grace & St. Peter's Church By Johns Hopkins The first true brownstone building in Baltimore, today’s Grace & St. Peter’s Church opened its doors in 1852 as Grace Church on Park Avenue in Mount Vernon. Architecturally, it was the first church built of stone in the city and with stained glass… First Unitarian Church of Baltimore By Catherine Evans The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore has stood at the corner of Charles and Franklin Streets for over two centuries. Inside the 1818 landmark, visitors can find beautiful Tiffany glass and original furnishings designed by the architect and crafted… Leadenhall Baptist Church Built in 1873 by the Maryland Baptist Union Association for black Baptists in south Baltimore, Leadenhall Baptist Church has long been a center of activism and source of strength for African Americans in south Baltimore and the Sharp Leadenhall… St. Thomas Aquinas Church By Nathan Dennies In the mid-nineteenth century, Catholic residents of Hampden belonged to the St. Mary of the Assumption parish in Govans, a distant walk from the burgeoning neighborhood. Since the industrial mill village had been built by the owners of the mills for… Union Baptist Church The Union Baptist Church was built in 1905 under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Harvey Johnson and financed entirely by African Americans. The congregation was formed in 1852, the fifth oldest African American congregation in Baltimore. In 1892, the… Cathedral of Mary Our Queen A fire erupted on the morning of February 7, 1904, in the dry goods firm of John E. Hurst & Co., on what is now Redwood Street. The blaze spread wildly out of control, consuming central Baltimore. In a panic and with few options, city engineers… Saint Ignatius Church Stretching along Calvert Street between Madison and Monument Streets, stands a massive Italianate palace, built for the Society of Jesus, a Catholic religious order. Decorating the facade are arched windows with elaborate moldings, and a heavy… Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church Completed in 1872 as a “Cathedral of Methodism,” the Norman-Gothic Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church was a signature achievement for the noted Baltimore architects Thomas Dixon and Charles L. Carson. It was also at first an immense source of… Dickey Memorial Presbyterian Church The church, built in 1885, continues to serve as a focal point for the village's holiday celebrations such as Christmas caroling, a Fourth of July parade, and community potlucks. William J. Dickey, who lived in the village, was a devout… Sharp Street Memorial United Methodist Church By Sierra Hallmen The congregation at Sharp Street Memorial United Methodist Church began in 1787, the first African American Methodist congregation in Baltimore. By 1802, the congregants had purchased their first building on Sharp Street between Lombard and Pratt… Church & Company Workers laid the cornerstone of the Hampden Presbyterian Church in 1875 and dedicated the building two years later. The sturdy structure is made of Texas Limestone, named for the unincorporated town in Baltimore County where the quarry is located.… Rehoboth Church of God in Christ Jesus Apostolic By Lauren Schiszik A devout Methodist, Colonel John Berry purchased the site of this church in the early 1800s. Tired of traveling three miles from Calverton Heights to the closest Methodist Episcopal Church, Berry decided to establish a new chapel close to his… Canton Methodist Episcopal Church Founded in 1847, the Canton Methodist Episcopal Church was the first church established in Canton. The Canton Company donated land for the congregation’s first and second church buildings, because the company strongly encouraged the establishment of… Emory Grove Emory Grove, located in Glyndon, has provided its summer residents with spiritual inspiration and respite from Baltimore City's summer heat for over 145 years. Originally founded in 1868 as a Methodist camp meeting site during the religious… Saint John's in the Village By Saint John's Church The Episcopalian congregation of Saint John's Church has worshiped together on the same site in Waverly since 1843. At that time the area was the small village of Huntingdon, Maryland: a collection of about seventeen large estates, and the more… Strawbridge United Methodist Church The Strawbridge United Methodist Church has a rich history. First established in 1843 as the Howard Street Station, the church moved to a grand sanctuary on Park Avenue under the leadership of Rev. John F. Goucher in 1881. Unfortunately, over the… St. Edward Roman Catholic Church St. Edward's organized in 1878 as a mission of St. Peter the Apostle, which was led by Fr. Owen B. Carrigan. Carrigan supervised the construction of the first church in 1880 for a congregation that likely included Catholic workers from factories… A true gem of Baltimore religious architecture, the handsome Gothic Revival tower of St. Luke’s Church is matched by its richly detailed sanctuary. While architect J.W. Priest oversaw the completion of the building in 1857, five other architects also… St. Peter the Apostle Church served southwest Baltimore's large Irish Catholic community for over 160 years. From its dedication in September 1844 through its final service in January 2008, the church earned a reputation as "The Mother Church of West… St. Bernardine's Roman Catholic Church Like James Keelty, who built many of the rowhouses in Edmondson Village, many of the neighborhood’s new residents were Catholic and attended church to the east at St. Edward's on Poplar Grove or farther west at St. William of York. After James… Union Memorial United Methodist Church Organized in 1875 by Samuel H. Cummings at Gilmore and Mulberry Streets, the Harlem Park Methodist Episcopal Church relocated to Harlem Park in 1880 under the leadership of John F. Goucher. The church constructed a new building in 1906 under the… St. Mark's Institutional Baptist Church At a ground-breaking ceremony for the Immanuel Reformed Church on June 24, 1922, twelve trustees, including Charles C. Zies, Sr. and John H. Weller, signed a contract for the construction of the new building. Plans filed a few days later for a white… Perkins Square Baptist Church Perkins Square Baptist Church has been an institution on Edmondson Avenue since the mid-1950s occupying a grey stone church that began in 1913 as Emmanuel English Evangelical Lutheran Church. The two-story tall church was designed by local architect… Saint James' Episcopal Church Founded in 1824, St. James’ Episcopal Church is the nation’s second oldest African Episcopal congregation and the first Episcopal church organized by African Americans south of the Mason-Dixon line. Since 1932, the congregation has occupied a… Old St. Paul's Church By Auni Gelles Old St. Paul’s Church is known as the mother church of all Episcopal congregations in Baltimore. As one of the thirty original Anglican parishes that the General Assembly created under the Establishment Act of 1692, St. Paul’s (also known as… The Zion Lutheran Church is a piece of German-American history that dates back to 1755. Originally known as the German Lutheran Reformed Church, it served Lutheran immigrants coming from Germany. The congregation held services in private residences… Orchard Street Church By David Armenti Constructed in 1882, the Orchard Street United Methodist Church is one of the oldest standing structures built by a Black congregation in Baltimore. The church was established by Trueman Pratt, a free Black man who was born into slavery in Anne…	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21396
__label__wiki	0.632889	0.632889	This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: March 19 by \| Mar 19, 2018 \| Amicus, Weekly News Roundup \| 0 comments Welcome to This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. This week, the Supreme Court is poised to consider free speech rights of crisis pregnancy centers, black police officers in Arkansas sued for employment discrimination, unions helped Democrat Conor Lamb to victory in Pennsylvania’s congressional race, and lawmakers responded to nationwide calls for gun control. It’s Abortion Providers, Not CPCs, Whose Free Speech Rights Are Being Violated. This week, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, a First Amendment challenge to California’s law requiring crisis pregnancy centers to provide access to accurate information. A victory for CPCs may actually strengthen challenges to laws that restrict abortion access. (Amicus Blog, Take Care) Criminal Legal System Nebraska Is Illegally Obtaining and Storing Execution Drugs in Defiance of Federal Law. In a complaint filed with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the ACLU of Nebraska accuses the Nebraska Department of Corrections and Nebraska State Penitentiary of flouting licensing and registration regulations by falsely claiming to have the requisite import license and by obtaining prohibited drugs. (ACLU) Why Oklahoma Plans to Execute People with Nitrogen. The state announced that it will be switching from lethal injection to nitrogen inhalation for future executions. However, very little is known about this method. (The Marshall Project) DeVos Digs Herself Deeper. In an interview with 60 Minutes, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos appears still to be uninformed about the principles and practices of public education. (The Atlantic) Trump Is Open to Short-Term DACA Deal, White House Tells GOP Leaders. Instead of providing legal status and eventual path to citizenship for dreamers in exchange for ending the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program and $25 billion in funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall project, Trump may explore a deal involving a two or three year extension of DACA in exchange for an unspecified amount of wall funding. (Washington Post) In California, Trump Attacks Jerry Brown and ‘Sanctuary Policies.’ In his trip to California, Trump criticized the state’s policies as a “best friend of the criminal.” This is on the heels of the DOJ’s lawsuit challenging the sanctuary policies. (NYT) U.S. Appeals Court Voids Obama-Era ‘Fiduciary Rule.’ The 5th Circuit vacated the fiduciary rule, which heightens standards for brokers advising clients on retirement products. The court found that the Department of Labor acted arbitrarily and capriciously and its interpretation of “investment advice fiduciary” should not be given Chevron deference. (Reuters) Why Conor Lamb (Probably) Won. Unions gave Democrat Lamb an edge in Pennsylvania’s special congressional election last Tuesday. Lamb’s union rights rhetoric, contrasting with his Republican opponent’s support for “right to work” laws, played favorably in a working-class district. (Politico) The West Virginia Teachers Strike Shows That Winning Big Requires Creating a Crisis. The teachers’ unions shut down every public school in the state and while reporting focused on their health insurance and pay raise victories, they won on all five of their stances. (The Nation) Black Police Officers Sue Little Rock Citing Discrimination. The four officers sue for employment discrimination, alleging age and racial discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation against complaints. (NYT) Supreme Court Draws Criticism for Shielding Police against Wrongful-Shooting Claims. A cert petition pending before the Supreme Court for Kisela v. Hughes tests the standards for granting qualified immunity to police officers under 42 U.S.C §1983. Arizona is appealing on the grounds that “qualified immunity exists to protect the public from unwarranted timidity on the part of public officials.” (LA Times) As Students March for Gun Control, House Votes to Beef Up School Security. On Wednesday, students across the nation organized walkouts to demand gun control. Congress’ response, passing a school safety bill in the House to increase security personnel without changing gun laws, misses the point. (NYT) Florida Governor Signs ‘School Safety’ Bill That Could Arm Teachers. In response to the school shooting in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the bill raises the age to buy firearms to 21, imposes a three-day waiting period for purchases, provides mental health programs in schools, and restricts gun access for people who show sign of mental illness. It also allows trained school workers to carry handguns. (NBC) The State of Redistricting Litigation. The Brennan Center for Justice published a roundup of the state of redistricting litigation in the U.S. These cases involve racial and partisan gerrymandering that implicates both the Equal Protection Clause and First Amendment rights. (Brennan Center)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21399
__label__wiki	0.822006	0.822006	September 23, 2018 / 12:27 PM / 10 months ago Trump expected to tout North Korea progress, but concrete moves lacking David Brunnstrom, Matt Spetalnick UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A year after Donald Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea in his first speech at the United Nations, the U.S. president will return to the podium in New York this week to tout diplomatic efforts that have reduced the risk of war. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un hold a signing ceremony at the conclusion of their summit at the Capella Hotel on the resort island of Sentosa, Singapore June 12, 2018. Picture taken June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst But even if Trump’s rhetoric at the annual United Nations General Assembly is expected to differ sharply from his 2017 address in which he mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man” on a “suicide mission,” some U.S. officials and analysts say Pyongyang has yet to take concrete measures to show it is prepared to give up a nuclear arsenal that threatens the United States. The change of mood was sealed when Trump and Kim met for an unprecedented summit on June 12 in Singapore, and in the past week, the North Korean leader promised South Korean President Moon Jae-in to dismantle a missile site and also a nuclear complex - if the United States takes “corresponding action.” While appearing to set a positive tone, the commitments fell far short of Washington’s demands for a complete inventory of North Korea’s weapons programs and irreversible steps towards denuclearization. Trump is to meet Moon on Monday to get a first-hand account of the Korean summit before delivering his U.N. address on Tuesday. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, meanwhile, has proposed a meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, and plans to chair a Security Council meeting on the denuclearization effort on Thursday. Some U.S. officials are concerned Trump is taking an overly rosy view of North Korea developments. Trump called last week’s joint declaration by Moon and Kim “very exciting” and has previously said he is willing to meet Kim a second time, in spite of a lack of obvious progress from their first meeting in Singapore. One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the worry was Trump might offer Kim “too much too soon” to score a win ahead of the Nov. 6 congressional elections, which will decide whether Trump’s Republican Party maintains control of Congress. POMPEO SAYS STILL WORK TO DO While declaring the developments in the Koreas summit sufficient to allow a restart of high-level talks with North Korea, Pompeo’s tone has been more measured. In television interviews on Friday, he said there was still work to do “to make sure conditions are right” for a second summit and reiterated that sanctions would have to remain on North Korea until it gives up its nuclear weapons. Past U.S. insistence that North Korea act first before expecting any easing of sanctions or a formal end to the 1950-53 Korea War over have not gone down well with Pyongyang. Pompeo’s proposed interlocutor in New York, Foreign Minister Ri, responded to Trump’s U.N. remarks last year by calling them “the sound of a dog barking” and warning that North Korea could detonate a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific. Soon after his summit with Kim, Trump declared the North Korean nuclear threat over, despite little more than a broad pledge by Kim to “work towards” denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. “Trump will likely continue his practice of hailing even insignificant North Korean steps as major advances,” said Evans Revere, a former U.S. negotiator with North Korea under the last Republican president, George W. Bush. “His approach, which I have dubbed ‘strategic optimism’, seems to regard the appearance of denuclearization as more important than the real thing, since the former is easier to achieve than the latter,” he said. Revere and other former officials and analysts said North Korea seemed to have done little more so far than repackage past promises broken in decades of failed talks. However, Joseph Yun, who retired this year as U.S. envoy on North Korea, said relations with Pyongyang were at least “materially better” now the two sides were no longer trading threats and there was a chance to make progress. “Are they going to completely denuclearize by January 2021?” Yun said, referring to the end of Trump’s current term that Pompeo has set for this goal. “No. It’s going to take longer than that.” Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick, additional reoporting by John Walcott; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Grant McCool	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21407
__label__wiki	0.977263	0.977263	Trump’s Lawyer Says Snoop Dogg ‘Owes the President an Apology’ for ‘Lavender’ Video Jacinta Howard First, Senator Marco Rubio suggested that Snoop Dogg's new video, in which he shoots a clown impersonating Donald Trump, was going to encourage people to assassinate the president. Now, Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, has told TMZ that Snoop should apologize to the president for the video. “Snoop owes the president an apology,” he said. “There’s absolutely nothing funny about an assassination attempt on a president, and I’m really shocked at him because I thought he was better than that.” The video is actually a commentary on social justice issues-- specifically police violence and state sanctioned terrorism on black bodies. The video was directly inspired by the death of Philando Castile, who was killed by a police officer last summer, sparking outrage and protests across the nation. Trump, who has a long history of using racist language, particularly to rile up his base during the campaign, has repeatedly said he wants to ramp up police presence in black communities, going as far as to suggest a return of the racist policy, Stop & Frisk and threatening to send the feds to Chicago. In the video, directed by Jesse Wellens, Michael Rapaport plays a clown who ends up being shot by a police officer, in a scene reminiscent to the death of Castile. There’s also a clown made to look like Donald Trump, who Snoop shoots once he catches up to him. "[I was] making a song that was not controversial but real -- real to the voice of the people who don’t have a voice," Snoop said of the video, according to Billboard. "It’s not like [Jesse] told me to make a record to express what I’m expressing on the song, but there were certain things that he said that brought that feeling, to make me want to express that when I was writing." He went on to express the video's relevancy. "The whole world is clownin’ around, and [Jesse’s] concept is so right on point with the art direction and the reality, because if you really look at some of these motherf---ers, they are clowns," he said. Trump's lawyer, however, says he doesn't understand the point of the clip. “I’m not really sure I understand the artistic value to having somebody dress up as Trump and firing a weapon at him,” Cohen added. “I certainly would not have accepted it if it was President Obama. I certainly don’t accept it as President Trump, and in all fairness, it’s not funny, it’s not artistic.” He then said Snoop should be ashamed. “If you have a protest, that’s fine. Make a point. But he has to learn that they have to respect the office of the presidency. … Just because you want to hide behind the guise of artistic capabilities or artistic freedom of speech, doesn’t make it right, and Snoop knows that, and he played very close to the line here.” He went on to suggest that Snoop should join the president's diversity coalition if he has problems with Trump. Seriously. Watch the video that has Trump's camp in a tizzy below. The 25 Greatest Rap Albums of 1991 Source: Trump’s Lawyer Says Snoop Dogg ‘Owes the President an Apology’ for ‘Lavender’ Video Filed Under: Black Lives Matter, Donald Trump, snoop dogg	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21408
__label__wiki	0.872099	0.872099	My Favourite Movies EXCLUSIVE \| William McGregor and Eleanor Worthington-Cox on unsettling drama Gwen EXCLUSIVE \| “I found it hard to look at the monitor” – Dominic Dromgoole on moving from the stage to screen with Making Noise Quietly Is The Brink the best political documentary of the year? ALSO STARRING …. \| The doomed beauty of Karen Black Leonard Cohen and his muse \| Why Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love is a touching doc SPOTLIGHT \| A Rose by any other name – the resilient Kate Winslet Too young for James Bond? \| It’s time to rediscover the Spy Kids trilogy REVISITING \| 30 years on from the maligned Star Trek V: The Final Frontier They Don’t Make ‘Em Like That No More: Robert Mitchum in Stories Whether he was playing a gumshoe or a GI, a cowboy or a killer, Mitchum was one of a kind Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer in Build My Gallows High aka Out Of The Past in 1947. by Mark Grassick 29th October 2018 There’s an old saying that goes, “They broke the mould when they made him”. It’s one that could be applied to so many iconoclastic actors over the decades, but it seems to evolve beyond cliché and into an accurate description when applied to Robert Mitchum. Whatever force created him – whether it was an almighty deity or a biological collision – it must have figured it got it right the first time and called it a day thereafter. Mitchum in The Story Of GI Joe, for which he received an Oscar nomination Born in 1917 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mitchum’s father was an Irish railroad worker and his mother the daughter of a Norwegian sea captain. He was a rapscallion as a child – getting expelled from one school for fighting the principal – unable to disguise the devilish streak that would define him as an actor. As a teenager, he was arrested for vagrancy and put onto a chain gang; as a burgeoning young actor, he was jailed for marijuana possession. When asked about his time in jail, Mitchum replied that it was “like Palm Beach but without the riff raff.” The bust turned out to be a stitch up, but Mitchum never publicised his exoneration. Mitchum – with Shelley Winters in bed – in The Night of the Hunter. In hindsight, those early years suggest he could only have ended up as one of two things: a criminal or an actor. Thankfully, he chose the latter, but only after a nervous breakdown while working the night shift at Lockheed left him with few other career options. He famously told his wife, “Guess what, your husband is going to be a movie actress.” In Sydney Pollack’s The Yakuza, 1974. Cowboys, criminals, killers and soldiers: that’s the rogues’ gallery that most people associate with Mitchum. It’s likely that the first image of him that springs to mind is Reverend Harry Powell, the murderous preacher pursuing two children through the South in Charles Laughton’s nightmarish fairytale Night Of The Hunter. His Max Cady in Cape Fear was equally terrifying. The two roles are the perfect summation of Mitchum, a laconic insouciance mixed with a frightening intensity, those sleepy, disinterested eyes suddenly flashing with evil urges. When Robert De Niro came to play Cady in Scorsese’s 90s remake of Cape Fear (which featured a Mitchum cameo), it’s no small tribute that his version is an amalgamation of both of Mitchum’s great terrors, even down to replicating Powell’s LOVE and HATE tattoos on his knuckles. Mitchum as Max Cady in Cape Fear From interviews with the great man and Lee Server’s superb biography Baby, I Don’t Care, it’s pretty obvious that Mitchum would have balked at high praise. He was a straight-talker, an understater, a man who viewed his career in an unpretentious light, but was eternally professional. Often, the dividing line between stars and great actors is considered the ability to disappear into a role. Mitchum rubbishes that idea by utterly inhabiting every role he ever played, while always being unmistakably Robert Mitchum. But then again, he also claimed there’s no such thing as a great actor. Mitchum with Jane Greer in Build My Gallows High (aka Out Of The Past) He found a home in film noir, quipping, “I kept the same suit for six years and the same dialogue. They just changed the title of the picture and the leading lady.” His greatest contribution to the genre was the flawless Build My Gallows High (aka Out Of The Past), Mitchum chainsmoking and deadpanning his way through one of the best film noirs ever made. The 70s revival of the genre yielded another career high-point in Peter Yates’ downbeat masterpiece The Friends Of Eddie Coyle, Mitchum employing his hangdog expression to great effect as the title character, a Boston gunrunner trying to talk his way out of a prison sentence and an early grave. That decade also saw him play the great gumshoe Philip Marlowe twice, in the 1975 remake of Farewell, My Lovely and the 1978 remake of The Big Sleep. Mitchum as the titular Eddie Coyle in The Friends Of Eddie Coyle Not that Mitchum’s career was all about killers and crooks. He proved his versatility and demonstrated a more sensitive side in Ryan’s Daughter, Heaven Knows, Mr Allison and The Story of GI Joe, earning his one and only Oscar nomination for the latter. Amazingly, he was only nominated once in a career that included around 130 films. But the dry-witted Mitchum probably wouldn’t have lost too much sleep over stuff like awards or reviews. He once said, “I only read the reviews of my films if they’re amusing. Six books have been written about me but I’ve only met two of the authors. They get my name and birthplace wrong in the first paragraph. From there it’s all downhill.” Mitchum with Deborah Kerr in Heaven Knows, Mr Allison Towards the end of his career, Mitchum would return to westerns, narrating Tombstone and cameoing in Jim Jarmusch’s wonderfully weird 1995 western Dead Man. His performance in the latter was so utterly Mitchum-esque that it serves as the perfect lasting memory. Johnny Depp’s accountant arrives in a dead-end town to take up a new position. He’s told the job’s gone and insists to John Hurt that he must speak to the boss. “I don’t think you want to do that”, Hurt says, with good reason. A fearsome Mitchum in one of his last performances in Dead Man. Mitchum died just two years later, but that cameo is one of such incredible fury, that it’s hard to believe anything could kill him. He never aspired to do anything but a good job, and inadvertently became one of the greats. They Don’t Make ‘Em Like That No More: James Stewart They Don’t Make ‘Em Like That No More: Montgomery Clift They Don’t Make ‘Em Like That No More: Paul Newman They Don’t Make ‘Em Like That No More: Humphrey Bogart They Don’t Make ‘Em Like That No More: Jack Lemmon They Don’t Make ‘Em Like That No More: Audrey Hepburn Why everyone’s talking about Hedy Lamarr and why you should be too The Crow is dead, long live the Crow: the strange curse of Brandon Lee Hot Corn Library \| The great adaptations of Charles Dickens Book of the Week: The Secret Life of Ava Gardner A sneak-peak into the Bollywood Celebrations this week My Favourite Movies: Jim Hosking End Violence Against Women campaign – Five movies you have to see Mary Poppins and the sad fable of Michael Banks Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge – in cinemas for 23 years and counting 10 Bollywood movies to look out for in 2019 Five reasons why Hey Duggee is top dog on kids’ TV The HotCorn copyright© 2018 hotcorn.com© - Chili SpA. 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__label__wiki	0.754161	0.754161	KENT, LOST HOUSES A country colony for Londoners: A house that became part of the ‘garden city movement’. Three years later it was lost Langley Park. Close by the house was an interesting old swimming bath embowered by trees. The old ballroom of the house had a fine painted ceiling. Leading up to the house was an old avenue of trees, a mile and a quarter in length. Image: The British Newspaper Archive. On Monday 6 January 1913, the members of Park Langley Golf Club were shocked to find that their club house was on fire. The blaze had started about eight o’clock at night in the dining-room, the cause unknown, and quickly consumed the interior, including the fine Adam ceiling. On that cold January evening firemen from Beckenham and Bromley rushed to Langley Park. They laid their hoses to the pond 300 yards away and frantically pumped water into the house. By midnight the fire had consumed most of the building and by first light on Tuesday it was evident that only the outer walls remained. The remains of Langley Park were demolished soon afterwards and a replacement club house constructed nearby. The following day firemen were still pouring water onto the remains of Langley House. All the windows had been destroyed and the roof had collapsed inwards. Image: The British Newspaper Archive. The blackened shell of Langley Park. The Georgian part, completely at odds with an adjacent older section, had been totally destroyed. Image: The British Newspaper Archive. Previous to this, Langley Park mansion, standing at the centre of Langley Park in Beckenham, Kent, had been an age-old family home. Parts of the house were said to date back from 1476, built for the De Langele (Langley) family, although the main part of the property was Georgian. The Langley family remained until the 1820s when it was bought by Emmanuel Goodhart. In total, there were twenty rooms, many containing valuable objets d’art, Adam fireplaces and about twenty sepia frescos. After the death of its last occupant, Emmanuel’s son, Charles Emanuel Goodhart, D.L., J.P. in 1903, the property had been empty. However, with one eye on the advance of London, there were plenty waiting patiently to exploit Beckenham’s rural location. The estate was sold by the excecutors of Charles E. Goodhart in 1908 and 700-acres of its parkland bought by H & G Taylor, a Lewisham building firm, to build a new ‘garden estate’ – Parklangley –‘the most luxurious and beautiful attempt at town-planning in the country’. The initial phase (1909-1913) was based on the ‘garden city movement’. The layout of the estate and most of the houses were designed by Reginald C. Fry, but there were other designs from Edgar Underwood, H.T. Bromley, Sothern Dexter and Durrans & Groves. The first roads to be laid out were Wickham Way, Elwill Way and Hayes Way in 1909. Malmains Way, Whitecroft Way and Styles Way followed in 1910. The golf club moved into Langley Park in 1910, occupying the house and remaining parkland. Parklangley, near Beckenham, was the latest development of the garden suburbs ideal. Its 700-acres of park and tree-studded pastoral lands were to remain a huge garden on which spacious villas, designed for comfort as well as appearance, were built. The houses weren’t crowded together, and the ‘jerry builder’ was kept out of the domain. This is Brabourne Rise in the course of construction. Image: Ideal Home. Originally envisaged as a self contained garden city complete with circular shopping centre, church and dance hall building, around 80 houses had been built before the development was interrupted by World War I. Work resumed on the ‘garden city’ in 1918, but the scheme never fully materialised. However, consisting mainly of sizeable detached and semi-detached housing it remains ones of Beckenham’s most exclusive and unspoilt areas. The site of Langley Park mansion is now occupied by Langley Park School for Girls, behind what is now the 3rd green of Langley Park Golf Club. Shopping entirely under shelter. The Parklangley development covered 700-acres and houses were built fringing broad roads with old trees in them. The roads were to run round and radiate from a central position, which itself was close up to an old avenue of trees a mile and quarter in length. At its centre was to be a large rotunda containing the only shops allowed in the area. People were to enter the rotunda by twenty or thirty arches and enter into a shopping promenade – a circus covered by a glass roof complete with bandstand, fountain, tea-tables and flower-shops. Sadly, it was never built. Image: The British Newspaper Archive. “A beautiful estate, having fallen into the builders’ hands, had, instead of being covered with conventional villas in hard, straight roads, been laid out in truly rural style. The houses were different in design; beautiful old trees lined the roads, there was a first-rate golf course and club-house.” Image: The British Newspaper Archive. May 1910. The new golf course at Parklangley. Charles Mayo putting on the second green. The links were played upon for the first time on Wednesday 25 May, when George Duncan won an eighteen-hole match against Charles Mayo, with a score of 78 against 83. Image: The British Newspaper Archive. Langley Park or Parklangley? Both names have been used since the early 20th century. One of the ‘garden city’ houses on the corner of Hayes Way and Wickham Way. Image: Dr Neil Clifton. Langley Park. A lot has changed since 1909. Beckenham was historically in Kent, but is now a district of London in the London Borough of Bromley. On this map we can see the black outline of the old house. Today it is the site of Langley Park School for Girls. Image: National Library of Scotland. BeckenhamBromleyCountry HouseCountry MansionLangley ParkLONDONLost HeritageMansionParklangleyThe British Newspaper Archive Previous PostTHE 1970’S: THE FUTURE OF ENGLAND’S COUNTRY HOUSESNext PostWHEATCROFT CLIFF	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21410
__label__wiki	0.759243	0.759243	Bio - Josie Gibson Josie Gibson PRODUCER OF POTENTIAL Director of The Catalyst Network Josie coaches, consults, and convenes people who are drawn to big opportunities and the energy of change. A former journalist with a degree in French, Japanese, and Philosophy, Josie’s career has spanned all sectors. She has held a number of senior roles in different industries and, more recently, seen success as an inspired entrepreneur. In 2014, Josie co-founded The Catalyst Network, a high-impact community of courageous, compassionate, and imaginative individuals working to solve complex business and societal challenges together. Josie co-created Australia’s first leadership index, and she has founded and built several highly successful businesses including a network of chief financial officers, initiatives for senior women in business, and a collaborative innovation venture. Through this, she has coached and mentored scores of executive leaders from around the world. THECATALYSTNETWORK.CO linkedin.com/in/josiegibson twitter.com/JosieJosieg	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21411
__label__wiki	0.946091	0.946091	Jason Matthew Vargas (born February 2, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Florida Marlins, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, and Kansas City Royals. Vargas with the Storm Chasers in 2016 New York Mets – No. 44 Starting pitcher Born: February 2, 1983 (age 36) Bats: Left Throws: Left July 14, 2005, for the Florida Marlins (through July 17, 2019) Florida Marlins (2005–2006) New York Mets (2007) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2013) Kansas City Royals (2014–2017) New York Mets (2018–present) World Series champion (2015) AL wins leader (2017) College years Vargas pitching for the Long Beach State 49ers in 2004 Vargas was drafted by Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins with the 1,273rd pick in the 2001 Major League Baseball draft. He declined and decided to go to Louisiana State University. As a freshman at LSU, Vargas went 1-1 with a 3.43 ERA in 13 games. He also saw occasional action as a first baseman and designated hitter, and in his first collegiate at-bat, he launched a pinch hit grand slam to lift the Bayou Bengals to a victory over Mercer. However, Vargas decided to transfer out of LSU after the 2002 season to Cypress College for the 2003 season, picking a junior college so he would still be eligible for the draft. He was the Southern California junior college player of the year for his work on the mound and at the plate. However, as the season wore on, his arm slot dropped; and his velocity fell into the mid-80s. That, combined with Vargas' signing bonus demands, depressed his draft stock, so he went undrafted. Vargas headed to Long Beach State for his junior year. He liked the school's history of producing major league talent and liked the school's hard-nosed mentality even more, especially after getting a recommendation from J.J. Newkirk, who played for Vargas's father, Joe, at Victor Valley High School. Vargas arrived at LBSU with a new work ethic determined to improve upon his year at Cypress College. Vargas also proved a fast learner. At Long Beach, he learned to keep his top half aligned with his lower half over the rubber and not drift toward the plate as he twisted through his delivery. The tweak allowed Vargas to repeat his mechanics and keep his arm higher, which in turn increased the velocity on his fastball and improved the break on his curveball. The new work ethic paid off, and in 2004 Vargas went 7-6 with a 4.14 ERA in 18 games on the mound, while hitting .354 with 14 doubles and five home runs as the team's designated hitter. The Florida Marlins drafted Vargas out of Long Beach State with their second-round pick in the 2004 MLB draft and signed by scout Robby Cosaro; he was a collegiate teammate of Jered Weaver, who was the Anaheim Angels' first-round pick in 2004. Vargas was the 68th player taken overall in the draft. He signed with the Marlins in time to make eight starts with their Low A affiliate, the Jamestown Jammers, with whom he went 3-1 with an ERA of 1.96. He finished 2004 with three starts at the end of the 2004 campaign with one of the Marlins' Single-A affiliates, the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the South Atlantic League. He had a record of 2-1, an ERA of 2.37, and struck out 17 batters in 19 innings pitched. Vargas was then promising enough that Baseball America listed him 8th among the Marlins' top 10 prospects for 2005; those above him were Jeremy Hermida, Scott Olsen, Yorman Bazardo, Jason Stokes, Josh Willingham, Eric Reed, and Taylor Tankersley. Baseball America predicted that Vargas would start the season in Greensboro and finish it in High A with the Jupiter Hammerheads; Vargas would very easily surpass that expectation during the 2005 season. Vargas did start the 2005 season with Greensboro, as was expected, but he advanced quickly through the Marlins' minor-league system. He made five starts with Greensboro, going 4-1 with an earned run average of just 0.80. He was then promoted to Jupiter, where he went 2-3 with a 3.42 ERA in nine starts; while there, he struck out 60 batters in 551⁄3 innings. With his third club of the year, the Double-A Carolina Mudcats, he made three starts, going 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 19 innings pitched. The Marlins noticed Vargas's success in the minor leagues and, when faced with injuries to their own pitching staff, decided to make him the fourth Mudcats pitcher to play in the major leagues in 2005 (the others were Logan Kensing, Olsen, and Bazardo). He made his major-league debut on July 14, 2005, the same day on which the Marlins designated veteran starter Al Leiter for assignment. His first start in the majors would come on July 18 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Unlike Kensing, Olsen, and Bazardo, Vargas enjoyed nearly immediate success upon his arrival in the major leagues, and after Ismael Valdéz returned from a leg injury, the Marlins moved Brian Moehler to the bullpen and left Vargas in their rotation. On August 21, Vargas started against the Dodgers and pitched his first complete game in the majors, giving up one run on six hits and striking out seven. He finished the season with a record of 5-5 and a 4.03 ERA. Vargas received one third-place vote from the Baseball Writers' Association of America in the 2005 MLB Rookie of the Year voting. Vargas started the 2006 season in the Marlins' starting rotation, but he struggled there; in five starts, he went 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA, 20 walks, and 14 strikeouts in 232⁄3 innings. For the month of May, the Marlins moved him to the bullpen, where he gave up one run in 51⁄3 innings over his first three appearances. In his fourth appearance out of the bullpen, he allowed eight runs (seven earned) over 31⁄3 innings; the Marlins optioned him to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes on May 14. Vargas started improving with Albuquerque, going 2-2 with a 4.54 ERA in seven starts and earning another promotion to the major leagues on July 6.[1] However, over his next three games with the Marlins, all in relief, Vargas allowed 13 runs (12 earned), four home runs, and five walks in 101⁄3 innings; he struck out five batters. The Marlins sent him back to Albuquerque on July 29, where he stayed for the rest of Albuquerque's season. Vargas continued to struggle in his second stint with Albuquerque, allowing 38 earned runs on 56 hits in 311⁄3 innings.[2] The Marlins did not call him up again in 2006 after the major-league rosters expanded in September. Overall, Vargas went 1-2 with a 7.33 ERA for the Marlins and 3-6 with a 7.43 ERA for the Isotopes in 2006. On November 20, 2006, the Marlins traded Vargas to the New York Mets along with fellow starting pitcher Adam Bostick in exchange for relief pitchers Matt Lindstrom and Henry Owens. Vargas began the 2007 season with the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs, compiling a 2-3 record with a 5.30 ERA which Mets manager Willie Randolph described as "so-so".[3] He was called up to the Mets on May 13 after an injured Moisés Alou was sent to the disabled list, and took over the rotation spot previously held by Mike Pelfrey, who was in return optioned to New Orleans after posting an 0-5 record in 6 outings. His first outing as a Met was on May 17, a no decision in a 6-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs.[4] His next outing as a Met was on July 3 against the Colorado Rockies. Vargas pitched 3.1 innings, giving up nine earned runs. Vargas, had a bone spur removed from his elbow in October, and had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip on March 17, 2008.[5] Vargas pitching for the Seattle Mariners in 2011 On December 10, 2008, Vargas was one of seven players sent to the Seattle Mariners in a three-team trade between the Mets, Mariners and the Cleveland Indians.[6] Vargas was optioned down to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers on July 7, 2009 to make roster room for Chris Shelton. On September 1 Vargas was called up to the Majors along with Tacoma teammate Mike Carp. He was 4-3 with a 3.14 ERA in nine starts with Tacoma.[7] Vargas started the 2010 Mariner season in the squad's starting rotation, and through June proved to be one of the most surprising success stories on the troubled Seattle team's roster. Through 14 starts he had posted a 6-2 record over 91.1 innings, with a 2.66 ERA, 60 strikeouts and 23 walks. By the end of the season Vargas had thrown in 192 innings, and posted a 9-12 record with a 3.78 ERA and 116 strikeouts. In January 2012 the Mariners and Vargas agreed on a 1-year deal worth $4.85 million for the 2012 season. In July, Vargas went 5-0 in six starts and had an AL-best 1.64 ERA and was named the AL Pitcher of the Month.[8] Vargas pitching for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2013 On December 19, 2012, Vargas was traded to the Los Angeles Angels for first baseman Kendrys Morales. On November 21, 2013, Vargas signed a four-year, $32 million contract with the Kansas City Royals.[9] He opened the season as the number three starter for the Royals and posted a career best 3.71 ERA over 187 innings. On October 2, Vargas faced his former team, the Los Angeles Angels in the first postseason start of his career. He gave up two earned runs over six innings in the Royals victory, though he did not receive a decision. On July 21, 2015 during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Vargas was forced to leave the game after throwing only 26 pitches with an apparent injury to his throwing arm. The next day, Vargas was diagnosed with a torn UCL in his left elbow, forcing him to undergo Tommy John surgery and missed the remainder of the 2015 season and much of the 2016 season.[10][11] Although his season ended prematurely before the Royals' World Series run in 2015, he did receive a World Series ring.[12] On September 17, 2016, he made his first start following his recovery from surgery, against the Chicago White Sox. The 2017 season was Vargas's fourth year with the Kansas City Royals, and his first full season since undergoing Tommy John surgery. Vargas started strong, going 12-3 in the first half, and was named to the American League All-Star team. It was the first ever All-Star selection of his career. In the second half, Vargas struggled, posting a 2-8 record, including a four-game losing streak. He rebounded, however, winning four straight decisions in the month of September, and in the process establishing a career-high for wins. Vargas finished the season with an 18-11 record and an ERA of 4.16.[13] He led major league pitchers in percent of balls pulled against him (48.8%).[14] He also led all major league pitchers in changeup percentage (32.7%).[15] Return to the Mets On February 18, 2018, Vargas signed with the Mets for two-years and $16 million plus an $8 million option for a third year.[16] On March 16, Vargas suffered a broken right hand. He missed the first month of the season due to the broken right hand. On June 25, he was once again placed on the disabled list, with a calf injury.[17] On June 23, 2019, Vargas threatened a Newsday reporter with bodily harm (i.e. punched out) in the Mets locker room after a game against the Cubs.[18] On June 24, 2019, Vargas was fined $10,000 by the Mets for his actions.[19] Vargas throws four pitches: a fastball ranging from 87-91 mph, a curveball 74-77 mph, a cutter in the mid 80's mph and a changeup from 80-82 mph.[20] Vargas married his high school sweetheart, Shelly. They have three children.[21] ^ Walsh, Michael (2006-07-06). "Notes: Vargas recalled from Triple-A". MLB.com – Florida Marlins. Retrieved 2013-11-22. ^ "Minor League Baseball Stats for JAson Vargas". MiLB.com. Retrieved 2013-11-22. ^ MLB Baseball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games ^ "Box Score – Cubs@Mets – May 17, 2007". ESPN. Retrieved 2013-11-22. ^ Delcos, John (2007-10-03). "Injury updates". The Lohud Mets Blog. Retrieved 2013-11-22. ^ "Mariners announce three-team, 12-player trade with Mets and Indians". MLB.com – Seattle Mariners. 2008-12-11. Retrieved 2013-11-22. ^ "Mariners add three players as rosters expand". MLB.com – Seattle Mariners. 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2013-11-22. ^ Drellich, Evan (2 August 2012). "Mariners' Vargas named top pitcher for July". MLB.com. Retrieved 3 August 2012. ^ DiGiovanna, Mike (2013-11-21). "Former Angels pitcher Jason Vargas signs four-year deal with Royals". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-11-22. ^ McCullough, Andy (July 22, 2015). "Jason Vargas to have Tommy John surgery, Royals recall Yordano Ventura". Kansas City Star. Retrieved July 22, 2015. ^ ESPN (July 22, 2015). "Royals place Jason Vargas on DL, recall Yordano Ventura". Retrieved July 22, 2015. ^ http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/kansas-city-royals-pitcher-jason-vargas-is-sized-for-his-news-photo/511896742#kansas-city-royals-pitcher-jason-vargas-is-sized-for-his-2015-world-picture-id511896742 ^ Jason Vargas Stats \| Baseball-Reference.com ^ Major League Leaderboards » 2016 » Pitchers » Batted Ball Statistics \| FanGraphs Baseball ^ Major League Leaderboards » 2017 » Pitchers » Pitch Type Statistics \| FanGraphs Baseball ^ http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-officially-sign-jason-vargas-two-year-contract-article-1.3828294 ^ Jason Vargas placed on DL with calf injury \| MLB.com ^ https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/newsday-mets-tim-healey-mickey-callaway-jason-vargas-1.32837155 ^ https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/mickey-callaway-jason-vargas-fined-1.32906968 ^ "Player Card: Jason Vargas". Brooks Baseball. 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2013-11-22. ^ "Vahe Gregorian: Jason Vargas' facade speaks to his remarkable comeback". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved December 22, 2017. Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors) The 2004 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. The draft marked the first time three players from the same university were chosen in the first ten picks. Source: MLB.com 2004 Draft Tracker 2007 Florida Marlins season The Florida Marlins' 2007 season was the 15th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in the National League. It would begin with the team attempting to improve on their promising 78-84 record in 2006. Despite the success of the team under manager Joe Girardi, he was fired and replaced with Fredi González. Marlins general manager Larry Beinfest said that the team's goal from the start of the season was to compete in the playoffs. However, failed to make the playoffs for the 4th consecutive season.The Marlins had two goals to address during the 2006 offseason: they needed a new closer because '06 closer Joe Borowski signed with the Cleveland Indians as a free agent, and the Marlins saw the need for a new center fielder. They had platooned Eric Reed, Reggie Abercrombie, Chris Aguila, Cody Ross, and Alfredo Amézaga in the position in 2006, with backup shortstop Amézaga making most of the starts at that position later in the season. The Marlins had added some new relief pitchers since 2006, trading Chris Resop to the Los Angeles Angels for Kevin Gregg and shipping prospects Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick to the New York Mets for Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom. Lindstrom has been a closer during his time in the minors and has a fastball that reached 100 mph on radar guns in winter league play during the 2006 offseason. The Marlins saw much competition for their closer role, with Ricky Nolasco, Renyel Pinto, Mike Koplove, Gregg, Lindstrom, and Owens all candidates for the job. In April, newly acquired Jorge Julio was named closer, but on May 13, he was traded to the Colorado Rockies for Byung-hyun Kim. The Marlins signed center fielder Alex Sánchez to a minor league deal in the offseason, who competed for the Marlins' center field job with Reed, Abercrombie, Ross, and Amézaga. Beinfest said that the Marlins tried to trade for a proven center fielder but were asked for too much in order to get one. However, Sánchez was released at the end of spring training and the starting role was handed to rookie Alejandro De Aza. The 2009 Seattle Mariners season was the 33rd season in franchise history. They improved upon a disappointing 2008 season, where they finished last in the American League West with a 61–101 record. They finished 3rd in the AL West with an 85–77 record, a 24 win improvement. The 2009 Mariners became the 13th team in MLB history to have a winning record following a 100+ loss season. On September 13, 2009, Ichiro got his 200th hit of the season. In the process, he set a new MLB record by getting at least 200 hits for nine consecutive seasons. He would break Wee Willie Keeler's record of eight consecutive seasons. The 2014 American League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the Baltimore Orioles against the Kansas City Royals for the American League pennant and the right to play in the 2014 World Series. The Royals won the series four games to zero. The series was the 45th in league history with TBS airing all games in the United States. Even as the Royals swept the series, each game was decided by two runs or fewer. To reach the 2014 ALCS, the Orioles (East Division champions, 96–66) defeated the Tigers (Central Division champions, 90–72) in the ALDS, 3 games to 0. The Royals (Wild Card, 89–73) defeated the Oakland Athletics in the AL Wild Card Game and then defeated the Angels (West Division champions, 98–64) in the ALDS, 3 games to 0.It was the first-ever postseason meeting between the two teams. It was the first ALCS since 2005 not to feature the Yankees, Red Sox, or Tigers. The Royals would go on to lose to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 88th edition of the Major League Baseball All Star Game. The game was hosted by the Miami Marlins and was played at Marlins Park on July 11, 2017. It was televised nationally by Fox. The game was the first since 2002 whose outcome did not determine home-field advantage for the World Series; instead, the team with the better regular-season record will have home-field advantage. The Marlins were announced as the hosts on February 10, 2015, by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred; the game was the Marlins' first time hosting, leaving the Tampa Bay Rays as the only MLB franchise not to have hosted an All-Star game. The Marlins initially were slated to host the 2000 All-Star Game, prior to having it revoked by then-National League president Len Coleman due to the concerns of both the franchise's long-term viability in the South Florida market, along with the habitually low attendance figures at Pro Player Stadium. That game was eventually moved to Turner Field in Atlanta. The American League won, 2–1, in 10 innings. Robinson Canó, second baseman for the Seattle Mariners, hit the game winning home run for the American League and was named the 2017 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player. 2018 MLB Little League Classic The 2018 MLB Little League Classic was a regular season Major League Baseball (MLB) game that was played on August 19, 2018, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, during the 2018 MLB season and the 2018 Little League World Series.The game was played between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies. It was televised on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball and MLB Network, and it also aired on ESPN Radio. Carolina Mudcats (1991–2011) The Carolina Mudcats were a minor league baseball team based in Zebulon, North Carolina. They were a Double-A Southern League team from 1991 to 2011. The team played their home games at Five County Stadium. In 2010 the franchise moved to Pensacola, Florida, in a series of purchases and relocations, becoming the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Concurrently, a Carolina League franchise from Kinston, North Carolina, was moved to Zebulon, taking on the Carolina Mudcats name. Cypress College is a comprehensive community college located in Cypress, in southern California, United States. The college is one of 112 in the California Community Colleges System and belongs to the North Orange County Community College District. It offers a variety of general education (55 associate degrees), transfer courses (58 transfer majors), and 145 vocational programs leading to associate degrees and certificates. Dominic Smith (baseball) Dominic David Rene Smith (born June 15, 1995) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was selected by the Mets with the 11th overall pick of the 2013 MLB draft out of Junípero Serra High School in Gardena, California, and made his MLB debut in 2017. He bats and throws left-handed. His nickname of Medium Hurt comes from a play of fellow first baseman Hall of Famer Frank Thomas whose nickname is Big Hurt. Douglas Wildes Fister (born February 4, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, and Texas Rangers from 2009 through 2018. Fister bats left-handed, and throws right-handed. He was born in Merced, California and attended Golden Valley High School. He then attended Merced College, and later Fresno State University. He spent four seasons (2006–2009) in the Seattle Mariners minor league organization before being promoted to their Major League roster in 2009. Greensboro Grasshoppers The Greensboro Grasshoppers are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greensboro, North Carolina. They are members of the South Atlantic League and the Class A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They play their home games at First National Bank Field, which opened in 2005 and seats 7,499 fans. The team's logo was changed to a cartoon Grasshopper prior to the inaugural season at the new ballpark. Fans selected the name "Guilford" (Greensboro's county's name) for the team's mascot, a giant grasshopper. Prior to that, all home games for the Hornets and Bats were held at World War Memorial Stadium, just northeast of downtown Greensboro. Henry Owens (right-handed pitcher) Henry Jay Owens (born April 23, 1979 in Miami, Florida) is an American former professional baseball player. A pitcher, Owens played in Major League Baseball for the New York Mets in 2006 and the Florida Marlins in 2007. He bats and throws right-handed. Maddux (statistic) A Maddux is when a pitcher throws a complete game shut-out in under 100 pitches. Writer Jason Lukehart invented the statistic in 2012 and named it after his favorite baseball player Greg Maddux. Fittingly, as of 2019 Greg Maddux has the most career Madduxes with 13, since 1988 when accurate pitch counts were tracked. Zane Smith has the second most career Madduxes with 7 and shares the single season record for Madduxes with Greg Maddux with 3 each. Shelby Miller and Derek Holland are the leaders among active players players with 3 each. The 1988 season had the most Madduxes with 25, while 2018 had the fewest with just two thrown. Roy Halladay is the only player to have thrown an extra-inning Maddux throwing 99 pitches in 10 innings on September 6, 2003. Major League Baseball Pitcher of the Month Award The Pitcher of the Month award is a Major League Baseball award named by each league for each month of the regular season. The National League started recognizing the award in 1975. The American League followed in 1979. Upon the introduction of each league's award, pitchers became ineligible for the (position players') player of the month award. Major league pitchers beating all 30 teams Since 1998, there have been 30 teams in Major League Baseball (MLB). It is very rare for a pitcher to record a win against every team. In earlier times, two factors made it nearly impossible to defeat all teams in both leagues (even before expansion increased the number to 30): Before the era of free-agency, in which players are free to move to another team at the end of their contract, a pitcher would play for only a few teams, and could not, of course, win a game against his own team. Before inter-league play began in June 1997, a pitcher would see only half of the 30 teams in any single season, unless traded to a team in the other league. Even with inter-league play, a pitcher may not have his spot in a typical 5-man rotation match the games in the single 3- or 4-game series against another team, and only a few teams from the other league are played in any season.In any case, defeating all teams is more likely only if a pitcher has a long career. Assuming a top notch pitcher manages to win against every team in a season, it will still only be 19 teams, unless he was traded. It is far more likely that his wins will come against 10 to 12 teams, most of which he has already beaten. As of August 20, 2017, there have been 18 pitchers who have beaten all 30 teams. The San Francisco Giants are the only franchise with three players who accomplished the feat while on their roster: Randy Johnson, Barry Zito, and Tim Hudson. As of October 31, 2018, nine active pitchers have defeated 29 teams. CC Sabathia - has not defeated the Miami Marlins. Zack Greinke - has not defeated the Kansas City Royals. Ervin Santana - has not defeated the Milwaukee Brewers. Ubaldo Jiménez - has not defeated the Colorado Rockies. Francisco Liriano - has not defeated the Miami Marlins. J.A. Happ - has not defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers. Scott Kazmir - has not defeated the Milwaukee Brewers. Jon Lester - has not defeated the Boston Red Sox. Edwin Jackson - has not defeated the Atlanta Braves.As of October 31, 2018, eight active pitchers have defeated 28 teams. Jake Arrieta - has not defeated the Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners. Justin Verlander - has not defeated the Cincinnati Reds and Miami Marlins. Anibal Sanchez - has not defeated the Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers. Cole Hamels - has not defeated the Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays. Ricky Nolasco - has not defeated the Cleveland Indians and Miami Marlins. Wade Miley - has not defeated the New York Mets and New York Yankees. Charlie Morton - has not defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates. Jason Vargas - has not defeated the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets.As of October 31, 2018, four active pitchers have defeated 27 teams. Gio González - has not defeated the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, and Washington Nationals. Matt Garza - has not defeated the Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Tampa Bay Rays. Rick Porcello - has not defeated the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, and San Diego Padres. Ian Kennedy - has not defeated the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, and Toronto Blue Jays.As of October 31, 2018, five active pitchers have defeated 26 teams. James Shields - has not defeated the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Nationals. Edinson Vólquez - has not defeated the Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, and Toronto Blue Jays. Jordan Zimmermann - has not defeated the Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Nationals. Trevor Cahill - has not defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Mets. Iván Nova - has not defeated the Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Seattle Mariners. Matt Lindstrom Matthew Raymond Lindstrom (born February 11, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Miami Marlins, Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles, Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox. Miami Marlins all-time roster The following is a list of players, both past and current, who appeared at least in one game for the Miami Marlins franchise, known as the Florida Marlins from their inception in 1993 through the 2011 season. Players in bold are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Mickey Callaway Michael Christopher “Mickey” Callaway (born May 13, 1975) is a former American professional baseball pitcher and the manager for the New York Mets national league of Major League Baseball. Yordano Ventura Hernández (Spanish: [ɟʝoɾˈðano βenˈtuɾa]; June 3, 1991 – January 22, 2017) was a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Ventura made his MLB debut on September 17, 2013. Known as a power pitcher, his fastball topped out at 102 mph in his career. He won the 2015 World Series with the Royals. On January 22, 2017, Ventura was killed in a car crash in the Dominican Republic. American League season wins leaders 1904: Chesbro 1905: Waddell 1906: Orth 1907: Joss & White 1908: Walsh 1909: Mullin 1910: Coombs 1912: S. J. Wood 1913: Johnson 1917: Cicotte 1920: Bagby 1921: Mays & Shocker 1922: Rommel 1923: Uhle 1925: Lyons & Rommel 1927: W. Hoyt & Lyons 1928: Grove & Pipgras 1929: Earnshaw 1930: Grove 1932: Crowder 1933: Crowder & Grove 1934: Gomez 1935: Ferrell 1936: Bridges 1938: Ruffing 1939: Feller 1942: Hughson 1943: Chandler & Trout 1944: Newhouser 1946: Feller & Newhouser 1949: Parnell 1950: Lemon 1952: Shantz 1953: Porterfield 1954: Lemon & Wynn 1955: Ford, Lemon & Sullivan 1956: Lary 1957: Bunning & Pierce 1958: Turley 1959: Wynn 1960: Estrada & J. Perry 1961: Ford 1962: Terry 1964: Chance & Peters 1965: Grant 1966: Kaat 1967: Lonborg & Wilson 1968: McLain 1970: Cuellar, McNally & J. Perry 1971: Lolich 1972: G. Perry & W. Wood 1973: W. Wood 1974: Hunter & Jenkins 1975: Hunter & Palmer 1976: Palmer 1977: Goltz, Leonard & Palmer 1978: Guidry 1979: Flanagan 1980: Stone 1981: D. Martínez, McCatty, Morris & Vuckovich 1982: L. Hoyt 1984: Boddicker 1986: Clemens 1987: Clemens & Stewart 1988: Viola 1990: Welch 1991: Erickson & Gullickson 1992: Brown & Morris 1993: McDowell 1994: Key 1995: Mussina 1996: Pettitte 1998: Clemens, Cone & Helling 1999: P. Martínez 2000: Hudson & Wells 2001: Mulder 2002: Zito 2003: Halladay 2004: Schilling 2005: Colón 2006: Santana & Wang 2007: Beckett 2009: Hernández, Sabathia & Verlander 2010: Sabathia 2011: Verlander 2012: Price & Weaver 2013: Scherzer 2014: Kluber, Scherzer & Weaver 2015: Keuchel 2016: Porcello 2017: Carrasco, Kluber & Vargas 2018: Snell New York Mets roster 1 Amed Rosario 3 Tomás Nido 6 Jeff McNeil 11 Adeiny Hechavarria 12 Juan Lagares 13 Luis Guillorme 20 Pete Alonso 21 Todd Frazier 22 Dominic Smith 24 Robinson Canó 27 Jeurys Familia 28 J. D. Davis 30 Michael Conforto 32 Steven Matz 34 Noah Syndergaard 35 Jacob Rhame 38 Justin Wilson 39 Edwin Díaz 40 Wilson Ramos 43 Luis Avilan 44 Jason Vargas 48 Jacob deGrom 65 Robert Gsellman 67 Seth Lugo 74 Chris Mazza Inactive roster 46 Brooks Pounders 47 Drew Gagnon 49 Tyler Bashlor 55 Corey Oswalt 61 Walker Lockett 63 Tim Peterson 64 Chris Flexen 66 Franklyn Kilome 70 Eric Hanhold 72 Stephen Nogosek 73 Daniel Zamora 4 Jed Lowrie 9 Brandon Nimmo 45 Zack Wheeler 52 Yoenis Céspedes 62 Drew Smith Manager 36 Mickey Callaway Bench 50 Jim Riggleman First base 53 Glenn Sherlock Third base 10 Gary DiSarcina Hitting 54 Chili Davis Asst. hitting 56 Tom Slater Pitching 58 Phil Regan Bullpen coach 25 Ricky Bones Quality control 60 Luis Rojas Bullpen catcher 78 Eric Langill Bullpen catcher 57 Dave Racaniello	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21412
__label__wiki	0.806716	0.806716	in Art, History and Culture, Politics, World Buzz Meet Edward Roye, the First Igbo Lawyer Who Became Liberia’s 5th President in 1870 Edward James Roye, born on February 3, 1815 in Newark, Ohio, was a descendant of the Igbo people of present-day Nigeria who served as the fifth President of Liberia from 1870 to his overthrow in 1871 and subsequent violent death. Roye had previously served as the 4th Chief Justice of Liberia from 1865 until 1868. He was the first member of Liberia’s True Whig Party to serve as President. In 1846, attracted by the American Colonization Society’s promotion of the relocation of African Americans to the colony of Liberia in West Africa, Roye at the age of 31 emigrated to the colony with his family. There he set up business as a merchant. The next year, the colony gained independence. Within three years of his arrival, Roye became active in Liberian politics, serving as a representative and Speaker of the Liberian House of Representatives, and as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia. Roye was inaugurated as President of Liberia on January 3, 1870. In the decades after 1868, escalating economic difficulties weakened the state’s dominance over the coastal indigenous tribal peoples. Conditions worsened, the cost of imports was far greater than the income generated by exports of its commodity crops of coffee, rice, palm oil, sugarcane, and timber. Liberia tried desperately to modernize its largely agricultural economy. A portrait of Edward James Roye. Pic credit: Scioto Historical In 1871, Roye tasked the Speaker of the House of Representatives, William Spencer Anderson, with negotiating a new loan from British financiers. Anderson secured $500,000 under strict terms from the British consul-general, David Chinery, but was heavily criticised, and was eventually arrested. Anderson was apparently tried the following year for his part in securing the loan. He was found not guilty, but was shot to death while leaving the courthouse. Roye was removed from the presidency on 26 October 1871. The circumstances surrounding his ouster remain imprecise, although historians believe that he was deposed in a coup d’état. It is not known who carried out the coup d’état. He was jailed for a few months afterward. His unpopular loans with Britain may have given his enemies the reasons to depose him. No specific historical record is available about the date and circumstances of Roye’s death. Varying accounts indicate that he was killed on February 11 or February 12, 1872. Another account suggests that he drowned on February 12, 1872 while trying to reach a British ship in Monrovia harbor. The portrait of President Roye in the gallery of the Presidential Mansion in Monrovia notes his date of death as February 11, 1872. Roye was succeeded by his vice president, James Skivring Smith, who governed from 1871 to 1872. Previous article What You Need To Know About The Nigerian Photographer, George Osodi Next article Historical Of The Ijaw People, Earliest Inhabitants In Southern Nigeria Written by PH Import These Five Products To Nigeria, Sell And Make Profit Tips On How To Identify Fake Samsung, Infinix, Tecno And ITel Phones Alex Revealed That BamBam Was Fake In ‘Double Wahala’ Top 5 Cities With The Best Road Infrastructure In Nigeria More From: Art, History and Culture A Brief History Of Queen Luwoo The First And Only Woman To Be Crowned A King In Ile-Ife Meet Emotan, The Market Woman Who Saved A Benin King From Being Murdered Meet Nwanyeruwa,The Woman Who Ignited Igbo Women’s War Of 1929 All You Need To Know About Nigeria’s No-Nonsense General, Tunde Idiagbon by PH July 17, 2019, 4:03 pm What You Need To Know About The Nigerian Photographer, George Osodi Historical Of The Ijaw People, Earliest Inhabitants In Southern Nigeria	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21413
__label__wiki	0.778311	0.778311	Paul Walker’s absence is tough: Jordana Brewsterhttps://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/hollywood/paul-walkers-absence-is-tough-jordana-brewster/ Paul Walker’s absence is tough: Jordana Brewster Jordana Brewster has opened up about resuming work on 'Fast & Furious 7' in the wake of the death of her co-star Paul Walker. By Press Trust of India \|Los Angeles \| Published: April 14, 2014 10:11:53 am ‘Furious 7’ named the most mistake-filled movie of 2015 Life after Paul Walker’s death is not getting any better: Father Seventh ‘Fast & Furious’ film is officially titled ‘Furious 7’ ‘Fast & Furious 7’ is scheduled for release on April 10, 2015 in the US. Actress Jordana Brewster has opened up about resuming work on ‘Fast & Furious 7’ in the wake of the death of her co-star Paul Walker. Production on the sequel was halted last year when Walker and his friend Roger Rodas were killed in a car crash, reported Digital Spy. “I haven’t been to set yet, but I imagine it’s going to be very difficult,” Brewster said. The 33-year-old actress also spoke about the impact that Walker has had on her life, given that they starred in multiple ‘Fast & Furious’ movies together. “I just remember seeing this stud walk into the room the first time and he had this bleached-out hair. I met him as a baby and I saw him grow into an awesome, amazing, charitable man. “It’s not often you get to work with someone for so many years and he was so exemplary in the way he lived. He was more beautiful inside than out,” Brewster added. Jordana Brewster Paul Walker's absence is tough: Jordana Brewster 1 Amitabh Bachchan to begin shooting for R Balki’s next film with Dhanush 2 Imagine Dragons to perform at Billboard Music Awards 3 Manisha Koirala wants to adopt a baby girl	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21414
__label__cc	0.659725	0.340275	About that scientific consensus… The British Parliament has begun an investigation into the meaning of the East Anglia CRU e-mails, and part of that process is a form of peer review, in a sense. Their Science and Technology committee has welcomed commentary from the scientific community, and among those members is the non-profit charity, the Institute of Physics. In their submission, the IoP says that the UEA CRU e-mails don’t just indict East Anglia, but the entire AGW industry — and that “science” wasn’t what they were doing at all (via Watts Up With That and Mike Ross, emphases mine): What are the implications of the disclosures for the integrity of scientific research? 1. The Institute is concerned that, unless the disclosed e-mails are proved to be forgeries or adaptations, worrying implications arise for the integrity of scientific research in this field and for the credibility of the scientific method as practised in this context. 2. The CRU e-mails as published on the internet provide prima facie evidence of determined and co-ordinated refusals to comply with honourable scientific traditions and freedom of information law. The principle that scientists should be willing to expose their ideas and results to independent testing and replication by others, which requires the open exchange of data, procedures and materials, is vital. The lack of compliance has been confirmed by the findings of the Information Commissioner. This extends well beyond the CRU itself – most of the e-mails were exchanged with researchers in a number of other international institutions who are also involved in the formulation of the IPCC’s conclusions on climate change. And as far as the science being settled, or even “science” as understood by the public as conclusory data, the IoP has issues with that characterization as well: 4. The second category relating to proxy reconstructions are the basis for the conclusion that 20th century warming is unprecedented. Published reconstructions may represent only a part of the raw data available and may be sensitive to the choices made and the statistical techniques used. Different choices, omissions or statistical processes may lead to different conclusions. This possibility was evidently the reason behind some of the (rejected) requests for further information. 5. The e-mails reveal doubts as to the reliability of some of the reconstructions and raise questions as to the way in which they have been represented; for example, the apparent suppression, in graphics widely used by the IPCC, of proxy results for recent decades that do not agree with contemporary instrumental temperature measurements. In other words, the claims made by AGW advocates didn’t match the data available elsewhere. When challenged on this, the AGW advocates refused to release the data to other scientists, and finally refused to release it under a Freedom of Information demand. When it looked as though the government would get their hands on the data anyway, the CRU conspired to destroy the data, along with other AGW advocates around the world. The IoP doesn’t trust East Anglia to restore confidence in the AGW movement’s claim to science, either, because the fraud went well beyond the boundaries of the University of East Anglia: Are the terms of reference and scope of the Independent Review announced on 3 December 2009 by UEA adequate? 10. The scope of the UEA review is, not inappropriately, restricted to the allegations of scientific malpractice and evasion of the Freedom of Information Act at the CRU. However, most of the e-mails were exchanged with researchers in a number of other leading institutions involved in the formulation of the IPCC’s conclusions on climate change. In so far as those scientists were complicit in the alleged scientific malpractices, there is need for a wider inquiry into the integrity of the scientific process in this field. 11. The first of the review’s terms of reference is limited to: “…manipulation or suppression of data which is at odds with acceptable scientific practice…” The term ‘acceptable’ is not defined and might better be replaced with ‘objective’. 12. The second of the review’s terms of reference should extend beyond reviewing the CRU’s policies and practices to whether these have been breached by individuals, particularly in respect of other kinds of departure from objective scientific practice, for example, manipulation of the publication and peer review system or allowing pre-formed conclusions to override scientific objectivity. Excerpt from here. 2 Comments \| Uncategorized \| Tagged: AGW, climate change, global warming, green house gasses, science consensus, skeptics, weather \| Permalink The heart of the matter: those CRU files! This letter to Andy Revkin of the New Times, DotEarth, is an excellent statement of the genuine issues raised by the CRU “hacked” emails. The issues are serious. Highlighting is by me. I found this text at Jeff Id’s blog, The Air Vent, but it is linked in many places. Oh, and if you want to jump to a really juicy email instead of reading this long letter, check out this one. Seems they weren’t so confident in their long-term projections after all, nor in their repeated denials (are they the denialists?) that the models had failed to predict a current sustained stalling of temperature rise. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Mr. Revkin, I am writing to you to express my concerns with the content of the emails and documents that were recently obtained and released from the University of East Anglia. In my opinion, many of the comments in the blog articles about this incident have taken extreme positions that cloud the importance of the information that is contained in the documents and emails. With that in mind, I would like to take a moment to describe what I feel are the critical lessons that can be learned from this incident. So that you understand my perspective, I have been labeled as a climate change skeptic, a contrarian, anti-science, and denialist. I have been referred to in a derogatory fashion (and have even been the subject of an entire, somewhat condescending post on RealClimate concerning analyses I had done on the Steig Antarctica paper) because I have questioned the results of several influential articles on climate change. I feel these characterizations are unfair, as I believe that humanity is contributing in a meaningful fashion to the observed rise in global surface air temperatures. I have witnessed several of my contemporaries being labeled in similar fashion in spite of the fact that they, too, believe the same. This illustrates the polarization of the climate change debate that is a dangerous impediment to the science. It appears that unless one believes that catastrophic consequences will necessarily result unless a certain set of draconian measures are taken, that one is dismissed as a crackpot, a liar, and is insinuated or directly accused of having been paid off by corporate interests. This produces a destructive environment for discussing the science of climate change. As a skeptic, I can say in no uncertain terms that the emails and documents from the University of East Anglia do not show that AGW is a falsehood or hoax. Claims that “global warming is dead” (as I have seen) are not supported by those documents. On the other hand, claims that “the science is settled” are shown to be an exaggeration. While vocal skeptics such as Steve McIntyre have been vilified by several influential scientists, the content of the emails demonstrate quite clearly that many of the concerns were legitimate and that this was known by the scientists who repeatedly and publicly denied the veracity of those claims. These include, but are not limited to: · The concern that the significance statistics for MBH 98 were benchmarked to an inappropriate type of noise. Despite public claims to the contrary, Dr. Mann states clearly in email 1059664704.txt that the calibration residuals were “significantly red” for at least two cases. This validates the McIntyre & McKitrick criticism that the confidence intervals and benchmark significance statistics were incorrectly calculated and that MBH claimed greater statistical significance for their reconstruction than was supported by the data. · The concern that the WMO 1999 main graphic, MBH 98, and several other reconstructions included in the IPCC spaghetti graphs had inappropriately spliced instrumental temperatures onto the end of the reconstructions. Despite Dr. Mann publicly stating that “No researchers in this field have ever, to our knowledge, ‘grafted the thermometer record onto’ any reconstrution. It is somewhat disappointing to find this specious claim (which we usually find originating from industry-funded climate disinformation websites) appearing in this forum,” on RealClimate, it is quite clear that this is exactly what was done in emails 0966015630.txt and 0942777075.txt. · The concern that without either stripbark foxtails, bristlecones and/or the Yamal chronology that the hockey stick shape in the 20th century was greatly reduced. Despite pre-publication discussion and disclosure of review comments of the Wahl & Ammann and Ammann & Wahl defenses of MBH in which the McIntyre and McKitrick claims were dismissed as “total crap”, none of these individuals checked WA and AW closely enough to see that they performed not a single reconstructions that did not include at least one of the offending chronologies. They also express concerns that there are methodological problems with MBH, but were more concerned with defending MBH than disclosing factors that they know may partially undermine the result or increase the uncertainty of the result. This may be seen in emails 1102956446.txt, 1108248246.txt, 1122669035.txt, and others. · The concern that the Yamal selection used in Kaufman 2009 and other papers was only a subset and, if the full chronology is used, that the answer changes in a non-trivial fashion. In a string of emails, it can be seen how several of the most influential scientists begin discrediting this concern before they had even researched the claim to see if it is legitimate. As it turns out, it is a legitimate concern, though claims of fraud by some bloggers do not seem substantiated. Rather, confirmation bias seems far more likely. These are in emails 1256760240.txt, 1256735067.txt, 1254756944.txt, and others. As you may be aware, this is only a partial list. These serve to illustrate not that the scientists involved are engaged in fraudulent behavior for personal gain, but rather that they feel that it is their right or duty to be the gatekeepers of what information is allowed to be seen. I think it is clear that the scientists believe that they are correct. I think it is clear that they use this belief to justify actively engage in censoring their own results (and pressure others to censor theirs) to prevent full disclosure of the uncertainties involved in the methods they employ. I think it is clear that they use this belief to justify attempts to discredit legitimate criticisms, in some cases with the knowledge that those criticisms are accurate. I think it is clear that they use this belief to advocate suppressing free expression on the internet. I think it is clear that they use this belief to attempt to manipulate the peer review process to present their results in a way that lends more credibility to their conclusions than otherwise would be the case. This is advocacy, not science. It in no way invalidates AGW theory, but it does call into question the certainty with which these scientists claim to understand the magnitude of the AGW effect – and, by extension, the magnitude and timing of the anticipated consequences. This naturally leads into another important lesson: the insular nature of this relatively small, yet incredibly influential, group of scientists leads them to believe that it is their right to decide who should be privy to data and code. As a party to several of the FOIA requests of the University of East Anglia and CRU, I find myself appalled at the cavalier manner in which several key individuals handled FOIA requests. Some of the most telling emails are 1106338806.txt, 1212009215.txt, 1212063122.txt, 1214229243.txt, 1219239172.txt, and 1228412429.txt (among others) which indicate coordinated activities to prevent release of the data due to who was requesting it rather than the legitimacy of the request, to delete or destroy relevant data, and collusion with the FOIA officers to deny requests without properly examining whether the request was legitimate. While I do not believe that this activity should result in any kind of criminal prosecution whatsoever, I do believe that it should result in some form of corrective and/or disciplinary action by the appropriate institutions. It is my hope that the above issues, not the unsubstantiated claims that AGW is “dead” or AGW is a “hoax”, are the issues that have traction. Otherwise, it is possible that these irresponsible claims – which are easily dismissed – will drown out the very real need for reforms to make climate science more open and accessible. Conversely, it is possible that these irresponsible claims could derail grants for additional research and damage support for many important mitigation activities that to this point were seen as not controversial (such as increased recycling efforts, development and increased commercialization of alternative energy, and similar efforts). This letter is not intended for you to publish (though you may, as long as you do not quote it out of context). It is intended to provide you with a perspective from a “skeptic” who feels that the important lessons of this incident have not been well-carried by either the blogs or the media coverage. I write to you specifically because, although we may differ in our opinion of whether AGW is a presently a “crisis” and what the ideal mitigation/prevention activities might be, I have read enough of your column to believe that you are honest and forthright, and that you welcome hearing multiple sides of the climate debate. I enjoy your work (even when I disagree with your conclusions) and wish you continued success. “Ryan O” 2 Comments \| Uncategorized \| Tagged: AGW, Andy Revkin, carbon, climate change, CO2, cooling, CRU, CRU Hack, data, DotEarth, ecology, environment, global warming, greenhouse, politics, realclimate, science, skeptics, trends, warming \| Permalink Those climate models… Finding out what's in the black box! I often wonder why the global warming doom-gloom-soothsayers have so much traction in the world. Like right wing conservatives, they like to claim that they are victimized by a hostile establishment press, but the NYTimes, a pillar of the establishment, is certainly with them. Check out the 230 comments on Andy Revkins DotEarth blog regarding the recent email disclosures from the CRU. The Editors’ Selections, with the purpose of …highlighting the most interesting and thoughtful comments representing a range of views. includes 4 posts, all firmly in the camp of “How dare they publish this! This is just normal science. Face it, global warming is a fact!!” So much for a range of views…but no matter. But why do intelligent and scientifically literate people, including some who are quite reasonable, e.g., Andy Revkin, feel so confident that the AGW hypothesis has been established beyond doubt? Frequently – check out those Selections – references are made to mountains, avalanches, piles…etc. of data that prove the point. I think something is missing here: I think it is the global circulation models (GCM) run on super computers that clinch it. But there is very little peeking into those models – they are essentially a black box for most people: numbers go in, Apocalypse comes out! Without the models, there would be no terrifying scenarios, disturbing graphs showing steeply rising temperatures over decades to come, no tipping point doomsday model runs. There would be some hard data (CO2 rising), a mountain of ice core, satellite, and surface data from which some would infer a clear trend, correlation, and causal mechanism; there would be an interesting hypothesis about positive feedback amplifying the otherwise manageable temperature rise that might be caused by CO2 increases and that might or might not happen; there would be the same endless scientific haggling and argument over the way the numbers are handled by statistical routines and whether this or that presentation of the data is appropriate and meaningful; there would be no consensus. The advocates of AGW would be a determined and inventive bunch, but they would be hard pressed to demonstrate that the rest of the world should abandon the null-hypothesis, i.e., climate and CO2 have always fluctuated- what’s so different now? – and adopt their hypothesis. Computer models change all that. The GCMs give the AGW crowd the cover to say that they can predict (not with certainty, of course…) the future trend of the climate. It gives them the supposed justification for stating that they have uncovered the “forcing function” that precisely quantifies the impact of CO2 concentrations on the climate. It provides them with a rationale for assserting that their understanding of feedback mechanisms is corrrect and that their predictions are reliable. This role of computer models is not often examined, rarely questioned, certainly not in the popular press. It’s worth taking a look at the writing of Daniel Botkin, a scientist who was present at the creation of computer modeling in ecology, and who has a lot to say on the role of models in scientific investigations. His basic point is that models are valuable tools for understanding a natural system, for trying out ideas of how changes in one thing may affect another, but they are not very good for making predictions. His essay, Science and Soothsaying, is a good starting point. Another critical view of computer modeling is the Pilkeys’ book Useless Arithmetic. Orin Pilkey (not to be confused with the climate scientists father and son, Pielke Sr. and Pielke Jr., also with a jaundiced view of modelers’ work) is most known for his controversy with the US Army Corps over its penchant for pouring millions of dollars into pouring sand on eroding beaches. These wasteful projects are often supported by very impressive computer modeling. In thinking about this topic, I keep returning to a book published almost twenty years ago, Ice Time. In its chapter, The Machine’s Eye, the author makes the point that the study of climate had become, in large part, the study of climate models. He traces the rise of supercomputing in the investigation of climate, and notes that it has become “big business.” The author is relatively uncritical of the use of the models, but he focuses more on their use to understand the mechanics of the climate system rather than to predict the future. The chapter is the only extended discussion in layman terms that I have ever seen of just what computer models of the climate do, and how they are put together. For that, it remains a very useful discussion. Late Note on Revkin’s Blog: Here’s some interesting comments following the controversy-click the number for link to full text: From a physicist who values scientific culture: 265. Frederick UK … I cannot say whether AGW is a valid theory…What I can say is that Mann & co. have so undermined the scientific process that their results lack credibility. This has been a dark period for science. It seems that politics and science do not mix. We need to put this behind us and get serious scientists who are not afraid to have their methods and results questioned. At the end of the day, there is nothing more convincing than facts and proper results. We need transparency but what we have here is a travesty! From a true believer distressed at Andy Revkin’s lack of faith: 269. Wayne Hamilton Springdale, UT Your Dot Earth blog has changed since I started reading and contributing several years ago … I thought it functioned very effectively in describing the threat of anthropogenic climate change.But in recent months… you’ve become increasingly even-handed in balancing the opinions of AGW skeptics and proponents… You now seem to give equal time and credence to the knowledgeable and to the ignorant. I’m sorry to report that your latest article on the CRU hacking gave me the impression that you no longer believe in the consensus of international science and the importance of that fact. It makes me sad to say this, but I’m no longer interested in following your Dot Earth blog. Good bye. Also this one, with a potent warning for Revkin that goes to the heart of “he said, she said” journalism (emphasis added): 261 John M. San Francisco Comparing your NYT article on the controversy to the raw data, I find you are slanting the story, minimizing it, acting more like a press agent than an independent, hard-driving reporter. For example, you write: “Some skeptics asserted Friday that the correspondence revealed an effort to withhold scientific information.” The emails themselves clearly reveal an effort to withhold information, but you are describing this only as an assertion by skeptics. Your article makes no mention at all of the obvious, and possibly illegal, effort to evade requests made under UK Freedom of Information laws. A far better analysis can be found here: http://www.powerlineblog.com… Andy, you are risking your credibility here. 1 Comment \| Uncategorized \| Tagged: AGW, Andy Revkin, Botkin, carbon footprint, climate change, CO2, computer models, deniers, DotEarth, ecology, GCM, global warming, Pielke, Pilkey, public policy, science, skeptics, soothsaying \| Permalink Is Terra Burning…and how do we know? I’m feeling like a crank, but somebody’s got to do this dirty job… I just read Chapter 4 of this book, Climate Change: What It Means for Us, Our Children, and Our Grandchildren. The chapter I read is called “The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change: How Do We Know We’re Not Wrong?” and it’s by Naomi Oreskes. Professor Oreskes is now well known for an essay she published in Science in which she described the results of a survey of nearly 1000 scientific papers, and concluded that the consensus was clearly on the side of global warming being caused by human industrial activity. To quote her university profile page: Her 2004 essay “The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change” (Science 306: 1686), led to Op-Ed pieces in the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Los Angeles Times, and has been widely cited in the mass media, including National Public Radio (Fresh Air), The New Yorker, USA Today, Parade, as well as in the Royal Society’s publication, “A guide to facts and fictions about climate change,” and, most recently, in Al Gore’s movie, “An Inconvenient Truth.” The notion of an established consensus on anthropogenic global warming (AGW) especially one established by survey, always struck me as dubious. I have read only the abstract of her survey paper, but Chapter 4 restates her work and also addresses general questions about the sociology and philosophy of scientific knowledge. Her reasoning, I believe, is grossly superficial, and obviously influenced by her bias in favor of AGW. I have to do this, point by point, here we go…italics and emphasis all mine. Scientists glean their colleagues’ conclusions by reading their results in published scientific literature, listening to presentations at scientific conferences, and discussing data and ideas in the hallways of conference centers, university departments, research institutes, and government agencies. … Climate science is a little different. Because of the political importance of the topic, scientists have been unusually motivated to explain their research results in accessible ways, and explicit statements of the state of scientific knowledge are easy to find. “A little different” is a colossal understatement. The debate has been heavily political because the supporters of AGW advocate far reaching economic changes. (It happens that I agree with many of their proposals!) The nature of the debate has been formed also by the circumstance that it isn’t possible to do killer confirmatory experiments to settle the issue and because so much of the base data is disputable in various ways. Many discussions devolve into debates over statistical methodology. The IPCC is an unusual scientific organization: it was created not to foster new research but to compile and assess existing knowledge on a politically charged issue. Perhaps its conclusions have been skewed by these political concerns, but the IPCC is by no means alone it its conclusions, and its results have been repeatedly ratified by other scientific organizations. The question is ratified how, and by whom? Could not these other organizations have similar biases? Morever, statements issued by organizations in support of AGW are given much weight in the media, while petitions and letters signed by dissenters are treated as fringe efforts. These kinds of reports and statements are drafted through a careful process involving many opportunities for comment, criticism, and revision, so it is unlikely that they would diverge greatly from the opinions of the societies’ memberships. Nevertheless, it could be the case that they downplay dissenting opinions. [note 2] This does not fit with my knowledge of how organizations function. Usually, there is a small group of very active people. It is quite possible that the editorial arms of such professional groups have been ‘captured’ by AGW advocates. In fact, in her note, Oreskes admits as much, using the Catholic Church as an example. The views of the priests and the laity are often contradictory. Here is the graphed output from Oreskes’ survey. She is not particularly disturbed by the fact that no papers at all were discovered that denied/refuted the AGW “consensus,” not a one! Under the category of Impacts she collects papers that discuss the “potential…or actual impacts” of warming. Of course, if a paper (I have read several such) begins with the phrase, “Many experts predict warming over the next N years of X magnitude…” and then goes on to assess the ramifications of this speculative change, is this an “endorsement” of the AGW hypothesis? Does the fact that nobody writes papers about the likely effects of no AGW indicate that nobody thinks the theory is bad? Of course not! There wouldn’t be anything to write about! People who think it will happen as predicted are concerned, and write papers about it. It also is a handy way to churn out papers in the publish-or-perish mill. You don’t have to prove anything, just suppose…Similarly, papers that deal with the observed effects of climate change don’t necessarily prove anything about why it is changing. Oreskes takes the opposite view – all these papers endorse the consensus. [Note: We know now that the process of peer review was strongly influenced by politics – see my posts on the release of emails called ‘Climategate’. 6/4/11] She also neglects the obvious fact that people who think AGW is a worthless notion will not write papers about this. What is there to investigate? People who regard it as plausible but have doubts are in the same position. Morever, if they are serious scientists, they want to write about their discipline, which may or may not be relevant to the debate, but their priority is to make defensible scientific claims. Thus, there is quite possibly a vast reservoir of skepticism out there that is missed by her survey. Second, to say that global warming is real and happening now is not the same as agreeing about what will happen in the future. Much of the continuing debate in the scientific community involves the likely rate of future change. So, of what does this consensus consist? If we agree that warming is happening now (and not everyone agrees) but we don’t agree on what will happen in the future, how do we have a consensus on the direction of climate change under the influence of human activity? All scientists agree on the reality of climate change, but that is very different than saying they agree on AGW. Third, there is the question of what kind of dissent still exists. … The total number of papers published over the last ten years having anything at all to do with climate change is probably over ten thousand, and no doubt some of the authors of the other over nine thousand papers have expressed skeptical or dissenting views. But the fact that the sample turned up no dissenting papers at all demonstrates that any remaining professional dissent is now exceedingly minor. This might have something to do with the fact that global circulation models (GCMs) are not falsifiable, not subject to controlled experiments, a point which Oreskes treats later on. If they were, there would be clear target at which critics could aim. In cases where critics have attempted to directly contradict specific AGW claims, e.g., the Hockey Stick controversy, their arguments, if accepted, are dismissed as unimportant. How do you write a dissenting scientific paper about a point of view that you think is simply indefensible? On the media war… This suggests something discussed elsewhere in this book—that the mass media have paid a great deal of attention to a handful of dissenters in a manner that is greatly disproportionate with their representation in the scientific ommunity. …they [contrarians] do no new scientific research. They are not producing new evidence or new arguments. They are simply attacking the work of others and mostly doing so in the court of public opinion and in the mass media rather than in the halls of science. This latter point is crucial and merits underscoring: the vast majority of materials denying the reality of global warming do not pass the most basic test for what it takes to be counted as scientific… There certainly are rabid and irresponsible kooks in the anti-AGW camp. Of course, the last sentence quoted above would apply equally well to the pro-AGW materials. I would say that Al Gore’s statements fit in there well. This text was written in 2007, so I find Oreskes’ lamenting of the media attitude to be puzzling. My sense is that the mass-media are firmly in the AGW camp, and are condescending and dismissive of opposing views, except in outlets that target a libertarian or right-wing political demographic. Finally, it needs to be pointed out that to be a good critic of the basic assumptions and methodologies of the AGW camp, you don’t need to be doing new research: you need to have a good understanding of modern science. At this point, Oreskes switches gears and become more philosophical in a section called “How Do We Know We’re Not Wrong?” Always a good question to ask. She begins by reviewing the nature of science, and inductive and deductive reasoning. Then this: How does climate science stand up to the inductive model? Does climate science rest on a strong inductive base? Yes. Humans have been making temperature records consistently for over 150 years, and nearly all scientists who have looked carefully at these records see an overall increase since the industrial revolution about 0.6 to 0.7 deg C… The empirical signal is clear, even if not all the details are clear. Either there is a clear signal, or there is not. What does it mean to say that the signal is clear, but the details aren’t? Isn’t that where the devil is? How reliable are the early records? How do you average the data to be representative of the globe as a whole, even though much of the early data comes from only a few places, mostly in Europe? Scientists have spent quite a bit of time addressing these questions; most have satisfied themselves that the empirical signal is clear. Of course, this is the nub of so much of the debate, and she skates over it blithely. Scientists who support the AGW position have convinced themselves, others have not…She goes on to assert that doubts about the older temperature records are not important because the recent, most significant increases in temperature are correlated with the recent upsurge of CO2. But…but…if the historical record is not as the AGW people would have it, then the historical relationship of CO2 and temperature is not either, and that calls into doubt the contemporary relationship of the two. So the recent upsurge of both, if it is real on the temperature side, might be due to other causes. On deductive reasoning: How does climate science stand up to this standard? Have climate scientists made predictions that have come true? Absolutely. The most obvious is the fact of global warming itself. As already has been noted in previous chapters, scientific concern over the effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide is based on physics—the fact that CO2 is a greenhouse gas. Wow, this one is a howler! Nobody denies the warm blanket effect of CO2 – the question is how that functions in the complex climate system of planet Earth. Her formulation begs the question entirely. If one assumes that natural variation is the cause of the putative currrent warming, then the fact of warming proves nothing about AGW. And, of course, Nostradamus predicted things, or so people say, that have come about too. Professor Oreskes is no slouch – she goes on to squarely face the Popper Question: How does one falsify the AGW point of view? How does climate science hold up to this modification? Can climate models be refuted? Falsification is a bit of a problem for all models—not just climate models—because many models are built to forecast the future and the results will not be known for some time. …calibration can make models refutation-proof: the model doesn’t get rejected; it gets revised. A bit of understatement there, about falsification. Yes, models don’t get rejected, they get tweaked until they give the proper results. She says that modelers get around this by running many models, ensembles, and comparing the results. They all show warming – only the tempo and mode vary. But what if the basic assumptions of all the models are wrong? Is it possible that all these model runs are wrong? Yes,because they are variations on a theme. If the basic model conceptualization was wrong in some way, then all the models runs would be wrong. Perhaps there is a negative feedback loop that we have not yet recognized. … This is one reason that continued scientific investigation is warranted. But note that Svante Arrhenius and Guy Callendar predicted global warming before anyone ever built a global circulation model (or even had a digital computer). Climate models give us a tool for exploring scenarios and interactions, but you don’t need a climate model to know that global warming is a real problem. Oreskes answers her excellent question here with a monumental non sequitur. The fact that Arrhenius made his predictions long ago does nothing to validate the content of the models. His predictions were, I believe, for much more warming than is even claimed today. Her final statement amounts to using her argument as conclusion to support her argument, and recalls to mind an editorial in the NYTimes from a while back. Finally, we come to this: Should we believe that the global increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide has had a negligible effect even though basic physics indicates otherwise? Should we believe that the correlation between increased CO2 and increased temperature is just a weird coincidence? If there were no theoretical reason to relate them and if Arrhenius, Callendar, Suess, and Revelle had not predicted that all this would all happen, then one might well conclude that rising CO2 and rising temperature were merely coincidental. But we have every reason to believe that there is a causal connection and no good reason to believe that it is a coincidence. Indeed, the only reason we might think otherwise is to avoid committing to action: if this is just a natural cycle in which humans have played no role, then maybe global warming will go away on its own in due course. And that sums up the problem. To deny that global warming is real is precisely to deny that humans have become geological agents, changing the most basic physical processes of the earth. In her summing up, Oreskes brings up basic physics again. Again, not the issue. The issue is feedbacks in a complex system. And the nature of the basic facts on the ground. Weird coincidence? The only thing that makes it weird is the predisposition to accept AGW. Of course, she mixes political with scientific argument by assuming that all critics are against doing anything to address human impacts on the environment – I’m not. To end, many people think that humans have become significant agents for change on the earth – this is not a new idea. Criticizing AGW doesn’t have much to do with that position. And by the way, in case any readers are wondering where I stand: the earth is round, and the Holocaust did happen. 2 Comments \| Uncategorized \| Tagged: AGW, climate, climate change, CO2, consensus, contrarians, denialists, deniers, global warming, inconvenient truth, knowledge, oreskes, philosophy, science, skeptics, theory of knowledge, warming \| Permalink	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21417
__label__wiki	0.88118	0.88118	Chaos in Westminster over Brexit risks more than just a trade deal By Jonathan Manthorpe. Published on Jul 9, 2018 5:42pm The Houses of Parliament from across the river Thames with Westminster Bridge, right, following yesterday's EU referendum result, London, Saturday, June 25, 2016. Britain voted to leave the European Union after a bitterly divisive referendum campaign. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland) The explosion within the Tory Party now makes it more likely that when Britain leaves the EU after over 40 years of membership, it will be without any agreement. For hardline Brexiteers, this is the desired outcome. Big Ben and Britain’s Parliament buildings in Westminster in London, Monday, Jan. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) The extraordinary thing about the turmoil that has overtaken the British government in the last few days is that it has taken so long for the dam to burst. It has been clear from the moment the British public voted two years ago by a narrow margin to leave the European Union, that the differences on this issue within the governing Conservative Party, among the parliamentary parties, and between London and Brussels are irreconcilable. Tory Prime Minister Theresa May has done her best to find a formula for Britain’s future relationship with the EU that would keep faith with the referendum result, be assertive enough to quieten the most anti-Europeans among her Cabinet and caucus, and have some hope of acceptance by Brussels. But it was always a doomed quest. The resignation on Monday of Brexit negotiator David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, two of the most potent advocates within her government for a sharp and decisive break with the EU, has put May’s leadership under threat. In his resignation letter Johnson said May’s idea’s for Britain’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU would reduce the country to “the status of a colony.” He said that he had tried to sing from May’s song sheet but “The trouble is that I have practiced the words over the weekend and find that they stick in my throat.” It doesn’t help that since calling an ill-advised election last summer May is leading a minority government that could be swept away in the turmoil. A statement from her office on Monday afternoon said May will fight any attempt to remove her from the Conservative Party leadership. That message was issued just before May was due to address a gathering of Tory backbenchers. It needs only 48 of those MPs to submit letters demanding a leadership review for that process to start. Johnson said in a statement that May’s plan failed to “take back British democracy” from Brussels. This immediately raised the prospect that the flamboyant, and for some, charismatic, Johnson might take this moment to lunge at his ambition to become Prime Minister. Johnson, however, is more attractive at a distance than close up. His personal relationships are a catalogue of betrayals. To top it all, May’s proposals for a post-Brexit relationship with the EU flies in the face of unshakeable principles followed by Brussels and is certain to be rejected. And time is rushing by. The timetable calls for London and Brussels to agree a post-Brexit deal in October in preparation for Britain’s departure at the end of March next year. There is a bit of wiggle room on the October deadline, but not much. The explosion within the Tory Party now makes it more likely that when Britain leaves the EU after over 40 years of membership, it will be without any agreement. For hardline Brexiteers, this is the desired outcome. They want a clean break with the EU and an end to the issuing by Brussels of rules, regulations and laws which they and their followers hold have undermined the independence of the British parliament and courts. At the end of last week, May presented her cabinet with her proposal for a compromise deal with Brussels. It seeks to keep Britain’s open market for the trade in goods with the other 27 EU countries when Brexit happens. To that end, Britain would continue to exactly copy EU regulations on manufactured and agricultural goods. That aims to prevent the threatened departure of manufacturing companies from Britain, nervous that they are about to lose their seamless access to the European market. Equally important is to avoid having to rebuild a hard border between the British province of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Post-Brexit this will be the only land border between Britain and the EU. Having an open border in Ireland is seen as an essential element in the 1998 agreement that ended over 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. For Canada, this plan would aid the continuation of the free trade relationship with Britain incorporated in the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which came into force last year. On the other side of the ledger, to fulfil the pledge to British voters to take back power from Brussels, May’s plan says Britain would no longer be subject to the European courts, and it envisages Britain no longer following the EU rules on the free movement of people. Anti-immigrant sentiments were a major driver of the pro-Brexit vote. Also, Britain would not follow EU rules and regulations on financial services and investment. The Brexiteers see departure from the EU as reinvigorating London as a global financial centre. This cherry picking by May is not enough for the Brexiteers, and will also be unacceptable to Brussels. Like Johnson, Davis, the minister responsible for negotiating Brexit, said he was resigning because May’s formula was “not returning control of our laws in any real sense.” EU officials were understandably reluctant to say too much that might add further fury to the British political turmoil. There is next to no chance, however, that EU negotiators would let Britain keep access to the EU open market without also accepting the free movement of peoples and Brussels’ regulation of capital and service industries. With every day that passes, Britain looks more and more like a ship adrift in the North Atlantic without a destination or a rudder. Jonathan Manthorpe is the author of “Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan,” published by Palgrave-Macmillan. He has been a foreign correspondent and international affairs columnist for nearly 40 years. He was European bureau chief for the Toronto Star and then Southam News in the late 1970s and the 1980s. In 1989 he was appointed Africa correspondent by Southam News and in 1993 was posted to Hong Kong to cover Asia. For the last few years he has been based in Vancouver, writing international affairs columns for what is now the Postmedia Group. He left the group last year and now writes for a range of newspapers and websites. [email protected]	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21422
__label__wiki	0.691254	0.691254	A High School for Santa Emilia Santa Emilia has a Primary School that goes through the 6th grade. However, going to High School has been a challenge for young people in Santa Emilia. There was no High School within the community. Students were either forced to travel by bus into Matagalpa to attend High School classes or pay tuition to attend classes at a private High School. Neither alternative was affordable for most High School age students. In 2011, JustHope and the project's founding partner, Trinity United Church, Cheney, Kansas, helped the community of Santa Emilia establish its own weekly High School. Since most of the students need to work during the week, the high-school is all day Sunday, which means it can use space at a nearby private technical school rather than needing to build and maintain a separate building. The JustHope partnership provides the salaries for three of the High School’s six teachers. The government Department of Education in Matagalpa provides the other three teachers. In addition, JustHope donates teacher supply packets at the beginning of the school year, along with computers and school materials when they are available. The goal is that within five years, the High School will be financially stable and fully supported by the community and government.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21427
__label__wiki	0.508635	0.508635	Country Pop Legends Contents: Country Pop Legends (DVD) The Queens of Country (3-DVD Set) (DVD) Country Pop Volumes 1 & 2 (2-CD) (CD) Country Pop Volume 3 (CD) Country Pop Volume 4 (CD) Contents: Country Pop Volumes 1 & 2 (2-CD) (CD) Country Pop Volume 3 (CD) Country Pop Volume 4 (CD) Country pop legends unite to perform their biggest and most-loved hit recordings from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Country music legend Roy Clark hosts this emotional trip down 3 decades of memory lane. The legacy of many classic country performers is captured in the concert DVD which includes 7 bonus songs, and the remaining DVDs showcase superstars Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21430
__label__cc	0.542535	0.457465	Women Outward Bound Meet one of the Trailblazers From ‘Women Outward Bound’, a Documentary About a Life-Changing Wilderness Program for Women A Q&A with a Bellingham woman featured in the documentary Women Outward Bound. By Caroline Gerdes Classrooms, boardrooms, the voting booth: until relatively recently, these spaces were often closed to women, or they came with caveats. But there is another, perhaps more surprising place that was also frequently off-limits: the great outdoors. Up until the 1960s, most girls were not encouraged to explore the outdoors, get dirty, hunt, fish, hike and canoe. But in 1965, the inaugural Outward Bound course for girls in the Minnesota wilderness garnered national attention and broke down barriers. Women Outward Bound is a new documentary airing on KCTS 9 on Monday, March 18 at 4:00 p.m. It tells the story of 24 young women who were part of the inaugural program in 1965. The film follows the women as they meet again nearly 50 years later and discuss the way the program altered the course of their lives. One woman influenced by the 1965 Outward Bound program is Bellingham resident Elizabeth Kilanowski. Kilanowski says Outward Bound altered the trajectory of her life. She was born in Minnesota, and after the program she traveled the country working at outdoor education centers before pursuing an art education degree. She noted that it was difficult to find work in education, so she worked in the open pit mines of Northern Minnesota as a welder. She moved around for other jobs before going back to school and getting a degree in geology from the University of Minnesota in 1998. This, and a passion for sailing, eventually brought her to Bellingham, where she has lived for about 20 years. While it may be hard to see how this fascinating journey could be influenced by a single summer in 1965, the path is clear to Kilanowski. She recently discussed the program and the documentary in an interview with KCTS 9. Here’s what she had to say about Women Outward Bound, the importance of the outdoors and how the experience taught her to dream about her future. Q. What inspired you to become involved with this inaugural Outward Bound program for women? A. I grew up in a second-growth Oak and Birch forest outside a small town in central Minnesota, so I spent a great deal of time in the woods. I loved the outdoors and learned to hunt and fish from an early age. When I heard that Outward Bound was initiating a girl’s course, I jumped at the opportunity. I saved my money and received a partial scholarship to attend. I had heard about the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and had always wanted to learn how to canoe — it was exactly what I wanted. Q. In the documentary, you say that Outward Bound influenced your decision to go to college. Could you explain how? A. Neither of my parents had a high school education, so there was no expectation for me to attend college. Besides, I lived in a small town, was from a large working class family and there was no money for kids like me — especially girls — to go to college. I started working for my own money when I was 10 and was expected to finish high school, get married and have kids. The Outward Bound course exposed me to young women from other socio-economic classes. I saw that there might be other choices and I became more determined than ever to try to go to college. I was 21 before I finally was able to navigate the financial and psychological challenges and actually get into college. My first degree was in art education from the University of Minnesota. But I always wanted to study science, so in my 40s I went back to get my geology degree. Q. Would you be willing to share a personal story about something that happened to you that summer? A. My solo experience was a time I will always remember. My instructors dropped me off in a spot where I could watch the sunset. The rocks there formed a little amphitheater down to the water and I spent a great deal of time looking over the lake and thinking about my life and my future. At night, I heated rocks in my fire and spread them out to lay on. As it was August, the mosquitoes were already past their peak season so I was pretty comfortable despite the cool nights. Years later, when I was an Outward Bound instructor, I stopped at my solo site and found the little amphitheater. It was one of those magical moments. Q. After the 1965 trip, what was your involvement with Outward Bound? A. In 1966, I got a job working for the summer in the kitchen and the Trips House at the Minnesota Outward Bound School. Later, when I was around 30, I worked there as an instructor for two summer seasons and one winter season. The winter season was challenging as instructors not only had to keep the students warm and comfortable, but ourselves, as well. I remember on one staff training cross country ski trip, the overnight temperature dropped to minus 40 degrees. We had to learn lots of tricks about how to stay warm and not get frostbite or hypothermia. Q. What was it like revisiting this experience for the documentary? A. It did bring back a lot of memories and it was interesting to find out a little about what directions the other participants went off in. I was sad to hear that a couple of us had passed away. Q. Is there anything else you would like to add about your experience with Outward Bound? A. It amazes me to think that back in the 1960s, women and girls were not allowed to do the same things as boys and men. Having a “girls” Outward Bound course was a radical idea and I thank Jean Sanford Replinger (our program director at the time) over and over in my heart for pushing to initiate the women’s courses. She was courageous. In some sense, the 24 of us who did the first course were not special at all. The real special women here were our instructors: Lynn Cox, Ginny Balmain, and others. And, of course, Jean Sanford Replinger who brought us together and led the way. Those women were older than us and had to overcome even more obstacles in order to go off into the woods without the “protection” of men. I honor them. Caroline Gerdes Caroline Gerdes is the social media specialist at Cascade Public Media and a New Orleanian living in Seattle. She was also a National Geographic Young Explorer — which is totally a real job title. She recently published her first book, An Oral History of the New Orleans Ninth Ward. More stories by Caroline Gerdes ‘American Animals’ Director Helps Separate Truth From Fiction I Live in ‘The Ring’ House She Fled War, Mastered English and Became Washington’s Poet Laureate Books Like ‘The Boys in the Boat’ See all Film	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21431
__label__cc	0.53437	0.46563	Cheap electricity, liberal laws and government-awarded privileges attract ‘miners’ " /> Cryptocurrency boom in Georgia – money ‘out of thin air’ for citizens and business tycoons Cheap electricity, liberal laws and government-awarded privileges attract ‘miners’ Giorgi Laliashvili is an entrepreneur who runs his own farm on the outskirts of Tbilisi. However, he doesn’t breed livestock or poultry; instead, he is engaged in cryptocurrency mining. He became interested in this business a year ago. He founded a farm in September last year, expecting to recoup the investment he made within half a year. However, things didn’t go quite as planned – it went even better than he expected. “I recouped my initial investment in a couple of weeks and then started earning a profit,” said Giorgi. Now he runs a second larger farm in Kutaisi’s free industrial zone. He is currently looking for a foreign investor in order to expand his business. The business that Giorgi and some other people in Georgia are engaged in is commonly referred to as ‘mining’. The process of mining is supported by blockchain technology. Blockchain is a special type of database with data set out and built up in successive ‘blocks’, which aren’t stored on a single server. A ‘block’ chain is continuously growing and more new ‘blocks’ of information are added to it. All that consecutive data are simultaneously stored on all devices of the members of a blockchain network, and their further modification or falsification is impossible. Mining is a process of complicated calculations to obtain a special hash with pre-set parameters. The calculation of such a number results in the creation of a new ‘block’ which is permanently kept in the blockchain (data storage). This process is conducted by a miner. A hash miner and its owner are awarded with a BTC (bitcoin) (or another cryptocurrency). Bitcoin is the world’s first cryptocurrency which emerged in 2009. Later it was followed by other alternative crypto-currencies (altcoins), processed using the same technologies. Their rates against real (fiducial) currencies changes constantly and they mainly grow. It should be noted that the BTC rate has dropped sharply in recent times. Neither the cryptocurrency nor its rate depend on states or governments. A Tbilisi-based cryptocurrency mining farm, February 2018. Photo: David Pipia, JAMnews The Cryptocurrency boom has recently been observed all over the world, and by certain parameters a small country like Georgia has even managed to become a leader in mining cryptocurrencies. According to a Global Cryptocurrency Benchmarking Study carried out by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, in 2017 Georgia was ranked the second after China in terms of energy consumption for mining cryptocurrencies (60megawatt). Cryptocurrencies have gained such popularity in the country to the extent that the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) even issued a special statement in December last year, warning the citizens against the risks associated with the use of cryptocurrencies. The NBG stressed that ‘cryptocurrency isn’t a legal means of payment in Georgia. Its circulation isn’t governed by law and there is no agency that can assist citizens regarding problems related to a cryptocurrency or protect them against the risks thereof’. BitFury, business tycoon and a ‘scam currency’ Once you’ve bought a special device you can start mining. Initially, it was possible to do mining using an ordinary computer. However, as the number of miners increased, the algorithm has become more complicated, requiring more electrical power for calculations. The most profitable is ‘industrial-scale mining’, that is, setting up huge, factory-like ‘data centers.’ Similarly, Georgia is gradually turning into a global center of industrial-scale mining. Large mining companies usually prefer countries with either cheap electrical power or developed technologies. Georgia turned out to be an attractive country mainly due to its cheap electricity, especially in rural areas and in special places like free industrial zones (there are several of them in Georgia). The electricity tariff in Tbilisi is 16.1 tetri (6.5 cents) per 1kW/h (for commercial consumers who receive power at high voltages). There are lower tariffs in the country’s rural areas, while in some mountainous regions consumers receive electricity free of charge. BitFury, the world’s leading bitcoin mining company, has established the largest cryptocurrency mining farm in Georgia, with data centers built in Tbilisi and Gori. As of 2016, BitFury owned 15% of the total bitcoins generated globally. Bitfury’s offices and data centers on the company’s website. The BitFury company started operating in Georgia in 2004. The company built their first data center in Gori through a USD 10 million loan provided by the Co-Investment Fund, founded by the Georgian ex-Premier Bidzina Ivanishvili. The company was also later awarded certain privileges by the Georgian government. The second data center was built in Tbilisi. The Georgian government allotted an 18-hectare land plot to the company, charging it a symbolic price of GEL 1. A few months later, the government declared this territory a free industrial zone, which provides for favorable and simplified conditions for doing business. The companies operating in the free industrial zone are exempt from value-added tax (VAT) as well as from corporate income and property taxes. In addition, they are exempt from paying VAT when purchasing electrical power, which makes it 18% cheaper for them. Those are very favorable conditions for the mining company whose electricity costs make up the lion’s share of its total expenses. The BitFury company’s data center in Keflavik, Iceland. June 2016. REUTERS/Jemima Kelly Because of these special privileges BitFury enjoyed in Georgia, people started linking the company’s activity to the financial interests of Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is regarded by the country’s opposition as Georgia’s actual ruler. In January, after the electricity tariff was raised for the population, the opposition focused its attention on BitFury again. The members of the opposition party European Georgia claimed that a hike in electricity prices for the population was due to those undeserved privileges that the Georgian government and specifically Ivanishvili offered to the company, while the country’s benefits from this investment were rather doubtful. “A 40MW enterprise is receiving electricity at a preferential price. Consequently, this heavy burden has laid on a consumer tariff and the regulatory commission has had to raise the electricity prices for the population,” explained Akaki Bobokhidze, a member of the European Georgia party. Mikhail Saakashvili, the ex-president of Georgia and currently the leader of the Ukrainian Movement of New Forces, was even more radical, saying that ‘Ivanishvili has snatched control over the energy sector and is generating scam currency – bitcoin for free.” BitFury company officials completely denied the opposition’s arguments, saying they did not receive any particularly favorable conditions in Georgia. The company claims it has paid back its loan to the Ivanishvili Fund, as well as has complied with its investment commitments assumed before the Georgian government. As for the preferences that the company enjoys, all of them have been prescribed by the Georgian legislation. Efrem Urumashvili, a representative of BitFury-Georgia said that the land plot in Tbilisi, which was allocated to the company by the Georgian government, ‘was completely abandoned’ and wasn’t used in any way. “We invested USD 40 million and created the most innovative and modern center in the world, with USD 3 million invested in infrastructure. More than 70 companies from across the world have shown interest in it. We have created the brand and made Georgia famous worldwide,” Urumashvili said. It has recently been reported that the BitFury group is going to sell its new Tbilisi-based data center to the Chinese Chong Sing Holding, a company registered in Hong Kong. The details of the deal, including the amount of transaction, haven’t been made public yet. An ‘inevitable future’ Alongside the expanding scope of industrial-scale mining in Georgia, there is also a fast-growing interest in this business on the part of local small companies and private individuals. According to Shota Digmelashvili, executive editor at Forbes-Georgia, in Georgia’s case thE boom is conditioned by three key factors. First of all, it’s relatively low electricity price. “The high rate of unemployment (11% according to official statistical data from 2016) and low salaries in Georgia are another important factor. Discontent with the financial situation often triggers people to make small investments and thus provide themselves with a regular income that is often higher than any salary,” explains Digmelashvili. Thirdly, in his opinion Georgia has a liberal entrepreneurial law that facilitates the development of both small and large businesses. Businessman Giorgi Laliashvili also shares the opinion that there are favorable conditions for cryptocurrency mining in Georgia. “Therefore I advise everyone to get engaged in it. It’s never too late to do that,” said Giorgi. He ignores skeptics’ opinion and is sure that cryptocurrency is the money of the future, because blockchain technology can ensure stability and security. “Due to the high level of security all future financial transactions will be made in cryptocurrency. It’s inevitable, as entrepreneurs are so confident about it that they doesn’t sell the generated cryptocurrency as they believe that it will continue to gain value in the future.” Blockchain in public services The Georgian government has also shown interest in new technologies. In this regard Georgia has turned out to be one of the first countries to introduce blockchain technology in public services (similar projects have recently been launched in Estonia, Sweden and the USA). In 2016, the Georgian government, in partnership with the BitFury company, launched a blockchain land and real property titling project. The project provides for the use of blockchain technology for storing the Georgian Public Registry’s land and real property title registration data. This technology ensures data security and makes it virtually impossible to falsify data. This technology was put into full operation at the Georgian Public Registry in February 2017. Since that time all land and real property titling transactions in Georgia have been hashed and stored on blockchains. The Georgian Justice Ministry keeps introducing new technologies as part of the project. It plans to introduce blockchain-based business registrations as well as ‘smart contracts’ – digitally authenticated and safeguarded agreements. Abkhazia wants its own cryptocurrency Dream Town: Batumi’s ghetto EAEU is losing its ‘sacred cow’ status in Armenia Georgia: no more nuts? How do the Caucasus countries live? “I am so angry I can't breathe.” Georgia: stories of people injured at work New municipal payment card to be introduced in Baku Tattoos you won’t regret	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21438
__label__wiki	0.659532	0.659532	Avenging reality From The Washington Examiner. May 7, 2019. The $1.2 billion, record-breaking opening weekend for Avengers: Endgame last week was cause for much rejoicing in Hollywood. Variety reported that the movie, which made $350 million of that sum in North America alone and nearly as much in China, "is providing a badly needed jolt to the North American box office, which for 2019 was down 16.7% to $2.94 billion as of April 24. As of Sunday, the gap had dropped to 13.3%, according to Comscore." Money-watchers say Endgame seems certain to top Titanic as the second-highest grossing movie ever, and it may have a shot at beating out the $2.8 billion Avatar raked in for the top slot. For those whose interest in movies is aesthetic rather than financial, however, there may be less reason to celebrate. Endgame has already joined five other Avengers movies among the top-20 highest grossers of all time, according to Box Office Mojo. But wherever it finishes on that chart, it will be among 15 straightforward fantasy flicks on that top-20 list, and that’s giving the benefit of the doubt to the other five — two from the Fast and Furious and two from the Jurassic Park franchises, plus Titanic — all of which have strongly fantastical or cartoonish elements to them as well. One of the greatest works of scholarship of the 20th century, Erich Auerbach’s Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, first published in German in 1946 and in English translation in 1953, demonstrated how the mimetic principle, or what Shakespeare described as "hold[ing] the mirror up to nature," was at the very foundation of Western art and literature from Homer to Virginia Woolf. But Auerbach’s book came at the end of that long tradition and, as we can now see, at the beginning of one which has superseded it. Namely, a new fashion for overproduced versions of the fantasy and science fiction that were formerly the province of children’s books and movies. To be clear, the problem is not inherent in the format, but rather what overwhelming demand for it indicates. Here’s how it works: Marvel Comics owns the copyright to its version of reality, which makes that version much, much more valuable, at least to Marvel and those in collaboration with it, than reality itself. On that, of course, there can be no copyright, since it belongs, or used to belong, to everybody. So we can, like those millions who are flocking to Endgame, pay up for access to this more exciting version of reality and even proceed to live in it or we can go away and invent our own reality. What we cannot do anymore, it seems to me, is sell the public a representation of reality itself, reality that’s real for everybody and not just mine or yours. Which makes sense when you realize that there is no longer broad agreement on what that reality is. We’ve become so accustomed to the idea of proprietorial reality that we’ve started treating it as some kind of human right. I, you, he, she, and ze all have a right, not just to their own reality but to have it respected by others, just as all have a right, in a not unrelated development, to their own favored pronouns. The latter right is now enshrined in Canadian law. A few years ago, Rachel Dolezal, then the president of the NAACP in Spokane, Wash., claimed the right to be considered black because she "identified" as black, even though she was born to two white parents of European descent. We’re likely to see a lot more Dolezals in the age of social media, the great appeal of which to many appears to be the chance to create a private reality online as the face they present to the world. Government enforcement of ever-stricter privacy regulations can only make this tendency more pronounced. In Europe and Argentina, and no doubt coming soon to a country near you, there is already a "right to be forgotten" online, which means a right to be known for only what we want to be known for. Nor is social media alone in honoring claims to proprietorial reality. The media as they used to exist, before Facebook et al., have in the past three years gone the same way, exchanging news for narrative. And what is narrative but fabricated and overproduced reality? We don’t mind this when the fabrication is in a movie or a novel — something avowedly fictional but in the service, presumably, of some higher truth. But the fabricated media narratives of today claim to be real, and they are only in the service of the media’s political purposes. For although the storied names of the New York Times and the Washington Post are now indistinguishable from that of any pajama-clad blogger making claims to his own reality, the former rely on their legacy of prestige to deny, at will, the same right to others. They are frantic with annoyance at what they call the "lies" of President Trump — the Post is now preposterously purporting to have catalogued 10,000 of them — while taking a mostly relaxed view of such demonstrable lies as the president calling neo-Nazis "fine people" or that the Trump tax cuts went only to the rich. These are just two examples from the first two days of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign of his own private reality. The Washington Post, to its credit, gave four Pinocchios to the latter to set against the thousands it has given Trump. But the balance of media attention remains overwhelmingly on anything it can represent as mendacity by Trump and rarely if ever on the media's own falsehoods, or those of their favorite Democrats. These are most often of the type which moralists call suppressio veri, but the Post’s outrageous suggestio falsi last week that Attorney General William Barr lied in his summary of the Mueller report was obviously made in the confidence that the paper’s readers would never see it fact- checked. The media not only have a right to their own reality but also a right to ignore or discredit anyone who might dare to question its correspondence to the real thing. Likewise, when the FBI, in collaboration with Fusion GPS and the Hillary Clinton campaign, fabricated a narrative, told at first only to a compliant Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, of Donald Trump’s "collusion" with Russian spies to steal the 2016 election, it inspired the dominant media narrative of the past two years and was rarely if ever questioned. Commentators and politicians of the Left have continued to treat the Mueller report and its aftermath as if it had pronounced Trump as guilty as they have always known and will continue to believe he is. Some even say Mueller doesn’t believe his own conclusions. A law professor at Fordham University claimed in the New York Times that the Mueller report did prove that there had been criminal collusion, in spite of what Mueller himself said explicitly to the contrary. It just goes to show you that, in our era of privatized reality, anything can be asserted as truth with the help of sufficiently ingenious legal reasoning. We may see the same process at work elsewhere in today’s media, much of which no longer even pretends to represent objective reality but has instead reverted to the open partisanship, along with the partisan rancor, familiar from the early days of the republic. Then the rival realities were based on regional identification; now the identification and therefore the realities are racial, ethnic, or sexual, or as much so as Democrats can make them. The result for our country appears to be endless and evermore rancorous contention. Families, friendships, and marriages have already been sundered or become embittered over the divergence between national and ideological loyalties that began long before Trump’s election. Moreover, shots have already been fired in this culture war, most recently by a spate of sad, little fantasists of social media, most of them barely if at all out of childhood, who have shot up schools or places of worship, ostensibly in the service of some more or less self-manufactured and incoherent ideology but really, I believe, because they see themselves and want the world to see them as a kind of real-life superhero or supervillain. The one is as good as, or perhaps better than, the other. Just count the number of Darth Vaders, as opposed to Luke Skywalkers, who come to your door next Halloween. The vogue for fantasy movies is not responsible for such incidents or even for the lamentable state of our cultural affairs that has given rise to them, but I do think these things spring from the same impulse, which is the land rush to claim a small plot of reality as one’s own, which ensued upon the breakdown of a hard-won national consensus in the 1960s. Fantasy, not the film genre but the insistence on living inside one’s own manufactured reality, is something out of which nature intended us to grow, like our baby teeth. As St. Paul so memorably put it in I Corinthians 13:11: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." It is the ultimate fantasy that we can live our lives, or at any rate live them in peace and contentment with each other, without ever having to share a common reality.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21439
__label__wiki	0.6003	0.6003	Research \| Open \| Published: 29 October 2018 Estimating the effects of financial access on poor farmers in rural northern Nigeria Terfa W. Abraham1 Financial Innovationvolume 4, Article number: 25 (2018) \| Download Citation By recognizing the gap in the literature in examining the effects of financial resources and development outcomes at the household level, this paper examines whether the poorest income quintile would benefit most from programs aimed at increasing their access to financial services in rural northern Nigeria. Most households from this part of the world consist of farmers and, hence, are exposed to the vagaries of climate change. The data from 320 questionnaires administered in two rural communities (Rijau and Fakai) were analyzed using an ordered logit regression model. The results showed that access to financial services by using formal financial institutions and farmer savings clubs benefits vulnerable farmers (mostly women). The robustness check using the Brant test also confirmed that the parallel regression assumption of the model was not violated. A policy scenario that seeks to increase the delivery of financial services to rural farm households using community savings clubs and microfinance institution reforms for reaching the financially underserved was also found to benefit the poorest income quintile, hence, bringing them out of poverty. The vulnerability of farmers in Sub Saharan Africa to the adverse effects of climate change has been recognized by several studies (IPCC 2007, 2012, Boko et al. 2007, World Bank 2008, 2012). The financial innovations aimed at increasing the access of farmers to financial services as an adaptive strategy have been identified by several studies (see Siegel and Alwang 2005, Schneider and Gugerty 2011, Sanfo and Gérard 2012, World Bank 2012). However, the empirical evidence examining whether the various financial services benefit mostly poor and financially excluded farmers remains scarce. The agriculture in West Africa is largely rain-fed, hence, vulnerable to flood and drought. With over 70% of the West African population depending on agriculture, weather shocks severely affect rural livelihood (MeheRette 2009). Although climate risk management strategies are useful for minimizing risk and taming vulnerabilities (Vargas-Hill and Torrero 2009), financial markets (both insurance and credit markets) in West Africa are often underdeveloped, with over 80% of the population being financially excluded. According to Adesina (2012), despite accounting for 44% of the GDP, the agricultural sector only receives 2% of the total loans by commercial banks in Nigeria. Unfortunately, the high demands for collateral by banks, lack of capacity to develop appropriate credit instruments for agriculture, high perceived risks of lending to this sector, and general aversion of banks toward agriculture have led to the under-capitalization of the agricultural sector. According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN 2016), the Nigerian financial sector has recorded significant levels of growth and reorganization. However, a vital area in which banks continue to seek better results is providing access to financial services and thereby bridging the gap that constrains the growth of the agricultural sector. As of December 31, 2016, CBN (2016) documented that the financial sector in Nigeria comprised 26 banks, namely 21 commercial banks, four merchant banks, and one non-interest bank; one discount house; 987 microfinance banks, 66 finance companies; 35 primary mortgage banks; one mortgage refinancing company; and six development finance institutions. The total assets, deposits, and loan/advances of the commercial banks were 32 trillion, 18 trillion, and 15 trillion naira, respectively, while those of the microfinance banks as of December 31, 2016 were 326 billion, 149 billion, and 178 billion naira, respectively. However, despite the growth of the financial sector, which is a major driver of financial inclusion, in Nigeria, 41.6% of the population is still financially excluded, according to a 2016 survey by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA). Nevertheless, Nigeria is one of the countries that committed to the Maya Declaration in 2011 as such, increasing the level of financial inclusion remains important if the country must attain the sustainable development goal of eradicating poverty for all. Over time, recognizing the need to deliver greater access to financial services to farmers, several initiatives have been implemented in Nigeria. A review conducted by the World Bank (2008) on Nigeria’s rural finance summarizes that Nigeria’s history with rural finance provides lessons about the elements of past interventions that have worked and those that have not. The report notes that, on the positive side, Nigeria’s rural finance policies and practices achieved some level of penetration by creating a rural branch network. Nigeria’s experience using public private partnership arrangements between commercial banks and other private sector actors has also helped lower the risk and transaction costs. In terms of the negative legacies, the most important one is perhaps the culture of non-repayment among some borrowers, which has been fostered by poor repayment methodologies and subsidized interest rates, charged as part of the government agricultural finance initiatives. The following factors were identified to have hindered the expected impact of the efforts to enhance access to financial services in Nigeria: (i) inconsistency of government policies in rural finance; (ii) the financial illiteracy of many rural actors, exacerbating the problem; (iii) the methodology of “credit only” financial service initiatives, which paid insufficient attention to loan applications and omitted a large—and equally important—unmet demand for savings and other financial services; and (iv) the legacy of financial unsustainability and operational inefficiency of most government (and many non-governmental) rural finance institutions and programs. Among the various adaptation strategies considered to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on the poor, whether the initiatives aimed at increasing the access of households to financial services would also enhance their adaptive capacity and help bring them out of poverty is not clearly established. This reasoning is rooted in the typical agricultural household model (see Siegel and Alwang 2005; Schneider and Gugerty 2011; Sanfo and Gérard 2012) and the monotonicity axiom of robust poverty measures (see Ravallion and Chen 2001; Haughton and Khandker 2009), which suggests that, in situations where poor rural households are farmers (producers) as well as consumers, any income gain would reduce poverty. Therefore, the objectives of this study are: (1) to examine the effect of financial inclusive strategies on rural farm households distributed along income quintiles and (2) to determine whether the poorest income quintile would benefit the most from innovative strategies that are aimed at increasing the access to financial services as a climate change adaptation measure. The general finding from the paper is that, whereas financial inclusive services have the potency to raise farmers out of poverty and provide them with access to funds towards implementing welfare enhancing innovations, those in the poorest income quintile – who are most females, benefit the least from such services. By organizing themselves into savings clubs, however, they stand a better chance of having access to finance. The policy implication is that financial services and government programmes targeted at enhancing the livelihood of rural farmers do not have homogenous effect on farmers across income quintile. As such, reforms aimed at providing the enabling environment for microfinance institutions to refocus their product/services to farmers in the poorest group, would be desirable. The paper is structured into five sections. Presented in the next section is the review of related literature while the analytical framework is discussed in section three. The discussion of results is the focus of section four. Lastly, the conclusion and recommendation are presented in the conclusion and recommendations section. Review of agricultural finance initiatives in Nigeria Access to financial services is key to rural development (see Akinlo 2014) as it increases incomes through productive investment, helps create employment opportunities, facilitates investments in health and education, and reduces the vulnerability of the poor by helping them smooth their income pattern over time. Further, a lack of rural access to financial services not only retards rural economic growth, but also increases poverty and inequality. While Nigeria’s own long history with rural finance shows a clear appreciation of the importance of rural financial access, the persistent absence of such sustainable access yields important lessons for the future. According to a report by the World Bank (2008), rural areas are home to 53% of Nigeria’s population and more than 70% of its poor—mostly farmers. While it is well understood in Nigeria that the financial exclusion of the rural population stunts development, fewer than 2% of rural households have access to any type of institutional finance. There had been a number of policy measures and programs over the past three decades that involve the reconstruction or reformation of the entire structure of the agricultural sector by creating appropriate institutions and public services designed to strengthen the economic position of farming and farm output. One such example is the National Accelerated Food Production Project. This program was established in 1973 to induce farmers to boost food production within the shortest possible time. Its main objectives were to accelerate the production of six major food crops, namely rice, millet, sorghum, maize, wheat, and cassava. The program had three components: research, extension, and agroservices (Anyanwu 1997). The inclusion of the research component was a clear indication on the role of research to increase output. Agricultural institutes, research centers, and research institutions coordinated the program and took charge of specific crops to achieve the aims of the program. Inadequate finance, inadequate commitment, and poor infrastructure were some of the factors that affected the program. The River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs) are another example. The development of river basins was conceived in 1963 with involvement in the Lake Chad Basin and River Niger Commissions by countries bordering the Chad Lake and the Niger River. The concept, according to Anyanwu (1997), was first tried in 1973 with the establishment of the Sokoto-Rima and Chad Basin development authorities. A number of river basins were subsequently introduced. By June 1984, the number of river basins totaled 18 across the nation. The RBDAs were expected to cater to the development of land and water resources for agricultural purposes and, generally, for rural development. Regarding water resources for agriculture, ground water resources were also exploited. The RBDAs assisted farmers to plant hectares of various crops in the area of irrigation. However, an inadequate workforce and the lack of financial and material resources hampered the activities of RBDAs. The Operation Feed the Nation scheme was introduced mainly to increase food production and self-sufficiency in terms of food supply. Under this scheme, encouragement and material assistance were given to people in the form of technical advice and supply of essential farm inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, farm implements, livestock, and livestock feed at subsidized prices (Anyanwu 1997). The Green Revolution Programme was launched in 1980 to address the problem of food shortages and diversify the nation’s sources of foreign exchange. To this end, all known constraints to increase production were removed. Under the scheme, new input procurement and distribution systems came into operation. Input subsidies and crop pricing policies were also streamlined along with the construction of rural physical infrastructures. Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) started in 1974 in northern Nigeria. The development approach focused on simple, improved packages for some of the major food crops, such as maize sorghum and millet. It also aimed at improving input supply systems, rural road networks, and village water supplies. The need and pressure to enlarge the program and cover all states led to the first multi-state (MSADP-I) and later to MSADP-II. The various components of ADPs are: farm and crop development, civil work/infrastructural development, institutional support and training, and technical assistance through short and long-term consultancies. The components listed above are important to increase food production. Recent efforts in scaling up access to finance services are promoted under the CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme and the government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Programme (ERGP). According to the CBN Anchor Borrowers’ Programme Guidelines (2016), the program, which was launched on November 17, 2015, is intended to create a linkage between the anchor companies involved in processing and smallholder farmers (SHFs) for key agricultural commodities. Its thrust is to provide farm inputs in kind and cash (for farm labor) to SHFs to boost the production of these commodities, stabilize input supply to agroprocessors, and address the country’s negative balance of payments on food. At harvest, the SHF supplies his/her produce to the agroprocessor (anchor), who pays the cash equivalent to the farmer’s account. ERGP is a short term policy document of the document that spans 2017–2020. It is meant to fast-track Nigeria’s recovery from the recession it went into in 2016. It also identifies six sectors, including the agricultural sector, that would sustain Nigeria’s economic growth (see NILDS and PASGR 2018). However, concerns have been generated on the consistency of the ERGP with existing agricultural policy frameworks, such the Agricultural Promotion Policy. Empirical literature According to a report by G20 (2011), over 2 billion adults globally lack access to basic financial services and more than 70% of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing economies lack access to credit. The Maya Declaration (to which Nigeria committed in 2011, with Ghana and Senegal joining in 2012), “recognizes the critical importance of financial inclusion to empowering and transforming the lives of all our people, especially the poor, its role in improving national and global financial stability and integrity and its essential contribution to strong and inclusive growth in developing and emerging market countries” (see MAYA Declaration Progress Report 2017: 30). By enhancing national and global financial stability and integrity, it also contributes to achieving strong and inclusive growth, which will help vulnerable households cope with the impact of climate change. Moreover, member countries are committed to putting in place policies that will enhance financial inclusion to create an enabling environment for cost-effective access to financial services that makes full use of the appropriate innovative technology and substantially lowers the unit cost of financial services. These services could include facilitating credit transfers and their receipt through mobile devices. Several studies and reports have argued that climate change could have potentially grave consequences for the well-being and security of people worldwide and have called for an integrated approach of addressing the challenges posed by climate change. For instance, Sanfo and Gérard (2012) examined the effects of a set of public policy options (including access to credit) on breaking the vicious circle of the poverty trap for the poor in rural areas of Burkina Faso using dynamic household and mathematical programming models. They found that the public policies aimed at increasing the availability of irrigation water, lowering marketing costs, increasing access to credit, reducing price variability, and increasing resilience through access to animal traction for instance were beneficial to all farmers in the study area. Additionally, policies focusing on increasing access to equipment were of significant benefit to the poorest. Although increasing access to finance can be used to increase the availability of irrigation water and build resilience through access to animal traction, their paper did not identify the transmission mechanism through which such access to finance leads to poverty reduction. Thus, while the conclusion that combining all existing policy measures would help the poorest group cross the poverty line is important, the study did not recognize trade-offs in policy of the economic impossibility of implementing all options, as governments may be more interested in implementing just one or two at a time. Forcella (2013) argued that the proximity of MFIs to the clients could provide a comparative advantage to support local adaptation strategies. Additionally, through microfinance, vulnerable groups can increase their resilience from assets accumulation and diversification of income sources. While this channel of diversification is feasible for developed economies and farmers in urban centers, the author completely ignored the separability characteristic of a typical farm household, where farmers are both consumers and producers. Other transmission channels through which microfinance can help households adapt is through the provision of non-productive loans, remittances, and information sharing. The link with remittances is also consistent in Fonta et al. (2011), who argued that household poverty reduces faster with remittances than without them in Nigeria. Forcella (2013) also identified trade-offs that could be associated with microfinance and climate change adaptation strategies. However, these tradeoffs (e.g., microfinance being short term and climate change requiring long-term adaptation) did not contextualize the role microfinance will play in implementing adaptation strategies but microfinance itself as the end scope rather than as a means to an end. Czura et al. (2011) also argued that formal and informal credit are coping mechanisms for adverse income shocks in the case of flooding in Northern India. They also observed that most households only relied on informal financing sources, such as family, friends, neighbors, and other relatives, indicating the lack of access to formal financing sources. Linnerooth-Bayer et al. (2012) reviewed the challenges of post-disaster credit in developing and developed countries. They found that weak financial markets (among service providers) and poverty (associated with vulnerable groups requiring finance in rural areas) are the major factors constraining vulnerable households from coping with post-disaster challenges. Micro-savings, as noted by Linnerooth-Bayer et al. (2012), have significantly increased worldwide (CGAP 2005) and are increasingly channeled through microfinance institutions (MFIs) and banks. However, these savings can be directly affected by disasters, hence resulting in insufficient liquidity to handle shocks (Kull 2006). In less developed countries, savings are also organized through less formal means, such as community-based organizations. These organizations not only pool financial resources, but often set up community grain and seed banks. The poor however spend their limited income primarily on consumption and livelihood investments, with many still lacking access to safe, formal deposit services (Hochrainer et al. 2009; CGAP 2005). Moreover, a sizeable amount of the savings of low-income households are in commitment savings products which might not be accessible in the aftermath of a disaster (Morduch and Armendariz 2010), hence creating a need for post disaster micro-credit. Post-disaster micro-credit is not without its risks as, increased post-disaster demand can challenge the liquidity of micro-credit organizations and lead to relaxed loan conditions or even debt pardoning. To deal with this problem, development organizations and private investors in Latin America have created a novel intermediary institution, the Emergency Liquidity Facility, which acts as a lender of last resort by providing needed and immediate post-disaster liquidity to MFIs (Linnerooth-Bayer et al. 2012). Governments also borrow to finance their post-disaster liabilities, but generally after they have exploited all available sources from their budgets. In developing countries, funds are often diverted from projects funded by loans from the World Bank and other lending agencies. Whereas this response may be the least costly for a government, it can be disruptive both economically and politically. Most countries require that budget reallocations obtain parliamentary approval, which can delay the appropriation of funding. Although Linnerooth-Bayer et al. (2012) provided evidence on steps taken in other climes to tackle the issue of loan default, evidence for the southern part of Nigeria also provides a basis for further studies using northern Nigeria as a case study. Using data collected with the aid of questionnaires from a total of 48 microcredit groups and 300 microcredit group members, Enimu et al. (2017) examined the determinants of loan repayment among microcredit finance group members in southern part of Nigeria. They found that about 70% members in microcredit groups are females. Although, such groups enhances access to credit, the high interest rate (up to 40%) that accompanies such loans makes loan repayment a herculean tasks. The study which employed multiple regression to examine the determinants of loan repayment also found that household size, income and amount of credit received, among other factors, also play a critical part in determining the loan repayment. The paper, therefore suggests that the gender composition of groups organized for reasons of accessing microcredit is important. While this evidence is true for a typical state in the southern part of Nigeria, designing a national policy for enhancing farmers access to credit would require further studies drawing evidence from communities in the northern part of the country as well. Another reason informing the focus of this paper is due to recent evidence on how drought and desertification have contributed to flaming the conflict between farmers and herders in rural northern communities in northern Nigeria. Many farming communities have been affected by climate change in rural northern Nigeria (see Abraham and Fonta 2018), hence, has made many of the youths, women and children so displaced to be available as recruits for the radical sects such as the Boko Haram and other armed group in the sub region (see Avery 2018). By examining whether the poorest income quintile benefit from programs aimed at increasing their access to financial services in rural northern Nigeria therefore, this paper contributed towards providing field facts that would help redirect the focus of government policy in order to achieve inclusive growth and development. Theoretical literature There are several measures of income distribution, including the median share of income, calculations based on percentile distributions, the Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient, the Robin Hood index, Atkinson index, Thiel’s entropy measure, and coefficient of variation (Krol and Miedema 2009). Allison (1978) noted that choosing a standard inequality measure is a choice between the alternative definitions of inequality rather than a choice between the alternative measures of a specific theoretical construct (see Krol and Miedema 2009). Therefore, to measure inequality, we adopt the percentile distribution approach. This method divides the sample population into successive quintiles according to the ascending income levels and then determines the proportion of the income received by each income group using the ratio of incomes received by the poorest 20%, second 20%, third 20%, fourth 20%, and richest 20%. The choice of inequality calculation using the quintile or percentile distribution is based on its strength of using the available data to classify the distribution of income. It can also be used to compute the effectiveness of policies across income quintiles. The choice of this measure follows Krol and Miedema (2009), who argued in favor of using calculations based on quintile, decile, or percentile distributions as robust measures of inequality. The Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient are alternative measures, for which Krol and Miedema (2009) noted they offer both graphical and quantifiable representations of income inequality that can be compared over time and between geographical areas. Although this measure shows the direction and magnitude of income redistribution, it does not indicate where the redistributions are occurring. It also does not allow for within or between income group comparisons. In measuring categorical variables, ordered and quantile regressions are comparable. Although Sweeney et al. (2010) show that quantile and ordinal regressions are approximately linked through an inverse relationship, the recovery of the marginal effects of covariates on the estimated unconditional probabilities associated with ordered regression is a major strength. Following Perez-Truglia (2009), let y be the ordered response, taking values {0, 1, …, J} for some known integer J. The latent variable can be written as: $$ {y}^{\ast }= x\beta +e,\kern0.5em e\mid x\sim N\left(0,1\right) $$ Let α1 < α2 < … < αJ be unknown cut points (i.e., the threshold parameters), and define $$ y\left\{\begin{array}{l}0\kern0.5em if\ {y}^{\ast}\le {\alpha}_1\\ {}1\ if\ {\alpha}_1<{y}^{\ast}\le {\alpha}_2\\ {}\kern2.25em \vdots \\ {}J\ if\ {y}^{\ast }>{\alpha}_J\end{array}\right. $$ Thus, the response probability is computed as stacked in Eq. (3) below: $$ {\displaystyle \begin{array}{l}P\left(y=0\|x\right)=P\left({y}^{\ast}\le {\alpha}_1\|x\right)=P\left( x\beta +e\le {\alpha}_1\|x\right)=\Phi \left({\alpha}_1- x\beta \right)\\ {}P\left(y=1\|x\right)=P\left({\alpha}_1<{y}^{\ast}\le {\alpha}_2\|x\right)=\Phi \left({\alpha}_2- x\beta \right)-\Phi \left({\alpha}_1- x\beta \right)\\ {}\vdots \\ {}P\left(y=J-1\|x\right)=P\left({\alpha}_{J-1}<{y}^{\ast}\le {\alpha}_J\|x\right)=\Phi \left({\alpha}_J- x\beta \right)-\Phi \left({\alpha}_{J-1}- x\beta \right)\\ {}P\left(y=J\|x\right)=P\left({y}^{\ast }>{\alpha}_J\|x\right)=1-\Phi \left({\alpha}_J- x\beta \right)\end{array}} $$ Perez-Truglia (2009) noted that parameters α and β can be estimated using maximum likelihood. Additionally, while the coefficient of the ordered logit model could have different meaning, qualitative information can be directly extracted from its sign and statistical significance. Furthermore, the marginal effect can also be computed with respect to Xk. In this context, Perez-Truglia (2009) argued that such a process replaces the normal distribution, with the logistic yields in the ordered logit model. The ordered logit model assumes that the distances between each category of the outcome are proportional. Whether this criterion is violated is tested using the Brant test on whether the proportional odds (i.e., parallel lines) assumption holds. The null hypothesis (H0) is: H0: The parallel regression assumption has been violated. Therefore, to reject this hypothesis, the p-values associated with each variable should be greater than the 0.05 critical value. An alternative model for categorical variables is quantile regression. The philosophy behind quantile regression is that rather than estimating a regression by fitting a line based on the mean, the median is often its focus, formalized as $$ \underset{\xi \in \Re }{\min}\sum {\rho}_{\tau}\left({y}_i-\xi \right) $$ This model, which can be estimated using ordinary least squares, defines the unconditional quantiles as an optimizing problem and function ρτ (.) is the directional derivative of the objective function with respect to ξ. Thus, in a random sample with {y y y 1 2, ..., n}, solving Eq. 4 yields $$ \underset{\mu \in \Re }{\min}\sum \limits_{i=1}^n{y}_i-\mu \Big){}^2 $$ From Eq. 5, an estimate of the unconditional population mean (i.e., sample mean), EY, is obtained. Replacing the scalar μ by a parametric function μ β (,) x and solving for it yields Eq. 6: $$ \underset{\beta \in {\Re}^p}{\min}\sum \limits_{i=1}^n{\left({y}_i-\mu \left({x}_i,\beta \right)\right)}^2 $$ From Eq. 6, an estimate of the conditional expectation function E (Y\|x) is obtained. Replacing the scalar ξ in Eq. 4, the parametric function ξ (xi, β) and τ are set to 1/2, yielding the estimate of the conditional mean function. To obtain the estimates of the other conditional quantile functions, the conditional quantile functions are replaced by absolute values ρτ (.) and solved, leading to the quantile regression in Eq. 7: $$ \underset{\beta \in {\Re}^P}{\min}\sum {\rho}_{\tau}\left({y}_i-\xi \left({x}_i,\beta \right)\right) $$ According to Koenker and Hallock (2000), quantile regression is also viewed as a natural extension of the classical least squares estimation of conditional mean models. Its special case is the median regression estimator, which minimizes a sum of absolute errors. Therefore, the remaining conditional quantile functions are estimated by minimizing the asymmetrically weighted sum of absolute errors. As an alternative to the ordered logit model, although quantile regression preserves all within category information that may be lost through the categorization of household income into categorical variables to use the ordered logit model, Sweeney et al. (2010) argued that ordered regression has a major advantage: it describes the variation among individuals under the probability of class membership (j = 1, 2, 3,…, n). As Krol and Miedema (2009) argued, using the percentile distribution approach to divide the sample population into successive quintiles by ascending income levels as to determine the proportion of income received by each income group captures direction and magnitude. Harrell (2001) pointed out that, although direct parameter estimates are difficult to interpret in the ordered logit model, post-estimation allows for the recovery of the marginal effects of covariates on unconditional probabilities. This view is also reiterated by Gelman and Pardoe (2007), who emphasized the strength of ordered regression when probabilities are estimated. Nevertheless, Sweeney et al. (2010) also showed that quantile and ordinal regressions are approximately linked through an inverse relationship; thus, interpretations from the two models would provide similar results. To estimate the probabilities for each quintile, the ordered logit model is adapted for this study to achieve its second objective. Nigeria constitutes over 50% of the West African population. Concentrated in the rural area, Nigeria’s agricultural sector faces several challenges, including climate shocks, infrastructural, and institutional constraints (see Kwanashie et al. 1998). This has consequences for over 60% of the nation’s 184.264 million people (2015 estimate) that depend on this sector for livelihood. Available statistics show that 39.2 million or 46.3% of the total adult population of 84.7 million Nigerians (with women accounting for 54.4%) are excluded from financial services. However, around 80.4% of the financially excluded population resides in rural areas, with over 70% practicing land use agriculture. Given the impact of climate change on rural livelihood and land use activities, households further suffer from income shocks and are susceptible to falling further below the poverty line. The studied communities (Fakai in Kebbi state and Rijau in Niger state) both fall in the Sudan savannah region in Northern Nigeria. This region lies within the geographical research focus of the West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL). Another factor that influenced the choice of the study areas is poverty. While Niger state has the lowest poverty rate among the communities in the Sudan savannah region of Nigeria (below 34%), Kebbi state has one of the highest (above 70%). Drawing samples from both communities therefore eliminates response bias for the questionnaires. Using a questionnaire instrument, cross sectional household data were randomly collected from two rural communities in the Sudan savannah areas of the North West and North central zones in Nigeria from 320 respondents. The sample size for the study is computed from each community using the formula: $$ s=\frac{n}{1+\frac{n}{N}}, $$ where N is the population of each state and n the population in the studies community. However, $ n=\frac{Z^2\left[p\left(1-p\right)\right]}{D^2} $ could also be used to compute n. In this case, p is the proportion of households in poverty, while Z2 and D2 are the confidence level and interval, respectively. Using figures from the 2006 Nigerian census for Fakai, n = 169,111 and N = 3,256,541. On the other hand, n for Rijau is 166,053 and N is 3,850,249. Once obtained, s is divided by 1000 population units. Hence, the sample size for Fakai is 160.8 and for Rijau 159.2, yielding a total of 320 households to sample randomly in each community. The World Bank Group Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) database, launched in 2011 (see Demirguc-Kunt et al. 2015), served as a template for the questionnaire design in this study. The primary data collected and used in this study can be downloaded from WASCAL’s Geo portal at https://wascal-dataportal.org/geonetwork/apps/search/. Analytical framework The first objective of the study is to examine the effects of financial inclusive strategies on rural farm households, distributed along income quintiles. Using household income as the dependent variable, respondents’ income was classified into five categories: poorest 20%, second 20%, third 20%, fourth 20%, and richest 20%. Thereafter, the ordered logit model, following Perez-Truglia (2009), was used for estimation: $$ {Y}_i^{\ast }=\sum \limits_{i=1}^k{\beta}_k{X}_{ki}+{\varepsilon}_i={Z}_i+{\varepsilon}_i $$ Equation (8) is a re-specification of Eq. (1), where X is a vector of x, capturing the gender of the respondents, education, wealth-related variable such as land ownership, household size, households in savings clubs, formal credit, crop insurance, and government programs (e.g., distribution of subsidized fertilizers). According to Agresti (2002), since the coefficient on the independent variables in an ordered logit model depends on the densities for j and j - 1 (j = 2, …, J-1) and cannot be determined from the estimate of (8) alone, the partial marginal effects of Xki are thus specified as: $$ \frac{\partial \Pr \left({y}_i=j\|{X}_i\right)}{\partial {X}_{ik}}=\left\{\begin{array}{l}-f\left({\delta}_1-{X}_i^{\prime}\beta \right){\beta}_k\kern8.75em j=1\\ {}\left\{f\left({\delta}_{j-1}-{X}_i^{\prime}\beta \right)-f\right({\delta}_j-{X}_i^{\prime}\beta \Big\}{\beta}_k\kern2em 1<j\le J-1\\ {}f\left({\delta}_{J-1}-{X}_i^{\prime}\beta \right){\beta}_k\kern8.75em j=J\end{array}\right. $$ This ensures that the marginal effects estimates are robust for a system with more than two categorical variables. However, in a logit model with only two categories, the odds-ratio would make for a better interpretation (see Agresti 2002). The cumulative log-likelihood for this estimation is specified as: $$ \log L=\sum \limits_{i=1}^n\sum \limits_{j=1}^J{d}_{ij}\log \left[F\left({\alpha}_j+{X}_i^{\prime}\beta \right)-F\left({\alpha}_{j-1}+{X}_i^{\prime}\beta \right)\right] $$ The second objective of this paper is to examine whether the poorest income quintile would benefit most from the innovative strategies aimed at increasing access to financial services as a climate change adaptation strategy. It is executed by comparing the probabilities of success from the scenarios that double the uptake in specific financial services from their baseline values. From Eq. 8, the estimated value of Z and the disturbance term from the assumed logistic distribution can be used to predict the probability of the unobserved variable. Since $ {Y}_i^{\ast } $ falls within various thresholds limits, the general form of the cumulative probability is a respecification of the stacked probabilities in (3), that is: $$ P\left({Y}_i>j\right)=\frac{\exp \left({X}_i\beta -{k}_j\right)}{1+\left[\exp \left({X}_i\beta -{k}_j\right)\right]},j=1,2,\dots, M-1 $$ where P(Yi > j) predicts the probability for the policy scenario that scales up the access to the finance, lending to households in savings clubs, crop insurance, and government programs compared to the baseline probability for Eq. (1). Effect of financial access on rural farmers The summary statistics from the field data are presented in Table 4 in Appendix. The findings from the estimated ordered logit model (i.e., Eq. 8) are discussed in this section. Following Long and Freese (2006) the Brant robustness test was conducted to verify if the parallel regression assumption was violated. The results showed that the assumption was not violated. Therefore, from the estimated ordered logit model (see Table 1), gender, membership to a savings clubs, access to finance from a formal financial institution, and access to a traditional crop insurance scheme have significant effects on the distribution of rural farm-household income, being significant at the 5% level. Household size and access to government programs also have a positive effect on household income and are significant at 10%. Table 1 Estimated Ordered Logit Model The estimated marginal effects in Table 2 show that women are more likely to be in the poorest income quintile, while men are more likely to be in the fourth and richest 20% quintiles. This finding is also consistent with Enimu et al. (2017) who found that females form a greater proportion of members organized for reasons of attracting microcredit in Delta state of Nigeria, which is located in the southern part of the country. Smaller sized households are also more likely to be in the poorest income quintile than households of larger sizes. This is basically due to the use of family members for farm labor. Ownership of land was not significant from the poorest 20% to the richest. This reflects the declining value of land in rural areas due to persistent exposure to drought and flash floods, leading to gully erosion and land slide. Those who are in a savings club are more likely to be in the poorest income quintile and those who are not, in the richest income quintile. Additionally, as households move from the poorest to richest income quintile, the likelihood of their participating in community savings club decreases. The marginal effects also show that those in the lowest income quintile would benefit from formal access to credit. Table 2 Marginal Effects (Ordered Logit Model) The marginal effect for crop insurance has a negative effect on the poorest income quintile and a positive one on the richest. This implies that traditional crop insurance does not benefit the poorest income quintile. Evidence from the marginal effect of government programs on income quintiles is mixed because the coefficient on the richest income quintile is generally positive but negative for the poorest 20%. Therefore, the tendency is that government agricultural programs on fertilizer distribution, irrigation, and access to improved seedlings could benefit farmers in the richest income quintile most. In summary, from the estimated ordered regression model, the following findings can be deduced: The associated probability value of 0.313 in Table 2 shows that having savings with a financial institution does not benefit the poorest income quintile; Borrowing from family and friends also does not benefit the poorest income quintile, as the estimated coefficient has a probability value of 0.435; and Although access to crop insurance is significant at 5%, the estimated coefficient is negative, implying it does not benefit the poorest income quintile. Simulation of financial services The Nigerian government has continued to implement various agricultural initiatives aimed at extending famers’ access to financial services. Determining whether the benefits are evenly distributed across rich and poor farmers or are skewed to a particular quintile is useful. However, an alternative way to achieve this objective is through randomized experiments, as the ex-ante approach could equally provide insight into policy generalization purposes. As such, this section examines whether scaling up the delivery of such services would provide increased access to financial services to the farmers categorized by income quintiles. The predicted probabilities were obtained by estimating Eq. 11. The estimated baseline probability and those obtained from the different scenarios are presented in Table 3 and Fig. 1. Table 3 Baseline and Predicted Probability Values for Access to Financial Services and Benefit across Quintiles Distributive benefit by income quintile when access to finance to individual farmers from conventional financial institutions is accelerated Figure 1 shows that, when access to formal credit is doubled, the highest gain of 12% would accrue to the poorest income quintile. This implies that access to formal credit has a higher probability of being effective for the poorest income quintile than for the richest 20% farmers. The policy implication is that existing MFIs have the potential to bridge the access to the finance needed by poor farmers to stay in business and adapt to shocks. However, they are not taking their products to those that need them the most. This argument is consistent with Dabla-Norris et al. (2013), Collier (2013), and IMF (2014), who argue that access to financial services could strengthen the resilience of households to climate change. For crop insurance, under a policy scenario that seeks to continue providing farmers with access to traditional crop insurance, there is a higher chance that the richest income quintile would benefit most. Figure 2 shows that the gain attributed to the richest income quintile from such a policy is 33% for the richest 20% but would be reduced by 13% for the poorest 20%. The evidence that crop insurance benefits the richest income quintile of farmers but does not benefit poor- to middle-income farmers is consistent with Hess et al. (2002), who argued that traditional crop insurance does not benefit poor and vulnerable groups due to its expensive structure. Distributive benefit by income quintile when access to traditional crop insurance to individual farmers is accelerated The scenario under which lending to rural households is doubled using savings clubs is presented in Fig. 3. It shows an equal percentage gain for the poorest quintile of 12% which is the same with the gain from doubling access to lending from formal financial institutions. The competing gain to the poorest income quintile farmers from scaling up access to formal credit and lending to savings clubs also suggests that organizations play a critical role for such outcomes. Such an organization, as Sorensen (2000) argued, provides a platform to improve farmers productivity, as well as their access to credit. Distributive benefit by income quintile when access to finance to farmers organized into savings clubs is accelerated This finding is also consistent with Uphoff (1998), who argued that horizontal linkages among base-level organizations are critical for improving outcomes, provided they are well organized and households act in the interest of the group. Such an organization is also consistently needed for transiting to rotational and accumulating savings associations or accumulating credit associations, which according to Bouman (1995), are critical for assisting financial self-help groups in developing countries. The use of farm households organized as groups is consistent with Sorensen (2000), who argued it would be beneficial for mutual risk-sharing. The scenario that doubles access to government programs (see Fig. 4) showed that the greatest benefit would accrue to the richest farmers. Government programs, mostly dealing with the provision of subsidized fertilizers, irrigation programs, and access to improved seedlings in northern Nigeria, clearly do not benefit poor farmers. Distributive benefit to farmers by income quintile if access to existing government agricultural programs is accelerated The policy scenario analysis on the effectiveness of government programs shows that the gain from scaling up government programs in the agricultural sector to the richest 20% is 14%, while the poorest income quintile recorded the greatest loss of 8%. The second poorest income quintile recorded a loss of 7% and the middle income farmers a 3% loss, while the fourth and richest income quintile recorded a 4% gain. These findings do not agree with the Farauta et al. (2011), who found that government programs are effective in helping households build resilience to agricultural shocks. Following Zeller and Sharma (2002), who pointed out the need for identifying households who may have chosen not to borrow even when they had access to credit and others who wanted to borrow but had no access, we asked if the respondents had access to finance but choose not to borrow. The responses show that 95.94% of those who needed finance were not able to borrow (see Fig. 5). Proportion of Respondents who needed finance but had No access. Source: Abraham and Fonta (2018) When asked the purpose for which the credit was sought, the distribution of responses (see Fig. 6) showed that, of the 320 respondents, most households needed credit to purchase fertilizers (23.12%), dig borehole for water/irrigation purposes (19.06%), and buy improved seedlings (16.88%). As previously mentioned, past government programs in Nigeria have focused tremendously on improving access to fertilizers, irrigation, and improved seedlings. However, the high proportion of farmers needing access to credit for these same reasons indicates that government programs in this aspect may not be reaching those that need them most. Purpose for which Credit was sought by Household by Proportion (%). Source: Abraham and Fonta (2018) In summary, the findings indicate that doubling access to credit for the farmers organized around a savings club or through formal financial institutions would benefit the poorest income quintile most. This result is consistent with those obtained from the estimated marginal effect. Therefore, based on the statistical significance of the probability value in the marginal effect model of 5%, the hypothesis that the poorest income quintile benefits most from financial inclusive services that enhance their access to credit using formal financial institutions and savings clubs grouping rural farm households, hence increasing their adaptive capacity to the negative effects of climate change, is supported. Recognizing the gap in the literature in examining the effects of financial resources and development outcomes at the household level, this study examines the effects of financial access and also whether the poorest income quintile would benefit most from programs aimed at increasing their access to financial services as a climate change adaptation strategy. The findings show that, while access to formal credit has a positive effect on farmers in the poorest income quintile, membership of savings clubs by farmers would equally deliver finance access to farmers in the poorest income quintile. Moreover, traditional crop insurance was found to mostly benefit rich farmers. Therefore, investments in alternative insurance products that would help SHFs cope with the increased uncertainty in the rainfall pattern and increased drought would be important. Furthermore, despite the government’s efforts to improve the agricultural value chain in Nigeria through irrigation, fertilizer delivery, and improved seedling access for farmers, the SHFs considered in this study indicated they still require finance to purchase most of these items. This suggests that the programs proposed to help rural farm households cope with agricultural shocks, do not benefit the farmers in the poorest income quintile. The government should therefore not relent in its effort to strengthen the agricultural value chain in Nigeria. To move toward the eradication of poverty for all under a post-2015 sustainable development framework, looking into how rural farm households are organized in developing countries and designing financially inclusive products that would be consistent with their values and community life are important measures. The benefits for the poorest income quintile from formal financial institutions and community savings clubs in our scenario analysis suggest there is a need for the CBN and central banks in other developing countries to continue initiating reforms that will target poor, excluded, and vulnerable farm households with access to finance as to: (1) enhance access to financial resources, (2) enable farmers to build resilience to climate change, (3) keep rural households in the farming business, and (4) contribute to actualizing the decisions reached in the UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP) 21, Section 55, Subsection (b), paragraph (ii), which seek to identify initiatives that would deliver better microfinance to poor farmers as a climate change adaptation strategy. 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In: 2020 focus briefs, no. 17, IFPRI, Washington DC World Bank (2008) Rural finance in Nigeria: integrating new approaches’ a World Bank report no. 44741-NG World Bank (2012) ‘Financial innovations for social and climate resilience: Establishing an evidence base’ Social Resilience & Climate Change study, World Bank Publication Zeller M, Sharma M (2002) Access to and demand for financial services by the rural poor: a multicountry synthesis. In: Zeller M, Meyer RL (eds) The triangle of microfinance: financial sustainability, outreach, and impact. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Publication, pp 19–45 The Author appreciates the German Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF) for funding this research through the WASCAL Graduate Programme on Climate Change Economics and the Universite Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar – Senegal, within 2013-2016. As such, the author appreciates Prof. A. Aly Mbaye (mbayealy93@yahoo.fr) the Director of the WASCAL programme at the FASEG, Universite Cheikh Anta Diop for his contributions as the thesis advisor and Dr. William M. Fonta (fontawilliam@gmail.com) for his contribution when the author visited at the WASCAL Competence Centre at Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. More so, deep appreciation is also extended to MFW4A (Making Finance Work for Africa) and the ADA for useful comments on earlier draft of findings in this paper published by MFW4A and the ADA as a Working paper of the 2015 African Microfinance Week that helped shaped this version. This paper benefits from the Graduate Research Programme in Climate Change Economics fund provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF) in collaboration with the Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung (ZEF)/ Centre for Development Research, Department for Economic and Technological, Universität Bonn, Bonn - Germany under the West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) hosted at the Universite Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Senegal. In 2015, Terfa W. Abraham was one of the recipient of the MFW4A (Making Finance Work for Africa) Research Paper prize for his paper titled, “Financial Innovation and Poverty Reduction: Evidence from Northern Nigeria”. The paper was presented at the Research Meets Africa Conference during the African Microfinance Week (i.e. Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance – SAM): a University Meets Microfinance (UMM) workshop organized in collaboration with ADA (Appui au Développement Autonome) and Positive Planet during the African Microfinance Week on June 9, 2015. The MFW4A award, therefore provided additional funds that helped advance this research paper. The primary data collected and used for this study was funded under the German Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF) Funds for Climate Change Economics under the WASCAL (West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) Graduate Research Programme for 2013–2016 at the Universite Cheikh Anta Diop, de Dakar – Senegal. The data set is hosted on the WASCAL Geo portal available on the link: https://wascal-dataportal.org/geonetwork/apps/search/ I declare that the research article titled, ‘Estimating the Effects of Financial Access on Poor Farmers in Rural Northern Nigeria’, is an article from my research work funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF) through the Climate Change Economics doctoral research programme under the WASCAL (West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) initiative. National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), No 1 River Niger Street, Maitama, Abuja, Nigeria Terfa W. Abraham Search for Terfa W. Abraham in: This paper is an extract from the Ph.D thesis of TWA at the Universite Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Senegal, funded under the BMBF/WASCAL Graduate Research Programme in Climate Change Economics. As such, there are no contributing authors this paper. The author read and approved the final manuscript. Correspondence to Terfa W. Abraham. Though this research paper is extracted from the PhD thesis of the author which was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF) through the WASCAL graduate programme at Universite Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar – Senegal, an earlier draft of this paper also benefited from the research paper prize awarded to the author by the Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) during the University Meets Microfinance (UMM) conference in Dakar, 2015. The earlier draft was first presented at the Research Meets Africa, a UMM workshop organized in collaboration with Appui au Développement Autonome (ADA) and Positive Planet during the African Microfinance Week, on June 29, 2015, and later published as a MFW4A Working Paper Series by the Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) Secretariat. Again the author appreciates his thesis examiner at Universite Cheikh Anta Diop, de Dakar, Dr. William M. Fonta, for the mentorship provided since the earlier draft that has led to the completion of this paper. Table 4 Description of Variables Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Rural households Farm income	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21443
__label__wiki	0.978889	0.978889	Paul Simon facts for kids For the United States Senator from Illinois, see Paul Simon (politician). Paul Simon in concert October 13, 1941 (1941-10-13) (age 77) Singer, songwriter Vocal, guitar Simon and Garfunkel, Tom and Jerry Paul Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician and song writer. He became famous as a member of Simon and Garfunkel, with his friend, Art Garfunkel. He wrote their songs. The two went their separate ways in the early 1970s and since then Simon has become a successful solo artist. Paul Simon had his first success in 1958 when his song "Hey Schoolgirl" got to Number 49 on the US charts. He was performing with his friend Art Garfunkel in an act called "Tom and Jerry". His next success was in 1965 with "Sounds of Silence" which went to Number 1. This was also performed with Garfunkel under the name "Simon and Garfunkel. Some of Simon's most famous songs include "Slip Sliding Away", "American Tune", "Late in the Evening", "Still Crazy After All These Years", "Me and Julio Down By the School Yard" and "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover". His 1986 album Graceland is very well-known. He is still producing music. His newest album is called Surprise. Simon has received three honorary doctorates in music, including one from Yale University and one from Berklee College of Music. In 2006, Time said that he was one of the 100 people who shape our world. Simon has earned sixteen Grammys for his solo and collaborative work, including three for Album of the Year (Bridge Over Troubled Water, Still Crazy After All These Years, and Graceland), and a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2001, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2006 was selected as one of the "100 People Who Shaped the World" by Time. In 2011, Rolling Stone named Simon one of the 100 greatest guitarists. In 2015, he was named one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time by Rolling Stone. Among many other honors, Simon was the first recipient of the Library of Congress's Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2007. In 1986, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music, where he currently serves on the Board of Trustees. Paul Simon performing at the 9-30 Club When Simon moved to England in 1964, he met Kathleen Mary "Kathy" Chitty (born 1947) on April 12, 1964, at the first English folk club he played, Railway Inn Folk Club in Brentwood, Essex, where Chitty worked part-time selling tickets. She was 16, and he was 22, when they began a relationship. Later that year they visited the U.S. together, touring around mainly by bus. Kathy returned to England on her own with Simon returning to her some weeks later. When Simon returned to the U.S. with the growing success of "The Sound of Silence", Kathy, who was quite shy, wanted no part of the success and fame that awaited Simon and they ended their relationship. She is mentioned by name in at least two of his songs: "Kathy's Song" and "America," and is referred to in "Homeward Bound" and "The Late Great Johnny Ace." There is a photo of Simon and Kathy on the cover of The Paul Simon Songbook. Simon has been married three times, first to Peggy Harper in 1969. They had a son Harper Simon in 1972 and divorced in 1975. His second marriage, from 1983 to 1984, was to actress and author Carrie Fisher to whom he proposed after a New York Yankees game. The song "Hearts and Bones" was written about this relationship. The song "Graceland" is also thought to be about seeking solace from the end of this relationship by taking a road trip. A year after divorcing, Simon and Fisher resumed their relationship, which lasted for several years. The final song in the sequence of three about Carrie Fisher is "She Moves On". This song marks the end of the post-marriage relationship and was an album track on Paul Simon's 1990 album The Rhythm of The Saints. Simon married singer Edie Brickell on May 30, 1992. They have three children: Adrian, Lulu, and Gabriel. Paul Simon and his younger brother, Eddie Simon, founded the Guitar Study Center. The Guitar Study Center later became part of The New School in New York City. Simon is an avid fan of the New York Rangers, New York Knicks and New York Yankees. Simon in 1966. Garfunkel, left, with Paul Simon, right, performing as Simon & Garfunkel Simon performing live in Mainz, Germany, July 25, 2008 Simon paying tribute to musicians Leonard Cohen and Chuck Berry, the recipients of the first annual PEN Awards for songwriting excellence, at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on February 26, 2012 Reverse of the 2007 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song medal awarded to Paul Simon Simon wearing the Kennedy Center Honors ribbon in 2002 Paul Simon Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21444
__label__wiki	0.990076	0.990076	Kacey Musgraves Is ‘Proud’ to Embrace Diversity, ‘Super-Grateful’ for Luke Bryan Hit Christopher Polk, Getty Images While opening for Harry Styles on his 2018 Live on Tour, Kacey Musgraves appreciated the diverse crowds that showed up to see the two acts, and she hopes to see that carry over into the country music landscape. "Harry’s a beacon to all kinds, it seems," she tells Hits Daily Double. "Tons and tons of LGBTQ people, older people, kids. It’s a very accepting environment, which makes me happy." Lack of diversity has been a longtime issue in country music, but the "High Horse" singer sees small signs that the genre is progressing, like with Luke Bryan's No. 1 hit "Most People Are Good." That song has received attention and praise for the line, "I believe you love who you love / Ain't nothing you should ever be ashamed of." Country Stars React to Cody Alan Coming Out "I’m super-grateful Luke Bryan can have a hit with 'Most People Are Good.' It’s a small step," Musgraves says, adding there's "still a long way to go" when it comes to seeing representation of all kinds of people in country music. "There are kids all over the country who love country music with no one to look up to, which is sad. They love the music so much, but where’s the artist who looks and lives like they do?" she continues. "And it’s hard for me to say, 'I’m a country artist,' when what I do is so far from the radio, or what people think of as mainstream country. It gives people who know my music the wrong idea, and people who like what’s on the radio may not be prepared for what I do too." Musgraves is a walking example of embracing diversity, voicing her strong support for the LGBTQ community and speaking fearlessly about sexism women face in the industry. She made a bold choice when she chose "Follow Your Arrow" as her third single in 2013, as the song contained the line, "Make lots of noise / Kiss lots of boys / Or kiss lots of girls if that's something you're into." The song won her a CMA Award for Song of the Year in 2014, and she's honored to be a part of any venture that centers around acceptance. "It makes me proud to go into the Harry Styles tour, or a pop plane, and know they see someone who believes people are equal and you should do what makes you happy," she says. "[It’s reassuring] that some people in country music believe that." The country star has announced a North American leg of her Oh, What a World Tour that takes her across the U.S. and Canada in early 2019. She'll launch the 2018 trek in October with a string of European tour dates. NEXT: Who Says You Can't Be Gay in Country Music? Country Stars' Reactions to the Supreme Court's Gay Marriage Ruling Watch Lindsay Ell's Incredible One-Woman Performance for RISERS! Source: Kacey Musgraves Is ‘Proud’ to Embrace Diversity, ‘Super-Grateful’ for Luke Bryan Hit Filed Under: Kacey Musgraves, Luke Bryan	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21448
__label__wiki	0.91922	0.91922	Everything You Need to Know About Elton John’s ‘Rocketman’ Movie Paramount Pictures / Getty Images Described by Paramount Pictures as "an epic musical fantasy about the uncensored human story of Elton John's breakthrough years," Rocketman is scheduled to open in theaters everywhere on May 31. We've compiled all the information about the movie that's known and put it into the gallery below. With a script by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot, which John adapted into a musical for the stage), Rocketman has been in the works since at least 2011. It stars Taron Egerton as John, and the actor performed his own vocals in the movie. But he wasn't the first choice. Originally, the singer had wanted Justin Timberlake, who appeared as John in the video for 2001's "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore." By 2013, they had cast Tom Hardy, who played Bane in The Dark Knight RIses, but eventually dropped out when he realized he wasn't up to the vocal demands of the role. Rocketman shouldn't be thought of as a typical music biopic. In 2012, John called it "a surreal look at my life, and not just a factual look at my life, more in the manner of a Moulin Rouge! ... I just don't want it to be a normal biopic because my life hasn't been like that." Egerton expanded on John's words when the original release date was announced. "[I]t’s actually his songs used to express important beats in his life at emotional moments. He’s not the only character that sings. It’s going to be fun. ... I’m going to do it all. I’m going to do it on set as well. We’re going to use a variety of techniques but I will always be singing on set. No miming. I’m just not interested in doing it that way.” John and model Claudia Schiffer are listed as two of the film's executive producers, and John's husband, David Furnish, has a producer's credit. Read more facts about the film, including brief biographies on the actors in the leading roles, below. Get The Latest News on 'Rocketman' Here Source: Everything You Need to Know About Elton John’s ‘Rocketman’ Movie Filed Under: elton john, Rocketman	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21451
__label__cc	0.560614	0.439386	London Life With Liz A lifestyle blog with a little bit of everything. May 20, 2017 May 22, 2017 londonlifewithliz How a visit to the Society of Genealogists sparked a surprise interest in my family history Earlier today, I went on a fascinating tour of the Library of the Society of Genealogists. My interest in visiting this incredible archive was twofold: to learn more about the work that the Society does, and to see for myself the kinds of resources that are available to those keen to find out more about genealogy and / or research their own family history. The Society’s headquarters are tucked away in Charterhouse Buildings, an attractive cul-de-sac on the junction of Goswell Road and Clerkenwell Road – the perfect location for this organisation, given that all the major London Record offices are within a 10-15 minute walk of the Society and each other. Our guide, the wonderfully enthusiastic and knowledgeable Genealogist Else Churchill (no relation to Winston, we were reliably informed), began the tour by explaining how the Society, also known as the National Family History Centre, is the UK’s largest genealogical members’ society. Founded in 1911 as a meeting place and library for family historians, the Society was originally based in offices on the Strand. Since then, it has outgrown four successive buildings and its current home now holds around 140,000 items. These include virtually every kind of document relating to genealogy that you can imagine: parish and non-conformist registers, census indexes, gravestone inscriptions, marriage licences, wills, newspapers, personal family histories…you name it, you are likely to find it here. Genealogy has never before been so popular; the Society’s membership has grown from 50 in 1911 to over 11,000 today. And change is in the air: on the day we visited, workmen were busy renovating the building, in preparation for the Library taking in 60,000 microfilms from the London FamilySearch Centre, currently located at the National Archives at Kew. These take the form of church and local records from the UK and Ireland, probate records for England and Wales before & after 1858 and selected items for Caribbean research. The Society is also going to host the Library of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain (JGSGB). The latter, a secular organisation, was founded in 1992 to encourage research into the genealogy of the UK’s Jewish community and to promote the preservation of Jewish genealogical records and resources. Fantastic though the Society’s physical resources are, they form only just one part of the Society’s remit. The Society also runs a thriving Education Programme through which it hosts lectures seminars, day schools and distance learning courses; in fact, it has its very own lecture room, which is put to frequent use. We began our tour in the Lower Library, described by Else as containing “unique and special” documents. Else explained how births, deaths, marriages and censuses tend to be the first port of call for anyone researching their family history, followed by records of places where ancestors come from, e.g. parish records. All of these are detailed in the Library Catalogue and the Lower Library contains a suite of computers which you can use to view the Catalogue. These computers also provide access – free-of-charge – to the major online genealogical websites. Else also talked about the Special Collections, of which the Society possesses over 3,000. These are ‘research lists’, donated to the Society, which tend to comprise the life’s work of members. A Special Collection doesn’t necessarily belong to an individual, though – sometimes it contains documents not wanted by a larger institution and passed to the Society as a last resort. The Bank of England’s Will Collection is one example, as is a collection of personnel records from UK Customs and Excise. Next stop: the Society’s Middle Library. This is where you find the main enquiry desk, as well as a repository of thousands of books relating to “place”, i.e. where our ancestors lived. Books and records on England, Wales, Scotland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are all stored in here; those relating to Ireland are kept upstairs, in the Upper Library, purely because the Middle Library is now full to the brim. Bear in mind, while using this resource, that “Counties” are ordered as they were when our ancestors lived in them – so, for example, you will find Southwark in Surrey and Lewisham in Kent. Gazetteers will help you to determine the correct parish. The Middle Library is a treasure trove of information, but Else did recommend referring to the Library Catalogue before visiting its shelves – you may find yourself overwhelmed, otherwise. While we were in here, Else took the opportunity to talk about the Individual Advice Sessions which the Society holds on Saturdays and which are aimed at helping beginners or those who have hit a brick wall with their research. Society members can also join an online forum that enables them to help each other by sharing information and experiences. Finally, we headed for the Society’s Upper Library, which again is stashed full of books of varying ages and dimensions: a knowledge-lover’s paradise. Here, having already established who your ancestors were and where they lived, you can find out what they actually did with their lives, both education and employment-wise. Public schools and universities are covered, as are professions, trades and apprenticeships. Should your ancestors be of the illustrious type (I have a sneaking suspicion that mine are not), you can look up the peerage and investigate heraldry. The Upper Library also boasts a large “Overseas” section containing information about Britons who travelled overseas to work or live in the colonies. India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. are all present; the section relating to India, we were informed, is particularly extensive. Researching your family history can be a daunting, nay overwhelming, task. Else was at pains to points out how the Society’s resources are aimed at all levels of family historians, from complete beginners to skilled researchers. I haven’t yet decided whether this is a road I wish to travel down, but I do know that, should the opportunity present itself, the Society of Genealogists will be my very first port of call. Published by londonlifewithliz View all posts by londonlifewithliz Previous Crime and Punishment: A Convict’s Tale (or: the truth is sometimes far more complex than you might think) Next On a quest for knowledge at Piccadilly’s Burlington House, home of the Society of Antiquaries	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21452
__label__wiki	0.839733	0.839733	Case of the Day: In re Naranjo It never rains but it pours. The case of the day is In re Naranjo (4th Cir. 2014). The case was an appeal by the Lago Agrio plaintiffs and one of their lawyers, Letters Blogatory contributor Aaron Marr Page, from discovery orders in separate proceedings brought by Chevron under Section 1782 and under FRCP 45. The Section 1782 proceedings were in aid of the BIT arbitration between Chevron and Ecuador and in aid of the appellate proceedings in Ecuador. The FRCP 45 proceedings arose out of subpoenas Chevron issued in the RICO case in the Southern District of New York. In both cases, the issue was whether Page could assert an attorney-client privilege. The court first turned to a jurisdictional question. As for § 1782, the universal rule among the circuits that have considered the question is that an order granting discovery under the statute is an immediately appealable final order. The Fourth Circuit spelled out the policies behind that rule, which it adopted: the policy against interlocutory appeals is to avoid interfering with the proceeding below; but in a § 1782 case, there is no proceeding on the merits in the US courts. The more interesting question was whether the court had jurisdiction of the appeal under FRCP 45. The District Court in Maryland issued a decision on the privilege question that was favorable to Chevron; but ordinarily in order to obtain appellate review of an interlocutory discovery order it’s necessary first to disobey the order and to be held in contempt. Appeal then lies from the contempt order. But Page argued that the court had jurisdiction even though things had not progressed that far under the Perlman exception, named for Perlman v. United States, 247 U.S. 7 (1918). Perlman applies when the third party is disinterested in the underlying case and thus lacks a sufficient incentive to risk contempt sanctions. But the Fourth Circuit found that Page was misinterpreting Perlman: it doesn’t allow the subpoena target to appeal; it allows the privilege holder to step in and appeal when it appears that the subpoena target is about to disclose privileged information. Nor can the Ecuadorans themselves appeal, though they are the holders of the ostensible privilege, because Page wasn’t disinterested in the proceedings below. All of this seems right; but I wonder why the FRCP 45 appeal, and the underlying case, aren’t simply moot on account of the final judgment entered in the RICO case. It seems to me you can’t seek to enforce subpoenas forever, even after the underlying litigation has been resolved. On the merits of the § 1782 appeal—the appeal where the court found that it had jurisdiction—the court, for the most part, found that the Donziger waiver of the attorney-client privilege, which had been decided by the Second Circuit, governed. Comity required the Fourth Circuit to adhere to the Second Circuit’s decision, which after all was rendered in the same overall dispute. But the court agreed with Page that on the record before it, Donziger had not waived the privilege past October 20, 2010, and thus the court refused to grant Chevron’s appeal on that point. Apparently there will be further proceedings in the district court on the issue. Tagged: 1782, Lago Agrio « Case of the Day: Republic of Ecuador v. Chevron Corp. Case of the Day: Tansey v. Cochlear Ltd. »	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21457
__label__wiki	0.584479	0.584479	The President And The Rule Of Law What a game! Congratulations to the world champion Patriots. In 1977, journalist David Frost asked Richard Nixon about his approval of a plan to use “dirty tricks” (burglaries, wiretaps, etc.) against groups opposed to him. It was clear that the plan was illegal, and in fact it was one of the acts that led to Nixon’s resignation to avoid impeachment. Here was the exchange: Frost: Would you say that there are certain situations—and the Huston Plan was one of them—where the president can decide that it’s in the best interests of the nation, and do something illegal? Richard Nixon: Well, when the president does it, that means it is not illegal. Frost: By definition. Nixon: Exactly, exactly. If the president, for example, approves something because of the national security, or in this case because of a threat to internal peace and order of significant magnitude, then the president’s decision in that instance is one that enables those who carry it out, to carry it out without violating a law. Otherwise they’re in an impossible position. We had echoes of Nixon this week in President Trump’s reaction to the temporary restraining order issued by Judge James L. Robart in Seattle, enjoining enforcement of much of Executive Order 13769, the order on immigration of Syrian refugees and nationals of seven Muslim countries. The President’s comments are, to my mind, maybe the most distressing thing he’s said so far: The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2017 “So-called judge?” This is dangerous language that encourages Mr. Trump’s supporters to be as casual and dismissive of judicial review of executive action as he is. And Mr. Trump wasn’t done: What is our country coming to when a judge can halt a Homeland Security travel ban and anyone, even with bad intentions, can come into U.S.? If this tweet is an honest expression of the President’s views, then we are in trouble. If it’s not an honest expression of his views but rather an effort to pressure the courts or to rile up his supporters, then we are also in trouble. Trump’s statements are worse than Nixon’s, because Nixon is making an argument about what the law is, not threatening to disregard decisions of the branch of government who “emphatically” have the “province and duty … to say what the law is,” Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803). My concern here is not the substance of the executive order. As I’ve said previously, I think the order is un-American, unwise, unjust, and immoral, but I’m not sure that much of it is actually illegal in light of developments in the last week. Once the administration made it clear that the order did not apply to lawful permanent residents, and once the State Department canceled the visas of many of the people the order affected, I think many of the legal problems with the order were resolved. I do think that the executive has and should have basically unreviewable power, or power reviewable only on the most narrow grounds, to deny visas or to revoke visas of most aliens outside of the United States. But that’s no longer the issue. The issue now is whether the executive must obey injunctions even if it thinks they are incorrect and likely to be overturned on appeal. This was true for Martin Luther King just as it’s true for the President. There has been some Republican criticism of the President’s comments but not nearly enough. There is nothing more critical to our system of government than the separation of powers and respect for the decisions of the courts. Tagged: Trump « Judge Gorsuch On International Issues Case of the Day: Phoenix Process Equipment v. Capital Equipment & Trading »	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21459
__label__wiki	0.888479	0.888479	SciFi Weekend: Mr. Robot Season Finale; Doctor Who; The Orville; Star Trek Discovery; Outlander Finale; Apple and Disney Moving Into Streaming; The Punisher Renewed; The IT Crowd December 17, 2017 — Ron Chusid Mr. Robot completed its third season and has officially been renewed for a fourth. While I don’t think the third season was able to be as good as the spectacular first season, I did feel that it was something of a comeback after the less successful second. The finale seemed to go full circle with the hack, had revelations for both Elliot and Angela, and put Dom in a new dilemma. Following are excerpts from four interviews with Sam Esmail about the season finale, including the impact of Donald Trump’s election on the show. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The season ends with the suggestion that the hack will be undone. Was this the plan from the outset? SAM ESMAIL: If I’m going to conjure up my original feature plan, this was always part of it. The plan was that basically toward the end of act two, he would reverse what he did, but still kind of be in a position of now pivoting and targeting the real top one percent that orchestrated the 5/9 hack behind his back. That was always a plot point, but as you can see, that kind of gets unwieldy because your main character’s goal is essential reversed as you go through the second act of the story. Yeah, it’s basically Mad Max: Fury Road, turning back around and going back to where they came from. Exactly. It’s literally turning the main motivation and main dramatic drive upside down. It’s kind of an Odyssey structure. With Elliot, because the journey is really internal and really about his emotional growth, having the plotline be circular like that lent to that more internal exploration… I didn’t see the Angela-Price twist coming. What’s exciting for you about that dynamic going forward? I’ve read this somewhere — though I wasn’t conscious of it when creating the show — that people consider this a family drama. In a weird way, I see the underpinnings of that. Obviously you have Elliot, Darlene, and Mr. Robot being this weird dysfunctional family. But then you throw in Angela, who, because she’s such a close friend, she is sort of part of that family unit that Elliot created growing up. One of the things that I think drives a lot of our characters are those family ties and the history of their families. In fact, that’s how they even know each other — because of Elliot’s father and Angela’s mother going through the same trauma. What I always felt was interesting was to reveal that this whole thing was actually kicked off by another family connection that we had no idea about: Price being the estranged father of Angela. If you peel back the onion and think about it. That caused this chain reaction. It’s because of Price’s connection to Angela that he hired this company that had no business being a cybersecurity company for a major conglomerate, and it’s because Angela worked at Allsafe that Elliot was offered a job there and had the idea to initiate the 5/9 hack. I thought it was interesting that, when you boil this massive global tragedy down, it was really these family connections that motivated and kicked off this whole event. That was always there from the get-go. In fact, that was the one reveal I thought people would most likely guess by the end of the first season, given how close we played Price and Angela together… Do you intend for White Rose to remain a target for Elliot? Yeah, I believe that the thing about the show is that we set up Tyrell as the main villain, when in fact, it’s White Rose, and that’s something that comes out this season. The ultimate target is White Rose and the Dark Army. Moving forward, that’s the pivot we’re trying to make. Elliot is going to go after them. I have time for only one question, so I’m going to make it count. Does the pee tape exist in the world of Mr. Robot? I think far worse than the pee tape exists in the world of Mr. Robot and our real world. The Hollywood Reporter: In the past, you have talked about envisioning Mr. Robot as a five-season arc. Exiting season three and heading into season four, does that plan remain intact? Honestly, I’ve always said it’s four or five seasons, and I’ve said that because I think it’s somewhere in between. Whether that means the next two seasons are two short seasons, or it could technically still be two full ten-episode seasons, we’re still kind of figuring that out. It’s something the writers’ room and I take very seriously. We never want to feel like we’re treading water. Hopefully it fits into two more seasons, but we’re trying to figure out that number… Season three ends with Elliot reversing the Five/Nine Hack, or at least beginning that process. How will that change the show moving forward, tonally? It brings the show back to its initial promise of Elliot wanting to take down the guys behind the scenes who are manipulating society. The journey between seasons one to three has been about discovering who the real culprits are. The hack was merely a distraction that was coopted by these people, and it’s finally been revealed and exposed to Elliot. In a weird way, the next season will return back to that initial premise of the show and have Elliot be motivated by that, with this new clarity. In a second story at The Hollywood Reporter: Elliot and Mr. Robot finally return to each other’s lives, at one of their earliest meeting spots. Can you talk through the different ideas that were in place for how to get these characters back together on the same page after so much time apart, and to have that meeting of the minds at Coney Island, where it all started — at least as far as the show’s depiction of events, that is? This is funny because so many of our pitches for this moment made their way into the episode in one way or another. When we started to brainstorm ideas for this reunion, we naturally were drawn to those Mr. Robot/Elliot milestones from the pilot and season one. Sam loved the idea of them speaking to each other on the Wonder Wheel again. I was pushing for a callback to that symmetrical shot of them sitting on opposite sides of a subway train. Someone else pitched the subway platform from the pilot. We ended up seeing all of that in this finale. The Wonder Wheel ended up being the initial reunion because of how uniquely tied to Mr. Robot it was. We’ve seen Elliot in all of these other locations already (the arcade, the subway, his apartment). It made sense that Elliot would allow himself to feel safe enough to talk to Mr. Robot on the Wonder Wheel. It’s a very emotional moment, realizing that as much as Elliot has shades of Mr. Robot, the Mr. Robot side of his personality has his own shades of Elliot. Has that always been a tenant in writing the character, that Christian Slater’s side of Elliot has more in common with Rami Malek’s depiction than he or we realized? Is it something that was discovered in the writing of the character? And how critical is that reveal, moving forward? The plan was always to evolve the relationship between Elliot and Mr. Robot. We’ve already been through so much manipulation, betrayal, and battling with them. To me, this is finally a beautiful moment of sincerity and honesty. It’s also cool because you, as Elliot’s friend, are able to witness how Mr. Robot is helpful in certain situations and how Elliot really needs him at times. It’s definitely a crucial reveal, as it’s that first step in the healing process — the path toward integration. By the end of this episode, in one of many callbacks to our pilot, we have a heartfelt exchange between Mr. Robot and Elliot. In a way, we’re healing Elliot and resetting him back to his old self. He still wants to take down the men who play god without permission, but he has a clearer view on who those people are now… Elsewhere in the episode, we have Phillip Price’s Darth Vader moment, revealing himself as Angela’s biological father. Two-fold: was this always part of the character’s design, and do you think this news refocuses Angela? By the end of the finale, it’s hard to tell if she’s fully recovered from the Whiterose experience… do you think it’s fair to say she at least realizes she was being used, even if she still believes in Whiterose’s agenda to some degree? This wasn’t always part of the character’s design. I think we decided on this about halfway through season two. Initially, we were working toward some kind of twisted, sexual infatuation that Price had with Angela. There actually was a pitch on the table in season two for Angela and Price to sleep with each other, but we ended up changing that to her going for an older dude at the bar. (Maybe she’s just into old dudes?) That sexual infatuation idea still works as a misdirect until the moment of the reveal. Of course, we dropped hints throughout this season that I know you picked up on (the anonymous benefactor, Price’s reaction when Whiterose confronted him about Angela, etc). I think it’s meant to be ambiguous at the end of that scene, but I definitely agree that she realizes she was being used by Whiterose, regardless of how much she still might believe in “the cause.” Deadline Hollywood: Let’s talk about what we saw tonight. Elliot is still bent on taking down the 1% of the world, but his dilemma is that he’s now in the pocket of WhiteRose. The way we are ending the third season is that we’re coming back to the original promise: Elliot’s mission to take down secret organizations who are controlling things behind the scenes. It’s the first time that Elliot has exposed them and seen their true identity in that they’re being led by White Rose and the Dark Army. It’s an interesting predicament: He has leverage of them, but they have leverage over him as well. It’s an interesting Mexican standoff. Elliot’s decision to reverse the 5/9 hack: Is this just a means to ease his own guilt after blowing up all those E-corp buildings? Yeah, I think that with the journey of Elliot, we started the series with this guy in an immense amount of pain. Instead of facing that, he blamed it on society and externalized to the world around him what needed to be fixed, when in fact, he was avoiding facing the problem within. That’s what this moment in this season was about: His realization that what he wanted was not co-opted by the very people he was trying to take down; that it was wrong. There are a few internal struggles he also faces in regards to his relationship with Mr. Robot and its evolution. Angela learning that she was Phillip Price’s daughter. Why was this important to establish and was this something you knew going into the season? The thing about that revelation is that what I always thought was interesting in regards to the entire chain reaction of things that led to the 5/9 hack and the global catastrophe is that it all started with broken family ties. And really the chain reaction of Price who is estranged from his daughter her whole life, and reaching out in the distance, by hiring this (small) cybersecurity company which has no business representing E-Corp; then because of that, Elliot joins the company to avenge his father’s death — that strategy to attack E-Corp, that spiraling out of control, is in essence about broken family ties. Now (Price and Angela) are trying to heal that tragedy and trauma that comes out of it. We planned this very early on; at the end of the first season Price takes Angela in… Dom and Darlene, where does this leave them now? Dom is at a crossroads. She’s the most noble character to her cause in the entire series. She’s now in with the Dark Army in this brutal way and we’re going to see the aftereffects of that. In terms of Darlene, she’s going to have to live and process a lot of guilt of what she’s put Dom through. There’s a genuine relationship there: They did care for one another. It’s going to be interesting though because they’re on opposite sides. We’re going to explore that relationship and whether they survive through that. The Brave Traveler at the end of tonight’s show, that’s the drug kingpin Fernando Vera who double-crossed Elliot in season one and took girlfriend Shayla’s life. What now? Well, he’s a crazy person, an egomaniac and hopefully very entertaining to watch. I’ll leave that as my answer. There’s a personal connection here with Elliot and out of all the global chaos that he’s been experiencing on the show, this one narrows the field a bit on a personal level. Shayla was the only true connection Elliot made when we began the series. We’ll definitely explore the blowback from all of that with her murder and how Elliot assisted in breaking Vera out of prison. While Esmail said the current political climate doesn’t influence the plot itself, he noticed it affects the energy writers bring into the room. Esmail called the election “catastrophic not just for the country, but for the world.” Still, he says he is open-minded about politics. “I never try and tune anything out. I think that’s a mistake,” he says. “You want to bring all the honest stuff that’s going on inside you into your work. Otherwise you’re keeping a lot of authenticity out.” Following President Donald Trump’s election, Esmail said the writers felt the same apprehension that many others experienced. “When you’re talking about a man that’s incoherent and inarticulate and unintelligent, egomaniacal, it’s a dangerous thing for the world,” Esmail said of Trump getting elected. “We also felt a little responsibility to it. That we underestimated him, that we underestimated that this can possibly happen,” he explains. That sense of accountability then loosely paralleled Elliot’s journey this season, he said. “That indirect responsibility led to a lot of Elliot’s feeling at the beginning of the season of his responsibility in the 9/5 hack, which was a lot more direct, but that energy that we were all feeling and sensing in the room,” Esmail says. “This dread that we have committed this crime by not doing something enough definitely fueled a lot of Elliot’s motivations.” Mozilla upset some users when they inserted a browser extension which promoted Mr. Robot into their Firefox browser, leading users to think their computer was hacked. There is a similar virtual reality game available on Amazon’s Alexa products, but they handled it in a safer manner. Ads during the show show people asking Alexa for the Daily Five/Nine. For this to work, it is necessary for users to specifically enable the Daily Five/Nine skill. Generally I find it to be a negative for Alexa that some information is not obtainable unless the user knows which skill to activate, but in this case it is for the better that users only receive paranoid news from the Mr. Robot universe if they activate it. Steven Moffat originally did not plan to have Bill Potts in the Christmas episode of Doctor Who and explained why he changed his mind: “I was 20 pages in to the script, and I thought, ‘I need Bill here. There isn’t a witness for this. The Captain [played by Mark Gatiss] isn’t quite right as the witness. I want to hear what Bill would say.’ I needed that voice back in the show. I just did. I missed her terribly. I missed the way Bill reacted to things. Also, if the Twelfth Doctor’s got someone as forthright and irreverent as Bill, you really want the First Doctor to meet her! [Laughs]” Following a screening of Twice About A Time, Steven Moffat argued that Doctor Who is the greatest show ever made: “It’s worth saying, because I don’t think it’s ever said enough… the reason Doctor Who is as successful – I mean humanly successful – for so long in such an enduring way – and I’m just gonna say it because I don’t ever say it, but now I’m leaving I’ll say it – it is actually the greatest television show ever made. “I’m gonna prove it to you. There are probably press here who are ‘No, it’s The Wire’. It’s not The Wire. It’s not I Claudius. It’s not The Office. It’s not even Blue Planet. It’s Doctor Who and I’m gonna prove to whoever is doubting me the hardest that they’re wrong to doubt me. “How do you measure greatness? Do you measure it by ratings? Do you measure it by reviews? Christ no, of course you don’t. “Do you measure it by perfection? Is Doctor Who perfect every week? No, it’s not. It really isn’t. It can’t be. Because every episode of Doctor Who is an experiment, and if you experiment every single week, sometimes you get a faceful of soot and you’re blinking the smoke away and you look a bit ridiculous. That happens. Perfection is the refinement of boredom, it’s doing the same thing all the time perfectly. Doctor Who, by always being different, can never be perfect. “But yes, how do we measure its greatness? “There are people who became writers because of Doctor Who. Loads of them. “There are people who became artists because of Doctor Who. “There are people who became actors because of Doctor Who. Two of them have played the Doctor. “There are people, believe it or not, who become scientists because of Doctor Who. That seems improbable given we said the moon was an egg, you’d think they’d have a problem with it. “But people become scientists, people change their view of the world and what they’re capable of, because of a silly show about a man who travels around in time and space in a police box. “So, never mind the reviews. Never mind anything. Never mind the ratings. Never mind any of that. “Count the scientists, the musicians, the scholars, the writers, the directors, the actors, who became what they are because of this show. “Count, as you might say, the hearts that beat a little faster because of Doctor Who. “I do not even know what is in second place, but without doubt, and by that most important measure, Doctor Who is the greatest television show ever made.” Peter Capaldi also had this to say: “I’d like to thank all my friends on Doctor Who for sharing their good humour, talent and life with me over the last four years. And particularly, Steven Moffat, who has brought so much to Doctor Who, even more than might be realised today, but will be seen clearly in the future. “I’d like to thank everyone who loves the show for sharing it with me, and sharing the boundless generosity of spirit that it embodies. I wish Jodie and the new TARDIS team all the best for the future, and the past, and everything inbetween, and look forward to watching them journey to new and wonderful places. “For me, it’s been an amazing trip. I went to the end of time, I met fantastical creatures… and I blew them up. But now it’s over. Time I was off.” Last week’s post included additional Doctor Who news including information on a special about the Peter Capaldi era which will air after the Christmas episode, a trailer for the episode, a link to an interview with Steven Moffat, and an article on David Bradley. For the benefit of those who did not see it because of more problems with Facebook, last week I had a review of Mad Idolatry, the first season finale of The Orville. Until links from Facebook groups to the post were shut down by Facebook, the link to this video of Sports Illustrated model Kyra Santoro as the scantily-clad Ensign Turco had a quite a few hits. Hopefully this remains up this week–there is little consistency to Facebook’s censorship. In an interview with Digital Spy, Seth MacFarlane argued that The Orville filled a void left behind by the classic Star Trek: Speaking to Digital Spy, the creator and star of The Orville said that he was heavily inspired by the themes and direction of classic Star Trek – aspects which he feels haven’t been replicated much since then. “I kind of miss the forward-thinking, aspirational, optimistic place in science fiction that Star Trek used to occupy,” he said. “I think they’ve chosen to go in a different direction which has worked very well for them in recent years, but what has happened is that it’s left open a space that has been relatively unoccupied for a while in the genre. “In the same way that when James Bond kind of moved into a different area than classic James Bond, Iron Man came along and sort of filled that void. “So for me, it’s a space that’s kind of waiting to be filled in this day and age when we’re getting a lot of dystopian science fiction, a lot of which is great and very entertaining, but it can’t all be The Hunger Games.” MacFarlane added: “It can’t all be the nightmare scenario. While MacFarlane has used a lot of humor in the series, the show did turn out to be more like Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation as opposed to being a parody as many pre-season articles incorrectly described the series. MacFarlane also corrected this misconception in another interview with Digital Spy, saying that The Orville was not influenced by Galaxy Quest. The titles for the chapter 2 episodes of Star Trek: Discovery have been revealed: Episode 10: “Despite Yourself” (January 7) Episode 11: “The Wolf Inside” (January 14) Episode 12: “Vaulting Ambition” (January 21) Episode 13: “What’s Past Is Prologue” (January 28) Episode 14: “The War Without, The War Within” (February 4) Episode 15: “Will You Take My Hand?” (February 11) Four new character posters, including the one above, have also been released. The full set can be seen here. I loved #TheLastJedi! It hit all the right notes for me, and seeing it in the Chinese Theater, surrounded by my fellow nerds was glorious. The Force was with us. Oh, and I went in costume for the first time ever, because I am a damn adult and I get to decide what that means. pic.twitter.com/mTqB0LP4hV — Wil ‘Kick the Nazis off the tweeters’ Wheaton (@wilw) December 15, 2017 Last week I linked to a couple of articles on the fall portion of the season of Star Trek: Discovery. Bleeding Cool also weighs in, arguing that Star Trek: Discovery Absolutely Earns Its Place in the Star Trek Continuity. My review of the fall finale was posted here, and I looked at other aspects of the show, including continuity, here. I will resume weekly reviews of the episodes after Discovery returns. Wil Wheaton tweeted about wearing his Star Trek uniform to the opening of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. While I didn’t go until last night, for the record, as I don’t have a Star Trek uniform and it was too cold for either of my Star Trek t-shirts, I wore a Gallifrey swhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/eatshirt and, again as it was cold out, my Tom Baker Doctor Who scarf. Outlander also had a season finale last week. Deadline talked to Ron Moore about the episode and future plans. Apple has also ordered a science fiction show from Ron Moore, who also was behind the revival of Battlestar Galactica. Deadline reports: Created and written by Moore, along with Fargo co-executive producers Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi, the untitled series explores what would have happened if the global space race had never ended. Tall Ship Prods.’ Moore and Maril Davis executive produce with Wolpert and Nedivi. This is is the third original scripted series ordered by Apple via its recently formed worldwide video programming division headed by former Sony TV presidents Jamie Erlicht & Zack Van Amburg, joining a morning show drama series project, executive produced by and starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, which has a two-season pickup, and Amazing Stories, a reimagining of the classic anthology from Steven Spielberg and Bryan Fuller. It looks like Apple is working hard to make a credible entry into original programming with such orders. Of course they will have very tough competition from not only the established sources, but from Disney when they launch their planned streaming service. Assuming the deal goes through, their acquisition of much of Fox will give them an incredible library, including many major genre franchises, along with a controlling stake in both Netflix and Hulu. Netflix has renewed The Punisher for a second season. Last week’s post included the trailer for season two of Jessica Jones, which will be released March 8. HBO has renewed Larry David’s show Curb Your Enthusiasm for a tenth season. NBC is trying yet again to have a US version of The IT Crowd. Maybe they will have better luck this time as Graham Linehan, who created the original, is going to be the writer and executive producer. Besides being an excellent comedy, the show teaches the most important lesson you will ever need to fix computer problems (as explained in the video above). Posted in Donald Trump, Gadgets, Science Fiction, Television. Tags: Amazing Stories, Battlestar Galactica, Bill Potts, Bryan Fuller, David Bradley, Disney, Donald Trump, Fargo, Jessica Jones, Larry David, Mark Gatiss, Mr Robot, Outlander, Pearl Mackie, Peter Capaldi, Ron Moore, Sam Esmail, Science Fiction, Seth MacFarlane, Star Trek, Star Trek Discovery, Star Wars, Steven Moffat, Steven Spielberg, The IT Crowd, The Orville, The Punisher, Tom Baker, Wil Wheaton. No Comments » « Forbidden Words At CDC Is Just Latest Orwellian Result Of The Republican War On Science Donald Trump Seeks Confrontation With Eurasia and Eastasia »	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21461
__label__wiki	0.834396	0.834396	SciFi Weekend: Star Trek News; The Arrowverse; Jessica Jones Showrunner Leaving for Warner; Man In The High Castle Trailer; Veronica Mars; The Affair; Big Bang Theory; Timeless; Foundation Trilogy; Hugo Award Winners August 26, 2018 — Ron Chusid It is another slow week with only one new science fiction show airing which I’m watching (Killjoys). While fun to watch, I don’t find that a show worth reviewing episode by episode as I do with some genre shows. There was one season finale with The Affair, but I don’t see much point in writing about that here except for one brief comment. I was surprised that such a major character was killed off, but many have speculated that it came down to Ruth Wilson complaining about not receiving equal pay with its male lead. Tonight is the season finale of Sharp Objects, but I will wait until after I see the finale to comment on the show. While no shows to review this week, there have been some items of interest. With limited new news, I’ll start by going back to something interesting we learned about Deep Space Nine. I never did like the ending of the series, and I believe that this is the consensus of Star Trek fans, even if this story claims that the ending was well-received. Regardless, we learned at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention that the ending could have been far worse. From ComicBook.com: Speaking during a panel at Star Trek Las Vegas, Behr revealed that he really wanted the series finale to call back to the popular season six episode “Far Beyond the Stars,” revealing that the entire story of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was actually the dream of science fiction writer Benny Russell. “I did pitch to [executive producer] Rick Berman that the final episode would end up with Benny Russell on Stage 17 at Paramount, wandering around the soundstages, realizing that this whole construct, this whole series, that we had done for seven years, was just in Benny’s head,” Behr said (via Trek Movie). But Deep Space Nine is just one television series in the Star Trek franchise, and Behr’s dream ending could have had major implications for the rest of the franchise as well. “That is how I wanted to end the series. And Rick said ‘Does this mean The Original Series was in Benny’s head? Does this mean Voyager was in Benny’s head?’ I said ‘Hey man, I don’t care who is dreaming those shows, I only care about Deep Space Nine and yes, Benny Russell is dreaming Deep Space Nine.’ He didn’t go for it,” Behr said. In “Far Beyond the Stars,” series lead Sisko finds himself experiencing the life of Benny Russell, a black science fiction writer in 1950s America. Russell imagines Deep Space Nine as a story he’s trying to sell, but struggles with the racism of the era. In the end, this is revealed as a vision sent to Sisko from the prophets in the wormhole near Deep Space Nine. In reality, it’s a powerful episode about what science fiction is for, what it is capable of, and why who writes it matters. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. There’s a documentary planned for release later this year titled What We Left Behind that will feature the cast and creative team that worked on the show looking back on the time they spent, the stories they created, and the legacy of the series. I totally agree with Rick Berman on this one. It was fine to have an isolated episode in which things were possibly a dream, or for some series like St. Elsewhere to be a dream, but do not end the series in this manner when Star Trek extends far beyond this series. TrekMovie.com has some quotes from Gates McFadden, including answering questions regarding the news of a new Star Trek series staring Patrick Stewart: No, we haven’t [heard anything], and I am sure Patrick will fill us in sometime. I have no idea if we are in it, or if it is just Patrick or what. We will all find out, but it is just so cool, though. It is very exciting. Again, I am always blown away by the fans, who have loved the show and Roddenberry’s vision for so long and through so many different series, and they have all been so wonderful. I am as excited as everybody else. Tyler Hoechlin will be reprising his role as Superman in the upcoming seasons Arrowverse crossover, and Lois Lane will be introduced (along with Catwoman, as previously announced). From Deadline: The three-night crossover event kicks off with The Flash on at 8 PM Sunday, December 9, followed by Arrow at 8 PM December 10 and capping off with Supergirl on December 11. For this year’s crossover, The Flash and Supergirl will swap time slots. The Flash normally airs on Tuesdays and Supergirl on Sunday. Arrow airs in its regular Monday night slot. Hoechlin’s Superman will appear in all three episodes. This year’s crossover will also include the first appearance of Batwoman (Ruby Rose). The Flash will return with new episodes on Tuesday, October 9 at 8 PM ET/PT on The CW, followed by Black Lightning (which is not technically part of the Arrowverse) at 9 PM. Supergirl premieres the next week on Sunday, October 14 at 8 PM, followed by Arrow on Monday, October 15 at 8 PM. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow will return on Monday, October 22 at 9 PM. The as-yet-untitled crossover event will from Sunday, December 9 through Tuesday, December 11.> I09 has a story on the rise of the Dark Night on the upcoming season of Gotham. We might see a big improvement in the DC based television shows while there has been a huge loss for the Marvel shows. Melissa Rosenberg, creator and showrunner for Jessica Jones, is leaving Netflix and moving to Warner Bro Television. From The Hollywood Reporter: In a competitive situation, the Jessica Jones creator and showrunner will depart the Netflix Marvel drama after season three and move to Warner Bros. Television with an overall deal. Sources say the indie studio outbid Netflix for Rosenberg’s services in a deal that ultimately is worth in the eight-figure range. Ultimately, Rosenberg was ready to do something different and was ready to move on to new projects though Netflix is said to have courted her to stay. Under the multiple-year pact, Rosenberg will create and develop new projects for Warner Bros. TV. She is currently focused finishing up the previously announced third season of Netflix’s Marvel drama Jessica Jones. A return date for the Krysten Ritter-led Marvel Television drama from ABC Studios has not yet been determined. A new showrunner would take over for Rosenberg should Netflix renew Jessica Jones for a fourth season. Rosenberg will remain credited as the show’s creator and executive producer. Amazon Prime has released the season three trailer for The Man In The High Castle (video above). The synopsis: Season three of the Emmy award-winning The Man in the High Castle finds Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos) grappling with her destiny after seeking safety in the Neutral Zone. Realizing that their fates are intertwined, she works with Trade Minister Tagomi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) to interpret the mystery of the last remaining films. Meanwhile, as tensions between the Reich and the Empire continue to rise, Joe Blake (Luke Kleintank) returns from Berlin and is sent on a diplomatic mission to San Francisco, where he and Juliana reunite and come to a turning point in their relationship. Also in the new season, Obergruppenfuhrer John Smith (Rufus Sewell) finds himself celebrated by Nazi high society, but political forces are closing in as North American Reischsmarschall Lincoln Rockwell and J. Edgar Hoover plot against him. Helen (Chelah Horsdal) takes drastic action to protect her family while they struggle with the aftermath of Thomas’ death, and Smith learns of a shocking and ambitious new Nazi program that has personal and global ramifications Hulu is planning a reboot of Veronica Mars, with Kristen Bell reprising the title role. Apple has picked up a ten-episode series based upon Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. We have more news on the Timeless movie planned to wrap up the series. The two-part episode will air in December, with production starting in October. The full cast will be returning. TVLine has more on the planned writers and director. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin has won the Hugo Award for best novel. Wonder Woman has won for Best Dramatic Presentation–Long Form and The Good Place: “The Trolley Problem” has won for Best Dramatic Presentation–Short Form. The Verge has a full list of nominees and winners. ABC is planning a biracial reboot of Bewitched. I’m sure everyone who cares knows by now, but I feel I should include the news that The Big Bang Theory will be ending after this season. Fifty million dollars was not enough to entice Jim Parsons to stick around for another two years. Posted in Science Fiction, Television. Tags: Arrow, Batman, Batwoman, Bewitched, Black Lightning, Foundation Series, Gotham, Hugo Awards, Jessica Jones, Jim Parsons, Killjoys, Kristen Bell, Krysten Ritter, Legends of Tomorrow, Patrick Stewart, Science Fiction, Sharp Objects, Star Trek, Supergirl, Superman, The Affair, The Big Bang Theory, The Flash, The Good Place, The Man In The High Castle, Timeless, Veronica Mars, Wonder Woman. No Comments » « DNC Votes To Reform Party And Apologizes For Past Sins (A Fake News Fantasy) Donna Brazile Shows How The Democratic Party Establishment Has No Respect For Democracy »	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21462
__label__wiki	0.749628	0.749628	American Economic History, Part I The American Revolution: A Constitutional Conflict Austrian Economics, Step by Step The History of Conservatism and Libertarianism History of Economic Thought, Part I: Classical Economics and the Marginal Revolution History of Economic Thought, Part II: 20th Century Economics History of Political Thought, Part I History of Political Thought, Part II How Alexander Hamilton Screwed Up America Introduction to Logic Libertarianism and Science Fiction: The Golden Age from Bradbury to Roddenberry Little Houses of Liberty: Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Literary Genius Mythology and Western Civilization: From Plato to Tolkien The Thomas Jefferson Nobody Knows Science Fiction, Liberty, and Dystopia The 10 Worst and 10 Best Presidents Trails West: How Freedom Settled the West U.S. Constitutional History U.S. History to 1877 U.S. History Since 1877 Western Civilization to 1500 Western Civilization Since 1500 What's Wrong With Textbook Economics Welcome Guest! Login or Sign up Knowledge is your best weapon in the struggle for liberty. Arm yourself! Logos and Mythos Welcome to Liberty Classroom About Liberty Classroom Most of us learned politically correct U.S. history in school. The economics was at least as bad. It's never too late to learn the truth. At Liberty Classroom, you can learn real U.S. history, Western civilization, and free-market economics from professors you can trust. Short on time? No problem. You can learn in your car. Got questions about what you're learning? Get them answered in our discussion forums. Plus monthly live sessions, recommended readings, optional quizzes, and, coming soon, even more courses. Next Live Q&A Check Out the Liberty Classroom App! My Dad Dropped Out of High School, But Crushed People in Debates Guess What: Now You Can Major in “Social Justice” It’s Back to School, Kids! Now Write Down This Stuff That Never Happened Thomas E. Woods, Jr., is the New York Times bestselling author of 12 books, including The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, Meltdown, and 33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask. He holds a bachelor's degree in history from Harvard and his master's and Ph.D. from Columbia University. Kevin R.C. Gutzman is the New York Times bestselling author of Thomas Jefferson, Revolutionary: A Radical's Struggle to Remake America, James Madison and the Making of America, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution, Who Killed the Constitution? (with Thomas Woods), and Virginia's American Revolution. Brion McClanahan is the author of The Founding Fathers' Guide to the Constitution and The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers. Jason Jewell is the chairman of the department of humanities at Faulkner University. Jeffrey M. Herbener is chairman of the department of economics at Grove City College, associate editor of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, and editor of The Meaning of Ludwig von Mises. Gerard Casey is Professor Emeritus in the School of Philosophy at University College Dublin. His books include Natural Reason, Murray Rothbard and Libertarian Anarchy. G.P. Manish is a professor of economics in the Sorrell College of Business at Troy University and a member of the University's Manuel H. Johnson Center of Political Economy. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Suffolk University. Dedra Birzer is a lecturer in history at Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan. She is currently under contract for a book on Rose Wilder Lane and her cohort of public intellectual women. She has written entries for a number of specialized encyclopedias in print and online, including The Black Past, the New Catholic Encyclopedia, and Dictionary of American Biography. Enter your email address to automatically receive new blog posts in your inbox! Liberty Classroom may end up being the best money I’ve ever spent. - S.W. I am incredibly impressed. - J.W. Wow! I have always been studious, yet I do not recall learning any of this as a child. I am loving the material. - R.D. I now even find myself constantly correcting my own textbooks. This resource is invaluable! - J.L. Tom Woods and company should have their heads examined for practically giving away college level lectures on real history. - Kenn Williamson Connect with Tom Woods Follow Tom Like Tom on Facebook Watch Tom on YouTube Copyright © 2019 Thomas Woods. Legal & Policies LibertyClassroom.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Find me on Google	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21463
__label__cc	0.74968	0.25032	Tag Archives: Joseph Gordon-Levitt On why Summer is no Manic Pixie Dream Girl. (500) Days of Summer is my favourite film. I get a lot of stick when I tell people that. Old-school romantics hate (500) for its assertion that we can grow as people through our relationships, even if they aren’t made to last; feminist bloggers just hate our protagonist Tom’s unrequited love interest Summer. I want to stick up for Summer, because I don’t think she is the product of lazy writing. With a screenplay as smart as this, no line that drops from a character’s mouth is accidental. So why is it that, aside from the small hints dropped that betray a deeper, more conflicted Summer (her dream confession to Tom, her distress on watching the ending of The Graduate), there seems to be so little to her beyond her general kookiness? One word: perspective. This particular story happens to be told from the perspective of Tom. A male protagonist in the world of romantic comedies is still a relatively rare occurance, and so provides a contrasting POV to your standard run-of-the-mill Katherine Heigl flick. So, let’s analyse Tom as a character. Tom believes in true love. He believes that when he meets ‘the one’, his life will be given purpose and therefore he will be complete. He works for Clark Gregg as a greetings card writer (hello, novelty movie job!) though his real passions lie elsewhere, in architecture. Tom also happens to be pretty selfish, though you might not have noticed. I’ll let Joseph Gordon-Levitt explain: “I would encourage anyone who has a crush on my character to watch it again and examine how selfish he is. He develops a mildly delusional obsession over a girl onto whom he projects all these fantasies. He thinks she’ll give his life meaning because he doesn’t care about much else going on in his life… That’s not healthy. That’s falling in love with the idea of a person, not the actual person.” Is it any surprise that Summer wouldn’t want to be with a guy that treats her as an accessory with which to complete himself? A guy that seems to display no interest in her own life plans? A guy that talks about her as a set of pretty features and quirks? “I’m in love with Summer. I love her smile. I love her hair. I love her knees.” That’s very sweet Tom, but is there anything beyond the superficial that- “I love this heart-shaped mark she has on her neck.I love the way she sometimes licks her lips before she talks. I love the sound of her laugh. I love the way she looks when she’s sleeping.” I guess not. Over the course of the movie, Tom comes to two realisations: A) He can’t put his happiness in the hands of anyone else; he needs to take control and find it himself, and B) His fantasy woman does not exist. While he starts the film believing that Summer will swoop in and save him, ultimately she doesn’t. She gets on with her own life. Does her rejection then give him the motivation needed to pick himself back up and set out on the right path? Yes. And that’s how life works: shit happens and we try to learn from it. So stop calling Summer a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Summer doesn’t fit the MPDG mould. She breaks it. Standard \| Posted in Uncategorized \| Tagged 500 days of summer, feminism, film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Manic Pixie Dream Girl, MPDG, Zooey Deschanel \| 0 comments My New Favourite Thing: hitRECord. It’s an interesting idea. When you’ve created something, your natural urge is to protect it and hide it away from others, much like a dog that’s snuffed out a half-eaten sausage. But what if you shared that sausage? What if you gave other people free rein with that sausage, and allowed the sausage to reach its true potential? Sorry, that’s a really bad metaphor, let’s just forget that. I’ll start again. HitRECord.org was set up by Joseph Gordon-Levitt a few years ago, and it acts as a sort of platform for artists to collaborate and create stuff together. It’s usually directed towards travelling shows and periodic projects, such as The Tiny Book Of Tiny Stories, a book of adorable stories and accompanying illustrations from the site, and RECollection, a kind of anthology of different works (they’re currently working on a TV show). Basically, if you upload something, anyone can download it. They have to attribute credit to you, but aside from that they can try and improve on it or change it in any way they like. Say, for example, you enjoy writing but you can’t draw. At all. Well, if you upload your written piece and it’s good, someone may see it and edit or change it slightly. Another person could then come across it and draw an illustration to accompany it. Someone else might then animate the drawing while another decides to record a voiceover and compose a song. And it feels really nice to see people taking up an idea (your idea) and making it into something awesome you couldn’t do alone. You can’t necessarily control what comes out at the end, but that’s the beauty of it. I’m really starting to get into it (the lack of anything in particular to do over the hol may have something to do with that!), and though it’s weird seeing other people uploading videos with me in them, it’s also fascinating to see what they do with them. Standard \| Posted in Uncategorized \| Tagged camera, collaboration, create, draw, editing, favourite thing, hitRECord, holiday, illustration, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, record, write \| 0 comments	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21465
__label__wiki	0.533626	0.533626	Posts Tagged Beverly Hills California Lyric Culture Presents its ‘Electro Sexual’ collection With Private INXS Performance Posted by Cindy Robinson, Life on the Scene in Concert, Fashion, Music, On The Red Carpet, Photography on July 22, 2011 by Cindy Robinson Lyric Culture recently presented its ‘Electro Sexual’ collection during a private fashion show and intimate performance in Beverly Hills, CA at the Gibson showroom from iconic Australian band INXS. Hanna Rochelle, founder of Lyric Culture, met the band in 2005 when they working at a recording studio in Los Angeles on their hit album, “Switch” with Rockstar: INXS winner J.D. Fortune. Rochelle was inspired by the colorful imagery, gritty and wildly expressive, often controversial lyrics in the songs penned by Andrew Farriss and the late Michael Hutchence. The ‘Electro Sexual’ collection of women’s apparel and accessories were unveiled in a runway show inspired by the INXS songs “Suicide Blonde,” “Devil Inside,” “New Sensation,” and “Beautiful Girl.” Lyric Culture’s designs also capture memorable lyrics from the Beatles, Madonna, Rod Stewart, the Beach Boys, Miley Cyrus, Carrie Underwood and more on their stylish t-shirts and accessories. Their designs are available nationally at stores such as Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Wal-Mart, and Claire’s Accessories. The fashion show culminated with a private performance by INXS as a preview to their concert at the Wiltern Theatre. The semi-acoustic set show cased the talents of INXS band members Kirk Pengilly, Jon Farriss, Garry Beers and Andrew Farriss (guitarist Tim Farriss had the night off) but lacked in the frontman department as the performance went off with a big surprise – singer J.D. Fortune wasn’t in the house as the band opted to have their back-up singers perform lead vocals for the short set. The event was attended by music and fashion industry guests. Panda Express and Monster Energy Drink sponsored snacks & beverages for the guests. Please enjoy a semi-acoustic performance if the INXS classic, “Don’t Change”: andrew farriss, art, Arts and Entertainment, Australia, Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills California, cindy robinson, Fashion, garry beers, Garry Gary Beers, Gibson, INXS, J.D. Fortune, jon farriss, Kirk Pengilly, life on the scene, Los Angeles, Lyric Culture, Michael Hutchence, monster energy drink, Oceania, panda express, Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre, tim farriss, United States	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21466
__label__cc	0.696201	0.303799	Free View of Flora and Fauna So, what did you do on International Museum Day? Because I have been following museum pages on Facebook, I made myself available for the day. It was difficult choosing which institution I would visit. Ultimately, after answering the question “How many times would I get to attend an opening?” I knew where I would go. The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) officially opened its doors to the public last Friday, May 18. There have been teases and previews since last year, so there was so much hype over the event and they expected a swelling number of visitors. Besides those who had been granted early access to the exhibits, no one knew what they would see in the museum. When I arrived around 1:30 PM, there was a long line from the door of the museum to the next building. That meant I would be standing under the summer sun for some time. And just my luck, I left my umbrella in my other bag. My cap was doing little to shade me. So I braced myself for a sweat fest. After what felt like a glacial pace of over 20 minutes of waiting, I found myself in the comforts of the museum’s air-conditioning. Once the routine check of the bag and registration was over (plus being told my bag was small so I didn’t need to leave it at the counter), I was allowed to explore the building. NMNH is a tall building. The government decided to repurpose the old Agriculture and Commerce Building, which was built in 1940. Its designer was Filipino architect Antonio Toledo, who incorporated a neoclassical look to the building. Sometime after WW2, it housed the Tourism department and was its previous occupant until it was given to the museum folks. For years, there have been calls to have a natural history museum, a building dedicated to presenting the local flora and fauna to the public. NMNH is a dream come true for a number of people. View from the sixth floor Tree of Life in the afternoon shadows The top of the Tree of Life from the sixth floor Any visitor at the museum would be greeted by the towering Tree of Life, which stands at the center of the building and doubles as an elevator shaft. It has lattice pattern that allows natural light to enter from the ceiling. It was created by Dominic Galicia Architects and interior design firm Periquet Galicia, Inc. Replica of Lolong Lolong from beneath Lolong’s skeleton But no one could go near the Tree of Life without passing by the replica of the great late Lolong, the big saltwater crocodile captured in Agusan del Sur on September 3, 2011. He was 6.17 m. (20 ft. 3 in.) long and weighed 1,075 kg. (2,370 lbs.). His size was so remarkable that he gained an entry in the Guinness World Records as the largest crocodile in captivity. He died on February 10, 2013; he was about 50 years old. He was named after Ernesto “Lolong” Goloran Cañete of the Palawan Crocodile and Wildlife Reservation Center, one of the hunters that captured him. His remains are also on display at another exhibit. Tinuy-an, a female Philippine eagle One feature that visitors would easily miss is the stuffed remains of Tinuy-an, a female Philippine eagle that was released in 2008, the same year that male eagle Kagsabua was captured and eaten by a farmer. Philippine brown deer Terrestrial cabinet of curiosities Mangrove crab Green turtle Little heron Long-tailed macaque Fossil of a shelled creature The museum has six floors, each one dedicated to a certain group of plants and animals or their remnants. The higher you get in the building, the more species you will see; some as replicas, others taxidermied, and the rest rendered in either ink or paint. Giants of the sea Giant whale shark Yellofin tuna streaming along Rufous night heron Dolphins near the ceiling Paintings of flowers Spot-billed pelican Sarus crane Tabon scrub fowl Schools and schools During the opening day of NMNH, 3,757 people visited the museum. I am proud to be one of them. Just before leaving the compound, swing by the rear entrance of the museum to see huge boulders that came from the Mayon Volcano during one of its explosions over a century ago. The silent guards at rear of NMNH If you will visit NMNH, they are open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 AM to 5 PM—but they stop receiving visitors at 4:30 PM. Because it is summer, bring an umbrella or whatever form of shade you have, like a hat or shades or even wear sunscreen. Also, have water with you. Waiting time lasts anywhere between 15 minutes to more than an hour. Big bags have to be deposited at the counter. Monopods and tripods are not allowed at the museum. Also, entrance to all national museums – except for the Planetarium – is permanently free. T.M. Kalaw Ave., Luneta Park, Ermita, Manila HistoryMuseumNature Previous Post Rise Next Post Sunlight and a Second Breakfast cbholganza says: Galing naman! Wish I were Mr 3,758. We should all encourage our friends to come and take a look at our museums. I shall work on that from my end. Mati Serraño says: Yes. And not just the national museums. We have a number of museums that are worth the look. theberlinbook says: Wow, I didn’t know that you don’t have to pay to get in to all national museums. Thanks for sharing! The free entrance started back in mid 2016. It was such great news. Hope you do visit them. I’m looking forward to visiting this! The last time I was in Manila they were still undergoing renovations. Yes, it took them a long while before they finished the renovations. The opening was supposed to be last year. But was pushed back for some reason. We’re grateful that it finally is open. Hope you get to visit our newest national museum next time you’re here. Leave a Reply to Mati Serraño Cancel reply	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21469
__label__wiki	0.644476	0.644476	In praise of the cheap seats at White Sox park The Cubs are the team to watch this year, but the upper deck at U.S. Cellular Field remains the best place to see a game. by Kate Schmidt Rich Hein/Sun-Times U.S. Cellular Field It wasn't just the elotes or the enticing smell of fried peppers and onions that got me. It was the diverse crowd of fans wholly intent on the ballgame. It was the summer of 2000 and I'd just moved to Chicago. I was at my first game on the south side, there to see the great pitcher Pedro Martinez (then with the Red Sox), but also to see the scrappy White Sox team that would make it to the playoffs that year, albeit briefly. There were few if any tourists, or folks from the North Shore, or bros wielding stacks of empty beer cups. The same holds true up above in the cheap seats, where you'll find a likewise attentive if not easily pleased crowd. It's extraordinary how a collective hush can descend on a baseball game in the open air. Of course, the same thing can happen at Wrigley Field, currently home of the best team in baseball by a good measure. But you have to pay an arm and a leg to go to a Cubs game—the average ticket there is $51, $20 more than the major-league average. With Sox tickets for the upper deck starting at $7 ($5 on Sundays) for the real nosebleed seats, you can afford to go to see a game on a regular basis, and unlike at Wrigley Field, here it's usually pretty easy to move to a more desirable section; the ushers aren't going to razz you. Sections 530, 531, and 533 will all put you right on top of home plate for as little as $15 on Sundays. Craft Beers of the Midwest (formerly Beers of the World) is just around the corner on the upper-deck concourse, along with a host of food vendors (vegetarian and gluten-free options included) and one of the city's most stunning views of the downtown skyline from the ramps outside. There is now Diet Coke on offer, whereas at Wrigley you're stuck with Diet Pepsi. Plus, you can tailgate in the parking lot before or after the game—verboten on the north side. But what about the most important thing—the game itself? Alas, after an improbably strong start that had them in first place in the AL Central alongside the Cubs in the NL Central for the first two months of the season, I can't say that the White Sox, now struggling to remain at .500 11 years after their World Series victory, will bring you anything but grief for the time being. But that in itself is a long-standing Chicago tradition—just ask any Cubs fan. If at last this truly is "the year" for them, why not check out the prospective American League World Series competition? v — Kate Schmidt Guaranteed Rate Field 333 W. 35th St. (Bridgeport) Sun-times Print Collection All hail Steve Stone, the conscience of Chicago baseball The broadcaster might have switched sides, but he’s beloved by everyone in the city. by Kate Schmidt \| Jun 22, 2017 showing 31 to 32 of 32 The bridges that work for the city that works They may look like relics, but vertical lift bridges are still surprisingly active. by Robin Amer on June 23, 2016 at 4:00AM If downtown bascule bridges are show ponies—with curved, double-leaf spans painted a deep maroon—vertical lift bridges are Chicago's underappreciated workhorses. True to their name, their spans lift vertically but stay parallel to their decks—as opposed to bascule bridges, which flip open at an angle ("bascule" is French for "seesaw"). The World Music Festival teaches us how to fall in love with music all over again This annual event can provide almost all of Chicago’s diverse populations with the unmediated joy of a concert that says “home.” by Philip Montoro on June 23, 2016 at 4:00AM I've seen dozens of great shows at Chicago's World Music Festival since it launched in 1999. The fest has more to offer than just music, though, and I can explain what I mean by describing a single set: the Mahmoud Ahmed performance I saw at Pritzker Pavilion in 2015. Reasons to love Chicago Reasons to love Chicago Chicago White Sox Major League Baseball Chicago Cubs Chicago skyline World Series championships American League National League U.S. Cellular Field Guaranteed Rate Field Critics' Picks	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21475
__label__wiki	0.882383	0.882383	Vilardi signs three-year entry-level contract Jon Rosen March 1, 2018 0 Comments Contracts and FinancesProspects and Scouting Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesThe Los Angeles Kings announced Thursday that they’ve signed forward Gabriel Vilardi to a three-year entry-level contract. Selected with the 11th overall pick at the 2017 NHL Draft, Vilardi has been on an absolute tear for the Kingston Frontenacs, totaling 14 goals and 4... Read More January 1 notes: Toffoli’s 200-foot game, Vilardi trade official; USA rosters Jon Rosen January 1, 2018 0 Comments AlumniPhotographyPractice notesProspects and ScoutingTournaments Good evening and a Happy New Year to you from Edmonton, Insiders. After ringing in the New Year, the Kings took a 9:30 a.m. bus through foggy and deserted Vancouver and across Kitsilano to the University of British Columbia, where they practiced at 11:00 a.m. There were no changes to their forward g... Read More Adrian Kempe Alex Iafallo #9 \| 6′ 2″ \| 195 lb \| Age: 21 Birthplace: Kramfors, SWE Position: LW Handedness: Left Kempe was selected by the Kings in the first round (29th overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft. VIEW ADRIAN KEMPE POSTS #19 \| 6′ \| 185 lb \| Age: 23 Birthplace: Eden, NY, USA Iafallo was signed by the Kings as an unrestricted free agent on April 18, 2017. VIEW ALEX IAFALLO POSTS #11 \| 6′ 3″ \| 224 lb \| Age: 29 Born: August 24, 1987 Birthplace: Jesenice, SVN As the 11th overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Kopitar became the first Slovenian to play in the NHL. Kopitar has spent his entire NHL career with the Kings, and following the 2015–16 season, was named the Kings’ captain. Noted for both his offensive and defensive play, Kopitar was awarded the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the NHL in 2016. VIEW ANZE KOPITAR POSTS Birthplace: London, ON, CAN Bio: Doughty is a Canadian defenceman who was selected second overall by the Kings in the 2008 Draft. Doughty made his NHL debut in 2008 as an 18-year-old and was named to the All-Rookie Team. He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Kings, a two-time Olympic gold medallist with the Canadian national team, and a Norris Trophy finalist. VIEW DREW DOUGHTY POSTS Born: January 1, 1985 Carter began his hockey career playing in the Ontario Hockey League in Canada before joining the AHL and playing for the Philadelphia Flyers. He was then traded to the Colombus Blue jackets before joining the LA Kings in 2012, where he has since won two Stanley Cups with the Kings. VIEW JEFF CARTER POSTS Birthplace: Milford, CT, USA Position: G Bio: Quick is the current goaltender for the LA Kings and was selected by Los Angeles at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Previously, Quick was a silver medalist with USA at the 2010 Winter Olympics. He’s won two Stanley Cup championships with the Kings, along with being the most recent goaltender to be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs. VIEW JONATHAN QUICK POSTS	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21477
__label__cc	0.627555	0.372445	Air-to-Air Combat Reviewing the Air Force Way of War: Making the Machine Human This paper, by Lieutenant Colonel Scott Gunn, USAF, was originally published by The Strategy Bridge. “The four-ship of F-15C Eagles raced across the sky at thirty thousand feet. The flight lead, call sign Death-1, focused on his radar, looking for enemy aircraft in the vicinity. He also knew those enemy aircraft were looking for him.”… August 14, 2015 in Air-to-Air Combat, Reviews, Training. The 90% Solution, Some Guy Called ‘Pareto’ and Why the Best Fighter Pilots are Often Seen as the Laziest It became apparent to me during my last tour that a lot of the effort that I put into my work was inefficient. I remember speaking to a senior officer whilst I was deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan with the US Army and she said – ‘you have to just get the work out of the… May 20, 2015 in Air-to-Air Combat, Training. Red Flag, Realistic Training, and the U.S. Air Force’s Way of War after Vietnam Forty years ago this November, the United States Air Force began an exercise designed to prepare its pilots to face the realities of combat in a simulated, and yet very realistic, training exercise. Since that first exercise in November 1975, the USAF has continued to train its pilots for air combat under the Red Flag… May 8, 2015 in Air-to-Air Combat, Training.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21479
__label__cc	0.709054	0.290946	About Leading Influence Your Chaplains Meet Charlie Lyons Tim’s Blog Prayer Networks Pray AB Pray BC Pray MB Pray ON Pray SK Pray Canada Campaign MLA Corey Tochor, Saskatoon Eastview Home PraySK MLA Corey Tochor, Saskatoon Eastview    Lord, thank You for Corey Tochor. We thank You for the energy and wisdom You have placed in him to serve his community and province well. We look to You for guidance and insight in each area of his life. We ask wisdom in dealing with the challenges of maintaining family needs while serving our great province so faithfully. Amen…. Corey Tochor was first elected to the Saskatchewan Legislature in the 2011 provincial election. He was re-elected in 2016. Prior to entering politics, Corey was a local Saskatoon entrepreneur who owned and operated Health Conveyance Inc., a communications company that provides electronic messaging in health facilities across the province. Corey has been very active in his local community as past vice-president of the Kinsmen Club of Saskatoon and has volunteered on the corporate board for Telemiracle 33. He has also served as treasurer of the Kinsmen Activity Place House, which is a community center supporting Saskatoon’s inner city. At the opening of the 28th Legislature, Corey was elected to serve as Speaker, the Assembly’s presiding officer. He resigned this position on January 5, 2018. He has served as Deputy Whip, a member of the Standing Committee on Human Services, Public Accounts Committee, and Private Bills Committee. As Speaker, he also served as chair of the Board of Internal Economy, the Privileges Committee, and the House Services Committee. He currently resides in Saskatoon with his wife, Danielle. © 2019 Leading Influence. All rights reserved. Website design by Clarity Creative Contracting	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21480
__label__cc	0.702874	0.297126	A blog for the curious. Posted on May 2, 2018 by andrewspittle Inventing the Individual While I was in Singapore last month I spent the better part of an afternoon browsing the Kinokuniya bookstore. One of the books that stood out to me was Larry Siedentop’s Inventing the Individual. It’s subtitle, The Origins of Western Liberalism, frames the focus on the book. Part of what I find engaging about books like this is how they challenge things you presume to be first principles. It’s why I enjoyed so much of the reading, if not always the classes, in college. In this case Siedentop tells a history that stretches from ancient Greece to the Renaissance. Throughout he shows how the modern notion of an individual was built through centuries of change. While much of the book focuses on Christianity and the Catholic church it does so in a historical, rather than religious, sense. A theology book it is, thankfully, not. It’s helpful to understand that for ancient Greeks and Romans the starting point of identity was not the self. Individualism was not how society centered itself. Instead the center of power, prestige, and citizenship was the family. And prime amidst that was the father. The ancient family was, in many ways, a church unto itself. The father represented all his ancestors and served a role that was one part priest and one part magistrate. Legislation tended to stop at the property of the family while the eldest son inherited the wealth, power, and of course ancestors of his father. This started to shift during the later years of the BC era. It was centuries, though, before we got to the type of individualism that informed the political or artistic movements of the 1400s and onward. There are three things that most stood out to me when reading back over my notes on the book. They’re ideological shifts that made sense as soon as I read them, but ones I’d never thought of in such a clear way as Siedentop puts it. Inherited Power As mentioned above, family and inheritance played a large role in ancient identity and power. That set a foundation in which leadership, wealth, and power were hereditary. The assumption for much of how society operated was that inequality was natural and people had natural roles to fill. Even something as basic to us as the exercise of reason was presumed to be only possessed by a few. The early Christian church had a very different starting assumption. For them the focus was on equality. It was vital to the faith that all souls could have a relationship with God. So they needed to subvert the established, ancient societal order. But Christian priests, particularly in later years, had a lot of local power. The church needed to ensure that didn’t become hereditary local power and wealth. Otherwise priests, and the inequality surrounding their position and family, would undercut the message of The Bible. By disallowing marriage and procreation among the clergy the church was also able to ensure power and authority remained in the hands of the church itself rather than in bloodlines. They preserved a fundamental assumption of equality and avoided the trappings of inherited power. The Value of Work When your society is built around inherited wealth and power work comes to take on an interesting meaning. When wealth is inherited work can become something that’s disregarded. It’s what those without strong families have to do. It’s not necessarily a value in itself. Monasticism helped shift this narrative and rehabilitate work. It made work and labor less servile and gave it a renewed dignity. The early monks felt that personal salvation was a laborious, lifetime quest. And in many ways they laid the groundwork for later ideas like the Protestant work ethic. Reason and Rationality From 1000 to 1300 the papacy initiated a host of changes that were long underestimated but, at their core, were revolutionary. One of those that Siedentop emphasizes is the democratization of reason. For Greeks and Romans, Reason (often personified by the god Apollo) was something that used people; it was not evenly distributed in society nor was rationality thought to be available to all. By the twelfth century reason began to lose this aristocratic heritage. It became seen as an attribute of any individual. And, notably for the church, it enabled people to build a personal relationship with a deity rather than an ancient and tribal one. The democratization served the church’s immediate need as it enabled individuals to investigate their inner relationship with God. Over time this shift and movement of equality had far-reaching impact. There’s more that I took away from the book (I have around 2,500 words worth of notes). But those are the three historical shifts I hope to remember and that I wanted to share. Next on my reading list is Erich Fromm’s The Fear of Freedom, a book that also focuses on individuals. I’ll have reading notes for that posted shortly. CategoriesBooks Tagshistory, Larry Siedentop, liberalism Previous PostPrevious The problem with voting Next PostNext No Filter Margins covers notes and highlights from books, podcasts, and the web. You can learn more in the intro post and the about page. It’s published by Andrew Spittle. Subscribe: RSS Feed	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21481
__label__wiki	0.562131	0.562131	Tag: Justin Peck Dance season arrived last week with a vengeance. Suddenly there is just too much to see, too much to choose from! Here are a few of the things I’ve caught around town: Twyla Tharp at the Joyce Sara Rudner and Rose Marie Wright in The Raggedy Dances at ANTA Theatre (1972). © William Pierce Here’s my review. 2.Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Salva Sanchis’s “A Love Supreme,” at New York Live Arts Rosas in A Love Supreme. Photo by Maria Baranova. 3. The New York City Ballet fall gala, with works by Troy Schumacher, Gianna Reisen, Lauren Lovette and Justin Peck Indiana Woodward in Justin Peck’s Pulcinella Variations. Photo by Paul Kolnik. Four premieres at City Ballet and a few surprises at Fall for Dance New York City Ballet had its gala on Sept. 30, featuring new works by four youngsters: Robert Binet, Myles Thatcher, Troy Schumacher, and Justin Peck. Here’s my review for DanceTabs. New York City Ballet in Troy Schumacher’s Common Ground, with costumes by Marta Marques and Paolo Almeida of Marques’Almeida. Photo by Paul Kolnik Over at City Center, Fall for Dance kicked off with two varied programs, each containing a surprise. See my review here. Rachelle Rafailedes and L.A. Dance Project in Murder Ballades. Photo by Rose Eichenbaum. Up in Boston… The movie “Ballet 422” will be opening next week. The Boston Globe asked me to do a background piece for them about the film, which traces the arc of the creation of Justin Peck’s 2013 ballet “Paz de la Jolla” for New York City Ballet. Loved the film. Here’s a link to the feature. And here’s another link, to a review I wrote a little while back when I first saw the film, at the Tribeca Film Festival. Justin Peck Saddles UP Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar in Justin Peck’s “Rodeo, Four Danced Episodes.” Phot by Paul Kolnik. My review of Justin Peck’s new ballet, set to Aaron Copland’s “Rodeo,” is here. It was performed in a program that also included Christopher Wheeldon’s “Mercurial Manoeuvres” and Alexei Ratmansky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Here’s an image from the latter ballet: Ramasar, Mearns, and Sterling Hyltin in Alexei Ratmansky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Photo by Paul Kolnik. “Ballet 422,” or the Hard Work of Art Last fall I saw the Ballet 422 at the Tribeca Film Festival, which is now coming out in theatres. I can say that it is one of the finest dance films I’ve seen, far surpassing the director Jody Lee Lipes’ previous foray into the genre, New York Export: Opus Jazz. Heretical as it may sound, I found it better than Frederick Wiseman’s documentary La Danse, the film it most closely resembles, partly because much of the choreography in that documentary was so dire. (At almost three hours, it was also excessively long.) Like Wiseman, Lipes doesn’t identify the characters, my one complaint. But he does well to focus his film on a single subject, the creation of a ballet, from start to finish. It’s a nailbiter. The ballet is Justin Peck’s Paz de la Jolla, made for New York City Ballet in 2013. (It was the company’s 422nd work, hence the movie’s title.) I was there for the première in January and can attest to the fact that it was a pretty thrilling event; the ballet is fast-paced, full of detail, imaginative, and deeply musical. It also includes a real coup, a convincing underwater dream-ballet. A couple (Amar Ramasar and Sterling Hyltin) falls asleep on the beach; the woman rises and is drawn ever deeper into the waves. The dancers’ bodies, intertwined and intricately patterned by Peck, become the sea’s eddies and foam. Peck has a knack for creating vivid, and very specific, imagery with groups of dancers. It’s not just pretty pretty. The film shows the process from the very beginning, as Peck works alone in the studio, listening to Bohuslav Martinu’s Sinfonietta la Jolla on a boom box and video-taping short phrases of movement with his IPhone. These ideas are translated into sketches drawn with stick figures and dots representing floor patterns and shapes. There’s no talking, no voiceover, just work. Rehearsals are periods of intense creativity, experimentation, and problem-solving, but also of close observation and rigorous imitation. Peck doesn’t let anything slide. In one scene he corrects a young dancer who is trying to recreate a complex set of movements for the arms. She does it again and again. Each time he says “no,” not unkindly, but unwilling to settle for anything less than what he has in mind. The sheer amount of work is staggering. At several points in the film, one or another dancer, including Peck (then in the corps de ballet) looks almost inhumanly tired. The work is also mentally exhausting, requiring precise imitation, memory, analysis, instant playback. In one of the most fascinating moments in the film the dancers do nothing more than count out the beats in the music, figuring out how the steps fit into the notes. There’s no artificially-constructed melodrama here—the drama is the work itself. We see fabrics being dyed and cut, hairstyles being sprayed rigidly into place, tempi adjusted by the conductor, musical dynamics discussed, lights experimented with. (The one thing we don’t see, oddly enough, is the company’s artistic director, Peter Martins.) I chuckled at the sight the mustaches for Vienna Waltzes, all pinned up on a board, each labeled with a dancer’s name. The film-makers have been given remarkable access, even to the inner sanctum of company class, where wan-faced dancers in motley rehearsal gear sweat and go through their daily paces. The backstage areas are unadorned, even dingy. This is the factory-floor where illusions are created. Peck is involved in every aspect of the production: costumes, lighting, musical interpretation. Calm, blank-faced, mouth slightly open, he watches, scouring details, and then goes home—we see him taking the elevated subway line to his small apartment where a portrait of Jerome Robbins hangs on the wall—to watch rehearsal videos and fine-tune some more. At only twenty-five (now twenty-six) he shows surprising self-assurance and composure. The only time he seems to lose his nerve is during a slightly awkward interaction with the orchestra—certain boundaries are not be crossed. As opening night approaches, tension mounts, faces become strained. It’s surprising how few smiles one sees. A few people manage to keep their good humor and spread it around: Cameron Grant, the pianist, with his perfect hair and calm demeanor, is an unflappable, fatherly presence. Amar Ramasar, the male lead in the ballet, seems to be in a perennial good mood. Moments before going onstage, his tense ballerina asks if they should run through their duet one last time. He smiles and says, with gusto, “don’t worry, I’m just going to grab those hips.” Her jaw relaxes ever so slightly. Ballet 422 is about as close as many of us will ever get to the creation of a new work of art. The dancers are revealed for what they are; phenomenal technicians, willing and intelligent collaborators, tired bodies. At the screening I attended, the dancing, especially by Tiler Peck (no relation) drew gasps from the audience. But another thing also shone through: a kind of loneliness at the heart of the process. At the end of the day, it all comes down to one person, creating something out of nothing. Here’s my review of the Saturday matinee at New York City Ballet, including débuts by Sara Mearns and Russell Janzen in Balanchine’s Chaconne and my second look at Justin Peck’s Everywhere We Go, from last season. And a short excerpt: “[Everywhere We Go] begins well, with a striking duet for two men, or rather for a man and his shadow. This shadowing theme suffuses the rest of the ballet, particularly the complicated relationship between principals and corps. Peck constantly subverts the hierarchies of lead dancers and ensemble. Dancers melt in and out of larger formations; at times the shadow figures become the main event. Peck’s configurations for the ensemble are often asymmetrical, non-frontal, kaleidoscopic, but never less than clear.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21482
__label__wiki	0.957753	0.957753	Bankrupt Mt. Gox Facing Class-Action Suit Over Bitcoin Disappearance Bitcoin trader Kolin Burges stands in protest outside an office building housing Mt. Gox in Tokyo on Feb. 26, 2014. Image: Shizuo Kambayashi/Associated Press By Fran Berkman 2014-03-01 01:00:55 -0800 The mountain of trouble that has been piling up for Mt. Gox just got even larger. Once the largest Bitcoin exchange in the world, Mt. Gox shut its digital doors and later filed for bankruptcy this week after losing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of its customers' bitcoins. Now the Japan-based company and its French CEO, Mark Karpeles, have been hit with a class-action lawsuit. See also: 5 Reasons Mt. Gox Won't Take Bitcoin Down With It Chicago-based law firm Edelson PC filed the suit Thursday in a federal court in Illinois on behalf of one named plaintiff, Gregory Greene, and all other U.S. residents affected by the collapse of Mt. Gox. Greene is said to have lost a trove of bitcoins worth $25,000. "This catastrophic loss has not only revealed the instability of a burgeoning new industry," the complaint against Mt. Gox reads, "it has also uncovered a massive scheme to defraud millions of consumers into providing a private company with real, paper money in exchange for virtual currency." Jay Edelson, a managing partner at Edelson PC, said that proving fraud will be key because Mt. Gox's bankruptcy protection will not shield it should the court find that the company defrauded customers. "The key thing in order for [a virtual currency to work] is that it's secure," Edelson told Mashable. "If people can go in and hack it, it's nothing — then, it's just Monopoly money." Edelson called Mt. Gox's accounting practices "as unsophisticated as they get" and said the company had been vulnerable to hackers for the past year without realizing it. "Not only was [Mt. Gox] not secure, but they weren't minding the store at all," says Edelson. "If people had understood that they weren't actually minding the store, they wouldn't have entrusted Mt. Gox with their money." Greene declined an interview request for this story through a public relations company representing the law firm. Though Greene would not comment, there is no shortage of stories floating around the Internet about people who lost their fortunes through Mt. Gox. "They clearly were operating on the intention of making money and completely neglecting the fact that their actions are costing gigantic setbacks in a lot of peoples' lives," one former Mt. Gox client told Mashable in an email. The person, a late 20s Miami resident who asked to remain anonymous, said he lost more than 1,100 bitcoins (worth more than $600,000 at current exchange rates) in the Mt. Gox collapse. He called the loss "absolutely devastating" both as a technology entrepreneur and as someone who was hoping to marry his girlfriend this year. The man provided the following screenshot of his Mt. Gox dashboard as proof of his loss. "I didn't lose my family's house or anything like that," he said, "however, it is a gut-wrenching loss that has definitely set us back in many ways, when it comes to budgeting, getting married, buying a home, etc." Edelson's firm believes the court has jurisdiction over Mt. Gox because the company conducted business in the U.S. and the alleged wrongful acts, involving significant financial damage, affected a large number of people in the U.S. The court assigned the case to a judge and issued a summons to Mt. Gox and Karpeles on Friday. The full complaint against Mt. Gox is embedded below. Class Action Suit Against Mt. Gox Topics: Apps and Software, Bitcoin, mt.gox, security, World	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21485
__label__wiki	0.958292	0.958292	Sen. Creem brings MBA experience into role as new judiciary chair Issue April 2009 By Jennifer Rosinski State Sen. Cynthia Stone Creem believes her term as chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association's Family Law Section in the late 1990s was the perfect training ground for a future legislative career. In February, the former family law practitioner and current six-term senator was appointed to succeed Robert S. Creedon as Senate chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. "I learned how to do policy work at the MBA. This is really full circle for me," said Creem, a partner at Stone, Stone & Creem, where she practices family law. "I'm excited about being the chair. These are areas I've been interested in for so long." As co-chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, Creem will weigh in on legislation related to criminal law, the courts and civil and equal rights. The MBA has recently argued before the committee on a number of matters, including sentencing and Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) reform. Creem, a Massachusetts Bar Foundation Fellow, is still a member of the MBA's Family Law Section and is the sponsor of four bills on behalf of the MBA. She is just one of several new legislative leaders who have a longstanding history of collaboration with the MBA. (See profiles of other new leaders.) "The good news from the bar's perspective is a number of attorneys have been appointed to leadership positions in the House and Senate," said MBA General Counsel and Acting Executive Director Martin W. Healy, who serves as the association's chief legislative liaison on Beacon Hill. "This bodes well for the practicing bar." Other notable leaders appointed in February are Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo of Revere, a former MBA Legislator of the Year; Majority Leader James E. Vallee of Franklin and Ways & Means Chair and State Rep. Charles A. Murphy of Burlington, a strong supporter of civil legal aid. Although it was only last fall when the new child support guidelines became law, they were a hot topic even when Creem served as MBA Family Law Section chair a decade ago. It was during her time as an MBA leader communicating for these guidelines and other important policy changes that Creem said she first learned the art of advocating to opposing viewpoints. "It was a good forerunner to the Legislature," she said. "I went before the House of Delegates and the Family Law Section would have something they wanted to pass and I would need to sell it," Creem said. "When you are going to the House of Delegates, you're hearing from people coming from all areas of the state representing varying interests. It's very much like the Legislature." Family law is still important to Creem, who has filed a bill on behalf of the MBA this session that would grant judges the discretion to determine the duration of alimony payments. The three other bills she has filed on behalf of the MBA this session would: allow the court to continue probation with or without extending the conditions after a violation; allow the court to hold probation violators on bail; and require certificates of name changes related to a marriage be given automatically after a marriage certificate is filed. All four of the bills are currently pending before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. As the former chair of the Legislature's Criminal Justice Committee, Creem successfully opposed the reinstatement of the death penalty, helped create safety buffer zones around health clinics, reformed the sex offender registry and drunken driving laws and drafted a new law to prevent terrorist threats. Creem, who also serves as vice chair of the Senate Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets, also places a high priority on the issues of health care, the environment, women's issues, civil rights and education. A native of Brookline, Creem graduated from Brookline High School, Boston University's School of Management and Boston University Law School. She lives in Newton, where she served on the Board of Aldermen. Justice Ginsburg speaks at New England Law Boston A call for mindfulness in our profession HOD votes on Access to Justice honorees, supports act to keep kids in school ABA ammends Model Rule of Professional Conduct at February Boston meeting Legislative snapshots Attorneys urged to respond to SJC’s Suffolk County judge evaluation survey "Latest in the Law 2009" on May 13 and 14 to highlight recent legal developments Luminaries in public service, legal aid saluted at May 7 Access to Justice Luncheon Legal Tech Expo draws more than 150 MBA announces "Creative Ways to Use Your Law Degree" Telegram & Gazette’s Murray, Hon. Wilkins honored at “Excellence” celebration Income tax implications for homeowners of a declining real estate market Attorney seeks help with spouse’s chronic illness Neighborhood Legal Services strives to meet increased need in downturned economy	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21486
__label__cc	0.541278	0.458722	Home Perspectives Israel must accept its own role in provoking violence Israel must accept its own role in provoking violence Ray Hanania’s Column The Israelis and the Bush administration have shown a total disregard for the suffering of the Palestinians, and their policies have fueled the violence that now plagues the Middle East. The violence is a direct result of the policies of the Government of Israel’s fanatic right wing prime minister, Ariel Sharon, are directly responsible for causing and provoking the violence and carnage that is taking place. It’s almost as if Sharon wants the violence as a cover for his own state-sponsored terrorism which has resulted in the murder of thousands of civilians and has pushed the extremists to acts of outrageous suicide attacks against civilians. Israel is poised to do exactly what they have been denouncing in the Palestinians, the alleged refusal to accept the most generous offer ever made for peace. Sharon and his fanatic government colleagues continue the canard that the current violence is the result of Palestinian President Yasir Arafat’s refusal to accept “the most generous concessions” ever made by Israel to the Palestinians in the summer of 2000. Yet, as the Arab League offers the most comprehensive and solid offer of peace and normal relations not just with one Arab country but the entire Arab World, the Israelis prefer to reject it. The Arab Summit proposal is comprehensive, and offers full recognition and normalization if Israel returns the lands it occupied, allows the Palestinians to establish their state with its capital “in” Jerusalem. The Saudi Government, which led this unprecedented offer, have rightly urged Jordan and Egypt and all other Arab Governments to indefinitely suspend all relations with Israel until Israel accepts this principle, which is a fundamental part of the agreements Israel has signed with these two Arab giants. The Israelis continue to reject the fundamental principle that Israel must return the lands it captured in 1967 and stop their efforts to prevent the Palestinians from declaring a state with its capitol in Jerusalem, also a city under continued occupation since 1948 in violation of United Nations and International resolutions. Every time there is violence against the Israelis, Sharon’s government target’s innocent people to punish them. This form of collective punishment is racist, immoral and unjustified. It is a form of state sponsored terrorism that marks Sharon’s government policies. The truth is Israel’s current government does not want peace. It wants to say it wants peace, but it really wants land at the expense of peace rather than in exchange for peace. Israel is under the control of the most fanatic of its founders, members of the first terrorist organization to rear its ugly head in the 1930s, the Irgun and now the Likud. Their terrorism was an instrument of their fight for independence, yet they continue to argue hypocritically that the terrorism they provoke in Palestinians frustrated with suffering under Israel’s Government’s on-and-off Nazi-like policies is unjustified. They would know, of course. But, Israel cannot blame the Palestinians, who are held captive in some 219 different isolated and unconnected land areas — prisons created by Israel’s occupation army. It is inconceivable that Arafat can do anything to stop the violence committed in areas that the Israelis themselves control. Arafat has been denied authority to curtail the violence that is the result of individuals and organizations that see through Israel’s hypocrisy and policies of state sponsored terrorism. The answer to terrorism rests with the Israelis. They have a choice, either to continue their illegal occupation and to continue selfishly covet Palestinian lands, or they can recognize their own responsibility in this cycle of violence. If the Israelis accept their portion of the blame, then maybe the two sides can recognize, together, the only way out of this increasing cycle of violence that has killed as many innocent Palestinians that are ignored in the cries for the killings of innocent Israeli civilians. Otherwise, the violence will continue. The Israelis and all of their sanctimonious apologists, including in the Bush administration and the predominantly one-sided, pro-Israel American media, must accept their responsibility for the continued violence. How many more people must die before this principle of balanced fairness is recognized? That both sides are responsible and both sides have the same rights that must be respected? (Ray Hanania is a Palestinian American writer based in Chicago and a regular contributor to MMN. His columns are archived on the web at www.hanania.com) Like this ? Vote for it to win in MMN Contest Previous articleOpen Letter to Arab Leaders On the Eve of the Beirut Summit Next article“The IDF has taken over my house” Ray Hanania is a Palestinian American writer based in Chicago and a regular contributor to Media Monitors Network (MMN). His columns are archived on the web at www.hanania.com. Send Hans Blix to Nes Ziona: Civilians Attacked With Poison Gas Color me Palestine Ear to the Ground: Okie from Muskogee protests Big Media and...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21490
__label__wiki	0.95861	0.95861	Faculty News \| Gifts in Action \| Journalism CNN investigative journalism veteran appointed founding Arnolt Center director The Media School Report The Media School: Press Release Contact: Anne Kibbler and Media Relations akibbler@indiana.edu BLOOMINGTON, Indiana — Kathleen Johnston, a 30-year veteran of investigative journalism and a Media School visiting professor of practice, will be the founding director of the Michael I. Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism at Indiana University Bloomington starting Aug. 1. Kathleen Johnston, founding director of the Michael I. Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism (Ty Vinson \| The Media School) Johnston will provide editorial guidance to graduate and undergraduate students who will produce investigative stories published by the center. She will also teach Media School courses relevant to the investigative journalism curriculum. Her role will include establishing partnerships with other media organizations and developing additional funding streams to grow and sustain the center. The Arnolt Center will conduct multimedia investigative reporting on issues of importance to the residents of Indiana, including matters that reach beyond the state’s borders. The center’s work will be available at no cost to local, regional and national news outlets and will seek to supplement their reporting at a time when many are losing newsroom staff. Stories will be distributed via established professional networks in the state and around the country. “I am thrilled to return to IU and help the investigative reporting center achieve its mission of providing provocative, original journalism for the public in Indiana and beyond,” Johnston said. Johnston graduated from IU in 1982 with a degree in journalism and political science. Since then, she has worked at numerous national and local news organizations, from The Indianapolis News to CBS, the Birmingham Post-Herald to CNN. Johnston’s work spans a breadth of topics and media, but her primary focus is investigative reporting. At CNN, she broke the news about allegations that medical workers may have euthanized patients at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. She uncovered Medicare fraud in the medical devices business and a scheme that wasted tax dollars along the Canadian border, resulting in the cancellation of a $32 million Department of Homeland Security contract. After her team’s yearlong investigation into Congress’ refusal to disclose its spending earmarks, Congress began publishing the earmarks. The team won the National Press Foundation’s Everett McKinley Dirksen Award and a national Emmy for its coverage. At WTHR in Indianapolis, Johnston co-managed a five-member team that won more than 40 national, state and local awards, including the station’s first DuPont-Columbia Silver Baton, for its coverage of mismanagement of the fortune of Lilly pharmaceutical heiress Ruth Lilly. Michael I. Arnolt, BA’67 (Anna Powell Teeter) She has produced several documentaries, including the acclaimed “Footnotes of 9/11,” which was released just before the event’s 10-year anniversary. Other documentaries uncovered the unsafe infrastructure of cruise ships and the dangerous world of professional wrestling. She has won numerous regional and national honors, including Emmy, Peabody and Murrow awards. In 2017, she received The Media School’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Johnston has been involved with the development of the curriculum for the Arnolt Center since the start of the 2018-19 academic year. “I’m delighted that Kathleen will be the founding director of the center,” said James Shanahan, dean of The Media School. “She shares my view that investigative journalism is more important than ever; I look forward to working with her to build up this very important center.” A faculty committee chaired by associate professor Anthony Fargo led the search for the center’s director. The center is funded by a $6 million gift from journalism alumnus Michael Arnolt.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21491
__label__wiki	0.873998	0.873998	Anti-corruption investigators discover that Russia's Pension Fund leases its BMWs very stupidly 5:19 pm, September 6, 2018 Source: Meduza Russia’s Pension Fund spends roughly 100 million rubles a year on car rentals, according to the latest investigative report by Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. In late June, the agency signed an agreement leasing six BMWs, 22 Toyota Camrys, and 14 cheaper vehicles. The Pension Fund also bought leases on another 51 cars for its regional branches. According to Navalny’s researchers, the Pension Fund is spending 3.4 million rubles ($49,000) on just six months of lease payments for a single BMW — more than it would cost to buy the luxury vehicle outright. The Anti-Corruption Foundation also discovered evidence of cartel collusion in the Pension Fund’s vehicle procurement contracts. In its seven most recent deals, for example, just three companies with nearly identical names submitted bids that differed by less than one percent. Not Navalny's only Pension Fund exposé In late August, the Anti-Corruption Foundation published a report claiming that Russian Pension Fund director Anton Drozdov’s mother-in-law owns a lavish country home outside Moscow worth an estimated 400 million rubles ($5.9 million). The property was apparently a gift from Drozdov’s wife in late December 2009, handed over just a few months after she acquired it. By having his wife transfer the real estate to her mother, Drozdov managed to keep it off his assets declarations. Navalny’s team says Drozdov’s family owns nearly a billion rubles ($14.6 million) in real estate. Alexey Navalny is currently serving a 30-day jail sentence for organizing “unpermitted protests” in January. Police apparently timed his arrest in late August to prevent him from attending his coalition’s September 9 demonstrations against the authorities’ plan to raise the country’s retirement age. How often does the Anti-Corruption Foundation release these reports? All the doggone time. Russian officialdom, moreover, appears to be so corrupt that Navalny’s investigative team is able to roll out reports about public figures who have only recently become relevant in the news (like Anton Drozdov in the context of the national debate about pension reform). In mid-August, the Anti-Corruption Foundation reported that State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin’s 82-year-old mother owns a 230-million-ruble ($3.4-million) apartment in Moscow, as well as nearly a dozen small businesses. Volodin says he and his mother got rich more than a decade ago by selling their shares in a company that makes sunflower oil and mayonnaise, walking away with a combined $200 million. Navalny says media reports from 2014 and 2017 show the value of these shares was roughly 10 times less, however. Photo on front page: Pixabay	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21492
__label__wiki	0.919716	0.919716	The Five Biggest Surprises From the 2018 Oscar Nominees There’s an entire industry dedicated to predicting each year’s Academy Award nominations. But even with all those experts expending a huge amount of time and effort for months on end, there are always surprises when the Oscar nominees are announced. Case in point: The five films and actors below, who each had the honor of hearing their names spoken by Andy Serkis or Tiffany Haddish. (Oh, to have your name said by Tiffany Haddish. I’m so jealous.) In a talented field of Oscar nominees, here were the five biggest surprises: 1. Logan for Best Adapted Screenplay In an extremely competitive category, surrounded by much more “prestigious” and “serious” contenders, everyone’s favorite aging mutant manage to snikt in with a surprise nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. (You see what I did there? Eh? Ehhhhh? Eh.) The X-Men movies have generally not distinguished themselves with outstanding writing, but Logan was something different; a dark, mature consideration of the Logan character and what it means to be a hero in a dystopian world on the verge of collapse. Scott Frank, Michael Green, and James Mangold did a superb job tying a bow on Hugh Jackman’s career as Wolverine. As far as X-Men movie writing goes, they were the best there is at what they do. 2. Denzel Washington for Best Actor We went four for five with our predictions in Best Actor. The man we missed: Denzel Washington, who scored an unexpected nod for his work in the legal thriller Roman J. Israel, Esq. We predicted the fifth slot would go to James Franco for The Disaster Artist, although we noted that the controversy around the actor following accusations of sexual misconduct could sink his nomination. Academy voters could have gone with a number of other actors in his place, including Tom Hanks for The Post or Jake Gyllenhaal for Stronger. Instead, they went with Denzel. The nomination should help drive ticket sales for a film that has performed poorly at the box office so far. (I can’t imagine why!) 3. Lots of Love for Phantom Thread Pundits seemed to think Phantom Thread was a long shot for most major awards. It was released very late in the season, and these days the big nominees typically premiere at an early fall festival and open in theaters in late September or early October. Phantom Thread didn’t screen for anyone until the first week of December, and it’s just opening in theaters now. But it still scored six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Costumes, and a particularly surprising (but richly deserved) Best Supporting Actress nod for Lesley Manville. I think it speaks to how strongly this twisted tale of love resonates with audiences. Phantom Thread’s going to be just as much of a long shot to win most of its categories (except, perhaps that costume nod, given its subject matter). But at least the Academy recognized one of the most beautiful and complex movies of the year. 4. Woody Harrelson for Best Supporting Actor Sam Rockwell was about as close to a lock as any potential nominee this year. And sure enough, he did receive a nomination for his work in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. It was much less certain that Woody Harrelson would also get a nomination for the same film; his role, as a police chief under fire, is much smaller and less showy than Rockwell’s, and it’s rare for films to receive multiple acting nominations in a single category. Plus, Harrelson faced serious competition from other fine actors, including Michael Stuhlbarg and Armie Hammer from Call Me By Your Name. In the end, it looks like Stuhlbarg and Hammer may have split the Call Me votes, allowing Woody to sneak in with his third Academy Award nomination. 5. Three Nominations for Baby Driver Edgar Wright’s heist musical is precisely the sort of entertaining but unpretentious movie that the Oscars tend to overlook. Thankfully, Baby Driver proved to be a rare exception, earning three nominations for Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing for the film’s particularly notable use of songs in its action sequences. We wouldn’t bet on Baby Driver winning anything on Oscar night, but it still stole our hearts and a trio of nominations, more than Logan and Wonder Woman combined. Gallery - Terrible Movies That Won Oscars: The Full List of 2018 Oscar Nominees Source: The Five Biggest Surprises From the 2018 Oscar Nominees Filed Under: denzel washington, oscars Categories: Award Shows	cc/2019-30/en_head_0021.json.gz/line21498

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