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Bakery chain, Coopland & Son, receives £8.5m investment from BGF
Published on 18/12/2017 by Fiona Briggs in Manufacturer news
The UK’s third largest bakery chain, Coopland & Son, has received an investment of £8.5m from BGF to accelerate the rollout of its shops across the north of England.
From its three bakeries in Scarborough, Durham and Hull, the company delivers traditionally-made, high-quality produce including breads, sandwiches, pies, pasties and cakes to more than 140 Cooplands shops, 11 cafes and 28 sandwich vans. Cooplands retail outlets are typically located in busy shopping parades and high-streets across Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the North East.
Founded in 1885, the fourth-generation business has been led by managing director Paul Coopland since 1985. Cooplands has grown from a chain of five shops to its current size under the leadership of Coopland and his team. Today, the business employs more than 1,500 people and generates sales of close to £50m.
Cooplands will use BGF’s investment to open 30 new shops in the next three years, improve and develop its production facilities and explore potential acquisition opportunities to build further scale. The business will also expand its growing sandwich van service, which delivers fresh food to industrial and business parks, doubling its fleet by 2020.
BGF’s funding into Cooplands follows a £3.5m investment into York-headquartered restaurant and deli chain, Filmore & Union, announced in August 2017.
BGF is the most active investor in small and mid-sized businesses in the UK. An established and independent company, it has £2.5bn to support a range of growing companies – early stage, growth stage and quoted – across every region and sector of the economy.
The investment into Cooplands, which makes BGF a minority partner in the business, was led by BGF’s Barry Jackson and Chris Boyes, based in Leeds.
Coopland said: “Partnering with BGF marks an important step for the business. Cooplands is in great health and we’ve opened a number of new sites this year alone. The partnership with BGF allows us to accelerate that growth and benefit from being part of a bigger network.
“As a family business, we didn’t take the decision to bring on board an external investor lightly. We had a number of options but felt that BGF’s culture and long-term minority investment would provide us with flexibility and control as we continue to grow.”
Jackson said: “BGF’s approach means that we can listen to the plans and aspirations of the businesses we back, and create investment structures that work for them.
“Cooplands has been operating successfully for more than 125 years and is in excellent shape to pursue further growth. We are delighted to back Paul and his management team as they continue to add scale to the business’s operations.”
BCMS acted as corporate finance advisor to Cooplands and introduced the business to BGF, with legal advice from Freeths LLP.
MPK Garages receives £14m funding package from BGF and HSBC
TD4 Brands to expand The Shake Lab chain with backing from BGF
Coopland & Son
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[Markets] Suicide Rates In Rural America Jump, Nearly Half A Million Dead Suicide Rates In Rural America Jump, Nearly Half A Million Dead
A new study published last week sounds the alarm on a suicide crisis that is crushing rural America.
From 1999 to 2016, the suicide rate of Americans ages 25 to 64 jumped 41%, researchers noted in JAMA Network Open. The study found Americans living in rural communities had a 25% higher probability of taking their own life than those in cities.
The study, Contextual Factors Associated With County-Level Suicide Rates in the United States, 1999 to 2016, was led by Danielle Steelesmith, a postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center, said suicide rates have been increasing in rural America thanks to increasing poverty, low incomes, farming bust, deindustrialization, and vast amounts of underemployment.
"Those factors are really bad in rural areas," said Steelesmith.
Steelesmith said from 1999 to 2016, there were 453,577 suicides among Americans ages 25 to 64, with the most significant amount occurring after 2010 through 2016. About 350,000 of the deaths were male, and many were middle-aged adults.
The highest observed suicide rates were in the West, including in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming; Appalachia, including counties in Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia; and the Ozarks, including counties in Arkansas and Missouri.
"Long-term and persistent poverty appears to be more entrenched and economic opportunities more constrained in rural areas. Greater social isolation, challenges related to transportation and interpersonal communication, and associated difficulties accessing health and mental health services likely contribute to the disproportionate association of deprivation with suicide in rural counties," Steelesmith said.
The study's social fragmentation index includes levels of single-person households, unmarried residents, and resident impermanence. High social fragmentation was associated with counties with higher suicide rates.
With the availability of guns at Walmart and the proliferation of gun shops across the Central and Midwest states over the last two decades, access to firearms in rural communities has notably driven up suicides.
Oren Miron, a researcher at the Clalit Research Institute in Israel, said the jump in suicide rates in rural counties is "alarming."
Miron wasn't involved in the study but said the primary factor for high suicide rates was unemployment.
Suicide "is a growing American tragedy," Dr. Albert Wu, an internist and a professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
"It has become a leading cause of death in the U.S., and is a major public health problem."
In rural communities, "many of the most pernicious health and social problems intersect," Wu said.
Lack of health care and mental health facilities in rural areas further compounds the problem. "Insurance can be a proxy for people's access to mental health care," Steelesmith said.
Wu agreed. "Lack of health insurance kills people," he said. "More insurance, including the expansion of Medicaid, could help."
Still, "the social determinants of health are really important," said Dr. David Brent, the endowed chair in suicide studies and a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. "You can't make a dent in these kinds of public health problems without doing something to deal with [those social determinants]. Yes, you can provide more services to impoverished people, but there's nothing like helping people get out of poverty."
And since the study only examined 1999-2016 suicide data, it's likely that suicides in rural America from 2016 to present have increased, thanks to a farming bust and a manufacturing recession.
Tyler Durden Mon, 09/09/2019 - 23:45
Health Medical Pharma
Published:9/9/2019 10:52:39 PM
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Return of ‘A Football Life’ and ‘The Timeline’ to NFL Network to highlight 25 NFL Films documentaries for 2016
11th August 2016 26th June 2018
For the 2016 NFL season, NFL Films presents 25 documentaries that will air on NFL Network, highlighted by the anticipated returns of two Emmy-nominated series, A Football Life and The Timeline.
Each episode of A Football Life and The Timeline – as well as all NFL Network programming – is streamed live on the NFL Mobile from Verizon app (NFL.com/mobile) and via Watch NFL Network on tablet (NFL Mobile and Watch NFL Network apps), PC (NFL.com/watch), Xbox One and Xbox 360(NFL on Xbox app) and other connected TV devices (NFL app on Apple TV and Playstation 4).
A Football Life
The 13-episode season of A Football Life continues to examine the iconic individuals and subjects that have had an undeniable and profound impact on the history of the National Football League, offering an inside look into their untold stories. It will include the likes of Jim Brown, Brett Favre, Michael Vick, Pat Tillman and more.
The show premieres on Friday 16 September with a profile of Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin.
Among the subjects profiled this season of A Football Life are:
Super Bowl champion safety Rodney Harrison
Former Pro Bowl wide receiver Chad Johnson
Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young
The late Pat Tillman
Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre
Former Pro Bowl quarterback Michael Vick
Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith Sr.
Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman
Former Pro Bowl defensive back Charles Woodson
Hall of Fame linebacker Kevin Greene
Hall of Fame head coach Chuck Noll
The second season of the successful series The Timeline begins from Wednesday September 14 with Last Day in LA, chronicling the last time football was played in Los Angeles in 1994. On Friday, September 9, The Timeline airs at a special time with 9/11, which examines how the NFL reacted to the crisis of September 11, 2001.
The expanded, 10-episode season of the ground-breaking series airs throughout the 2016 NFL season with hour-long episodes chronicling seminal moments that formed the NFL’s storied past, shape the present and, in some cases, set the stage for the future. Among the subjects featured this season are on The Timeline:
9/11 – The inside story of how the NFL reacted to the crisis of September 11, 2001
Last Day in LA – Exploring the complex history of football in Los Angeles through the lens of Christmas Eve 1994
Rebirth in New Orleans – The story of the recovery and grand re-opening of the New Orleans Superdome post-Hurricane Katrina
Night of the Living Steelers – Legendary zombie filmmaker George A. Romero revisits Pittsburgh and members of the 1970s Super Bowl Steelers
Peyton Manning’s Summer School – The story of how Peyton Manning prepared for his record-setting 2013 season with exclusive, never before seen access of Manning that spring and summer
0 and 26 – The story of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their inspired march to a first win that became as satisfying as any the league has ever seen
There’s Only One America’s Team – In 1978, NFL Films dubbed the Dallas Cowboys as “America’s Team.” Ever since, no team has become more loved, and possibly more hated
1984 Comeback – An exploration of what 1980’s “cool” really was and how a team – the Miami Dolphins – came to define the style and substance of the league for years to come
Lombardi’s Redskins – The story of Vince Lombardi’s one year of coaching in the nation’s capital
The Fog Bowl – Exploring the 1988 NFC Divisional Round Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears
NFC South Predictions - Week 9 to 12
Guest blogger Gareth Duxbury looks at three reasons why: Texans fans should be fearful in 2016
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Ad Hoc Committee on the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill/
Ad Hoc Committee on the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill
Ad Hoc Committee - Draft Criminal Justice Order 2007
Ad Hoc Committee - Draft Sexual Offences (NI) Order 2007
Ad Hoc Committee - Local Postal Services
Ad Hoc Committee on the Draft Criminal Damage (Compensation) (Amendment) (NI) Order 2008
Ad Hoc Committee - Private Security Industry (NI) Order 2009
Finance and Personnel
Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
Report on the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill (NIA 3/10)
Together with the Minutes of Proceedings,
Minutes of Evidence, Written Submissions and Memoranda Relating to the Report
Ordered by The Ad - hoc Committee to be printed 19 January 2011
Report: NIA 24/10/11R The Ad - hoc Committee
Session 2010/2011
Membership and Powers
The Committee was established by resolution of the Assembly on Tuesday 23 November 2010 in accordance with Standing Order 53(1). The remit of the Committee was to consider the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill and to submit a report to the Assembly by 25 January 2011.
The Committee had seven Members, including a Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson. The quorum was five. The membership of the Committee was as follows:
Mr. Fred Cobain – Chairperson
Ms. Sue Ramsey – Deputy Chairperson
Mr. John Dallat
Mr. Paul Givan
Mr. Kieran McCarthy
Mr. Daithí McKay
Mr. Jim Wells
It was agreed by the Committee that where Members were unable to attend meetings they could nominate MLA colleagues to do so.
Mr. John McCallister attended the meeting of 19 January 2011 on behalf of Mr. Fred Cobain.
Mr. Conall McDevitt attended the meetings of 8 December 2010, 17 January 2011 and
19 January 2011 on behalf of Mr. John Dallat.
Consideration of the Bill by the Committee
Clause by Clause consideration of the Bill
Memoranda and other papers considered by the Committee
1. This report sets out the Ad Hoc Committee’s consideration of the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill.
2. The main aim of the Bill is to make provision for a Panel to determine the salaries, allowances, pensions and gratuities payable to Members and former Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly; to make provision for a Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards; and for connected purposes.
Delegated powers of the Bill
3. The Committee sought advice from the Examiner of Statutory Rules in relation to powers within the Bill to make subordinate legislation. The Examiner advised that the powers, which are subject to draft affirmative procedure, were subject to an appropriate level of Assembly scrutiny.
4. The introduction of the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill was welcomed by the Committee.
5. The Committee sought a balanced range of views in the course of its deliberations on the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill and requested evidence from interested organisations.
6. Following consideration of the submissions received, the Committee regarded that the key issues relating to the Bill were:
The number of members of the Independent Financial Review Panel (Clause 1)
The appointments process for members of the Independent Financial Review Panel and for the Assembly Commissioner for Standards (Clauses 4 and 19)
The termination of membership of the Independent Financial Review Panel (Clause 6)
The financial effects of the Bill in relation to the Independent Financial Review Panel (Clause 8 and Schedule 2)
Determinations in ‘exceptional circumstances’ (Clause 11)
Publication of the Independent Financial Review Panel’s determination (Clause 14)
Power of the Assembly Commissioner for Standards to initiate an investigation (Clause 17)
Duty of the Assembly Commissioner for Standards to report on all complaints (Clause 17)
Functions of the Commissioner (Clause 17)
The financial effects of the Bill in relation to the Assembly Commissioner for Standards (Clause 22 and Schedule 4)
Provision for the Commissioner to appoint staff and obtain office accommodation (Clause 22 and Schedule 4)
Directions to the Assembly Commissioner for Standards (Clause 24)
Acknowledgment of receipt of a complaint (Clause 33)
Disqualification from being appointed or serving as Assembly Commissioner for Standards or being appointed or serving as a member of the Independent Financial Review Panel (Schedules 3 and 1)
Membership of the Panel (Clause 1)
7. The Bill provides that the membership of the Panel shall be three, including the Chairperson. The Committee noted that the submission from the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board considered that membership of five, as is the case in Wales, allows the Remuneration Board to draw in experience from a variety of backgrounds. The Assembly Commission considered that a membership of three will allow the Panel to draw in experience and expertise from a variety of different backgrounds.
8. The Committee was mindful of the need to ensure value for money and considered that a membership of three was adequate for the Panel to carry out its functions effectively.
Appointments Process (Clauses 4 and 19)
9. In relation to the appointments processes for both members of the Independent Financial Review Panel and for the Assembly Commissioner for Standards, the Committee was concerned that best practice for public appointments, as developed by the Commissioner for Public Appointments Northern Ireland (CPANI), should be followed. The Assembly Commission and the Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges recognised that the Commissioner has developed best practice and confirmed that the appointments processes for each office will be a fair and open process consistent with the principles of best practice as published by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
10. The Committee was content with the response on this issue and wished to underline that any appointments process must be a fair and open process which aims to attract a diverse range of applicants.
Termination of membership of the Panel (Clause 6)
11. Regarding termination of membership of the Panel, the Bill provides that the Assembly Commission may dismiss a member under a number of criteria detailed in clause 6. The Committee noted that practice in the National Assembly for Wales is that a member of the Remuneration Board can be dismissed by the Assembly but only by a two thirds majority.
12. The Commission advised that it was satisfied that the grounds on which a Panel member will cease to hold office or may be dismissed are transparent and open as they are outlined on the face of the Bill.
13. The Committee considered that the clause as drafted provides a sufficient safeguard against arbitrary dismissal.
Financial effects of the Bill in relation to the Panel (Clause 8 and Schedule 2)
14. The Committee noted that the initial financial estimate is that the Panel could incur approximate costs of £100,000 in the first year of any determination, with running costs of approximately £15,000 per year for the subsequent three years. The Committee noted that these estimated costs include the cost of administrative support for the Panel.
15. The Committee was concerned that the Panel should demonstrate value for money and noted that although the estimates included support staff costs, the Assembly Commission anticipated that the necessary administrative support for the Panel could be provided by existing Assembly staff.
16. On balance, the Committee considered that given the criticism of the lack of independence in the process for determining the salaries, allowances and pensions for Assembly Members, the costs associated with the establishment and running of the Independent Financial Review Panel would be outweighed by the benefits of independence and transparency which would result from the new system for determining Members’ financial support.
17. The Bill provides that the Panel may make determinations more than once in each Assembly only in exceptional circumstances.
18. The Committee noted that in written evidence the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board highlighted that while it is appropriate for the Panel to revisit a determination, this many result in a reduction in flexibility to make further determinations in the light of circumstances or experience.
19. The Committee considered that the clause as drafted does not preclude the Panel from issuing more than one determination in each Assembly in the event of exceptional circumstances and therefore was content with the clause as drafted.
Publication of the Panel’s determination (Clause 14)
20. The Committee sought assurances that in order to safeguard the independence of the process for determination of financial support for Members, that any determination made by the Panel could not be amended or rejected by the Assembly and that any determination would be binding in its entirety. The Assembly Commission confirmed that the Commission does not have the power to amend or reject any determination.
21. The Committee welcomed the binding nature of any future determinations and was content with the clause as drafted.
Power of the Commissioner for Standards to initiate an investigation (Clause 17)
22. The Committee considered that there must be sufficient grounds for the Commissioner for Standards to initiate an investigation. The Committee expressed concerns about the reputational damage which could result from an investigation prompted by a vexatious complaint.
23. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that provisions around admissibility criteria for complaints, similar to those in the current Code of Conduct for Members, would be set out in a direction to the Commissioner and these criteria include the requirement for complaints to be supported by evidence before investigations can be commenced.
24. The Committee welcomed that inadmissibility criteria would be used by the Commissioner and supported the view that any investigation should be based on prima facie evidence.
Duty of the Commissioner to report on all complaints (Clause 17)
25. The Committee noted that in written evidence, the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner queried whether there should be such a duty on the Commissioner to report to the Assembly in respect of all complaints, particularly complaints which, after initial investigation, are found to be irrelevant and inadmissible. The Committee on Standards and Privileges confirmed that the Code of Conduct for Members provides for the Commissioner to advise that no investigation should be carried out into complaints that are either (a) inadmissible or (b) are admissible but are either trivial or vexatious or related to a complaint that has been substantially investigated on a previous occasion. Where it is agreed that no investigation should be carried out there will be no requirement for any sort of report to be published on the details of the complaint.
26. The Committee welcomed that the Commissioner would be allowed to use professional discretion in determining the merit of any complaint and was content with the clause as drafted.
27. The Committee on Standards and Privileges proposed an amendment to the Bill in order to provide clarity in relation to the functions of the Commissioner for Standards in investigating complaints against Members of the Assembly.
28. The Committee on Standards and Privileges sought the amendment as the Bill as drafted is ambiguous on whether the Commissioner would ever be able to investigate former Members. The Committee on Standards and Privileges confirmed that a decision has not yet been taken on whether the Commissioner should be able to investigate former Members but rather the proposed amendment would mean that if the Committee on Standards and Privileges agreed at a later date that the Commissioner should be able to investigate former Members, the legislation would not be ambiguous about whether this could happen.
29. The Ad Hoc Committee queried the need for the amendment given that if a complaint is received about a former Member, the Assembly no longer has the ability to impose a sanction. Concerns were also expressed in relation to the investigation of Members who had left the Assembly many years previously.
30. In relation to the time elapsed, the Committee on Standards and Privileges highlighted that the admissibility criteria for the current Code of Conduct states that a complaint should be made within 12 months of the date when the complainant could reasonably have become aware of the conduct complained about.
31. The Committee on Standards and Privileges also confirmed that the sanctions that the Assembly can apply to a Member who has breached the Code of Conduct essentially apply only if that person continues to be a Member. However the Committee on Standards and Privileges held that investigations into former Members provide a valuable opportunity for the public and the Assembly to establish the facts of exactly what happened.
32. Following careful consideration of the issues raised and clarification sought from the Committee on Standards and Privileges, the Ad Hoc Committee was content to agree the clause subject to the amendment proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges.
Financial effects of the Bill in relation to the Commissioner for Standards (Clause 22 and Schedule 4)
33. The Committee noted that the financial estimate in relation to the initial appointment of the Commissioner is approximately £10,000 based on the cost of fair and open competition to recruit the Commissioner and the ancillary costs of providing sufficient office resources to facilitate the Commissioner’s work. The yearly recurring costs of the Commissioner are expected to total approximately £25,000 based on the current level of investigations. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that it is likely that the salary costs of the new Commissioner would be no more than the total salary costs associated with the current Interim Commissioner arrangements.
34. The Ad Hoc Committee was concerned that the Commissioner should demonstrate value for money and noted that although the estimates include support staff costs, it is anticipated that the necessary administrative support for the Commissioner could be provided by existing Assembly staff.
35. On balance, the Committee considered that the annual costs of the office of the Commissioner represented value for money in holding Members of the Assembly to account and providing an independent system for investigating complaints.
36. The Committee noted that in written evidence, the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner considered that the Commissioner should have authority to appoint staff or obtain office accommodation as necessary, subject to the Assembly Commission’s approval of terms and conditions of engagement and the acquisition of property. The Committee on Standards and Privileges stated that the Commissioner can secure the provision of such goods and services required to exercise his/her functions but cannot directly employ persons as there would be a number of legal and financial implications if the Commissioner could do this.
37. The Committee considered that the Bill ensures that the Commissioner will be provided with sufficient support and was content with the clause as drafted.
Directions to the Commissioner (Clause 24)
38. The Committee expressed concerns in relation to the potential for vexatious or mischievous comments to prompt the Commissioner to initiate an investigation. Members sought assurances that the names of those making either informal comments or formal complaints which prompted an investigation should be made public. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that Clause 24 provides for the Assembly to issue directions to the Commissioner, such as a direction to always name a complainant in a report on a complaint.
39. The Committee was satisfied with this response and was content with the clause as drafted.
Acknowledgement of receipt of a complaint (Clause 33)
40. The Committee noted that in written evidence, the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner considers that it may be appropriate for the Commissioner to have the authority to acknowledge that a complaint has been received about a particular Member if asked. The Committee on Standards and Privileges stated that the Bill does allow the Assembly to give the Commissioner the authority to do this in a direction under clause 24 if it is deemed appropriate to do so.
41. The Committee considered that the principle of confidentiality in relation to disclosure of information is paramount and noted that the Assembly could give the Commissioner authority in a direction if deemed necessary. The Committee was content with the clause as drafted.
Disqualification from being appointed or serving as the Commissioner or being appointed or serving as a member of the Independent Financial Review Panel (Schedules 3 and 1)
42. The Committee noted the extensive list of disqualifications for persons from being appointed or serving as the Commissioner. Members expressed concern that the extensive nature of disqualifications, particularly with reference to the wide ranging definition of ‘family member’ could exclude persons of relevant experience from applying for or holding the position of Commissioner.
43. The Committee did note that the intention was to ensure the independence of the Commissioner in being free from bias or undue influence however Members were concerned that the balance had not been struck and the list of disqualifications was too extensive.
44. The Committee noted the written evidence of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) which regarded the list of disqualifications as excessive. NIHRC held the view that “in principle, the occupation, civil status or personal relationships of someone other than the office holder should have little if any bearing on the entitlement of the person to hold that office". NIHRC considered that “the Assembly will seek to appoint a person of high moral standing to this critical position, and such a person ought to be above improper influence; while protection from even the suspicion of improper influence can be afforded by a minimal set of exclusions, for example debarring the spouse, partner, parent or child of an Assembly Member, it should not be necessary to surround the office with multiple such barriers".
45. The Committee on Standards and Privileges in response stated that in the interests of ensuring the independence of the Commissioner, it considered that a broad range of disqualifications should be listed.
46. The Ad Hoc Committee noted that the Bill provides for the Assembly Commission to amend the list of disqualifications by order. However, the Committee held the view that although a list of disqualifications is vital in order to ensure the independence of the Commissioner, the wide ranging definition of ‘family member’ was unnecessarily restrictive.
47. The Committee noted that the same definition of ‘family member’ was used in Schedule 1 in the list of disqualifications from being appointed or serving as a member of the Independent Financial Review Panel.
48. The Committee recommended that the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges should amend Schedules 1 and 3 by amending the definition of ‘family member’ to be less far reaching.
49. The Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges indicated that they would be willing to introduce amendments to contract the definition of ‘family member’ in relation to disqualification from serving on the Independent Financial Review Panel or as Commissioner for Standards.
50. The Committee recommended amendments to Schedules 1 and 3 to amend the definition of ‘family member’ as follows:
Leave out ‘great grandparent or great grandchild’
Leave out ‘great uncle, great aunt, great nephew or great niece’.
51. The Assembly Commission and Committee for Standards and Privileges proposed amendments to the definition of ‘family member’ as recommended by the Ad Hoc Committee.
52. The Assembly Commission and Committee for Standards and Privileges also proposed to amend Schedules 1 and 3 to include the Attorney General in the schedules of those persons disqualified from being a member of the Panel or Commissioner for Standards. The Ad Hoc Committee was advised that it is planned that the Attorney General will be able to participate in proceedings of the Assembly and as a result will have the same duties regarding declaring and registering interests as a Member of the Assembly. Therefore the Committee on Standards and Privileges considered it appropriate that the Attorney General is disqualified from being the Commissioner for Standards. The Assembly Commission also agreed to include the Attorney General in the schedule of those persons disqualified from being a Panel member.
53. The Ad Hoc Committee considered these amendments and was content to agree Schedules 1 and 3 subject to the amendments proposed by the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges.
Appointments Process for members of the Independent Financial Review Panel (Clause 4) and the Assembly Commissioner for Standards (Clause 19)
54. In relation to the appointments processes for members of the Independent Financial Review Panel and for the Assembly Commissioner for Standards, the Committee was concerned that best practice for public appointments, as developed by the Commissioner for Public Appointments Northern Ireland (CPANI), should be followed.
55. Although the role of the Commissioner for Public Appointments is to regulate government department public appointments and not Assembly appointments, it was recognised that the Commissioner has developed best practice. The Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges confirmed that the appointments process will be carried out in line with the principles of best practice as published by the Commissioner for Public Appointments Northern Ireland.
56. The Committee welcomed this approach and wished to recommend that in line with best practice in public appointments, the Assembly should strive to attract a diverse range of applicants for these positions.
Reports by the Commissioner for Standards (Clause 27)
57. The Bill provides that the Commissioner may initiate an investigation if it is believed that a breach of the Code of Conduct may have occurred.
58. The Committee, while welcoming this provision in principle, expressed concerns about the reputational damage which could result from an investigation prompted by a vexatious complaint.
59. The Committee considered that the name of any person who makes a formal complaint about a Member or provides any information, either informally or formally via the complaints procedure, which prompts the Commissioner to initiate an investigation, should be named in the Commissioner’s report.
60. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that clause 24 provides for the Assembly to issue directions to the Commissioner, such as a direction to always name a complainant in any report.
61. The Ad Hoc Committee was satisfied that provision exists for such directions to be made and recommends that the Assembly, through the Committee on Standards and Privileges, would issue such a direction to the Commissioner, in order to discourage mischievous or vexatious complaints.
62. The Ad Hoc Committee was established by resolution of the Assembly on 23 November 2010 in accordance with Standing Order 53(1). The remit of the Committee was to consider the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill and to submit a report to the Assembly by 25 January 2011.
63. Mr Peter Weir, on behalf of the Assembly Commission and Mr Declan O’Loan, Chairperson of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, made the following statement under Standing Order 30:
‘In our view the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill would be within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Assembly’.
64. The main aim of the Bill is to make provision for a Panel to determine the salaries, allowances, pensions and gratuities payable to Members and former Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly; to make provision for a Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards; and for connected purposes.
65. At its first meeting on 24 November 2010, the Committee elected Mr. Fred Cobain as Chairperson and Ms. Sue Ramsey as deputy Chairperson. The Committee agreed a schedule of further meetings and made decisions in relation to calling for evidence.
66. During the period covered by this Report, the Committee considered the Bill and related issues at meetings on 24 and 29 November, 8 and 13 December 2010 and 17 and 19 January 2011. The relevant extracts from the Minutes of Proceedings for these meetings are included at Appendix 1.
67. The Committee had before it the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill (NIA 3/10) and the Explanatory and Financial Memorandum that accompanied the Bill.
68. The Committee was cognisant of the fact that the Assembly Commission had already carried out public consultation on the establishment of an independent body to determine Members’ salaries, pensions and financial support and that the Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges had conducted an inquiry into enforcing the Code of Conduct for Members and the appointment of a Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards.
69. Following introduction of the Bill on 15 November 2010, the Committee on Standards and Privileges approved the insertion of an advertisement on 17 November 2010 in the Belfast Telegraph, Irish News and News Letter seeking written evidence on the Bill.
70. Five organisations responded to the request for written evidence:
Committee on Standards in Public Life
Interim Commissioner for Standards
National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner
Copies of the submissions received by the Ad Hoc Committee are included at Appendix 3.
71. The Committee carried out its formal Clause by Clause scrutiny of the Bill on 13 December 2010 and 17 January 2011.
Report on the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill
72. At its meeting on 19 January 2011 the Committee agreed its report on the Bill and agreed that it should be printed.
73. The Committee wishes to express its sincere appreciation to all organisations which provided written evidence. This evidence was very beneficial to the Committee’s consideration of the Bill.
74. The Committee also wishes to express its gratitude to Mr Stuart Allan, the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner and Sir Christopher Kelly KCB, Chairperson of the Committee on Standards in Public Life who both endeavoured to travel to Northern Ireland to provide the Committee with oral evidence on the Bill but were unable to attend due to inclement weather conditions and resultant travel restrictions.
75. On 4 May 2007, prior to the restoration of devolution, the Secretary of State wrote to the Chairman of the Review Body on Senior Salaries (“the SSRB") seeking its agreement to conduct a review of the existing structure for salaries, expenditure and pension benefits payable to Members and office holders of the Northern Ireland Assembly (“the Assembly"). The SSRB, which completed its report in November 2008, recommended that the Assembly should commit to accepting the outcome of future independent reviews on salaries, allowances and pensions without modification, thereby respecting the impartiality of the external review process. This was proposed in response to the desire of Members of the Assembly to be distanced from deciding their own salaries and financial support arrangements. After considering the SSRB Report, the Assembly Commission supported the recommendation of the SSRB that consideration should be given to the establishment of an independent mechanism for the future determination of salaries, pensions and financial support for Members. To take this forward the Commission recommended that an amendment to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (“the 1998 Act") should be made to enable the Assembly to delegate in its entirety the function of determining salaries, pensions and financial support to an independent statutory body.
76. The framework for determining and paying salaries, allowances, pensions and gratuities is governed by sections 47 and 48 of the 1998 Act. Section 48 of the 1998 Act allows for provision for the payment of pensions, gratuities or allowances to former Members or office holders to be delegated by the Assembly. However, until recently, section 47 of the 1998 Act, which governs the determination and payment of Members’ salaries and allowances, explicitly prevented the Assembly from delegating the function of making a determination. The Northern Ireland Assembly Members Act 2010, which received Royal Assent on the 8 April 2010, amended sections 47 and 48 of the 1998 Act and allows the Assembly to continue to determine salaries and allowances in respect of Members or to delegate this function, to an independent body. This Bill will establish such an independent body, namely the Independent Financial Review Panel (“the Panel").
77. A public consultation was launched by the Assembly Commission on 1 June 2010 inviting comments on the establishment of an independent body and on the establishment, functions, objectives, governance and budget arrangements of the body. Two responses were received, both of which supported the establishment of an independent body.
78. The Panel will be independent and will have the power to determine all aspects of financial support for Members. Such determinations will be binding on the Assembly. The Commission will retain the administration of the salaries and expenditure incurred by Members and will provide administrative support and accommodation to the Panel in a manner which respects the Panel’s independence. The Panel will be required to exercise its functions with a view to achieving a proper balance between the objective of ensuring probity, accountability and value for money with respect to the expenditure of public funds and the objective of securing an adequate level of remuneration for Members which allows them to discharge their functions effectively
Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards
79. All Members of the Assembly are required to comply with the requirements of the Assembly’s Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules Relating to the Conduct of Members (“the Code of Conduct"). The Assembly agreed a new Code of Conduct which came into effect in October 2009. Following this, the Committee on Standards and Privileges began an inquiry into enforcing the Code of Conduct and the appointment of a Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards (“the Commissioner"). The aim of the inquiry was to establish the most appropriate means of maintaining the Code of Conduct and handling alleged breaches in relation to it.
80. As part of this inquiry the Committee on Standards and Privileges carried out a consultation and received written submissions and oral evidence from key stakeholders. These helped the Committee on Standards and Privileges to conclude that, in relation to handling alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct, it was appropriate that an independent Commissioner should carry out investigations into complaints; that the Committee on Standards and Privileges should determine whether a breach had occurred; and the Assembly should impose sanctions where appropriate. The Committee on Standards and Privileges also concluded, inter alia, that legislation was required and that the Commissioner’s role, powers (including the power to call for witnesses and documents) and independence from the Assembly in respect of specific investigations should all be set out on a statutory basis. In addition, the Committee on Standards and Privileges also agreed that the Commissioner should have the power to initiate an investigation if the Commissioner believes that a breach of the Code of Conduct may have occurred. It is this particular power, which had been recommended by the Committee on Standards and Public Life, which makes the Northern Ireland model distinct.
81. The Assembly endorsed these conclusions when it approved the Committee on Standards and Privilege’s report on the inquiry on 1 June 2010. This Bill will therefore establish an Assembly Commissioner for Standards. The Bill provides for the Commissioner to receive and investigate complaints and other issues concerning Members, to initiate investigations, and to report the outcome to the Assembly. The Bill provides for the independence of the Commissioner. The Bill also provides for the Commissioner to have the power to call for witnesses and documents and creates offences in relation to refusing to provide or otherwise failing to give evidence.
82. Regarding determination of Members’ financial support and investigation of complaints there was the possibility of leaving the position unaltered but, as outlined above, both the Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges concluded that that was not a satisfactory course and that the Assembly should legislate as proposed in this Bill.
83. As regards the Panel, the Commission considered the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration (Measure) 2010, which established the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board, and the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, which established the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, together with responses to consultation exercises conducted. The Commission has concluded that the Panel established by this Bill is the most appropriate model available and represents a proper balance between the necessity for independence and the need to demonstrate cost effectiveness.
84. As regards the Commissioner, the Committee on Standards and Privileges considered models dealing with the investigation of allegations of misconduct by elected Members in other legislatures and concluded that the Assembly required its own statutory model for holding Members of the Assembly to account.
85. The Bill has three parts – Part 1 relates to the Independent Financial Review Panel (‘the Panel’), Part 2 relates to the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards (‘the Commissioner’) and Part 3 relates to supplementary provisions. The Bill consists of 39 Clauses and 5 Schedules. Within Part 1, Clauses 1 and 2 are in relation to establishment and functions of the Panel, Clause 3 is in relation to independent status, Clauses 4 to 9 are in relation to appointments, etc., Clause 10 is in relation to procedure, Clauses 11 to 14 are in relation to determinations and Clause 15 is in relation to a miscellaneous detail. Within Part 2, Clauses 16 and 17 are in relation to establishment and functions of the Commissioner, Clause 18 is in relation to independent status, Clauses 19 to 23 are in relation to appointment, etc., Clause 24 is in relation to procedure, etc., Clauses 25 to 27 are in relation to investigations and Clauses 28 to 33 are in relation to investigatory powers of the Commissioner. Within Part 3, Clauses 34 to 39 are in relation to miscellaneous details.
Briefing on the Bill, NI Assembly Commission and NI Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges, 29 November 2010
86. Mr Peter Weir, Member of the Assembly Commission and attendant officials briefed the Ad Hoc Committee on Part 1 of the Bill on 29 November 2010.
87. Mr Weir provided the Committee with details of the general provisions of Part 1 of the Bill which relates to the establishment of the Independent Financial Review Panel and answered Members’ queries.
88. The main areas of discussion were the publication of determinations by the Panel, the cost of establishment and operation of the Panel and the process for appointing the Panel members.
89. The Chairperson of the Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges, Mr Declan O’Loan and attendant officials briefed the Ad Hoc Committee on Part 2 of the Bill on 29 November 2010.
90. Mr O’Loan provided the Committee with details of the provisions within each clause of Part 2 of the Bill which relates to the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards and answered Members’ queries.
91. The main areas of discussion were the power of the Commissioner to initiate investigations, reports by the Commissioner, the cost of establishing and maintaining an independent office, the process for appointing the Commissioner, the list of disqualifications from appointment and the scope of the Commissioner’s investigations.
Briefing on the Bill, NI Assembly Commission and NI Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges, 13 December 2010
92. Officials representing the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges briefed the Ad Hoc Committee at the meeting of 13 December 2010.
93. The main areas of discussion were amendments proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges to Part 2 of the Bill relating to the Commissioner for Standards and amendments to Schedules 1 and 3 in relation to the list of disqualifications from being appointed to or serving as a member of the Independent Financial Review Panel or being appointed or serving as the Commissioner for Standards.
Briefing on the Bill, NI Assembly Commission and NI Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges, 17 January 2011
94. Officials representing the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges briefed the Ad Hoc Committee at the meeting of 17 January 2011.
95. The main areas of discussion were amendments to Schedules 1 and 3 of the Bill proposed by the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges relating to the list of disqualifications from serving on the Independent Financial Review Panel or from being appointed or serving as the Commissioner for Standards.
96. During its consideration of written evidence from interested organisations the Committee identified a number of key issues:
Relating to Clause 1
The number of members of the Independent Financial Review Panel
Relating to Clause 4 and Clause 19
The appointments process for members of the Independent Financial Review Panel and for the Commissioner for Standards
The termination of membership of the Panel
Relating to Clause 8 and Schedule 2
The financial effects of the Bill in relation to the Panel
Relating to Clause 11
Determinations in ‘exceptional circumstances’
Publication of the Panel’s determination
Power of the Commissioner for Standards to initiate an investigation
Duty of the Commissioner to report on all complaints
Functions of the Commissioner
Relating to Clause 22 and Schedule 4
The financial effects of the Bill in relation to the Commissioner
Provision for the Commissioner to appoint staff and obtain office accommodation
Directions to the Commissioner
Acknowledgment of receipt of a complaint
Relating to Schedule 3 and Schedule 1
Disqualification from being appointed or serving as Commissioner or from being appointed to or serving as a member of the Financial Review Panel
97. The Bill provides that the membership of the Panel shall be three, including the Chairperson.
98. It was noted that the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board has five members, including the Chairperson. The evidence provided by Remuneration Board suggested that this arrangement has allowed the Board to draw in expertise and experience from a variety of different backgrounds and also allows for individual members to lead on certain aspects of the Board’s work.
99. In response, the Assembly Commission advised that it was satisfied that the model proposed in the Bill of a Chairperson and two members is the most cost effective model available and will allow it to draw in experience and expertise from a variety of different backgrounds.
100. The Committee considered this issue and was mindful of the need to ensure value for money. On balance, the Committee considered that a membership of three was adequate for the Panel to carry out its functions effectively.
101. In relation to the appointments processes for both members of the Independent Financial Review Panel and for the Assembly Commissioner for Standards, the Committee was concerned that best practice for public appointments, as developed by the Commissioner for Public Appointments Northern Ireland (CPANI), should be followed.
102. In response, the Assembly Commission and the Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges confirmed that although the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ role is to regulate government department public appointments and not Assembly appointments, it was recognised that the Commissioner has developed best practice. The appointments process for both members of the Panel and for the Commissioner for Standards will be a fair and open process consistent with the principles of best practice as published by the Commissioner for Public Appointments Northern Ireland.
103. The Committee was content with the response on this issue and wished to underline that any appointments process must be a fair and open process which aims to attract a diverse range of applicants.
104. Regarding termination of membership of the Panel, the Bill provides that the Assembly Commission may dismiss a member under a number of criteria detailed in clause 6.
105. The Committee noted that practice in the National Assembly for Wales is that a member of the Remuneration Board can be dismissed by the Assembly but only by a two thirds majority. In its written evidence, the Remuneration Board regarded this as a procedural safeguard to protect against politically motivated or otherwise unjustified dismissal of a Board member.
106. The Commission advised that it was satisfied that the grounds on which a Panel member will cease to hold office or may be dismissed are transparent and open. The Commission highlighted that it had ensured that these grounds are clearly outlined on the face of the Bill and advised that arbitrary dismissal is also guarded against by high levels of visibility and transparency; and by judicial review.
107. The Committee considered that the clause as drafted provides a sufficient safeguard against arbitrary dismissal and was satisfied that the Assembly Commission would be required to have sufficient grounds for dismissal should such a situation occur.
108. The Committee noted that the initial financial estimate is that the Panel could incur costs of approximately £100,000 in the first year of any determination, with running costs of approximately £15,000 per year for the subsequent three years. The Committee noted that these estimated costs include the cost of administrative support for the Panel.
109. The Assembly Commission advised that the approximate costs for the first year of any determination could be apportioned thus:
£60,000 per annum for support staff costs
£20,000 per annum for specialist advice, e.g. benchmarking
£19,000 per annum for the Panel Members
The costs for the Panel are based upon an estimate of four days per month for six months at a daily rate of £320. (This daily rate was modelled upon the rate paid to the National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards).
Approximate costs for the three subsequent years following a determination could be apportioned thus:
£9,000 per annum for support staff costs
£6,000 per annum for the Panel Members
The costs for the Panel are based upon an estimate of one day per two months at a daily rate of £320.
110. The Committee was concerned that the Panel should demonstrate value for money and noted that although the estimates include support staff costs, the Assembly Commission anticipated that the necessary administrative support for the Panel could be provided by existing Assembly staff.
111. On balance, the Committee considered that given the criticism of the lack of independence in the process for determining the salaries, allowances and pensions for Members of the Assembly, the costs associated with the establishment and running of the Independent Financial Review Panel would be outweighed by the benefits of independence and transparency which would result from the new system for determining Members’ financial support.
112. The Bill provides that the Panel may make determinations more than once in each Assembly only in exceptional circumstances.
113. The Committee noted that in written evidence the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board highlighted that while it is appropriate for the Panel to revisit a determination in certain circumstances, consideration should be given to what it regards an inevitable reduction in flexibility to make further determinations in the light of circumstance or experience.
114. In response, the Assembly Commission advised that it was satisfied that this clause makes appropriate provision and strikes the correct balance.
115. The Committee considered that the clause as drafted does not preclude the Panel from issuing more than one determination in each Assembly in the event of exceptional circumstances and therefore was content with the clause as drafted.
116. The Committee sought assurances that in order to safeguard the independence of the process for determination of financial support for Members, any determination made by the Panel could not be amended or rejected by the Assembly and that any determination would be binding in its entirety.
117. The Assembly Commission confirmed that the Commission does not have the power to amend or reject any determination and pursuant to Clause 14 (2) (b) of the Bill, all determinations will be published in full and therefore the Commission cannot amend the determination prior to publication.
118. The Committee welcomed the binding nature of any determinations and was content with the clause as drafted.
119. The Bill provides that the Commissioner may initiate an investigation if it is believed that a breach of the Code of Conduct may have occurred.
120. The Committee considered that there must be sufficient grounds for the Commissioner for Standards to initiate an investigation. The Committee expressed concerns about the reputational damage which could result from an investigation prompted by a vexatious complaint.
121. The Committee on Standards and Privileges in response advised that in the current Code of Conduct for Members, there is a set of admissibility criteria for complaints. These include the requirement for complaints to be supported by evidence before investigations can be commenced. The Code also provides for the Commissioner to advise that no investigation should be carried out into complaints that are either (a) inadmissible or (b) are admissible but are either trivial or vexatious or related to a complaint that has been substantially investigated on a previous occasion. The Committee for Standards and Privileges also stated that the Commissioner should only be able to initiate an investigation where there is a prima facie evidential basis to justify an investigation. It is anticipated that each of these provisions would be set out in a direction to the Commissioner using the powers in Clause 24.
122. The Committee welcomed that inadmissibility criteria would be used by the Commissioner and supported the view that any investigation should be based on prima facie evidence.
123. In its consideration of the Bill, the Committee noted that the Assembly Commissioner for Standards will not have authority to investigate alleged breaches of the ministerial Code of Conduct. The Committee noted that investigations of alleged breaches of the ministerial Code do not fall within the remit of the Assembly and therefore are not within the remit of this Bill. The Committee however considered that there should be a mechanism for investigation of alleged breaches of the ministerial Code in the interests of transparency and accountability.
124. The Bill provides that one of the functions of the Commissioner is to report to the Assembly on the outcome of any investigation.
125. The Committee noted that in written evidence, the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner queried whether there should be such a duty on the Commissioner to report to the Assembly in respect of all complaints, particularly complaints which, after initial investigation, are found to be irrelevant and inadmissible. The Scottish Commissioner considered that there may be merit for a provision to be included in the Bill to allow the Assembly Commissioner to use discretion by not reporting to the Assembly where complaints may be irrelevant, inadmissible, of limited merit or vexatious.
126. The Committee on Standards and Privileges confirmed that the Code of Conduct for Members provides for the Commissioner to advise that no investigation should be carried out into complaints that are either (a) inadmissible or (b) are admissible but are either trivial or vexatious or related to a complaint that has been substantially investigated on a previous occasion. Where it is agreed that no investigation should be carried out there will be no requirement for any sort of report to be published on the details of the complaint.
127. The Committee welcomed that the Commissioner would be allowed to use professional discretion in determining the merit of any complaint and was content with the clause as drafted.
128. The Committee on Standards and Privileges proposed an amendment to the Bill in order to provide clarity in relation to the functions of the Commissioner for Standards in investigating complaints against Members of the Assembly.
129. The Committee on Standards and Privileges proposed the amendment to clause 17 to ensure that, when referring to investigations of the Commissioner, the Bill would be consistent in referring to investigation of ‘breaches of the Code of Conduct’ which may have occurred or are alleged to have occurred. The Bill as drafted refers in clause 17 (1) (b) to investigations when the Commissioner believed that ‘a breach of the Code of Conduct may have occurred’ while referring in clause 17 (2) (a) to investigations into complaints that the ‘conduct of a Member of the Assembly has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct’. There is no reason why there should be such inconsistency in the Bill.
130. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that as drafted; the Bill is ambiguous on whether the Commissioner would ever be able to investigate former Members. If the Assembly later decided that it wished the admissibility criteria for investigations to extend to former Members, there would be ambiguity about whether the functions of the Commissioner would allow him/her to do so. In agreeing to the proposed amendment, there would not necessarily be an agreement that former Members may be investigated. Rather, if the Committee on Standards and Privileges agreed at a later date that the Commissioner should be able to investigate former Members the legislation would not be ambiguous about whether this could happen. The Committee on Standards and Privileges confirmed that a decision has not yet been taken that the Commissioner should carry out such investigations, but rather the Committee on Standards and Privileges is seeking that there would not be a legislative provision that would prevent the Commissioner from undertaking such investigations in the future.
131. The Ad Hoc Committee sought clarification that if the proposed amendment was agreed, that it would it still be up to the Committee on Standards and Privileges to define the admissibility criteria for complaints to be investigated. This was confirmed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges which advised that the Committee on Standards and Privileges would issue a direction to the Commissioner that sets out the admissibility criteria for investigating complaints or accepting complaints to be investigated. One of those criteria could be, for example, that a complaint needs to be about a current Member. The Committee on Standards and Privileges has not yet decided on the admissibility criteria. However, the amendment allows the Committee to include former Members if it decides that it wants to do that, and it ensures that the Commissioner would be able to investigate those Members.
132. The Ad Hoc Committee queried the need for the amendment given that if a complaint is received about a former Member, the Assembly no longer has the ability to impose a sanction. Concerns were also expressed in relation to the investigation of Members who had left the Assembly many years previously.
133. In relation to the time elapsed, the Committee on Standards and Privileges highlighted that the admissibility criteria for the current Code of Conduct states that a complaint should be made within 12 months of the date when the complainant could reasonably have become aware of the conduct complained about.
134. The Committee on Standards and Privileges also confirmed that the sanctions that the Assembly can apply to a Member who has breached the Code of Conduct can essentially apply only if that person continues to be a Member. However, the Committee on Standards and Privileges has looked elsewhere at examples whereby Members breached codes of conduct and investigations were carried out, even though those Members had become former Members. The Committee on Standards and Privileges held that those investigations provide a valuable opportunity for the public and the Assembly to establish the facts of exactly what happened. The Ad Hoc Committee was advised that shortcomings in internal procedures can allow breaches to take place and that, by establishing the full facts of what has occurred, a body can learn from the mistakes and make necessary improvements.
135. Following careful consideration of the issues raised and clarification sought from the Committee on Standards and Privileges, the Ad Hoc Committee was content to agree the clause subject to the amendment proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges.
136. The Committee noted that the financial estimate in relation to the initial appointment of the Commissioner is approximately £10,000 based on the cost of fair and open competition to recruit the Commissioner and the ancillary costs of providing sufficient office resources to facilitate the Commissioner’s work. The yearly recurring costs of the Commissioner are expected to total approximately £25,000 based on the current level of investigations.
137. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that the approximate running costs could be apportioned thus:
£3,500 per annum for specialist legal advice and expenses
£16,500 per annum for the Commissioner
The cost for the Commissioner is based upon an estimate of 300 hours of work per annum at a daily rate of £320. (This daily rate was modelled upon the rate paid to the National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards. The number of hours is based on the hours worked by the interim Commissioner.)
138. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that it was satisfied that the proposals provide good value for money and considered it likely that the salary costs of the new Commissioner would be no more than the total salary costs associated with the current Interim Commissioner arrangements.
139. The Ad Hoc Committee was concerned that the Commissioner should demonstrate value for money and noted that although the estimates include support staff costs, it is anticipated that the necessary administrative support for the Commissioner could be provided by existing Assembly staff.
140. On balance, the Committee considered that the annual costs of the office of the Commissioner represented value for money in holding Members of the Assembly to account and providing an independent system for investigating complaints.
141. The Bill provides that the Assembly Commission shall provide the Commissioner with such staff, services and accommodation as the Commissioner may reasonably require.
142. The Committee noted that in written evidence, the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner considers that the Commissioner should have authority to appoint staff or obtain office accommodation as necessary, subject to the Assembly Commission’s approval of terms and conditions of engagement and the acquisition of property.
143. In response, the Committee on Standards and Privileges stated that although the Commission has a duty to provide administrative and other support, the Commissioner can secure the provision of such goods and services required to exercise his/her functions but cannot directly employ persons as there would be a number of legal and financial implications if the Commissioner could do this.
144. The Committee considered that the Bill ensures that the Commissioner will be provided with sufficient support and was content with the clause as drafted.
145. The Bill provides that the Commissioner shall comply with any directions given by the Assembly which may include provision as to the general procedure to be followed.
146. The Ad Hoc Committee expressed concerns in relation to the potential for vexatious or mischievous comments to prompt the Commissioner to initiate an investigation. The Committee sought assurances that the names of those making either informal comments or formal complaints which prompted an investigation should be made public.
147. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that Clause 24 provides for the Assembly to issue directions to the Commissioner, such as a direction to always name a complainant in a report on a complaint.
148. The Ad Hoc Committee was satisfied with this response and was content with the clause as drafted.
149. The Committee noted that in written evidence, the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner considers that it may be appropriate for the Commissioner to have the authority to acknowledge that a complaint has been received about a particular Member if asked.
150. In response, the Committee on Standards and Privileges stated that the Bill does allow the Assembly to give the Commissioner the authority to do this in a direction under Clause 24 if it deemed appropriate to do so.
151. The Committee considered that the principle of confidentiality in relation to disclosure of information is paramount and noted that the Assembly could give the Commissioner authority in a direction if deemed necessary. The Committee was content with the clause as drafted.
152. The Committee noted the extensive list of disqualifications for persons from being appointed or serving as the Commissioner. The Committee expressed concern that the extensive nature of disqualifications, particularly with reference to the far reaching definition of ‘family member’ could exclude persons of relevant experience from applying for or holding the position of Commissioner.
153. The Committee did note that the intention was to ensure the independence of the Commissioner in being free from bias or undue influence however was concerned that the balance had not been struck and the list of disqualifications was too extensive.
154. The Committee noted the written evidence of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) which regarded the list of disqualifications as excessive. NIHRC held the view that “in principle, the occupation, civil status or personal relationships of someone other than the office holder should have little if any bearing on the entitlement of the person to hold that office". NIHRC considered that “the Assembly will seek to appoint a person of high moral standing to this critical position, and such a person ought to be above improper influence; while protection from even the suspicion of improper influence can be afforded by a minimal set of exclusions, for example debarring the spouse, partner, parent or child of an Assembly Member, it should not be necessary to surround the office with multiple such barriers".
155. The Committee on Standards and Privileges in response stated that in the interests of ensuring the independence of the Commissioner, it considered that a broad range of disqualifications should be listed.
156. The Ad Hoc Committee noted that the Bill provides for the Assembly Commission to amend the list of disqualifications by order. However, the Committee held the view that although a list of disqualifications is vital in order to ensure the independence of the Commissioner, the wide ranging definition of ‘family member’ was unnecessarily restrictive.
157. The Committee noted that the same definition of ‘family member’ was used in Schedule 1 in the list of disqualifications from being appointed or serving as a member of the Independent Financial Review Panel.
158. The Committee recommended that the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges should amend Schedules 1 and 3 by amending the definition of ‘family member’ to be less far reaching.
159. The Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges indicated that they would be willing to introduce amendments to contract the definition of ‘family member’ in relation to disqualification from serving on the Independent Financial Review Panel or as Commissioner for Standards.
160. The Committee recommended amendments to Schedules 1 and 3 to amend the definition of ‘family member’ as follows:
161. The Assembly Commission and Committee for Standards and Privileges proposed amendments to the definition of ‘family member’ as recommended by the Ad Hoc Committee.
162. The Assembly Commission and Committee for Standards and Privileges also proposed to amend Schedules 1 and 3 to include the Attorney General in the schedules of those persons disqualified from being a member of the Panel or Commissioner for Standards. The Ad Hoc Committee was advised that it is planned that the Attorney General will be able to participate in proceedings of the Assembly and as a result will have the same duties as a Member of the Assembly in respect of the requirement to register and declare interests and refrain from advocating a matter on behalf of someone else for payment or benefit. Consequently the Commissioner for Standards should be able to investigate an alleged breach by the Attorney General of any of these duties. Therefore the Committee on Standards and Privileges considered it appropriate that the Attorney General is disqualified from being the Commissioner. The Assembly Commission also agreed to include the Attorney General in the schedule of those persons disqualified from being a Panel member.
163. The Ad Hoc Committee considered these amendments and was content to agree Schedules 1 and 3 subject to the amendments proposed by the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges.
164. The text of agreed amendments to the definition of ‘family member’ used in Schedules 1 and 3 is:
At Schedule 1, paragraph 3, page 16:
Leave out lines 5 and 6 and insert -
‘(a) Parent, child, grandparent or grandchild’
‘(b) Brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece (whether of the full or half blood)’
At end of line 9 after “spouse" insert “in any of the ways set out in sub paragraphs (a) or (b)"
At end of line 10 after “civil partner" insert “in any of the ways set out in sub paragraphs (a) or (b)"
At end of line 11 after “cohabitant" insert “in any of the ways set out in sub paragraphs (a) or (b)"
Leave out lines 7 and 8 and insert –
Leave out lines 9 and 10 and insert –
At end of line 11 after “spouse" insert “in any of the ways set out in sub paragraphs (a) or (b)"
165. The text of agreed amendments to the list of persons disqualified from being a Panel member or Commissioner for Standards as detailed in Schedules 1 and 3 is:
At Schedule 1, paragraph 1, page 15, after line 27, insert-
“(q) Attorney General for Northern Ireland;
(r) a person who has been Attorney General for Northern Ireland at any time in the five years prior to the date when the appointment is to take effect"
At Schedule 3, paragraph 1, page 17, after line 34 insert
“(s) Attorney General for Northern Ireland;
(t) a person who has been Attorney General for Northern Ireland at any time in the five years prior to the date when the appointment is to take effect."
166. The Committee conducted its formal Clause by Clause scrutiny of the Bill on 13 December 2010 and 17 January 2011.
Clause 1 – Establishment and membership of the Panel
167. At the meeting of 13 December 2010 the Committee agreed the Clause as drafted.
Clause 2 – Functions of the Panel
Clause 3 – Independence and openness
Clause 4 – Appointments to the Panel
Clause 5 – Disqualification from membership of the Panel
Clause 6 – Termination of membership of the Panel
Clause 7 – Code of conduct for Panel Members
Clause 8 – Administration and finance
Clause 9 – Annual report
Clause 10 – Meetings of the Panel
Clause 11 – Exercise of functions
177. At the meeting of 13 December 2010 the Committee was content with the Clause subject to the amendment proposed by the Commission as follows:
Clause 11 (6), page 4, line 37. Leave out ‘this Act’ and insert ‘this Part’.
Clause 12 – Contents of determinations: salaries and allowances
Clause 13 – Contents of determinations: pensions, gratuities and allowances
Clause 13 (2), page 6, line 14. Leave out ‘such’.
Clause 14 – Availability of determinations
Clause 15 – Meaning of ‘the Panel’
Clause 16 – Establishment of the Commissioner
Clause 17 – Functions of the Commissioner
183. At the meeting of 13 December 2010 the Committee was content with the Clause subject to the amendments proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges as follows:
Clause 17 (1) (b), page 7, line 10. Insert ‘at a relevant time’.
Clause 17 (2) (a), page 7, line 18. Leave out ‘the conduct of a Member of the Assembly has failed to comply with the Code of Conduct’. Insert ‘a breach of the Code of Conduct has occurred’.
Clause 18 – Independence of the Commissioner
Clause 19 – Appointment of the Commissioner
Clause 20 – Disqualification from being appointed or serving as the Commissioner
Clause 21 – Termination of the Commissioner’s appointment
Clause 22 – Further provision about the Commissioner
Clause 23 – Appointment of an Acting Commissioner
Clause 24 – Directions to the Commissioner
Clause 25 – Investigations by the Commissioner
Clause 26 – Further investigations
Clause 27 – Reports
Clause 28 – Power to call for witnesses and documents
Clause 29 – Witnesses and documents: notice
Clause 30 – Witnesses: oaths
Clause 31 – Offences
197. At the meeting of 13 December 2010 the Committee was content with the Clause subject to the amendment proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges as follows:
Clause 31 (2), page 12, line 8. Leave out ‘or make an affirmation’.
Clause 32 – Protection from defamation actions
Clause 33 – Restriction on disclosure of information
Clause 34 – Transitional provisions
Clause 34 (2), page 13, line 10. Insert ‘complaint or’
Clause 34 (3), page 13, line 16. Insert ‘complaint or’.
Clause 35 – Orders
Clause 36 – Consequential amendments
Clause 37 – Interpretation: general
Clause 38 – Commencement
Clause 39 – Short title
Schedule 1 – Disqualification from membership of the Panel
206. At the meeting of 17 January 2011 the Committee was content with the Schedule subject to the amendments proposed by the Commission as follows:
Schedule 1 (1), page 15, after line 27, insert-
Schedule 1(3), page 16:
“(a) Parent, child, grandparent or grandchild"
“(b) Brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece (whether of the full or half blood)"
Schedule 2 – Panel: Administrative and financial arrangements
207. At the meeting of 17 January 2011 the Committee agreed the Schedule as drafted.
Schedule 3 – Disqualification from being appointed or serving as the Commissioner
208. At the meeting of 17 January 2011 the Committee was content with the Schedule subject to the amendment proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges as follows:
Schedule 3 (1), page 17, after line 34 insert
Schedule 3 (3), page 18:
Schedule 4 – Commissioner: Further provision
209. At the meeting of 17 January 2011 the Committee was content with the Schedule subject to the amendments proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges as follows:
Schedule 4 (6) (2), page 19, line 21. Leave out ‘particular’
Schedule 4 (6) (2) (b), page 19, line 24. Leave out ‘as specified’. Leave out ‘up to a specified’. Leave out ‘may be incurred’. Insert ‘may be incurred’. Insert ‘such’. Insert ‘and maximum’. Insert ‘as may be specified in the notification’.
Schedule 4 (6) (2) (b), page 19, line 26. Leave out lines 26-29.
Schedule 5 – Consequential Amendments
210. At the meeting of 17 January 2011 the Committee was content with the Schedule subject to the amendment proposed by the Commission as follows:
Schedule 5 (1), page 20, line 13. Leave out ‘the Schedule’ and insert ‘Schedule 1’.
Long title
211. At the meeting of 17 January 2011 the Committee agreed the Long Title of the Bill.
Room 29, Parliament Buildings
Present: Mr Fred Cobain MLA (Chairperson)
Mr John Dallat MLA
Mr Paul Givan MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Daithi McKay MLA
Mr Jim Wells MLA
In Attendance: Mrs Shauna Mageean (Assembly Clerk)
Mr Damien Martin (Clerk Assistant)
Mrs Sian Woodward (Assembly Bill Clerk) (Item 3)
Mr Ray McCaffrey (Assembly Research Officer) (Item 11)
Mrs Hilary Bogle (Assistant Clerk)
Mr Michael Greer (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Christopher McNickle (Clerical Officer)
Apologies: Ms Sue Ramsey MLA
2.03pm The meeting commenced in private session – the Clerk in the Chair.
1. Apologies
Apologies as listed above.
2. Election of Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson
The Clerk called for nominations for the position of Committee Chairperson. Mr Wells proposed that: Mr Cobain be Chairperson of the Committee. Mr Dallat seconded this and the nomination was accepted.
On there being no further nominations the Clerk put the question without debate.
Agreed: the Committee agreed that Mr Cobain, being the only candidate proposed, be Chairperson of this Committee.
2.05pm Mr Cobain in the Chair.
The Chairperson thanked members for their support and sought nominations for the position of Committee Deputy Chairperson. Mr McKay proposed that: Ms Sue Ramsey be the Deputy Chairperson of this Committee. Mr McCarthy seconded this. The Clerk indicated that written acceptance of the nomination would be sought from Ms Ramsey.
2.07pm Mr Givan joined the meeting.
3. Briefing from the Bill Office
The Chairperson welcomed Mrs Sian Woodward, Assembly Bill Clerk and invited her to brief the Committee on the role of the Committee in handling legislation.
2.12pm The Chairperson thanked Mrs Woodward for attending the meeting.
2.12pm The Committee moved into public session
4. Chairperson’s Introduction
The Chairperson welcomed members to the first meeting of the ad hoc Committee and provided an overview of the day’s business.
5. Declaration of Interests
The Chairperson reminded members of their obligation to declare any relevant financial or other interests which are likely to be relevant to a substantial part of the work which the committee may be required to undertake.
Agreed: Mr Wells and Mr Dallat declared an interest as Trustees of the Assembly Members’ Pension Scheme. Following discussion the Committee agreed that the Clerk should seek clarification on this issue for consideration at the next meeting of the Committee.
2.15pm Mr Wells left the meeting.
6. Committee Secretariat Details
The Chairperson introduced the Committee staff to the members of the Committee and Members noted the staff contact details.
7. Committee Procedures
The Chairperson referred members to a memorandum from the Committee Clerk on the procedures of the Committee contained in their briefing papers and reminded members of the rules relating to privilege and sub-judice.
Agreed: Voting - the Committee agreed that all decisions shall be made by a simple majority vote by showing of hands unless a member requests otherwise.
Agreed: Witnesses – the Committee agreed that the Committee should call for evidence from interested bodies.
Agreed: Deputies - the Committee agreed to permit the nomination of one deputy per member to attend in the event that the appointed member is unable to attend the Committee meeting.
8. Background Papers and copy of the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill
Members noted the background briefing papers.
9. Committee Forward Work Programme
The Committee noted a memorandum from the Committee Clerk setting out a proposed forward work programme.
The Committee noted that the Committee is to report to the Assembly by 25th January 2011.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the schedule of evidence sessions during the period Monday 29th November 2010 to Wednesday 8th December 2010.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to seek written and oral evidence from the organisations listed in the memorandum.
10. Draft Press Release
Agreed: The Committee agreed the draft Press Release.
11. Briefing – Assembly Library and Research Service
Members noted the research paper on the Bill prepared by the Assembly Library and Research Service.
The Chairperson welcomed Mr Ray McCaffrey, Assembly Research Officer and invited him to brief the Committee on the research paper.
2.43pm Following the briefing the Chairperson thanked Mr McCaffrey for attending the meeting.
12. Any other business
There was no other business.
13. Time, date and place of next meeting
The next meeting of the Committee will take place on Monday, 29th November 2010 at 1.30pm in Senate Chamber.
Members noted that the meeting will adjourn at 2.30pm for Question Time and reconvene at 3.30pm and that the Committee will be taking oral evidence on the Bill from the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission and from the Northern Ireland Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges.
2.45pm The Chairperson adjourned the meeting.
Senate Chamber, Parliament Buildings
Ms Sue Ramsey MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Apologies: No apologies.
1.31pm The meeting commenced in open session
There were no apologies.
The Chairperson reminded Members of their obligation to declare any relevant financial or other interests before and during each Committee meeting.
3. Draft minutes of the meetings held on 24th November 2010
Agreed: The draft minutes of the meeting held on 24th November 2010 were agreed by the Committee.
1.32pm Mr McCarthy joined the meeting.
1.33pm Mr McKay joined the meeting.
The Committee noted the correspondence dated 24th November 2010 from Ms Ramsey indicating her acceptance of the nomination as Deputy Chairperson.
The Committee noted the memorandum dated 24th November 2010 from the Clerk to the Clerk to the Committee on Standards and Privileges seeking clarification regarding declaration of interest for Committee members who are Trustees of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members’ Pension Scheme.
The Committee noted the memorandum dated 25th November 2010 from the Clerk to the Committee on Standards and Privileges in response to the Committee’s request for clarification regarding declaration of interest for Committee members who are Trustees of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members’ Pension Scheme. The advice being that those Members who are Trustees of the Assembly Members’ Pension Scheme should declare that interest in the proceedings as applicable.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the motion that the quorum shall be 5 except when no decision is taken or question put to the Committee, when the quorum shall be 4.
5. Correspondence issued
Members noted a memorandum dated 24 November 2010 to the Examiner of Statutory Rules in relation to the memorandum of delegated powers for the Bill seeking his comments.
6. Correspondence received
Members noted the Memorandum of delegated powers under the Bill.
Members noted a written submission dated 24th November 2010 from the Interim Assembly Commissioner for Standards.
7. Evidence Session – Northern Ireland Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges
Members noted the Clerk’s Paper and the Paper received from the Committee on Standards and Privileges.
The Chairperson welcomed Mr Declan O’Loan, Committee Chairperson; Mr Paul Gill, Clerk to the Committee; Ms Tara Caul, Senior Legal Advisor; and Mr Jonathan McMillan, Legal Advisor and invited them to brief the Committee.
Following a question and answer session the Chairperson thanked the witnesses for attending.
2.28pm Mr McCartney left the meeting.
2.28pm The Committee adjourned.
3.35pm The Committee reconvened in open session.
8. Evidence Session – Northern Ireland Assembly Commission
Members noted the Clerk’s Paper and the Paper received from the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission.
The Chairperson welcomed Mr Peter Weir MLA, Member of the Assembly Commission; Mr Tony Logue, Head of the Commission Support and Compliance Unit; Mr Hugh Widdis, Director of Legal Services; Ms Tara Caul, Senior Legal Adviser; and Mr Richard Stewart, Director of Resources and invited them to brief the meeting.
3.56pm Mr McKay left the meeting
Following a question and answer session the Chairperson thanked the witnesses for attending the meeting.
9. Any other business
The next meeting of the Committee will take place on Monday, 6th December 2010 at 4.30pm in the Senate Chamber.
Members noted that the Committee will be taking oral evidence on the Bill from Mr Stuart Allan, the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner and from Sir Christopher Kelly, Chairperson of the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
Wednesday, 8th December 2010
Mr Conall McDevitt MLA
Mr Daithí McKay MLA
Mrs Sohui Yim (Assistant Clerk)
Ms Michelle McDowell (Clerical Officer)
Apologies: Ms Sue Ramsey MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
2.14pm The meeting commenced in open session.
Apologies are detailed above.
Members noted correspondence from the Clerk of the Commission, providing clarification on the appointments process for the proposed Independent Financial Review Panel.
4. Correspondence
Members noted a report by the House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges in relation to the power of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in Westminster to initiate investigations.
Members noted advice from the Examiner of Statutory Rules regarding his scrutiny of the delegated powers within the Bill.
5. Consideration of Written Submissions
Members considered the written submissions to the Bill.
6. Informal Clause-by-Clause Scrutiny
Members discussed each clause and schedule of the Bill.
Agreed: To receive clarification from Standards and Privileges officials at the meeting of 13th December regarding Clause 20 and Schedule 3: Disqualification from being appointed or serving as the Commissioner.
Members noted the changes in the Committee’s forward work programme.
Agreed: Content with the changes.
There were no other items of business.
9. Time, date and place of next meeting
The next meeting of the Committee will take place on Monday, 13th December 2010 at 3.30pm in the Senate Chamber.
Members noted that the Committee will have a final briefing from officials, will be briefed on amendments to Part 2 of the Bill and will conclude the informal clause by clause scrutiny of the Bill.
Monday, 13th December 2010
Mrs Sîan Woodward (Assembly Bill Clerk) (Item 3)
Apologies: None.
3.40pm The meeting commenced in public session
The Chairperson welcomed members to the fourth meeting of the Ad hoc Committee and provided an overview of the day’s business.
There were no apologies received.
3. Draft minutes of the meetings held on 8th December 2010
Agreed: The draft minutes of the meeting held on 8th December 2010 were agreed by the Committee.
The Committee noted the correspondence dated 9th December 2010 from the Chairperson of the Committee on Standards and Privileges in relation to amendments to Part 2 of the Bill.
5. Proposed Amendments to Part 2 of the Bill
Members noted the proposed amendments received from the Committee on Standards and Privileges in relation to Part 2 of the Bill on the appointment of an Assembly Commissioner for Standards.
The Chairperson welcomed Mr Paul Gill, Clerk to the Committee on Standards and Privileges and invited him to brief the Committee on the proposed amendments to the Bill.
3.47pm Ms Ramsey joined the meeting.
Agreed: Following discussion the Committee agreed the two proposed amendments to Clause 17: Firstly at 17(1)(b), page 7, line 10. Insert ‘at a relevant time’. Secondly at 17(2)(a), page 7, line 18. Leave out ‘the conduct of a member of the Assembly has failed to comply with’ and insert ‘a breach of …. has occurred’.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the proposed amendment to Clause 31(2), page 12, line 8. Leave out ‘or make an affirmation’.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the two proposed amendments to Clause 34: Firstly at 34(2), page 13, line 10. Insert ‘complaint or’. Secondly at 32(3), page 13, line 16. Insert ‘complaint or’.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the two proposed amendments to Schedule 4: Firstly at paragraph 6(2), page 19, line 21 – leave out ‘particular’. Secondly at paragraph 6(2)(b), page 19, line 24, to now read “by notifying the Commissioner that liabilities may be incurred of such description and maximum total amount as may be specified in the notification." and leave out lines 26-29.
6. Consideration of outstanding Clauses
The Committee noted that at the last meeting Members raised concerns about the wide ranging definition of ‘family member’ used in schedule 3 which deals with the disqualification from being appointed or serving as Commissioner. The Committee also noted that the same definition of ‘family member’ is used in Schedule 1 which deals with disqualification from membership of the Financial Panel.
The Chairperson invited Mr Paul Gill, Clerk to the Committee on Standards and Privileges to brief the Committee on this issue.
Agreed: Following discussion the Committee agreed that the Clerk should write to the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges forwarding a copy of the tabled suggested amendment and requesting that they draft an amendment to the Schedules with respect to amending the definition of family member to the definition agreed by the Committee for consideration at the next meeting of the Committee.
7. Formal Clause by Clause scrutiny
The Chairperson welcomed the following officials who were present on behalf of the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges to respond to any questions that may arise:
Mr Hugh Widdis, Director of Legal Services
Ms Tara Caul, Legal Adviser
Mr Tony Logue, Clerk to the Commission
Mr Paul Gill, Clerk to the Committee on Standards and Privileges
The Committee commenced the formal Clause by Clause scrutiny of the Bill.
“Question: That the Committee is content with Clause 1 as drafted put and agreed to".
“Question: That the Committee is content with Clause 10 as drafted put and agreed to".
“Question: That the Committee is content with Clause 11 subject to the amendment proposed by the Assembly Commission put and agreed to"
“Question: That the Committee is content with Clause 17 subject to the amendment proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges put and agreed to"
Clause 26 –Further investigations
Clause 27 - Reports
Clause 31 - Offences
Clause 35 - Orders
Clause 38 - Commencement
Members noted that the formal clause by clause scrutiny of the Bill together with consideration of amendments to Schedules 1 and 3 will be concluded at the next meeting of the Committee.
3.30pm The next meeting of the Committee will take place on Monday, 17th January 2011 in the Senate Chamber.
4.22pm The Chairperson adjourned the meeting
Mr Fred Cobain MLA
Chairperson, Ad Hoc Committee
Mr Conall McDevitt MLA (deputising for Mr John Dallat MLA)
Mrs Sîan Woodward (Assembly Bill Clerk)
Apologies: Mr John Dallat.
The Chairperson welcomed members to the fifth meeting of the Ad hoc Committee and provided an overview of the day’s business.
Apology as listed above.
4. Draft minutes of the meetings held on 13th December 2010
Agreed: The draft minutes of the meeting held on 13th December 2010 were agreed by the Committee.
There were no matters arising.
6. Proposed Amendments to Schedules of the Bill
Members noted a Paper setting out the amendments proposed to the Schedules of the Bill.
The Chairperson welcomed Mr Paul Gill, Clerk to the Committee on Standards and Privileges; Mr Hugh Widdis, Director Legal Services; and Ms Tara Caul, Senior Legal Adviser and invited them to brief the Committee on the proposed amendments to the Schedules.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the amendments proposed to Schedules 1 and 3 in relation to the insertion of the Attorney General into the list of disqualifications and the amended definition of ‘family member’.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the amendments proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges to Schedule 4: Firstly at paragraph 6 (2), page 19, line 21 – leave out ‘particular’. Secondly at paragraph 6 (2)(b), page 19, line 24, to now read “by notifying the Commissioner that liabilities may be incurred of such description and maximum total amount as may be specified in the notification." and leave out lines 26-29.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the amendments proposed by the Assembly Commission to Schedule 5 – at paragraph 1, page 20, line 13. Leave out ‘the Schedule’ and insert ‘Schedule 1’.
7. Formal Scrutiny of Schedules
“Question: That the Committee is content with Schedule 1 subject to the two amendments proposed by the Assembly Commission put and agreed to".
“Question: That the Committee is content with Schedule 2 as drafted put and agreed to".
“Question: That the Committee is content with Schedule 3 subject to the two amendments proposed by the Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges put and agreed to".
“Question: That the Committee is content with Schedule 4 subject to the two amendments proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges put and agreed to".
“Question: That the Committee is content with Schedule 5 subject to the amendment proposed by the Assembly Commission put and agreed to".
“Question: That the Committee is content with the long title of the Bill as drafted put and agreed to".
Members noted that this concluded the formal clause by clause scrutiny of the Bill.
8. Consideration of Draft Committee Report
Agreed: The Committee agreed the contents of pages 11 and 12 should form part of the Report.
Consideration of the Bill
Agreed: The Committee agreed the contents of pages 13 – 16 should form part of the Report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the revised text in paragraphs 125-134 on page 22 should form part of the Report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the contents of pages 25, 26 and 27 should form part of the Report.
Clause by Clause Scrutiny
Agreed: The Committee agreed the contents of pages 28-32 should form part of the Report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed Appendix 1 ‘Minutes of Proceedings’ of every meeting of the Committee should form part of the Report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed Appendix 2 ‘Minutes of Evidence’ should form part of the Report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed Appendix 3 ‘Written Submissions’ should form part of the Report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed Appendix 4 ‘Other Evidence’ should form part of the Report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the revised text for paragraphs 27-33 should form part of the Report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the contents of pages 1-9 taking into account the revised text should form part of the Report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the contents of page 10 should form part of the Report.
Membership and Powers and Table of Contents
Agreed: The Committee agreed the Membership and Powers and Table of Contents should form part of the Report.
Members noted that details of the amendments to the Schedules agreed at today’s meeting will be included in the report and additions or amendments to the report will be agreed at the next meeting and the final report signed off.
The next meeting of the Committee will take place on Wednesday, 19th January at 2.00pm in the Room 29.
Present: Ms Sue Ramsey MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr John McCallister MLA (deputising for Mr Fred Cobain MLA)
Apologies: Mr Fred Cobain MLA
2.07pm The meeting commenced in public session with the Deputy Chairperson in the Chair.
The Deputy Chairperson welcomed members to the sixth meeting of the Ad hoc Committee and provided an overview of the day’s business.
The Deputy Chairperson reminded members of their obligation to declare any relevant financial or other interests which are likely to be relevant to a substantial part of the work which the committee may be required to undertake.
4. Draft minutes of the meetings held on 17th January 2011
Agreed: The draft minutes of the meeting held on 17th January 2011 were agreed by the Committee for publication on the Assembly website.
6. Committee Report
Agreed: The Committee agreed that paragraphs 61-73 stand part of the report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that paragraphs 95-164 stand part of the report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that paragraphs 165 - 210 stand part of the report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that Appendix 1 ‘Minutes of Proceedings’ of every meeting of the Committee stand part of the report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that Appendix 2 ‘Minutes of Evidence’ stand part of the report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that Appendix 3 ‘Written Submissions’ stand part of the report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that Appendix 4 ‘Memoranda and other papers considered by the Committee’ stand part of the report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that paragraphs 1-52 stand part of the report.
Committee Membership and Powers and Table of Contents
Agreed: The Committee agreed that the Committee Membership and Powers and Table of Contents stand part of the report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that an extract of the minutes of today’s meeting be included in the appendices to the report as ‘unapproved minutes’ so as to allow the report to be printed.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that this report be the First Report of Ad Hoc Committee to the Assembly for the 2010-2011 Session.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to order the Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill to be printed.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that the report be laid in manuscript in the Assembly Business Office tomorrow to be available for all Members to view.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the draft Press Release to be issued on behalf of the Committee.
Members noted that Consideration of the Bill will likely be in mid February, at a date to be agreed by the Business Committee.
As this was the final meeting of the Committee Mr Givan, joined by the Deputy Chairperson and members of the Committee, expressed thanks to the Committee staff for the detailed work involved in completing the Report within tight timescales.
The Deputy Chairperson thanked the members of the Committee for their contribution.
2.13pm The Deputy Chairperson adjourned the meeting
Mr Fred Cobain (Chairperson)
Ms Sue Ramsey (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Daithí McKay
Mr Paul Givan
Mr John Dallat
Mr Peter Weir
Northern Ireland Assembly Commission
Ms Tara Caul
Mr Tony Logue
Mr Richard Stewart
Mr Hugh Widdis
Northern Ireland Assembly Secretariat
1. The Chairperson (Mr Cobain): Representatives from the Commission will provide oral evidence on Part 1 of the Bill, which relates to the independent financial review panel. Peter Weir will take us through that, along with some of his colleagues.
2. Mr Peter Weir (Northern Ireland Assembly Commission): I will try to keep my remarks very brief, because I assume that all members of the Committee can read.
3. The Chairperson: You can make that assumption if you like.
4. Mr Weir: I will introduce the team; I am sure all the faces will be familiar. We have Tony Logue, who is Clerk to the Commission, Tara Caul, who is a legal advisor in the Assembly, Hugh Widdis, who is Head of Legal Services in the Assembly, and Richard Stewart, who is Director of Resources. I will very briefly outline the background, and Tara will then deal with some of the more technical aspects.
5. Members will be aware that the issue stems from a broad criticism that, up until now, the Assembly has been effectively setting its own salaries and terms and conditions. There is a consensus that that is not sustainable.
6. The direct background to the issue arises from the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) report, which was commissioned by the Secretary of State in 2007. Towards the end of 2008, the SSRB published its report. One of the recommendations was for the Assembly to commit itself to accepting the outcome of future independent financial reviews. That was pursued by the Assembly Commission, and a consensus was reached with all the party leaders that an independent body needed to be established in line with other legislatures. Taking that forward required legislation and an amendment to the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
7. The current legal framework for the payment of salaries, allowances and pensions is covered by sections 47 and 48 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Section 47 covers the current determination for payment of salaries and expenses of current Members, and section 48 covers the provision of pensions and gratuities of former Members.
8. The amendments to those sections were contained in the Northern Ireland Assembly Members Act 2010, which received Royal Assent earlier this year. Arising from that was a report on financial support and pensions for Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly in June 2010. That led to the Assembly Commission bringing forward, following public consultation, an equality screening of the establishment, through that Act, of an independent body. The route being proposed is very similar to that taken in Wales and England, both of which have moved in a very similar fashion in the past year or so.
9. Ms Tara Caul (Northern Ireland Assembly Secretariat): I will outline some of the main themes of the Bill. I am not providing legal advice on the Bill. As Committee members will be aware, the Bill has two Parts. Part 1 provides for the establishment of the Independent Financial Review Panel. The panel will consist of a chair and two other members and will have the power to determine all aspects of financial support for Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Assembly Commission will retain responsibility for the administration of the salaries and expenditure.
10. The panel is required to exercise its functions with a view to achieving a proper balance between the objective of ensuring probity, accountability and value for money in the expenditure of public funds and the objective of securing an adequate level of remuneration for Members to allow them to discharge their functions effectively.
11. Pursuant to clause 3 of the Bill, the panel is independent and shall not, in the exercise of its functions, be subject to the direction or control of the Assembly or the Assembly Commission. In addition, the panel is required to exercise its functions in an open and accessible manner.
12. The Assembly Commission will be responsible for the appointment of the panel members, but Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly will not be members of the appointment panel. Each appointment will be for a term of five years. To ensure that the panel is independent of Members, a broad range of connections to the Northern Ireland Assembly or individual Members will result in disqualification from eligibility. The Committee will see that schedule 1 to the Bill makes provisions as to the persons who are disqualified from being appointed as or serving as panel members.
13. The appointment of a person as a panel member ceases under the circumstances that are set out in clause 6 of the Bill. The Commission may dismiss a person from office on any of the grounds set out in clause 6(2) of the Bill.
14. The panel is required to issue a code of conduct. Clause 8 of and schedule 2 to the Bill make administrative and financial provision about the panel.
15. The general rule will be that a determination will be made by the panel only once in each Assembly mandate. Further determinations may be made as necessary to take account of changes in the law and practice relating to pensions or exceptional circumstances. Unless there are changes in the law and practice relating to pensions or exceptional circumstances, there will not be a determination when there is less than a year between an ordinary Assembly general election and an extraordinary Assembly election. The panel will be required, as far as is reasonably practicable, to make its determination before the election of the Assembly in relation to which the determination relates. I will hand over to my colleague Tony Logue who will continue the briefing.
16. Mr Tony Logue (Northern Ireland Assembly Secretariat): The panel must communication its determination to the Assembly Commission as soon as reasonably practicable after it has been made. The Commission must publish the determination in full and cannot amend the determination.
17. To ensure that the panel operates in as cost effective way as possible, schedule 2 to the Bill provides that the Assembly Commission must provide the panel, or ensure that the panel is provided, with such administrative support, including staff, services and accommodation as it reasonably requires. However, the Commission is obliged to consult with the panel about such support to ensure that such provision, in particular the duties of the staff of the Assembly and the separation of the panel’s work from the business of the Northern Ireland Assembly or of the Assembly Commission, does not call into question its independence.
18. The Commission must make available and pay such sums as are necessary for the fulfilment of panel members’ terms and conditions of appointment. It must also pay any expenses properly incurred by the panel.
19. We will need to make some minor drafting amendments to Part 1 of the Bill. Those will be submitted to the Committee for consideration prior to its informal clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill, which is due to take place on 15 December 2010. A delegated powers memorandum has also been attached to the Bill. That will allow the Commission to add or remove certain classes of person from the list of those who are eligible for appointment to and service on the panel.
20. The initial financial estimate for running the panel is £15,000 a year. It is estimated that the panel could incur costs of up to £100,000 in the first year of its establishment, while it will incur more modest costs of £15,000 per annum in the other three years. It should be noted that both of those estimates include the cost of administrative support to the panel. However, it is expected that that could be provided by existing Assembly staff.
21. Mr Weir: That concludes our evidence. We are happy to take questions.
22. The Chairperson: I have a couple of quick questions. Will the appointments to the panel be by advertisement?
23. Mr Weir: The appointment process will be handed over in its entirety to the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
24. The Chairperson: Hopefully, as far as possible, there will be a balance in those who are appointed.
25. Mr Logue: The legislation is not prescriptive about the background of appointees. However, it is expected that they will come from suitable backgrounds.
26. The Chairperson: Will you clarify why £100,000 will be spent in the first year of the panel’s operation and £15,000 each year after that?
27. Mr Weir: Richard provided us with a short paper that broke down the costs. Perhaps he can take you through those costs.
28. Mr Richard Stewart (Northern Ireland Assembly Secretariat): The £100,000 is split broadly between £60,000 for costs for staff to support the panel in its work; £20,000 for external specialist advice and support, which would, probably, be along the lines of pay benchmarking exercises to compare Members’ salaries and pension arrangements here with those of other legislatures; then, obviously, the costs to the panel themselves. We estimate that, in the first year, they would work on around four days per month for six months. For estimation, we have used a daily rate of £320. Similar rates were quoted in this morning’s evidence session. That gives a total of around £99,000. Therefore, we suggest that the panel would need £100,000 to do its first determination in the first year.
29. The Chairperson: What would be the costs for administration in following years?
30. Mr Stewart: Clearly, the first year would be the big year, in which the panel would have to produce its first report, which would last for the duration of the mandate. In following years, we envisage that two support staff might support the panel on a more modest basis. Perhaps, around 10% of their time would be spent doing that. That would amount to around £9,000 or £10,000. The cost of the panel for a much more modest time period would make up the difference.
31. The Chairperson: Therefore, panel members would get around £1,500 a year each.
32. Mr Stewart: It depends. From year 2 to year 4 —
33. Mr Weir: The estimate that we produced for the panel was worked out using a daily rate. We estimate that the panel’s work in the second year and beyond would probably cost just under £2,000 per member. We estimate that there will be around six days’ work at £320 per member.
34. Mr Stewart: That comes from an understanding that the panel would probably meet once every two months.
35. The Chairperson: I would like clarification on whether the Commission must accept the panel’s determination when it is made.
36. Mr Weir: In that sense, the panel is completely independent.
37. The Chairperson: In that sense, therefore, could the Commission refuse to accept the panel’s determination?
38. Mr Weir: No. That is not my understanding.
39. The Chairperson: It could amend the determination by saying that it does not agree?
40. Ms Caul: Clause 14(2)(b) requires the Commission to publish the determination in full, the effect of which would be that it could not amend it before publication.
41. Mr Weir: The Commission has no power to either accept it or reject it. That is the amount that is payable. The only option is for an individual member to refuse something if he or she wishes to. The position is the same at present. Members are entitled to a certain amount, which is payable to them. It is up to them to decide whether they want to accept their salaries. That is the same position. It has not changed legally. The Commission has no power to reject the panel’s determination.
42. The Chairperson: For clarification, the reason why the proposal is not viable today is because a majority in the Assembly would not accept any increase in salaries. Is that correct?
43. Mr Weir: Until now, that has been in the hands of the Assembly itself. Therefore, the Commission would bring forward a proposal. Clearly, political judgement is needed. The whole point of the panel is to take the issue entirely out of the Assembly’s hands. Essentially, it will set that determination. It is up to any individual, as it is today, to decide whether to accept what is payable. Neither the Assembly nor the Commission has power to reject or amend whatever comes forward.
44. The Chairperson: I just want to clarify that issue while the lawyers are here. The Bill states that the determination will be communicated to the Commission. However, it does not state anywhere that the Commission can refuse to accept the determination. The Commission could vote against it.
45. Mr Weir: It has no power to do that. It is the same as setting a determination, rejecting it and saying that it should be zero. That would, by definition, be an amendment to the determination.
46. As in any situation, any individual has the power to take action on that. However, as far as I understand it, the Commission has no power at all to amend, reject or welcome that side of it. That is outside its remit.
47. Mr Hugh Widdis (Northern Ireland Assembly Secretariat): At the moment, it is structured so that the Assembly makes a determination that sets Members’ pay, and that amount of pay is payable. The Commission does not have a role to change that. In accordance with the change to the Northern Ireland Act, all the Bill does is to allow the Assembly to delegate that task to the panel. The panel will then make a new determination, which, broadly speaking, will look similar in terms. The amounts might be different but, broadly speaking, the terms will be similar. It might say that there shall be a salary for Members and that it should be the following amount of money. The Commission will simply administer that. The Commission will have no ability to —
48. The Chairperson: Neither the Commission nor the Assembly will have any power over the panel’s determination?
49. Mr Weir: That is correct.
50. Mr Widdis: For the sake of fullness, we should say that the Assembly could theoretically, in future, repeal the part of the Act that established the panel. In that case, the panel would have no power, and the Assembly would make determinations.
51. The Chairperson: Is that the only power that it would have?
52. Mr Weir: Yes.
53. Ms S Ramsey: Thanks for your presentation. I have couple of points. I know that Peter is here to represent the Commission, but he is also a member of the Employment and Learning Committee, which has had problems in the past with the public appointment issue and brought forward a motion on the Get on Board scheme. This Committee could outline the way that public appointments will go, but other Assembly Committees have difficulties with the outworkings of public appointments and find it hard to get a broad range of people on that list. That was mentioned in the Health Committee. Therefore, we need to be careful and possibly look at the debate on the Get on Board scheme.
54. Peter said that the £60,000 for staff breaks down into the cost of three people for six days a year.
55. Mr Weir: No. The £60,000 is the cost of staffing in the first year, which is basically six months’ work. In the later days, when there will be six days of a work a year, the staffing costs will be about £8,600 for two people.
56. Ms S Ramsey: OK. The earlier presentation told us that some administration staff could be in-house, and I am concerned about the figure of £15,000 for both of them. If we do that in-house, we need to say that. That is a general concern.
57. The Assembly is getting crucified on the whole issue of external consultants, and we are talking about doing a lot of this in-house. A figure of £20,000 for external support does not sit right given that the previous presentation said that the general rule would be that the panel will make a determination only once in each Assembly mandate. I know that it goes on to say that there could be special arrangements, but how can you say that the staffing costs will be in and around £100,000 for the first year when the panel will make only one ruling during a mandate? We need to sell that to the community. We need more information on that.
58. Tony mentioned the small number of minor drafting amendments. I know that you will send that detail to the Committee, but will you give us an idea of the amount of money that is involved?
59. Mr Weir: I will deal with a few of those points. Tara will deal the public appointments question. First, the £100,000 is essentially a one-off cost in each term. The £60,000 staffing cost for the year will not be for additional people who have been brought in. The administrative staff will be drawn from people who are already in the system. It is almost like an accounting exercise; if you divert someone from their existing job to do particular tasks, the ultimate cost of that work will still be approximately £60,000. It is not a question of bringing additional people in.
60. Ms S Ramsey: I think that we need to highlight that, Peter. It is not additional money.
61. Mr Weir: We are conscious that, sometimes, the Assembly, or any other legislature, can be accused of presenting a particular figure that has additional costs underneath it because staff are being diverted from other jobs. We are trying to be as upfront as possible about the actual cost of the exercise, as opposed to the cost to the public purse. That explains the bulk of the cost.
62. The cost of the external consultants, who provide a certain amount of required one-off specialist advice, will be approximately £20,000. That advice is to do with job evaluation and benchmarking, and is a specialist task. That cost will only occur in year 1. Tara will deal with appointments.
63. Ms Caul: It has been agreed that the Commission will follow best practice established by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. As members know, and as Paul Gill outlined earlier, the Assembly not bound by the public appointments legislation, but the Commission has committed to following best practice, and we have already consulted with the commissioner in that regard.
64. Ms S Ramsey: May I suggest that you look at the Committee debate?
65. Ms Caul: I certainly will.
66. Mr Weir: Ultimately, we are trying to strike a balance between ensuring that there is openness and inclusivity, and showing a degree of independence.
67. Ms S Ramsey: I appreciate what you are saying. I am not trying to throw a spanner in the works, but there is another Assembly Committee that has a concern about the issue of public appointments, and we need to learn lessons.
68. Mr Weir: We are also concentrating on ensuring that, in preserving that independence, there is a wide range of disqualifications so that no one can accuse the panel members of bias. My colleagues may want to deal with some of the minor amendments.
69. Ms Caul: The amendments to Part 1 are minor, and there are only two or three. For example, clause 13(2)(a) contains a reference to “such pensions"; we will probably remove the word “such". In clause 11(6)(a), we will consider whether the phrase:
“before the coming into operation of this Act"
should be amended to read
“before the coming into operation of this Part".
70. There may be one final amendment to one of the schedules, but I assure the Committee that it is a minor drafting issue.
71. The Chairperson: Briefly, what is the time frame for this exercise, Peter?
72. Mr Logue: The plan is to have appointments at the start of the next mandate so that the panel will be in place to make a determination by late 2011 at the earliest.
73. The Chairperson: Some time in 2011?
74. Mr Logue: Towards the end of 2011.
75. The Chairperson: This time next year?
76. Mr Logue: Yes.
77. Mr Dallat: The figure of £100,000 sounds sensational, even though Peter and Tara have probably explained away a good part of it. I am not one for copying or plagiarising other people’s work, but if this exercise has already been done in Wales and Scotland, why does so much work have to be done here?
78. Mr Weir: There will be a degree of benchmarking. The idea is that we have to look at what has happened elsewhere and in other sectors. There will be a one-off cost in the first year, which will include some benchmarking. That will recur in the first year of each term, but the general running costs for the rest of the exercise will amount to approximately £15,000.
79. Mr Dallat: It is important to note that the Public Accounts Committee accepts that the Assembly does not have all the specialist skills, and because they are only ever needed on a one-off occasion there is never any criticism of employing specialist people. That is an efficiency rather than an extravagance.
80. Mr Weir: I point out that the specialist element in respect of the benchmarking equates to about £20,000. I do not want to give people the impression that it was £100,000 for the specialist side; that was just for the benchmarking exercise.
81. The Chairperson: Thank you very much.
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Jim Wells
Mr Declan O’Loan
Committee on Standards and Privileges
Mr Paul Gill
Mr Jonathan McMillen
82. The Chairperson (Mr Cobain): The Committee will receive oral evidence from the Committee on Standards and Privileges on Part 2 of the Bill, which relates to the Commissioner for Standards. The witnesses are Declan O’Loan, who is the Committee Chairperson; Paul Gill, the Committee Clerk; Tara Caul, who is a senior legal adviser; and Jonathan McMillen, who is a legal adviser.
83. Mr Declan O’Loan (Committee on Standards and Privileges): Chairman, I begin by thanking you and the Ad Hoc Committee for inviting us to give evidence. The Committee on Standards and Privileges has been working on the Bill for some time, and we are very attached and give importance to the report that led up to it. We are very pleased that the Bill will receive this Committee’s further examination to see whether it needs further alteration or improvement.
84. The Committee on Standards and Privileges is grateful for the opportunity to begin the process of engagement with this Committee on the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill. I am here today as the Chairperson of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, and I am supported by the Clerk to that Committee, Mr Paul Gill. Ms Tara Caul and Mr Jonathan McMillen from Legal Services are also in attendance. I also thank you for agreeing to hear evidence on Part 2 of the Bill first.
85. All Members of the Assembly are required to comply with the requirements of the Assembly’s code of conduct. The Assembly agreed a new code of conduct, which came into effect in October 2009. Following that, the Committee on Standards and Privileges began an inquiry into enforcing the code of conduct and the appointment of a Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards. The aim of the inquiry was to establish the most appropriate means of maintaining the code of conduct and handling alleged breaches in relation to it. The Assembly has, for a number of years, had an interim arrangement to ensure that allegations of misconduct by Assembly Members would be independently investigated.
86. A previous Committee on Standards and Privileges concluded that the office of the Assembly Ombudsman was well placed and equipped to discharge the functions of the Commissioner on an interim basis. That interim arrangement is still in place today, and the current Committee is extremely grateful to the Ombudsman and his office for the diligent service that they have provided and continue to provide.
87. As part of the inquiry, the Committee considered models to deal with the investigation of allegations of misconduct by elected Members in other legislatures. It also carried out a consultation and received written submissions and oral evidence from key stakeholders. Those helped the Committee to conclude that, in relation to handling alleged breaches of the code of conduct, it was appropriate that an independent Commissioner should carry out investigations into complaints, that the Committee should determine whether a breach had occurred and that the Assembly should impose sanctions where appropriate. The Committee also concluded that legislation was required and that the Commissioner’s role, powers and independence from the Assembly in respect of specific investigations should all be set out on a statutory basis. In addition, the Committee agreed that the Commissioner should have the power to initiate an investigation if the Commissioner believes that a breach of the code of conduct may have occurred.
88. The Assembly endorsed those conclusions when it approved the Committee’s report on the inquiry on 1 June 2010. It is important to recognise that the broad principles of the Bill were agreed when the Assembly agreed to that report, when the Committee unanimously agreed the Bill and when the Assembly gave its full support to the Second Stage of the Bill.
89. The Committee on Standards and Privileges subsequently agreed that the necessary legislative provisions could be included in the Bill being prepared by the Assembly Commission in respect of the independent financial review panel.
90. I will give you an overview of the main provisions of Part 2 of the Bill. The Bill is in two Parts. Part 1 will establish the independent financial review panel, known as the panel, and Part 2 will establish the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards.
91. Clause 16 provides for the establishment of the post of commissioner. The official title will be the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards. Clause 17 sets out the commissioner’s functions as being to receive and investigate complaints and referrals concerning Members’ conduct, initiate investigations and to report the outcome to the Assembly. The commissioner may also be asked to give advice on matters of general principle.
92. There are, therefore, three different scenarios that can lead to the commissioner carrying out an investigation. First, there is the scenario of when a complaint is made to the commissioner that a Member has breached the code of conduct. Secondly, there is the scenario whereby a matter is referred to the commissioner as per any agreed provision of Standing Orders. Thirdly, there is the scenario of the commissioner initiating an investigation, if the commissioner believes that a breach of the code of conduct may have occurred.
93. The general nature of the second scenario allows for the commissioner to be a more wide-ranging investigative resource for the Assembly in relation to Members’ conduct. The Assembly has already agreed, for instance, that the commissioner should be able to carry out investigations into matters relating to the conduct of Members on a referral from the Clerk/Director General in respect of issues, such as a potential misuse by a Member of Assembly allowances, relating to the Clerk/Director General’s role as accounting officer. Standing Orders would have to be amended to provide for that.
94. It is possible that in the future the Assembly might identify additional conduct issues that it wished the commissioner to be able to investigate. As long as Standing Orders were amended to allow for that to happen, the commissioner would have the authority to carry out such investigations.
95. The provision for the third scenario, which allows for the commissioner to initiate his or her own investigation, was considered very important by the Committee. The Committee feels that it is not acceptable that where there are significant, legitimate and evidential concerns in relation to the conduct of Members, but where no formal complaint has been made, that no investigation should be carried out. If there were no investigation in such circumstances, it would undermine public confidence in the integrity of the Assembly. The Committee on Standards in Public Life share that view. When Sir Christopher Kelly gave evidence to the Committee during its inquiry, he specifically recommended that the commissioner should be able to initiate an investigation. An elected public representative should not be able to evade scrutiny in circumstances in which there is clearly a case to answer, but where no complaint has been made.
96. Clause 18 provides for the commissioner’s independence. The independence of the commissioner in carrying out investigations and coming to conclusions is a crucial aspect of the credibility of the accountability arrangements for Members. The commissioner shall, therefore, not be subject to the direction or control of the Assembly, except to the extent allowed under clause 24.
97. Clause 24 requires the commissioner to comply with directions given by the Assembly. It is envisaged that there will be two types of directions: those that will set a general procedural framework to ensure that the commissioner carries out his or her functions in a consistent and procedurally fair manner; and those that will ensure that the commissioner complies with codes of conduct, etc, and is open and transparent about financial and other interests. It is important to emphasise however that a direction under clause 24 cannot in any way interfere with how the commissioner carries out any specific investigation.
98. Clause 19 provides for the commissioner to be appointed by the Assembly for a term of five years. A person may only be appointed to serve as commissioner once. The Assembly will be responsible for ensuring that the commissioner is appointed by way of fair and open competition and for determining appointment criteria and the terms of appointment.
99. In order to ensure that the commissioner is independent and is seen to be independent, a broad range of connections to the Northern Ireland Assembly or individual Members will result in disqualification from eligibility. Schedule 3, provided for by clause 20, makes provision as to the persons who are disqualified from being appointed as, or serving as, the commissioner.
100. Clause 21 provides for the circumstances in which the commissioner will cease to hold appointment or may be dismissed. Under certain circumstances, the commissioner will automatically cease to hold office. The Assembly may also, by resolution, dismiss the commissioner.
101. Clause 22 and schedule 4 make administrative and financial provision in respect of the commissioner. Under schedule 4, the Assembly Commission must provide the commissioner with such administrative support, including staff, services and accommodation as the commissioner reasonably requires. Schedule 4 also provides the commissioner with a general power calculated to facilitate the discharge of the commissioner’s functions. It also requires the commissioner to provide the Assembly Commission with financial information and to lay an annual report before the Assembly.
102. Clause 23 enables the Assembly to appoint an acting commissioner to discharge any or all of the commissioner’s functions, if, for some reason, the commissioner is unable to act. The disqualifications applicable to the commissioner will also apply to the acting commissioner. The clause also provides for the acting commissioner’s resignation and removal.
103. Clause 25 provides for the commissioner to determine the procedure and timing for any specific investigation and reporting its outcome to the Assembly, albeit with an agreed general procedural framework set out in a direction under clause 24.
104. Clause 26 allows the Assembly — in practice, the Committee on Standards and Privileges — to be able to request the commissioner to carry out further investigations following receipt of a report from the commissioner. However, the commissioner does not have to carry out further investigation if the commissioner concludes that such investigation would be unnecessary.
105. Clause 27 provides that a report by the commissioner may make recommendations but will not be able to recommend the imposition of a specific sanction on any member. The clause also provides for the commissioner’s reports to be published.
106. Clause 28 provides for the commissioner to have the power to require witnesses to attend and give evidence or to provide documents in similar manner to the power of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Therefore, a prospective witness will not be obliged to answer a question or produce a document that would not have to be answered or produced in court.
107. Clause 31 provides for a number of offences in relation to refusals to provide or otherwise failing to give evidence in accordance with a request under clause 28. Maximum penalties for an offence under the clause will be a fine up to level 5, which is £5,000, on the standard scale or three months’ imprisonment. There is provision for the prosecution of company directors who have consented to non-compliance by a company.
108. Clause 32 provides that for the purposes of the law of defamation, statements by the commissioner will attract absolute privilege and statements to the commissioner will have qualified privilege.
109. Clause 33, not clause 22 as it says on your memo — I apologise for that typo — provides that information disclosed to the commissioner in the course of an investigation will not be disclosed by or on behalf of the commissioner, except for the purpose of enabling the commissioner to discharge functions or in connection with the investigation or prosecution of an offence.
110. It is likely that the Committee will recommend a small number of minor drafting amendments and clarifications to Part 2 of the Bill. Those will be submitted to the Committee for consideration prior to its informal clause-by-clause consideration, which is due to take place on 15 December 2010.
111. A delegated powers memorandum has been submitted to the Committee in respect of clause 20(2) and clause 38(2) of the Bill. Financial costs in relation to the initial establishment of the commissioner have been estimated at £10,000 based on the fair and open competition to recruit the commissioner and start-up office costs. The annual recurring costs of the commissioner are expected to total £25,000, based on the current level of investigations. It should be noted that that estimate includes the cost of administrative support to the commissioner, but it is expected that that could be provided by existing staff of the Assembly Commission.
112. That concludes my summary of Part 2 of the Bill, Chairman. I am happy to address any questions that you or other members may have.
113. The Chairperson: Will the commissioner be able to initiate investigations on his own?
114. Mr O’Loan: As I indicated in my opening remarks, the Committee thought very carefully about that provision and takes it very seriously indeed. I recall what Sir Christopher Kelly and the Committee on Standards in Public Life said about that. We had Sir Christopher Kelly before us in this very seat on a previous occasion. They indicated that the commissioner should be able to initiate investigations proactively without waiting for a formal complaint. They made clear the rationale for doing that. They felt that if there were serious allegations about a Member of the Assembly which were in the public domain, but no formal complaint had been made and the commissioner was powerless to act, that would damage public confidence in the system.
115. What we are fundamentally about is having a code of conduct that the public can have confidence in. We have created that, and are now creating an absolutely rigorous and robust system to enforce that code of conduct. It is not just a theoretical debate.
116. As a result of the Westminster expenses scandal, issues arose in the public arena, yet no complaint had in fact been entered. One might think that surprising, but a situation may easily occur whereby something could cause intense public concern, yet no specific complaint is entered. It may be significant to the Ad Hoc Committee that the Standards and Privileges Committee at the House of Commons has looked at this matter again, perhaps seeing what we have done, and has recommended that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards at Westminster should also have the power to initiate investigations.
117. I will outline a little more detail of how that would work. It will be set out in a direction under clause 24. That direction does not exist yet, but if the legislation passes, the Committee will be working closely on that. However, the Committee has considered the matter already and has indicated the direction in which it would go. First, an investigation should only be carried out where the commissioner sees prima facie evidential basis to justify an investigation. I might add also that that would be considered closely by the Assembly when appointing a commissioner. I think that the mind of the Assembly would be such that it would not want to appoint a commissioner who did not have the courage to investigate if abuse were suspected in relation to the code of conduct; nor would we want to appoint a commissioner who would set out on witch-hunts. That will be on the Assembly’s mind when making an appointment.
118. The second procedural point is that the commissioner should be able to make preliminary inquiries before deciding to embark on or self-start an inquiry.
119. The Chairperson: There is a point on which I want clarity, which is that, for politicians, reputation is a big thing. The very fact that a commissioner would start an investigation would, from a reputation point of view, be hugely damaging to the politician. The Committee was quite clear that it did not have any reservations around giving someone the power to investigate personally if there are any criteria? He would personally decide how serious the issue was?
120. Mr O’Loan: We think it very important that significant power and independence is given to the commissioner. I would go as far as to say that, although we had reservations, we were strongly of the view that that power ought to be there. I guess that there is ultimately a balance, which I have already indicated when I talked about the type of person that one might appoint.
121. The Chairperson: How would you get that balance right? How would you know in advance whether someone was not going to be a witch-hunter or be easy to roll over? How would you gauge that?
122. Mr O’Loan: The Standards and Privileges Committee would give a direction in the form of a formalised paper that would be given to the commissioner. That would be adjustable if, over a period of time, it was felt that the power was not being exercised as it should be in the legislation. There would be the ability to make future adjustments.
123. Mr Wells: I just want to tease something out, Declan. Would the present Commissioner for Complaints be precluded from being our commissioner under one of those definitions that you have laid out in schedule 3? Would he be defined at the moment as an employee of the Assembly?
124. Mr O’Loan: My understanding is that he would not be so precluded, although I will defer technical opinion to my colleagues.
125. Mr Paul Gill (Northern Ireland Assembly Secretariat): That is absolutely correct. Nothing in the schedule would prevent the current Ombudsman and Commissioner for Complaints from being appointed as the new Assembly Commissioner for Standards if he were identified through the competition. In fact, a specific provision in schedule 4 states that, in the event of an existing office holder being appointed as commissioner, he may use the resources and office support that he already has to support his role as commissioner.
126. Mr Wells: Is the ombudsman currently defined as an employee of the Assembly?
127. Mr Gill: No. Although he is the ombudsman, he is also carrying out a role as interim Commissioner for Standards under the Assembly’s Standing Orders. However, Standing Orders do not make the ombudsman an employee or a member of staff of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
128. Mr Wells: Is that the case even though his office is being paid to cover the amount of work that he does for the Assembly?
129. Mr Gill: The ombudsman’s office has a separate budget, and it uses that to bid for additional resources to allow the ombudsman to carry out his work as the interim commissioner.
130. Mr Wells: The interim commissioner is, therefore, paid by the ombudsman’s office rather than the Assembly.
131. Mr Gill: Yes.
132. Mr Wells: I am just thinking out loud. The economic situation has clearly moved on considerably since we first thought of this idea. People may view the establishment of a completely independent, all new office with a commissioner and staff as a lovely idea. However, given the present economic situation, would it be better to continue to facilitate the ombudsman’s work as interim commissioner? Do you think that that would be problematic, given that you are trying to establish a clearly neutral role for the commissioner?
133. Mr O’Loan: Obviously, in the mind of the Committee, the starting point was about enabling the Assembly to assert its authority in enforcing its code of conduct. However, the cost issue is certainly a serious consideration. The explanatory and financial memorandum, which I quoted in my opening remarks, states that the set-up costs are in the order of £10,000. That is a one-off cost.
134. The annual recurring cost of the commissioner, based on the current number of investigations, is expected to total £25,000. However, that cost might vary. If there were no complaints and investigations, the cost would be extremely small. However, if there were a lot of investigations, activity would have to rise to meet that. That figure is, therefore, based on the current number of investigations.
135. There are three cost components. The first element of cost is £16,500 for 300 hours of work per annum. That figure is not snatched out of mid-air. Rather, it is a reasonable estimate based on two factors: the rate of remuneration paid to the current Welsh Commissioner for Standards; and the number of hours worked by our interim commissioner in the recent past. The second element of cost is £3,500 for legal advice and other expenses per annum, and the third element of cost is £5,000 for administrative support to the commissioner. In fact, based on our calculation of the overall costs — if we accept that this money will come from the public purse — our system would, in fact, deliver the same service at a lesser cost than the current system.
136. Mr Wells: The panel will obviously have to draw up a report on pay, terms and conditions, and expenses — there will be a flurry of activity at the start — and then, presumably, that document will be published and agreed to. However, after that, we could all be like Mother Theresa and nothing would happen because there would be no complaints to investigate. I must say that the cost of a commissioner in Northern Ireland is much less than it is elsewhere, such as in Scotland or Westminster. However, how do you ensure that we not end up paying the commissioner a king’s ransom for doing very little?
137. Mr O’Loan: It is important to point out that the issue of money must be taken very seriously, particularly given the present context. However, we are talking about a global sum in the order of £25,000, which is not big. I think that most members of the public would regard that as representing very good value for money if it ensures confidence in Members of the Assembly.
138. In terms of the ongoing costs, you can see the three headings that I gave you. If there were no complaints, most of those ongoing costs would disappear on a recurring basis. The actual cost would be minimal if there were no complaints.
139. Mr Wells: We are trying to attract someone of particular standing, independence and knowledge, but with a promise that if all goes well he or she may have little work to do. Why would anyone take that up, if everything worked to plan?
140. Mr O’Loan: That would be one of the factors that would be there when it went to open competition. In some ways, we are ahead of ourselves. There is an unpredictable workload; it will depend on the level of complaints that occur. At times, we will be seeking investigations to be conducted with due dispatch. I would have thought that one would be looking to recruit a person who would be able to offer that kind of flexibility, as, for example, the Ombudsman’s office is able to give. That would be a factor. I suppose that the person would have to have a recognition that they might be appointed to the post, and then have to fold their arms and receive no complaints whatsoever for a time. That is an uncertainty.
141. Mr Wells: The vast majority of complaints in Westminster related to housing, second homes, expenses for overnight accommodation and issues like that, which do not apply here. It does not matter where you live in Northern Ireland as an MLA — whether you live in Belleek or Strabane — you are not allowed to stay overnight; we do not pay it. You are not allowed to have a second home in Belfast or a flat, or to rent a property to stay in elsewhere in Northern Ireland. A lot of the issues that brought the Westminster system into incredible disrepute do not apply to us. By the way, you are not allowed to buy duck houses or to clean your moats, because you do not have any such properties in the first place. On that basis, about 90% of the areas of contention will not apply to us, because we do not get the money to start with.
142. Mr O’Loan: We know that there has been a history of complaints here; the interim commissioner has had work to do. We would all agree that it is vital that there be a code of conduct and a method of enforcing it. I do not think that any of us can predict what the complaint levels will be or the types of complaint that are going to be made. You are right that there are certain types of complaint, because the expenses system is different. I have said that the Clerk/Director General can make direct reference to the commissioner if, in his duty as accounting officer, he comes across something that gives him concern. He can go directly to the commissioner. I think that we would all agree that that power needs to be there. He needs to be able to go somewhere with any concern that he has. I do not know if that gives you any comfort.
143. A certain number of complaints that we have had relate to whether Members have used appropriate language. We now have such a history of that that we know how to deal with it, and the Committee has recognised the legitimate right of politicians to speak as politicians. Perhaps some of those complaints of that type may disappear out of the system. However, we still end up with a situation where no one can predict what the level of complaints is going to be.
144. The Chairperson: Will a retention fee be paid?
145. Mr O’Loan: I think that there is in the Welsh system.
146. Mr Gill: It is worth clarifying that the legislation provides for the Commission to determine the terms and conditions of the commissioner. The Committee on Standards and Privileges has not sought to say what those terms should be. In its report, the Committee noted the Welsh model, in which there is a retainer of £4,500 per year. After that, it is about £320 per full day that the commissioner works. Having used those figures in respect of the hours that the Ombudsman did for the Assembly last year, we reached the figure of £25,000 per annum running costs. That is not to say that the Assembly Commission may not choose to adopt a different approach when it comes to determining the terms and conditions.
147. Mr Givan: You said that it would be cheaper than the current system. How does that work?
148. Mr Gill: There are three aspects to the costs of the commissioner: the cost of providing administrative support; the cost of expenses, for example, legal expenses; and salary costs. The administrative costs are likely to be the same whether the Assembly, the Ombudsman’s office or A N Other public body provides them. The expenses are likely to be the same in any event as well, including legal expenses, because those are procured independently by the commissioner. That only leaves the salary costs. The salary cost, based on the Welsh model, is not terribly high. If the Commission chose to remunerate a commissioner along those lines, it would be cheaper to pay someone at that rate than as per the current arrangements.
149. Mr Givan: So that type of system cannot be built in to our current Ombudsman and just say that it should be met within the existing budget? He would have to get a fee for carrying out the work and administration costs? There is not the capacity to do what is currently being done?
150. Mr Gill: The Ombudsman bids for additional resources to allow him to carry out the role of Interim commissioner.
151. Mr Givan: Is five years enough time for a former MLA to have been out of the Assembly and to be perceived as neutral?
152. Mr O’Loan: The Committee gave a lot of thought to that. I was really pleased and impressed by the Committee’s discussion, because it considerably amplified the original list. Broadly, it came up with the idea that if a person is politically tainted —
153. Mr Wells: Enhanced.
154. Mr O’Loan: We wanted to leave the position as open as possible. Clearly, however, we felt that certain persons, if appointed, would not command public confidence or the confidence of Assembly Members. We thought — it can be seen in a number of the categories — that, for people like former Assembly Members or other persons who had political connections, if we created a five-year decontamination period, we would do a reasonable job in allowing them to have a fair chance at the job, that is in not being overly restrictive, and yet still having the confidence of Assembly Members and the public.
155. Mr Givan: You touched on the issue of the commissioner having the power to investigate without complaints. How do you prevent MLAs or politicians who do not want to make a complaint but still going to the commissioner and saying that they might want to look into something? If a politician wants to be, to a certain extent, a coward and is not prepared to put their name to a letter to lodge a formal complaint, they will go to the commissioner and whisper in his ear.
156. Mr O’Loan: I think that we will be appointing a person with the highest level of integrity, and that conversation will not get opened up at all. I think that the person appointed will simply not go there at all. They will probably have such a position and stature in the community that any Assembly Member with any sense will know that attempting to influence the commissioner in that way is totally out of order. That might be seen as a matter for investigation in itself.
157. Mr Givan: I admire your confidence that that will be the case, but I can certainly see scenarios in which individuals may not be prepared to put their name forward but will whisper certain things. I am concerned that, potentially, that opportunity is opened to people are not prepared to make a formal complaint.
158. Mr Gill: If, for example, an Assembly Member had information about another Member and tipped off the commissioner, it is very likely that, during the course of the commissioner’s investigation, the commissioner would have to interview the Member who had that information. That would go into the commissioner’s report. There is provision in the legislation to ensure that the commissioner’s reports will always be published in full, so I imagine that, in those circumstances, the evidence that the Member had would make its way in to the public domain in any event.
159. The Chairperson: You talk about openness and transparency, which is a big thing for the Committee. If someone spoke to the commissioner, their identification would have to be made public.
160. Mr O’Loan: As Paul indicated, if it became the subject of an investigation by the commissioner and the subject of his report, the evidence that he had gathered would be part of that report. Any report that comes from the commissioner is then made public in our report.
161. The Chairperson: If someone were to tip the commissioner off, they would obviously want to investigate that. When the report is prepared, the name of the individual who tipped the commissioner off would have to appear in the report.
162. Mr O’Loan: I was envisaging a slightly different scenario. If a Member had a perfectly legitimate concern and felt that they were under a duty to go to the commissioner and say that there was something unsavoury going on in relation to Member X —
163. The Chairperson: I understand all that. I am not saying that other people’s reputations are not important, but Members’ reputations can make the difference between them getting elected or not. Therefore, they are hugely important. If someone is investigated and the issue raised publicly, obviously their reputation is damaged. However, if someone were to come along and tip the commissioner off — whatever that may mean — and the commissioner goes to investigate that complaint, I assume that in the interests of openness and transparency, that individual will be named in the report. Can we have a guarantee of that?
164. Mr Gill: One part of the Assembly’s current complaints procedure states that a complainant must provide their name and address. They cannot be an anonymous complainant. However, the code of conduct does say that, in exceptional circumstances —
165. The Chairperson: I do not mean that. The point that I am making is not about someone making a complaint; it is about someone tipping the commissioner off. I do not want any difficulty around this issue. I am not making a complaint. If a piece of information leads the commissioner to investigate something and a report is published, the commissioner will then say that the investigation was initiated as a result of a certain Member telling them about it. Making a complaint is a totally different thing. If I make a complaint or anyone makes a complaint, it is officially in the book. I am asking you what happens if someone initiates a complaint based on the idea that they have tipped someone off. If the commissioner decides to investigate, will that individual’s name be mentioned in the report?
166. Mr Gill: There is no specific provision in the Bill to ensure that that would happen. There is provision in the Bill for the Assembly to issue directions as to how the commissioner should carry out his or her functions, which extend to reporting. Therefore, the Assembly would be within its rights to say in a direction to the commissioner that it should always include the name of anyone who has —
167. The Chairperson: Will that be included in regulations?
168. Mr Gill: A direction. The Committee —
169. The Chairperson: It is not clearly in there at the moment, but it will be, will it?
170. Mr Gill: There is provision for the Assembly to do it.
171. Ms S Ramsey: The point that Fred and Paul made is that it is a grey area. What strikes me is that we all sit on Committees here and encourage, on a daily basis, whistle-blowing where stuff is not happening correctly. Within society, we encourage people to come forward and stand up, but we need to have a balance when somebody brings information into the public domain. We have all heard of cases of whistle-blowers being victimised.
172. Every politician in this Building has a bad name among the general public. Rightly or wrongly, they think that politicians are a dirty breed. We need to encourage openness and transparency. If people have relevant information, we need to try to ensure that this is not a closed shop and that we are not pulling down the shutters. It is about how we get that balance. However, the point that the Chairperson is making is that we need to get the balance, because it is easy to throw snowballs at politicians and to make them stick. Therefore, you need to have the balance between having that and protecting us as individuals.
173. I know what Paul is saying about it being a direction. I am struck by clause 19, which states that:
“The Commissioner shall be appointed by … the Assembly."
I take it that it will be a decision of the Standards and Privileges Committee, and then it will go to the Assembly to be ratified.
174. Mr O’Loan: That is exactly correct.
175. Ms S Ramsey: But then it says that:
“the Assembly will make arrangements for … ensuring that any person to be appointed as Commissioner has been identified by fair and open competition".
Have we any idea how that will happen? Will it be through public appointments, or will there be new criteria in place for that? I am concerned when you then talk about:
“a broad range of connections to the … Assembly".
What does that mean? We could say, for instance, that Paul’s sister’s husband has a broad connection to the Assembly — I am assuming that you have a sister who is married, Paul. We need to be careful that we are not bending over backwards to please everybody else, but, once again, implying that politicians or people connected to them are dirty. I am conscious of how we get that balance.
176. Mr O’Loan: I thank the Deputy Chairperson for her comments. She is in exactly the same position as the Committee. We are concerned that there should be, in the public mind, a clear and demanding code of conduct for Members and a clear system for enforcing it. Equally, we are protective of the legitimate and proper rights of Members. The Committee wants to get that balance right. I hope that I have understood your point about connections between the office holder and the Assembly. That is set out in great detail in schedule 3 to the Bill. It is a matter that the Committee gave careful thought to, and, of course, it is open. Under the legislation, it can subsequently be amended by the Assembly Commission. That is why we refer to the delegated powers. The Assembly Commission could alter that listing in the future, if it wished to do so.
177. Mr Gill: The Commissioner for Public Appointments gave evidence to the Committee on Standards and Privileges during its inquiry. The Commissioner for Public Appointments does not have authority over Assembly appointments; they are for Executive and departmental appointments. Nonetheless, the Committee recognised that the commissioner had developed best practice and considered that the Assembly should adhere to that best practice when appointing an individual. The Committee’s report noted the appointment process for the Comptroller and Auditor General, in which there is a public notice and a fair and open competition. Different Members are involved, and then there is a resolution on the Floor of the Assembly. The Committee considered that that would be an appropriate means of appointing someone. However, the exact detail will be agreed with the Commission and the Committee. The Commissioner for Public Appointments has agreed that she is happy to provide us with advice on the detail of that.
178. Ms S Ramsey: I think that we need to be sensible and get the balance right. I have gone through the list. Anybody connected in any way to an MLA cannot apply. That means that aunts, nephews, nieces, uncles or any person related to your spouse cannot apply. I can understand what we are trying to do, but I think that, sometimes, we cut off our noses to spite our faces. It goes back to the fact that if you are in any way connected to an MLA —
179. Mr O’Loan: Our overall view is that we want to make it as open as possible, but we do not want to appoint someone at whom fingers will be pointed and the appointment of whom people will say is not appropriate.
180. Ms S Ramsey: I appreciate what you are saying, and, sometimes, we need to be whiter than white, but the other part of that is that it is sending out the message that if you are in any way connected to an MLA —
181. Mr O’Loan: I take your point. That is the difficult arena that we live in, and probably always will.
182. Mr Dallat: This reminds me of the people who go out to check housing benefit — they have a look at the clothes line to see what is on it. We do not want to get to that stage.
183. Ms S Ramsey: Not in this weather.
184. Mr Dallat: I am quite new to all of this. Will the commissioner have the power to investigate all Members of the Assembly, including Ministers?
185. Mr O’Loan: Yes. The commissioner has the power to investigate all Members of the Assembly acting in their capacity as Members. Ministers are Members of the Assembly, and they are subject to the code of conduct for Members.
186. Mr Wells: I recently referred a case to the Committee, and it came back with a blanket letter stating that it could not investigate the matter because the person concerned had been carrying out their functions as a Minister and that I should refer it to the Executive. The chances of getting cross-community support in the Executive to slap any Minister on the wrist are, of course, nil. Are we not going to get into that position? You have been very careful there to define the circumstances in which a Minister can be touched.
187. Mr O’Loan: We probably cannot examine individual cases here. However, if a complaint were made about a Member who happened to be a Minister, the first question that the commissioner would ask is whether the action complained about was done in a strictly ministerial capacity or whether it could be regarded as a fault under the code of conduct for Members. Essentially, that is the way in which cases are examined and conclusions are drawn. We have jealously guarded the fact that Ministers are subject to the code of conduct for Members, and the Committee is keen for that to be made clear.
188. Mr Wells: I must come back on that point. Ministers may be subject to the code of conduct, but the only way that it can be enforced, if they are acting as Ministers, is with cross-party support.
189. Mr O’Loan: That is not the case. During the investigation of a specific case, the Committee on Standards and Privileges and the commissioner are perfectly within their rights to investigate a complaint made against a person who happens to be a Minister using, as the determinant weapon, the code of conduct for Members and may find the Minister in breach of the code. I am not sure whether that has happened, but it is certainly potentially available.
190. Mr Dallat: This is probably not worth mentioning, but Jim said earlier that the Assembly does not pay for overnight accommodation. However, in the distant past, there were people who lived a lot closer to Belfast than Belcoo or Strabane who qualified for overnight accommodation.
191. Mr Wells: That was stopped.
192. Mr Dallat: OK. It is not a relevant issue. We did that without a commissioner.
193. The Chairperson: I would like some clarification on the point about Ministers. You said that there is a difference — perhaps I picked this up wrong — between a Minister acting as a Minister and a Minister acting as a Member. Does that mean that a Minister acting in his capacity as Minister is not in breach of the code of conduct if he or she does something wrong in his Department?
194. Mr O’Loan: If a complaint is made about a Minister, and the commissioner, on preliminary examination, can see that the Minister has been acting strictly, absolutely and solely in their capacity as Minister, they might say that the matter can be determined only by using the ministerial code. If, however, it overlapped with the code of conduct for Members, the commissioner would be perfectly free to examine it within the terms of reference in the code of conduct for Members.
195. The Chairperson: That does not apply to Chairmen, does it? [Laughter.]
196. Mr Wells: Say, for example, a Minister, acting entirely in his or her role as Minister, stayed in a £500-a-night hotel instead of a £150-a-night hotel, and another Member referred that to the commissioner, could the commissioner touch that?
197. Mr Gill: The commissioner would not be able to look at those particular circumstances, which would fall exclusively within the ministerial code of conduct, but there are areas that overlap.
198. Mr Wells: The problem is that the only people who can enforce the ministerial code are the Executive, and there is not a pup’s chance of getting the member’s party representatives on the Executive to vote for that to happen; it would never occur.
199. Mr O’Loan: We have no control over the enforcement of the ministerial code. The Committee can only go as far as expressing some concern about the matter.
200. Mr Dallat: I initiated that question, but I am now wondering whether I should have done so. It seems to me that if you want to avoid any kind of discipline, always make sure that you use the Minister’s headed paper when you do things.
201. Mr O’Loan: I could not possibly comment on that.
202. Mr Givan: When a report is being done on a vexatious complaint — say, for example, the commissioner gets a tip-off, but there is no evidence to substantiate it — I assume that it will become common knowledge that there has been an investigation. There is damage done in that regard. Will the commissioner be able to say that he or she carried out the investigation because this MLA asked him or her to? That MLA could then be seen to have abused their position in order to attack another.
203. The Chairperson: We are going to address that, are we not?
204. Mr Gill: There is already a complaints procedure in the Assembly’s code of conduct, which sets out admissibility criteria. It is anticipated that that procedure is going to be set out in a direction under clause 24 as to what the commissioner has to do. That means that when the commissioner gets a complaint, he or she will apply the admissibility criteria and, possibly, come to the conclusion that it is trivial, vexatious or substantially related to another complaint and, therefore, does not need to be taken forward. In those particular circumstances, the commissioner can come to the Committee to say that he or she has received such and such a complaint and considers it to be trivial and that no investigation needs to take place. If the Committee agrees, that will be the end of the matter.
205. The Chairperson: Will the individual be named?
206. Mr O’Loan: That does not need to go into the Committee’s report.
207. The Chairperson: I am just —
208. Mr O’Loan: At that point, no investigation would have happened, so what the commissioner brings to us would not constitute a report and, therefore, would not have to be published by the Committee on behalf of the Assembly.
209. The Chairperson: This is an extremely important point. When the commissioner comes to the Committee to say that it is not going to be investigated, will the individual concerned be named?
210. Mr O’Loan: He or she would not be named publicly.
211. Mr Gill: He or she would not be named publicly by the Assembly.
212. The Chairperson: So something could be put into the directions to the commissioner around the point that has been made about identification of people bringing complaints.
213. Mr O’Loan: Yes. The legislation will give us the capacity to do exactly that.
214. The Chairperson: So there is nothing in here at the moment, but you will look at that again, will you?
215. Mr Gill: The Committee will be looking to agree directions as to how exactly all these things should work.
216. The Chairperson: Thank you very much.
217. Mr O’Loan: We indicated that, as part of your deliberations, we would come to you with a couple of matters. Thank you very much, and I wish you well in the rest of those deliberations.
Mr Conall McDevitt
218. The Chairperson (Mr Cobain): This item is the consideration of the written submissions. There is a summary of the issues raised in written submissions, as well as copies of the submissions themselves, in members’ papers. Are there any comments that you want to make on any of those submissions?
219. OK, we will go on quickly to the informal clause-by-clause scrutiny of the Bill. Members should indicate today if they require any further information on any clause. Officials will attend the next meeting, on 13 December, to provide clarification. We need to consider each clause today, and if members want any additional information they need to request it at this stage.
220. The Committee on Standards and Privileges and the Assembly Commission propose to make a number of amendments to the Bill. Officials will brief the Committee on those amendments at the next meeting. A copy of the amendments to Part 1 of the Bill proposed by the Commission has been tabled.
221. The Committee has a very tight deadline. We have to have a formal and final position on every clause by next Wednesday. This item of business is being recorded by Hansard for inclusion in the Committee’s report. Again, just make sure that that all of your electronic devices are switched off.
222. I refer members to the clause-by-clause summary of responses, which details all of the issues that were raised with each clause along with all of the responses from the Committee on Standards and Privileges and the Assembly Commission. Members may want to refer to that document as we move through the clauses.
223. On clause 1, the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board considered that having five members allowed it to draw on experience from a variety of backgrounds. The Commission considers the model of three to be the most cost-effective, allowing experience to be drawn in from a variety of backgrounds. Are Members happy with three?
Members indicated assent.
224. The Chairperson: Clause 2 is about the functions of the panel. No issues were raised around this clause. Are members happy with the general contents of the clause?
225. The Chairperson: Clause 3 deals with independence and openness. Again, no issues were raised with the clause. Are members happy with the general contents of the clause?
226. The Chairperson: Clause 4 deals with appointments to the panel. Some Committee members sought assurances that best practice, as developed by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, would be followed. The Commission has advised that there will be a fair and open appointment process, consistent with the principles of best practice published by the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Northern Ireland. Are members happy with the contents of that clause?
227. The Chairperson: Clause 5 deals with disqualification from membership of the panel. No issues were raised on the clause. Are members happy with its general content?
228. The Chairperson: Clause 6 deals with termination of membership of the panel. The National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board considered that the Committee would need to review what form of safeguard against arbitrary dismissal would be most likely to work and best in practice. The Commission is satisfied that the grounds for dismissal are transparent and are listed in the Bill. Arbitrary dismissal is guarded against by high levels of visibility and judicial review. Are members happy with the contents of the clause?
229. The Chairperson: Clause 7 deals with the code of conduct for panel members. This was an issue that was raised by the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board. The Bill does not provide any detail of how it will ensure that panel members will work within the code of conduct. The Commission is satisfied that clause 7 makes it clear that the intention is that members will work within the code of conduct. The wording is modelled on the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009. Are members happy with that?
230. The Chairperson: Clause 8 deals with administration and finance. Some submissions commented on the fact that the panel would not have its own officials. Arrangements will need to be monitored to ensure the independence of any advice that is given. The National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board also wished that the Ad Hoc Committee should be satisfied that the panel has sufficient resources. The Commission recognised the importance of establishing arrangements to ensure the independence of the panel and its proper use of resources. Are members happy with the general content of that clause?
231. The Chairperson: Clause 9 deals with the annual report. No issues were raised about that clause. Are members happy with its general content?
232. The Chairperson: Clause 10 deals with meetings of the panel. No issue were raised about clause 10. Are members happy with its general content?
233. The Chairperson: Clause 11 deals with exercise of functions. The National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board asked whether only allowing the panel to make more than one determination per year in exceptional circumstances would reduce its flexibility to make further determinations in light of circumstances or experience. The Commission is satisfied that the clause makes appropriate provision and strikes the correct balance. It wishes to amend clause 11(6). The amendment is to leave out “this Act" and insert “this Part". Are you content with that amendment?
234. The Chairperson: Are you happy with the general content of clause 11?
235. The Chairperson: Clause 12 deals with contents of determinations and salaries and allowances. No issues were raised on that clause. Are you happy and content with this clause?
236. The Chairperson: Clause 13 deals with contents of determinations, pensions, gratuities and allowances. No issues were raised on the clause. The Assembly Commission wishes to amend clause 13(2)(a) to leave out “such". Are members content with that amendment?
237. The Chairperson: Are members happy with the general content of the clause, with that amendment inserted?
238. The Chairperson: Clause 14 deals with the availability of determinations. The Committee has sought clarification on whether determinations of the panel would be binding. The Commission confirmed that it does not have power to amend or reject any determination. Pursuant to clause 14, all determinations will be published in full. Therefore, the Commission cannot amend them prior to publication. Are members happy with that?
Members indicated assent
239. The Chairperson: Clause 15 deals with the meaning of “the panel". No issues were raised on the clause. Are members happy with the general contents of the clause?
240. The Chairperson: Clause 16 deals with the establishment of the commissioner — these are the only two issues on which we have to adjudicate. No issues were raised on clause 16. If you are happy with the general contents of this clause, we will go on.
241. The Chairperson: Clause 17 deals with the functions of the commissioner. I have to advise you that the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner queried whether the commissioner should be under a duty to report on all complaints, particularly those which after initial investigation are found to be irrelevant or inadmissible. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that the code of conduct provides for the commissioner to advise that no investigation should be carried out into complaints that are inadmissible, trivial or vexatious, or that relate to a complaint that has been substantially investigated on a previous occasion. Where it is agreed that no investigation should be carried out, there will be no requirement for any sort of report to be published on the details of the complaint. Are you happy with the general content of that clause?
242. The Chairperson: This is not a seance; you have to speak up. It is not like our Committee, Mr McDevitt. Clause 18 deals with the independence of the commissioner. There were no issues raised. Are you happy with the general contents of the clause?
243. The Chairperson: Clause 19 deals with the appointment of the commissioner. Confirmation was sought that best practices as developed by the office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments would be followed. The Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner queried whether the five-year term was too short and whether a provision for reappointment should be included. The Committee on Standards and Privileges recognises that the Commissioner for Public Appointments has developed best practice and agrees that any appointment should be made in line with best practice principles; the commissioner should therefore be consulted on the proposals.
244. It should be noted that clause 19(4)(a) places a duty on the Assembly to ensure that the commissioner is appointed by fair and open competition. It was the Commissioner for Public Appointments who recommended a one-off term of appointment of five years. The Committee on Standards and Privileges said that a commissioner who may later require Members to support a reappointment could be perceived to be compromised. Happy with that?
245. The Chairperson: Clause 20 deals with disqualification from being appointed or serving as the commissioner. Some members expressed concerns that the list of disqualifications is too broad. That view is strongly held by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, which feels that the Bill goes too far in debarring people on the basis of relationships that extend well into the outer reaches of the family. The Committee on Standards and Privileges considers that, in the interests of independence, a broad range of disqualifications should be listed. Are members happy with that general content?
246. Mr McDevitt: So that I am clear: does that mean that the Committee is going with the list in schedule 3?
247. The Chairperson: Yes.
248. Mr McDevitt: It is an extremely long list, and this is a very small place. It may sound like an obvious question, and I apologise if it has been asked before, but has the Committee conducted any research to figure out how related people are to each other in this part of the world?
250. Mr McDevitt: So you have satisfied yourself?
251. The Chairperson: This Committee did not. These are coming from the Standards and Privileges Committee. Are you on that Committee?
252. Mr McDevitt: No.
253. The Chairperson: The Standards and Privileges Committee did a lot of background work on this, and that is its recommendation after doing that work.
254. Mr McDevitt: Fair enough.
255. Mr McKay: What exactly has the Human Rights Commission said?
256. The Chairperson: It is in your pack. Monica McWilliams has responded. She basically said that she thought the Bill was too severe and that it disqualified too many people.
257. Mr McKay: I think I go with that view as well. It does go too far.
258. The Chairperson: OK. We will go to a vote.
259. The Committee Clerk: No, you can come back to it.
260. The Chairperson: We will come back to it. We are just going through this; we will come back over it.
261. Mr McDevitt: Has this Committee had a chance to review some of the research material that was available to the Standards and Privileges Committee in order to figure out how far that extends in the general population? Are you talking about 30% of the population, 20% or 10%?
262. The Chairperson: No, we did not do that.
263. Mr McDevitt: It might be helpful.
264. The Committee Clerk: Officials from the Standards and Privileges Committee will be back on Monday.
265. The Chairperson: You can ask them. The point I am making is that this Committee is time-bound for a fortnight.
266. Mr McDevitt: I understand that. I am not trying to complicate matters.
267. The Chairperson: There is always a first time for everything. On a serious note, a lot of the work has already been done, and all we will be doing is going back over stuff that has been gone over for a period of months. We can ask that question on Monday.
268. Mr Givan: What clause does that relate to again?
269. The Chairperson: Clause 20.
270. Mr Givan: I personally think the list goes too far as well, but the Committee on Standards and Privileges has recommended it.
271. The Chairperson: We will ask the officials next week; Conall, you can raise it. We will prepare them and let them know that the question is going to be asked.
272. No issues were raised around clause 21, on termination of a commissioner’s appointment. Are members content with clause 21?
273. The Chairperson: Clause 22 deals with further provision about the Commissioner. The Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner felt that the commissioner should be able to appoint staff and obtain office accommodation as he or she sees fit, subject to the Commission’s approval. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that, although the Commission has a duty to provide administrative and other support, the commissioner can secure the provision of such goods and services required to exercise his or her functions. That is in schedule 4 to the Bill. The commissioner cannot directly employ persons; doing so would have legal and financial implications.
274. Are you happy with the general contents of that clause?
275. The Chairperson: No issues were raised concerning clause 23. Are you happy with that?
276. The Chairperson: Quickly on to clause 24, directions to the commissioner. Some members had sought for such directions to include directions on naming the complainant who prompted the commissioner to undertake any investigations. The Standards and Privileges Committee confirmed that clause 24 provides the Assembly with the power to issue such directions. Are you happy with that?
277. The Chairperson: Investigations by the commissioner: as with clause 17, the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner queried whether the commissioner should be under a duty to report all complaints, particularly those that initial investigations find to be irrelevant or inadmissible. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advises that, where it is agreed that no investigation should be carried out, there should be no requirement for any sort of report to be published on the details of the complaint. Happy with that?
278. The Chairperson: There are no issues with clause 26. Are members happy with that?
279. The Chairperson: On clause 27, some members thought that the directions to the commissioner should include directions on naming any complainant who prompted the commissioner to undertake any investigation. The Committee on Standards and Privileges confirmed that clause 24, again, provides the Assembly with the power to issue such directions regarding reports. Happy with that?
280. The Chairperson: Clause 28 is the power to call for witnesses and documents. There were no issues raised in respect of clause 28. Clause 29 also deals with witnesses and documents. Again, no issues were raised. Are you happy with that?
281. The Chairperson: No issues were raised about clause 30, oaths. Are you happy with that?
282. The Chairperson: Clause 31, offences. No issues were raised. Happy with that?
283. The Chairperson: No issues were raised concerning clause 32, protection from defamation actions. Clause 33 deals with restrictions on disclosure of information. The Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner asked whether, where a complaint is received about a particular Member, the commissioner should have the authority to acknowledge that to be the case. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that the Assembly could, if it felt it to be appropriate, give the commissioner such authority in a direction under clause 24. Happy with that?
284. The Chairperson: Transitional provisions — no issues under this clause. Clause 35 deals with orders. There were no issues raised. Agreed?
285. The Chairperson: Clause 36 is consequential amendments. No issues were raised. Happy with that?
286. The Chairperson: No issues were raised about clause 37: “Interpretation: general". Are you happy with that?
287. The Chairperson: Clause 38: “Commencement". No issues were raised. Are you happy with that?
288. The Chairperson: Clause 39 is the Bill’s short title. No issues were raised under clause 39. Schedule 1 deals with disqualification from membership of the panel. No issues were raised. Happy with that?
289. The Chairperson: Schedule 2: “Panel: administrative and financial arrangements". An issue was raised under clause 8 about ensuring that the panel has sufficient resources and monitoring the independence of any advice given. The Commission recognises the importance of establishing arrangements to ensure the independence of the panel and its proper use of resources. Are you happy with that?
290. Mr McDevitt: Do schedule 1 and schedule 2 not fall under the purview of the Human Rights Commission’s concerns?
291. The Committee Clerk: The Human Rights Commission was more concerned about disqualifications for the commissioner, because they are broader than those for membership of the panel.
292. Mr McDevitt: OK, so it was only schedule 3. Thank you.
293. The Chairperson: Schedule 3 deals with disqualification from being appointed or serving as the commissioner. The issues raised are as at clause 20. The Committee on Standards and Privileges considered that, in the interests of independence, a broad range of disqualifications should be listed. OK?
294. The Chairperson: Schedule 4: “Commissioner: further provision". An issue was raised on clause 22 regarding whether the commissioner should be entitled to appoint staff and obtain accommodation, subject to the approval of the Assembly. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that, although the Commission has a duty to provide administrative and other support, the commissioner can secure the provision of such goods and services as are required to exercise his or her functions. However, the commissioner cannot directly employ people. There would be a number of legal and financial implications if the commissioner were able to do that. Are members content with schedule 4?
295. The Chairperson: Schedule 5 is consequential amendments. No issues were raised around this. Agreed?
296. The Chairperson: The Assembly Commission wishes to amend schedule 5 at paragraph 1, leaving out “the Schedule" and inserting “Schedule 1". OK?
297. The Chairperson: If we need clarification on any of the issues, we will get that next week.
298. The Chairperson (Mr Cobain): Officials from the Committee on Standards and Privileges will brief members on the amendments to the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill.
299. Mr Paul Gill (Northern Ireland Assembly): Thank you, Chairperson. The Committee on Standards and Privileges met last Wednesday and agreed to table four minor amendments to the Bill.
300. The first proposed amendment is to clause 17, which refers to investigations into breaches of the code of conduct. It subsequently refers to investigations into complaints that:
“the conduct of a member of the Assembly has…failed to comply with the Code of Conduct".
301. There is no reason why the Bill should be inconsistent in that regard. The amendment provides for the clause to be consistent by referring to investigation of breaches of the code whenever they occur, rather than investigating the conduct of Members. The amendment would also ensure that the Assembly was not unduly fettered if it wished to provide for the admissibility criteria for complaints to allow for complaints to be made against former Members. The Committee is aware that the admissibility criteria for complaints will be set out in a direction to the Commissioner under the provisions of clause 24. The Committee on Standards and Privileges will determine the admissibility criteria.
302. The second proposed amendment is to clause 31(2). It seeks to remove the unnecessary words “or make an affirmation" as the reference to oaths in the clause automatically extends to affirmations. The next proposed amendment is to clause 34. Clause 34(1) correctly refers to a “complaint or matter", but subsection (2) and subsection (3) refer only to a “matter". It is proposed that those references should be changed to “complaint or matter" for consistency.
303. The final proposed amendment is to schedule 4(6), which sets out the duty of the commissioner to consult the commission on any liability incurred by the commissioner that the Assembly Commission may be required to discharge. On reflection, the Committee was concerned that that paragraph read awkwardly and was not easily understood. The proposed amendment would not in any way alter the essence of schedule 4(6), but would improve the clarity of the duty in question. Those are the four proposed amendments that the Committee on Standards and Privileges has agreed that it will table.
304. Mr Givan: I want some clarity on clause 17 and the admissibility criteria that you mentioned. Are we specifically putting a provision in the legislation that will allow for the investigation of former Members?
305. Mr Gill: No; that is not the case. As drafted, the Bill is ambiguous on whether the commissioner would ever be able to investigate former Members. If the Assembly later decided that it wished the admissibility criteria to extend to former Members, there would be ambiguity about whether the functions of the commissioner would allow him to do so. In agreeing to the proposed amendment, there would not necessarily be an agreement that former Members may be investigated. Rather, if the Committee on Standards and Privileges and the Assembly agreed at a later date that the commissioner should be able to do that, the legislation would not prevent that.
306. Mr Givan: Do the current arrangements allow the Committee on Standards and Privileges to investigate former Members?
307. Mr Gill: The current arrangements are not set out in legislation, and there is no existing statutory provision in respect of former Members. However, the Committee is of the view that, if it receives complaints about Members who subsequently resign, for example, there should be no difficulty and those investigations should continue.
308. Mr Givan: I am trying to establish the reason for including the amendment. Why was it necessary to draft that amendment?
309. Mr Gill: There is an inconsistency in the language that is used in the Bill. There are references to breaches of the code of conduct and subsequent references to the conduct of a Member being inconsistent with the code of conduct, but there is no reason why the Bill should refer in separate places to those terms in different ways. The Committee has also agreed that it does not want the Bill to prohibit the commissioner from being able to carry out investigations in respect of former Members at this stage. That is not to say that the Committee has taken the decision that the commissioner should launch those investigations; it just does not want to create a legislative provision that would prevent the commissioner from undertaking such investigations in the future. The concern is that, as drafted, there is ambiguity surrounding the commissioner’s powers to do that. There is no ambiguity in the Scottish or Welsh legislation or in the powers of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, so the Committee is keen that there should be no ambiguity in this Bill.
310. Mr Givan: I appreciate that clarification. However, if a person is no longer a Member of the House and is found to have breached some rule, what sanctions are available to punish that person? What is the point in having an investigation if sanctions cannot be applied because the person is no longer a Member?
311. Mr Gill: It is correct that the sanctions that the Assembly can apply to a Member who has breached the code of conduct apply only if that person continues to be a Member. However, the Committee on Standards and Privileges has looked elsewhere at examples whereby Members breached codes of conduct and investigations were carried out even though those Members had become former Members. Those investigations provide an opportunity for the public and the body to establish the facts of exactly what happened, which has its own value. There is also an argument that internal procedures allow breaches to take place, and that, by establishing the full facts of what occurred, a body can learn from the mistakes that were made and make necessary improvements.
312. Mr Givan: If the amendment passed, would it still be up to the Committee on Standards and Privileges to instruct an investigation to take place?
313. Mr Gill: Yes; that is absolutely correct. The Committee on Standards and Privileges will issue a direction to the commissioner that sets out the admissibility criteria for investigating complaints or accepting complaints to be investigated. One of those criteria could be, for example, that a complaint needs to be about a current Member. The Committee on Standards and Privileges has not yet decided on the admissibility criteria. However, the amendment allows the Committee to include former Members if it decides that it wants to do that, and it ensures that the commissioner would be able to investigate those Members.
314. Mr Dallat: I presume that the reference to “document" includes electronic mail as well as hard copy?
315. Mr Gill: In which context?
316. Mr Dallat: Clause 31(1)(c) and 31(1)(d) refer to concealing or destroying documents. Documents that are electronically stored can be deleted.
317. Mr Gill: Yes, that includes electronic documents. It concerns the information contained in a document. Clause 28(4)(b) provides clarification:
“‘document’ means anything in which information is recorded in any form".
318. Mr Dallat: That is grand.
319. The Chairperson: I have two quick questions for clarification. First, if a breach were minor, I do not understand why you would want to investigate a former Member who is no longer here, particularly given that no sanction would be available. Secondly, if it were a major breach, I assume that that would be a criminal matter for the police to investigate. However, it may be a waste of time to investigate former members for what could be minor breaches. Therefore, what is the purpose?
320. Mr Gill: It is unlikely that former Members would be investigated for very minor breaches in any event.
321. The Chairperson: No. The amendment allows the power for that to happen. You cannot insert that amendment and then say that certain breaches will not be investigated. If someone complains to the commissioner about a breach, the Committee is not going to set out criteria that would allow the commissioner to decide which breaches of the regulations he will investigate. If a breach is reported, the commissioner must investigate it.
322. Mr Gill: The commissioner could reach the view that a complaint related to an allegation that was trivial or vexatious. In those circumstances, if the commissioner reached that view and reported that to the Committee, there would be no requirement for an investigation. That applies to current and former Members. I just want to emphasise that the Committee has not yet decided whether to enable the commissioner to carry out investigations of former Members.
323. The Chairperson: That amendment allows for the power to do that.
324. Mr Gill: That is one effect.
325. The Chairperson: If we agree to put it in, we agree to the ability of the Committee on Standards and Privileges to instruct the commissioner. Why else would you put it in?
326. Mr Gill: The reason for the amendment is to remove ambiguities so that if the Committee on Standards and Privileges decides in future that it wants to do that, it can. However, at this stage, the Committee has not yet decided whether or not it wants to do that, and the amendment does not commit it to do that.
327. The Chairperson: You are giving the Committee the power to do it, if it so decides. That is the same thing. Once it is in legislation and enacted, it is there for the Committee to use. It does not make any difference that the Committee may never need to use it. The very fact that is there, rather than whether or not it is ever going to be used, is the issue for us. The answer to whether it is there is yes. Therefore, the fact that it may never be used is not the point.
328. Mr Gill: One of the effects of the proposed amendment is to give the Committee the power to do that, if it decides to do so in the future. It thinks that that is important, because it has seen examples in other places where investigations into the conduct of former Members have been carried out and published. It is not always the case that sanctions can be applied to former Members. However, there are often broader more important lessons to be learned for the organisation in question.
329. Mr Dallat: I do think that there are any circumstances in which we would bring back Craigavon or Carson. A former Member could be someone who resigned today because there is an investigation. That person would be a former Member, and, if there were nothing in legislation, there could not be an inquiry.
330. The Chairperson: It could also be someone who left 14 years ago. That is the point.
331. Mr Gill: In theory, it could. However, the admissibility criteria for the current code of conduct state that a complaint should be made within 12 months of its being able to have been made.
332. The Chairperson: Irrespective of those caveats, once the amendment is agreed, the Committee on Standards and Privileges can make instructions.
333. Mr Gill: Yes; it would have the power to determine what the admissibility criteria should be.
334. The Chairperson: Is the Committee content with the proposed amendments?
335. The Chairperson: We move to the issue of the wide-ranging definition of “family member" in schedule 3. We discussed that during our informal clause-by-clause scrutiny last week. Schedule 3 deals with disqualification from being appointed or serving as the commissioner. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission raised concerns that the Bill goes too far in barring people based on relationships that extend beyond the outer reaches of the family. Members have a copy of that submission.
336. Mr Gill: When looking at the category of persons who should be disqualified, the Committee thought that it was of crucial importance that the commissioner be not only independent and impartial, but seen and understood to be independent and impartial. The Committee felt that it could be argued that, if the commissioner were a family member of an Assembly Member, he or she may not command widespread confidence of having that independence or impartiality.
337. The Committee recognised that the arguments on the breadth of the categories of persons who are disqualified are finely balanced. There is a discussion to be had on how widely the definition of a family member should go, and the Committee understands that, when the Bill was agreed, provision was made for schedule 3 to be amended by subordinate legislation, exactly for the sorts of reasons that we are looking at now. Others may have different views on that, and the Committee did not consult on this provision. If responses come back from the consultation that raise concerns on that, the Committee on Standards and Privileges will be happy to look at them.
338. The Chairperson: It is right to be as open and transparent as possible in dealing with the issue, but a number of Committee Members felt that the definition was a bit restrictive. It gets down to great nieces whether of “full or half blood". Do you think that anyone will be available to fill the post?
339. Mr Gill: The Committee felt that there was an important principle concerning family members, but a pragmatic approach could be taken to how that is implemented in the legislation.
340. The Chairperson: We have a suggested amendment to remove the reference to “great grandparent or great grandchild" and remove the reference to:
“great uncle, great aunt, great nephew or great niece (whether of the full or half blood)".
341. I am not sure what that last part means. Under our suggested amendment, “family member" means parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, spouse or any person related to a spouse, civil partner or any person related to a civil partner, cohabitant or any person related to a cohabitant.
342. Ms S Ramsey: The Human Rights Commission, in its letter to the Committee, does not go as far as providing a form of words. Can we ask it to do that to ensure that the amendment is compatible with human rights legislation?
343. The Chairperson: It is a matter of making a decision, because we could discuss the definition for ever. Clearly, those family members are quite closely linked to the individual. For clarification and probity, it should include a parent, child, grandparent and grandchild. I do not think that anybody would be happy with someone as close as that, or a brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece of a Member being able to be the commissioner. It is the next line down; we have to have a definition. The amendment strikes a balance. The definition should also include spouse, civil partner and cohabitant. That is as close as someone can get. Can we come back to this issue on Wednesday?
344. The Committee Clerk: We are not meeting again until January. We can agree an amendment.
345. The Chairperson: Do you want to see that?
346. Ms S Ramsey: Yes.
347. Mr Givan: Is there is a definition of “family member" elsewhere in legislation?
348. The Committee Clerk: Yes. Exactly the same definition is used for the financial review panel. The idea is for us to make the definition narrower for both the panel and the commissioner.
349. Mr Givan: Does someone need to propose that amendment? I am happy to do that at whatever stage.
350. Ms Tara Caul (Northern Ireland Assembly): If it extends to the part of the Bill that deals with the panel, it is a similar definition. Will the Committee make a similar recommendation in respect of the panel?
351. The Chairperson: Yes. The definition would have to be the same for the panel and the Commissioner. We feel that the current definition is too wide. We are trying to ensure that everything is open and transparent, which are famous words, but the definition is a bit ludicrous. It is far too wide. The amendment meets the criteria, but it is fairer.
352. Ms S Ramsey: The letter that we received from Monica McWilliams states that the concerns that she raised are no different from what were already raised in:
“written and oral evidence to the Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges inquiry".
353. Mr Gill: When the Committee carried out its consultation on the Assembly Commissioner for Standards, it did not consult on the specific categories of disqualification that may apply. When the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission gave evidence to the Committee, it mentioned that there needed to be a justification for any category of disqualification that was agreed. I think that the Committee on Standards and Privileges is content that there is justification for the category of “family member". It was provided with a definition of “family member" that is used elsewhere in legislation. That is why the Committee accepted it. However, I think that the Committee is open to reviewing whether that definition of “family member" is appropriate in this case, if that is what this Committee suggests.
354. Ms S Ramsey: Where is it used elsewhere?
355. Mr Gill: It is used elsewhere in this Bill; in respect of the panel, for example. I understand that there are other examples of legislation in which family members are defined. Those definitions were probably used to inform this legislation.
356. Ms S Ramsey: Are you referring to Assembly legislation?
357. Ms Caul: A fairly recent example is the Caravans Bill, which contains a very similar definition.
358. Ms S Ramsey: So there is precedent for the definition.
359. The Chairperson: We can have a look at the amendment. Paul can take it away and come back on 17 January.
360. Mr Gill: There will be no difficulty in taking the Ad Hoc Committee’s comments to the Committee on Standards and Privileges and agreeing an appropriate amendment.
361. The Chairperson: We will give you a copy of our amendment, and you can come back on 17 January.
362. Mr Gill: We will go to the Committee on Standards and Privileges and the Assembly Commission.
363. Ms S Ramsey: Perhaps Tara could also provide us with examples of where that definition is already in place.
364. Ms Caul: Yes.
365. The Chairperson: The Committee’s suggestion is that Paul looks at our amendment and comes back to us on 17 January. Are members agreed?
366. The Chairperson: We move to formal clause-by-clause scrutiny. We will go through each of the clauses, 1 to 39, and schedules 2, 4, 5 and 6. We will seek the Committee’s final decision on each. Paul will stay and help us through it.
367. Mr Gill: I am happy to.
368. The Chairperson: I am glad to say that there is a lot of reading for me in this.
Clause 1 (Establishment and membership of the Panel)
369. The Chairperson: The National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board considered that having five members allowed the board to draw on experience from a variety of backgrounds. The Commission considered that the proposed model of three is the most cost-effective and will allow it to draw on experience from a variety of backgrounds.
Question, That the Committee is content with the clause, put and agreed to.
Clause 1 agreed to.
Clauses 2 and 3 agreed to.
Clause 4 (Appointments to the Panel)
370. The Chairperson: Some Committee members sought assurances that best practice, as developed by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, will be followed. The Commission has advised that there were will be a fair and open appointments process consistent with the principles of best practice, as published by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Clause 6 (Termination of membership of the Panel)
371. The Chairperson: The National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board considered that the Committee needs to review what form of safeguard against arbitrary dismissals is most likely to work best in practice. The Commission is satisfied that the grounds for dismissal are transparent and named in the Bill. It advises that arbitrary dismissal is guarded against by high levels of visibility and judicial review.
Clause 7 (Code of conduct for Panel members)
372. The Chairperson: The National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board argued that the Bill does not provide any detail on how it will ensure that panel members will work with a code of conduct. The Commission is satisfied that the wording of clause 7 makes it clear that the intention is that members will work within the code of conduct, and that wording is modelled on the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009.
Clause 8 (Administration and finance)
373. The Chairperson: Some submissions commented that, as the panel will not have its own officials, arrangements will need to be monitored to ensure the independence of the advice given. The National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board also wished that the Ad Hoc Committee should be satisfied that the panel will have sufficient resources. The Commission recognised the importance of establishing arrangements that ensure the independence of the panel and its proper use of resources.
Clauses 9 and 10 agreed to.
Clause 11 (Exercise of functions)
374. The Chairperson: The National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board asked whether allowing more than one determination a year only in exceptional circumstances would reduce the flexibility of the panel to make further determinations in the light of circumstances or experience. The Assembly Commission is satisfied that the clause makes appropriate provision and strikes the correct balance. I remind you that the Assembly Commission wishes to amend clause 11(6), page 4, line 37 by leaving out “this Act" and inserting “this Part". Members previously indicated that they were content with that amendment.
Question, That the Committee is content with the clause, subject to the amendment proposed by the Assembly Commission, put and agreed to.
Clause 11, subject to the amendment proposed by the Assembly Commission, agreed to.
Clause 12 agreed to.
Clause 13 (Contents of determinations: pensions, gratuities and allowances)
375. The Chairperson: No issues were raised under clause 13. The Assembly Commission wishes to amend clause 13(2)(a), page 6, line 14 to leave out “such". Members previously indicated that they were content with that amendment.
Clause 14 (Availability of determinations)
376. The Chairperson: The Committee sought clarification that the determinations of the panel would be binding. The Commission confirmed that it does not have the power to amend or reject any determination and, pursuant to clause 14, all determinations will be published in full. The Commission cannot amend them prior to publication.
Clauses 15 and 16 agreed to.
Clause 17 (Functions of the Commissioner)
377. The Chairperson: The Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner queried whether the commissioner should be under a duty to report on all complaints, particularly those which, after initial investigation, are found to be irrelevant or inadmissible. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that, where it is agreed that no investigation should be carried out, there will be no requirement for any sort of report to be published on the details of the complaint. The Committee on Standards and Privileges wishes to make two amendments to the clause. First, at 17(1)(b), page 7, line 10, insert “at a relevant time". Secondly, at 17(2)(a), page 7, line 18, leave out:
“the conduct of a Member of the Assembly has, at a relevant time, failed to comply with the Code of Conduct",
378. and insert:
“a breach of the Code of Conduct has occurred".
Question, That the Committee is content with the clause, subject to the amendments proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges, put and agreed to.
Clause 17, subject to the amendments proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges, agreed to.
Clause 19 (Appointment of the Commissioner)
379. The Chairperson: Confirmation was sought that best practice developed by the Commissioner for Public Appointments would be followed. The Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner queried whether the five-year term was too short, and whether a provision for re-appointment should be included. The Committee on Standards and Privileges recognised that the Commissioner for Public Appointments has developed best practice, and agreed that any appointment should be made in line with best-practice principles. The Commissioner for Public Appointments should, therefore, be consulted on the proposals.
380. It should be noted that clause 19(4)(a) places a duty on the Assembly to ensure that the Commissioner for Standards is appointed by fair and open competition. It was the Commissioner for Public Appointments who recommended a one-off term of appointment of five years. The Committee on Standards and Privileges said that a Commissioner for Standards who may later require Members to support a reappointment could be perceived to be compromised.
Clause 20 (Disqualification from being appointed or serving as the Commissioner)
381. The Chairperson: Some members expressed concern that the list of qualifications was too broad, particularly the definition of “family member". However, the definition is in schedule 3, rather than in this clause, so issues raised about the definition of those disqualified will be discussed when we reach schedule 3.
Clause 22 (Further provision about the Commissioner)
382. The Chairperson: The Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner felt that the Commissioner for Standards should be able to appoint staff and obtain office accommodation as he or she sees fit, subject to Assembly Commission approval. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that although the Assembly Commission has a duty to provide administrative and other support, the Commissioner for Standards can secure the provision of such goods and services as are required to exercise his or her functions, as set out in schedule 4. However, he or she cannot directly employ persons, as there would be legal and financial implications.
Clause 24 (Directions to the Commissioner)
383. The Chairperson: Some members sought a provision that directions to the Commissioner would include directions on naming a complainant who prompted the Commissioner to undertake any investigation. The Committee on Standards and Privileges confirmed that clause 24 does provide the Assembly with the power to issue such directions.
Clause 25 (Investigations by the Commissioner)
384. The Chairperson: As with clause 17, the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner queried whether the commissioner should be under a duty to report all complaints. The Committee on Standards and Privileges advised that where it is agreed that no investigation should be carried out, there is no requirement for any sort of report to be published on the details of the complaint.
Clause 27 (Reports)
385. The Chairperson: As with clause 24, some members sought that directions to the commissioner would include directions on naming in a report any complainant who prompted the commissioner to undertake any investigation. The Committee on Standards and Privileges confirmed that clause 24 does provide the Assembly with the power to issue such directions regarding reports.
Clauses 28 to 30 agreed to.
Clause 31 (Offences)
386. The Chairperson: No issues were raised about clause 31. The Committee on Standards and Privileges wishes to amend the clause: at clause 31(2), page 12, line 8, leave out “or make an affirmation".
Question, That the Committee is content with the clause, subject to the amendment proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges, put and agreed to.
Clause 31, subject to the amendment proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges, agreed to.
Clause 33 (Restriction on disclosure of information)
387. The Chairperson: The Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner asked whether, if asked whether a complaint has been received about a particular member, the commissioner should have the authority to acknowledge that that is the case. The Committee on Standards and Privileges have advised that the Assembly could, if it felt it appropriate, give the commissioner authority to do so in a direction under clause 24.
Clause 34 (Transitional provisions)
388. The Chairperson: There were no issues raised under clause 34. However, the Committee on Standards and Privileges wishes to make two amendments to this clause. The first is at subsection (2), page 13, line 10: after “any" insert “complaint or". The second is at subsection (3), page 13, line 16: after “a" insert “complaint or".
389. The Chairperson: That is us finished. We will deal with the schedules in January. Thank you.
390. The Chairperson (Mr Cobain): We move to the next item of business.
391. Mr Paul Gill (Northern Ireland Assembly): The Committee has received a memo from Tara Caul and me on the two issues that have led the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges to conclude that amendments need to be made to schedules 1 and 3 to the Bill. Those issues are the definition of “family member" and the future role of the Attorney General in proceedings of the Assembly.
392. On family members, the Committee will recall that, at its previous meeting, it expressed some concern at the breadth of the definition that was being used in schedules 1 and 3. At that time, we indicated that we could go back to the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges to see whether they were content to address those concerns. Subsequently, the Clerk to this Committee wrote to us, setting out the Committee’s preferred definition of family member. In the Committee’s preferred definition of family member, members removed great-grandparent, great-grandchild, great-uncle, great-aunt, great-nephew and great-niece. We went back to the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges with the suggested amendment, and they both agreed that they will table amendments to that effect to the relevant schedules.
393. One small point of clarification is that it was felt that it was necessary still to include the words “whether of the full or half blood". It was felt that it was important that the Bill should make clear that, for example, a half-brother would be treated the same way as a full-brother would be treated. Although those words sound a little archaic, there is legislative precedence for them, and members will see examples of them in the paper that Legal Services has provided to the Committee. However, that is not to take away from the main point of the Committee’s suggested amendment, and, as I said, the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges are content to amend the definition of family member, as per the substance of the Ad Hoc Committee’s suggestion.
394. The second matter is the role of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland. Work is under way to make provision for the Attorney General to be able to participate in proceedings of the Assembly. One aspect of that is providing for the Attorney General to have the same duties as Assembly Members in respect of the requirement to register and to declare interests and to be prohibited in the same way as Assembly Members from advocating any matter on behalf of anyone else for a payment or benefit.
395. The Committee on Standards and Privileges has agreed with the Attorney General that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards should be able to investigate an alleged breach by the Attorney General of any of those duties, and that will be provided for in Standing Orders. However, that being the case, the Committee on Standards and Privileges has agreed that it is appropriate that the Attorney General should be disqualified from being the Commissioner for Standards in the same way as a Member of the Assembly is disqualified from being the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Standards. Further to that, the Assembly Commission has agreed to include in the schedule the Attorney General among the persons who are disqualified from being a panel member.
396. That concludes the background to the further amendments that the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges intend to table to the Bill.
397. The Chairperson: Thank you, Paul. Do members have any questions?
398. Mr McKay: I agree with Paul in one regard. Is there no terminology with precedence in legislation that we could use other than “whether of the full or half blood"?
399. Ms Tara Caul (Northern Ireland Assembly): We have researched the position, and we are satisfied that that is the best way to deal with the situation regarding a half-brother or a half-sister.
400. Mr McKay: Personally, I would not be comfortable with having a nephew or niece disqualified from a job because of my position, but, given the present situation and the public feeling on the matter, we are quite happy with the amendment.
401. The Chairperson: Good. Are other members content with the amendment?
402. The Chairperson: Is the Committee content to approve the amendments proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges to schedule 4? First, at paragraph 6(2), page 19, line 21, leave out “particular". Secondly, paragraph 6(2)(b), page 19, line 24, to now read “by notifying the Commissioner that liabilities may be incurred of such description and maximum total amount as may be specified in the notification", and after paragraph 6(2)(b), page 19, leave out lines 26-29?
403. The Chairperson: We now move to formal scrutiny of schedules 1-5. We will go through each schedule and seek the Committee’s formal approval of each.
Schedule 1, “Disqualification from membership of the panel"
404. The Chairperson: The Assembly Commission seeks an amendment to schedule 1 to disqualify the Attorney General from membership of the panel. The Commission has also proposed an amendment to the definition of “family member", as recommended by the Committee.
405. At paragraph 1, page 15, after line 27, insert:
(r) a person who has been Attorney General for Northern Ireland at any time in the five years prior to the date when the appointment is to take effect."
406. At paragraph 3, page 16, leave out lines 5 and 6 and insert:
407. At paragraph 3, page 16, leave out lines 7 and 8, and insert:
408. At paragraph 3, page 16, at end of line 9, after “spouse", insert:
“in any of the ways set out in sub-paragraphs (a) or (b)"
409. At paragraph 3, page 16, at end of line 10, after “civil partner", insert:
410. At paragraph 3, page 16, at end of line 11, after “cohabitant", insert:
Question, That the Committee is content with the schedule, subject to the amendments proposed by the Assembly Commission, put and agreed to.
Schedule 1, subject to the amendments proposed by the Assembly Commission, agreed to.
Schedule 2, “Panel: administrative and financial arrangements"
411. The Chairperson: No amendments are proposed to schedule 2. Previously, members indicated informally that they were content with the schedule as drafted.
Schedule 2 agreed to.
Schedule 3, “Disqualification from being appointed or serving as the Commissioner"
412. The Chairperson: The Committee on Standards and Privileges seeks an amendment to schedule 3 to disqualify the Attorney General from being appointed or serving as the Commissioner for Standards. The Committee on Standards and Privileges has also proposed an amendment to the definition of “family member" as recommended by the Committee.
“(a) Parent, child, grandparent or grandchild;"
415. At paragraph 3, page 18, leave out lines 9 and 10, and insert:
“(b) Brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece (whether of the full or half blood);"
416. At paragraph 3, page 18, at end of line 11, after “spouse", insert:
Question, That the Committee is content with the schedule, subject to the amendments proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges, put and agreed to.
Schedule 3, subject to the amendments proposed by the Committee on Standards and Privileges, agreed to.
Schedule 4, “Commissioner: further provision"
419. The Chairperson: The Committee on Standards and Privileges wishes to make two amendments to this schedule.
420. At paragraph 6(2), page 19, line 21, leave out:
“particular".
421. Paragraph 6(2)(b), page 19, line 24, to now read:
(b) “by notifying the Commissioner that liabilities may be incurred of such description and maximum total amount as may be specified in the notification".
422. After paragraph 6(2)(b), page 19, leave out lines 26-29.
Schedule 5 (Consequential amendments)
423. The Chairperson: I remind members that the Assembly Commission wishes to amend schedule 5.
424. At paragraph 1, page 20, line 13, leave out:
“the Schedule" and insert “Schedule 1".
425. I remind members that previously they indicated informally that they were content with the amendment.
Question, That the Committee is content with the schedule, subject to the amendment proposed by the Assembly Commission, put and agreed to.
426. Schedule 5, subject to the amendment proposed by the Assembly Commission, agreed to.
Long title agreed to.
427. The Chairperson: That concludes the clause-by-clause scrutiny of the Bill.
Comments by Dr Tom Frawley CBE, Interim Commissioner for Standards
1. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the Committee’s consideration of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill. I note from the Bill that it is proposed to place the Independent Financial Review Panel within my jurisdiction as Commissioner for Complaints for Northern Ireland. My comments in respect of the Bill are therefore only in respect of the provisions in respect of the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards.
2. The matters that would arise under the purview of the Commissioner are, by their very nature, regulatory in nature. Therefore, it is important at the outset to define what I believe the purpose of any regulatory system should be. Having set out the requirements of a regulatory system, I have offered a perspective of the different options available to the Committee, for the appointment of a Commissioner, ending the submission with a number of concluding comments.
The Purpose of a Regulatory System
3. Firstly, in addressing the purpose of any regulatory system, and before moving onto substantive issues of detail, whatever arrangements the Assembly decides to implement, the system should demonstrate the following characteristics:
a commitment to systematic process;
easy to access;
responsive to users of the system, ensuring that issues of complaint be investigated effectively, proportionately and impartially;
effective, in that individual complaints can be dealt with and the information used to develop and update the Code of Conduct if and when that is appropriate;
open, transparent and accountable, so that it is open to scrutiny and amenable to being judged by users; and
4. Moreover, it has been contended[1] that an important objective of regulation consists of preventing, pre-empting and mitigating problems. Applying this framework to the proposed arrangements these varying purposes of regulation are given expression by the following characteristics:
articulation of how Members ought to conduct themselves in their dealings with other Members;
acknowledgement of the minimum standards of behaviour expected of Members by the public; and
clear and transparent disclosure of the processes that deal with situations when these standards are not met [FOI?]
5. In supporting a standards system that is transparent in its disclosure processes and is fit for the purposes noted above, it is important to restate the principles upon which any future system should be based, regardless of structure, namely the Nolan Principles of Public Life. These are:
Substantive Issues of Detail
6. The context therefore within which the Committee is considering the Bill should/must be significantly informed by the now well established Seven Principles of Public Life. The Principles now inform many aspects of public administration and governance arrangements including the revised Code of Conduct for Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly adopted with effect from 12 October 2009.
7. The appointment of a Commissioner for Standards is the next key step in establishing a system of oversight and investigation with the objective of achieving the effective functioning of the arrangements through which Members’ conduct, actions and their compliance with the Code of Conduct can be examined.
8. There are five matters addressed in the Bill upon which I would offer specific comment:
Clause 17 Functions of the Commissioner
Clause 18 Independence of the Commissioner
Clause 24 Procedure
Clause 27 Reports
Clauses 28 to 33 Investigatory powers of the Commissioner
In submitting comment on these matters, my views are substantially informed by the experience and insights I have developed in fulfilling the role of the Assembly’s Interim Commissioner for Standards, a role I have undertaken since October 2001. I have also relied on the investigative experience gained from my role as Assembly Ombudsman and Commissioner for Complaints.
9. Clause 17
The clause makes clear that the Assembly remains at the centre of the process through its receipt of the Commissioner’ report. I believe this to be an appropriate arrangement not least as it sets a challenge for the Committee on Standards and Privileges, on behalf of the Assembly, to be seen to be willing to deal with any breaches of standards by Members. The provision for the Commissioner, on his own initiative to give advice on matters of general principle relating to standards of conduct of Members is welcome clarification. I always considered that the relationship I developed with the Committee on Standards and Privileges was such that I could have initiated such action but the clarification is a positive development.
10. Clause 18
This is an important clause. It establishes a fundamental principle for the operation of the role of the Commissioner to enjoy public confidence. I have consistently advised that it would be essential to ensure the appointee did not have any interest or affiliation that could be perceived as prejudicing his or her independence and impartiality. Without independence from the body or persons under investigation the Commissioner’s findings could be called into doubt. Based on my experience the reality is that some complaints will not be upheld and it is in those circumstances in particular that independence is crucial to sustain public confidence in the outcome of an investigation. Interestingly, it is the view of the Ombudsman community that the appointment process and the terms of office of the role are other key drivers that establish the independence of the office holder in the public mind.
Sub clauses (1) and (2) provide for circumstances in which the Assembly can direct the Commissioner. I see nothing of concern in the provisions. To my mind sub-clause (3) is of particular significance. The provisions underpin the principle of independence established in Clause 18 and the clear articulation of elements of the investigative procedure into which the Assembly cannot intervene represents again a positive approach. Such legislative protection of the investigative process should strengthen confidence in the overall arrangements.
I welcome the provision that the Commissioner’s report will be published. This continues the practice established between the Committee on Standards and Privileges and myself from the outset of my role as Interim Commissioner for Standards. The arrangements place the Assembly as central to the complaints process and it is axiomatic that it can reject the Commissioner’s conclusions. Sub-clause (4) makes that point clear. I have no difficulty with that position. What is essential to public confidence in the process is transparency and sub- clause (3) provides for transparency by requiring publication of the Commissioner’s report. Thereafter if there is a difference of opinion on the matters raised by the investigation, the public can come to its own conclusion.
13. Clauses 28 to 33
As Interim Commissioner since 2001 I have not encountered any lack of co-operation from Members, witnesses or other parties who could inform my investigations. Indeed in a number of cases Members have gone to considerable lengths to make available to me very detailed personal information which has been extremely helpful in undertaking a number of the investigations in which I have been involved.
Nevertheless I welcome and endorse the provisions of these clauses. It is important that the Commissioner is not put in a position where the investigation could be frustrated or stalled by a lack of co-operation by a Member, witness or other party. In my view the proposals wisely seek to pre-empt such an occurrence.
Clause 32 is very welcome clarification. A Commissioner must be able to report his or her views of a case without fear of legal action. There is a comparable provision in the legislation underpinning my roles as Assembly Ombudsman and Commissioner for Complaints.
Some Final Thoughts
14. In providing evidence to the Committee on Standards and Privileges during its inquiry into the way forward for the appointment of a Standards Commissioner I suggested three basic models:
A Full Independent Office
First, the Assembly could decide to appoint a Commissioner through an open recruitment competition, informed by the Procedure for Public Appointments that is used for appointments made by the Assembly and the wider public service.
Shared Appointment
A second model builds on a recognition that the appointment is not full time and indeed there can be extended periods when no complaints are received. This approach could involve inviting an individual already undertaking an equivalent role, for example, the Scottish Parliament or the Welsh Assembly, to undertake a similar role for the Northern Ireland Assembly.
A Separate Titled Office alongside another Independent Body
A third model would involve developing the post as a role alongside, but discrete from, an existing office. Essentially formalising and building on the arrangements which have supported the role of the Interim Commissioner appointment since 2001.
My evidence recognised that each model outlined above had strengths and weaknesses. The third model had been adopted by the previous Assembly and taken forward to the point where a Bill had been introduced to give effect to that arrangement. The legislation fell with the suspension of the Assembly.
The Assembly has now moved forward with legislative proposals giving effect to the first model described above ie a wholly separate new office. In the developing climate of financial stringency the Committee and indeed the Assembly may feel that the second and third models offer an approach that is more in keeping with the changed and challenging financial circumstances in which Northern Ireland and the public service in particular now finds itself, and therefore address key criteria that should now inform all decisions around public expenditure affordability.
15. In conclusion I would set the legislative proposals against some comments included in my earlier evidence to the Committee on Standards and Privileges. In recent reviews of governance codes[2], it has been noted that the quality of systems of governance ultimately depends on conduct and behaviour, not process and procedure, with the result that there is a limit to the extent to which any regulatory framework can deliver good governance. This fact notwithstanding, and whatever arrangements the Assembly finally decides upon, I feel that any standards oversight system can only be strengthened by adhering to the following principles in guiding your deliberations. These are: a commitment to provide the best possible outcome, at every stage of the system’s operation; fairness in the provision of a transparent, impartial, confidential system capable of offering appropriate outcomes; access, in making sure it can be easily used; responsiveness in what the Assembly does with a complaint once received and, furthermore, what action is taken on complaints about the complaint process itself; effectiveness, in that ongoing attention should be paid to ensuring that the complaint system is credible and effective, for all parties in the process; and, ultimately, the system should provide accountability, thereby ensuring that the complaint system is open to scrutiny by all.
If the Committee would consider it helpful, I would be happy to clarify or elaborate on my comments.
[1] Regulator accountability: Anonymous. International Financial Law Review. London: May 2009.
[2] Financial Reporting Council, Review of the Effectiveness of the Combined Code: Progress Report and Second Consultation, July 2009: London.
Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill – Written submission from the Rt Hon George Reid on behalf of the National Assembly the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board.
1. This written submission has been prepared by me in my capacity as the Chair of the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board. The submission will refer only to the provisions in the Bill that relate to the Independent Financial Review Panel.
2. In August 2008, the National Assembly for Wales Commission established an Independent Review Panel in order to look at all aspects of financial support available to Assembly Members, including salaries and allowances for travel, pensions, accommodation, constituency offices and support staff.
3. The Panel’s report, “Getting it Right for Wales", was published and presented to the Assembly Commission in July 2009. A key recommendation was that the automatic link between the pay of Assembly Members and that of Members of Parliament should be broken and a statutory Independent Review Body should be established to set future salary levels and to monitor and review other financial support, including allowances for travel, pensions and office support. The report also recommended that the Assembly Commission should prepare and bring forward an Assembly Measure as soon as practicable, to establish such a statutory Independent Review Body to make decisions in respect of all aspects of financial support for Assembly Members.
4. The National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board was established on 22 July 2010, following approval by Her Majesty in Council of the National Assembly for Wales (Remuneration) Measure 2010. The Chair and members of the Board were appointed by the Assembly Commission on 22 September 2010.
5. The Board met on 1 October 2010 and intends to hold five formal meetings before issuing its first determination in March 2011, in advance of the National Assembly for Wales elections on May 5 2011. A note on its methodology and work done to date follows on page 5.
Commentary on provisions in the Bill
6. Many of the provisions relating to the Panel mirror the provisions in the National Assembly for Wales (Remuneration) Measure 2010. Rather than comment on specific clauses, I will comment more generally on the provisions contained in the Bill and draw the Committee’s attention to certain issues.
Establishment and Membership of the Panel
7. The Bill provides that the membership of the Panel shall be three, including the Chair and two other members. The National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board has five members, including the Chair. This has allowed the Board to draw in experience and expertise from a variety of different backgrounds and for individual members to lead on certain aspects of our remit. A note on the skills and experience of Board members is attached in Annex A. There is no clear answer on the optimum number of members for such a body, though I would suggest that this may be a matter the Bill Committee should consider further.
8. It is clear that the Panel should be appointed under a robust process, and that there are persons who should be disqualified from being appointed as Panel members. It is also appropriate that there should be transparent arrangements for the termination of membership of the panel. The Bill provides that a Panel member may be dismissed if the Commission is satisfied that one of a number of specified occurrences arises, including that the person has “failed to discharge the functions of a Panel member for a continuous period of three months" or that the member “is unfit or unable to carry out those functions".
9. The issues of appointment and dismissal of members clearly need careful thought. I am told by officials of the National Assembly for Wales who were responsible for preparing the proposed Remuneration Measure that the thinking behind the provision under which the Board is appointed by the Assembly Commission, who must however appoint the candidates identified by an open process put in place by the Clerk (unless a candidate is disqualified), was to distance Assembly Members as much as possible from the appointment process. The aim was to safeguard the independence of the Board.
10. When it came to machinery for dismissing Board members, the provision put into the Measure (following preliminary discussions with Assembly Members), again in order to safeguard the independence of the Board, was one which incorporated a double lock. Although the Assembly can dismiss a member, it can only do so by a two-thirds majority and the motion to dismiss is only effective if proposed on behalf of the Commission (and hence only if the Commission believes there are good grounds for dismissal). It was felt that this double lock would ensure that a Board member could only be dismissed if there were a clear and overwhelming reason for doing so. The protection against politically motivated or otherwise unjustified dismissal of a Board member therefore rests on these procedural safeguards rather than on specifying permissible grounds for dismissal. The need to consider the dismissal of a Board or Panel member will no doubt be extremely rare but the Committee will need to review what form of safeguard against arbitrary dismissal would be most likely to work best in practice.
11. The Bill contains provision for a code of conduct for members of the Panel. This is to be welcomed in principle, as it is vital that the integrity of the Panel is unquestionable. However, the Bill is silent on any mechanism to ensure that panel members work within that code of conduct. The Bill Committee may wish to consider this issue further.
Operation of the Panel
12. It is clear that the Panel should operate in accordance with principles of transparency, clarity and openness. Central to this will be the publication of information relating to its activities. The Panel’s annual report to the Commission will also complement the principle of transparency underpinning the Panel’s work. The Bill does not specify whether or not the Panel’s annual report will be made public. The Remuneration Measure requires the Board’s report, which must include a report on its own use of resources, to be laid before the Assembly. This means that the Assembly’s Finance Committee will be able to consider the cost of operating the Board and whether its activities represent value for money. The Bill Committee may wish to consider the issue of scrutiny of the Panel’s use of resources.
13. It is appropriate that the Panel should determine its own procedures and that it should have the freedom to consider any other matter that is relevant to the discharge of its functions. The Commission should also be able to request that the Panel consider certain matters. This is particularly important as the Commission will be responsible for the implementation of the Panel’s decisions. The requirement for the Panel to keep under review the effectiveness of its determinations in fulfilling its functions is also appropriate.
14. I would endorse the provision in Schedule 2 that requires the Commission to provide the Panel, or ensure that the Panel is provided, with such support as it may reasonably require. Critical to the effective functioning of the Panel will be the provision of sufficient high quality support and advice, and the scale of the task required of the Panel should not be underestimated. I would encourage the Bill Committee to satisfy itself that whatever support arrangements are envisaged will be sufficient, in terms of capacity and quality, to deliver the Panel’s remit.
Functions of the Panel
15. The functions of the Panel, as set out in the Bill, mirror the functions of the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board. It is appropriate that the Board should, in exercising these functions, seek to ensure that Assembly Members receive appropriate levels of remuneration and, more importantly, ensure that the level of resources is sufficient so as not to deter any individual with the appropriate commitment and ability from seeking election. It is equally important that the Panel take into account issues of probity, accountability and value for money. Where the balance should be struck depends on circumstances that may change from time to time. Clearly the need to demonstrate that payments to Assembly Members represent value for money is a particularly prominent consideration at present.
16. I fully endorse the aim which is reflected in the Bill’s requirement that the Panel should make one determination in relation to salaries and allowances, in advance of an Assembly term. The Board is under a similar constraint (although in relation to salaries and not to allowances). The principle of a compact between candidates and electors, under which candidates put themselves forward to serve for four years on terms which have been set in advance, is a good one, but only time will tell how valuable it turns out to be in practice.
17. The Bill does, however, provide for the Panel to issue more than one determination in relation to salaries and allowances in respect of an Assembly, in exceptional circumstances. Of course, it is difficult to define what may constitute “exceptional circumstances", but it is appropriate that the Panel is able to revisit its decisions in certain circumstances. It is also appropriate that the Board should state in writing its reasons for issuing any such determination and to communicate those reasons to the Commission. As I have made clear above, there is much to commend this provision - most obviously that it provides clarity to the public and candidates/Members for the entirety of an Assembly. From our brief experience, though, I would urge the Bill Committee to give careful consideration to the balance between this benefit and the inevitable reduction in flexibility to make further determinations in the light of circumstance or experience.
Board Work to Date
18. The Board has agreed to work to four general principles:
A Transparent and Participative Review
19. The Minutes and Agenda of each Board meeting are posted shortly thereafter on the website of the National Assembly for Wales. As Chair, I issue a news release on each occasion to the media to inform the people of Wales of progress and of decisions.
20. The Board has taken evidence from representatives of all parties represented in the Assembly and from their staff and trade union representatives. Prior to each Board meeting, I have discussions with each party leader or a person designated by them. In addition, I hold a regular drop in session at which Assembly members can meet me.
21 Detailed questionnaires have been sent to all Assembly members and to their staff.
22. In December 2010, the Board has arranged a Colloquium with academics, a wide range of representatives of civil society, Assembly members, their staff and officials from the Assembly Secretariat. This will inform the Board’s final report.
A Determination that is Right for Wales
23. The Board has commissioned detailed research on median earnings in Wales and on Welsh employment comparators with responsibilities broadly similar to those of an Assembly member. This research will be the prime driver of its determination.
24. The Board has also reviewed salaries and allowances paid to elected representatives in the House of Commons, the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly. It has consulted with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and with the Senior Salaries Review Body.
An Iterative Process
25. The Board determined to identify Key Issues and to prioritise these, before considering Options and then ranking these. It has now completed this process and is moving on to Analysis and then to Recommendations.
26. Emerging conclusions have been tested and refined as part of an ongoing dialogue with Assembly members and their staff.
A Fit for Purpose Review
27. At an early stage, it became clear to the Board that more analysis was required on the fundamental purposes of the Assembly, particularly in light of its evolution from a unitary corporate body to a legislature with responsibilities divided between Government and Assembly.
28. This work is ongoing and will assist the Board in determining the degrees of responsibility and workload of Assembly members as representatives of their constituencies and regions, as party members, in holding the Government to account, and in scrutinising legislation and financial proposals. This research will enable the Board to come to a view on appropriate levels of remuneration for members and their staff, and whether allowances are properly targeted towards the core purposes of the Assembly.
29. A robust, transparent system for remuneration is vital if members wish to inspire the confidence of the electorate. It is clear that it is not appropriate for members to determine the levels of their salaries and allowances. If the electorate are to have confidence in the system, it must be administered by an independent body that is subject to the highest standards of probity and transparency.
30. An independent financial review body will be well placed to support a legislature in developing solutions that address its own particular circumstances. In Wales, financial arrangements were linked to those at Westminster. The introduction of an independent body means that flexible solutions can be found, that reflect the specific needs of the members and respond to the specific circumstances of the legislature.
31. Such a body can also support and complement the strategic purpose of the legislature. That, after all, must be the driver for such bodies: to ensure that members are provided with sufficient resources to fulfil their core functions effectively. Through this, the legislature can scrutinise Government policy and finance; make laws effectively; and represent their constituents.
32. As Chair of the Remuneration Board, I look forward to forming close links and sharing best practice with the Panel.
The Rt Hon George Reid
Chair, National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board
Annex A – Members of the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board
The Rt Hon George Reid, Chair
A Scottish politician, journalist and academic. Privy Councillor, former MP, MSP, Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament and Chair of its Corporate Body. Worked for 15 years in wars and disasters as a director of the International Red Cross / Red Crescent. Current appointments include: Independent Adviser on Scottish Ministerial Code, visiting professor at Glasgow and Stirling Universities and UK Electoral Commissioner. He has led strategic reviews of governance in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the National Trust for Scotland.
Professor Monojit Chatterji
An academic with significant public policy experience. Has published research in areas including the determinants of public sector pay. Prof Chatterji is currently Chair of the National Joint Council of UK Fire and Emergency Services (the pay negotiating body). He was previously a member of the School Teachers’ Review Body which makes recommendations to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Education and Skills on pay and conditions, and also governance arrangements for school teachers and head teachers in England and Wales. He was also previously a member of the Economists Group, Office of Manpower Economics, considering cross-cutting issues on pay in the public sector.
Stuart Castledine
A chartered accountant who occupied a number of financial and general management roles within Allied Dunbar, Chartered Trust and Bristol & West Building Society before becoming Tesco’s first Financial Services Director. Stuart has, more recently, undertaken a variety of challenging assignments in the public and private sector, helping establish some significant joint ventures and alliances as well as being a successful turnaround director of a number of financial services organisations. He is currently a non-executive director of the Welsh Ambulance Service.
Mary retired as a Partner of KPMG in September 2008 and is currently a member of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body which makes recommendations to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Defence on military pay, compensatory allowances and charges. She is also a part time consultant to KPMG. She is a lawyer by background and has specialised for over 20 years in advising UK and non UK companies on remuneration and incentives for directors/senior management and related governance and taxation issues.
Sandy Blair CBE
Sandy is the former director of the Welsh Local Government Association, WLGA (retired 2004). He was a local authority chief executive for 16 years before his appointment to the WLGA, and President of SOLACE in 1999/2000.He has held a number of paid public appointments and trusteeships such as non-executive director of the Health and Safety Executive, HSE, chair of the Monmouth Diocesan Board of Finance and roles within the Church in Wales. He has served as a member of the Remuneration Committees for UWIC and HSE.
I hold the office of Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner (“SPSC") which is a statutory appointment under the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Act 2002[1].
The functions of the SPSC are –
to investigate allegations of misconduct by members of the Scottish Parliament (“MSPs") and
to report to the Scottish Parliament.
I also - separately - hold the office of Chief Investigating Officer (“CIO") under the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000[2].
The functions of the CIO are –
to investigate complaints of misconduct by –
Members of Devolved Public Bodies in Scotland and
Councillors of local authorities and
to report to the Standards Commission for Scotland.
Following the passing of the Scottish Parliamentary Commissions and Commissioners etc. Act 2010[3], the offices of the SPSC and the CIO are to be merged into a new office of Public Standards Commissioner for Scotland (“PSCS"). This will come into effect on 1 April 2011.
I am intending to comment only on the provisions in the Bill dealing with the proposed Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards. Before commenting on the specific clauses of the Bill I would like to make the following general observations.
The Bill essentially accepts - as a principled approach -
there should be a statutory framework to regulate the conduct of members of the Northern Ireland Assembly;
the investigative function should be undertaken by an independent officeholder;
the adjudicative function should be undertaken by the Assembly;
full legal powers should be available to the Commissioner to call for evidence and to require the production of documentation.
I commend that principled approach.
2.3 I would also like to add, however, that it is essential that the Assembly itself continues to be pre-eminent in the promotion and safeguarding of the highest standards of ethical conduct in public life in Northern Ireland. A statutory framework without that continuing commitment simply cannot be as effective. By working cohesively - with clear leadership from the Assembly itself - there is the real opportunity to ensure the public have real trust and confidence in their elected members.
3.0 Comments on the Clauses of the Bill
Clause 16: Establishment of the Commissioner
3.1 As indicated above, I endorse the designation of the Commissioner as a statutory officeholder.
Clause 17: Functions of the Commissioner
I consider this clause does cover what should be the main functions of the Commissioner. I have three observations to make.
Firstly, clause 17 (1) (c) requires the Commissioner to report to the Assembly on the outcome of any investigation. There may be merit in considering whether the Commissioner has to be under a duty to report in respect of all complaints, particularly complaints which, after initial investigation, are found to be irrelevant and inadmissible.[4]
Secondly, the power in clause 17 (1) (b) to permit the Commissioner to initiate an investigation on his or her initiative is a significant power. There is the prospect that it will lay the Commissioner open to pressure – perhaps undue pressure – from parties to investigate a matter where there is no prima facie evidence of misconduct. However, on balance, I consider the provision is merited in the overall public interest.
Thirdly, I agree that the Commissioner should have the power to give advice to the Assembly on any matter of general principle relating to standards. I would, however, re-emphasise my earlier comment that the Assembly itself should be the main driver in maintaining the highest standards of conduct in public life.
Clause 18: Independence of the Commissioner
As previously indicated, I support this provision being enshrined in statute.
Clause 19: Appointment of the Commissioner
In Scotland, the Commissioner is appointed for a period not exceeding 5 years and is eligible for re-appointment for a second period only[5]. The 2010 Act amends the position by providing that the Commissioner can only be appointed for a single term for a period not exceeding 8 years[6]. The approach of having a single term of 8 years also applies to all other Scottish Commissioners (including the Public Appointments Commissioner, the Human Rights Commissioner, the Information Commissioner, the Children’s Commissioner and the Public Services Ombudsman).
My own view is that, if there is to be only a single term, then 7 to 8 years is about right. If the term is to be 5 years, I am not convinced that the Assembly should fetter its discretion by excluding its right to re-appoint. This is, however, at the end of the day, very much a matter of judgment.
Clause 20: Disqualification from being appointed or serving as the Commissioner
I have no comment on the provisions in clause 20 or in schedule 3.
Clause 21: Termination of the Commissioner’s appointment
In Scotland, the Commissioner may only be removed if the Parliament so resolves and the resolution is passed by not less than two thirds of the total number of votes cast in the division.[7] The 2010 Act amends the position by providing that the Commissioner (and again this applies to the other Scottish Commissioners) may be removed from office if the Commissioner has breached the terms and conditions of office or the Parliament has lost confidence in the Commissioner’s willingness, suitability or ability to perform that Commissioner’s functions and, in either case, the resolution is voted for by not fewer than two thirds of the total number of seats in Parliament.[8] Whilst the requirement to move a resolution of loss of confidence has merit, I do not think it is necessary for a legislature to fetter its discretion in such an area and I therefore commend the Assembly’s approach.
Clause 22: Further provision about the Commissioner
Paragraph 3 of schedule 4 provides that the Assembly Commission shall provide the Commissioner with staff, services, and accommodation. Sub-paragraph (2) makes provision for the Commission consulting the Commissioner about such support to safeguard the Commissioner’s independence. Paragraph 5 provides that the Commissioner may not employ staff.
There are, of course, a number of ways in which support can be provided to the Commissioner.
However, I simply do not see why the Commissioner should not be entitled to appoint staff and obtain office accommodation as the Commissioner sees fit. This could be subject to a requirement that the Commission’s approval is required for the terms and conditions of engagement and the acquisition of property.
Clause 23: Appointment of an Acting Commissioner.
I have no comments to make.
Clause 24: Directions to the Commissioner.
I consider that the provisions in clause 24 are appropriate.
I would only observe that it would appear that directions could not derogate from the functions of the Commissioner as set out in clause 17 (1).
Clause 25: Investigations by the Commissioner.
There is an issue as to whether the Commissioner should be required to report to the Assembly on the outcome of all investigations. It is likely that a significant number of complaints will be irrelevant, inadmissible, of limited merit, or vexatious.
There may be merit in including a provision that the Commissioner may use his discretion by not reporting to the Assembly on cases where he finds they are irrelevant or inadmissible.[9]
Clause 26: Further investigations
These provisions are appropriate.
Clause 27: Reports
I have already raised the issue as to whether it is necessary for the Commissioner to report on all investigations to the Assembly.[10] If that position, however, is maintained, the Assembly would be required to publish all of the Commissioner’s reports, and I question whether the generality of that provision is necessary in the public interest.
Clearly all reports where there is a conclusion by the Commissioner that a member has breached the Code of Conduct should – at an appropriate stage - be published. And indeed there will be cases where the Commissioner has undertaken a full investigation and decided that there has been no breach of the Code; again there may be merit in these reports being published. Even some cases that are dismissed as irrelevant or inadmissible may have an element of public interest.
However, there must be a question of whether it is appropriate for reports dealing with cases which are found to have no or limited merit having to be published.
Clause 28: Power to call for witness and documents
I support these provisions.
Clause 29: Witnesses and documents: notice
Clause 30: Witnesses: oaths
Clause 31: Offences
Clause 32: Protection from defamation actions
Clause 33: Restrictions on disclosure of information
I accept the principle of confidentiality which lies behind the provisions in clause 33; there are similar provisions in Scotland.[11]
It will occasionally be the case that the making of a complaint to the Commissioner is in the public domain, often through the press. If the Commissioner is asked whether a complaint has been received about a particular member, it may be appropriate for the Commissioner to have the authority to acknowledge that is the case.
Part 3: Supplementary provisions
3.19 I have no comments on clauses 34 to 39.
I hope these comments are of some assistance to the Committee. If the Committee wishes any further comments then I shall be happy to provide them.
I shall also be happy to provide any further evidence that may be required.
[1] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2002/16/contents
[2] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2000/7/contents
[4] see paras 3.10 and 3.12 infra
[5] section 1 of the 2002 Act supra
[7] section 1 (6) and (7) of the 2002 Act supra
[9] see section 6 of the 2002 Act supra
[10] see paras 3.2 and 3.10 supra
[11] section 16 of the 2002 Act supra
Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill
Thank you for alerting the Commission to the introduction of this Bill. Although it was not possible for the Commission to make a formal written submission by 3 December, I understand that you have been advised that we are content that most aspects of the Bill are in line with what we had recommended in our written and oral evidence to the Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges inquiry on the Conduct of Members and the Appointment of an Assembly Commissioner for Standards.
The Commission has no comments on those elements of the Bill that provide for the establishment of an independent panel to determine the salaries, pensions, allowances and other financial support for members of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Concerning the Commissioner for Standards, we are pleased to note that almost all of what we recommended in our written and oral submissions to the Committee is reflected in the Bill. Specifically:
We recommended that the Commissioner’s role “would best be set out in statute" – this is provided by Part 2 of the Bill.
We sought clarification as to the Commissioner’s duty to act on referrals from e.g. the Committee or the Clerk – this is provided by clauses 17 and 24.
We stressed the principle of independence, which is reflected in clause 18.
We recommended a fixed term of five or seven years, with dismissal only on a two-thirds vote – clause 19 gives a five-year non-renewable term and clause 21 requires a two-thirds majority for dismissal.
We said that the Commissioner should have powers to compel evidence etc. – provided for in clause 28.
We said that the Commissioner ought to be amenable to judicial review. This is secured by establishing it as a statutory office, and scope for judicial review addresses the concern (in our oral evidence) that suo moto investigations (i.e. not responding to a complaint) should be amenable to challenge.
We said that the Commissioner should be appointed by resolution of the Assembly – this is provided by clause 19.
We said in oral evidence that staffing support for the Commissioner should be arranged so as to avoid any conflict of interest – Sch. 4 provides that staff and support will be provided by the Assembly Commission in consultation with the Commissioner to ensure separation of duties and protect the office’s independence.
One area where the Bill departs from our advice is in the long list of disqualifications from being appointed or serving as the Commissioner (Schedule 3). We said (in oral evidence) that in principle there should be open competition and that any restriction would require justification. However in Sch. 3 those disqualified from the post include uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, great-nieces or –nephews, great-aunts or –uncles of Assembly members (“whether of the full or half blood"), anyone who has been a Senator in Seanad Éireann within the past five years, anyone who has been employed by a district council within the past two years, any person related to the spouse or civil partner or cohabitant of an Assembly member, etc. etc. The list is extensive and appears to the Commission to be excessive. We note that the disqualification is from serving, not just from appointment, so if, for example, a serving Commissioner’s great-nephew or great-aunt became the partner of an Assembly member, the Commissioner would automatically cease to hold office. The Commissioner, however good a job he or she was doing, would immediately be disqualified from seeing through any investigations that might be under way.
In principle, the occupation, civil status or personal relationships of someone other than the office holder should have little if any bearing on the entitlement of the person to hold that office. The Assembly will certainly seek to appoint a person of high moral standing to this critical position, and such a person ought to be above improper influence; while protection from even the suspicion of improper influence can be afforded by a minimal set of exclusions, for example debarring the spouse, partner, parent or child of an Assembly Member, it should not be necessary to surround the office with multiple such barriers. Even in the case of close family members, it should be enough for the Commissioner or prospective Commissioner to declare a matter that, if concealed, could give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest. Given the level of scrutiny and possibly challenge to which the Commissioner will be subjected, a declared family relationship ought to present relatively low risk of perceived bias on the part of the office holder.
The Bill in our view goes too far in debarring persons on the basis of degrees of kinship or relationship that extend well into the outer reaches of the family. The Assembly should ask itself if these extended family connections are really circumstances that would so compromise the thinking, standing or credibility of the office holder that he or she would be incapable of performing the role impartially and/or of commanding the Assembly’s confidence.
The Commission has no other comments at this time.
Written Evidence by the Committee on Standards in Public Life oo Ad Hoc Committee – Northern Ireland Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill
1. The Committee on Standards in Public Life welcomes this opportunity to submit written evidence to the Ad Hoc Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly which is considering the draft Northern Ireland Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill.
2. There has been a profound crisis of public confidence in the integrity of elected politicians throughout the United Kingdom. As part of the changes required to restore public trust, it is no longer tenable for politicians to set their own pay and allowances or to be seen to shy away from imposing robust sanctions on those whose behaviour is found to be below the standards expected by the public.
3. The Committee therefore welcomes the proposals to set-up an Independent Financial Review Panel to determine salaries, allowances and pensions of MLAs, and in particular the facts that:
The Panel will be independent and have the power to determine all aspects of financial support to MLAs
Such determinations will be binding on the Assembly
The Panel will be required to exercise its functions with a view to achieving a proper balance between the objective of ensuring probity, accountability and value for money with respect to expenditure of public funds and the objective of securing an adequate level of remuneration for Members which allows them to discharge their functions effectively.
4. The Committee have noted that the Independent Financial Review Panel will not have its own officials. We understand the reasons for this, while noting that the arrangements will need to be carefully monitored to ensure the independence of the advice given.
5. The Chair of the Committee gave oral evidence to the Assembly’s Committee on Standards and Privileges inquiry into enforcing the Assembly’s new code of conduct held earlier this year. The Committee also provided a written response to the Committee on Standards and Privileges public consultation. The Committee therefore welcomes the move by the Northern Ireland Assembly to appoint an independent Commissioner for Standards.
6. There are a number of proposals In particular which the Committee is pleased to see included in the Bill
The Commissioner will be appointed on merit through open competition.
The Commissioner will be able to initiate investigations rather than wait until a complaint is made.
The Commissioner will not be subject to direction or control by the Assembly.
The Commissioner will be able to require witnesses to attend and give evidence or to provide documents.
The Commissioner will be able to investigate potential breaches of the Members’ Register of Interests.
The Commissioner will be able to make suggestions to the Committee on Standards and Privileges on changes to the Code of Conduct.
7. In our response to the Committee on Standards and Privileges consultation, we suggested that the Committee should have at least two lay members with full voting rights. We made a similar recommendation in relation to the Westminster Parliament in our report on MPs’ expenses. The Committee believes that lay membership of the Committee would be a helpful step towards enhancing public acceptance of the robustness and independence of the disciplinary process.
Memoranda and
Other Papers considered
by the Committee
This paper provides commentary on the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill. The Bill seeks to establish a statutory independent body to determine Members’ pay and allowances. It will also create a statutory Standards Commissioner to investigate breaches of the Code of Conduct. Where appropriate, it draws comparisons with equivalent legislation in Scotland and Wales and provides an overview of practices in the House of Commons and Houses of the Oireachtas.
Paper NIAR/563-10
Library Research Papers are compiled for the benefit of Members of The Assembly and their personal staff. Authors are available to discuss the contents of these papers with Members and their staff but cannot advise members of the general public.
The Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill will create a Financial Review Panel and an Assembly Standards Commissioner
The Panel will determine salaries and allowances payable to Assembly Members
The Commissioner will investigate and report on allegations of breaches of the Code of Conduct for Assembly members
The National Assembly for Wales (NAfW) and the Scottish Parliament have established statutory independent Standards Commissioners, and the NAfW has recently established a remuneration Board to determine Members’ pay and expenses
The Assembly Standards Commissioner will have the power to initiate investigations and call for witnesses and documents
The determinations reached by the Panel will be binding on the Assembly
The Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill consists of three parts and five schedules. This paper provides commentary on the clauses contained in the Bill.
The Bill will, if passed, create a Financial Review Panel and an Assembly Standards Commissioner. The Panel will determine salaries and allowances payable to Assembly Members and the Commissioner will investigate and report on allegations of breaches of the Code of Conduct for Assembly members.
The decision to establish the Panel followed a recommendation contained in a report by the Senior Salaries Review Body, which stated that the Assembly should consider the establishment of an independent body to set and monitor members’ pay and allowances. The provisions contained in Part 1 of the Bill relating to the Panel largely mirror those in the National Assembly for Wales (Remuneration) Measure 2010, which created the Remuneration Board for the National Assembly for Wales (NAfW).
The Panel will be appointed by the Assembly Commission and will be required to make only one determination in respect of members’ salaries during each mandate, except in exceptional circumstances. The paper draws on the debate on the NAfW Board, during which issues relevant to the Northern Ireland Panel were discussed.
Part 2 of the Bill allows for the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards and gives that office significant statutory powers, such as the ability to carry out and report on investigations and the power to call for witnesses and documents. Standards Commissioners already exist in the NAfW and the Scottish Parliament and Part 2 of the Bill reflects the equivalent legislation in Scotland and Wales in many respects. The paper highlights key issues raised in the Committee on Standards and Privileges Report on the creation of the Standards Commissioner and explores both similarities and differences with the Scottish and Welsh legislation. Reference is also made to the House of Commons and Houses of the Oireachtas, which operate different systems for the investigation of complaints against Members.
2 The Independent Financial Review Panel
3 The Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards
This paper provides information in relation to the Northern Ireland Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill which provides for the establishment of the Assembly’s Independent Financial Review Panel and the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards. Although the Panel and the Commissioner are distinct and each undertakes separate functions, the roles are complementary and therefore it is logical that they are legislated for in the same Bill. It is worth noting, for example, that in the debate over the establishment of the equivalent body in Wales (National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board), the then Standards Commissioner highlighted those occasions when he had investigated abuse of allowances or expenses. In these instances, he foresaw his office working in co-operation with the Board on those matters.
Background to the proposal
Until recently, section 47 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which provided for the Northern Ireland Assembly to determine and pay Members’ salaries and allowances, explicitly prevented the Assembly from delegating the function of making a determination.
On 4 May 2007, prior to the restoration of devolution, the Secretary of State wrote to the Chairman of the Review Body on Senior Salaries (SSRB) seeking its agreement to conduct a review of the existing structure for salaries, expenditure and pension benefits payable to Members and Office Holders of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
In 2008, the SSRB published its review of pay, pensions and allowances in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The review, which included a recommendation that, whilst the pay of Members of the Assembly should continue to be recommended by an independent body such as the Review Body on Senior Salaries, Members of the Assembly should consider the option of committing themselves to accepting the outcome of the independent reviews of their pay without modification.
After considering the SSRB report, the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission, in line with the views expressed by Assembly parties, supported the recommendation raised by the SSRB and agreed at a meeting in June 2009 that the Commission should consider an independent mechanism for the future determination of salaries, pensions and financial support for Members.
To take this forward, the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission recommended that an amendment to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 should be made to enable the Northern Ireland Assembly to delegate the function of determining salaries, pensions and financial support to an independent statutory body.
The Northern Ireland Assembly Members Act 2010, which received Royal Assent on the 8th April 2010, amends sections 47 and 48 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and allows the Northern Ireland Assembly to continue to determine salaries and allowances or to delegate that function for example, by resolution, to the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission or, by an Act of the Assembly, to an independent body.
In the last few years the House of Commons and the devolved legislatures across the UK have all undertaken reviews or commissioned independent reviews of their pay and/or allowances schemes. The House of Commons and the National Assembly for Wales have decided that responsibility for pay and allowances should be vested in independent bodies. The Oireachtas recently took steps to reduce long service payments to members and reduce Ministerial pensions.
The Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, which received Royal Assent in July 2009, provided for the establishment of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority[1] (IPSA) and gave it the responsibility for paying Members’ salaries and allowances; and for preparing a scheme under which allowances are paid. The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, which received Royal Assent on 8th April 2010, includes a provision that also transfers responsibility for determining the amount of Members’ salaries from the House of Commons to IPSA.
Houses of the Oireachtas
The Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector[2] (the Review Body) is a standing body in the Republic of Ireland whose primary function is to advise the Government on the general levels of remuneration appropriate to certain top public service posts. These include members of the Houses of the Oireachtas; members of the Government, Ministers of State, the Attorney General and the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Dail Éireann and Seanad Éireann; the Judiciary; and certain grades of civil servants and local authority officers.
In its Report No 38 Sixth General Review, published in September 2000, the Review Body compared the role of an ‘average’ TD with a sample of civil services post and recommended an appropriate link which would in the future provide for the automatic review of the remuneration of Dail Deputies and Senators. On this basis, the Review Body recommended that their remuneration, therefore, should no longer form part of the remit of general reviews. Following the approval by the Government of the recommendations of the Review Body in its report, the salaries of members of the Houses of the Oireachtas are no longer considered by the Review Body (the remuneration of political office holders is still covered).
The Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act 2009 amended the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Acts 1938 to 2001 and the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Act 1938. It ends the payment of Long Service Increments (LSIs) following the next general election for all members of the Houses of the Oireachtas and withholds LSIs for those members who would normally have qualified for them before the next general election. It also provides that Ministerial pensions paid to members of the Oireachtas and the European Parliament will be reduced by 25 percent after the next elections to those institutions.
The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, which came into existence on 1st January 2004 under the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003, is responsible for overseeing the expenditure of the Houses, paying all salaries and expenses for members and staff, and keeping and publishing annual accounts[3]. The Minister for Finance is the statutory officer in relation to members pay with responsibility for legislation relating to members pay.
In August 2008, the National Assembly for Wales Commission set up the Independent Review Panel[4] in order to look at all aspects of financial support available to Assembly Members including: salaries, allowances for travel, pensions, accommodation, constituency offices and support staff.
A key recommendation made by the Independent Review Panel in their report published in July 2009 entitled “Getting It Right for Wales"[5] was that the automatic link between the pay of Assembly Members and that of Members of Parliament should be broken and that a statutory Independent Review Body should be established to set future salary levels and to monitor and review other financial support including allowances for travel, pensions and office support.
The Commission accepted this along with all other recommendations and on 9th November 2009 introduced a Proposed Measure to establish an independent board to determine all aspects of financial support for Assembly Members, including the setting and reviewing of Assembly Members’ salaries, allowances and pensions. The National Assembly for Wales (Remuneration) Measure 2010 received Royal Approval on 21st July 2010.
The National Assembly’s independent Remuneration Board[6] (the Board) held its first meeting on 1 October 2010. Items on the agenda included:
consideration of role, responsibilities and workload of Members;
consideration of Assembly budgetary issues 2011-2014;
strategic objectives and capacity in the Assembly;
Methodology and working practice of the Board
Forward work plan
On 14th October 2010, the Board held its first meeting with Assembly Members and their staff as part of what Board Chairman George Reid called an “open and ongoing dialogue" in ensuring a fair and transparent remuneration system for Members.[7]
The Northern Ireland model contained in the Bill is closely modelled on the Welsh legislation. The following table provides a comparison between the Welsh legislation and the Northern Ireland Bill, including commentary on the policy behind some of the provisions contained in the Welsh legislation.
Table 1: Comparison between the proposed Northern Ireland Independent Financial Review Panel and the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board
1.Establishment and membership of the Panel 1. National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board
The Panel will consist of the Chair and two other members. The Board consists of the Chair and four other members and the quorum of the Board is three.
2. Functions of the Panel 3. Functions of the Board
Clause 2 outlines the functions of the Panel. It largely reflects the Welsh legislation which states that the Panel should exercise these functions with ‘probity, accountability and value for money’. See commentary on clause 12 for how holders of dual mandates will be accounted for in determinations of the Panel. Section 3(1) states that the functions of the Board are conferred on it by sections 20, 22 and 23 of the Government of Wales Act 2006. The question was raised as to why section 21 of the 2006 Act, which deals with members who hold dual mandates, was omitted. In response, Legal Counsel advised: ‘The answer is that the Assembly has no power to amend by Measure section 21 of the Government of Wales Act 2006. When the Act was passed, it provided that Measures could not amend certain key constitutional Acts of Parliament, one of which was the Government of Wales Act 2006 itself.’
Section 3(4) of the Measure states that ‘The Board may, from time to time, consider any other matter which is relevant to the discharge of its functions on its own initiative or at the written request of the Clerk’. In evidence to the Committee the Presiding Officer was asked to explain what was meant by any other matter which is relevant to the discharge of its functions. He replied: ‘The obvious ones that come to my mind would be that there was some issue relating to hyperinflation or circumstances in the economy that affected a judgment that the panel had made earlier—because we are talking here about a four-year timescale of judgment in relation to salaries.’ It was further explained by Legal Counsel that: ‘It (the Board) might want to take a step back and look at some general principles. For example, it may want to compare the overall structure of salaries and allowances in the Assembly with those of similar bodies elsewhere1.’
3. Independence and openness 2. Independence, openness and inclusiveness
Clause 3 ensures that the Panel shall not be subject to the direction or control of the Assembly or the Commission. No reference is made to consulting those likely to be affected by the decisions of the Panel, for example Assembly Members or their staff. The Board is not subject to the direction or control of the Assembly or the Commission. The Board must, before exercising any of its functions, consult those of the following who are likely to be affected: Assembly members Staff employed by Assembly members (or by groups of Assembly members) Relevant trade unions Such other persons as it considers appropriate
4. Appointments to the Panel 6. Appointments to the Board
Clause 4 replicates the NAfW Measure, with the Commission appointing members of the Panel, rather than the Assembly. The Chair and other members are appointed by the Assembly Commission and are to hold office for a fixed term of five years from the date of their respective appointments. No person may be appointed a member of the Board if they have already served two terms. The then Commissioner for Standards stated in evidence that it would be beneficial for the Assembly to have the final say on the appointments, rather than the Commission, in the interests of transparency.
The point was also made that the Act establishing the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority required the Authority to include a member who has held a high judicial office, a qualified auditor from the National Audit Office and a former Member of the House of Commons. No such provisions were included in the Welsh Measure, with the subsequent advertisement for the Board stating that: ‘To become a member of the Remuneration Board, you will need: the ability to consider matters of remuneration, audit and good governance and to make sound recommendations on the basis of analysis; the ability to demonstrate good judgment, consistency and firmness in dealing with sensitive and important matters such as those that may arise from remuneration; a thorough understanding of the issues surrounding the public debate on standards in public life; excellent communications skills; the track record, presence and personal integrity needed to command the trust and respect of Assembly Members and the general public’.
5. Disqualification from membership of the Panel Schedule 1 – Disqualification from membership of the Board
Schedule 1 of the Bill is more restrictive compared both to the Welsh legislation and Schedule 3 of the Northern Ireland Bill which deals with disqualification from being the Standards Commissioner. As well as obvious exclusions such as Assembly members and Assembly staff, Schedule 1 excludes family members, former family members, former Assembly members and former members of staff of the Assembly. During oral evidence to the Committee, the Presiding Officer was asked if consideration had been given to excluding family members of Assembly members from membership of the Board. The Presiding Officer responded by explaining: ‘There are difficulties… in this field of trying to define what a family member is. If family members are to be disqualified, decisions would need to be taken as to how widely to define family members, I am advised. Now, obviously, candidates to be a member of the board would include all relevant information, including any affiliations they had, I would think, in their application, and that would be given due consideration by the appointments panel’.
Legal Counsel expanded on this: ‘A major issue is the clarity of the definition. As the person responsible for the drafting, my feeling was that to try to define which family members would be disqualified would be quite difficult. You would have to do that; you would have to define what the relationship was. You also, of course, would then immediately run into issues such as, if the husband or wife of an Assembly Member is disqualified, what about a person who is co-habiting with an Assembly Member but is not married to him or her? You begin to get into increasingly difficult areas of definition, and the thing would very rapidly, in my professional judgment, grow out of proportion to the nature of the problem2.’ The then Commissioner for Standards at the NAfW voiced concerns that appointing five members with the relevant expertise might be difficult, due to the fact that the legislation disqualified so many people from membership of the Board, including former Assembly members, who are the only people with experience of what is like to undertake the work of an Assembly member3.
6. Termination of membership of the Panel 7. Termination of membership of the Board
The Northern Ireland Bill allows the Commission to terminate membership of the Panel, without recourse to an Assembly resolution. The Chair or Board member ceases to hold office if they resign, become disqualified from being a member of the Board, their term expires or if the Assembly, following a proposal by a member of the Assembly Commission, passes a resolution by a two-thirds majority that a person should be removed from the Board
7. Code of Conduct for Panel Members
This clause places a duty on the Panel to issue a code of conduct for its members, incorporating the Nolan principles and including provision about the disclosure of interests by Panel members. N/A
8. Administration and finance 9. Administrative support
Clause 8 reflects the Welsh Measure. This section states that the Assembly Commission must provide the Board with such administrative support as the Board reasonably requires to enable it to discharge its functions. During oral evidence, the Presiding Officer expanded on what he defined as ‘reasonably requires’:
‘What we want to do here is ensure that the demands of the board are not excessive, for example, meeting too frequently because that sometimes occurs. The Commission would then have a right, in that situation, to withdraw its administrative support. At present, Assembly staff are perfectly capable of undertaking this work as part of their other duties, but it is a point that may be well worth considering, because, obviously, one meeting per annum or possibly more often would not be a huge additional drain on the resources of the Assembly Commission.’
9. Annual report 11. Annual report
The Panel must provide the Commission with an annual report on its activities, including its use of resources. The Board is required to lay before the Assembly an annual report on its activities, including its use of resources. This provision was not contained in the original draft of the Bill when it was introduced, but the Finance Committee raised concerns that the lack of an annual report would have made it more difficult to monitor the financial activities and workload of the Board.
10. Meetings of the Panel 10. Meetings of the Board
Subject to Clause 11, Clause 10 allows the Panel to determine its own procedure and when meetings are to be held. Unlike Wales, the Clerk/Chief Executive of the Assembly cannot ask the Board to convene. The Board is required to meet at least once a year. The Clerk of the Assembly may ask the Board to meet to consider a matter relevant to its functions. This provision followed a recommendation in ‘Getting It Right for Wales’ that ‘The Chief Executive and Clerk of the National Assembly, as Principal Accounting Officer, should have the ability to call a meeting of the Independent Review Body (the Board) at any time.’
11. Exercise of functions 13. Exercise of functions of the Board
Clause 11 allows the Panel to make only one determination in respect of each Assembly mandate. This Clause largely replicates the equivalent provisions in the Welsh legislation, for example by allowing the Panel to meet more than once in exceptional circumstances. However, it prohibits the Panel from making a determination for an Assembly if that Assembly was elected following an election directed under Section 32(4) (extraordinary elections) of the 1998 Act The Board may not make more than one determination relating to the payment of salaries of members or Ministers during each term of the Assembly, except in exceptional circumstances. This was a recommendation in ‘Getting It Right For Wales’ and during evidence to the Committee it was argued that: ‘If you move to an independent situation, you place the responsibility wholly on other people, but you are also saying that it is necessary to do this only once each time. This gives people greater confidence and people will know that that will be the salary if they stand for the job and are elected, and it will not be possible to change that.’ Exceptional circumstances were defined as including overly excessive decisions made by the Board or circumstances where Members were required to undertake substantial new work.
12. Contents of determinations: salaries and allowances
This Clause outlines what must happen when the Panel is making a determination that will affect Members who also hold office in either House of the UK Parliament or the European Parliament. It takes into account changes introduced by the Northern Ireland Assembly Members Act 2010 which reduced the salary of Assembly Members to zero if they also sit in one of the institutions mentioned above and removed the salary payable to ordinary Members from Ministers and other office holders in circumstances where they hold a dual mandate. N/A
13. Contents of determinations: pensions, gratuities and allowances
This Clause allows the Panel to include in its determinations provisions for pensions, gratuities and allowances. It also allows for the establishment of and administration of one or more pension schemes. N/A
14. Availability of determinations 12. Determinations
Every determination made by the Panel must be in writing and be communicated to the Commission which then must publish it in full. Similar to the Northern Ireland Bill.
Table notes:
1. http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-home/bus-committees/bus-committees-perm-leg/bus-committees-third-lc1-agendas.htm?act=dis&id=157612&ds=12/2009
3. http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-home/bus-committees/bus-committees-perm-leg/bus-committees-third-lc1-agendas.htm?act=dis&id=162104&ds=1/2010
3 The Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner
for Standards
In May 2010 the Committee on Standards and Privileges published its Report on the Committee Inquiry on Enforcing the Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules Relating to the Conduct of Members and the Appointment of an Assembly Commissioner for Standards. The report contained a number of recommendations, one of which was that “The Assembly should pass a Bill to create a statutory Assembly Commissioner for Standards during this current mandate". In its report, the Committee concluded that:
Broadly speaking, the principles of the existing system, whereby the Northern Ireland Assembly regulates its own affairs and ultimately takes decisions on complaints that have been made against its own members is an appropriate, reasonable and workable system. However, while the principles are sound there is important work that can and should be done in order to ensure that in practice the system is more robust, and is seen to be both fairer and more transparent. The most significant aspect of this is that the Assembly should have its own Commissioner for Standards whose role would be to carry out independent, objective investigations into complaints against Members and to present his or her findings to the Committee on Standards and Privileges[8].
The current arrangements
During the first Assembly mandate the Committee held an inquiry into the possible appointment of a Standards Commissioner with the subsequent report recommending the appointment of a Commissioner to investigate complaints against Assembly members. The Committee also agreed interim arrangements to allow the Northern Ireland Assembly Ombudsman to carry out investigations in the intervening period, given his skills and experience. After having asked the Ombudsman to act as the interim Commissioner, the Committee later decided that rather than carrying out a recruitment process, the position should be placed on a statutory footing. A Bill was subsequently introduced by the Committee which reached second stage before falling as a result of suspension.
Scotland and Wales
The Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales already have statutory standards commissioners by virtue of the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Act 2002 and the National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards Measure 2009. Both of these offices were created following inquiries and consultation processes carried out by the relevant standards committees.
Since the publication of the Committee’s report in 2010, the Scottish Parliament has passed the Scottish Parliamentary Commissions and Commissioners Act etc. 2010. The Act established a new standards body which will be known as the ‘Commission for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland’, which encompasses the functions of the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, the Chief Investigating Officer[9] (CIO), and the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The roles of the SPSC and CIO are combined into one role, with the result that one member of the Commission will be responsible for carrying out the functions of the SPSC and CIO, while the other Commissioner will carry out the functions currently undertaken by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
In November 2010 Gerard Elias QC was appointed as the new Standards Commissioner for the National Assembly for Wales, following approval by the Assembly.
Part 2 of the Bill establishes a Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards and places the post on a statutory footing. There are clauses relating to the functions of the Commissioner, the appointments process, persons disqualified from being the Commissioner, the procedure for investigating complaints and the investigatory powers of the Commissioner.
Complaints against a Member of Parliament are investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. Although the procedures followed by the Commissioner in Westminster are similar to those followed in Wales and Scotland, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards does not have the weight of an independent, statutory appointment. Rather, the Commissioner’s powers and responsibilities are set out in Standing Order 150 of the House of Commons. The Commissioner cannot, for example, compel witnesses to appear before a hearing or produce requested documentation for the purposes of carrying out an investigation.
The principal functions of the Standards Commission are to provide advice and guidelines on compliance with the Ethics Acts, to administer the disclosure of interests and tax clearance regimes and to investigate and report on possible contraventions of the legislation. These functions of the Standards Commission apply to office holders and to public servants and, in relation to tax compliance measures, to all members of the Houses. Apart from matters relating to tax clearance, the Committees on Members’ Interests of both Houses have functions similar to those of the Standards Commission in relation to members of the Houses who are not office holders.
Part 2 of the Bill has been drafted along similar lines to that of the equivalent legislation in Scotland and Wales.
Table 2: Comparison between the proposed Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards and standards commissioners in Scotland and Wales
16. Establishment of the Commissioner Scotland and Wales
This clause allows for a Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards. There are similar provisions in Scotland and Wales.
17. Functions of the Commissioner Scotland and Wales
This section sets out the Commissioner’s functions to receive and investigate complaints. The Committee recommended that the Commissioner should have the power to initiate an investigation into the conduct of Members without having first received a complaint. This is different to the situation in Scotland and Wales where the Commissioner must be in receipt of a complaint before proceeding. Section 16 reflects evidence given to the Committee by the Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL). During evidence, Sir Christopher Kelly said: ‘The view that a commissioner ought to be able to investigate on his or her own initiative is not my personal view but one that the Committee on Standards in Public Life has taken under previous Chairmen. One of the reasons for the Commissioner having that power can be best illustrated by the fact that, at times, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards at Westminster has come under criticism for appearing to do nothing when public criticism of a Member of Parliament appears in the press. He has had to say that he cannot do anything because no-one has made a complaint for him to investigate…it is important that you create circumstances in which the commissioner does not appear to have one arm tied behind his back’1. In evidence to the Committee, the Committee on Standards of Conduct at the National Assembly for Wales stated that “although we want to give as much power and authority as we can to the standards commissioner, it is not the job of the standards commissioner to initiate complaints"2. (10 February 2010) The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission raised the question as to what would constitute a proper threshold for initiating an investigation, and that it would call into question the Commissioner’s judgment “whenever he or she decided not to investigate on foot of a report". The Commissioners in both Scotland and Wales must be in receipt of a complaint before taking forward an investigation. The Explanatory Note to the Scottish Act states that: “This provision ensures that the Commissioner’s role is limited to complaints that are made direct to him or her. For example, in the absence of a specific complaint, the Commissioner would not be able to investigate an allegation that had appeared in the press"4. Section 9 of the Welsh legislation places a duty on the Clerk, in his role as Chief Executive and Principal Accounting Officer, of the Assembly to report to the Commissioner any Assembly Member who he believes to have misused public funds. The Committee heard evidence that this would ‘ensure that it would not be the Commissioner who would be responsible for initiating such an investigation…it would be inappropriate for the Commissioner…to act as judge and prosecutor in the same case.’
The Committee noted the concerns about the practicalities of how a Commissioner might choose to initiate an investigation, but stated that it was “not acceptable that where there are significant, legitimate and evidential concerns in relation to the conduct of Members but where no formal complaint has been made that no investigation should be carried out". It went on to say that such an investigation should only be carried out “where the Commissioner is satisfied that there is a prima facie evidential basis to carry out such an investigation" 3.
18. Independence of the Commissioner Scotland
This section makes clear the independence of the Commissioner, subject to the requirement to comply with directions given by the Assembly (see section 24). No explicit reference is made to the independence of the Commissioner in the legislation.
The Commissioner is not subject to the direction or control of the Assembly, outside of the requirement to submit an annual report.
19. Appointment of the Commissioner Scotland
This section allows for the appointment of a Commissioner for a term of five years following an open competition. The appointment must be confirmed by a resolution of the Assembly. The Commissioner may not be reappointed and this was in line with a recommendation from the Commissioner for Public Appointments Northern Ireland. The Committee’s view was that the “one-off term of appointment is an important feature of the Commissioner’s independence. A Commissioner who has to carry out an investigation into a Member who he or she may later rely upon in order to seek reappointment could be perceived to be a Commissioner who has a vested interest in concluding that the Member has not breached the Code"5. In Scotland, the current Commissioner is appointed for a five year term and may be reappointed for one further term. This followed guidance produced by the Commissioner for Public Appointments6.
The tenure of the Commissioner is similar to that proposed in the Northern Ireland Bill. In Wales, the Commissioner is appointed for a single term of six years, which was seen as securing the independence of the Commissioner. Responses received in the consultation process varied between recommendations of five and seven years.
20. Disqualification from being appointed or serving as the Commissioner Scotland and Wales
Schedule 3 of the Bill sets outs the terms under which a person is disqualified from being the Commissioner. They are not as restrictive as those set out under Schedule 1, which deals with disqualification from membership of the Panel. For example, section 1(a) of Schedule 1 states that a “family member of a Member or former Member of the Assembly" may not be Panel members, whereas Schedule 3 lists only family members of current Members. Schedule 1 also goes significantly further by disqualifying former Members and former members of Assembly staff from serving on the Panel. Schedule 3 allows former Members and Assembly staff to apply for appointment as Standards Commissioner once a period of time has elapsed. The Scottish and Welsh legislation places fewer restrictions on who may be appointed Commissioner. No reference is made to family members, council membership or membership of a political party.
21. Termination of the Commissioner’s appointment Scotland and Wales
Existing Standing Orders say that the Commissioner shall not be dismissed unless – (a) the Assembly so resolves; and (b) the resolution is passed with the support of a number of members which equals or exceeds two-thirds of the total number of seats in the Assembly. The Committee believed that it was important that there was a statutory safeguard in place so the Commissioner could not easily be dismissed. The absence of such a safeguard could, in the view of the Committee, be perceived as a threat to the ability of the Commissioner to reach unpopular conclusions. The terms of dismissal are the same as those in the Northern Ireland Bill.
22. Further provision about the Commissioner Scotland and Wales
Schedule 4 makes further provision about the Commissioner in relation to the administration of the office including: terms and conditions, support and accommodation, goods and services, financial prudence and financial information. Similar provisions exist in the Scottish and Welsh legislation.
23. Appointment of an Acting Commissioner Scotland
This clause allows the Assembly to appoint an Acting Commissioner to discharge any or all of the Commissioner’s functions in circumstances where the Commissioner is unable to do so. This could apply, for example, where a conflict of interest meant that it was inappropriate for the Commissioner to investigate a particular case. As an Acting Commissioner may have to be appointed in urgent circumstances (for example where the Commissioner was ill), the Clause delegates to the Commission the appointments process, but the Assembly retains the right to appoint an Acting Commissioner. The process followed is broadly similar to that outlined in the Northern Ireland Bill, except that the agreement of the Parliament to the appointment is not required.
Similar to the Northern Ireland Bill.
24. Directions to the Commissioner Scotland
This section requires the Commissioner to comply with directions issued by the Assembly. This may include the procedure to be followed by the Commissioner in the exercise of his or her functions, requiring the Commissioner to comply with principles, codes of conduct or other statements of standards and ethics as the Assembly may specify and to register financial and other interests as the Assembly may require. However, no direction may be given regarding the process by which the Commissioner will carry out an investigation. Section 4 of the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Act 2010 states that the “Commissioner shall…comply any directions given by the Parliament. Directions may be given in relation to the procedure the Commissioner must follow while conducting an investigation generally (i.e. these would apply to all investigations).
In its report, the Committee noted that “all respondents agreed that the Commissioner should not be subject to the direction or control of the Assembly…It is important to explain what is meant by the Committee in respect of the Commissioner’s independence and freedom from the direction and control of the Assembly". The report goes on to explain that the Committee would have particular expectations of how investigations should be carried out, and that it would retain the right to ask the Commissioner to clarify or establish certain points relating to a report. The Commissioner for Public Appointments Northern Ireland made clear in her submission to the inquiry that “to demonstrate true independence for the Assembly the Commissioner must be free from direction or control of the Assembly and this must be clearly demonstrated in legislation as well as in practice"7. Furthermore, the Scottish Parliament can make different provision in the directions to cover different classes of complaints. It might, for example, “be considered appropriate to make different procedural provision to deal with unusual types of complaints, such as those that are made anonymously or those in which a Member is not named"8.
Section 5 of the National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards Measure 2009 makes clear the independence of the Commissioner. It says that the Commissioner is not subject to the direction or control of the Assembly except for the purposes of producing an annual report and, if practicable to do so, appear before the Standards Committee and provide information about matters that should be included in the annual report.
25. Investigations by the Commissioner Scotland and Wales
The Northern Ireland Bill gives the Commissioner wide discretion regarding the procedure for carrying out investigations. A report produced by the Commissioner may not recommend the imposition of a sanction. This remains the responsibility of the Assembly and mirrors the equivalent Scottish and Welsh legislation. However, although section 25(2) of the Bill precludes the Commissioner recommending a sanction, it allows his or her report to “otherwise make such recommendations as the Commissioner thinks fit". (Bill) The rationale for this can be found in the Committee’s report which said: ‘In practice the Commissioner can already indicate the seriousness of a breach through the use of language to describe the conduct. The Committee is therefore content that the Assembly Commissioner for Standards should be able to include in any report an indication of the seriousness of any breach as a guide to what might be an appropriate sanction9.’ The SPSC Act 2002 provides greater detail than the National Assembly for Wales Measure and the Northern Ireland Bill as to the process by which a complaint is to be investigated, covering the admissibility of complaints and the steps to be taken by the Commissioner upon receipt of a complaint.
26. Further investigations Scotland and Wales
Clause 26 allows the Assembly, upon receipt of a report from the Commissioner, (in practice the Committee on Standards and Privileges) to ask the Commissioner to carry out further investigation on an issue. The clause allows the Commissioner to either carry out further investigation or to inform the Committee that further work is unnecessary. The provisions in the Northern Ireland Bill lie somewhere between the Scottish and Welsh legislation. In Scotland, once directed to undertake further investigation, the Commissioner may not conclude that this would be unnecessary. In Wales, the Committee may not direct the Commissioner to undertake further investigation once he has submitted his report.
27. Reports Scotland
The Commissioner’s report cannot make recommendations regarding the imposition of sanctions – this remains the remit of the Assembly. However, the report can make other ‘recommendations as the Commissioner thinks fit’. This section also makes clear that the Assembly is not bound by the facts presented or conclusions reached in the report. If a report finds that a member was in breach of a relevant provision, that member must be given a draft of the report and an opportunity to make representations on it. The Commissioner cannot recommend the imposition of a sanction.
Similar to the provisions in the Northern Ireland Bill.
28. Power to call for witnesses and documents Scotland and Wales
This section provides statutory powers for the Commissioner comparable to those available to the Assembly under section 44 of the 1998 Act. In its report, the Committee noted that it: ‘was advised of some of the specific statutory powers that an independent Commissioner should have. These included the power to call for witnesses and documents; statutory protection from defamation (privilege); power to secure the provision of goods and services; and protection from the requirement to disclose information…Most important of these is the power to call for witnesses and documents. It should be an offence not to cooperate with an investigation of the Commissioner.’ Section 28(3) protects a person from answering any question or producing any document that they would not have to answer or produce in court proceedings. The equivalent provisions in Scotland and Wales are largely similar to the provisions in the Northern Ireland Bill.
29. Witnesses and documents: notice Scotland and Wales
This section outlines the process by which the Commissioner shall call a person to give evidence The relevant provisions are largely similar to the NIAM Bill.
30. Witnesses: oaths Scotland and Wales
This clause gives the Commissioner power to administer an oath to any person giving evidence and requires that person to take an oath. The relevant provisions are largely similar to the NIAM Bill.
31. Offences Scotland and Wales
Clause 31 makes it an offence not to give evidence, produce a document or take an oath. Maximum penalties for failure to comply are a fine of up to £5,000 or three months imprisonment. The equivalent provisions are largely similar to the NIAM Bill.
32. Protection from defamation actions Scotland
This clause provides that for the purposes of the law of defamation, statements by the Commissioner are protected by absolute privilege and statements to the Commissioner will have qualified privilege. Providing only qualified privilege to a person giving evidence to the Commissioner may dissuade that person from making deliberately false or malicious claims. The Commissioner has absolute privilege and those giving evidence have qualified privilege. During consideration of the Bill in plenary, it was explained that: ‘After lengthy discussion, the Standards Committee agreed that some protection should be offered to complainers and others making statements to the commissioner to allow all stages of the investigation process to be carried out without the threat of legal action for defamation. We agreed that it would be sufficient to grant qualified privilege because that would protect those with genuine complaints while providing the possibility of recourse against those whose defamatory statements during the investigation process were motivated by malice or an intent to injure’10.
Both the Commissioner and those giving evidence have absolute privilege.
33. Restriction on disclosure of information Scotland and Wales
This clause prohibits the Commissioner from disclosing information provided to him or her except in the discharge of their functions. The clauses in the Scottish and Welsh legislation are similar to those in the NIAM Bill.
1. Northern Ireland Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges Report on the Committee Inquiry on Enforcing the Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules Relating to the Conduct of Members and the Appointment of an Assembly Commissioner for Standards May 2010
2. As above
6. The Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Guidance on Appointments to Public Bodies, Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, July 1998
8. Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Bill, Research briefing, Scottish Parliament Information Centre February 2002
10. http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-02/sor0627-02.htm#Col13122 retrieved 18 November 2010
[1] http://www.ipsa-home.org.uk/
[2] http://www.reviewbody.gov.ie/
[3] http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/about/commission retrieved 9 November 2010
[4] http://www.assemblywales.org/memhome/mem-allow-pay-pensions/independentreviewpanel.htm
[5] http://www.assemblywales.org/irp-reportjuly09-e.pdf
[6] http://www.assemblywales.org/memhome/mem-allow-pay-pensions/members-remunerationboard.htm
[7] http://www.assemblywales.org/newhome/new-news-third-assembly.htm?act=dis&id=199969&ds=10/2010
[8] Northern Ireland Assembly Committee on Standards and Privileges Report on the Committee Inquiry on Enforcing the Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules Relating to the Conduct of Members and the Appointment of an Assembly Commissioner for Standards May 2010
[9] The CIO is appointed by the Scottish Ministers to investigate and report on complaints alleging a breach of the Code of Conduct for Councillors and the Code of Conduct for members of devolved public bodies.
Parliamentary Standards
(1) To provide a description of the investigatory mechanisms in place in the
House of Commons, the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales
and the Dáil Éireann in relation to the registration of Members’ financial interests
and alleged breaches of relevant codes of conduct.
Summary of key points
The main findings of this paper are:
(1) There is great similarity in the role and functions of the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner and the National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards. Both investigate matters relating to the register of Members’ financial interests and alleged breaches of the code of conduct within the relevant jurisdiction. Each Commissioner is provided with powers to call for witnesses and evidential documentation as part of the investigation process. Neither Commissioner can recommend sanctions against a Member and must report only findings of fact to the relevant Committee. The Commissioners do not investigate matters in relation to Member’s allowances instead this is handled by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body and the Chief Executive and Clerk to the National Assembly for Wales.
(2) The recently established Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) will, in respect of the House of Commons, pay salaries and allowances to Members and be responsible for drafting both a code of conduct for Members’ financial interests and an allowances scheme. A Commissioner for Parliamentary Investigations will investigate the overpayment or misuse of allowances and alleged breaches relating to the registration of Members’ financial interests. The role of this Commissioner differs from the provisions in other jurisdictions in that it is the only one that can investigate matters relating to Member allowances. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards retains responsibility for handling matters of conduct, propriety and ethics in relation to the code of conduct and will investigate complaints on these matters and report the findings to the Committee on Standards and Privileges.
(3) The role of the Standards in Public Office Commission in the Republic of Ireland is broader than the comparative bodies in the House of Commons, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales. The Commission exercises certain functions that are applicable to office holders, public servants and Members whereas the other bodies concentrate solely on the actions of Members. The Commission, subject to certain conditions, may conduct investigations into alleged breaches of the Ethics Acts however it also plays a supervisory role under the Electoral Acts and the Party Leaders’ Allowance Act 2001. This includes reporting on election expenses, the disclosure and acceptance of donations to parties, Members and election candidates, and reporting to the Minister for Finance on statements of expenditure submitted to it by party leaders.
(4) The Committee on Members’ Interests of Dáil Éireann draws up guidelines for Members on the registration of interests and a code of conduct for non-office holders. It also investigates alleged breaches of the Ethics Act, in particular those relating to statements of interest. Complaints in relation to specified acts are handled by the Standards in Public Office Commission.
(5) The National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards is not subject to the direction or control of the Assembly. This is the only Commissioner for which the corresponding legislation specifically states this is the case. For example, the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner works independently but must comply with directions given by the Scottish Parliament.
(6) The Committee on Standards and Conduct for the National Assembly for Wales appears to be the only Committee which has a formal appeals process in which a Member can appeal a Committee decision. The House of Lords comments that the lack of an appeals system in the House of Commons for decisions taken by the Committee on Standards and Privileges has been argued to be a possible contravention of European human rights.
2. House of Commons
4. Wales
5. Dáil Éireann
Annex 1
This paper outlines the procedures and mechanisms in place which oversee the parliamentary standards of the House of Commons, the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Dáil Éireann. The paper notes relevant legislation, responsibilities and powers of the bodies in place, investigative procedures to be followed, and procedures for appointment including terms of office for the Commissioner for Standards in each jurisdiction.
The following table outlines the mechanisms for investigating complaints and alleged breaches of Member codes relating to financial interests, expenses and conduct. It should be noted that the House of Commons procedures are provided for in the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 but are yet to be fully implemented. See Annex 1 for further information on the relevant codes of conduct and guidelines.
Register of Members’ financial interests Allowances Code of conduct (ethics)
House of Commons Commissioner for Parliamentary Investigations Commissioner for Parliamentary Investigations Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
Scotland Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner
Wales National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards Chief Executive and Clerk to the National Assembly for Wales National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards
Dáil Éireann Committee on Members’ Interests of Dáil Éireann Committee on Members’ Interests of Dáil Éireann/ Standards in Public Office Commission
Established in 1995 the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards was responsible for the regulation of Members’ financial interests, maintenance of the code of conduct and the investigation of complaints made against Members for alleged breaches of the code within the House of Commons (House). The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an Officer of the House, who is appointed and wholly funded by the House. However, the main responsibilities and functions of the Office are now being passed to the newly established Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).
Independent parliamentary standards authority
The Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 (Chapter 13)[1] which received Royal Assent on 21 July 2009 put in place arrangements for the IPSA to replace the non-statutory Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.[2] The IPSA is a completely independent permanent body which is anticipated to be fully operational by April 2010.
Appointment of the IPSA and Commissioner for Parliamentary Investigations
Roles, Responsibilities and Powers
The 2009 Act establishes the following functions as responsibilities of the IPSA in relation to Members:
Drafting an allowances scheme.
Authorising and making payments under the allowances scheme.
Paying Member salaries.
Drawing up a code of conduct that includes the register of financial interests (superseding the previous register) and a ban on paid advocacy.
The code of conduct relating to Members’ financial interests must be laid before the House for approval before it is to have effect. The IPSA will also be required to provide information and guidance to Members on relevant matters of taxation.
The 2009 Act establishes a separate Commissioner for Parliamentary Investigations and provides them with the power to conduct investigations into the overpayment or misuse of allowances, or alleged breaches of the code of conduct relating to the registration of Members’ financial interests. The Commissioner will operate on behalf of the IPSA and in a supervisory role the IPSA must ensure adequate resources are provided to support the Commissioners investigations because the Commissioner is not awarded the authority to employ staff. The Commissioner may undertake an investigation “under his/her own initiative, or in response to a complaint, or at the request of the IPSA."[3]
Subject to the Direction or Control of Parliament
The code of conduct prepared by the IPSA will require consultation with a number of elements within the House and will be subject to approval by the House before coming into effect.
The Speaker may consult with the IPSA and the Committee on Standards and Privileges in relation to appointing further functions to the IPSA however these will not come into effect until approved by a resolution of the House. The Speaker may also consult with the Commissioner and the Committee on Standards and Privileges with regards to appointing further functions to the Commissioner.
Is the Position on Statutory Basis? Statutory Powers?
The IPSA and Commissioner for Parliamentary Investigations operate on an independent and statutory basis. The IPSA has a statutory responsibility for preparing the register of Members’ financial interests and determining the procedures to be used in the investigation and complaint process.
The responsibilities of both the IPSA and Commissioner are not regarded as proceedings in Parliament and therefore do not have parliamentary privilege.[4]
how is the ipsa/commissioner appointed? eligibility criteria, terms and conditions of appointment
The IPSA consists of five members (Chair and four ordinary members). The Chair and four ordinary members were appointed following an independent and open competition chaired by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland.[5] The 2009 Act requires that one member have accountancy experience (qualified to be an auditor for the National Audit Office), one should have experience of being an MP (but is no longer an MP), and another should have held high judicial office (though no longer be holding this post).[6] The Chair and ordinary members are appointed for a fixed term not exceeding five years. Re-appointment as a member can only occur once and for no longer than a term of three years.
In November 2009 suitable applicants were put forward to the Speaker who proceeded to forward the names to the Speaker’s Committee for approval. The Speaker’s Committee is a new statutory Committee which consists of:
The Speaker of the House of Commons.
The Leader of the House of Commons.
The Chair of the Standards and Privileges Committee.
Five backbench MPs, appointed by the House of Commons.[7]
The Chair has been agreed as Sir Ian Kennedy and the four ordinary members are Jackie Ballard, the Rt Hon Lord Justice Scott Baker, Ken Olisa, and Professor Isobel Sharp (Annex 2 for further information on each member).
The 2009 Act provides for the Commissioner for Parliamentary Investigations to be selected by the Speaker through an open and fair competition and with the agreement of the Speaker’s Committee. The Commissioner can be appointed for a fixed term of no longer than five years and cannot be re-appointed.[8]
Rules/Guidelines for Dismissal
The Chair and ordinary members of the IPSA can resign from their positions by giving written notice to the Speaker. Section 5 (schedule 1) of the 2009 Act states that Her Majesty can remove either the Chair or an ordinary member from office through an address of both Houses of Parliament. The 2009 Act provides for the same rules to apply to the resignation or removal from office of the Commissioner for Parliamentary Investigations.
Handling Alleged Breaches
The Commissioner will have the power to investigate overpayments or the misuse of allowances, or alleged breaches of the code of conduct relating to the registration of Members’ financial interests. This can be triggered in response to a complaint by an individual, at the request of a Member, or on the Commissioner’s own initiative.[9] To assist the Commissioner with the investigation process both the IPSA and Members must provide any reasonably required information. The specific procedures to be followed by the Commissioner will be decided upon by the IPSA. The 2009 Act, however, provides general information on the investigation process and actions which may be taken. It states that if, following an investigation, the Commissioner finds fault with an allowance that has been paid or if the code of conduct relating to financial interests has been breached they must report this to the Committee on Standards and Privileges. Exceptions to this are if the Member under investigation accepts the Commissioners findings and takes steps to repay an agreed amount to the IPSA or takes steps to correct the register of financial interests as advised by the Commissioner.[10]
As part of the investigation process the Member who is the subject of the investigation must be allowed to represent before the Commissioner to discuss the details of the investigation and/or the Commissioners findings before the case is referred to the Committee on Standards and Privileges. The Member must be allowed to call and examine witnesses where deemed appropriate by the Commissioner.[11]
Role of the Committee when Handling Breaches
Should the Commissioner find that a Member has been overpaid an allowance or has failed to comply with the code and has not taken steps to rectify matters with the IPSA a report of fact detailing the Commissioner’s findings will be presented to the Committee on Standards and Privileges. The Commissioner will not include in the report any recommendations on sanctions against a Member. Such a decision is the responsibility of the Committee. The Committee retains discretion to accept, modify or reject the Commissioner’s findings. The guide to the rules relating to the conduct of Members (approved 9 February 2009) states that if the Committee decides that a Member has committed a breach it can make recommendations to the House on further actions required against a Member.[12] The 2009 Act does not contain any provision to suggest that this function of the Committee has changed.
Is there an Appeals Procedure in place regarding decisions reached by Committee?
There is no current mechanism in place in which to appeal a decision taken by the Committee on Standards and Privileges. The House of Lords report into the Parliamentary Standards Bill comments that the issue of the right to appeal Committee decisions is a long-standing and live issue.[13] The Committee can recommend sanctions against a Member which can as a result have serious implications on a Member’s reputation and, if the sanction involves suspension, hinder the Member’s ability to represent their constituents.
The report quotes the Joint Committee on Human Rights who suggested that under European human rights law a Member’s right to a fair hearing could be violated if there is no appeal mechanism for a decision taken by a parliamentary Committee. The report concludes that there is advantage to be gained in establishing a domestic appeal body for Committee decisions but recognises:
That such an appeal would have profound implications for parliamentary privilege if the appellate body were to be a judicial tribunal outwith Parliament.[14]
Modifying and maintaining the Code of Conduct
Current Roles and Duties of the Committee
The Committee can review and modify the code of conduct at any time as it appears necessary to do so. The role of the Committee on Standards and Privileges is set out in Standing Order 149 and includes:
To consider matters relating to privileges.
To oversee the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
To examine the compilation, maintenance and accessibility of the register for Members’ financial interests and other relevant registers.
The review of the registers.
To consider complaints brought to the Committee’s attention by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in relation to the registering or declaring of interests and alleged breaches of any code of conduct approved by the House.
To recommend modifications to the code of conduct as necessary.[15]
The Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner investigates complaints made against MSPs in relation to alleged breaches of the code of conduct for MSPs. The misuse of the Expenses Scheme and of Parliamentary facilities and services is investigated by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body which can refer such complaints to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee along with a recommendation for “the removal of all or part of the member’s entitlement to reimbursement of expenses under the Scheme for such period and to such extent as the SPCB may specify."[16]
The Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Act 2002 establishes a Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner (Commissioner) who will investigate complaints into the conduct of Members of the Scottish Parliament as defined in the Code of Conduct for MSPs. [17] This does not include complaints about the misuse of the Members’ Expenses Scheme or of Parliamentary facilities and services. Complaints arising from these matters are handled by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body.[18]
Appointment of the Standards Commissioner
Role, Responsibilities and Powers
The Commissioner receives complaints in relation to the conduct of Members and under the 2002 Act is duty bound to “investigate whether the member has committed the conduct complained about and has, as a result of that conduct, breached a relevant provision; and report upon the outcome of that investigation to the Parliament."[19] The Commissioner will not normally conduct investigations into complaints classified as excluded complaints (those referred to as excluded complaints within the 2002 Act, excluded from the remit of the Commissioner by any provision of the standing orders or the code of conduct) unless directed to do so by the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee.
An investigation by the Commissioner will seek to determine if the Member has actually done what has been alleged and if the code of conduct has been broken. The Commissioner will report on the findings of the investigation but will not decide upon or recommend sanctions against a Member. This is the responsibility of the Committee.
The Commissioner carries out the functions of the role independently but will “comply with any directions given by the Parliament"[20] (in practice this translates as the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee). For example, Section 4 (2) of the 2002 Act states that the Parliament may make provision as to the procedure the Commissioner should follow when investigating complaints or require the Commissioner to provide a report to the Parliament with regards to the exercise of the Commissioners functions. Any direction given by the Parliament under Section 4 “shall not direct the Commissioner as to whether or how any particular investigation is to be carried out."[21]
Section 10 of the 2002 Act states that although the Commissioner will present a report detailing the investigation findings to the Committee it is not bound by any facts or conclusions reached by the Commissioner. The Committee can direct the Commissioner to conduct further investigations as deemed appropriate. It can also direct the Commissioner to undertake an investigation into a complaint that is classified as an excluded complaint.
Is the Position on a Statutory Basis? Statutory Powers?
The Commissioner operates on a statutory basis with statutory powers provided by the 2002 Act.
How is the Comissioner Appointed? Eligibility Criteria, Terms and Conditions of Appointment
An open recruitment administered by the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body is used to appoint the Commissioner. In each instance the decision of the Corporate Body requires the agreement of the Scottish Parliament. Members of Parliament or staff of the Parliament cannot be appointed as Commissioner nor can individuals who have held either of these positions during the two years prior to appointment. The Commissioner will be appointed for a term of no longer than five years and can be re-appointed once only.[22] The Corporate Body determine the terms and conditions of the appointment and will pay the salary and allowances of the Commissioner including any expenses incurred while exercising the functions of the office. The 2002 Act also provides that the Corporate Body provide pensions, allowances or gratuities to any person who has held the office of Commissioner.
The current Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, Stuart Allen, was appointed in April 2009 for a two year term.
Section 1 (6) of the 2002 Act states that at any time the Commissioner may resign by giving notice to the Corporate Body. The Corporate Body is afforded power under the 2002 Act to remove the Commissioner from office however this cannot happen unless “the Parliament so resolves; and if the resolution is passed on a division, the number of votes cast in favour of it is not less than two thirds of the total number of votes cast in the division."[23]
The 2002 Act contains general provisions for the investigation process which is split into two possible stages. Initially, the Commissioner will investigate and determine if a complaint is admissible (Stage 1), if it is admissible then the Commissioner will investigate further and report the findings to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee (Stage 2).[24] For a complaint to be deemed admissible at Stage 1 the Commissioner will administer three tests to determine: if it is relevant; if the complaint meets the specified requirements; and if it warrants further investigation. Section 6 (4) of the 2002 Act states that a complaint is relevant if it concerns the conduct of a Member of Parliament, if it is not an excluded complaint unless it is an excluded complaint that the Commissioner has been directed to investigate by the Committee, and if it appears at first sight that all or part of the conduct complained about has been committed by the Member. The complaint must meet specified requirements:
(a) is made in writing to the Commissioner.
(b) is made by an individual person, is signed by that person and states that person’s name and address.
(c) names the member of Parliament concerned.
(d) sets out the facts relevant to the conduct complained about and is accompanied by any supporting evidence which the complainer wishes to submit.
(e) is made within one year from the date when the complainer could reasonably have become aware of the conduct complained about.[25]
Upon receipt of a complaint the Commissioner will notify the relevant Member that a complaint has been made about their conduct and will provide them with an outline of it along with the name of the complainant unless the Commissioner decides that to name the complainant would be inappropriate.
The final test of Stage 1 is to decide if it appears that there is sufficient evidence to suggest the conduct which forms the basis of the complaint may actually have taken place. Once the Commissioner has decided that the complaint is admissible a report will be made to the Committee to advise that the complaint is to be investigated further. The Commissioner will also advise the complainant and the Member named in the complaint of the decision to investigate the complaint fully.
The Commissioner will undertake Stage 2 to determine if in fact the Member has committed the alleged conduct described by the complainant and if this is deemed a breach of the code of conduct. A report will be prepared for the Committee outlining the investigation and the conclusions reached by the Commissioner. The findings of the report will state the facts of the case and whether the Member has breached the code or not. The report will not recommend any form of sanction or action to be taken.
If the Commissioner deems that the Member has breached the code of conduct, prior to presentation to Committee, the investigation report will be given to the Member and they will be afforded an opportunity to comment. The Member’s comments will be recorded and added to the final report presented to the Committee.[26]
Section 13 of the 2002 Act provides power for the Commissioner to call for witnesses and documents. It also lists the exceptions to which these powers can be extended, for example, an individual has the same rights to refuse to answer any question or produce any document requested by the Commissioner as they would have under proceedings in a Scottish court of law. In certain circumstances failing to present before the Commissioner can lead to being found guilty of an offence.
Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
The Committee will consider the report prepared by the Commissioner and can accept or reject the conclusions reached. The Clerk of the Committee will ask the Member who is the subject of the complaint whether they agree with the Commissioner’s report or wish to appear before the Committee to discuss the findings or conclusions of the report. The Committee can also request that the Commissioner conduct further investigations into the complaint. Once the Committee has made its recommendations it will present the report before Parliament. Standing Orders of the Scottish Parliament Rule 6.4 provide the Committee with the power to propose a motion to recommend a Member’s rights and privileges be withdrawn.[27]
The Member who is the subject of the complaint can make a representation to the Committee with regards to the decision but there is no formal independent appeal process in place.
The Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee review and report on:
(a) the practice and procedures of the Parliament in relation to its business;
(b) whether a member’s conduct is in accordance with these Rules and any code of conduct for members, matters relating to members’ interests, and any other matters relating to the conduct of members in carrying out their Parliamentary duties;
(c) the adoption, amendment and application of any code of conduct for members; and
(d) matters relating to public appointments in Scotland.[28]
Within the Committee’s current work programme it is holding an inquiry into the review of Section 2 of the code of conduct concerning categories of registerable interests which Members must register. The Committee will attempt to provide guidance on each of the categories.
The monitoring and investigation of the conduct of Assembly Members and issues relating to the register of financial interests rests primarily with the National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards (Commissioner) and the Committee on Standards of Conduct. The National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards Measure 2009 outlines the role and functions of the Commissioner and the process for the investigation of complaints. The Measure states that the principal aim of the Commissioner is:
To promote, encourage and safeguard high standards of conduct in the public office of Assembly Member[29].
Appointment of the Commissioner for Standards
The role of the Commissioner is to receive and investigate complaints with regards to alleged Member breaches of relevant provisions and to report the findings to the Assembly. Relevant provisions include the registration of financial interests, membership of societies, and any code of conduct relating to Assembly Members.[30] The Commissioner will provide advice to Assembly Members and members of the public in relation to lodging a complaint and the investigation process that follows. Further to this the Commissioner can be asked to advise the Assembly on “matters of general principle relating to the conduct of AMs, on procedures relating to the investigation of complaints and on matters relating to promoting high standards in public life generally."[31]
The 2009 Measure makes it clear that the Commissioner will exercise the role solely with regards to Assembly Members and the provisions and code of conduct which apply to them.
Subject to the Direction or Control of Assembly
Section 5 of the 2009 Measure provides that the Commissioner, subject to section 19, “is not, in the exercise of any functions, to be subject to the direction or control of the Assembly."[32] Section 19 provides that the Commissioner must attend before the Committee on Standards of Conduct at their request and provide them with an annual report and any reasonably required information.
The role and functions of the Commissioner have been made statutory and independent of the National Assembly by the 2009 Measure. The Measure was proposed by the Committee on Standards of Conduct with the overall objective of contributing to the “maintenance of high standards of public life."[33]
The 2009 Measure provides that the appointment of the Commissioner be made by the Assembly following an open and fair competition. Ineligible applicants for the position include:
Assembly Members (current or an Assembly Member during the two years prior to appointment).
Staff of the National Assembly for Wales or a staff member during the two years prior to appointment.
Staff of the Welsh Assembly Government or a staff member during the two years prior to appointment.[34]
The Commissioner can be appointed for a six year term and any individual who has already held the office of Commissioner cannot be re-appointed to the position.
The Commissioner may resign at any time by giving notice to the Assembly or can be removed from the position by the Assembly. Should the Assembly seek to remove the Commissioner from office the 2009 Measure provides that this can only occur if:
(a) the assembly so resolves, and
(b) if the resolution is passed on a vote, the number of votes cast in favour of the resolution is not less than two thirds of the total number of votes cast.[35]
Further to this, the Commissioner’s appointment will cease if the individual:
Becomes an Assembly Member candidate.
Is appointed or designated the functions of the Counsel General (under section 49 of the Act).
Is appointed as a staff member of the National Assembly for Wales or the Welsh Assembly Government.[36]
The Clerk of the Assembly will refer a matter in writing to the Commissioner if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that a Member’s conduct is in breach of a relevant provision and is also relevant to the Clerk’s functions under section 138 of the Government of Wales Act 2006.[37] The Commissioner will investigate the complaint and report the findings to the Assembly through the Committee on Standards of Conduct. The report must be an outcome of fact and should not make recommendations for sanctions against a Member. It is the responsibility of the Committee to determine appropriate sanctions. The Committee will also be responsible for supervising “the compilation, maintenance and accessibility of the Register of Members’ Interests and the Record of Membership of Societies and the form and content of the Register and the Record."[38]
To assist with the investigation procedure the Commissioner has the power to call for witnesses and documents deemed relevant to the investigation and if necessary “administer an oath or affirmation to any person giving evidence to the Commissioner, and require that person to take an oath or make an affirmation."[39] Witnesses who are called to present as part of an investigation are entitled to the same privileges as that of a witness giving evidence in a court of law in Wales or England. Section 15 of the 2009 Measure outlines the offences and penalties for individuals who fail or refuse to present themselves or a document at the request of the Commissioner.
Committee on Standards of Conduct
The Committee on Standards and Conduct will investigate and recommend action on any complaint referred by the Commissioner. The procedure for dealing with complaints against Assembly Members outlines the process the Committee must follow. Initially, the Committee will meet in private to consider the details of the complaint and whether witnesses need to be called to the oral hearing and if the complaint should be considered in private or public. The Committee will then proceed to an oral hearing to clarify the facts of the complaint and/or to question relevant witnesses. Following the hearing the Committee will meet again in private to consider whether the Member has breached the code of conduct and what action or sanction should be recommended. The Committee will prepare a report and along with the Commissioner’s accompanying report will table a motion calling on the Assembly to endorse the Committee’s recommendations. The Member who is the subject of the complaint will also receive a copy of the Committee’s report.
Should the Member who is the subject of the complaint be found by the Committee to be in breach of the code of conduct they have 10 working days after receiving the Committee’s report to appeal to the Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer will arrange for an appeal panel to be gathered consisting of four Assembly Members from different political groups and an independent legally qualified person (this person must not be an Assembly Member or a staff member of the Assembly).[40] A number of individuals are prohibited from sitting on the appeal panel, they include: Standards of Conduct Committee Members; Presiding Officer and Deputy; First Minister; leaders of political groups; the complainant or witnesses. The panel will consider the reports prepared by the Commissioner, the Committee and any other written documents submitted by the appellant but will not hold any oral hearings. The conclusion of the appeal panel can be either to uphold or dismiss the appeal.
The Committee on Standards and Conduct is conferred power under Standing Order 16 and has five main functions to perform:
To investigate, report and recommend action with regards to complaints referred to it by the Commissioner for Standards.
To review matters of principle regarding the conduct of Members.
Supervise the compilation, maintenance and accessibility of the register of Members’ interests and Membership of Societies.
Report annually to the Assembly in relation to complaints made, any actions taken and conclusions on the standards of conduct of Assembly business.
To establish procedures for investigating complaints under Standing Order 16.1 (i).[41]
The Standing Order makes no specific mention of the Committee’s role in modifying the code of conduct. Committee meeting papers and transcripts submitted on the National Assembly for Wales website show that the Standards Committee Secretariat propose amendments or revisions to the code of conduct and invite the Committee to consider and agree these proposals.
The Standards in Public Office Commission (Standards Commission) was established under the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 and assumed the functions of the Public Offices Commission. The Standards Commission has a much broader scope of work in comparison to the bodies established in the House of Commons, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales. The Standards Commission plays a broad supervisory role in relation to the following Acts:
Ethics in Public Office Act 1995, as amended by the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 (Ethics Acts).
Electoral Act 1997, as amended (Electoral Acts).
Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2001 (Party Leaders’ Allowance Act).[42]
Under the Electoral Acts the Standards Commission has a duty to monitor and where appropriate report to the Chairman of the Dáil Éireann on issues such as election expenses and the disclosure of donations. [43] With regards to the Party Leaders’ Allowance Act 2001 it considers statements of expenditure submitted by party leaders and prepares reports the Minister for Finance indicating the disclosure of unauthorised expenditure and if the statement is adequate or inappropriate.[44]
Appointment of the Standards Commission
The role of the Standards Commission in relation to the Ethics Acts is to provide advice on compliance with the Acts, to administer a register of interests and tax compliance measures, and to investigate complaints made under Section 22 of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 or section 4 of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001. Complaints made under either of these sections fall to the Standards Commission to investigate rather than the Committee on Members’ Interests of Dáil Éireann.
Section 22 of the Ethics Act 1995 details the type of person who can make a complaint to the Standards Commission about alleged breaches of the disclosure provisions of the Act. Section 4 of the Ethics Act 2001 provides that an individual can make a complaint about a specified person who has allegedly committed a specified act (defined in the 2001 Act) or breached a provision of the Act.[45]
Subject to the Direction or Control of the Houses
The Committee on Members’ Interests of Dáil Éireann or other relevant Committee can request the Standards Commission to investigate a particular complaint. At least twice each year the Standards Commission will consult with the Committees with regards to the operation of the 2001 Act and other relevant matters and legislation.
The Standards Commission and its functions are provided for on a statutory basis by the Standards in Public Office Act 2001.[46] However, the Standards Commission has “no coercive or punitive power."[47]
How is the Commission Appointed? Eligibility Criteria, Terms and Conditions of Appointment
The Standards Commission is comprised of six members (one Chairperson and five ordinary members). Section 2 of the 2001 Act states that the Chairperson must be a judge (or former judge) of the Supreme Court or the High Court and will be appointed by the President following resolutions passed by both Houses. The appointment of the Chairperson is for a six year term and re-appointment for another term is provided for within the 2001 Act.
The ordinary members consist of “the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Ombudsman, the Clerk of the Dáil Éireann, the Clerk of the Seanad Éireann, and a person who (i) is appointed to be such a member by the Government following resolutions passed by each House approving the proposed appointment, and (ii) is a former member of one of the Houses and is not a representative in the European Parliament."[48] The ordinary members are appointed for a six year term and can be re-appointed for a subsequent term. However, an ordinary member will cease to hold their position should they be nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann, are nominated for election for either House or the European Parliament, or have been elected to the European Parliament.[49]
The members of the current Standards Commission are Mr Justice Matthew P Smith (Chairman and former judge of the High Court), John Buckley (Comptroller and Auditor General), Ms Emily O’Reilly (Ombudsman), Mr Kieran Coughlan (Clerk of Dáil Éireann), Ms Deirdre Lane (Clerk of the Seanad Éireann), and Mr Michael Smith.
The Chairperson of the Standards Commission can request to be removed from office or can be removed from office by the President if there is evidence of misbehaviour, incapacity or bankruptcy and resolutions are passed by both Houses in support of the removal.
An ordinary member can resign by giving written notice to the Minister or can be removed from office if there is evidence of misbehaviour, incapacity or bankruptcy and following resolutions passed by both Houses in support of the removal.
A complaint can be made to the Standards Commission under provisions set out in Section 22 of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 and Section 4 of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001.
The Statement of Intended Procedures describes the process the Standards Commission intend to follow when carrying out an investigation under the Ethics Acts. While the Standards Commission generally investigate office holders or specified persons (under Section 4 of the Standards Act):
section 22 (5) of the Ethics Act, as amended, provides that complaints in relation to members of the Oireachtas may fall to be investigated by the Commission where the complaint is one made to the Commission by the chairman of the relevant Committee on Members’ Interests itself or where, in the case of a third party complaint, the complaint is referred to the Commission by the chairman of the Committee concerned.[50]
Complaints must be made to the Standards Commission in writing and should contain as much detail as possible to enable it to decide whether a formal investigation is required. Section 8 of the 2001 Act provides that the Standards Commission shall not investigate a complaint unless the complainant discloses their identity. The Commission also has the right to contact the person that is the subject of the complaint to seek information which may have a bearing on whether or not to begin an investigation.
Section 6 of the 2001 Act allows the Standards Commission to appoint Inquiry Officers to carry out a preliminary inquiry into a complaint. Initially the Officer will request a statement of evidence from the complainant or anyone else deemed relevant to the inquiry. They will then provide the person who is the subject of the complaint with the particulars of the complaint including the statement submitted by the complainant. The Officer will request a statement of the evidence that would be given to the Standards Commission from the person who is the subject of the complaint and will conduct interviews as appropriate with both parties. The Officer is also permitted to request any documents which may be relevant to the inquiry.
The Inquiry Officer is required to prepare a report for the Standards Commission detailing the results of the inquiry and must include any statements or documents provided to the Officer as part of the preliminary inquiry. The 2001 Act states that the report must not contain any determinations or findings but will at the request of the Standards Commission contain “an opinion of the officer as to whether there is prima facie evidence to sustain the complaint concerned."[51] The Statement of Intended Procedures notes that in cases where the facts are clear and not the subject of dispute it may not be necessary to conduct a preliminary inquiry. However, the general view of the Standards Commission is that the use of an Inquiry Officer is beneficial in most cases.
The Standards Commission will hold sittings for the purposes of investigation at which it will hear evidence and receive submissions relevant to the case. The Commission can call for witnesses and will allow the person who is the subject of the complaint to present their case to them and also cross examine witnesses called by the Commission and present their own witnesses. A witness is entitled to:
The same privileges and immunities as a witness in a court, save that such witness cannot refuse to answer a question or refuse to produce a document on the ground that the answer or document might incriminate him or her.[52]
If the witness provides false evidence, fails or refuses to attend before the Commission, refuses to take the oath, refuses to answer any question to which the Commission is legally entitled an answer, or refuses to produce any document which the Commission legally requires they can be found to be committing an offence. To obstruct the Commission, a Committee or an Inquiry Officer “by act or omission"[53] can also be considered an offence.
The Standards Commission will submit a report outlining the results of the investigation to the person who is the subject of the complaint, the complainant (if the complaint was made under section 22 of the 1995 Act), and:
(c) (i) in case the person the subject of the investigation is or was an office holder and the Commission has determined that he or she has contravened Part II, III, IV, the Committee, and
(ii) in any other case – (I) the Minister, or (II) if, at the time of the alleged contravention concerned, the person occupied a position in a Department of State or office administered by a Minister of the Government other than the Minister, that Minister of the Government.[54]
If the subject of the complaint is a Member of either of the Houses of the Oireachtas it is the responsibility of the relevant Committee to recommend if action against the Member should be taken. If the subject is not a Member of either House it will still be outside the remit of the Standards Commission to recommend sanctions and they will have no further input in the process.
Committee on Members’ Interests of Dáil Éireann
The Committee on Members’ Interests of Dáil Éireann conducts investigations into alleged breaches of provisions contained within the Ethics Acts. The Clerk of the Dáil Éireann may refer complaints from non Members while complaints from Members will go directly to the Committee. For investigation purposes the Committee holds sittings at which it can receive submissions and relevant evidence. The sittings may be conducted in private. The Chairman of the Committee can call the Member concerned or any other relevant person to attend the sitting to provide evidence. They will be afforded the same privileges and immunities as they would be in a court of law. The Chairman may also request any relevant documents pertaining to the alleged breach to be presented before the Committee. Failure to present before the Committee, answer questions or provide relevant documents can be found to be an offence.
A report of the proceedings will be produced by the Committee and issued to the Member named in the complaint and the complainant. If it concludes that the Member has breached the Ethics Acts it will also lay the report before the Dáil Éireann. The Committee can propose a motion to censure, suspend or financially penalise a Member.
The Committee is responsible for drafting compliance guidelines for Members in relation to the Ethics Acts (in consultation with the Standards Commission and the Committee on Members’ Interests of the Seanad Éireann), drawing up a code of conduct for non-office holders (following consultation with the Standards Commission) and conducting investigations into alleged breaches of statements of interest. The Committee also provides Members with advice in relation to the Ethics Acts. The code of conduct drawn up by the Committee focuses on the standards of conduct and integrity that must be upheld by each Member of the Dáil Éireann and it provides an advisory role to Members in this regard.
Relevant Codes of Conduct and Guidelines
Register of financial interests – Register of Members’ Financial Interests – 10 December 2009 (Part 1 and Part 2) http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/memi02.htm
New code of conduct relating to Members’ financial interests to be prepared by the IPSA
Allowances – The Green Book July 2009: A guide to Members’ allowances http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/GreenBook.pdf
New allowances scheme to be prepared by the IPSA
Code of conduct (ethics) – The Code of Conduct together with The Guide to the Rules relating to the Conduct of Members http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmpocrules.htm
Register of financial interests – Code of Conduct for MSPs http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/conduct/index.htm
Allowances – Members Expenses Scheme http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/MSPAllowances/index.htm
Code of conduct (ethics) - Code of Conduct for MSPs http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/conduct/index.htm
Register of financial interests – National Assembly for Wales Code of Conduct for Assembly Members
http://www.assemblywales.org/memhome/mem-commissioner-standards/cod-ymddygiad.htm
Allowances – subject to a set of rules known as ‘The Determination’ (updated annually)
http://www.assemblywales.org/nafw_members_officers_salaries_allowances_determination_2009.pdf
Code of conduct (ethics) - National Assembly for Wales Code of Conduct for Assembly Members
Register of financial interests – Guidelines on compliance with the provisions of the Ethics in Public Office Acts, 1995 and 2001 (office holders)
http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/Guidelines/EthicsActs/OfficeHolders/
Code of conduct (ethics) – Code of conduct for Members of the Dáil Éireann other than office holders
http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=/documents/press/codeofconduct.htm
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority Chair and members (http://www.parliamentarystandards.org.uk/index.html)
Professor Sir Ian Kennedy LLD
Professor Sir Ian Kennedy is a lawyer who has also lectured and written on the law and ethics of healthcare. He is Emeritus Professor of Health Law, Ethics and Policy at the School of Public Policy, University College of London and Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics. He was Chairman of the Healthcare Commission, the public watchdog in health services provision, and was the leader of the public enquiry into the deaths in children’s heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary (1998-2001). He also chaired the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and is currently Chair of the UK Research Integrity Office.
Rt Hon Lord Justice Scott Baker
A High Court Judge in the Family Division (1988-92) before transferring to the Queen’s Bench Division in 1992. He became a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2002 and has been a member of the Government Committee of Inquiry into Human Fertilisation (the Warnock Committee) and a member of the Parole Board. He sat as coroner for the inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed in 2007 and 2008.
Professor Isobel Sharp CBE
Professor Isobel Sharp CBE is a partner at Deloitte LLP and a Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh Business School. She was President of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland for 2007/8 and has served on the UK Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Reporting Review Panel. Professor Sharp was awarded a CBE in 2009 for services to the accountancy profession. She was a member of the Independent Review of Parliamentary Allowances group which reported in March 2008 on the Reimbursement of Expenses for Members of the Scottish Parliament.
The Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton from 1997-2001. Between 2002 and 2007 she was Director General of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In 2007 she took up the post as CEO of the Royal National Institute for the Deaf.
Ken Olisa
A businessman who worked at IBM (UK) and Wang Laboratories before founding technology merchant bank Interregnum. He now leads Restoration Partners. He serves on the boards of Thomson Reuters, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC). He is Chairman of Thames Reach, a charity focused on ending street homelessness in London by 2012. He is a Warden of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, a Vice President of the British Computer Society and a member of the Government’s Women’s Enterprise Task Force. He was an inaugural member of the Postal Services Commission from 2000-2004, a board member with Open Text, and a Governor of the Peabody Trust.
[1] The Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 (Chapter 13) is available at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2009/ukpga_20090013_en_1
[2] House of Lords, Parliamentary Standards Bill: implications for Parliament and the courts Report (2009), p3, retrieved 10 December 2009 http://www.publication.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldselect/ldconst/134/134.pdf
[3] House of Commons Library, Parliamentary Standards Bill Research Paper 09/61 (25 June 2009), p25, retrieved 23 December 2009
[4] House of Commons Library, Parliamentary Standards Bill Research Paper 09/61 (25 June 2009), p5, retrieved 23 December 2009
[5] Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority appointment information is available at http://www.parliamentarystandards.org.uk/faqs.html
[6] Parliamentary Standards Act, Explanatory Notes (2009), p9, retrieved 10 December 2009 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2009/en/ukpgaen_20090013_en.pdf
[8] Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 (Chapter 13) s 2 (3)
[10] Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 (Chapter 13) s 9 (4) to (8)
[11] Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 (Chapter 13) s 9 (11) and (12)
[12] The House of Commons, The Code of Conduct together with The Guide to the Rules relating to the conduct of Members, p41, retrieved 15 December 2009 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmcode/735/735.pdf
[13] House of Lords, Parliamentary Standards Bill: implications for Parliament and the courts Report (2009), p10, retrieved 10 December 2009 http://www.publication.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldselect/ldconst/134/134.pdf
[15] House of Commons, Standing Order 149 Committee on Standards and Privileges is available at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmstords/405/40523.htm
[16] The Code of Conduct for MSPs is available at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/conduct/coc-v2-2.htm#top
[17] The Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Act 2002 is available at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2002/asp_20020016_en_1
[18] The Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner information is available at http://www.spsc.co.uk/who.htm
[19] Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Act 2002 s 3 (1)
[22] Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Act 2002 s 1 (2) to (5)
[23] Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Act 2002 s 7
[27] Standing Orders of the Scottish Parliament, Rule 6.4 is available at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/so/sto-3.htm
[28] The remit and responsibilities of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee is available at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/stanproc/responsibilities.htm
[29] The National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards Measure 2009 s 2 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/wales/mwa2009/pdf/mwa_20090004_en.pdf
[30] The National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards Measure 2009 s 6 (3)
[31] National Assembly for Wales, Draft Proposed Measure on Commissioner for Standards – Explanatory Memorandum, p 25, retrieved 15 December 2009 http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-home/bus-committees/bus-committees-other-committees/bus-committees-third-std-home/bus-committees-third-soc-project/soc_3_-sc2.htm
[32] The National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards Measure 2009 s 5
[33] National Assembly for Wales, Draft Proposed Measure on Commissioner for Standards – Explanatory Memorandum, p 3, retrieved 15 December 2009 http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-home/bus-committees/bus-committees-other-committees/bus-committees-third-std-home/bus-committees-third-soc-project/soc_3_-sc2.htm
[38] Committee on Standards of Conduct information is available at http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-home/bus-committees/bus-committees-other-committees/bus-committees-third-std-home.htm
[39] The National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards Measure 2009 s 13
[40] The National Assembly for Wales, Procedure for Dealing with Complaints against Assembly Members (2008), p8, retrieved 31 December 2009 http://www.assemblywales.org/memhome/mem-commissioner-standards/mem-complaint-procedure.htm
[41] National Assembly for Wales, Standing Order 16 Committee on Standards of Conduct is available at http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-docs-third-standingorders.pdf
[42] Standards in Public Office Commission information is available at http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/AboutUs/
[43] Information on the functions of the Standards Commission under the Electoral Acts is available at http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/AboutUs/Functions/
[44] Information on the functions of the Standards Commission under the Party Leaders Allowance Act is available at http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/AboutUs/Functions/
[45] The Standards in Public Office Commission investigation of complaints under the Ethics Acts http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/Complaints/ComplaintsProcedures/InvestigationofcomplaintsundertheEthicsActsandElectoralActs/
[46] The Standards in Public Office Act 2001 is available at http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2001/en/act/pub/0031/index.html
[47] Standards in Public Office Commission, Investigations under the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001 and the Local Government Act 2001 Statement of Intended Procedures (2006), p4, retrieved 21 December 2009 http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/GeneralPublications/InvestigationProtocol/
[48] The Standards in Public Office Act 2001 s 2 (2)
[49] The Standards in Public Office Act 2001 s 2 (2H)
[52] Standards in Public Office Commission, Investigations under the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001 and the Local Government Act 2001 Statement of Intended Procedures (2006), p12, retrieved 21 December 2009 http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/GeneralPublications/InvestigationProtocol/
[53] The Standards in Public Office Act 2001 s 17
[54] The Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 s 24 (1)
Briefing Paper – Assembly Commission
(1) On behalf of the Assembly Commission, we intend to provide an outline to the Committee of the background to Part 1 of the Bill and its general provisions. We are grateful for the opportunity to begin this process of engagement with the Committee in considering the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill.
(2) The issue of financial support for Members of this Assembly and for Members in other legislatures has been the focus of increased public and media scrutiny in recent years. A high level of criticism has been levelled at the lack of independence in the process for determining the salaries, allowances and pensions for Members. By bringing forward this Bill, the Assembly seeks to establish a wholly independent process for the determination of the future financial support requirements for MLA’s.
(3) On 4th May 2007, prior to the restoration of devolution, the Secretary of State wrote to the Chairman of the Review Body on Senior Salaries (SSRB) seeking its agreement to conduct a review of the existing structure for salaries, expenditure and pension benefits payable to Members and office holders of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
(4) The SSRB, which completed its report in November 2008, recommended that the Northern Ireland Assembly should commit to accepting the outcome of future independent reviews on salaries, allowances and pensions without modification, thereby respecting the impartiality of the external review process. This reflected the desire of Members to be distanced from deciding their own salaries and financial support arrangements. Indeed, in joint meetings between the Assembly Commission and Party Leaders there was a consensus view that a move to establish an independent body, in line with other legislatures, would be a positive step towards greater openness and transparency in this area.
(5) After considering this report, the Assembly Commission supported the recommendation that consideration should be given to the establishment of an independent mechanism for the future determination of salaries, pensions and financial support for Members.
(6) To take this forward the Assembly Commission recommended that an amendment to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 should be made to enable the Northern Ireland Assembly to delegate in its entirety the function of determining salaries, pensions and financial support to an independent statutory body.
The Legislative Framework
(7) The legal framework for determining and paying salaries, allowances, pensions and gratuities is governed by sections 47 and 48 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
(8) Section 48 allows for provision for the payment of pensions, gratuities and allowances to former Members or office holders to be delegated by the Northern Ireland Assembly. However, until recently, section 47, which governs the determination and payment of Members’ salaries and allowances, explicitly prevented the Northern Ireland Assembly from delegating the function of making a determination.
(9) The Northern Ireland Assembly Members Act 2010, which received Royal Assent on the 8th April 2010, amended sections 47 and 48 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and allows the Northern Ireland Assembly to continue to determine salaries and allowances in respect of Members or to delegate this function to an independent body. The Assembly Commission recommended that a Bill should be brought forward to establish an independent statutory body in its report entitled “Report on the Financial Support and Pensions for Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly" dated 22nd June 2010.
(10) The Assembly Commission launched a public consultation on 1st June 2010 inviting comments on the establishment of an independent body and on the functions, objectives, governance and budget arrangements of the body. Two responses were received, from Sinn Féin and CIPFA respectively.
(11) The Assembly Commission also conducted an equality screening exercise in respect of the proposal to establish an independent body and this screening exercise did not reveal any significant differential impact on any of the groups set out in section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
(12) Similar independent bodies have been established in Wales, namely the National Assembly for Wales Remuneration Board which was established by the National Assembly for Wales (Remuneration) Measure 2010 and in England, namely the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) which was established by the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009.
Overview of the Main Provisions of the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill
(13) The Bill is in two parts. Part 1 of the Bill will establish the Independent Financial Review Panel (the Panel) and Part 2 will establish the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards.
(14) The Panel will consist of a Chair and two other members and will have the power to determine all aspects of financial support in respect of Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly. This means that the Panel will determine the salaries and allowances payable to Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly under section 47 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and the pensions, gratuities and allowances payable to former Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and office holders under section 48 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.The Assembly Commission will retain the administration of the salaries and expenditure.
(15) The Panel is required to exercise its functions with a view to achieving a proper balance between the objective of ensuring probity, accountability and value for money with respect to the expenditure of public funds and the objective of securing an adequate level of remuneration for Members which allows them to discharge their functions effectively.
(16) Pursuant to clause 3 of the Bill, the Panel is independent and shall not, in the exercise of its functions, be subject to the direction or control of the Assembly or the Assembly Commission. In addition, the Panel is required to exercise its functions in an open and accessible manner.
(17) The Assembly Commission will be responsible for the appointment of the Panel members but Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly will not be members of the appointment panel. Each appointment will be for a term of five years.
(18) In order to ensure that the Panel is independent of Members, a broad range of connections to the Northern Ireland Assembly or individual Members will result in disqualification from eligibility. Schedule 1 of the Bill makes provision as to the persons who are disqualified from being appointed as or serving as Panel members.
(19) The appointment of a person as a Panel member ceases under the circumstances set out at clause 6 of the Bill. The Commission may dismiss a person from office on any of the grounds set out at clause 6 (2) of the Bill.
(20) The Panel is required to issue a Code of Conduct for its members under clause 7 of the Bill.
(21) Clause 8 and Schedule 2 of the Bill make administrative and financial provision about the Panel and Clause 9 requires the panel to provide an annual report to the Assembly Commission.
(22) The general rule will be that a determination will be made by the Panel only once in each Assembly. Further determinations may be made as necessary to take account of changes in the law and practice relating to pensions or exceptional circumstances. Unless there are changes in the law and practice relating to pensions or exceptional circumstances, there will not be a determination where there is less than a year between an ordinary general Assembly election and an extraordinary Assembly election.
(23) The Panel will be required, so far as is reasonably practicable; to make its determination before the election of the Assembly in relation to which the determination relates, although a determination will survive until a new determination is made replacing it. This will allow candidates and the electorate to know, in advance of an election, what financial support will be available to an elected candidate.
(24) The Panel must communicate the determination to the Assembly Commission as soon as reasonably practicable after it has been made and the Assembly Commission must publish the determination in full. The Assembly Commission cannot amend the determination.
(25) To ensure that the Panel operates in as cost effective way as possible, Schedule 2 of the Bill provides that the Assembly Commission must provide the Panel or ensure that the Panel is provided with such administrative support, including staff, services and accommodation as the Panel reasonably requires to discharge its functions. The Commission is however obliged to consult the Panel about such support to ensure that such provision, in particular the duties of the staff of the Assembly and the separation of the Panel’s work from the business of the Northern Ireland Assembly or of the Assembly Commission does not call into question the Panel’s independence.
(26) The Assembly Commission must pay such sums as are payable in accordance with the Panel members’ terms and conditions of appointment and pay any expenses properly incurred by the Panel.
(27) We will be recommending a small number of minor drafting amendments to Part 1 of the Bill – these will be submitted to the Committee for consideration prior to the informal clause by clause consideration due to take place on the 15th December 2010.
(28) A Delegated Powers Memorandum has been submitted to the Committee in respect of clause 5 (2) of the Bill.
(29) Financial costs in relation to the initial establishment of the Panel have been estimated at £15,000 based on the fair and open competition to recruit the three Panel members and start up office costs. It is estimated that the Panel could incur costs of up to a maximum of £100,000 in the first year of its establishment. The Panel would incur much more modest costs of £15,000 per annum in the other three years. It should be noted that both of these estimates include the cost of administrative support to the Panel but it is expected that this could be provided by existing staff of the Assembly Commission.
Briefing Paper - Committee on Standards
and Privileges
(1) The Committee on Standards and Privileges is grateful for the opportunity to begin this process of engagement with the Ad Hoc Committee in considering the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill. On behalf of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, it is intended that the Chairperson (Mr Declan O’Loan MLA) will provide an outline to the Ad-Hoc Committee of the background to Part 2 of the Bill and its general provisions. The Chairperson will be supported by the Clerk to the Committee on Standards and Privileges (Mr Paul Gill). The Senior Legal Adviser from the Assembly’s Legal Services (Ms Tara Caul) will also attend.
(2) All Members of the Assembly are required to comply with the requirements of the Assembly’s Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules Relating to the Conduct of Members (“the Code of Conduct"). The Assembly agreed a new Code of Conduct which came into effect in October 2009. Following this, the Committee on Standards and Privileges (“the Committee") began an inquiry into enforcing the Code of Conduct and the appointment of a Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards (“the Commissioner). The aim of the inquiry was to establish the most appropriate means of maintaining the Code of Conduct and handling alleged breaches in relation to it.
(3) The Assembly has had for a number of years an interim arrangement to ensure that allegations of misconduct by Assembly Members would be independently investigated. A previous Committee on Standards and Privileges had concluded that the Office of the Assembly Ombudsman was well placed and equipped to discharge the functions of the Commissioner on an interim basis. This interim arrangement is the arrangement that is still in place today and the current Committee is extremely grateful to the Ombudsman and his office for the diligent service that they have provided and continue to provide.
(4) As part of this inquiry the Committee considered models dealing with the investigation of allegations of misconduct by elected Members in other legislatures. It also carried out a consultation and received written submissions and oral evidence from key stakeholders. These helped the Committee to conclude that, in relation to handling alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct, it was appropriate that an independent Commissioner should carry out investigations into complaints; that the Committee should determine whether a breach had occurred; and the Assembly should impose sanctions where appropriate. The Committee also concluded that legislation was required and that the Commissioner’s role, powers and independence from the Assembly in respect of specific investigations should all be set out on a statutory basis. In addition, the Committee also agreed that the Commissioner should have the power to initiate an investigation if the Commissioner believes that a breach of the Code of Conduct may have occurred.
(5) The Assembly endorsed these conclusions when it approved the Committee’s report on the inquiry on 1 June 2010. The Committee on Standards and Privileges subsequently agreed that the necessary legislative provisions could be included in the bill being prepared by the Assembly Commission in respect of the Independent Financial Review Panel.
Overview of the Main Provisions of Part 2 of the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill
(6) The Bill is in two parts. Part 1 of the Bill will establish the Independent Financial Review Panel (the Panel) and Part 2 will establish the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards.
(7) Clause 16 provides for the Commissioner: the official title will be the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards. Clause 17 sets out the Commissioner’s functions as being to receive and investigate complaints and referrals concerning Members’ conduct, to initiate investigations, and to report the outcome to the Assembly. The Commissioner may also be asked to give advice on matters of general principle.
(8) There are therefore three different scenarios that can lead to the Commissioner carrying out an investigation. Firstly, there is the scenario of when a complaint is made to the Commissioner that a Member has breached the Code of Conduct. Secondly, there is the scenario of when a matter is referred to the Commissioner as per any agreed provision of Standing Orders. Thirdly, there is the scenario of the Commissioner initiating an investigation if the Commissioner believes that a breach of the Code of Conduct may have occurred.
(9) The general nature of the second scenario allows for the Commissioner to be a more wide-ranging investigative resource for the Assembly in relation to Members’ conduct. For example, the Assembly has already agreed that the Commissioner should be able to carry out investigations into matters relating to the conduct of Members on a referral from the Clerk/Director General in respect of issues relating to the Clerk/Director General’s role as Accounting Officer (e.g. a potential misuse by a Member of Assembly allowances). Standing Orders would have to be amended to provide for this. It is possible that in the future the Assembly might identify additional conduct issues that it wished the Commissioner to be able to investigate and, as long as Standing Orders were amended to allow for this to happen, the Commissioner would have the authority to carry out such investigations.
(10) The provision for the third scenario – which allows for the Commissioner to initiate his or her own investigation – was considered to be very important by the Committee. The Committee feels it is not acceptable that where there are significant, legitimate and evidential concerns in relation to the conduct of Members but where no formal complaint has been made that no investigation should be carried out. If there was no investigation in such circumstances it would undermine public confidence in the integrity of the Assembly.
(11) The Committee on Standards in Public Life share this view. When Sir Christopher Kelly gave evidence to the Committee during its inquiry he specifically recommended that a Commissioner should be able to initiate an investigation. An elected public representative should not be able to evade scrutiny in circumstances in which there is clearly a case to answer but where no complaint has been made.
(12) Clause 18 provides for the Commissioner’s independence. The independence of the Commissioner in carrying out investigations and coming to conclusions is a crucial aspect of the credibility of the accountability arrangements for Members. The Commissioner shall therefore not be subject to the direction or control of the Assembly, except to the extent allowed under Clause 24.
(13) Clause 24 requires the Commissioner to comply with directions given by the Assembly. It is envisaged that there will be two types of directions: those which will set a general procedural framework to ensure that the Commissioner carries out his or her functions in a consistent and procedurally fair manner; and those that will ensure that the Commissioner complies with codes of conduct etc and is open and transparent about financial and other interests. It is important to emphasise, however, that a direction under Clause 24 cannot in any way interfere with how the Commissioner carries out any specific investigation.
(14) Clause 19 provides for the Commissioner to be appointed by the Assembly for a term of five years. A person may only be appointed to serve as Commissioner once. The Assembly will be responsible for ensuring that the Commissioner is appointed by way of fair and open competition and for determining appointment criteria and the terms of appointment.
(15) In order to ensure that the Commissioner is both independent and seen to be independent, a broad range of connections to the Northern Ireland Assembly or individual Members will result in disqualification from eligibility. Schedule 3 (provided for by Clause 20 of the Bill) makes provision as to the persons who are disqualified from being appointed as or serving as the Commissioner.
(16) Clause 21 provides for the circumstances in which the Commissioner will cease to hold appointment or may be dismissed. Under certain circumstances, the Commissioner will automatically cease to hold office. The Assembly may also by resolution dismiss the Commissioner.
(17) Clause 22 and Schedule 4 of the Bill make administrative and financial provision about the Commissioner. Under Schedule 4 the Commission must provide the Commissioner with such administrative support, including staff, services and accommodation as the Commissioner reasonably requires. Schedule 4 also provides the Commissioner with a general power calculated to facilitate the discharge of the Commissioner’s functions. It also requires the Commissioner to provide the Commission with financial information and to lay an annual report before the Assembly.
(18) Clause 23 enables the Assembly to appoint an Acting Commissioner to discharge any or all of the Commissioner’s functions, if for some reason the Commissioner is unable to act. The disqualifications applicable to the Commissioner will apply also to the Acting Commissioner and the clause also provides for the Acting Commissioner’s resignation and removal.
(19) Clause 25 provides for the Commissioner to determine the procedure and timing for any specific investigation and reporting its outcome to the Assembly, albeit with an agreed general procedural framework set out in a direction under Clause 24. Clause 26 allows the Assembly (in practice, the Committee on Standards and Privileges), following receipt of a report from the Commissioner, to be able to request the Commissioner to carry out further investigations. However, the Commissioner does not have to carry out further investigation if the Commissioner concludes that such investigation would be unnecessary.
(20) Clause 27 provides that a report by the Commissioner may make recommendations, but will not be able to recommend the imposition of a specific sanction on any Member. The clause also provides for the Commissioner’s reports to be published.
(21) Clause 28 provides for the Commissioner to have the power to require witnesses to attend and give evidence or to provide documents in similar manner to the power of the Northern Ireland Assembly. A prospective witness will therefore not be obliged to answer a question or produce a document which would not have to be answered or produced in court. Clause 31 provides for there to be a number of offences in relation to refusals to provide or otherwise failing to give evidence in accordance with a request under Clause 28. Maximum penalties for an offence under this clause will be a fine up to level 5 (£5,000) on the standard scale or three months’ imprisonment. There is provision for the prosecution of company directors who have consented to non-compliance by a company.
(22) Clause 32 provides that, for the purposes of the law of defamation, statements by the Commissioner will attract absolute privilege and statements to the Commissioner will have qualified privilege.
(23) Clause 22 provides that information disclosed to the Commissioner in the course of an investigation will not be disclosed by or on behalf of the Commissioner except for the purpose of enabling the Commissioner to discharge functions or in connection with the investigation or prosecution of an offence.
(24) It is likely that the Committee will be recommending a small number of minor drafting amendments and clarifications to Part 2 of the Bill – these would be submitted to the Committee for consideration prior to the informal clause by clause consideration due to take place on the 15th December 2010.
(25) A Delegated Powers Memorandum has been submitted to the Committee in respect of Clause 20 (2) and Clause 38 (2) of the Bill.
(26) Financial costs in relation to the initial establishment of the Commissioner have been estimated at £10,000 based on the fair and open competition to recruit the Commissioner and start up office costs. The annual recurring costs of the Commissioner are expected to total £25,000 based on the current level of investigations. It should be noted that this estimate includes the cost of administrative support to the Commissioner but it is expected that this could be provided by existing staff of the Assembly Commission.
The Committee on Standards and Privileges
The Committee on Standards and Privileges is appointed by the House of Commons to oversee the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards; to examine the arrangements proposed by the Commissioner for the compilation, maintenance and accessibility of the Register of Members’ Interests and any other registers of interest established by the House; to review from time to time the form and content of those registers; to consider any specific complaints made in relation to the registering or declaring of interests referred to it by the Commissioner; to consider any matter relating to the conduct of Members, including specific complaints in relation to alleged breaches in the Code of Conduct which have been drawn to the Committee’s attention by the Commissioner; and to recommend any modifications to the Code of Conduct as may from time to time appear to be necessary.
Current membership
Rt hon Kevin Barron MP (Labour, Rother Valley) (Chair)
Sir Paul Beresford MP (Conservative, Mole Valley)
Annette Brooke MP (Liberal Democrat, Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Rt hon Tom Clarke MP (Labour, Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Mr Geoffrey Cox MP (Conservative, Torridge and West Devon)
Mr Jim Cunningham MP (Labour, Coventry South)
Matthew Hancock MP (Conservative, West Suffolk)
Mr Oliver Heald MP (Conservative, North East Hertfordshire)
Heather Wheeler MP (Conservative, South Derbyshire)
Dr Alan Whitehead MP (Labour, Southampton Test)
The constitution and powers of the Committee are set out in Standing Order No. 149. In particular, the Committee has power to order the attendance of any Member of Parliament before the committee and to require that specific documents or records in the possession of a Member relating to its inquiries, or to the inquiries of the Commissioner, be laid before the Committee. The Committee has power to refuse to allow its public proceedings to be broadcast.
The Law Officers, if they are Members of Parliament, may attend and take part in the Committee’s proceedings, but may not vote.
The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at: www.parliament.uk/sandp.
Committee staff
The current staff of the Committee are Mr Steve Priestley (Clerk),
Miss Rhiannon Hollis (Second Clerk) and Ms Jane Cooper (Committee Assistant).
All correspondence should be addressed to The Clerk of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, Journal Office, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 6615.
Power of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to initiate investigations
The case for a new power
Possible adverse consequences and how to avoid them
Formal minutes
1. In its Twelfth Report, published in November 2009, the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) recommended that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards should have power to initiate an investigation into whether a Member may have breached the rules of the House or the Code of Conduct, without receiving a complaint.1 At present, the Commissioner may investigate a matter only after receiving a formal complaint or, in exceptional circumstances and with the agreement of this Committee, at the request of the Member concerned.2 Both the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards and the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) Compliance Officer have the power to investigate a matter without receiving a formal complaint.
2. The CSPL argued that “it would be sensible to increase the powers of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards by allowing him or her to conduct investigations proactively without waiting for a formal complaint."3 It did not elaborate on why the change would be “sensible", but our predecessor Committee did not dissent from this view and neither do we.4 There would appear to be no logic in the House of Commons’ Commissioner having fewer powers to initiate investigations than are possessed by his counterparts.
3. In addition, it is necessary in our view that the Commissioner should be able to carry out an inquiry pursuant to a finding by the Compliance Officer that a Member has breached the current House of Commons Allowances Scheme. Under the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 as amended, the Compliance Officer has power to require reimbursement by a Member of sums that have wrongly been paid to him. The Compliance Officer also has limited powers to recover costs, although neither the Compliance Officer nor IPSA have power to impose a Parliamentary sanction on a Member, such as suspension of salary or suspension from the service of the House. Neither may they require a Member to apologise in person, on the floor of the House. Only the House may impose such a sanction. It does so following a recommendation to that effect by this Committee.
4. We therefore see a need for the Commissioner, who is independent of the Committee, to be able to form a view, if necessary following an investigation, as to whether a case reported on by the Compliance Officer may have involved a breach of the rules of the House or of the Code of Conduct. We anticipate that the Compliance Officer will wish to refer to the Commissioner any case which in his judgment raises issues which the House should be invited to consider. However, the decision whether to carry out an investigation into a possible breach should be for the Commissioner, who should base his decision, as he bases his decisions in relation to complaints, on whether there is sufficient evidence to justify taking the matter further. Where he finds that there has been a breach of the rules of the House or of the Code of Conduct, he will be able to make a report to this Committee, so that we may decide what if any Parliamentary sanction to recommend to the House.
5. The change we are proposing to the Standing Order would also bring the Standing Order into line with the procedure approved by the House in the Guide to the Rules, which allows the Commissioner in exceptional circumstances to accept, with the agreement of the Committee, a request by a Member for an investigation into an allegation against him or her in the absence of a complaint.5 If the proposed change is made, the Commissioner will be able, if he sees fit, to accept a Member’s request as providing sufficient evidence to justify taking the matter further. Nonetheless, we suggest that the Commissioner should still seek the agreement of the Committee before he accepts a Member’s self-referral request. Investigations into matters referred by the Member concerned should continue to be undertaken in exceptional circumstances only, which would normally relate to the seriousness of the allegation against the Member. We do not wish the Commissioner’s resources to be monopolised by Members seeking to clear their names against allegations that may lack substance.
6. Our predecessor Committee drew attention to the possibility that providing the Commissioner with a power to initiate investigations in the absence of a complaint might require a significant increase in the resources available to him.6 We agree that there is a risk that the creation of a power for the Commissioner to initiate investigations might encourage public expectations that each and every media report alleging impropriety by a Member will be fully investigated or that the Commissioner will go on fishing expeditions for evidence of breaches. The resource implications of this would, indeed, be potentially enormous. There is also a risk that the effectiveness of the Commissioner’s operations would be damaged. We are concerned to avoid such a situation arising.
7. Our predecessors recognised this danger by observing that it would be particularly important for there to be a firm evidential basis for any decision by the Commissioner to carry out an investigation in the absence of a complaint. We agree, and our proposed amendment to the Standing Order takes full account of this important requirement. Nonetheless, we trust that the House will continue to provide the Commissioner with the resources he needs to discharge fully the responsibilities placed upon him and we would expect him to inform us immediately were he to feel that necessary resources were lacking.
8. We recommend that Standing Order No 150 be amended, by leaving out paragraph (1)(e) and inserting in its place:
(e) to investigate, if he thinks fit, specific matters which have come to his attention relating to the conduct of Members and to report to the Committee on Standards and Privileges or to an appropriate sub-committee thereof unless the provisions of paragraph (3) apply.
(2A) In determining whether to investigate a specific matter relating to the conduct of a Member the Commissioner shall have regard to whether in his view there is sufficient evidence that the Code of Conduct or the rules relating to registration or declaration of interests may have been breached to justify taking the matter further.
Members present:
Mr Kevin Barron, in the Chair
Sir Paul Beresford
Mr Tom Clarke
Mr Oliver Heald
Heather Wheeler
Dr Alan Whitehead
Draft Report (Power of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to initiate investigations), proposed by the Chair, brought up and read.
Ordered, That the Chair’s draft Report be read a second time, paragraph by paragraph.
Paragraphs 1 to 8 read and agreed to.
Resolved, That the Report, as amended, be the Seventh Report of the Committee to the House.
Ordered, That the Chair make the Report to the House.
[Adjourned till Tuesday 16 November at 9.30 am
Amendments to Part 1 -
Amendments Proposed by the Assembly Commission to Part 1 of the Bill
Clause 11 (6), Page 4, line 37
Leave out “this Act" and insert “this Part"
Clause 13 (2) (a), Page 6, line 14
Leave out “such"
Schedule 5, paragraph 1, page 20, line 13
Leave out “the Schedule" and insert “Schedule 1"
Correspondence from the Committee on Standards and Privileges
Commissioner for Standards
Room 284, Parliament Buildings
Proposed Amendments to Clause 17: Functions of the Commissioner
17.—(1) The functions of the Commissioner are—
(a) where a person has made a complaint or referral to which subsection (2) applies, to investigate the complaint or referral in accordance with the provisions of this Part;
(b) to initiate an investigation in accordance with the provisions of this Part if the Commissioner believes that, at a relevant time, a breach of the Code of Conduct may have occurred;
(c) to report to the Assembly on the outcome of any investigation under this section; and
(d) on the Commissioner’s own initiative, or if requested by the Assembly, to give advice on any matter of general principle relating to standards of conduct of members of the Assembly.
(2) This subsection applies to—
(a) a complaint to the Commissioner that, at a relevant time, a breach of the Code of Conduct has occurred;
(b) a referral to the Commissioner made by any person specified in the standing orders as being a person who may make referrals in relation to any matter specified in the standing orders as being a matter in respect of which the Commissioner must carry out an investigation.
(3) In this section—
“the Code of Conduct" means—
(a) any code of conduct for members of the Assembly, and
(b) any guide to the rules relating to the conduct of members of the Assembly,
which has been agreed to by the Assembly; and
a “relevant time" means a time (whether before or after this section comes into operation) when the requirement to comply with the Code of Conduct was in force.
Proposed Amendments to Clause 31: Offences
31. -(1) Subject to section 28(3), a person to whom a notice has been given under section 29(1) who -
(a) refuses or fails to attend before the Commissioner as required by the notice;
(b) refuses or fails, when attending before the Commissioner as required by the notice, to answer any question concerning any matter specified in the notice;
(c) intentionally alters, suppresses, conceals or destroys any document required to be produced by the notice; or
(d) refuses or fails to produce any such document,
is guilty of an offence.
(2) Any person who refuses to take an oath when required to do so under section 30 is guilty of an offence.
(3) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1)(a), (b) or (d) or subsection (2) to prove that the person had a reasonable excuse for the refusal or failure.
(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction -
(a) to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale; or
(b) to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 3 months.
Proposed Amendments to Clause 34: Transitional provisions
34. -(1) This section applies to any complaint or matter which on the day on which section 17 comes into operation -
(a) has been referred to the Assembly Commissioner for Standards; and
(b) is, or but for the provisions of this Part would be, the subject of an investigation by that Commissioner under Standing Order 69A.
(2) On the day on which section 17 comes into operation, any complaint or matter to which this section applies shall be transferred to the Commissioner and -
(a) shall be deemed to have been referred to the Commissioner under section 17; and
(b) Part 2 shall apply to any such matter.
(3) All information which has been obtained by or made available to the Assembly Commissioner for Standards in connection with a complaint or matter to which this section applies shall be transferred or made available to the Commissioner and shall be treated as if it had been received by the Commissioner on a referral under section 17.
(4) In this section “Assembly Commissioner for Standards" means the Assembly Commissioner for Standards established under Standing Order 69A(1).
Proposed Amendment to Paragraph 6 of Schedule 4: Financial Prudence
6. -(1) The Commissioner shall, in relation to any liability which the Commission may be required to discharge under paragraph 4, 5 or 9(b) or (c), consult the Commission and must do so -
(a) if reasonably practicable, before incurring the liability in question,
(b) if not, as soon thereafter as is reasonably practicable.
(2) The Commissioner’s duty to consult the Commission under sub -paragraph (1) may be discharged in relation to a liability either -
(a) by providing the Commission with particulars of the liability in question, or
(b) by notifying the Commission that liabilities may be incurred of such description and maximum total amount as may be specified in the notification.
(3) The Commissioner shall have regard to any representations which the Commission may make when consulted under sub-paragraph (1).
Amendments to Schedules 1 and 3 - Disqualifications
To: Shauna Mageean, Clerk to the Ad Hoc Committee
From: Paul Gill, Clerk to the Committee on Standards and Privileges
Tara Caul, Senior Legal Adviser
Subject: Amendments to Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review
and Standards) Bill
1. Further to the meeting on 13 December 2010 of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Assembly Members (Independent Financial Review and Standards) Bill, you wrote to us. You advised that the Ad Hoc Committee had indicated that it wished to see the definition of a family member (used in schedules 1 and 3 of the bill) amended. You provided us with a suggested amendment to which the Ad Hoc Committee had indicated assent. Although this suggested amendment did not include the words “whether of the full of half blood", you acknowledged a point which had been made earlier about why these words might be included.
2. The Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges have considered the Ad Hoc Committee’s suggested amendment and both have agreed to table amendments to this effect to schedules 1 and 3 of the bill respectively (albeit with the inclusion of the words “whether of the full of half blood"). The amendment is set out in tracked changes in Appendix 1 of this memo
3. A further issue which arose during the committee meeting on 13 December was instances where there have been similar legislative definitions of family members. A paper has been prepared on this issue and is included at Appendix 2 of this memo.
4. Finally, we wish to draw your attention to a further amendment which the Assembly Commission and Committee on Standards and Privileges have agreed to table respectively to schedules 1 and 3 of the bill. Work is underway to make provision for the Attorney General for Northern Ireland to be able to participate in proceedings of the Assembly. One aspect of this work is providing for the Attorney General to have the same duties as members in respect of the requirement to register interests and declare interests, and to be prohibited in the same way as members from advocating any matter on behalf of anyone else for a payment or benefit.
5. The Committee on Standards and Privileges has agreed with the Attorney General that that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards should be able to investigate an alleged breach by the Attorney General of any these duties. This will be provided for in standing orders. However, this being the case, the Committee on Standards and Privileges has agreed that it is appropriate that the Attorney General should be disqualified from being the Commissioner, in the same way as a member of the Assembly is disqualified from being the Commissioner. The Assembly Commission has also agreed to include the Attorney General in the schedule of those persons disqualified from being a Panel member. The full detail of the agreed amendment is also included in Appendix 1 of this memo.
6. We are happy to provide further detail on the issues in this memo at the committee on 17 January 2011.
Paul Gill
Clerk to the Committee on Standards and Privileges
Tara Caul
Senior Legal Adviser
Amended definition of family member in Schedules 1 and 3 of the Bill as agreed by the Assembly Commission and the Committee on Standards and Privileges:
“family member" means—
(a) parent, child, grandparent, grandchild;
(b) brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece (whether of the full or half blood);
(c) spouse or any person related to a spouse in any of the ways set out in sub paragraphs (a) or (b);
(d) civil partner or any person related to a civil partner in any of the ways set out in sub paragraphs (a) or (b); and
(e) cohabitant or any person related to a cohabitant in any of the ways set out in sub paragraphs (a) or (b);
Additional persons to be added to both Schedules 1 and 3 of the Bill, respectively disqualifying persons from being appointed or serving as Panel Members or as the Commissioner:
The Attorney General for Northern Ireland;
A person who has been the Attorney General for Northern Ireland at any time in the 5 years prior to the date when the appointment is to take effect.
Ad Hoc Committee - 17Th January 2011
Examples of Legislative Definitions of “Family Member" and “Relative"
1. The Northern Ireland Assembly (Members Expenditure) Determination 2010
Family member in relation to a member means:
A spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner of the member or
A parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece of the member or of his spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner.
2. The Caravans Bill
15(2) For the purposes of this Act a person is a member of another’s family if that person is-
(a) The other’s spouse, civil partner, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece, or
(b) They live together as husband and wife or as if they were civil partners.
(3) For the purposes of subsection 2 (a)-
(a) any relationship by marriage or civil partnership is to be treated as a relationship by blood,
(b) any relationship of the half blood is to be treated as a relationship of the whole blood, and
(c) the stepchild of any person is to be treated as the child of that person.
3. Clause 48C of The Palliative Care (Scotland) Bill (As Introduced)
48C Interpretation of Part IIIA
(a) parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, great grandparent or great grandchild (whether by blood or by adoption);
(b) brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, great uncle, great aunt, great nephew or great niece (whether of the full or half blood or by adoption);
(c) spouse or any person related to a spouse in any of the ways set out above;
(d) civil partner or any person related to a civil partner in any of the ways set out above;
(e) cohabitant or any person related to a cohabitant in any of the ways set out above.
4. Clause 12 of The End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill (As Introduced)
“relative" means—
(d) civil partner or any person related to a civil partner in any of the ways set out above.
5. Ipsa Guidance to the Mps’ Expenses Scheme
Para 4.17 A “connected party" is defined as:
a spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner of the member;
parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece of the member or of a spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner of the member; or
an individual or organisation where there exists a relationship as set out in the Companies Act 2006.
6. Section 71 of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003
71 Meaning of “family"
(1) For the purposes of section 70(8) (d), who the members of a person’s family are is to be in accordance with subsections (2) and (3).
(2) A person (“AG") is a member of another person’s family if—
(a) AG is the person’s spouse [or civil partner] or AG and the person live together as husband and wife or in a relationship which has the characteristics of the relationship between husband and wife except that AG and the person are of the same sex; or
(b) AG is the person’s parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, sibling, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or cousin.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) (b)—
(a) a relationship by marriage [or by virtue of civil partnership] is to be treated as a relationship by blood;
(b) a relationship of the half-blood is to be treated as a relationship of the whole blood;
(c) if AG is—
(i) the stepchild of the person, AG is to be treated as the person’s child;
(ii) the step-parent of the person, AG is to be treated as the person’s parent;
(d) if AG is brought up or treated by the person as if the person’s child, AG is to be treated as the person’s child.
Disqualification of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland and Amendments to Definition of Family Member.
Disqualification Of The Attorney General For Northern Ireland From Membership Of The Panel And From Being Appointed As Or Serving As The Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner For Standards
Schedule 1, paragraph 1, page 15, after line 27, insert-
(r) a person who has been Attorney General for Northern Ireland at any time in the five years prior to the date when the appointment is to take effect.
Schedule 3, paragraph 1, page 17, after line 34 insert
(t) a person who has been Attorney General for Northern Ireland at any time in the five years prior to the date when the appointment is to take effect.
Definition of Family Member
Schedule 1, paragraph 3, page 16, leave out lines 5 and 6 and insert-
(a) Parent, child, grandparent or grandchild;
Schedule 1, para 3, page 16, leave out lines 7 and 8 and insert-
Schedule 1, para 3, page 16, line 9
Schedule 1, para 3, page 16, line 10
Schedule 3, para 3, page 18, leave out lines 9 and 10 and insert-
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Worcester County Public Schools
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Snow Hill Middle School » About SHMS » Faculty & Staff Directory » Electives
Annette Austin
My name is Annette N. Austin, and I have been teaching Family & Consumer Science/Health at Snow Hill Middle School for 13 of my 27 years. I received my Associate of Arts & Sciences degree from the Eastern Shore Community College, my Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics Education from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and my Master of Science degree in Family Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park.
I love working with my students and my work team! I have three god children and, in my spare time, I enjoy baking, singing, traveling, planning programs, spending time with family and friends, and church!
Michael Shumate
Michael Shumate graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Physical Education from Salisbury University in 2017. He is in his third year of teaching. He taught one year of Special Education in Somerset County before teaching Physical Education at S.H.M.S. He enjoys playing sports, hunting, and fishing.
Charlotte Tribbett
Mrs. Tribbett graduated in 2009 from Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor's of Music in Music Education. She began teaching at SHMS in 2011. When she's not teaching, Mrs. Tribbett enjoys cooking, traveling, and rooting for the New York Football Giants.
Heather Shockley
6th - 8th Grade Art
Heather Shockley earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Salisbury University, and a Masters of Arts in Teaching from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. In her eleventh year of teaching visual art she inspires students, grades four through eight, at Snow Hill Middle. Art is a universal platform for all to learn and Shockley works tirelessly to build positive relationships that fosters rich discussion and creativity. She is a team leader, a member of the School Improvement team, a yearbook advisor, advisor for the National Junior Arts honor Society, and an artist.
Terrie Ward
Terrie graduated from the University of Maryland College Park in 1983. She received her Master's Degree from Salisbury University in 1990. She continued and completed her plus 30 in the fall of 2013. Terrie has taught a total of 34 years in 3 different schools North Accomack in VA (1984), Pocomoke Middle (1990), and Snow Hill Middle School (2000). She and Mr. Ward raised their 2 children Barry and Taylor on their 54 acre farm. Mrs. Ward LOVES the beach. It is her very favorite place. Her first grandchild is Weston Lee.
Beau Williams
School Library Media Specialist
Beau Williams is in his 16th year of teaching. He taught 8th grade social studies at SHMS for 12 years, spent two years as Curriculum Resource Teacher at PHS, and has returned as Media Specialist at SHMS and is in his second year in the position. His reading interests include Young Adult, Middle Grade and Children’s novels, science fiction, historical fiction, and verse novels. He is a champion of Project Lit and advocates for the Maryland Black Eyed Susan reading program.
Jerri Mattingly-Freeman
World Language Teacher
Jerri has her Master's Degree in Secondary Education from Salisbury University and a Bachelor's degree in Spanish from the College of Charleston. She has been teaching since 2010, but began teaching at SHMS in 2014. When she is not teaching, Jerri and her husband enjoy taking their children, Harper and Willow, to the beach and playground.
Denis Jenkins
Project Lead the Way Teacher
Dana Kaycon
Chorus and General Music Teachers
Dana Kacyon graduated from West Chester University for Music Education and Music Composition. He plays piano, sings, plays guitar, and loves conducting choir. He has a blast directing the SHMS Glee Club. Dana also enjoys board games and sings in the Salisbury Chorale.
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Johnson one clear at halfway stage of Northern Trust
10th August 2019, 09:18 by Chris Rivers
Dustin Johnson leads the Northern Trust by one shot after two rounds and is optimistic about his chances heading into the weekend.
The 36-year-old started Friday one shot behind overnight leader Troy Merritt but, despite dropping a shot at his first hole, ended the day on top after shooting a four-under 67.
A two-time winner of the opening tournament of the FedEx Cup play-offs, the world no.2 was in fine form during his second round, missing several more opportunities for birdies.
However, Johnson brushed off the disappointment of having failed to go lower, claiming confidence levels are high after a strong start to his campaign at Liberty National.
"I feel like I'm swinging it really well," he said. "I've got a lot of control with the golf ball and hitting a lot of really nice shots and rolled in a couple of putts today which is nice, but still feel like I left quite a few out there.
"I'm in a good position heading into the weekend, and if I can keep swinging the way I am, I think it's going to be a good weekend."
Johnson sits on 12-under heading into Saturday, one shot clear of Jordan Spieth after he mixed eight birdies with a single bogey to sign for a seven-under 64.
Merritt, Patrick Reed and Jon Rahm are part of a group one shot further back on 10-under, while Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy are firmly in contention sitting three shots behind Johnson heading into the weekend.
Chris Rivers is an experienced reporter who closely follows both Arsenal and Wales Rugby Union team. As well as in-depth football and rugby knowledge, Chris is an avid American Football, Formula One and boxing fan.
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humanities and communities
We communicate more today than at any time in history, yet we’re growing more isolated. To know what it means to live well requires face-to-face contact. It requires human collision. And how do we do that? By strengthening communities through the practice of public humanities.
Learn more about humanities and communities here.
The Humanities in NYC
The humanities are usually seen as a subject, however, the effects of humanities occur in everyday life. Recently in New York City, a Girl Scout Troop was established in a homeless shelter located in Queens known as Troop 6000. The troop will soon expand to 14 other shelters and is expected to serve about 500 girls. Troop 6000 currently has 27 members with growth in sight.
The impact and positive influence this troop brings to these young girls is incredible. Girl Scouts teach young girls consistency, community and the importance of humanity.
In an article by the New York Times, one of the girls in the troop, Sanna (age 9), said the girls take pride in wearing the uniforms, earning badges, and especially being pioneers of their troop.
This troop is evidence that the humanities intertwine with our every day lives and how important they are to the people around us. This troop will affect the future of homeless care for younger citizens. They have shown us a way to move forward. They have shown us how the humanities play an important role in our everyday lives.
To read the full article and learn more, click here
coffee & questions - historic curiosity
Each month, The Stone House Center for Public Humanities interviews a humanities scholar or community member and asks them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our new blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.
Our guest this month is Margaret Hewitt, Special Collections Librarian at the Butler Area Public Library. She grew up in Michigan, and received her BA from Alma College and MA in Public History from Duquesne University. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Library Association and Society of American Archivists, and is on the Community Advisory Board of the Stone House Center for Public Humanities.
What inspires you in your current position/role?
The daily interaction with patrons, because it is a new experience every day. Working at a public library, I help a wide range of people daily, from middle schoolers through octogenarians, and there’s no typical question. While most researchers coming to my department are doing family history, I get everyone from history students learning about primary sources for the first time to graduate students to new homeowners researching their house history to professors out of state. With all my researchers, finding the document or personal story that ignites the spark of interest in history is my passion -- the moment where the lightbulb goes off and someone can look beyond seeing history as a sterile list of names and dates, but the ongoing lived experiences of real people. It might be something as simple as talking for a moment about how expensive a 10cent garment advertised in a historic newspaper really was for a working person, or delving further into the historic context of the pages of an estate. I believe that if you can lead someone to empathize with the experiences that an ancestor went through or marvel at the accomplishments of a local historic figure, it opens up the opportunity for further historic curiosity and empathy for others in the world at large today.
What work experiences (past or present) have been the most educational for you, and why?
My first archival job post-grad school was for a small historical society. While they had been actively collecting documents for decades, they had never had a staff person before, so there were no finding aids and no prior organization of any kind -- I was starting from zero with a giant backlog. In school, you learn to handle collections in ideal situations, where every organization has enough staff/time/resources for their collection, but we all know those rarely exist! I valued the experience because it was truly in-the-trenches, creating an organizational hierarchy from scratch and finding the best way to store and conserve a wide range of materials on a limited budget. The collection was full of unknown surprises too, as I found everything from an 18th century land warrant for the first settler who named the town (cool) to nitrate film negatives (exciting but scary, as the material is extremely flammable, and can even self-ignite if
the film has started to degrade).
What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you (hobby, skill, interesting story)?
I love a physical challenge, and where I lack in muscle I probably overcompensate in tenacity. My fiancé and I try to hike a national park each year, and climbing the final mile rock scramble at the top of Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah was an unforgettable experience. I did a Tough Mudder with a group of family and friends, which was 12 miles of running interspersed with smart activities like jumping through fire and crawling down into rain-flooded muddy tunnels. Last year I took on my hardest--and possibly craziest--challenge yet by completing a GoRuck Tough. The Tough is a 12 hour endurance event (overnight, no less) of team-building and physical challenges based on special forces training. Participants are led by a cadre, carry a weighted pack and other team weights through the entire event, and are pushed to their mental and physical limits. I looked like I’d lost a fight with a cat in a washing machine by the end, soaked, scratched, and bruised, but it felt amazing to come through the end and I’m eyeing the calendar to sign up for another.
What shows are you currently binge-watching?
Game of Thrones, like everyone else in the world. I went as the Hound to a Halloween party this year. We watch Seinfeld reruns every night without fail. And I’ve started getting into the Great British Bake-Off. It isn’t a tv show, but I’m binge-listening to the My Favorite Murder podcast.
What is your first thought in the morning and last thought at night?
I’m a night owl who is terrible at being still and doing nothing, and I never feel satisfied with what I’ve crammed into a day, so the last thing I think at night is inevitably “one more chapter,” “one more section of this embroidery project,” “one more article,” or “one more episode.” As a result, my first thought in the morning is usually a desperate plea for coffee and regret that once again I didn’t get more sleep.
What's a book you've always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to?
Top of the list right now are Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, and finishing Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton.
Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed our previous interview with Wes Davis, Director of Development for West End Neighborhood House, a community center located in Wilmington, DE, click HERE.
coffee & Questions - practical input
Our guest this month is Wes Davis, Director of Development for West End Neighborhood House, a community center located in Wilmington, DE. Wes currently serves on the board of the Brandywine Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and was recently elected as the organization's treasurer. Wes earned a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from the University of Delaware in 2000, as well as a Master's Degree in document translation from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in 2006. In 2014, he became a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), and in 2015 completed a certificate course in Non-Profit Management through the University of Delaware.
What inspires you in your current position/role?
The innovative nature of where I work inspires me the most. We have an incredible team who is always looking for creative ways to solve our community's most pressing problems. Plus, helping those in need is a worthwhile endeavor that is intrinsically motivating.
What work experiences (past or present) have been the most educational for you, and why? Differences in management style between organizations has been the most educational component of my experience. It taught me the importance of reputation in personal and organizational success, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of both authoritarian and autonomous leadership styles.
What project(s) are you currently working on?
Developing passive income streams to help support the ongoing operating costs of my organization. These expenses are the most difficult to fund and current sources continue to cap their support for this purpose or reduce the amount of funding they provide overall in this area.
Why do you believe that the humanities are important to everyone, and not just people in academia?
Humanities (viewed through the lens of community and social services) are important to everyone because of the real-world, practical impact on everyone. For example, government agencies contract with not-for-profit organizations to do the work they are not trained in or capable of accomplishing on their own. They often rely heavily on these local organizations' expertise and the trust and deep, long-standing relationships they have developed with their communities.
Guns, Germs & Steel
Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed our previous interview with CPH Student Assistant, Julia Null, click HERE.
coffee & questions - a world beyond ourselves
Our guest this month is Jason M. Kelly, Director of the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute and an Associate Professor of British History in the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. He is a Visiting Research Fellow at Newcastle University and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
Dr. Kelly received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and is the author of The Society of Dilettanti: Archaeology and Identity in the British Enlightenment (Yale University Press and the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2010).
As Director of the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute, Dr. Kelly supports IUPUI’s research mission by directing the IAHI grant programs, identifying and fostering transdisciplinary research collaborations, and organizing research workshops and symposia. He also acts as a liaison to the Indianapolis community, and in this capacity facilitates collaborative endeavors including performances, lectures, and research projects.
Dr. Kelly’s research projects focus on the histories of the environment, human rights, art. His current book project is A History of the Anthropocene, a deep history of human-nature relations. He leads a major international collaborative project, Rivers of the Anthropocene, which brings together scientists, humanists, and policy makers to study global river systems and policy since 1750. He directs The Cultural Ecologies Project, a public research program and PhD track that works with community stakeholders to examine cultural interventions across multiple scales — from the personal to the neighborhood to the city level. He also directs Digital Freetown, an immersive, virtual reality educational environment focusing on African American history.
Dr. Kelly is also the recipient of the IUPUI Research Trailblazers Award (2013), two IU Trustees Teaching Awards (2011, 2008), and the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI Student Council Outstanding Academic Adviser Award (2010).
My biggest inspiration comes from working with the many local communities beyond campus. One project that I am particularly excited about is our Cultural Ecologies project, which asks the question: how do cultural interventions transform cities? There are several components of this project including assessment and evaluation research, a PhD track, and a public seminar. From its conception, members of the community have been actively involved, and because of this, we’ve developed increasingly close working relationships with community partners. Our seminar, "The Ethics, Values, and Practices of Public Art in Urban Contexts” is a great example. It has brought together faculty, students, local artists, and art organizations to talk about the role that art plays in making communities. We’ve tackled some big questions about class, race, gentrification, and more. Beginning in Fall 2017, we will have several new PhD students whose coursework includes long-term internships in local cultural organizations, helping them develop solutions to the challenges that they face.
I have had lots of jobs over the years: park ranger, HVAC installation and repair, day care, apartment manager, and many more. I’ve learned something from each of them. But, I have to say that by current job has been the most educational. It’s taught me to think more about what we mean when we talk about “scholarship.” It’s led me to be a much more creative researcher.
In addition to the Cultural Ecologies Project, which I mention above, I direct the Rivers of the Anthropocene (RoA) project. RoA is a transdisciplinary research network of dozens of humanists, scientists, artists, social scientists, policy makers, and community organizers from eight different countries who focus on global water systems. In addition to holding regular symposia, this project supports a number of research endeavors, including Voices from the Waterways (an oral history project) and the Museum of the Anthropocene (a series of exhibitions that will begin popping up in 2018). In relation to RoA, I am writing a book _A History of the Anthropocene_. I am the lead editor on an edited volume, _Rivers of the Anthropocene_ that comes out this fall. And, we have two more edited volumes in production.
In addition to the joy that the humanities bring to everyday life, I think the humanities are important because they hold us accountable. They help us imagine a world beyond ourselves, to consider the effects that we have on other people across distance and time. And, they ask us to justify our choices in multiple ways — ethically, historically, socially.
I don’t know how surprising it is, but I love to tend to our garden — and especially make it inviting to animals, which at the moment includes a fox, several Cooper’s Hawks, a Great Horned Owl, lots of songbirds, a few frogs, dragonflies, and butterflies. Visiting the garden is like entering a Beatrix Potter book sometimes.
Don’t check your email.
What is the worst job that you had while working through your degree and what would you tell your past self now?
I was very fortunate to have good jobs while working through my degrees. The hardest job though was installing ductwork in attics in the middle of the summer. Temperatures could get unbearable. We would be sweating and covered in fiberglass fibers, which got under our skin and itched and burned. But, I had a good boss and worked with a great crew. We were all in it together, which meant that event the hardest work wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
I would give my past self the same advice that I would give myself now. It’s the same advice a wise friend once gave me: "Slow down. There is plenty of time to do everything you want accomplish.” I know it’s very good advice, and sometimes I even listen to it.
Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed our interview last month with local performer, Angie Settlemire, click here.
Want to be interviewed? Contact us.
Coffee & questions - creative expression
Each month, The Center for Public Humanities interviews a humanities scholar or community member and asks them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our new blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.
Our guest this month is Angie Settlemire, President of the board of the Grove City Art Council (aka ArtWorks). She is also the founder and director of Outta Theatre. Angie holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Grove City College. She also graduated from Mimeistry International School of Arts as a Journeyman Mime with a specialization in Directing. In 2006, Angie co-founded Tri-flections, an Imaginative Arts Organization, which performed and toured through 2008. During that time she also assisted with the choreography and direction of the mimodrama, Alice in Wonderland at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan and at the University Of Hartford’s Summer Musical Theatre Intensive.
Regionally, Angie has performed at the Barrow Theatre in Franklin and as a mime for Grove City Art Walk and Strawberry Days. In 2015, she became the GC Art & Theatre Camp Director, as well as President of the Grove City Artworks board. She plans to continue expanding her class offerings and to create inspiring, fun, family friendly student and professional level performances for the community to enjoy.
I am currently the President of the board of the Grove City Arts Council, as well as founder and director of Outta Theatre in Grove City. The latter is my full time job. I teach private piano and voice, as well as theatre, mime, and home school music classes. I started Outta Theatre to bring the performing arts into Grove City and I joined ArtWorks in order to network and help build relationships and bridges that will create a larger more supportive arts community here.
My inspiration comes from both my passion for creativity and my passion for making a difference in people’s lives. I love to see a child light up with excitement as he listens to a new kind of music for the first time. And I never get tired of seeing someone go from being reserved and fearful to being full of confidence and life – all because they learned how to break out of their comfort zone to perform on stage. That is something that changes a person forever. Art (music & theatre specifically) brings out the best in someone; it opens their eyes to show them who they truly are and sets them free.
The Grove City Arts Council (aka ArtWorks) started a summer Art & Theatre Camp 6 years ago. This is my 3rd year as director of the camp. It is a very large undertaking, but such an important opportunity for the kids in our community. It is coming up July 17-21, so a lot of time is focusing on getting ready for that. Last year we had over 80 kids enrolled. This year we are not at that number yet, but enrollment is still open, so I am hopeful that families will continue to take advantage of this experience.
This year we are offering classes in Creative Writing, Musical Theatre, Kids Theatre, Physical Theatre, Ceramics, Yarn Arts, Mosaics, Watercolor, Dance, Puppet Creations, Beach Art, and SENSE-ational Art for preschoolers. We are also offering an extension camp the week of July 31 at Grove City High School – it’s Wheel Throwing taught by Chris Bauer, one of the district’s art teachers. It’s an exciting time.
On top of that, as director of Outta Theatre, I am also organizing a 3 day Piano Olympics Camp in the morning and Singing Olympics Camp in the afternoon July 26-28. It’s going to be a high-energy, fun way to explore piano and singing technique.
Outta Theatre has been doing Kids and Teen shows regularly for almost 5 years now, and now it’s time to start branching out into adult theatre, as well. I would love to start an annual tradition of holding a Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre weekend. We are holding auditions for our first Murder Mystery play on June 30 for ages 16 & up.
Art is the most powerful way to open the door into unreachable places inside of someone’s heart. I’ve seen people who struggle with self-image absolutely blossom as they discover the freedom of creative expression. Art can help bring healing. It is about celebrating life, exploring ideas, facing fears, connecting people, embarking on adventures, communicating truth, and coping with loss. It makes us laugh and cry because art is at the core of what makes us human.
After my first year at Mimeistry (a performing arts school in California), we spent a month in Switzerland for a mime performance tour. Afterwards, two friends and I decided we would hop over to Italy for 3 days. Those 3 days would make a great movie! We stayed at a monastery college in the middle of nowhere and no one spoke English. Two days in a row the monks drove us to the train station just in time for us to MISS the train. We had to wait a couple of hours for the next one. On top of that, the trains went on strike our last day and we almost missed the last one back to where we were staying. We literally had to run to catch it and then we had to guess what transfers to take because it was different than the original trip. In order to get to the airport on our last day we had to pay one of the monks to give us a ride. We also got sick while we were there and by the time we touched down at LAX – I had completely lost my voice and couldn’t make a sound for the next 5 days. It took weeks for my voice to fully recover. And that is only a little bit of the story.
I am in between binge-watchings at the moment. Most recently would be The Flash.
My worst job was actually after I graduated from both Grove City College and Mimeistry International. I was trying to get a theatre performance company started with 2 other friends with whom I went to school in California. We all had 2 jobs on top of trying to get bookings and traveling whenever we could – we performed in several states, but not consistently.
I started working as a substitute teacher AND I worked at the outlet mall cleaning the food court and the restrooms. It was a temporary job, but I thought I had descended into the pits of eternal punishment. It gave me an amazing appreciation for all of those hard working folks out there who continue to clean those places so that we can enjoy them. And I could tell you disgustingly funny stories about that time! If I could jump in a time machine and talk to myself, I would mostly say “Suck it up! This is only temporary and it will give you some great stories to tell. We all have to do whatever it takes to reach our dreams.”
Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed Aksel Casson's interview last month, click here.
Coffee & questions - Creative Output
Each month, The Center for Public Humanities will interview a humanities scholar or community member and ask them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our new blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.
Our fifth guest is Kristen Baldwin Deathridge. She is an assistant professor of history at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, where she works with both undergraduate and graduate public history programs. She earned her PhD in Public History from Middle Tennessee State University in 2012 and an MA in Archaeology from the University of Reading in 2005. She specializes in working with communities to help preserve their stories and places.
Hopefully this doesn't seem cliched, but the students that I work with inspire me so much. Helping folks work through new (to them) concepts is always a pleasure, but I'm truly inspired by the energy, creativity and passion that some of my students bring to their work.
Several at once, which means there's always something to do when one project hits a slow period. I'll share a few. I've been working with a local group, the Junaluska Heritage Association to raise money for a monument for unmarked African American graves in the town cemetery. Click here to check it out. Working with another local group, the Lincoln Heights Recreation Corporation (alumni of a Rosenwald school), we've recently earned a grant to hold a digitization day event. Alumni and friends of the school can come and have their memorabilia scanned or photographed; there will also be public programs to share the history of the place. I'm also continuing work on several traditional scholarly writing projects.
Languages, literature, history, philosophy, art, anthropology - people use what we call "the humanities" to explore what it means to be human, whether they recognize it in those terms or not. People use elements of the humanities as they contemplate their place(s) in the world. Perhaps more importantly, folks use elements of the humanities to understand one another; we learn from the creative output of others and ask new questions.
I'm really behind on my binging! Right now I'm watching Jessica Jones on Netflix. It is intense and mesmerizing; I won't say more because I don't want to spoil it for anyone slower than me.
I had pretty good luck with jobs, honestly, but the most stressful was working as a bank teller. I'd tell myself two things. One: stop taking on other peoples' stress; you have plenty of your own; just help one person at a time. (I did learn this eventually, but I wish I'd gotten there more quickly) Two: start that 401(k) they offered you right away!--you'll end up in this job longer than you think. Practical, I know, but I really wish that I'd started saving earlier, even if it was only a little bit.
Thank you, Kristen, for sharing your exciting projects and perspective on the humanities.
Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed Jacob Miller's interview, click HERE.
Humanities Make for a better democracy
Studying the humanities allows for the development of well-rounded and informed citizens that are essential to the flourishing and success of any democracy. Through the exploration and study of the humanities (philosophy, art, anthropology, literature, history, etc.) we are able to:
Develop critical thinking skills that enhance our capacity for reason and provide us with the tools for effective decision making.
Understand justice and foster social equality.
Contemplate the meaning of democracy through the understanding of other cultures and human rights.
Foster empathy and compassion by addressing ethical questions.
Appreciate the variances and similarities that reside within different cultures.
Understand what it means to be a citizen.
Think creatively and ask questions that can provide insights into all sectors of life.
Add to our knowledge about our world through researching the human experience.
Gain a better understanding of the past while grasping a clearer picture of the future.
Contemplate what it means to live a good life.
All of these shape the thoughts and behaviors of citizens across the globe, which can lead to the creation of a harmonious world and a stronger democracy among the people. To learn more about the humanities, and how the Center for Public Humanities is helping in our community, click here.
Coffee & Questions - A Deeper appreciation
Our fourth guest is Jake Miller, alumnus from Slippery Rock University's master's program in history in 2013. He currently works as the Interpretive Programs Manager at Fort Delaware State Park/Fort DuPont State Park/Port Penn Interpretive Center with Delaware State Parks.
I am inspired by the idea of children becoming engaged with history and beginning what may become, for some, a lifelong passion for the art. I see historical literacy as hugely important to understanding many of today's big social and political issues, and I am happy to be able to work toward improving people's knowledge.
I had the opportunity to receive Certified Interpretive Guide training through work. This is valuable to me as a professional interpreter, but also has wide-ranging applications for any job I may get because it involves how to communicate a message and get others connected with that message.
One of the long-term projects that we are working on is putting together a program for high school students that will integrate physics and math skills with historical education. We will bring students to our 1900s era coast artillery site and get them to work on a large math/physics problem involving firing on a theoretical ship with one of the guns that was here. Integrated into this problem will be a lot of information on what life for an artillerist at the fort was like during that time period. I'm excited about the project because it integrates multiple disciplines, and so will be very valuable and popular, I think, with the educational community.
Hard to go into this in two sentences, but the humanities bring a deeper appreciation and richness to all parts of life. Humanities force you wrestle with difficult ideas and questions, and gives you the ability to understand those who are different from you. Necessary tools for life, and ones that you cannot acquire except through studying the humanities!
I actually grew up overseas, in Portugal and Mozambique.
Thank you, Jake, for sharing how your work directly influences a wide variety of people.
Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed Karen Pierce's interview, click here.
Coffee & Questions - Humanities in the community
Our third guest is Karen Pierce, director of the Slippery Rock Community Library. Karen loves books, loves talking about books, loves finding new books to read, and well, loves helping people to find books and information. Ms. Pierce used to sell books for children and the position of librarian was a perfect fit. She is pursuing her degree in library science at Clarion University. Karen notes the best part of her job is working with the people who walk through the library door. Ms. Pierce is "information central" and can answer most any question posed to her and if she doesn't know, she knows where to go to find the answer. She has been working at the library since 2008.
I really like my job at the Slippery Rock Community Library. I enjoy being able to help people find information and solutions. I like being a point of information for the community.
I was an Independent Educational Sales Consultant for Usborne Books. I learned so much from that job - marketing skills, including marketing not only the books but myself as well, working with the public, customer service and some computer skills. I loved selling kids books - really they sell themselves - they still are some of my favorite books!
We are currently working on building a new library! I am very excited. We are located right now in a room that is 283 square feet and we've outgrown that room a long time ago. We've been raising funds and are ready to build a new library at 465 North Main St that will be around 2700 square feet. Our community is ready for this!
I think the study of humanities is important for everyone! Humanities is the study and interpretation of language, literature and history among other things and I think it's good to be able to understand the context of a conversation. For example, a conversation in our current time is about the Constitution and how it was written by the founding fathers and how it is being interpreted today. Are we interpreting it the way our founding fathers intended? How has society changed in 200 + years? This is but one example of why humanities is an very important part of our education. Think of the other things we interpret - Religious texts, historical documents, ancient history - before the written word. We are shaped as a community by events that happened in the past and the things that happen today will shape how our community looks, acts, responds in the future.
I rarely watch TV live. I record Timeless and The Walking Dead. I am restless though so I usually can't sit through an entire episode without pausing it and doing something else for a while.
Thank you, Karen, for sharing how you're bringing humanities into our community. We look forward to the new library!
Check back next month for more Coffee & Questions. In case you missed Seth Bruggeman's interview, click here.
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Chapter 1 | Reports from 2001
I Take a Walk Sunderland There is Big Trouble Down Here So You Think You Want a Revolution Last Tango in Buenos Aires The War of the Transvestites A Trip to the Other Side Interview With a Dancer Soul of the Tango Uruguay Celia and Natu La Noche de las Milongueras Tete What the Argentines won't Say Spanked in the Andes
In November 2001 I flew down to Argentina for a five-week vacation. The following stories were posted on several Internet groups during that trip. They describe my adventures and struggles while trying to learn tango in the old dance halls and clubs of Buenos Aires. Those of you who make the long scroll through these pages will see that, as often happens in life, I got much more than I bargained for when that beautiful city began to unravel. Those who want to jump directly to the dramatic events of December 19 that changed Argentina, click here. Everything that follows is true, except for the name “Malena”, which is made up to protect a friend’s privacy.
-Rick McGarrey, Dec. 30, 2001
A Report From the Heart of Tango
Sat Dec 8, 2001 3:36 pm - I am in Buenos Aires accompanied by the loyal Malik, who is in charge of security on this dangerous trip. Malik and I have endured the close embrace of hundreds of Argentine women, as well as the rigors of the Latin American banking system, and our extensive research has resulted in the following rules of survival for any who wish to follow in our footsteps: 1. Listen to the music. 2. Less is more. 3. Don't forget your PIN number. That’s it for now.
Mon Dec 10, 2001 12:43 pm - We’re going to Patagonia next week to see the penguins. I will be back in Tucson around Christmas, and I’m looking forward to seeing you all at Steve and Mimi’s big New Year's party!
Mon Dec 10, 2001 12:43 pm - We had to leave so early to catch our flight to Patagonia this morning that we decided to stay up all night and dance, and then leave for the airport at 5am. This was not a good idea. We went all the way out to the airport and missed the flight. So, I’m back at the apartment with some time to write.
The economy is sinking fast here. There was a run on the banks two weeks ago, and last week the government unexpectedly restricted the amount of money that people can withdraw from their accounts to $250 per week. Everyone is a little frightened. The peso is officially linked to the dollar at one to one, but it will probably be devalued, and that could be a disaster for anyone holding pesos (including gringo tourists). Obtaining cash is a problem here. Banks and credit card offices are jammed with people. I tried to get a cash advance on my Visa, and found that all cash advances in Argentina were stopped over the weekend. Traveler's checks, which I mistakenly brought, are no longer payable in dollars, and there is only one very jammed location where you can cash them at all.
The first few nights I was here I chose to walk home alone from the milongas at 4am, but I’ve stopped doing it after all of the stories I heard about recent increases in street crime. The subways here are great. You can get almost anywhere fast for 75 cents, but they stop running at 10pm, so taxis or buses are really the only option late at night. There was a well publicized incident where the husband of the country's most famous television news lady was stabbed 7 times by a cab driver who was robbing him, so everyone is warning us about the cabs also. We try to take only cabs that say "Radio Taxi" on them, and I try for additional security by looking for old drivers. I figure if Malik (who looks like he plays power forward for the Lakers) and I get mugged by a 70-year-old man, we probably deserve it.
At first the milongas were so crowded that it was a real challenge to dance. Practice tip: Stand in one of the endless lines at the bank with a partner. Dance until you reach the front of the line. The amount of space you have and the speed at which you move will approximate about one hour of tango at the most popular milongas. That was the case up until last weekend, anyway. The economic crisis cut the attendance at the milongas dramatically, so there’s now more room to dance. Unfortunately, everyone is so nervous that they seem to be smoking twice as much, so the second hand smoke factor remains about the same.
It’s easy to fall into a degenerate lifestyle down here. We’re usually out all night and sleeping most of the day. There are five of us in the apartment, and everyone sleeps late, so it seems normal. Malik and I, and Renee Linnell from San Diego are the three tango tourists sharing an old time 3d-floor apartment with a local girl named Malena, and a student from Colombia. Picture some of the coolest old places in "The Tango Lesson" movie, and you'll have an idea of what it looks like. Luckily we've all become great friends. Malena, the porteña (local) is the rebellious daughter of a prominent local family that survived the "dirty war" in the 70´s by leaving the city, and having private soldiers guarding the family home. She takes us around in an old beat up car, and I’m afraid my name is going to get on some bad list by hanging out with her. She knows it’s a little dangerous even now to walk around wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt, but she doesn't seem to care. That’s all for now. I’m getting a little sleepy. After re-reading this, I think I’ve painted a pretty bleak picture. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Actually, I’ve never been to a place I like as much as BA. Quiero Buenos Aires! When I get time, I will write some more and tell why.
A photo of the Obelisco
during tango's Golden Age.
Tue Dec 11, 2001 7:05 am - I got a couple of emails asking for more reports from Buenos Aires (thanks Homer), so here are some notes I made on the flight down, and after the first day. I wasn't going to post it because it ain't so good and most of it ain't tango, but after reading some of the recent stuff posted on the group, I guess it doesn't matter.
BsAs report- Day 1 - Traveling in style - I can’t lose the thought that I’ve forgotten to do something or bring something, and that I’ll return in a month to financial ruin and a burned out house covered with graffiti. I’m not a very good traveler anymore - just the thought of packing and driving to a crowded airport for a 16-hour plane ride causes me to lose half a night’s sleep. And it didn't help that my ride showed up late and said the brakes were bad on his car and it wouldn't make it to the airport. I was forced to call someone else at the last minute, and I had one of those run through the airport and squeeze onto the plane just as they close the door experiences. I could feel the pulse in my temple pounding as I settled into my seat, and the airport anxiety didn't fade until after we finally took off.
But at least I am traveling in style! I decided to clean out my frequent flyer account with American Airlines and get a first class ticket. It took almost all of my miles, but the cost of the ticket would have been almost $10,000 if I had purchased it with cash! The first leg is Tucson to DFW, where I checked out the Flagship Lounge, which has an open bar and a buffet with caviar and sushi and everything else imaginable. Then, on to Miami for the overnight flight to Buenos Aires. American uses a brand new Boeing 777 ("Triple-Seven") from Dallas to Buenos Aires, and the first class cabin is unbelievable. Each seat is actually a small private cubicle, with a desk, and television monitor. Each has a table with enough space for two people to eat, and when the seat is turned to face the desk, it faces a row of windows that look out on the world below. The service is good, too. There are only three people going to BA in the large first class section, attended by a crew of five. They keep coming by and stuffing gourmet food and drink into me. This huge airplane fascinates me, and after the terrorist attacks I was surprised when they let me go up to the cockpit before takeoff to talk to the captain about what it’s like to fly it. He was a great guy. He has to be one of their senior pilots to get a Triple-Seven, but he didn't look very old. We talked about our military flying experiences, and I could tell he loved his airplane.
It’s now night and my seat, which transforms itself into every possible position, has become a large, comfortable bed in a private space. I have eyeshades, feather pillows, a set of noise suppression earphones, plenty of room, and I’m ready to try to get some sleep. I’m pretty excited, though. I just peeked out the window and saw the moon reflecting off of a winding river, surrounded by what I assume is dense black rainforest. We’re cruising along 7 miles high, over huge snakes and alligators and jungles and drug lords, down over the equator, for my first time to the bottom half of the world, and the heart of Tango!
Morning -Despite the comfortable bed on the airplane, I couldn't sleep much. I checked my wristwatch all night, and finally dozed off a couple of hours before arrival. I just raised the shades on the windows, and we’re flying low through puffy scattered clouds, with the city off to the east in the haze, across miles of green, tropical looking Argentine farmland. There is light turbulence and the giant wing is flexing up and down about 10 feet at the tip. I can also see the monstrous port engine moving around and bouncing. Weird.
Day 2 - The eagle has landed - The airport is mostly international modern, but at its core is a large spooky stained concrete structure that has an old time third-world feel to it. I couldn't help but remember that this was the sight of a notorious massacre where troops with automatic weapons killed hundreds of young protestors in the not very distant past. I wondered if there were any bullet craters in the walls. South American politics- what a nightmare. The thought sobered me up for the trip through customs, but it was simple and uneventful. I was first off the plane, first bags off the carousel, first through immigration, and first through customs (they have a little stop light just like Mexico - I got a green). After the first class treatment on the airplane, I was hoping my advance man Malik would have a bulletproof limo and motorcycle escort so I could cruise Nixon-like into town... but no. I was forced to catch a noisy shuttle bus, which circled all over the city and then transfer to another that did the same. I was dropped off disoriented on a busy city street. Look at the Yankee tourist! It’s hard not to feel self-conscious dragging heavy luggage down the sidewalk in a foreign city.
The apartment is through a small door, and up a long flight of winding marble steps. It’s very old, with high ceilings, small rooms, chandeliers, and a couple of small balconies that look onto the busy street that will become my neighborhood over the next month. It also has a long atrium like airshaft, some winding metal stairs to access the roof, and a view of the BA skyline. When I arrive it’s noisy, with cigarette smoke and tango music blasting while the owner and her partner practice for some demo. It’s full of people, and I’m not feeling too sociable. Oh well.
First night - Get me out of here! My confidence has crashed. I’m sitting with Malik in El Beso. Well, actually I'm not sitting with Malik because he's out dancing. Everyone out there is really GOOD! I tried two different dances, and it just wasn't working. I was getting bumped around, I was tripping over my own feet, and I couldn't connect with the music or my partner. I’m tired, and I wish I were home. We are the only Norte Americanos in the place, and they are speaking some type of Spanish that I can’t even understand. 5 weeks of this will be intolerable. Maybe I can get an early flight home. To be continued...
I Bounce Back... Sort of
Life is but a walking shadow,
a poor player who struts and frets
his hour upon the stage,
and is heard no more"
xxxxxxx-Wm. Shakespeare
Thu Dec 13, 2001 3:58 pm - The Argentines know that in tango, as in life, attitude is everything. This of course isn't always true (as they found out very quickly in the Falklands War), but it works most of the time. Malik has pointed out to me that many of the Argentine men aren't really that good, but that they think they are, and that such an attitude adjustment would benefit my dancing. And just like that, it happened. In my last post I was sitting dejected and exhausted in El Beso on my first night in BA. But things always seem to get better, don’t they? A good nights sleep was the main thing, and then a little ego boost from being placed in the advanced class the next evening did the trick. So, every dog has his day, no?
We were back at El Beso on my second night for classes, and it's all locals. Clarin, the daily paper here, has said that more porteños have learned to dance tango in these classes than anywhere else (you probably know this already, but BsAs is a port city, and the people who live here are port people—hence, "porteño"). The club, and the school, are run by Susana Miller (who teaches and tours in the U.S.), and most of the women instructors are tough and blunt like she is. But they're also competent, and they know the old-time milongueros, and the way they dance. Unfortunately no one speaks English, and their rapid-fire castellano/Lunfardo instruction is very hard to understand. Since Malik and I are the only gringos in the large classes, there is no translation furnished. The classes are large, and everyone starts out in one big group. There was a break after an hour and a half (cigarettes everywhere), and then the class was divided. To my surprise they placed me in the advanced group, which Anna Maria (who runs the school) teaches. And to make it better, they happened to be teaching some stuff that I was familiar with from all of my Tete video watching. In fact I had practiced these things many times at my house, which made me appear better than I really am.
At 1130pm, right after the class, the milonga starts—and it’s a good one. Everyone paired up to dance, and I sat down by myself. Anna Maria caught my eye, and called me over. "Salimos?" she said. She was asking me to dance, which is very unusual down here. But maybe if you're one of the best milongueras in BsAs you do what you want. I would like to tell you that she was so taken by my skill that she couldn't help herself, but I know the truth. She was essentially the hostess, and I was the only Americano (other than Malik), as well as a paying customer, and I was a newcomer sitting by myself. I said, "Lo siento, pero tengo miedo". It did me no good. Afraid or not, I was dragged onto the dance floor. It didn't help that Carlos Gavito had been watching the classes, and was now sitting at the edge of the dance floor watching us. We danced three or four dances, and I won’t pretend it was good. I was barely able to stay with the music. But, Anna Maria Shapira is a maestra of close-embrace tango, and she is so incredibly easy to dance with that I survived it. It broke the ice for me, and gave me a little confidence.
Now, I know that performing is a big part of tango, and that many of the best tango dancers in the world perform. I love to watch them. My own personal passion, however, is for a more internal experience. It’s why I have been struggling for so long with the close embrace style. It’s not as pretty to watch as performance tango, and it looks simple. But it’s deceptive. It’s very close to the music. Subtle feelings can pass between the partners that may be lost in a more open and demonstrative style. It’s not understood or taught at all in my part of the country, and the best thing about this trip is that I think I am finally beginning to understand some things about it. All of the tango clichés, "feel the music", "learn to walk", "take care of the woman", are starting to have real meaning for me.
Unfortunately for me the unstoppable confidence roller coaster races on. One moment I’m the Baron of Buenos Aires, the next I’m afraid to get back on the floor—stumbling and clumsy. Shakespeare, brilliant and cynical: I “strut and fret” through tango. I strut and fret through a life "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". There are good dances, okay dances, and bad dances. And then there are the disasters where I actually break into a nervous flop sweat before they are over, struggling and claustrophobic on the crowded floor, smiling nervously at some disappointed Argentine woman as I slink away.
But I would like to finish this post with a triumph. Nothing major, but maybe something of significance. Perhaps a small step forward. It was a few days ago, and I was in a class, feeling a little bored and tired. They were teaching something difficult that I really didn't like, and I was trying to keep a low profile and do as little as possible. Uh oh! I was rotated to the last person I wanted as a partner. She’s, an older heavy instructor who’s probably danced tango for 30 years. She never smiles, or says anything, except for sharp and frequent corrections. The system in this class is to work on the technique, then play music while some instructors rotate dances with the students, and others wander and correct. After the music ends, there are more demo/corrections, and then another piece of music. So the music started. Posture, check. Shoulders down and back. Check. I made the embrace, forward with the chest, and leaned in slightly, waiting for the music, and then began. But I couldn't begin the practice step! I walked forward a little. Step, step, pause. Step, step, pause. Then the music began to get to me. I think it was Di Sarli. It happens sometimes, especially when I’m tired. Step and step - step, - step, pause. I couldn't bring myself to begin whatever we were supposed to be practicing, and the emotion in the music was really in me. I just began to walk, and the music was really, really there. More slow steps, maybe a rock, pause, step and step. Then a larger surging step. I was waiting for this woman to yank me back, and start impatiently putting me through the practice stuff. Nothing. The music was through me, into her, and we just walked. Simple. It seemed like a few seconds, but it was an entire song. The music stopped, and she said nothing, and did nothing for a moment. Then, she squeezed my left hand twice.
Next, there are demos. Students are doing something wrong, and they are trying to correct it, but I can’t pay attention. The music begins, Di Sarli again I think this time. Maybe Biaggi. It’s in me even more, and there is no way I can do what we are supposed to practice. I just begin to move. Occasionally in the packed milongas the crowd seems to be moving more or less together, a sort of pausing, playing or fussing, then a surging- swooping step, and a pause again. When it happens, late at night on a large dance floor, it’s amazing to watch. Everyone feels it. It looks like a flock of long legged shore birds - feeding in the water for a moment, then taking a long graceful step. Not exactly together, but kind of together. Pause and surge... and I am feeling this elegant movement. The music tugs you along, like a child with a wagon on a rope; the child pauses to play and then, giving his wagon a tug, moves again. The music tugs me around the floor… and this older heavier woman is with me completely. She seems to know each step before I take it. The music is through me, into her. Absolutely simple. Step, pause, a little weight change, swoop, a short step and a longer step. Maybe a quick, sharp milonguero step, or maybe a softer one. Pause, very still. Then slightly rocking, and a surge forward, moving among the struggling couples and the lurking instructors. Very, very simple. It was nothing. It was everything. Freed by the music. Then it ends, and again the two left hand squeezes, harder this time, and she says quietly to herself "Lindo, lindo", ...a comment that is not meant for me. Maybe for a moment there is no economic collapse in this sad and beautiful country. For a moment the students aren’t quite as annoying. She gives me a sidelong glance that says, okay, you got away with it this time. And I think to myself, you know, these old milongueros; these are not guys who just do what they are told all the time.
Malik's Big Adventure
The distinctions keep piling up for Malik. Not only is he the world’s tallest African American tango dancer, he may be the world’s tallest tango dancer, period. After we missed the Patagonia flight, I decided to stay in BA. He stubbornly insisted on catching a flight alone the next day, and now it looks like he is stranded. The economic crisis is now worse, and the airlines in Argentina are out of money and out of gas. They stopped all flights, and his last email says he is stuck somewhere far to the south. Maybe Tierra del Fuego. He may now have become the southern most African American on the American continent.
Chapter 1 | Page 1
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Whatever Gets You Through The Night – The theatre show
Whatever Gets You Through The Night. June 2012. The Arches, Glasgow
A huge thank you to everyone who came to see Whatever Gets You Through The Night, the big, sprawling live show we made last month with Cora Bissett, playwright David Greig, The Arches in Glasgow, and lots of talented people. We had a lot of fun doing it, got to work with some of our favourite musicians.
The show was very well received. It sold out completely before its opening night, and got four star reviews in The Guardian, The List, The Scotsman and The Herald, as well as widespread media coverage, including a cover feature in the Skinny.
If you missed the live show, you can still experience Whatever Gets You Through The Night in other forms. Our long-term collaborator Daniel Warren has made a film which will be premiered at Summerhall in Edinburgh on 23 August, as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. You can buy tickets for the screening. There will be some live music on the night too. After that we plan to take the film on tour – watch this space for updates.
Whatever Gets You Through The Night also exists as an album, which you can stream or download here. There are brand new songs by Withered Hand, Ricky Ross, Emma Pollock, Eugene Kelly, Rachel Sermanni and numerous others, as well as ourselves. The album is accompanied by a beautiful book featuring all the lyrics from the songs in the show, new writing by David Greig, Kieran Hurley, Alan Bissett, Kirstin Innes and Stef Smith among others, and photos from rehearsals and Daniel’s film.
Thanks to Creative Scotland for making all this possible. Cora is currently in talks with various people in the hope that we can put the live show on again, in the UK or elsewhere.
This entry was posted in News on 12/07/2012 by admin.
← Seafieldroad 2 – track by track The Winter of 88 – a very limited edition album from Seafieldroad →
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VISUALIST
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Design by Chad Kouri
and Steve Ruiz
Monumental Resistance: Public History and Social Justice
@ DePaul Art Museum
935 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL 60614
Opening Saturday, November 9th, from 3PM - 4:30PM
From Confederate statues of fallen “heroes” to holidays honoring colonial explorers, historic memorials are increasingly under public scrutiny in the United States. This panel, held in conjunction with the exhibition Remember Where You Are, explores the intersections of art, placemaking, identity, and social justice in the reconsideration of historic narratives and construction of new monuments. Benjamin Johnson, Associate Professor in History at Loyola University Chicago, will present his research and work with the Refusing to Forget Project, an educational initiative to increase public awareness of thousands of lynchings of Mexicans along the Texas and Mexico border from 1910–20. Joey Mogul, co-founder of the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial and Director of the Civil Rights Clinic at DePaul University College of Law, will address the forthcoming construction of a monument to victims of police torture. Ross Jordan will discuss political and activist legacies in exhibitions and his work as Curatorial Manager at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. The panel will be moderated by Mia Lopez, DePaul Art Museum Assistant Curator.
Prior to the panel, join artist Emilio Rojas in the gallery at 2pm for a performance that will activate his work on view in Remember Where You Are. Rojas uses his body as a political tool in performances to address legacies of colonialism and oppression across history and geography.
Presented in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Biennial, DePaul Department of Art, Media, and Design, and DePaul Department of History of Art and Architecture.
More events on this date
Tags: Chicago, DePaul Art Museum, Lincoln Park, Mia Lopez, Monumental Resistance: Public History and Social Justice, Ross Jordan
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новости на русском
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TODAY.AZ / Politics
The Obama-era stereotypes still exist in the US
09 September 2017 [10:12] - TODAY.AZ
"Azerbaijan" newspaper has published an article headlined "The Obama-era stereotypes still exist in the US".
In the past few days Azerbaijan has been facing a fresh smear campaign, which was launched by some Western forces and which may cast shadow on the prospects of US-Azerbaijani relations. On September 4, the two sponsored articles were published in The Washington Post and The Guardian newspapers, signaling a new wave of attack and starting a giant discrediting machine, which also involves the fifth column. There were no doubts that by tradition Azerbaijan has once again become a target of criticism of different international organizations and official representatives of a number of states. In her statement made on September 7, Heather Nauert, spokesperson for the US Department of State, demanded the release of Mehman Aliyev, the detained head of the Turan news agency. Then during the discussion of the Fiscal Year 2018 State and Foreign Operations Bill, pro-Armenian senator Richard Durbin submitted an amendment envisaging sanctions against Azerbaijani officials. A group of critics, which have been employed since the Obama administration, including David Cramer embarked on a propaganda campaign to ensure the implementation of the sanctions.
Obviously, using the opportunity, Soros-backed forces and the Armenian lobby, which have constantly targeted Azerbaijan, rushed to make efforts to spoil the US-Azerbaijani relations and strategic partnership.
It should be admitted that the election of Donald Tramp raised hopes that the Obama administration-caused problems in relations between the two countries will be solved. A number of experts described a telephone talk, which took place between Mr Trump and President Ilham Aliyev several days after the election of the new US President, as a new page in bilateral relations. In April last year, the Azerbaijani President was invited to the Nuclear Security Summit in the United States where he held meetings with Secretary of State John Kerry and a number of other officials, which was described as a manifestation of the development of friendship and partnership between the two countries. In his congratulatory messages to President Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of Republic Day and the 24th International Caspian Oil and Gas 2017 Exhibition and Conference, the US President directly pointed out the beginning of a new era of bilateral relations. In his letters, Donald Trump said that he looks forward to working with President Ilham Aliyev as an active partner to ensure a greater future for both Azerbaijan and the US, and the world.
Naturally, all this should be characterized as Mr Trump`s appreciation of the contribution of Azerbaijan as the leading country in the South Caucasus to the West`s fight against terrorism and the country`s role in the implementation of crucial energy projects, rather than the US leader`s personal attitude towards Baku. On the other hand, Mr Trump has repeatedly stated that unlike in previous years, the USA is not going to build its foreign policy on the principles of interference with other countries` internal affairs and will not attempt to control them. This gives reasons to say that the US leader set himself a goal of developing equal, mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries. This policy could have been a good beginning – under former President Barack Obama – for coping with negative cases and remove coldness in US-Azerbaijan relations and for developing fruitful and equal cooperation and strategic partnership between the two countries.
But the recent events showed that official Washington has failed to get rid of Obama era stereotypes and different lobbying group`s serious influence on the government policy. By interfering – in contrast to Mr Trump`s strategic line – with internal affairs of independent countries using “democracy” and “human rights” as a pretext, the interested forces who hold high posts in the Department of State, Congress and other important governing and legislative bodies are encouraging the USA`s partners to review their policies.
These forces believe that Azerbaijan should not have its own statehood and national interests in general or that they should not cross the limits they set. This is arrant nonsense. Azerbaijan has already proved that being an independent state it sets its internal and foreign policy and builds its international relations by its own and does not need any advice from any power center or external force. Maybe this is the reason why some US circles think that Azerbaijan “rejects” the West and its values. This is why some Western media particularly The Washington Post, which is considered the Department of State`s official body, publish fake anti-Azerbaijani articles in total contradiction to the spirit of partnership and all ethical norms, and the Human Rights Watch, Freedom House and other similar organizations are used as tools of pressure.
For many years Azerbaijan has tolerated such accusations and did its utmost to prevent these unjust attacks from casting shadow on strategic partnership, mutually beneficial bilateral and multilateral ties. On the one hand, Azerbaijan has showed its commitment to its strategic choice, duties and obligations. On the other hand, it showed that as an independent state it is eager to build relations with all global political players in an atmosphere of equal cooperation and will never take any step that could put its national interests at risk. In this context, sincerity in Azerbaijan`s relationship with the USA and the European Union could be considered as a model. The reality is that official Baku has not yet rejected this choice and is trying to develop its strategic partnership with the European Union and the USA despite pressure from different power centers and some regional states.
Can official Baku review its partnership policy towards the West and take adequate steps if the anti-Azerbaijani forces and lobby interests prevail in the USA and if the Magnitsky Act, which was imposed on Russia, is applied to Azerbaijan? What these steps will be?
According to experts, practice shows that although official Baku is quite sincere in its relationship with its partners, it has never tolerated a policy of pressure and dominance. From this point of view, the Azerbaijani government`s taking adequate steps towards quitting strategic partnership with the West looks real.
Azerbaijan`s partnership with the West concerns and irritates some regional powers. But having remained committed to a multi-vector and balanced policy, official Baku has maintained and developed its strategic partnership with the US and the European Union despite pressure. Sanctions and similar wrong actions may force Azerbaijan to review its foreign policy and make a one-sided choice. But this will be a serious loss for the USA and Western states that have great interests in the region.
It is a well-known fact that the Azerbaijani peacekeepers were part of the peacekeeping missions in Kosovo from 1999-2008 and Iraq in 2003-2008. Having joined the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan in 2002, the Azerbaijani soldiers continue to perform their duties decently. By opening its air space and allowing the use of the existing air transport infrastructure, Azerbaijan is making an outstanding contribution to NATO`s military contingent in Afghanistan. But Azerbaijan can end its military and geostrategic cooperation with the West, cease participation in anti-terror operations and peacekeeping mission and refuse any logistical support to the NATO contingent in Afghanistan.
Those who authorized this fresh campaign against Azerbaijan naively believe that this will help them protect the fifth column and their friends. For many years, Azerbaijan has tried to turn a blind eye to anti-national elements such as Khadija Ismayil, Mehman Aliyev, Emin Milli as well as to arbitrariness of the Western NGO and media network and tolerated them although it was quite clear that they were fulfilling a certain mission. However, when the activities of this network started to shake the foundations of the state it became necessary to take preventive measures and steps. The West’s new “demarche” can encourage further deepening of those measures.
Of course, much can be done and these measures are not confined to the aforementioned. But is there a need for that? What will the West get by pressing Azerbaijan into alienation?
Azerbaijan is loyal to its relations with the U.S. and the West and wants these relations to deepen even further. We can hope that the Trump administration won’t repeat the mistakes of their predecessors and won’t let Soros-backed network and the Armenian lobby gain ground. In this case, there won’t be any need for either absurd measures such as sanctions or retaliation.
URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/164809.html
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22 January 2020 [11:25]
Azerbaijan discloses number of observers accredited in parliamentary elections
Azerbaijan’s CEC: Some candidates deliberately submit documents in a wrong way
Armenia violates ceasefire with Azerbaijan 23 times
Azerbaijan discloses number of MP candidates registered for early parliamentary election
President Ilham Aliyev attends session as part of World Economic Forum
President Ilham Aliyev meets Pakistani PM in Davos
President Ilham Aliyev meets OPEC Secretary General in Davos
President Ilham Aliyev met with President of World Economic Forum in Davos
President Ilham Aliyev met with EBRD President in Davos
President Ilham Aliyev met with Turkish Foreign Minister in Davos
Video on 30th anniversary of January 20 tragedy shared on official page of President Ilham Aliyev on Facebook
Jerusalem Post: January 20 - page of heroism in history of struggle for Azerbaijan's independence
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry: Initiators, executors of January 20 events must be punished
Azerbaijani president, First Lady pay tribute to January 20 martyrs
Turkey won't forget victims of January 20 tragedy - Nationalist Movement Party
Turkey honors memory of victims of January 20 tragedy in Baku - Presidential Administration
Pakistani news agency: January tragedy led to Azerbaijan's national liberation movement
Contact us: editor@today.az
Copyright © 2005-2014 Today.Az
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Erin Royer
Erin Royer is a classically trained saxophonist, specialising on the tenor saxophone. In 2010 Erin received a Bachelor of Music (Classical Performance) at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), under the guidance of Dr. Matthew Styles. In 2011 Erin completed an honours research degree with first class honours, which focused on career pathways for the twenty-first century classical tenor saxophonist.
During Erin’s studies she received many awards and scholarships. Most notable of these were receiving honouree recognition by the Dean of Education and Arts, Edith Cowan University 2009, winning the Barbara MacLeod Scholarship awarded to the top performing student at WAAPA 2011, achieving the top woodwind performer in the same year and becoming a member of the Golden Key International Society, exclusively for high achieving students.
In 2013/14 Erin moved to Manchester, UK and completed a Masters of Performance at The Royal Northern College of Music, under the guidance of Rob Buckland and Andy Scott. During her Masters Erin was selected to perform in a series of concerts with the prestigious Netherlands Blazers Ensemble (NBE). Erin was further invited to perform with the NBE for their esteemed New Years Concert at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. While at the RNCM Erin won the RNCM concerto competition performing Jacob Ter Veldhuis’ Tallahatchie Concerto, was awarded The Stan Barker Memorial Prize for Jazz Improvisation, and during her final semester, Erin recorded her first album, receiving 100% for her efforts. This album, After the Moment, will be launched at the 2015 Strasbourg Saxophone Congress.
Currently Erin is the head of saxophone at the University of Western Australia, and tutors at The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Erin is also the saxophone tutor for Wesley College, lumen Christi College and Mercedes College.
Erin aspires to become an internationally renowned performer, promoter and tutor of the saxophone and is determined, as a life goal, to make Perth, Western Australia a sought after place to study saxophone.
www.erinroyer.com
<<The Players
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Richard Ford in conversation with Vincent Woods at The Dock
The Iron Mountain Literature Festival presents Richard Ford in conversation with Vincent Woods on Saturday 23rd May at 8pm
“In America, one cannot – must not – ever discount the lowest sort of political urgings, and must never overlook race prejudice as a motive for most anything.” - Richard Ford, The Guardian, 2016.
Continuing in its exploration of place, home and identity and the role of literature in shaping an understanding of history and human experience, the Iron Mountain Literature Festival is delighted to welcome celebrated American author Richard Ford to The Dock.
Born and raised in Mississippi, Richard Ford is the author of six novels and three collections of stories. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Independence Day and the PEN/Malamud Award for excellence in short fiction. He now lives in New York and Maine. Ford’s best known titles are The Sportswriter, Independence Day, The Lay of the Land, and Let Me Be Frank with You. His latest book of short stories Sorry For Your Trouble reflects his time and experiences in Ireland.
Arising from the John McGahern seminar which ran from 2007 for eight years, the Iron Mountain Literature Festival was established in 2016, reframed in a wider context involving writers, artists and thinkers from many perspectives. For 2020, the festival has partnered with Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture, whose themes of language, landscape and migration align closely with that of the festival.
Further details of the 2020 Iron Mountain Literature Festival programme, which will this year be held on Oct 3rd & 4th, will be available at the event.
Tickets are on sale now
Open from 10am - 6pm
The Dock, St. George's Terrace, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim. GPS Co-ordinates
© 2020 The Dock Limited. All rights reserved.
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Tag Archives: scientology
UPDATE: What the Liberal Democrat position on homeopathy IS
11 March 2010 politics and lifeconference, health, homeopathy, nhs, nick-clegg, norman lamb, science, scientologyJames Graham
Since I previously wrote about what it was, and then wasn’t, I feel it is encumbant on me to include here what the official line on homeopathy now is:
A recent report by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee examined the provision of homeopathy through the NHS and called for funding by the NHS to be stopped. The Committee did recognise that many users derive benefit from its use and did not argue that such treatments should be banned.
The Liberal Democrats believe that, as a basic principle, individuals should have maximum freedom about how they choose to get treated, so long as the therapy is safe. When it comes to NHS provision, we support a review by NICE into the cost effectiveness of Complementary and Alternative (CAMs) therapies, including homeopathy; as well as expanding the work of NICE to look at the cost-effectiveness of existing conventional treatments.
We know that many complementary therapies are popular with the public. The NHS budget is limited and we want to make sure that NHS funding is focused on treatments which are efficacious and cost-effective. NICE reviews of all existing treatments would give us the best possible basis for future decisions over funding.
That sounds much more sensible and measured. On top of that, I am now getting (unconfirmed) reports that the Scinos will not be at Lib Dem conference after all. Looks like the party may have had an outbreak of common sense.
Another slap in the gob: Scientologists to proselityse at Lib Dem Conference
3 March 2010 politics and lifeconference, cult watch, liberal-democrats, scientologyJames Graham
Flicking through my Lib Dem Spring Conference agenda and directory, I was dismayed to spot the following exhibitor:
Stand B9
CCHR: international watchdog in the mental health field since it was co-founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and Professor of Psychiatry Dr Thomas Szasz to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights.
CCHR is one of a family of “independent” organisations that can be found hovering around the Scientology hub, which includes Applied Scholastics and the comically named Criminon and Narconon. If the Applied Scholastics stand at Conservative conference a couple of years ago is anything to go by, literature from all these organisations will be included, as will plenty of copies of the L. Ron Hubbard-penned The Way to Happiness.
Of course, most Lib Dem conference attendees will treat this stall in the way they treat most commercial exhibitors: with polite contempt. But I am profoundly uncomfortable about the way these organisations tend to present themselves as secular and independent when they are anything but. It is a trap for the unwary – note the misleading “Tax Payers’ Alliance” type name for instance.
Ultimately what I’m saying here is: be aware of who they are. And if you do happen to have a V for Vendetta mask…
The Conservatives and Scientology
3 October 2007 culture wars, politics and lifeconference, conservative-party, scientologyJames Graham
One of the things about working at the party conferences is that you often find yourself too busy to actually do the conference itself. So it was that I didn’t get a chance to visit the Conservative Party exhibition until Tuesday afternoon.
I was therefore very surprised to find, almost as soon as I walked into the hall, a stand for Narconon, L. Ron Hubbard’s programme for drug rehabilitation. The stand also included programmes promoting Applied Scholastics, Hubbard’s education programme, Hubbard’s The Way to Happiness Foundation International and Criminon, Hubbard’s criminal rehabilitation programme.
What was missing from this stand? Any mention whatsoever of Scientology. Indeed, the Way to Happiness booklet that I picked up states that:
“This may be the first nonreligious moral code based wholly on common saense. It was written by L. Ron Hubbard as an individual work and is not part of any religious doctrine. Any reprinting or individual distribution of it does not infer connection with or sponsorship of any religious organisation. It is therefore admissible for government departments and employees to distribute it as a nonreligious activity.”
Inside, it does indeed appear to be based on common sense; indeed the blindingly obvious springs to mind. The first ten tenets for example are “take care of yourself”, “be temperate”, “don’t be promiscuous”, “love and help children”, “honor and help your parents”, “set a good example”, “seek to live with the truth”, “do not murder”, “don’t do anything illegal” and “support a government designed and run for all the people”. Scratch beneath the surface however, and it begins to take on certain religious characteristics. For example, we are encouraged to “respect the religious belief of others” regardless of how reprehensible their beliefs are, while it blandly dismisses “men without faith” as a “pretty sorry lot”. It also exhorts us not to “harm a person of good will” – the clear implication being that people deemed to be of “bad will” are fair game.
The latter is familiar territory for both religions and quasi-scientific self-improvement programmes such as Dianetics. Also rather dianetic-like is the tendency to list definitions of words throughout the pamphlet. Dianetics and Scientology are inseperable, and the quasi-religious tendency of the booklets outlining each programme to include a full page sepia-toned picture of the Great Man, also indicates this is more dogma than scientific research (then again, the Tory conference booklet has a quasi-religious full page picture of Cameron; make of that what you will).
The existance of this stand at a party conference (and apparently they’ve exhibited before at both Tory and Labour conferences), is a bit of a moral quandary for me. On the one hand, no-one is suggesting that the Tories are any more influenced by this stand than, say, the British Humanist Association or the National Union of Teachers. And yet, it is strangely sinister to see them claming to be research and treatment programmes when the links to Scientology are undeniable. It is unclear what they are doing going to party conferences: trying to get councils to invest in such programmes, or evangelising under a veil of respectability? A stand that made its links to Scientology explicit would at least be more honest, but paradoxically would be more controversial. Is calling themselves Narconon designed to spare the Church’s blushes, or the Conservative Party’s?
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The Mandelstams
Admissions Welcome
Mr. & Mrs. Mandelstam, as well as their three daughters, Allen Sousa, Deon Mandelstam and Deen Camacho are graduates of the University of Miami. Mr. Mandelstam also holds an MBA degree from the Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania, and a law degree from the University of Miami. Allen Sousa graduated first in her class and holds a Masters Degree from Barry University in Occupational Therapy. Her thesis dealt with sensory integration and gymnastics. In addition, she did systematic research on the benefits of gymnastics and childhood development. Deen Camacho graduated cum laude in American Studies with a minor in Theater. Deon Mandelstam earned her Masters Degree in Educational Leadership.
All three daughters have worked at the school since its inception and have considerable experience in the performing arts arena. In Miami City Ballet’s Nutcracracker Production for example, Allen was the original Marie, Deon danced Chinese and Deen danced in the Company’s ensemble. In addition, Deen performed in several Miami City’s Balanchine Productions, and also with England’s Royal Ballet in Swan Lake. While Allen was performing with the Orlando and Nashville Ballet Companies, sister Deon studied glass blowing at Pilchuck in Seattle, at Corning Glass in New York, and at the Penland Institute in North Carolina.
The Mandelstam School | 8530 S.W. 57th Ave. | South Miami, FL 33143 | Phone:305-662-2736
South Miami Gymnastics Center | Phone:305-665-9198 | Accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools
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Project Advisory Board
VISCA DSS
Crop Forcing
Shoot Trimming
Irrigation Optimisation
Scientific publications and deliverables
Synergies and Networking
Portugal (Symington)
Symington Family Estates (SFE) is one of the principal Port producers and is the leading vineyard owner in the Douro Valley with a total area of 1,006 hectares (2,486 acres) of vines spread across 27 Quintas dotted around the Douro’s three sub regions (BaixoCorgo, CimaCorgo and Douro Superior) in what is the world’s largest mountain vineyard. Portugal’s geographic isolation, as well as some past conservatism on the part of its wine producers has worked in the country’s favor in terms of the preservation of the rich genetic diversity of its indigenous grape varieties. The demonstration site, Quinta do Ataíde, is located in Douro Superior and it has in total 85 ha vineyards. It consists of two plots with the variety TourigaNacional, and one plot with Touriga Franca. Although Ataíde has a fairly homogeneous, flat terrain, sandy-loam and loam soil composition, uneven soil drainage has been identified to result in some variance in grape quality.
Climate: The Douro enjoys its own micro-climate, which is an important reason for the quality and style of its wines. The most important geological features responsible for this are several mountain ranges sheltering it from the Atlantic Ocean influence, giving it a continental climate, with hot and dry summers and cooler and wetter winters. Average annual temperatures range from 11.8 to 16.5º C. Rainfall ranges throughout the year from 50.6 mm in the wettest month down to 6.9 mm during the driest month.
Grape variety: Touriga Nacional
Soil composition: sandy-loam and loam.
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 730253.
VISCA © All rights reserved
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UNIMUN 2000
5005 West Winona
intl. fax: (707) 281-7365
e-mail: info@unimun.org
The information provided on this and subsequent pages is in reference to the August, 2000 UNIMUN Conference.
WEDNESDAY - AUGUST 9
8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Early Conference Registration (at the Roosevelt Hotel)
THURSDAY - AUGUST 10
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Conference Registration (at the United Nations)
10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Substantive Briefing Sessions
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Substantive Briefing Sessions
8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Conference Registration (at the Roosevelt Hotel)
8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Rules Training Session for all Committees (at the Roosevelt Hotel)
FRIDAY - AUGUST 11
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Conference Registration (at the United Nations)
12:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Opening Session
1:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. General Assembly / Council Sessions:
- General Assembly Plenary
- ECOSOC
- Security Council
- Historical Security Council
5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Dinner
7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Open Caucus (at the Roosevelt Hotel)
SATURDAY - AUGUST 12
10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. General Assembly / Council Sessions
2:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. General Assembly / Council Sessions
5:30 p.m. Dinner / Free Evening
SUNDAY - AUGUST 13
10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. General Assembly Plenary / Council Sessions
1:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Break
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Closing Session
Please Sign our Guest Book.
Note that this page will be continuously enhanced throughout the year;
please check back frequently for updates.
Acknowledgements/Credits
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Cochrane review of flu vaccine not as definitive as health officer suggests
Tom Jefferson, Special to The Vancouver Sun 11.15.2012
A nurse injects a patient with a H1N1 vaccine during a flu shot program in Calgary on Oct. 26, 2009. A new report says flu vaccine is not as effective as public health messaging suggests and new and better vaccines are needed.
Jeff McIntosh / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Re: Mask or vaccine ultimatum for health care workers defended, Letters, Nov. 2.
Cochrane reviews are comprehensive studies summing up what is known about the effectiveness and harms of an intervention. Cochrane reviews are unlike other reviews. To minimize bias, Cochrane reviews are always preceded by publication of a protocol (a long and detailed statement of intent), are regularly updated, follow fairly rigid methods which are pre specified in the protocol, are never funded by industry and the whole process is publicly open for anyone to see and comment on. The summing up also involves a quality check on the studies included in the Cochrane review, as faults with the design of any scientific study can give wrong and misleading results. Studies are not all of the same quality, although some are portrayed as superior to others.
For the past two decades, I have been involved in the writing and periodic updating of Cochrane reviews on influenza vaccines in children, healthy adults, the elderly, and healthcare workers who care for sick people. My group and I also carried out a review on 270 influenza vaccines studies on all types of populations published from the 1940s up to 2007 and found near universal poor methodological quality. We also found that pharma-funded studies were more likely to be published in the top journals and be more often quoted than their non pharma counterparts, but the quality and size of the studies were the same as the others. Their conclusions were not surprisingly far more optimistic on the vaccines’ performance. Their publication on top journals was probably a result of the fatal attraction of pharma sponsorship for big journals and their publishers.
In his Nov. 2 letter to The Vancouver Sun, Dr. Perry Kendall, the provincial health officer for British Columbia, misquotes our work suggesting that our Cochrane review in healthcare workers “reports that vaccinating health care workers protects patients from influenza, pneumonia (a complication of influenza), doctor’s visits, hospitalizations, and even death”.
Our 2010 review concludes no such thing. It is worth reporting a verbatim extract from our conclusions to show just how things can be distorted:
"No effect was shown for specific outcomes: laboratory-proven influenza, pneumonia and death from pneumonia. An effect was shown for the non-specific outcomes of ILI [influenza-like illness], GP consultations for ILI and all-cause mortality in individuals aged 60 or more. These non-specific outcomes are difficult to interpret because ILI includes many pathogens, and winter influenza contributes less than 10 per cent to all-cause mortality in individuals aged 60 or more. The key interest is preventing laboratory-proven influenza in individuals aged 60 or more and deaths from pneumonia, but we cannot draw such conclusions. The identified studies are at high risk of bias."
In other words, we report that no effect of the influenza vaccines was detectable on influenza and its complications such as death. We detected an effect on non-influenza specific outcomes such as death for all causes. This we found to be implausible given that in the elderly and frail death occurs for a variety of causes completely unrelated to influenza. Dr. Kendall forgot to mention our warning that all studies in the review were of low quality (which is the most likely explanation for the findings on death from all causes).
Misquoting happens frequently in everyday life, and is usually necessary for those who have no arguments.
It is not my place to judge the policies currently underway in British Columbia, but coercion and forcing public ridicule on human beings (for example by forcing them to wear distinctive badges or clothing) is usually the practice of tyrants.
Dr. Tom Jefferson is with the Cochrane Respiratory Infections Group, Roma, Italy.
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Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area Regional Plan 2009-2029
Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Regional Plan 2009-2029
The Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Regional Plan 2009-2029 has been developed to address the need for a whole-of-region plan that will guide the development of the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area into the future.
The Regional Plan outlines a vision to guide whole-of-government planning and program delivery in the region involving all levels of service delivery, and addresses the Closing the Gap targets. It has a twenty year timeframe and acknowledges that many of the region’s challenges require long-term development initiatives.
The Regional Plan was signed on 15 July 2009 by the TSRA Chairman, and Councillors and Mayors of TSC, TSIRC and NPARC. In doing so, the three Councils and TSRA committed to working together to support the region and its people. It will be used by the four signatories to seek agreement from all levels of government to plan and deliver services in a coordinated manner and in line with the goals and objectives of the Plan.
The regional planning process began in August 2008, when the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) Board, and Councillors and Mayors of the Torres Shire Council (TSC), the Torres Strait Island Regional Council (TSIRC) and the Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council (NPARC), with support from the Queensland Department of Communities Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS), agreed to work together towards a unified vision for the region. The aim was to align government investment in the region with integrated service provision driven by regional needs.
The TSRA, in partnership with the three Councils and ATSIS, conducted a robust community consultation process in 2008 to form the core of the Regional Plan. Public consultations were held with all communities in the Torres Strait including the Northern Peninsula Area communities of Bamaga and Seisia. The consultation topics were based on the COAG Building Blocks, State and Local Government targets as well as regional issues unique to the Torres Strait region.
The information obtained from the consultation process was presented to the Elected Representatives of the region for consideration: Elected Representatives, both TSRA and Local Government, reviewed the raw data and agreed on a vision and goal statement for the region against each topic at a Forum held at TSRA on the 6-7 November 2008.
A draft Regional Plan was prepared based on the information collected from the community consultations and the regional vision and goal statement. This draft was shared with communities and the general public for input and comments in early 2009 and additional comments were considered at a second Elected Representative’s Forum on 1 May 2009 and, where agreed, incorporated.
The signing of the Regional Plan is testament to the foresight and commitment of the Torres Strait and NPA communities and their representative bodies whose willingness and productive engagement in the partnership was critical to its success. It marks a significant milestone in the path to develop a sustainable and more resilient future for communities of the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area region.
Press Release PR341: Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area Regional Plan Signed 195 Kb
Torres Strait & Northern Peninsula Area Regional Plan 2009 - 2029 605 Kb
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Man Lied About Sex Crimes On CV
Wednesday, 6th July 2016 at 7:58pm
The Wiltshire Times carries the story of a man who has been jailed for two years after lying on his CV about his history of sex offending.
David Seaman’s bosses and colleagues at the engineering firm where he worked only learned of his seedy past when he was arrested for a third set of sex offences.
The prosecutor in the case said Seaman had been been receiving a salary for a job which he would not have received if he had told the truth about his past.
(This will open in a new window from the creator of the article.)
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Institute for Sustainable Community
Introduction to the Institute for Sustainable Community and Risk Management (ISCRM)
The Institute for Sustainable Community and Risk Management was established as one of the project research institutes at Waseda University in 2000, in order to make a contribution to further understanding disaster-affected societies in a sociological view, developing disaster research method and solving disaster-related social problems and risk-management issues (http://www.kikou.waseda.ac.jp/english/index.html). The Institute for Sustainable Community and Risk Management conducts field and survey research on group, organizational and community preparation for, response to, and recovery from natural and technological disasters and other community-wide crises. The researchers have carried out systematic studies on a broad range of disaster types, including earthquakes, typhoons, floods, volcanic eruptions, and hazardous chemical or nuclear incidents. The Institute has been deeply concerned about the long-term reconstruction processes of communities affected by disasters, especially such as the ones affected by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, Unzen-Fugen volcanic eruption.
Our Perspectives
In considering the circumstances of disasters in Japan, the 1990s is said to be a turning point. Above all, it was partly because of the characteristics of disasters that occurred frequently since then and partly because of the way in which their social effects appeared as social processes. For example, the eruption disaster of Mount Unzen-Fugen, which occurred at the beginning of the 1990s, is known for the circumstances in which the strained state of damage continued being baffled by pyroclastic flows and debris flows that occurred in succession and the disaster was prolonged. The enlarged and prolonged damages and living crises in the disaster revealed another aspect of a disaster phenomenon to which little attention had been paid before then. Influences of the prolonged disaster changed family relations and economic lives irreversibly, and efforts to recover their lives and to reconstruct their community created longstanding trials and movements by local residents. The prolonged disaster gave rise to dynamic social processes where each particular resident groups had been given a different influence on. After the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake disasters that attacked such a place as isolated islands, depopulated areas, and local cities occurred in succession in the 2000s: the evacuation of the island's entire population for four years and five months due to the eruption of Miyake Island (August 2000), the case of the Chuetsu earthquake in Niigata Prefecture (October 2004) where depopulated areas were devastated severely due to the earthquake, and the case of the Niigata Chuetsu-Oki earthquake (July 2007) where the similar depopulated regional towns were seized with fear of the breakdown of the nuclear power stations. In catastrophic damage to infrastructures that supported communities and in the prospect of a sharp budget cut in local funds throughout the country, important questions are raised such as: what reconstruction of living and community against disasters that attack villages in depopulated areas is, and what problems to be talked over seriously are appear to be on the agenda.
These recent disaster experiences in Japan direct our attention toward various types of precariousness that exist in the social structures of communities and vulnerability individual resident groups have. These disaster experiences also lead to a viewpoint where even under the condition that we have to accept this vulnerability as given we are necessary to ask and to talk over such questions as how living conditions could be restored from there and on what a basis we could do it. When considering long term disaster processes like restoration and reconstruction processes in Asia, this kind of knowledge may probably help to understand deep social influences a disaster has and to depict social problems that they might have and encounter.
Our Objectives: Toward A More Resilient Community
---Vulnerability of local communities, accumulated for a long period of time in the process of economic transformation---
After the World War Two, Japan has seen very dramatic economic changes, such as the rapid economic growth in the 1960s, the oil shock and its following recession in the 1970s, the skyrocketing rise of land prices and the boom years in the 1980s, the “lost” ten years of economic struggling in the 1990s after “the bubble economy”. Local Communities, be it urban or rural, have been forced to change dramatically.
These changes in local communities have tremendous effects on the people’s lives and on their hope for the future.
In the course of time, the people’s lives have been changing in various ways in terms of economic condition of living and desired lifestyles. Even if they continue to have a sense, if any, of belonging to the same community, each of them has been getting to a different social position, a different affection of culture and seeking for a different way of life. In addition to this, there has been lots of population movement. New comers from different areas with different backgrounds have been getting into the same district to live with. These community conditions lead to the lack of living-together feelings and the incapability of solving their own community problems in cooperation. Under these conditions it is getting more and more difficult for the local residents to get together in order to prepare for, respond to, and recover from community-wide crises.
How to deal with these situations is a focal point of disaster-preparedness and mitigation of the times. Our institution intends to make a contribution to enriching the knowledge of disaster studies, to understanding well the torment of the people in the disaster-affected societies, and to promoting practical procedures in order to better deal with disaster-related social issues.
ISCRM holds several conferences and lectures every year in addition to regular meetings which are held at almost once a month pace. While most of the staff are majoring in sociology, some are urban planners, disaster managers, and social activists. So we could have a fruitful discussion in regard to a variety of disaster-related fields. ISCRM research yields both basic social science knowledge on disasters and information that can be applied to develop more effective plans and policies to reduce disaster impacts. The Institute has its own book, monograph, and report series. Besides maintaining its own databases, ISCRM serves as a repository for materials collected by other agencies and researchers. ISCRM 's specialized library, which contains mainly Japanese and Asian collection on the social and behavioral aspects of disasters--now numbering more than 3,000 items?and which also gives information about the studies of other countries through internet (http://db2.littera.waseda.ac.jp/saigai/index.htm ), is open to both interested scholars and agencies involved in emergency management.
Waseda University, School of Letters, Arts and Sciences
1-24-1, Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan 162-8644 Office Fax: +81 (0)3 3203 7718
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Colorado Please Just Vote
Last year, several counties in Colorado apparently put forth ballot measures to secede from the state in reaction to gun laws and renewable energy quotas enacted by the state legislature. The measure was successful in several northwestern counties but was voted down in other counties, including Weld county, by far the most populous county of those that voted, and so the measure did not prosper. But it was a warning shot across the bows and a strident display of Colorado voter activism in a state that has a history of keeping a cautious eye on their legislature. So perhaps predicting exactly how new regulations on mail-in ballots will affect the results of midterm elections for senator in Colorado should be approached cautiously. In a fairly tight race, both sides are predictably saying the new rules will favor their candidate. In an average of recent polls Republican Rep Cory Gardner led Democratic Senator Mark Udall by a little over 1 percentage point. So how the new rules affect undecided voters is clearly important to the results.
All registered voters will now automatically receive ballots in the mail and are being encouraged to mail their vote back, but can also vote in person at the polls. If you register to vote at least 8 days before election night, you will receive a ballot in the mail. Of Colorado's 3.6 million registered voters, 700,000 are inactive, leaving 2.9 million active registered voters in the state. Whether the added voting the measures are expected to produce will give results that fall to one side or other in the race remains to be seen. Between active voters Republicans lead by about 50,000 voters, while among inactive voters, Democrats lead by around 30,000 voters. Assuming something over 3 million voters actually vote on election night, then a 1% difference boils down to slightly over 30,000 votes. Democrats are spending a lot of money to try and get out those inactive voters where they have a slight advantage, while Republicans are trying to ensure that registered voters return those mail-in ballots, playing to their advantage among active voters. As well, Udall's strategy of playing up the "war on women" card is just not working in this election cycle. On the abortion-contraception issue, voters in Colorado are just not worked up at all. Gardner's strategy of supporting over the counter contraception seems to have diffused the issue and voters are far more concerned about issues like ISIS, dysfunction in Washington, and the economy. Could it be that Udall's campaign strategy is falling apart in the final weeks? If it is, maybe Gardner's margin will be noticeably bigger than 1.3% by election night. You can be sure his campaign team will not be banking on that, however, and will instead be doing all they can to get people to mail their ballots in. Colorado's voters seem to have their politicians bending over backwards, even more than normal for election campaigns; is that such a bad thing?
Posted by AllardK at October 14, 2014 8:57 PM
The measure was successful in several northwestern counties
Actually Allard the measure wasn’t successful in any northwest county in Colorado, the lone county in northwest Colorado that had a secession referendum on the ballot wanted to become part on Wyoming but it failed to pass. Five counties in northeast Colorado did pass a referendum to become a state while six did not, including Weld county.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/06/51st-state-initiative-rejected_n_4220891.html
But it was a warning shot across the bows and a strident display of Colorado voter activism in a state that has a history of keeping a cautious eye on their legislature.
It was more a joke played on foolish people than a shot across the bow or a strident display of anything but immaturity and selfishness. The “don’t tread on me” crowd is upset because they weren’t able to force their foolishness on the majority of Coloradans. I voted for secession in the county I live in because I wanted these idiots to get their way, although I preferred the new state to be called west Kansas. It more accurately reflects the landscape in eastern Colorado and it reflects the same conservative ideological insanity that has Kansas reeling after becoming a conservative utopia several years back. Unfortunately the referendum failed in the county I live in.
As far as the current election Gardner is a power hungry conservative willing to do or say anything and has the backing of Crossroads GPS and the Koch Bros with myths misinformation half truths and outright lies ads running everywhere and constantly. Udall has tried distancing himself from Obama and therefore will not get my vote. Udall allows the aforementioned attack ads to perpetrate many conservative myths without responding as is the case with many dems, why would I vote for that?
The nice thing about Colorado is I have 4 more choices on the ballot for the Senate race.Two are unaffiliated, one a Libertarian and one a Unity party .
Colorado’s voters seem to have their politicians bending over backwards, even more than normal for election campaigns; is that such a bad thing?
I would suggest it is the voters who are bent over backwards. Either Gardner or Udall will win the Senate race despite the other choices available. Gardner is unworthy of office, an ideological driven conservative that proved himself unworthy while in the HoR. Voting to shut down the government with the Tea Party Caucus amongst other things proves this. He has the advantage because of the bombarding of the voters by the Koch Bros and Crossroads, it’s not like many Coloradans are smart enough to separate the myths from reality after all. Udall is to cowardly to stand up for what he is and deserves to be beaten, but make no mistake it is the politicians and their money men who have the voters bent over. WE all lose when bribery is free speech.
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Posted by: edruyter at November 2, 2014 8:07 AM
I have researched buildings and history for the past 50 yrs. All buildings that followed linear architecture (rectangular buildings on rectangular lots with picket fences or compound walls on straight roads) are successful and prosperous all over the world. The U.S.A. and CANADA are the only two countries in the world that followed linear architecture for several decades and they became very successful countries in the world.
Please visit my website www.vastutheory-mudrageda.com to find the features of good luck buildings. Most of the successful buildings in the world have a majority of these features. Please reintroduce the linear architecture to U.S.A and CANADA to maintain their greatness in this world. Take a look at our county court houses in every state, and they are all good luck buildings. Take a look at Pentagon, it was built during World War II and America did not win a single war after— World War II ended with the Cold War, Korean War is not solved, Vietnam war was a great loss, Iraq and Afghani wars are in a limbo and the American army will not win a war as long as the Pentagon is the American military headquarters. I advise Americans to move the military head quarters to a rectangular building and covert the Pentagon to a federal prison.
Now look at General Motors (GM), it was a great success when it was run from the old head quarters. Now it is run from Renaissance Center and it will never be successful. Independence Hall in Philadelphia, a very good luck building. Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama and the governor’s mansion in Williamsburg, VA are also great buildings. They have all the features as described on my website. The Watergate building, it is a very bad luck building. The 9/11 Memorial is a very bad luck building. The new CDC building in Atlanta is also a very bad luck building. Don’t forget the Enron corporations downfall. All buildings built on golf courses are all bad luck buildings.The American embassy in Bagdad is a vey,very,very bad luck building.
By using linear architecture, the U.S.A can become a greater success.
Surya Rao Mudragada
Suryaraomudragada@yahoo.com
Posted by: suryarao mudragada at July 5, 2015 5:45 PM
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WhatWeSave.com: The Ethics of Abortion
Just a note...
How would we know if abortionists were following the law?
_I was reading an article about late-term abortions from the Washington Post's website and this one paragraph got me thinking:
"Perhaps, then, it’s not surprising that many abortion restrictions target late-term abortions. This year alone, five states banned abortions after 20 weeks. Even Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that protected first-trimester abortion, only protects third-trimester abortions when the life or health of the mother is at risk."
Sure, the way the author uses "protected" makes it sound really biased but that's not what caught my eye. It was where it pointed out that even Roe v. Wade in 1973 didn't allow third-trimester abortions under normal circumstances. It also says that, "Just 10 percent of Americans think abortion ought to be legal in the last three months of pregnancy". I was surprised when I read this because I've always thought that since Roe v. Wade late-term abortions were more accepted and that with new medical research more debate has arisen as to the ethics of these late-term abortions. Almost 20 years ago abortionist Martin Haskell wrote a paper describing the Dilation and Extraction method says that it is easier to do and he had at that point performed over 700 of them. We can only imagine how many more he has done since. My point though is that if there has always been more restriction on late-term abortions, then why is enforcing the restrictions taken so lightly? Is it even done at all?
I know that at Haskell's abortion clinics in Ohio he has been allowed to avoid laws governing health regulations. I doubt that anybody is checking to make sure that he isn't aborting babies past the deadline past by the state. How do we know he's not doing any kind of procedure he wants to? We've all heard stories of babies that were strangled or just thrown out to die as trash, and how do we know that's not still being done at abortion clinics today?
Choice?
Is it ever OK to use graphic abortion photos?
_Some people put them on signs, others drive them around on the sides of trucks. Statistically it's very effective, but is that a good enough reason to use abortion photos?
Go to our Facebook page to vote on this question. While you're there, like the page!
Your Baby Has Fingernails
_If you haven't seen the movie "Juno" by now, then get yourself to a Redbox and rent it. It's not an overtly Pro-life movie but I love how it shows the way that adoption does really work and how creepy the idea of killing your own child is when you actual start to realize what you're doing. Here's an example of that:
a ProLifeBlogs member
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ZT INTERROGATION: HELLRIPPER CONTINUE TO DABBLE IN THE BLACK ARTS
Paul Castles·
Hellripper‘s forthcoming EP is another slab of charred granite from Scot James McBain. Here he speaks to Paul Castles about his new release and the reissue of his album Complete & Total Fucking Mayhem.
ZT: Your new EP, Black Arts & Alchemy, is out on April 5 – How are you feeling about it, James?
Yeah, it’ll be out in early April. I’m feeling really good about it and can’t wait to finally get it out there! It contains some of my favourite work to date and it is my best sounding release yet.
ZT: Were there any significant differences to how you put this record together compared to previous releases?
Not really, my process has been more-or-less the same since the beginning. Everything is still written and recorded by myself at home. I am always trying to learn new recording/mixing techniques however, and I did spend quite some time trying to get a heavier drum sound to make the sound fuller on this recording.
ZT: It was mastered by Joel of Toxic Holocaust, how was it working with him?
Yeah, that was cool as I’ve been a fan of his work for quite some time now – both his musical output and his mixing/mastering. We had a few chats over e-mail and he had everything done really quickly. The end result was even better than expected!
ZT: The new EP is on Reaper Metal Productions, have things gone well with them?
Things have been going great with them so far. I have been friends with Thomas (label partner) for a while now due to a shared interest in death metal and some non-metal music and I have been a listener of Reaper’s (label owner) podcast, ‘Hellcast’ for a few years so it was cool to be able to work with him. It seems that we all have a similar vision of how we want things to be done etc. and we all get along so I couldn’t ask for anything more really at this stage!
ZT: And they’ve also released a remastered version of the Complete & Total Fucking Mayhem album – Can you explain the thinking behind that?
The original version of the CD was self-released in a limited quantity and has been sold out and out-of-print for quite a while now. They were fans of the compilation and expressed an interest in releasing an updated version with three additional tracks (from my 2018 non-album releases) that were not included on the original version. I have had quite a few people enquire about a repress too, so it made sense. The repress contains updated artwork and a new layout which (in my opinion) is a great improvement over the original release so I’m happy with how that has turned out too!
ZT: For those new to Hellripper just explain the format of the band. Is it still essentially a solo project, James?
Yes, Hellripper is written and recorded entirely by myself. It started as a solo project solely because I could not find like-minded people to play this type of music with me. I do now occasionally get friends and other musicians to contribute things like guest vocals or guitar solos to songs, but for the most part I do everything on the studio recordings. The band ended up getting a lot more attention than I ever thought it would so I ultimately decided to recruit a live line-up of musicians in order to play shows. The live line-up has changed quite a bit over the past couple of years but I’m hopeful and confident that the current line-up will be the same for the foreseeable future.
ZT: Are you happy to maintain this arrangement for now?
I am used to this arrangement now and I feel like it is working well so I have no desire to change that at this time. If new material starts to sound stale or lacking inspiration then I would consider changing things up a bit in some way – possibly getting others involved with the studio recordings but for now the process will remain the same.
ZT: There are a number of interesting solo ventures such as Foul Body Autopsy and Abduction – do you take a particular interest in artists who are going through a similar process to yourself
I have in the past looked at how other solo ventures do things such as how they go about playing live and recruiting members or how they record their music etc. but now that I have my own process and I am used to doing things my own way, I don’t pay as much attention to that stuff anymore. It is always interesting seeing how other people do things regardless of whether they are a full band or a solo project. You can always pick up helpful tips or ideas from others, whether it be songwriting, recording, marketing etc. Everyone has a different way of doing things and I’ve been given advice that just doesn’t work for me and I have given people advice that just doesn’t work for them. It’s helpful to know different ways of doing things so you can put your own spin on them and come up with your own methods that work for you. I always encourage people to go it alone if they are having trouble finding band members or whatever and am always happy to answer any questions people have regarding how I do things and any methods that I think might be helpful to them. I try not to draw attention to the fact that Hellripper is a one-man band as I don’t think it should make a difference to a listener. I did used to mention it quite a bit early on as I thought that’s what you “had to” do ha,ha but I’d rather have people judge the band on the music rather than how many members are in the band.
ZT: You’re playing with Midnight at the Dome in London in April, they’re a band you have a strong bond with.
I’ve actually never talked to the guys in Midnight but I have been a massive fan for ages now and I guess the styles of our music are quite similar. I’m really pleased that we have been given the chance to play with them and are looking forward to that show immensely! The last time we played in London was great, so I’m definitely excited about going back.
ZT: You must be looking forward to some interesting live shows you’ve got coming up in the UK and into Europe
We’ve only played twice in Europe so far and both times have been amazing so I’m really excited to get back over there on this tour. We will be sharing the stage with some amazing bands which I am really grateful for too. We’ve been lucky to get some great shows and be a part of some cool festivals this time around and for a first tour, I couldn’t really ask for much more! I’m also looking forward to meeting all the people and fans that are coming to any of the shows. It’ll be cool to finally meet some people that I have only spoken with previously online.
ZT: You’re playing at a pre-Roadburn event ‘Ignition’ in Tilburg – Hellripper are perhaps not your average Roadburn band!
Ha,ha, I would agree with you there! Roadburn is obviously one of the best festivals in the world and the lineup is always special but yes, does not usually include bands of our style. The pre-show party however which we are playing has had its fair share of speed/thrash bands in the past such as Evil Invaders, Attic and Butcher. I’m beyond pleased to be a part of Roadburn, no matter how small a part haha and it will be our first show in the Netherlands too which is quite cool!
ZT: Can you just confirm who’ll be on stage with you on this tour?
I will be joined by Joseph Quinlan on guitar, Clark Core on bass and Max Southall on drums. I will be on guitar and vocals. The rest of the guys are all great musicians and I’m looking forward to touring with them. They are all friends of mine too which helps greatly.
ZT: With your love of old school black metal have you any plans to catch the forthcoming film about Mayhem, Lords Of Chaos?
I actually just watched it a couple of days ago. It was a lot better than I expected, although some parts definitely stretched the truth a bit. Varg drinking chocolate milk while murdering Euronymous… ha,ha. But overall, it wasn’t a bad film. Some elements were clearly meant to take the piss out of the scene. Although not entirely accurate, it was an entertaining watch.
ZT: Your home town of Aberdeen is known as the Granite City – is it still as tough as ever?
It’s still grey… it’s still cold… ha,ha. I actually live down in Fife now, about two hours out of Aberdeen and like it a lot here. It’s a lot more peaceful than Aberdeen. It’s also really close to both Edinburgh and Glasgow so I can attend ‘bigger’ shows and events more regularly than before. I can see myself living in another country at some point in the future but I’ve got no specific or immediate plans for that.
Hellripper’sBlack Arts & Alchemy EP will be reviewed in the next issue of Zero Tolerance Magazine.
HellripperPaul Castles
Paul Castles
A career in the media, regional newspapers. Now working in local government communications department. Regular freelance metal contributions to Zero Tolerance and MidlandsRocks.com
Paul Castles talks to Phil Stiles, singer/songwriter with Leicester’s prog trio Final Coil about their new album, and a lot more besides…
ZT INTERROGATION: GORGONCHRIST INFLICT MAXIMUM DAMAGE WITH DEMONSTRATIVE DEBUT ALBUM
LIVE REVIEW: THE OCEAN, DOWNFALL OF GAIA AND HEROD
Previous CHECK OUT THE NEW TRACK PREMIERE FROM USURPER!
Next LIVE REVIEW: THE OCEAN, DOWNFALL OF GAIA AND HEROD
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A. If such facility is proposed to be located in a village, the chief executive officer representing the town shall nominate four candidates, the chief executive officer representing the county shall nominate four candidates, and the chief executive officer representing the village shall nominate four candidates for consideration. The list of candidates is to be submitted to the President Pro Tem of the Senate or the Speaker of the Assembly within fifteen days of receipt of notification of the pre-application preliminary scoping statement.
A. It is the Siting Board’s policy to encourage public participation in the review of the applicant’s proposal at the earliest opportunity so that public input can be considered.
A. The purposes of a Public Involvement Plan include: (a) providing for an open exchange of information and ideas between the public and the applicant; (b) providing complete information on the application to the public; (c) providing timely notice to the public of important events; (d) providing meaningful public input to key decisions; (e) fostering the active, early and continuing involvement of interested or affected persons; (f) the solicitation of public comments, ideas, and local expertise; and (g) the identification of circumstances and impacts which may not have been known or anticipated by the applicant or government agencies.
A. Applicants must submit proposed Public Involvement Program plans in writing to the Department of Public Service for review as to their adequacy at least 150 days prior to the submittal of any preliminary scoping statement. For good cause, applicants may request a reduction in the minimum number of days to less than 150.
A. Such other persons or entities as the Siting Board may at any time deem appropriate, who may participate in all subsequent stages of the proceeding.
A. It is expected that both public statement hearings and trial-type evidentiary hearings will be held. In addition, persons are permitted to make a limited appearance.
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A. At the earliest stage of the Article 10 process, applicants are required to prepare and begin implementing a Public Involvement Program. In addition, to ensure that the public and interested parties are fully assisted and advised in participating in the Article 10 process, an Office of Public Information Coordinator has been created within the New York State Department of Public Service.
A. The Office of Public Information Coordinator assists the public and interested parties by: (a) implementing measures that assure public participation in matters before the Siting Board; (b) responding to inquiries from the public for information on how to participate; (c) assisting the public in requesting records; (d) ensuring all interested persons are provided with a reasonable opportunity to participate at public meetings; (e) ensuring that all necessary or required documents are available for public access on the Siting Board website; and (f) any other duties as may be prescribed by the Siting Board, after consultation with the Department of Public Service.
A. The presiding examiner will provide for an expedited pre-application funding disbursement schedule to assure early and meaningful public involvement. Following receipt of initial requests for pre-application funds, the presiding examiner shall expeditiously make an initial award of pre-application funds. Subject to the availability of funds, the presiding examiner may fix additional dates for submission of fund requests. Thereafter the presiding examiner may make additional awards of pre-application funds, in relation to the potential for such awards to make an effective contribution to review of the preliminary scoping statement.
A. The presiding examiner will award funds on an equitable basis to participants during the pre-application phase to be used to make an effective contribution to review of the preliminary scoping statement, and thereby provide early and effective public involvement.
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[Mirrored from: http://www.entmp.org/entmp/proposal.shtml]
Electronic New Testament Manuscripts Project
Proposal for the Electronic New Testament Manuscripts Project Pilot Phase
The Larger Project
Scope of the Pilot Phase
The Electronic New Testament Manuscripts Project aims to make available on the Internet, and on CD-ROM, transcriptions and digital images of Greek manuscripts of the New Testament.
The Project has been under development for the last two years and has generated considerable interest amongst scholars and manuscript holders. Recently libraries at Harvard, Oxford, UIUC and the University of Glasgow, amongst others, have shown interest in participating, as have the British Library and Cambridge University Press.
The pilot phase of the project would, over one year, transcribe and digitize a number of papyri and important uncial manuscripts. The transcriptions and images would be made publicly available over the global Internet via World Wide Web information servers. This would be used as a demonstration of the validity of the full project.
This ambitious project promises to have a dramatic effect on New Testament textual research.
The Greek manuscripts of the New Testament are amongst the most important documents surviving today. But unlike many other manuscript collections which are contained at a handful of locations, the five thousand Greek New Testament manuscripts are spread across the globe in hundreds of libraries.
The large number of manuscripts and their dispersed geographical location present enormous problems for scholars working on the text of the New Testament. The numbers mean that comprehensive textual data is usually not available. The dispersed locations of the manuscripts means that scholars usually have to trust possibly erroneous transcriptions or work from poor quality facsimiles if they are obtainable at all.
Through the medium of electronic publication, digital technology offers us a solution to these problems. Electronic transcriptions and high-quality digital images of the manuscripts can now be made available to scholars on a large scale. Peer review would be made easier as transcriptions can easily be compared to images of the original manuscripts. This means that any scholar can decide whether the given transcription is accurate at a glance and errors can be corrected immediately. This is in contrast to the current situation where the process takes many years.
Consequently, this project promises to provide New Testament textual research with a powerful new tool.
The Electronic New Testament Manuscripts Project aims to make available on the Internet and on CD-ROM, electronic transcriptions and high-quality digital images of the most important Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. An additional aim is to produce extensive catalogues and collations of manuscripts, as well as providing software for variant analysis and image annotation.
The information will be linked so that a scholar can move instantly from viewing a collation to a transcription of a particular manuscript, and from a transcription to an image of the relevant part of the manuscript itself.
It is envisaged that the Project will be published both online via the World Wide Web and on a series of CD-ROMs. Agreements with manuscript owners may require certain images to appear only on the CD-ROM and not on the Internet. Every effort will be made to indicate clearly any prohibition on copying or redistribution of images made available online.
Transcriptions will come under a copying policy similar to that of the Free Software Foundation. This would mean that transcriptions are redistributable but that the original transcribers and editors would retain the copyright.
Transcriptions will be done under the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) application produced by the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI). This scheme, devised by Humanities scholars in Europe and North America provides a standard means for the the transcription of primary sources and textual variants. An increasing amount of software works with TEI encoded documents, including software for collating manuscript variants automatically. Because the manuscript transcriptions will be based on an SGML application, they will be platform-independent and will not become obsolete as software technology advances.
The images will be kept in high-resolution true-colour lossless format in-house but will be made available in compressed JPEG (or similar) format to dramatically reduce space requirements on the CD-ROMs and Web server. Where possible a digital camera will be used to capture visible light images of the manuscripts, as well as infrared and ultraviolet images where desirable. In the majority of cases, though, the manuscript custodians will provide a 5" x 4" colour transparency which would then be scanned.
The pilot phase will be a scaled-down version of the full project. The focus will be on a number of papyri and important uncial manuscripts. Which images are included will depend greatly on which manuscript owners are willing to participate at this early stage.
The pilot phase will include only online publication (i.e. not CD-ROM) and is envisaged to take one year to complete. This would be used as a demonstration of the validity of the full project.
The project has been under development for the last two years and the majority of the 45 papyri custodians have been contacted. The response has been positive, and some are particularly keen to participate. Recently, a number of these have been contacted to establish whether they would be interested in taking part in the pilot phase. These include Glasgow University Library, the Houghton Library at Harvard University and Magdalen College, Oxford. Others who have shown a strong interest include the British Library and the Egyptian Exploration Society of London (owners of many of the Oxyrhynchus papyri). Cambridge University Press considers the project a candidate for CD-ROM publication.
A mailing list has been set up on the Internet to bring together volunteers to begin transcriptions. The response has been good and a number of people have already begun transcribing manuscripts to make available to the project.
Maintained by James K. Tauber / jtauber@entmp.org
Wednesday, 21-Aug-96 08:17:34 EDT
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Bellowing Seal Helps Police Nab Pair Of Drug Traffickers
posted by Bill Galluccio - Sep 10, 2019
A pair of alleged drug traffickers found themselves stuck between an angry seal and Australian police as they tried to reach an inflatable dinghy with around $1 billion worth of illegal drugs. Authorities were sent to investigate a yacht that ran aground on a reef near Geraldton, which sits off the coast of Australia.
When officials found the boat, it was abandoned, and they noticed the dinghy, which had an outboard motor, was missing. They began a search and rescue operation, believing the occupants of the boat might be trouble.
While authorities launched planes to search for the missing men, a fisherman reported that somebody was hiding in the bushes on Burton Island, which is just over four miles from the reef. When rescuers went to the island they discovered that the two men, identified as Antoine Robert Dicenta and Graham Kurt Palmer, were trying to smuggle illegal drugs.
Authorities found 40 bags filled with around $1 billion worth of what they believe to be ecstasy, cocaine and methamphetamine partially covered in seaweed on the beach.
When the two men saw the police they tried to run back to their dinghy but were stopped dead in their tracks by an angry seal.
"When they got on the island, the guys made a run for their tender and there was this big, huge seal asleep between them and the tender," Geraldton Volunteer Marine Rescue Service vice commander Damien Healy said.
All the commotion woke up the seal it began bellowing at them and blocked their escape route. Authorities moved in and took the two men into custody.
"The guys basically had the choice of going through the seal or getting arrested and they ended up choosing getting arrested," Healy said.
The two men were charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.
Authorities praised the local fishermen who helped with the search, which ultimately resulted in the arrest of the two men.
“The fishing community of Geraldton played a significant role in this detection and seizure and maintained regular contact with police as this matter unfolded,” Western Australia police commissioner Chris Dawson said. “These people have helped protect Western Australia’s borders on this occasion and we are grateful for their efforts.”
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David Lee Roth, Lynyrd Skynyrd Join Metallica at Epicenter Festival
Ethan Miller (2) / Kevin Winter, Getty Images
David Lee Roth will be taking his show to Charlotte, N.C., a month after he completes his Las Vegas residency next year. He'll take part in the Epicenter 2020, a festival that also includes Lynyrd Skynyrd and features two night-closing sets by Metallica.
Roth will play on Friday, May 1, the same night as Metallica's first headlining slot. Skynyrd are scheduled for the next night. Metallica's second set will close out the festival on May 3. Other bands on the festival bill include Anthrax, Disturbed, Godsmack, Staind and Deftones.
You can learn more about Epicenter 2020, including the full lineup and ticket packages, at its website.
Metallica's involvement at Epicenter was revealed last month. They signed on to play two different sets at each of five festivals produced by Danny Wimmer Presents. They'll also headline Welcome to Rockville, Sonic Temple, Louder Than Life and Aftershock.
Roth unveiled his new band at a private show in September. They'll play nine shows in the House of Blues at Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay between Jan. 8 and March 28. For the first time in his career, he's working with two guitarists in an effort to recreate the sound Van Halen achieved on their albums.
“We do not sound like Van Halen live,” he said. “You have not heard this. Van Halen live is lead guitar, bass, drums, sing. Here, we bring it the way a record brings it. To do that requires two or three guitars. We have five people hollerin’. It’s big rock sound. It’s not ‘Just a Gigolo.’ It’s not brass band. That was a quickie vacation.”
David Lee Roth Through the Years: 1977-2018 Photos
Next: Metallica Albums Ranked
Source: David Lee Roth, Lynyrd Skynyrd Join Metallica at Epicenter Festival
Filed Under: David Lee Roth, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Metallica
Categories: Concerts, News
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25 Years Ago: How Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young Completed ‘Philadelphia’
Philadelphia is remembered today for the sensitive portrayal of an AIDS stricken lawyer by Tom Hanks. And for the bravery of writer Ron Nyswaner and director Jonathan Demme in bringing such a ground-breaking story to cinemas everywhere. But also for the music that completed this emotional journey.
Released on Dec. 22, 1993, the film was one of the first mainstream Hollywood productions to acknowledge the era's defining health crisis, earning Hanks an Academy Award for his work as attorney Andrew Beckett. The accompanying music became similarly celebrated, as the album went platinum. Bruce Springsteen provided "Street of Philadelphia," a sparse and haunting synth-focused ballad. Peter Gabriel ("Lovetown"), the Indigo Girls ("I Don't Want to Talk About It"), Sade ("Please Send Me Someone to Love") and Neil Young ("Philadelphia") also made important contributions.
Gabriel always had a connection to the theatrical, going back to his costume-wearing days as Genesis' frontman, and he regularly gave away songs to film directors. "Lovetown," an atmospherically soulful song, was special in that it previewed where Gabriel would go on 2002's Up, in particular with the quietly emotive song "Sky Blue." The theme, comparing a relationship to a walled city, rang particularly true in Philadelphia.
Sade's "Please Send Me Someone to Love" was a breathy plea, while the Spin Doctors added a hipster lope to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" The Indigo Girls' cover of "I Don't Want to Talk About It," written by Danny Whitten and included on Crazy Horse's eponymous 1971 album, pointed directly to one of the film's most touching moments: Neil Young's desperately sad "Philadelphia" framed a final scene where Beckett's family gathers to watch home movies from his childhood.
The director felt something more was needed. "He had Neil Young working first, so Neil came up with 'Philadelphia,' which ended the film," Springsteen said at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. "He wanted a rock song for the beginning, so I said I'd give it a shot."
Watch Peter Gabriel Perform 'Lovetown'
Springsteen, however, was at loose ends – estranged from the E Street Band, and coming off disappointing receptions for Human Touch and Lucky Town, a pair of solo albums released on the same day in 1992. He had trouble getting started. "I hooked up my little studio, and I tried for a day or so to come up with something," Springsteen added, "and I hadn't come up with anything."
Demme wanted to place the proposed song at the beginning, with a camera traveling with Hanks down the streets of the film's namesake city. The director sent a rough version of the scene, and the logjam was broken – though Springsteen remained uncertain.
"I had some lyrics. Eventually I just came up with that tiny little beat and a track, and I figured it wasn't what he wanted, but I sent it to him anyway" Springsteen said at Tribeca. "I sent it to him and said, 'What do you think?' and he said, 'Great,' and that was it. It took about two days."
That quick turnaround belied the depths plumbed by Springsteen on what turned into a humanizing, community-building song. “To write from the perspective of someone who is emaciated, with AIDS, is to forsake all of the strength Springsteen had staked his career on,” Jackson Browne enthused in a talk with Rolling Stone. “It is quite a feat.”
The film had its opening sequence. "Well, I have to tell you, if you ever want to have a great moment in a motion picture," Hanks told Variety, "walk out a door and make sure they just put up a Bruce Springsteen song."
Watch Bruce Springsteen Perform 'Streets of Philadelphia'
Both Young and Springsteen were nominated for an Oscar. Young performed at the ceremony, where his now-ex wife Pegi debuted as a background singer, but by then "Streets of Philadelphia" had become a gold-selling Top 10 juggernaut – Springsteen's first since 1987. He came away with the Academy Award.
It was the first of many such honors, as Springsteen also claimed multiple Grammys and a Golden Globe for "Streets of Philadelphia." During the Grammy ceremony, Springsteen made special mention of those "who have lost their lovers and friends and sons, and said this song meant something to them."
This sweeping, out-of-nowhere success ultimately knocked Springsteen a bit off track. He spent the majority of 1994 working on an album apparently titled Blindspot which was similarly keyboard based. "Much of what emerged shared an undulating, trance-like sound," author Peter Ames Carlin said in the best-selling Bruce.
Springsteen ended up changing his mind. An early take on "Secret Garden" emerged, and he placed the song "Missing" from the 1995 soundtrack to Sean Penn's The Crossing Guard, but otherwise music from the Blindspot era remains widely unheard. By early 1995, Springsteen was back – though only ever-so-briefly – with the E Street Band.
Bruce Springsteen Albums Ranked
Next: Top 10 Bruce Springsteen Songs
Source: 25 Years Ago: How Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young Completed ‘Philadelphia’
Filed Under: bruce springsteen, neil young
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Born to Walk: Bruce Springsteen on Turning 70
Will Russell, Getty Images
Bruce Springsteen still loves his 1975 breakthrough album Born to Run – but admitted that, at the age of 70, he can no longer run himself.
Despite that, the Boss said he was reveling in a highly creative period that had taken up the past five years of his life and was still in full swing.
“I don’t run. I can’t run anymore!” Springsteen told BBC 6 Music during a new interview. “I’ll walk very fast, however, and I just generally take care of myself with the diet and exercise a little bit. ... At 70, you appreciate the vitality of your creative like. I think I’ve had five years where I’ve done some of the best work I’ve ever done.”
He cited his Broadway show, his latest album Western Stars and Stars' associated movie as highlights of his recent career. “People do lose their mojo, they lose interest," he said. "You never know when you’re gonna write well again. … I stay very curious about the world and I’m curious about my own talent and where I can take that, and so that keeps you alive and vital.”
Springsteen described himself as “fortunate” as he noted he was turning his full attention to a new E Street Band album, which will be supporting with tour dates. Asked if he could rescue only one of his albums from a burning home, he noted that it would be "between two, but I might take [1982's] Nebraska. It cost me $1,000 to make with a recording deck about the size of that album cover, but it was really a special moment, you know. If I had to take a rock album, I’d probably grab Born to Run.”
The Best Song From Every Bruce Springsteen Album
Next: Read Our 'Blinded by the Light' Review
Source: Born to Walk: Bruce Springsteen on Turning 70
Filed Under: bruce springsteen
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Featured Leaders
Where To Find Think Like On The Web
https://aaronsansonibook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Aaron-Sansoni-Think-Like-On-Web-Header.png 560 315 Aaron Sansoni Aaron Sansoni https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fb7295780b09b2e8f1d9123efa3665ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g November 21, 2018 November 14, 2018
We’ve been talking a lot recently about the benefits of reading Think Like, but one thing we haven’t covered is where to find out more. Fortunately, there are several places across the web where potential readers can learn more about the book and author Aaron Sansoni.
BuyThinkLike
The best resource for Think Like is its very own website: www.buythinklike.com. The website features a dynamic, scrolling homepage that provides insight into both the book and the author. You will find rave reviews, projected learning points, and even download and read a chapter before purchasing the book. When you’re done exploring, you can purchase Think Like using the “Buy Now” button located in the menu header!
GoodReads is an excellent platform to learn more about Aaron Sansoni. His author page features a small biography, syndicated blog posts related to Think Like, and all of Aaron’s favorite quotes from other authors. You can check out the events list if you’d like to see Aaron live, and there’s even a Q&A section where you can submit questions that you’d like for the author to answer.
Reedsy
Reedsy is similar to GoodReads in that it is, essentially, an author profile. You can read a bit about Aaron Sansoni as you check out syndicated blog posts. The profile features prominent links to Aaron’s social pages, as well as the option to follow the author and receive updates when new information is posted. You are also able to see which of your friends are following Aaron on Reedsy and GoodReads!
Scribd is more of a book profile than an author profile. It features book facts like the number of book pages and average time to complete this book. You can assign the book a rating, write a review, and read a detailed preview of a chapter right out of the book. Readers with Scribd profiles may choose to save Think Like to book lists, share the book page with friends, or save the page for reference later on.
Those looking to avoid the fluff and get straight down to business will be happy to know that Aaron Sansoni’s Think Like can be found on Amazon. It is available in paperback and Kindle editions. Purchasers have the option to review the book, see recommended purchase pairings, and view critical product details in an easy-to-read format. An author biography and product reviews are also available.
Aaron Sansoni
Think Like Spotlight: Steve Jobs
https://aaronsansonibook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Aaron-Sansoni-Think-Light-Spotlight-Steve-Jobs-Header.png 560 315 Aaron Sansoni Aaron Sansoni https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fb7295780b09b2e8f1d9123efa3665ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g November 15, 2018 November 14, 2018
This month’s Think Like Spotlight covers the entrepreneurial basics of one of the greatest tech entrepreneurs of our time: Steve Jobs. The California native successfully leveraged relationships, technology, and business to create an empire that is a relevant part of the modern world to this day.
Claim To Fame: Apple Inc., Pixar
Entrepreneurial History:
Many recognize Steve Jobs as co-founder of Apple Inc., but few actually realize how long the company has been in business. Prior to iPhones and modern MacBooks, Jobs and co-founder Steve Wozniak joined forces to sell the first Apple I computer. The year was 1976.
Unlike many of the entrepreneurial success stories featured in Think Like, Steve Jobs did not begin his career as an entrepreneur very early on. In fact, he spent most of his earlier years traveling the globe and experimenting with various cultural beliefs and practices. It wasn’t until 1974, when Steve Jobs returned from his travels, that he began to leverage his friendship with Wozniak for employable reasons.
The two intellects worked together behind-the-scenes while Jobs maintained a position at Atari, utilizing Wozniak’s expertise in exchange for compensation when necessary. When Wozniak invented the Apple I computer in 1976, it was Jobs’ idea to sell it— his first real entrepreneurial pursuit at the age of 21. With innovation, technology, and a lot of investment solicitation on Jobs’ part, the entrepreneur was worth roughly $1 million dollars by the time he was 23. Apple would continue to grow and expand, as would the entrepreneurial ventures of Steve Jobs.
In 1985, Steve set out to establish NeXT Inc., a technology-based computer/software company. NeXT would struggle on and off for several years before the release of NeXTSTEP/Intel in 1993. Eventually, the software company would create enough innovative waves to solicit the attention of none other than Apple Inc. Apple acquired NeXT in 1997, a move that returned Jobs to Apple Inc. where he would remain until 2011.
During his time at NeXT, Steve also spent a good deal of time nurturing the artistic side he had developed during his early years. He provided a computer graphics division of Lucasfilm $10 million in funding to initiate a “spinout” in 1986— half for capital and half for technology rights. The group would eventually partner with Disney to create their very first film. The film was released in 1995. It credited Steve Jobs as the executive producer and became an instant classic in the industry. The film’s name? Toy Story.
Steve Jobs would continue to nurture the relationship with Disney over the next decade until a contract expiration served as the catalyst for a falling-out in 2004. Jobs took Pixar elsewhere for a brief span of time but rekindled the partnership when the Disney chief executive was replaced. In 2006, Jobs struck a deal that would give him control of 7% of Disney shares in an “all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion.” The transaction would result in Disney’s purchase of Pixar.
Think Like Spotlight: Amancio Ortega
The Benefits of Reading Non-Fiction
Think Like Spotlight: Jack MA
Why You Shouldn’t Read Success Stories
Think Like Spotlight: Sara Blakely
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Senate Begins Debate to Repeal the Affordable Care Act
Wednesday, July 26, 2017 12:58 PM - Donna Reichle - ABC News, Legislation, Politics & Policy, State/Local News, GA-Employer Provisions, GA-Legislative Activities -
On July 25, the U.S. Senate voted to begin debate on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Senate voted 51-50, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie, in support of moving forward with debate on H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act. In advance of the vote, ABC sent a key vote letter urging senators to vote “yes” on the motion to proceed. The Senate will now move forward with 20 hours of debate and most likely vote on dozens of amendments.
Later that day, the Senate voted on the Senate Republicans’ Better Care Reconciliation Act, which included the Cruz and Portman proposals. The amendment failed by a vote of 43 to 47, with nine Republican senators voting no. Sixty votes were needed for it to advance.
On July 26, the Senate voted on Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) amendment to repeal the ACA with a two-year delay, which failed by a vote of 45-55.
It is expected that the process to repeal the ACA will continue in the Senate through Thursday, July 27. If the vote on final passage is successful, the bill would likely trigger a conference committee with the House of Representatives, whereby the chambers would seek to resolve their legislative differences. The House and Senate must pass identical language before the bill can be sent to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law.
ABC will continue to provide updates in Newsline on any developments.
On May 4, the U.S. House of Representatives took steps to repeal and replace the ACA by passing H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act (AHCA). H.R. 1628 repeals several of the most harmful and burdensome provisions of the ACA, including the employer mandate penalty, costly tax increases and limitations on contributions to and restrictions on the use of flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts. ABC sent a letter in support of H.R. 1628 to the U.S. House of Representatives, which passed the House by a vote of 217-213.
For the past several weeks, the U.S. Senate has worked on crafting “repeal and replace” legislation, and at the end of June, H.R. 1628, the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) was unveiled as well as scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). On July 13, an updated version of BCRA was released following further discussions with the Senate Republican Conference, which included the much-publicized Cruz amendment. No vote was taken on the bill, as various reports indicated Republicans did not have enough support to move the bill forward.
On July 20, a third draft of BCRA was released (see a section-by-section summary for details). CBO estimated that over the next ten years, the bill (which did not include the Cruz amendment) would reduce federal deficits by $420 billion and increase the number of uninsured individuals by 22 million in 2026.
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Biden Confirms Support for Second Amendment, Says He Owns Two Shotguns
By Sunlen Miller January 17, 2013
Alex Wong/Getty Images
One day after President Obama unveiled the administration's plan to curb gun violence, Vice President Joe Biden today defended their intentions, answering critics who have spoken out against the plan for potentially infringing on the Second Amendment rights of Americans.
"The president and I support the Second Amendment," Biden said definitively.
Biden, who's led the task force on gun violence since the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, noted that he owns guns.
"I have two shotguns, a 20-gauge and a 12-gauge shotgun," he said. Later in the speech he said his son Beau was a better shot than he is but that is because Beau is in the Army.
Biden spoke today before the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors' meeting in Washington, D.C. Not everyone in the audience, Biden noted today, agrees with recommendations the White House put forward yesterday. But he defended the administration's move to push this issue, at one point addressing the roomful of mayors as if he were speaking to them individually, saying that "murder rates in both of our towns are … well beyond … what's remotely tolerable for a civilized circumstance."
"We're going to take this fight to the halls of Congress," he said. "We're going to take it beyond that. We're going to take it to the American people. We're going to go around the country making our case, and we're going to let the voices, the voice, of the American people be heard. "
Biden again noted that there will not be consensus across the nation, given cultural differences among the states. In many states, he added, hunting is "big deal."
But, he quipped, addressing the use of high-capacity magazines in hunting, "As one hunter told me, if you got 12 rounds - you got 12 rounds, it means you've already missed the deer 11 times. You should pack the sucker in at that point. You don't deserve to have a gun, period, if you're that bad."
High-capacity ammunition magazines "leave victims with no chance," Biden said.
He summed up saying, "Recognizing those differences doesn't in any way negate the rational prospect of being able to come up with common-sense approaches how to deal with the myriad of problems that relate to gun ownership."
Biden said the "time is now" to make these changes and scoffed at some alternative strategies, like the proposal from the NRA for an armed guard to be placed in every school.
"We don't want rent-a-cops in schools armed," he said. "We don't want people in schools who aren't trained like police officers."
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Dave Rennie reveals why he didn't apply for the All Blacks job
Following the confirmation that he would takeover from Michael Cheika as the new Wallabies head coach, Dave Rennie revealed why he opted for Wallabies' job over a chance with the All Blacks.
The 55-year-old said that the All Blacks left their recruitment too late as he was already in talks with Rugby Australia.
“I’m a proud Kiwi but the big thing is I’ve been talking to Australia for a lot of months and the All Blacks interest came in late in the piece and by that stage, we’d done a lot of homework, we were really excited about the opportunity to go to Australia and that ended up being an easy decision,” Rennie told rugby.com.au.
It's official, Dave Rennie is the new Wallabies head coach
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) November 20, 2019
Rugby Australia announced the signing of the Glasgow Warriors boss to a three-and-a-half-year deal – which will commence following the conclusion of the PRO14 and European season next June, just in time for the test series against Ireland and will see him through to the 2023 World Cup in France.
Rennie becomes just the second New Zealander to coach Australia, following in the footsteps of Robbie Deans, who took the helm of the Wallabies at the end of 2007 after missing out on the All Blacks to Sir Graham Henry.
New Zealand Rugby Chairman Brent Impey congratulated Rennie on his appointment as Head Coach of Australia.
“We have known for some time that Dave was in talks with Rugby Australia, so we have been clear about his position regarding the All Blacks Head Coach position. We congratulate Dave on his appointment and wish him the best. We certainly look forward to hosting him as the Head Coach of the visiting team during the Rugby Championship.”
An accomplished and highly respected coach, Rennie joined the Chiefs as Head Coach in 2012 and enjoyed instant success winning back-to-back Super Rugby titles in his first two years in charge. The Hamilton-based side played finals in each of the six seasons he spent with the Chiefs, a mark that is unmatched by any Head Coach in competition history.
Dave Rennie's Coaching Record:
Prior to the Chiefs, Rennie took the Wellington Lions to a first ITM Cup title in 14 years as Head Coach in 2000, and later steered New Zealand Under 20’s to three consecutive world titles from 2008 to 2010.
Rennie was named Head Coach of Glasgow Warriors for the 2017/18 season and in his second year he took the Scottish outfit to the Pro 14 Final and the Quarter Finals of the European Champions Cup.
To date, Glasgow have won 63% of their games under Rennie winning 41 of their 65 games and drawing one.
Follow @UltimateRugby
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Champions Cup 2016/2017
Graham Henry
ITM Cup 2013
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Allan Alaalatoa named Brumbies captain for 2020
Eddie Jones names the first England squad of 2020 ahead of the Six Nations
Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi combine in a stunning score for the Sharks
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» Home / Articles / Reviews / Myst DS review
Myst DS review
Written by Mark Jones — April 2, 2009
There are brief moments when you can see the true Myst peeping through
Which are fleeting but enjoyable
Weak DS adaption
Poor implementation of tools which are meant to help
Bad sound
Low resolution graphics
Too many glitches to mention
Myst DS
1.0 star: "Offers a tiny glimpse of what might have been, but manages to execute just about everything wrong."
Scoring System - Editorial Policies
Our Verdict: It’s Myst, but not as we know it, with poor graphics and controls compounded by numerous bugs tainting the legacy of this once-great game.
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Average Reader rating Readers rate this game as Unplayable.
Average based on 2 ratings
Full Game Details
Myst DS (2008)
Nintendo DS port of Cyan's classic adventure.
Hoplite Research
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It will take you 7 minutes to read this review.
An early warning now: if you’re a Myst fan thinking of buying the Nintendo DS port of the game and you still have a copy on disc, run back to your PC with open arms instead of jeopardizing your memories of what a great game Myst really is. If, instead, you’re someone simply looking for more adventure game titles on the DS and considering checking out Myst, read on, although by no one’s standards does this conversion do the game any justice.
I should make it clear up front that I’m a diehard Myst fan. I’ve played the whole series and loved them all (well, apart from Uru) and made it through most of the games without too much help. I’ve always admired the series for its depth of background storytelling, logical if at times difficult puzzles, and generally well-oiled mechanisms. However, this is the first time I’ve played the game on a different platform, and let’s just say it does not impress me on the DS. The game is riddled with bugs and glitches that didn’t exist in the original PC version, which tend to dampen what otherwise could have been an enjoyable port, although the limitations of the handheld itself work against the better qualities of the game to begin with. With a little luck and a lot of patience, you might just get a taste of the Myst experience as it should be, but never much more than that.
For those who have somehow managed never to play Myst in the 15-plus years since its debut, the premise is that you find a mysterious book which describes a strange island, and when you reach the end you touch one of the pages only to find yourself on that very same island. With no idea how to get back, your only option is to explore and unlock its secrets. As you walk around you will find new locations to investigate, like the library in which the story begins to unfold. By reading the various books, you’ll discover that there are several other ‘linking books’ on the island. These books can transport you to four different worlds created by a man named Atrus. Unfortunately, one of his two sons has been destroying these worlds and as a result, Atrus has trapped them both in separate books in the library. In these books you’ll hear each of the brothers’ pleas for freedom. Your job is to search the other worlds for clues and loose pages (returning them to the brothers’ books will reveal more of the story) in order to deduce which one is guilty. Along the way, you're confronted with a series of puzzles you will have to complete in order to link back to Myst Island.
View all screenshots »
Along with the four primary worlds, you will visit a bonus “Age” that becomes accessible after you finish the main game. All worlds were once inhabited by the two brothers, Sirrus and Achenar, and you will explore their various dwellings. Channelwood is a treetop village, the Selenitic Age a small island, the Mechanical Age a rotating fortress, and the Stoneship Age allows you to explore a small rocky atoll on which a ship has crashed. After you have completed these worlds and seen the game to its conclusion, you will be able to travel to Rime (there isn’t an option), which is a short level and feels a little tacked on. It’s not exactly “new”, either, as it was first introduced in realMyst, and it only serves to add a small amount to the story of Myst. Whilst it’s nice for longtime fans to be able to play a new Age, I would have preferred the original ending and the ability to explore Myst Island after the game is finished, although perhaps I’d have thought more highly of it without all the technical issues that plagued the experience.
To move around these worlds, you use the stylus and touch screen, as there are no buttons that have any effect in this DS port. This is a fine idea, easily reproducing the slideshow-style point-and-click mechanics of its predecessor, but like every other tool at your disposal, it’s poorly implemented. Navigating is done simply by tapping the area in front of you. In some places you are able to turn left and right but in others you will only be able to turn around and go back the way you came. This might seem limited but it ends up being a good thing, as moving around can be cumbersome and sometimes tapping too fast means you’ll end up in the opposite direction of where you wanted to go.
The other use of the stylus is to operate the buttons and switches in puzzles, which would be fine if the game’s hotspots weren’t so minute. This is largely connected to the visual display, which is already small considering the size of the DS screen, but then further reduced by a tool bar which covers a quarter of that screen. This is bad enough in a game which should pride itself on its immersive vistas, but some of the buttons are so small that it takes a horrible amount of time and dexterity to complete puzzles that should take minutes rather than hours. There’s an option to magnify most scenes, but this serves only to generate a pixelated, unrecognisable mess on the top screen.
The only time the magnifying glass is of any real use is when reading the pages and books you find. Even that is time consuming, as the books are presented with the system held horizontally and you have to continually move the magnifying glass across the screen to read a whole page. Given that the DS is noticeably book-shaped, and that games such as Hotel Dusk have taken advantage of this, why not make it so that a page fills each screen vertically, allowing you read it like a normal book? It really doesn’t take a Myst fanatic to figure that out.
Along with the magnifying glass, you will find a notepad and camera, and one requirement of Myst is definitely taking notes. There is no way around this in order to solve the puzzles. Unfortunately, the notepad requires you to input notes on a typewriter-like keypad, with just five lines to jot down any clues. These will take you ages to fill using the miniature keys, and the notes don’t even last between worlds. To avoid this inconvenience, a pen and paper is still your best option, but given that this is a portable console, that’s hardly a helpful alternative. A function where you could make handwritten notes using the stylus would have been much better, which other games have also done. There’s also the option to take a photograph which you can store. This is a nice idea, but it isn’t much use given the poor resolution of the image, and you can only ever keep one, as the photo is replaced when you take a new one.
You can save the game in one of three slots, and anyone playing should be sure to use them all; save too often in the same slot and when you encounter one of the many bugs in the game, you may have to start over. For instance, when you link to Channelwood, the game may spawn you in the wrong place, which makes it impossible to progress. Providing that you save the game before you link (which I didn’t my first time around), you can keep trying it until it works, but such an error is still inexcusable. In some places you’ll solve a puzzle and the game will crash, as the console will freeze and you’ll have to turn the system off. I didn’t know it was even possible to crash a DS, but Myst is proof that it is.
All the puzzles from the original Myst are included, which range from easy to extremely difficult, though the challenge of a lot of puzzles are doubled by the troublesome interface. On an average-sized computer screen, these puzzles can be frustrating at times but never hard to operate; on the miniature screen of the DS, it takes a great deal time to set the puzzles even when you know the right answer. The tower rotation puzzles, the sound puzzles, and the mechanical puzzles are all here, but it doesn’t seem like any effort has been made to adapt them for the DS. Several puzzles also require close listening, which is an unpleasant experience when all the voices, beeps, boops and ambient music sound like they’re coming from a poorly tuned radio.
Given all the technical problems that can unfairly impede your progress and ruin hours of work, don’t be too stubborn about not looking at a walkthrough. I completed the original game twice a long time ago, and never needed a walkthrough. This time around, I’d often find myself looking at one just to confirm what I already knew or to save myself from redoing something which was an utter pain to do in the first place. The only thing that kept me going was the promise of Rime, which I’d never yet played and now wish I hadn’t, as it probably features the worst example of stylus control possible. After much persistence and searching for help, I managed to complete it, but this “bonus” certainly wasn’t worth the effort.
As a longtime fan of the Myst series, I so badly wanted to like this game, and there are moments where you catch a tiny glimpse of what it could have been: immersive, enjoyable, and even fun. More often than not, though, it ends up being the most painful, soul-destroying, stressful, rather-stick-a-rusty-nail-in-my-eye excuse for an adventure game I have ever played. It saddens me to say this, since with a little common sense and better coding this could have been a great conversion, but as it stands this game is a complete waste of money. Knowing Myst well, with a walkthrough at hand and patience I’ve rarely needed to summon before, I completed this game in 16-20 hours, bearing in mind that I had to start the game over at one point. All this adds up to a game that should never have made it on to the shelves in its current form. There are so many unforgivable problems with this game that each should take a star off the score, but as it is I grudgingly leave it one star simply because it has Myst on the box and offers the occasional reminder of what made the original game so great, even if it only ever passes fleetingly on screen.
Wisegal
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Jake Hunter Detective Story: Ghost of the Dusk
The visual novel series from Japan is back with a new mystery anthology, but even the pretense of gameplay is found lacking this time around.
LAYTON’S MYSTERY JOURNEY: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy
The next generation of Layton adventures inherits many of the same good qualities, though it’s still dogged by poor integration.
Corpse Party
The revived Japanese port is bigger and gorier than ever, though more an old-school visual novel than interactive adventure.
Zero Time Dilemma
The Zero Escape finale offers more of the same enjoyable visual novel adventuring but includes some perplexing design decisions for the worse.
Chase: Cold Case Investigations – Distant Memories
This extremely short and disappointing 3DS detective mystery from former Cing designers never really builds up any momentum.
Metropolis Crimes
This DS-exclusive predecessor to Red Johnson's Chronicles is hard to get your hands on, and harder to control when you do.
2012 Aggie Awards
Our three-day Aggie presentation is now complete, with both AG staff and readers recognizing the best and brightest adventure games of 2012.
If Not Puzzles… What?
Riddle me this: Are puzzles really important to adventures, or are they holding back the genre like an obstacle blocking forward progress?
An FMV Christmas 2012: Season’s Greetings
Wishing you all a very happy holiday, we are pleased to present a who's who video compilation of adventure game developers sending you their very best.
» Latest game reviews
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Shannon Estuary Land Zoning Builds 'Investor Confidence' – Clare County Council
#shannonestuary – Clare County Council says the zoning of more than 345 hectares of land along the Shannon Estuary will give 'greater investor confidence' for anyone considering large-scale marine related development proposals.
The Council's 28 Elected Members last evening (Monday) unanimously backed the move to incorporate the zoned lands into the Clare County Development Plan 2011-17 along with the Strategic Integrated Framework Plan (SIFP) for the Shannon Estuary, a major strategic plan for the future development and management of marine-related industry and tourism along Ireland's largest estuary.
The newly zoned lands relate to Strategic Development Locations (SDL) at Cahercon and Moneypoint where existing pier facilities and deep estuarial water provide potential for maritime industry investment.
Clare County Council says it would welcome any opportunity to discuss suitable development proposals for the locations.
A new working group has also been established to promote and market the sites and wider Estuary as a key investment location. Led by Clare County Council, the group also comprises the IDA, Shannon Group plc, Shannon Foynes Port Company, Kerry County Council, and Limerick City and County Council.
"The zoning of lands at Cahercon and Moneypoint complements the vision of both the SIFP and the Clare County Development Plan, and will deliver greater investor confidence," stated Tom Coughlan, Chief Executive of Clare County Council and Chairman of the SIFP Steering Group.
He explained: "While the SIFP attributes a very strong weight to the growth of shipping and safeguarding the commercial shipping lanes of the Shannon Estuary, it also contains objectives for marine tourism, leisure and recreation, commercial fishing and aquaculture, aviation, and energy and renewable energy. The Council's decision to zone 345 hectares of land is significant in the context of being able to widely promote these new development opportunities. The IDA's marketing of the estuary's development potential alongside other key development agencies in Clare, Kerry and Limerick is very much welcomed."
"The Council would welcome any opportunity to meet potential investors to discuss suitable development proposals, particularly in relation to marine industry, for the sites in question," added Mr. Coughlan.
Commenting on the background to the zoning of lands along the Shannon Estuary, Clare County Council's Senior Planner Gordon Daly said: "Clare County Council, through the zoning of these lands and the County Development Plan, is seeking to build on the strategic location and natural resources of the Estuary by facilitating and maximising its potential for marine-related industry development while at the same time managing and protecting its environment in conformance with the requirements of the Habitats & Birds Directives."
Moneypoint SDL comprises approximately 280 hectares is located on the Shannon Estuary 5km east of Kilrush. The landbank also includes one of Ireland's largest electricity generation stations.
Mr. Daly commented: "The marine related industry zoning recognises the importance of the existing Moneypoint Power Plant Facility and facilitates its expansion and/or redevelopment. It also includes over 50 hectares of lands to the east of the Power Plant not in the ownership of the ESB that could further harness the deepwater potential in this area which has excellent road access and is close to the town of Kilrush and the Killimer-Tarbert Ferry."
The Innismurry / Cahercon SDL meanwhile, comprises approximately 66 hectares of land
"This area has potential for development of marine related industry due to a well-sheltered location with an existing pier offering direct access to a large pocket of well sheltered deep water and the main navigation channel. It also has a considerable area of hinterland available and is in close proximity to the R473," explained Mr. Daly.
Mr Daly also confirmed that the zoning for Marine Related Industry only allows for the use of land for industry that, by its nature, requires a location adjacent to estuarine/deep water including a dependency on marine transport, transhipment, bulk cargo or where the industrial processes benefit from a location adjacent to the marine area.
The Shannon Estuary features 500km2 of navigable water running from Loop Head and Kerry Head as far as Limerick City, a distance of 100km. The Estuary is Ireland's premier deepwater port, routinely catering for ships up to 200,000 deadweight tonnage, with key ports at Limerick and Foynes. It is home to a number of large industries and employers, including ESB Moneypoint, Aughinish Alumina, Tarbert Power Station, Shannon Airport and NORA Fuel Reserve. Meanwhile, the Estuary supports a variety of economic uses but is also rich in natural resources, wildlife and ecosystems.
Published in Shannon Estuary
Clare County Council
Moneypoint
Cahercon
Irish Sailing President Officially Opens New Kilrush Marina Training Centre
325-Million-Year-Old Amphibian Bones Discovered in County Clare
Kilrush on the Shannon Estuary Shows the Way for Dun Laoghaire – Again
W M Nixon
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Andrew Pink
church musician & organist
Music for Liturgy
Programme notes
Tag: Mackson
St Pancras Old Church …
St Pancras Old Church, Pancras Road, Camden Town, London NW1 1UL
St Pancras Old Church, London NW1, showing its relationship to St Pancras station and the Regent’s Canal.
The location of St Pancars Old Church, London NW!
St Pancras Old Church, London NW1, south side, 2008. Source: Stephen McKay, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13429363
St Pancras Old Church, London NW1. A contemporary plan showing the position of funerary monuments. Source: Survey of London.
St Pancras Old Church, London Nw1. Chancel, 2009. Source: John Salmon, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14254299
I have recently had the opportunity to revisit the medieval church of Old St Pancras to help out with the music for the main Sunday service there. This was a rather nostalgic visit since I was organist there immediately after my days as a post-graduate organ student at the Royal Academy of Music (1980-81), and I subsequently taught for a while at the parish school.
Old St Pancras church is modest in scale, comprising just an unaisled nave and chancel with a 19th-century tower on the south side. The history of Old St Pancras church is well documented, dating from at least Saxon times while some would claim that the site dates back to the days of the Roman occupation. Images and maps showing the building in its setting are plentiful.
St Pancras Old Church, London NW1. The church depicted before 1815. Source: Survey of London.
A 16th-century plan of the estate of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, showing Old St Pancras Church and its surroundings. Source: Survey of London.
St Pancras Old Church, London NW1. The church depicted around 1752. Source: Survey of London.
Anon. ‘The south west view of St Pancras Church and the Wells’ (1750) Source: London Mteropolitan Archive, ref.19970.
The Long Room at St Pancras Wells, with Old St Pancras Church behind. [Early 18th century]. Source: Survey of London.
Anon (c.1775) ‘Sketch of St Pancras fields and distant view of St Pancras Old Church.’ Source: London Metropolitan Archive, ref. p5381780
There was a major rebuilding project in 1848 by the partnership of Alexander D. Gough (1804–71) and Robert Lewis Roumieu (1814–77) when the old tower was relocated and redesigned a 7th-century altar stone was recovered and reinstated. There were modest adjustments in 1888 made by Arthur Blomfield (1829–99), with further work in the 1920s and in 1979-80 by the firm of Erith and Terry (Cherry & Pevsner, p.348).
7th-centiry altar stone with five incised crosses, Old St Pancras Church, London NW1. Source: http://www.peter-sheppard-skaerved.com
The architectural superstructure and the extensive burial ground – with its many famous ‘inhabitants’ – are well described in any number of publications and webpages, as too the various funerary monuments inside the building. There are inventories of the church from the 13th century that list service books, vestments, plate and describe a high altar and two nave altars (dedicated to Our Lady and to St. Nicholas, with a tabernacle), a rood with images of Our Lady and St. John, and images of St. Catherine and of St. John the Baptist. (Survey of London). But surprisingly (to me) there is little information about the church’s later furnishings and decoration.
The parish’s main archive dates from the 19th-century and is deposited in the London Metropolitatn Archive, so I went along to take a look.
St Pancras Old Church, London NW1. Church plate c16-c20, seen c.1980. Image source: London Metropolitan Archive P90/PAN2/63.
H.C. (1854) ‘Interior view of St Pancras Old Church, St Pancras.’ Source: London Mteropolitan Archive, ref. p5380390.
In the image above we see the church as it appeared after Gough & Roumieu’s ‘restoration’. Cherry & Pevsner (Buildings of England) state that the c17 pulpit was later cut up to provide the font panels of the altar, shown below. They also state that that the side galleries were removed in 1925, but the pictures below seem to indicate the galleries were removed at some time in the nineteenth century.
St Pancras Old Church, London NW1. Chancel [c.1870?]. Image source: London Metropolitan Archive P90/PAN2/1-2.
In the image above we see Gough and Roumieu’s fixed-bench pews, but it is not clear who made the screen or when it was installed, or what happened to it subsequently.
St Pancras Old Church, London NW1. Chancel and baptistry (south side) [11 December 1880?]. Image source: London Metropolitan Archive P90/PAN2/1-2.
The images above shows the church before 1888 when the organ was moved under the tower (about which see below).
St Pancras Old Church, London NW1. Chancel, early c20. Image source: London Metropolitan Archive P90/PAN2/63.
Old St Pancras Church, London Nw1. The organ; secondary builder’s plate. Source: National Pipe Organ Register.
Old St Pancras Church, London Nw1. The west gallery and organ. Source: National Pipe Organ Register.
Old St Pancras Church, London Nw1. The organ; original builder’s plate. Source: National Pipe Organ Register.
Old St Pancras Church, London Nw1. The organ console, right-hand side. Source: National Pipe Organ Register.
Old St Pancras Church, London Nw1. The organ console, left-hand side. Source: National Pipe Organ Register.
St Pancras Old Church, London Nw1, looking west, 2009. Source: By John Salmon, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14254338
1868. The earliest indication of a pipe organ comes in Mackson’s Guide to the Churches of London and Its Suburbs for 1868, with the reference to a Miss Wright as the honorary organist (p.65), and subsequent editions showed Miss Wright as organist up to and including the year 1884.
1872. Mackson’s Guide notes the organ is a 1-manual instrument (p. 74), and this may be the 7-stop instrument recorded in the National Pipe Organ Register at N17059.
I am tempted to imagine that this instrument might be the 1-manual organ that was in the Long Room of the nearby Bagnigge Wells pleasure garden; auctioned off in a sale there in 1813.
Charles (Charley) Griffes seated at an organ in Bagnigge Wells, London (1790s). Etching [Source: British Museum 1927,1126.1.23.89]
The Long Room at Bagnigge Wells (1772) J. R. Smith after J Sanders. ; the organ just visible atb the far right. [Source: British Museum G,14.41]
1880. The ledgers of the organ-buildring firm of Gray and Davidson – now in the British Organ Archive (BOA) at Birmingham University, UK – noted “tuning; 1880 new 2m org, no.10423, £270”. (Vol. 8A, p.27). This is possibly the 2-manual, 15-stop instrument shown in the National Pipe Organ Register at N17057. Mackson’s Guide does not note the 2-manual instrumnt until the 1884 edition (p. 119).
1882. The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 23, No. 472 (Jun. 1, 1882), p.305. ‘Organist. – Wanted, an Organist, Gentleman or Lady, for Old St Pancras Church. Salary £25 a-year. Residence in the neighbourhood desirable. Address, The Vicar, Old St. Pancras Vestry.”
1885. Mackson’s Guide of 1885 (pp. 131-2) shows the organist is now a Mr P.E. Rivers.
1888. Building works supervised by Arthur Blomfield proposed to build “in connection with the new Vestry, an Organ Chamber abutting upon and opening into the Chancel” allowing the organ to be moved from the west gallery at a cost of £700. (P90/PAN2/48/ ‘Restoration of Old St Pancras Church’ [1888?]).
– The organ chamber was never built but the Gray and Davidson ledgers of 1888 refer to moving the organ. (Vol. 9A, p. 36). But moved where? If this instrument is the one noted in NPOR (N17057) that listing refers to the organ being in the south transept, which might then mean that in 1888 the organ was placed under the tower on the south side. This would make sense of the 1906 reference, below.
1890. Arthur Carwithen was appointed organist in February 1890. (Parish Magazine October 1896 [P90/PAN2/71])
1894-5. Mackson’s Guide of 1894-5 shows the organist is A. Carwithen (pp. 121-2).
1896. Arthur Carwthen left the parish in September to be organist at St John’s, Friern Barnet. (Parish Magazine October 1896 [P90/PAN2/71]).
– Arthur Carwithen was succeeded by Herbert Nelson “of St Faith’s Stoke Newington”.
– Mr Major Freeman jun. was appointed assistant organist. (Parish Magazine September 1896 [P90/PAN2/71].
– the organ was fully cleaned ‘and rewired’ at a cost of £25. (Parish Magazine, September 1896. [P90/PAn2/71]); also mentioned in the Gray and Davidson ledgers (Vol 10, p.110).
1902. Mr Freeman ‘left’ in the summer of 1902 and was replaced by Mr C.F.J. Wright, formerly of St Phillip’s Clerkenwell. (Parish Magazine, November 1902. [P90/PAN2/77]).
1906. In August the Parish Magazine noted that a leak in the roof – between the tower and the nave – had damaged the organ by Gray and Davidson who repaired it for £47.10s. [P90/PAN2/80].
1919. In October the assistant organist was Mr J. R. Copland (Parish Magazine, October 1919 [P90/PAR2/93]).
1922. Gray and Davidson ledgers show that £300 was spent on ‘work’ on the organ. (Vol. 12, p.741). At some point in the next couple of years Gray and Davidson stopped looking after the organ.
1926. The organ-building firm of Hill, Norman and Beard was now looking after the organ and the company ledger, also in the BOA (Vol. 6, p.104) notes the sale of the 2-manual Gray and Davidson organ for £75.
– In the surviving Hill, Norman and Beard ledgers there is no mention of a new instrument to replace the one that was sold, but it may be that they provided the 2-manual 13-stop instrument shown on NPOR at N17056 (unidentified maker) located in the west gallery.
– This may all relate to the building work of 1925 that is mentioned by Cherry & Pevsner, and others.
1948. The organ-building firm of Mander and Sons installed in the west gallery a second-hand Brindley & Foster instrument from St. Peter, Cephas Street, Limehouse – NPOR [D03546] – but quite why is unknown. It is the current instrument, rather plain and quirky to play having a cramped console; a narrow, straight and flat pedal board, an awkward ‘kick’ swell, and sharp tuning. The best to be said of it is that it provides a solid unadorned accompaniment for the liturgy.
‘Alexander Dick Gough‘, Wikipedia. Online resource accessed 17 August 2017.
‘Archaeological findings at the site of the St Pancras Burial Ground and its vicinity: large-scale excavations at St Pancras International‘ by Phil Emery and Pat Miller. The London Archaeologist Vol.12 No.11/ Winter 2010/2011. 290-7. Online resource [PDF}. Accessed 17 August 2017.
Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner (2002) ‘St Pancras Old Church and Burial ground’ in Londond 4: North. Series: The Buildings of England (New York: Yale University Press), pp 348-9.
‘Bagnigge Wells’ in Warwick Wroth’s Pleasure Gardens of London.
British Organ Archive. Online resource, accessed 10 October 2017.
‘Gough, Alexander Dick (1804-71)‘ by Peter Howell, in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online resource, accessed 17 August 2017.
London Past and Present: Its History, Associations, and Traditions (volume 3) by H. B. Wheatley and P Cunningham (London: John Murray, 1891)
Charles Mackeson (1866-89) A Guide to the Churches of London and Its Suburbs (London: Metzler).
The Parish of St Pancras Part 2: Old St Pancras and Kentish Town, ed. Percy Lovell and William McB. Marcham (London: London County Council, 1938). Series: ‘Survey of London: Volume 19’. [PDF} Online resource, accessed 17 August 2017.
‘Robert Lewis Roumieu‘, Wikipedia. Online resource, accessed 17 August 2017.
‘St Pancras‘, in Old and New London by Edward Walford (London, 1878), vol. 5 pp. 324-340. Online resource. Accessed 17 August 2017.
‘St Pancras Old Church, Camden Town‘, The Church of England: A Church Near You. Online resource, accessed 17 August 2017.
‘St Pancras Old Church‘, The National Pipe Organ Register. Online resource, accessed 17 August 2017.
‘St Pancras Old Church‘, Parish of Old St. Pancras [parish website]. Online resource, accessed 17 August 2017.
Author man-thinkingPosted on 04/10/2017 11/01/2020 Categories London, pipe organsTags Alexander D. Gough, Anglican, Arthur Carwithen, Bagnigge Wells, British Organ Archive, C.F.J. Wright, Camden, Diocese of London, Erith and Terry, Fr Phillip Dyson, Gray and Davidson, Guide to Churches of London and its Suburbs, Herbert Nelson, J. R. Copland, Mackson, Major Freeman, Mander and Sons, Miss Wright, Noel Mander, old church, Old St Pancras, P. E. Rivers, River Fleet, Robert Lewis Roumieu, St Faith's Stoke Newington, St John's Friern Barnet, St Pancras, St Phillip's Clerkenwell
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Archive for the ‘Video’ Category
A Revolt that Never Ends
Posted: August 14, 2010 in Video
Over the years, few intellectuals have experienced as much admiration and hatred as Antonio Negri. His international best-selling book, Empire, a critical analysis of the new global economy coauthored with Michael Hardt, was hailed as a new manifesto for the 21st century, and turned Negri into a leading spokesperson for the international anti-globalization movement. Antonio Negri: A Revolt that Never Ends profiles the controversial life and times of this important moral and political philosopher, militant, prisoner, refugee, and so-called “enemy of the state.” It traces his roots in the radical left-wing movements in Italy during the 60s and 70s, illustrated through incredible archival footage of strikes, factory occupations, terrorist actions, violent street confrontations, and government trials of dissidents. During these tumultuous decades Negri spent ten years in prison and fourteen years in Parisian exile, where he contributed to philosophical debates with authors such as Gilles Deleuze. The film features interviews with Negri (conducted following his April 2003 release from confinement), public speaking appearances, plus commentary from his coauthor Michael Hardt, and Italian and French colleagues. Antonio Negri explores this visionary theoretician’s lifelong political struggle, now being expressed in works of contemporary relevance such as Empire and its sequel, Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire, a powerful intellectual project in protest of the new global order. (First Run / Icarus Films
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Wood Sells Nuclear Unit for $305 Million
© verve / Adobe Stock
British oilfield services provider Wood Plc said on Tuesday it would sell its nuclear energy business for about $305 million to Jacob Engineering, acting to reduce its debt burden as it reported a 2.6% drop in first-half revenue.
Wood's debt surged in 2017 when it paid $2.7 billion to expand into the U.S. onshore shale oil and gas sector with the purchase of Amec Foster Wheeler. Tuesday's results showed its overall net debt was up 14% from the same time last year.
The Aberdeen-based company, which has already sold some other non-core assets, said the disposal of the business in designing, constructing and maintaining nuclear plants and assets would allow it to reduce its leverage to 1.5 times net earnings in the first quarter of 2020.
The company also stuck to its full year outlook and said it expected its second half to be driven by its contract with Saudi state-run oil giant Aramco.
The FTSE-250 company, which provides services to oil and gas and industrial markets, was awarded a five year contract with Aramco last year to provide engineering and project management services to develop the Marjan oil field in Saudi Arabia.
Wood reported adjusted core earnings of $384 million, with margins of 8%, both higher than the numbers the company reported a year ago after a change in accounting methodology. The company said it was not restating the earlier results after the change and so would not compare the numbers.
Total revenue dipped to $4.79 billion compared with $4.92 billion last year and total order book stood at $9.19 billion as of June 30, also down from a year earlier.
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Patrick Graham)
Categories: Mergers & Acquisitions
Oil Hits $70 a Barrel
Vestas Wins Chinese Orders
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ENA Shogun Signed On One-year Deal
Asian LNG Prices Little Changed in Quiet Trade
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From singing songs by Jodeci in a mirror with shades ,necklace and a fitted cap at the age of 3, to recording self written accapellas on a voicemail machine at the age of 6 , Lawoyne, now 28, born Darion Antwon Lawoyne Williams had an interest for entertainment at a young age. At the age of 13 Lawoyne recorded his first song, from then on, he knew that music would be his passion. Shortly after recording his first song he started making beats for his self and others. Not long after meeting LNS at the age of 13 they created a group by the name of A.O.N. Born and raised in Elkhart, Indiana, versatile, creative, edgy, rapper, singer and producer is a force to be reckoned with.
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Home · Wedding Ensembles · Invitation Suites ·Shining Romance - Invitation
Shining Romance - Invitation
Item Number:WR54576
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Shining Romance - Reception Card
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Item Number WR54576
Your romance will shine in the eyes of your guests with this foil printed invitation!
Dimensions: 5 1/2" x 7 3/4" Card
Type of Printing: Foil stamped
Price Includes: Printed invitation with blank envelopes (inner and outer in white)
Currently found in Wedding and Social Stationery
Lettering: SRO
Accent Lettering: BIA
Verse: W34
Reception Card
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Tag Innovation Center
Free Article Reviews
The was founded in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee by
September 18, 2019 August 2, 2019 adminArticle Reviews
The KKK was a popular organization in the 1800s-1900s and exceeded 4 million people in memberships in the 1920s. The KKK was made to restore white supremacy, instill fear in African Americans and Republicans, and reduce the influence of any African Americans or Republicans in the government. The KKK was founded in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee by former Confederate soldiers with the intent to fight against the Reconstruction-era policies in the South and restore white supremacy. They made a former Confederate general, Nathan Bedford Forrest, their first grand wizard, the main leader of the KKK. To fight the new policies made by the Republicans, KKK members started a campaign of violence against Republican leaders and African Americans involved in the government. They would carry out these acts of violence at night in their KKK attire, white robes, hoods and masks, with each member usually acting on their own with the common goal of beating Radical Reconstruction. Members of the KKK would do things like intimidating others, destroying property, assaulting people, and murdering people in order to influence elections (history.com). Because of the KKK, fear was instilled in many African Americans and white Republicans during the late 1800s to early 1900s. Their ideology was spreading throughout the South and in 1868, most of the white population was apart of the KKK regardless of their profession. Many African Americans were being kept from voting, being protected, and being successful because the KKK would attack them in order to undermine the power of the African Americans. The way that the KKK would attack the African Americans is that they would break into their houses at night and drag them out to torture them and sometimes kill them (ocw.usu.edu). The KKK would attack Radical Republicans and African Americans involved in politics in order to lessen the amount of influence the Republicans had on the government and maintain white supremacy in the South. It is related to To Kill A Mockingbird because the setting of the book is in the South which is where segregation and racism are extremely relevant and serious problems at the time. Because the government in the South was influenced by the KKK, Atticus was automatically at a disadvantage in the court case against his client, Tom Robinson. In the present day, the KKK has a much less impact on society as it did in the late 1800s-early 1900s and only has a couple thousand members. The KKK’s goal was to restore white supremacy in the South by instilling fear in African Americans and Republicans using various methods. Ultimately, they failed to accomplished their goal as seen today where they don’t have a big impact on society and there is racial equality in the US.
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HomeGrief
I Don’t Know How To Do This
April 2, 2018 A.J. Goode Grief Death, Flu, Grief, loss, parenting
Four years ago, I wrote a post that began with the words “I don’t know how to do this.” My husband and I had just split up, and I was agonizing over my new reality of being a single mom. I was mourning the loss of a marriage that we had both hoped would last forever, and I was terrified.
As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. My ex, whom I’ve often referred to here as The Big Guy, never truly allowed me to struggle as a single mom. He was always a great dad; I don’t think I ever realized that until weren’t together any more. As strange as it may seem, we became better co-parents when we stopped being spouses.
We also became better friends. Over the past four years, we’ve had more conversations and shared more “inside jokes” than we ever did during our eighteen years under the same roof.
Today, I have to repeat myself, because Heaven has gained an angel in Carhartts and faded flannel.
I don’t know how to do this.
Last week, we lost The Big Guy to complications of the flu. The Flu! How can anything so ridiculous possibly be real? He used to drive a race car, for God’s sake. He was a volunteer firefighter for more than a decade. This was a man who used to take chances and risks that would make my blood run cold, but would just laugh at me when I told him to be careful.
My children have had to grow up over the past two weeks in a way that no parent wants to witness. Because The Big Guy and I were no longer together, responsibilities and decisions fell upon the shoulders of his oldest child, our twenty year-old daughter. I’ve said for years that she is more of an adult than I am, and she has stepped up and proved me right by displaying a level of maturity that makes me ache for her.
The nineteen year-old has also grown in so many ways. He is mourning, of course, but he is doing so with his father’s trademark sense of humor. My quiet, sarcastic little boy has become a warm and nurturing man who looks out for all of us and always finds a way to make us smile with some funny memory of his dad.
And our baby. Rooster turned ten just a few days after losing his father. He has cried so much that I’ve worried he might get sick. But each time, he finishes crying and then moves on to laughter or a quick game of basketball while sharing stories about his daddy. He’s hurting, but he’s adapting.
They are grieving, but they are grieving as a unit. The three of them are so close that I know, deep down, that I have nothing to fear for them. They’re going to be okay because they have each other. Well, each other and their father’s strength, humor, and courage.
I’m not talking about being a single mom. I can figure that part out, especially since the older two are here to help me. If I’m going to be completely honest, I know my daughter will probably continue to run the show with more maturity than I will ever have. Things are going to be rocky for a while, and there will be a tremendous learning curve, but we’ll get through.
No, I don’t know how I’m going to move on without The Big Guy. He was my ex; we hadn’t been a couple for more than four years. But he was my friend. We still talked almost every day. We had inside jokes and a shared history that spanned more than twenty years. We created three people together– three amazing, beautiful, incredible people who made us both so much better than either one of us ever were on our own.
He had a girlfriend who never left his side during those final days in the hospital. His family referred to her as “the love of his life,” and I believe they were right. He was so very happy with her, happy in a way he never was with me, that I couldn’t hold that against her. During the time they were together, she was good to our kids and always treated me with respect, so I truly, genuinely like her.
Crazy, huh?
My heart is breaking for her. So few people in life actually find real love, but I believe she and The Big Guy truly did. As much as I am hurting right now, I know her pain is even deeper.
And I am hurting. I’ve lost my friend. I’ve lost the father of my children. I’ve lost a person who was a significant part of my life for more than half my time here on Earth.
I’ve lost my Big Guy. My crooked-toothed, flannel-wearing, warm-hearted Big Guy. And somehow, incredibly, life is going to have to go on as though the world hasn’t just lost a truly good human being.
I just don’t know how to do this.
Shamrocks, Blarney, and Mom
March 12, 2015 March 17, 2018 A.J. Goode Grief breast cancer, FTSF, Grief, McDonald's, memories, nostalgia, Nurses, Shamrock Shakes, St. Patrick's Day
When it comes to St. Patrick’s Day, I always think of my mother.
She was part Irish, although I have to be honest and say she was sort of part-everything. Her maiden name was Kirk, and she always told us that she had once traced the family tree back to the first Kirk to come to America from Scotland; he married an Irish girl, and their son married a Cherokee, and so on down the line. She insisted that we had our own Tartan and family crest, and swore that our family history also included Welsh, Swedish, Dutch, French and German ancestors.
She also insisted that she was 5’5” but barely reached my chin, and I am 5’4”, so I think it’s safe to say that many of my mother’s “truths” should be taken with a grain of salt. Irish or not, she definitely had the Gift of Blarney.
She loved St. Patrick’s Day. She was an incredibly irritating Morning Person who was hard enough to deal with on a normal day, but on St. Patrick’s Day, she amped it up by blasting “Irish Washerwoman” on the radio and clog-dancing around our beds to wake us up. She insisted on speaking in a thick Irish brogue all day, and the real tragedy here is that she thought she was good at it.
She was not.
She had a song that she liked to sing on that day, in the same terrible brogue, that involved a drunken fool coming home late at night and doubting his wife’s explanations about a hat on the hatrack or a head on the pillow. I’ll admit that I thought the song was really funny as a child, especially the part that went, “A football with a mustache on I never saw before!”
Of course, now that I’m a parent and have access to Google, I looked up the song and was promptly horrified to discover that my mother’s favorite song was a delightfully filthy little ditty called “The Traveler.” I honestly don’t remember if she left out the following verses or not:
“Oh, you’re drunk, you fool, you silly old fool,
You’re as drunk as a fool can be;
That’s not a cock a-standing there,
But a carrot that you see.”
Well, I’ve traveled this wide world over,
Ten thousand miles or more;
But a carrot with balls on,
I never saw before.
And I’m sure she omitted the following:
I ain’t your wife, this ain’t your house,
You have never lived with me.”
It’s the fifth time that I’ve stuffed this bird,
She ain’t never complained before.
I also remember the year she was supremely offended when I met her brogue-to-brogue with some alternate lyrics I had learned for “Irish Washerwoman:”
Oh, McTavish is dead and McTivish don’t know it
McTivish is dead and McTavish don’t know it
They’re both of ‘em dead and they’re in the same bed
And neither one knows that the other is dead.
She was not amused.
Neither were my sisters, as I recall. It was pretty early in the morning for a brogue-off.
But the real reason I think of my mother on Saint Patrick’s Day is McDonald’s Shamrock Shakes. Dear Lord, those things are pure evil. Nothing should taste so good! Cold and sweet, just minty enough, creamy and smooth. I am not usually a big fan of milkshakes other than plain old vanilla, but Shamrock Shakes are so much more than just a milkshake. They are an experience.
In the final days of Mom’s battle with breast cancer, she developed a craving for a Shamrock Shake. She had lost her appetite and her weight had dropped to well below 100 pounds, so we were happy that she had a craving for anything. The cancer had invaded her brain; she was childlike in size and behavior by that point.
One of us stopped and bought her a Shamrock Shake on the way to the hospital that morning. I don’t remember now which one of us it was, and it really didn’t matter. All that mattered was Mom getting something that made her happy at the moment. Before she could even take her first sip, however, one of the nurses who was drawing her blood at the time somehow managed to bump the tray and spill the shake all over the floor.
The nurse was even more devastated than Mom. Mom wept like a child over her lost treat, and Debbie, the nurse, couldn’t stop apologizing. I remember that she cried a few tears as well. For the next several days, she stopped on her way in and brought my mom a new Shamrock Shake every day until my sister gently told her it wasn’t necessary any more. By that point, Mom didn’t remember any of it.
I’ve never forgotten Debbie’s kindness, or the horrified expression on her face when she realized what had happened. It was just a shake, just a stupid mixture of frozen milk and too much sugar, but it meant the world to a dying woman with seven brain tumors and three grieving daughters. Debbie could have dismissed it as just a stupid shake and shrugged off my mother’s tears, but she cared enough for her patient to worry about more than just who was going to mop up the mess. She let my mom into her heart and I knew, even then, how much that cost her.
Now, more than thirty years later, I still buy myself one Shamrock Shake to drink alone every St. Patrick’s Day in honor of my Mom, but also in honor of Debbie and nurses like her everywhere, who care enough to let their patients into their hearts, no matter how much it hurts.
It’s just a shake, just a stupid mixture of frozen milk and too much sugar, but it’s so much more than that.
This is a Finish The Sentence Friday post: “When it comes to St. Patrick’s Day. . . ” hosted by Kristi from Finding Ninee, Kelly from Just Typikel, and Lisa from The Meaning of Me. Please take a few minutes to check out what some of the other bloggers did with this sentence!
January 11, 2015 January 11, 2015 A.J. Goode Grief, poetry Death, faith, Heaven, mourning, Spirituality
For your sake
I hope it’s always six a.m. in heaven
So you can walk the marina at dawn
When the only sound is the clink-clank of ropes against the masts
As boats shudder with each teasing touch of an easy current.
Or maybe it’s sunset
So you can sit on the porch with your iced tea
And drink in the crimson sparkle of a million diamonds
Glistening, disappearing with the sun
Drowning for you night after night
So darkness can urge the old foghorn to moan its ecstasy
Across the waves.
No, I hope it’s sunny and autumn in your heaven
When crisp leaves crunch underfoot
And you hug yourself against nature’s exhalations
While whistling through acorn caps
Just the way you taught us.
I hope angels have a sense of humor
Laughing in snorts and gasps
Wheezing and swiping at tears
Clutching their bellies and gasping, no more!
If I can believe you are laughing with them
Full of joy even now
Perhaps I won’t miss you as much.
This is a re-do of an older poem of mine. It’s something I’ve been tinkering with, trying to say the same thing in a more mature and stronger way. I think I like it better this way but I’ll welcome any input. All comments are always welcome on my blog.
A Mouse Tale
June 27, 2013 June 27, 2013 A.J. Goode Daily Prompt, Grief Alcohol, Ballet, daily prompt, Grief, Lladro, Norman Rockwell, Royal Doulton
Is there a painting or sculpture you’re drawn to? What does it say to you? Describe the experience.
There is a Lladro figurine named “Tuesday’s Child” that has spoken to me for years. Since eleventh grade, in fact.
My aunts always collected figurines. Hummels, Precious Moments, Royal Doultons, Andreas, and Norman Rockwells. Especially Norman Rockwells. I couldn’t help but learn to recognize an artist’s work at a glance, although none of their figurines really struck me as being anything special.
Then I discovered Lladros. Tall, with long flowing lines and graceful shapes, always in pastels and with a gentle simplicity that exudes a feeling a peace. They are beautiful and delicate and they touch my soul in a way that no other piece of art has ever done.
The first one I saw, the one that drew me to the collection, was called “Tuesday’s Child”, and I saw it in the display case at a jewelry store at the mall.
As usual with me, there is a story.
I had a friend back then whose nickname was Mouse. Mouse was a ballet dancer. She was also what my aunts referred to as “a Toughie” because of a very rough start in life. She looked so tiny and innocent, but she could swear like a sailor and she was certainly no stranger to drugs and alcohol at a young age. She wore her hair spiked and multi-colored, totally embracing the fashion trends of the eighties.
We drifted apart in high school. I’m ashamed to admit that I got wrapped up in the almost-almost-popular crowd, and Mouse had just gotten a little too offbeat for me. She and her best friend talked tough and looked rougher, and she made out with her boyfriend in the hallways with so much gusto that some of us dubbed them “Kinko and Slinko.”
I heard that she gave up dancing, which was a shame, because I remember being moved to tears when she danced to her own choreography to “Anatevka” from Fiddler on the Roof. She moved on the stage like some kind of mythical creature, something beyond human, something that defied gravity. She took my breath away.
The last time I saw her, she was with her best friend at a festival in South Haven. They were dressed like biker chicks, and Mouse regaled me with a tale of a recent fight that had left her with a fat lip. I couldn’t get away from her fast enough.
She was only fifteen when she died a few weeks later in a fall at a party. Rumors flew about drugs and alcohol and stupidity of the other partygoers who were too fried to call for help. I never knew which parts of the stories were true or false, but I knew that Mouse was gone and that I had not been a good friend to her.
It was the first time we had lost a peer, and the reminder of our own mortality hit us all hard. People who had snubbed her and mocked her suddenly portrayed themselves as her best friend, weeping dramatically in the halls. Parents and teachers pounced on her death as a cautionary tale against drinking, and some of us were just quietly lost.
Then I saw “Tuesday’s Child” at the mall. She was a delicate little ballerina, bent gracefully over to lace her pointe shoes. There was something about the pose, and in the part-serious, part-amused expression on her face that just spoke to me of Mouse. Looking at the beauty of that tiny figurine, I was reminded of Mouse’s grace and beauty in life, and I stopped focusing on the ugliness of her death; I could finally start forgiving myself for failing our friendship.
“Tuesday’s Child” helped me say goodbye to Mouse.
Of course, I have never been able to afford that specific figurine since it has long since been “retired”. But I have managed to collect three genuine Lladros and a small handful of knockoffs made by NAO. Someday . . . someday, I hope to own “Tuesday’s Child” but until then, I have my memories of a girl named Mouse.
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/06/27/daily-prompt-art/
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This New Study Shows How Genes Influence When You Lose Your Virginity
Let's get it on...with science.
Lindsay Geller @lgells
Many people remember their first time ...
... but not many know how biology can influence the timing of that first time. Until now.
While this personal and intimate decision is mainly driven by "nurture" factors like religious beliefs, family upbringing, and peer pressure, a new study shows that "nature," i.e. genetics, also plays a key role.
By analyzing genes from the DNA of over 125,000 people ages 40 to 69 enrolled in the UK BioBank project, scientists gained new insights into how heredity affects human behavior.
For both genders, the majority of people lost their virginity at age 18.
Delving deeper, the scientists created a list of 38 sections of DNA they found affected the age at which people first had sex. These included genes that drive reproduction, like sex hormone release and puberty onset, as well as ones that impact behavior, personality and appearance.
For example, CADM2, a gene variant linked early sexual activity with risk-taking behavior and having a large number of children. Another one, MSRA, found in "late bloomers," was associated with irritability.
Published in the journal Nature Genetics, this ground breaking study concluded that differences in DNA were responsible for 25 percent of the variation in the age at which people first have sexual intercourse.
John Perry, an expert in reproductive ageing and related health conditions at Cambridge University told The Guardian, "We were able to calculate for the first time that there is a heritable component to age at first sex." With this new information, scientists believe the decision to lose one virginity's is made up of "one quarter nature, three quarters nurture."
But this data isn’t just interesting, it may also have a positive social impact.
The scientists were able to show the small but nonetheless direct impact early puberty — often traced to poor nutrition and childhood obesity — has on the age at which people lose their virginity and have their first child.
"It suggests that earlier puberty does influence early age of sexual debut," George Davey Smith, a clinical epidemiologist at Bristol University, told the publication, "Which then appears to have other consequences such as, all things being equal…poorer educational outcomes." According to Smith, early puberty and sexual intercourse has been linked to poor educational achievement before.
Perry hopes this revolutionary new data informs scientists about "future preventative efforts to delay puberty" that could help more young people pursue a better education and, eventually, lead to an overall better quality of life.
H/T: The Guardian
Culture Lindsay Geller
Get In, Loser. 'Mean Girls' Is Coming to Broadway.
Your favorite movie is becoming a musical, and it's gonna be, like, really pretty.
Steven Lerner
5 Current Environmental Developments That Might Save Our Planet
This goes way beyond Earth Day.
'Everything Is Awesome' About Lego's Tribute to Shakespeare On The 400th Anniversary Of His Death
Check out the bard in brick form.
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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide
January 15, 2020 admin Artistswork Movies
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has officially crossed $1 billion at the global box office as of Tuesday, January 14, 2020. As reported by Variety, The Rise of Skywalker earned $481 million at the domestic box office and garnered an additional $519 million internationally for a grand total of $1.001 billion. Episode IX was released in theaters on December 20, 2019, and it took the last film of the Skywalker Saga 28 days to achieve this milestone, which is actually longer than both The Force Awakens’ 12 days and The Last Jedi’s 19 days. [widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=46-movies-that-made-1-billion-at-the-box-office&captions=true”] Box office ticket sales for this newest trilogy have steadily declined since 2015’s The Force Awakens brought in $936 million domestically and $1.1 billion internationally. 2017’s The Last Jedi earned $620 million domestically and $712 million abroad. Even though The Rise of Skywalker didn’t surpass its predecessors, it did help Disney cap off an incredible year that saw them releasing seven films that surpassed $1 billion worldwide. These successes and more helped lead the House of Mouse to $3.76 billion domestically, $7.35 billion internationally, and a whopping $11.12 billion worldwide. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was the ninth film in 2019 to cross the $1 billion mark and is the 46th film of all time to join the billionaires club. [ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/15/star-wars-colin-trevorrows-episode-9-script-allegedly-leaks-ign-now”] For more on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, be sure to check out our review, our thoughts on what the true meaning of the Skywalker Saga is, and a full breakdown of an alleged leak of Colin Trevorrow’s Episode IX script. [poilib element=”accentDivider”] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN who can’t wait and is so excited he just can’t hide it. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
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Home / News & Events / College News / Mathematician/Computer Scientist Granted NSF CAREER Award for “Geometric frontiers in algorithm design”
back to news Feb. 16, 2015
Mathematician/Computer Scientist Granted NSF CAREER Award for “Geometric frontiers in algorithm design”
Anastasios (Tasos) Sidiropoulos, assistant professor, mathematics; and computer science engineering, has received a five-year, $500, 921 NSF CAREER Award for his project, “Geometric frontiers in algorithm design.”
The CAREER Award is the top award given by the National Science Foundation to support the work of the nation’s most promising junior faculty members. Those selected exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellence in teaching and the integration of education and research within the context of their organization's mission.
This is the third CAREER Award for ASC researchers in 2015 — a remarkable achievement considering the highly competitive nature of these national awards. Chemist Hannah Shafaat received a CAREER award in January. Mathematician Daniel Thompson received a CAREER award in February.
Now, Anastasios (Tasos) Sidiropoulos, joins this elite group.
His CAREER award funds a project that will look at the use of diverse mathematical tools in the setting of geometric data analysis, forging new connections between mathematics and computer science. It aims to resolve some of the main problems inherent in the analysis of such geometric data sets, facilitating improved solutions for a variety of computational tasks.
“The area I am working in — developing new mathematical methods that can do what people want and need them to do, quickly and efficiently — is rapidly evolving," Sidiropoulos said. "Engineering in itself is not enough, one needs to develop new mathematical tools.
“But, mathematics and all of science — have always been engaged in a hand-in-hand dialogue — developing parallel to each other since their conception. And, as scientists study new problems, mathematicians are needed to develop new tools.”
As the ability to collect massive, multifaceted and sometimes seemingly unrelated amounts of data has accelerated, the need for mathematicians who can wrangle them into relevant bits that can be extracted, managed and applied — and do it quickly and efficiently — has accelerated in tandem.
"The analysis of complex data sets is a task of increasing importance for science and engineering,” Sidiropoulos said. “In many applications there is an abundance of raw inputs so being able to extract meaningful information from them is often a major computational challenge.
“As we record more and more data, we know that somewhere in there lies any answer that we care to extract — eventually.
“The key is to be able to do it quickly and efficiently. And, in many complex systems there are no simple underlying rules for extracting information efficiently.”
However, in recent years, geometric methods have become an indispensable tool for working toward this goal.
“The reason,” Sidiropoulos said, “is that a data set endowed with pairwise similarities can be naturally interpreted as a geometric space.”
And, he continued, “There is no end to such data sets. They include DNA sequences, statistical distributions, collections of news articles and almost anything else you care to name.
“Using this interpretation, several important data analytics questions can be understood as geometric, computational problems. The main algorithmic challenges in this context occur in high-dimensional, or more generally, complex metric spaces.”
Sidiropoulos received his PhD from MIT and came to Ohio State September 2013 to accept a joint appointment in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Mathematics and the College of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science Engineering.
“Ohio State is wonderful and the math department here is really good,” he said. “And being able to put my skills in mathematics and computer science together to address evolving problems seemed like a perfect fit for me.
Sidiropoulos plans to use the educational component of his project to introduce two undergraduate students to research. One of the students will be supported as part of the Ohio State Summer Research Program (SROP) for African American, Native American, Hispanic, first-generation, low income rising juniors and seniors.
His grant’s outreach funding will allow him to develop presentations for the STEAM Factory at 400 W. Rich Street, along with lectures in other venues, to make his work more accessible to the public.
“Ultimately, what we do,” Sidiropoulos said, “is not about us. It’s about — we hope — having a positive effect on the rest of the world and solving some problems for which answers previously had been out of reach.”
—Sandi Rutkowski
Kochanek and Stanek receive Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize
Astronomy professor awarded 2020 Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics
11 Arts and Sciences graduate students named Presidential Fellows
Physics and astronomy professor receives National Postdoctoral Association 2020 Mentor Award
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World powers demand halt to Libya advance
AFP On Apr 6, 2019
TRIPOLI: Libyan forces under Khalifa Haftar battled their way to the south of Tripoli on Friday, prompting the UN Security Council and the G7 to demand a halt to the military advance on the capital.
Haftar, commander of the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA), launched an offensive on Thursday to take the capital, held by a UN-backed unity government and an array of militias.
The lightening assault was ordered as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was in Libya for a visit aimed at cementing a political deal on holding elections.
After meeting with Haftar in the eastern city of Benghazi, Guterres said he was leaving “Libya with a deep concern and a heavy heart” and voiced hope that a “bloody confrontation” could be avoided.
Shortly afterwards, LNA forces clashed with a pro-government alliance less than 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of the capital, a unity government source said.
Haftar’s press office confirmed there had been “violent fighting on the edge of Tripoli with armed militias”.
Halt all movements
After a closed-door emergency meeting in New York, the Security Council called on Haftar’s forces to halt their advance and warned that those responsible for re-igniting the conflict will be held responsible.
The appeal for Haftar to halt his offensive was unanimously backed by the council, including Russia, which has supported the strongman.
The council “called on LNA forces to halt all military movements” and “on all forces to de-escalate military activity,” said German Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, who holds the council presidency.
UN envoy Ghassan Salame told the council that Haftar made clear to Guterres during the Benghazi meeting that he had no intention of halting his campaign, diplomats said.
G7 foreign ministers meeting in the French resort town of Dinard urged an immediate halt to “all military activity and movements toward Tripoli”, warning that civilians were in danger.
LNA forces briefly took over the ruins of a destroyed airport but were driven out by fighters from the capital, government interior minister Fathi Bachagha told Libya’s Al-Ahrar television station.
“The fighting is currently taking place in the Gasr Ben Ghechir region” south of the airport, he said.
LNA spokesman Ahmad al-Mesmari said five fighters from his group had been killed in clashes over the past 24 hours, but insisted that it had made “an important step forward”.
Earlier in the day, LNA forces were pushed back from a key checkpoint less than 30 kilometres from the capital, checking their offensive.
Pro-government militiamen from the coastal town of Zawiya, west of Tripoli, retook the base after a “short exchange of fire”, a source said on condition of anonymity.
The head of the UN-backed unity government, Fayez al-Sarraj, visited the checkpoint on Friday accompanied by military commanders.
The Zawiya militia is one of dozens that have proliferated since the 2011 overthrow of dictator Moamer Kadhafi and are variously aligned with Sarraj’s government and a rival administration in the east backed by Haftar.
Most of the pro-Haftar fighters who briefly captured the checkpoint late on Thursday were rival militiamen from the town of Sabratha, further west along the Mediterranean coast.
Haftar said “the time has come” to take Tripoli in an audio message released on Thursday, pledging to spare civilians and “state institutions”.
The United States and its allies issued a joint statement urging “all parties to immediately de-escalate tensions”.
Russia called for “all possible efforts to fully resolve the situation with peaceful political means”.
Analysts say the advance by Haftar’s forces comes at a key moment as the UN bids to get elections back on track after an abortive effort last year.
“The risk of a flare-up has increased,” said Jalel Harchaoui, a researcher at Clingendael Institute in The Hague.
“Capturing Tripoli… remains a possibility” for Haftar, with the support he receives from Saudi Arabia and its allies Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, he said.
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Tag Archives: Winona Ryder
Monthly Report: November 2012
Color me shocked that I almost tied last month’s movie tally this month. October felt very movie-heavy. November, by comparison, just kind of drifted by, but I apparently watched a lot of stuff regardless. Not that I’m complaining. I got some good watching done, knocking off a couple more from my 2011 Must-See list, as well as some classics that I should have watched a long time ago. Yeah, November was a good month indeed.
Neds (Peter Mullan, 2010)
Set in Glasgow in the 1970s, Neds follows a boy during his growing-up phase, from promising smart kid to trouble-making delinquent. The transition is presented in an engaging fashion and, for the most part, shows a believable trajectory. Some well-timed humor makes for a welcome addition in the early goings as well. The problem is that it all gets a repetitive, with the second half of the film treading water rather than breaking new ground. Some more time could have been spent fine-tuning it in the cutting room. It’s a slightly better film than Mullan’s previous effort The Magdalene Sisters, though.
Rampart (Oren Moverman, 2011)
Hard-hitting character study of one rotten L.A. cop, expertly portrayed by a rarely-better Woody Harrelson. He and Oren Moverman make for one hell of a team, judging by this and their previous collaboration The Messenger. Moverman does great work here, utilizing colors and camera angles in striking ways that really make the film come alive. And this is only his second film. I’m eagerly anticipating what he’ll come up with next.
Young Adult (Jason Reitman, 2011)
I’m a major fan of Jason Reitman. That Young Adult is probably his weakest film to date has more to do with the awesomeness of Thank You For Smoking, Juno, and Up in the Air, than with any supposed lack of quality in this latest effort. Because Young Adult is really good. It’s a brisk and fun look at an interesting woman – Charlize Theron‘s Mavis – who’s possibly be the best-written character Diablo Cody has provided cinema with. The film might not tell a story we haven’t heard before, and it could have done with a bit more narrative muscle, but, in the end, this is Jason Reitman. And Jason Reitman makes damn fine films.
Posted by Emil on 1 December, 2012 in Monthly Report
Tags: Al Pacino, Amelie, An American Werewolf in London, Angel-A, Banlieue 13 - Ultimatum, Beetlejuice, Bernie, Bill Murray, Bobby Fischer Against the World, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Charlize Theron, Clyde Bruckman, David Mackenzie, David Wain, Diablo Cody, District 13: Ultimatum, Dr. Strangelove, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Duncan Jones, Elmore Leonard, George C. Scott, Greg Kinnear, Hallam Foe, Helen Hunt, Inception, Jack Black, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamel Debouzze, Jamie Bell, Jason Bateman, Jason Reitman, Jaws, Jeff Bridges, Joe Pantoliano, John Dahl, John Hawkes, John Landis, John Malkovich, John McNaughton, Juno, Liz Garbus, Looper, Luc Besson, Mad Dog and Glory, Mansome, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Michael Traeger, Miranda July, Mister Foe, Morgan Spurlock, Neds, Oren Moverman, Paprika, Papurika, Patrick Allesandrin, Peter Mullan, Peter Sellers, Pierce Brosnan, Rachel Weisz, Rampart, Rian Johnson, Richard Linklater, Richard Shepard, Rie Rasmussen, Rinko Kikuchi, Robert De Niro, Rounders, Satoshi Kon, Seth MacFarlane, Source Code, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, Super Size Me, Taylor Hackford, Ted, Thank You For Smoking, The Amateurs, The Brothers Bloom, The Cell, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, The Devil's Advocate, The Future, The General, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, The Magdalene Sisters, The Matador, The Messenger, The Ten, Tim Burton, Up in the Air, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Winona Ryder, Woody Allen, Woody Harrelson, Young Adult
My Top 10 Favorite Movies of 1994
1994 tends to be one of those years people refer to as great film years. It’s hard to disagree too vehemently with such a statement, as it had plenty of quality movies to offer in a wide variety of genres. About half of these films are long-time favorites of mine, wheres the others are newer acquintances that I’ve seen for the first time within the last few years.
As always, this is going by listed release year on IMDB.
Honorable mentions: Ace Ventura – Pet Detective, Airheads, The Crow
10 – SWIMMING WITH SHARKS (George Huang)
“You are nothing! If you were in my toilet I wouldn’t bother flushing it! My bathmat means more to me than you!”
While Kevin Spacey recently played a horrible boss in the aptly named Horrible Bosses, this was hardly his first outing as that character type. In Swimming with Sharks, he plays a movie mogul who takes great delight in putting his new employee Guy (Frank Whaley) through all kinds of torment. Spacey is teriffic in the part, but praise should go not just to the delivery but to the material as well. A well-written black comedy with a brutal ending.
9 – HEAVENLY CREATURES (Peter Jackson)
“It’s all frightfully romantic.”
What’s really interesting about Heavenly Creatures in hindsight is how it encapsulates everything else Peter Jackson had done or would go on to do. There’s drama, there’s fantasy – in dream sequences -, and there’s bloody murder. Based on a true story, this harrowing tale of the obsessive friendship between two teenage girls is one that sticks with you. Also notable for being the film debut of Kate Winslet.
Posted by Emil on 27 August, 2012 in Lists, Top 10 of a year
Tags: Ace Ventura - Pet Detective, Airheads, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ben Stiller, best films of 1994, Brad Pitt, Danny Aiello, Dumb & Dumber, Ethan Hawke, Forrest Gump, Frank Darabont, Frank Whaley, Gary Oldman, George Huang, Heavenly Creatures, Horrible Bosses, Interview with the Vampire, James Cameron, Janeane Garofalo, Jean Reno, Jeff Daniels, Jim Carrey, John Cleese, Kate Winslet, Kevin Spacey, Kirsten Dunst, Leon, Natalie Portman, Neil Jordan, Peter Jackson, Reality Bites, Rob Minkoff, Robert Zemeckis, Roger Allers, Swimming with Sharks, The Crow, the Farrellys, The Lion King, The Professional, The Shawshank Redemption, Tom Hanks, True Lies, Winona Ryder
Three is One: Women going crazy
“Three is One” is a new feature here on the blog. The idea is to examine three different movies that have something in common and see in which ways they differ from one another.
This first installment will be about three psychological thrillers in which women lose their minds, or perhaps have lost them already: Roman Polanski’s Repulsion, Robert Altman’s Images and Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan. All three films put an emphasis on female sexuality in various ways, and they all feature plenty of ambiguity about what is actually really and what is merely hallucinations.
REPULSION (Polanski, 1965)
Catherine Deneuve plays Carole, a young woman who lives in a London apartment with her sister and works as a manicurist. Carole has a big problem with men. She’s noticeably uncomfortable around them, which creates conflict with her sexual urges (the source of this aversion of hers is never revealed, making her case the most mysterious of the three films). When her sister goes on a holiday, Carole is left alone in their home. It’s around this time her sanity starts slipping. She spends more and more time at home, never leaving except to go to work. Strange noises are heard, threatening shadows loom outside her bedroom door and the entire apartment seems to be decaying.
Repulsion is the first part of Polanski’s Apartment trilogy. It’s followed by Rosemary’s Baby and The Tenant, two other movies that deal with themes similar to Repulsion’s, albeit with different slants. Rosemary’s Baby has Rosemary feeling paranoid about whether the child she’s carrying might be the spawn of the devil, and The Tenant deals with social anxieties as a man tries to fit in with his new neighbors. They’re both really good films and naturally make for interesting comparing and contrasting with Repulsion. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Emil on 30 June, 2011 in Three is One
Tags: Barbara Hershey, Black Swan, Catherine Deneuve, Darren Aronofsky, female sexuality, Images, insanity, Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman, Repulsion, Robert Altman, Roman Polanski, schizophrenia, Susanna York, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder
Still can't believe this shit. Been on my mind constantly the past two days. twitter.com/Esh_Kebab/stat… 9 hours ago
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2018 Petit Verdot, Rosé, Love Garden
Even a guy like me can maintain an artistic spasm for only so long, and while my Eye Of The Beholder Rosé was a fascinating and intellectually rewarding project, it has recently given way to a return to, shall I say, normalcy. The 2017 Eye Of The Beholder, which we shipped back in February, will be the last of its kind, at least for the foreseeable future. To those of you who, like me, will miss the freak show, I apologize. For most of you, though, I sense a big sigh of relief as I inform you that my Rosé will no longer be all about the mud. Going forward, my Rosé will be all about the Love.
While this is not the first fruity, chill, pop & serve Rosé I have ever made, it is the first Rosé from Petit Verdot that I have ever made. Now that Petit Verdot has become the go-to grape in my FATHOM program, I have a pretty hefty delivery of the stuff coming each fall, so, this is something that could be duplicated. Let’s see how this one goes.
While the Petit Verdot did make very pretty Rosé, it wasn’t without its challenges. In the making of a Rosé, you want to squeeze hard enough on the red grapes to push out at least some pigment. If you don’t get enough pigment, you end up with white wine, or something that is like a muddled orange--been there, done that--so squeeze away, right? The only problem was our production trials showed us that with Petit Verdot, if you squeeze it too hard, you start to force out some seriously rough tannins, (the hallmark of this grape when it is made into a more typical red wine). The moral of the story: there’s a sweet spot. Find that spot and you get the pink and the fruit, and it feels good on the palate to boot.
This is the other Love Garden right now along with our new Sparkling Clairette. I am a bit biased, but I do think the labels that Lisa has created are the most beautiful things in the wine business. How do you capture in two words a feeling for the atmosphere that she has created in the tasting room? Well, she’s done it.
Varietal Composition: 100% Petit Verdot
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Attorney Jeffrey Coreil Receives Crystal Gavel Award
Sep 24, 2013 | Filed Under: News | By: BBR Creative
(Lafayette, La.) – Local attorney Jeffrey K. Coreil has been named a Crystal Gavel awardee for 2013 by the Louisiana State Bar Association. Every year this prestigious award is given to select attorneys who best exemplify the profession’s ideals, including commitment to community service. Coreil was chosen because of his “outstanding work and efforts in providing pro bono legal services,” according to State Bar Association President, Richard K. Leefe.
The only recipient of the Crystal Gavel Award from the Lafayette region, Coreil was nominated by the former Executive Director of the Lafayette Bar Association, Susan Holliday, because of his tireless dedication to the community. “Motivated by generosity and compassion and leading by example,” Holliday noted, “Jeffrey challenges his colleagues to donate their time and expertise to help those in need in the Lafayette area.”
In addition to the clients he serves as an attorney with the corporate defense firm of NeunerPate, Coreil makes time to work with a number of local groups to provide legal assistance to those in need, including the Homeless Experience Legal Protection (H.E.L.P.) program and the Protective Order Panel of the Lafayette Volunteer Lawyers organization. In recent years he’s taken on a number of pro bono cases for low-income families and assisted over two dozen domestic violence victims with their protective order petitions.
“I’m grateful and honored to receive this award,” said Coreil. “Lafayette is such a great community to live and work in, and I’m proud to be able to do something to give back.”
NeunerPate is a law firm headquartered in Lafayette, La. with offices in Metairie and New Orleans. Formerly Laborde & Neuner, NeunerPate serves clients in a broad range of practice areas including corporate defense, insurance defense, workers compensation, admiralty and maritime, multi-jurisdictional class-action suits and general litigation and appeals. For more information, please visit www.NeunerPate.com.
TV Spot Demands Pause, Not Fast-Forward
Dupré Logistics Employees Share the Christmas Spirit with Local Family
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Palace keen on Loftus-Cheek return, says Hodgson
06/10/2018 at 01:46Updated 06/10/2018 at 01:49
Oct 5 (Reuters) - Crystal Palace would be interested in bringing Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek back to Selhurst Park if the England international becomes available in the transfer market, manager Roy Hodgson said on Friday.
Loftus-Cheek spent last season on loan at Palace and his fine displays earned him a call-up to England's World Cup squad. The 22-year-old remained at Stamford Bridge this season and is keen to break into Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri's first team.
The midfielder has made two substitute appearances for Chelsea in the league this season and started Thursday's Europa League clash against Hungarian champions Vidi.
"It is not right to discuss these things because it is a hypothesis that Chelsea are not happy with him," Hodgson told a news conference ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
"I don't like to discuss players in that respect... What I'm prepared to say, and I have said it on many occasions, is that Loftus-Cheek did an outstanding job for us when he came here.
"We admire him and wish him well. Like other clubs I'm sure, when the day comes when he becomes available for transfer, we will be sticking our nose into that. Whether we will get him again, that's another matter."
Hodgson said his players should expect a stern test against promoted Wolves. Nuno Espirito Santo's side are ninth in the table, four places above Palace, and have drawn with both Manchester City and Manchester United this season.
"It's going to be a big test. They're way up there in the table which for newcomers isn't always the case, so we are preparing for a very difficult game," Hodgson added. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru Editing by Toby Davis)
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Home » Australian Landscape Artist
Australian Landscape Artist
Walter Withers was an Australian landscape artist and a member of the Heidelberg School of Australian impressionists.
Tags Australian Landscape Artist, Heidelberg School, Walter Withers, Withers
John Peter Russell was an Australian painter of impressionist landscapes and seascapes in oils and watercolours.
Tags Australian Impressionism, Australian Landscape Artist, John Russell, Oil, Russell, Watercolour
Lloyd Rees was an Australian landscape painter who twice won the Wynne Prize for his landscape paintings.
Tags Australian Landscape Artist, Landscape, Lloyd Rees
Sydney Long was an Australian painter and etcher of decorative landscapes.
Tags Australian Landscape Artist, Heidelberg School, Long, Sydney Long
Rita Esslinger is a german-born artist with a fascination for the rich colours of the Australian landscape.
Tags Australian Landscape Art, Australian Landscape Artist, Esslinger, Landscape, Rita Esslinger
d’Arcy William Doyle was a painter of Australian landscapes and historical scenes.
Tags Australian Historical Scenes, Australian Landscape Artist, d'Arcy Doyle, Doyle, Self-Taught Artist
James Waltham Curtis was an English-born painter, illustrator, and photographic colourist who became an early practitioner of a distinctively Australian style of art.
Tags Australian Landscape Art, Australian Landscape Artist, Curtis, James Curtis
Theodore Penleigh Boyd (15 August 1890 – 27 November 1923) was an Australian landscape artist.
Tags Australian Landscape Artist, Boyd, National Gallery Art School, Penleigh Boyd
Kevin John Best, OAM (27 January 1932 – 31 July 2012) was an Australian self-taught artist who spent time as a boy sketching warships and airplanes.
Tags Australian Landscape Art, Australian Landscape Artist, Best, Kevin Best, Self-Taught Artist
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"Let me live, love and say it well in good sentences." – Sylvia Plath
On Friday night, Matt and I went on a For Real Date to see the Frida & Diego exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Frida Kahlo is probably my all-time favourite painter; I have literally been counting down the days until this show opened.
I have friends who know a lot more about galleries and exhibiting art than I do. They make intelligent remarks like, I wasn’t thrilled with how this collection was curated, or, I thought the lighting in the third room really brought an interesting tone to the whole show. I hope you’re not here to read anything like that, because I honestly know very little about how galleries should or shouldn’t display art. On top of that, I’ve been waiting at least ten years to see Frida’s works in person, so the AGO could probably have held the show in a dank basement room lit by a single 60-watt bulb and I would still have been thrilled.
The Frida & Diego exhibit is an assortment of Kahlo and Rivera’s works, often juxtaposed in interesting ways. The first room is filled with paintings from Rivera’s days as an art student in Madrid and Paris; they’re neat because you can clearly see the time he spent dabbling in Realism, Cubism and Post-Impressionism. That being said, although his early paintings are clearly technically very good, for the most part they aren’t terribly interesting or different.
Three of Rivera’s earlier works
The second room is more still more Rivera, and includes a reproduction of one his most famous murals, The Arsenal, starring Frida as a communist bad-ass distributing weapons to the people.
Finally, in the third room, we begin seeing some of Kahlo’s work. I dragged Matt from painting to painting, drinking in the familiar scenes and pointing out details that I was noticing for the first time. I began to look at the dates of the paintings, trying to slot them into the narrative of her life, and in doing so I was struck me was how young she was. I mean, I’d always known that she’d died young, but for the first time I realized that she’d been painting masterpieces when she was younger than me.
Frida was born in 1907 (although she often gave her birthdate as 1910 in order to coincide with the beginning of the Mexican Revolution), and was the third of four daughters born to Guillermo and Mathilde Kahlo. Frida’s father came from a German-Jewish background, and her mother was of Spanish and Indigenous descent; Frida was fascinated by her parents’ history, and her own mixed heritage would come to play an important part in her art. In 1927, at the age of 20, she already considered herself to be a professional painter. She married Diego Rivera in 1929.
Her seminal painting Henry Ford Hospital, which depicts a bed-ridden Kahlo shortly after a traumatic miscarriage, dates from 1932. I kept looking at it and thinking, she was only 25 when she went through that. She was only 25 when she painted that.
Henry Ford Hospital, 1932
Kahlo’s 1932 miscarriage (which was the second of three that she suffered) was by no means the first time she’d experienced pain or hardship in her life. At the age of six she was stricken with polio and, although she made a near-full recovery, for the rest of life her left leg remained smaller and weaker than the right. Then, at the age of 18, she was riding a bus that collided with a tram car. She suffered massive injuries, including three breaks in her spinal column, a shattered pelvis and multiple other broken bones. She was also skewered by a steel handrail, which pierced her abdomen and came out her vagina. She later told her family that the handrail took her virginity (totally untrue, by the way).
Her boyfriend at the time, Alejandro Arias, described the scene of accident to Kahlo biographer Hayden Herrera in gory but also hauntingly beautiful terms:
“Something strange had happened. Frida was totally nude. The collision had unfastened her clothes. Someone on the bus, probably a house painter, had been carrying a packet of powdered gold. This package broke, and the gold fell all over the bleeding body of Frida. When people saw her they cried, ‘La bailarina, la bailarina!‘ With the gold on her red, bloody body, they thought she was a dancer.” – Hayden Herrera, Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo
Frida suffered from the effects of that accident for the rest of her life. She underwent 35 separate surgeries in an attempt to repair the damage. The handrail had gone through her uterus, leaving her unable to carry a baby to term; this was especially heartbreaking, as Frida wanted almost more than anything to have a child with Diego.
Part of the reason that Kahlo wanted to have Rivera’s child is that she thought it would bind them together in a way that marriage on its own couldn’t. Diego was a known womanizer, and continued to sleep with other women even after he married Frida. Deeply hurt by Diego’s infidelity, as well as her own inability to carry a child (which would have been Rivera’s fifth, as he had four others by past wives and mistresses), Frida began to have her own affairs with both men and women. Throughout the rest of her life Frida had dozens of lovers, including, purportedly, Josephine Baker and Leon Trotsky.
The fact that both Frida and Diego had numerous love affairs over the course of their marriage (which lasted from 1929 until 1939, then resumed in 1940 and lasted until Frida’s death in 1954), and the fact that both of them slept with women, makes the AGO’s juxtaposition of the two portraits of Natasha Gelman, one each by Kahlo and Rivera, all the more interesting.
Kahlo’s portrait of Gelman, 1943
Rivera’s portrait of Gelman, 1943
In Kahlo’s portrait, Gelman is unsmiling, even stern, while Rivera’s version of Gelman is languorous and sensual, a small smile playing on her lips. Kahlo’s Gelman seems matriarchal, perhaps even a bit masculine, with a square jaw and intently serious gaze. Rivera’s Gelman, on the other hand, takes on a more traditionally feminine appearance, both in the softness of her face and the curve of her hip and leg. Simply put, Kahlo’s version of Gelman looks like a fucking awesome boss lady, and Rivera’s looks like someone he would want to sleep with.
I’m no expert, but I feel like these two pictures say a lot about how Kahlo and Rivera view women, both in general and as prospective partners.
It was also fascinating to see a selection of works by Kahlo that were inspired by her miscarriages hung alongside a series of paintings by Rivera depicting mothers of young children. I can’t imagine how heartbreakingly difficult it must have been for Frida to know that Diego had children with other women; how at times she must have felt inferior and defective because she could bring another “Little Diego” into the world.
Frida Kahlo – Frida Y El Aborto
Diego Rivera – Maternidad
One of my favourite parts of the exhibit was the room that contained media by other people of Frida and Diego. There were photographs on the walls, and a black and white video of the couple was playing on the large screen. Of all the photographs that were included in this show, my favourites by far were those taken by Nickolas Muray, Frida’s former-lover-turned-good-friend.
Nickolas Muray – Frida In The Dining Area Coyoacan With Cigarette
Nickolas Muray – Frida Kahlo on White Bench
In many of Muray’s pictures, Frida is looking straight into the camera. Her gaze is intimate, disarming; her eyes bore into you, and it seems like she’s just about to speak. In some of the pictures, her mouth is quirked into a half-smile, as if she and the viewer share some kind of inside joke. No one else really understands, her expression tells you, no one but you and I, that is. You feel complicit in something, but you’re not sure what.
The video was just as wonderfully intimate as Muray’s photographs. In it, Frida and Diego are shown at home, in the courtyard of Casa Azul. In their every movement, their every look and touch, their tenderness for each other is evident. At one point Frida reaches out to take Diego’s hand and place it on her cheek; her expression when she feels his palm against her face is like that of a cat sleeping in a puddle of sunlight.
On the whole, the show is wonderful. My only issue with it (aside from the fact that several of my favourite Kahlo pieces are missing) is the subtitle, Passion, Politics and Painting. The advertising done for the show, which includes the slogan, “He painted for the people. She painted to survive.” makes it seem as though the politics were all Diego’s and the passion all Frida’s. Even within the exhibit, there is much attention given to Diego’s political activities, and only a few brief mentions of Frida’s membership in Mexico’s communist party.
To say that Frida wasn’t political is a mistake; she was deeply political, and on a very personal level. The way she dressed was political, as was the way she behaved, not to mention her art. In a time when the Western culture and its concept of beauty was beginning to take over Mexico’s cultural landscape, Frida, in many ways, turned her back on it and embraced her Mexican of her heritage. She traded the European clothing of her childhood for traditional Spanish and Indigenous garb. She refused to alter her unibrow, and, in fact, accentuated it and her mustache in her self-portraits. She was known to be unfaithful to her (equally if not moreso unfaithful) husband, and took women as lovers. Perhaps most importantly, she painted and talked about things that no one had ever publicly discussed before: things like miscarriage, infertility, sexuality, violence against women and infidelity.
In many ways, she started conversations that we’re still having today.
Plus, how can you think someone is not political when they paint this on their own body cast?
Kahlo’s Body Cast with Hammer & Sickle and Fetus
I wish I could explain to you how and why I love Frida so much. I keep starting sentences and then deleting them; all the words I pick seem fumbling and wrong, the emotion either overwrought and clumsy or woefully lacking. Even the things that I’ve already written here seem stilted and lifeless, which is the opposite of what writing about Kahlo’s life should be.
I guess that the best thing that I could say would be this: Frida had a really hard fucking life, but instead of backing down, she took all of her pain and heartache and turned it into something beautiful. She lived and she worked and she loved and she challenged and she pushed and in the end, I think, she won.
Frida died of a pulmonary embolism in 1954, at the age of 47. I mean, 47. Fuck. She was so heartbreakingly young. Shortly before her death, she wrote the following in her diary:
“I hope the exit is joyful — and I hope never to return — Frida”
I hope that wherever you are now, Frida, you are joyful. I hope that you’re finally free from pain. Most of all, I hope that Diego is there with you.*
Frida and Diego ofrendas
The exhibit closes with a pair of ofrenda depicting Frida and Diego. An ofrenda is a type of Mexican home altar, most often built for el Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead). An ofrenda typically represents a dead family member, and is honoured by the living with traditional offerings of food and flowers. On October 24th, Mexican artist Carlomagno Pedro Martinez will construct an ofrenda in the gallery space; visitors on that day will be given art supplies and encouraged to contribute drawings and words to Martinez’s work. The installation (along with the entire exhibit) will be on display until January 20th, 2013.
*And that he’s, like, hanging out with you and not busy macking on angels or whatever (I am JUST SAYING, okay?)
p.s. In case you weren’t sure how I felt about Frida Kahlo in general, and this exhibit in particular, here is a visual aid for you:
Tags: ago, art, art gallery of ontario, diego rivera, feminism!, frida, frida kahlo, history, matt, painting, relationships, women, writing
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11 Responses to “Frida”
beexyz October 22, 2012 at 3:56 am #
I don’t know a thing about art but, but I felt as I was there. And I felt you feeling Frida. Thank you!
bellejarblog October 22, 2012 at 3:59 am #
Katharine October 22, 2012 at 4:10 pm #
Frida is my hero. The Frida movie changed my life. No seriously. I don’t know that I could pinpoint exactly how, but it did.
bellejarblog October 23, 2012 at 4:53 pm #
She’s my hero too! Also, I love that movie. Have you read Hayden Herrera’s bio? The movie was based on it, and it’s pretty great.
Jodi October 23, 2012 at 2:54 am #
I think discovering new artists to love through the people that love them is the best thing ever. So thank you for this. I can feel your love for Frida and her work through your words and I enjoyed the trip to the AGO with you through your eyes.
I can totally take you to see the exhibit if you want! We have a membership that allows us to bring visitors.
edenkaill October 23, 2012 at 10:30 pm #
TAKE ME TAKE ME
I am happy to take anyone and everyone!
Analuciagy July 30, 2013 at 11:15 pm #
Hello!! I was and still am so glad to read this 🙂 I’m mexican and this summer I had the amazing opportunity to go to La casa azul in Coyoacán. It was seriously a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!! My sister is Frida’s fan so I kind of fell in love with her and her art too.
I wrote an entry about my trip to La casa azul, here’s the link: http://analuciagy.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/dia-22-como-les-decia/
It is in spanish but there are some picutres I took there if you’d like to see them 🙂
Greetings from México !!!
bellejarblog July 31, 2013 at 1:59 am #
Ohhh thank you for the link to your blog – the pictures were beautiful! What a wonderful house she had; I hope that someday I can visit it too!
Frida Kahlo – Isaac Rocha / Cultura y Diseño II - April 7, 2016
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HomePosts tagged 'commitment'
The Three Prevailing Millennium Views in Revelation
November 7, 2010 Biblical Guy Revelation chp 20 abundant peace, Abyss, active faith, All in All, Amillennial, Beheaded, bottomless pit, Bound, chain, commitment, death, deceiving, Dragon, faithfulness, figurative, literal, Millennium, Postmillennial, premillennial, priests, Reigned, resurrection, Revelation, Revelation 20, Revelation 20:1-6, Revelation viewpoints, serenity, Souls, Thousand years
Revelation chapter twenty is about the three main views of the Millennium: Post-millennium/Postmillennial, Pre-millennium/Premillennial, and Am-millennium/Amillennial (see background article) that intersect into the four views. Chapters twenty-one and twenty-two deal with the literal versus the non-literal interpretation of Scripture. Each of the four views takes various positions within each of these millennia views.
This passage starts the millennial viewpoints. Most theologians in Church history from the early church fathers such as Augustine, and including the Reformers Calvin and Luther, saw this passage as metaphoric; “Amillennial” as in not a literal but symbolic interpretation. This is mainly because it is what the texts stated by the usage of the Jewish metaphoric words and genre. There have been some that have seen a future “premillennial” viewpoint such as Irenaeus, Justin Martyer, and most famous, Isaac Newton (there debate is whether this happens before or after Christ’s return; most see after). But, these people were not well schooled in biblical languages or well read in this subject. There is another group who are versed in biblical languages and well educated that takes a “postmillennial” view and include Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, and Charles Finney (he was not well educated, not that education is that important, but gives one more tools to examine and more information to see what God has to say) that a millennial Kingdom would precede Jesus’ second coming. Hence, there was a lot of controversy in the mid-twentieth century when most people who wrote on this subject no longer looked to genres, historical background, original languages, or were just biblically illiterate, so all kinds of theories exist through to today. One example is not realizing that so much of this is dependent on the Old Testament metaphors used in places such as in Jeremiah. The main problem is that Christians divide over this, regarding their position as the solely correct and imminent one when Christ Himself told us in Matthew 24 what will happen and not to theorize or fret over it, just be prepared. That means to grow in faith in Him, not spend our energies in argumentation. Ironically, people who engage in vicious debate and fight over this only serve Satan and not Christ!
The word millennium is a combination of two Latin words, mille, meaning a “thousand,” and annus, meaning a “year”. The debate is over if this is to be taken literally as 1,000 definite years, or interpreted metaphorically (as the language suggests), meaning a long, indeterminate period of time. There are three main popular views to this subject:
Amillennialism: This millennium portrays the present reign of Christ, God’s kingdom, which will be followed by Christ’s second coming. The souls of the departed are with Christ in heaven. Most in this camp believe that after Christ’s final judgment, the new earth will be formed—His eternal, perfect kingdom. This is the most popular view from the Early Church Fathers, the Reformers, and most denominations today. They believe that Christ through His work, death, and resurrection defeated Satan and he is restricted, and bound in power and scope to allow the spread of the Gospel and the building of the Church. This view sees us now in the millennium. Many sensationalists today say this view is heresy, but it is not; it is within the scope of biblical theology as clearly defined by Scripture. Such sensationalists rarely read the Bible for what it says or in its context! This is also not an essential matter (Matt. 12:9; John 12:31; Col. 2:15; Rev. 17:8; 19:9)!
Premillennialism: We are living in a partial aspect of God’s kingdom which in time will become the great climax of Christ’s return when He will start His Kingdom full on, which says that the Second Coming of our Lord will take place before the millennium. Then, Jesus will literally reign on earth for a thousand years that will merge into the eternal kingdom, in an age of peace and righteousness on a new earth.
Postmillennialism: This world will eventually all or mostly be converted to Christianity; then and only then will the millennium of a new earth filled with peace and prosperity begin. This view has Christ returning after the millennium, and we Christians in charge; it is up to us to engage this before His second coming. Then, Christ presides over the final judgment and eternity.
Just like the four views, Preterist, Futurist, Idealist and Historicist, all these views are also mostly read into the text. There is truth and error in each one, since Scripture does not teach any of them fully (see background article for more information).
Exegetical look into Revelation 20:4-6
November 7, 2010 November 7, 2010 Biblical Guy Revelation chp 20 abundant peace, Abyss, active faith, All in All, Amillennial, Beheaded, bottomless pit, Bound, chain, commitment, death, deceiving, Dragon, faithfulness, figurative, literal, Millennium, Postmillennial, premillennial, priests, Reigned, resurrection, Revelation, Revelation 20, Revelation 20:1-6, Revelation viewpoints, serenity, Souls, Thousand years
·Souls. Refers to those who have been martyred because they remained faithful to Christ or that these people are the most noble and worthy to receive reward. This does not mean other faithful Christians and saints are excluded or there is a second class or a second resurrection for the others. It also signifies suffering, being wronged, and persecution, but the application is that they remained true to the faith, regardless of circumstances. In context, this image indicates that the martyrs are like sacrifices, just as Christ was when he represented the Passover Lamb, innocent and undeserving, whose blood was shed. In Christ’s case, it was for our redemption; in the martyr’s case, it was seemingly in vain, but in reality, it glorified God (Phil. 2:6-11; Rev. 6: 9-10).
Beheaded. Rome would behead with a big ax its citizens who were deemed as criminals, as it was considered quick and painless as compared to being crucified. Of course, they were usually beaten first as Paul was on many occasions.
Rest of the dead. May refer to those who are “spiritually dead,” or the wicked, and not necessarily dead bodies.
The first resurrection. This perhaps refers to our “rapture” to meet Christ, meaning we are taken bodily to meet Him when He returns. The various theories of the rapture and end-times usually are not based on Scripture. “Rapture,” which is not even a biblical word, comes from the Latin to “meet in the air,” and simply means (from Biblical exegesis) to meet with Christ. It is not necessarily even up in the air, as that is a metaphor to meet as two warring parties would in the middle of a battlefield to discuss terms. The context and language suggests two resurrections, but this may refer more to a contrast between our bodily death and the second death, which is spiritual and eternal. Our physical is temporary; our soul is primarily more important. The theme of resurrection is our hope for today, because we are with and in Christ, our “being” is made for eternity. What matters most to God is our trust and faithfulness in Him, for which we are rewarded. This is more fully explored by Paul in Philippians, chapter 3 (Is. 65:20; Dan. 7:14-18; Amos 5:18; Matt. 19:28-30; 25:14-30; John 5:24-29; 1 Cor. 15:51-57; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 5:1-3; Rev. 6:9-10).
Second death. Refers to Hell and eternal damnation that as Christians we do not need to fear.
·Priests. In the Old Testament, this meant that all God’s people were holy to Him. Under law, there were specific roles in the priesthood that people were called and ordained to fill. Priests were to be bridges from God to man. Now, through Christ, we have direct, intimate access to Him, and in the future, each of us will reign with Him. Each of us is a royal priest as a representative of Christ (doctrine of the priesthood of all believers) on earth, and as ministers, we model His character and thus have no need for a Temple. God’s Kingdom is now; those who say the Temple must be reconstructed before Christ returns do not get this vital point (Ex. 19:1-6; 20:6; Lev. 10:10-11; Isa. 66:20; Matt. 21:43; 28:19-20; Rom. 15:16; 2 Cor. 5:20; Eph. 2:1-10; Heb. 7; 10:19-22; 1 Pet. 2:1-10; Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21; 5:9-10; 20:4-6).
Reign with him. This means the reign of the faithful—God’s people—and our responsibility as we serve for and with Him
Abyss/bottomless pit means “very deep” (the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament word for bottomless). Jewish tradition saw this as a literal, subterranean place, used for the imprisonment of evil demons and Satan, who was actually on the earth. Angels were assigned to guard it and were given keys to it. Now, with our better understanding of science and biblical interpretation, most scholars see this as an extra dimension or residence; the exact locale we cannot fathom. John is using this vibrant imagery not necessarily to be a literal place we can go see, but rather to show that hell is real, Satan’s punishment is real, and demons are real. (Gen. 1:2; 7:11; Prov. 8:28; Luke 8:31; Rev. 9:1; 20:1).
Seized the dragon. The context shows us it is Satan. Literally meaning “serpent” or “sea monster” such as the leviathan, it symbolizes monstrous evil and Heracles and his battle with the hydra. A dragon is also a description of Satan who is the archenemy of God, a terrifying and destructive beast who seeks the total devastation of God’s people. Satan has been in rebellion against God since even before the fall of Man. He has been judged and will exchange his earthly throne for a bottomless pit, his finality rendering him powerless and bankrupt. This is a reference to the serpent in the Garden of Eden. It is also a description of Satan’s ways and strategies to lead the whole world astray (apocryphal book “Bell and the Dragon;” Gen. 3:1-15; Job 1-2; Psalm 74:13-15; 89:9-10; Is. 27:1; 30:7; 51:9; Ezek. 29:3; Matt. 25:41; Luke 10:18; 11:14-23; John 12:31; Col. 2:15; Rev. 12:3, 7-9; 13:2; 19:20; 20:2).
Bound him refers to one’s power being suppressed or muted. Satan’s power and influence are constrained by God’s will and are under His judgment. The theme of imprisoned demons is seen in 1 Enoch and Tobit where they are evil and waiting trial before God. (Is. 24:21-22; Dan. 12:2; Matt. 27:62-66; 1 Cor. 6:1-3; 1 Tim. 5:21).
Reigned with Christ. Most people seem to read in what they think this should say and not what it actually says. Basically, it means we have peace and responsibility when we are in Christ (Matt. 10:33; 1 Cor. 6:2; 2 Tim. 2:12)!
Thousand years. A thousand years, or “ten one hundreds,” was a common Jewish and Greek metaphor for an age of peace. Plato used it too. Jewish usage of time is not usually literal; rather, it means ages or periods such as in Genesis 1. The word is Yom, and means a time period, not necessarily a literal day. Many futurists see this as the beginning of a new era, dispensation, or church age called the “millennium,” filled with prosperity and peace. This may be so, but this is not what the text is saying. It is saying that we have peace when we are in Christ! Some saw this as an intermediate state between death and the afterlife of heaven or hell. Also, in Jewish thinking, this was the messianic period or” travail,” from which comes the Amillennial view, as in the age of Christ or Christianity until He returns. The Catholics picked up on this for their theory of purgatory. Purgatory is not a biblical representation, but rather a Jewish cultural view, from which John draws his language to show us the main point of trusting in Christ, He is our “All in All” in and for all situations, that Paul explains in Romans 8 (Psalm 90:4; Is. 65:20; 1 Thess. 2:18; 1 Pet. 5:8).
Deceiving the nations. Refers to deception and false prophets that allure people away from logic, clear thinking, relying on God, and trusting in His Truth (Deut. 13:1-3; Matt. 24:24; 2 Thess. 2:9; Rev 13:14; 16:14; 19:20)
Revelation 20:1-6
The Millennium!
John now sees the angel coming from heaven with the keys to the bottomless pit attached to a heavy chain. Then, he takes control of the dragon, which is Satan, and imprisons him for a thousand years in the pit that he locks up. At this, Satan can no longer influence or deceive people and/or nations until his sentence is up. Afterward, Satan will be released for a short time, and then he will be rendered powerless. John sees thrones, with people sitting on them who have the authority to judge. We will reign as priests, serving Him for a thousand years. John sees those who have been martyred come to life—those who lost their heads and lives because of their faith in and testimony for Christ. They paid the ultimate cost for faith and preaching the Word of God. These people did not compromise their faith, and they did not worship what is false or accept his mark. They stayed loyal to Christ and to Christ alone. Because of their extraordinary faith, they were given new life and allowed to be resurrected first. Death holds no power or authority over those whose faith is in Christ. Those who are His do not need to fear death, for life in Christ is eternal.
This passage echoes some of the themes of Genesis found in chapters one through three. Is this passage really about a Millennium or any of the three main views of the Millennium? The fact is, when you actually read the text in context, you will see there are far greater issues at stake. The rage of debate of a Millennium view is this: Is this passage literal or figurative? This is the crux of the debates on this passage and the founding of the three main millennial viewpoints. What are usually left out in these debates are the apocalyptic language structure and word meanings from the Old Testament prophets, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, chapters 37-48. Just knowing these two books clears up much of the debate. This passage is about how we can have real peace and contentment when we are in Christ! We also have the responsibility to produce faith and to be loyal. It also describes Satan, who was unable to prevent Christ’s incarnation and redemption, thus seeks to manipulate and destroy His followers. By knowing Satan’s fate, we can have trust in Christ and hope for our future. Satan cannot influence or deceive us outside of God’s will. His reign may be limited now, but at some point in time, He is completely neutered.
What do you think life would look like in an age of peace or a in a Millennium when we will reign as priests, serving Him for a thousand (indeterminate amount) years?
What does it take for you to stay loyal to Christ and to Christ alone? What gets in the way of your loyalty? What can you do to be more loyal to Him?
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Yes, That’s a Dixie Chicks ‘Cameo’ in Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie’s ‘Me!’ Music Video
Taylor Swift may be one of the world's biggest pop superstars these days, but she hasn't forgotten her country roots. The singer's music video for her brand-new single "Me!" includes a nod to country trio the Dixie Chicks.
Swift's "Me!" features Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco, and the song's accompanying video is a slightly absurdist pastel dream. In the first verse, Swift sings "There's a lot of cool chicks out there" as the music video shows Urie seated on a sofa in front of a wall covered in paintings. Most of them are baby chickens in sunglasses (aw!), but front and center, there's something different: three women, all clad in black.
Okay, so you can't exactly make out the faces of the three women, but those are clearly the Dixie Chicks (especially because the photo is a painted version of this old press shot of the trio). Natalie Maines is in the middle -- yes, she's shorter than her bandmates -- while Martie Maguire is to viewers' left, and Emily Strayer is to viewers' right. Get a peek for yourself at the 58-second mark, and then again around 1:10.
Swift is a professed Dixie Chicks fan. During her 1989 World Tour, Swift even invited Maines to be her special guest at a show in Los Angeles, Calif. Together, they sang the Chicks' hit "Goodbye Earl."
"If not for this woman and her band, I would not have known that you could be quirky, be fun, be yourself, be outspoken and brave and real," Swift said that night. "I wouldn't have, when I was, you know, 9 years old, gotten my first CD. I wouldn't have dreamed the things that I dreamed, and I wouldn't be standing on this stage today."
After Swift's "Me!" music video dropped, the Dixie Chicks tweeted an eyes emoji at her. "Chicks stans never unstan," she replied. Some fans on Twitter believe a collaboration between the two acts is in the works.
"Me!" is Swift's first single from her forthcoming seventh studio album, the details of which have not yet been revealed. The record will be her first with Republic Records, a division of Universal Music Group. She announced that she had signed with the label in November, after her deal with Big Machine Label Group, her label home since the start of her career, ended following the release of 2017's Reputation.
Dixie Chicks fans, meanwhile, are continuing to wait for new music from the trio. They -- Maines, specifically -- have mentioned that something is in the works, though no exact details have been shared just yet. The trio is reportedly working with Jack Antonoff -- who, yes, has also worked with Swift.
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Source: Yes, That’s a Dixie Chicks ‘Cameo’ in Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie’s ‘Me!’ Music Video
Filed Under: dixie chicks, taylor swift
Categories: Country, Music, Videos
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Live from TEDSummit 2016 TED Conferences
How we broke the Panama Papers story: Gerard Ryle at TEDSummit
Posted by: Madeline Morris
June 30, 2016 at 1:31 pm EDT
Faced with an immense cache of documents from a secret Panama bank, Gerard Ryle and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists assembled a record-breaking team of global journalists to tell the world-shaking stories that might be contained therein. Photo by Bret Hartman/TED.
Imagine you’ve been handed the biggest single cache of leaked documents in recent history. Eleven and half million documents to be exact, implicating important figures from around the globe in decades of tax evasion and hidden accounts. But you only have 26 people at your disposal to go through them. What do you do?
This was reality for the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), when an anonymous source known as “John Doe” leaked an astounding amount of information regarding the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, a cache widely known as the Panama Papers. These documents amounted to 2 million PDFs, 5 million emails and every spreadsheet the firm created for the past 40 years. It was clear that SZ would not be capable of combing through this data on their own, so they went to Ryle’s organization, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalist (ICIJ). What they chose to do next went against everything any of them had ever been taught to do as an investigatory journalist: They shared it.
The Panama Papers contained evidence of offshore banking, implicating everyone from American movie stars to Argentinian soccer players to Icelandic presidents. It was clear that no single journalistic entity would have the resources to accurately report on all of the data, to know what every name meant and how to connect the stories threading through the data. Given the scope of the subject matter, Ryle thought, “Who was best to know is important in Nigerian business than a Nigerian?” So he and the ICIJ, over time, amassed a team of 356 journalists from 107 separate publications based in 80 different countries, with a philosophy of “native eyes on native names.” They operated under only two rules: 1) We share everything we find and 2) We all publish on the same day.
The temptation to publish early was strong and persistent. Many times, Ryle was called in to calm journalists desperate to share this injustice with the world. But, in the end, none of them broke the rules. They decided that the integrity and depth of the reporting was more important than glory for any single news outlet.
Beyond exposing the unfathomable amounts of money stored away in these offshore accounts, Ryle believes the Panama Papers was a purely journalistic breakthrough too. Their joint effort, spanning continents and uniting competitors, proved that the very technology that’s allegedly destroying the legacy of print could actually allow them “to reinvent journalism itself.” They communicated across oceans, built shared searchable databases and created a space where everyone could use their unique expertise, whether it be sports, politics or blood diamonds. This allowed them to report on the story in a “truly global way.” It’s a way of thinking that Ryle believes journalism has been staggeringly slow to adopt. Perhaps the success of the Panama Papers story will actually stand to redefine the crisis of our bleeding institutions of journalism. Because, as Ryle puts it, “where there crisis, there is also opportunity.”
Gerard RyleTEDSummit
Live from TEDSummit 2016
Letter to the other half: Anand Giridharadas at TEDSummit
Writer Anand Giridharadas has come to TEDSummit to share an open letter to his fellow citizens. Invited by curator Bruno Giussani to address the dismay and confusion many have felt in the week after the Brexit vote result in the UK, the American writer and journalist lays out a vision that is as honest as […]
The deciders: Zeynep Tufekci at TEDSummit
By David Colman
Who would have thought when you left those high school math problems behind that you would one day be encountering algorithms on a daily basis? Zeynep Tufekci might have guessed; now an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina’s School of Information, Tufekci’s first job as a teenager was as a computer programmer. So […]
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LCMS publishes first dogmatics in 100 years
From left, the late Rev. Dr. Ralph A. Bohlmann, the Rev. Dr. Samuel H. Nafzger and the Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison discuss, in 2013, a publishing plan for the new CPH dogmatics, Confessing the Gospel. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)
Concordia Publishing House has announced the release of a new dogmatics, the first prepared by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod since the publication of Francis Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics, 1917–24.
Titled Confessing the Gospel: A Lutheran Approach to Systematic Theology, this new dogmatics (defined on Page 14 as an “organized, coherent exposition and formulation of Christian doctrine”) was over three decades in the making.
The project was initiated in September 1983 by the late Rev. Dr. Ralph A. Bohlmann, LCMS president from 1981 to 1992. Responding to repeated requests from pastors, professors and seminary students, as well as the Synod’s Commission on Church Literature, Bohlmann appointed a special editorial committee to prepare a proposal for a new dogmatics “to replace, or stand beside Pieper.”
The committee consisted of representatives from the Synod’s seminaries in Fort Wayne and St. Louis, the Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR), the Council of Presidents and Concordia Publishing House.
The Rev. Dr. Samuel H. Nafzger, director of the CTCR from 1974 to 2008, served as editor of Confessing the Gospel. Nafzger was assisted by the Rev. Drs. John Johnson, former president and professor of Systematic Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis; Howard Tepker, former professor of Systematic Theology at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.; and David A. Lumpp, professor of Theology and Ministry at Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn. More than 60 theologians from the LCMS and its partner churches around the world served as contributors.
Said Nafzger, reflecting on the project: “For Lutherans, the Gospel is always at the center of every theological endeavor. The systematic presentation of the Gospel in all its articles, as taught in the Scriptures and Lutheran confessions, is the never-ending task of the Church in its own time and place.
“Francis Pieper’s monumental work can never be replaced. But the hope and intention of those who worked on this project is that Confessing the Gospel can do for our day what Pieper’s dogmatics did for his.”
Building blocks approach
Each chapter of Confessing the Gospel is organized around five “building blocks” that serve as the framework for the material in each of the 15 chapters. These core building blocks are Scriptural Foundation, Confessional Witness, Systematic Formulation, Historical and Contemporary Developments, and Implication for Life and Ministry.
The Scriptural Foundation and Confessional Witness sections of this dogmatics present the data pertinent to the topic at hand as revealed in the Bible and the Lutheran confessions. According to Nafzger, the primary goal in these sections is to let the Scriptures and the Confessions “speak for themselves … to allow for the clear and powerful witness of God’s Word and the Lutheran confessions.”
The Systematic Formulation building block is designed to bring the basic biblical and confessional material into a concise, yet systematic essay. Here the works of Luther and of other theologians are introduced and brought to bear in order to gain insights into the understanding of the issues at stake.
The Historical and Contemporary Developments section reviews the history of each topic to evaluate the errors and aberrations from the teachings of the Scriptures and the Lutheran confessions associated with it in the life of the Church.
The Implications for Life and Ministry section seeks to identify how each topic informs the pastoral ministry at the beginning of the 21st century.
Topics addressed in Volume 1, in addition to Prolegomena (Introduction), are God, Creation, Anthropology, the Person and Work of Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Volume 2 takes up Holy Scripture, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the Church, Ministry, the Christian Life, Last Things, and the Doctrine of Election.
Commenting on this format, Nafzger stated: “This nontraditional format was selected in order to emphasize by its method of presentation the way Lutherans do theology. The Scriptures are the foundation for the confessing of the Gospel as it has been summarized in John 3:16. The task of preparing a systematic presentation of the Gospel is itself an act of confessing Jesus Christ so that all the world might hear this Good News and be saved eternally.”
Nafzger suggested that readers can “get the full picture” by working through each of the five blocks in sequence, or they may choose to focus on one particular section. He noted that this approach will be especially helpful for busy parish pastors and teachers as they prepare for their preaching and teaching responsibilities by offering a quick review of the history of each of the topics by way of traditional theological disciplines: exegetical, systematic, historical and practical.
When asked how he feels about seeing this project finally come to fruition, Nafzger simply said, “Thankful.”
Confessing the Gospel: A Lutheran Approach to Systematic Theology is available at cph.org for $89.99 plus shipping.
For more information, visit cph.org or call 800-325-3040.
Cheryl Magness (cheryl.magness@lcms.org) is managing editor of Reporter Online and staff writer for LCMS Communications.
Posted Dec. 11, 2017
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Cheryl Magness is managing editor of Reporter and Reporter Online and manager of LCMS News. She has written for a variety of publications, including The Federalist, Touchstone and The Lutheran Witness, and is a contributor to the book He Restores My Soul from Emmanuel Press. She has degrees in English and music and enjoys playing piano and spending time with her husband and three children.
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Eric R. Andrae says:
This is a great resource! I am really enjoying using the new Dogmatics. I especially appreciate the sections on “Implications for Life and Ministry.”
Unfortunately, it seems that no index is planned. This is very disappointing and a significant shortcoming. An index seems almost essential for a work such as this.
$90 is a significant cost for this resource. At this price, how likely is it that the average congregation member will ever hold a copy in their hands?
If printing this work is really that expensive, could a less-expensive electronic version be made available to those of us who wish to study it?
CPH releases two-volume companion to LSB
LCMS Board of Directors welcomes new members
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National Witness, Life Together and Retention floor committees conclude convention business
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Obituary: Rev. Dr. William ‘Bill’ Meyer, former president of CUS
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Muslimwise
Ideas Hub: The Problem with the Marrakesh Declaration, By Michael Mumisa (Shaykh)
Home/Ideas Hub/Ideas Hub: The Problem with the Marrakesh Declaration, By Michael Mumisa (Shaykh)
By Myriam Francois|May 9, 2016|Ideas Hub|1 comments
The Problem with the Marrakesh Declaration
By Michael Mumisa (Shaykh), Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge
In January this year (2016), the “Marrakesh Declaration on the Rights of Religious Minorities in Predominantly Muslim Majority Communities” was launched in Morocco amid much fanfare. It was described as a response to the persecution of religious minorities by ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Key among the declaration’s proposals, and as a solution, was the development of constitutional laws based on the objectives of the Charter of Medina “in countries with Muslim majorities.” It was also argued in the same declaration that “the United Nations Charter and related documents, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), are in harmony with the Charter of Medina.” If this is indeed the case, then why not just call for the strict implementation of the UDHR in all Muslim countries?
When I first heard about the Marrakesh Declaration, I did not pay it any attention or bother reading it because I knew what to expect. This is not the first declaration of its type. After much campaigning against the UDHR by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan and Pakistan on grounds that it did not reflect the diversity of UN member states in terms of their histories, cultural traditions and religious beliefs, member states of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) adopted the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI) in 1990. It still remains the only Muslim declaration which has been formally endorsed by almost all Muslim governments. However, it is also a very flawed declaration which was not designed to protect fundamental human rights.
There has since been many similar Muslim or interfaith “declarations” including the “First Alexandria Declaration of the Religious Leaders of the Holy Land” in 2002 which, like the Marrakesh declaration, brought together Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologians, activists and political leaders to declare their “commitment to ending the violence and bloodshed that denies the right of life and dignity” in Israel and Palestine. Yet today, relations between Arab and Jewish communities are at their lowest point. Similarly, in March 2014, Egypt’s Grand Mufti Shawki Allam, alongside Al-Azhar University and representatives of a few NGOs, launched the “Alexandria Declaration on Women’s Rights in Islam”. However, none of all these declarations has so far resulted in concrete positive measures to achieve their stated goals. Instead, they have unwittingly provided PR cover to the various governments and religious establishments which signed them in the worst violations of Islamic principles and fundamental human rights.
It was only after I had been asked for an opinion on the Marrakesh Declaration that I decided to study the documents’ contents. It is our duty and responsibility as scholars not to be seduced by the usual razzmatazz that often accompanies the launch of such declarations, and to be able to see through the PR hype. Since what follows is not an academic paper but a think piece for publication on an academic site accessible to general readers, I am going to dispense with the usual academic conventions and analyse the Marrakesh Declaration documents with a non-specialist audience in mind.
Some of the documents are freely available on the Marrakesh Declaration’s official website. As someone who has always been suspicious of translations, I decided to closely read the original Arabic documents alongside their English versions, and here is what I discovered:
There is what is described as the “Executive Summary of the Marrakesh Declaration on the Rights of Religious Minorities in Predominantly Muslim Majority Communities”. This is available in English (2 pages), Arabic (2 pages), Dutch (3 pages) and Italian (3 pages).
On a different page, on the same website, there is what is described as a “Booklet”. It is available in Arabic (32 pages) and English (16 pages). Oddly, the “Booklet” is not the original version of the declaration. It is Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah’s lecture notes. The lecture notes of the other speakers who attended the Marrakesh conference are not included in the “Booklet” or anywhere on the official website.
The original version of the Marrakesh Declaration upon which the “Executive Summary” is based was not available online. On 23 April, I sent an email to the organisers of the Declaration asking whether it existed. I finally received a copy of the original Arabic declaration on the 1st of May. After studying all the documents, it is clear that Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah’s lecture notes (the “Booklet”) form the basis of the declaration. This brings us to his “Booklet”.
The English version of the “Booklet” is described as an “Abridgment” of the Arabic “Booklet” and, as such, significant sections which are found in the Arabic version have been edited out of the English version, or have not been translated. This is understandable.
The sections edited out of the English version include an important but brief discussion on the basic principles of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) well known to students of classical Islamic law and Qur’anic hermeneutics. There is also a section on traditional definitions of Jihad, ahl al-dhimma and jizya. The key hermeneutical principle discussed in the section on usul al-fiqh in the Arabic “Booklet” concerns the intertextual unity within the Qur’an, hadith corpus, and intertextual relationships between different parts of the Qur’an, hadith and other texts. It emphasises the need to meticulously study and examine all texts and sources on a topic in their original Arabic, and the relationship between them, before rushing to conclusions. Genuine scholars (al-rasikhun), argues Abdullah bin Bayyah, pay special attention to this important research method. On the other hand, the “juhhal” (dunderheads), a term used by Abdullah bin Bayyah in the Arabic “Booklet” (p.12), engage in selective reading of sources to support their positions.
While the methodological point that Abdullah bin Bayyah makes in his lecture notes is known to any student of classical Islamic disciplines, it has surprisingly been missing in all the publications produced in Britain, for example, among government sponsored Muslim groups and think tanks claiming to be committed to the fight against extremist ideologies. We have recently seen the proliferation of mediocre reports, documents and policy papers on aspects relating to Islam and Muslim written in a manner that betrays a shocking ignorance of the key Islamic sources and texts on the subject. The worst offenders in this practice have been among the self-styled “imams” and “shaykhs” working on the government’s Prevent programmes. Perhaps this is why Abdullah bin Bayyah prefers to use the term “al-rasikh”, not merely an “alim”, to describe the ideal scholar who is intimately familiar with the intertextual interrelationships between various texts.
Unsurprisingly, the methodological point highlighted by Abdullah bin Bayyah is also missing in the conceptualisation of the Marrakesh Declaration itself! The Declaration is primarily focused on the Charter of Medina as “the best suited primary basis for the institution of citizenship.” It is a selective reading of historical sources which betrays a careless approach to the Sira (biography) of the Prophet of Islam. And here lies the crux of the problem. Thus, we have the highly curious situation of a group of Muslim scholars meeting in Marrakesh to call for the adoption of the Medina Charter as a source of Muslim constitutional law in response to the brutality of ISIS, about two years after ISIS invoked the same Charter of Medina as a basis of its own constitutional proposals, producing horrific results!
The Charter of Medina is without doubt an important historical document. I teach it to my students as an example early Islam’s pluralism. However, the fetishisation of its contents (not the processes that produced it) as the basis of Muslim constitutional law among modern Muslims is part of the reason why Muslim countries whose constitutions are supposedly based on “Islamic principles” can still claim to believe in the Charter of Medina while at the same time producing laws which violate its general principles (kulliyyat).
For me, the most important lesson modern Muslims should learn from the Charter of Medina is not its contents, as the Marrakesh Declaration and similar proposals suggest, but the processes that produced such contents. Although the Charter of Medina makes references to God, it is a product of deliberations, consultation and consensus between the various communities of Medina, not of divine revelation. In that sense it is a purely secular document. It did not fall from heaven like the tablets of Moses as mentioned in the Qur’an and the Bible, nor were the contents of the Charter revealed to Muhammad through Gabriel. Thus, the real general message (kulliyyat) of the Charter of Medina is that modern Muslims should be able to develop their own constitutional laws through deliberation, consultation and other democratic processes without the need to invoke divine revelation.
The Marrakesh Declaration entrusts that responsibility into the hands of “Muslim scholars and intellectuals around the world to develop a jurisprudence of the concept of citizenship”, with the Charter of Medina and “Islamic tradition and principles” as the basis. This is based on the assumption that Muslim jurists around the world reading the same Charter and “Islamic tradition” will produce the same inclusivist meanings needed for a modern age. As someone trained and qualified in classical Islamic law and jurisprudence, I know too well that this is a fantasy.
For example, how would Islamic jurists reading the contents of the Medina Charter in Mauritania, Pakistan, Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, to mention only these few countries, interpret article 14? It states that:
“A believer will not kill a fellow believer for the sake of a disbeliever.”
How might jurists working within the Shafi‘i, Hanbali, Shi‘a Imamiyya and Zahiri schools of Islamic law interpret the clause while developing their “jurisprudence of the concept of citizenship” as proposed by the Marrakesh Declaration? For centuries, Muslim jurists and traditionists (hadith scholars) have debated (without coming to any agreement) what article 14 of the Medina Charter means. They wanted to know whether this meant that a Muslim could not be punished for killing a non-Muslim citizen living under an Islamic jurisdiction, if the life of a non-Muslim citizen was worth that of a Muslim and whether the blood money paid for killing a non-Muslim citizen should be equal to the blood money paid for killing a Muslim. According to Shafi‘i, Hanbali, Shi‘a Imamiyya and some Maliki legal traditions, article 14 meant that the death penalty could not be applied upon a Muslim found guilty of murder if the victim was not a Muslim.
On the other hand, classical Islamic jurists operating within the Hanafi school of Islamic law strongly opposed this interpretation on grounds that exempting a Muslim from punishment for killing a non-Muslim citizen undermines the very concept of justice enshrined in the kulliyyat (universal principles) of Islam. They argued that according to their reading of Islamic texts, Islam makes no distinction between the life and property of a non-Muslim and that of a Muslim. Moreover, the Prophet Muhammad famously said:
“Whoever harms a non-Muslim citizen, I shall bear testimony against him on behalf of that citizen in front of God on the day of judgement?” (This tradition was narrated through various chains of transmission, some of them stronger than others)
Thus, if the Prophet promised to represent a non-Muslim citizen against a Muslim on the day of judgement it suggests that their blood is the same/equal in the eyes of God and the law.
We can see from the above brief discussion that having a text as the basis of law, and a group of jurists “entrusted” with the responsibility of interpreting that text, does not guarantee equal rights and justice for all citizens.
The approach adopted by the Marrakesh Declaration is part of a post-9/11 trend which saw Muslim organisations and communities adopting sophisticated public relations strategies which involve emphasising and focusing on disseminating the “positive” or “inclusive” meanings of Islamic texts while avoiding any public discussion on the “problematic” or “exclusivist” ones. While this approach may have been successful in presenting a “favourable image” of Islam to “outsiders” and the media, it has at the same time been alienating young and inquisitive Muslim men and women who feel that their Islamic scholars are failing to engage directly with the primary texts and sources of Islam in a manner that interrogates and enriches the received tradition while producing new meanings informed by people’s lived realities, here and now. Only Islamic feminist scholars of Qur’anic and legal hermeneutics have felt the fierce urgency to engage directly with both texts and the readers’ lived realities (al-waqi‘). A good example of this is the recently published book entitled Men in Charge? Rethinking Authority in Muslim Legal Tradition (2015). There are other numerous examples.
The Marrakesh Declaration is based on the assumption that relations between the various communities of Medina which signed the Charter of Medina remained the same. In fact, war did eventually break out between the signatories of the Charter. Anyone who studies the Qur’an, the history of the Medina Charter and other early Islamic sources will find that while the Qur’an adopts what appears to be a firm and uncompromising stance against the Quraysh Arab tribes of Mecca who were at that time engaged in war against Muhammad and his followers, its position towards the ahl al-kitab (People of the Book) reflects the shift in relationships between the Prophet, his early followers, and the 7th century Jewish and Christian communities with whom they came in contact in Medina and surrounding areas.
The idea that the contents of the Medina Charter should form the basis of Muslim constitutional laws and concepts of citizenship in modern Muslim states predates the Marrakesh Declaration. It has been a recurrent theme in twentieth century Muslim political theories. In the aftermath of the so-called “Arab spring”, it has become a favourite topic of discussion and debate among some Islamic scholars.
In 2010, Rached Ghannouchi, founder and leader of Tunisia’s Islamic political party, Ennahda Movement, wrote an Arabic essay entitle al-Islam wa al-muwatana (Islam and citizenship) invoking the Medina Charter.
In 2011, the then grand mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, wrote a short Arabic article in Al-Ahram on the Medina Charter as an example of coexistence. He also went on to discuss “The Concept of Citizenship in the Medina Charter” on Irqa’ TV.
Similarly, Yusuf al-Qardawi discussed the same topic on his popular programme al-Shari‘a wa al-hayah (Sharia and Life), on Al Jazeera TV.
The Marrakesh Declaration and Abdullah bin Bayyah’s lecture notes focus primarily on the contents of the Medina Charter and its inclusive message. A lot of space is dedicated to this in the Arabic “Booklet”. The Charter should have been analysed alongside “problematic” and “exclusivist” hadith traditions which speak of the expulsion of Jewish communities from the Jazirat al-Arab. For example, the traditions in Sahih al-Bukhari under the title Bab ikhraj al-yahud min jazirat al-‘arab [3768]; Sunan Abu Dawud, under the same title [3029]. These are the kind of traditions often cited by groups like ISIS. It is therefore not enough to simply speak in general terms about the need to engage in contextual reading without demonstrating how to engage with such “problematic” texts.
And finally, the Marrakesh Declaration states that:
“The Charter was not borne of war or conflict, rather, it was the result of a contract between groups living peacefully together to begin with.”
This is not entirely true and it contradicts established historical accounts (e.g. early commentaries on Qur’an 3:103) and what Abdullah bin Bayyah himself states in his lecture notes in the Arabic version of the “Booklet” (p. 25/line 32 – p.26/line 1-14) that the Charter was born of a long war and conflict between the various communities of Yathrib (Medina) prior to the arrival of the Prophet and his followers. Indeed, Prophet Muhammad was invited by the residents of Medina to come and broker a peace deal between the warring tribes in exchange of protection from his Meccan enemies. The war between the Banu Aws and Khazraj Jewish tribes had been going on for 120 years before Muhammad’s arbitration.
It is true, as Abdullah bin Bayyah warns that selective reading of texts is dangerous. The problem, however, is that declarations such as this, by their very nature, are exercises in selective and decontextualised reading of sources. They tend to privilege one set of texts over others. In this case, it is the Medina Charter and its “inclusivist” message which was privileged over other “problematic” and “exclusivist” texts.
Michael Mumisa (Shaykh) is a Cambridge Special Livingston Scholar at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. His research profile is available here:
http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/directory/mumisamichael
bin bayyahcambridgeislammarrakesh declarationmedina chartermichael Mumisamuslimssoas cis
About Myriam Francois
This is the official blog for the SOAS-CIS. It aims to encourage scholars to debate and engage with the wider public on the basis of their research and will foster discussions about mainly UK and also European Integration discourse as relates to Islam and British Muslims. We tweet @SoasCis
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Libyan Hypocrisies
7 Comments March 23, 2011 littlejohnwebsite
Has anyone else noticed the odd double-standard that has characterized the media’s reporting on Libya, and even more so the politicians’ spin on events there?
When the rebels tell chilling stories about how Gaddafi is mercilessly killing civilians, they are presented as hard fact–or rather soft, stretchy fact, that can be inflated like a balloon from “scores” to “hundreds” to “thousands.” But when the Libyan government alleges that coalition bombs are killing civilians, these are immediately qualified with “these reports cannot be verified”; the media then hastens to raise doubts about these “allegations,” and ends by dismissing them as propaganda.
When people rose up and demonstrated against Gaddafi, no doubts were raised about their sincerity or their motives, or their numbers. We were encouraged to believe that they were merely the tip of the iceberg, a few of untold masses who were ready to rise up and be rid of him. But when people have taken to the streets demonstrating in favor of Gaddafi, we are first encouraged to think that they have merely been bribed, and when this argument stops working, we are reminded that there are hundreds of thousands more that did not take to the streets, and we can only assume that it is because they hate Gaddafi and are too afraid to say so.
When the Arab League calls for a no-fly zone and invites the UN to intervene, we are told that this is absolutely crucial, that the Arab League is very important and lends legitimacy to the whole operation, that without the Arab League’s request for action, action would probably not be taken. But as soon as the Arab League says, “Whoa, wait a minute!” and calls for a halt of coalition attacks, everyone is hastening to explain why the Arab League is unimportant, can’t be taken seriously, and can be safely ignored.
When Gaddafi makes absurd speeches and accusations, as he is wont to do, we are told that he is a lunatic and should not be listened to or believed. But when he makes a fiery speech about how the rebels will be shown “no mercy,” but will be hunted “house to house,” then immediately these words are trumpeted far and wide, and we are urged to take them literally and with absolute seriousness, as proof that hundreds of thousands will die if we don’t intervene right away. Worst of all, in almost every report, speech, and opinion column, a crucial caveat of Gaddafi’ threat is left out–those who continue to resist will be shown no mercy; those who surrender will be shown amnesty.
In other words, it was precisely not civilians that he was threatening to kill, but armed rebels who continued to resist by arms. And this is a very different matter. Most countries reserve the right to kill armed rebels within their borders seeking to overthrow the government–that doesn’t make it right, of course, but we cannot simply call it “genocide,” as some of the more sensationalist attacks on Gaddafi have. Indeed, many countries reserve the right to kill armed rebels within their borders who are seeking merely to secede and mind their own affairs, leaving the main government entirely alone. Pat Buchanan pointed out the hypocrisy quite brilliantly in an editorial yesterday,
Indeed, Gadhafi has asked of Obama, “If you found them taking over American cities by force of arms, what would you do?”
Well, when the South fired on Fort Sumter, killing no one, Abraham Lincoln blockaded every Southern port, sent Gen. Sherman to burn Atlanta and pillage Georgia and South Carolina, and Gen. Sheridan to ravage the Shenandoah. He locked up editors and shut down legislatures and fought a four-year war of reconquest that killed 620,000 Americans — a few more than have died in Gadhafi’s four-week war.
Good thing we didn’t have an “international community” back then.
The Royal Navy would have been bombarding Lincoln’s America.
Of course, it may well be that Gaddafi would’ve killed civilians anyway…certainly such an assault would have entailed many civilian deaths, intended or not. Quite possibly, his promises of amnesty could not be trusted. Perhaps he was not merely out to vanquish rebels, but to indulge in a bloodthirsty taste for massacre. Perhaps peace negotiations were not an option, because he was hell-bent on wanton destruction. But if so, this should be argued for, not merely assumed. One of the Western media’s favorite tactics is to demonize our enemies–to paint them as irrational, bestial, possessed of no shred of human feeling. This tactic obviates any need for dialogue or diplomacy–any calls for such can be dismissed as absurd, because, “Such people simply cannot be reasoned with.” We know a priori that they are bestial, and so are entitled to treat them as such, and to assume the worst of all their actions.
As Christians, however, we are called to believe that love is stronger than hate, that no one is past redemption; rather than making our enemy sub-human, separated from us by an unbridgeable chasm, we are called to put ourselves in the shoes of the murderer and the oppressor, because Christ made himself one of us when we were murderers and oppressors.
And this, by the way, is why I am so distressed at what is happening. I have been a bit taken aback in the last couple days to find that my vociferous opposition to the intervention is shared by many of the arch-conservatives back home that I almost never see eye-to-eye with. But while they may rant against the war because Obama started it, and everything he does is evil, or because it was “unconstitutional” or, worst of all (but most frequent of all), because it is not clear to them how it “serves American interests,” that is not why we must oppose it. I’m all for helping the oppressed, not American interests. But will this help the oppressed? Not if it is founded on deception, as it seems to be. Not if it shows no love of enemy, no interest in reconciliation. Not if it is has no clear objectives or victory strategy. In short, we must oppose it because it has given no clear evidence of being in any way a just war. I hope in a post this weekend to analyze the conflict rigorously in terms of traditional just war criteria, to show just how seriously it falls short.
(Thanks to Nick Needham for the Buchanan link; and here are a few more for thought-provoking further reading: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/749765; http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/22/libya-conflict-aims; http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/world/africa/22tripoli.html?_r=1&hp; http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/22/libya-no-fly-zone-united-nations; http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20110321-libya-west-narrative-democracy)
This entry was posted in Christian Ethics, Contemporary Politics, General Updates and tagged America, Gaddafi, just war, Libya, rebellion, war. Bookmark the permalink.
7 thoughts on “Libyan Hypocrisies”
On Facebook, a friend of mine responded to this post with this link, ostensibly providing evidence of the alleged massacres: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Video-Libya-Gaddafi-Regime-Denies-Massacre-In-Zawiyah-But-Sky-News-Has-Evidence-It-Happened/Article/201103415958004?f=rss.It's worth reading, and does finally provide some eyewitness testimony of attacks on civilians. But I'm not sure that it proves nearly what it claims to, or needs to, as I responded on Facebook:"However, I must say that this article raises as many questions about the reliability of the media as it answers. The heading of the article claims "evidence of a massacre." A "massacre," mind you, is a very strong term, which Dictionary.com defines as "the unnecessary, indiscriminate killing of a large number of human beings." Even in the text of the article, there is hardly evidence of a massacre, merely testimony that many civilians died and may have been being intentionally targeted. Even the modest (compared to the headline) claims of the article's text are not substantiated by what they captured on film, and one would certainly think that if they were making these allegations, they would put their most damning evidence on film. We are left to rely on the verbal testimony of the reporter, hoping that he can be fully trusted.But in any case, that link is in a sense the exception that proves the rule. They make such a big deal of this article because this is the article that actually provides evidence; but for the most part, the media have been happy to trumpet the accusations without providing the evidence. Whenever Gaddafi is accused of something by the rebels or the West, the assumption is "guilty until proven innocent"; whenever Gaddafi makes an accusation, the assumption is "innocent until proven guilty." Of course, there is nothing new or unexpected about this–this is always how we act, and how wars always go. But it is still a double-standard, and Christians must call it as such.Finally, this article seems to confirm another of my contentions–there is no evidence here of "genocide," of "another Srebenica" (in which thousands of unarmed refugees were rounded up and raped or executed) or of the innocent slaughter of hundreds of thousands. What there is evidence of is a rather rough and brutal attempt to retake a town filled with rebels, rebels who might in fact bear some of the responsibility for civilian deaths by refusing to lay down their arms."
March 24, 2011 at 2:19 pm Reply
Indeed, Gadhafi has asked of Obama, "If you found them taking over American cities by force of arms, what would you do?"Are Americans being oppressed by a thieving tyrant? Are Americans deprived of the right to vote? Has Obama stored incomprehensible amounts of money in foreign banks while his people starve? If you answered no to these questions, then surely you can see the difference.Brad, I'm a bit perplexed by this post. You seem to be defending an evil tyrant. You seem to be standing with the oppressor and not the oppressed. I'm with Obama on this–lend a hand to the oppressed people of Libya.
Tony, did you read these sentences: "I'm all for helping the oppressed, not American interests. But will this help the oppressed? Not if it is founded on deception, as it seems to be. Not if it shows no love of enemy, no interest in reconciliation. Not if it is has no clear objectives or victory strategy." Of course I'm not in favor of the oppressor rather than the oppressed in this situation, or any situation. What I am concerned is a) that we really help the oppressed, as our actions seem unlikely to do in the long run here; b) that we not be oppressors ourselves, as we have very often proved in the past; and in this case, I would like to see a lot more evidence and transparency to be sure that we aren't being oppressors ourselves this time; c) that whatever is done to help the oppressed be done with complete honesty and openness, not the hypocrisy, propagandism, and half-truths that have characterized this operation thus far.Am I defending the oppressor? No, I don't think so. This reminds me of the movie "Twelve Angry Men"–ever seen it? Everyone pounces on the one juror who's asking questions because he's trying to defend a murderer, but all he's doing is trying to figure out why some things about the prosecutor's story don't add up, refusing to jump to the most damning conclusions. That's what I'm doing–Gaddafi may be wicked, but that doesn't mean the official narrative isn't slam full of holes, and it's our duties as citizens to ask about those holes.As far as the difference between rebels in Libya and hypothetical rebels here, the point is not that rebellion here would be as justified as rebellion in Libya, but that, regardless of how justified a rebellion against their authority might be, sovereign governments anywhere would generally assert the right to use military force against an armed rebellion–including the American government. This doesn't make it right for them to do so; it simply means that Gaddafi is not ipso facto illegitimate in fighting back, nor are his actions legitimately described (from anything I have seen thus far at any rate) as genocide.
For those interested, this kicked off, as such things often do, quite a discussion on Facebook, which you can see here (at least, many of you can, I suppose; I don't know exactly how these privacy settings work).And in case you didn't see it, my original post on this, which explains where I'm coming from at more length, is here.
Brad, I appreciate your desire to extend charity and the possibility of redemption to all, even the apparently worst. I also appreciate your desire to examine the log in our eye on some of these issues and the tendency of much of the media to accept more or less uncritically the government line when it comes to matters of national security and warfare. Iraq and the WMD was a classic example and as citizens we are right to hold suspicions about our government's true intentions in such complex matters and about the ability for us to be receiving a very partial picture of the true state of affairs. I hold no great respect for most media, which, notwithstanding the personal integrity of numerous journalists, is by and large a for-profit business more interested in gaining eyeballs than checking truth.So, with my own sympathies to your stance briefly outlined, can I ask that you concede that (putting aside the events of the last few months for a moment) Gaddafi has a long history of tyranny, bloodshed, political repression, state-sponsored terrorism and brutal suppression of dissent?This doesn't by itself justify military intervention, but it does justify quite a healthy level of scepticism towards his claims today. I don't think that Christian charity means uncritically extending the same level of trust to all. Charity is different to trust. Gaddafi has lost the trust of many of his own people and of most of the world's governments through decades of abuses. It is not unreasonable for our assumptions about his present statements to be shaped by this history.Of course, our own governments and media are far from spotless truth-tellers (as I indicated above). So I agree with your call for more scepticism towards western claims, but would argue for no reduction in scepticism towards Gaddafi's.Are there any bodies with credibility whose workings we can reliably accept? Not really (not with total trust), but the International Criminal Court (whatever its legal problems concerning jurisdiction and national sovereignty) for me holds a bit more water than mainstream media. The UN Security Council has referred Gadaffi to the ICC. We shall see what becomes of this.(PS Just checking that you realise that "Tony" above is (I'm fairly sure) Tony Bolos from Ps&Gs.)
Hey Byron,Thanks for a very fair and fairly-worded question. Can I concede that Gaddafi is a pretty nasty character? Sure. "a long history of tyranny, bloodshed, political repression, state-sponsored terrorism and brutal suppression of dissent"? Sure, I think I'd grant all of those. But with a couple big caveats. The first is that much of this long history is a history that has already come to us with quite a slant. It's funny how many leaders who have stood up to the West and pursued nationalist economic policies that don't sit well with US interests find themselves saddled with "a long history of tyranny, bloodshed, political repression, state-sponsored terrorism and brutal suppression of dissent"–e.g., Noriega, Aristide, Chavez, Gaddafi, etc. Sometimes this is well-deserved, as in Gaddafi's case–though even then, it's a double-standard, as brutal and repressive dictators who are friendly to the West often manage to maintain a clean record. The second caveat is that even in the official Western narrative, Gaddafi has supposedly improved and reformed a great deal in recent years. Libya was removed from the list of terrorist-sponsoring regimes in 2007, and Gaddafi was starting to earn back some credibility. So, I'm not prepared to automatically accept that he's an evil, utterly untrustworthy psychopath. Possibly, but like I said, I'd rather err on the side of over-humanizing our enemies than over-demonizing them. A very interesting read, if you haven't seen it already, is this article by the president of Uganda–a country that suffered from Gaddafi more than just about anyone did. It's quite balanced, however, recognizing that the man has done good as well as harm: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/749765.And of course, my point isn't to argue that Gaddafi is a good guy, only that just because he's a bad guy, it doesn't follow that the rebels aren't also bad guys (and that we aren't also bad guys). We should cultivate a healthy skepticism about all parties involved. That said, I admitted in the Facebook discussion that I had perhaps erred on the side of hastily assuming the worst of our own leaders, which isn't a very Christian thing to do either.And yes, I did know that Tony was Tony Bolos. Did I not sound like I did?
And of course, my point isn't to argue that Gaddafi is a good guy, only that just because he's a bad guy, it doesn't follow that the rebels aren't also bad guys (and that we aren't also bad guys).That was my point as well.Re Tony – I was just making sure. I think it's a healthy thing for online discussions to have real names. I often get comments on my blog from people who just give a first name and I'm not sure whether it is the "x" that I know (or one of them) or some random stranger.
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Ride the wave of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfDB…
Lekki/Ikoyi Bridge Cashless Policy: Sanwo-Olu commends Motorists, Encourages More Compliance
Business & EconomyNewsSME Corner
May Day 2019: Unemployment is Still a Major Challenge in Nigeria – Report
International Workers’ Day (also known as Labour Day or May Day) is observed on 1st May every year. It is celebrated across the world to promote and encourage the international labour associations while honouring the struggles of the working class and efforts of labour unions. The theme for this year’s Workers’ Day is “Uniting Workers for Social and Economic Advancement”.
In commemoration of this year’s Workers’ Day, NOIPolls presents a 4-year average (2016-2019) on public opinion polls on issues facing Nigerians. Findings revealed that employment remains among the top three areas Nigerians expected the government to focus its attention on over the period in view: Security (29 per cent), Employment (28 per cent) and the economy (21 per cent).
Although the issue of unemployment is second on the list, this area has been one of the greatest challenges crippling the Nigerian economy as it has maintained an upward trend within the years in view. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the unemployment rate in the country increased from 22.70 per cent in the 2nd quarter of 2018 to 23.10 per cent in the 3rd quarter of 2018.
Read: Q4, 2017: Personal Well-Being Index Increased to 64.3-Points - NOIPolls
In view of the Workers’ Day celebration, the onus is on the government and other stakeholders to create jobs for Nigerians especially through creating an enabling environment for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to thrive. This will go a long way in ensuring that Nigerians explore various opportunities in tackling the issue of unemployment. Also, it is vital to reflect on workers’ welfare specifically on the issue of the minimum wage as it plays an important role in income distribution as well as the poverty rate. Although the minimum wage in Nigeria has recently been increased from ₦18,000 to ₦30,000, this amount may be negligible in raising the standard of living of the beneficiaries considering the economic situation of the country. For instance, a public opinion poll conducted by NOIPolls on workers’ welfare in 2011 revealed that Nigerians believed that the minimum wage of ₦18,000 was inadequate, hence they clamoured for an upward review to ₦56,000 as at 2011. Again, while the Federal Government has signed the new minimum wage of ₦30,000 into law, it is important for an urgent implementation process.
Read: Culture and Religion; Greatest Barriers for Nigerian Women in Politics - Report
Read: Consumer Confidence Index Increased to 70.5-Points in Q4, 2017 - NOIPolls
In summary, as Nigerians join the world in celebrating Workers’ day, it is pertinent for the government to address issues pertaining to job creation and the welfare of Nigerian workers. Job creation challenge in Nigeria can be effectively tackled through strict adherence to and execution of the different strategies and policy framework that have been put in place to move the employment drive in the country forward. Some of these strategies and policy documents include the National Employment Policy (NEP) of 2002, the National Action Plan on Employment Creation (NAPEC), National Youth Policy (NYP) of 2009 as well as the National Policy on Education (NPE)
International Workers' Day
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National Action Plan on Employment Creation
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Ride the wave of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfDB President Adesina Urges United Kingdom (UK) investors
The Bank’s chief argued that Africa and the UK should be significant trading partners LONDON, United Kingdom, January 22, 2020,/...
Read: Rising Trend of Gambling in Nigeria: Bet9ja, Nairabet, Pool are the top 3 betting platforms
National Sports Festival: Lagos to host South-West Zonal Elimination Stage
The Chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission, Sola Aiyepeku has disclosed that the Lagos will host the South-West Zonal elimination competition ahead of the 20th...
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu has commended motorists in Lagos for their role in ensuring the successful implementation of the cashless initiative...
London and Lagos, 22 January 2020: Airtel Africa plc (“Airtel Africa” or “Group”), a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a...
The Bank’s chief argued that Africa and the UK should be significant trading partners LONDON, United Kingdom, January 22, 2020,/ -- Africa is on the...
News Brand Spur - January 22, 2020
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Charity Evening
Scientific Teamadmin2018-10-02T19:52:17+00:00
To date, more than 20 researchers, laboratory technicians and students of various backgrounds are active in the CANSEARCH pediatric onco-hematology research platform. This offers a varied pooling of professionals for greater efficiency.
Professor Marc Ansari, Member
Head of the Pediatric Onco-Hematology Unit HUG
Marc Ansari has practiced in the medical field for over 15 years, particularly in the areas of pediatric oncology-hematology and genetics. In 2011, he founded the CANSEARCH Foundation and research platform at the University of Geneva. Since 1 January 2013, he is Head of the Pediatric Onco-Hematology unit at the HUG. In November 2015, he was appointed Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Geneva.
Mohamed Aziz Rezgui, B.Pharm, M.Sc
Mohamed Aziz Rezgui studied pharmacogenomics at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montreal, Canada. He works in the team of Dre. Maja Krajinovic at CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital, Montreal, as research assistant in collaboration with Prof. Marc Ansari at HUG, Geneva. He focuses on genetic impact research on pharmacokinetics and clinical outcomes in pediatric patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. At the same time, he started a clinical research experience in the hemato-oncology department of CHU Sainte-Justine, in Montreal, in the program of the Canadian Cancer Registry under the supervision of Dr. Henrique Bittencourt
Frédéric Baleydier, MD, Ph.D
Frédéric Baleydier has benefiting from a training in onco-hematology and pediatric immunology carried out in France (IHOP, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Necker-Children-Sick Hospital, Assistance-Public Hospitals of Paris), supplemented by a scientific training in Paris and Boston in the USA (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School).
He was a senior doctor in pediatric hemato-oncology in Lyon (IHOP, Hospices Civils de Lyon) and in the United Kingdom in Bristol (Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol University Hospitals) before joining the team of pediatric onco-hematology of HUG in September 2016
Khalil Ben Hassine, MPharm, PhD student
Khalil holds a Master's degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Geneva, as well as the Swiss Federal Pharmacist Diploma. He joined the CANSEARCH laboratory team in October 2019, to do his doctoral thesis (PhD) under the direction of Prof Marc Ansari, Dr. Tiago Nava and Dr. Rao Chakradhara S. Uppugunduri. His research project focuses on the impact of genetic markers and drug interactions on the pharmacokinetics of conditioning agents for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Dr. Fanette Bernard
Pediatric onco-hematologist in the HUG pediatric onco-hematology unit since 2012. Prior to this, Fanette trained and worked at the Timone-childrens hospital in Marseille, France. She is involved in clinical research in the field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Dr. Rao S. Chakradhara Uppugunduri, PhD, Indian, Geneva, Switzerland
Dr. Uppugunduri holds a PhD in Clinical Pharmacology. He works as Senior Researcher, Head of experimental research, at the CANSEARCH Research Laboratory. He is also a Teaching Assistant at the University of Geneva. He is a member of the educational division of the European Society of Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Therapy (ESPT). His research has focused on pharmacogenetics and personalized medicine. He is part of the group that works on personalizing chemotherapy and the conditioning regimens prior to stem-cell transplantation in children and adolescents. He is currently pursuing research projects focusing on the identification of pharmacogenetic information that can be used to improve the clinical care especially in pediatric onco-hematology.
Dr. Patricia Curtis, PhD, Geneva, Switzerland
Patricia followed a molecular geneticist training at King’s College in London. She is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher in the CANSEARCH Foundation laboratory. Her areas of particular interest involve the pharmacogenetics of childhood leukemia with the hope of finding biomarkers that are related to the mechanisms of action of current therapies and how they can be a predictor of treatment response.
Dr. Youssef Daali, PharmD, PhD. Pharmacist, Morocco, Switzerland
Head of the Clinical Research Laboratory of Pharmacology Service Geneva University Center, Youssef works in partnership with the pediatric onco-hematology platform of the University Centre of Geneva (laboratory of the CANSEARCH Foundation) in the areas of pediatric pharmacology.
Aneta Drakul
A young doctor from the University of Zurich, Aneta joined the CANSEARCH pediatric oncology and hematology research platform as part of her MD PhD, which she is doing in parallel with her clinical training at Kinderspital Zurich. She is involved in research in the field of pharmacogenetics; in particular, her work focuses on the influence of specific alleles on the toxicity of busulfan.
Benjamin Fernandez, student, Geneva, Switzerland
Benjamin is a student in Master of Human Medicine at the University of Geneva. He works on the CANSEARCH research platform in pediatric oncology and hematology under the responsibility of Prof. MarcAnsari and Dr. Patricia Curtis. His dissertation topic deals with the pharmacogenetics of childhood leukemia and the search for genetic markers that can influence the response to current treatments.
Hadrien Golay MSC MSc, Geneva, Switzerland
Hadrien obtained a Master's degree in Life Sciences and Technologies from EPFL, after a Master's degree in cancer immunotherapy at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Currently a final year medical student at the University of Lausanne, he will join the CANSEARCH laboratory team as a MIMOSA fellow and medical doctorate (M.D.) in November 2018, for a research project in pharmacogenetics. He will then begin his clinical pediatrics training in November 2019.
Dr. Fabienne Gumy Pause, MD, Geneva, Switzerland.
Head of the oncogenetic group of the platform of hematology and pediatric oncology of the University Center of Geneva (laboratory of the CANSEARCH foundation). Hematologist-pediatric oncologist doctor at the Cantonal University Hospital of Geneva.
Simona Jurkovic Mlakar, PhD, MPharm, Slovenia
Simona is working as a postdoctoral researcher in the CANSEARCH laboratory. Before joining the CANSEARCH team, she worked as an assistant in the Biochemistry and Clinical Genetics Department of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Ljubljana (Solvenia) and the Faculty of Medicine at Lund University (Sweden). She specializes in pharmacogenetics, clinical biochemistry and molecular biology.
Mary Khoshbeen – Boudal, Geneva, Switzerland
Mary is a graduate of the Geneva laboratory assistants school and works in the CANSEARCH laboratory as a laboratory assistant. She specializes in biochemistry and molecular biology.
Laurence Lesne, graduated in Biology at the University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Laurence worked in the pediatric onco-hematology platform of the University Centre of Geneva (laboratory CANSEARCH Foundation) as a laboratory assistant in the cancer genetics group. She specializes in cell culture, biochemistry and molecular biology.
Rodolfo Lo Piccolo, Geneva, Switzerland
After graduating from the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO) in October 2006, Rodolfo joined the care team of the Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Unit (UOHP) of the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG) in January 2007. In order to complete his training in the field of pediatrics, he began a postgraduate training in 2010, and obtained a DAS HES-SO in Child Health, Adolescence and Family Health in June 2012. The opportunity to evolve in the field of research within the UOHP arose in 2014, and Rodolfo took up the position of clinical research assistant of the UOHP in January 2015. To date, his training is complemented by an additional DAS from the University of Geneva in Clinical Trials Management, Implementation of Best Practices and Quality Process, which he obtained in August 2017.
Denis Marino, Geneva, Switzerland
Denis received his degree in Biomedical Technician ES analysis (TAB) at Locarno. He specialized in biochemistry, cytometry, immunology, mouse models of tumorigenèses and Biosafety Officers (BSO), he workes for the CANSEARCH Foundation laboratory as TAB.
Veneranda Mattiello
Verenanda has been part of the medical team of the Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Unit of the University Hospitals of Geneva since 2010. She holds a degree in Medicine from Italy at the University of Naples, and specializes in pediatric onco-hematology in Switzerland. She then perfected her training in pediatric hematology in Italy (Polyclinique de Milan) and in France (University of Lyon).
Since 2015, she is also responsible for the management of pediatric onco-hematology clinical trials in Geneva.
Vid Mlakar, PhD, Slovenia
Vid earned a degree in molecular biology and biochemistry at the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia). He joined the CANSEARCH laboratory team as a postdoctoral researcher. He specializes in molecular biology and cancer genetics.
Fanny graduated with a Masters in Health Engineering in Management of Clinical Trials from the Pharmacy university of Montpellier. After a clinical research experience in the pediatric hemato-oncology service at Montpellier University Hospital, she completed her final year as an apprentice clinical coordinator at Sanofi in Lyon. Fanny joined the CANSEARCH laboratory team in July 2019 to help coordinate the clinical trials of the research platform.
Dr Tiago NAVA, MD, PhD
A pediatric onco-hematologist, Tiago trained in Brazil in paediatrics and pediatric hematology. After a 3-year clinical fellowship in pediatric onco-hematology, in Montreal, Canada, he joined the HUG team as clinical assistant in July 2017. At the same time, he joined the CANSEARCH laboratory where he will continue his research Including the pharmacokinetics of agents used in stem cell transplantation, and studies of clinical, biological and genetic biomarkers of toxicity associated with these drugs.
Fanny Ouk, medical student, Geneva, Switzerland - 10 09 18
Fanny is a 6th year medical student at the University of Geneva who, through her affinity with pediatrics, has written as part of her master's work a literature review on the evaluation of the gonadotoxicity of oncological treatments used in pediatrics under the direction of Dr. Fabienne Gumy Pause. This document could serve as a decision aid for the medical teams involved in the preservation of fertility. Her work has thus contributed to the activities of the pediatric onco-hematology platform of the CANSEARCH Foundation.
Shannon Robin
Shannon obtained her Bachelor's degree in biology at the University of Lausanne. Now a student in Master of Biology (free orientation) in Geneva, she is doing her master's degree at the CANSEARCH Foundation under the responsibility of Prof. Dr. Marc Ansari and Dr. Rao Chakradhara S. Uppugunduri since September 2018. Her work focuses on pharmacogenomics.
Yoann Sarmiento
Yoann Sarmiento obtained his CFC laboratory assistant in biology with honors from the Technical Vocational Training Center in Geneva. He has been awarded the Soccorex Prize for best exam scores. He joined the CANSEARCH pediatric oncology and hematology research platform in September 2019 as a laboratory technician.
Dr. André O. von Bueren, M.D., Ph.D., PD.
Responsible for the Pediatric Neuro-oncology group, a reference for children and adolescents with brain tumors and a hematologist-oncologist from the Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Unit of the HUG, André has been practicing in the medical field for almost 15 years. He is specialized in pediatric neuro-oncology. Her areas of interest include clinical trials and pre-clinical research of pediatric brain tumors, particularly high-grade gliomas.
Dr. Nicolas WAESPE, MD, FMH
Nicolas, a hematologist-pediatric oncologist, has worked in oncology-hematologic pediatrics in Switzerland and has completed his training with a clinical fellowship and research at SickKids Hospital in Toronto, Canada. Nicolas joined the CANSEARCH Research laboratory at the University of Geneva as a researcher in August 2018. In parallel, he is a collaborator at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Bern. His research projects aim to better understand the effect of genetic differences on the development of childhood cancers and the side effects after anti-cancer treatments.
Research (page vide)
Global pharmacogenomics project
BuGenes Project
MyeChild study
Project on neuroblastoma
Brain tumour project
Liver cancer project
Biobank project and it GECCOS pilot study
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November 8, 2016 / 12:27 AM / in 3 years
Canada gives foreign visitors male, female, other option at border
Ellen Wulfhorst
NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Some foreign visitors to Canada will be allowed to identify themselves as male, female or other in a border document being introduced this week, officials said on Monday, as Canada joins a handful of nations offering gender neutral options.
The new Electronic Travel Authorizations (eTAs) with three gender options will be introduced on Thursday for travelers flying into or through Canada, officials said.
Canada also has taken steps toward allowing people who have changed genders to switch the designation on passports and other documents, said a spokeswoman for the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the federal agency that issues travel documents.
Having the ability to designate an “other” gender option on identity documents such as travel, residency or employment papers has become a cause among many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups who represent people who do not consider themselves to be male or female.
“IRCC is committed to facilitating the issuance of identification with a sex designation that reflects a person’s gender identity,” the Canadian spokeswoman said.
Australia offers passport options of male, female or X, while Nepal, New Zealand and a handful of other countries also offer third options. Other nations have taken similar steps on some internal documents.
Lambda Legal, a U.S. nonprofit group that promotes LGBT rights, said it commended the Canadian government and called on the U.S. government to follow suit.
“This small step of inclusiveness for visitors is yet another reason for Canada to implement a third gender marker on passports, an option currently under serious consideration,” Paul Castillo, a senior attorney at Lambda Legal, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an email.
“Inaccurate documents serve only to discriminate and impose barriers upon people who are neither male nor female.”
The Canadian eTA form, available online, has been designed to give provide applicants with an option to select a third gender of “other,” the spokeswoman said.
The eTA is required for travelers from countries where a Canadian visa is not required, officials said. It does not apply to U.S. residents.
Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit news.trust.org
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December 15, 2016 / 11:31 AM / 3 years ago
Canadian Natural Resources says 2017 production to rise 6 percent
Ethan Lou
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd said on Thursday that it expected 2017 production to rise by 6 percent and set its capital budget for next year at C$3.89 billion ($2.92 billion), a slight increase from C$3.84 million in 2016.
Canada’s largest independent petroleum producer said overall production in 2017 is expected to be between 833,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) and 883,000 boe/d, from 808,000 boe/d in 2016.
Producers have been increasing their capital budgets and projected output for 2017 as oil prices recover from the crash of the past two years.
Last month, Canadian Natural became the first oil sands producer to re-sanction a deferred major project, its 40,000-barrel-per-day Kirby North thermal expansion, a positive sign for the battered industry.
But company executives also said in a conference call the budget for 2017 may change depending on commodity prices, and that they are prepared to roll back the figure by up to C$900 million.
“We’re fortunate that we have a lot of capital flexibility,” President Steve Laut said later in an interview. “If the past is any prediction of the future, there will be volatility.”
Canadian Natural said it would complete an expansion of its Horizon oil sands project located north of Fort McMurray in Alberta, in 2017, and the project’s third phase would be on stream in the fourth quarter.
The oil producer forecast synthetic crude oil production from the Horizon project of 170,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) to 184,000 bbl/d for 2017, which is an increase from 2016 of 44 percent.
Canadian Natural will spend C$1.7 billion on Horizon, down from C$2.7 billion this year, but will dole out C$1.79 billion on exploration and production projects, an increase of nearly half a billion dollars, the company said.
The company’s shares were down 0.4 percent at C$44.60 in midday trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, in line with a broad drop in the energy sector as a whole.
Canadian Natural said on Monday it will sell its stake in the Cold Lake pipeline to Inter Pipeline Ltd for C$527.5 million in cash and stock, but will maintain access to the route to move its crude.
Reporting by Ethan Lou in Calgary, Alberta, and Komal Khettry in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto and Alan Crosby
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Group Gathered in Brazil Wraps ...
Brazil Cuts in Half Time ...
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Brazzil Magazine in PDF
Brazzil in PDF
Group Gathered in Brazil Wraps Up Bank Created to Counter US Influence
by Newsroom October 9, 2007
Brazil and six other South American countries agreed to establish Banco del Sur (Bank of the South), a regional development bank championed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in an effort to expand regional trade and growth with their own resources.
Chavez, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay will inaugurate the bank on Nov. 3, in Caracas according to the Declaration of Rio de Janeiro signed by finance ministry officials of the seven countries this Monday, October 8.
"Banco del Sur is the beginning of a new financial architecture for the South," said Rodrigo Cabezas, Venezuela's finance minister, in comments to reporters in Rio de Janeiro. "Our development won't be put at the service of other countries."
Monday's meeting included officials from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela.
Chavez proposed the bank as part of a drive to counter the influence of the U.S. in Latin America and use oil profits from record high crude prices to finance social and economic development programs. Brazil has resisted efforts to use the bank as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund and is opposed to using bank funds to support currencies.
"Lula and Brazil are not socialists like Chavez but they are under pressure from Brazilian companies who do a lot of business in Venezuela to keep relations good," said José Botafogo, a former Brazilian Ambassador and head of Brazil's Foreign relations association in an interview.
"Brazil would probably rather not have a new bank, but it's willing to accept one if it's a real bank and not just a Chavez social program."
According to the declaration, the Caracas-based bank will have regional offices in La Paz and Buenos Aires, said a spokeswoman for the Brazilian finance ministry, which hosted the meeting of finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.
The amount each country will contribute to the bank and how it will raise additional capital are issues to be worked out in the 60 days after the Caracas signing ceremony, Guido Mantega, Brazil's finance minister said at a press conference.
In addition to agreeing to set up the bank, they decided each country will have an equal voice on the bank's board of directors. Chile, Peru, Colombia, Suriname and Guyana are yet to say whether they will join the bank.
Venezuela, which had wanted the bank to make loans to Cuba and Central American nations such as Nicaragua emphasized the bank's difference from older international institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
"No conditions will be set on loans to members," Cabezas said, adding that the lending practices of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the region had been a "neo- liberal disaster."
Brazil, which according to Mantega will make a "large" contribution to the bank, emphasized the goal of creating a self-sustaining institution that will earn enough interest on investments to increase the amount of capital available for loans.
"We will not be making adventures; this will be a serious bank," Mantega said. "We see it as a way of promoting regional integration projects and both the private and public sector."
The bank will not make grants, only interest-bearing loans and operate only within South America. The bank will also seek to increase its capital to "three, four or five times" the initial national contributions through borrowing, possibly through international capital markets, said Mantega.
The bank hopes to make its first loan in 2008, Mantega and Cabezas said. They also said the bank plans to work with existing regional financial institutions such as Brazil's state development bank BNDES and the Corporacion Andina de Fomento.
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Show Comments (8)
João da Silva
Ch.C
[quote]What did you mean ?
To have a Latam bank like brazilians banks, with 74 different charges ??????
[quote]…of course PLUS the CPMF tax ![/quote]
I knew you were too smart to miss this one! The Swiss are also most welcome to borrow from this bank and I am sure you will be treated as a special client.We will charge you just 70 fees, but increase the CPMF to 3.8% 😉
ch.c.
continued for Joao……
…of course PLUS the CPMF tax !
To Joao ” ie; to counter the U.S. influence.”
What did you mean ?
It is a good idea to create this bank to counter U.S. influence ruthlessly, without any pity,mercy or remorse.Of course, we expect that the capital to set up this bank will not come from us, the tax payers-though it is futile to hope so. Nevertheless, we are willing to contribute, provided our governments manage to convince the Arabs,Chinese,Indians,Swiss (especially the brave Swiss),Russians,Mongols,Albanians,etc; to participate in this greatest venture ever undertaken.These folks have to realize that they are contributing to a noble cause. ie; to counter the U.S. influence.
Of course, we welcome the Americans to be our clients and borrow money at the prevailing interest rates in our country.
No dear
Some people like bending over, are you sure you are not one of those? Do you need me to ask my bro?
So Stop Bending Over
Bota Àƒ© fogo, o resto cinzas, but what about your brother-in-law? WhatÀ‚´s his take on Chavez? Also thinks that he ugly?
“Lula and Brazil are not socialists like Chavez but they are under pressure from Brazilian companies who do a lot of business in Venezuela to keep relations good,” said JosÀƒ© Botafogo,
Basically, we are bending over and are reaching for the soap. The Petrobras episode is one such account.
a new way to fund corruption
I think Chavez thinks he is the “new Guevara”, minor difference-he damn ugly. This will be a new way to fund corruption…
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Same Sex Parenting And Adoption Essay
1919 words - 8 pages
Adoption for same sex couples is a very controversial topic in Family Law, and often same sex couples face many unique issues if they wish to adopt. Many states have different laws that apply for gay and lesbian adoption, as opposed to heterosexual couples. Several states also have special rules that apply when a child is born into a gay or lesbian partnership. Gay and lesbian couples may sometimes opt to bring a child into their lives through conception and birth as well. For a lesbian couple, this is usually done through a male donor or a sperm bank and having one of the couple become pregnant. Similarly, gay men may use a surrogate mother and then become a legal parent through adoption. The other parent then can become a legal second parent through stepparent or second parent adoption. However, many states including Virginia don’t allow second parent adoption.
The definition of a legal ‘parent’ is (n.) the lawful and natural father or mother of a person. The word does not mean grandparent or ancestor, but can include an adoptive parent as a replacement for a natural parent. Adoption laws vary from state to state, and there are some states that do allow lesbian and gay couples to adopt children as legal, joint parents. Gay and lesbian couples in these states can go through adoption agencies in order to adopt, personally arrange their adoption, or even adopt internationally.
In many states, however, stepparent, second parent or even joint adoption is not an option for gay and lesbian couples. Although the Commonwealth of Virginia does not have a law in place that prohibits same sex couples from adopting a child, it is usually a very hostile situation and it may be very difficult in many occasions for gays and lesbians to be approved for adoption. Virginia determines the eligibility of adoptive parents on a case by case basis. In fact, code of VA 63.2-1201 says that “any natural person who resides in the Commonwealth” may file a petition for adoption. Also, VA code 63.2-1225 states that “In determining the appropriate home in which to place a child for adoption, a married couple or an unmarried individual shall be eligible to receive placement of a child for purposes of adoption.”
The Commonwealth of Virginia takes into consideration the birth parents of the child and holds the position that adoptive parents must meet the requirements for the “best interests of the child”. Specifically, in code section § 63.2-1205 the following requirements are stated:
In determining whether the valid consent of any person whose consent is required is withheld contrary to the best interests of the child, or is unobtainable, the circuit court or juvenile and domestic relations district court, as the case may be, shall consider all relevant factors, including the birth parent(s)' efforts to obtain or maintain legal and physical custody of the child; whether the birth parent(s) are currently willing and able to assume full custody of the child; whether...
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Mixers/Blenders
Process equipment Our equipment / Air classifiers
Air classification is a procedure commonly used to control particle size.
Air classifiers are invaluable for the selection of a required particle size range to achieve a more consistent material and product performance.
Air classification is a highly versatile technique which can be used to achieve the required particle size distribution to add value across a spectrum of applications, from the simple removal of mineral fines to the production of metal powders and pharmaceuticals to the enrichment of the nutritional value of protein sources. Particles can also be separated on the basis of density, which can be useful for the separation of waste streams in recycling operations.
We offer a range of dynamic air classifiers where powders are fed into the classifier within an air stream. Particles below a particular size (the desired ‘cut-point’) are drawn through a high-speed rotor, whilst particles sized above the cut-point exit through the coarse discharge. This cut-point is accurately controlled by the optimisation of process parameters. The particle size distribution which can be achieved varies according to machine type and size and is dependent on the material being processed.
We offer the following air classifier product ranges:
Aerosplit Classifier
Aerosplit 100 Classifier
Multiwheel Classifier
Unit Air Separator
The Aerosplit Classifier is a high-efficiency air-swept, dynamic classifier suitable for the processing dry particulate materials with cut point typically in the range 5 to 150 microns and is capable of handling quantities from a few kilograms per hour up to 10 tonnes per hour.
These forced-vortex units are designed to operate either in closed circuit within a conventional milling system or as an independent, stand-alone system incorporating feeder, exhaust fan and product-collection equipment. The Aerosplit can be installed in existing air systems with a minimum of modification and will accurately separate products over a wide range of particle size and feed variations.
The smallest of the forced-vortex classifiers, the Aerosplit 100 was developed with lab or pilot scale production in mind but finds application in any low volume process environment.
Supplied as a complete integrated system, incorporating a feeder and product-collection system, the unit provides very sharp cuts, typically in the range of 1 to 50 microns. It is typically utilised in chemicals, metal powders, ceramics, polymers and other industries where the cost-effective separation of smaller material volumes into tight particle size distributions is critical to success. The Aerosplit 100 can be supplied with interchangeable components enabling it to be easily converted to an opposed jet mill system complete with integral classifier for the size reduction of a wide variety of materials.
Designed to achieve high throughput at fine cut points, the Multiwheel Classifier’s superior performance comes from the use of high-efficiency classifier wheels which are mounted horizontally in a radial configuration.
Units can be supplied with three, four, or six wheels, with each wheel ranging in diameter from 300 to 500mm. The wheels are run on direct drives, with inverters linked harmonically to ensure they run at identical speeds. This is the key to the machine’s excellent sharpness of cut and high fines yield.
The Multiwheel Classifier is a high-efficiency air-swept, dynamic classifier suitable for processing of dry particulate materials with sharp cut points, typically in the range 1 to 50 micron and capable of handling throughputs up to 10 tonne per hour.
The Unit Air Separator is suitable for the classification of a wide range of materials and is the most economic unit available in power consumption per tonne of product.
Primarily intended for use in high volume throughput applications, this high-performance air classifier is suitable for the processing of dry particulate materials with sharp cut points, typically in the range of 25 to 300 microns.
This unit is particularly suitable for the removal of small quantities of oversize material or the de-dusting of granular materials to remove undesirable fines. Effective as a self-contained stand-alone machine with its own integral fan and without the need for an additional filter, separator or fan, the Unit Air Separator can be operated in closed circuit with a variety of grinding mills.
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My NCSM
About NCSM
Join NCSM
Job Seekers, Welcome to NCSM CareerCenter
Assistant/Associate Professor Quantum Information Science - Math/Computer Science
IN, Indiana
Competitive.
Work Function:
Faculty 4-Year College/University
The Departments of Mathematics and Computer Science in the College of Science at Purdue University invite applications for up to five positions in Quantum Information Science (QIS) to begin August 2020. These positions will be at the assistant/associate professor level based on scholarly record. When appropriate, successful candidates may be considered for joint and interdisciplinary appointments across the College.
QIS is at the frontier of several traditional research disciplines including applied math and computer science, information theory, condensed matter physics, atomic, molecular, and optical physics, and chemistry. QIS strives to harness the unusual quantum mechanical properties of superposition and entanglement to provide breakthrough advances for computing, secure communications, and novel device functionalities. As such, QIS is part of a large-scale interdisciplinary hiring effort across key strategic areas in the College of Science—Purdue’s second-largest college, comprising the physical, computing, and life sciences—these positions come at a time when the College is under new leadership and with multiple commitments of significant investment.
The College of Science is especially seeking to enhance our existing strengths in research at the interface within Computer Science and Math through strategic hiring of creative scientists to be part of the cutting-edge interdisciplinary environment provided by Purdue University. Successful candidates will have research interests that can build a comprehensive suite of capabilities in quantum algorithm research, information theoretic analysis, topological quantum computing, chemical physics, and quantum materials, experimental and/or theoretical quantum computing with superconducting qubits, spins in semiconductors and other condensed matter systems, cold atomic ions, Rydberg atoms, photonic systems, or quantum materials.
Qualifications: Candidates must have a PhD in mathematics, computer science, or a closely related field, with outstanding credentials in research related to QIS, an excellent track record of publications and potential for developing a vibrant research program, as well as a strong commitment to excellence in teaching. Successful candidates are expected to develop an outstanding research program supported by extramural funding and teach courses at the undergraduate and/or graduate level.
The Departments and College: The Departments of Computer Science and Mathematics have over 100 tenured and tenure-track faculty, more than 300 graduate students, and over 500 undergraduate students between them. Over the last 5 years the two departments have hired more than 30 faculty members and made significant investments in key areas of discovery. The College and the Departments have launched initiatives in new emerging areas, such as Data Science and Quantum Information Science, and committed the resources necessary to make the new growth impactful. For more information, see https://www.cs.purdue.edu/ and http://www.math.purdue.edu/. Purdue is one of the nation’s leading land-grant universities, with an enrollment of over 41,000 students primarily focused on STEM subjects. For more information, see https://www.purdue.edu/purduemoves/initiatives/stem/index.php.
Application Procedure: Applications must be submitted to https://career8.successfactors.com/sfcareer/jobreqcareer?jobId=8411&company=purdueuniv&username= and must include (1) a cover letter (including a discussion of diversity efforts as indicated below), (2) a complete curriculum vitae with publication list, (3) a brief statement of present and future research plans, and (4) a statement of teaching philosophy. In addition, candidates should arrange for at least 4 letters of reference, one of which discusses the candidate’s teaching qualifications, to be sent to qissearch@purdue.edu. Questions regarding the position and search should be directed to chgreene@purdue.edu. Applications completed by December 15, 2019 will be given full consideration, although the search will continue until the position is filled.
Purdue University’s Departments of Computer Science and Mathematics are committed to advancing diversity in all areas of faculty effort, including scholarship, instruction, and engagement. Candidates should address at least one of these areas in their cover letter, indicating their past experiences, current interests or activities, and/or future goals to promote a climate that values diversity and inclusion. A background check will be required for employment in this position.
Purdue University is an EEO/AA employer. All individuals, including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply.
About Purdue University
Physics explores the fundamental mysteries of nature...from how the universe was created, to how biological systems function, to how to create new forms of matter. The strength of Purdue's physics department is its internationally recognized research in the areas of astrophysics, high energy physics, geophysics, nanophysics, nuclear physics, sensor technology, biophysics and more. How chlorophyll and hemoglobin work, the structure of black holes, the search for fundamental particles, the precise dating of Stonehenge, and new sensors for homeland defense are a few of the topics that drive the research in our department.
Assistant/ Associate Professor Quantum Information Science - Chemistry/ Physics and Astronomy IN, Indiana
Purdue University 2 Months Ago
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The Douglas AC-47: Puff the Magic Dragon, Vietnam Gunship
AC-47 Vietnam Call Sign: “Spooky”
In the early-1960s, the Air Force Systems Command began experimenting with fixed-wing, side-firing weapons systems for possible use in Vietnam. By 1964, the first gunship conversion of a World War II Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport was completed under the Project Gunship I program. Initially designated FC-47D (Fighter-Cargo), it was later changed to AC-47D (Attack-Cargo).
On 15 December 1964, the AC-47D, using the call sign “Spooky”, was introduced into combat in Southeast Asia. It was an instant success in breaking up enemy attacks on hamlets and other defensive positions, and within a year, substantial numbers of the rehabilitated “Gooney Birds” were in action throughout the region.
Following the highly successful Project Gunship I combat test program, the U.S. Air Force created the 4th Air Commando Squadron (ACS) in August 1965 as the first operational unit equipped with “Spooky” gunships. Although the 4th ACS was based at Tan Son Nhut AB, it deployed from several forward operating locations throughout South Vietnam (Bien Hoa, Pleiku, Na Trang, Da Nang and Can Tho). In November 1965, the 4th ACS (tailcode EN) was assigned 16 operational aircraft with four more assigned as “advanced attrition” aircraft. Within two years, the 4th ACS and the newly formed 3rd ACS (tailcode EL) were serving under the 14th Air Commando Wing (ACW). In August 1968, the unit designations were changed from “Air Commando” to “Special Operations” (SOS/SOW).
A total of fifty-three C-47Ds were converted for use as gunships during the Vietnam War. Although the AC-47D “Spooky”, commonly referred to as “Puff” (as in “Puff the Magic Dragon”), was an effective attack system, it was also vulnerable to enemy fire. Fifteen aircraft were lost between December 1965 and September 1969.
The AC-47D was equipped with three 7.62mm SUU-11A Gatling Miniguns mounted in the fifth and sixth windows on the port side of the fuselage and in the aft passenger/cargo door area. Approximately 16,500 rounds of ammunition was carried on a typical mission. Note: The SUU-11As were later replaced by specially designed 7.62mm General Electric MXU-470/A Gatling Miniguns.
For night missions, the aircraft carried approximately 48 MK-24 Mod 3 flares. Each flare could last up to three minutes and produce a light magnitude of two million candlepower. The delivery system was extremely simple, the loadmaster armed and dropped each flare out the cargo door when the pilot signaled by flashing a cargo compartment light. Note: Initially, 30 MK-6 flares of 750,000 candlepower were carried before the MK-24 flares were available.
Airspeed during attack maneuvers was normally 120 knots indicated air speed (KIAS). With the Miniguns firing at a rate of 6,000 rounds per minute, aerial coverage was provided over an elliptical area approximately 52 yards in diameter, placing a projectile within every 2.4 yards during a three-second burst.
A modified adaption of the Douglas C-47 Cargo plane by fitting it with 7.62 mm mini guns that could fire up to 6,000 rounds per minute. The convenience of cargo space allowed for the gunship to carry 54,000 rounds.
While other aircraft would eventually succeed the C-47, such as the C-119 and C-130 with their larger capacity and features, the C-47 pioneered the development of gunships with the first AC-47 during the Vietnam war. It’s Call Sign was “Spooky”.
The AC-47 was capable of putting a highly explosive bullet into every square yard of a football field size target in 3 seconds, and it could do this intermittently while loitering over its same target for hours as long as it had the ammo on board.
It didn’t take long for it to earn the nickname “Puff, the Magic Dragon”, or “Dragonship”. Impressive from a distance, it appeared to roar as never-ending blazes of bright red tracer rounds from its mini guns shot to the ground against a dark background of night.
Enduring and Deadly
In early February of 1965, one Spooky fired 20,500 rounds into a Vietcong position while flying over the Bong Son area, killing some 300 Vietcong troops during a four-hour period.
From the ground at night, the sight resembled that of a fire-breathing dragon, to which the enemy began to refer to as “dragonship”, and our US troops affectionately nicknamed “Puff the Magic Dragon” or just “Puff”.
Through the years, the military has updated, modified, recreated, and devloped more efficient Gunships. Modern technology will continue to change, replacing yesterday’s “outdated” machines, but in my mind, “Puff” will never be forgotten and no other gunship will have the pulse racing, fear inducing, state of mind to an enemy that it did, nor the chest swelling pride from people like me.
Spooky saved our butts several times. It was a fantastic spectacle with its cone of light. It looked like a stairway. When we were really in a sh**storm it was comforting to see Spooky in the sky above.
Below are two great videos of “Spooky”
My AC-47 Gunship (Spooky13) Aircraft and Crew
Douglas AC-47 Spooky aka Puff, the Magic Dragon
Now, here are some pictures
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America’s Greatest Designs
May 1, 2014 By Jeff Caldwell
vvoe/Shutterstock
One of America’s most notable characteristics is the architecture that dots its landscape. Like all aesthetically appealing designs, successful American architecture works with the environment around it in a harmonious fashion. This makes it easy to distinguish the truly great architecture from the well-intentioned executions that didn’t quite succeed. Here are some of the greatest American designs and what makes them noteworthy.
pisaphotography/Shutterstock
At the time of its construction, this curvy edifice in New York City by Frank Lloyd Wright stood apart from its contemporaries, and it continues to defy convention to this day. As a result, it still features prominently in films, syndicated television and on the covers of popular American publications, like The New Yorker.
One of the most cited examples of Art Deco in the United States, the Chrysler Building in Midtown Manhattan works because of the way it bucked the trends. Although it was built during the Great Depression era that later gave way to structures like 40 Wall Street and the Empire State Building, it stands apart in that it’s not as formulaic as these others.
John Hancock Center
Greg Kushmerek/Shutterstock
As economist Ajay Shah noted, architectural arms races often contribute to the development of great works, especially in instances where the rich struggle to compete with one another via ostentatious displays of wealth. The Chrysler Building didn’t keep the title of “world’s tallest building” for long — just 11 months. Nonetheless, its curves and metal cladding make it more unique than its competitors by far.
This Chicago skyscraper is exemplary of Fazlur Khan’s method of creating tubular high-rise designs. The X-bracing that crosses the building’s exterior marks a major architectural change in which the key structural elements of tall American buildings became more visible, and engineering professors like C.M. Chan note that this concept would later be used in other tall buildings around the world.
Jason Patrick Ross/Shutterstock
Another example of Khan’s tubular architecture in Chicago, America’s second-highest edifice draws 1 million visitors each year. Unlike most of the other examples on this list, it presents a stepped profile that makes it easy to distinguish the different columnar elements that comprise the structure as a whole. This staggered design breaks up Chicago’s skyline of largely rectangular, single-height towers without deviating too far from the norm.
David S. Ingalls Rink
This hockey rink in Yale University’s hometown of New Haven, Conn., is so uniquely iconic that it sports the moniker “The Whale,” and it’s easy to see where the name comes from. While not as popular or well known as some other American designs, it still sets itself apart as an uncommon exercise in organic form that somehow remains harmoniously integrated with its surroundings.
Ritu Manoj Jethani/Shutterstock
Filed Under: Chicago, Design, Feature Posts Tagged With: Architecture, Chicago, design, urban design
About Jeff Caldwell
Jeff Caldwell is Brand Manager of Superior Shelter in Carrollton, Georgia — a division of Superior Recreational Products. Caldwell has more than 30 years experience in sales and marketing in both the public- and private-sector markets. With a love for the outdoors, Caldwell has been involved in the outdoor design world and parks and recreation community since 1993. Caldwell attended Florida State University.
Superior Shelter accepts shelter design challenges from designers, landscape architects and architects around the world. The company creates custom shelters, such as gazebos and pergolas, specific to your commercial outdoor needs.
Website: http://srpshelter.com/
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Michael-Leonard says
If “successful American architecture works with the environment around it in a harmonious fashion,” then by your own definition, the great Guggenheim would not be considered successful.
Way to contradict yourself on the very first example.
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Middle East war-mongering: Round II
By Nasir Almasri -
As the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) heard the concerns of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Iran’s nuclear programme, the not-too-unfamiliar sound of war drums began to beat again, softly. It has been nearly a decade since the start of the war in Iraq, which – coupled with the war in Afghanistan and a burst of the housing bubble – left our economy in shambles and our global hegemony permanently scarred. Oh, and it has left the Iraqis in an unpleasant predicament in which they continue to attempt to survive.
The issues with Netanyahu’s speech are threefold: (1) his rhetoric is all too similar to the rhetoric used in the months leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq; (2) his assertions are supported by promulgated falsities; and (3) despite his accusations, he hypocritically ignores similar Israeli shortcomings.
The claims of Iran’s direct threat to America, of the need for removal of a crazed ruler (or crazed rulers), and of the threat of nuclear weapons are all too familiar. The Bush Administration claimed that Iraq was an “imminent threat” and that Iraq was seeking to “strike the US with weapons of mass destruction.” James Clapper, the national director of intelligence in the US, believes that Iran is now “more willing conduct an attack in the United States”. Saddam Hussein – who, interestingly, was supplied with weaponry and backed by the US in an attack on neighboring Iran – was considered (at the time) the most dangerous man in the world. Similarly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been labeled a lunatic who, according to Netanyahu, is calling “for Israel’s destruction almost on a daily basis.” Most importantly, the threat of Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) – which, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair recently admitted, were not the initial reason for initiating the Iraq war – was the most important bits of propaganda used in convincing Americans to support militarized entrance into the region. Similarly, loosely supported claims that Iran is developing nuclear weapons are used as factual arguments to support potential pre-emptive military action against the Islamic Republic.
More interestingly, it is once again a leader of Likud advocating for an American action. Yet Israeli citizens were not exactly supportive of involvement in the Iraq war as many Israeli newspapers accused “[Prime Minister] Ariel Sharon’s government of exaggerating the threat of war with Iraq.” Meir Dagan, the former head of the Mossad (Israeli intelligence), argued that a conflict with Iran would be devastating for Israeli citizens.
The idea that this rhetoric is presenting itself once again is scary; though some of the rhetoric is not entirely inaccurate, the framing of the rhetoric has created an atmosphere in which a militarized action is the correct – and perhaps only – possible resolution. The dangerous framing is made possible by the promotion of misinformation. In short, Iran has not been formerly accused of violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran is not a direct threat to America (but, instead, only to Israel), and never did Ahmadinejad (or any other Iranian leader) threaten to “wipe Israel of the map.” These fabrications have formed the basis for the Prime Minister’s plea to “draw a red line on Iran” and to support a pre-emptive strike.
While Netanyahu continues to accuse the Iranian government of violating their NPT obligations, it ignores two very interesting – and very relevant – facts: the United States (Israel’s primary sponsor) has actually violated its own NPT obligations and Israel is not even a participant in the agreement. So while Netanyahu condemns the potential for Iranian warheads that could prevent peace in the region, he hides the Israeli arsenal of 100+ nuclear weapons (supplied, of course, by the United States). What’s more, he accuses the Iranians of promoting “their brand of radical Islam” and claims Israel “cherishes life.”
He is hypocritical, and misses the mark on both his accusation and assertion. There is no doubt that the Israeli people cherish life; however, the consistent repressive activity of the Israeli government has done anything but cherish the life of the sorrow-ridden Palestinians who are choked of movement, discriminated against, and lacking in water and healthcare (despite his claims). By framing the actions of Iran as dangerous and labeling these actions as brands of “radical Islam”, Netanyahu sheds an undue religious light on a political conflict. By dragging religious factors into the conflict, he gives false legitimacy to this idea of “us vs. them” (Samuel Huntington’s “The West vs. the Rest”).
Netanyahu’s speech should serve as a wake-up call to all who were displeased with the outcome of the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. The beats of the war drums beat ever louder, as the US presidential candidates will surely fight to show who is more loyal to Israel and who is more willing to support military action against Iran. Netanyahu is asking the UN to consider when war with Iran would be justifiable. Before the United States enters into ANOTHER war in the region, it is imperative to consider whether we are fighting to protect our citizens and our nation, or whether we will – once again – fall into the trappings of war, fall into another recession, and fall into a state where we are more susceptible to attacks on US global superiority. That history will repeat itself in under a decade is dangerous but – more importantly – avoidable.
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Nasir Almasri
Nasir is a student at the Southern Illinois University and is majoring in Political Science and History, and plans to receive his PhD in Political Science or Historical Studies. He also wants to teach and to conduct research in his field.
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The Rape Myth Problem Within the Judicial System
You probably have heard this before:
“She asked for it.” “She didn’t say no.” “She really meant ‘yes’ when she said ‘no.’” “She looks older than her chronological age.” “She [a minor] was as much in control of the situation as the defendant [her teacher when he raped her].” “Well, you know, this wasn’t this forcible, beat-up type rape.” “Even though she was drunk, she consented and knew what she was doing.” “Well boys will be boys; what else would you expect?” “She just ‘cried’ rape.” “It didn’t happen. She’s lying ‘cause she wants revenge.” “She could have prevented it if she… had only tried hard enough… had fought back more… etc.” These are all rape myth statements that have been heard in the courtroom as well as out in the public arena.
The flowing article was written by me for Pennsylvania NOW on their website.
This article gives an overview of problems in the judicial system when judges and others rely on this form of gender bias in their courtroom. Pennsylvania NOW posted the original of this article on August 31 and Central Oregon Coast NOW reblogged it. Thanks everyone for spreading the word about this problem and showing others what can be done to push back on this form of misogyny in the judiciary.
Joanne Tosti-Vasey, Judge G. Todd Baugh (MT), Judicial Ethics, Marian Bradley, Misogyny, Montana, Montana Judicial Standards Commission, Montana NOW, Montana v. Rambold, MT Judicial Standards Commission v. Judge G. Todd Baugh, Pennsylvania NOW Education Fund, Rape, Rape Myths, Sexism, Stacey Rambold, Victim-Blaming courts, Judicial Misconduct, Rape, rape myths, Sexual Assault 1 Comment
Censure and Suspension of Judge Baugh
Stop Violence Against Women NOW
The Montana Supreme Court has just handed down their decision on the ethics complaints filed against Judge G. Todd Baugh in his mishandling of the rape case against Stacey Rambold. This is the case where Judge Baugh sentenced ex-teacher Stacey Rambold to thirty days in jail for raping one of his 14-year-old students.
In explaining this slap-on-the-wrist sentence, Baugh used several rape myths that showed gender and racial bias against Cherise Morales—the 14 year old, Hispanic girl whom Rambold raped. During the sentencing hearing, Baugh stated that the girl was “as much in control of the situation” as her rapist and that she was “older than her chronological age.” There were a total of eight verified complaints submitted to the Montana Judicial Standards Commission as a result of Judge Baugh’s actions; one of these complaints was filed by Montana NOW and Pennsylvania NOW (see our complaint here and blog summarizing our complaint here).
On April 30, the Montana Supreme Court vacated Rambold’s minimal sentence, largely based on the amicus brief we filed with the court. They remanded the Rambold case back to Yellowstone County District Court. Yesterday they denied Rambold’s request to reconsider. The new sentence will be imposed by the District Court by the end of this month.
Meanwhile, the Court has now followed up on their intent to censure Judge Baugh. Their intent to censure was originally announced in the April 30 decision in the Rambold case. In that opinion, the Court said of Baugh’s behavior:
In the present case, Judge Baugh’s statements reflected an improper basis for his decision and cast serious doubt on the appearance of justice. The idea that C.M. could have “control” of the situation is directly at odds with the law, which holds that a youth is incapable of consent and, therefore, lacks any control over the situation whatsoever. That statement also disregards the serious power disparity that exists between an adult teacher and his minor pupil. In addition, there is no basis in the law for the court’s distinction between the victim’s “chronological age” and the court’s perception of her maturity. Judge Baugh’s comments have given rise to several complaints before the Judicial Standards Commission, which has recommended disciplinary action by this Court. Those complaints will be addressed in a separate proceeding.
In their 4-1 decision today censuring Baugh, the Court indicated that Judge Baugh violated the “Promoting Confidence in the Judiciary” canon.
Here’s a copy of the full decision. Judicial Standards Commission v Judge G Todd Baugh decision 6-4-2014
And here’s an excerpt from that decision:
Violation of Rule 1.2: Promoting public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary and avoiding impropriety or the appearance of impropriety
Baugh’s comments in open court in this case disregarded longstanding Montana law that a person under the age of 16 is legally incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse. His assertion that the victim was “older than her chronological age” is inconsistent with Montana law categorizing child victims of sexual offenses based on their chronological age alone, rather than on subjective perceptions of physical maturity and situational control. In addition, Judge Baugh’s later attempt to retract his sentence and rationale was inconsistent with Montana law. Finally, Judge Baugh made additional inappropriate public statements attempting to justify his actions. Through his unlawful sentence, inappropriate rationale, and subsequent public comments, Judge Baugh has eroded public confidence in the judiciary and created an appearance of impropriety, therefore violating the Montana Code of Judicial Conduct….
There is no place in the Montana judiciary for perpetuating the stereotype that women and girls are responsible for sexual crimes committed against them [emphasis added].
Censure and Suspension
The Court has given Judge Baugh until June 19 to respond to their proposed suspension since he only agreed to public censure on violating this rule. If he does not withdraw his consent to discipline by that date, he will be required to appear before the Montana Supreme Court at 9:30 am on Monday July 1, 2014 for the delivery of public censure by the Court. Then on December 1, 2014, he will be given a 31-day suspension without pay from the bench, thus losing the last month’s pay of his salary before he retires. If he does withdraw his consent for censure, the case will be returned to the Montana Judicial Standards Commission for a formal proceeding.
I suspect that Judge Baugh will accept the censure and suspension. Rumor has it that Judge Baugh is considering stepping down from the bench on July 1 due to the general belief that he cannot fairly rule from the bench because of the public censure. If true, the only effect of the 31-day suspension will be a loss of one month’s salary based on his earlier announcement that he would retire from the bench on December 31.
And as a final food for thought… this 31-day suspension / “sentence” seems to me to be very similar to the 31-day sentence imposed by Judge Baugh on Stacey Rambold for raping a 14-year old. Did the Court have this in mind when they decided on the length of the suspension? Is this Tit for Tat for his use of rape myths? Who knows?
Amici Curiae, Ethics, Gender-Based Violence, Judge G. Todd Baugh (MT), Judicial Ethics, Montana, Montana Judicial Standards Commission, Montana NOW, Montana Supreme Court, MT Judicial Standards Commission v. Judge G. Todd Baugh, Pennsylvania NOW, Racism, Rape, Rape Myths, Sexism, Sexual Assault, Stacey Rambold censure, Gender-based Violence, Judge G. Todd Baugh, judicial ethics, Judicial Misconduct, Montana Judicial Standards Commission, Montana Supreme Court, Rape, rape myths, Sexual Assault, Stacey Rambold 8 Comments
Seeking Justice for Cherise
In August 2013, Yellowstone County (Billings), Montana Judge G. Todd Baugh sentenced ex-teacher Stacey Rambold to thirty days in jail for raping one of his 14-year-old students . Baugh had followed a recommendation from Rambold’s lawyer by giving Rambold a sentence of 15 years in prison with all but 31 days suspended and a one day credit for time served. Even worse, the judge showed gender and racial bias against Cherise Morales—the 14 year old, Hispanic girl who Rambold raped. During the sentencing hearing, Baugh stated that the girl was “as much in control of the situation” as her rapist and that she was “older than her chronological age.”
Upon hearing about this incident, Joanne Tosti-Vasey, former PA NOW president and current member of the PA NOW Executive Committee contacted Montana NOW President Marian Bradley. After consulting with each other, Montana NOW and Pennsylvania NOW decided to coordinate a state and national action to push back against this egregious behavior and use of rape myths.
We focused on both the unethical behavior of Judge Baugh and on working to overturn the illegal sentence handed down on Rambold.
The Ethics Complaint Against Judge Baugh
First, we focused on a petition to sanction Judge Baugh. The first step was to help get a groundswell of people calling for the Montana Judicial Standards Commission to review and sanction Judge Baugh for his behavior. Working with We are Ultraviolet and Fitzgibbon Media we gathered over 130,000 signatures calling for the state to sanction Judge Baugh. Meanwhile we contacted Legal Momentum (a national women’s advocacy organization that houses the National Judicial Education Program on Gender Bias in the Courts) and Pennsylvania’s Women’s Law Project to assist us in crafting our complaint.
Marian Bradley, President of Montana NOW delivering the NOW complaint to the MT Judicial Standards Commission on September 24, 2013.
Using these petition signatures, we publicly delivered our complaint on September 24, 2013 against Baugh urging the Montana Judicial Standards Commission and the Montana Supreme Court to
Remove Judge Baugh from the bench for his misconduct related to his handling of and speech about the rape case involving the sentencing of Stacey Rambold; and
Implement a mandatory judicial education program for the judiciary on the fair adjudication of sexual assault cases to help the Montana justice system develop techniques to minimize victim re-traumatization while safeguarding the rights of the defendant.
As a result of this complaint and several others, Judge Baugh acknowledged on December 7, 2013 that he violated one of the three ethics rules we alleged he had violated. He said that he had failed to “promote public confidence in the independence, integrity,and impartiality of the judiciary,” and did not “avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.” But he refused to acknowledge that he used racial and gender bias in handing down the sentence and as a result, did not uphold the law. So we submitted a response detailing the rape myths he used in creating the sentence and in not following the law with the minimum, mandatory two-year sentence.
Then Baugh, in an effort to avoid the sanctions he could see coming, announced in January that he would not be seeking reelection in 2014. A couple of weeks after this announcement, the Montana Judicial Standards Commission announced that they were sending a recommendation to the Montana Supreme Court to use their oversight powers to sanction Judge Baugh.
The Amicus Brief
Meanwhile, on December 6, 2013, the Montana Attorney General’s office filed an appeal before the Montana Supreme Court. They are asking the court to remand the case back to the Yellowstone County District Court for sentencing that would follow the state law’s mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines. They are asking for, at minimum, a four-year sentence.
NOW once again weighed in. Knowing that it is possible for advocacy groups to file “friend of the court” amicus curiae briefs, we contacted two members of our network of women’s legal advocacy organizations—The Women’s Law Project and Legal Momentum—to see if there was any interest in pursuing this amicus. They put us in contact with Legal Voice and the Sexual Violence Law Center. Both of these organizations are based in Seattle, Washington and serve women in Montana. As a result, all six organizations agreed to file an amicus.Attorney Vanessa Soriano Power and other members of the law firm Stoel Rives LLP took the lead in writing our brief and petitioning the Court to add our brief to their review of this case.
Montana’s Supreme Court rarely accepts amicus briefs, but did in this case. The amicus brief we filed focuses on rape myths and their inappropriate impact in adjudicating and sentencing in sexual-assault cases. We are asking the court to take the effect of these types of myths into account when making their decision in this case and, upon remand, to assign the case of Stacey Rambold to a new judge for appropriate and legal re-sentencing.
What’s Happening Now?
Both cases were sent to the Montana Supreme Court for review. We heard on April 25 (the 10th anniversary of the March for Women’s Lives in Washington DC that brought out over one million people) that the decisions on what type of sanctioning Judge Baugh will receive and whether or not Stacey Rambold will be re-sentenced is pending.
This morning, the Montana Supreme Court handed down their decision in the Montana v. Rambold case (copy of the opinion can be seen here). The Court listened to the arguments presented by both the Attorney General’s office and by NOW. They overturned (“vacated”) the 30-day sentence and remanded the case back to the Yellowstone County Courts for re-sentencing in line with the minimum mandatory sentencing guidelines. In addition, they have ordered the county to assign the case to another judge for Rambold’s re-sentencing.
The last two paragraphs of the opinion indicate that the Court heavily relied on our amicus in ordering the remand:
¶21 On remand for resentencing, we further instruct the court to reassign the case to a different judge to impose sentence. We have considered several factors to decide whether a new judge should be assigned to resentence a defendant in a particular case, among them; whether the original judge would reasonably be expected to have substantial difficulty in putting out of his or her mind previously-expressed views determined to be erroneous, whether reassignment is advisable to preserve the appearance of justice, and whether reassignment would entail waste and duplication out of proportion to any gain in preserving the appearance of fairness. Coleman v. Risley, 203 Mont. 237, 249, 663 P.2d 1154 (1983) 10 (citations omitted). In State v. Smith, 261 Mont. 419, 445-46, 863 P.2d 1000, 1016-17 (1993), we remanded for resentencing to a new judge when the judge’s statement at trial evidenced bias against the defendant. Even where bias did not require reassignment to a new judge, we have reassigned where media coverage and public outrage “have snowballed to create an appearance of impropriety.” Washington v. Montana Mining Properties, 243 Mont. 509, 516, 795 P.2d 460, 464 (1990).
¶22 In the present case, Judge Baugh’s statements reflected an improper basis for his decision and cast serious doubt on the appearance of justice. The idea that C.M. could have “control” of the situation is directly at odds with the law, which holds that a youth is incapable of consent and, therefore, lacks any control over the situation whatsoever. That statement also disregards the serious power disparity that exists between an adult teacher and his minor pupil. In addition, there is no basis in the law for the court’s distinction between the victim’s “chronological age” and the court’s perception of her maturity. Judge Baugh’s comments have given rise to several complaints before the Judicial Standards Commission, which has recommended disciplinary action by this Court. Those complaints will be addressed in a separate proceeding. Under these circumstances, we conclude that reassignment to a new judge is necessary to preserve the appearance of fairness and justice in this matter.
Meanwhile the sanctions against Judge Baugh are still pending. This was confirmed in this morning’s opinion announced by the Montana Supreme Court: Judge Baugh’s comments have given rise to several complaints before the Judicial Standards Commission, which has recommended disciplinary action by this Court. Those complaints will be addressed in a separate proceeding.
We feel strongly that our work on this case shows our commitment to looking out for the women, children and families of our states and our nation. This behavior by our teachers and our judiciary should not and will not be tolerated. Our vigilance will continue.
— blog written by Joanne Tosti-Vasey and Marian Bradley
Amici Curiae, Children, Crime, Ethics, Joanne Tosti-Vasey, Judge G. Todd Baugh (MT), Justice, Latino-Latina, Legal Momentum, Legal Voice, Marian Bradley, Montana Attorney General's Office, Montana Judicial Standards Commission, Montana NOW, Montana Supreme Court, Montana v. Rambold, Pennsylvania NOW, Racism, Rape, Rape Myths, Sexism, Sexual Assault Law Center, Stoel Rives LLP, Victim-Blaming, Women's Law Project Cherise Morales, child sexual assault, current-events, ethics, Gender-based Violence, Judge G. Todd Baugh, Montana Judicial Standards Commission, Montana NOW, Montana Supreme Court, national organization for women, Pennsylvania NOW, racism, rape case, rape culture, sexism, Stacey Rambold, victim-blaming, violence against women 8 Comments
Montana and Pennsylvania NOW Respond to Judge G. Todd Baugh
On September 24, 2013, Montana NOW and Pennsylvania NOW submitted a complaint about Judge G. Todd Baugh to the Montana Judicial Standards Commission. In my capacity as a member of the Executive Committee of Pennsylvania NOW, I worked with Marian Bradley, President of Montana NOW, to craft the original Complaint. You can read a summary of and public delivery of this complaint to the Commission here.
Marian Bradley, President of Montana NOW speaking at the delivery of the NOW complaint to the MT Judicial Commission.
Judge Baugh responded to our complaint on November 13, 2013. The Commission sent us a copy of his response on November 19, 2013. They gave us twenty days to review and advise the Commission on the factual accuracy of Judge Baugh’s response. Our response was faxed to the Commission on Saturday morning, December 7, 2013.
In our initial Complaint, Montana NOW and Pennsylvania NOW alleged that Judge G. Todd Baugh violated the following three Ethics Rules:
Rule 1.2 says, “promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.”
Rule 2.2 says, “shall uphold and apply the law, and shall perform all duties of judicial office fairly and impartially.”
Rule 2.3 says, “shall not, in the performance of judicial duties, by words or conduct manifest bias or prejudice, or engage in harassment, including but not limited to bias, prejudice, or harassment based upon race, sex, gender, …socioeconomic status, …”
In his response to our Complaint (and in the press), Judge Baugh acknowledges that he violated Rule 1.2 but denies any violation of Rule 2.2 or 2.3. We believe he is in error and continues to violate these two rules in addition to Rule 1.2. Judge Baugh claims in his response to our Complaint that he did not violate either Rule 2.2 or 2.3 because he “read” the materials presented to him. He then goes on to say, “Some phrases [of what I read] stuck in my mind, but it was inappropriate to repeat them.”
We reviewed his complaint and saw additional comments of continued disregard for the performance of his duties and bias in sexual assault cases. For example as just mentioned, Judge Baugh says that he now won’t repeat whatever it was that “stuck in his mind” but was “inappropriate” to repeat. This along with many other statements during and after the sentencing trial, in the press, and in his response all point to error in his refusal to acknowledge his violation of all three ethics rules.
Our response directly supports our initial Complaint of the violation of Rules 1.2, 2.2, and 2.3 based upon Judge Baugh’s response. We added additional comments about this particular case. In addition, we included supporting information as to what other judges throughout the country have said in relation to adjudicating and sentencing in sexual assault cases in general. We believe that this supporting commentary from fellow judges backs up our concerns about the mishandling of this case.
The following is a copy of the Response that we filed on Saturday
// FINAL PDF- Response to Baugh Complaint Response December 7_ 2013 –
We believe that Judge Baugh violated all three rules (1.2, 2.2, and 2.3). He agrees with us that he violated Rule 1.2 in that he failed to promote public confidence and failed to avoid impropriety in his statement and minimal sentencing of Rambold.
We disagree completely in his refusal to acknowledge the violation of Rules 2.2 and 2.3. He did NOT uphold and apply the law relating to the sexual assault of a minor. He did not perform his duties fairly and impartially. His words, his conduct throughout this case and in the media, and his response to our Complaint continue to show bias or prejudice based upon race, sex, gender, and socioeconomic status.
Judge Baugh’s statements and behavior need more than a letter of censure which he claims he was told by a member of the panel in October that he would get. Judge Baugh listened to the recommendations of the Defendant and not to the law. Again, with his Response to our Complaint, Judge Baugh continues to show that he has no regard for the law in the area of sexual assaults of minors and thus believes that censure is the correct remedy for violating “only” one rule – Rule 1.2. He takes no responsibility whatsoever for violating Rules 2.2 and 2.3.
Hopefully the Judicial Standards Commission will do the morally and legally right thing, find that he violated all three rules, and remove Judge G. Todd Bench from the bench. And if the case is remanded back to the local court by the Supreme Court for resentencing, we hope that this case will be given to another judge.
Children, Ethics, Joanne Tosti-Vasey, Judge G. Todd Baugh (MT), Marian Bradley, Montana, Montana Judicial Standards Commission, Montana NOW, Montana Supreme Court, Pennsylvania NOW, Rape, Sexual Assault, Stacey Rambold, Victim-Blaming, Violence, Women of Color child sexual assault, ethics, Joanne Tosti-Vasey, Judge G. Todd Baugh, Judicial Misconduct, Marian Bradley, Montana Judicial Standards Commission, Montana NOW, Montana Supreme Court, Pennsylvania NOW, Rape, Sexual Assault, Stacey Rambold, victim-blaming 6 Comments
Special Report: IRS Scandal Shakes Washington (OR IS IT?)
I just read this blog by Michael J. Rosen about the extra scrutiny of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. I decided to repost his blog with three sets of comments. My comments give thought to three different sets of questions:
What else besides what we’ve heard about might have helped lead to this “scandal?”
Is it really a “scandal?” Do we know?
Is this issue likely to go away soon?
What else might be behind this scandal?
Besides a lack of training and oversight that we’ve heard about, I think another part of this whole problem is the backlog of applications in the non-profit division of the IRS. I talked to them the other day about a non-profit I work with that is attempting to get its 501(c)4 status reinstated due to the 990-N issue. The agent I talked to said that they are getting over 5,000 applications every month and are working on them on a first come, first serve basis.
The IRS website says that with the small staff they have, there is an even greater backlog on applications than what the agent told me. Here’s that IRS statement.
“All [non-profit] applications are sent to the IRS Determinations Office in Cincinnati. This office receives approximately 70,000 applications for tax-exempt status of all kinds each year [that averages out to 5,833 new applicants each month]. This includes applications from section 501(c)(3) and section 501(c)(4) organizations. This office, which includes fewer than 200 people working directly on applications, is primarily responsible for working determination applications.”
The agent helped me to figure out the current status of this VERY SMALL non-profit that I’m working with (if it brings in $400/year for this group, it’s doing well). He told me that the records show that all of the paperwork at our end is basically complete, but the application won’t be reviewed until the office gets to the applications marked as “complete” as of September 2012 (when he says my group officially completed the paperwork). And, directing me to another section of the website, he pointed out that the office is currently working on applications from early May 2012 – i.e., over a 1 year delay in processing!
The aforementioned web page also goes into more detail, from the official IRS viewpoint, of what happened with the Tea Party organizations. It says that approximately 70 Tea Party groups were put into the in-depth “centralized” review; that out of a total of, currently, about 470 organizations being given similar treatment.
Is it a Scandal? Do We Really Know?
A scandal is defined as “a circumstance or action that offends propriety or established moral conceptions or disgraces those associated with it.” A political scandal is “an instance of government wrongdoing” that offends or disgraces those directly associated with that wrongdoing.
In this case, so far, it doesn’t appear to be a scandal that rises to the level of the White House. According to the Washington Post, based on increasing evidence, the IRS issue is very bad press for the Obama administration. According to their report,
If we believe the agency inspector general’s report, a group of employees in a division called the “Determinations Unit…” started giving tea party groups extra scrutiny, were told by agency leadership to knock it off, started doing it again, and then were reined in a second time and told that any further changes to the screening criteria needed to be approved at the highest levels of the agency.
The White House fired the acting director of the agency [this week] on the theory that somebody had to be fired and he was about the only guy they had the power to fire. They’re also instructing the IRS to implement each and every one of the IG’s recommendations to make sure this never happens again.
And from all the evidence obtained so far, there is no evidence of any connection between the “Determinations Unit” and the Obama administration. So unless there is a smoking gun hidden somewhere, there is no political scandal within the White House. Time will tell.
Is this issue likely to go away anytime soon?
No, I personally doubt that the issue will “go away” anytime soon.
Three reasons:
partisan politics to continue attacking Obama’s executive branch;
long history of spying and intrusiveness; and
free-speech issues.
The first issue is purely partisan. Issues that Republicans think will make President Obama look bad are brought up again and again even when the public, to some extent (but not the base) has moved on. Has the Benghazi issue died? How many times will the Republican-dominated House vote to revoke Obamacare before they give up?
The second issue is spying and intrusiveness that, for the first time in a long time, concerns both sides of the aisle. There has been a long history of the feds, usually the FBI, targeting non-profits. Think of the Friends (Quakers) peace-related work for example or the Communist-baiting of the 1950s. Usually it’s the more progressive, left-leaning groups that are targeted. These groups have a long memory and I think may, in this case, support the concerns raised in this non-profit scrutiny case. And since there were progressive groups in this list of targeted non-profits, both sides have some ammunition to push back against the actions of the IRS.
The third is a First Amendment issue. Combine these IRS actions with the free press concerns over the Justice Department’s review of press reporters’ phone logs; both sides have screamed NO. What you have here are two different departments of the executive branch allegedly intruding on the First Amendment: one department—the IRS—may be attacking an individual’s free speech rights and another department—the Justice Department—may be attacking freedom of the press. Both protections are contained within the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
So no, based on all three routes of concern, I don’t think this issue will go away anytime soon.
Michael Rosen Says...
This week, the US Internal Revenue Service acknowledged and apologized for behavior that had long been rumored. The IRS improperly targeted for extra scrutiny conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.
The IRS did not ultimately deny tax-exempt status to a single group receiving extra scrutiny. Some say this proves that the actions of the IRS were baseless.
The scandal has now shaken the nation’s capital:
President Barack Obama directed Jack Lew, Secretary of the Treasury, to request the resignation of Steven Miller, Acting IRS Commissioner.
Miller resigned and Lew accepted the resignation.
The Justice Department has initiated a criminal investigation.
Exercising its oversight responsibility, Congress has begun its own probe of the IRS scandal.
Obama addressed the nation on television saying, “It’s inexcusable and Americans are right to be angry about it and I am angry about it. I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency, but particularly…
1st Amendment (Free Speech), 1st Amendment (Freedom of the Press), Civil Liberties, civil society, Congress, Democracy, Ethics, History, IRS (Internal Revenue Service), Media, President Barack Obama, scandal, Society of Friends (Quakers), tax-exempt, Taxes, Tea Party organizations, The White House, US House of Representatives Barack Obama, civil society, Congress, crisis, democracy, ethics, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, IRS Scandal, Jack Lew, Leonard Cohen, nonprofit, right thing, scandal, special report, Steven Miller, tax-exempt 2 Comments
Institutional Corruption and the Influence of Money and Politics on People’s Lives
This morning, I was scanning Tweets that came into my Twitter account. One of the Tweets said,
“Why the phrase ‘Supreme Court to hear campaign-finance case’ should scare you.”
It contained a link to an article in the Daily Beast. This article said that the US Supreme Court has decided to take another look at campaign financing in a case from the United States District Court in DC called McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. I read the article.
And yes this case scares me. McCutcheon argues that there should be no limits at all on campaign financing. It scares me because I believe that if the Supreme Court rules in favor of McCutchen, there will be more influence and therefore more institutional corruption on our public policy. This will then allow the creation of more holes in the safety net for people’s lives due to the corrupting influence of big money. For clarification, institutional corruption is defined as:
[T]he consequence of an influence within an economy of influence that illegitimately weakens the effectiveness of an institution especially by weakening the public trust of the institution.
Why? Because I do not trust the members of the current Supreme Court to openly and fairly take into account that elected officials need to answer to their constituents and not to the people and companies and lobbyists that influence them by throwing lots of money and offering consulting jobs to these elected officials (a form of “money”) once they leave office.
My mistrust results from their decision in the 2009 Citizens’ United case. They held that the First Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits the government from restricting independent political campaign expenditures from corporations and unions. The aftermath of this decision has been devastating. Immediately after this decision, the DC Circuit Court (which handles cases involving federal regulations) ruled that
“individuals could make unlimited contributions to so-called Super PACs, which supported individual candidates.”
And what did we see? In the 2010 elections, Super PACs—mostly funded by the mega-rich—assisted conservative Tea Party candidates at all levels of government to win seats that they would not have otherwise been able to win. This resulted in a lot of gerrymandering around the country for the incumbents’ self-interest. And in 2012, $6.2 billion was spent on elections; over $10 million of these funds were given to a small number of Super Pacs by a very small number of mega-wealthy individuals—including the Koch brothers—to influence the outcome of the elections.
If this case overturns what few limits on campaign financing are left, the doors for institutional corruption will be thrown wide open. Candidates will spend even more time chasing money, mostly soliciting funds from large, non-constituent individuals and corporations. Most of these individuals are heads of corporations whose special interest is their bottom-line profits and not the interests of the “47%.”
Fred Wertheimer is President of Democracy 21. It is a non-partisan group that works to eliminate the undue influence of big money in the public arena. He agrees with me that big money corrupts our public institutions. In a press statement on February 19, he said that the
“[A]ggregate limit on contributions by individuals is necessary to prevent circumvention of the limits on contributions to candidates and political parties and the prohibition on federal officeholders soliciting huge corrupting contributions.”
And further, if the Supreme Court either completely guts or weakens campaign financing, this decision
“…would open the door to $1 million and $2 million dollar contributions from an individual buying corrupting influence with a powerful officeholder soliciting these contributions, and with the political party and federal candidates benefiting from these seven figure contributions.”
I believe that it is the local constituent who should be influencing their representatives. Not corporations. Not big money. And not the 1% at the top of the income ladder who do not live or experience the lives of the people who live in each of our communities.
I am one of the 85% of Americans who view Congress unfavorably because of what they have NOT been doing for people’s lives. Like allowing funds for critical domestic programs to be cut due to the budgetary stalling and delays of the Fiscal Cliff and Hurricane Sandy debates and resulting Sequestration that now looks like it will become reality this coming Friday. Like delaying passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) from being reauthorized for over two years (which, may change tomorrow when and if the House FINALLY votes on the Senate-passed VAWA Act of 2013). Like talking about but not taking any comprehensive action, so far, to deal with violence and gun safety (for more information on this gun safety issue, read my blogs here and here).
No, I don’t trust the US Supreme Court. And no, I do not trust Congress. All because of the influence of money on the decisions the do and do not make.
Institutional Corruption is a problem. We need to reduce that corruption. We need to empower the small donors. New York City, as well as Los Angeles and San Francisco have done this. And in a plan put together by Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law and Democracy 21, we could do the same thing as well across the country. Look at the plan and then lobby your legislator, even if you don’t trust him or her. Vote for candidates in the future who pledge to listen to their constituents and not to big money.
This will take a long time. But it is necessary. Then and only then do I believe that we can and will be able to trust our elected officials to truly represent us and our concerns.
For More Information on Institutional Corruption
For more information, watch the video below. In this 2009 presentation, Lawrence Lessig defines institutional corruption. He then discusses the probable effects of this undue influence of money (broadly defined) not only on elected officials but its effect on other institutions, such as the EPA and medical research.
1st Amendment (Free Speech), Brennan Center for Justice, Campaign Finance, Campaign Finance Reform, Citizens United, Congress, Court Decisions, Democracy 21, Elections, EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), Ethics, FEC (Federal Elections Commission), Fiscal Cliff, Fred Wertheimer, Gun Safety, Hurricane Sandy, Institutional Corruption, Lawrence Lessig, McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, New York University, NYU School of Law, US Supreme Court, VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) campaign expenditures, campaign finance, Civil Liberties, Congress, current-events, dc circuit court, elections, federal election commission, first amendment to the us constitution, government, Gun Safety, Hurricane Sandy, institutional corruption, Lobbying, politics, public policy, trust in government, united states district, US Supreme Court, VAWA 0 Comments
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Following a nationwide search, Pierce County has selected Judith C. Archer to be director of Human Resources.
Archer joins the County from Kinder Morgan, Inc., where she served nearly eight years as the director of Human Resources for the Texas-based energy infrastructure company and its 11,000 employees.
“Judy has a remarkably broad background in Human Resources,” said Bruce Dammeier, County Executive. “Whether at a small privately held company, a large multi-national public corporation, or a startup, Judy has brought strong leadership, skilled change management and respected labor relations negotiations to every organization she has served. Her strong track record of developing and implementing effective human resources strategies will serve the employees and, ultimately the residents, of Pierce County.”
The new County role marks a return to the Pacific Northwest for Archer. Earlier in her career she held positions at Tacoma Goodwill, Pioneer Industries and Toray Composites.
Archer earned a B.A. in Business Administration from Maryville College, a Masters’ of Science in Adult Education from the University of Tennessee, and a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Her first day at Pierce County will be May 21, 2018.
Media: Click here for photo of Judith Archer.
Libby Catalinich, Director, Office of Communications
libby.catalinich@piercecountywa.gov
⇐Previous Section of Stone Drive Northwest to be closed for 30 days starting May 29Next⇒ Pierce County Council comments on the passing of Claudia Thomas
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Spices and herbs, Part 14: Eng. coriander/cilantro and Sp. cilantro/coriandro & culantro
[This entry is an excerpt from Chapter 47, "Spices and herbs", of Part II of the open-source textbook Spanish-English Cognates: An Unconventional Introduction to Spanish Linguistics.]
Eng. coriander/cilantro and Sp. cilantro/coriandro & culantro
The plant known as coriander or cilantro in English is ‘an aromatic annual Eurasian herb (Coriandrum sativum) in the parsley family, having parsley-like leaves and umbels of tiny white to pinkish flowers. It is cultivated for its edible fruits, leafy shoots, and roots’ (AHD). The word coriander is also used for ‘the fresh young leafy plantlets of this herb, used in salads and various dishes as a flavoring and garnish’ (AHD). Other names for this second sense, the leaves used in cooking, are coriander greens, fresh coriander, coriander herb, Chinese parsley, dhania and, in North America (primarily the US), cilantro, a word borrowed from Spanish in the early 20th century. Finally, the word coriander is also used for ‘the seed-like fruit of this plant, used whole or ground as a flavoring for food and as a seasoning, as in curry powder’ (AHD).
Figure 183: Cilantro/coriander leaves.[i]
The plant is probably native to what is now Iran and it grows wild in southern Europe, northern Africa, and southwestern Asia. It is commonly used in the cooking of many cultures, including Asian and Mexican, for example. The botanical name for this plant is Coriandrum sativum. Coriandrum is a genus of herbs in the Apiaceae or Umbelliferæ family (also known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family). In addition to the cultivated species, Coriandrum sativum, there is a wild species, namely Coriandrum tordylium.
The word coriander, pronounced [kɔ.ɹi.ˈæn.dəɹ] (US) or [kɒ.ɹi.ˈæn.dəɹ] (UK), is a 13th or 14th century loanword from French coriandre, which was a loan from Lat. coriandrum, the name for this plant and, now, also the scientific name of the genus to which this plant belongs. Latin itself borrowed this word from Greek κορίανδρον (koríandron), though there was a more common version of this word, namely κορίαννον (koríannon). The source of the Greek name is not clear. Some think it is of foreign origin (a borrowing from a non-Indo-European language), whereas others think it is derived from the word κόρις (kóris), the same of a bed bug which would have been given to the plant because of its fetid smell of the unripe fruit of this plant.
There are also several names for this plant in Spanish: cilantro, coriandro, culantro europeo, perejil chino, and dania. The name cilantro [sɪ.ˈlæn.tɹoʊ̯] in English is used mostly in the United States and it is a recent borrowing from Spanish cilantro, dating back to the early 20th century. The Spanish word cilantro is a 17th century alteration of the traditional name for this plant, which was culantro, itself a popular alteration of the Late Latin version coliandrum of the Latin name coriandrum, displaying some unusual sound changes. The variant culantro is first attested around the year 1100 and it is the form preferred for this plant in many Spanish-speaking countries, though there is another plant that is native to the Americas that has received this name as well (see below).
Fresh coriander leaves are very common in the cuisine of Spanish-speaking countries. It is an essential ingredient of Mexican chutney, salsa verde, and guacamole, for example. Cilantro leaves are never cooked, since cooking destroys its flavor, and it shouldn’t be dried or frozen either, for the same reason. Some countries besides Mexico where cilantro is very commonly used are Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela and parts of Spain.
Coriander seeds are typically used dried in cooking. They can be ground or crushed. They are used in Indian cooking, for instance, where they are an ingredient of Indian curry powder. They are also used in the production of some Belgium wheat beers, German sausages, Russian rye bread, and in native dishes of Ethiopian and Arab cuisine. Finally, the ground seeds are added to coffee to make it aromatic in the Middle East.
Figure 184: Dried coriander fruits, called coriander seeds when used as a spice.[ii]
We have already mentioned the source of the name coriandrum. As for the second word in the botanical species name, sativum, it comes from the neuter form of the Latin adjective sătīvus ‘(that is) sown or planted’ (as opposed to agrestis or silvestris ‘that grows wild’). The adjective sătīvus is derived from the stem săt‑ of the passive participle sătum of the verb serĕre ‘to sow, plant, etc.’, by means of the first-second declension adjective-forming suffix ‑īv‑(us). This verb has left no descendants in Spanish, where the verb ‘to sow’ is sembrar, a patrimonial descendant from Lat. sēmināre, another word meaning ‘to plant’ and ‘to seed’. Curiously, however, the Latin verb serĕre (root: ser‑) is related to the English verb sow, since they both descend from the Proto-Indo-European root *se‑, which is also found in many other English words, such as semen, season, and seed (and also in the Spanish word sembrar that we just saw, and related Spanish words, such as semilla ‘seed’. Finally, the adjective sătīvus has been borrowed into English and Spanish as the rare adjectives Eng. sative and Sp. sátivo/a, both meaning ‘cultivated’, though the English word is now obsolete.
The early variant culantro of this plant’s name is used in parts of the Americas, in places such as Perú and Honduras, for the same plant cilantro we have been discussing. In other countries, however, the word culantro is reserved for a different plant, which is native to the tropics of the Americas. The botanical name of this other plant is Eryngium foetidum, and it goes by a number of names in Spanish, depending on the region: sacha cilantro (Peru), cilantro de monte (Venezuela), chillangua (Ecuador), cimarrón, culantro, alcapate, cilantro de tierra, and recao, among others. In English, this plant is known primarily as culantro, shadow beni, Mexican coriander, bhandhania, or long coriander, though it is not well-known in North America.
Figure 185: Eryngium foetidum foliage[iii]
This culantro plant (Eryngium foetidum) is also from the Apiaceae family, like coriander (Coriandrum sativum), but from a different genus. It has spiny appearance and a stronger aroma and taste as coriander. This plant is native to Mexico, Central America, and South America, and it is not well known in the United States outside immigrant communities from those regions. According to Wikipedia, this plant
is widely used seasoning, marinating and garnishing in the Caribbean, particularly in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Guyana, Suriname, and in Peru’s Amazon regions. It is also used extensively in Cambodia, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Laos, and other parts of Asia as a culinary herb.[iv]
For example, fresh culantro leaves are an important ingredient of sancocho, a thick soup containing meat, plantain, yucca, and other ingredients that is common in South America and the Caribbean (it has been called the national dish of countries such as Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Panama). In addition, culantro has been used in traditional medicine (ethnomedicine) for many ailments, including problems with the digestive system.
Finally, let us look at the source of the botanical name of American Eryngium foetidum. The genus name Eryngium was given to umbelliferous plants (from the family Apiaceae or Umbelliferæ family) resembling thistles. It comes from Latin eryngium, the name of some type of thistle, which comes from Ancient Greek ἠρύγγιον (ērúngion), of uncertain origin. As for the second part of the species name, foetidum, this is much clearer, since both English and Spanish have descendants of this word, namely Eng. fetid (earlier fœtid) and Sp. fétido/a. Lat. foetidum is the neuter form of the adjective fētĭdus or foetĭdus that meant ‘that has an ill smell, stinking, fetid’ (L&S).
[i] Source: “Canelle Cinnamomum burmannii Luc Viatour” by I, Luc Viatour. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canelle_Cinnamomum_burmannii_Luc_Viatour.jpg#/media/File:Canelle_Cinnamomum_burmannii_Luc_Viatour.jpg
[ii] Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coriander.jpg (2018.09.30)
[iii] Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EryngiumfoetidumMM.jpg (2018.09.30)
[iv] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eryngium_foetidum (2018.09.30)
Spices and herbs, Part 14: Eng. coriander/cilantro...
Spices and herbs, Part 15: Eng. cinnamon and Sp. c...
Spices and herbs, Part 16: Eng. clove and Sp. clav...
Spices and herbs, Part 17: Eng. cumin and Sp. comi...
Spices and herbs, Part 18: Eng. curry and Sp. curr...
Spices and herbs, Part 19: Eng. ginger and Sp. jen...
Spices and herbs, Part 20: Eng. horseradish and Sp...
The Latin root CAN-, Part 1: Unexpected cognates
The Latin root CAN-, Part 2: The name Carmen and E...
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Home > Free first week on offer as new 1,000-space Temple Green park and ride service gets set to start
Located next to the A63 at the heart of Leeds’ Gateway45 Enterprise Zone, Temple Green Park & Ride will provide commuters with a 15-minute bus link to the city centre, running every 10 to 15 minutes.
Tickets will cost as little as £2.70 per day and up to three children travel free with every fare-paying adult.
But for the first week, from Monday 19 to Saturday 24 June, people can try out the service for free.
They simply need to park and get on board the modern, free Wi-Fi equipped, low-emission First West Yorkshire bus that will be waiting to whisk them to the city centre’s Boar Lane stop. Buses back to Temple Green leave from the same stop.
Weekdays, services will run between 6am and 9pm and on Saturdays from 7am to 7pm.
Temple Green Park and Ride has been developed after the huge success of the Elland Road facility, which opened in 2014. West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Council have already doubled the capacity of the Elland Road Park and Ride to around 800 spaces, due to its popularity. And this week the opening hours were also extended.
Like Elland Road Park and Ride, Temple Green will have indoor heated and staffed passenger facilities which include toilets, a baby changing area and ticket machines. And as well as disabled parking spaces, there is also cycle and motorcycle parking and electric vehicle spaces with free charging points.
Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor Judith Blake said:
“We are delighted to see this new park and ride service open at Temple Green, adding to the fantastic success of Elland Road and offering people in east Leeds the same increased choice in terms of travel options to get to and from the city centre each day.
“Park and ride and improved bus services are a key element of our transport strategy for the city, taking cars out of the city centre and helping to reduce emissions and improve air quality which is vitally important.
“We are pleased to be working with our partners at West Yorkshire Combined Authority and First West Yorkshire in delivering this new service, and look forward to seeing it being well used in the weeks, months and years to come.”
Councillor Keith Wakefield, Chair of West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Transport Committee, said:
“Temple Green Park and Ride is the second major West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund scheme to be completed, following on from the opening of the Wakefield Eastern Relief Road in May.
“The Combined Authority established the £1bn Transport Fund projects to support economic growth and the creation of new jobs and providing links between Leeds city centre and the Gateway45 Enterprise Zone, Temple Green Park & Ride has been designed do just that.
“I am confident that these new services will prove popular with people approaching Leeds on the M1 and from the east of the city.”
Will Pearson, Operations Director at First West Yorkshire, said:
“Following on from the success of Elland Road Park & Ride, we’re pleased to be the official operators for the new Temple Green Park & Ride site.
“As one of the major bus operators in Leeds, we remain committed to working in partnership with Leeds City Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to provide reliable bus services and encouraging even more people to travel by bus, and we look forward to welcoming customers on board this summer.”
Issued by West Yorkshire Combined Authority. Contact Martin Driver at 0113 251 7214 or 07818 04 14 63.
Temple Green park and ride is located at is situated adjacent to the A63 Pontefract Lane close to junction 45 of the M1. Postcode: LS9 0PU
Services will run:
every 15 minutes from 6am-7am, Monday to Friday.
every 10 minutes from 7am-7pm, Monday to Saturday.
Buses run every 10-15 minutes.
£3 Day ticket or £2.70 when people buy five or more on a smartcard.
15-minute journey into the city from Temple Green.
Up to three children travel free with every fare-paying adult.
Staffed, heated waiting facility with toilets / baby changing area and ticket machines.
Free Wi-Fi on all buses.
1,000 spaces, safe, secure, well-lit parking and CCTV.
Disabled, cycle and motorcycle spaces.
Electric vehicle spaces with free charging points.
For more information visit www.iparkandride.com
West Yorkshire Combined Authority is the driving force for economic growth across the Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield districts, the City of York and the wider Leeds City Region.
Uniquely, West Yorkshire Combined Authority includes the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP), bringing key decision-makers together into a single body delivering enhanced economic growth for West Yorkshire and Leeds City Region.
At £64.6bn the Leeds City Region’s is already the largest city region economy outside London and the largest in the north. The Leeds City Region Strategic Economic Plan aims to deliver 35,700 additional net jobs and £3.7bn additional economic output (above and beyond business-as-usual growth) by 2036, unlocking the Leeds City Region’s full economic potential and making it the low-carbon ‘growth engine’ for the North.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority is using its £1bn Transport Fund Programme to improve access to jobs and leisure, making the City Region a better place to live and work.
www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk
Gateway45 Leeds incorporates Leeds City Council’s newest park and ride transport hub, connecting the scheme effortlessly to the city’s available workforce.
More information at www.gateway45leeds.com/
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couldhavebeenacontender
Movies ! From every nook and corner of the world.
Tag Archives: Joss Whedon
December 7, 2013 by Rohit Jagadeesan
Movies: Non-English
I Served the King of England (Czech Republic, 2006) [ IMDB: 7.3, Rotten Tomatoes: 81%]
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgvlt_FFxJw
The story of an ambitious waiter and the women in his life set in the background of World War 2. This poignant and funny tale is in the tradition of similar Czech films. A throwback to the excesses of Nazis when they had the upper hand in the war, the film does not fail to mock the Nazis even when the mood turns sober. Not a must watch but certainly worth your time.
He Loves Me… He Loves Me Not ( France, 2002) [ IMDB: 7.2, Rotten Tomatoes: 85%]
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2d8uitPvMU
The thing with this movie is that you don’t expect it to have the twists and turns with a crowd favourite like Audrey Tautou in the lead. This under appreciated French film takes an unexpected turn and in a split second the whole premise of the movie changes. From a sweet love story it becomes a tale of violent obsession. Every story has two sides. Some of them a few more.
English Retrospective
On the Waterfront (1954) [ IMDB: 8.3, Rotten Tomatoes: 100%]
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSImMMMf5nA
A few people (the curious types) have asked me the origin of the name of this blog. It comes from a dialogue in the movie ‘On the Waterfront’. It is faithfully reproduced below:
“Charlie: Oh I had some bets down for you. You saw some money.
Terry: You don’t understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it. It was you, Charley.”
It is one of the saddest dialogues I have ever heard; the kind that puts in a capsule a lot of emotions. That feeling of what could have been, but for. Only real life dialogue of this nature that made be feel sad for the speaker was uttered by Al Gore when he said, ” Once I was the next President of USA.” I am sure Al Gore is not reading this but just for the sake of it he should know that he will have a more respectable place in World History than the idiot who stole the election.
Coming to the movie, it is a masterclass in acting from Marlon Brando. One of the movies to see before you die.
Saving Private Ryan (1998) [ IMDB: 8.6, Rotten Tomatoes: 95%]
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwhP5b4tD6g
I have not yet seen a movie which has war scenes shot with such perfection as ‘Saving Private Ryan’. It remains an injustice that this film lost the Best Picture Oscar to ‘Shakespeare in Love’. My favourite Tom Hanks leads a mission to find and return Private Ryan whose three brothers have been slain in action during the Second World War. Steven Spielberg deservedly won the Oscar for the Best Director for this flick and strangely that was the last time he tasted Oscar success. Everything about this film is top notch and close to perfection. I am biased towards Tom Hanks and Matt Damon. Therefore I cannot say anything bad about this movie. Must watch.
Shakespeare in Love (1998) [IMDB: 7.2, Rotten Tomatoes: 93%]
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CxNF4eA6yw
Sometimes an idea can lead to a great story and when such a story has a great screenplay and free dialogues from Shakespeare, it can have unexpected success. The germ of the idea here is the question: ‘How could Shakespeare write such fine romance without himself being in love?’ What comes out of this idea is ‘Shakespeare in Love’, a fictionalized movie trying to imagine the inspiration for the Bard of Avon’s romantic works especially ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Sometimes originality gets the better of everything. As a friend once told me, if imitation is the best art then his ‘Juliet and Romeo’ should also have been equally famous as ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Ultimately ‘Shakespeare in Love’ upset the apple cart of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ at the Oscars winning seven Oscars to the latter’s five.
Movies I Saw This Week
Captain Phillips (2013) [ IMDB: 8.1, Rotten Tomatoes: 94%]
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3ASoBrFGlc
Tom Hanks get back his mojo back after a few duds in this out and out thriller directed by Paul Greengrass. Greengrass who was behind the Borne series, had worked in the television industry before turning a feature film director. The influence of television is evident in the way he uses the camera for a lot of hand held shots and the movement of the camera contributes to the element of tension on screen. Even though ‘Captain Phillips’ is one of the better thrillers to have come out in recent years, I believe that earlier works of Greengrass like ‘United 93’ and ‘Bloody Sunday’ were better made and had more interesting stories to tell. As for this one, it would a major surprise if Tom Hanks lands an Oscar for his role. Coming to the story, the film gives a blow by blow account of the hostage crisis involving the hijacking of a US flagged cargo ship by Somali pirates, the first such event in 200 years. A nice one time watch.
Hello I Must Be Going (2012) [ IMDB: 6.0, Rotten Tomatoes: 73%]
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g71WfCXUTrY
Hailed at the Sundance Film Festival for some breakout performances, this feature tells the story of a lady trying to get her life back on track after going through a divorce. I don’t know why they advertised this as a comedy because the overwhelming feeling was of sadness and I did not come even close to laughing. Nothing much to write about and also nothing much to whine about. An average flick.
Much Ado About Nothing (2013) [ IMDB: 7.3, Rotten Tomatoes: 84%]
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUWlPjXvFZU
A faithful adaptation of Shakespeare’s work by the same title, this is the kind of movie that only Hollywood would finance. Where else would they have the guts to make movies with very much the same dialogues that Shakespeare wrote. Shot in classy black and white, it is a film that demands attention and the returns are quite good if you can give what the film asks for.
Gori Tere Pyaar Mein (India, 2013) [ IMDB: 4.5, Rotten Tomatoes: 36%]
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg-t4Wsa6LU
Yes, I saw it like some of you. Not worth reviewing. I empathize with those who spent money to watch this torture. It is the kind of film where the director should stand outside the theatre and apologize to every single person who comes out after watching his movie.
Documentary Pick of the Week
The Crash Reel (2013) [ IMDB: 7.6, Rotten Tomatoes: 100%]
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KkFZ-QC53Q
Shaun White was the King of Snow. Kevin Pearce was his challenger in the half-pipe event. They were friends. They were world number 1 and 2 in the lead up to the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Then tragedy struck. A documentary which captures a story that must be told. One of the documentaries of the year. My heart goes out to Kevin’s mother. Even though she is never at the focus of the events, it is her strength of character that shines through the whole story. Just for the record, I cried.
Eagerly Waiting for: ‘Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues’ because some stupid films of Will Ferrell have their moments of madness.
Did you know: Nelson Mandela appears as a teacher in the film ‘Malcom X’, his only appearance as an actor in a movie. RIP Nelson Mandela.
Tagged Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Audrey Tautou, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Blythe Danner, Christopher Abbott, Elia Kazan, Fran Kranz, Geoffrey Rush, Gwyneth Paltrow, Imran Khan, Internet Movie Database, Isabelle Carré, Ivan Barnev, Jirí Menzel, John Madden, Joseph Fiennes, Joss Whedon, Julia Jentsch, Kareena Kapoor, Karl Malden, Kevin Pearce, Laetitia Colombani, Lee J. Cobb, Lucy Walker, Marlon Brando, Mason Aguirre, Matt Damon, Melanie Lynskey, Oldrich Kaiser, Paul Greengrass, Punit Malhotra, RottenTomatoes, Samuel Le Bihan, Shakespeare in Love, Shaun White, Shraddha Kapoor, Steven Spielberg, Todd Louiso, Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore
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Flask for Beginners 2017
Course Intro (0:59)
Flask Basics
Installation and Hello World (2:21)
Intro to Routes (3:48)
Route Methods (1:56)
Route Variables (2:54)
Request Query String (3:18)
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Request Json Data (4:48)
Incoming Request Method (4:24)
Redirects And url_for (4:29)
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Intro To Templates (2:09)
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Food Tracker App
Demo (1:27)
The Starting Html Files (1:35)
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Get List Of Foods For Day (6:00)
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Adding Links (2:28)
Refactor (8:37)
Deployment Server Setup on Amazon Lightsail (10:05)
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Errata (1:42)
Question & Answer App
Overview of Templates (2:12)
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Creating Database (3:29)
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Common User Function (6:00)
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User Setup Page (7:35)
Create Question (10:00)
List Questions (6:39)
Answer Question (7:56)
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Question Page (3:58)
Preventing Duplicate Users (6:31)
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Formatting Queries (2:32)
Added Link Macro (4:58)
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Member API
Setting Up The App And Test With Postman (6:01)
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Get All Members (4:19)
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Authentication Decorator (4:40)
Deploy To Python Anywhere (8:40)
Ways to Improve Apps (3:03)
Course Outro (0:35)
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The Latest: Best bet: Duke is favored to win NCAA Tournament
By The Associated Press - Mar. 17, 2019 09:35 PM EDT
Duke's Zion Williamson (1) goes up to dunk against Florida State during the first half of the NCAA college basketball championship game of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, March 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
The Latest on Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament (all times local):
Betting on March Madness is starting with many gamblers throwing their weight behind Duke and freshman phenom Zion Williamson.
William Hill US says nearly 20 percent of the money bet on the NCAA Tournament winner over the past year has backed the Blue Devils, who were listed as a 2-1 favorite in odds adjusted following the release of the bracket.
The sportsbook operator says 9 percent of the actual wagers have come in on Gonzaga or Duke, meaning the Bulldogs are popular but gamblers placing more expensive bets are backing the Blue Devils, top seed in the East.
Virginia and Gonzaga are each listed at 6-1 odds to win the title, while North Carolina is 8-1.
Betting on March Madness is shifting this year with the expansion of legalized sports gambling beyond Nevada. New Jersey, Rhode Island and several other states have legalized sports betting since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year
It turns out the Southern Conference nearly got its first at-large bid to the tournament.
UNC Greensboro was the first team listed of the first four that missed the field on the CBS selection show. And David Worlock, the NCAA director media coordination and statistics, tweeted Sunday evening that the Spartans were "in the field until late last night."
So what happened? Worlock tweeted that Oregon's win against Washington in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game ultimately knocked the Spartans out of the field.
UNC Greensboro (28-6) reached the Southern Conference Tournament title game before falling to Wofford, which ended up as a 7-seed. The Spartans, coached by former UNC player Wes Miller, had reached the NCAA Tournament last season.
Alabama, TCU and Indiana were the next teams that missed the cut.
The best days of the NCAA Tournament for most fans are the first two. With 16 games on each day, it's wall-to-wall ball.
Thursday tips off in Des Moines, Iowa, at 12:15 p.m. with an East Region game between No. 7 seed Louisville and No. 10 Minnesota. That's coach Rick Pitino's former Cardinals against a Golden Gophers team coached by his son, Richard Pitino.
The early session ends with one of the best individual players in the tournament. Ja Morant of Murray State faces fifth-seeded Marquette and Big East player of the Markus Howard in West Region game played in Hartford, Connecticut.
The defending national champion Villanova, a sixth-seed in the South, highlights the Thursday night games. The Wildcats tip at 7:20 p.m. against 11th-seeded St. Mary's.
Friday's games start with seventh-seeded Cincinnati against 10th-seeded Iowa in a South Region matchup. The game in Columbus, Ohio, starts at 12:15 p.m. Top-seeded Duke and Zion Williamson start their tournament at 7:10 p.m. Friday in Columbia, South Carolina, against the winner of the First Four game against North Carolina Central or North Dakota State. The Blue Devils are the top seed in the East.
North Carolina State's omission from the NCAA Tournament field doesn't sit well with athletics director Debbie Yow.
The Wolfpack (22-11) was 33rd in the new NET rankings, a more analytical system that incorporated factors such as game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin and net efficiency at both ends of the court.
In a statement, Yow pointed out that the Wolfpack beat eventual Southeastern Conference Tournament champion Auburn while playing five games against Atlantic Coast Conference peers Duke, North Carolina and Virginia — which all ended up with NCAA 1-seeds.
But N.C. State went just 3-9 in Quadrant 1 games and had the nation's worst nonconference strength of schedule.
Yow said she was "disappointed" that "our total body of work was not rewarded" with an NCAA invitation.
The show to unveil the NCAA Tournament field of 68 teams returned to a familiar —and more straightforward— format.
Last year's show aired on TBS for the first time and unveiled teams in an alphabetical format, then later revealed matchups by region - which drew plenty of criticism on social media from frustrated viewers.
This time, the show was back on its traditional CBS home and dove right into the East Region bracket with Duke as the No. 1 overall seed and skipped the alphabetical format. It was also back to a one-hour format after being expanded to two hours in some years recently.
As CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus put it earlier this week: "We're going back to basics."
Louisville is back in the NCAA Tournament after missing out last spring following its acknowledged involvement in a federal investigation of corruption in college basketball.
Its first-round opponent features someone very familiar with ties to the Cardinals' recent past.
Louisville (20-13) is seeded No. 7 in the
East Region and will face No. 10 seed Minnesota in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday. The Golden Gophers are coached by Richard Pitino, the son of former Cardinals coach Rick Pitino who was let go before last season in the midst of the scandal.
Louisville finished 22-14 and reached the NIT quarterfinals in a tumultuous year that included the vacation of its 2013 NCAA title as punishment for a stripper scandal. Interim coach David Padgett was replaced by former Xavier coach Chris Mack and this season was expected to be transitional, but the Cardinals instead earned a postseason berth thanks to a resume that included upsets of Michigan State and North Carolina.
Mack returns to the tournament a year after guiding Xavier to its first-ever No. 1 seeding.
Gonzaga is headed back to Salt Lake City as a No. 1 seed looking for a better result than the last time the Bulldogs were in the same scenario.
Gonzaga will face either Fairleigh Dickinson or Prairie View A&M in the first round of the tournament on Thursday. But it's the history of the second round in Salt Lake City the Bulldogs would like to change.
Six years ago, Gonzaga was a No. 1 seed and sent to Salt Lake City, the first time the Zags earned a No. 1 seed. And the Bulldogs were sent packing in the second round after losing to No. 8 seed Wichita State. The Shockers went on to reach the Final Four.
This time around, the Bulldogs are looking to regroup after a stunning loss to Saint Mary's in the West Coast Conference title game. After steamrolling through the conference during the regular season, the Bulldogs were held to a season-low 47 points in the 60-47 loss to the Gaels.
Villanova coach Jay Wright took the mic at the Pavilion and made a promise for the hundreds of fans at their on-campus arena.
"This is going to be a special year, I promise," he said.
The Big East champion Wildcats have an unfamiliar seed in the NCAA Tournament — they failed to score a top-two seed for the first time since 2013. The Wildcats are trying to become the first team to repeat as national champions since Florida in 2006 and 2007.
They have a familiar foe to get past in the first round. The sixth-seeded Wildcats will play No. 11-seed Saint Mary's in the South on Thursday in Hartford, Connecticut.
The Wildcats were the No. 2 seed in 2010 when they were upset by 10th-seeded Saint Mary's in Providence, Rhode Island.
"Probably nobody was around but me," Wright said. "But they're a really intelligent team."
Saint Mary's knocked off Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Tournament final to earn the automatic bid to the NCAAs.
Two of the most recent Big 12 coaches to be fired are in the NCAA Tournament with their new schools while their old ones are staying home.
Rick Barnes was fired by Texas after a lengthy and successful tenure that included a trip to the Final Four. Now, Barnes has Tennessee on the No. 2 line in the South Region.
The Longhorns are sitting out after their bubble was burst.
Travis Ford likewise had a lengthy tenure at Oklahoma State that included six NCAA Tournament trips in nine seasons. He was fired and landed at Saint Louis, where he has the Atlantic 10-champion Billikens dancing as the No. 13 seed in the East Region in his third season in charge.
The Cowboys lost to TCU in the Big 12 Tournament to finish 12-20.
The Atlantic Coast Conference claimed the top three seeds in the tournament, but it was the Big Ten leading the nation in tournament bids.
The Big Ten had eight teams make the field: No. 2 seeds Michigan and Michigan State, No. 3 seed Purdue, No. 5 seed Wisconsin, No. 6 seed Maryland, No. 10 seeds Minnesota and Iowa, and No. 11 seed Ohio State.
The ACC had led the country with nine bids in each of the past two seasons, but slipped to seven this time to tie the Southeastern Conference, while the Big 12 had six.
The American Athletic Conference and Big East each had four teams, while the Pac-12 ended up with three after looking at times like it might be a one-bid league this season
Minnesota's first-round opponent will sure look familiar to coach Richard Pitino.
The Gophers got the 10th seed in the East Region, matched up with No. 7 seed Louisville in a first-round game in Des Moines, Iowa.
Pitino had two stints as an assistant coach at Louisville under his father, Rick Pitino, who was fired prior to last season after his name surfaced in connection to the bribery scandal that has been playing out in federal court.
Richard Pitino is in his sixth season at Minnesota. This is his second trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma received a bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday after some uncertainty.
The ninth-seeded Sooners (19-13) will play No. 8 seed Ole Miss (20-12) in the South Region on Friday in Columbia, South Carolina.
Outside of the program, expectations for Oklahoma were low this season. The Sooners lost superstar guard Trae Young to the NBA, and it was unclear where the Sooners' points would come from this season. The Sooners re-invented themselves as a grind-it-out defensive team that heads into the NCAA Tournament with one more win than last year's squad.
The Sooners got off to a strong start and worked their way into the in the Top 25. They struggled during the middle of Big 12 play, losing five games in a row and putting their NCAA hopes in jeopardy. The Sooners bounced back by winning four out of five, including a big win over Kansas. That gave them enough leeway to survive an upset loss to West Virginia in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.
It was Oklahoma's sixth bid in the past seven years under coach Lon Kruger.
Kansas coach Bill Self was more concerned about matchups and destinations than seeds.
Well, he could end up liking his destination.
The Jayhawks were the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region, and that means a potential regional semifinal in Kansas City. But they must first beat Colonial champ Northeastern and then beat either SEC Tournament champion Auburn or No. 12 seed New Mexico State, the high-octane WAC champ, in games played in Salt Lake City.
For those that really want to peer into the future, the No. 1 seed is North Carolina. And that could mean a matchup between the Jayhawks and their former coach just down the road from their campus in Lawrence for a spot in the Elite Eight.
Kentucky earned the No. 2 seed in the Midwest, and the Wildcats could be in line for a tough second-round matchup against Wofford. The No. 7 seed Terriers have won 20 straight.
The field of 68 is set, and the bubble burst for several teams from power conferences.
The list included Indiana from the Big Ten, Alabama from the Southeastern Conference and North Carolina State from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
N.C. State (22-11) was No. 33 in the NET and beat eventual SEC Tournament champion Auburn, but went just 3-9 against Quadrant 1 teams and a nonconference schedule strength ranked 353rd —last— in the country.
Indiana (17-15) was 54th in NET, but owned six Quadrant 1 wins to keep itself in the running amid all its losses.
And Alabama (18-15) was 59th in NET and just 3-10 against Quadrant 1 opponents.
Other teams that fell short included TCU and UNC Greensboro, which was hoping to give the Southern Conference its first at-large tournament bid.
Gonzaga is the fourth No. 1 seed.
The Zags headline the West Region after losing to Saint Mary's in the West Coast Conference Tournament championship game. That was their first loss since falling to Tennessee and North Carolina in December.
The Zags have Big Ten runner-up Michigan as their No. 2 seed.
The Atlantic Coast Conference has a bit of history: For the first time the conference has three No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
The ACC had league tournament champion Duke as the top overall seed. Virginia and North Carolina shared the conference's regular-season championship and claimed No. 1 seeds as well.
That's only the second time a league has managed three No. 1 seeds. The other time came in 2009 when the Big East had Louisville, Connecticut and Pittsburgh — though the Huskies were the only team to survive their bracket and reach the Final Four that year.
Virginia is the top seed in the South bracket, while UNC is on top in the Midwest.
Belmont ended up on the right side of the bubble.
The Bruins earned their first at-large bid in program history and will face Temple in a First Four game in the East Region. Belmont is making its eighth tournament appearance, the last coming in 2015.
Belmont and Murray State shared the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship, but lost to the Racers in the conference tournament title game. Belmont was ranked 47th in the NET rankings and had a 2-2 record against Quadrant 1 teams.
Virginia has another No. 1 seed. Now the Cavaliers will aim to avoid a repeat of last year's stunning and unprecedented upset.
The Cavaliers are the second overall seed in the field of 68 and will headline the South Region bracket. They open Friday in Columbia, South Carolina, against Gardner-Webb — which won the Big South Conference title.
Virginia became the first No. 1 seed ever to lose to a 16-seed last year, falling to UMBC in a moment now etched in tournament lore. The second-ranked Cavaliers won a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title but fell in the ACC Tournament semifinals against No. 12 Florida State.
Michigan State ended Michigan's two-year reign in the Big Ten Tournament. Its reward was to be a No. 2 seed in the East bracket with overall No. 1 Duke.
The sixth-ranked Spartans beat the 10th-ranked Wolverines 65-60 on Sunday shortly before the field unveiling began.
Michigan State and Duke last met in an NCAA Tournament in 2015, when the Blue Devils won in the Final Four on the way to Mike Krzyzewski's fifth NCAA title.
Duke's run to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title with a healthy Zion Williamson was enough to make the Blue Devils the No. 1 overall NCAA Tournament seed.
The Blue Devils will open in Columbia, South Carolina, on Friday against the winner of a First Four game between North Carolina Central and North Dakota State.
Williamson was the ACC Tournament most valuable player after a dominating three-game run in Charlotte, which showed Duke is again the team that spent a national-best seven weeks at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 this season.
There were plenty of regular-season champions that stumbled in their conference tournaments and saw someone else claim that league's automatic tournament bid.
That could have an impact on the strength of the bracket and which bubble teams make it into the field of 68.
Teams like VCU in the Atlantic 10, South Dakota State in the Summit League and Sam Houston State in the Southland Conference lost as top seeds in their tournaments. That opened the door for St. Louis (No. 103 in NET rankings), North Dakota State (No. 222) and Abilene Christian (No. 154) to earn bids, respectively.
In other leagues, upsets led to surprising teams earning bids behind the NCAA locks in those conferences — which reduced the number of slots for bubble teams like Indiana, North Carolina State and TCU.
The 68 teams have been determined. Now, it's just a matter of who they'll be playing in March Madness.
Duke looks like a shoo-in for a No. 1 seed when the bracket for the NCAA Tournament is revealed Sunday night.
Others vying for the top spots include Virginia, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Tennessee and possibly even the winner of the Big Ten title game between Michigan and Michigan State.
On Saturday night, Duke, led by freshman sensation Zion Williamson, won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and positioned itself as the favorite in Vegas to win it all when the nets come down at the Final Four on April 8.
The Blue Devils are an early 9-4 favorite.
The tournament starts Tuesday with a couple of play-in games, then gets into full force Thursday and Friday with 32 teams playing each day at eight sites around the country.
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A week to go to Christmas!
When Chris Blackwell set up Island Records and took artists to Jamaica to record, he also took a very talented Jamaican who had already had four big hits but had since moved to England. This was Jackie Edwards, a Jamaican singer/songwriter whose style spanned reggae, ska, R&B, latin, soul and rock. His biggest successes were when two of his songs made N°1 in the UK when covered by the Spencer Davis Group, namely Keep On Running and Somebody Help Me. We base our version of Keep on Running on the better-known Spencer Davis version, but it’s worth a listen to one of the early talents from Jamaica in 1965. First our one:
And also the excellent original from Jackie Edwards which few people have heard. He also re-recorded it later in a reggae format, which you might want to look for on YouTube, along with his version of Somebody Help Me.
Tomorrow it all gets a bit Kinky.
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Singer wanted!
Skamouth 2016
At rehearsal
Back at Cherry Tree!
Mick Purvis at our service!
Drummer Wanted!
Blazing on a Sunday Afternoon in Brentwood.
All’s well that ends well!!
New Bookings at The Woodman and more…
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Published on UN Verification Mission in Colombia (https://colombia.unmissions.org)
Home > Security Council Press Statement on Colombia
Security Council Press Statement on Colombia [1]
Security Council Press Statement on Colombia
New York, 23 July 2019. From 11 to 14 July 2019, the members of the Security Council visited Colombia in a mission co-led by Peru and the United Kingdom, upon the invitation of the Government of Colombia. They welcomed the opportunity to meet with President Iván Duque and senior government officials, FARC representatives, diverse political parties, civil society organisations, transitional justice institutions, the United Nations Verification Mission, and the United Nations Country Team. The mission included one day in Bogotá and one day in the “Santa Rosa” Territorial Area for Training and Reintegration (TATR) and the nearby community of Caldono, Cauca. The members of the Security Council thanked the Government, the United Nations Verification Mission, and all interlocutors for productive discussions. They were encouraged by the commitments expressed by all to implementation of the Final Peace Agreement.
Subsequently, the members of the Security Council met on 19 July to discuss the visit and the Secretary-General’s 26 June report on the situation in Colombia. They shared the report’s recognition of the achievements of the peace process, of the significant remaining challenges, and of the importance of building on gains made so far through timely implementation of the Final Agreement. They called on all stakeholders to work constructively together towards this goal and to avoid political polarisation.
The members of the Security Council welcomed government efforts to advance the reintegration of former FARC-EP members and strengthen rural development, including through the comprehensive “Peace with Legality” plan. This included, in particular, the Government’s efforts to ensure, in dialogue with the FARC, a smooth reconfiguration of the TATRs once their current legal status expires in August. They recognised progress made in implementing productive projects and encouraged the Government and the FARC to continue working to accelerate the approval, disbursement, and implementation of these projects. The members of the Security Council were encouraged by the commitment of the majority of former FARC-EP members to the peace process, and to building new civilian lives inside and outside the TATRs.
The members of the Security Council also welcomed the beginning of implementation of 16 Development Programmes with a Territorial Focus (PDETs), and the adoption of a Roadmap for Stabilisation. In this regard, they stressed the importance of implementing the Final Agreement as an interlocking set of commitments, which include reintegration plans as well as agreements on rural reform, political participation, countering illicit drugs, and transitional justice.
The members of the Security Council welcomed the adoption of the Statutory Law of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP) as a positive step in providing necessary support for the SJP, and noted that this body, the Truth Commission, and the Search Unit for Missing Persons carry out vital work. They stressed the importance of ensuring that the transitional justice system is able to work independently and autonomously, with the necessary political and financial support.
The Security Council expressed serious concern at the continued killings of social and community leaders and former FARC-EP members. They recognised the Government’s efforts to address this issue, including the “Action Plan for the Protection of Social and Community Leaders, Human Rights Defenders, and Journalists” and recent measures to protect former FARC-EP members, including by involving local authorities. They underscored the need for these measures to translate into concrete results in preventing attacks and bringing those responsible to justice, especially with a view to ensuring peaceful and inclusive local elections in October 2019.
The members of the Security Council encouraged further progress in the implementation of the gender provisions of the Peace Agreement, and encouraged the Government, the FARC, and civil society organisations to continue to prioritise this issue, including within the reintegration programme and by providing security guarantees for women leaders. They also underlined the importance of engaging youth in implementation of the peace agreement, including the reintegration process.
The members of the Security Council reiterated that the peace process remains an example for others around the world. They welcomed and will give prompt consideration to the request transmitted by President Duque, on behalf of the Government and the FARC, for the extension of the mandate of the United Nations Verification Mission for one year after the current mandate expires on 25 September 2019. The members of the Security Council expressed appreciation for the work of the Verification Mission and the Country Team to support Colombia’s peacebuilding efforts. They also stressed the importance of the international community remaining closely engaged to support implementation.
Press Releases [2]
Press releases UN Security Council visit to Colombia [3]
[4] [4]Secretary-General appoints Karla Gabriela Samayoa Recari of Guatemala as his Deputy Special Representative for Colombia [4]
[5] [5]Statement by Special Representative of the Secretary-General Mr. Carlos Ruiz Massieu for United Nations Security Council Briefing on Colombia [5]
Source URL: https://colombia.unmissions.org/en/security-council-press-statement-colombia-5
[1] https://colombia.unmissions.org/en/security-council-press-statement-colombia-5
[2] https://colombia.unmissions.org/en/press-releases
[3] https://colombia.unmissions.org/en/press-releases-un-security-council-visit-colombia
[4] https://colombia.unmissions.org/en/secretary-general-appoints-karla-gabriela-samayoa-recari-guatemala-his-deputy-special-representative
[5] https://colombia.unmissions.org/en/statement-special-representative-secretary-general-mr-carlos-ruiz-massieu-united-nations-security
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SCIENCE MATTERS by David Suzuki with Faisal Moola
Energy underpins everything we do. Human societies have become increasingly complex, requiring ever larger-scale sources of continuous energy. Now, energy fuels not only our activities, but our economies as well. If we don’t choose our energy sources wisely, we can do more harm than good.
Non-renewable energy sources such as fossil and nuclear fuels are not sustainable and have also taught us that technological advances often come at great cost. These fuels can never be a long-term solution because they will run out. They also create emissions that pollute our air, water and soil and contribute to global warming or long-term radioactive waste problems.
Renewable energy sources will not run out and they don’t cause the same kinds of environmental problems as non-renewables. But that doesn’t mean we should adopt renewable energy carelessly. Biofuels can create problems if fuel production comes at the expense of food production. And wind power, if not properly planned and sited, can harm birds and bats (although Danish studies of 10,000 bird kills revealed that almost all died in collisions with buildings, cars and wires; only 10 were killed by windmills).
Alternative energy sources are absolutely necessary. Global warming will kill birds and bats, as well as other species, in much greater numbers than wind power. We need to believe in our ability to develop solutions. During three decades of producing the TV program The Nature of Things, we’ve often encountered difficulties filming in exotic locations. Back when we worked with film, we always took a lighting person with us. I dreaded working with one lighting guy because whenever he was faced with a demanding challenge, he’d respond, “It can’t be done.” We’d have to cajole him until we accomplished the task, but it drained the crew’s morale and wore us down. Another lighting person would respond, “Well, this is a tough one, but let’s give it a try.”
The mental attitude that underlies the way we approach any challenge is a huge part of how well we deal with it. For more than 20 years, leading scientists have warned us that the dangers of runaway global warming are so great that we cannot continue along the same path. Yet the response (usually led by the fossil-fuel industry) has been “It’s junk science” or “It’s too expensive; it’ll destroy the economy” or “It’s impossible to meet the reduction targets.” These kinds of reactions demoralize or paralyze society.
Compare those comments on the challenge of climate change with the American response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor or the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1. There was a sense of solidarity of purpose, to win the war or to beat the Russians to the moon. Throwing everything at winning led to all kinds of unexpected bonuses: the American economy blazed out of the Depression, while the race to the moon resulted in the Internet, 24-hour news channels, GPS and cell phones. Making a commitment to resolve a serious crisis generates opportunities and creates jobs.
Already, renewable-energy technologies are creating employment and giving economies a boost around the world. Countries like Denmark and Germany started shifting to renewable energy sources after the OPEC oil embargo in the 1970s. Today, Denmark obtains 20 percent of its energy from wind power and is aiming at 50 percent by 2020. Germany, which obtains 14 percent of its energy from wind, is the major exporter of wind technology and has created more than 82,000 jobs in the wind sector and more than 200,000 renewable-energy jobs in total. Wind power has become the country’s fastest growing job creator over the past three decades.
Even the U.S. Energy Department believes that wind power could provide one fifth of that nation’s power by 2030. Other studies have shown that wind, solar and biofuel energy could create five million US jobs by 2030.
The problem with the climate challenge is not a llack of solutions; it is a lack of will. As we saw with our lighting technicians, our attitude toward what confronts us will have a huge impact on how we achieve results.
Take the Nature Challenge and learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org
Categories Current Edition, Ecology Post navigation
This is your moment
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116 (2019-2020) 114 (2015-2016) 109 (2005-2006) — 110 (2007-2008) 106 (1999-2000) 97 (1981-1982) Senate Senate amendment proposed (on the floor) Senate Sponsor : Stevens, Ted [R-AK]
1. S.Amdt.4819 — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Purpose: To strike the authorization of appropriations and the additional child pornography amendments. Amends Bill: S.1965 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 05/22/2008) (Proposed 05/22/2008) Latest Action: 05/22/08 Amendment SA 4819 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
2. S.Amdt.3569 to S.Amdt.3500 — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Purpose: To make commercial fishermen eligible for certain operating loans. Amends Bill: H.R.2419 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 11/08/2007) (Proposed 12/10/2007) Latest Action: 12/14/07 Proposed amendment SA 3569 withdrawn in Senate. (All Actions)
3. S.Amdt.3312 — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Purpose: To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to develop and maintain a list of vessels and vessel owners engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing, and for other purposes. Amends Bill: H.R.3093 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 10/15/2007) (Proposed 10/16/2007) Latest Action: 10/16/07 Amendment SA 3312 as modified agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (text as modified: CR S12913) (All Actions)
4. S.Amdt.3278 — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Purpose: To correct a technical error in Public Law 110-53 relating to emergency communications modernization. Amends Bill: H.R.3093 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 10/15/2007) (Proposed 10/16/2007) Latest Action: 10/16/07 Amendment SA 3278 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
5. S.Amdt.3207 to S.Amdt.3166 — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Purpose: To require that not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on mechanisms for expanding public-private partnerships with military and family organizations for the purpose of increasing access to family support, in particular, for the minor dependent children of deployed servicemembers. Amends Bill: H.R.3222 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 10/03/2007) (Proposed 10/03/2007) Latest Action: 10/03/07 Amendment SA 3207 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
6. S.Amdt.2845 — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Purpose: To permit pilots to serve in multicrew covered operations until attaining 65 years of age. Amends Bill: H.R.3074 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/11/2007) (Proposed 09/11/2007) Latest Action: 09/11/07 Amendment SA 2845 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
7. S.Amdt.2682 — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Purpose: To require a report on access to medical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs to veterans who live in remote rural areas. Amends Bill: H.R.2642 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/05/2007) (Proposed 09/05/2007) Latest Action: 09/05/07 Amendment SA 2682 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
8. S.Amdt.2475 to S.Amdt.2383 — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Purpose: To develop and implement a Model Ports of Entry program Amends Bill: H.R.2638 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/25/2007) (Proposed 07/26/2007) Latest Action: 07/26/07 Amendment SA 2475 as modified agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text as modified: CR S10101) (All Actions)
9. S.Amdt.1792 to S.Amdt.1502 — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Purpose: To provide for corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards. Amends Bill: H.R.6 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/20/2007) (Proposed 06/21/2007) Latest Action: 06/21/07 Amendment SA 1792 as modified agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text as modified: CR S8181-8185) (All Actions)
10. S.Amdt.727 — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Purpose: To make a technical correction regarding the availability of funds from the Iraq Freedom Fund. Amends Bill: H.R.1591 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 03/27/2007) (Proposed 03/28/2007) Latest Action: 03/28/07 Amendment SA 727 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
11. S.Amdt.299 to S.Amdt.275 — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Purpose: To authorize NTIA to borrow against anticipated receipts of the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Fund to initiate migration to a national IP-enabled emergency network capable of receiving and responding to all citizen activated emergency communications. Amends Bill: S.4 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 03/01/2007) (Proposed 03/07/2007) Latest Action: 03/13/07 Amendment SA 299 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
12. S.Amdt.40 to S.Amdt.4 (which amends S.Amdt.3) — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Purpose: To permit a limited flight exception for necessary State travel. Amends Bill: S.1 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 01/11/2007) (Proposed 01/11/2007) Latest Action: 01/12/07 Proposed amendment SA 40 withdrawn in Senate. (All Actions)
13. S.Amdt.16 to S.Amdt.4 (which amends S.Amdt.3) — 110th Congress (2007-2008) Purpose: To permit certain travel within State. Amends Bill: S.1 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 01/10/2007) (Proposed 01/10/2007) Latest Action: 01/10/07 Proposed amendment SA 16 withdrawn in Senate. (All Actions)
14. S.Amdt.5224 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To authorize appropriations to the Secretary of Commerce for the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act for fiscal year 2007 through 2013, and for other purposes. Amends Bill: H.R.5946 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 12/07/2006) (Proposed 12/07/2006) Latest Action: 12/07/06 Amendment SA 5224 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
15. S.Amdt.5221 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To amend the title. Amends Bill: H.R.4075 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 12/06/2006) (Proposed 12/06/2006) Latest Action: 12/06/06 Amendment SA 5221 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
16. S.Amdt.5220 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To implement the Agreement on the conservation and Management of the Alaska-Chukotka Polar Bear Population. Amends Bill: H.R.4075 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 12/06/2006) (Proposed 12/06/2006) Latest Action: 12/06/06 Amendment SA 5220 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
17. S.Amdt.5218 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To enhance public safety. Amends Bill: S.2653 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 12/06/2006) (Proposed 12/06/2006) Latest Action: 12/06/06 Amendment SA 5218 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
18. S.Amdt.5122 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To provide that, of the amount appropriated or otherwise made available by this title for Family Housing Operation and Maintenance, Army, $7,500,000 may be available for the lease of not more than 300 additional housing units in the vicinity of Fairbanks, Alaska. Amends Bill: H.R.5385 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 11/13/2006) (Proposed 11/14/2006) Latest Action: 11/14/06 Amendment SA 5122 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
19. S.Amdt.5016 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To provide a phased and temporary anchor movement exception for Alaska. Amends Bill: H.R.4954 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/14/2006) (Proposed 09/14/2006) Latest Action: 09/14/06 Amendment SA 5016 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
20. S.Amdt.4926 to S.Amdt.4922 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: Text of Amendment as Submitted: S9313-9314 Purpose displays after an amendment is proposed. Amends Bill: H.R.4954 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/11/2006) (Proposed 09/11/2006) Latest Action: 09/11/06 Amendment SA 4926 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
21. S.Amdt.4918 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To make available from Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide, up to $1,000,000 for research and development on the heavy fuel diesel engine. Amends Bill: H.R.5631 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/07/2006) (Proposed 09/07/2006) Latest Action: 09/07/06 Amendment SA 4918 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
22. S.Amdt.4917 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To provide the Secretary of the Army the ability to reimburse servicemembers and their families for financial hardships due to extended deployment overseas. Amends Bill: H.R.5631 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/07/2006) (Proposed 09/07/2006) Latest Action: 09/07/06 Amendment SA 4917 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
23. S.Amdt.4762 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To require plans to procure medical countermeasures for treating forward deployed members of the Armed Forces against acute radiation syndrome and similar threats. Amends Bill: H.R.5631 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 08/02/2006) (Proposed 08/02/2006) Latest Action: 08/02/06 Amendment SA 4762 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
24. S.Amdt.4751 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To appropriate as additional appropriations $7,800,000,000 for the Army and $5,300,000,000 for the Marine Corps for the reset of equipment due to continuing combat operations and to designate such amounts as emergency requirements. Amends Bill: H.R.5631 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 08/01/2006) (Proposed 08/01/2006) Latest Action: 08/01/06 Amendment SA 4751 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
25. S.Amdt.4310 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: In the nature of a substitute. Amends Bill: S.2012 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/19/2006) (Proposed 06/19/2006) Latest Action: 06/19/06 Amendment SA 4310 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
26. S.Amdt.4190 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To reduce the amount authorized to be appropriated for each of the fiscal years. Amends Bill: S.2013 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/06/2006) (Proposed 06/06/2006) Latest Action: 06/06/06 Amendment SA 4190 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
27. S.Amdt.4018 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To extend the deadline given to the Secretary of Homeland Security for the implementation of a new travel document plan for border crossings to June 1, 2009. Amends Bill: S.2611 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 05/16/2006) (Proposed 05/17/2006) Latest Action: 05/17/06 Amendment SA 4018 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
28. S.Amdt.2753 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To modify contracts for the transportation of mail by air, and for other purposes. Amends Bill: S.662 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 02/09/2006) (Proposed 02/09/2006) Latest Action: 02/09/06 Amendment SA 2753 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
29. S.Amdt.2695 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: In the nature of a substitute. Amends Bill: H.R.1400 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 12/21/2005) (Proposed 12/22/2005) Latest Action: 12/22/05 Amendment SA 2695 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
30. S.Amdt.2678 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To strike references to certain laws. Amends Bill: S.1390 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 12/15/2005) (Proposed 12/15/2005) Latest Action: 12/15/05 Amendment SA 2678 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
31. S.Amdt.2677 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To make it clear that damage from derelict fishing gear and vessel anchors and anchor chains warrants emergency response action. Amends Bill: S.1390 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 12/15/2005) (Proposed 12/15/2005) Latest Action: 12/15/05 Amendment SA 2677 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
32. S.Amdt.2412 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To modify the distribution of excess proceeds from the auction authorized by section 309(j)(15)(C)(v) of the Communications Act of 1934. Amends Bill: S.1932 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 11/03/2005) (Proposed 11/03/2005) Latest Action: 11/03/05 Amendment SA 2412 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
33. S.Amdt.2181 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To ensure reconstruction of the Twin Spans Bridge. Amends Bill: H.R.3058 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 10/20/2005) (Proposed 10/20/2005) Latest Action: 10/20/05 Amendment SA 2181 not agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 33 - 61. Record Vote Number: 263. (All Actions)
34. S.Amdt.2053 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To increase the rate of basic pay for the enlisted member serving as the Senior Enlisted Advisor for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Amends Bill: H.R.2863 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 10/06/2005) (Proposed 10/06/2005) Latest Action: 10/06/05 Amendment SA 2053 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
35. S.Amdt.1922 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To provide funding for the Community Services Block Grant program. Amends Bill: H.R.2863 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/30/2005) (Proposed 09/30/2005) Latest Action: 09/30/05 Amendment SA 1922 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
36. S.Amdt.1396 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To authorize $5,500,000 for military construction for the Army for the construction of a rotary wing landing pad at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and to provide an offset of $8,000,000 by canceling a military construction project for the construction of an F-15E flight simulator facility at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. Amends Bill: S.1042 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/21/2005) (Proposed 07/21/2005) Latest Action: 07/21/05 Amendment SA 1396 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
37. S.Amdt.1300 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To provide funding to the Center for Middle Eastern-Western Dialogue. Amends Bill: H.R.3057 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/19/2005) (Proposed 07/19/2005) Latest Action: 07/19/05 Amendment SA 1300 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
38. S.Amdt.1103 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To amend the title. Amends Bill: S.361 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/01/2005) (Proposed 07/01/2005) Latest Action: 07/01/05 Amendment SA 1103 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
39. S.Amdt.1102 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To develop and maintain an integrated system of ocean and coastal observations for the Nation's coasts, oceans and Great Lakes, improve warnings of tsunamis and other natural hazards, improve management of coastal and marine resources, and for other purposes. Amends Bill: S.361 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/01/2005) (Proposed 07/01/2005) Latest Action: 07/01/05 Amendment SA 1102 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
40. S.Amdt.1101 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: In the nature of a substitute. Amends Bill: S.50 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/01/2005) (Proposed 07/01/2005) Latest Action: 07/01/05 Amendment SA 1101 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
42. S.Amdt.1099 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To make minor and technical changes in the bill as reported. Amends Bill: S.362 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/01/2005) (Proposed 07/01/2005) Latest Action: 07/01/05 Amendment SA 1099 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
43. S.Amdt.685 to S.Amdt.605 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To increase an amount made available for the Alaska Highway System. Amends Bill: H.R.3 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 05/11/2005) (Proposed 05/12/2005) Latest Action: 05/12/05 Amendment SA 685 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
44. S.Amdt.386 — 109th Congress (2005-2006) Purpose: To provide for an increase in the amount appropriated for the Intelligence Community Management Account. Amends Bill: H.R.1268 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 04/13/2005) (Proposed 04/13/2005) Latest Action: 04/13/05 Amendment SA 386 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
45. S.Amdt.4310 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide that in lieu of a statement of the managers that would otherwise accompany a conference report for a bill making appropriations for federal agencies and activities provided for in this Act, reports that are filed in identical form by the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations prior to adjournment of the 106th Congress shall be considered by the Office of Management and Budget, and the agencies responsible for the obligation and expenditure of funds provided in this Act, as having the same standing, force and legislative history as would a statement of the managers accompanying a conference report. Amends Bill: H.R.4635 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 10/12/2000) (Proposed 10/12/2000) Latest Action: 10/12/00 Amendment SA 4310 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
46. S.Amdt.4111 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To make available $12,500,000 for Molecular Nuclear Medicine. Amends Bill: H.R.4733 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/06/2000) (Proposed 09/07/2000) Latest Action: 09/07/00 Amendment SA 4111 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S8180) (All Actions)
47. S.Amdt.4073 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide $2,000,000 for the design and construction of a demonstration facility for regional biomass ethanol manufacturing in Southeast Alaska. Amends Bill: H.R.4733 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/06/2000) (Proposed 09/07/2000) Latest Action: 09/07/00 Amendment SA 4073 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S8169) (All Actions)
48. S.Amdt.4072 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide $1,000,000 for the Kotzebue wind project. Amends Bill: H.R.4733 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/06/2000) (Proposed 09/07/2000) Latest Action: 09/07/00 Amendment SA 4072 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S8169) (All Actions)
49. S.Amdt.4068 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide $50,000 for erosion control studies in the Harding Lake watershed in Alaska. Amends Bill: H.R.4733 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/06/2000) (Proposed 09/07/2000) Latest Action: 09/07/00 Amendment SA 4068 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S8169) (All Actions)
50. S.Amdt.4054 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To make available funds to replace and upgrade the dam in Kake, Alaska which collapsed July, 2000 to provide drinking water and hydroelectricity. Amends Bill: H.R.4733 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/06/2000) (Proposed 09/08/2000) Latest Action: 09/08/00 Amendment SA 4054 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
51. S.Amdt.3873 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To amend title 26 of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1986 to allow income averaging for fishermen without negative Alternative Minimum Tax treatment, for the creation of risk management accounts for fishermen, and for other purposes. Amends Bill: H.R.4810 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/14/2000) (Proposed 07/14/2000) Latest Action: 07/17/00 Proposed amendment SA 3873 withdrawn in Senate. (All Actions)
52. S.Amdt.3872 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To clarify the tax treatment of passengers filling empty seats on noncommercial airplanes. Amends Bill: H.R.4810 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/14/2000) (Proposed 07/14/2000) Latest Action: 07/17/00 Proposed amendment SA 3872 withdrawn in Senate. (All Actions)
53. S.Amdt.3871 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To amend the Internal Revenue Code to provide for equitable treatment of trusts created to preserve the benefits of Alaska Native Settlement Act. Amends Bill: H.R.4810 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/14/2000) (Proposed 07/14/2000) Latest Action: 07/17/00 Proposed amendment SA 3871 withdrawn in Senate. (All Actions)
54. S.Amdt.3870 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a charitable deduction for certain expenses incurred in support of Native Alaskan subsistence whaling. Amends Bill: H.R.4810 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/14/2000) (Proposed 07/14/2000) Latest Action: 07/17/00 Proposed amendment SA 3870 withdrawn in Senate. (All Actions)
55. S.Amdt.3869 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To amend section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code. Amends Bill: H.R.4810 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/14/2000) (Proposed 07/14/2000) Latest Action: 07/17/00 Proposed amendment SA 3869 withdrawn in Senate. (All Actions)
56. S.Amdt.3868 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to maintain exemption of Alaska from dyeing requirements for exempt diesel fuel and kerosene. Amends Bill: H.R.4810 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/14/2000) (Proposed 07/14/2000) Latest Action: 07/17/00 Proposed amendment SA 3868 withdrawn in Senate. (All Actions)
57. S.Amdt.3815 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide that the limitation on payment of fines and penalties for environmental compliance violations applies only to fines and penalties imposed by Federal agencies. Amends Bill: S.2549 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/12/2000) (Proposed 07/12/2000) Latest Action: 07/12/00 Amendment SA 3815 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
58. S.Amdt.3789 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide for the relief of Harvey R. Redmond. Amends Bill: H.R.4578 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/11/2000) (Proposed 07/17/2000) Latest Action: 07/17/00 Amendment SA 3789 as modified agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
59. S.Amdt.3788 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide a monies to the City of Craig, Alaska in lieu of municipal land entitlements authorized under the Alaska Statehood Act. Amends Bill: H.R.4578 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/11/2000) (Proposed 07/17/2000) Latest Action: 07/17/00 Amendment SA 3788 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
60. S.Amdt.3787 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To authorize the accrual of interest on escrow accounts established under section 1411 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and relating to re-withdrawn lands. Amends Bill: H.R.4578 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/11/2000) (Proposed 07/17/2000) Latest Action: 07/17/00 Amendment SA 3787 as modified agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (text as modified: CR S7055-7056) (All Actions)
61. S.Amdt.3786 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To direct monies from the federal subsistence account to the State of Alaska to provide effective dual management under the federal subsistence fisheries program. Amends Bill: H.R.4578 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/11/2000) (Proposed 07/17/2000) Latest Action: 07/17/00 Amendment SA 3786 as modified agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (text as modified: CR S7055) (All Actions)
62. S.Amdt.3714 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide grants to States and local government for early childhood learning for young children. Amends Bill: H.R.4577 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/30/2000) (Proposed 06/30/2000) Latest Action: 06/30/00 Amendment SA 3714 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
63. S.Amdt.3713 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide grants to states for high schools to improve academic performance and provide technical skills training and grants to elementary and secondary schools to provide physical education and improve physical fitness. Amends Bill: H.R.4577 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/30/2000) (Proposed 06/30/2000) Latest Action: 06/30/00 Amendment SA 3713 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
64. S.Amdt.3519 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide that foreign military financing program funds estimated to be outlaid for Egypt during fiscal year 2001 shall be transferred to an interest bearing account for Egypt in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Amends Bill: S.2522 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/21/2000) (Proposed 06/21/2000) Latest Action: 06/21/00 Amendment SA 3519 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
65. S.Amdt.3389 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To treat as veterans individuals who served in the Alaska Territorial Guard during World War II. Amends Bill: S.2549 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/14/2000) (Proposed 06/14/2000) Latest Action: 06/14/00 Amendment SA 3389 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S5072) (All Actions)
66. S.Amdt.3384 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To increase by $45,000,000 the amount authorized to be appropriated for environmental restoration of formerly used defense sites and reduce Defense-wide operations and maintenance accounts by $45,000,000 for mobility enhancements. Amends Bill: S.2549 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/14/2000) (Proposed 06/14/2000) Latest Action: 06/14/00 Amendment SA 3384 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S5071) (All Actions)
67. S.Amdt.3328 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To adjust the cash balances available under the "Foreign Currency Fluctuations, Defense" account. Amends Bill: H.R.4576 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/12/2000) (Proposed 06/12/2000) Latest Action: 06/12/00 Amendment SA 3328 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S4948) (All Actions)
68. S.Amdt.3321 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide $1,000,000 from Operation and Maintenance, Navy to continue a public service initiative. Amends Bill: H.R.4576 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/12/2000) (Proposed 06/13/2000) Latest Action: 06/13/00 Amendment SA 3321 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S4991) (All Actions)
69. S.Amdt.3320 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To make a technical correction on Section 8073. Amends Bill: H.R.4576 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/12/2000) (Proposed 06/12/2000) Latest Action: 06/12/00 Amendment SA 3320 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S4948) (All Actions)
71. S.Amdt.3318 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To make a technical correction to Sec. 8083 of the bill. Amends Bill: H.R.4576 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/12/2000) (Proposed 06/12/2000) Latest Action: 06/12/00 Amendment SA 3318 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S4948) (All Actions)
72. S.Amdt.3317 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide research and development funds for the Information Technology project. Amends Bill: H.R.4576 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/12/2000) (Proposed 06/12/2000) Latest Action: 06/12/00 Amendment SA 3317 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S4948) (All Actions)
73. S.Amdt.3278 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To make appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes. Amends Bill: H.R.4576 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/08/2000) (Proposed 06/08/2000) Latest Action: 06/08/00 Amendment SA 3278, the committee substitute, agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
74. S.Amdt.3245 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide space-required eligibility for travel on aircraft of the Armed Forces to places of inactive-duty training by members of the reserve components who reside outside the continental United States. Amends Bill: S.2549 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/08/2000) (Proposed 06/08/2000) Latest Action: 06/08/00 Amendment SA 3245 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
75. S.Amdt.3163 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide for SOFA claims. Amends Bill: S.2521 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 05/18/2000) (Proposed 05/18/2000) Latest Action: 05/18/00 Amendment SA 3163 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S4164) (All Actions)
76. S.Amdt.3158 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide for the acquisition of six C-130J long-range maritime patrol aircraft, and for other purposes. Amends Bill: S.2521 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 05/18/2000) (Proposed 05/18/2000) Latest Action: 05/18/00 Amendment SA 3158 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S4164) (All Actions)
77. S.Amdt.3139 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide for early learning programs, and for other purposes. Amends Bill: S.2 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 05/09/2000) (Proposed 05/09/2000) Latest Action: 05/09/00 Amendment SA 3139 proposed by Senator Stevens. (consideration: CR S3662, S3665-3679) To provide for early learning programs, and for other purposes. (All Actions)
78. S.Amdt.3009 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To modify provisions relating to advance appropriations point of order and to strike language relating to delayed obligations. Amends Bill: S.Con.Res.101 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 04/06/2000) (Proposed 04/06/2000) Latest Action: 04/06/00 Proposed amendment SA 3009 withdrawn in Senate. (All Actions)
79. S.Amdt.3003 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To establish a reserve fund for early learning and parent support programs. Amends Bill: S.Con.Res.101 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 04/06/2000) (Proposed 04/07/2000) Latest Action: 04/07/00 Amendment SA 3003 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text: CR S2405) (All Actions)
80. S.Amdt.2932 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To delete provision relating to Congressional firewall for defense and non-defense spending. Amends Bill: S.Con.Res.101 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 04/05/2000) (Proposed 04/05/2000) Latest Action: 04/06/00 Proposed amendment SA 2932 withdrawn in Senate. (All Actions)
81. S.Amdt.2931 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To delete provision relating to emergency designation spending point of order. Amends Bill: S.Con.Res.101 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 04/05/2000) (Proposed 04/05/2000) Latest Action: 04/06/00 Amendment SA 2931 as modified agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (text as modified: CR S2322) (All Actions)
82. S.Amdt.2285 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To correct a definition error in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. Amends Bill: S.1650 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 10/07/1999) (Proposed 10/07/1999) Latest Action: 10/07/99 Amendment SP 2285 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
83. S.Amdt.1649 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide funds for timber pipeline supply on the Tongass National Forest. Amends Bill: H.R.2466 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/14/1999) (Proposed 09/14/1999) Latest Action: 09/14/99 Amendment SP 1649 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
84. S.Amdt.1644 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide for increased funding of certain programs of the Smithsonian Institution and the Indian Health Service. Amends Bill: H.R.2466 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 09/14/1999) (Proposed 09/14/1999) Latest Action: 09/14/99 Amendment SP 1644 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions)
86. S.Amdt.1553 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To amend S.1233 to provide a minimum allocation of Hatch Act funds to States subject to a special statutory cost of living adjustment. Amends Bill: S.1233 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 08/04/1999) (Proposed 08/04/1999) Latest Action: 08/04/99 Amendment SP 1553 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
87. S.Amdt.1552 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To amend S.1233 to provide a minimum allocation of Smith Lever Act funds to States subject to a special statutory cost of living adjustment. Amends Bill: S.1233 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 08/04/1999) (Proposed 08/04/1999) Latest Action: 08/04/99 Amendment SP 1552 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
88. S.Amdt.1551 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To amend S.1233 to provide for education grants to Alaska Native serving institutions and Native Hawaiian serving institutions. Amends Bill: S.1233 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 08/04/1999) (Proposed 08/04/1999) Latest Action: 08/04/99 Amendment SP 1551 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
89. S.Amdt.1550 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To amend S.1233 to require the Secretary review food packages periodically and consider including other nutritious foods under the food package program for Women, Children, and Infants. Amends Bill: S.1233 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 08/04/1999) (Proposed 08/04/1999) Latest Action: 08/04/99 Amendment SP 1550 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
90. S.Amdt.1549 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To authorize Alaska Native tribes for payment of certain administrative costs for the Food Stamp Program. Amends Bill: S.1233 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 08/04/1999) (Proposed 08/04/1999) Latest Action: 08/04/99 Amendment SP 1549 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
91. S.Amdt.1488 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To extend income averaging to fisherman and to not increase Alternative Minimum Tax liability. Amends Bill: S.1429 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/29/1999) (Proposed 07/30/1999) Latest Action: 07/30/99 Amendment SP 1488 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
92. S.Amdt.1460 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To extend Risk Management Accounts to fishermen. Amends Bill: S.1429 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/29/1999) (Proposed 07/30/1999) Latest Action: 07/30/99 Amendment SP 1460 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
93. S.Amdt.1403 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to the treatment of the transportation of persons traveling to or from areas not connected to a road system. Amends Bill: S.1429 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/29/1999) (Proposed 07/30/1999) Latest Action: 07/30/99 Amendment SP 1403 as modified agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
94. S.Amdt.1312 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To amend certain provisions for appropriations for costs associated with the implementation of the American Fisheries Act vessel documentation activities. Amends Bill: S.1217 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/22/1999) (Proposed 07/22/1999) Latest Action: 07/22/99 Amendment SP 1312 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
95. S.Amdt.1311 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To amend provisions relating to the implementation of the June 3, 1999 Agreement of the United States and Canada on the Treaty Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Canada Concerning Pacific Salmon and for other purposes. Amends Bill: S.1217 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 07/22/1999) (Proposed 07/22/1999) Latest Action: 07/22/99 Amendment SP 1311 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
96. S.Amdt.687 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To strike certain emergency provisions, to limit certain loan guarantees, to change the membership of the Loan Guarantee Board, and to strike certain lower loan limits. Amends Bill: H.R.1664 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/17/1999) (Proposed 06/17/1999) Latest Action: 06/17/99 Amendment agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
97. S.Amdt.607 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide for the renewal of military land withdrawals. Amends Bill: S.1122 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/08/1999) (Proposed 06/08/1999) Latest Action: 06/08/99 Amendment SP 607 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
98. S.Amdt.570 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide funds for supersonic aircraft noise mitigation research. Amends Bill: S.1122 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/08/1999) (Proposed 06/08/1999) Latest Action: 06/08/99 Amendment SP 570 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
99. S.Amdt.558 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide additional funding for prototyping and testing of a water distributor for the Pallet-Loading System Engineer Mission Module System. Amends Bill: S.1122 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/08/1999) (Proposed 06/08/1999) Latest Action: 06/08/99 Amendment SP 558 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
100. S.Amdt.545 — 106th Congress (1999-2000) Purpose: To provide funding for U-2 cockpit modifications. Amends Bill: S.1122 Sponsor: Sen. Stevens, Ted [R-AK] (Submitted 06/08/1999) (Proposed 06/08/1999) Latest Action: 06/08/99 Amendment SP 545 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (All Actions)
Amendments (H.Amdt. or S.Amdt.) [154]
Status of Amendment
Senate amendment proposed (on the floor) Remove
Senate amendment submitted [154]
Senate amendment agreed to [133]
Roll call votes on amendments in Senate [14]
Senate amendment not agreed to [7]
Stevens, Ted [R-AK] Remove
Inouye, Daniel K. [D-HI] [26]
Murkowski, Frank H. [R-AK] [14]
Warner, John [R-VA] [8]
Domenici, Pete V. [R-NM] [6]
Republican [154]
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<em><strong>Classes</strong></em>
A 1952 photograph of Inge’s Store at 333 West Main Street, the heart of the once-thriving Vinegar Hill community. This building was fortunately spared when most of the area was razed in the early 1960s as part of “urban renewal.” It has been the site of various restaurants since the market closed in 1979. To the left is the “Model Steam Laundry” business. An historic marker reads in part, “After graduating from the Hampton Institute, George P. Inge came to Charlottesville to teach in the public school system. In 1891 at age twenty-eight he began a business career as owner-operator of Inge’s Grocery, which was continued by his son Thomas Inge Sr. until 1979. The Inge family of nine children, among whom there were four teachers, two medical doctors, a college professor, and two businessmen, originally lived upstairs. Mr. George Inge was active in civic, social, educational, and religious affairs. At one time he served as chairman of the local Republican Party. Public hotels refused to accommodate black visitors and private homes had to fill in this void. The Inge family often had famous black guests staying at their home, including Booker T. Washington who was a classmate of Inge at Hampton Institute.”
Thoughtful, Engaging and Fascinating Opportunities
As part of a new suite of programs launched in 2018, the Charlottesville Center for History and Culture offers a full curriculum of Personal Enrichment Courses. At least one course is offered each academic semester. The current course offerings are listed below. More classes are now in development. Check our Calendar for the full schedule.
Albemarle and Charlottesville in the Civil War
Seven consecutive Monday evenings, February 4 through March 18, 630-830pm
Instructor: Rick Britton
Tuition: $140 for non-members, $95 for members. (non-member tuition includes one-year membership in the Historical Society)
Living in Charlottesville, in the shadow of Thomas Jefferson’s “little mountain,” it’s easy to believe that the Civil War in the Old Dominion happened elsewhere—to the east around Richmond and Fredericksburg, up and down the Shenandoah Valley to the west, and terminating, in Virginia at least, at Appomattox Court House 60 miles to the south. Is it true that the conflict completely skipped over the central Piedmont? That our region did not support the Confederate war effort? And that somehow—miraculously—it escaped the hard hand of war? Nothing could be further from the truth. For the residents of Albemarle County, the horrible conflict was a very close, real and immediate concern.
In this unique class—perfect for both recent transplants and Civil War buffs alike—we’ll explore what happened here in Albemarle County, and what happened to the men and boys from here who served in the ranks. We’ll also discuss in detail the various branches of Civil War-era armies, how they were raised, organized, uniformed, fed, and how they fought. Each two-hour class session will feature a prepared lecture, an off-the-cuff presentation, and plenty of time for questions and answers. Some of the topics will include:
– “Saving Stonewall’s Bacon: The Charlottesville Artillery at Port Republic”
– “Disaster on South Mountain: Albemarle Boys in the Maryland Campaign”
– “My Brave Men: The 19th Virginia in Pickett’s Charge”
– “Lee’s Last Stand: Albemarle County in the Appomattox Campaign”
– “The Peculiar Institution: Slavery & the Coming Storm”
– “Riding Stirrup to Stirrup: Cavalry in the Civil War”
– “Forward Into Line! Infantry in the Civil War”
– “Manhandling the Guns: Artillery in the Civil War”
Rick Britton is an award-winning historian who has published and taught extensively on the Civil War in Virginia. A much-sought-after speaker, his books include Jefferson: A Monticello Sampler and 2015’s Virginia Vignettes: Famous Characters & Events in Central Virginia History. He also teaches classes on central Virginia history, conducts tours of Civil War battlefields, and illustrates maps for history books and websites.
It's What We Do!
Our current suite of Programs
Speakers Series
The Summer Conversation
Personal Enrichment Classes
Spirit Walk
The History Calendar
Second Street Media
Second Street Radio
The Shell & Wheat Press
The Historic Collection
Historical Society Membership
Want to <em><strong>work with us?</strong></em>
Are you a company, organization or individual interested in being a title sponsor for one of our programs?
Let's Make it Happen
The Charlottesville Center for History and Culture:
Home of the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society
At the Historic McIntire Library
On the park in downtown Charlottesville
200 Second Street, NE
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
Monday-Friday (9-5), Saturday (10-1)
Email: cvillecenter@gmail.com
Listen to Our Radio Program
Check Out the Events Calendar
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Copyright © 2020 The Charlottesville Center for History and Culture
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Vancouver officially endorses provincial inquiry into money laundering
DH Vancouver Staff
Feb 14 2019, 6:55 pm
The City of Vancouver has officially endorsed calls for a provincial inquiry into the issue of money laundering in BC.
Canada’s poor regulating has made it a 'pawn' in global money laundering: Report
'High Roller' money launderer living at River Rock Casino arrested and deported
Report: BC casinos have been 'laundromats' for organized crime's money laundering
The decision comes after a motion put forward by Vancouver city councillor Christine Boyle passed unanimously on Wednesday night.
In the motion, Boyle notes that money laundering in the province has led to, among other things, a housing affordability crisis which has “skyrocketed” in recent years.
The motion requests council to endorse a call for the Provincial Government to launch a Public Inquiry into money laundering in BC, “similar to the Charbonneau
Inquiry in Quebec, to begin after Peter German’s review of money laundering in BC real estate, due in March.”
It also calls for Mayor Kennedy Stewart to write a letter to BC premier John Horgan, as well as the Minister of Finance, and BC’s Attorney General, communicating Vancouver’s support for a public inquiry.
“Money laundering is a province-wide problem — and it is having very real impacts here in Vancouver, which is why I am concerned about it, as a city councillor,” said Boyle this week. “And it’s why I am… asking my colleagues to join me in calling for an extensive public inquiry that includes investigating links between money laundering, real estate, drug trafficking, and organized crime.”
In her motion, Boyle also cites the results of public survey done in BC last year, which “showed that three-in-four residents (76%) believe the provincial government should ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ call a public inquiry.”
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Certified Partners
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Smith Anderson Law Firm
About David Hayden
David Hayden joined Smith Anderson in 2011, after serving as the general counsel and board secretary for USfalcon, Inc. David has extensive experience in government contracting, corporate investigations (internal and government) and employment law. He regularly advises companies and their directors and officers on corporate governance matters and other general corporate and business matters. He also represents a variety of defense contractors, advising on a broad range of federal contracting issues such as teaming agreements, subcontract agreements, joint ventures, the Small Business Administration 8(a) Business Development program, International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Corporate Ethics, and organizational conflicts of interest (OCI) compliance issues.
David previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, investigating and prosecuting federal crimes as well as supervising all military attorneys authorized to practice in federal court in eastern North Carolina. He also conducted federal procurement fraud investigations in government contracting as a member of the Department of Justice Procurement Fraud Task Force for the Southeast.
Military Service: Colonel, United States Army retired, Corps of Engineers and the Judge Advocate General Corps
COL Hayden served as both an Engineer and Judge Advocate Generals (JAG) Corps Officer in the United States Army during a 29 year active military career. Highlights include 12 years in airborne assignments at Fort Bragg, NC; engineer company commander; criminal law professor and department head at the U.S. Army JAG School; senior litigation attorney and branch chief for the U.S. Army Litigation Division; deployment to Afghanistan as the senior legal advisor to the theater commander in 2002-2003; and senior legal advisor to NORAD and the United States Northern Command. He retired in 2005 and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. COL Hayden is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the National War College.
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Telstra’s Android tablet unveiled: Just $299
It’s no Apple iPad. But for the price Telstra will charge for it, it might not have to be. Yesterday Telstra detailed for the first time the complete specifications and pricing of its new T-Touch Tab Android tablet device, which it will start selling in Australia on November 2.
The device – manufactured by Chinese vendor Huawei – will retail for the up-front price of $299, which includes 3GB of pre-paid mobile data on Telstra’s Next G network to get customers started using its mobile capabilities.
Telstra will initially only sell the device on a pre-paid basis, but it expects to also start offering the device on 24 month contracts at $16 a month for the hardware cost, with discounts potentially pushing the device cost (not counting the monthly data plan) down to just $6 a month.
The T-Touch Tab has a 7”, WVGA touch-screen which runs at a resolution of 800×480 pixels. Unlike many of the latest generation of mobile phones which feature sensitive capacitive touchscreens, the Tab’s screen is what’s called a ‘resistive’ screen, which is known to work better with a stylus – included with the Tab – than a user’s finger.
The Tab is several hundred grams lighter than Apple’s iPad, weighing in at 500g, and is also smaller, with dimensions of 209x108x15.5mm. It features a 2 megapixel camera on its back that allows video recording, as well as another camera on its front.
The T-Touch Tab’s processor is a 768MHz Snapdragon CPU from Qualcomm, and it comes with 512MB of internal storage space, with a micro-SD card slot allowing expansion up to 16GB.
The device supports a wide variety of network connections. For example, it can connect to mobile networks in the 850, 1900 and 2100Mhz bands (Telstra’s Next G network runs at 850Mhz), as well as 802.11b, g and n Wi-Fi networks. It can theoretically handle download speeds of 7.2Mbps over a 3G mobile network, but Telstra says typical download speeds range from 550kbps to 3Mbps. The device has a GPS receiver built in for location tracking.
The T-Touch Tab will ship with version 2.1 of Google’s Android mobile operating system, but Telstra believes the device’s hardware is capable of running the updated 2.2, Froyo version which is slowly making its way onto high-end Android smartphones around Australia.
“We’re waiting to see a 2.2-upgraded ROM that we’ve put through testing,” the company’s director of mobility products Richard Fink said in a briefing yesterday at Telstra’s Sydney headquarters. The executive said it wasn’t clear yet what hardware requirements the next version of Android – code-named Gingerbread – would have.
Telstra will shortly release a host of new pre-paid plans designed to support the T-Touch, which are designed along the same lines as the carrier’s iPad plans. Customers can pay varying amounts ranging from $20 all the way up to $150 for data quotas from 250MB to 10GB. And customers will have different deadlines for using their data, ranging from just three weeks, all the way up to a year.
The telco expects customers to mainly use the T-Touch’s connection for internet data access, but the device is also capable of acting as a normal mobile telephone. Consequently, the tablet plans also come with a small amount of voice calling and SMS message quota.
The whole gamut of software available through Google’s Android application store can be downloaded and installed on the T-Touch Tab, but Telstra has also pre-installed a number of its own applications and themes on the device – for example, access to content from its joint pay TV venture Foxtel, as well as its Tribe social networking platform.
The T-Touch Tab will face stiff competition upon launch. A number of analysts have recently highlighted strong local sales of Apple’s iPad tablet, and Dell has recently launched its Streak tablet through Optus. The Dell device has a 5″ screen.
In addition, Samsung is slated to launch its Samsung Galaxy Tab in November, which also has a 7” screen. All of the other tablets have more powerful processors than the T-Touch Tab, as well as more sensitive touchscreens – however they will also retail for two to three times the cost of the T-Touch Tab. Telstra itself will sell the Galaxy Tab alongside its own offering.
However, at the briefing today, Telstra executive Fink emphasised the low price of the telco’s tablet when compared with the other products on the market, saying Telstra had no plans for a “premium-end tablet” at this stage. Fink compared Telstra’s tablet strategy – which will eventually see Telstra launch devices in other sizes – to its strategy for its self-branded smartphones, which are pitched at the low end of town.
“There’s an enormous opportunity at the entry level for the mobile tablet,” he said. “A lot of people like the opportunity of a big screen, but people don’t want to pay a premium level. I wouldn’t give my kids something that costs $800 to $900.”
Fink said Telstra sold its self-branded phones where it saw gaps in the market. And some of these most simple and cheap offerings are among its all-time top sellers because of that reason.
The executive acknowledged the older-style touchscreen of the T-Touch Tab took a bit of getting used to for those who were more used to the more sensitive touchscreens found on smartphones such as the iPhone, for example. However, he said it didn’t take long. “As soon as you spend 10 minutes with it, you get used to the pressure,” he said.
And the Telstra executive had some final words for Apple supremo Steve Jobs, who recently poured cold water on the incoming wave of 7” tablets, which will rival his company’s iPad. Jobs had stated the form factor was too small to work effectively with associated tablet software.
“I don’t disagree with his mathematical analysis, but I do think customers will end up choosing,” chuckled Fink, pointing out smartphones came with much smaller screens than 7”. “I think you’re going to have different people with different aspects,” he said.
Additional resources (in PDF format):
Telstra’s press release about the launch of the T-Touch Tab
The T-Touch Tab’s complete specifications
Image credits: Telstra
Telstra unveils Android tablet
Now Optus launches resistive Android tablet
It’s Toshiba’s turn for an Android tablet
Android tablet growth slows in Australia
Aussie firm Pioneer to launch Android iPad rival
richard fink
t-touch tab
Simon Reidy 27/10/2010 at 2:36 am
I stopped reading after the word resistive.
Seriously, spend 5 minutes with any resistive touchscreen and you’ll want to hurl it at the wall. Particularly when the resolution is so low for a 7″ device.
And can you imagine the preinstalled Telstra bloatware that will be on this thing? I’m getting freaked out just thinking about it.
Renai LeMay 27/10/2010 at 7:31 am
“I stopped reading after the word resistive. Seriously, spend 5 minutes with any resistive touchscreen and you’ll want to hurl it at the wall. Particularly when the resolution is so low for a 7″ device.”
This is pretty much the reaction I had to the T-Touch Tab after 20 seconds playing with it.
Tom 27/10/2010 at 11:16 am
Hey throwing it against the wall after five minutes is a good result – it means you’ll never find out that the battery only lasts an hour and a half.
True — in testing today the battery life has been abysmal.
Jeff 27/10/2010 at 7:46 am
Hey telstra, 2006 called they want their spec sheet back
Renai, Dell Streak has a 5 inch screen ;)
Right you are, and I’ve updated the article to reflect that. Cheers!
Paul.. 27/10/2010 at 9:55 am
Yay! Good one Telstra. They do have a great mobile network, but .. resistive screen / Android 2.1 / Telstra bloatware / expensive data packs ..
Given how slow they’ve been to upgrade the Desire to Froyo I wouldn’t hold out hope of upgrades for this in a timely fashion either (plus the processor is underpowered).
So near and yet so fail…
I wouldn’t even say they got near with this one ;)
Will 28/10/2010 at 12:23 am
Looks like this is also known as the Huawei S7. Though, why Telstra has 768Mhz version when I don’t know. (Maybe battery life?)
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/03/huawei-s7-runs-1ghz-snapdragon-and-android-2-1-like-a-champ-at-c/
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Freedom University Program | Freedom University Program
Cruz & Associates is Proud to SUPPORT FREEDOM TO LEARN
About the Freedom University Project
Cruz & Associates is committed to the education and empowerment of Hispanics in the communities we serve. We are proud of our involvement with the FREEDOM UNIVERSITY PROJECT as both sponsors and this year, through the appointment of Ruben Cruz to the Board of Directors of this non-profit organization.
Freedom University is a modern-day freedom school based in Atlanta. We provide rigorous college-level classes, scholarship assistance, and leadership development for undocumented students in Georgia. We opened our doors in 2011 following the passage of Policy 4.1.6, which bans undocumented youth from attending Georgia’s top five public universities, and Policy 4.3.4, which prohibits undocumented students from qualifying for in-state tuition. While more than 22 states allow undocumented students to attend public universities or qualify for in-state tuition, Georgia is the only state in the country to ban students both from select universities and from in-state tuition. Because undocumented students are ineligible for federal financial aid, these policies effectively exclude undocumented students and usher in a modern era of educational segregation in the South.
Our faculty are fully committed to providing students with college courses equivalent to those taught at the state’s most selective universities. In addition, we provide college application and scholarship assistance, leadership development, and movement skill-building to empower a new generation of undocumented youth leaders. We believe that all human beings — regardless of race, ethnicity, class, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or citizenship status — have a universal right to education. As a result of our work, one out of every five students that walks into Freedom University banned from public higher education in Georgia leaves with a full merit scholarship to a college out of state.
Freedom University also collaborates with documented student allies at colleges and universities across the state. Through a strategy of disciplined policy campaigns and non-violent direct actions, we are changing college admissions policies in Georgia and transforming the public debate on equal access to higher education. As a result of our collaboration with the Freedom at Emory Initiative, Emory University announced in April 2015 that it would accept qualified undocumented students and provide privately-funded, need-based financial aid to those who qualify. We are building a powerful documented/undocumented student movement that will win fair admissions policies in Georgia and give rise to a new generation of movement leaders.
Because we do not charge tuition for our undocumented student body, our sustainability relies on the generosity of friends and donors around the country. Thank you for supporting Freedom University and our vital work educating and empowering undocumented youth in Georgia.
For more information on Freedom University go to: http://www.freedomuniversitygeorgia.com/
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Atlanta – Practice Areas
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Michael Sharnoff, PH.D. Curriculum Vitae
Director, Strategic Regional Initiatives; Associate Professor of Middle East Studies
Email: sharnoff@dmgs.org
The Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security, Washington, DC – 2015 to present
Director of Regional Studies and Associate Professor of Middle East Studies: Teaching graduate level courses in the history and politics of contemporary Islamic and Middle Eastern issues; actively involved in curriculum development and course, programmatic and institutional learning outcomes assessment; assisting in the accreditation process; general academic and administrative duties for the department including advising and budget.
eSchool Media, Bethesda, MD – 2013-2015
Client Services Manager/Associate Online Editor: Reviewed all online content. Doubled page view traffic and lowered bounce rate within six months. Implemented editorial accountability with monthly scorecards and weekly analytics. Managed trusted relationships with clients by understanding their products. Oversaw deliverables to ensure successful projects for clients. Supervised and mentored five editorial interns.
Wikistrat (Volunteer) – 2012 to present
Senior Analyst: Member of a network of geopolitical experts that provides governments and companies with real-time analysis and insights on historical, cultural, political, and economic developments in conflict zones.
Jewish Policy Center, Washington, DC – 2008-2009
Research Associate and Assistant Editor: Served directly under the Director of Policy in a challenging, fast paced environment. Wrote scholarly articles and served as assistant editor for the quarterly journal. Planned seminars, speaking tours, and fundraising events. Managed the website and wrote weekly blog posts. Excelled under pressure and effectively mentored three interns.
Hudson Institute – 2008
Research Intern: Researched and wrote articles on the Middle East. Conducted timely and complex data analysis pertaining to WMD. Acquired proficiency in counterterrorism/military cooperation issues. Proofread supervisor’s book, Kazakhstan and the New International Politics of Eurasia.
United States Congress – 2006
Congressional Intern to Joe Wilson (R-SC): Served as a congressional aide in a demanding, high-energy atmosphere and assisted in all aspects of daily congressional tasks. Served as data collector during House and Senate hearings. Led guided tours of the United States Capitol. Briefed the congressman on national and international current events.
Nasser’s Peace: Egypt’s Response to the 1967 War with Israel (Routledge, 2017).
“Strange Bedfellows: Israel and the Gulf Arab States,” Working Paper for the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa’s eleventh annual conference in Washington, DC (2018).
“Why Russia will Prevail in Syria,” Washington Post, February 27, 2018.
“Iran has Driven Israel and the Gulf Arab States Together,” Washington Post, January 3, 2018.
“Nasser’s Legacy on the 50th Anniversary of the 1967 War,” BESA Center Perspectives Paper
No. 472, May 21, 2017.
“Arab Decline and Rising Iranian Influence,” Your Middle East, January 31, 2016.
“Egyptian Attitudes toward the Yemen war,” Your Middle East, April 17, 2015.
“White House Needs to Support Egypt and Jordan with a Consistent Anti-Terrorism Strategy,”
Huffington Post, March 10, 2015.
“Can Palestinian Third Parties Make A Difference?” Palestine-Israel Journal, Vol. 18, No. 2 &
3, (2012).
“Defining the Enemy as Israel, Zionist, Neo-Nazi or Jewish: The Propaganda War under
Nasser’s Egypt, 1952-1967,” Vidal Sassoon Center International Center for the Study of
Antisemitism, Posen Papers in Contemporary Antisemitism No. 14 (2012).
“Reexamining the Arab Peace Initiative,” Huffington Post, January 24, 2012.
“Palestinian Attitudes toward Israel,” Foreign Policy Research Institute, May 2012.
“Post-Mubarak Egyptian Attitudes toward Israel,” Foreign Policy Research Institute, October
“Looking Back: Nasser’s Inter-Arab Rivalries: 1958-1967,” al Arabiya, July 2011.
“Academic Perspective: Revisiting Nasser and Palestine after the 1967 War,” al Arabiya, June
“Nasser’s Arab Rivals: 1958-1967,” Institute for Security and Defense Analysis (Greece),
Middle East Observer (Issue 4, Vol. 4, March-June 2011).
Review of Unprotected: Palestinians in Egypt since 1948, by Oroub El-Abed, Association for
the Study of the Middle East and Africa, May 18, 2010.
“The Syrian-Soviet Alliance,” inFOCUS Quarterly, Spring 2009.
“Syria and the Greater Middle East in 2020 and Beyond,” National Defense University’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, April 5, 2018.
Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa, Washington, DC. “Eliminating the Consequences of Aggression: Egypt’s Strategy after the 1967 War” (2017). “Defining the Enemy as Israel, Zionist, Neo-Nazi or Jewish: The Propaganda War under Nasser’s Egypt, 1952-1967” (2011). “Reexamining Inter Arab Rivalries under Nasser’s Egypt” (2010).
The Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security, Washington, DC. “Forecasting Global Energy Geopolitics and Markets” (Moderator, 2017). “Nasser’s Peace Book Talk” (2017). Western Security Hemisphere Conference, “The Influence of Extra-Regional Actors in the Western Hemisphere” (Moderator, 2016).
Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management. “Arab/Israeli Conflict” (Guest Lecturer, 2013). “Introduction to Middle East History and Islam” (Guest Lecturer, 2013). “Pre-Islamic Arabia to the Modern Middle East” (Guest Lecturer, 2012).
Strategic Issues in the Middle East – MA
Islamic Politics and Terrorism – MA
Arab Israeli Conflict – MA
The Contemporary Middle East: A New Look at Changing Regional Dynamics – MA
Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa
Doctor of Philosophy, Middle East and Mediterranean Studies, King’s College, London.
Master of Arts, Middle Eastern History, Tel Aviv University.
Bachelor of Arts, History, College of Charleston.
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Google Maps virtually owns the navigation apps scene and it remains of the best Android apps ever. It gets frequent, almost weekly updates that seem to only add to its incredibly generous list of existing features. Aside from the very basics, Google Maps gives you access to places of interest, traffic data, directions to things like rest stops or gas stations, and they even let you have offline maps now (albiet temporarily). If you add to that the Waze experience, which includes tons of its own features, and you won’t need another navigation app. Ever. Google also owns and operates Waze. It’s unique and fun in ways that Google Maps isn’t and we also highly recommend it.
There are a lot of apps out there that pay lip service to security and privacy, but Signal was built from the ground up with the goal of letting people easily communicate without having to worry about being overheard. The Signal app is a complete phone and SMS client replacement (though it works just fine as a standalone app, too) for sending and receiving encrypted calls and messages. A recent update has greatly improved the app's look and feel, proving that security and usability don't have to be at odds. Android App
Privacy stalwarts rejoice! Tor now has an official (and modern-looking) Android app. The Tor project operates under the principle that "internet users should have private access to an uncensored web." Make sure to read the overview of how Tor works before you start using it, as it addresses specific types of privacy threats (and does so very well). The Tor browser may perform more slowly than other browsers, given its complicated inner workings, but that drawback should be negligible for the users who appreciate and rely on its protections.
Tasker is a glorious application if you have the patience to learn how to use the app. What it does is allow users to create custom made commands and then use them in various places. There are many apps out there that have Tasker support and you can even use Tasker to create very complex commands for NFC tags. It’s difficult to truly explain what this app can do because it can do so many things. Between the apps supported, plugins you an add, and the sheer volume of stuff that you can do, there aren’t many apps out there as useful as this one. IFTTT is another excellent automation app. In some cases, it may even be better than Tasker thanks to its simplicity and wide range of uses.
Grammarly Keyboard corrects your grammar and spelling errors as you type. This keyboard is useful for everything from writing emails to composing social media posts to editing long-form documents. In use, Grammarly makes it easy to accept changes or access a card-based interface with more in-depth explanations of an error. It also offers a good number of visual customizations, such as a choice between a light or dark theme options and the keyboard height, as well as editing options, such as auto-correction and capitalization preferences.
Despite ups and downs in the quality of its library, Netflix dominates the world of streaming TV and movies. The service also creates its own—sometimes indispensable—content, including original comedies, cartoons, dramas, and documentaries. Some of the shows have become cultural phenomena, making Netflix a must-have. Shows such as Black Mirror, Stranger Things, and The Crown (the most expensive TV show ever made) are often the conversation topics of the day. You can even download select episodes to watch offline at your leisure.
Evernote is a legendary note-taking app. It’s easy to use and comes with some really cool features including voice commands. You can also take a note and view it on your lock screen or smartwatch. Evernotes are also available across multiple devices, including on desktop. You can also find notes based on your location if you are near to where you took the note in the first place. There is a Plus version available for $2.99 a month and a Premium version for $5.99, but the free version is great as well.
Dropbox pioneered the personal cloud service, where all your stuff would be available no matter what device you were using. On Android, it holds its own—even against the highly integrated Google Drive. Dropbox can also act as a seamless backup for your images, automatically uploading every photo to the cloud. It even includes some light image editing tools. If you're the type of person with lots of files already stored in Dropbox, this app is a must-have. Droid App
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ireland, patricia national organization for women sexual attack by c (1)
mar. 10, 1931 (1)
11-1-1875 (1)
All fields: Defendant
Acts, Bills, and Resolutions of the Choctaw Nation, 1875
A resolution to dismiss a case of injunction or write of ejectment with Superintendent of Public Schools as plaintiff and G.T. Lincoln as defendant. Passed and approved Nov. 1, 1875.
Defendant's reply brief in 'The Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations v. The United States.' Cong. No. 17641.
Defendant's statement setting forth gratuities in 'The Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations v. The United States.' Cong. No. 17641.
Defendant's motion to dismiss in 'The Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations v. the United States.' Cong. No. 17641.
Brief on complainant on demurrer of defendant in 'The Chickasaw Nation v. The United States of America.' No. K-335.
Evidence for defendant in 'The Chickasaw Nation of Indians v. The United States.' No. K-376.
Defendant's objections in 'The Chickasaw Nation of Indians v. The United States.' No. K-376.
The defendant's objections to findings in 'The Chickasaw Nation v. The United States of America and the Choctaw Nation.' No. K-334.
Evidence for defendant in 'The Chickasaw Nation v. The United States.' No. K-334.
Defendant United States' supplementary brief in 'The Chickasaw Nation v. The United States and the Choctaw Nation.' No. K-334.
Defendant United States' motion for a new trial in 'The Chickasaw Nation v. The United States of America and The Choctaw Nation.' No. K-334.
Defendant United States' further answer in 'The Chickasaw Nation v. The United States of America and The Choctaw Nation.' No. K-334.
Court of Claims. Plaintiff's Response to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss. The Creek Nation vs. The United States. No. 17640.
Court of Claims. Defendant's objections. Eastern or Emigrant Cherokees v. The United States. No. 42077.
Court of Claims. Defendant's objections. Western or Old Settler Cherokees v. The United States. No. 42078.
Court of Claims. Index. Plaintiff's Answer to Defendant's Objections (etc.). The Creek Nation v. The United States. No. H-510.
United States Court of Appeals for the Indian Territory, No 636, J. C. Wilcox, vs, United States, Brief of Defendant in Error, G. A. Mansfield, Assistant U. S. Attorney, James E. Gresham, Assistant U. S. Attorney
U.S. Court of Claims. Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, Complainants v. The United States of America, Defendant. Petition. No. H-37.
U.S. Court of Claims. Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, Plaintiffs, v. The United States of America, Defendant. Plaintiff's Request for Findings of Fact and Brief. No. H-37.
U.S. Court of Claims. Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, Complainants v. The United States of America, Defendant. Petition. No. J-619.
U.S. Court of Claims. Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, Complainants v. The United States of America, Defendant. Petition. No. L-253.
Court of Claims. Defendant's Brief. The Chickasaw Nation v. The United States. No. K-544.
Court of Claims. Defendant's Objections (etc.). The Chickasaw Nation v. The United States. No. K-544.
Court of Claims of The United States. Defendants Objections to Claimant's Request for Findings of Fact: Defendant's Request to Amend Findings, and Defendant's Brief. John T. Ayres, Executor of the Estate of Eli Ayers, Decesed, Vs. The United...
Court of Claims. Motion of Defendant. The Choctaw Nation v. The United States of America, and The Chickasaw Nation of Indians. No. J. 231.
Court of Claims. Brief of Plaintiff on Defendant's Motion for a New Trial. The Seminole Nation v. The United States. No. L-51.
Court of Claims. Plaintiff's Answer to Defendant's Objections (etc.). The Chickasaw Nation v. The United States. No. K-544.
Court of Claims. Defendant's Motion for a New Trial (etc.). The Seminole Nation v. The United States of America. No. L-51.
The Supreme Court of the United States. The United States of America, Complainants V. The State of Texas, Defendant. No. 4. Original.
In the United States Court of Claims, The Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, Complainants vs. The United States, Defendant No. 181
Personal Correspondence 1994
Personal Correspondence
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Newsletter to University Men in the Service (83) + -
John McGraw Civil War Letters (x)
Newsletter to University Men in the Service (May 31, 1943)
Newsletter to University Men in the Service (May 3, 1943)
Newsletter to University Men in the Service (June 14, 1943)
Newsletter to University Men in the Service (March 9, 1943)
Newsletter to University Men in the Service (April 5, 1943)
Newsletter to University Men in the Service (March 22, 1943)
Newsletter to University Men in the Service (April 15, 1943)
Newsletter to University Men in the Service (July 9, 1945)
Newsletter to University Men in the Service (October 1, 1945)
Newsletter to University Men in the Service (August 20, 1945)
Newsletter to University Men in the Service (September 4, 1945)
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Highlights of the News
Donald John Trump is still our president.
ITEM 1: Bloomberg reported, "A key measure of U.S. consumer prices unexpectedly cooled in October despite fresh tariffs on Chinese goods, a sign price gains may be slow to reach the Federal Reserve’s target even after interest-rate cuts this year.
"The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 2.3% from a year earlier, a Labor Department report showed Wednesday. That missed economist estimates, while the broader CPI climbed 0.4% and 1.8% annually, with both readings topping forecasts. The core measure was up 0.2% on the month, matching projections."
Unexpectedly?
I fully expected National Review experts and the like who called the tariffs a tax on consumers to be wrong. They always are wrong about President Trump because they are over-rated mediocre thinkers.
ITEM 2: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced, "a proposed rule to deter aliens from illegally entering the United States and from filing frivolous, fraudulent or otherwise non-meritorious asylum applications in order to obtain employment authorization.
"The proposed rule will better allow USCIS to extend protections to those with bona fide asylum claims. USCIS also seeks to prevent certain criminal aliens from obtaining work authorization before the merits of their asylum application are adjudicated.
"The proposed rule stems from the April 29, 2019, Presidential Memorandum on Additional Measures to Enhance Border Security and Restore Integrity to Our Immigration System, which emphasizes that it is the policy of the United States to manage humanitarian immigration programs in a safe, orderly manner and to promptly deny benefits to those who do not qualify. Nothing in this rule changes eligibility requirements for asylum. Instead, this rule strengthens the standards that allow an alien to work on the basis of a pending asylum application."
The bureaucracy spent decades undermining immigration by promulgating rules that aid illegal aliens. President Trump is reversing that.
ITEM 3: USA Today reported, "President Donald Trump heaped praise on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a day-long visit to the White House on Wednesday despite bipartisan concern that the authoritarian leader is sowing chaos in the Middle East.
"As House lawmakers began public hearings to investigate Trump's interactions with Ukraine, the president fully embraced another controversy weighing on his White House: His decision last month to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria, clearing the way for Turkey's invasion into that country days later.
"There was little sign Wednesday of the bipartisan criticism that has cropped up in response to Trump's approach to Turkey. After a series of meetings, the president told reporters during an East Room press conference that he hopes to broker an agreement with Turkey that would significantly expand trade between the two countries."
No genocide.
No surge of ISIS.
Nothing but a truce.
Once again, President Trump's critics were wrong.
ITEM 4: Red State reported, "The GOP polls 2020 target states on a weekly basis. On Tuesday, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel sent out a tweet showing how their internal poll numbers have changed since September 24th, the date House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood before a line of U.S. flags, and announced the opening of the impeachment inquiry. Because no man is above the law.
"Surprisingly, McDaniel reports that opposition to the hearings among Democrats is up 6 points. Could it be that there are still some sane members left in the Democratic Party who see this spectacle for what it is? Regardless of what new information is learned, no matter how favorably it may reflect on President Trump, there are a large number of Democrats who will not be swayed. Most Democrats hate Trump so much that, even though they’re well aware of how unfairly he’s been treated, they’re willing to go along with anything that will remove him from office. A 6 point shift doesn’t seem like much, but even a small move can swing an election."
Local affiliates cannot be happy with this because the hearings run over their cash cow: local news.
They also are bleeding viewers permanently to those who changed channels to avoid Schiff hitting the fan.
ITEM 5: Others watched the impeachment so we don't have to.
Both of the Democrats' star witnesses just admitted that they were NOT on the July 25th call between Presidents Trump and Zelensky. Everything they are saying today is 2nd or 3rd or 4th-hand knowledge.
Democrats are trying to impeach the president based on a game of telephone. pic.twitter.com/jbpvWOPMFs
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) November 13, 2019
MAJOR CONCLUSION FROM 'IMPEACHMENT' HEARINGS SO FAR: The State Department is filled with some of the biggest jerks on the planet.
— Roger Simon (@rogerlsimon) November 13, 2019
Adam Schiff has lost CNN:
CNN’s Toobin: neither witness “had direct contact with the president…that’s a problem” pic.twitter.com/4mpgk6fDhS
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) November 13, 2019
Breitbart News reported, "Pissi Myles, a self-described drag queen comedian, singer, and hostess from Asbury Park, NJ, was spotted on the first day of public impeachment hearings on Capitol Hill."
He is the 21st century version of Morganna Roberts, baseball's voluptuous kissing bandit. What a dirt poor century this is. People put down the 1970s, but it had its moments.
And Adam Schiff said, "I do not know the identity of the whistleblower and I’m determined to make sure the identity is protected."
No whistleblower, no impeachment.
ITEM 6:
Chris Wallace, #NeverTrump asshole, said Taylor's testimony was "very damaging to the president."
I'm sorry, what?
It was completely heresay and he testified the Ukrainian President was "happy with Trump's call."
Didn't Wallace also say Christine Ford was VERY CONVINCING?
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) November 13, 2019
Fact-check: Yup. His actual words were, "This is a disaster for the Republicans."
ITEM 7: NBC reported, "An American-born woman who once urged jihadists in America to 'go on drivebys, and spill all of their blood,'" says she 'regrets every single thing' and believes she should be given the option to return to the United States with her young son.
"'Anyone that believes in God believes that everyone deserves a second chance, no matter how harmful their sins were,' Hoda Muthana, 25, said in a wide-ranging interview with NBC News from a refugee camp in Syria where she and her 2-year-old son, Adam, live in a tent."
Buried in the story was, "Although she was born in New Jersey, and traveled to Syria with her U.S. passport, the government argue she should never have been considered a citizen in the first place as she was the daughter of a diplomat serving for the Yemeni government at the time.
"The children of foreign diplomats based in the U.S. are excluded from the right to citizenship by birthright."
Let her go home to Yemen.
Clip and save for 3 years.
ITEM 9: Jonah Goldberg wrote, "Shaking Down the Rich Is Bad for Democracy,"
Nevertheless, Captain Obvious will vote for Elizabeth Warren because President Trump is in Goldberg's own words "a bane on humanity."
ITEM 10: The Washington Examiner reported, "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg missed oral arguments before the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
"She is 'indisposed due to illness,' Chief Justice John Roberts said at the start of proceedings. She intended to participate in the consideration of the cases by reading briefs and transcripts, Roberts added."
Too bad there is no 25th Amendment for justices.
ITEM 11: The Daily Mail reported, "Jeremy Corbyn insisted that mass-murdering ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi should have been arrested -- despite the fact that the terrorist leader blew himself and two of his children up as US soldiers approached."
How nice that the UK has an Adam Schiff to call its own.
ITEM 12: The Daily Caller reported, "Arizona Republican Congressman Paul Gosar tweeted out a cryptic series of impeachment-related tweets on Wednesday afternoon, but some noticed that they each starting with letters spelling out the phrase 'Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself.'"
Outing the Arkancide of Epstein is more likely than removing President Trump.
ITEM 13: CNBC reported, "The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time high on Wednesday as Disney shares popped while investors digested testimony from the top-ranking Federal Reserve official.
"The 30-stock average closed 92.10 points higher, or 0.3% at 27,783.59, notching intraday and closing records. Disney jumped 7.4% after the media giant said its Disney+ streaming service got more than 10 million sign-ups after launching on Tuesday.
"Meanwhile, the S and P 500 eked out a record closing high, its 20th of the year, ending the day up 0.1% at 3,094.04. The Nasdaq Composite, however, closed just below the flatline at 8,482.10."
Stock market fell during the Nixon and Clinton impeachments.
This one is a sham and the stock market has no time for Democrat shenanigans. There is too much money to be made in an economy we might not see again in 50 years.
ITEM 14: Fox News reported, "The compound in northern Syria where the former leader of the Islamic State terror group was holed up until U.S. special operations forces stormed it last month was reportedly connected to the Internet until the day of the fateful raid."
One more thing to worry about when the Internet goes out.
ITEM 15: The Independent Journal Review reported, "Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) told reporters that an impeachment trial could take six to eight weeks. If the Senate uses previous impeachment hearing schedules, it will be in session six days a week with trial times running from 12:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. That intensive schedule would require several Democratic Senators running for president to be present for the hearings."
The trial will end February 2, unless Adam Schiff sees his shadow that day. If so, there will be six more weeks of testimony.
ITEM 16:
Wow! Was just told that my son’s book, “Triggered,” is Number One on The New York Times Bestseller List. Congratulations Don!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 14, 2019
Triggered is No. 1 with a bullet.
Labels: Highlights of the News
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January 1, 2019 By Titus Kennedy 1 Comment
Philadelphia (“brotherly love/friendship,” modern Aleşehir) of Lydia, the sixth city addressed in the letters to the 7 churches in Revelation, is the city about which least is currently known due to the limited amount of archaeological remains recovered from the site (Revelation 3:7-13). Philadelphia, near the Cogamus River and Mount Tmolus, was situated on the imperial military route west to Rome, while to the east the highway led all the way to Susa from Sardis, meaning the city would see regular visits from soldiers, travelers, and merchants (Jeffers, The Greco-Roman World; Thorpe, “Philadelphia”). An inscription found in the ruins suggests that Philadelphia was founded at least as early as the 2nd century BC during the reign of King Eumenes II of Pergamum, who named the city after his younger brother, Attalus II, who was called Philadelphus in honor of his love and loyalty to his brother the king.
During the 1st century, Philadelphia was under the jurisdiction of Sardis, meaning it was a city of lesser importance in comparison to major centers such as Sardis, Ephesus, and Pergamum (Pliny, Natural History). One theory suggested that Philadelphia had been founded as a city to help spread Hellenism through the region, but little has been found to substantiate the idea (Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia). The soil around the city was renowned, leading to the production of exceptional grapes and wine (Strabo, Geography). Because the main industry was wine, it has been suggested that Dionysus was the main deity of the city. Yet, the image of this god only appears on a few coins from Philadelphia, and none of those date to the 1st century AD (1st century BC, 2nd and 3rd century AD). In 92 AD, Emperor Domitian issued an edict for Asia Province, which required many vineyards to be cut down and replaced with corn, which probably severely damaged the economy of Philadelphia (Suetonius, Domitian; cf. 1st century “grape” coins). The area was also very susceptible to earthquakes, and supposedly most of the people actually lived outside of the city as farmers in rural homes and villages (Strabo, Geography). Philadelphia also suffered damage from the 17 AD earthquake that laid waste to other cities in the region, perhaps even as the epicenter of the quake, and it was given remission from taxes to help with its rebuild (Tacitus, Annals). However, very little is known about the buildings and layout of Roman period Philadelphia. The remains of a theater have been discovered, and coins show that near the end of the 2nd century AD an imperial temple was erected there, but in the 1st century there may not have been any official presence of the imperial cult (cf. coin of Caracalla). The lack of the imperial cult or any major pagan temples may have contributed to less syncretism problems in the church at Philadelphia, which is the only church of the seven that is not criticized for anything (Revelation 3:7-13). According to the letter, the “synagogue of Satan” or false Jews which are mentioned seem not to have been as much of a problem for the church at Philadelphia as they were for Smyrna (Revelation 2:9, 3:9). This general issue was probably mentioned by Ignatius, who wrote a letter to the church at Philadelphia only a few years after Revelation. In it, he encouraged the Christians to be unified and to listen to the council of their bishop, and to avoid listening to those who expound Judaism (Ignatius of Antioch, To the Philadelphians).
Recent excavations at the site have uncovered a Byzantine church with mosaic floors and a baptismal fountain in Philadelphia, which has tentatively been dated to 313-320 AD, immediately after the Edict of Milan issued by Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity.
Filed Under: Acts to Revelation, Dig Deeper Tagged With: Acts, Acts to Revelation, Dig Deeper, Episode 17, Titus Kennedy
teamdingeryahoo-com says
They do have love my brother.
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8 October 2007 / twitter
I Finally "Get" Twitter
Similar to my post on Blogging, I never really understood Twitter. Why would you spend the time to type a maximum of 140 characters into a website for the world to see?
But now I get it, and I'm starting to use it. This idea of "ambient awareness" of friends is a really powerful one, and to me it's what makes social networking sites like Facebook so powerful.
I think of it this way: I would never spend the time to call 200 people and tell them what I'm doing. For example, I spoke on a panel today, and I would never call anyone up to tell them about it. But instead, I sent a "Tweet" (that's what a Twitter message is called) from my phone announcing to the world that I would be at this panel today. That way, anyone who is following my "Tweets" can choose to attend if they wish. People who are "following" me on Twitter can quickly scan all of the Tweets I (and everyone else they're following) send and decide what they want to focus on. This is what I mean by "ambient awareness." It's like you know what 200 people are doing without having to talk to each and every one of them, and it's very powerful.
So give Facebook and Twitter a try, and see if you can create and receive some ambient awareness of your own. I imagine you'll really enjoy it and find it to be a very productive experience. My one caveat is that this takes time. You have to give yourself at least a few weeks and probably a few months of concerted effort to connect to people you know and start "following" them before you'll really see the value in it.
— DROdio - CEO of Armory: Powering the Third Industrial Revolution —
How-To Series: Blog & Twitter 3/3 at Johns Hopkins University
Finally: How to leverage social media, right now
Projecting Twitter On A Wall
About "Sticking To It" + Video Blogging
This is the first of what will be a series of video blogs that I'll be posting as we ramp up a new startup called PointAbout. In each of these video blogs, I'll
How To Use Twitter
I've begun posting to Twitter consistently (you can follow our PointAbout account here, or my personal DROdio account here) and I just had a fellow Realtor email me saying, "I noticed you're now
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Tokyo – Akihabara (Redux) March 20, 2012
Tags: AKB, AKB 48, AKB48, Akihabara, animation, anime, cafe, chuo-dori, electronics, geek, Gundam, Gundam Cafe, idol, japan, Japanimation, Kanda, Kanda Myojin, Kanda Shrine, Kinshicho, maid cafe, manga, Ochanomizu, otaku, pop idol, Taito-ku, tokyo
Author’s Note: Dru’s Misadventures has moved to HinoMaple. Please venture on over there to read “Tokyo – Akihabara (Redux)” complete with photos. http://wp.me/p2liAm-Na
I have previously written about Akihabara and focused a lot on what is available in the area. 2 years ago, I moved to Kinshicho which is just a few stations away from Akihabara. I have had a chance to learn more and more about Akihabara as well as understand the area in a different light. In the past 2 years since my original post about Akihabara many things have changed, yet many things have remained the same. It is still a mecca for geeks and electronics lovers everywhere and it continues to evolve with time.
Akihabara will always be a mecca for geeks, even though the current mayor of the district is trying to push them out. There are several new large buildings that focus more on businesses, but a lot of the side streets are still filled with great little shops to “get your geek on”. A lot of the really old shops that added character to Akihabara have closed down and new larger versions have recently popped up. While the character of Akihabara is modernizing, it is modernizing in a good way for tourists now. A lot of the new buildings are occupied by various larger model and anime shops. The older buildings were a bit of a hazard due to their age and lack of upkeep which created a dingy look. While the gentrification of Akihabara is continuing, in my opinion, the original culture is trying to fight on. While many of the porn shops and shady cafes are gone, many of the original electronics and shops are consolidating into larger outlets. Some of the large buildings with dozens of micro shops are rebuilding in smaller and taller buildings. The variety of stores appears to be improving a bit and tourist friendly big box retailers are moving in slowly. Like the stories in many manga or anime, the geeks may have been knocked down but they still try to maintain their own culture within Akihabara.
Akihabara is quickly becoming known for AKB48. AKB48 is a huge all girl pop idol group that was born in 2005. The founder of AKB48 wanted to create “an idol you can meet” situation when he created AKB48. AKB48 stands for AKihaBara 48. Originally, he envisioned 48 girls in the group. At times, there were less than 48 but due to the popularity of the group it now stands at over 50. The group has become so popular that they spawned sister groups across Japan as well as one group in Indonesia and another one being developed in Taiwan. AKB48 is also one of the most recognized and top selling groups in Japan. The group started off very humbly and in the past 3 years have exploded beyond their imaginations. They are seen on TV at almost all hours of the day. The most popular girls are on primetime TV while the B and C list tend to dominate late night TV with cutesy programs. They tend to promote the fact that they are young, and at ages ranging from 13 to 29, they play the part very well. In the beginning, many thought of the group as a type of soft kiddie porn due to the way they dance and dress. Today, they are now part of Japanese pop culture and integral in how Japan is viewed from outside. It is unlikely that they will go away soon and they will continue to expand. From what started out as a single theatre has now grown to include a new venue where you can eat at their cafe, see their museum, buy fan items, and watch past concerts in a new small theatre.
Themes are a new trend in Akihabara. A Gundam Cafe had opened since my last post about Akihabara. It is a very popular cafe where fanatics of Gundam can enjoy a Gundam themed coffee. In fact, all of the food and drinks come with a Gundam theme. The cutlery, dishes, and even tables have Gundam themes. When entering the washroom, you will be greeted by the most famous Gundam of all. You don’t have to wait in line to enjoy the food as you can purchase some items at the store. The store itself is pretty small with only a few, yet exclusive, items for sale. While the Gundam Cafe itself is pretty popular, there are other theme attractions in Akihabara. I mentioned that maid cafes are popular, and they continue to be so. Maid cafes come in all shapes and sizes with various costumes. If you aren’t happy with the French maid, or the Japanese style maid, you can always go to one where the girls dress in other costumes. They are harder to find and just as expensive as a normal maid cafe but they tend to be very popular.
An often overlooked area of Akihabara, even by me, is the Kanda Myojin. It is a very important shrine in Tokyo. It is one of the 10 most important shrines in Tokyo. They were selected by a past emperor of Japan and it is considered a small pilgrimage to visit all 10. Kanda Myojin is one of the ten but it is a little off the beaten path. It is located roughly an equal distance from Akihabara Station and Ochanomizu Station. It is a little easier to reach from Akihabara but you must pass through a small residential and business district. Most of Akihabara is centred on Chuo-dori and Kanda Myojin is about 5 minutes from Chuo-dori. It is also easy to be lost on the way to Kanda Myojin but once you are there, you are rewarded with one of the nicer gems of the city. Kanda Myojin is actually more well-known among locals as being a popular place for weddings. It is a little expensive but compared to Meiji Jingu, nowhere near as expensive. There are a few various sculptures in the area and it is worth a visit if you are living in Tokyo, but in reality, if you are pressed for time, don’t bother with it. Just enjoy yourself in Akihabara and think about doing a pilgrimage in the future.
Akihabara continues to evolve with the atmosphere has changed only a little in the past 2 years. It will take a lot more time to know whether or not the area will completely lose the atmosphere that once inhabited the area. It is not the same as before but it isn’t completely different either. You can still find almost everything you can imagine and the area is upgrading the buildings slowly. The old run down stores that looked like they would crumble in a serious earthquake are, for the most part, gone. They have been replaced by several new buildings that have been repopulated by shops that are similar to the original shops in the area. It definitely feels cleaner but at the same time, some of the character of the old dingy shops is gone. In fact, some of the small shops have probably closed for good due to the economy and the changes in Akihabara. I doubt all of them will go away but I feel that things can never return to the technological and otaku heave it once was.
The Akihabara series continues with Akihabara – For the Civilized and Akihabara – For the Eccentric.
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Title 50 Part 17 → Subpart J
Title 50 → Chapter I → Subchapter B → Part 17 → Subpart J
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations e-CFR
Browse Previous
Title 50: Wildlife and Fisheries
PART 17—ENDANGERED AND THREATENED WILDLIFE AND PLANTS (CONTINUED)
Subpart J—Manatee Protection Areas
§17.100 Purpose.
§17.101 Scope.
§17.102 Definitions.
§17.103 Establishment of protection areas.
§17.104 Prohibitions.
§17.105 Permits and exceptions.
§17.106 Emergency establishment of protection areas.
§17.107 Facilitating enforcement.
§17.108 List of designated manatee protection areas.
§§17.109-17.199 [Reserved]
Source: 44 FR 60964, Oct. 22, 1979, unless otherwise noted.
This subpart provides a means for establishing manatee protection areas without waters under the jurisdiction of the United States, including coastal waters adjacent to and inland waters within the several States, within which certain waterborne activities will be restricted or prohibited for the purpose of preventing the taking of manatees.
This subpart applies to the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), also known as the Florida manatee and as the sea cow. The provisions of this subpart are in addition to, and not in lieu of, other regulations contained in this chapter I which may require a permit or prescribe additional restrictions on the importation, exportation, transportation, or taking of wildlife, and the regulations contained in title 33, CFR, which regulate the use of navigable waters.
In addition to definitions contained in the Acts, part 10 of this subchapter, and §17.3 of this part, and unless the context otherwise requires, in this subpart:
Acts means the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (87 Stat. 884, 16 U.S.C. 1531-1543) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as amended (86 Stat. 1027, 16 U.S.C. 1361-1407);
Authorized officer means any commissioned, warrant, or petty officer of the U.S. Coast Guard, or any officer or agent designated by the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Commerce, or the Secretary of the Treasury, or any officer designated by the head of a Federal or State agency which has entered into an agreement with the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of the Treasury, or Secretary of Transportation to enforce the Acts, or any Coast Guard personnel accompanying and acting under the direction of a person included above in this definition;
Idle speed is defined as the minimum speed needed to maintain steerage (direction) of the vessel;
Manatee protection area means a manatee refuge or a manatee sanctuary;
Manatee refuge means an area in which the Director has determined that certain waterborne activity would result in the taking of one or more manatees, or that certain waterborne activity must be restricted to prevent the taking of one or more manatees, including but not limited to a taking by harassment;
Manatee sanctuary means an area in which the Director has determined that any waterborne activity would result in a taking of one or more manatees, including but not limited to a taking by harassment;
Planing means riding on or near the water's surface as a result of the hydrodynamic forces on a water vehicle's hull, sponsons, foils, or other surfaces. A water vehicle is considered on plane when it is being operated at or above the speed necessary to keep the vessel planing;
Slow speed is defined as the speed at which a water vehicle proceeds when it is fully off plane and completely settled in the water. Due to the different speeds at which water vehicles of different sizes and configurations may travel while in compliance with this definition, no specific speed is assigned to slow speed. A water vehicle is not proceeding at slow speed if it is: on a plane; in the process of coming up on or coming off of plane; or creating an excessive wake. A water vehicle is proceeding at slow speed if it is fully off plane and completely settled in the water, not creating an excessive wake;
Slow speed (channel exempt) means that the slow-speed designation does not apply to those waters within the maintained, marked channel;
Slow speed (channel included) means that the slow-speed designation applies both within and outside the designated channel;
Wake means all changes in the vertical height of the water's surface caused by the passage of a water vehicle, including a vessel's bow wave, stern wave, and propeller wash, or a combination thereof;
Waterborne activity includes, but is not limited to, swimming, diving (including skin and scuba diving), snorkeling, water skiing, surfing, fishing, the use of water vehicles, and dredging and filling operations;
Water vehicle, watercraft, and vessel include, but are not limited to, boats (whether powered by engine, wind, or other means), ships (whether powered by engine, wind, or other means), barges, surfboards, personal watercraft, water skis, or any other device or mechanism the primary or an incidental purpose of which is locomotion on, or across, or underneath the surface of the water.
[44 FR 60964, Oct. 22, 1979, as amended at 67 FR 693, Jan. 7, 2002]
The Director may, by regulation issued in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553 and 43 CFR part 14, establish manatee protection areas whenever there is substantial evidence showing such establishment is necessary to prevent the taking of one or more manatees. Any regulation establishing a manatee protection area shall state the following information:
(a) Whether the area is to be a manatee sanctuary or refuge.
(1) If the area is to be a manatee sanctuary, the regulation shall state that all waterborne activities are prohibited.
(2) If the area is to be a manatee refuge, the regulation shall state which, if any, waterborne activities are prohibited, and it shall state the applicable restrictions, if any, on permitted waterborne activities.
(b) A description of the area sufficient enough so that its location and dimensions can be readily ascertained without resort to means other than published maps, natural or man-made physical reference points, and posted signs.
(c) Whether the designation is to remain in effect year-round, and if not, the time of year it is to remain in effect.
Except as provided in §17.105,
(a) Manatee sanctuary. It is unlawful for any person to engage in any waterborne activity within a manatee sanctuary.
(b) Manatee refuge. It is unlawful for any person within a particular manatee refuge to engage in any waterborne activity which has been specifically prohibited within that refuge, or to engage in any waterborne activity in a manner contrary to that permitted by regulation within that area. Any take of manatees under the Acts (see §18.3 of this chapter for a definition of “take” in regard to marine mammals), including take by harassment, is prohibited wherever it may occur.
(c) State law. It is unlawful for any person to engage in any waterborne activity prohibited by, or to engage in any waterborne activity in a manner contrary to that permitted by, any State law or regulation the primary purpose of which is the protection of manatees: Provided: that such State law or regulation has been issued as part of a program which is determined to be in accordance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, pursuant to section 6(c) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 1535(c)) or has been approved as consistent with the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 in accordance with section 109 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 1379) and 50 CFR 18.53.1
1Editorial Note: Section 18.53 was removed at 48 FR 22456, May 18, 1983. See the note at part 18, subpart F.
[44 FR 60964, Oct. 22, 1979, as amended at 77 FR 15631, Mar. 16, 2012]
(a) The Director may issue permits allowing the permittee to engage in any activity otherwise prohibited by this subpart. Such permits shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of §17.22 of this part. Such permits shall be issued only for scientific purposes or for the enhancement of propagation or survival. All of the provisions of §17.22 shall apply to the issuance of such permits, including those provisions which incorporate other sections by reference. Compliance with this paragraph does not by itself constitute compliance with any applicable requirements of part 18.
(b) Any authorized officer may engage in any activity otherwise prohibited by this subpart if:
(1) The officer is acting in the performance of his or her official duties; and
(2) The activity is being conducted to directly protect any manatees, to enhance the propagation or survival of manatees, or is reasonably required to enforce the other provisions of this subpart.
(c) Any person may engage in any activity otherwise prohibited by this subpart if such activity is reasonably necessary to prevent the loss of life or property due to weather conditions or other reasonably unforeseen circumstances, or to render necessary assistance to persons or property.
(d) Any waterborne activity which would otherwise be prohibited by this subpart may be engaged in if it is conducted by or under a contract with a Federal agency and if the Secretary of Defense, in accordance with section 7(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(j)) makes a finding that such activity is necessary for reasons of national security. Such a finding must be made prior to the beginning of the activity or the designation of the protection area, whichever occurs later; except that in the case of an emergency establishment of a protection area under §17.106, the finding must be made within 10 days after the beginning of the activity or the designation of the protection area, whichever occurs later.
(a) The Director may establish a manatee protection area under the provisions of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section at any time he determines there is substantial evidence that there is imminent danger of a taking of one or more manatees, and that such establishment is necessary to prevent such a taking.
(b) The establishment of a manatee protection area under this section shall become effective immediately upon completion of the following requirements:
(1) Publication of a notice containing the information required by §17.103 of this section in a newspaper of general circulation in each county, if any, in which the protection area lies; and
(2) Posting of the protection area with signs clearly marking its boundaries.
(c) Simultaneously with the publication required by paragraph (b) of this section, the Director shall publish the same notice in the Federal Register. If simultaneous publication is impractical, because of the time involved or the nature of a particular emergency situation, failure to publish notice in the Federal Register simultaneously shall not delay the effective date of the emergency establishment. In such a case, notice shall be published in the Federal Register as soon as possible.
(d) No emergency establishment of a protection area shall be effective for more than 120 days. Termination of an emergency establishment of a protection area shall be accomplished by publishing notice of the termination in the Federal Register and in a newspaper of general circulation in each county, if any, in which the protection area lies.
(e) Within 10 days after establishing a protection area in accordance with this section, the Director shall commence proceedings to establish the area in accordance with §17.103.
Water vehicles operating in manatee sanctuary or refuge waters are subject to boarding and inspection for the purpose of enforcing the Acts and these regulations.
(a) The operator of a water vehicle shall immediately comply with instructions issued by authorized officers to facilitate boarding and inspection of the water vehicle.
(b) Upon being approached by an authorized officer, the operator of a water vehicle shall be alert for signals conveying enforcement instructions.
(c) A water vehicle signaled for boarding shall:
(1) Guard channel 16, VHF-FM, if equipped with a VHF-FM radio;
(2) Stop immediately and lay to or maneuver in such a manner as to facilitate boarding by the authorized officer and his or her party;
(3) When necessary to facilitate the boarding, provide a safe ladder, manrope, safety line and illumination of the ladder; and
(4) Take such other actions as may be necessary to ensure the safety of the authorized officer and his or her party and to facilitate the boarding and inspection.
(d) It is unlawful for any person to assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with any authorized officer or member of his or her party.
(a) Manatee sanctuaries. The following areas are designated as manatee sanctuaries. All waterborne activities are prohibited in these areas during the period November 15-March 31 of each year. The areas which will be posted are described as follows:
(1) That part of Kings Bay, Crystal River, Citrus County, within T. 18 S., R. 17 E., Tallahassee Meridian; located in SW 1⁄4 fractional section 28, more particularly described as follows:
Beginning at Corner 1 (N-1,653,459/E-308,915) Florida Coordinate System, West Zone, a point on the shoreline of Kings Bay near the southwest corner of Lot 9 as accepted on a plat by the Department of the Interior, General Land Office, dated January 10, 1928; thence easterly, along said shoreline, approximately 1240 feet to Corner 2 (N-1,653,762/E/309,641) a point; thence S. 56°58′11″ W., across open water, 776.49 feet to Corner 3 (N-1,653,339/E-308,990) a point; thence N. 32°03′07″ W., across open water, 142.26 feet to the point of beginning, containing 3.41 acres, more or less, to be known as the Banana Island Sanctuary.
(2) That part of Kings Bay, Crystal River, Citrus County, Florida, within T. 18 S., R. 17 E., Tallahassee Meridian; located in SW 1⁄4 fractional section 28, more particularly described as follows:
Beginning at Corner 1 (N-1,652,684/E-309,396) Florida Coordinate System, West Zone, a point on the shoreline of Kings Bay, said point being the northwest corner of Lot 31 Sunset Shores Addition to Woodward Park (Plat Book 2, page 140 Citrus County Property Appraiser's Office); thence N. 35°05′33″ W., across open water, 439.10 feet to Corner 2 (N-1,653,043/E-309,144) a point; thence N. 67°23′28″ E., across open water, 873.45 feet to Corner 3, a point on the shoreline of Kings Bay said point also being a corner in the northerly boundary line of Lot 21 in said subdivision; thence southwesterly along said shoreline and the northerly boundary of Lots 21-31, including a canal, approximately 920 feet to the point of beginning, containing 5.62 acres, more or less, to be known as the Sunset Shores Sanctuary.
(3) A tract of submerged land, lying in Sections 21 and 28, Township 18 South, Range 17 East in Citrus County, Florida, more particularly described as follows: All of the submerged land lying within the mean high water line of a canal bordering the western, northern, and eastern sides of Paradise Isle Subdivision, as recorded in Plat Book 3, Page 88 of the Public Records of Citrus County, Florida; bounded at the western exit by a line drawn between the southwestern corner of Lot 7 of said Paradise Isle Subdivision and the southeastern corner of Lot 22 of Springs O'Paradise Subdivision, Unit No. 3, as recorded in Plat Book 3, Page 70 of said Public Records; and bounded at the eastern exit by an easterly extension of the south boundary of said Paradise Isle Subdivision; Containing 3.4 acres, more or less, to be known as the Magnolia Springs Manatee Sanctuary.
(4) A tract of submerged land, lying in Sections 28 and 29, Township 18 South, Range 17 East in Citrus County, Florida, more particularly described as follows: For a point of reference, commence at the southwest corner of said Section 28; Then go N 06°01′23″ W for 4466.90 feet to a 10-inch diameter concrete monument marking the Point of Beginning; Then go N 10°05′38″ W for 477.32 feet to a 10-inch diameter concrete monument with an attached buoy; Then go N 37°34′41″ E for 651.07 feet to a 10-inch diameter concrete monument with an attached buoy; Then go S 73°26′46″ E for 634.10 feet to a 10-inch diameter concrete monument with an attached buoy; Then go S 17°50′16″ E for 1691.53 feet to a 10-inch diameter concrete monument with an attached buoy; Then go S 71°48′58″ W for 117.87 feet to a 10-inch diameter concrete monument with an attached buoy; Then continue S 71°48′58″ W for 5 feet more or less to the mean high water line of Buzzard Island; Then follow said mean high water line northerly and westerly to a point lying S 10°05′38″ E of the point of beginning; Then go N 10°05′38″ W for 5 feet more or less to the point of beginning; Containing 18.0 acres, more or less, to be known as the Buzzard Island Manatee Sanctuary.
(5) A tract of submerged land, lying in Section 28, Township 18 South, Range 17 East in Citrus County, Florida, more particularly described as follows: For a point of reference, commence at the southwest corner of said Section 28; Then go N 28°55′06″ E for 2546.59 feet to a 4-inch diameter iron pipe marking the Point of Beginning; Then go N 44°23′41″ W for 282.45 feet to a 10-inch diameter concrete monument with an attached buoy; Then go N 33°53′16″ E for 764.07 feet to a 10-inch diameter concrete monument with an attached buoy; Then go S 31°51′55″ E for 333.22 feet to a 4-inch diameter iron pipe; Then continue S 31°51′55″ E for 5 feet more or less to the mean high water line of Banana Island; Then go westerly along said main high water line to a point lying S 44°23′41″ E from the point of beginning; Then go N 44°23′41″ W for 5 feet more or less to the point of beginning; Containing 4.6 acres, more or less, to be known as the Tarpon Springs Manatee Sanctuary.
(6) A tract of submerged land, lying in Section 28, Township 18 South, Range 17 East in Citrus County, Florida, more particularly described as follows: For a point of reference, commence at the southwest corner of said Section 28; Then go N 06°43′00″ E for 1477.54 feet to a 10-inch diameter concrete monument marking the Point of Beginning; Then go N 06°24′59″ W for 251.66 feet to a 10-inch diameter concrete monument with an attached buoy; Then go N 65°41′12″ E for 637.83 feet to a 10-inch diameter concrete monument with an attached buoy; Then go S 55°40′52″ E for 272.86 feet to a 10-inch diameter concrete monument; Then continue S 65°15′06″ W for 857.22 feet to the point of beginning; Containing 4.0 acres, more or less, to be known as the Warden Key Manatee Sanctuary.
(7) A tract of submerged land, lying in Section 28, Township 18 South, Range 17 East, Tallahassee Meridian, Citrus County, Florida, more particularly described as follows: For a point of reference, commence at the southwest corner of said Section 28 (N-1651797.56 E-463846.96) Florida Coordinate System, West Zone, NAD 1983, N.G.S. adjustment of 1990 (expressed in U.S. survey feet); thence N. 40°08′47″ E., 5551.65 feet (5551.57 feet grid distance) to an aluminum monument stamped “PSM 3341 1998” (N1656009.01 E-467449.35) marking the Point of Beginning; thence N. 77°06′49″ E., 71.84 feet to an aluminum monument stamped “PSM3341 1998” (N-1656025.04, N-467519.38); thence S. 04°37′09″ W., 29.88 feet to an aluminum monument stamped “PSM 3341 1998” (N-1655995.26 E-467516.98); thence N. 78°29′57″ W., 69.01 feet to the point of beginning; to be known as the Three Sisters Spring Sanctuary.
Note: Map for paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(7) follows:
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(8) That part of the Homosassa River, Homosassa, Citrus County, Florida, within Section 28, Township 19 South, Range 17 East, described as the headwaters of the Homosassa River (adjacent to the Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park), including the spring run at the point where the run enters the northeast fork of the river along the southeastern shore and an area opposite this site along the southern shoreline; containing approximately 0.67 ha (1.66 acres). Map follows (see Blue Waters Manatee Sanctuary):
(9) That part of Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida, within Sections 16 and 21, Township 30 South, Range 17 East, described as the warm-water outflow of the Bartow Electric Generating Plant located on the northern shore of Weedon Island, encircling that point where the discharge enters receiving waters along the western shore of Old Tampa Bay; to be known as the Bartow Electric Generating Plant Manatee Sanctuary, containing approximately 12.07 ha (29.82 acres). Map follows (see Bartow Electric Generating Plant Manatee Sanctuary):
(10) That part of Tampa Bay, Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida, within Sections 10 and 15, Township 31 South, Range 19 East, described as the waters in and around the warm-water outflow of the Tampa Electric Company Big Bend Electric Generating Station located west of Jackson Branch and including the Big Bend area of eastern Tampa Bay, to be known as the Tampa Electric Company Big Bend Manatee Sanctuary, containing approximately 12.08 ha (29.85 acres). Map follows (See TECO Big Bend Manatee Sanctuary):
(11) That part of Tampa Bay, Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida, lying within Section 4, Township 30 South, Range 19 East, described as the warm-water outflow of the Tampa Electric Company Gannon Electric Generating Station, to be known as the Port Sutton Manatee Sanctuary, containing approximately 1.1 ha (2.7 acres). Map follows (see Port Sutton Manatee Sanctuary):
(b) Exceptions. (1) Adjoining property owners, their guests, employees, and their designees (including but not limited to contractors and lessees) may engage in watercraft access and property maintenance activities through manatee sanctuaries (set forth in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(11) of this section) and designated “no-entry areas” in the Kings Bay Manatee Refuge (set forth in paragraph (c)(14) of this section). Use of sanctuary and no-entry area waters is restricted to authorized individuals accessing adjoining properties, storing watercraft, and maintaining property and waterways. Maintenance activities include those actions necessary to maintain property and waterways, subject to any Federal, State, and local government permitting requirements.
(2) Authorized individuals must obtain a sticker or letter of authorization from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identifying them as individuals authorized to enter no-entry areas that adjoin their property. Stickers must be placed in a conspicuous location to readily identify authorized watercraft. Individuals with a letter of authorization must have a valid letter in their possession when accessing no-entry areas.
(3) Authorized individuals must conduct any authorized boating activity within these areas at idle or no-wake speeds.
(c) Manatee refuges. The following areas are designated as manatee refuges. For each manatee refuge, we will state on appropriate signs which, if any, waterborne activities are prohibited, and state the applicable restrictions, if any, on permitted waterborne activities. The areas that will be posted are described as follows:
(1) The Barge Canal Manatee Refuge. (i) The Barge Canal Manatee Refuge is described as all waters lying within the banks of the Barge Canal, Brevard County, Florida, including all waters lying within the marked channel in the Banana River that lie between the east entrance of the Barge Canal and the Canaveral Locks; containing approximately 276.3 ha (682.7 acres).
(ii) Watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed (channel included) all year. The use of watercraft at speeds greater than slow speed is prohibited throughout the Barge Canal Manatee Refuge.
(iii) Map of the Barge Canal Manatee Refuge follows:
(2) The Sykes Creek Manatee Refuge. (i) The Sykes Creek Manatee Refuge is described as all waters, including the marked channel in Sykes Creek, Brevard County, Florida. In particular, the portion of Sykes Creek southerly of the southern boundary of that portion of the creek commonly known as the “S” curve (said boundary being a line bearing east from a point on the western shoreline of Sykes Creek at approximate latitude 28 degrees 23′24″ N, approximate longitude 80 degrees 41′27″ W) and northerly of the Sykes Creek Parkway; containing approximately 342.3 ha (845.8 acres).
(ii) Watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed (channel included) all year. The use of watercraft at speeds greater than slow speed is prohibited throughout the Sykes Creek Manatee Refuge.
(iii) Map of the Sykes Creek Manatee Refuge follows:
(3) The Tampa Electric Company's Big Bend Manatee Refuge. (i) The Tampa Electric Company's Big Bend Manatee Refuge is described as the entrance channel and those waters south of the manatee sanctuary at the Tampa Electric Company's Big Bend Electric Generating Station within Hillsborough County, Florida; containing approximately 89.35 ha (220.79 acres).
(ii) Watercraft are required to operate at idle speed from November 15 through March 31. Watercraft are prohibited from operating at speeds greater than idle speed from November 15 through March 31, inclusive.
(iii) Map of the Tampa Electric Company's Big Bend Manatee Refuge follows (see TECO Big Bend Manatee Refuge):
(4) The Port Sutton Manatee Refuge. (i) The Port Sutton Manatee Refuge is described as those waters surrounding the Port Sutton Manatee Sanctuary, including all waters within Port Sutton, Hillsborough County, Florida; containing approximately 39.2 ha (96.9 acres).
(ii) Watercraft are required to operate at idle speed from November 15 through March 31, inclusive. Watercraft are prohibited from operating at speeds greater than idle speed from November 15 through March 31, inclusive.
(iii) Map of Port Sutton Manatee Refuge follows (see Port Sutton Manatee Refuge):
(iv) Map showing the relative locations of the Bartow, TECO Big Bend, and Port Sutton areas of Tampa Bay follows (see Tampa Bay Manatee Sanctuaries and Refuges):
(5) The Little Sarasota Bay Manatee Refuge. (i) The Little Sarasota Bay Manatee Refuge is described as those waters lying southerly of a line that bears north 90 degrees 00′00″ E (true) and runs through the southerly tip of the first unnamed island south of Red Intracoastal Waterway Channel Marker “40” (latitude 27 degrees 10′07″ N, longitude 82 degrees 30′05″ W) and those waters lying northerly of the Blackburn Point Bridge, Sarasota County, Florida; containing approximately 214.2 ha (529.40 acres).
(ii) Watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed, 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) within the channel, year-round. Watercraft are prohibited from operating in excess of slow speed outside of the channel and operating at speeds in excess of 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) within the channel, year-round.
(iii) Map of the Little Sarasota Bay Manatee Refuge follows (see Little Sarasota Bay Manatee Refuge):
(6) The Lemon Bay Manatee Refuge. (i) The Lemon Bay Manatee Refuge is described as those waters of Lemon Bay lying south of the Sarasota/Charlotte County, Florida, boundary and north of a line north 60 degrees 14′00″ E (true) parallel with a series of small islands approximately 1.6 kilometer (1 mile) south of the Bay Road Bridge; containing approximately 383.61 ha (948.06 acres).
(iii) Map of the Lemon Bay Manatee Refuge follows (see Lemon Bay Manatee Refuge):
(7) The Peace River Manatee Refuge. (i) The Peace River Manatee Refuge is described as all waters of the Peace River and certain associated water bodies north and east of the U.S. Highway 41, Charlotte and De Soto Counties, Florida; containing approximately 1.698.11 ha (4,196.11 acres).
(ii) In the Peace River in Charlotte County, watercraft are required to travel at slow speed within a posted shoreline buffer between the US Highway 41 and I-75 bridges. The buffer is approximately 300 meters (1,000 feet) from shore except in a slightly larger area north and west of I-75 to be consistent with recently adopted Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's regulations. Watercraft are allowed to travel at a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) year-round outside the buffer. Watercraft are prohibited from traveling in excess of slow speed within the posted shoreline buffer between the U.S. Highway 41 and I-75 bridges and are further prohibited from operating in excess of 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) outside the buffer throughout the year.
(iii) In the Peace River within Charlotte County and upstream of I-75 to red channel marker “14,” watercraft are required to travel at slow speed outside of the marked navigation channel. Watercraft are allowed to travel at a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) year-round inside the marked navigation channel. Watercraft are prohibited from traveling in excess of slow speed in areas outside of the navigation channel and are further prohibited from traveling in excess of 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) inside the marked navigation channel, year-round.
(iv) In the waters of the Peace River in Charlotte and De Soto Counties upstream of red channel marker “14,” watercraft are allowed to travel at a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) year-round. Watercraft are prohibited from traveling in excess of 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour), year-round, in this area.
(v) Within the waters of Jim Long Lake and Hunter Creek in Charlotte and De Soto Counties, watercraft are required to travel at slow speed year-round. Watercraft are prohibited from traveling in excess of slow speed in this area, year-round.
(vi) Within the waters of Deep Creek in Charlotte and De Soto Counties, watercraft are required to travel at slow speed year-round. Watercraft are prohibited from traveling in excess of slow speed in this area, year-round.
(vii) Within the waters of Shell Creek in Charlotte County, watercraft are required to travel at slow speed year-round with the following exception. Should a U.S. Coast Guard or State of Florida approved marked navigation channel be established in that portion of Shell Creek approximately 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) downstream of the Seaboard Railroad trestles, watercraft will be allowed to travel at a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) in this section of Shell Creek upon posting by the Fish and Wildlife Service or the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Watercraft are prohibited from traveling in excess of slow speed in this area, year-round.
(viii) Map of the Peace River Manatee Refuge follows (see Peace River Manatee Refuge):
(8) The Shell Island Manatee Refuge. (i) The Shell Island Manatee Refuge is described as all waters within the marked Intracoastal Waterway channel between Green Marker “99” (approximate latitude 26 degrees 31′00″ N, approximate longitude 82 degrees 00′52″ W) and Green Marker “93” (approximate latitude 26 degrees 31′37″ N, approximate longitude 81 degrees 59′46″ W), Lee County, Florida; containing approximately 32.6 ha (80.5 acres).
(ii) Watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed (channel included) year-round. Watercraft are prohibited from traveling in excess of slow speed in this area, year-round.
(iii) Map of the Shell Island Manatee Refuge follows (see Shell Island Manatee Refuge):
(9) The Haulover Canal Manatee Refuge. (i) The Haulover Canal Manatee Refuge is described as all waters lying within Haulover Canal in Brevard County, Florida; containing approximately 8.95 ha (22.11 acres).
(iii) Map of the Haulover Canal Manatee Refuge follows (see Haulover Canal Manatee Refuge):
(10) The Caloosahatchee River—San Carlos Bay Manatee Refuge. (i) The Caloosahatchee River—San Carlos Bay Manatee Refuge is described as all waters of the Caloosahatchee River and San Carlos Bay downstream of the Seaboard Coastline trestle at Beautiful Island to Channel Marker “93” and from Channel Marker “99” to the Sanibel Causeway, in Lee County. A map showing the refuge and four maps showing specific areas in the refuge are at paragraph (10)(x) of this section.
(ii) From the Seaboard Coastline Railroad trestle at Beautiful Island, downstream to Channel Marker “25”, a distance of approximately 1.6 kilometers (1 mile), watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed in the marked navigation channel from November 15 to March 31 and at not more than 40 kilometers per hour (km/h) (25 miles per hour) in the channel from April 1 to November 14. See map of “Edison Bridge Area” in paragraph (10)(x) of this section.
(iii) From a point 152 meters (500 feet) east of the Edison Bridge downstream to a point 152 meters (500 feet) west of the Caloosahatchee Bridge, approximately 1.1 kilometers (0.7 mile) in length, shoreline-to-shoreline (including the marked navigation channel), watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed (channel included), year-round. See map of “Edison Bridge Area” in paragraph (10)(x) of this section.
(iv) From a point 152 meters (500 feet) west of the Caloosahatchee Bridge downstream to a point 152 meters (500 feet) northeast of the Cape Coral Bridge, a distance of approximately 10.9 kilometers (6.8 miles), watercraft are required to proceed year-round at slow speed, while traveling within shoreline buffers extending out from the shore to a minimum distance of approximately 402 meters (1,320 feet), as marked. Watercraft, with the exception of seaplanes, are required to proceed at not more than 40 km/h (25 miles per hour) throughout the year between these buffers (including the marked navigation channel where not more restrictively designated). See map of “Cape Coral Bridge Area” in paragraph (10)(x) of this section.
(v) From a point 152 meters (500 feet) northeast of the Cape Coral Bridge downstream to a point 152 meters (500 feet) southwest of the Cape Coral Bridge, a distance of approximately 0.4 kilometer (0.25 mile), shoreline-to-shoreline (excluding the marked navigation channel), watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed, year-round. In the marked navigation channel, watercraft are required to proceed at not more than 40 km/h (25 miles per hour) throughout the year. See map of “Cape Coral Bridge Area” in paragraph (10)(x) of this section.
(vi) From a point 152 meters (500 feet) southwest of the Cape Coral Bridge to Channel Marker “72,” a distance of approximately 1.9 kilometers (1.2 miles), watercraft are required to proceed year-round at slow speed, while traveling within shoreline buffers extending out from the shore to a minimum distance of approximately 402 meters (1,320 feet), as marked. Watercraft are required to proceed at not more than 40 km/h (25 miles per hour) throughout the year between these buffers (including the marked navigation channel where not more restrictively designated). See map of “Redfish Point Area” in paragraph (10)(x) of this section.
(vii) From Channel Marker “72” to Channel Marker “76” (in the vicinity of Redfish Point), for a distance of approximately 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) in length, shoreline-to-shoreline (including the marked navigation channel), watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed, year-round. See map of “Redfish Point Area” in paragraph (10)(x) of this section.
(viii) From Channel Marker “76” to Channel Marker “93,” a distance of approximately 5.2 kilometers (3.2 miles) in length, watercraft are required to proceed year-round at slow speed, while traveling within shoreline buffers extending out from the shore to a minimum distance of approximately 402 meters (1,320 feet), as marked. Watercraft are required to proceed at not more than 40 km/h (25 miles per hour) throughout the year between these buffers (including the marked navigation channel where not more restrictively designated). See map of “Redfish Point Area” in paragraph (10)(x) of this section.
(ix) Except as described below and as marked, from Channel Marker “99” to the Sanibel Causeway, watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed year-round in San Carlos Bay within the following limits: A northern boundary described by the southern edge of the marked navigation channel, a line approximately 2.9 kilometers (1.8 miles) in length; a southern boundary described by the Sanibel Causeway (approximately 1.9 kilometers (1.2 miles) in length); a western boundary described by a line that connects the western end of the easternmost Sanibel Causeway island and extending northwest to Channel Marker “7” (approximately 2.9 kilometers (1.8 miles) in length); and the eastern boundary includes the western limit of the State-designated manatee protection area (68C-22.005) near Punta Rassa (approximately 2.9 kilometers (1.8 miles) in length). However this area excludes the marked navigation channel from Channel Marker “99” to the Sanibel Causeway and adjacent waters, as marked. See map of “San Carlos Bay” in paragraph (10)(x) of this section.
(x) Five maps of the Caloosahatchee River—San Carlos Bay Manatee Refuge follow:
(11) The Lower St. Johns River Manatee Refuge. (i) The Lower St. Johns River Manatee Refuge is described as portions of the St. Johns River and adjacent waters in Duval, Clay, and St. Johns Counties from Sandfly Point (the intersection of the right descending bank of the Trout River and the left descending bank of the St. Johns River) and Reddie Point, as marked, upstream to the mouth of Peter's Branch, including Doctors Lake, in Clay County on the western shore, and to the southern shore of the mouth of Julington Creek in St. Johns County on the eastern shore. A map showing the refuge and two maps showing specific areas of the refuge are at paragraph (11)(vi) of this section.
(ii) In the St. Johns River from Sandfly Point on the left descending bank of the St. Johns River and Reddie Point on the right descending bank of the St. Johns River, upstream to the Hart Bridge, a distance of approximately 5.5 miles (8.8 km), watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed, year-round, within 300 feet (91 m) of the shoreline on the left descending bank of the St. Johns River and within a buffer as marked, typically about 1,000 feet (305 m) from the shoreline along the right descending bank of the river. The slow speed designation also includes that portion of the river between Exchange Island and the right descending bank, a marked buffer approximately 300 feet (91 m) along the west (channel-ward) shoreline of Exchange Island, and a portion of the Arlington River as marked. Watercraft are also required to proceed at not more than 25 miles per hour (40 km/h), year round, in the area posted as such between these slow speed shoreline buffers. See map of “St. Johns River Bridges Area” in paragraph (11)(vi) of this section.
(iii) From the Hart Bridge to the Main Street Bridge, a distance of approximately 2 miles (3.2 km), watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed, year-round, outside the marked navigation channel and at speeds of not more than 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) in the marked channel (from Channel Marker “81” to the Main Street Bridge, the channel is defined as the line of sight extending west from Channel Markers “81” and “82” to the fenders of the Main Street Bridge). See map of “St. Johns River Bridges Area” in paragraph (11)(vi) of this section.
(iv) From the Main Street Bridge to the Fuller Warren Bridge, a distance of approximately 1 mile (1.6 km), shoreline to shoreline, watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed (channel included), year-round. See map of “St. Johns River Bridges Area” in paragraph (11)(vi) of this section.
(v) Upstream of the Fuller Warren Bridge: for a distance of approximately 19.3 miles (31.1 km) along the left descending bank of the St. Johns River, watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed, year-round, in a 700-foot (213 m) to 1,000-foot (305 m) as-marked, shoreline buffer from the Fuller Warren Bridge to the south bank of the mouth of Peter's Branch in Clay County; for a distance of approximately 20.2 miles (32.5 km) along the right descending bank of the St. Johns River, watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed, year round, in a 700-foot (213 m) to 1,000-foot (305 m) as marked, shoreline buffer from the Fuller Warren Bridge to the south bank of the mouth of Julington Creek in St. Johns County (defined as a line north of a western extension of the Nature's Hammock Road North); and in Doctors Lake in Clay County watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed, year-round, in a 700-foot (213 m) to 900-foot (274 m) as-marked, shoreline buffer (approximately 12.9 miles (20.8 km)). See map of “Lower St. Johns River” in paragraph (11)(vi) of this section.
(vi) Three maps of the Lower St. Johns River Manatee Refuge follow:
(12) The Halifax and Tomoka Rivers Manatee Refuge. (i) The Halifax and Tomoka Rivers Manatee Refuge is described as the Halifax River and associated waterbodies in Volusia County, from the Volusia County—Flagler County line to New Smyrna Beach. A map showing the refuge and eight maps showing specific areas in the refuge are at paragraph (12)(xii) of this section.
(ii) From the Volusia County—Flagler County line at Halifax Creek south to Channel Marker “9,” a distance of approximately 11.3 kilometers (7.0 miles) in length, watercraft are required to proceed at not more than 40 km/h (km/h)(25 miles per hour) in the channel. See maps of “Halifax Creek” and “Tomoka River Basin” in paragraph (12)(xii) of this section.
(iii) From Channel Marker “9” to a point 152 meters (500 feet) north of the Granada Bridge (State Road 40) (including the Tomoka Basin), a distance of approximately 5.0 km (3.1 miles) in length, watercraft are required to proceed at not more than 40 km/h (25 mph) in areas between the existing 91-meter (300-foot) buffers (and including the marked navigation channel). See maps of “Tomoka River Basin” and “Tomoka River” in paragraph (12)(xii) of this section.
(iv) In the Tomoka River, from the I-95 Bridge to Alligator Island, as marked, a distance of approximately 1.6 kilometers (1 mile), watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed, shoreline to shoreline, from April 1 to August 31. See map of “Tomoka River” in paragraph (12)(xii) of this section.
(v) From 152 meters (500 feet) north to 305 meters (1,000 feet) south of the Granada Bridge (State Road 40), a distance of approximately 0.5 kilometers (0.3 miles) in length, watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed, year-round, shoreline to shoreline. See map of “Halifax River A” in paragraph (12)(xii) of this section.
(vi) From a point 305 meters (1,000 feet) south of the Granada Bridge (State Road 40) to a point 152 meters (500 feet) north of the Seabreeze Bridge, a distance of approximately 6.4 km (4.0 miles) in length, watercraft are required to proceed at not more than 40 km/h (25 mph) in areas between the existing 91-meter (300-foot) buffers (and including the marked navigation channel). See map of “Halifax River A” in paragraph (12)(xii) of this section.
(vii) As marked, from 152 meters (500 feet) north of the Seabreeze Bridge, to 152 meters (500 feet) north of the Main Street bridge, a distance of approximately 1 kilometer (1 mile) in length, watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed (channel included), year-round. See map of “Halifax River B” in paragraph (12)(xii) of this section.
(viii) From Channel Marker “40” to a point a minimum of 152 meters (500 feet) north, as marked, of the Dunlawton Bridge, a distance of approximately 14.5 kilometers (9 miles) in length, watercraft are required to proceed at not more than 40 km/h (25 mph) in areas between the existing 91-meter (300-foot) buffers (and including the marked navigation channel). See map of “Halifax River B” in paragraph (12)(xii) of this section.
(ix) As marked, a minimum of 152 meters (500 feet) north to 152 meters (500 feet) south of the Dunlawton Bridge, a distance of approximately 0.3 kilometers (0.2 miles) in length, watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed (channel included), year-round, shoreline to shoreline; and adjacent to the western shoreline of the Halifax River north of the Dunlawton Bridge for a distance of approximately 640 meters (2,100 feet), and a minimum of 91 meters (300 feet) from shore, as marked, watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed, year-round. See map of “Halifax River B” in paragraph (12)(xii) of this section.
(x) As marked, from a minimum of 152 meters (500 feet) south of the Dunlawton Bridge to Redland Canal, a distance of approximately 10.5 kilometers (6.5 miles) in length, watercraft are required to proceed at not more than 40 km/h (25 mph) in waters not more restrictively designated; along the western shore of the Halifax River, a distance of approximately 3.1 km (1.95 miles), watercraft are required to proceed at not more than 40 km/h (25 mph) in the waters not more restrictively designated; in Rose Bay, a distance of approximately 2.7 km (1.7 miles), watercraft are required to proceed at not more than 40 km/h (25 mph) in waters not more restrictively designated; in Turnbull Bay, a distance of approximately 3.9 km (2.4 miles), watercraft are required to proceed at not more than 40 km/h (25 mph) in waters not more restrictively designated. See maps of “Ponce Inlet Area A,” “Ponce Inlet Area B,” and “Ponce Inlet Area C” in paragraph (12)(xii) of this section.
(xi) As marked, in the Intracoastal Waterway and adjacent waters from Redland Canal to the A1A Bridge (New Smyrna Beach, for a distance of approximately 5.3 kilometers (3.3 miles) in length, watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed (channel included), year-round. See map of “Ponce Inlet Area B” in paragraph (12)(xii) of this section.
(xii) Nine maps of the Halifax and Tomoka Rivers Manatee Refuge follow:
(13) The Pine Island-Estero Bay Manatee Refuge. (i) Watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed all year in all waters of Matlacha Pass, south of a line that bears 90° and 270° from Matlacha Pass Green Channel Marker 77 (approximate latitude 26°40′00″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′00″ West), and north of Pine Island Road (State Road 78), excluding:
(A) The portion of the marked channel otherwise designated in paragraph (c)(13)(iii) of this section;
(B) All waters of Buzzard Bay east and northeast of a line beginning at a point (approximate latitude 26°40′00″ North, approximate longitude 82°05′20″ West) on the southwest shoreline of an unnamed mangrove island east of Matlacha Pass Green Channel Marker 77 and bearing 219° to the northeasternmost point (approximate latitude 26°39′58″ North, approximate longitude 82°05′23″ West) of another unnamed mangrove island, then running along the eastern shoreline of said island to its southeasternmost point (approximate latitude 26°39′36″ North, approximate longitude 82°05′09″ West), then bearing 115° to the westernmost point (approximate latitude 26°39′34″ North, approximate longitude 82°05′05″ West) of the unnamed mangrove island to the southeast, then running along the western shoreline of said island to its southwesternmost point (approximate latitude 26°39′22″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′53″ West), then bearing 123° to the northwesternmost point (approximate latitude 26°39′21″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′52″ West) of an unnamed mangrove island, then running along the western shoreline of said island to its southeasternmost point (approximate latitude 26°39′09″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′44″ West), then bearing 103° to the northwesternmost point (approximate latitude 26°39′08″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′41″ West) of a peninsula on the unnamed mangrove island to the southeast, then running along the southwestern shoreline of said island to its southeasternmost point (approximate latitude 26°38′51″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′18″ West), then bearing 99° to the southernmost point (approximate latitude 26°38′50″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′03″ West) of the unnamed mangrove island to the east, then bearing 90° to the line's terminus at a point (approximate latitude 26°38′50″ North, approximate longitude 82°03′55″ West) on the eastern shoreline of Matlacha Pass; and
(C) All waters of Pine Island Creek and Matlacha Pass north of Pine Island Road (State Road 78) and west and southwest of a line beginning at a point (approximate latitude 26°39′29″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′29″ West) on the western shoreline of Matlacha Pass and bearing 160° to the westernmost point (approximate latitude 26°39′25″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′28″ West) of an unnamed island, then running along the western shoreline of said island to its southernmost point (approximate latitude 26°39′18″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′24″ West), then bearing 128° to the northernmost point (approximate latitude 26°39′12″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′17″ West) of an unnamed mangrove island to the south, then running along the eastern shoreline of said island to its southeasternmost point (approximate latitude 26°39′00″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′09″ West), then bearing 138° to a point (approximate latitude 26°38′45″ North, approximate longitude 82°05′53″ West) on the northern shoreline of Bear Key, then running along the northern shoreline of Bear Key to its easternmost point (approximate latitude 26°38′44″ North, approximate longitude 82°05′46″ West), then bearing 85° to the westernmost point (approximate latitude 26°38′45″ North, approximate longitude 82°05′32″ West) of Deer Key, then running along the northern shoreline of Deer Key to its easternmost point (approximate latitude 26°38′46″ North, approximate longitude 82°05′22″ West), then bearing 103° to the northwesternmost point (approximate latitude 26°38′45″ North, approximate longitude 82°05′17″ West) of the unnamed mangrove island to the east, then running along the western shoreline of said island to its southernmost point (approximate latitude 26°38′30″ North, approximate longitude 82°05′04″ West), then bearing 106° to the westernmost point (approximate latitude 26°38′30″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′57″ West) of the unnamed island to the southeast, then running along the northern and eastern shorelines of said island to a point (approximate latitude 26°38′23″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′51″ West) on its eastern shoreline, then bearing 113° to the northernmost point of West Island (approximate latitude 26°38′21″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′37″ West), then running along the western shoreline of West Island to the point where the line intersects Pine Island Road (State Road 78).
(ii) Watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed all year in all waters of Matlacha Pass, St. James Creek, and San Carlos Bay, south of Pine Island Road (State Road 78), north of a line 500 feet northwest of and parallel to the main marked channel of the Intracoastal Waterway, west of a line that bears 302° from Intracoastal Waterway Green Channel Marker 99 (approximate latitude 26°31′00″ North, approximate longitude 82°00′52″ West), and east of a line that bears 360° from Intracoastal Waterway Red Channel Marker 10 (approximate latitude 26°29′16″ North, approximate longitude 82°03′35″ West), excluding:
(A) The portions of the marked channels otherwise designated in paragraphs (c)(15)(iv) and (v) of this section;
(B) All waters of Matlacha Pass south of Pine Island Road (State Road 78) and west of the western shoreline of West Island and a line beginning at the southernmost point (approximate latitude 26°37′25″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′17″ West) of West Island and bearing 149° to the northernmost point (approximate latitude 26°37′18″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′12″ West) of the unnamed mangrove island to the south, then running along the eastern shoreline of said island to its southernmost point (approximate latitude 26°36′55″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′02″ West), then bearing 163° to the line's terminus at a point (approximate latitude 26°36′44″ North, approximate longitude 82°03′58″ West) on the eastern shoreline of Little Pine Island;
(C) All waters of Matlacha Pass, Pontoon Bay, and associated embayments south of Pine Island Road (State Road 78) and east of a line beginning at a point (approximate latitude 26°38′12″ North, approximate longitude 82°03′46″ West) on the northwestern shoreline of the embayment on the east side of Matlacha Pass, immediately south of Pine Island Road and then running along the eastern shoreline of the unnamed island to the south to its southeasternmost point (approximate latitude 26°37′30″ North, approximate longitude 82°03′22″ West), then bearing 163° to the northwesternmost point of the unnamed island to the south, then running along the western shoreline of said island to its southernmost point (approximate latitude 26°37′15″ North, approximate longitude 82°03′15″ West), then bearing 186° to the line's terminus at a point (approximate latitude 26°37′10″ North, approximate longitude 82°03′16″ West) on the eastern shoreline of Matlacha Pass;
(D) All waters of Pine Island Creek south of Pine Island Road (State Road 78); and all waters of Matlacha Pass, Rock Creek, and the Mud Hole, west of a line beginning at a point (approximate latitude 26°33′52″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′53″ West) on the western shoreline of Matlacha Pass and bearing 22° to a point (approximate latitude 26°34′09″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′45″ West) on the southern shoreline of the unnamed island to the northeast, then running along the southern and eastern shorelines of said island to a point (approximate latitude 26°34′15″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′39″ West) on its northeastern shoreline, then bearing 24° to a point (approximate latitude 26°34′21″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′36″ West) on the southern shoreline of the large unnamed island to the north, then running along the southern and eastern shorelines of said island to a point (approximate latitude 26°34′31″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′29″ West) on its eastern shoreline, then bearing 41° to the southernmost point (approximate latitude 26°34′39″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′22″ West) of another unnamed island to the northeast, then running along the eastern shoreline of said island to its northwesternmost point (approximate latitude 26°35′22″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′07″ West), then bearing 2° to the southernmost point (approximate latitude 26°35′32″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′07″ West) of the unnamed island to the north, then running along the eastern shoreline of said island to its northernmost point (approximate latitude 26°35′51″ North, approximate longitude 82°03′59″ West), then bearing 353° to the line's terminus at a point (approximate latitude 26°36′08″ North, approximate longitude 82°04′01″ West) on the eastern shoreline of Little Pine Island; and
(E) All waters of Punta Blanca Bay and Punta Blanca Creek, east of the eastern shoreline of Matlacha Pass and east and north of the eastern and northern shorelines of San Carlos Bay.
(iii) Watercraft may not exceed 25 miles per hour, all year, in all waters within the main marked channel in Matlacha Pass south of Green Channel Marker 77 (approximate latitude 26°40′00″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′00″ West) and north of a line perpendicular to the channel at a point in the channel 1⁄4 mile northwest of the Pine Island Road Bridge (State Road 78).
(iv) Watercraft may not exceed 25 miles per hour, all year, in all waters within the main marked channel in Matlacha Pass south of a line perpendicular to the channel at a point in the channel 1⁄4 mile southeast of the Pine Island Road Bridge (State Road 78), and north of a line 500 feet northwest of and parallel to the main marked channel of the Intracoastal Waterway (just north of Green Channel Marker 1).
(v) Watercraft may not exceed 25 miles per hour, all year, in all waters within the marked channel in Matlacha Pass that intersects the main Matlacha Pass channel near Green Channel Marker 15 (approximate latitude 26°31′57″ North, approximate longitude 82°03′38″ West) and intersects the main marked channel of the Intracoastal Waterway near Green Channel Marker 101 (approximate latitude 26°30′39″ North, approximate longitude 82°01′00″ West).
(vi) Watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed from April 1 through November 15 in all canals and boat basins of St. James City and the waters known as Long Cut and Short Cut; and all waters of Pine Island Sound and San Carlos Bay south of a line beginning at the southernmost tip (approximate latitude 26°31′28″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′19″ West) of a mangrove peninsula on the western shore of Pine Island approximately 2200 feet north of Galt Island and bearing 309° to the southeasternmost point (approximate latitude 26°31′32″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′25″ West) of another mangrove peninsula, then running along the southern shoreline of said peninsula to its southwesternmost point (approximate latitude 26°31′40″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′38″ West), then bearing 248° to a point (approximate latitude 26°31′40″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′39″ West) on the eastern shoreline of an unnamed mangrove island, then running along the southern shoreline of said island to its southwesternmost point (approximate latitude 26°31′39″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′44″ West), then bearing 206° to the line's terminus at the northernmost point of the Mac Keever Keys (approximate latitude 26°31′09″ North, approximate longitude 82°07′09″ West), east of a line beginning at said northernmost point of the Mac Keever Keys and running along and between the general contour of the western shorelines of said keys to a point (approximate latitude 26°30′27″ North, approximate longitude 82°07′08″ West) on the southernmost of the Mac Keever Keys, then bearing 201° to a point (approximate latitude 26°30′01″ North, approximate longitude 82°07′19″ West) approximately 150 feet due east of the southeasternmost point of Chino Island, then bearing approximately 162° to Red Intracoastal Waterway Channel Marker 22 (approximate latitude 26°28′57″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′55″ West), then bearing approximately 117° to the line's terminus at Red Intracoastal Waterway Channel Marker 20 (approximate latitude 26°28′45″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′38″ West), north of a line beginning at said Red Intracoastal Waterway Channel Marker 20 and bearing 86° to a point (approximate latitude 26°28′50″ North, approximate longitude 82°05′48″ West) 1⁄4 mile south of York Island, then running parallel to and 1⁄4 mile south of the general contour of the southern shorelines of York Island and Pine Island to the line's terminus at a point on a line bearing 360° from Red Intracoastal Waterway Channel Marker 10 (approximate latitude 26°29′16″ North, approximate longitude 82°03′35″ West), and west and southwest of the general contour of the western and southern shorelines of Pine Island and a line that bears 360° from said Red Intracoastal Waterway Channel Marker 10, excluding the portion of the marked channel otherwise designated in paragraph (c)(13)(vii) of this section.
(vii) Watercraft may not exceed 25 miles per hour from April 1 through November 15 in all waters of the marked channel that runs north of the power lines from the Cherry Estates area of St. James City into Pine Island Sound, east of the western boundary of the zone designated in 17.108(c)(13)(vi), and west of a line perpendicular to the power lines that begins at the easternmost point (approximate latitude 26°30′25″ North, approximate longitude 82°06′15″ West) of the mangrove island on the north side of the power lines approximately 1,800 feet southwest of the Galt Island Causeway.
(viii) Watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed all year in all waters of San Carlos Bay and Punta Rassa Cove east of a line that bears 352° from the northernmost tip of the northern peninsula on Punta Rassa (approximate latitude 26°29′44″ North, approximate longitude 82°00′33″ West), and south of a line that bears 122° from Intracoastal Waterway Green Channel Marker 99 (approximate latitude 26°31′00″ North, approximate longitude 82°00′52″ West), including all waters of Shell Creek and associated waterways.
(ix) Watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed all year in all waters of San Carlos Bay and the Caloosahatchee River, including the residential canals of Cape Coral, northeast of a line that bears 302° and 122° from Intracoastal Waterway Green Channel Marker 99 (approximate latitude 26°31′00″ North, approximate longitude 82°00′52″ West), west of a line that bears 346° from Intracoastal Waterway Green Channel Marker 93 (approximate latitude 26°31′37″ North, approximate longitude 81°59′46″ West), and north and northwest of the general contour of the northwestern shoreline of Shell Point and a line that bears approximately 74° from the northernmost tip (approximate latitude 26°31′31″ North, approximate longitude 81°59′57″ West) of Shell Point to said Intracoastal Waterway Green Channel Marker 93, excluding the Intracoastal Waterway between markers 93 and 99 (which is already designated as a Federal manatee protection area, requiring watercraft to proceed at slow speed, and is not impacted by this rule).
(x) Watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed from April 1 through November 15 and at not more than 25 miles per hour the remainder of the year in all waters of Hell Peckney Bay southeast of Hurricane Bay, northeast of the northern shorelines of Julies Island and the unnamed island immediately northwest of Julies Island and a line that bears 312° from the northwesternmost point of Julies Island (approximate latitude 26°26′37″ North, approximate longitude 81°54′57″ West), northwest of Estero Bay, and southwest of a line beginning at the southernmost point (approximate latitude 26°27′23″ North, approximate longitude 81°55′11″ West) of an unnamed mangrove peninsula in northwest Hell Peckney Bay and bearing 191° to the northernmost point (approximate latitude 26°27′19″ North, approximate longitude 81°55′11″ West) of an unnamed mangrove island, then running along the northern shoreline of said island to its southeasternmost point (approximate latitude 26°27′11″ North, approximate longitude 81°55′05″ West), then bearing 115° to a point (approximate latitude 26°27′03″ North, approximate longitude 81°54′47″ West) on the northwest shoreline of an unnamed mangrove island, then running along the northern shoreline of said island to its northeasternmost point (approximate latitude 26°27′02″ North, approximate longitude 81°54′33″ West), and then bearing 37° to the line's terminus at the westernmost point of an unnamed mangrove peninsula in eastern Hell Peckney Bay.
(xi) Watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed from April 1 through November 15 and at not more than 25 miles per hour the remainder of the year in all waters of Hendry Creek south of a line that bears 270° from a point (approximate latitude 26°28′40″ North, approximate longitude 81°52′56″ West) on the eastern shoreline of Hendry Creek; and all waters of Estero Bay southeast and east of Hell Peckney Bay, a line that bears 340° from a point (approximate latitude 26°25′56″ North, approximate longitude 81°54′25″ West) on the northern tip of an unnamed mangrove peninsula on the northeastern shoreline of Estero Island, and the northern shoreline of Estero Island, south of Hendry Creek and a line that bears 135° and 315° from Red Channel Marker 18 (approximate latitude 26°27′46″ North, approximate longitude 81°52′00″ West) in Mullock Creek, and north of a line that bears 72° from the northernmost point (approximate latitude 26°24′22″ North, approximate longitude 81°52′34″ West) of Black Island, including the waters of Buccaneer Lagoon at the southern end of Estero Island, but excluding:
(A) The portions of the marked channels otherwise designated in paragraph (c)(13)(xiii) of this section;
(B) The Estero River; and
(C) To waters of Big Carlos Pass east of a line beginning at a point (approximate latitude 26°24′34″ North, approximate longitude 81°53′05″ West) on the eastern shoreline of Estero Island and bearing 36° to a point (approximate latitude 26°24′40″ North, approximate longitude 81°53′00″ West) on the southern shoreline of Coon Key, south of a line beginning at a point (approximate latitude 26°24′36″ North, approximate longitude 81°52′30″ West) on the eastern shoreline of Coon Key and bearing 106° to a point (approximate latitude 26°24′39″ North, approximate longitude 81°52′34″ West) on the southwestern shoreline of the unnamed mangrove island north of Black Island, and west of a line beginning at a point (approximate latitude 26°24′36″ North, approximate longitude 81°52′30″ West) on the southern shoreline of said unnamed mangrove island north of Black Island and bearing 192° to the northernmost point (approximate latitude 26°24′22″ North, approximate longitude 81°52′34″ West) of Black Island.
(xii) Watercraft are required to proceed at slow speed from April 1 through November 15 and at not more than 25 miles per hour the remainder of the year in all waters of Estero Bay and Big Hickory Bay south of a line that bears 72° from the northernmost point (approximate latitude 26°24′22″ North, approximate longitude 81°52′34″ West) of Black Island, east of the centerline of State Road 865 (but including the waters of the embayment on the eastern side of Black Island and the waters inshore of the mouth of Big Hickory Pass that are west of State Road 865), and north of a line that bears 90° from a point (approximate latitude 26°20′51″ North, approximate longitude 81°50′33″ West) on the eastern shoreline of Little Hickory Island, excluding Spring Creek and the portions of the marked channels otherwise designated under 17.108(c)(13)(xiii) and the portion of Hickory Bay designated in paragraph (c)(13)(xiii) of this section.
(xiii) Watercraft may not exceed 25 miles per hour all year in:
(A) All waters of Big Hickory Bay north of a line that bears 90° from a point (approximate latitude 26°20′51” North, approximate longitude 81°50′33″ West) on the eastern shoreline of Little Hickory Island, west of a line beginning at a point (approximate latitude 26°20′48″ North, approximate longitude 81°50′24″ West) on the southern shoreline of Big Hickory Bay and bearing 338° to a point (approximate latitude 26°21′39″ North, approximate longitude 81°50′48″ West) on the water in the northwestern end of Big Hickory Bay near the eastern end of Broadway Channel, south of a line beginning at said point on the water in the northwestern end of Big Hickory Bay and bearing 242° to the northernmost point (approximate latitude 26°21′39″ North, approximate longitude 81°50′50″ West) of the unnamed mangrove island south of Broadway Channel, and east of the eastern shoreline of said mangrove island and a line beginning at the southernmost point of said island (approximate latitude 26°21′07″ North, approximate longitude 81°50′58″ West) and bearing 167° to a point on Little Hickory Island (approximate latitude 26°21′03″ North, approximate longitude 81°50′57″ West);
(B) All waters of the main marked North-South channel in northern Estero Bay from Green Channel Marker 37 (approximate latitude 26°26′02 North, approximate longitude 81°54′29″ West) to Green Channel Marker 57 (approximate latitude 26°25′08″ North, approximate longitude 81°53′29″ West);
(C) All waters of the main marked North-South channel in southern Estero Bay south of a line beginning at a point (approximate latitude 26°24′36″ North, approximate longitude 81°52′30″ West) on the southern shoreline of the unnamed mangrove island north of Black Island and bearing 192° to the northernmost point (approximate latitude 26°24′22″ North, approximate longitude 81°52′34″ West) of Black Island, and north and east of Red Channel Marker 62 (approximate latitude 26°21′31″ North, approximate longitude 81°51′20″ West) in Broadway Channel;
(D) All waters within the portion of the marked channel leading to the Gulf of Mexico through New Pass, west of the North-South channel and east of State Road 865; all waters of the marked channel leading to Mullock Creek north of a line beginning at a point (approximate latitude 26°24′36″ North, approximate longitude 81°52′30″ West) on the eastern shoreline of Coon Key and bearing 106° to a point (approximate latitude 26°24′39″ North, approximate longitude 81°52′34″ West) on the southwestern shoreline of the unnamed mangrove island north of Black Island, and south of Red Channel Marker 18 (approximate latitude 26°27′46″ North, approximate longitude 81°52′00″ West);
(E) All waters of the marked channel leading from the Mullock Creek Channel to the Estero River, west of the mouth of the Estero River. (This designation only applies if a channel is marked in accordance with permits issued by all applicable State and federal authorities. In the absence of a properly permitted channel, this area is as designated under paragraph (c)(13)(xi) of this section);
(F) All waters of the marked channel commonly known as Alternate Route Channel, with said channel generally running between Channel Marker 1 (approximate latitude 26°24′29″ North, approximate longitude 81°51′53″ West) and Channel Marker 10 (approximate latitude 26°24′00″ North, approximate longitude 81°51′09″ West);
(G) All waters of the marked channel commonly known as Coconut Channel, with said channel generally running between Channel Marker 1 (approximate latitude 26°23′44″ North, approximate longitude 81°50′55″ West) and Channel Marker 23 (approximate latitude 26°24′00″ North, approximate longitude 81°50′30″ West);
(H) All waters of the marked channel commonly known as Southern Passage Channel, with said channel generally running between Channel Marker 1 (approximate latitude 26°22′58″ North, approximate longitude 81°51′57″ West) and Channel Marker 22 (approximate latitude 26°23′27″ North, approximate longitude 81°50′46″ West); and
(I) All waters of the marked channel leading from the Southern Passage Channel to Spring Creek, west of the mouth of Spring Creek.
(xiv) Maps of the Pine Island-Estero Bay Manatee Refuge follow:
(14) The Kings Bay Manatee Refuge. A tract of submerged land that includes all waters of Kings Bay, including all tributaries and adjoining waterbodies, upstream of the confluence of Kings Bay and Crystal River, described by a line that bears North 53°00′00″ East (True) from the northeasternmost point of an island on the southwesterly shore of Crystal River (approximate latitude 28°53′32″ North, approximate longitude 82°36′23″ West) to the southwesternmost point of a peninsula of Magnolia Shores (approximate latitude 28°53′38″ North, approximate longitude 82°36′16″ West).
(i) Area covered. The Kings Bay Manatee Refuge encompasses existing manatee protection areas as described in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(7) of this section, and areas outside these sections as depicted on the map in paragraph (c)(14)(ii) of this section.
(ii) Particular areas. The following springs fall within the boundaries of the Kings Bay Manatee Refuge. A map showing the entire refuge, including these springs, follows:
(A) Three Sisters Springs. A tract of submerged land, lying in Section 28, Township 18 South, Range 17 East, Tallahassee Meridian, Citrus County, Florida, more particularly described as follows: For a point of reference, commence at the northwest corner of said Section 28 in an east southeast direction to the canal that begins on the west side of Southeast Cutler Spur Boulevard and runs west-northwest to Kings Bay. The spring is north and east of the northern terminus of Southeast Paradise Avenue along the northern shore of said canal. Three Sisters Springs includes three main and numerous smaller spring vents and a spring run that connects the vents to said canal in Crystal River, Citrus County, Florida. This area is not the same as set forth in paragraph (a)(7) of this section. This area is behind the sanctuary (north from the mouth of the channel) as set forth in paragraph (a)(7) of this section.
(1) All waterborne activities in this specific area are prohibited from sunset to sunrise from November 15 through March 31 exclusive of the provisions of paragraph (c)(14)(v) of this section.
(2) Scuba diving and fishing (including but not limited to fishing by hook and line, by cast net, and by spear) are also prohibited in this specific area from November 15 through March 31 exclusive of the provisions of paragraph (c)(14)(v) of this section.
(3) If the provisions of paragraph (c)(14)(vi) of this section are put in effect, all waterborne activities are prohibited in this specific area for the duration established under paragraph (c)(14)(vi) of this section.
(B) House Spring. A tract of submerged land, lying in Section 21, Township 18 South, Range 17 East, Tallahassee Meridian, Citrus County, Florida, more particularly described as follows: For a point of reference, commence at the southwest corner of said Section 21 in an east-northeast direction to the northeasternmost corner of Hunter Spring Run. The spring is immediately west of and adjacent to Northeast 2nd Court in Crystal River, Citrus County, Florida.
(C) Jurassic Spring. A tract of submerged land, lying in Section 21, Township 18 South, Range 17 East, Tallahassee Meridian, Citrus County, Florida, more particularly described as follows: For a point of reference, commence at the southwest corner of said Section 21 in an east northeast direction to the eastern shore of Hunter Spring Run. The spring is immediately west of the western terminus of Bayshore Drive in Crystal River, Citrus County, Florida.
(D) Idiot's Delight Number 2 Spring. A tract of submerged land, lying in Section 28, Township 18 South, Range 17 East, Tallahassee Meridian, Citrus County, Florida, more particularly described as follows: For a point of reference, commence at the northwest corner of said Section 28 in an east southeast direction to the canal that begins on the west side of Southeast Cutler Spur Boulevard and runs west-northwest to Kings Bay. The spring is north and east of the northern terminus of Southeast Paradise Avenue along the northern shore of said canal just east of the southern terminus of the Three Sisters Springs run in Crystal River, Citrus County, Florida.
(iii) Speed and anchoring restrictions. (A) Throughout the entire year, watercraft speeds are restricted to slow speed throughout the manatee refuge with the following exceptions:
(1) A posted area generally north of Buzzard Island, exclusive of shoreline slow-speed buffer zones, where watercraft may travel at speeds up to 25 miles per hour during daylight hours (sunrise to sunset) from June 1 through August 15;
(2) Those areas where access is precluded (manatee sanctuaries, no-entry areas); or
(3) Areas where more restrictive speed restrictions are in effect.
(B) From June 1 through August 15, anchorage (other than emergency anchorage) of watercraft is prohibited in the posted high speed (25 miles per hour) area around Buzzard Island referenced in paragraph (c)(14)(iii)(A) of this section.
(iv) Time and area prohibitions. When the provisions of paragraphs (c)(14)(v) or (vi) of this section are in effect (November 15 through March 31 and April 1 through November 14, respectively), all waterborne activities, including swimming, diving (including skin and scuba diving), snorkeling, water skiing, surfing, fishing (including with hook and line, by cast net, or spear), and the use of water vehicles (including but not limited to boats powered by engine, wind, or other means; ships powered by engine, wind, or other means; barges, surfboards, personal watercraft, water skis, and any other devices or mechanisms capable of locomotion on, across, or underneath the surface of the water) are prohibited in areas that are adjacent to and within specified distances from the existing manatee sanctuaries located in Kings Bay (defined in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(7) of this section) and the springs defined in paragraph (c)(14)(ii) of this section: Three Sisters Springs, House Spring, Jurassic Spring, and Idiot's Delight Number 2 Spring.
(v) Expanded temporary no-entry area (November 15 through March 31). When manatees exceed the capacity of an existing manatee sanctuary or shift usage around an existing manatee sanctuary or shift usage to Three Sisters Springs, House Spring, Jurassic Spring, and Idiot's Delight Number 2 Spring, due to water or weather or other conditions, we will designate “no-entry” areas from November 15 through March 31 as appropriate and necessary around any of these sites. The determination to designate and subsequently remove no-entry areas around existing manatee sanctuaries and Three Sisters Springs, House Spring, Jurassic Spring, and Idiot's Delight Number 2 Spring within the Kings Bay Manatee Refuge will be based on aerial survey observations of manatees using the existing sanctuary sites, current weather information, and other sources of credible, relevant information. We will designate no-entry areas within Kings Bay Manatee Refuge and outside of existing sanctuaries as follows:
(A) For the sanctuaries set forth in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(6) of this section, to a distance not to exceed 100 feet from the existing sanctuary boundary.
(B) For the Three Sisters Springs Sanctuary, to a distance not to exceed 400 feet from the existing boundary. We do not intend to completely mark off the manmade channel. Expansions could occur directly around the existing sanctuary and north into the area locally known as Three Sisters Springs.
(C) For House Spring and Jurassic Spring, an area that does not exceed 100 feet from the associated spring vents.
(D) For Idiot's Delight Number 2 Spring, an area that does not exceed 25 feet from the associated spring vent. Any temporary designation will be configured to avoid the manmade channel in the canal and will not block access into Three Sisters Springs.
(vi) Temporary no-entry areas (April 1 through November 14). Temporary no-entry area designations may be made in the existing manatee sanctuaries located in Kings Bay defined in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(7) and paragraphs (c)(14)(v)(A) through (D) of this section prior to November 15 and after March 31 during cold fronts when manatees are present. Designations will remain in effect for the duration of a cold front and only when there is regular manatee use; temporary no-entry area designations will remain in effect for no longer than 14 consecutive days.
(vii) Posting of temporary no-entry areas designated in accordance with paragraph (c)(14)(v) or (vi) of this section. Additional temporary protection areas will be posted to distances as described in paragraph (c)(14)(v) of this section and identified by the following devices: buoys, float lines, signs, advisories from onsite Service employees and their designees, or other methods.
(viii) Notifications of temporary no-entry areas designated in accordance with paragraph (c)(14)(v) or (vi) of this section. When we determine that the provisions of paragraph (c)(14)(v) or (vi) of this section are appropriate, the temporary protection areas will be designated and posted to distances as described in paragraph (c)(14)(v) of this section. No-entry area designations will occur immediately. We will advise the public of designations through public notice(s) announcing and describing the measures in a local newspaper and other media, including but not limited to, local television and radio broadcasts, Web sites and other news outlets, as soon as time permits. Onsite Service employees and their designees, when present, may also inform waterway users of designations.
(ix) Prohibited activities (year-round). We specifically identify and prohibit the activities set forth in this paragraph to prevent the take of one or more manatees by individuals engaged in waterborne activities while in the water, in boats, or on-shore within the Kings Bay Manatee Refuge. In regard to these prohibited activities, we consider a resting manatee to be a mostly motionless manatee that rises to breathe from the water bottom, in the water column, or on the water's surface. While resting, a manatee may make minor changes in its posture and may slightly shift its position. Minor changes in posture occur when resting manatees breathe or roll. Resting manatees may also make slight movements with their flippers or tail to compensate for drift, etc. Prohibited activities include:
(A) Chasing or pursuing manatee(s).
(B) Disturbing or touching a resting or feeding manatee(s).
(C) Diving from the surface on to a resting or feeding manatee(s).
(D) Cornering or surrounding or attempting to corner or surround a manatee(s).
(E) Riding, holding, grabbing, or pinching or attempting to ride, hold, grab, or pinch a manatee(s).
(F) Poking, prodding, or stabbing or attempting to poke, prod, or stab a manatee(s) with anything, including your hands and feet.
(G) Standing on or attempting to stand on manatee(s).
(H) Separating a mother and calf or attempting to separate a mother and calf.
(I) Separating manatee(s) from a group or attempting to separate manatee(s) from a group.
(J) Giving manatee(s) anything to eat or drink or attempting to give manatee(s) anything to eat or drink.
(K) Actively initiating contact with belted or tagged manatee(s) and associated gear, including any belts, harnesses, tracking devices, or antennae.
(L) Interfering with rescue and research activities.
[45 FR 74881, Nov. 12, 1980, as amended at 57 FR 5990, Feb. 19, 1992; 59 FR 24658, May 12, 1994; 63 FR 55556, Oct. 16, 1998; 67 FR 693, Jan. 7, 2002; 67 FR 66473, Nov. 8, 2002; 68 FR 46898, Aug. 6, 2003; 69 FR 40805, July 7, 2004; 70 FR 17874, Apr. 7, 2005; 70 FR 21969, Apr. 28, 2005; 70 FR 29458, May 23, 2005; 77 FR 15631, Mar. 16, 2012]
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Eye On Audio
All reviews written by Editor John Aiello unless otherwise noted.
Books on tape are the only literature some folks know. Urban commuters, busy mothers whose days are filled with kids and housework, those with optical handicaps, and the elderly in hospitals and nursing homes have come to depend on these audio tapes as a means to stay current with the newest fiction and feed their need to read.
Once looked upon as the poor step-sister of the publishing industry by many traditionalists, audio books have come along way during the past decade – with many houses devoting specific editorial resources to maintaining an audio division. Accordingly, presentation has come along way as well — the first-rate narration and digital recording techniques have omitted that funky old tape hiss and created a crystal-clear, high-definition sound.
This was an especially good year for audio books, with some outstanding selections released that should provide hours of enjoyment to readers, who now can investigate these stories while driving, riding the bus, doing the laundry or recuperating in the hospital. Like the advent of the home computer and portable CD player, audio books open the door to a whole new world in the mind of the reader. As these books will attest, the possibilities are indeed limitless.
New Releases from Audio Renaissance
New Releases from Harper Audio
New Releases from Penguin Audio
New Releases from Random House Audio
New Releases from Time Warner Audio
JOHN PAUL II. Rise, Let Us Be Our Own Way. John Paul II. Time Warner Audio. This release from Time Warner captures the impact of John Paul II — one of the most popular Popes in history. John Paul’s death last month was an epic event, and it drew the attention of millions from around the world (random individuals whom the Pontiff had touched with his devout wisdom). In this selection (brilliantly read by theater veteran Kristoffer Tabori), Pope John Paul tells his own story in a beautifully lilting style that so captures this modest and gracious leader. In the beginning chapters, we are greeted with autobiographical information detailing the origins of John Paul, and then proceed with him through his rise through the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Along the way, we come to receive a truly intimate glimpse into the religious beliefs and gentle soul of a man who time will never forget. Will be important to persons of all denominations for its honesty and deep conviction. Five hours unabridged on 4 CDS.
LET ME TELL YOU A STORY. A Lifetime in The Game. Red Auerbach and John Feinstein. Time Warner Audio. As we head deeper into the 2005 NBA playoffs, fans of the game will enjoy this tour through the life and times of Arnold “Red” Auerbach — legendary leader of the Boston Celtics’ glory years. Auerbach coached the famed Celts to nine NBA championships (8 in succession); along with Phil Jackson, Red is regarded as the best NBA coach there ever was. This book presents Red Auerbach in Auerbach’s own colorful style — telling us the story that began on the playgrounds of old-town Brooklyn and proceeded to the top of the American sport’s scene. Now 87, Auerbach has so much to look back on: the championships with Russell and Cousy, the years of frustration his teams laid on the great Chamberlain, the modern years of Bird and Parish (now watching from the sidelines as a spectator). Basketball fans will adore this book — as vibrant and passionate as Coach Auerbach in his prime. Read by Arnie Mazer (Law and Order). 3 hours on 3 CDS.
THE ABC’S OF REAL ESTATE INVESTING. Ken McElroy. Time Warner Audio. About the only thing that hasn’t unraveled in the current economy is the Real Estate market, as houses and commercial properties are selling at a staggering rate, in turn, driving commerce. Given these radical changes, the world of real property investment is no longer the territory of professional investors. Instead, it’s anybody’s game now, and there’s a profit to be made by everybody — no matter your level of experience, no matter the level of capital available. This book by investor and property management expert Ken McElroy details how the first-time investor should go about exploring the market. Here, McElroy shares valuable information on how to find and evaluate property with investment potential, negotiate the best deal for your situation, and then manage the property for income potential once you’ve made the purchase. A highly informative book which does not require an MBA in order to be digested. 3 hours total running time.
TODAY MATTERS. John C. Maxwell. Time Warner. Motivational teacher John Maxwell synthesizes his lectures here, offering a list of steps people can take to better organize/manage their lives. Maxwell’s book is about discipline and using self-awareness and mental prowess to eradicate chaos from daily life. Once this is done, folks naturally have more time for family and self. The key is to reclaim today and forget the future and the past. As trite as it may sound in this jaded era, it’s valuable and meaningful advice. Read by the author in an engaging voice. 3 hours on 3 CDS.
RICH DAD’S WHO TOOK MY MONEY. Robert T. Kiyosaki, with Sharon Lechter. Time Warner Audio. This book, part of the “Rich Dad’s” series by Kiyosaki, is a terribly important selection in this uncertain economic climate. The volatility of the stock market during the last 40 months has showed that the way people saved money for retirement in the past is not feasible today. Security is all about properly planning for the future, and that’s the crux of this book – it provides a blueprint on how to compentently invest your money for the highest possible return. Read by Jim Ward. 3 hours on 3 CDS.
One of the most practical and well-realized business books we’ve seen this year. The fact that it’s an audio title as well makes it all the more worthwhile, since readers can gain from its advice “on the run.“
THE NARROWS. Michael Connelly. Narrated by Len Cariou. Time Warner. Former journalist Michael Connelly is a captivating writer who has mastered the feat of keeping us at the edge of our seats. This novel is no exception — thrilling and hard-edged, Narrows tells the story of a deep and intellectual serial killer, the authorities in hot pursuit. More than your garden-variety mystery, The Narrows keeps its audience’s attention through its deep examination of the concepts of good and evil, the ideals of love and hatred pitted against each other. Cariou’s reading is natural and evocative, fitting tight around the words like a tight and shapely glove. 11 hours unabridged on 9 CDS.
Recommended for true crime lovers. Perfect for that long commute home.
ORACLE NIGHT. Paul Auster. Read by the author. Harper Audio. This is a writer’s novel — and the story line swirls among cobwebs in the holy minds of ghosts. Oracle follows the novelist Sidney Orr after he buys a writing book in a Brooklyn stationary shop and then slowly dissolves into its perfect and sultry blank pages. The events that follow challenge Orr’s whole reality — consuming both mind and body. Lovers of fiction will no doubt enjoy this book, but writers will especially be drawn to it, for it speaks about the muse which drives pen toward word and word toward paper. And it speaks to the muse which drives us through tawdry realms of madness, driving us toward these deep rivers of hunger and music and beauty. 8 hours on 6 cassettes.
FOUNDING MOTHERS. (The Women Who Raised Our Nation). Cokie Roberts. Harper Audio. Cokie Roberts is a nationally known political analyst/journalist who is respected for her in depth coverage of the politics and the events which give shape to our nation. In Founding Mothers, Roberts continues the theme of her two previous books (We Are Our Mothers Daughters and From This Day Forward), examining the lives of the women who persevered through dark times, propping up the country. People know the story of Jefferson and Lincoln well. Kids are taught in school what Kennedy meant to America. But often, personalities like Martha Washington and Mary Bartlett are passed over as we become consumed in the strong male perspective that has honed our history. And that’s the beauty of this book – it sews together all the scenes and faces and stories of the women who were here when the country was young and faceless and struggling, telling a story that we all need to hear right now. Read by the author herself in an engaging and vibrant voice. 6 hours on 4 cassettes.
Highly recommended for the general reader and for women’s studies groups. Further recommended for all public sector libraries.
THE KNOWN WORLD. Edward P. Jones. Harper Audio. This masterful novel examines the concept of slavery from many perspectives, and in turn, causes us to examine our own fetid prejudices. Known World brings us the story of Henry Townsend, a former slave who dispels the myths of the illiterate servant with his passion for Paradise Lost. Townsend, however, is part and parcel the shape of the Paradise Lost, as he loses sight of himself and becomes a plantation owner — and an enslaver. The story that ensues is a deep and engaging one, for it is about exploitation and greed and our insatiable need to control and rule each other. During these times of prisoner abuse and oil-driven wars, it couldn’t be more relevant. Will appeal to the general reader and to the serious student of world history. Read by Kevin Free. 15 hours on 10 cassettes.
Order these selections at amazon.com or harpercollins.com.
THE EYE OF THE WORLD. Robert Jordan. Audio Renaissance. Eye Of the World is an adventurous ride. This is a cartoon and fable and mysterious drama all rolled into one epic and sprawling fantasy story – the terrain ripe with monsters and young souls unaware of what lurks behind the next wall of shadows. On these roads of cast offs and beautiful demons, the past melds with the present to create a timeless and seamless pure world. Faces are un-named. Hearts go unclaimed. Like we did via the “Road Warrior” series, we are moving into a place we don’t know or understand. Masterfully read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer. 31 hours on 25 CDS. A wild and thrilling story.
GRANT COMES EAST. Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen. Narrated by Boyd Gaines. Audio Renaissance. In these dark times of war, Grant Comes East is an interesting read: The second installment of the Gingrich/Forstchen collaboration reinvents the roads General Robert E. Lee took, bringing him to Washington where he is engaged in a time-altering battle. Some will ask why we are reinventing reality and the past and shedding the mirrors of history in search of a new face. And the answer to that question swims in the fact that the Civil War is the event that defined our nation; had those battles turned a different way, the country as we know it would not have been born. Grant examines these events from a different perspective, as seen through the eye of a career politician who was once the Speaker of The House of Representatives. Like the Gods and Generals film from last year, Grant re-exposes us to the great benchmarks of American history. With a spoken introduction by Gingrich. 6 hours on 5 CDS.
Will especially appeal to students of history and Americana.
TEN BIG ONES. Janet Evanovich. Audio Renaissance. Ten Big Ones is a fun one to listen to – this is the kind of fast-paced story that draws readers to crime-fiction, providing the kind of high we got as kids when the new Hardy Boys hit the library shelf. In Ten, we’re presented with Stephanie Plum, a lovable on-the-edge woman caught in the dirty crime-sick streets of the American Nightmare. Plum is a loner who drives fast and dashes about (mostly in painful circles), looking to make sense of a story that has gone mad. And then, in the midst of hunting down a killer calledJunkman, she comes to find herself. A fun book that ends up teaching us about ourselves. Read by Lorelei King; crime writer Evanovich is also interviewed. 8.5 hours on 7 CDS.
Order these selections at amazon.com or audiorenaissance.com.
THE FAMILY. THE REAL STORY OF THE BUSH DYNASTY. Kitty Kelly. Read by the author. Random House Audio. The Bush family is arguably one of the most powerful groups in all of history. The Bush resume boasts a father and son who have both served as President of the United States (with another son governor of one of the most influential states in the union). A family tied to politics and big business. A family that controls the oil business and other avenues of world commerce. Here, Kelly (who has written for the Washington Post and Newsweek among other publications) goes back to the origins of the Bush clan and examines exactly where the money came from. A story that begins in the world of Ohio steel and moves into the vortex of oil and government. But what makes this selection more than a run-of-the-mill political commentary is in the fact that Kelly was gutsy enough to dig beyond the surface, delving into the hidden lives of the Bush family, showing that the shiny public and polished image of these people only provides for half the story. Contrary to Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” The Family looks at the Bushes through the cold and objective eye of a journalist. It’s definitely a story worth reading. 10 hours on 8 CDS.
GARLIC AND SAPPHIRES. The Secret Life of A Critic In Disguise. Ruth Reichl. Read by the author. Random House Audio. The world of the restaurant critic is a world wrapped in power and influence: a mention in a named critic’s column can literally make or break an eatery. And as much as restaurateurs want reviews, they also fear them: for the wrong comment can throw you out of business in a matter of months. In terms of influence, Reichl is as powerful as they come: a critic who writes for the New York Times in a town with more big-dollar restaurants than anywhere in the country. Accordingly, to avoid being duped or treated better than the average customer, food critics attempt to conceal their identity — it is their only way to keep the playing field level, their only way to make sure that they are experiencing the true atmosphere of the establishment. To this end, Reichl has had to go to a variety of extremes — literally recreating her persona over and again — just to make sure restaurateurs can’t pick her out of the crowd. Garlic and Sapphires is an honest, humorous and enthralling look into the foodie world of America, detailing the many different faces Reichl has donned just to be able to remain objective in her ultimate role as journalist. 5 hours on 4 CDS.
WILT, 1962. THE NIGHT OF 100 POINTS AND THE DAWN OF THE NEW ERA. Gary Pomerantz. Read by Roscoe Orman. Random House Audio. In the annals of sports achievements, that night in March of 1962 when Wilt Chamberlain scored a cool 100 points is probably the greatest single feat ever to occur in sports. To think that a player of Chamberlain’s magnitude existed and ruled the league for so long is almost unfathomable. I mean, “Wilt the Stilt” stood head and shoulders above the game and literally caused the rule-makers to modify the standards of play to slow the big man down. This Random House selection chronicles Chamberlain’s legendary, mythical night, and does so with the pure passion of yesteryear – when men played for the love of the game instead of the love of the dollar. This recording actually features the final half-hour of the original radio broadcast — a chilling and haunting segment that all basketball fans will want to hear and cherish. Read masterfully by actor Roscoe Orman. Six hours abridged on five CDS.
MY LIFE. Bill Clinton. Random House. Like it or not, even President Clinton’s harshest critics must admit that he was a leader who did a lot of good for the country and the world economy, preserving our civil liberties along the way. And it’s truly a shame that these things have become but a footnote to the sensationalized Monica Lewinsky story (it’s deplorable that what should have remained a private event was turned into a public scandal and political football that cost the country millions of dollars for nothing). More than anything else, that’s what is so striking about this book by Mr. Clinton: it forces us to look at what he did as a President instead of focusing on his private moments. Personally, I am much more concerned about where we are going to end up as Americans (in the wake of 9-11 and the Iraq war) than I am about any man’s marital life. In the end, My Life is about a former President looking at himself and examining the things that led him into office — examining both the good and the bad, delving past the right and the wrong, allowing us this rare chance to glimpse a former President as a person (rather than as public figure or icon). This title is a major release, and the audio edition is made all the more compelling by Mr. Clinton’s magnetic voice and his ability to bring passion to each sentence of the recording. 6.5 hours on 6 CDS.
THE VOICE OF THE POET. Allen Ginsberg. Random House. Ginsberg, along with Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, was a leader of the literary movement that became known as the “Beat Generation.” And since his death in 1997, poetry lovers around the globe have been left starved for the passion that Ginsberg’s life embodied — for he lived each of his poems with the meat of his spirit and the strength of his blood, spitting his love of song and sound across the whole holy face of the world. Truly, Ginsberg’s life was about the beauty of expression and the living hope of the word, breathing life into the memory of each moment in which he lived. The Voice Of The Poet perfectly captures Allen Ginsberg in his own voice – capturing him moment by moment, syllable by naked syllable, breath by broken breath. Sink into this recording. Not surprisingly, his rendition of “Howl” stands out: since it was written over 50 years ago, “Howl” has been a vital and meaningful expression of the American condition. 71 minutes on 1 CD.
Also in this Random House Series
WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS. THE VOICE OF THE POET. William Carlos Williams. Random House Audio. William Carlos Williams was a huge influence on Allen Ginsberg (they were both from New Jersey), and also a guide for the other leading voices of the Beat Generation. In addition to being a physician, Williams was an innovative and resilient poet who revolutionized the “impressionist poem” and also restructured its appearance on the page, using a succession of short lines to hammer and chisel at the senses until the images burned into the vivid and naked light of life. This recording is a real find in that it brings the best of Williams’ work back to us. The fact that it comes imbedded in the soundful echoes of his own voice makes it all the more rich and endearing — now we can hear just what Ginsberg heard in the work of the great and under-studied Williams: the invocations of spirit, the homage to the beauty of the ordinary eye now come spinning through the universe from beyond the purview of the grave. Highlights are many, but none are more stunning than the version of “To Elsie” which serves as a deep and haunting commentary on the emptiness of our times. Also fine renditions of “Red Wheelbarrow” and “Queen Anne’s Lace.” Note additional analysis by esteemed Yale Review Editor, J.D. McClatchy (who is also the series editor). One hour on a single CD.
T.S. ELIOT. THE VOICE OF THE POET. Random House Audio. Along with Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot is regarded as the father of the American poetry scene during the last half century: Eliot’s sweet rhythms are partly responsible for the course the Beat Generation’s road took, but also, the way he came to structure his poems and build his rhyme-scheme further provided a grand motivation for the rock-and-rollers of the 1960s. Writers like Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Lou Reed almost certainly studied and absorbed Eliot’s poetry and then used the things they learned to change the way music was presented to the culture. This recording captures the best of T.S. Eliot’s catalog, including stunning performances of Eliot’s most influential pieces. Listen to the essence of the poet’s voice bleed through “The Waste Land” and “The Hollow Men” — these are the strains of the bells straining against the clear invisible skirts of the wind. These are the echoes of Christ’s breath straining against the claws of the window glass. This great legacy of our American poetry. This inspiration of the muse now come to tend and stroke and soothe come to guide us home. One hour on a single CD.
SLEEPING WITH SCHUBERT. Bonnie Marson. Read by Michelle Santopietro (and featuring the music of Franz Schubert). Random House. Wonderfully original novel that is centered around a New York lawyer who is housing the spirit and soul of the genius Austrian composer Franz Schubert within herself. The story builds around the reincarnation of the great musician in the seemingly ordinary body of Liza Durbin. As the book moves forward, we come to connect with the power of music and its ability to drive us from our hidden selves (the story intensifying moment-to-moment as we become absorbed in the melodies of the master composer). At times the melding of plot and voice and concerto is simply stunning, with an impassioned reading by Santopietro (Sopranos and Law & Order). 5 hours on 5 CDs.
RAMMER JAMMER YELLOW HAMMER. A Journey into the Heart of Fan Mania. Warren St. John. Random House. This brand new release by Random House coincides with the start of the new football season, examining the motivations that drive the sports fan. To those of us who are not “die-hard” fans, the things some folks do on Sunday seem silly (following their team, covering themselves in war paint, fighting in the stands in the name of victory). St. John has created a modern-day anthropological study here, following the Alabama Crimson Tide college football squad from game to game in his RV (The Hawg). St. John’s journey takes us into the very heart of the “extreme fan” – digging beyond the surface into the phenomenon of American sport. Rammer Jammer is at all times engaging and thought provoking – a book bold in scope that sets out to tell the country about itself. Read by the author. 5 hours on 4 CDS.
Recommended to college sociology instructors as a class text that explores first-hand the reasons why some people graduate from spectator to fanatic. Further recommended to all libraries as a general reference text.
Order these selections at amazon.com or randomhouse.com.
OH THE GLORY OF IT ALL. Sean Wilsey. Read by actor writer Scott Brick. Penguin Audio. This Wilsey novel has it all — intrigue, sex, cultural exploration, the hunt for spirituality, the depths of desolation. A sprawling plot-line, yes, and quite an undertaking for any novelist. And believe it or not, Wilsey is actually able to pull it off with an ease and power that reminds the reader of the Thomas Pynchon years in American literature. This story is about a family separated by the sight of its own wealth — a story about losing one’s soul, finding it momentarily, and then losing it all over again. It’s a story about the pomp and pretension of money and how it rots away the real core of “family” and “honor” and “faith.” It’s a story about salvation and the loss of redemption in an out-of-control world. Captivating in the way that we found the characters on “Dallas” captivating. All the elements are here to hold the reader spellbound for hours. 22 hours on 18 CDS.
THE LAST SEASON. A TEAM IN SEARCH OF ITS SOUL. Phil Jackson. Read by Stephen Hoye. Penguin Audio. Phil Jackson is more than a coach. This guy’s an acutely intelligent man who knows people and understands how to motivate the psyche. His methods are without question: after winning 9 championships in 10 tries, who can question him? Moreover, the fact that the Lakers failed to make the playoffs this year was as much a result of the fact that Jackson wasn’t at the helm as it was due to the fact that Shaq wasn’t in the middle of the key. You see, Jackson is a leader with smarts and cunning and he can read a basketball court like no other. This book tells the story of his last season with the Lakers — the contentions he endured with superstar Kobe Bryant. His struggle to bring the disparate elements of a star-studded team together for a last shot at a ring. Interestingly, as this review is being written, the Lakers are contemplating rehiring Jackson: a fact that serves as indisputable evidence of the man’s power on the court. In the end, The Last Season opens the door a crack, and allows us to see what his players see: a coach driven to excel, a man who will settle for nothing less than perfection from his team. Brilliantly read by Hoye, who gives the recording a passion and intensity that is often only seen on the stage. 8 hours on 7 CDS.
THE INNOCENT. Harlan Coben. Read by Scott Brick. Penguin. This book by Coben is truly a fun read – -although a novel, it moves with the dark and sticky intensity of true crime. Unabashed with passion, the story is propelled by a Mickey Spillane-type-turmoil that drives the characters toward their doom and redemption. The Innocent presents the story of Matt Hunter, an “innocent” guy who ends up in jail for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. After doing his 10 year stint in jail, he finds himself on the outside again. But he is not free. A stranger appears and begins to stalk the tranquillity of Matt’s suburban life. This story has a lot of twists and surprises and will keep the reader guessing. It’s ultimate lesson shows that there are no guarantees that our lives will remain quiet and perfect and peaceful. 14 hours on 11 CDS. Veteran narrator Brick brings deep and subtle power to the recording.
THE RUNES OF THE EARTH. Stephen R. Donaldson. Read by actor/writer Scott Brick. Penguin Audio. Probably more than any other novelist in the last 30 years, Stephen Donaldson’s vision as a writer has changed the way the fantasy novel takes shape and tells itself. Similar to Thomas Pynchon, Donaldson’s work (especially the international best-seller “The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant”) is known for its intricacies of character and the multi-layered dimensions of plot. These are not the “Lost In Space” tales of post World War Two America; instead, they’re original stories of immense depth and detail that captivate and capture the audience, recreating the world, giving the lost ones a place to go. The Runes of the Earthbegins in the time after the death of Thomas Covenant (the holy writer who lived his last hours in a dream state, safe between the soft edges that bridge heaven and earth). But Runes makes it clear: even though Covenant is gone, his connection to the spirits of the infinite are not. And this is where the story begins: with Covenant’s son trying to connect with his invisible father through a toy on the floor – moving through time and space towards a land that is predicated on the deep vision of the eyes. Runes is simply a fantasy masterpiece, a book populated by rich characterizations and stunningly evocative detail, steeped in history, over-boiling with imagination, drunk on the breathlessness of ghosts. Be forewarned, the questions unleashed are deeply profound: Where do we go when we sleep? Do dreams carry us to the hollow edge of death? Do softer worlds await those who flounder amid the tired bones of earth? Runes poses these questions and many more, taking its readers on a marvelous journey. 28 hours on 22 CDS.
Order these selections at amazon.com or penguin.com.
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This entry was posted on June 1, 2005 by Jacob Aiello in 2005, June 2005, Rat On Audiobooks and tagged Audio Renaissance, Audiobook, Book Review, Books, Fiction, Harper Audio, Penguin Audio, Random House Audio, Time Warner Audio.
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National Register of Historic Places listings in Oswego County, New York
Location of Oswego County in New York
Map of all coordinates from Google
Map of all coordinates from Bing
Map of all microformatted coordinates
List of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Oswego County, New York
This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Oswego County, New York. The locations of National Register properties and districts (at least for all showing latitude and longitude coordinates below) may be seen in a Google map by clicking on "Map of all coordinates".[1] One property, the Nash (tugboat) is further designated a National Historic Landmark of the United States.
This National Park Service list is complete through NPS recent listings posted November 18, 2011.[2]
Contents: Counties in New York
Albany (Albany) – Allegany – Bronx – Broome – Cattaraugus – Cayuga – Chautauqua – Chemung – Chenango – Clinton – Columbia – Cortland – Delaware – Dutchess – Erie (Buffalo) – Essex – Franklin – Fulton – Genesee – Greene – Hamilton – Herkimer – Jefferson – Kings (Brooklyn) – Lewis – Livingston – Madison – Monroe (Rochester) – Montgomery – Nassau – New York (Manhattan – Below 14th Street, 14th to 59th Streets, 59th to 110th Streets, Above 110th Street, Islands) – Niagara – Oneida – Onondaga (Syracuse) – Ontario – Orange – Orleans – Oswego – Otsego – Putnam – Queens – Rensselaer – Richmond (Staten Island) – Rockland – Saratoga – Schenectady – Schoharie – Schuyler – Seneca – St. Lawrence – Steuben – Suffolk – Sullivan – Tioga – Tompkins – Ulster – Warren – Washington – Wayne – Westchester (New Rochelle, Peekskill, Yonkers) – Wyoming – Yates
Listings county-wide
Landmark name
City or town
Leonard Ames Farmhouse 01991-11-14November 14, 1991 5707 Main St.
43°27′38″N 76°14′30″W / 43.460556°N 76.241667°W / 43.460556; -76.241667 (Leonard Ames Farmhouse) Mexico
Orson Ames House 02001-12-04December 4, 2001 3339 Main St.
43°27′35″N 76°14′07″W / 43.459722°N 76.235278°W / 43.459722; -76.235278 (Orson Ames House) Mexico
Arthur Tavern 01991-11-14November 14, 1991 Jct. of Clarke Rd. and NY 16
43°29′42″N 76°14′57″W / 43.495°N 76.249167°W / 43.495; -76.249167 (Arthur Tavern) Arthur
Smith H. Barlow House 01988-11-15November 15, 1988 Harwood Dr.
43°38′36″N 76°04′30″W / 43.643333°N 76.075°W / 43.643333; -76.075 (Smith H. Barlow House) Lacona
Brosemer Brewery
02010-03-29March 29, 2010 472 W. First St.
43°26′45″N 76°30′11″W / 43.445833°N 76.503056°W / 43.445833; -76.503056 (Brosemer Brewery) Oswego New listing; refnum 10000102
Buckhout-Jones Building 02001-12-04December 4, 2001 5-13 W. Bridge St.
43°27′24″N 76°30′41″W / 43.456667°N 76.511389°W / 43.456667; -76.511389 (Buckhout-Jones Building) Oswego
Carley's Mills Schoolhouse 02005-01-05January 5, 2005 Oswego Cty Rte 84
43°22′24″N 76°07′02″W / 43.373333°N 76.117222°W / 43.373333; -76.117222 (Carley's Mills Schoolhouse) Hastings
Chancellor (tugboat) 02000-02-18February 18, 2000 Oswego R.
43°19′11″N 76°25′03″W / 43.319722°N 76.4175°W / 43.319722; -76.4175 (Chancellor (tugboat)) Fulton
Peter Chandler House 01991-11-14November 14, 1991 5897 Main St.
43°27′35″N 76°13′45″W / 43.459722°N 76.229167°W / 43.459722; -76.229167 (Peter Chandler House) Mexico
Starr Clark Tin Shop 02001-12-04December 4, 2001 3250 Main St.
43°27′35″N 76°13′43″W / 43.459722°N 76.228611°W / 43.459722; -76.228611 (Starr Clark Tin Shop) Mexico
Edwin W. and Charlotte Clarke House 02002-02-26February 26, 2002 80 E. Mohawk St.
43°27′24″N 76°30′02″W / 43.456667°N 76.500556°W / 43.456667; -76.500556 (Edwin W. and Charlotte Clarke House) Oswego
Phineas Davis Farmstead 01991-06-20June 20, 1991 5422 North Rd.
43°27′55″N 76°13′37″W / 43.465278°N 76.226944°W / 43.465278; -76.226944 (Phineas Davis Farmstead) Mexico
John B. and Lydia Edwards House 02001-12-04December 4, 2001 144 E. Third St.
43°27′17″N 76°30′16″W / 43.454722°N 76.504444°W / 43.454722; -76.504444 (John B. and Lydia Edwards House) Oswego
First Baptist Church 01988-11-15November 15, 1988 Harwood Dr.
43°38′38″N 76°04′40″W / 43.643889°N 76.077778°W / 43.643889; -76.077778 (First Baptist Church) Sandy Creek
First Congregational Church and Society of Volney 02001-06-29June 29, 2001 NY 3
43°20′18″N 76°20′19″W / 43.338333°N 76.338611°W / 43.338333; -76.338611 (First Congregational Church and Society of Volney) Volney
First National Bank of Lacona 01988-11-15November 15, 1988 Harwood Dr. and Salina St.
43°38′36″N 76°04′10″W / 43.643333°N 76.069444°W / 43.643333; -76.069444 (First National Bank of Lacona) Lacona
Fort Brewerton 01973-03-07March 7, 1973 State and Lansing Sts.
43°14′32″N 76°08′29″W / 43.242222°N 76.141389°W / 43.242222; -76.141389 (Fort Brewerton) Brewerton
Fort Ontario
01970-12-18December 18, 1970 E. 7th St. and Lake Ontario
43°27′55″N 76°30′31″W / 43.465278°N 76.508611°W / 43.465278; -76.508611 (Fort Ontario) Oswego
Fowler-Loomis House 01991-11-14November 14, 1991 6022 Main St.
43°27′32″N 76°13′16″W / 43.458889°N 76.221111°W / 43.458889; -76.221111 (Fowler-Loomis House) Mexico
Franklin Square Historic District 01982-08-04August 4, 1982 Roughly bounded by 3rd, 6th, Van Buren, and Bridge Sts.
43°27′25″N 76°30′59″W / 43.456944°N 76.516389°W / 43.456944; -76.516389 (Franklin Square Historic District) Oswego
Fulton Public Library 01999-01-15January 15, 1999 160 S. First St.
43°19′10″N 76°24′59″W / 43.319444°N 76.416389°W / 43.319444; -76.416389 (Fulton Public Library) Fulton
Nathan and Clarissa Green House 02002-02-26February 26, 2002 98 West Eight St.
43°27′22″N 76°31′13″W / 43.456111°N 76.520278°W / 43.456111; -76.520278 (Nathan and Clarissa Green House) Oswego
Hamilton Farmstead 01991-11-18November 18, 1991 5644 Hamilton St.
43°28′30″N 76°13′52″W / 43.475°N 76.231111°W / 43.475; -76.231111 (Hamilton Farmstead) Mexico
Holyoke Cottage 01988-11-15November 15, 1988 Seber Shore Rd.
43°38′45″N 76°09′56″W / 43.645833°N 76.165556°W / 43.645833; -76.165556 (Holyoke Cottage) Sandy Creek
Hunter-Oliphant Block 01995-07-21July 21, 1995 215-219 W. First St.
43°27′20″N 76°30′39″W / 43.455556°N 76.510833°W / 43.455556; -76.510833 (Hunter-Oliphant Block) Oswego
Kingsford House 01997-08-21August 21, 1997 150 W. Third St.
43°27′16″N 76°30′47″W / 43.454444°N 76.513056°W / 43.454444; -76.513056 (Kingsford House) Oswego
Lacona Clock Tower 01988-11-15November 15, 1988 Harwood Dr.
43°38′36″N 76°04′12″W / 43.643333°N 76.07°W / 43.643333; -76.07 (Lacona Clock Tower) Lacona
Lacona Railroad Station and Depot 02002-01-24January 24, 2002 11 Park Ave.
43°38′34″N 76°04′13″W / 43.642778°N 76.070278°W / 43.642778; -76.070278 (Lacona Railroad Station and Depot) Lacona
Hamilton and Rhoda Littlefield House 02002-02-26February 26, 2002 44 E. Oneida St.
43°27′25″N 76°30′16″W / 43.456944°N 76.504444°W / 43.456944; -76.504444 (Hamilton and Rhoda Littlefield House) Oswego
Market House
01974-06-20June 20, 1974 Water St.
43°27′26″N 76°30′39″W / 43.457222°N 76.510833°W / 43.457222; -76.510833 (Market House) Oswego
John and Harriet McKenzie House 02001-12-04December 4, 2001 96 W. Eighth St.
43°27′23″N 76°31′13″W / 43.456389°N 76.520278°W / 43.456389; -76.520278 (John and Harriet McKenzie House) Oswego
Methodist Church 01988-11-15November 15, 1988 Harwood Dr.
43°38′37″N 76°04′58″W / 43.643611°N 76.082778°W / 43.643611; -76.082778 (Methodist Church) Sandy Creek
Mexico Academy and Central School
01991-11-14November 14, 1991 5805 Main St.
43°27′37″N 76°14′06″W / 43.460278°N 76.235°W / 43.460278; -76.235 (Mexico Academy and Central School) Mexico
Mexico Octagon Barn 01991-06-20June 20, 1991 5276 Ames St.
43°27′08″N 76°14′31″W / 43.452222°N 76.241944°W / 43.452222; -76.241944 (Mexico Octagon Barn) Mexico
Mexico Railroad Depot 01991-06-20June 20, 1991 5530 Scenic Ave.
43°28′09″N 76°13′57″W / 43.469167°N 76.2325°W / 43.469167; -76.2325 (Mexico Railroad Depot) Mexico
The Mexico Stone Store
02010-03-23March 23, 2010 3201 Main St.
43°27′35″N 76°13′33″W / 43.459708°N 76.225836°W / 43.459708; -76.225836 (The Mexico Stone Store) Mexico New listing; refnum 10000103
Mexico Village Historic District
01991-06-20June 20, 1991 Main, Jefferson, Church and Spring Sts.
43°27′29″N 76°13′46″W / 43.458056°N 76.229444°W / 43.458056; -76.229444 (Mexico Village Historic District) Mexico
Montcalm Park Historic District 02001-05-25May 25, 2001 Roughly Montcalm St., W 6th St., W. Schuyler St., and Bronson St., vic. of Montcalm Park
43°27′35″N 76°31′11″W / 43.459722°N 76.519722°W / 43.459722; -76.519722 (Montcalm Park Historic District) Oswego
Mount Adnah Cemetery 02001-02-02February 2, 2001 706 East Broadway
43°19′14″N 76°24′12″W / 43.320556°N 76.403333°W / 43.320556; -76.403333 (Mount Adnah Cemetery) Fulton
Nash (harbor tug)
01991-12-04December 4, 1991 H. Lee White Marine Museum, West 1st Street Pier
43°27′52″N 76°30′58″W / 43.464536°N 76.51605°W / 43.464536; -76.51605 (Nash (harbor tug)) Oswego Last surviving Army ship which served at D-Day
Northrup-Gilbert House 02000-02-04February 4, 2000 25 Church St.
43°13′43″N 76°17′49″W / 43.228611°N 76.296944°W / 43.228611; -76.296944 (Northrup-Gilbert House) Phoenix
Oak Street School 02003-07-03July 3, 2003 205 Oak St.
43°18′43″N 76°25′07″W / 43.311944°N 76.418611°W / 43.311944; -76.418611 (Oak Street School) Fulton
Oswego Armory
01988-05-19May 19, 1988 265 W. First St.
43°27′14″N 76°30′35″W / 43.453889°N 76.509722°W / 43.453889; -76.509722 (Oswego Armory) Oswego
Oswego City Hall 01973-02-20February 20, 1973 W. Oneida St.
43°27′19″N 76°30′42″W / 43.455278°N 76.511667°W / 43.455278; -76.511667 (Oswego City Hall) Oswego
Oswego City Library
01971-09-22September 22, 1971 120 E. 2nd St.
43°27′24″N 76°30′25″W / 43.456667°N 76.506944°W / 43.456667; -76.506944 (Oswego City Library) Oswego
Oswego County Courthouse
02000-12-07December 7, 2000 East Bridge St.
43°27′26″N 76°30′22″W / 43.457222°N 76.506111°W / 43.457222; -76.506111 (Oswego County Courthouse) Oswego
Oswego Theater 01988-09-19September 19, 1988 138 W. Second St.
43°27′21″N 76°30′46″W / 43.455833°N 76.512778°W / 43.455833; -76.512778 (Oswego Theater) Oswego
Oswego West Pierhead Lighthouse
02000-12-01December 1, 2000 Lake Ontario, 0.5 mi. N of Oswego R.
43°28′24″N 76°31′02″W / 43.473333°N 76.517222°W / 43.473333; -76.517222 (Oswego West Pierhead Lighthouse) Oswego
Oswego Yacht Club
02010-03-23March 23, 2010 41 Lake St.
43°27′44″N 76°31′16″W / 43.462203°N 76.5212°W / 43.462203; -76.5212 (Oswego Yacht Club) Oswego New listing; refnum 10000105
Daniel and Miriam Pease House 02002-02-26February 26, 2002 361 Cemetery Rd.
43°25′33″N 76°33′37″W / 43.425833°N 76.560278°W / 43.425833; -76.560278 (Daniel and Miriam Pease House) Oswego
Newton M. Pitt House 01988-11-15November 15, 1988 8114 Harwood Dr.
43°38′37″N 76°05′00″W / 43.643611°N 76.083333°W / 43.643611; -76.083333 (Newton M. Pitt House) Sandy Creek
Pleasant Lawn Cemetery 02005-10-05October 5, 2005 NY 69A
43°24′08″N 76°08′31″W / 43.402222°N 76.141944°W / 43.402222; -76.141944 (Pleasant Lawn Cemetery) Parish
Pontiac Hotel 01983-07-21July 21, 1983 W. 1st St.
43°26′14″N 76°30′37″W / 43.437222°N 76.510278°W / 43.437222; -76.510278 (Pontiac Hotel) Oswego
John Wells Pratt House 01999-12-10December 10, 1999 177 S. 1st St.
43°19′06″N 76°24′53″W / 43.318333°N 76.414722°W / 43.318333; -76.414722 (John Wells Pratt House) Fulton
Pulaski Village Historic District 01983-09-08September 8, 1983 Jefferson, Broad, Bridge, Hubbel and Lake Sts.
43°34′01″N 76°07′43″W / 43.566944°N 76.128611°W / 43.566944; -76.128611 (Pulaski Village Historic District) Pulaski
Red Mill Farm 01991-11-14November 14, 1991 7177 Red Mill Rd.
43°25′28″N 76°08′45″W / 43.424444°N 76.145833°W / 43.424444; -76.145833 (Red Mill Farm) Colosse
Richardson-Bates House 01975-09-05September 5, 1975 135 E. 3rd St.
43°27′21″N 76°30′16″W / 43.455833°N 76.504444°W / 43.455833; -76.504444 (Richardson-Bates House) Oswego
Riverside Cemetery 01993-08-19August 19, 1993 E. River Rd. S of jct. with NY 57
43°25′24″N 76°28′34″W / 43.423333°N 76.476111°W / 43.423333; -76.476111 (Riverside Cemetery) Oswego
Samuel Sadler House 01988-11-15November 15, 1988 N. Main St.
43°38′55″N 76°05′07″W / 43.648611°N 76.085278°W / 43.648611; -76.085278 (Samuel Sadler House) Sandy Creek
St. James' Church (Cleveland, New York) 01996-08-30August 30, 1996 North St., jct. with Bridge St.
43°14′02″N 75°52′56″W / 43.233889°N 75.882222°W / 43.233889; -75.882222 (St. James' Church (Cleveland, New York)) Cleveland
St. John's Episcopal Church 01993-05-27May 27, 1993 670 Main St.
43°13′53″N 76°18′04″W / 43.231389°N 76.301111°W / 43.231389; -76.301111 (St. John's Episcopal Church) Phoenix
Charles M. Salisbury House 01988-11-15November 15, 1988 9089 Church St.
43°38′29″N 76°04′06″W / 43.641389°N 76.068333°W / 43.641389; -76.068333 (Charles M. Salisbury House) Lacona
Sandy Creek Historic District 01988-11-15November 15, 1988 Jct. of Lake Rd. and US 11
43°38′39″N 76°05′10″W / 43.644167°N 76.086111°W / 43.644167; -76.086111 (Sandy Creek Historic District) Sandy Creek
Schroeppel House 01982-09-09September 9, 1982 Morgan Rd.
43°12′20″N 76°13′08″W / 43.205556°N 76.218889°W / 43.205556; -76.218889 (Schroeppel House) Schroeppel
Selkirk Lighthouse
01979-03-30March 30, 1979 W of Pulaski on Lake Rd.
43°34′28″N 76°12′07″W / 43.574444°N 76.201944°W / 43.574444; -76.201944 (Selkirk Lighthouse) Pulaski
Sheldon Hall 01980-05-13May 13, 1980 Washington Blvd.
43°27′16″N 76°32′12″W / 43.454444°N 76.536667°W / 43.454444; -76.536667 (Sheldon Hall) Oswego
Matthew Shoecraft House 01988-11-15November 15, 1988 Ridge Rd. at Smartville Rd.
43°38′33″N 76°03′45″W / 43.6425°N 76.0625°W / 43.6425; -76.0625 (Matthew Shoecraft House) Lacona
Timothy Skinner House 01991-06-20June 20, 1991 5355 Scenic Ave.
43°27′40″N 76°13′57″W / 43.461111°N 76.2325°W / 43.461111; -76.2325 (Timothy Skinner House) Mexico
Slack Farmstead 01991-11-14November 14, 1991 5174 Row Rd.
43°27′07″N 76°11′07″W / 43.451944°N 76.185278°W / 43.451944; -76.185278 (Slack Farmstead) Mexico
George B. Sloan Estate 01988-08-11August 11, 1988 107 W. Van Buren St.
43°27′35″N 76°31′17″W / 43.459722°N 76.521389°W / 43.459722; -76.521389 (George B. Sloan Estate) Oswego
Fred Smart House 01988-11-15November 15, 1988 Salina St.
43°38′35″N 76°04′08″W / 43.643056°N 76.068889°W / 43.643056; -76.068889 (Fred Smart House) Lacona
Standard Yarn Company Building 02008-05-15May 15, 2008 317 W. 1st St.
43°27′08″N 76°30′30″W / 43.452222°N 76.508333°W / 43.452222; -76.508333 (Standard Yarn Company Building) Oswego (new listing; refnum 08000410)
Stillman Farmstead 01991-06-20June 20, 1991 NY 104 between Co. Rt. 58 and US 11
43°27′33″N 76°09′47″W / 43.459167°N 76.163056°W / 43.459167; -76.163056 (Stillman Farmstead) Mexico
Stillwater Bridge 01997-11-07November 7, 1997 Dam Rd. over Salmon R.
43°32′41″N 75°55′20″W / 43.544722°N 75.922222°W / 43.544722; -75.922222 (Stillwater Bridge) Stillwater
Sweet Memorial Building 01990-04-26April 26, 1990 821 Main St.
43°13′45″N 76°17′58″W / 43.229167°N 76.299444°W / 43.229167; -76.299444 (Sweet Memorial Building) Phoenix
Tanner Block
02009-12-25December 25, 2009 175-177 W. First St.
43°27′25″N 76°30′41″W / 43.456922°N 76.511444°W / 43.456922; -76.511444 (Tanner Block) Oswego New listing; refnum 09001269
Thayer Farmstead 01991-11-14November 14, 1991 5933 Church St.
43°27′11″N 76°13′35″W / 43.453056°N 76.226389°W / 43.453056; -76.226389 (Thayer Farmstead) Mexico
01982-10-29October 29, 1982 NY 49
43°14′52″N 76°00′29″W / 43.247778°N 76.008056°W / 43.247778; -76.008056 (Trinity Church) Constantia
Newman Tuttle House 01988-11-15November 15, 1988 Harwood Dr. at Ridge Rd.
43°38′37″N 76°03′51″W / 43.643611°N 76.064167°W / 43.643611; -76.064167 (Newman Tuttle House) Lacona
U.S. Customhouse 01976-11-21November 21, 1976 W. Oneida St. between 1st and 2nd Sts.
43°27′17″N 76°30′40″W / 43.454722°N 76.511111°W / 43.454722; -76.511111 (U.S. Customhouse) Oswego
US Post Office-Fulton 01989-05-11May 11, 1989 214 S. First St.
43°19′03″N 76°24′53″W / 43.3175°N 76.414722°W / 43.3175; -76.414722 (US Post Office-Fulton) Fulton
David Van Buren House 01988-06-09June 9, 1988 Van Buren Dr., W end at the Oswego River
43°21′37″N 76°25′45″W / 43.360278°N 76.429167°W / 43.360278; -76.429167 (David Van Buren House) Fulton
John Van Buren Tavern 01988-11-03November 3, 1988 NY 57 and Van Buren Dr.
43°21′35″N 76°25′45″W / 43.359722°N 76.429167°W / 43.359722; -76.429167 (John Van Buren Tavern) Fulton
Volkert Van Buren House 01988-10-07October 7, 1988 NY 57 and Distin Rd.
43°22′01″N 76°25′34″W / 43.366944°N 76.426111°W / 43.366944; -76.426111 (Volkert Van Buren House) Fulton
Walton and Willett Stone Store 01976-05-24May 24, 1976 1 Seneca St.
43°27′35″N 76°30′43″W / 43.459722°N 76.511944°W / 43.459722; -76.511944 (Walton and Willett Stone Store) Oswego
Washington Square Historic District
02009-12-25December 25, 2009 E. 4th St., E. Oneida St., E. 3rd St.
43°27′26″N 76°30′16″W / 43.457117°N 76.504383°W / 43.457117; -76.504383 (Washington Square Historic District) Oswego New listing; refnum 09001270
Asa and Caroline Wing House 02001-12-04December 4, 2001 3392 NY 69
43°25′15″N 76°09′52″W / 43.420833°N 76.164444°W / 43.420833; -76.164444 (Asa and Caroline Wing House) Mexico
Woodruff Block 01995-04-20April 20, 1995 17 W. Cayuga St.
43°27′28″N 76°30′46″W / 43.457778°N 76.512778°W / 43.457778; -76.512778 (Woodruff Block) Oswego
National Register of Historic Places listings in New York
^ The latitude and longitude information provided in this table was derived originally from the National Register Information System, which has been found to be fairly accurate for about 99% of listings. For about 1% of NRIS original coordinates, experience has shown that one or both coordinates are typos or otherwise extremely far off; some corrections may have been made. A more subtle problem causes many locations to be off by up to 150 yards, depending on location in the country: most NRIS coordinates were derived from tracing out latitude and longitudes off of USGS topographical quadrant maps created under the North American Datum of 1927, which differs from the current, highly accurate WGS84 GPS system used by Google maps. Chicago is about right, but NRIS longitudes in Washington are higher by about 4.5 seconds, and are lower by about 2.0 seconds in Maine. Latitudes differ by about 1.0 second in Florida. Some locations in this table may have been corrected to current GPS standards.
^ "National Register of Historic Places: Weekly List Actions". National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved on November 18, 2011.
^ Numbers represent an ordering by significant words. Various colorings, defined here, differentiate National Historic Landmark sites and National Register of Historic Places Districts from other NRHP buildings, structures, sites or objects.
v · d · eU.S. National Register of Historic Places in New York
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National Register of Historic Places in New York by county
Buildings and structures in Oswego County, New York
National Register of Historic Places listings in Orleans County, New York
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William Trotter
William Trotter may refer to:
*William Monroe Trotter (1872-1934), newspaper editor
*William R. Trotter (born 1943), author and historian
Barby, Northamptonshire
Boughton, Northamptonshire
William Monroe Trotter — (April 7, 1872 1934), was born to James Monroe Trotter and Virginia Isaacs Trotter in Chillicothe, Ohio. His father James, son of a Mississippi slave owner, served honorably with the 55th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Colored… … Wikipedia
William R. Trotter — (born 1943) is an American author and historian. Writings Trotter s work has covered a variety of genres and markets. His first published work was Sibelius and the Tides of Taste for High Fidelity in 1965. Lawyer Rob Newsom III invited him to… … Wikipedia
Trotter — can mean a number of things:* trotter, a horse trained for harness racing * trotter, the feet of a goat, pig, lamb, or any cattle * A Medtrotter, the nickname of a patient that travels for healthcare * The Trotters, the nickname of English… … Wikipedia
William Stephen Raikes Hodson — William Hodson, engraving printed as frontispiece to his biography Rider on a Grey Horse, by B.J. Cork, 1958 Born 10 March 1821 Maisemore Court, near Gloucester … Wikipedia
William Mayne, 1st Baron Newhaven — PC (1722 – 28 May 1794), known as Sir William Mayne, Bt, between 1763 and 1776, was a British politician. Mayne was the eldest son of the second marriage of William Mayne, of Powis Logie, Clackmannanshire.[1] He was returned to the Irish House of … Wikipedia
William Thomas Lopp — (June 21, 1864–April 10, 1939), known better professionally as W. T. Lopp, and to his family as Tom Lopp, was a member of the Overland Relief Expedition in Alaska, then a U.S. territory. He was a missionary and advocate of turning native hunters… … Wikipedia
William Keppel — por Carlo Pellegrini en 1875. William Coutts Keppel, séptimo conde de Albemarle KCMG PC (15 de abril de 1832 28 de agosto de 1894) fue un militar y político británic … Wikipedia Español
William H. Ferris — William Henry Ferris (1874 1941) was an author, minister, and scholar. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut on July 20, 1874. He was the son of David H. and Sarah Ann Jefferson Ferris. His grandparents were free at the time of his father s birth … Wikipedia
William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle — William Coutts Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle KCMG PC (April 15 1832 ndash; August 28 1894), was a British soldier and politician.A son to General George Thomas Keppel, 6th Earl of Albemarle and Susan Coutts Trotter, he was educated at Eton. In… … Wikipedia
William H.T. Bush — William Henry Trotter Bucky Bush (born July 14, 1938 in Greenwich, Connecticut) is the youngest son of Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush, the younger brother of former President George H.W. Bush, and the uncle of current President… … Wikipedia
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Project acronym AIDA
Project An Illumination of the Dark Ages: modeling reionization and interpreting observations
Researcher (PI) Andrei Albert Mesinger
Host Institution (HI) SCUOLA NORMALE SUPERIORE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE9, ERC-2014-STG
Summary "Understanding the dawn of the first galaxies and how their light permeated the early Universe is at the very frontier of modern astrophysical cosmology. Generous resources, including ambitions observational programs, are being devoted to studying these epochs of Cosmic Dawn (CD) and Reionization (EoR). In order to interpret these observations, we propose to build on our widely-used, semi-numeric simulation tool, 21cmFAST, and apply it to observations. Using sub-grid, semi-analytic models, we will incorporate additional physical processes governing the evolution of sources and sinks of ionizing photons. The resulting state-of-the-art simulations will be well poised to interpret topical observations of quasar spectra and the cosmic 21cm signal. They would be both physically-motivated and fast, allowing us to rapidly explore astrophysical parameter space. We will statistically quantify the resulting degeneracies and constraints, providing a robust answer to the question, ""What can we learn from EoR/CD observations?"" As an end goal, these investigations will help us understand when the first generations of galaxies formed, how they drove the EoR, and what are the associated large-scale observational signatures."
"Understanding the dawn of the first galaxies and how their light permeated the early Universe is at the very frontier of modern astrophysical cosmology. Generous resources, including ambitions observational programs, are being devoted to studying these epochs of Cosmic Dawn (CD) and Reionization (EoR). In order to interpret these observations, we propose to build on our widely-used, semi-numeric simulation tool, 21cmFAST, and apply it to observations. Using sub-grid, semi-analytic models, we will incorporate additional physical processes governing the evolution of sources and sinks of ionizing photons. The resulting state-of-the-art simulations will be well poised to interpret topical observations of quasar spectra and the cosmic 21cm signal. They would be both physically-motivated and fast, allowing us to rapidly explore astrophysical parameter space. We will statistically quantify the resulting degeneracies and constraints, providing a robust answer to the question, ""What can we learn from EoR/CD observations?"" As an end goal, these investigations will help us understand when the first generations of galaxies formed, how they drove the EoR, and what are the associated large-scale observational signatures."
Project acronym AlterMateria
Project Designer Quantum Materials Out of Equilibrium
Researcher (PI) Andrea Caviglia
Host Institution (HI) TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT
Summary Recently, ‘designer’ quantum materials, synthesised layer by layer, have been realised, sparking ground-breaking new scientific insights. These artificial materials, such as oxide heterostructures, are interesting building blocks for a new generation of technologies, provided that one is able to access, study and ultimately control their quantum phases in practical conditions such as at room temperature and high speeds. On the other hand, an independent research area is emerging that uses ultra-short bursts of light to stimulate changes in the macroscopic electronic properties of solids at unprecedented speeds. Here I propose to bridge the gap between material design and ultrafast control of solids. This new synergy will allow us to explore fundamental research questions on the non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum materials with competing ground states. Specifically, I will utilize intense THz and mid-infrared electromagnetic fields to manipulate the electronic properties of artificial quantum materials on pico- to femto-second time scales. Beyond the development of novel techniques to generate THz electric fields of unprecedented intensity, I will investigate metal-insulator and magnetic transitions in oxide heterostructures as they unfold in time. This research programme takes oxide electronics in a new direction and establishes a new methodology for the control of quantum phases at high temperature and high speed.
Recently, ‘designer’ quantum materials, synthesised layer by layer, have been realised, sparking ground-breaking new scientific insights. These artificial materials, such as oxide heterostructures, are interesting building blocks for a new generation of technologies, provided that one is able to access, study and ultimately control their quantum phases in practical conditions such as at room temperature and high speeds. On the other hand, an independent research area is emerging that uses ultra-short bursts of light to stimulate changes in the macroscopic electronic properties of solids at unprecedented speeds. Here I propose to bridge the gap between material design and ultrafast control of solids. This new synergy will allow us to explore fundamental research questions on the non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum materials with competing ground states. Specifically, I will utilize intense THz and mid-infrared electromagnetic fields to manipulate the electronic properties of artificial quantum materials on pico- to femto-second time scales. Beyond the development of novel techniques to generate THz electric fields of unprecedented intensity, I will investigate metal-insulator and magnetic transitions in oxide heterostructures as they unfold in time. This research programme takes oxide electronics in a new direction and establishes a new methodology for the control of quantum phases at high temperature and high speed.
Project acronym BUILDUP
Project Galaxy Buildup in the Young Universe: from the First Billion Years through the Peak Activity Epoch
Researcher (PI) Karina Caputi
Host Institution (HI) RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE9, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary Deep galaxy surveys are the most valuable asset to understand the history of our Universe. They are key to test galaxy formation models which, based on the Cold Dark Matter framework, are successful at reproducing general aspects of galaxy evolution with cosmic time. However, important discrepancies still exist between models and observations, most notably at high redshifts. This Project will reconstruct the history of galaxy buildup from the first billion years of cosmic time through the peak activity epoch of the Universe, which occurred 10 billion years ago, providing a fundamental constraint for galaxy formation models. I am leading the largest ultra-deep galaxy survey that will ever be conducted with the Spitzer Space Telescope. In this Project, I will exploit my new Spitzer program to do a groundbreaking study of galaxy buildup in the young Universe, paving the way for further galaxy evolution studies with the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). My main objectives are: 1) quantifying galaxy stellar mass assembly beyond the peak activity epoch, through the study of the galaxy stellar mass function up to z~7; 2) measuring, for the first time, galaxy clustering with stellar mass information up to such high redshifts; 3) linking galaxy growth to dust-obscured star formation using Spitzer and new APEX/AMKID sub-millimetre data; 4) unveiling the first steps of galaxy buildup at z>7 with JWST; 5) optimizing the official JWST Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI) data reduction pipeline for the analysis of deep galaxy surveys. The delivery of an optimized MIRI pipeline is an important added value to the scientific outcome of this Project, which will benefit the general Astronomical community. This is the right time for this Project to make a maximum impact. We are now in a turning point for IR Astronomy, and this opportunity should not be missed. This Project will have a long-lasting legacy, bridging current and next generations of IR galaxy surveys.
Deep galaxy surveys are the most valuable asset to understand the history of our Universe. They are key to test galaxy formation models which, based on the Cold Dark Matter framework, are successful at reproducing general aspects of galaxy evolution with cosmic time. However, important discrepancies still exist between models and observations, most notably at high redshifts. This Project will reconstruct the history of galaxy buildup from the first billion years of cosmic time through the peak activity epoch of the Universe, which occurred 10 billion years ago, providing a fundamental constraint for galaxy formation models. I am leading the largest ultra-deep galaxy survey that will ever be conducted with the Spitzer Space Telescope. In this Project, I will exploit my new Spitzer program to do a groundbreaking study of galaxy buildup in the young Universe, paving the way for further galaxy evolution studies with the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). My main objectives are: 1) quantifying galaxy stellar mass assembly beyond the peak activity epoch, through the study of the galaxy stellar mass function up to z~7; 2) measuring, for the first time, galaxy clustering with stellar mass information up to such high redshifts; 3) linking galaxy growth to dust-obscured star formation using Spitzer and new APEX/AMKID sub-millimetre data; 4) unveiling the first steps of galaxy buildup at z>7 with JWST; 5) optimizing the official JWST Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI) data reduction pipeline for the analysis of deep galaxy surveys. The delivery of an optimized MIRI pipeline is an important added value to the scientific outcome of this Project, which will benefit the general Astronomical community. This is the right time for this Project to make a maximum impact. We are now in a turning point for IR Astronomy, and this opportunity should not be missed. This Project will have a long-lasting legacy, bridging current and next generations of IR galaxy surveys.
Project acronym CSINEUTRONSTAR
Project The physics and forensics of neutron star explosions
Researcher (PI) Anna Louise Watts
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM
Summary Neutron stars offer a unique environment in which to develop and test theories of the strong force. Densities in neutron star cores can reach up to ten times the density of a normal atomic nucleus, and the stabilizing effect of gravitational confinement permits long-timescale weak interactions. This generates matter that is neutron-rich, and opens up the possibility of stable states of strange matter, something that can only exist in neutron stars. Strong force physics is encoded in the Equation of State (EOS), the pressure-density relation. This is linked to macroscopic observables such as mass M and radius R via the stellar structure equations. By measuring and inverting the M-R relation we can recover the EOS and diagnose the underlying dense matter physics. This proposal focuses on a very promising technique for simultaneous measurement of M and R. It exploits hotspots (burst oscillations) that form on the neutron star surface when material accreted from a companion star undergoes a thermonuclear explosion (a Type I X-ray burst). As the star rotates, the hotspot gives rise to a pulsation. Relativistic effects then encode information about M and R into the pulse profile. However the mechanism that generates burst oscillations remains unknown, 18 years after their discovery. This is frustrating in terms of our understanding of thermonuclear bursts. It also leads to uncertainties in the precise form of the underlying surface emission pattern (a key factor in the pulse profile fitting process), which must be addressed to cement their reliability as diagnostics of M and R. This proposal has two objectives. Firstly, to resolve the burst oscillation mechanism via an ambitious programme of theoretical and observational analysis. Secondly, to ensure that burst oscillations are a robust tool for measurement of M and R by determining the effect of the surface pattern uncertainty on pulse profile fitting, independent of efforts to constrain the mechanism.
Neutron stars offer a unique environment in which to develop and test theories of the strong force. Densities in neutron star cores can reach up to ten times the density of a normal atomic nucleus, and the stabilizing effect of gravitational confinement permits long-timescale weak interactions. This generates matter that is neutron-rich, and opens up the possibility of stable states of strange matter, something that can only exist in neutron stars. Strong force physics is encoded in the Equation of State (EOS), the pressure-density relation. This is linked to macroscopic observables such as mass M and radius R via the stellar structure equations. By measuring and inverting the M-R relation we can recover the EOS and diagnose the underlying dense matter physics. This proposal focuses on a very promising technique for simultaneous measurement of M and R. It exploits hotspots (burst oscillations) that form on the neutron star surface when material accreted from a companion star undergoes a thermonuclear explosion (a Type I X-ray burst). As the star rotates, the hotspot gives rise to a pulsation. Relativistic effects then encode information about M and R into the pulse profile. However the mechanism that generates burst oscillations remains unknown, 18 years after their discovery. This is frustrating in terms of our understanding of thermonuclear bursts. It also leads to uncertainties in the precise form of the underlying surface emission pattern (a key factor in the pulse profile fitting process), which must be addressed to cement their reliability as diagnostics of M and R. This proposal has two objectives. Firstly, to resolve the burst oscillation mechanism via an ambitious programme of theoretical and observational analysis. Secondly, to ensure that burst oscillations are a robust tool for measurement of M and R by determining the effect of the surface pattern uncertainty on pulse profile fitting, independent of efforts to constrain the mechanism.
Project acronym imbh
Project Do intermediate-mass black holes exist?
Researcher (PI) Peter Gustaaf Jonker
Host Institution (HI) STICHTING NEDERLANDSE WETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK INSTITUTEN
Summary With this proposed project I will determine whether intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) exist. I propose to use ESA's new Gaia mission, the rich Hubble Space Telescope data archive, and state-of-the-art techniques to investigate systems predicted to exist but not yet found hitherto, such as recoiled hyper-compact stellar systems, red-supergiant mass donors to ultra-luminous X-ray sources, and white dwarf tidal disruption events. The latter can only be detected if black holes with masses less than 1E5 Msun are involved. Using these systems and events we can probe the sphere of influence of the IMBH and determine the black hole mass dynamically. Currently, there are strong indications for the existence of IMBHs, but dynamical evidence, the irrefutable proof of their existence, is still lacking. Whereas the unequivocal detection of an IMBH will be a breakthrough discovery in itself, it has also important consequences for searches of dark matter annihilation signals, it will provide a baseline for the rate predictions of gravitational wave radiation events involving IMBHs, and the properties of a population of IMBHs provides important constraints on the growth of supermassive black holes and galaxies. Finally, if we discover IMBHs in hyper-compact star clusters it validates numerical relativity simulations that predict that merging black holes receive a recoil kick. My membership of Gaia's Data Processing and Analysis Consortium gives me a distinct advantage in analysing and interpreting Gaia data that, through the superb angular resolution, immediate spectroscopic observations and all-sky coverage, provides unique capabilities ideally suited for answering the question whether IMBHs exist. My proposed project is the first to recognize the potential of Gaia (WP1&2) as well as the implications of having red supergiant mass donors in some ultra-luminous X-ray sources (WP3) for answering the question on the existence of IMBHs.
With this proposed project I will determine whether intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) exist. I propose to use ESA's new Gaia mission, the rich Hubble Space Telescope data archive, and state-of-the-art techniques to investigate systems predicted to exist but not yet found hitherto, such as recoiled hyper-compact stellar systems, red-supergiant mass donors to ultra-luminous X-ray sources, and white dwarf tidal disruption events. The latter can only be detected if black holes with masses less than 1E5 Msun are involved. Using these systems and events we can probe the sphere of influence of the IMBH and determine the black hole mass dynamically. Currently, there are strong indications for the existence of IMBHs, but dynamical evidence, the irrefutable proof of their existence, is still lacking. Whereas the unequivocal detection of an IMBH will be a breakthrough discovery in itself, it has also important consequences for searches of dark matter annihilation signals, it will provide a baseline for the rate predictions of gravitational wave radiation events involving IMBHs, and the properties of a population of IMBHs provides important constraints on the growth of supermassive black holes and galaxies. Finally, if we discover IMBHs in hyper-compact star clusters it validates numerical relativity simulations that predict that merging black holes receive a recoil kick. My membership of Gaia's Data Processing and Analysis Consortium gives me a distinct advantage in analysing and interpreting Gaia data that, through the superb angular resolution, immediate spectroscopic observations and all-sky coverage, provides unique capabilities ideally suited for answering the question whether IMBHs exist. My proposed project is the first to recognize the potential of Gaia (WP1&2) as well as the implications of having red supergiant mass donors in some ultra-luminous X-ray sources (WP3) for answering the question on the existence of IMBHs.
Project acronym MEDIATE
Project Middlebrow Enlightenment: Disseminating Ideas, Authors, and Texts in 18th-century Europe
Researcher (PI) Alicia Montoya
Host Institution (HI) STICHTING KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), SH5, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary Intellectual history has long focused on a small number of authors and conceptual frameworks in studying societal change during the Enlightenment. Historians of the book have similarly restricted their vision, tending to privilege radical, subversive or forbidden texts. Yet ever since Daniel Mornet launched the history of the book approach a century ago, historians have recognized that it was authors who were not radical or subversive who produced the best-selling texts of the 18th century. This project will push Enlightenment studies in a new direction by moving beyond the present, narrow corpus of texts and models that dominate the field, and propose a new conceptual framework that takes as its starting-point the heuristic concept of middlebrow culture. Developing a state-of-the-art database, it will, firstly, identify not the ‘high’ Enlightenment texts studied by the history of ideas, and not the ‘low’, forbidden texts of book history, but the real best-sellers of the 18th century. These were the texts that, to readers on the ground, represented the most visible face of the Enlightenment, but have hitherto never really been studied. Secondly, it will elaborate a typology of this corpus describing its generic traits, intended readers, relation to major political-religious debates, and how readers in different parts of Europe appropriated these texts through translations, reworkings and other uses. Finally, it examines how historiography came to define the Enlightenment as the work of an intellectual elite, downplaying the impact of middlebrow texts and readers. The project thus brings an ambitious, bottom-up approach to intellectual history, using book history data and innovative digital tools to argue that the Enlightenment was fashioned not only by the progressive intellectuals we know today, but just as importantly, also by a large mass of forgotten, middlebrow best-sellers that need to be adequately studied if we are to truly understand how we ‘became modern’
Intellectual history has long focused on a small number of authors and conceptual frameworks in studying societal change during the Enlightenment. Historians of the book have similarly restricted their vision, tending to privilege radical, subversive or forbidden texts. Yet ever since Daniel Mornet launched the history of the book approach a century ago, historians have recognized that it was authors who were not radical or subversive who produced the best-selling texts of the 18th century. This project will push Enlightenment studies in a new direction by moving beyond the present, narrow corpus of texts and models that dominate the field, and propose a new conceptual framework that takes as its starting-point the heuristic concept of middlebrow culture. Developing a state-of-the-art database, it will, firstly, identify not the ‘high’ Enlightenment texts studied by the history of ideas, and not the ‘low’, forbidden texts of book history, but the real best-sellers of the 18th century. These were the texts that, to readers on the ground, represented the most visible face of the Enlightenment, but have hitherto never really been studied. Secondly, it will elaborate a typology of this corpus describing its generic traits, intended readers, relation to major political-religious debates, and how readers in different parts of Europe appropriated these texts through translations, reworkings and other uses. Finally, it examines how historiography came to define the Enlightenment as the work of an intellectual elite, downplaying the impact of middlebrow texts and readers. The project thus brings an ambitious, bottom-up approach to intellectual history, using book history data and innovative digital tools to argue that the Enlightenment was fashioned not only by the progressive intellectuals we know today, but just as importantly, also by a large mass of forgotten, middlebrow best-sellers that need to be adequately studied if we are to truly understand how we ‘became modern’
Project acronym PhilPharm
Project Philosophy of Pharmacology: Safety, Statistical standards and Evidence Amalgamation
Researcher (PI) Barbara Osimani
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA POLITECNICA DELLE MARCHE
Summary "The project intends addresses safety assessment in pharmacology with a view on philosophical work on causality and causal inference from statistical data ((Pearl 2000; Spirtes, Glymour, Scheines 2000, Woodward 2003, Cartwright, 2007b). This interest is motivated by the fact that current evidence standards emphasize internal validity of studies and hence randomization, disregarding alternative routes to causal assessment, such as the joint support of different sorts of evidence to a given hypothesis. This may be particularly detrimental in that, much of the evidence for harms comes from anecdotal reports, case series, or survey data, which standard guidelines of evidence evaluation regard as being of poorer quality with respect to controlled (randomized) experiments. Although the role of this ""lower level"" evidence is increasingly acknowledged to be a valid source of information for the risk profile of medications (Howick et al. 2009, Hauben and Aronson, 2007), current practices have difficulty in assigning it a precise epistemic status and integrating it with more standard methods of hypothesis testing. The philosophical debate has already addressed similar questions in relation to the assessment of treatment efficacy (Worral 2010, Papineau, 1993; Cartwright, 2007). However, none of these contributions expressly addresses the specific issues arising in causal assessment for harms. The project intends to change the evidence standards for safety assessment by providing a unified framework for the amalgamation of diverse evidence in safety assessment. In particular, the project intends to: 1) present a foundational analysis on statistical/causal inference with a focus on safety assessment; 2) Build a unified epistemic framework within which different kinds of evidence can be combined and used for decision; 3) Provide the theoretical framework for the development of new standards of drug evaluation. "
"The project intends addresses safety assessment in pharmacology with a view on philosophical work on causality and causal inference from statistical data ((Pearl 2000; Spirtes, Glymour, Scheines 2000, Woodward 2003, Cartwright, 2007b). This interest is motivated by the fact that current evidence standards emphasize internal validity of studies and hence randomization, disregarding alternative routes to causal assessment, such as the joint support of different sorts of evidence to a given hypothesis. This may be particularly detrimental in that, much of the evidence for harms comes from anecdotal reports, case series, or survey data, which standard guidelines of evidence evaluation regard as being of poorer quality with respect to controlled (randomized) experiments. Although the role of this ""lower level"" evidence is increasingly acknowledged to be a valid source of information for the risk profile of medications (Howick et al. 2009, Hauben and Aronson, 2007), current practices have difficulty in assigning it a precise epistemic status and integrating it with more standard methods of hypothesis testing. The philosophical debate has already addressed similar questions in relation to the assessment of treatment efficacy (Worral 2010, Papineau, 1993; Cartwright, 2007). However, none of these contributions expressly addresses the specific issues arising in causal assessment for harms. The project intends to change the evidence standards for safety assessment by providing a unified framework for the amalgamation of diverse evidence in safety assessment. In particular, the project intends to: 1) present a foundational analysis on statistical/causal inference with a focus on safety assessment; 2) Build a unified epistemic framework within which different kinds of evidence can be combined and used for decision; 3) Provide the theoretical framework for the development of new standards of drug evaluation. "
Project acronym PLATINUM
Project Papyri and LAtin Texts: INsights and Updated Methodologies.Towards a philological, literary, and historical approach to Latin papyri
Researcher (PI) Maria Chiara Scappaticcio
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI FEDERICO II
Summary The aim of PLATINUM is to scrutinize Latin texts on papyrus from several points of view in order to highlight their substantial contribution to our knowledge of innovations in ancient Roman literature, language, history, and society, especially in the multilingual and multicultural contexts of the Eastern part of the Empire between the 1st century B.C. and 8th century A.D. The first phase of the project will consist in assembling, updating and publishing critical editions, in order to present a new and more accurate corpus of Latin papyri on an easily accessible online platform. The second phase will be focused on providing the texts with a specific, pluridisciplinary commentary that gives new insights on Roman culture. Coming mainly from Egypt and other Roman provinces (as well as Herculaneum and Ravenna), Latin papyri deserve more scholarly attention not only from papyrologists and paleographers, but also from scholars of Latin language, as well as intellectual and cultural historians of Rome. Latin papyri, tablets, and ostraka (potsherds) are constantly increasing in number through archaeological discoveries. Because they are so rare, they are even more valuable than the Greek papyri, which have garnered much attention. The Latin papyri have hitherto represented a border-line field of study that has not been fully exploited either by papyrologists or by scholars of Latin literature. Moreover, the obsolete bibliography and the considerable number of unpublished texts make the study of Latin papyri (and bilingual Latin-Greek, Latin-Coptic, Latin-Punic texts) - whether literary (e.g. Cicero, Vergil, law), paraliterary (grammar, medicine, magic), or documentary (letters, official registers, receipts) – a pioneering and challenging task. A more through study will reveal the untapped potential of Latin texts on papyrus for renewing our knowledge of the circulation and reception of Latin language and education, as a cultural engine in Mediterranean societies.
The aim of PLATINUM is to scrutinize Latin texts on papyrus from several points of view in order to highlight their substantial contribution to our knowledge of innovations in ancient Roman literature, language, history, and society, especially in the multilingual and multicultural contexts of the Eastern part of the Empire between the 1st century B.C. and 8th century A.D. The first phase of the project will consist in assembling, updating and publishing critical editions, in order to present a new and more accurate corpus of Latin papyri on an easily accessible online platform. The second phase will be focused on providing the texts with a specific, pluridisciplinary commentary that gives new insights on Roman culture. Coming mainly from Egypt and other Roman provinces (as well as Herculaneum and Ravenna), Latin papyri deserve more scholarly attention not only from papyrologists and paleographers, but also from scholars of Latin language, as well as intellectual and cultural historians of Rome. Latin papyri, tablets, and ostraka (potsherds) are constantly increasing in number through archaeological discoveries. Because they are so rare, they are even more valuable than the Greek papyri, which have garnered much attention. The Latin papyri have hitherto represented a border-line field of study that has not been fully exploited either by papyrologists or by scholars of Latin literature. Moreover, the obsolete bibliography and the considerable number of unpublished texts make the study of Latin papyri (and bilingual Latin-Greek, Latin-Coptic, Latin-Punic texts) - whether literary (e.g. Cicero, Vergil, law), paraliterary (grammar, medicine, magic), or documentary (letters, official registers, receipts) – a pioneering and challenging task. A more through study will reveal the untapped potential of Latin texts on papyrus for renewing our knowledge of the circulation and reception of Latin language and education, as a cultural engine in Mediterranean societies.
Project acronym ReAct
Project Remembering Activism: The Cultural Memory of Protest in Europe
Researcher (PI) Ann Rigney
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH5, ERC-2017-ADG
Summary Mass demonstrations are newsworthy. But how are they remembered when they are no longer news? Social movements are usually studied in terms of their emergence and subsidence. Despite recognition that activists are ‘inspired’ by precedents, the afterlife of activism in story and image has never been systematically explored. ReAct contends that knowledge about this cultural memory is needed for a full understanding civil resistance. ReAct will provide the first in-depth account of the remembering and forgetting of activism in Europe since the late 19th century. It will reveal continuities and changes in how protest has been depicted in different media regimes; demonstrate the role of texts, images, and commemorative practices in conveying the memory of protest to later generations; and show how this memory feeds back into later movements at home and abroad. The project is designed around case studies from periods of heightened activism in Europe: 1871-1914; 1960-1970; 2011-2012. Work packages follow 3 intersecting lines of inquiry: mediation (what cultural frames have been used to turn activism into transferable knowledge?); afterlives (how has the memory of particular movements been culturally transmitted?); memoryscapes (how have later movements referenced earlier ones?). A key innovation is network visualization to map the reproduction of narratives and references to predecessors. ReAct will effect a major reorientation in cultural memory research: by developing analytic tools with which to capture the cultural transmission of hope, it provides an alternative to the trauma-based models that currently dominate the field. It will also open up a new area of social movement research by revealing traditions of civic memory and how it is culturally produced. Outside of the academy, ReAct will provide critical literacies with which to rethink collective memory and identity in terms of active citizenship rather than ethnic-national grievances.
Mass demonstrations are newsworthy. But how are they remembered when they are no longer news? Social movements are usually studied in terms of their emergence and subsidence. Despite recognition that activists are ‘inspired’ by precedents, the afterlife of activism in story and image has never been systematically explored. ReAct contends that knowledge about this cultural memory is needed for a full understanding civil resistance. ReAct will provide the first in-depth account of the remembering and forgetting of activism in Europe since the late 19th century. It will reveal continuities and changes in how protest has been depicted in different media regimes; demonstrate the role of texts, images, and commemorative practices in conveying the memory of protest to later generations; and show how this memory feeds back into later movements at home and abroad. The project is designed around case studies from periods of heightened activism in Europe: 1871-1914; 1960-1970; 2011-2012. Work packages follow 3 intersecting lines of inquiry: mediation (what cultural frames have been used to turn activism into transferable knowledge?); afterlives (how has the memory of particular movements been culturally transmitted?); memoryscapes (how have later movements referenced earlier ones?). A key innovation is network visualization to map the reproduction of narratives and references to predecessors. ReAct will effect a major reorientation in cultural memory research: by developing analytic tools with which to capture the cultural transmission of hope, it provides an alternative to the trauma-based models that currently dominate the field. It will also open up a new area of social movement research by revealing traditions of civic memory and how it is culturally produced. Outside of the academy, ReAct will provide critical literacies with which to rethink collective memory and identity in terms of active citizenship rather than ethnic-national grievances.
Project acronym SOFTBREAK
Project From bond breaking to material failure in soft polymer networks
Researcher (PI) jasper Van der gucht
Host Institution (HI) WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY
Summary The microscopic mechanisms that lead to mechanical failure of soft polymer materials are still poorly understood. The main reason for this is a lack of experimental tools to prepare well-controlled model systems and to observe the failure process in real time at the microscopic scale. Here, I propose to fill this gap by taking a multidisciplinary approach that combines innovative chemical tools with state-of-the art physical experiments and modelling. Previous work in my group has led to the development of polymer networks with extremely well-controlled architecture and bond strength, and of various tools to study their structure and mechanics. Here, I will take advantage of this expertise to systematically unravel the microscopic physics of failure of polymer networks. To visualize how the failure process proceeds, we will make use of recently developed mechanosensors, molecules that change colour in response to a force or that emit light when they break. These chemical tools will allow us to map in real time the spatial distribution of both strains and bond rupture events. Together with computer simulations carried out in parallel, this will give us unprecedented insight in the microscopic processes that occur during failure of the material, from the very first bonds that rupture, to the gradual accumulation of damage, all the way to macroscopic failure. We will use this to address the following unresolved questions about failure of polymer networks: 1. What is the microscopic mechanism that leads to delayed failure of polymer networks at subcritical loads? 2. How does the initiation of failure depend on the material's heterogeneity? 3. How does failure occur in a network with transient (viscoelastic) bonds? The project will not only provide detailed insight in the physics of failure of polymer networks, but it will also shed light on fracture physics in general. Finally, it will help material scientists to design new materials with superior properties.
The microscopic mechanisms that lead to mechanical failure of soft polymer materials are still poorly understood. The main reason for this is a lack of experimental tools to prepare well-controlled model systems and to observe the failure process in real time at the microscopic scale. Here, I propose to fill this gap by taking a multidisciplinary approach that combines innovative chemical tools with state-of-the art physical experiments and modelling. Previous work in my group has led to the development of polymer networks with extremely well-controlled architecture and bond strength, and of various tools to study their structure and mechanics. Here, I will take advantage of this expertise to systematically unravel the microscopic physics of failure of polymer networks. To visualize how the failure process proceeds, we will make use of recently developed mechanosensors, molecules that change colour in response to a force or that emit light when they break. These chemical tools will allow us to map in real time the spatial distribution of both strains and bond rupture events. Together with computer simulations carried out in parallel, this will give us unprecedented insight in the microscopic processes that occur during failure of the material, from the very first bonds that rupture, to the gradual accumulation of damage, all the way to macroscopic failure. We will use this to address the following unresolved questions about failure of polymer networks: 1. What is the microscopic mechanism that leads to delayed failure of polymer networks at subcritical loads? 2. How does the initiation of failure depend on the material's heterogeneity? 3. How does failure occur in a network with transient (viscoelastic) bonds? The project will not only provide detailed insight in the physics of failure of polymer networks, but it will also shed light on fracture physics in general. Finally, it will help material scientists to design new materials with superior properties.
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